Dumbo 8.5/10

Nick SheedyLeave a comment

G, 64m, 1941

With the Voice Talents of Edward Brophy (Timothy Q. Mouse), Cliff Edwards (Jim Crow), Verna Felton (Elephant Matriarch, Mrs. Jumbo), Noreen Gammill (Elephant Catty), Dorthey Scott (Elephant Giddy) Sarah Selby (Elephant Prissy), Sterling Holloway (Mr. Stork), Herman Bing (The Ringmaster), The Hal Johnson Choir (Crow Choir), Billy Bletcher (Clown) and John McLeish (the Narrator). Directed by Ben Sharpsteen, Norman Ferguson, Wilfred Jackson, Bill Roberts, Jack Kinney and Samuel Armstrong. Produced by Walt Disney. Screenplay by Otto Englander, Joe Grant and Dick Huemer. Music by Frank Churchill and Oliver Wallace. Based on Dumbo, the Flying Elephant by Helen Aberson

            The story of Dumbo began at a time of extreme turbulence at the Disney Studio. On May 29, 1941, the Disney animator’s strike began. The strike began because the artists felt that they weren’t being given what they were promised and that they weren’t being treated properly. This strike occurred during the early stages of Dumbo, causing the film to suffer several setbacks. The strike was eventually resolved, but it caused a massive damper on the atmosphere surrounding the Disney Studio and many talented artists and storytellers eventually left the studio.

            The film opens with an assortment of baby animals being airdropped on a traveling circus by storks. However, one expecting mother Mrs. Jumbo (Verna Felton), does not receive her bundle of joy. This is because Mr. Stork (Sterling Holloway) is running behind. He eventually catches up to Mrs. Jumbo and delivers a baby elephant who, Mrs. Jumbo names Jumbo Jr. When a sneeze reveals that the newborn has extraordinarily large ears, the other elephants begin to mock the poor lad and even start calling him Dumbo. After some kids mock Dumbo, with one going so far as to blow directly in his ear followed by grabbing his ear, Mrs. Jumbo gives the boy a well deserved spanking, but she goes too far by attacking the crowd and the circus has her chained in a lone boxcar, labelled as a mad elephant. Dumbo is all alone in the world until a well-dressed mouse named Timothy Q. Mouse (Edward Brophy) befriends him, subverting the age-old stereotypical animosity between elephants and mice. With the help of Timothy, Dumbo learns to overcome his physical difference and even use it to his advantage.

            While some may look at this film and think the same thing that is commonly said about Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. “Deviation from the norm will be punished, unless it can be exploited.” In some respects, this statement is true in regard to Dumbo. With the exception of his mother, Timothy and later the crows, all of the characters see Dumbo and his ears and make a mockery of him. However, the film does take moments to show the harmful effects of bullying and the isolation that the victims endure. This film has a simple story of a character overcoming looking different and being true to oneself.

            The relationship between characters is astounding in this film. Naturally being an elephant Dumbo is terrified of Timothy when he first meets him. Dumbo does come around to trusting Timothy when he realizes that Timothy really does care for him. In several scenes in the movie, Dumbo is depicted walking behind Timothy holding his tail with his trunk, just like a baby elephant holds on to its mother’s tail. The relationship between Dumbo and his mother is also particularly powerful. No words are ever exchanged between the two, but one can tell that there is deep seeded love between the two. The scene where Mrs. Jumbo reaches her trunk through the bars and caresses her baby, during the “Baby Mine” number, is absolutely gut wrenching.

            One thing I noticed about this film is it doesn’t have a true villain. True, one could point at the Ringmaster as a villain (he even appeared as a villain in the game Disney Villain’s Revenge), but I disagree with this notion. I say this because the Ringmaster never really mistreats the animals or the staff working in the circus. The reason why many people classify the Ringmaster as a villain is because he locked Mrs. Jumbo in an isolated cage, but here’s the thing, while Mrs. Jumbo did give a beastly little boy a spanking for harassing her son, she also threw objects at innocent bystanders and realistically the boy’s parents and several other people would have called for Mrs. Jumbo to be put down. Instead, the Ringmaster keeps her alive, however he does put her in a cramped cage and separates her from her baby that is only a few days old at best, even though Dumbo being a mammal needs his mother’s milk or at the very least some form of milk supplement. However, I feel this film doesn’t need a villain. I say this because at its heart, Dumbo is a simple tale about an elephant that is mocked relentlessly for looking different. But through sheer will power (and a little bit of luck), Dumbo is able to use his uniqueness to succeed.

            This film is absolutely perfect for animation. Dumbo never once utters a word, but the audience immediately knows that this character is thinking and how he feels. This is due to the tremendous job the animators did on animating Dumbo’s facial expressions.  When studying film, one of the first things that a film student is taught is the notion “show don’t tell”. This film employs this method masterfully. My favorite scene of this film is when Mrs. Jumbo reaches her trunk through the bars to hold her son (needless to say, I recommend having tissues on hand when this scene comes on). The background of the film was painted using watercolors, this was done in order to save money because the studio really didn’t have the funds to make the backgrounds as sharp as Pinocchio or Fantasia. Some might find this as a flaw of the film, I however felt it suited the film. At its heart Dumbo is a fairly straightforward simple story and I feel the water colored background reflects that.

            Of the five films released during the Golden Age of Disney Animation (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo and Bambi), I find Dumbo to be the best emotionally driven story. One could make an argument for Bambi, but that huge tonal shift with the “Let’s Sing a Gay Little Spring Song” bit following an extremely powerful emotion scene is a little too jarring for me.With its great simplicity and cartoonish heart, it’s no wonder this film has gone on to touch the hearts of audiences and will continue to do so for many generations to come.

Waking Sleeping Beauty 9/10

Nick SheedyLeave a comment

PG, 86m, 2009

Starring Don Hahn, Michael Eisner, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Roy E. Disney, Frank Wells, Peter Schneider, John Musker, Ron Clements, John Lasseter, Glen Keane, Howard Ashman, Alan Menken, Steven Spielberg, Robert Zemeckis, Rob Minkoff, Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise. Directed by Don Hahn. Produced by Don Hahn and Peter Schneider. Screenplay by Patrick Pacheco. Music by Chris P. Bacon.

Peter Schneider, Roy E. Disney and Jeffrey Katzenberg

            For my entire life I’ve been a massive animation fan. As a kid I watched a lot of films released by the Wald Disney Animation Studios, on VHS. Sure, I had other animated and live-action films I enjoyed that weren’t Disney such as Babe, The Land Before Time and the Pokémon films, but the films by Disney and Pixar were by far, my go-tos for entertainment. I consumed so much Disney knowledge, that I was an ace at Disney trivia games. One source where I used to get some of my Disney knowledge was from the documentaries that some Disney VHS tapes had. I was born in 1996, so I remember a time when bonus content was rarely released on home video, since DVDs, weren’t super popular yet. These documentaries weren’t particularly long but, I enjoyed watching them because I liked learning more about my favorite movies. There was only one problem, these documentaries only came with films that were released way before I was born. Sure, I liked learning about the making of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Fun and Fancy Free and The Jungle Book, but I wanted to learn about newer animated films like Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. I’d eventually get my wish when DVDs and Blu-rays offered tons of content about my favorite animated movies, but by then my taste and changed a little. I’ve retained my love for learning about films into adulthood and this is part of the reason I became a film critic. As I got older, and as I actually started studying the history of the Walt Disney Animation Studio, I learned of a time period known as the Disney Renaissance. The Disney Renaissance lasted from 1989 to 1999, The films released during this time were The Little Mermaid, The Rescuers Down Under, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, Mulan and Tarzan. As I learned more about the Walt Disney Studio during the Disney Renaissance, I found out that there was a documentary called Waking Sleeping Beauty. It’d be several years before I obtained a copy of the film, but when I did, I was reminded why I fell in love with studying animation in the first place.

            During Walt Disney’s lifetime (1901-1966), the Disney Studio had its ups and downs. However Following Walt’s and later his brother Roy O. Disney, the studio started to decline in quality. This is most notable in their animated features. Compare films like The Rescuers, Robin Hood and The Aristocats, to films like Fantasia, Dumbo and Bambi, and you’re going to notice a major difference in quality. The time period from the death of Walt Disney in 1966, to the release of The Little Mermaid in 1989, is sometimes known as the “Disney Dark Age”. It’s during this time that the film begins. The film covers the events from 1984, a year prior to the release of The Black Cauldron, to 1994, with the release of The Lion King. This time period was a tumultuous time in the Disney Studio. The animators who had worked with Walt Disney since the 1930s, and who had worked on some of the most iconic films in animation history were retiring, leaving the animation department to a group of younger people, who would go on to change animation forever.

            This film utilizes mostly stock footage filmed inside the Disney Studio, so as a result the film makes its audience feel like they’re actually at the story meetings and inside the recording booth. The director of this film is Don Hahn, who was a producer for films such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid. He along with Peter Schneider were working at the Disney Studio at the time and as a result, they’re able to bring in a personal insight that would have been lost, had somebody not involved with the Disney Studio during the time of the Disney Renaissance, created this film. This makes the events going on in the film, seem that much more personal and at times, even touching When the film uses clips from outside the Disney Studio such as news reports or programing from other television shows, it’s to serve a point. When the documentary is focusing on the name change for The Great Mouse Detective, they talk about the decision and the impact it had inside the studio. This incident became so well known that it was even a category on the game show Jeopardy. The filmmakers were actually able to find the clip of that question being asked on Jeopardy and include it in the film. It may seem inconsequential to some people, but when you know how much work and effort had to go into finding this clip and putting it into your movie, it just makes it even more astounding.

            A lot of people seem to think that most documentaries are dry and boring, and if they’re not about a tragic event, the documentary isn’t going to have any real emotional depth to it. Waking Sleeping Beauty suffers from none of these things. It shows everything exactly how it was back then, and it doesn’t hold back. This documentary clearly shows that the people working on these films had to sacrifice a lot in order to get these projects done. Towards the end of the documentary Jeffrey Katzenberg, the then Chairman of Walt Disney Studios, has a conversation with the animators, and he asks them what it’s like to work at Disney. They reveal while they love what they are doing, many of them had to make sacrifices in their personal lives, which sometimes caused strains on their relationships with their families. This shows the sacrifices the people who worked on the films of the early Disney Renaissance had to endure. There are two people who are featured throughout the documentary, that died during the time period this documentary is discussing, and when they die it’s almost heart wrenching because you get to feel like you knew the person who died, and you got to hear humorous stories about them and what they were like while working. When a documentary can make you react emotionally to events or people that you never knew, that’s when you know you’ve got a good product on your hands.

            I only have a few problems with this documentary. At the start of the film they mention Don Bluth, who was an animator at the studio before he left in 1979, during the production of The Fox and the Hound. Bluth also took several other animators with him, and together they made their own animated films including The Secret of Nimh, The Land Before Time and An American Tail. For a time, the films made by Don Bluth were outgrossing the Disney animated films and was were even given more praise than the films produced at Disney. This competition with Bluth helped spark the Disney Renaissance and I would have liked to see some more scenes dedicated to the battle between Bluth and Disney, and who it ultimately ended. It also would have been nice to have the people on the competitors side like Don Bluth, featured in interviews as I believe that a few outside sources would have proved beneficial to getting a better look at the world of animation while all of this was going on. This could have also allowed for people who worked in other animation studios, to talk about how this affected their work and what kind of inspiration did it bring, I realize this is a documentary about the Disney Studio but, I would have liked to see how their work was impacting the world of animation.

            There’s actually a bit of irony at the timing of this film’s release. This film was released in 2009, and at the time the Disney Animation Studio wasn’t producing the great material they once were. However, later that year The Princess and the Frog was released and that ushered in a new period known as the Disney Revival, which is still ongoing as of the time I’m writing this review. The time period of when this film went into production and was released, in some ways mirrors the events of the documentary, and I just find that to be simply interesting.

            Foe people who love learning about how movies are made or the Disney Studio, Waking Sleeping Beauty is a must watch. It provides vast amounts of information on the Walt Disney Animation Studio, from 1984 to 1994. Several critics have referred to this film as “One of the best comeback stories in show business history.”, and I completely agree. The film not only touches on the production of some of the films released during this time, but the driving political forces by Disney executives to “reawaken” the Disney Studio. I normally don’t like inspirational films, but films such as this one touch me on a personal level and instills in me a desire to create new and better content.

South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut 8.5/10

Nick SheedyLeave a comment

R, 81m, 1999 

With the Voice Talents of Trey Parker (Stan Marsh, Eric Cartman, Gregory, Satan, Mr. Garrison, Mr. Hat, Phillip, Randy Marsh, Clyde Donovan, Tom, Midget in a Bikini, Canadian Ambassador, Bombardiers, Mr. Mackey, Army General, Ned Gerblansky, The Mole, Big Gay Al (singing voice) and Adolf Hitler), Matt Stone (Kyle Broflovski, Kenny McCormick, Saddam Hussein, Terrance, Big Gay Al, Ticket Taker, Stuart McCormick, Jimbo Kearn, Gerald Broflovski and Butters Stotch), Mary Kay Bergman (Liane Cartman, Sheila Broflovski, Sharon Marsh, Carol McCormick, Wendy Testaburger and Clitoris) and Isaac Hayes (Chef). Directed by Trey Parker. Produced by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Screenplay by Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Pam Brady. Music by Trey Parker and Marc Shaiman. Based on South Park by Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

            Adult animation for television has certainly come a long way since it was popularized in the late 1980s and early 1990s with titles such as Beavis and Butt-Head, The Simpsons and The Critic. These titles attracted quite a bit of controversy and many parents forbade their kids, including yours truly, from watching them. However, a new animated show would come along in 1997, that pushed the envelope of what can be aired on television even further. That show was of course South Park. South Park was created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who started the series with the 1992 short Jesus vs. Frosty, and the 1995 short Jesus vs. Santa. These shorts garnered massive attention and soon Parker and Stone were picked up by Comedy Central to produce a show based on the shorts, and the rest is animation history. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut marks the third feature film to be produced by Parker and Stone the first being Cannibal! The Musical in 1993, and the second being Orgazmo in 1997.

            The film opens with Stan Marsh (Trey Parker) gathering his friends Kyle (Matt Stone), Cartman (Trey Parker) and Kenny (Matt Stone) to go see the new movie based on their favorite Canadian show Terrance and Philip. The movie is rated R, so the boys have to pay a homeless guy to pretend to be their guardian. The movie is a musical filled with obscenities so disturbing, they cause many members of the audience to leave in disgust “Well what do you expect, they’re Canadian.”. The boys on the other hand, love the film and leave the theater singing the song “Uncle Fucka”. This incurs the wrath of the parents of South Park and they set out to ensure that Terrance and Philip pay for the crimes of corrupting the minds of their children. Kenny dies after a bet with Cartman goes horribly wrong and he’s sent straight to hell, where he meets Satan (Trey Parker) and his sadistic lover Saddam Hussein (Matt Stone), who in this universe died when he was killed by a pack of wild boars. Satan reveals if Terrance and Philip die on U.S. soil, he’ll finally be able to rise to Earth and wage war. Kenny manages to warn Cartman about the events that are about to transpire, and together with Stan and Kyle, the three boys set out to stop their parents from executing their beloved comedic duo.

            The central themes of this movie are the dangers of censorship as well as bad parenting. South Park is no stranger when it comes to the issue of censorship, as they have dedicated several episodes, most notably in the episodes 200 and 201, to this controversial issue. When this film was in production, the MPAA tried to give this film as NC-17-rating. Trey Parker and Matt Stone were finally able to get the R-rating that they wanted, but at the cost of changing some things in the film. This is really ironic when you stop and think about it given the central theme of this film. When the boys go to see the Terrance and Philip movie, Asses of Fire, their vocabulary become laden with profanities that they picked up from the film. This eventually leads to the parents of South Park, most notably Kyle’s mother, who make it their duty to make the ones responsible for creating the film pay. This plot is an obvious reference to the real-life reaction parents had to South Park. Despite the parents of South Park leaving their kids, for what they claim is to protect the children, they’re actually doing more harm than good. Not only are they forcing their will on other people, they’re also leaving their kids for an extended amount of time, when they could have used that time to spend time with their kids and gotten to know them better and explain why they don’t want them to see certain content. My parents took an active role in the media I consumed, and I believe I turned out for the better because of this. It’s not the job of filmmakers to tone down their work for the sake of children. Some movies might be really good and have a good message, but at the same time it may not be appropriate for children. It’s the job of the parents to monitor what their kids watch, because as the boys put it “Off to the movies we shall go, where we learn everything that we know, because the movies teach us what our parents don’t have time to say.”.

            The animation in this film is largely done in the style of the show, which is in the style of paper cut out animation. The only time it doesn’t utilize this technique is the special effects for the hell sequences, and this is where my only fault in the animation lies, as the film’s special effects were used with computers and they have no aged particularly well. The rest of the film’s animation looks nice, for what’s it’s trying to do. This is even used as a visual gag in several scenes of the film. The area where the animation truly shines is during the musical numbers, where the animators pulled out all the stops to make them as entertaining as possible, giving quite a few of them a nice Broadway feel to them.

            This film is obviously poking fun at the animated musical that had been popularized in the 1990s, during the Disney Renaissance. In fact, quite a few of the songs are satires of some of the songs from the Disney Renaissance or from musicals such as Les Misérables. “Mountain Town” is a visual and lyrical parody of “Belle” from Beauty and the Beast. The song “Up There” is a parody of the trend in Disney Renaissance movies where a character sings about what they want out of life. “Blame Canada” was originally supposed to be a parody of a Disney villain song, instead it satirizes how quick parents are to blame media when their kids do something they don’t approve of. “Eyes of a Child is a parody of adding pop versions of Disney songs, at the end of their movies. “La Resistance” is a parody of “One More Day” from Les Misérables. However, unlike the musical numbers in Disney films as well as in Disney rip-offs, this film features songs that should not be sung by children. Now that isn’t to say the musical numbers in this film are bad, on the contrary, the musical numbers in this film are as entertaining as many of the musical numbers from the Disney Renaissance. The song “Blame Canada” was considered to be so good, it was nominated for an Academy Award in 2000, but it lost to “You’ll be in my Heart” from Tarzan. The songs in this movie are of two kids. The first is to progress the story along and tell what a character is feeling, and the others are centered around the film’s central theme, which is censorship.

            South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut was released during the show’s third season. Fearing that their show would be cancelled in the near future, Parker and Stone, decided to put everything they had in this film. Parker and Stone have since stated that they dislike the early seasons of South Park, often times citing the episodes from the first three seasons to be the worst in the show’s history. The same could not be said about South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. This film is a brilliant satire and an amazing movie. While some will find this film to be too offensive and will view it with the same level of contempt as the parents of South Park did towards Asses of Fire, the rest will find a highly enjoyable film that is one of the greatest animated films based on a cartoon.

Spirited Away 9/10

Nick SheedyLeave a comment

PG, 125m, 2001

With the Voice Talents of  Daveigh Chase (Chihiro Ogino/Sen), Jason Marsden (Haku), Suzanne Pleshette (Yubaba and Zeniba), Susan Egan (Lin), David Ogden Stiers (Kamaji), Paul Eiding (Chichiyaku), Bob Bergen (No-Face and Aogaeru), Rodger Bumpass (Bandai-gaeru), Tara Strong (Boh), Michael Chiklis (Akio Ogino), Lauren Holly (Yūko Ogino) and John Ratzenberger (Aniyaku). Directed Hayao Miyazaki and Kirk Wise. Produced by Toshio Suzuki. Screenplay by Hayao Miyazaki. Music by Joe Hisaishi.

            Japanese animation or anime is often dismissed by misinformed people, who have misguided notions on the medium. They believe anime to be perverse or overally violent. When someone tries to make this argument to me, I ask them what their source is and what anime series or movies have they seen? Usually the misguided had seen some form of hentai (animated porn) or they picked a title like Elfen Lied, School Days or Master of Martial Hearts, why anybody would choose these as their first anime is beyond me. When faced with these types of people I have a list of gateway anime, that I feel are great representations of the medium. One of these titles is Spirited Away. I absolutely adore this film; this is the kind of film I can watch and then immediately watch again. Spirited Away is a magically animated fan that will thrill audiences young and old and is sure to inspire animators just as much as the animated films made by Disney and Pixar.

            The film opens with Chihiro (Daveigh Chase) and her family driving to their new house. As many children would be, Chihiro is upset about the move and complains during the entire car trip. The father (Michael Chiklis) makes a wrong turn and the family come across an abandoned building. Curiosity gets the better of them and her parents, as they enter the building with Chihiro fearfully clinging to her mother (Lauren Holly). They come across a seemingly abandoned amusement park, where her father quickly discovers the aroma of delectably food that is commonplace in anime. Unable to stop themselves Chihiro’s parents indulge their ravenous appetite, much to Chihiro’s protests. Leaving her parents to their glutinous desires, Chihiro stumbles across a magnificent bridge leading to a towering bathhouse. Suddenly a strange boy by the name of Haku (Jason Marsden) appears and demands that she leave before the sun goes down. Chihiro hauls tail back to the booth where she left her parents only to discover a startling sight. Her parents had been transformed into pigs and no longer recognized her. Chihiro tries to make it back to her family’s car only to discover a body of water now blocked her path. Chihiro then notices that her body is beginning to fade away. Naturally she freaks out and is only comforted when Haku appears and gives her some food that stops her from disappearing. Haku guides Chihiro back to the bridge and tells her not to breathe, lest she out herself as a human. They almost get across when Chihiro gets startled and gasps, this causes an immediate reaction from the other beings who cry out that there is a human in their midst. Haku quickly gets Chihiro out of harms way and instructs her to go to the boiler room and to find Kamaji (David Ogden Stiers) and to beg until he gives her a job. Despite Kamaji’s initial objections, Chihiro proves herself quite the diligent worker. Realizing that a boiler room is no place for a young girl Kamaji calls for Lin (Susan Egan), a worker at the bath house bribes her to take Chihiro to Yubaba (Suzanne Pleshette), the owner of the bath house. Yubaba gives Chihiro a job at the bath house, where Chihiro must reside until she can find a way to transform her parents back into humans.

Chihiro is one of the most realistic kid characters depicted in animation. At the start of the film she’s rather obnoxious and she complains a lot, but this is completely understandable. She’s forced to move with her family to a new environment leaving beyond everyone outside of her parents that she knew, given these circumstances many children would act out. When her parents are turned into pigs, Chihiro rolls up her sleeves and tries her best to make things normal again. Chihiro also has moments when she gets so frustrated, she breaks down and cries. The character of Chihiro is further enhanced by the addition of little subtleties that will go over the head of many audience members. For example, when Chihiro is putting on her shoes, the back of her shoe folds into the shoe and she has to pull it out using her fingers. Upon putting her shoes on, she taps her left foot on the ground with the tip of her foot. In another scene, Kamaji finds Chihiro fast asleep curled up clutching her normal clothes to her chest. This scene shows her holding on to the one piece of normality she has left in this new environment, as she was given work clothes, and her clothes were supposed to be destroyed. This is all subtle movements that make the character seem that much more real. One complaint I have with the character, is some may find her English voice actress to be a little grading. I personally don’t have this problem, but I know a few people who do.

Released at a time when hand-drawn animation was dying, Spirited Away demonstrates just how beautiful hand-drawn animation can be. Even the food in this film, looks absolutely delicious to the point where it has no business looking that scrumptious. The character animation of this film is wonderfully imaginative and at times, visually astounding. The design of the River Monster is partially grotesque, and I find his design so revolting, I can practically smell the stench radiating off of him that causes the other characters to practically hurl. The monster is the result of years of pollution from humans, who just dump their garbage into his river. During his bath, Chihiro and the rest of the bathhouse band together to try and dislodge an object that is causing him some discomfort. It turns out that the object was a bicycle and after it is removed, a bunch of debris is expelled from his body and the river spirit is able to revert to his original form, thank Chihiro and company, and depart the bathhouse. Director Hayao Miyazaki found inspiration for the character when he was helping clean out a river and they found a bicycle. The film’s animated highlight occurs when Chihiro and Haku are soaring in the sky in the moonlight. This scene to me, stands out as one of the finest in animation. Haku’s dragon form is some of the finest character animation I’ve ever seen. Despite being sweet to Chihiro his face is just as ferocious as those of the wolves in Princess Mononoke.

Spirited Away often gets compared to Alice in Wonderland, and it’s extremely obvious why this is. Both films put a young girl in a wonderous environment, where they come across many bright and colorful characters, that are unlike anything audiences have ever seen before. While it’s easy to single out characters like No-Face or Haku, as examples of imaginative characters, I find that some of the most unique designs come from some of the background characters. With many having roots in Japanese mythology and folklore. The only repeat characters I could see were the Soot Sprites, who also appeared in My Neighbor Totoro. However, I’m not going to dock points from the film, for this little repeat. The Soot Sprites in this film have a different purpose than they did in My Neighbor Totoro. In this film, the job of the Soot Sprites is to keep adding coal to the fire in the boiler room. The film also utilizes characters from Japanese mythology and folklore in the backgrounds. This gives the design of the backgrounds and the design of the characters a traditional Japanese aesthetic, with some background being highly detailed and extravagant and others having a much simpler design.

At the time of this review, Spirited Away is the only anime film to win an Academy Award, which it did so in 2003, beating out films such as Lilo and Stitch, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and Ice Age, and this film completely deserves the award. Released during a time when hand-drawn animation was dying in the United States, Spirited Away stands as an excellent example of what hand-drawn animation is capable of.

Over the Hedge 7/10

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PG, 83m, 2006

With the Voice Talents of Bruce Willis (RJ), Garry Shandling (Verne), Steve Carell (Hammy), Wanda Sykes (Stella), Eugene Levy (Lou), Catherine O’Hara (Penny), William Shatner (Ozzie), Avril Lavigne (Heather), (Vincent), Allison Janney (Gladys Sharp), Thomas Haden Church (Dwayne LaFontant) and Omid Djalili (Tiger). Directed by Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick. Produced by Bonnie Arnold. Screenplay by Len Blum, Lorne Cameron, David Hoselton and Karey Kirkpatrick. Music by Rupert Gregson-Williams. Based on the comic strip of the same name by Michael Fry and T. Lewis.

            Over the Hedge is the type of animated film that completely plays it safe. This film hits all of the boxes that normally equals a successful animated film for kids. Cute talking animals; check, wise-cracking modern dialogue; check, an all-star studded cast; check a soundtrack that features popular music at the time; check. This film is not as smart as the satirical comic strip, on which it was based on, but the film certainly has its own charm.

            The film opens with RJ (Bruce Willis), a crafty racoon trying to retrieve a bag of chips that is stuck inside a vending machine. Spying the cave of a black bear called Vincent (Nick Nolte), RJ makes the rash decision to steal all of Vincent’s food. RJ neatly packs all of Vincent’s food, which is mainly compromised of human junk food, complete with packaging, onto a little red wagon. Seeing that RJ has now amassed a collection of food that is taller and wider than he is, one would think that he has enough food. Spying a can of “Spuddies” potato chips in Vincent’s hands, RJ stealthily replaces the can with a cup. By the law of comedy, Vincent can sleep through RJ nosily crunching through pie pans and the crunching sound of a loaded wagon hitting the ground after a fall from several feet, but once RJ opens up that can of Spuddies, Vincent immediately awakens. Vincent is rightfully angry at RJ for trying to steal his stuff. RJ defends himself by saying that the food is still in the cave so technically, it’s not stolen, and wouldn’t you know it? An accidental nudge calls the wagon load of food to fall from the cave onto a highway, where it is then demolished by a truck. RJ buys himself some time by promising to get everything that got destroyed back, by the time Vincent wakes up from hibernation in a week’s time. We then cut to a group of forest animals awakening from hibernation. The group is led by Verne (Garry Shandling), an ornate box turtle, and the group sets off to find enough food to last them through winter. While searching for his nuts, Hammy the squirrel (Steve Carell) come across something gigantic and scary that he has never seen before. He leads the others to his discovery, and the other animals are mystified by the thing they call “Steve”. By this point, RJ has found the little group of foragers and decides that these gullible animals might make it easier to get everything he needs to repay Vincent. Vincent crosses through “Steve” and comes across a horrifying sight. A modern suburban neighborhood. Throwing away the improbability of constructing an entire suburban area, in the time span of a few months aside, Vern doesn’t fare too well in this new environment and after some comedic slapstick, Vern finds himself back with his friends. Vern then tells them of the horrors on the other side of “Steve”, and that half the forest is gone, thus making it much more difficult for them to find food. RJ then introduces himself and begins to enlighten the forest animals about the beauty of suburbia, starting with clarifying that “Steve’, is really a hedge. Things go relatively well at first until the President of the Homeowners Association, Gladys Sharp (Allison Janney), calls a bumbling exterminator named Dwayne LaFontant (Thomas Haden Church) to exterminate the “vermin”. “No, not humanly, as inhumanly as possible”, what a sweetheart. The rest of the film centers around RJ’s quest to get enough food for Vincent, as new thoughts of what really matters in life, begin to take shape in RJ’s mind.

            In theory, I should hate this film. It has a clichéd plot, including the loathsome liar revealed trope. The woodland critters aren’t particularly well developed, RJ could arguably be considered the vilian of the film as he tried to steal Vincent’s food, and Vincent was right to be angry when RJ destroyed his stockpile of food. RJ manipulates a group of naïve starving creatures, who take him in when he has no place to and treat him like one of the family. Despite all of these acts of kindness RJ still goes through with his plan, causing the woodland animals to get captured. Granted he does go back and help them out in the end, but the fact that RJ would do such manipulative and selfish acts to characters that showed immense kindness to him, should make RJ seem like an irredeemable character, and yet I don’t find myself disliking him. I think this is mainly due to Bruce Willis’ performance as the character. Willis provides RJ with a suave confident charismatic voice that allows the character to hoodwink the other characters. A lot of actors were considered for the role of RJ and I find Willis to be the perfect match for the character. As for the plot, while it is predictable, I had fun watching it and the characters just added to my enjoyment of the film, despite their clichéd personalities.

            One aspect I enjoyed about this film is the sense of scale. Like films such as A Bug’s Life, Oliver and Company and Antz, the film remembers that the primary characters are small, and things that may seem small or average size will seem gigantic to a turtle or squirrel, a large toy car would be large enough for them to ride on, and an actual size car would look like an oncoming wall of death. This adds a sense of realism to the feature as we get to view the world of Over the Hedge from the point of view of characters that are only a few feet tall. As such, there are a lot of low angle shots, that are used creatively and make the movie more entertaining to watch.

            This film does play rather loose with logic, utilizing some aspects of animal behavior and completely dismissing others. This is normally played for gags, for example, a running joke throughout the film is Verne constantly getting knocked out of his shell. In real life, a turtle’s shell is built into its skeleton, with most turtles only having enough room to pull their heads and limbs in. On could say the decision was made because it symbolizes Vern coming out of his shell, and becoming more accepting of new things, but let’s face it. The real reason Vern can be separated from his shell is so the film could have numerous shots of Vern’s butt. Turtle butts, hysterical. The woodland critters would also have varying degrees of hibernation, so some of the characters would wake up from hibernation earlier than others. However, the film does feature several realistic aspects. For example, when a squirrel senses danger, its first instinct is to stand motionless, which Hammy does several times throughout the film. Another realistic aspect is turtles can feel a vibration that warns it when a predator is near, this happens to Vern several times throughout the film, although the “tingle” is normally set off when Vern is worried about something. I know these little tidbits are rather moot, as the film is aimed at an audience that wouldn’t pick up on these little details, but I find it rather fascinating when a film that is geared towards kids actually takes the time to conduct actual research.

            Is this one of the greatest animated films of all time? No, not by a long shot, but with interesting characters and a humorous story, Over the Hedge is a fun film that is sure to delight kids and adults that just want to see a simple fun film. This film may not posses the majesty or grace of other animated films such as Finding Nemo, Lilo & Stitch or Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, but I still find this film to be enjoyable despite its flaws. If you’re looking for a film that has emotional depth or characters that will leave a deep lasting impact on its audience, this film is not for you. However, if you want a fun enjoyable film that gets a few laughs and has an amazing score, I’d recommend checking this film out.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit 9/10

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PG, 104m, 1988

Starring Bob Hoskins (Eddie Valiant), Christopher Lloyd (Judge Doom), Charles Fleischer (Roger Rabbit, Benny the Cab, Greasy and Psycho), Stubby Kaye (Marvin Acme), Alan Tilvern (R.K. Maroon), Lou Hirsch (Baby Herman), Kathleen Turner (Jessica Rabbit), Amy Irving (Jessica Rabbit’s singing voice), Joanna Cassidy (Dolores), Mel Blanc (Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird and Sylvester.), Wayne Allwine (Mickey Mouse), Tony Pope (Donald Duck) Mae Questel (Betty Boop), Russi Taylor (Minnie Mouse), Nancy Cartwright (Toon Shoe), Richard Williams (Droopy) and June Foray (Wheezy and Lena Hyena). Directed by Robert Zemeckis and Richard Williams. Produced by Frank Marshall and Robert Watts. Screenplay by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. Music by Alan Silvestri. Based on Who Censored Roger Rabbit by Gary K. Wolf.

            The Disney Studio is no stranger when it comes to combining animation and live-action. One of Walt Disney’s earliest projects was the Alice Comedies, which featured a live action girl, in a cartoon world. As time would go on, Disney would attempt to perfect this technique with film like Song of the South, Pete’s Dragon and Mary Poppins. With Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the Disney Studio truly perfected the art of combining live action with animation.

            Set in 1947, in Los Angeles, the film opens with a cartoon short featuring Baby Herman (Lou Hirsch) and Roger Rabbit (Charles Fleischer) in Somethin’s Cookin. The short is an excellent callback to cartoons from the Golden Age of Animation, and the care and love that went into the making of this segment truly shines through. During the filming of the short, Roger accidentally has birds flying over his head, when the script called for stars floating above his head. Roger tries to convince the director that he can produce starts, when Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) walks in. Eddie is a detective, who has a prejudice against toons, ever since a toon killed his brother by dropping a piano on his head. Eddie is hired by the head of Maroon Studios, R.K. Maroon (Alan Tilvern) to investigate reports of infidelity against Roger’s wife, Jessica Rabbit (Kathleen Turner). Eddie goes to a nightclub, where he sees Jessica Rabbit perform. He secretly stakes out her dressing room and takes several incriminating pictures of Jessica and the head of Acme Corporations and the owner of Toontown, Marvin Acme (Stubby Kaye) playing patty-cake. Eddie and Maroon show the pictures to Roger and he naturally gets distraught. After a drink he runs into the night screaming that he and Jessica will be happy, no matter what. The next morning a drunken Eddie is awoken with the news of Marvin Acme’s murder. Eddie goes to the scene of the crime and learns that somebody had dropped a safe on Acme’s head. While at the crime scene, he meets the cryptic Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd). Doom is well known as a quick dispenser of harsh justice, as he has figured out a way to kill a toon, using a concoction known as “the dip”.  The demonstrates the potency of the dip by dipping an innocent sentient cartoon shoe (Nancy Cartwright) into the vat, while it screams and slowly melts away. Eddie returns to his office where he finds Baby Herman, who tries to convince Eddie of Roger’s innocence, as Roger is a close friend of Baby Herman’s, and he knows that Roger would never actually kill anyone. Baby Herman then tips off to Eddie that Acme’s murder might have something to do with his murder, as Acme had promised to leave Toontown to the toons after his death. Eddie grows tired of this and pushed Baby Herman’s baby carriage away causing him to drop his cigar, which Baby Herman then wails in despair. Inside Eddie’s office Eddie finds Roger, who begs Eddie to help him and clear his name. Eddie reluctantly agrees and the two set off to clear Roger’s name and uncover the mystery of Marvin Acme’s death, as well as the location of Acme’s will.

Some may find the best elements of this film to be the compelling characters and engaging story. Others will find the best aspect of this movie to be the flawless combination of animation and live action. While I see where these people are coming from, my taste are far simpler. I love how they feature Warner Bros, Disney, Fletcher and other classic carton characters all living together in the same world. Seeing Daffy Duck and Donald Duck play off each other always brings a smile to my face and seeing Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny in the same scene is highly entertaining. This also plays into another pleasure I get out of this film. I really enjoy spotting and recognizing obscure animated characters that make an appearance in the background. I understand this is an extremely niche thing to say, but I just get a kick out of seeing obscure characters such as the Reluctant Dragon and José Carioca, as well as a ton of characters from The Silly Symphonies and Merry Melodies shorts. Although to be fair, this can lead to nitpicking as the film is set in 1947, and characters such as Tinker Bell, Mr. Toad, Marvin the Martin and the Penguin Waiters from Mary Poppins. However, this is only a minor nitpick, as only major animation buffs will notice these errors, and one could make the argument that the characters existed in the Toon World, but had yet to be discovered and cast in the roles that would make them the icons we all know and love. I also enjoy doing this while watching The House of Mouse, and while playing the Epic Mickey games.

One message this film has is overcoming one’s prejudices. In the beginning of the film Eddie despises toons, and it’s perfectly understandable why he feels this way. Eventually Eddie comes around and learns that not all toons are bad. Before his brother died, Eddie and his brother were well known in Toontown, as detectives who were kind to toons and would treat them with respect. After his brother died Eddie refused to take another case involving toons again, and the only reason he agreed to work for take the pictures of Jessica, was because it was a human, R.K. Maroon, who had hired him. Eddie only initially helps Roger, because he got roped into the conspiracy and only later does he begin to open up to Roger, and toons in general. One could also note a parallel between the treatment of toons as second-class citizens and minorities in the show business during the 1940s. In the opening scene the director halts production of the short, because Roger can’t get stars to hover over his head, after a refrigerator falls on his head. Roger claims that the refrigerator doesn’t hurt him, and he can continue doing takes, to which the director replies, “I’m not worried about you getting hurt, I’m worried about the refrigerator” (the fridge is not sentient). This shows the general disregard for the well-being of minorities during this time period, as many minority workers had to take demeaning jobs, just to be in a feature.

Bob Hopkins does a fantastic job in this film. He has to convincingly portray a character that in interacting with characters that he himself can not see, and he pulls this off masterfully. He also has great range in this film. For the majority of the film he plays a stern washed up alcoholic detective, but when he tries to be funny, he really knocks it out of the park. This is most notable when he performs an improvised song and dance, slapstick routine. Another notable performance is Christopher Lloyd as Judge Doom. He plays a no-nonsense Machiavellian character, and he is by far one of the creepiest and most threatening character to be brought to film. I know people who were terrified of him as a kid, and this is a testament to how great of a vilian he truly is. One minor side note I have is the addition of Mae Questel as Betty Boop. This is the first time since 1938, that Mae Questel voiced her iconic character. I don’t really have anything real to say about this, other than I find it to be an excellent reference.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a wonderful film and it instilled a new interest in animation that helped usher in the Disney Renaissance, as well as showing that animation doesn’t have to cater to a strictly children’s demographic. This is the type of film that I always wanted to see as a kid. I loved the characters featured in Disney and Warner Bros animation and I always wanted to see them play off one another. This film satisfies this desire by delivering a suspenseful story, compelling characters and powerful performances. This film proves that when studios put aside their differences and collaborate, something magical occurs.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame 8.5/10

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With the Voice Talents of Tom Hulce (Quasimodo), Tony Jay (Judge Claude Frollo), Demi Moore (Esmerelda), Kevin Kline (Phoebus), Paul Kandel (Clopin Trouillefou), Charles Kimbrough (Victor), Jason Alexander (Hugo), Mary Wickes (Laverne), Heidi Mollenhauer (Esmerelda’s singing voice), David Ogden Stiers (Archdeacon), Frank Welker (Djali and baby bird), Corey Burton (Brutish Guard and Miller), Bill Fagerbakke (Oafish Guard), Gary Trousdale (The Old Heretic) and Mary Kay Bergman (Quasimodo’s Mother). Directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise. Produced by Don Hahn. Screenplay by Tad Murphey. Irene Mecchi, Bob Tzudiker, Noni White and Jonathan Roberts. Music by Alan Menken. Based on The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo.

            Following the disappointment of Pocahontas, the Disney Studio hoped that their next film The Hunchback of Notre Dame would do better, it didn’t. While not a box-office failure, or even a critical failure, this film didn’t make as much money as Pocahontas did, what’s worse is this film had almost twice the budget Pocahontas did, and it still had the directors of Beauty and the Beast at the helm, so what went wrong? While I personally like this film, I find that the general public doesn’t want to see a film with such a dark subject matter. Which is a real shame as Disney has had dark material in their films in the past and it turned out great. Examples include Fantasia, Pinocchio and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. I also find this film the wrong film to try and bounce back with, however this film was already well into production by the time Pocahontas was released, so I guess it was just poor timing on Disney’s part.

            The film opens with a beautiful panning shot of 1482 Paris. We then cut to Clopin Trouillefou (Paul Kandel), who is a Romani puppeteer. He tells a group of children the origin of the mysterious bell ringer. Twenty years prior to the events of the film, a group of Romani people attempts to enter Paris illegally. They are captured in a trap set by Judge Claude Frollo (Tony Jay) and his cronies. Seeing that Quasimodo’s mother (Mary Kay Bergman) trying to hide a bundle, the soldiers assume that the bundle is stolen goods, when they try to take the bundle from her, she flees. Frollo gives chase on his horse and eventually catches up to her. He grabs hold of the bundle, while Quasimodo’s mother desperately clings on. Frollo delivers a kick to her face, causing her to fall and break her neck on the stone steps of Notre Dame. Seeing that the bundle is a baby hunchback, Frollo attempts to drown the baby in a well. He’s stopped by the Archdeacon (David Ogden Stiers), and Frollo agrees to raise the child as his own, on the condition that the baby is to be kept in the bell tower. Twenty years later, Quasimodo (Tom Hulce) has grown to a kind young man, who desperately wants to join the denizens of Paris. Frollo warns Quasimodo that if he was to be seen by the common people of Paris, they’d mock him and treat him as a monster. Quasimodo’s friends, the gargoyles, convince him to attend the Feast of Fools, in a disguise. Esmerelda (Demi Moore) unwittingly exposes Quasimodo and the crowd soon turns on him, tying him to a wheel and throwing food at him. Esmerelda, seeing a coloration between Quasimodo’s ill-treatment, to the ill-treatment of her people, frees Quasimodo. Seeing this Frollo orders his men to arrest her, as he had intended for Quasimodo to learn a lesson from his ill-treatment. She escapes and Frollo orders a city-wide lockdown in order to find her. She manages to escape via the help of Quasimodo, promising to return to visit him sometime. Consumed by lust, Frollo sends his troops all over Paris in order to find Esmerelda. In the process her rounds up many gypsies and arrests them in a manner eerily similar to the Nazi’s methods centuries later. Frollo goes to far in the eyes of Phoebus (Kevin Kline), the captain of the guards, when Frollo sets fire to a Miller’s (Corey Burton) house, with the Miller’s wife and two small children trapped inside. Phoebus helps the family escape and is about to be executed for insubordination, when he’s helped by Esmerelda. During his attempt to flee, Phoebus is wounded by an arrow and is rescued by Esmerelda, who beings him to stay with Quasimodo. Frollo pays Quasimodo a visit and informs him that he plans on raiding the Court of Miracles, which is the hideout of the gypsies, and capturing everyone inside, including Esmerelda. Now it’s up to Phoebus and Quasimodo to try to warn the gypsies of the impending threat and rescue Paris from Frollo’s, fascist grasp.

            The animation on this film is for the most part amazing. The backgrounds are especially beautiful and truly represents the beauty of Paris. The Gothic architecture and the beautiful stained-glass windows inside Notre Dame, serve as a testament to how beneficial the Disney Studio’s research trips are to capturing the beauty of the 15th century Parisian landscape. The backgrounds are further enhanced by the use of CGI angle shots, which really brings out the beauty of the backgrounds. The only real flaw, I have with the film is with the film’s use of CGI. This is most notably in crowd shots. I get that this was a method meant to save money, but the effect do not hold up to today’s scrutiny. However, the use of CGI was used brilliantly in bringing to life the stained-glass windows inside Notre Dame, as well as the hauntingly beautiful flame dancing Esmerelda.

            The characters of this film, while vastly different than their book counterparts, are highly entertaining. Quasimodo is a compassionate young man, who’s been forced to spend most of his life in isolation due to his physical appearance. His character is so compelling because audiences can instantly relate to him, and his want for social acceptance. Esmerelda is one of the stronger female leads in Disney’s history. She saves both Quasimodo and Phoebus several times, and she only has to get rescued a few times, leading to some truly awesome moments. Her relationship with Phoebus is believable and doesn’t fell forced, hey actually talk with each other and help each other out, allowing each person to seethe admirable qualities of the other, allowing for a stronger relationship. Frollo ranks among one of the greatest Disney villains. He is the physical embodiment of a self-righteous person, who believes that because they are serving something that is bigger than themselves, they can do no wrong. The weakest and most annoying of all the characters is the gargoyles. They largely serve as the film’s comedic relief, while serving as companions to Quasimodo. This would have been fine, had they been figments of Quasimodo’s imagination, brought on by years of isolation. At first the film frames them in this light, but it’s revealed in the final battle that they have actual sentience and can interact with real objects.

Like several of the animated films released during the later part of the Disney Renaissance, this film suffers from a massive tone problem. While films such as Pocahontas and Hercules, suffer from tone problems, I find this film suffers the most from tone problems. The film flip flops between comedic antics, often involving the talking gargoyles, to the harsh realities of the injustices of the world, as seen through the eyes of Quasimodo and the gypsies. This is especially notable when you compare the songs “Guy like you”, where the gargoyles dance and sing about how great of a guy Quasimodo is, to “Hellfire”, where Frollo openly sings about his burning lust for Esmerelda, and if he can’t have her, then she’ll burn at the stake. This film is defiantly one of the darkest in the Disney canon, ranking among films like The Black Cauldron and “The Night on Bald Mountain” segment from Fantasia. Some parents will see the dark themes present in this movie, and they won’t let them watch it. My parents heavily censored what I was allowed to watch as a kid, and yet they allowed me to watch this film. As a kid I enjoyed this film, and as an adult I enjoy this film even more, due to its willingness to go into darker territory.

With gorgeous animation, compelling characters and an amazing score, The Hunchback of Notre Dame should be one of Disney’s greatest films. Unfortunately, the film is riddled with tone problems and annoying characters, that seriously serve as a detriment to this film. However, the short comings of this film are easy to overlook when one looks at the big picture, and in this critic’s opinion, the big picture looks truly spectacular.

Pocahontas 7.5/10

Nick SheedyLeave a comment

G, 81m, 1995

With the Voice Talents of Irene Bedard (Pocahontas), Judy Kuhn (Pocahontas singing voice), Mel Gibson (John Smith), Christian Bale (Thomas), David Ogden Stiers (Ratcliff and Wiggins), John Kassir (Meeko), Russell Means (Chief Powhatan), Jim Cummings (Chief Powhaten’s singing voice), Billy Connolly (Ben), Joe Baker (Lon), Linda Hunt (Grandmother Willow), Frank Welker (Flit), Danny Mann (Percy), Michelle St. John (Nakoma), James Apamut Fall (Kocoum) and Gordon Tootoosis (Kekata). Directed by Mike Gabriel and Eric Goldberg. Produced by Jim Pentecost. Screenplay by Carl Binder, Susannah Grant and Philip LaZebnik. Music by Alan Menken. Based on the life of Pocahontas.

            Pocahontas marks the first time the Disney Animation Studio attempted to create a film based on the life of characters that existed in real life. This film was released during the Disney Renaissance, and I find this film to be the beginning of the end for the Disney Renaissance. Following the Best Picture nomination for Beauty and the Beast, the Disney staff set out to win the Oscar gold. The film went into production around the same time as The Lion King, and many in the Disney Studio initially thought that Pocahontas was going to be the stronger feature and finally win the Oscar gold. So much so, that some people had to be practically bribed to work on The Lion King. When The Lion King was released in theaters in 1994, the film became a monster financial and critical success. It became the highest grossing film of 1994, and the highest grossing film until 2003, when Finding Nemo surpassed it. So, when Pocahontas was released in 1995, many thought this film would surpass the success of The Lion King. The result was disappointing, while the film was a critical and financial success, the film didn’t garner the same amount of success as earlier Disney Renaissance films such as The Little Mermaid, The Lion King or Beauty and the Beast.

            The film opens with a ragtag group of explorers setting sail for the New World. The expedition is led by Governor Ratcliff (David Ogden Stiers), whose main goal is to (what else?) get rich. The rest of the crew have their own reasons for journeying to the New World, they all look up to John Smith (Mel Gibson), who is a famous explorer, noted for his ability to fight. Meanwhile Chief Powhatan (Russell Means) and a group of warriors have returned from a successful campaign against a rival tribe. Like any good father, as soon as he gets back Powhatan immediately asks about the whereabouts of his daughter. Like most of the Disney heroines of the 90s, Pocahontas (Irene Bedard) is a free-spirited young woman who isn’t satisfied with her mundane life and wants to experience something new. Something new does arrive in the guise of the European explorers. While the majority of the crew starts digging for gold (no, not like that) and setting up camp, John Smith goes exploring. He eventually comes across Pocahontas and is quick to point his gun at her. He lowers his weapon when he sees how beautiful she is. They stare at each other while a whimsical score plays, and then Pocahontas rightfully high tails it out of there. John eventually catches up to her, and through the power of plot convince, they are able to understand each other and start to develop a friendship. Meanwhile, back at the settlers’ camp, Powhatan has sent a few Native American scouts to try to understand more about the invaders who have come to their shores. The scouts get discovered and a fight ensues, this results in one of the Native Americans getting shot and the others carry him back to their village. This enrages Chief Powhaten and he calls for the other chiefs from other tribes to band together to take down their common enemy. As tensions flare, it’s up to Pocahontas and John Smith to halt the hostilities before things get out of hand.

            In theory this film’s premise should have worked out great. It takes the idea of star-crossed lovers from works such as West Side Story and Romeo and Juliet and sets it in Colonial America. Add a dash of racism on both sides, showing that racial hatred hurts both sides, and in the end, nobody wins, and you have the making of a potential masterpiece. In practice the film ends up with a massive tone problem, that serves as a massive detriment to the film. This is most notable in the parallels of racism as portrayed by Meeko and Percy, to the Native Americans and the Colonists. The relationship between Meeko and Percy is played for laughs, but the relationship between the Native Americans and the Colonists is played for grim realism. The film also has way too many comedic moments, for a film that is supposed to have such a serious tone. I get when serious films have a few moments that is played for laughs, but it only works if the jokes are used sparingly and at appropriate moments.

            One of the areas the film truly shines, is in the animation. The animation of the characters is drawn with a more realistic feel, than is commonplace in Disney animation. This is most notable in the facial region, where even the eyes are drawn smaller than the typical Disney style. The place where the film’s beauty truly shines is in the backgrounds. The Virginian landscape is just visually breath taking and it really captures the unspoiled beauty of the land. The animation isn’t without its flaws, however. In several scenes some of the background characters will be standing idly by and they end up looking more like statues or background scenery, as they don’t even blink in some scenes.

            Taken together, Pocahontas and John Smith do have some chemistry together, but when you pull them apart, they’re come off as bland. John Smith is just your basic white guy; whose seeking adventure and Pocahontas is your basic free-spirited young woman who wants more out of life than the standard status quo. What makes them stand out is their relationship and its meaning. Their relationship serves to show that through the power of love and friendship, the evils brought by hatred and prejudice can be defeated. Governor Ratcliff is the embodiment of European colonist greed. He doesn’t care if an entire people’s way of life as well as their livelihood is destroyed, what he cares about is making himself wealthy and climbing up the British social ladder. This results in a rather stale vilian as we’ve seen the greedy vilian trope played out so many times, that it’s become cliched. This wouldn’t be so bad if the character was interesting. Ratcliff really doesn’t have any qualities that make him stand out as a great vilian, and his status of a vilian is further diminished with lines such as “see how I glitter”.  The side characters like Thomas, Wiggins, Ben and Lon are interesting, but they get practically no character development, and most are just there to serve as comedic relief. I do feel there was a missed opportunity with the character of Thomas, as the film built him up as a young naïve character, who still has much to learn and looks toward John Smith for guidance. The film could have had Thomas overcome his shortcomings and take up a leadership role and possibly have him have a larger role in the climax.

            While this film was made with a great deal of care and passion, I actually find this film to be the weakest in the Disney Renaissance. The story is boggled down with tone problems, and several weak characters, most notably in the vilian Ratcliff. The film’s saving grace is its fantastic animation and stellar songs. However, this film does have its audience and the relationship between John Smith and Pocahontas is one of the most believable in the studio’s history.

Finding Nemo 9/10

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G, 100m, 2003

With the Voice Talents of Albert Brooks (Marlin), Ellen DeGeneres (Dory), Alexander Gould (Nemo), William Dafoe (Gill), Brad Garrett (Bloat), Allison Janney (Peach), Stephen Root (Bubbles), Austin Pendleton (Gurgle), Vicki Lewis (Deb), Joe Ranft (Jacques), Geoffrey Rush (Nigel), Andrew Stanton (Crush), Nicholas Bird (Squirt), Elizabeth Perkins (Coral), Bob Peterson (Mr. Ray), Barry Humphries (Bruce), Eric Bana (Anchor), Bruce Spence (Chum), Bill Hunter (The Dentist) and John Ratzenberger (The School of Moonfish). Directed by Andrew Stanton. Produced by Graham Walters. Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson and David Reynolds. Music by Thomas Newman.

            Finding Nemo marks the solo directorial debut of Andrew Stanton, who had previously co-directed A Bug’s Life. Along with Pete Doctor, Andrew Stanton was one of the first animators hired on at Pixar. Pete made his directorial debut first in 2001, with the smash hit Monsters, Inc., now it’s Andrew’s turn in the director’s seat with Finding Nemo.

            The film opens in a typical Disney fashion, one of the parents of the protagonist getting killed off. Marlin (Albert Brooks) and Coral (Elizabeth Perkins) are expecting parents waiting for their eggs to hatch. On one fateful day a barracuda arrives, and Merlin begs Coral to come to the anemone, but Coral swims off to protect the eggs and the barracuda attacks. Marlin tries to fight the beast off, but he’s knocked out in the ensuing fight. Marlin awakens to discover not only has his wife died, but all but one of the eggs was destroyed. Per his wife’s desire, Marlin names the egg Nemo (Alexander Gould). Given the circumstances, Marlin turns into a paranoid parent whose only desire is to keep Nemo safe. On the first day Marlin fearfully takes Nemo to school. Upon learning that the school is going to the drop-off on a field trip Marlin rushes off to find Nemo, as Nemo is a poor swimmer due to his damaged fin, resulting from the barracuda attack. Embarrassed by his father’s overprotectiveness, Nemo disobeys Marlin by swimming in open water and touching the bottom of a boat. As he’s swimming back a diver suddenly appears and captures Nemo. Horrified Marlin gives chase, but he quickly loses sight of the divers as they speed away in a boat. Marlin meets a blue tang named Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), who claims to know which way the boat went. Unfortunately for Marlin Dory suffers from short term memory loss and quickly forgets why Marlin is following her. The rest of the film centers around Marlin and Dory’s quest to find Nemo (as the title suggests) and bring him back home.

            The relationship between Marlin and Nemo is one of the most poignantly powerful father-son relationships in animation history. At the start of the film Nemo is annoyed by Marlin’s overprotectiveness and his paranoia, and Marlin often dismisses Nemo’s feelings and desires because Marlin feels that Nemo is not ready or unable to perform certain tasks. This all comes to the climactic moment when Nemo tells his father that he hates him. The look of pure shock and regret on Marlin’s face is soul crushing, especially when one remembers that one of Marlin’s biggest concerns about being a parent prior to the barracuda attack was what would happen if they disliked him? When Marlin and Dory are trapped inside a whale, Marlin tries desperately to escape by slamming against the whale’s closed mouth. When Dory tries to comfort him, Marlin replies he was to find Nemo and tell him how old sea turtles are. This is a reference to a seemingly throwaway line when Nemo asks Marlin how long do sea turtles live? How long sea turtles live, may seem like a trivial matter, but to Marlin it symbolizes his need to  be with his son again, and have meaningless conversations that may seem unimportant at the time, but its little moments like this that parents miss the most when their kid grows up, and no longer has time for such trivial matters.

This film has an important message of overcoming disabilities. Nemo has a shriveled fin, resulting from a barracuda attack when he was an egg. This results in Nemo being a poor swimmer and bobbling when he swims. Marlin is highly aware of his son’s disability and does everything in his power to help him. When he’s separated from his dad Nemo performs some impressive feats on his own that prove that just because one has a disability, it doesn’t mean said person can’t do amazing things. Another message the film has is one that parents can take away from. Most parents care about their kids and would do anything to prevent them from being hurt. Marlin tried to fight off the barracuda that would go on to kill his wife and most of his kids, but the barracuda was able to naturally knock Marlin out. Waking up to only one surviving kid, Marlin vows to never let any harm to befall Nemo. This incident naturally turns Marlin into a nervous wreck and he constantly fusses over Nemo, much to Nemo’s annoyance. After Nemo is taken away, Marlin learns through the advice of many bright and colorful characters, that even though you may not think they’re ready, sometimes you have to let your kid go and let them do their own thing. It may be scary and a little sad to let your kid go, but at the end of the day you have to give your kid their moment to try.

            One of the most difficult things to properly animate is water. Finding Nemo did to CGI what The Little Mermaid did to traditional animation, create a realistic world set almost entirely underwater. What’s truly astounding is the color of the water doesn’t stay consistent throughout the film. This is due to Pixar’s brilliant tradition to bring a sense of realism to their features. The ocean scenery is beautifully vibrant. Scenes set in the reef look so colorful and beautiful. This is one of those moments when I could just look at the screen and bask in the film’s radiant beauty. Another beautiful scene is the jellyfish forest. The jellyfish are realistically translucent and are beautifully frightening. The animation of the fish characters is excellent. Their facial features are based more on a dog’s than on an actual fish’s. This is because a fish’s eyes are located on the sides of the face and this would have proven problematic for the animators to properly emote what the characters are feeling. The animation of the human characters is an improvement on the design from Monsters, Inc. however, the human characters do still have a plastic look to them, and this can take away from some people’s enjoyment of the film. I personally can look over this little flaw as the gorgeous animation of the on the aquatic life and the ocean scenery more than makes up for the flawed animation of the human characters.

            Finding Nemo proved once again that Pixar was a force to be reckoned with. Despite the CEO of Disney at the time, Michael Eisner believing that the film was going to be a flop and “knock Pixar down a peg”. The result was quite the opposite as Finding Nemo became the highest grossing film at the time, outgrossing The Lion King, which was the previous record holder. The characters of this film have become so iconic, that even after almost twenty years since the film’s release, if an establishment has a fish tank, a kid is inevitable going to point at a clownfish and exclaim Nemo! This is a testament to how wonderful this film is and how it still manages to entertain audiences to this day.

Monsters, Inc. 8.5/10

Nick SheedyLeave a comment

G, 92m, 2001

With the Voice Talents of John Goodman (James P. Sullivan), Billy Crystal (Mike Wazowski), Steve Buscemi (Randall Boggs), Mary Gibbs (Boo), Jennifer Tilly (Celia), James Coburn (Henry J. Waternoose III), Bob Peterson (Roz), Frank Oz (Jeff Fungus), Dan Gerson (Needleman and Smitty) and John Ratzenberger (Yeti). Directed by Pete Doctor. Produced by Darla K. Anderson. Screenplay by Andrew Stanton and David Gerson. Music by Randy Newman.

            Monsters, Inc. marks a first in Pixar’s history. This film marks the first time that John Lassiter did not direct have a hand in directing one of the feature films at Pixar. Instead, this film was directed by Pete Doctor, who was one of the first animators to be hired at Pixar, along with Andrew Stanton who would go on to direct Finding Nemo and WALL-E. This is often a huge risk for a studio, especially for a young studio, to give the reins to somebody with no experience in directing a feature, but in the case of Monsters, Inc., the risk was well worth it.

            Many children have a phobia of monsters lurking in their closets or under their beds waiting to scare them, This film takes that idea and runs with it. Sully (John Goodman) is the top Scarer at Monsters, Inc., a company that converts children’s screams into energy. He’s assisted by a one-eyed monster called Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal). Sully’s archrival at Monsters Inc. is the scheming Randal Boggs (Steve Buscemi), who desperately wants to be the top Scarer and to beat the all-time scare record. One day Sully is working late, picking up Mike’s paperwork when he spots a lone door on the Scare Floor. Sully enters the door to see if anybody is scaring inside. Sully finds the room to be supposedly empty. Just as he’s about to depart Sully hears a thumping sound behind him. The sound turned out to be a human girl named Boo (Mary Gibbs) picking his tail and dropping. This freaks Sully out as it’s believed in the Monster World that a human’s touch is toxic and can kill a monster. Sully stores Boo in a bag and rushes to put Boo back into her room. Just as he’s about to drop Boo off at her room, the door opens, and Randall emerges. It turns out that Randall had been secretly scaring Boo, for nefarious reasons. Sully, who ad managed to hide before Randall opened the door, rushes off to find Mike and to inform him of the situation. At the restraint Mike is out Boo gets of the bag and reveals herself to the other monsters and panic ensues. The CDA, which is the organization that is in charge of taking care of human related problems, quarantines the area after Mike, Sully and Boo escape. Now its up to Mike and Sully to get Boo back to her rightful place.

            The animation of this film is phenomenal, and Pixar once again set the standard for animation when this film was released, and it stills holds up relatively well to this day. One of the hardest things to animate on a computer is hair and Sully is covered in it. The reason hair is especially hard to animate, is because hair moves independently from the body. There’s one scene where Sully is travelling down a snowy hill during a blizzard. This is unbelievably hard to animate and the team at Pixar pulled it off masterfully. The character designs of this film are wonderfully imaginative. None of the monsters look alike and each has their own distinct feature that makes them stand out in a crowd. For example, Celia (Jennifer Tilly), Mike’s girlfriend in addition to having one eye, she also has a medusian hairstyle. This film also has several nice little touches that makes the world these characters live in believable. Since there are monsters of all shape and sizes, the architecture of this film reflects this. The door to Sully’s apartment features a small door for smaller monsters such as Mike to enter and a larger door for big characters such as Sully to use. Sully’s chair even has a hole in the back for his tail to fit through. All the kids’ rooms as well as their doors look unique, it would have been much simpler and cheaper to copy paste one room and switch things up enough for people not to notice too much. The design of the human characters are an improvement from the Toy Story films, but the designs of the humans do look a bit dated when compare to latter Pixar films. However, this doesn’t take away from the enjoyability of the film and Boo still looks vulnerable and cute.

            The strength of the film lies in the relationship between the characters. This is mainly shown through the relationship between Sully and Boo, and the relationship between Mike and Sully. Sully and Boo’s relationship is akin to that of a father and daughter, as Boo looks up to Sully for protection and Sully first looks at Boo with fear as he believes the notion that kids are toxic. However, as the film progresses Sully develops genuine caring feelings for Boo. This actually leads to a humorous scene where Sully misunderstands a situation that is a clear reference to the Looney Tune short Feed the Kitty. The relationship between Mike and Sully starts off as two close friends working together, with Mike being jealous of all the credit Sully is getting. Tensions rise when Sully crashes Mike’s date with Celia, causing her to become furious with Mike. Boo causes further tension between the duo as Mike wants to get rid of Boo with no regard to what happens to Boo. This is in stark contrast to Sully’s growing paternal feelings for Boo. When Mike and Boo get banished Mike is ticked at Sully leading to the climactic moment Mike literally turns his back on Sully. When Sully leaves, this causes Mike to evaluate himself and what is truly important.

            The film does feature a message of kids being far too desensitized today, however this fact is rather glossed over. This could have led to some brilliant concepts such as the content of the news can be scarier than many R- rated horror films. This film coincidentally came out a few months after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and I feel this is the type of message would have greatly helped many kids, who saw the terror on the news and the resulting fear that lingered for months after 9/11. Granted there was no way the filmmakers could have predicted the terrible tragedy, but I do feel it would have been a good idea to explore the notion of the desensitization of younger children.

            I do have one nitpick with the film. When the monsters scare the kids, they often roar or growl. Theoretically speaking wouldn’t the parents or guardians of these kids hear the roar and wonder what’s going on? Also, if the practice of scaring kids has been going on for years, wouldn’t the adults remember this and take measures to protect their kids? But I digress, this film is so sweet and fun. Little nitpicks such as these, won’t really take away from one’s enjoyment of the film.

            While not as emotionally powerful as Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc. delivers a fun and engaging story with memorable and likable characters. This is the type of film that can be enjoyed by kids and adults and serves as a reminder, how an animated film doesn’t have to rely on cheap jokes and gimakes to make money. What audiences really want to see is a film with a good premise and memorable characters, on this note Monsters, Inc. succeeds as a truly good movie.