Month: January 2020

The Black Cauldron 6/10

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PG, 81m, 1985

With the Voices Talents of Grant Beardsley (Taran), Susan Sheridan (Princess Eilonwy), Nigel Hawthorne (Fflewddur Flam), John Byner (Gurgi and Doli), John Hurt (The Horned King), Phil Fondacaro (Creeper), Freddie Jones (Dallben), Eda Reiss Merin (Orduu), Adele Malis-Morey (Orwen), Billie Hayes (Orgoch), Arthur Malet (King Eidilleg) and John Huston (Narrator). Directed by Ted Berman and Richard Rich. Produced by Joe Hale and Ron Miller. Screenplay by Ted Berman, Vance Gerry, Joe Hale, David Jones, Roy Morita, Richard Rich, Art Stevens, AL Wilson and Peter Young. Music by Elmer Bernstein. Based on The Book of Three and The Black Cauldron by Lloyd Alexander.

            The Black Cauldron is often labelled as the black sheep of the Disney Studio. This is understandable when you factor in how dark and drastically different this film is in terms of tone to other Disney movies. Now this doesn’t mean that Disney is known for only doing lighthearted fluff. The “Night on Bald Mountain” segment from Fantasia, the death of Bambi’s mother and the jackass transformation scene in Pinocchio are some of the darkest scenes and concepts in western animation. However, this film took it several steps too far while simultaneously having a massive tone problem. This film is also labeled as the black sheep of the Disney Studio due to its infamously poor reception both at the box office and critically. This film did so bad at the box office that it was beat out by The Care Bears Movie, which had a much smaller budget. This film did so bad at the box office it almost bankrupt the Disney Feature Animation studio. The film would not be released on home video until 1998, which by that point many Disney films had already been released multiple times on home video.

            The film is based on the first two books in Lloyd Alexander’s series The Chronicles of Prydain (The Book of Three and The Black Cauldron). The film opens with exposition narrated by John Huston about the Black Cauldron and how by using it one can create a race of deathless warriors. We are then introduced to Dallben (Freddie Jones) and his ward, Taran (Grant Beardsley). They are the caretakers of the magical pig, Hen Wen. Hen Wen has the power to produce visions by dipping her snout in water. When Dallben learns that the Horned King (John Hurt) is searching for Hen Wen in order to find the Black Cauldron. Dallben then orders Taran to hide in a cottage in the forest, until Dallben believes its safe. Naturally, Taran gets distracted daydreaming about being a warrior and loses Hen Wen. While looking for Hen Wen Taran runs into Gurgi (John Byner) who only wants “munchings and crunchings”. Taran finds Hen Wen just as she’s being captured by the Horned King’s Gwythaints (basically a dragon, only they never breathe fire). They bring Hen Wen to the Horned King, where Taran manages to free Hen Wen at the cost of his own freedom. Inside the Horned King’s dungeons, we meet the talkative Princess Eilonwy (Susan Sheridan) and the minstrel Fflewddur Flam (Nigel Hawthorne). Taran finds a magical sword that can seemingly cut through anything and uses it to escape the Horned King’s castle along with Eilonwy and Fflewddur. Now the group must find the Black Cauldron before the Horned King and destroy it or all of Prydain is ruined.

            In a fantasy adventure driven story, the story lives or dies by its characters. This is effectively the biggest flaw with the movie. In the books all the characters get properly flushed out. The characters in this film do not get the same treatment. In the book, Princess Eilonwy is a princess for a reason and her being a princess matters to the story. She also has a personality and contributes to the plot. In this film, Eilonwy is a princess for seemingly no reason. We never visit her castle, we learn nothing of her life prior to the events of the film and she doesn’t even do the stereotypical Disney tropes that is commonly found in Disney films (she has no animal sidekick, she never sings, she never looks into a pool of water singing about what she wants in life etc.). The only reason I can think of for her possibly being a princess is a marketing ploy by Disney. Evidentially this backfired because she is the only Disney princess to be in a full-length animated film and not get marketed as a Disney Princess (Kida from Atlantis: The Lost Empire doesn’t count because she becomes queen at the end). The character of Fflewddur Flam is essentially pointless serving, only as a comic relief. Which is real shame because in the book, he was one of the most interesting characters and his magic harp actually came into play. The characters of Gurgi, Creeper and Doli serve some use to the plot, but they come across as annoying and uninteresting. However, by far the worst character in this film is Taran, who serves as the stereotypical “I want to be a somebody” character. Taran is easily one of the worst characters in the movie. He spends most of his time acting like an arrogant brat who whines constantly. As is the case with many Disney films, the best character in the film is the villain. The Horned King is easily one of Disney’s most sinister and creepy villains ever brought to screen. John Hurt does an excellent job voicing the Horned King. His creepy vocals give the character an even more sinister edge.

            This film may not be suitable for some young children. Many children will find scenes involving the Horned King to be too scary. During the final battle scene, we see hundreds of skeletons come to life in an eerily puppet like manner. This scene alone will give some young viewers nightmares. I grew up in a strict household when it comes to media (in other words I was the kid whose parents wouldn’t let him watch The Simpsons or Family Guy) and I was not allowed to watch this film until after I turned ten. This film is the first Disney animated film to receive a PG rating and this PG is well earned. Granted the film could have been a lot darker, but Disney made some cuts to the final picture, and it is rather noticeable. In the scene when the Cauldron Born first come to life and attack the Horned King’s henchman, there’s a very noticeable edit where the score suddenly cuts off and one can quickly tell something was edited out.

            The only reason I can think of for recommending this film is to see Disney attempt to make a much darker film. Fans of The Chronicles of Prydain will hate this film because it was translated to film about as well as Eragon or Percy Jackson was. The only slightly redeeming thing this film is the animation as well as the Horned King, and even he is rather dull and lifeless (no pun intended). Disney has gotten into a bad habit recently of remaking some of their classics into live action films. In my opinion, they should stop remaking their good animated films into live action films and instead remake their bad or mediocre animated films into live action. I would love to see this film done right in live action. The film would have to be at least PG-13 to do it justice. The only saving grace this film has is it finally gave the Disney Animation Studio the kick in the pants it needed to better themselves.

9 6.5/10

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PG-13, 79m, 2009

With the Voice Talents of Elijah Wood (9), John C. Reilly (5), Jennifer Connelly (7), Christopher Plummer (1), Crispin Glover (6), Martin Landau (2), Fred Tatasciore (8 and a Radio Announcer), Alan Oppenheimer (the Scientist) and Tom Kane (the Chancellor). Directed by Shane Acker. Produced by Jim Lemley, Tim Burton, Timur Bekmambetov and Dana Ginsburg. Screenplay by Pamela Pettler. Music by Deborah Lurie. Based on the short film of the same name.

            This is one of those animated films that scoffs at the notion of animation being a children’s medium, and the film certainly earns its PG-13 rating. This film is classified as an adult animated film. I disagree, I consider this film to be a teen animated film, as the film never goes near the boundaries pushed by other adult animated films like Fritz the Cat, Heavy Metal or A Scanner Darkly. This film was released on September 9, 2009, making its release date 09/09/09 (I can’t make this stuff up if I tried). The film is an expansion of the 2005 animated short 9 created by Shane Acker, when he was a student in UCLA. The short was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short in 2006, but it lost to The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation.

            The film opens with a mysterious scientist (Alan Oppenheimer) stitching together a rag doll like figure called a Stitchpunk. This opening brings to mind the opening of Coraline, which was released the same year. The difference is the opening of Coraline sets a creepy precedence for the rest of the film. This film’s opening sequence feels less creepy as it feels like a lonely old man is creating something he can interact with. Through narration from the Scientist, it’s revealed that in its pursuit to further technology humanity was destroyed itself and now the world is a barren wasteland. 9 (Elijah Wood) wakes up with no memory of who he is and mute. He goes outside where he’s started by the apocalyptic landscape. He hears something coming so he hides and bonks it on the head. It turns out to be a fellow Stitchpunk by the name of 2 (Martin Landau). 2 helps 9 regain his voice before they are attacked by a terrifying mechanical monster. 2 is captured in the ensuing battle and 9 is left alone. He gets rescued by 5 (John C. Reilly) and is quickly introduced to 1 (Christopher Plummer) and 8 (Fred Tatasciore). There 1 tells 9 the expositional story of how the Stitchpunks awoke to a world ripped straight out of The Matrix, where machines and humanity are at war with one another. Eventually humanity is wiped out leaving only the machines referred to as “the Beasts” and the Stitchpunks. 9 and 5 set out to rescue 2, they fin him in the Beast’s lair and their helped in taking down the Beast by 7 (Jennifer Connelly). 9 puts in the remaining part of a machine that sucks out the soul of 2. The machine comes to life and tries to kill 9, 7 and 5. They escape and travel back to 7’s lair 4 and 3. It’s revealed that the Scientist had built the machine, dubbed the brain as a way to build new machines. The Brain and its creations eventually turn on the humans following the machines being used for war purposes. The group joins back with the other Stitchpunks and they’re attacked by a machine created by the Brain. Their residence is destroyed leaving the Stitchpunks without a home and without shelter. The rest of the film centers around the Stitchpunks trying to survive and take down the machines.

            The film touches on the dangers of letting fear guide one’s actions This is best illustrated through the character of 1. 1 is so terrified of the outside world, that he forces all of the other Stitchpunks to hide and in the effort to save himself and his companions, he virtually imprisons them, The film also touches on how if great technology is put into the hands of the wrong people, it could have disastrous consequences. This is demonstrated when the scientist creates a machine that is meant to help humanity, instead the dictator bastardizes the project and turns it into a weapon of war. For a time, the plan works, that is until the machines turn on their creators and obliterate all of humanity.

            The creation of the Stitchpunks reminded me of the Homunculi from the Fullmetal Alchemist series, as both groups of characters are created by one being and both groups embody a particular trait. However, unlike the Homunculi, the Stitchpunks aren’t very interesting as characters. Conceptually they are interesting, but when put into practice, the characters fall into dumb, boring and generic stereotypes. Examples of this include 9 is the new guy, 3 and 4 are the geniuses, 7 is the rebel, 8 is the big strong brute and 2 is the kind elderly gentleman who gets axed off quickly. This is extremely frustrating as this idea could have worked. Had the story been stretched out to the length of a series, the characters could have been almost as interesting as the Homunculi from Fullmetal Alchemist, instead we’re treated to instantly forgettable character that we’ve seen time and time again.

            The animation of the Stitchpunks is rather jerky, but I interpreted this as a way to show the unnatural nature of the characters as they are not naturally created. The details of the character animation is quite exquisite. Each of the Stitchpunks are made with similar material, but their designs are unique, making each of the Stitchpunks instantly recognizable. The background animation is your typical post-apocalyptic setting, with a dulled color tone and dark cloudy skies.

            As this film is rated PG-13, it has themes that may frighten young viewers. The movie is very open about showing several human characters meeting their demise and that all the humans on the planet are now dead. Scenes involving the Stitchpunks getting their souls sucked out of their bodies are likely to inspire nightmare among young children. That being said, the film does take time to remember the peaceful soft scenes. There’s a particular memorable sequence where the Stitchpunks dance and relax, while listening to “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”.

            9 introduces its audience to new ideas and concepts that aren’t fully explored, resulting in a film riddled with exposition and characters that we as the audience hardly get to know. The film’s design is your basic post-apocalyptic wasteland, with minimal visual substance. This is a real shame as Tim Burton was a producer on this film, and while some of his films are lacking in characters and plot, his set and character designs are always visually interesting. While not a bad film, 9 lacks the awe and wonder of other films released at the time like Up, Coraline and The Princess and the Frog.

The Land Before Time 8/10

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G, 69m, 1988

With the Voice Talents of Gabriel Damon (Littlefoot), Candace Hutson (Cera), Judith Barsi (Ducky), Will Ryan (Petrie), Helen Shaver (Littlefoot’s Mother), Burke Byrnes (Cera’s Father), Bill Erwin (Littlefoot’s Grandfather) and Pat Hingle (The Narrator and Rooter). Directed by Don Bluth. Produced by Don Bluth, Gary Goldman and John Pomeroy. Screenplay by Stu Krieger, Judy Freudberg and Tony Geiss. Music by James Horner.

            The Land Before Time was the first film by Don Bluth that I ever saw. As a kid I was obsessed with dinosaurs, and as a kid I loved this film. I watched this film so many times that I must have driven my grandmother up the wall. I only saw a few of the sequels as a kid (I’ve since seen them all), but this film was by far my favorite. Revisiting this film as an adult, I found it to be more enjoyable than when I was a kid.

            The film opens with some beautiful sweeping shots of various dinosaurs, as a narrator informs the audience that the landscape is changing, and all the herds are heading towards the Great Valley. One of these herds is a family of Apatosaurses, nicknamed Longnecks in the film, watch as their single egg hatches. What happened to the other eggs as well as the father is left unanswered (yes, I know it’s revealed what happened to the father in the tenth movie). The hatching is named Littlefoot (Gabriel Damon). On his travels with his mother (Helen Shaver), his grandfather (Bill Erwin) and his grandmother, Littlefoot meets Cera a Threehorn (Triceratops). Cera’s father (Burke Byrnes) quickly informs the young dinosaurs that dinosaurs don’t play with dinosaurs outside their kind. One day they play with each other anyways and their attacked by the terrifying Sharptooth (Tyrannosaurs). Littlefoot’s mother comes to the rescue at the expense of her life. A great earthquake separates Littlefoot and Cera from their families, forcing them to travel to Great Valley alone. Along the way Littlefoot and Cera are joined by Ducky (Judith Barsi), a Bigmouth (Saurolophus), Petrie (Will Ryan) a Flyer (Pteranodon) and Spike a Spiketail (Stegosaurus).

            I found Littlefoot’s mom’s death to be far more powerful than Bambi’s mom’s death. My reasoning behind this in The Land Before Time, Littlefoot actually shows signs of prolonged grief. In Bambi, after a truly powerful sequence with muted sound and minimal dialogue, the film immediately cuts to a bright and colorful musical number. In The Land Before Time, Littlefoot actually talks about his feelings with other dinosaurs. Littlefoot refuses to eat anything for a while after his mother’s death. Littlefoot even forgets about his quest to reach the Great Valley, until he hears his mother’s voice telling him to go there. Littlefoot actually gets enraged when Cera calls his mother stupid. Compare this to Bambi, where the mother’s death is never mentioned again. Granted Bambi’s mother’s death plays a huge role in the sequel Bambi II, but we’re not here to judge a movie based on its sequels. The film even has the character Rooter (Pat Hingle) explain death to Littlefoot and as an extent, to kids. Very few animated films actually address death and dealing with grief. This film tackles the subject matter beautifully.

            The film also addresses the subject of prejudice. When Littlefoot and Cera first meet, Cera’s father is quick to tell the youngsters that dinosaurs don’t play with others outside their kind. This notion is then confirmed by Littlefoot’s mother. This prejudice rubs off on Cera and she refuses to travel with Littlefoot at first, as he’s not a Threehorn. At one-point Cera tells Littlefoot that her father told her that “flatheads have very small brains”. When Littlefoot first meets Ducky, he tells them they can’t travel together because she’s not a Longneck. Ducky was evidentially never taught this, so she ignores this notion. The message of the film is clearly that more can be accomplished if different species (or races) band together, more can be accomplished.

            The Land Before Time films wouldn’t become musicals until the direct-to-video films came about. This film has one song played during the end credits called “If We Hold On Together” by Diana Ross. The song is a very pleasant melody that is very similar to “Somewhere Out There” from An American Tail as both songs have pleasant lyrics and are performed well by their respected performers. The background music is also particularly good. The “Whispering Winds” number has become iconic in the franchise and is my favorite number in the film.

I find this film to be the best animated dinosaur film. It doesn’t resort to dumb dialogue and boring characters like Walking With Dinosaurs and Dinosaur. Admittedly I find “The Rite of Spring” segment from Fantasia, to be a better piece, however I understand that more people will like The Land Before Time, as the dinosaurs only appear for a short time in “The Rite of Spring” and many people will be turned off the segment by the absence of dialogue. The film also uses logic from “The Rite of Spring” as it features dinosaurs coexisting when they never would have met in real life. However, this film is not trying to go for accuracy, so I won’t fault the film on this decision. I also found the fight between Sharptooth and Littlefoot’s mother to be better than the fight in “The Rite of Spring”. In “The Rite of Spring” segment, the stegosaurus gets bitten multiple times and he hardly reacts to the pain. Littlefoot’s mom on the other hand limps away after she gets attacked and the look of horror on Cera and Littlefoot’s faces adds to the intensity of what’s going on onscreen.

This film was released the same day as the Disney animated feature Oliver and Company, and I find The Land Before Time to be stronger film. Oliver and Company is chocked full of product placements and the film feels dated with its design. The Land Before Time is also more daring to tackle darker subject matter and it handles them better than most Disney films.

            While not my favorite Don Bluth film (my favorite is The Secret of Nimh), the film is super enjoyable with memorable characters, a well-executed plot and morals that are applicable to audiences of all ages.

Dinosaur 6.5/10

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PG, 82m, 2000

With the Voice Talents of D. B. Sweeney (Aladar), Alfre Woodard (Plio), Ossie Davis (Yar), Max Casella (Zini), Evan Sabara (Young Zini), Hayden Panettiere (Suri), Samuel E. Wright (Kron), Julianna Margulies (Neera) Joan Plowright (Baylene), Della Reese (Eema) and Peter Siragusa (Bruton). Directed by Ralph Zondag and Eric Leighton. Produced by Pam Marsden. Screenplay by John Harrison and Robert Nelson Jacobs. Music by James Newton Howard.

            Like many kids, I was obsessed with dinosaurs. I had numerous dinosaur toys and books. Naturally when this film came out I was ecstatic. I loved “The Rite of Spring” segment from Fantasia and I adored The Land Before Time, so I was excited to see another dinosaur movie (my parents didn’t let me watch the Jurassic Park films). Early trailers of the film showed the first few minutes of the film and they looked astounding to me. As a kid, I liked this movie. As an adult, I find it rather dull.

            The opening to this film is one of the best openings in a Disney film. The film opens with a curious Parasaurolophus looking through various Dinosaur’s nests. Unfortunately, its curiosity attracts the attention of a Carnotaurus who chases the terrified Parasaurolophus. The Carnotaurus causes havoc to reign as it looks for food. The approaching beasts causes a mother Iguanodon to abandon her nest. While she’s away an Oviraptor snatches the only surviving egg and is about to make a meal of the egg when another Oviraptor tries to snatch the egg away. A struggle ensues and the egg falls into a river. The egg then travels until it’s picked up by a Pteranodon. The Pteranodon accidentally drops the egg on Lemur Island where a tribe of lemurs live. A young female lemur named Plio (Alfre Woodard) cautiously investigates the fallen object, despite the urging of her father Yar (Ossie Davis), to leave it alone. The object is revealed to be an egg, that contains a baby Iguanodon, who miraculously suffered no injury from his long journey or the long fall. The lemurs decide to raise the baby dinosaur, whom they name Aladar. Aladar grows up and is enjoying his life amongst the lemurs. However, one day a massive meteor interrupts the lemurs’ mating ritual and destroys the lemurs’ home. Now only Aladar, Yar, Plio, Suri (Hayden Panettiere) and Zini (Max Casella) are left. They eventually come across a huge herd of diverse dinosaurs led by the tyrannical Kron (Samuel E. Wright). The herd is on their way to the Nesting Grounds, a place believed to be untouched by the meteor’s destruction. On top of having no access to water of food, the herd also has to watch out for predators, like the dreaded Carnotaurus.

            As I stated earlier the opening to this movie is amazing. However, this actually serves as a detriment to the rest of the film. The opening starts off with such promise with sweeping shots of gorgeous landscapes and interesting looking dinosaurs. Then we get a cool battle over the egg, which results in the egg tumbling down before landing with a thud. Then the lemurs talk, and things go quickly downhill. This film suffers from the same problem as James Cameron’s Avatar. For its time the visuals look amazing, but the story and characters are cliched and boring. Aladar is your basic wise cracking nice guy. Neera is your basic love interest. Kron is your basic unbending no compromise leader. Bruton is your basic flawed grumpy character that learns the power of friendship. Suri is your basic doe-eyed kid, Plio is your basic mom character and Yar is your basic grumpy grandpa character. One thing that really bothers me about this movie is the character Url. Url is an Ankylosaurus that acts like a pet. Why? In The Land Before Time, Spike was portrayed as mentally slower than the other characters, but the film wasn’t insulting to him. In fact, if anything, The Land Before Time has a good message of treating those different than you like everybody else. Url didn’t even have a reason for being in the film. If you took him out the film would lose nothing. In The Land Before Time, Spike helps out, he’s not a one note character that contributes nothing to the plot. I don’t think it was the filmmakers’ intent to portray a mentally handicapped dinosaur in a negative light, but I don’t get why Url is treated as a pet. The carnivorous characters, I understand making them mute and brutish. It’s lazy filmmaking, but it’s quite common to make the carnivorous characters mute when your characters are herbivores. Speaking of the carnivorous characters, I loved how they had a different carnivorous dinosaur be the villain in this movie. So many films like The Land Before Time, Jurassic Park and “The Rite Of Spring” segment from Fantasia, use the Tyrannosaurus Rex, as the big bad (even if the dinosaur wouldn’t have been in that time period or in that area). In Dinosaur, the big bad is a Carnotaurus. This makes the film feel more unique with a villain that looks visually interesting and one that has received few appearances in film.

            I like the gritty realism of this film. They don’t hold back when it comes to showing what would happen if a predator catches a dinosaur. They also showed several dinosaurs falling over and dying from lack of food and water. This is very similar to what Disney did earlier in “The Rite of Spring”segment in Fantasia. When Aladar and his friends find water, the herd nearly tramples one another in order to quench their thirst. The meteor scene is a very poignant scene. The imagery is reminiscent of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. When the meteor destroys Lemur Island, Aladar and his family take a moment to mourn the loss of their home and loved ones. However, I do feel the scene would have been more powerful, had a named character died in the destruction.

            While visually stunning (for its time), the film is hindered by generic characters and av bland story. Although the film does have little moments where it shines through, they can’t save the bloated mess.

Fantasia 2000 7.5/10

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G, 75m, 1999

Starring: Steve Martin, James Lavine, Itzhak Perlman, Quincy Jones, Bette Midler, James Earl Jones, Penn Jillette, Teller, Angela Lansbury, Wayne Allwine (Mickey Mouse), Tony Anselmo (Donald Duck), Russi Taylor (Daisy Duck) and Eric Goldberg. Directed by James Algar, Gaëtan Brizzi, Paul Brizzi, Hendel Butoy, Francis Glebas, Eric Goldberg, Don Hahn, and Pixote Hunt. Produced by Lisa C. Cook, Roy E. Disney, Donald W. Ernst, Patty Hicks and David Lovegren. Screenplay by Don Hahn, Eric Goldberg, Gaëtan Brizzi, Paul Brizzi, Perce Pearce, Carl Fallberg, Joe Grant, Irene Mecchi and David Reynolds. Music by James Levine and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

            During the production of Fantasia, Walt Disney envisioned the film as an ongoing process that would never truly be completed.  Walt originally wanted a new Fantasia to be released every few years with new segments replacing to the original segments. Unfortunately, due to the failure of Fantasia during its original run and the onset of World War 2, Walt never fulfilled his wish to make another film like Fantasia. Released fifty-nine years after its predecessor, Fantasia 2000 has one of the longest gaps between films.

            Like its predecessor, Fantasia 2000 contains eight segments. The first segment is “Symphony No. 5” by Ludwig Von Beethoven. The segment tries very hard to be like the “Toccata and Fugue” segment in the original Fantasia, in the sense that it tries to set animation to music but have no definite story. The segment does succeed with combining animation with music, but it fails at living up to the abstract beauty of “Toccata and Fugue”.  The next segment is “Pines of Rome” by Ottorino Respighi. This segment features a family of CGI flying whales. While learning to fly, a baby whale cheeses off some birds and it gets separated from its parents. The rest of the segments centers around the baby whale trying to reunite with its family. The segment does look visually interesting, but when you really get down to it, the segment is kind of boring. The next segment is “Rhapsody in Blue” by George Gershwin. The segment takes place in New York City during the Great Depression. The segment follows the lives of four people. The first character we’re introduced to is Duke, who is an African American construction worker, who dreams of playing the drums. The next character is Joe, who is experiencing the harshness of the Great Depression. His dream is of course to find a job. The next character is a little girl named Rachel. Rachel’s parents are evidentially perfectionists as they send their daughter to ballet, choir, tennis, swimming, piano, violin, art and gymnastics lessons. Her dream is to live happily with her parents and play with her red ball. The last character introduced is John, who is married to a snobbish lady who loves to spoil her dog. He just wants to have fun. (Don’t we all?) John is modeled after Animation Historian John Culhane, who had previously been the model for Mr. Snoops from The Rescuers. Interestingly enough, John wrote a book on the making of Fantasia and Fantasia 2000.The segment is designed in the style of Al Hirschfeld’s caricatures. This style works really well, and it really enhances the look and feel of the segment. The next segment is The Steadfast Tin Solider, based on a more light-hearted version of the fairy tale of the same name by Hand Christian Anderson, set to “Piano Concerto No. 2, Allegro, Opus 102” by Dmitri Shostakovich. The segment mostly utilizes cg animation making it resemble a less attractive version of Toy Story.  The segment tells the story of a tin solider who is missing a leg. One day he sees a beautiful porcelain ballerina with one leg. It’s then revealed to him that she was just practicing her balance. This upsets the tin solider, as he believes she won’t like him due to him only having one leg. The ballerina shows that she doesn’t care about his disability and the two hit it off. They are interrupted by a jealous jack-in-the-box and a fight ensues. During the fight the ballerina is trapped in a glass case and the tin solider is knocked out of an open window. The rest of the segment follows the tin solider and his journey to get back home to rescue the ballerina. The segment does have a good message of don’t assume others will judge you harshly due to some form of disability. The next segment is the “Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns. The segment features a flamingo playing with a yo-yo, much to his friends’ annoyance. One thing that I noticed was while James Earl Jones was introducing the piece, a figurine of what appears to be Mufasa from The Lion King, appears behind James. This is interesting because James Earl Jones voiced Mufasa. It’s by far the shortest segment. The next segment is the only returning segment from the original Fantasia, “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” by Paul Dukas. The next segment is “Pomp and Circumstance – Marches 1, 2, 3 and 4” by Edward Elgar. The segment feature Donald and Daisy Duck as helpers for Noah, from The Book of Genesis. While doing a final head count Donald notices Daisy is unaccounted for so he goes outside the ark to look for her. Naturally they walk right past each other, but they can’t see each other due to an elephant blocking their view. A giant wave of water interrupts Donald’s search and Daisy, who is watching from a window covers her eyes, so she misses seeing Donald clamber into the ark. The rest of the segment follows the basic story of Noah’s Ark, with Donald and Daisy just missing each other until the very end. This makes absolutely no sense to me as the Ark is big, but I imagine they’d pass each other at least once. (It’s not like they can really leave the ark) Also this means that neither Donald nor Daisy talked to Noah or his family about losing the love of their life. They’re shown to really care about each other, so it baffles me that they never once talked to somebody about it. So, this means they either kept quiet or Noah and his family are jerks. The segment also features a cameo of Mickey and Minnie Mouse (they’re located the farthest right of the group on animals right after the rains stop and everybody goes out for some fresh air) The last segment is “Firebird Suite—1919 Version” by Igor Stravinsky, whose other work “The Rite of Spring”, appeared in the original Fantasia. This segment is by far my favorite. The story starts with an elk waking up a Sprite, so she can awaken the forest from its wintry slumber. We are then given some gorgeously vibrant animation of the Sprite creating spring. She notices that her powers don’t work on this smoking mountain, so she goes to investigate. She awakens the Firebird, whose raw power and fury is reminiscent of Chernabog form the original Fantasia. The Firebird lays waste to the forest killing virtually everything except for the elk. The elk revives the Sprite and she revives the forest. The influence of the 1980 eruption of Mount Saint Helens and the imagery of the Firebird’s rampage looks apocalyptically hellish.

            Despite having the same number of segments as its predecessor (eight), Fantasia 2000 is much shorter than Fantasia. This is because all of the segments, (save for the “Sorcerer’s Apprentice”) are vastly shorter than the segments in Fantasia. This is a gigantic hindrance to the film. In the “Firebird Suite”, the segment introduces some interesting ideas and visuals, but then it just kind of ends without explaining who the Firebird is or what happened to him. “The Carnival of the Animals”segment is cute and colorful, but it only lasts for a few minutes. This is not long enough for the audience to truly care about what’s going on.

The segments of this film are much more colorful and child friendly than the original Fantasia. In the original Fantasia colossal prehistoric beasts fought to the death, a winged demon brought forth an apocalyptic hell, Zeus rained down his gleeful fury on characters from Classical Mythology. In Fantasia 200 a flamingo entertains himself with yo-yos, Donald Duck engages in slapstick and a love story between a one-legged tin solider and a ballerina. I feel like this film is like a Classics Illustrated version of Fantasia. The film certainly does have its darker moments, most notably in the “Firebird Suite”. However, the film lacks the sophistication and grace that the original had and instead caters more to children. This is most notable when Bette Midler describes Salvador Dali as the “limp watches guy”.

While not as grand and visually pleasing as the original Fantasia, Fantasia 2000 does have great looking animation and some interesting stories. Although Fantasia 2000 does feel like a Classics Illustrated version of Fantasia the film is sure to delight kids and be entertaining for adults.

Fantasia 9/10

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G, 126m, 1940

Starring Deems Taylor (Master of Ceremony), Leopold Stokowski (Conductor), and Walt Disney (Mickey Mouse) Directed by Samuel Armstrong, James Algar, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield, Ben Sharpsteen, David D. Hand, Hamilton Luske, Jim Handley, Ford Beebe, T. Hee, Norman Ferguson and Wilfred Jackson. Produced by Walt Disney and Ben Sharpsteen. Screenplay by Joe Grant Dick Huemer. Music by Leopold Stokowski and The Philadelphia Orchestra.

            This film is simply astounding. The very idea of combining classical music and animation is a wonderful concept. Unlike the Silly Symphonies series, which was music set to animation, Fantasia is music that is set to animation. Like many people, I was introduced to the works of Beethoven, Bach and Tchaikovsky through this film and I believe this film is a perfect introduction to classical music

            The premise for this film is nothing new after all, the studio has been synchronizing music with animation since the 1929 Silly Symphonies short The Skeleton Dance. However, each segment feels like a much more advanced version of a Silly Symphonies cartoon. The film opens in a concert hall with the orchestra prepping for the concert just before music critic Deems Taylor steps up to perform the role of master of ceremony, introducing each segment that is about to appear on screen. The first segment is “Toccata and Fugue in D Minor” by Johann Sebastian Bach. The segment begins with live action footage of the orchestra set with colorful lights and dark shadows. The segment then fades into abstract lines, shapes and colors. This is meant to emulate what might go through someone’s head as they sit through a concert hall and they’re beginning to nod off during the performance with the musicians and their instruments fading into the abstract. The next segment is “The Nutcracker Suite” by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. This segment features fairies, mushrooms, flowers and fish in a dance segment that reflects the changing of the seasons from summer to winter. The next segment is “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” by Paul Dukas. This segment is based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s poem, Die Zauberlehrling (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice). The segment stars Mickey Mouse as a plucky ambitious apprentice to his mater Yen Sid (Disney spelled backwards). After his master goes upstairs to rest, Mickey can’t resist the temptation to put on his master’s magical hat and make a broom sentient and to grow a pair of arms. Mickey tasks the broom to fill a basin with water. Like his master before him, Mickey falls asleep and has a beautifully animated dream sequence, only to be awoken by a pool of water caused by the broom overfilling the basin. Mickey tries to stop the broom, even going as far as to cut the broom multiple times with an ax. This causes the broom to multiply and the brooms continue to fill the basin (long since filled to capacity) until Yen Sid arrives to return everything back to normal. The next segment is “The Rite of Spring” by Igor Stravinsky. This segment covers the creation of the universe to the destruction of the dinosaurs. Some might find fault in the inaccuracy in the assembly of dinosaurs, most notably in the epic climatic battle sequence between a stegosaurus and a Tyrannosaurus rex, given that neither dinosaur would have ever met, as the pair lived in different time periods. Following “The Rite of Spring”, we get an interesting intermission sequence where the orchestra actually gets up to leave and the curtain closes, just like it would at an actual concert. When the musicians return, Deems Taylor introduces the soundtrack, which is essentially a humorously stylized demonstration of how sound is rendered on film is shown. This is done by having a straight white line, change form, shape and even color depending on the instrument being played. Some might find this segment to be boring, I found it to be an amazing display of giving personality animation (which is to say, animation that has its own personality) to a visual representation of sound. The next segment is “The Pastoral Symphony” by Ludwig van Beethoven. This segment features Greco-Roman mythological creatures and characters such as fawns, centaurs, cherubs and unicorns (I know that unicorns were not featured in Greek mythology, they were instead depicted in accounts of natural history, because Greek writers of natural history believed unicorns to be real). We also get to see some gods from classical mythology such as Bacchus Zeus, Vulcan, Iris, Apollo, Morpheus and Diana. The next segment is “The Dance of the Hours” by Amilcare Ponchielli. This segment is a comical ballet featuring groups of animals representing different times of the day. This segment, like “The Nutcracker Suite”, is very similar to The Silly Symphonies shorts in terms of tone and animation. The final segments are “Night on Bald Mountain” by Modest Mussorgsky and “Ave Maria” by Franz Schubert. These two musical pieces are combined into one segment because the two are such polar opposites that they offset themselves perfectly. The segment opens with the demonic Chernabog raising the dead and evil spirits to torment them and have them dance for him before all are driven back by the sound of Angelus bells as night fades to dawn. A line of robed monks holding candles make their way through a forest into the ruins of a cathedral while a chorus beautifully sings “Ave Maria”. This segment is by far the darkest and the most beautiful. This segment will frighten many younger children with its ghastly depiction of Chernabog tormenting the damned in a hellish manner. It wouldn’t surprise me if Christian churches used this segment to demonstrate the horrors of hell. Some might find the peaceful slow-moving “Ave Maria” segment to be boring, following the thrilling and climatic “Night on Bald Mountain”, but I found the segment to be enjoyable and a beautiful way to end such a monumental film.

            The animation on this film is simply stellar. Each segment has its own unique feel and animation style. In “The Rite of Spring”segment, the camera angle is kept low giving the audience an impression that these creatures are larger than life. I also appreciate how the dinosaurs weren’t depicted as cartoony looking. Instead the animators drew them as big lumbering creatures acting like science believed they did when the film was released.

            Fantasia was the first film released in stereophonic sound. The new sound system was dubbed Fantasound. Despite being innovative, Fantasound actually hurt the box office performance of Fantasia. This is because many theaters were ill equipped to effectively play the film as it was intended and as a result the initial run of Fantasia was more like a side show instead of a wide theatrical release. The film was also severally impacted financially because the European box office was shut down due to World War 2. Walt Disney wanted Fantasia to be an ongoing project that would continue to evolve and continue to push the artistic boundaries of animation. Unfortunately, due to the film’s poor box office reception, the idea was scrapped until 1999 when Disney released Fantasia 2000.

            Some might find this film to be too dull given that there’s no dialogue in the film except for Deems Taylor introducing the next segment and a congratulatory exchange between Mickey Mouse and Leopold Stokowski. I however am a firm believer that a film doesn’t have to have a lot of dialogue to make it a great film. Film is a visual medium; and so many filmmakers seem to have forgotten this and try to rely too heavily on characters talking about something when it would have been much more powerful to have shown the audience the event. Others might find the use of classical music to be unappealing to them and that’s perfectly fine, everybody has their own taste when it comes to music and are entitled to their own opinion. If you’re like me and actually enjoy classical music, then give this film a watch to experience dazzling animation set to great music.

            This film has been described as the perfect marriage of music and animation by several Disney historians and I couldn’t agree more with this statement. This film is the perfect example of an animated film that legitimizes animation as an art form.

Hercules 8/10

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G, 93m, 1997

With the Voices Talents of Tate Donovan (Hercules or Herc), Susan Edan (Megara or Meg), Danny DeVito (Philoctetes or Phil), James Woods (Hades), Bobcat Goldthwait (Pain), Matt Frewer (Panic), Rip Torn (Zeus), Samantha Eggar (Hera), Paul Shaffer (Hermes), and Charlton Heston (Narrator). Directed by John Musker and Ron Clements. Produced By Ron Musker, John Clements and Alice Dewey. Screenplay by Ron Clements, John Musker, Donald McEnery, Bab Shaw and Irene Mecchi. Music by Alan Menken and David Zippel

            Hercules marks the second time the Disney company has adapted classical mythology for their animated features, the first being “The Pastoral Symphony” segment in the 1940 film Fantasia. While this film is based on classical mythology, the characters are not the characters featured in Bullfinch’s Mythology or Hamilton’s Mythology.

The film opens in the vividly colorful land of Mount Olympus, where Zeus and Hera (Rip Torn and Samantha Eggar) have thrown a party for their son Hercules, (I did say that the characters are different than their classical mythological counterparts.) when the party is crashed by Hades (James Woods) who is resentful that he has to be in charge of the Underworld while everyone else gets to gallivant on Mount Olympus. (Of course, Hades is the villain, he’s the god of the Underworld for Pete’s Sake) After learning that his plans to take over Olympus would fail if Hercules was to fight against him, Hades sends his minions Pain And Panic (Bobcat Goldthwait and Matt Frewer) to kidnap baby Herc, turn him mortal by potion and then kill him. Since the movie would only be a few minutes long if they succeeded, Pain and Panic are interrupted before Hercules can finish the bottle, because of this Hercules still retains his god like strength. Hercules is found by a childless couple (Hal Holbrook and Barbara Barrie) and is raised knowing nothing of his biological family. Young Herc (Tate Donovan) grows into the awkward, clumsy, shy nerd archetype that was so popular in the 1990s, due to his immense strength, he’s isolated from everyone around him and during the “I Want” song, Herc expresses how all he wants is to feel like he belongs. Hercules goes to the temple of Zeus in hopes of getting some answers as to where he came from, the statue of Zeus suddenly comes alive and informs Herc about his true parentage and in order to return to Mount Olympus, he must prove himself to be a true hero. Hercules sets out with Pegasus, a winged horse created by Zeus, to find the satyr Philoctetes (Danny DeVito) so Hercules can receive the proper training in order to be a true hero.

            Meanwhile, Hades having built up a stockpile of minions for the upcoming takeover of Olympus has learned that Hercules is still alive (you’d think with him being the god of the Underworld, he’d know if Hercules was dead or not). In order to discover Herc’s weakness, Hades sends in Megara (Susan Edan) to use her womanly charms to discover Hercules’ weakness only for Meg to fall for Hercules.

            With the exception of Hades, all the characters in this film are rather cliched. Hercules is your standard good guy muscle head. He may not be very bright but he’s goofy and he’s got a heart of gold so its hard not to like him. Megara is your standard snarky love interest. She has no real character identity apart from being jaded due to her getting dumped by her boyfriend after she sold her soul to Hades to save his life. Phil is your basic coach character. He’s basically Mickey from the Rocky movies. James Woods as Hades is simply one of the best aspects of this film. By the way he’s animated one would think that Hades, would be a threatening slow-moving demonic force, like Chernabog from Fantasia or the Horned King from The Black Cauldron. Instead, Hades is more like an energetic zany character that talks like a used car salesperson. By all accounts this should not work for the god of the Underworld, however James Woods was able to give a masterful performance. Thus, enabling the animators more artistic freedom that allowed for a very entertaining character. The rest of the characters are forgettable and bland, which is a real shame because the animation on the Olympian gods is amazing. Each god is drawn in such a way that if one has any knowledge of classical mythology, one could instantly recognize each god.

            I mentioned earlier that Hercules is only loosely based on the character from Greek mythology. In fact, his name is taken from the Roman spelling instead of the Greek spelling which is Heracles. In truth, Hercules has more in common with Superman than his Greek counterpart. Both have to deal with the double-edged sword of fame, both are raised by kind people who aren’t their biological parents, both find out their true parentage and use their powers to fight evil and protect humanity, both have snarky love interests, and both are adorkable. I suppose this is rather fitting because many superheroes from comics were inspired by characters from classical mythology. The film also draws heavily on sports movies, most notably the Rocky films with some scenes looking like they were taken directly from either the Rocky films or the early Superman films. This, in effect, hurts the film because it’s just imitating better films instead of being its own thing. This film version of the Hercules myth is essentially a modernization of classical mythology.

            While Hercules may not be the best film made during the Disney Renaissance, it still has that certain magic that will leave audiences satisfied.

Pinocchio 9/10

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G, 88m, 1940

With the Voices Talents of Dickie Jones (Pinocchio), Cliff Edwards (Jiminy Cricket), Christian Rub (Geppetto), Walter Catlett (Honest John Foulfellow), Charles Judels (Stomboli and the Coachman), Frankie Darro (Lampwick) and Evelyn Venable (The Blue Fairy). Directed by Norman Ferguson, T. Hee, Wilfred Jackson, Jack Kinney, Hamilton Luske, Bill Roberts and Ben Sharpsteen. Produced by Walt Disney. Screenplay by Ted Sears, Otto Englander, Webb Smith, William Cottrell, Joseph Sabo, Erdman Penner, Aurelius Battaglia and Bill Peet. Music by Leigh Harline and Paul J. Smith. Based on the novel of the same name by Carlo Collodi.

            This is the Disney Studio’s second animated feature film after Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and the confidence that the filmmakers had while making this film really shines.  By watching this film, one can tell that the filmmakers were attempting to surpass their previous work with this picture, and I believe they succeeded in this endeavor.

            The story is based on the Italian novel of the same name by Carlo Collodi. The film follows Pinocchio (Dickie Jones), a wooden puppet, who is brought to life by the Blue Fairy (Evelyn Venable) in order to fulfill Geppetto’s (Christian Rub) wish that Pinocchio could become a real boy. Being only a day old, Pinocchio is an easy mark for characters such as Honest John (Walter Catlett) and Stromboli (Charles Judels), who wish to cash in on the novelty of a wooden puppet who can move without the aid of strings. Pinocchio is assisted in life by Jiminy Cricket (Cliff Edwards), who is appointed Pinocchio’s conscience by the Blue Fairy.

            The characters of this film are an absolute delight. The character of Pinocchio is portrayed as this kind-hearted naïve kid, and this really works to the film’s advantage because it makes the character of Pinocchio more realistic. If an inanimate object suddenly became sentient, that character would most likely be rather gullible. The character of Jiminy Cricket also adds a layer of comic relief by serving as a contemporary American wise cracking character. Many animated films, and many live action films for that matter, make the mistake of having a comic relief character be a one note character, whose sole purpose in the film is to be funny and provide nothing to the plot. Often times, this translates out to a sloppy, imbecilic, rude unlikeable character.  In the case of Jiminy Cricket, his contemporary observations add a sense of personality to the character.  

            While the animation in Snow White is by no means bad, the animation of Pinocchio is far superior. The backgrounds and character designs of Pinocchio are sharper and more defined than they were in Snow White. As was the case in Snow White, great detail is added to enhance the overall quality of the animation. In Geppetto’s workshop, the wood carved items look positively stunning. Instead of having generic clocks and music boxes, each clock is its own individual item with its own theme.

Unlike a lot of animated films, Pinocchio is not afraid to take risks. The film cleverly shows that the world isn’t always a bright and cheerful place. There are people out there who are willing to deceive and take advantage of naïve, good-natured people and this film knows it. This film also does something that most animated films would never dream of trying and that’s depicting minors drinking alchol and smoking tobacco. Granted the film is quick to show this in a negative light, with the message that this is what bad children do and this is what happens to them (they turn into donkeys). In most films, the villain of the film is shown getting his or her comeuppance at the end of the film. Pinocchio does not do this. None of the villains receive any kind of punishment for their dastardly deeds. The film is not afraid to show the darker side of humanity, and in real life evil people do not always get punished. Some children might find some scenes in this movie such as the donkey transformation sequence and scenes involving Monstro the whale, to be too scary for them. However, I believe that deep down most children love to get scared from time to time. In my opinion the jackass transformation scene is more terrifying than most kills found in horror films such as The Nightmare on Elm Street films and the Friday the 13th franchise. I say this because so many horror films feature a character getting axed off (some quite literally) that it’s become cliched. Honestly, how many films do you know of that has children forcibly turned into beats of burden that get sold to places like salt mines and circuses? If that’s not terrifying enough the boys never change back into humans, they’re stuck as donkeys for the rest of their lives. Another terrifying thought is the villains are never stopped, so who knows how many more hapless boys they doomed to a life of servitude.

When a new and inexperienced company releases a successful first product, often times the company will try to make the second product even better. This frequently results in the company releasing a hollow, bloated mess that is a disappointment critically and financially. This is known as the second-system syndrome. Other times, the company will try to recreate their first product and the end result is something that feels hollow and gives off a feeling that the product lacks any real human touch. This happens because the creators of the product do not possess a clear understanding of what made their product special in the first place. Pinocchio does not suffer from these problems at all. The filmmakers used what they learned from Snow White and applied those lessons to create something that can be enjoyed and treasured for generations to come.

Barefoot Gen 9/10

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TV-PG, 83m, 1983

With the Voices Talents of Catherine Battistone (Gen Nakaoka), Barbara Goodson (Ryuta Hondo), Kirk Thornton (Daikichi Nakaoka), Iona Morris (Kimie Nakaoka), Brianne Siddall (Shinjee Nakaoka), Wendee Lee (Eiko Nakaoka), Michael McConnohie (Hidezo), Ardwright Chamberlain (Mr. Pak), Dan Worren (Seji Yoshida) and Joyce Kurtz (Hana). Directed by Mori Masaki. Produced by Yasuteru Iwase, Keiji Nakazawa and Takanori Yoshimoto. Screenplay by Keiji Nakazawa. Music by Kentaro Haneda. Based on Barefoot Gen by Keiji Nakazawa.

            Barefoot Gen is based on a manga series (Japanese comic books) of the same name by Keiji Nakazawa. He based the story on his experiences as a Hiroshima survivor. This makes the story feel much more personal and real. The film opens in war-torn Japan, where the residents of Hiroshima are feeling the devastating effects of prolonged war. Like many families, the Nakaoka family are forced to live on meager rations due to Japan having a massive food shortage. This proves especially hard on Gen’s mother, Kimie (Iona Morris), who is heavily pregnant and is suffering from malnutrition. The residents of Hiroshima are well aware of the bombing raids that are devastating other Japanese cities, but for some reason Hiroshima has not been bombed yet. This leads Daikichi, Gen’s father (Kirk Thornton), to wonder if they’re planning something special for Hiroshima. On August 6, 1945 Gen heads off to school with his friend, while is family is inside the house. At 8:15 AM the bomb goes off killing thousands of people. Gen is knocked unconscious and wakes to find his friend is dead. Gen runs back to his house and sees his mother desperately trying to raise a beam that has Daikichi, Shinji (Brianna Siddall) and Eiko (Wendee Lee) pinned under the burning house. Gen tries in vain to help his mother free the rest of the family. This leads to a very emotional scene where Daikichi tells Gen to take his mother and run to safety while Shinji and Eiko scream in pain. Gen drags his mother to safety where she gives birth to a baby girl named Tomoko. A few days later Gen and his mother are sifting through their destroyed house to recover the remains of the rest of their family, when they learn that Japan has just surrendered, and the war is now over (the date is August 15 to those who are keeping track). While eating a meager meal later that night, a small boy named Ryuta Hondo (Barbara Goodson) tries to steal some food. Ryuta looks exactly like Shinji, and because Ryuta no longer has a family, Gen and his mother invite Ryuta to live with them. The rest of the movie is about the small family trying to survive in this new hostile world.

            Needless to say, this movie is not meant for young children. This film has some very disturbing imagery. Right after the bomb goes off, we see a terrified little child holding a balloon, disintegrate in a horrific way (by this I mean her clothes and skin are literally blasted off while her eyes melt from their sockets). This is followed by a scene where a dog tries in vain to escape the blast. The dog doesn’t go quietly either, it whimpers in pain as it melts away. I actually find this scene to be important because when referencing the victims of the atomic bombs, animals are often omitted when it comes to Hiroshima and this scene showed that the blast killed indiscriminately. There’s also a scene involving what I call tasteful partial nudity. This scene involves a woman who has just lost her own baby offering Tomoko (Gen’s baby sister) her breasts. The reason why Kimie (Gen’s mother) is unable to feed her baby is because Kimie is so malnourished, she is unable to produce enough milk. I found this scene to be particularly powerful because it shows that even in the shadow of tragedy, the best of humanity is still able to shine through.

            This film makes excellent use of sound. Right after the bomb is dropped the film goes absolutely silent while the infamous flash is reflected against the characters we have come to know. There’s a song played at the end of the film called “Doko kare Kite Doko e Iku no Ka” by Harry, and the song plays as a paper boat lantern sails down river as Gen’s family silently prays. I found this to be the perfect ending for the film because it symbolizes that even though the family has lost almost everything, they still have hope for the future.

            Just as Saving Private Ryan is the perfect film to teach about D-Day, this film is the perfect tool for teaching about the atomic bombs and their aftermath. The film takes time to depict and talk about the horrors that the bombs brought. This is shown on physical and psychological levels. In one scene, Gen and Ryuta get a job from a man to take care his brother who has been heavily burned by the blast. At first the guy acts like a jerk, while the boys treat him with kindness. Eventually they both get so fed up with the guy that Gen slaps him. The guy calls them back and says its ok if they want to slap him some more. It’s then revealed that the guy has been treated as a corpse for so long that he’s thankful for any kind of human touch even a slap. This scene is a real testament to how great this film is and demonstrating that the effects of the bomb weren’t always physical.

            This film along with Grave of the Fireflies can best be described as the greatest films I never want to see again. While this film has good animation, great characters and a very touching story, its rather hard to sit through. With other sad films like Bambi, Up and Wolf Children, the audience doesn’t have a truly hard time sitting through the film because they know two things. The first is they know that the characters in this film are bound to get a happy ending, and the second is the film is not real. With Barefoot Gen, the audience really can’t think that. The film is based on an actual historical event where thousands of people, including young children, perished. This makes the film even more touching because it depicts what an often forgotten about people had to endure.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 9/10

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G, 83m, 1937

With the Voices Talents of Adriana Caselotti (Snow White), Lucille La Verne (Queen Grimhelde/Witch), Harry Stockwell (The Prince), Roy Atwell (Doc), Pinto Colvig (Grumpy and Sleepy), Otis Harlan (Happy), Scotty Mattraw (Bashful), Billy Gilbert (Sneezy), Stuart Buchanan (The Huntsman) and Moroni Olsen (The Magic Mirror). Directed by William Cottrell, David Hand, Wilfred Jackson, Larry Morey, Perce Pearce and Ben Sharpsteen. Produced by Walt Disney. Screenplay by Ted Sears, Richard Creedon, Otto Englander, Dick Rickard, Earl Hurd, Merrill De Maris, Dorothy Blank and Webb Smith. Music by Frank Churchill, Leigh Harline and Paul J. Smith. Based on the fairy tale of the same name by the Brothers Grimm.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is often billed as the first full-length animated feature film; this is not true. The first full-length animated film is a 1917 Argentinian film called El Apostol (The Apostle). The film was unfortunately destroyed when producer Ferderico Valle’s film studio burned down. The oldest surviving full-length animated film is a 1926 German film called Die Abenteur des Prinzen Achmed (The Adventures of Prince Achmed). Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was however, the first cel animated feature film, as well as the first animated feature film to be produced in the United States.

The story is a lighter version of the fairy tale of the same name by the Brothers Grimm. Snow White (Adriana Caselotti) is forced to work as a scullery maid due to her stepmother’s jealousy for Snow White’s beauty. After consulting her Magic Mirror (Moroni Olsen) , Queen Grimhelde (Lucille La Verne) discovers that Snow White is now the fairest in the land, so she sends her huntsman (Stuart Buchanan) to kill Snow White. Upon learning about this nefarious plot, Snow White flees into the forest. In the forest, she comes across some woodland critters who guide her to a little cottage that is inhabited by seven dwarfs.  The dwarfs allow Snow White to stay after coming home to a cleaned house and receiving a nice dinner. Meanwhile, Queen Grimhelde, having discovered that Snow White is alive, transforms herself into an old hag and sets out with a poisoned apple that will put Snow White in a deep sleep that can only be broken by “true love’s first kiss”.

Walt Disney often used his cartoon short series The Silly Symphonies to experiment with animation techniques. These experiments lead to the success of the look of Snow White. The backgrounds are European inspired, and they look phenomenal. I particularly enjoyed the little touches the background artists added. In the dwarfs’ cottage, objects such as chairs, steps and the faucet are designed to resemble either animals or humans. The look of this film was enhanced with the use of the Multiplane Camera. The Multiplane Camera is a device that is used to give animation a sense of depth. It accomplishes this by taking multiple pieces of artwork and by moving them ever so slightly, giving the audience is given an illusion of depth.

The characters in this film are just a joy to watch. Instead of focusing solely on Snow White, the filmmakers gave each of the characters their own time to shine. Disney knew that for this film to work he had to give each of the dwarfs their own personal personality. Disney also wisely avoided having the dwarfs’ actions reflect solely as their namesake describes. For example, Happy (Otis Harlan) isn’t happy all the time, in one scene he’s shown openly weeping and Grumpy (Pinto Colvig) isn’t always in a foul mood, in several scenes he’s shown smiling. One character I did have a problem with was the Prince (Harry Stockwell). This is because he had no real purpose in the film except to serve as a love interest for Snow White. This makes the character come across as a shoehorned plot device to further the story.

As with many Disney films, the soundtrack to this film is stellar. Each song is used for a purpose in this film. Many animated films make the mistake of having a song, often a pop song just for the sake of having a big-name singer to attached to the movie. I’m a firm believer in the notion that in a musical, each song must advance the story and Snow White accomplishes that goal. My personal favorite songs are “Heigh-Ho”, “Someday My Prince Will Come” and “Whistle While You Work”.

During the production of the film, many people laughed at Walt Disney, and the film was even dubbed “Disney’s Folly”, but following the release of the film in 1937, the film quickly became a smash hit and the film was immediately recognized as historically important, which doesn’t often happen to films immediately after their release. As a princess movie Snow White might not be as appealing to boys as it is to girls. Because there’s a social stigma that states that this type of movie is for girls and not for boys, I have always found this film to be an absolute delight. As time goes by, many films such as Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs, Sing and Rio will become dated and will fade into the oblivion of time, but with Snow White, the film still holds up over 80 years after its initial release in 1937; and I believe that this film will continue to charm audiences young and old well into the future.