tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29535259516466891112024-02-07T14:28:18.257-06:00Justin's Kartoon Korner!Welcome to my Kartoon Korner, a blog dedicated to the art of animation whether it's a classic short film or a feature length film, past or present. No matter if it's good or bad, I like to share my thoughts here. I've been doing this since 2008 and enjoy doing these reviews. I'm also now sharing a few of my own drawings, ideas, and characters as well. Happy reading, bloggers!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01618562818963525364noreply@blogger.comBlogger258125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2953525951646689111.post-23059381614432124752013-04-12T01:30:00.000-05:002013-04-12T13:25:06.651-05:00Review Time! - The Croods (2013)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Ok, a new review! Yay! Truth is, I wanted to try something new and record a review for the blog. It's a little unorganized but this is me fresh from seeing it moments ago. I'm also planning on reviewing the Dreamworks films in 2013, but I'll probably do my reviews like this. Hope you like this format and enjoy!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01618562818963525364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2953525951646689111.post-2205353088301270232013-03-21T16:37:00.000-06:002013-03-21T16:37:00.696-06:00कोबरा और नेवला<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A little something to keep the pulse of this blog alive during my very busy schedule. But good news! I got a Blue Yeti microphone and might record a little something later this month. See ya then!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01618562818963525364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2953525951646689111.post-41840877575637417302013-02-12T17:03:00.001-06:002013-02-12T17:03:19.913-06:00Siggraph 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A poster I had to make for a desktop publishing class. You can read about the Siggraph Conference<a href="http://s2013.siggraph.org/"> here</a>. Think I should actually enter it?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01618562818963525364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2953525951646689111.post-37724490565645172852013-02-08T00:32:00.000-06:002013-02-08T00:32:13.241-06:00At long last, new art! :D<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01618562818963525364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2953525951646689111.post-53482857113124598012012-12-09T02:10:00.001-06:002012-12-09T02:10:39.652-06:00Plans and a rewrite.Hey guys.<br />
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First off, I've been crazy busy lately, so sorry for not posting in a month. Anyway, I wanted to bring up some things.<br />
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1) I rewrote my <i>Home on the Range</i> review from Disneyear to make it less angry. To be honest, it may be kinda bad, but it's honestly not as terrible as I originally wrote it out to be. So I felt like I could make it a bit more honest. If you'd like to see the reedit, check it out <a href="http://cartoonzforu.blogspot.com/2012/07/disneyear-home-on-range-2004.html">here</a>. I think it turned out a lot better than before.<br />
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2) I started work on a website for my artwork and I need some opinions about it. Visit it <a href="http://coursework.uhcl.edu/ARTS4434-01/SmithJ9116/index.html">here</a> and feel free to tell me what you think. Keep in mind the domain only lasts three weeks, so visit it when you can!<br />
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3) I'm still planning on doing more movie reviews. The big plan is to do a Studio-Ghibli theme beginning in January and buying a podcast microphone to provide some commentary on short films on the side.<br />
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Hope to see you guys soon. Oh, and enjoy a drawing of Benny the squirrel in the 1930's.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01618562818963525364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2953525951646689111.post-30417283787853876972012-11-04T22:27:00.000-06:002012-12-09T02:27:44.392-06:00Disneyear: Wreck-It Ralph (2012)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Well folks, here it is. The final film of Disneyear, <i>Wreck-It Ralph</i>. I'll be honest here, I was a little iffy when I first heard of this movie. I read the basic plot of it somewhere (I bet it was Wikipedia) and thought "Okay, it's like <i>Megamind</i> but in a video game... it <i>might</i> work." But then the trailer came out and my anticipation grew. I saw the main character jumping around different video games and thought this was a really neat idea. On top of that I noticed other video game characters were there too. If you look on the poster the trailer showcased a lot of video game characters like Bowser from <i>Mario Bros.</i>, Major Bison from<i> Street Fighter</i>, Clyde the ghost from <i>Pac-Man</i>, Dr. Eggman from <i>Sonic the Hedgehog</i>, even Q-Bert made it in the movie! God was it nostalgic! Then I thought it over and said "it's more like Roger Rabbit then... this looks cool!". So as it was advertised more and more, the more I got sucked into it and the more I wanted to see it. It just seemed like the coolest damn thing ever! Then Nov. 2 came along and I got to catch it this weekend. And you know what? It really surprised me. Not by how bad it is but by how damn brilliant this is. I went from thinking this was a maybe to thinking that it's a serious contender for <i>Best Animated Film of the Year! </i>Yeah people, it's that good! So you're probably wondering what I think makes it so good? Well guys, I have to warn you again that this is going to have MAJOR SPOILERS in here so if you don't like those, just wait till you see it then come back. Otherwise, get your quarters ready to play <i>Wreck-It Ralph. </i><br />
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Ralph (<i>John C. Reilly</i>) is actually the villain of an 8-bit arcade game called <i>Fix-It Felix Jr</i>, which is kind of like the original <i>Donkey Kong</i>.<i> </i>Feeling unappreciated, he decides he simply wants more out of life even though the other characters typecast him as a villain in real life. So he gets the idea that if he somehow gets a medal for being a hero, then maybe the others will respect him more. So he sets off to win a medal after bumping into a character from the first-person shooter <i>Hero's Duty</i> (<i>similar to Halo</i>) who mentions that heros get medals in his game. Ralph enters the game via The Central Game Station (<i>which is a power outlet that connects many consoles together</i>) and meets it's no-nonsense leader, General Calhoun (<i>Jane Lynch</i>). Ralph tries to fight and survive the game's enemies, alien parasites known as Cy-bugs, but he causes a game over by interfering with the game's user interface. Between game sessions, Ralph climbs the game's central beacon and collects the medal, accidentally hatching a Cy-Bug in the process. The Cy-bug clings to Ralph as he stumbles into an escape pod that launches him out of the game. Meanwhile, Ralph's absence has not gone unnoticed, as a girl tells Litwak that <i>Fix-It Felix, Jr</i>. is malfunctioning. Since broken games are unplugged, leaving their characters homeless, Felix (<i>Jack McBrayer</i>) sets off to find Ralph. The escape pod lands in literally a candy-coated racing game called <i>Sugar Rush</i> and meets with a glitch character called Vanellope von Schweetz (<i>Sarah Silverman</i>). The two dislike each other at first since Vanellope steals Ralph's medal and uses it to enter the next race to which the King Candy (<i>Alan Tudyk</i>) objects simply because she's a glitch in the program. She and Ralph start to form a bond once they figure out they can fix each other's problems: Ralph can make a cart for Vanellope while she can use it to win back Ralph's medal. They also discover that they're not so different Meanwhile in Hero's Duty, Felix meets up with Calhoun to find Ralph and restore order because the Cy-bug that departed with Ralph in the escape pod acts as a virus and can potentially spread to all the consoles and have the games unplugged. So it's up to Ralph to fix what he accidentally started and save the arcade from certain destruction. End spoilers.<br />
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Remember when I said in my <i>Roger Rabbit</i> review that the film was a love letter to our childhoods? Well this film is a love letter to video games. There's no better phrase to describe it. As a gamer, I waxed nostalgic for this movie. The whole film is scattered with references to video games from glitches and viruses to secret easter eggs hidden inside. There's also a ton of third party characters that make it in like Bowser, Pac-Man, Dr. Eggman, Pac-Man, Dig-Dug, Q-Bert, even Sonic the HedgeHog. Oh and Mario gets mentioned briefly. Sucks... would have loved to see him in this movie. The environments are jaw-droppingly beautiful and offer a variety of moods from cheerful and colorful to dark and unsettling. The video game setting offers an amazing amount of creative possibilities for the Disney animators, from the way the characters are drawn and animated (<i>note the Nicelanders' limited movements and Vanellope's occasional glitching</i>), to the way their lives are portrayed outside of their own game. What Ralph does is apparently called "going Turbo" where if you leave your own game, you have a chance of unplugging both your game and the one you enter. It's considered taboo and highly frowned upon in the arcade. Again, what a brilliant and brilliant concept.<br />
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As far as complaints go, I kind of wish the cameos were utilized better. In <i>Roger Rabbit</i>, other cartoon characters conversed and interacted with each other throughout the film. Here, we only get a bad-guy seminar (<i>which was a funny scene, btw</i>) and Q-Bert does play sort of a major role. Other than that, they're just there. But it was fun to try and spot them all, I'll admit. And it would have been cooler if the movie explored more than three games. It sticks with one a little too long, but at least it's a visually pleasing world.<br />
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As far as the story goes, it's your basic "I gotta be me" tale, but it's still a strong story. What sets it apart however are all the environments, creativity, and of course the characters. John C. Reilly does a fantastic job as Wreck-It Ralph and the character himself is really likeable. He's really a nice guy at heart that just wants a little respect, which is something we all can identify with. Jane Lynch plays another tough-ass character but again, is kind of likeable. They give her what the film calls "programmed with the most depressing back-story ever" (<i>which I honestly thought was kind of funny as it should.</i>) and she does show through the bond she develops with Felix that she's not so tough. Kind of nice. Speaking of Fix-It Felix, oh my God! He was single-handedly the funniest character here. I haven't laughed at a character this hard since Maximus in Tangled and part of it comes from the dorky charm of Jack McBrayer playing the role. Vanellope, played by Sarah Silverman, was kind of annoying. But to be fair, I think she was kind of supposed to be like that. The character actually grew on me later and I dare say it was perfect casting on Silverman's part. The villain is definitely one of the femmiest and funniest I've seen in awhile. He's sort of like if The Mad Hatter became evil somehow. How he's the villain and his backstory I dare not ruin for you, so go and see it for yourself. When the scene reveals it near the end, I'll admit I didn't see this odd twist coming!<br />
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While <i>Wreck-It Ralph</i> isn't the all-out <i>Super Smash Brothers</i> movie I was expecting, the movie comes with loads of surprises that are sure to delight and entertain a wide audience, gamers and non-gamers and kids and adults. There's a little something for everyone in <i>Wreck-It Ralph</i>. With a clever concept, good jokes (<i>though some were a little juvenile to my tastes</i>), great characters and voice-acting, fantastic animation and art direction, and nostalgia for gamers, this movie's a sure fire winner. I think it may of found a way in my top 10 Disney films overnight. I really enjoyed it and chances are you will too. Go see it when you can and come to your own conclusions.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01618562818963525364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2953525951646689111.post-60068504908138230792012-09-26T21:51:00.002-05:002012-09-27T02:25:49.955-05:00New ideas for the blog and some more characters!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Hey hey, readers. I know I haven't posted reviews in a while, but I will when I get a chance. But in the meantime, I'd like to share what I plan on doing here from now on. I'm actually considering a new series of written reviews on here called "Animated Animosity" where I review the animated films that are... less than good. I wanted to try this for a while after Disneyyear and Pixargust was over. I'll also try out other animated movies too because there's a bunch that deserve to have a look. Those will usually be in some sort of theme to it and I'll likely do what I did in Pixargust and keep posting in the span of a month or more. Whatever I review will normally be up to me but if I get enough requests to review a certain movie, I'll do it. Oh, and expect a surprise Disneyear review in a month or so!</div>
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I'm also planning on buying a microphone soon for video posts that will have me talking over a random theatrical short and even some TV cartoons from past and present while I talk about what I think of them. It'll be basically like a live commentary. I'll also post the original short or episode without my voice over it in case you haven't seen it yet. I'll also keep posting my artwork as well. There's lots more coming soon, so keep tuned here.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK72Xgn7mZGyozj7JHmh34meNrEbchYHzyVk3yxCa5lw9xYBdYbpihRdjflXadYWxAAJyaf-mijVp6RPseiKBKD1VcfsoCmDIxSIpoyYLD0XmfkJCMwaYOha_1YUqFKkmZ8rsXO7sptX0O/s1600/Ralph+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK72Xgn7mZGyozj7JHmh34meNrEbchYHzyVk3yxCa5lw9xYBdYbpihRdjflXadYWxAAJyaf-mijVp6RPseiKBKD1VcfsoCmDIxSIpoyYLD0XmfkJCMwaYOha_1YUqFKkmZ8rsXO7sptX0O/s320/Ralph+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
In the meantime, here's my star character, Ralph. Ralph is like any mouse: quiet, timid, and curious. But since Ralph is very small, he has to use his brain instead of his brawn to get himself out of trouble in a calm, collected manner. Ralph has Ralph also is a cultured person, preferring the arts, classical music, and some jazz over today's standards. He's pretty talented at creating art, has a nice singing voice, level-headed, a MENSA member, and modest. Ralph also has a very friendly persona, helping anyone out so long as they don't hurt him. He comes from a long line of laboratory mice, which is why he's white with blue eyes and likely explains how he's so smart. Ralph is a mix of myself with a little bit of Dean Martin's wit. The tail design just came to me.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfLDd2KbRvA2OA6MrZGq5mPzbLwAFDlrXZWkMEhWLgA9Xr8F9OZDJbXju-iE2f4aYo74s48gvbNVNvFugCB4JV0ZWKbKHEjGVRy1klWDmdGYDPy8Wi_sx4dZx8GTcMuPpY9ixAHrQAUCUn/s1600/Benny+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfLDd2KbRvA2OA6MrZGq5mPzbLwAFDlrXZWkMEhWLgA9Xr8F9OZDJbXju-iE2f4aYo74s48gvbNVNvFugCB4JV0ZWKbKHEjGVRy1klWDmdGYDPy8Wi_sx4dZx8GTcMuPpY9ixAHrQAUCUn/s320/Benny+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Then there's Benny, a devious little squirrel that's full of fun and energy. Benny has a usually happy, up-beat persona. He may be a wee bit nuts and may come across as annoying to his neighbor Gordon, but he does use his head occasionally when there's trouble. It's just easier for him to be energetic and popping up at random moments. He has the ability to pull cartoon weaponry out of thin air. He also has a speech impediment where whenever he hits an "s" sound, it comes out as a whistle. He also has a dark side to him, showing extreme animosity towards someone that does him any kind of harm making him want to get even by any means necessary. Benny's one of my favorite characters that I made and he'll be loads of fun to make cartoons for in the future.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7haC5kNVncM6vvLp-Xp6M9URGOfIqRt4dnAK8vEvHPObglV1DDEqzboI0J2_OsJ57PY5gU5Jl5m6V6opcFXEmWpx2PQrubWZTVl6xnUcQ3lfLsR18Kd5s-UyL9-SsCA__HSfaL4PWTW6k/s1600/Bear+&+Eli+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7haC5kNVncM6vvLp-Xp6M9URGOfIqRt4dnAK8vEvHPObglV1DDEqzboI0J2_OsJ57PY5gU5Jl5m6V6opcFXEmWpx2PQrubWZTVl6xnUcQ3lfLsR18Kd5s-UyL9-SsCA__HSfaL4PWTW6k/s320/Bear+&+Eli+copy.jpg" /></a><br />
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Finally, we have Bear and Eli, a pink toy panda and </div>
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elephant brother and sister duo. Bear is a toy panda that acts acts as Eli's big sister. She is a sweet, caring individual but isn't afraid to take on responsibilities. She doesn't mind baths and respects rules. She is authoritative and has a more realistic approach to things than her brother. It's her seriousness that can make her frustrated with Eli sometimes, but she still loves her brother all the same and will do anything to keep him happy and safe. Eli is a toy elephant and is Bear's little brother. He is all heart and extremely playful and child-like in temperament and it's because of this that he can get frustrated easily and doesn't always know how to handle his emotions. He loves to play and makes friends but hates veggies and baths. Overall, he's a big bundle of love. Their origin story is an interesting one. Back in high school, I had a friend, Vicki, who had these two pink stuffed animals named Bear and Eli. Respectively, they were a bear and an elephant. So after she made a short play script for our Children's Theater class based off of the two toys, I thought about what they would look like as cartoons. These designs were my end results and I continue to draw and write stories for them to this day.</div>
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Like I said, stay tooned for more (<i>sorry for the pun!</i>) in the future! </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01618562818963525364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2953525951646689111.post-60937351482456742242012-09-18T15:30:00.000-05:002012-09-18T15:31:36.161-05:00More characters!<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I've been playing around on Photoshop for a while and made some more portraits of my characters. I figured I'd at least introduce these character for new comers this time, so I'll give some details here. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6nnICmmkxFLFhZltv5LD50GIGGP6Ad-SAFC0H7XMdwUAtGOOGJ6-i9yE4WCqmLd3tG4-jAeM73XpSBIG9X-Rch1vLQexMM3oxDLgQJ7e5ViJF_tvZRcZbI7se5E10Ys8571EHQ81G5cAz/s1600/C&M+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6nnICmmkxFLFhZltv5LD50GIGGP6Ad-SAFC0H7XMdwUAtGOOGJ6-i9yE4WCqmLd3tG4-jAeM73XpSBIG9X-Rch1vLQexMM3oxDLgQJ7e5ViJF_tvZRcZbI7se5E10Ys8571EHQ81G5cAz/s320/C&M+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a>First up is Bhim and Ambika, the cobra and mongoose duo. Bhim (<i>the mongoose</i>) is sort of a jerk. He's extremely pugnacious and hard-headed, but easily wimps out if he winds up fighting something bigger, like a tiger or a python. Ambika (<i>the cobra</i>) is the opposite. She's friendly and shy. She's sort of a wildflower and has figured out that the Bhim is actually hypnotized by her beautiful dancing and singing, which she uses to her advantage in tight spots. They have a kind of frienemy-ish relationship.<br />
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I got inspiration for these two after watching Animal Planet and saw a mongoose and a cobra fight in real life. Most of the time, the mongoose is the winner of these fights but I always wondered if the cobra would ever win and how. The musical numbers are also inspired by Eartha Kitt when she was younger with the visual style of Bollywood films. The point of this series is to hopefully have people change their thoughts on snakes. In reality, most snakes are like Ambika: they don't want to fight or bite. They just want to be left in peace.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQW-2d8SThGlTOJygh1FEFmKLKzJIgTW9BiOLXMy4zqBjHh3WCCxZ8fJIb73hoKACsL0HcjfGzhcofa9QRIqPhr37b8wLoNdwfOJ9S3Dm3uXm1ndGtdwD12C-cbf5_VvXOTDGxPmlmIkso/s1600/Chile+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQW-2d8SThGlTOJygh1FEFmKLKzJIgTW9BiOLXMy4zqBjHh3WCCxZ8fJIb73hoKACsL0HcjfGzhcofa9QRIqPhr37b8wLoNdwfOJ9S3Dm3uXm1ndGtdwD12C-cbf5_VvXOTDGxPmlmIkso/s320/Chile+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a> Then we have Chilé, a chinchilla with a very fiery personality. A tad brash, Chilé will always act before thinking about it making him believe he can do anything. Even if he comes off as cocky, he's far from it. Chilé is actually very chivalrous and always willing to help even if the odds are against him. Especially for a woman. Chilé is also an amorous creature who's up to sacrificing himself for any pretty face. He happens to have one certain weakness: he also is a habitual cleaner. He'll clean anything that looks dirty with his long, bushy tail since he dislikes filth. Chilé needs to keep his fur away from water which is why he prefers to bathe in volcanic dust.<br />
Chilé was inspired by my pet chinchilla, Kirby, and several viewings of Disney's <i>The Three Caballeros</i>. His outfit is based on a huacho, the Chilean equivalent of a cowboy.<br />
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More characters will come later. Keep tuned!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01618562818963525364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2953525951646689111.post-13308035556699210852012-09-02T21:21:00.002-05:002012-09-02T21:21:38.831-05:00Gordon portrait<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh6CMIXJ8ZUqTfiyjZiYZNraFl12PNSd9l0QpuXhWSSJQ3zOtIOrOtAkZL-yt54eie0XZGPxwjJRLZz5t_Q-UHkW-5HaI8MilJSxLoEYKx5dVASnLDV7m-d3W3QJ1aAY0zsVya9ptAkL3K/s1600/Gordon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh6CMIXJ8ZUqTfiyjZiYZNraFl12PNSd9l0QpuXhWSSJQ3zOtIOrOtAkZL-yt54eie0XZGPxwjJRLZz5t_Q-UHkW-5HaI8MilJSxLoEYKx5dVASnLDV7m-d3W3QJ1aAY0zsVya9ptAkL3K/s320/Gordon.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Hey hey, readers! I recently decided to join my art blog with this one, so I can share my reviews and ideas for characters and stories. So here's a portrait I made of one of my characters: Gordon the Scottish Capuchin monkey. If you want to learn about his character, just search Gordon in the search bar and you'll find him.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01618562818963525364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2953525951646689111.post-11049658141674314142012-08-27T16:47:00.000-05:002012-08-30T03:08:05.763-05:00Pixargust: Brave (2012)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPFIJwoYxkAqvg9AFtyV8kKYEeatpO81Rfwu855d38trF8iPArB-3iQT-3Jcgg8fl3T_nnd6gaIdoCFOrtMfU4EhrOztE-f4WaZuthThONdgdNJctrox5RFlK3nri-w4Vv2qVhxCVac5Jn/s1600/brave_disney_510.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPFIJwoYxkAqvg9AFtyV8kKYEeatpO81Rfwu855d38trF8iPArB-3iQT-3Jcgg8fl3T_nnd6gaIdoCFOrtMfU4EhrOztE-f4WaZuthThONdgdNJctrox5RFlK3nri-w4Vv2qVhxCVac5Jn/s320/brave_disney_510.jpg" width="215" /></a></div>
We now come to the final film of Pixargust: <i>Brave</i>. I think we all remember the trailer and we were looking forward to an epic adventure from Pixar, especially after the disappointment from <i><a href="http://cartoonzforu.blogspot.com/2012/08/pixargust-cars-2-2011.html">Cars 2</a></i>. I mean wow! It only showed our lead out in the wilderness and then this huge bear pops out of nowhere and she only has a bow and arrow to protect her. It looked awesome! So I was hyped to see this in theaters. Me and a few friends of mine went to the midnight premier and we eagerly awaited for it to start. When it ended, we were all happy we saw it but one of my friends commented "Something was off about it, but I liked it." So I saw it again with another friend and after the second viewing, I think I know why my first friend said that. It still was as good as I remember it, but there is a small problem with it. Now before I go on, I want to address that there are major spoilers in this review so if you have not seen this yet and don't want my review to ruin it for you, you may want to just reread another review of mine. And I know it's not on DVD as I'm typing this, so I'm going to have to use what clips I can find on YouTube. So if you're still here, then here we go: let's see if this will change Pixar's fate with the last film of Pixargust, <i>Brav</i>e.<br />
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Set in medieval Scotland, King Fergus (<i>Billy Connolly</i>) presents his daughter Merida (<i>Kelly Macdonald</i>) with a bow and arrow and ever since, she's become something of a tomboy, riding off into the woods to practice archery and be a free spirit. That is until her mother, Queen Elanor (<i>Emma Thompson</i>) announces that Merida will be betrothed by one of three allied clans. She's not really ready or willing to go through this despite her mother's pleas for keeping tradition. The clans arrive to compete in the Highland Games to compete for Merida's hand. She announces that she will compete for her right to remain single, but this causes a dispute between her and Elanor. She cuts her family tapestry in anger and flees to the woods where a group of will-o-wisps lead her to a witch's hut in guise of a wood carver's shop. She agrees to give Merida a spell to change her fate if she buys all of her carvings with a family medallion. She gives it to her in the form of a cake, which she gives Elanor. It causes her mother to transform into a bear, catching Merida off guard. Turns out Elanor is now in danger because of her husband's hatred of bears from a big demon one named Mor'du got his leg and has since seeked vengeance. They escape thanks to her brothers and overtime in the woods, mother and daughter have to work together to break the spell. The witch isn't there, but leaves behind a riddle, "mend the bond torn by pride". Merida theorizes that she can reverse the spell by repairing her family tapestry. They set off back home until the wisps lead her to an ancient ruins, where they find out that Mor'du was the emperor from a legend Elanor told Merida. They escape the demon bear but now have to sneak Elanor as a bear, but losing control of her human personality, back in her room. Fergus finds the bear thinking it's Mor'du and chases her to a Stonehenge like clearing. Merida rushes to defend her while sewing back the tapestry, but the real Mor'du shows up. Elanor kills Mor'du by luring him to one of the stones and crushes him, releasing his spirit. Merida covers bear Elanor with the tapestry and when it doesn't seem like it's working, she returns to normal. The two now have a better relationship with each other, the clans depart, and we end with the two riding horses in the wilderness. </div>
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Let's start with what my friend considered "off": the story. It's not a bad story by any means, but it's one that we've seen before in other animated movies. It's a princess that wants her freedom. If you read my Disneyear reviews, then you know now what I'm talking about. This story and main character have been used a dozen times before. Not only that but there's a few elements from <i><a href="http://cartoonzforu.blogspot.com/2012/07/disneyear-brother-bear-2003.html">Brother Bear</a></i> in the mix too. It lacks the creativity and magic Pixar is so famous for. There is depth and some interesting twists in the movie, but it's not as groundbreaking as the other Pixar movies, so it comes off a little bit of a disappointment. Again, it's not a bad story, but it is the weakest aspect of the film. </div>
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But are the story flaws overly distracting? Honestly, no. The rest of the movie is really good. The animation for starters is some of the finest you'll see in the movie. I mean wow. This environment looks so photo-realistic. The designs of some of the characters are a little cartoony, but it does work since it's a fairy-tale movie. I also love the attention to detail not just in the animation, but in the voice acting. Every actor in this movie actually does have Scottish heritage. That's really cool and something pretty rare to find in animated movies. There's also the aspect of this culture. Just like in <i>Brother Bear</i>, you get hooked to these people and culture from minute one and whether or not the culture is correct, it still make for interesting fables and myth. But unlike <i>Brother Bear</i>, it does stick with this aspect all the way through. In fact, legends are what drive the story from start to finish. It's almost as if Pixar looked at <i>Brother Bear</i>, saw it's potential, and fixed all it's errors from the middle of that movie. </div>
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Some of the characters may have been done before, but they're still enjoyable. Merida, for starters, may be someone we've seen in other Disney films before: she's the fiery free spirit that wants to make her own choices and fights her own battles and so on. But I think what makes her stand out though is that she has quite a bit of bratty teenager in her, as evidenced by the lack of morality she displays in trying to change her mother's mind about her upcoming betrothal and yet heaps of bravery, as she shows when confronted with what she's done to her Mother. She does realize her choices have consequences and does what she can to fix them. I also love Kelly MacDonnald's performance too. There's such a genuine sweetness in her voice that transfers well to Merida.<br />
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King Fergus is a great comedic character, as expected when Billy Connolly plays him. He's a lot of fun and the scenes with him and the other clan leaders does make for fun comedy. Merida also has these three brothers that are mischievous and do get some good scenes. The best character, by far though, is Elanor. As a queen in a fairy tale, her role could have been type-casted for the villain or just unlikable. But the movie shows that she does indeed love her daughter and only wants to keep tradition in her kingdom. She does know her relationship with her daughter is on the rocks, but what's interesting is that both characters are kind of stubborn at first. It's after Elanor turns into a bear is when it gets even better. The scenes where she tries to act proper as a bear just kill me! The two begin to learn about and from each other as they bond while trying to fix the spell and their relationship turns out for the better They also added this interesting aspect where she would constantly revert personality from human to ursine as the spell progresses. Like I said, this is <i>Brother Bear</i> done right. It's far, far more engaging and timeless. This is really where the heart is.</div>
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Brave doesn't quite hold up to the other Pixar films because of a rather weak story, but it comes close. These are memorable characters with a compelling world and culture they live in. The animation is some of the best from the studio, but I wish that the film had more creative energy and magic to back it up. This could have been a masterpiece if it didn't have such a been-done story, but it's still enjoyable as is. It's not a great movie, but it is good. If you're still interested in seeing a Pixar fairy tale or just want an entertaining film to see this summer, I'd say go check it out while you still can.<br />
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And this is where Pixargust ends. Again, thank all of you so much for sticking with me this month and sharing your thoughts and ideas about these movies with me. I'm sure you have your own opinions out there so get out there and share them so I can see them. And remember: even the worst from Pixar is still better than the best from Michael Bay. I guess when Monsters University comes out next year, I'll be sure to share my thoughts here. Thank you so much and take care.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01618562818963525364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2953525951646689111.post-59451643275328318932012-08-27T01:06:00.000-05:002012-12-10T15:18:43.535-06:00Pixargust: Cars 2 (2011)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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*sigh*... Okay guys, we've come to one of the big ones. By big ones, I mean it has a big reputation. And by reputation I mean that this has been voted unanimously as Pixar's weakest link: the worst one the studio has made thus far. So it's no surprise that out of all the Pixar films I said I'd do for Pixargust, <i>Cars 2</i> was the one film I wanted to watch the least. I remember being uninvested by the trailers, I was uninvested by what the story was when I saw the synopsis, I had no interest at all in seeing this last year. And all the negative reviews from not just critics but even fans from the first <i><a href="http://cartoonzforu.blogspot.com/2012/08/pixargust-cars-2006.html">Cars</a></i> movie didn't help me change my mind. But my curiosity got the best of me and I got to catch this in a dollar theater last year. Well, I was mostly right. It wasn't <i>that</i> bad but it was still very disappointing to know the kings of story and the animation studio that had the greatest track record for quality films, Pixar, had made this film. So here I am talking about it now that I had to see it a second time. Is it any better and improve the franchise by making it a true Pixar film or is it as painful and hard to watch as a car wreck? Time to check under the hood to see if it's any better, this is <i>Cars 2</i>.<br />
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Years pass by as Lightning McQueen has won four Piston Cups and is the pride of Radiator Springs. When he returns, Mater is there to try and have fun until McQueen goes on a date with Sally. Mater impersonates a waiter just to hang out with McQueen some more until a television talk show announces that a former gas guzzler named Miles Axelrod (<i>Eddie Izzard</i>) converted to electricity and has developed a new fuel called Allinol that is supposed to be healthier for the environment (<i>I'll get to that later...</i>) and holds a world cup Prix in honor of the fuel. McQueen is invited after Mater calls the show to confront an Italian rival Francesco Bernoulli (<i>John Tuturro</i>). The first race is in Japan, then Italy, and ends in the UK. During a party, Mater makes a fool of himself and meets up with a spy car (<i>Bruce Campbell</i>) who puts on a tracking device on him without him knowing. He is mistaken for a spy by British Intelligence and is assigned to work with agent Finn McMissile (<i>Michael Caine</i>) and Holly Shiftwell (<i>Emily Mortimer</i>) in solving an oil rig crime caused by a group of lemons (<i>small cars that constantly break down</i>) that plan on destroying the cars that use Allinol to make the alternitave fuel look bad and so more cars use regular gasoline instead. It's up to Mater to save the day and he does manage to do a surprisingly competent job working undercover. Meanwhile, McQueen had an argument with Mater before about costing him the race in Japan and feels bad for his friend throughout the movie. The two are reunited in England but the lemons put a bomb on Mater. He surprisingly manages to find out it was actually Axelrod that was behind the Allinol scheme and is arrested while Mater is knighted. He is made the second pride of Radiator Springs and the Prix finishes off in Radiator Springs.<br />
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I'm going to be completely honest here: this is a really mediocre film all around. It completely feels alienated from the first <i>Cars</i> film. And I may have criticized it for a weak story, it does have it's heartwarming moments here and there, the side characters were fun, and it does have a nice moral to it. <i>Cars 2</i> feels like Pixar took all the negative aspects of the first film and somehow made it worse instead of improving it. The side characters are non-existent, the morals are gone and if there is one it's phoned-in, and the story somehow became even more generic than the first one. This is the same plot you'd see in any spy comedy but it's not well-written, the jokes fall flat, and its aims strictly for kids. What the flying spy-car happened here? The whole environmental message really confuses me too. At least with <i><a href="http://cartoonzforu.blogspot.com/2012/08/pixargust-walle-2008.html">WALL•E</a></i>, it made sense. But this is <i>Cars</i>! Everything in the world is a car! Wouldn't the o-zone have burnt up by now?<br />
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But I'll give the film some credit, it does have a better pace than the first movie and the animation is really, really good. The animators seem to be the only people trying here and the backgrounds are great. You really do feel like you're in these places. We go to Tokyo, then Rome, the London. And I'll admit, the action scenes are cool but some of the designs on the cars could use some work. It's not Pixar's best animation, but it's far better than anything else in the movie.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The locale is really good from this pic.</td></tr>
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Like I said most of the side characters are almost pushed aside to the point where they barely appear in this movie and are somehow less developed than before. Even McQueen, the character we <i>should</i> be focusing on, is pushed down to side character status. So who's the main character now? Mater. Yes, I kid you not. I liked him in the first film because while he was annoying at times, he had a kindness and charm to him and the movie knew just how much screen time he had. Now he's the main focus and that charm has sadly faded away. He's <i>really</i> annoying here. It's just an hour and a half of Larry the Cable Guy making unfunny jokes and somehow makes out a world-class spy. And is it me, or is the fact that he's made a spy and given weapons a bad idea from the start?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dat there bomb probably killed the other racers on accident?<br />
That's funny right there!</td></tr>
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The new characters are honestly okay but I wish we got to know them more. Holly seems like she's there just to have a female spy and a love interest for Mater (<i>again, I'm not kidding...</i>), but I like Emily Mortimer's voice acting and I'll admit, she's pretty smart. The villain, though, falls flat by the end. How Mater even figured out it was Axelrod the whole time is really confusing and just thrown at us at the last minute. Francessco has a funny line here and there because of his overall cockiness. At least he's a little better than Chick Hicks. Finn honestly was kind of suave and charming but I wish he was made the focus if we were going a spy route. There's also a car voiced by Bruce Campbell and his scenes are awesome just because it's Bruce Campbell. But they kill him off. Yeah, they destroy his engine. We never actually see it but it's shown as a reflection on a screen. It's pretty graphic for kids. In fact, a lot of cars died and this was a G-rated film? The ratings system screwed up #1 and #2, you never ever want to kill off Bruce Campbell in a movie early on. Nothing good ever comes of that!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">*sniff!* Nothing at all!</td></tr>
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As a film on it's own, <i>Cars 2</i> is average kiddie fodder. The story and jokes are rusty, but it has nice animation. As a Pixar film? It is <i>very</i> disappointing! I guess it's because we've all been spoiled by Pixar releasing the best of the best movies produced by the man that saved Disney animation, but I've come to expect a lot more than this. By the end of it, I felt like I only wasted time watching this. It's all flash but no drive or passion and leaves less of an impact behind than the first <i>Cars</i> movie. It's not godawful. Just pointless and it really is the worst Pixar movie. Even if you're a fan of the first <i>Cars</i> movie, chances are you won't like this movie at all. It's not as bad as I'd thought it'd be, but I don't think I'll be watching it again anytime soon.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01618562818963525364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2953525951646689111.post-86983764094288088722012-08-26T01:31:00.000-05:002012-08-26T11:54:58.531-05:00Pixargust: Toy Story 3 (2010)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Back in 1995, a relatively new animation studio named Pixar released a movie that rocked the whole world: <i><a href="http://cartoonzforu.blogspot.com/2012/08/pixargust-toy-story-1995.html">Toy Story</a></i>. It was not only hugely popular, but also revolutionized animation by being the very first computer-animated film. It mostly was concerned about a toy's role in a child's life as always being there for them and the possibility of there being a new favorite and being replaced. The movie spawned a sequel some 3 years later: <i><a href="http://cartoonzforu.blogspot.com/2012/08/pixargust-toy-story-2-1999.html">Toy Story 2</a></i>. That movie turned out more successful than its predecessor and is to this day arguably better than the first. It further explored the life of a toy with the possibility of abandonment altogether and the inevitability of your kid growing up. Things have come full circle with a third and currently final sequel around 11 years afterward and was even more successful than the first two combined: <i>Toy Story 3</i>. This film now holds the record for the highest-grossing animated film in history, making back over $1 billion at the box office as well as the third animated film in history to be nominated for Best Picture from the Academy Awards and the second film in a row from Pixar to accomplish this. Even two years after I first saw it, I hold it in high regards as one of Pixar's finest accomplishments. But is it perfect? It's time to gather up the old gang for one final adventure to find out in <i>Toy Story 3</i>.<br />
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As you'd expect, all our favorite toys are back! Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Bulleye, Slinky, Hamm, Rex, the Potato Heads, and the LGM's. But the film takes place 11 years after the second film and most of the old toys are gone, like Wheezy, RC, and even Bo Peep. Andy is now preparing to leave for college and there's panic over if the toys will be thrown out or placed in the attic. As Andy packs, he's given some trash bags for either garbage or stuff he wants to leave in the attic. All of the toys but Woody are put in the bag and Mom accidentally throws them out. They make it out of the bag as Woody tries to save them, but the gang sees a box headed for a daycare and suggest they all go. Woody is reluctant, still loyal to Andy and reassuring the others that they were meant to be put in the attic. The toys are welcomed to Sunnyside Daycare by a pink teddy bear named Lotso (<i>Ned Beatty</i>) and a Ken doll (<i>Michael Keaton</i>), who instantly falls for Molly's Barbie doll from the second film, and make it seem like paradise. While Woody is still unsure about all of this, the others are excited about being played with again. After Woody once again tries to talk them into going back home, Buzz decides that maybe day care is the best way to go. Woody leaves but is found by a little girl named Bonnie while the other toys are played with rather roughly by the kids in their room. Buzz tries to relocate them to an older kids room, he is caught by some of Lotso's assistants and is made one of them. It's when Lotso realizes that Buzz needs to stick with the others like a familt, he resets him to demo mode and shows his true colors as a malicious, bitter old toy that runs the daycare as if it's a prison. After a day with some of Bonnie's toys, Woody hears of the horrors of Sunnyside and Lotso and realizes he has to go back to save them. He returns to Sunnyside in Bonnie's backpack, gets tips from an old talk phone toy, meets with the others, and devices an escape plan. They partake in a suspenseful prison escape scene mixed with the toys kind of restoring Buzz (<i>they accidentally activate his Spanish mode</i>), but Lotso catches up to them and Woody exposes him for the monster he really is. Lotso is tossed in the garbage by his assistant, Big Baby, but catches and pulls Woody in. The others go after him but wind up in the garbage too. After a really intense scene in the dump's trash burner and Lotso ditching them to die after they saved his stuffed ass, they are mercifully spared from death by a giant claw from the LGM's. They make it back to Andy's thinking the attic isn't so bad after all. Before leaving, Andy finds a note to instead donate the toys to Bonnie with Woody inside. After one last day of play with his old toys and Bonnie, Andy says his goodbyes as if they were old friends and the toys live a happy life with Bonnie.<br />
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Somehow or another, the <i>Toy Story</i> films constantly top each other. I'm not kidding here. This one really is the best one. Even after eleven years after its predecessor, this is a rare second sequel that feels fresh. It doesn't feel alienated from the other two but instead adds to the continuing saga of Andy's toys without ever running out of steam. I find it interesting that this movie is in relation to the time that it was first released since most of us were around four or five when the first movie came out and I was in my first year of college when this came out. <i>Toy Story 3</i> does exactly what the first two did, delivered on all cylinders, all aspects of film-making and entertainment. The humor is back, the heart is back, the delightful cast of characters is back. This time, thanks to an incredible script, there's more suspense, more drama, and many more surprises. Like any spectacular trilogy, it wraps up all loose ends. The predictability factor in this movie is low, and the payoff to all the suspense is extremely high and well worth it. It's excellently directed and written with a great soundtrack, animation, and voice-acting to boot. I especially love the beginning scene where we see what play time is like to a toy. This was one of the most creative scenes in the movie.<br />
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Even most of the original cast is back! Well, except for Jim Varney who sadly passed away after the second film was released. They instead hired Blake Clark to voice Slinky and he actually does sound a lot like the late Varney. He did a fine job voicing the character. Aside from all the toys being more or less themselves, Andy has matured a lot too. As a college bound student he's also rather nostalgic for his old toys and after all they've been through together, he does want those memories for the future which is why he wanted his old toys in the attic. In itself, this was a clever idea to make us identify with Andy a little bit.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don't worry. We're all nostalgic in one way or another.</td></tr>
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The new characters are also really enjoyable. You have Bonnie's toys, which are fun. There's a lot to keep track of, but the film gives the right amount of screen time to them, they never distract from the main characters and story, and the film interestingly portrays them as improv actors. There's a thespian hedgehog named Mr. Pricklepants, a sarcastic unicorn named Buttercup, a triceratops that's handy with computers named Trixie, a triplet of peas in a pod, and a doll named... well, Dolly. Oh and before someone kills me over this, she does indeed have a Totoro doll! Squee! And yes, I'll review that movie when the time is right.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Totoro! :D</td></tr>
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Lotso as a villain is easily the best one in a Pixar film since Syndrome. As a sweet teddy bear that apparently smells of strawberries on the outside, he's a twisted, bitter, heartless monster that acts more like the prison warden from <i>Sawshank Redemption</i> on the inside. His story is a pretty sad one too. He was lost by his original kid and never exactly lets it go once he found out he was replaced. He later bumped into Sunnyside with Big Baby and a clown doll named Chuckles and turned it into Alcatraz. He's a really dark character for a movie about toys.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0v0Nwgf_1_h6KvQQr9THAVYgJLUFKCCLSYpjd77n2DRnyHPitBzuzcfTD29XDu03LADwxjCxeQE1I2ZJOVAd6lJZwYpai3Zwv3efnf-dmhi-ZUN8ZFyAzM1UT63aCmrKzTn5V2obVJ3mM/s1600/ts33-01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0v0Nwgf_1_h6KvQQr9THAVYgJLUFKCCLSYpjd77n2DRnyHPitBzuzcfTD29XDu03LADwxjCxeQE1I2ZJOVAd6lJZwYpai3Zwv3efnf-dmhi-ZUN8ZFyAzM1UT63aCmrKzTn5V2obVJ3mM/s320/ts33-01.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's a little hard to connect my character description with this image .</td></tr>
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Speaking of dark, this film gets pretty damn depressing around the last third. <i>Toy Story 3</i> repeats the abandonment and moving on angle from <i>Toy Story 2</i>, but adds pathos to it that was unseen before in the other two films or any Pixar film for that matter. I specifically want to talk about this pivotal juncture in the final act, there was a moment in the movie that only last a minute or two, but felt very, very, very real. I can't stress this enough, I have never felt anything like this from a movie. The first time I cried in a move was with <i><a href="http://cartoonzforu.blogspot.com/2012/08/pixargust-up-2009.html">Up</a></i>'s "Ellie" sequence but for some reason I didn't do it here. My emotions went beyond crying, I don't know if it was the swirling bright ember colors contrasting with the stark images or the expressiveness of the toys in that very moment, but I sat there in disbelief and was affected in a way that has not existed before. As engaging as the film is, I do kind of wish it pushed the drama all throughout the film. It has it's serious moments here and there, but it's not until the last third that the powerful stuff happens. What I mean is an emotional equilibrium would have made this a little bit stronger.<br />
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As is, <i>Toy Story 3</i> is honestly the most poignant, mature, and suspenseful of all the <i>Toy Story</i> films. Even if it's emotionally unbalanced, that last third was probably hook, line, and sinker for the Academy. Again, it's a rare second sequel that feels fresh and doesn't quite distance itself from the other two. It's still as charming, magical, and timeless as the last two films and will likely stay that way to infinity and beyond. Lee Unrick's direction is fantastic as well as the animation quality and music by Randy Newman. It's the perfect end to a prefect trilogy of movies. And I honestly hate to jinx it, but it seems like nothing could stop Pixar from climbing to the top. Maybe the next film will break box-office records and be as recognized by the Academy for the third time in a row! Maybe the next film will push the limits of how mature animated films can be! Maybe...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">...Dammit...</span></td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01618562818963525364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2953525951646689111.post-76226287484538792442012-08-23T16:07:00.000-05:002012-12-21T11:48:09.863-06:00Pixargust: Up (2009)<br />
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It's amazing. After 24 years of revolutionizing the art of animation with charming short films and hit after hit after hit films, Pixar at last received an honor that very few animation studios can boast about: one of their films had been nominated the Academy Award for Best Picture. It took so long but they made it at last with the studio's tenth film, <i>Up</i>. It's an honor that by this point was only shared with one other animated film: Walt Disney's <i><a href="http://cartoonzforu.blogspot.com/2012/06/disneyear-beauty-and-beast-1991.html">Beauty and the Beast</a></i>. After all, <i><a href="http://cartoonzforu.blogspot.com/2012/08/pixargust-walle-2008.html"><span id="goog_845100514"></span>WALL•E<span id="goog_845100515"></span></a></i> was a tough act to follow but I think I've ranted about that enough. But I think that everyone, including myself, was pleasantly surprised by this movie. Aside from it's famous accolade, it's also Pixar's third highest grossing film, ginormous amounts of critical acclaim, and managed to walk out with two other Academy Awards: Best Animated Film and Best Score. So just what is it that makes Pixar's tenth wonder (<i>well, ninth if you didn't like <a href="http://cartoonzforu.blogspot.com/2012/08/pixargust-cars-2006.html">Cars</a>...</i>) so great that it almost won Best Picture? Is it the story, the characters, some of the themes, or all of the above? Time to test if the sky really is the limit with today's film, <i>Up</i>.<br />
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Carl Fredrickson (<i>Ed Asner</i>) is a man who has lived life. As a young child, he meets a girl named Ellie who shares his passion for adventure and idol, the famous explorer/scientist Charles Muntz. The two marry when they're older and restore the old house they used as a clubhouse and live a very happy life together. It's until Ellie passes away that Carl's life takes a turn for the worst. Now 78, he has to deal with construction going on around his old house and a young scout named Russell (<i>Jordan Nagai</i>) that constantly asks for his assistance even though he means well. After an accident with a construction worker and being forced into a retirement home, Carl is fed up. He remembers his wife's dream: to venture to South America and plant their house on Paradise Falls. And overnight, he gathers enough helium balloons to lift his house from the ground and modifies it for air travel to Paradise Falls. One problem: Russell is on his porch after trying to help him catch a snipe. So Carl is now stuck with him and sees Russell as more of a nuisance than an asset. The two do make it to the falls, but the balloons have lost a lot of air and they land on the wrong side. They figure since they weigh the house down, they can simply walk to the falls. Along the way, they meet a giant prehistoric bird, a dog named Dug (<i>Bob Peterson</i>) that can talk thanks to a special collar, and even Carl's old idol Charles Muntz (<i>Christopher Plummer</i>) who appears to have snapped trying to look for this bird so he can take it back to the States and redeem his reputation. Carl and Russell now see the danger they're in and try to keep the bird (<i>who Russell names Kevin</i>) away from Muntz and his canine bodyguards with the help of Dug. However, Muntz catches up to them, steals Kevin, and sets Carl's house on fire. Disappointed that Carl just let Kevin go, Russell goes out on his own to save the bird. Carl becomes motivated to help after looking at Ellie's old scrapbook and sees the passage "Thanks for the adventure. Now go have a new one." After a pretty thrilling climax, Carl and Dug save Kevin and Russell, defeat Muntz, but lose the house. Using Muntz's blimp they return Kevin to her family. Yes, Kevin was female this whole time. After getting back home, Carl gives Russell his old badge that his wife once gave him and the two have their own adventures through an unlikely friendship.<br />
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If I didn't have such a personal attachment to <i><a href="http://cartoonzforu.blogspot.com/2012/08/pixargust-ratatouille-2007.html">Ratatouille</a></i>, then <i>Up</i> would be my second favorite film. The film is hilarious, heartfelt, moving and dramatic all at once. This may sound like it is an issue, and that the film has a problem holding its ground with its tonal structure. But it handles it quite well; splitting the film into quadrants and allowing the themes and plot line to coincide with whatever emotional response the filmmakers are going for. And while there is plenty for young children to enjoy and take from the film, it's really the older audience that will get the biggest reaction from it. There is a lot going on in the film, but it never loses its speed and never loses control of what it wants to say and do. It knows exactly where it wants to be and when to have its fun and serious moments. And where other recent Pixar films have failed (<i>specifically in their lengthy runtimes and frequent need to drag themselves out</i>), <i>Up</i> doesn't. It practically blasts its way through its beginning, all the way up to its ending, with time left to spare. Some may say the film is trying to tell multiple stories, but as the film progresses, it is clear it is telling one story: the tale of a man who never experienced what he wanted the most. The film's best scene is within the first ten minutes as a montage of Carl's life. It's all the film's emotions in only four or five minutes and the relationship he had with Ellie is one of the finest and most heartfelt in film history. I'd make a joke about Twilight here, but the Internet beat me to it.<br />
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What's fascinating is, much like <i>WALL•E</i> and <i>Ratatouille</i> before it, is the focus on very few characters. The film builds up Carl's backstory heavily in startlingly moving moments that surprisingly were surprisingly kept rather secretive in the marketing for the film. We know from the very first trailer that Carl is a fairly mean old man, but the film spends a great deal of time to develop him into an emotional wreck of a man because of the death of his wife. Russell is another fun character. He may be a bit chatty, but he does mean well and the film allows for some development and his friendship with Carl is genuine. Dug is probably the funniest Pixar character since Dory. He's a talking dog, but not in a traditional sense. He has this collar that transmits his thoughts as speech through the collar's speakers. So when he speaks, it feels a lot like what your dog may be thinking. And it is funny.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oh, and there's a giant bird. She's funny too.</td></tr>
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The one character that I'm not so much a fan of is actually Muntz. I mean yeah, he's intimidating, he's twisted, and Christopher Plummer always makes a cool villain. It's just that his motives are a bit questionable. I mean think about it: he's trying to earn back his reputation as a scientist by capturing this rare bird. In the meantime, he's had no one but these dogs for company and he's modified a few things to make things more accessible for them. For example, he invented the collar that allows Dug to talk and there's even a scene where he even modifies an airplane where a dog can not only fly it but also shoot weapons. Um... don't you think <i>that</i> has more potential for redemption as a scientist than catching a bird? I mean you could market the hell out of these inventions! Everyone in the world would want to buy them! You could be rich, man! And why stop there? You could modify the same collar for other animals. This could open new gateways for animal communication and intelligence studies! You could go down in history! And you throw it away for... catching a rare bird!?!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oh, and how do he and Carl look roughly the same age?<br />
Never explained... aw well, still a damn good movie.</td></tr>
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Back to the good stuff! The real magic of the film is in its imagination and adventure. It sticks with being an almost straight adventure picture. It is frequently thrilling and exciting, and lets up only for a few moments at a time. For such an older character, the film really stuns with some of its fantastical ideas. What it lacks in realism it makes up for in fun: something that has been sorely missing from a lot of live action movies for years. It came back for a short while like in the first <i>Pirates of the Caribbean</i> movie, but the focus lately for many films has been based on deeply conflicted, depressing narratives. And while this film does have it's really sad moments, it never wallows in them. It throws the moments at you, and then quickly moves on. Like I said earlier, the tonal shifts do work in <i>Up</i>'s favor.</div>
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The animation, of course, is great. While <i>Up</i> doesn't break a lot of ground in this field, it still holds Pixar's high standards for animation. The locales are realistic looking and the dog fur is near perfect. For me, watching Carl's facial hair gradually grow in as the story moves along was kind of interesting. The little details and minute perfections have always been key to the Pixar films, including this one, is no different. </div>
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Somehow or another, Pixar always manages to outdo themselves and <i>Up</i> is another all-time high for Pixar. Even if it gets a tad silly, it's still a fun, exciting, clever, and creative adventure film with genuine characters and moments. The animation and designs are wonderful. The characters are memorable and the relationships that they have with each other are intriguing. It may have it's deep, emotional moments (<i>especially with Carl</i>), but it never wallows in them or overbears. It's the perfect amount. I honestly have very few complaints about it and can't recommend it enough. Kids will like the adventures, but folks around my age and older will get more out of it. It's very mature in it's aspect of death and the emotions that stem from it blended perfectly with fun and imagination, which is probably why it got it's infamous nomination. And to my amazement, Pixar managed to get another nomination for Best Picture with their next film. Two in a row? Trust me, that ain't easy. So which film did it again? The answer will come next time.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01618562818963525364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2953525951646689111.post-65189378872535227252012-08-20T17:20:00.000-05:002012-08-21T03:14:22.189-05:00Pixargust: WALL•E (2008)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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After directing <i><a href="http://cartoonzforu.blogspot.com/2012/08/pixargust-finding-nemo-2003.html">Finding Nemo</a></i>, Andrew Stanton felt Pixar had created believable simulations of underwater physics and was willing to direct a film largely set in space. He also thought it would be a neat idea if the film was mostly visual. As in having little to no dialogue at all and having the animation, music, and expressions on the characters tell the story. An even bigger challenge was to do this not with people, but robots. The end result was the wildly acclaimed film as well as film number nine from the acclaimed and innovate animation studio, <i>WALL•E</i>. I'm not kidding. Usually the critics love Pixar movies, but this one? They were all over it! TIME magazine even ranked it #1 in their article <i>Best Films of the Decade</i>! I was expecting it to at least be nominated for Best Picture in the Academy Awards because of all the acclaim it received. Sadly, it didn't. But it got Best Animated Film. That's something, right? I mean jeez, Academy! If there's an animated film that deserves that kind of nomination, it's this! Hold on, I'm getting off topic here. So again I must ask, is this really one of the best animated films of all time? Let's get down to earth in today's film, <i>WALL•E</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.200000762939453px;"><i style="font-weight: bold;">.</i></span><br />
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In the far off year of 2805, Earth is a very different place. It's a lot more brown and covered in garbage due years of mass consumerism from the mega-conglomerate Buy n' Large. BnL evacuated all of Earth's population due to the continuing piles of trash while a special model of robot called the Waste Allocation Load Lifter - Earth Class, or WALL•E (<i>Ben Burt</i>) for short, clean up all the garbage left behind so that Earth will be cleaner when they return. They eventually stop functioning and Earth is left for dead. One is still left, though, as he manages to break out of his original programming to form a personality of his own. He collects objects he sees as treasures rather than trash, befriends a cockroach, and his favorite film so far is <i>Hello, Dolly! </i>One day while he's out working, he finds a small plant growing and decides to keep it in a boot. Later, a ship lands on Earth and releases a small, white, sleeker robot named EVE (<i>Elissa Knight</i>) and WALL•E becomes infatuated with her. After days of trying to get her attention, WALL•E gets his chance to talk to her and they seem to hit it off well. WALL•E decides to show EVE his collection of trinkets, including the plant he found earlier. When he does show her the plant, her programming puts the plant in her compartment and she shuts off, worrying our little hero. WALL•E never leaves her side until the ship arrives. Thinking she's being kidnapped, he rushes to the ship to try and save her. After days of space travel, the ship lands in a bigger ship's deck called the Axiom, where the people there are a little too reliant of technology to take care of them, resulting in massive weight gain. The captain of the Axiom (<i>Jeff Garlin</i>) finds out about the plant on board and is needed to put in a compartment so that the people can return home. When they open EVE, the plant is missing. She is considered defective and ordered to be repaired while WALL•E follows. Turns out this is part of the Autopilot orders his robotic assistant GO-4 to steal the plant as part of its no return directive, secretly issued to autopilots after BnL incorrectly concluded in 2110 that the planet could not be saved and humanity should remain in space. GO-4 puts the plant in an escape pod headed back to Earth, but WALL•E rescues it. EVE thanks him with a spark kiss and they dance in space. The captain finds some soil left over from WALL•E's handshake and has it analyzed, revealing it's from Earth. He learns more and more about Earth and is eager to return home. He sees EVE's footage and realizes that they need to go back to restore the planet. Auto mutinies and tries to dispose of the plant. WALL•E saves the plant but is severely injured by Auto. EVE remembers that all of WALL•E's parts to fix him are back on Earth, so she needs to get the plant to the ship to save WALL•E. The captain defeats Auto, the Axiom heads for Earth, and EVE fixes WALL•E but he loses all his original memories. He is revived thanks to a spark "kiss" and WALL•E remembers everything again. He and EVE continue their love while the people restore Earth back to the way it was over the credits.</div>
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Let's start with what everybody remembers the most from the film: WALL•E himself and his arch with EVE. Why? Because it's interesting that both these characters can portray so much character and emotion solely through the animation and a few robotic sound effects. WALL•E also happens to share a little of his charm to the other robots in the film, as they too figure out there's more to existence than their original directives. The chemistry between the two is charming to watch. WALL•E is sort of timid and has a bulkier design and EVE is more serious and more streamlined. I guess it's true: opposites do attract. They have their bumps throughout the movie, but they overcome their original directives to find love and deeply care about each other. Again, done with little to no dialogue. It's one of the best movie romances ever made. I especially love it when WALL•E gathers the courage to talk with EVE and the dancing in space scene.</div>
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The social commentary provided in this movie is rather interesting. It's really more of a "what-if?" scenario if anything. Like I said earlier, Earth is covered with so much garbage that the humans have to leave. Meanwhile on the Axiom, they become overly-reliant on technology and BnL products that they suffer morbid obesity and bone loss from the gravity in space and not really having to lift a finger. It's not really attacking corporations per se, unlike 2012's <i>The Lorax</i>. They sort of portray the C.E.O. of BnL (<i>played by the real-life Fred Willard by the way!</i>) as sort of a naive man, not evil. He does realize the mistakes he made, takes responsibility for his actions, and tries his best to fix everything. There's also the matter of restoring Earth. Since they left Earth has become uninhabitable, but plants are starting to grow back. Nature just has odd ways of restoring itself. As a part of the movie, I never found it overly distracting. It may be a bit on the nose at times, but the movie remembers to keep it's focus on WALL•E and EVE.</div>
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The first 40 minutes of <i>WALL•E</i> is just so perfect. The animation is brilliant, it has an engaging story, the score by Thomas Newton is wonderful, and it's all told solely on the animation. It's entirely visual and takes advantage of the fact that it's a movie very, very well. However, it's when we land on the Axiom and hear the people speak is when it starts to lose a bit of it's novelty. It's not a bad script by any means. It's damn brilliant and the dialogue does sound natural. My problem is that if you're going to have your movie silent in the first half of the movie (<i>which was really charming</i>) and then there's people talking left and right, it sort of takes away from the magic. If you really want to be really innovative, go all out. It would be nice to have an animated film, or any film in general, be completely silent and have the story told strictly from the surroundings, music, and the gestures, expressions, and movements of the actors. Take full advantage of the visual medium. As is, it's not at all a bad movie, In fact, the extreme opposite. I just wish that it went all out in the silent direction. That's my only qualm.</div>
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<i>WALL•E</i> is definitely Pixar's most unique film. It's a sci-fi romance that never disappoints. Even though I wish it <i>was</i> completely silent like it's trying to be, it's still an entertaining, charming, and intelligent film. Like <i>Nemo</i> before it, <i>WALL•E</i> is another prime example of Stanton's talents as a director and screen-writer. It's definitely a cut above the rest. It's in my top 5 Pixar films for a very good reason. So back to the Academy Awards. I'm still scratching my head as to why this never got that Best Picture nomination it really does deserve. And if it didn't then, then when will Pixar ever get the honor of having the first animated film since <i><a href="http://cartoonzforu.blogspot.com/2012/06/disneyear-beauty-and-beast-1991.html">Beauty and the Beast</a> </i>to be nominated for Best Picture? I got that answer the very next year. Join me next time to see which film it is.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01618562818963525364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2953525951646689111.post-11869382308968628712012-08-19T00:30:00.001-05:002012-08-30T00:24:12.166-05:00Pixargust: Ratatouille (2007)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Okay, so all of you should know by now that my favorite Pixar movie is <i><a href="http://cartoonzforu.blogspot.com/2012/08/pixargust-finding-nemo-2003.html">Finding Nemo</a></i>. But if I had to pick a runner-up that had a clear three-act structure, is not part of a franchise, and has everything such as imagination, heart, and memorable characters that Pixar is now infamous for, it would have to be <i>Ratatouille</i>. Why? Because it's as close to perfection as you can imagine. The story: humble, but engaging. The characters: identifiable. The musical score by Michael Giacchino: perfect. The animation: Flawless. The best since <i>Finding Nemo</i>. As expected it was a big success when it came out, making over $620 million worldwide, opened with universal critical acclaim, and was even nominated for five Academy Awards, but only won one. Not a bad run at all. This was the first Pixar movie that I never got to see in the theaters. I wanted to, but never got the chance. My father knew this and felt bad about it so as soon as the DVD came out, we went to our Target, bought it, and watched it together. We both liked it, but I think it left a bigger impact on me personally. Watching it again, I may have figured out why. Join me as we sink our teeth to a true five-star film: <i>Ratatouille</i>.<br />
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We see our main character is Remy (<i>Patton Oswalt</i>) who lives in rural France and dreams of being a gourmet chef in the finest restaurants in Paris. One problem: he's a rat. And rats aren't welcome with people's food. Turns out Remy has a very strong sense of smell and taste, which enables him to smell out fresh food from garbage, even rat poison. Once his clan figures this out, Remy becomes the official "food-checker" to see if anything is tainted. But once he's free, he ventures in the kitchen of an old woman to experiment with cooking by watching his idol Auguste Gusteau (<i>Brad Garret</i>), author of the best-seller <i>Anyone Can Cook</i>, on television. But his cover is blown and the clan has to leave with the rest of his clan. Remy is separated from them and winds up in the sewers with a copy of Gusteau's book. He begins to see Gusteau's image come to life and becomes his "spirit mentor" throughout the movie. He finds out he's been underneath Paris the whole time and finds Gusteaus's old restaurant: once five stars, now three due to his death and a review by notorious food critic Anton Ego (<i>Peter O' Toole</i>). Remy gets a peek inside the kitchen but finds a new garbage boy named Linguini (<i>Lou Romano</i>) spills the soup and poorly tries to recreate it. Remy falls in on accident and is tempted to fix the soup. He does but gets caught by Linguini. The sou chef Skinner (<i>Ian Holm</i>) orders Linguini to get rid of the rat, but he can't go through it. He finds out that Remy can understand him and he takes him home. The two try to work together to recreate the soup from the other night but it doesn't work with Remy biting him. So on accident, Remy discovers that by pulling his hair, he can strangely control Linguini's actions. This does work and they are able to not only recreate the soup but also make Gusteau's restaurant a hit again and Linguini forms a romance with a coworker named Collete (<i>Janeane Garofalo</i>). That is until Ego hears about this and vows to re-review the restaurant again. Now under immense pressure, the two also have a suspicious Skinner investigating what is Linguini's secret. Skinner finds out it's Remy that is the true chef and he catches him so he can use the rat to make a line of frozen foods for him. Remy is freed and Linguini reveals the truth to his staff only to have them walk out because they think he's crazy, even Collete. But Remy does succeed to impress Ego with his family's help with Linguini's and eventually Collete's help in making ratatouille. The next morning, Ego gives a positive review of Gusteau's but is shut down because Skinner ratted them out on a rat infestation. But Remy, Linguini, and Collete form a new hit bistro with Ego as a regular customer.<br />
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This film gets my vote as the most pleasant Pixar film to look at. Just the skyline of Paris blows me away and they capture the Romanticism and charm of the city beautifully. From what I hear, the animators had some trouble with making sure the food in this movie looked appetizing. Thankfully, it does. Frankly, it makes me hungry just watching it. I know it's animated, but I really want to reach for the screen and eat it myself. I just want to taste it.<br />
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For 111 minutes, the film has a much, much better pace than <i><a href="http://cartoonzforu.blogspot.com/2012/08/pixargust-cars-2006.html">Cars</a></i> did. It's beautiful, and a tight, smart, wonderful script flows from this. The pacing of the story is odd and choppy at places, but this is a very forgivable grievance. It's the most layered, complex, and satisfying script from Pixar since <i><a href="http://cartoonzforu.blogspot.com/2012/08/pixargust-incredibles-2004.html">The Incredibles</a></i>. In fact, I live by a lot of these quotes. Here's a few to indulge in.<br />
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Part of the reason I love this movie so much is because I can connect with the main character Remy. As an artist myself, I'm always looking for new ways to draw or design certain characters: both before my time and ones I create. Remy is more or less the same. He's always experimenting with flavors and ways of cooking his dishes. His family, though, is a little less appreciative of his talents. My father has always been supportive of me and my mother is slowly but surely warming up to the idea of me being an animator. Remy's father is constantly arguing with him about his life (<i>as my mother did before</i>) and his brother doesn't have the passion or drive that Remy does. This is just a rare character that I identify with 100%. In fact if anyone ever plans on entering a creative career, I suggest watching both this and <i>Ed Wood</i>, as both have valuable lessons for careers like this. Here, it's that even the humblest of origins can succeed, but in <i>Ed Wood</i>, there's always the chance it could bomb hardcore. But both show that the sky's the limit with your creativity and that you should pursue your dreams no matter what. That and the voice acting by Patton Oswalt is superb. Even though he's a famous comedian, I can hear Remy's character and not a celebrity doing a voice behind a microphone. Bottom line: I just adore this rat.<br />
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The rest of the characters are entertaining. I like Emile's ignorance is bliss attitude, which has a comedic contrast with Remy. His father has some good scenes too. You feel the rocky relationship he has with Remy, but he's just trying to be a good parent. Collete was a scary, tough-nuts woman at first, but she gets much more pleasant as the film progresses. Skinner was a nice comedic villian who wants to market Gusteau's name. The scenes where he tries to expose Linguini and his reactions are especially funny. Guteau himself is a pleasant man, offering Remy sage advice through the rat's imagination. The rest of them play minimal parts, which is what <i><a href="http://cartoonzforu.blogspot.com/2012/08/pixargust-bugs-life-1998.html">A Bug's Life</a></i> and <i>Cars</i> should have done. The only character I'm not a big fan of though is Linguini. We've seen the socially awkward guy before in other movies and there are points where he can be a little whiny. But I can tolerate him. At least he has some funny scenes with Remy and Skinner.<br />
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<i>Ratatouille</i> is close to being perfect. With beautiful animation and settings, delicious looking food, a scrumptious complex script, voice acting, fantastic musical score by Michael Giacchino, and a character and message that touches me as an artist, it's no surprise why it's my second-favorite. The pace and a few of the humans, though, are what keep it from being my #1 pick. But those are only minor flaws and it's still an excellent film by all means. It's not just a film, it's a work of art. If you haven't seen it yet and happen to see this at your video store, do <i>not</i> pass it up! Just have something to snack on as you watch it.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01618562818963525364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2953525951646689111.post-36883684525541785332012-08-17T01:41:00.000-05:002012-08-19T02:17:00.641-05:00Pixargust: Cars (2006)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Over the last six years, Pixar has captured the hearts and imagination of people around the world just as Walt Disney did with his films over 75 years ago. So far we've had films about toys that became an instant classic and revolutionized computer animation, a look at the insect world, monsters scaring people as parts of their jobs, a father fish searching the entire ocean to rescue his son, and a family of superheros that become closer by breaking the tradition of secret identities. The films broke records, won awards, and all that good stuff. What would Pixar do next? Well, John Lasseter had an idea about a film with cars that he developed with Joe Ranft, who sadly passed away in an automobile accident before this film was released. While the film called <i>Cars</i> was a modest success when it first came out, it garnered a reputation from movie-goers and critics alike for being... the least imaginative film Pixar has produced so far. So what happened? And is it really as bad as most people make it out to be? Time to get a need for speed and drive off in... <i>Cars</i>.<br />
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The film begins in a racetrack, where three rival race cars compete for the coveted Piston Cup trophy and sponsorship from Dinoco. Our focus is on a rookie named Lightning McQueen (<i>Owen Wilson</i>) as he becomes a racing sensation overnight. During his race. he stubbornly refuses to change tires which causes a blowout on the last lap. He manages to make a three-way tie with his rivals Chick Hicks (<i>Michael Keaton</i>) and The King (<i>Richard Petty</i>), so the officials will hold a new race in California with just these three to determine a true winner. After a meeting with the sponsors, McQueen saddles up with his driver Mac (<i>John Ratzenberger</i>) to be the first one in California. While McQueen is sleeping, the exhausted Mack drifts off and is startled by a gang of reckless street racers, causing McQueen to fall out the back of the truck into the road. He frantically tries to find Mac on the freeway until his aimless driving takes him to a small community on the historic Route 66 called Radiator Springs. He's arrested for reckless driving and is impounded overnight. During his trial next morning, he is ordered to fix the town road by order of the judge Doc Hudson (<i>Paul Newman</i>) under supervision of the sheriff and a tow-truck named Mater (<i>Larry the Cable Guy</i>). As he fixes the road and gains the affections of the town and the town lawyer Sally (<i>Bonnie Hunt</i>), McQueen learns that the town was once a hot spot before the interstate was built. He learns to appreciate the little things in life as well as gain a few friends in Mater and the rest of the town, except for Doc. McQueen also learns that Doc was once a famous race car. After he fixes the road, McQueen decides to give back a little more by shopping at all the stores and fixing the town's neon somehow. The media finds McQueen and he is taken to his race in California. Turning over a new leaf, some of the town surprise McQueen at his race by being his volunteer pit crew, even Doc. McQueen loses the race, but gains so much more in the end.<br />
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Okay, so what problems would someone have with this movie? My main problem with <i>Cars</i> (<i>and it's unfortunately a big one</i>) is the story. If you've seen <i>Doc Hollywood</i> before, then you know <i>Cars</i>. Only replace the entire cast with cars. I'll admit I think it's an odd choice for a story and it does seem a little like plagiarism on that part. Or maybe it was a coincidence? I'll never know for sure. What bothers me about this is that this is Pixar. Story is usually what this company was best at. They could create these original, creative stories with beautiful looking animation and memorable characters. They got the animation part down, and it does look amazing, but the storytelling is a bit rusty. It's all flash but no substance.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Flashy surface, but rust engine.</td></tr>
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For a movie about fast-paced vehicles, it starts slow and keeps in this lane longer than it should. One hour into the film, Lightning still has not learned his lesson. Undoubtedly its other fatal flaw is its length: there is absolutely no need to stretch a Disney comedy across two hours.It has it's clever moments, but they're sparse within its run time. And speaking of lessons, I do like it's moral. It's one I don't really see that much in other animated movies, and I do really love how it ends. It's nice that the hero didn't win but gains much more. Then again, it's not taking that many risks. It just sort of plays it safe.<br />
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Now for the characters. I'm not really a big fan of Lightning McQueen. I just think we've seen this guy before. He's the arrogant show-off that learns a valuable lesson in the end. And we're supposed to be engaged with his story when he's pretty unlikable in the first half of the movie. The side characters though, are what make this movie for me. There's a lot to keep track of like in <i><a href="http://cartoonzforu.blogspot.com/2012/08/pixargust-bugs-life-1998.html">A Bug's Life</a> </i>and not that many have stand-out personalities, but I do like them all more than the main character. One example is Doc Hudson with a wonderful back story and he comes to life by the excellent acting by Paul Newman. Another, and I know a few of you may hate me for saying this, is Mater. I'm not a big fan of Larry the Cable Guy's stand-up and I thought he'd be annoying as hell when I learned he was attached to this. But when I saw this movie again, I found Mater kind of charming. Maybe it's his sweet, friendly nature. Maybe it's his innocence of the outside world. He can be annoying sometimes, but I just like him. I especially love the end where McQueen helps them all. This is where they all shine through.<br />
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The animation and designs of the cars are the only consistent good things about the movie. It is cool that the Pixar folks did a little research to see what models of automobiles to use for the film, like how they decided on all the varieties of fish in <i>Finding Nemo</i>. I also really like the setting of Radiator Springs. From what I heard, Pixar artists got a full tour of the real historic Route 66 and many of the landmarks on that highway are present in the movie, like how The Cozy Cone Motel was modeled after the Wigwam motels in Holbrook, Arizona and Railto, California. It's little things like that that do make me like this movie a little bit more.<br />
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<i>Cars</i> on the whole is sort of a mixed bag. As much as I like the side characters and the homages to the real Route 66, the problems it has with the storytelling, pace, and how eerily similar it is to Doc Hollywood do hold it back from being a top-tier movie. It's on the bottom of my list because it really lacks the extra push and innovation that other Pixar films have. And considering the critical acclaim from the last movie, <i><a href="http://cartoonzforu.blogspot.com/2012/08/pixargust-incredibles-2004.html">The Incredibles</a></i>, it seems like a step backward instead of forward. As it's own movie, it's alright. But as a Pixar movie, you sort of expect more than this. And despite it's shortcomings, there is a general charm and likability to it. You do grow to like some of these characters and they're environment. If you haven't seen it by now, take what I've said and judge it for yourself when you do see it. It's just not my favorite.</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01618562818963525364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2953525951646689111.post-4770533339478190212012-08-16T02:33:00.003-05:002012-08-16T02:33:57.255-05:00Pixargust: The Incredibles (2004)<br />
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How many of you saw <i>Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol</i> last year? Here's a quick sum up: it's a solid and intense action flick! Did you know that the director of that movie, Brad Bird, got his start in animation? He was a writer for <i>The Simpsons</i> and directed <i>The Iron Giant</i> for Warner Bros. He pitched an idea he had for a film about a superhero family to Pixar and had most of the staff from <i>Iron Giant </i>transferred over to work on this film. The turnout was unlike anything the Disney executives, Pixar, or even Bird himself ever expected. <i>The Incredibles</i> not only made over $630 million at the box office, the film also was the most well-reviewed film that year and took home two Academy Awards. It became the first entirely animated film to win the prestigious Hugo Award for <i>Best Dramatic Presentation</i>. Many people today consider it one of the greatest superhero movies of all time, up there with Tim Burton's <i>Batman</i>, <i>The Dark Night</i>, <i>Iron Man</i>, <i>Superman, </i>and I'd even argue <i>The Avengers</i>. So what is it that makes <i>The Incredibles</i>.... well, so incredible? And for that matter, how does it fare compared to the other Pixar films? Let's see what makes this superhero movie so super in <i>The Incredibles</i>.<br />
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Supers in this movie are people born with superpowers. Once upon a time, heroes like Mr. Incredible (<i>Craig T. Nelson</i>), Elastigirl (<i>Holly Hunter</i>), and Frozone (<i>Samuel L. Jackson</i>) were regarded as saviors to the public. But overtime, the damage caused to the city starts to build up and the government decides to make their secret identities as their only identities. The supers now have to blend in with everyday people and live out normal lives. 15 years pass as Bob Parr, once Mr. Incredible, marries his wife Helen (<i>Elastigirl</i>) and starts a family while working at a boring desk job. Two of his children, Dash and Violet, have superpowers while the youngest Jack-Jack doesn't appear to have any. Tired of his boring and mundane life, Bob and his friend Lucius (<i>Frozone</i>) secretly stop crimes using a police scanner. He does lose his desk job but gets an offer from a mysterious woman named Mirage (<i>Elizabeth Peña</i>) to defeat a rogue battle robot on a mysterious island. He accepts the mission and defeats the robot, resulting in a lucrative pay. He gets back in shape as well as gain a new suit from his old costume designer Edna Mode (<i>Brad Bird</i>). Bob accepts another mission and finds out the robots were designed by an ex-fanboy of Mr. Incredible who calls himself Syndrome (<i>Jason Lee</i>). Now a super villain, he plans to exterminate the last remaining supers so he can send his robot on the city and "become" a hero and then destroy the city once the people call him a hero. Helen does find out about Bob's doings and so she, with Dash and Violet stowed away, set forth to save Bob and become closer as a family as well as fix their own flaws. However. they are captured by Syndrome but manage to escape. They stop Syndrome's plan and the country declares the family and Lucius as heroes again.<br />
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I know <i>Up</i> gets a lot of credit for being Pixar's first "grown-up" film, but why doesn't <i>The Incredibles</i> get that honor? So far, this movie has the most complex plot of all the Pixar films. It has the frenetic energy and exhilarating action scenes you come to expect in a superhero movie. It uses the computer animation to it's full potential, with break-neck camera movements and fantastic looking fight choreography. The action sequences are the part I remember the most when I was younger. Even as an adult they're still impressive to look at.<br />
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Many elements of the movie surprisingly ring true to real life. Part of the reason this film is so human is because the human characters are human, which is never an easy thing to accomplish in animation. In fact, this is the first Pixar film where the people look, move, and act like people we see every day. Bob for example is tired of his dull life and yearns for the glory days when he could save the day once more all while trying to maintain a family. He does realize in the end that family is the most important thing now. And while Bob trains, Helen suspects Bob of having an affair because he found one of Mirage's hairs on his old supersuit. She just wants to maintain order as well as the love of her husband, which is something we all can understand. Violet is socially shy and Dash just wants a chance to use his full potential. Both kids lives improve after their experience with the family. And Lucius... well, he's voiced by Samuel L. Jackson. He's automatically awesome!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You may know people like this!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And Sam's supersuit looks badass too. :D</td></tr>
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It manages to be an homage of classic superhero stories and 60's spy films in one as well as sort of satirize the superhero genre and suburban life. It's more about the secret lives of the heroes and what if the heroes just vanish out of thin air. I especially like the cape discussion between Bob and Edna. Syndrome's back-story as he turns from wanting to be Mr. Incredible's young ward to his arch-nemesis in the end was an interesting twist. He does make a good bad guy, even though he relies on technology for his powers. It's definitely unlike anything I've seen before in movies or read in comic books.<br />
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For lack of a better word, <i>The Incredibles</i> is an incredible movie. Kids will love all the superheroes while the adults will appreciate it's clever story with it's more than human cast to back it up and awesome action scenes. It sort of knows what it wants to be and plays by it's own rules very well. One more thing: it is more mature and violent than your usual Pixar fare, so I would advise you parents watching it with young kids. That doesn't mean you or your family shouldn't see it. It's just that older kids will appreciate it more. I can't recommend it enough! It's pure entertainment and excellent entertainment that'll keep you at the edge of your seat.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01618562818963525364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2953525951646689111.post-51438791336827889232012-08-14T15:36:00.000-05:002012-08-15T23:10:10.039-05:00Pixargust: Finding Nemo (2003)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I still remember the day I saw this movie. I was around 12
and me and my family were on one of the Disney cruise lines (<i>appropriate setting, ain't it?</i>)<i>. </i>The crew decided to play it on the ship the night
it was released and I mentioned to my family that I wanted to see it. So after
we ate dinner, it was just me and my dad that went in the ship's theater. I
still remember how big this place was. I swore almost everyone on this dang
boat was there that night. So the film starts and not one minute in, I think
all of us were hooked (<i>no pun intended</i>!).
When it was over, I think we were all more than satisfied with what we all saw.
We laughed. We cried. I spilled juice on my good pants. Just kidding on that
last part. While me and my father were enjoying <i>Finding
Nemo</i> on our cruise, the whole world apparently loved it as much as we did.
Once again getting worldwide acclaim and breaking box-office records, <i>Finding Nemo </i>practically became a
sensation overnight. Even to this day, it’s regarded not just as one of Pixar’s
best, but one of the best animated films in the history of the medium. And it’s
not very hard to see why. Let’s dive right on into today’s film, <i>Finding Nemo</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Set in the Great Barrier Reef (<i>a real-world location</i>), two clownfish named Marlin (<i>Albert Brooks</i>) and Coral (<i>Elizabeth Perkins</i>) are starting
a new family until a barracuda shows up. Marlin gets knocked out and awakens to
find that not only was Coral killed but 99% of his eggs. In some odd act of
mercy, there’s still one egg left and Marlin vows to keep his only child who he
names Nemo safe. This incident causes Marlin to be a little over-protective of
his son and more afraid of the outside world. Years go by as Nemo (<i>Alexander Gould</i>) prepares for
his first day of school. During a field trip, Nemo and some of his new friends
venture away from the class to find a boat. Marlin catches Nemo just before swimming
out to it and gets into a heated argument with him. Nemo becomes fed up with
his father’s overbearing nature and swims out to actually touch the boat and
swim back, but is caught by some scuba divers. Marlin immediately swims out to
try and save his son, but misses the boat. He meets up with a regal blue tang
named Dory (<i>Ellen DeGeneres</i>) who
happens to see the boat catch by only to forget it in a matter of seconds
thanks to her short-term memory loss. They find a sole clue to Nemo's location: a diving mask with an address on it. It turns out Dory can read and can surprisingly remember every thing about the address. So they team up and head off to Sydney where Nemo is at. Along the way they have to pass by many different obstacles and creatures such as vegetarian sharks, anglerfish in the deep, jellyfish swarms, a school of moonfish (<i>John Ratzenberger</i>), surfer turtles, and more. Meanwhile Nemo is placed in a dentist's aquarium and becomes acquainted with the other fish there. This gang is lead by a moorish idle named Gill (<i>Will DaFoe</i>) hellbent on escape. But time is of the essence as the dentist's niece, a known fish-killer, is to receive Nemo as a birthday present. Thankfully, father and son reunite and become better people for it.<br />
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The first thing that stands out about <i>Finding Nemo</i>, in my mind, is the animation because this is the best computer animation in history! Even almost ten years after it premiered, it's still awe-inspiring. I love how vibrantly colorful it is, I love the expressions, I love the attention to detail, I love it, I love it, I love it! The ocean looks so real that you could swim in it. And from what I hear, they got Sydney's look down really well. It's just brilliance and beauty in every single frame.<br />
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The story itself is your basic road-trip movie. It has a simple plot, but it's more centered on everything that happens along the way. Thankfully, none of these moments are dull. I still can tell you everything that happens during the trip to P. Sherman: 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney. The vegetarian sharks: humorous and rather creative. The ocean mines and ship: cool. The anglerfish: scary. The moonfish: funny. The jellyfish forest: suspenseful. The sea turtles: gnarly. The whale: kind of sad until the end of his scene. The seagulls: annoying, but funny. The fishermen: just as suspenseful as the jellyfish forest. Even Nemo's subplot with the tank gang: memorable. I do like how the movie isn't really about story, but rather moments. Funny, clever, and heartfelt alike. Of course, none of the creatures that Marlin encounters along the way really mean any harm. They're just doing what they do. As Nigel the pelican tells Nemo at one point, "Fish gotta swim, birds gotta eat." That's perhaps the film's most interesting insight: there are no true villains, just creatures that act according to their nature, and a few that transcend it.<br />
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And yes, the film has memorable characters to go along with this wonderful fish-tale. Marlin is afraid of the outside world for a very legit reason and constantly shields Nemo from the world around him. Nemo, fed up with his father's over-protection, just wants independence. After the diver incident, the two go through some engaging developments in themselves. Marlin learns to be more adventurous, getting parenting tips from a surfer-dude turtle voiced by the film's director Andrew Stanton, while Nemo learns to be more self-reliant and that he still needs a family.<br />
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My all-time favorite character, though, is Dory. She has to be the best character Pixar ever created! We have here a fish with
short-term memory loss. To give a cartoon character a real human disorder is
risky, to say the least, and I'm glad the filmmakers didn't lose the nerve to
include this ingenious device, which not only generates some of the film's
biggest laughs, but reinforces the character interaction that is so central to
the story. But it's really her optimism is what really makes us love her.<br />
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<i>Finding Nemo</i>, in my mind at least, is the perfect Pixar film. Why? Because it's unparalleled by any Pixar film before or after it. It has beautiful visuals, memorable characters, action-packed scenes, and seamless mixing of comedy and drama.The story between finding Nemo and Nemo's escape creates such anticipation for what's going to happen because we do want to see Marlin, Dory, and Nemo make it out alright even after the darkest of hours. And right from minute one, it never disappoints. It plays at our emotions, but it's never manipulative or calculating in its execution. If you haven't seen it yet (<i>do you live under a rock or something?</i>), Disney and Pixar are planning to re-release it later this year in 3D and it's going to look amazing! So go check it out if you haven't already. It's my personal favorite Pixar film and in my top ten animated films of all time. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01618562818963525364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2953525951646689111.post-14230699084555201682012-08-12T03:35:00.000-05:002012-08-15T23:18:49.424-05:00Pixargust: Monsters, Inc. (2001)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Remember being afraid of monsters as a child? Remember how we always had to look under the bed for them? Or how about looking for shadows in the closet? Weird sounds outside in the trees? I remember thinking there were all kinds of monsters in my room: not as much under my bed as in the closet. I think everyone was at one point terrified of monsters. That was, at least, until Pixar's newest film <i>Monsters, Inc.</i> came out. I think all of us were relieved that they really weren't as scary as we thought. They're just doing their jobs like mom and dad. Looking back on it, I always thought this was a neat idea and it still holds up today. From what I looked up, it managed to be just as successful as any Pixar film. Maybe even more so. It managed to rake in over $525 million at the box-office, almost beating <i><a href="http://cartoonzforu.blogspot.com/2012/06/disneyear-lion-king-1994.html">The Lion King's</a></i> record back then. It also as usual got good marks from audiences despite some lawsuits back then, but I'll leave that up for you to research. By this point, it was the most successful Pixar film to date. Let's go in our closets and into the world of monsters with <i>Monsters, Inc. </i><br />
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In a world parallel to ours, the city of Monstropolis is a lot like ours. Only it has monsters in it. And it's main source of energy is children's screams as apposed to electricity. At the Monsters, Inc. company, employees called "scarers" venture into children's bedrooms to collect these screams using closet doors as portals. There are problems with this job, though: they believe that human children are highly toxic and that they are becoming harder and harder to scare thanks to television and video games. Trying his hardest to keep up with demand, the company chairman Henry J. Waternoose (<i>James Coburn</i>) tries hiring new monsters but with little success. The company's top scarer, James P. Sullivan (<i>John Goodman</i>) or Sully as his best friend and coworker Mike Wazowski (<i>Billy Crystal</i>) calls him, has a lot of competition on his hands: namely a chameleon-like monster named Randall (<i>Steve Buscemi</i>) and his assistant Fungus (<i>Frank Oz</i>). While Mike takes his girlfriend Cecelia (<i>Jennifer Tilly</i>) out one night after work, Sully finds a white door with flowers is still on the scare floor. So he opens it to see if anyone is still there, but accidentally lets in a very young girl in the factory. This causes mass hysteria and mayhem as Mike and Sully try to hide the child from the notorious Child Detection Agency. They try to pass her off as a young monster at the factory the next day. It seems to work as Sully develops a bond with the child, who he now names Boo, and Randall is on to them. He reveals that he's been working on an invention that will collect screams faster, but it may literally suck the life out of the victim. As the two rush to reveal Randall, they find that Waternoose endorsed this and have Mike and Sully banished to the Himalayas where they meet the Abominable Snowman (<i>John Ratzenberger</i>). Now with their friendship on thin ice, Sully rushes to the nearby village to get back to the factory and save Boo, leaving Mike behind after a heated argument. Mike does come back and they make up, agreeing to help Boo and stop Randall and Waternoose. The C.D.A. eventually find out after Waternoose unintentionally reveals himself and they do get Boo back home safe. After they may have shut down the factory for good, they found out from experience with Boo that laughter is more powerful than scream and this saves the factory. Sully finds Boo's door once again and is reunited with his dear friend on the other side.<br />
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Let's start with the concept because, honestly, it is a pretty creative one. While the idea of monsters scaring children because it's their jobs has been done before, the idea of using these screams as a power source and the children themselves being an occupational hazard was unique. It basically does for monsters what <i><a href="http://cartoonzforu.blogspot.com/2012/08/pixargust-toy-story-1995.html">Toy Story</a></i> did for toys. It opens a new perspective of something from our youth. While these were our worst nightmares, the movie mostly plays this classic fear for laughs and it does work in clever ways.<br />
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The characters are also fun. Mike and Sully are great leads and they do have a good on-screen chemistry. Boo is really, really adorable. She's cute, but not too cute. She actually behaves like a real three-year old would act. So I really like her. The rest of them are entertaining, but the character that I found the most fascinating was Randall. He really is an intimidating monster. That design is cool, his ability to perfectly camouflage himself and then pop out of nowhere is really scary, and once again the voice acting by Steve Buscemi is top-notch. Scared the bejebus out of me when I was a kid. If there is one complaint I have, it's that they're not quite as fleshed out as the <i>Toy Story</i> characters are. When considering the <i>Toy Story</i> movies, they're generally established before they set about doing things which affect the plot. <i>Monsters, Inc.'s</i> characters never fully engage or flesh-out. We ultimately warm-up to them a bit, but for the most part, they're just going through the motions. They're not bad at all, they could have been fleshed out more.<br />
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As expected, the animation quality has once again set standards for the future. With every character gracefully and characteristically animated, every virtual set just right and pleasing to look at, and an eye-tickling mastery of color, fantastic light and shade quality, the animation is pure eye candy. Sully's fur, the fabrics on Boo's clothes, and the further improved details on the doors and the world around them are prime examples. Speaking of characters, I really love all these designs for the monsters in this film. They're not too scary and the Pixar artists did a wonderful job making sure each design was unique.<br />
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On top of that, it's funny. Really funny. While it seems a little more frenetic than inspired at times, there's jokes for everyone. Kids will enjoy most of the physical comedy while the grown-ups will appreciate some of the in-jokes that this movie has, like one of the restaurants is called Harryhausen's, named after stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen. The film also has a lot of heart in it too. While it is a comedy, there's still those moments where the film just tugs at your heartstrings like when Sully discovers that scaring children just might be wrong. It's not perfect, but the heart does mesh with the comedy very nicely.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'll admit, I did get watery-eyed watching this part.</td></tr>
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In conclusion, <i>Monsters, Inc.</i> has something for everyone. While it does lean more on comedy than heart and the characters could be more three-dimensional, it has an engaging narrative, beautiful animation, creative concepts, and a fast-pace to it make it a fun experience. In fact, I'm not even bothered that there's a prequel coming out next year. As long as the characters have the same sense of fun as they do here, it should do fine. For now, I am happy I got to watch this movie again. Perfectly blending humor with heart isn't easy, but this film does a decent job. But there are a few that do it better. Join me next time to see one of these.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01618562818963525364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2953525951646689111.post-66525417151054704762012-08-09T02:09:00.000-05:002012-08-09T03:08:44.540-05:00Pixargust: Toy Story 2 (1999)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Talk about a sequel to <i>Toy Story</i> has been out since after the first film was released. Disney initially envisioned the film as a direct-to-video sequel and <i>Toy Story 2</i> began production in a building separated from Pixar and was much smaller scale, with most of the main Pixar staff working on <i>A Bug's Life</i>. When story reels proved promising, Disney upgraded the film to theatrical release, but Pixar was unhappy with the quality of the film. Lasseter and the story team re-developed the entire plot in one weekend. Although most Pixar features take years to develop, the established release date could not be moved and the production schedule for <i>Toy Story 2</i> was compressed into nine months. It thankfully opened as a gigantic success. Making over $485 million and getting very high marks from the critics, <i>Toy Story 2</i> has been called a rare case where the sequel outshines the original. Quite the reputation. Is it the story? The ideas? The animation? The characters: both old and new? What was the magic behind this film? What made it so damn good? And is it just as good? Well, it's time to join our old friends on a new adventure. This is <i>Toy Story 2</i>.<br />
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It's now been three years since the first film and all our old friends are back! Woody, Buzz, Potato Head, Slinky, Hamm, Rex, Bo Peep, all of them. We also get to meet some new friends like Mrs. Potato Head (<i>Estelle Harris</i>) and a squeaky penguin named Wheezy (<i>Joe Ranft</i>). Well, it's time for Andy to go to cowboy camp and every year, he takes Woody. But while playing with him, Andy accidentally tears Woody's arm, forcing him to leave Woody behind. He gets put on the shelf and finds out that Wheezy has been shelved the whole time with a busted squeaker and collecting dust. One day while Andy's gone, his mom collects things for a yard sale and picks up Wheezy. Woody rescues the penguin only to be stolen by a man named Al (<i>Wayne Knight</i>), the same Al of Al's Toy Barn, who takes Woody away to his apartment. It's up to Buzz now to save his friend since Woody did the same in the last movie. So he, Slinky, Potato, Hamm, and Rex are off to find Al's Toy Barn where they believe the cowboy is being held captive. Woody tries to escape but finds out that he was once part of a mega-hit show in the 1950's which lead to tons of merchandise including a doll of him and the other characters on the show: Jessie the yodeling cowgirl (<i>Joan Cusack</i>) Bullseye the horse (<i>Frank Welker</i>), and Stinky Pete the prospector (<i>Kelsey Grammer</i>). They're all being sent to a toy museum in Tokyo and they need Woody to complete the trip. Woody is reluctant at first due to his loyalty to Andy, but after getting his arm fixed and hearing their side of the argument that Andy will one day grow up and never play with Woody again, this leads to a big debate: return to Andy just to be abandoned eventually or go with them as children admire him through a glass box? Woody decides to go at first, but realizes that it's better to be there when Andy grows up. He wants to take the Roundup Gang with him, but the Prospector refuses. And after a really exciting climax involving an airport, Andy's toys defeat the Prospector and make it back home with Jessie and Bulleye. While the two enjoy a new home, Woody tells Buzz that even if Andy outgrows him, he'll always have his friends around for company, "to infinity and beyond".<br />
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Unlike the first film, the plot of the sequel allows for much more scope for the action to take place. Most of the original film revolved around Andy’s room with only a few other locations offering adventures for the heroes. This time around, the toys venture out into the outside world. This is a nice change of setting and allows for a lot of creative possibilities for humor and action and as expected, Pixar takes every single advantage of it.<br />
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The humor is still as sharp as it was in the first film. Most of it comes from the rescue gang: Buzz, Slinky, Rex, Hamm, and Potato Head and the situations they get into outside Andy's room and Al's Toy Barn. The humor is more irrelevant than the first and there's more pop culture references, but it never distracts from the story. They introduce another Buzz doll too that's just like Andy's Buzz in the first movie: he really thinks he's a space ranger. The gang mistake the new Buzz for theirs and follow him until near the end of the film. They also introduced his nemesis, Zurg, which leads to both an epic and hilarious battle on top of an elevator. It's just to precious to keep from you good people.</div>
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The most remarkable thing about this sequel, however, is how is expands one of the central themes of the original film and makes it more heartfelt and sincere. A toy’s purpose is to be there for its owner and while the first film explored this theme with the introduction of Buzz, a toy who didn’t know he was toy, in <i>Toy Story 2</i> it is fiercely devoted Woody who questions his purpose of existence. Woody ponders the possibility that one day Andy won’t want him anymore, a prospect that is illustrated by the sad story of Jessie, who was abandoned by her child. Jessie’s story is told through the song <i>When She Loved Me</i>, which plays over a flashback sequence that would reduce a grown man to tears. It’s one of the many sad aspects of growing up, when the treasured friends who you once took everywhere and experienced numerous adventures with gradually become just toys. <i>Toy Story 2</i> delves into this idea from the toys perspective, just as the original film did, but the introduction of two characters, Stinky Pete and Jessie, offers two new perspectives of life as toys. </div>
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As much as I love <i>Toy Story</i>, <i>Toy Story 2</i> really does improve everything about the first film. The animation quality just keeps getting better and better. The humans actually do resemble people now and we also get some really fine detail from lighting and shadows to the seams in the toy's stitching. It also cleverly expands the ideas of what it's like to be a toy, with some legitimate drama, vast emotional depth, and clever humor along the way. It's a rare sequel that doesn't feel like it divided itself from the original. In fact, you could watch all of these movies back to back and swear you would be watching one movie. I really adore it and chances are I'll be watching it to infinity and beyond in the future.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Face it: we'll never outgrow these guys!</td></tr>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01618562818963525364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2953525951646689111.post-40673389076867860162012-08-06T01:52:00.000-05:002012-08-06T01:52:05.525-05:00Pixargust: A Bug's Life (1998)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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After <i><a href="http://cartoonzforu.blogspot.com/2012/08/pixargust-toy-story-1995.html">Toy Story</a></i> was released, it really took the world by surprise. It was fun, charming, and had a sophistication to it. So a lot of curiosity was out to see just what Pixar would do next. Turns out the next film they were working on was about insects. Coincidentally, another 3D animated film was released with it featured talking insects, but I'm not going to dwell on that just yet. Anywho, the newest Pixar film was called <i>A Bugs Life</i> and as expected from Pixar, it did very well when it was first released. It got good marks from critics and grossed over $360 million worldwide. But no one really was talking about it like they were <i>Toy Story</i>. I mean I saw and liked it when I was little, but it didn't really make as big an impact as <i>Toy Story</i> did. Even to this day, I rarely ever hear anyone talk about it. Does this mean it's bad? Not necessarily, it's still a good movie and all. So why is it that this movie gets overlooked so much? Let's get our magnifying glasses out to really look at <i>A Bug's Life</i>.<br />
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Okay, well the story is abut an ant colony where it reverses the Aesop fable of <i>The Ants and the Grasshopper</i> where a gang of grasshoppers demand food from a colony of ants. The colony has a quirky inventor named Flick (<i>Dave Foley</i>) that unfortunately causes more trouble than he intends. Meanwhile we have Princess Atta (<i>Julia Louis-Dreyfus</i>) who is about to be queen but fears the colony doesn't like her out of inexperience as a leader and Dot (<i>a young Hayden Panettiere</i>) who can't fly yet and forms a friendship with Flick because of his uniqueness. A mishap happens when Flick accidentally causes the grasshopper's food to fall in a stream. Now the ants are screwed. The leader of the grasshoppers, Hopper (<i>Kevin Spacey</i>), blames it on Atta instead of the queen (<i>Phyllis Diller</i>), order that their usual offering be doubled, and say that they'll be back at the end of autumn. Flick then gets an idea about leaving Ant Island to find bigger bugs to fend off Hopper's gang. The colony agrees to this because with Flick gone, they won't have to worry about any potential mishaps. The bugs he does find are actually a group of circus performers that recently got fired from screwing up a dangerous stunt and inflaming their flea boss (<i>John Ratzenberger</i>) in the process. This includes two Hungarian pillbugs, a black widow spader named Rosie (<i>Bonnie Hunt</i>) and her rhino beetle Dim (<i>Brad Garrett</i>), Slim a stick insect (<i>David Hyde Pierce</i>), Francis a ladybird (<i>Dennis Leary</i>), a hungry caterpillar named Heimlich (<i>Joe Ranft</i>), a praying mantis named Manny (<i>Jonathan Harris</i>) and a moth named Gypsy (<i>Madeline Kahn</i>). They think Flick is a talent scout and go with him not knowing what they're in for. They manage to fend off a bird and get the audience they deserve. Flick then gets the idea of building a fake bird to scare off the grasshoppers. It's after they finish that Flick is exposed and forced to leave with the circus bugs. The grasshoppers arrive after the land becomes barren and when they find out there isn't enough food for them, they immediately take over and plan to kill off the queen. Flick returns with the circus troupe and manages to save the colony and fend off the grasshoppers forever.<br />
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Pixar planned on <i>A Bug's Life</i> being more visual than Toy Story was. And in many respects, it is. Like the previous film, it creates a world foreign to us because we can't experience it first hand. It's also beautifully textured, like the shots of the forests and green leaves that puts the audience in a diminutive point of view. It's a world where raindrops are like hydrogen bombs and a single grain can provide food for a lot of ants. The animation quality has really improved since <i>Toy Story</i>. The special effects and lighting specifically are especially wonderful.<br />
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But it's not without problems. The characters for one are sort of a big thing for me. They're not bad but they don't feel fleshed out enough. Flick and Atta's relationship also feels a little forced to me. I get the sense they like each other, but it's not really developed enough. The circus bugs, though a good lot, don't really have distinct personalities either, unlike <i>Toy Story</i> where the side characters were interesting and better fleshed out. The only circus bugs that do have distinct characters are Francis, Heimlich, and Slim and they do get good lines now and then. Then again, there's so many insects in the film that it is kind of hard to keep track of them all.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After the retraining orders, she grew kind of fond of him.</td></tr>
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The only character I found myself invested in was Hopper. God, he's awesome! He just has a really neat design and I thought he had the character to back it up. He's a pretty vile and threatening villain with some brains too. I think he's interesting because he knows that the ants outnumber him and can revolt by using numbers, so he uses intimidation and brute force to scare the ants into giving him food keeping them in check. That was a creative idea to me. That and Kevin Spacey did a tremendous job with voicing the character.<br />
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At best, <i>A Bug's Life</i> is just okay. It's not terrible, but it's somewhere close to the bottom of the list because it really doesn't have that much of the sophistication and heart that other Pixar films do. It doesn't really have the creativity that <i>Toy Story</i> had and the story does get a little bit complicated, but there's still a likability and charm to it. You do grow to like some of the characters, though not all of them since there's a lot to keep track of. Overall, it's not a bad rent but there's always a better Pixar film out there. A few good characters as well as a few creative scenarios make it worth a watch. Take it for what it's worth.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01618562818963525364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2953525951646689111.post-8058334531535374132012-08-04T21:44:00.001-05:002012-08-06T01:51:12.674-05:00Pixargust: Toy Story (1995)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Seems appropriate to start Pixargust with the world's very first computer-animated film. Back in a time when computer animation was considered a gimmick (<i>though it works for the special effects of Jurassic Park among others</i>), <i>Toy Story</i> was definitely one of a kind when it was first released. And I can still remember when this movie was all the rage. Growing up, every single kid that didn't live under a rock adored this film. I know I did. Hell, at age 6 this was one of my favorite movies ever! I remember having a lot of the toys from back then (<i>Makes sense. It is a movie about toys, ya know?</i>) and enjoying my own adventures with them. Seventeen years after it's release, I still love it. It's one of the few films to have a 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it made well over $350 million at the box office worldwide, and managed to get a hold of three Oscars. I'd say that's not a bad start for a small computer-animation. Well, time to look at what makes the film so good with the Pixar film that started it all.<br />
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The film begins in the room of a boy named Andy, where his toys come to life when there isn't anyone to see. Andy's favorite toy is a cowboy doll named Woody (<i>Tom Hanks</i>) and he's the one the other toys look up to when there's an issue at hand. In this case, today is Andy's birthday party and the other toys are worried about being replaced by any new toy Andy receives every birthday or Christmas. Woody finds out the hard way that a new spaceman toy called Buzz Lightyear (<i>Tim Allen</i>) who thinks he really is a space ranger has become a new favorite of Andy. Adversity begins to take over Woody as the other toys start looking up to Buzz more. So Woody tries to get rid o Buzz one day by making him fall behind a shelf but this backfires when Buzz is instead accidentally pushed out of the window. On route to Pizza Planet, Andy takes Woody instead after the other toys ostracize him for "murdering" Buzz. However, Buzz catches up with them and after a fight with Woody, both of them are now jettisoned out of the house. They hitch a ride on a Pizza Planet truck and manage to get inside, but are found by Andy's rotten kid neighbor, Sid. They're now in deep trouble because he breaks toys for fun and Andy is moving in a few days. So now time is of the essence for Woody and Buzz to escape and for Woody to redeem himself for Andy's other toys.<br />
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For starters, the plot is simple but flowing with a good twist on the old "toys come to life when no one looks" formula. Given how often the same mix of animation, wit, jokes and kids humor has been used since <i>Toy Story</i>, it's easy to forget how refreshing it was when it first came out. Watching it again, it's dating a little in comparison to more recent twists on its formula and computer animation. But it is still very entertaining and remember: it's still the start of a new animation medium, so not everything is going to look 100% perfect. It was impressive back then and it the details still have merit today.<br />
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The main story is fun but the degree of character development is what really shores it up. The conflict between Buzz and Woody is genuine and it does make some good comedy (<i>When you think about, it's q buddy comedy</i>). You know, watching it again Woody's kind of a bastard in this movie. He can be jealous, selfish, and conniving despite being known for his leadership skills, levelheadedness, and friendly disposition by the other toys. But even so, he's not the bad guy. We still feel for him because it's a just cause: he's afraid of losing his best friend to a new toy. It's Woody's flaws that make him compelling. Buzz is also a great character. He believes he really is a space ranger and this makes for a lot of funny moments in the first half of the movie. When confronted by the truth of his status as a toy, Buzz's turmoil surprisingly is very much real. Assuming you never saw this before, you'd never guess that these two would be friends in the end. Things like that are always cool.<br />
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Despite the two strong leads there is a real depth in the support cast. They may not actually have that many lines, but they have the funniest lines. Some of the film's wit comes from Mr. Potato Head (<i>Don Rickles</i>), Rex (<i>Wallace Shawn</i>), a piggy bank named Hamm (<i>John Ratzenberger</i>) and Slinky Dog (<i>Jim Varney</i>). They're all memorable and aside from the designs, you can tell them apart because they all have different personalities.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oh, and one of these voices will be in every film this month! <br />
Care to guess?</td></tr>
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The songs are Randy Newman songs and to be honest, they're not bad. What's odd though is that none of the characters sing. They sort of pull like what Phil Collins did in <i><a href="http://cartoonzforu.blogspot.com/2012/06/disneyear-tarzan-1999.html">Tarzan</a></i> and have Randy sing for us about what the characters feel. I couldn't get into this idea that much in <i>Tarzan</i>, but I thought it was okay in this film. Even if Randy has one of the goofiest singing voices ever, he doesn't ruin the film. I can tolerate him fine.</div>
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Even if computer animation was considered a gimmick back then, <i>Toy Story</i> took international audiences by storm and inspired an artistic revolution. Ever since, Pixar has never looked back, as they went on to produce other successful movies later on. Fortunately, they frequently work to ensure their products contain genuine heart, style and substance; reminding us that with a slick new look and presentation, computer animation can exhibit the same qualities that made Disney's hand-drawn efforts so memorable. So yeah, I like it a lot. It's somewhere at the top of my favorite Pixar films because it remains as timeless as something as <i>The Wizard of Oz</i> and many of Disney's hand-drawn films. Even if the animation is a little primitive by today's standards, the attention to details, especially on lighting and shading, is still remarkable. It captures the essence of childhood and it is interesting to hear from the viewpoint of the toys. The dialogue and story appeals to both kids and adults, has creative scenarios, and I really did feel like I was a kid again watching it. Give it a watch again. It's one of my favorites. </div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01618562818963525364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2953525951646689111.post-55625402442121849062012-08-01T11:08:00.003-05:002012-08-01T11:08:59.014-05:00Pixargust AnnouncementWell folks, since I finished Disneyear earlier than I thought, I've decided to go ahead and try to review all of the Pixar films. Why? Because like Disney, Pixar revolutionized the way we look at animated films. They manage to capture the spirit of Disney by appealing to both children and adults. And over the years, Pixar has sort of become family to us, too. They continue to entertain us not with fairy tales but mostly original ideas and stories, which can't be easy. So just the sheer imagination and gorgeous animation of these films is enough to warrant my attention. That, and since they're now owned by Disney, it sort of makes sense to review these films, too. So I'm going to try and do my best to cover all 12 for just this month. And like what I mentioned in Disneyear, if you happen to like or dislike any of these films, that's okay. Nothing wrong with that. This is just me getting my opinion out there again. So sit back, relax, and enjoy what I'm going to call Pixargust!<div>
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We come to the last film in Disneyear: <i>Winnie the Pooh</i>. I'm sure a lot of you are reading this thinking, "Didn't you already review this film?" Well, you're thinking of <i>The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh</i>, the film you all remember growing up with. This is a very recent released film, sort of an official sequel to the 1977 film. I find it surprising that despite it being released last year, no one I talk too has seen, let alone even heard of this film! Then I remembered why: in America, this was released on the exact same weekend as <i>Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2</i>, so this poor film got little to no recognition at all. I wonder why on Earth this film wasn't released in April like it was in the U.K.? But thankfully for those that actually saw it, it got a lot of positive marks and it did make it's $30 million budget back, making it a modest success. I did catch this one lazy summer day and was pleasantly pleased with what I saw. It brought back a lot of nostalgia, for me at least, as it does capture a lot of things that made the first film endearing. Is it as great? Well, let's return to the Hundred Acre Wood for the final film this year.<br />
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One morning, Pooh wakes up to greet the day. But he has no honey to eat, so he goes around looking for some. He bumps into Eeyore, who's tail is missing. Owl passes by and suggests some kind of reward for a new tail. The whole wood agrees that whoever finds Eeyore a new tail is rewarded with a pot of honey. Despite their best efforts, none of them really seem to work. So Pooh goes back on his search for honey as he finds a note on Christopher Robin's door. He has Owl read it for him since poor Pooh is a bear with little brain. Owl reads it and concludes that Christopher Robin has been kidnapped by a monster called the Backson. I won't <i>dare</i> ruin how they came to that conclusion because honestly, it's really funny! So the gang sets out to trap the Backson in a pit by making a tral of things to destroy. Meanwhile, Tigger sees Eeyore couldn't catch up with the others and decides to make him an honorary Tigger. That doesn't seem to work either and Pooh manages to fall into the trap by thinking an empty honey pot lure was full. But everyone gets stuck in the pit too except for Tigger and Piglet. They eventually get out and see Christopher Robin is okay. Everything is cleared up and Pooh once again is on the search for food. He goes to Owl's place to find that Eeyore's real tail was mistaken as a bell rope and he returns it to Eeyore to win the honey pot prize. Pooh eats to his content and the story ends.<br />
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So does this film hold up as a sequel? Well, it has many elements from the first movie, such as the fourth wall jokes and a nice atmosphere and pace that allows the characters to be themselves and let them tell the story. From what I understand, this is the first Pooh film in a while to use A.A. Milne's original stories again, which is always nice. The only thing I wish was that there were more of the stories. What made the first film so great was that there were so many stories tied into it. This film only has two. That's very odd. The film's very short. It's only an hour long and when it was over, I was wanting more. I guess that's not always a bad thing, but this film could have been longer.<br />
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Thankfully, the characters are more or less the same. There's some familiar voices here as well as a few new voices too. John Cleese is the narrator and he's just perfect for it. He's dignified, but knows how to add humor to the narration, much like how Sebastian Cabot did in the first film. Jim Cummings returns as Pooh and Tigger, having taken over the roles for well over a decade, and he as usual does a great job. Travis Oates does a surprisingly good Piglet, one of the songwriters of the film (<i>Kristina Anderson-Lopez</i>) voices Kanga here. That's kind of cool. Tom Kenny was an odd choice for Rabbit, but he did pretty well too. Animator Bud Luckey plays Eeyore to a tee. The oddest choice for me was Craig Ferguson as Owl. He does a good job, but they changed his character around. This guy was just obsessed with being right all the time. The original Owl was like that too, but not nearly as ego-maniacal as he is here. I suppose it's not a bad change, but wasn't Rabbit already sort of that character? Being right all the time? Oh well.<br />
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The songs are really, really good songs! They were so good I thought maybe the Sherman Brothers came back to write them. But it's in reality a new team with the same amount of talent and spirit. Fun fact here: the writers for the songs also wrote the music for <i>Avenue Q</i> and <i>The Book of Mormon</i>! I tip my hat to these folks for recreating that musical spirit of the first film.<br />
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The animation is really good here. Maybe a little <i>too</i> good. I noticed that the team redesigned a lot of the characters. Pooh has a slimmer body, Kanga, Roo, and Piglet have different shaped heads, and they even gave Christopher Robin those big Disney eyes. Real ones. Notable animators to watch for are Mark Henn (<i>Pooh</i>), Andreas Dejas (<i>Tigger</i>), Eric Goldberg (<i>Rabbit, of all characters!</i>), Bruce W. Smith (<i>Kanga, Roo, Piglet</i>), and Dale Baer (<i>Owl</i>).<br />
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Oh, and this scene cracks me up!</div>
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<i>Winnie the Pooh</i> is a lot like getting a bouquet of flowers: it's familiar, but you still get a nice, warm feeling from it. It has a nice atmosphere, good pacing, good animation, great characters, great songs, funny scenes, and the stories are told well. I only wish there was more stories in the film. It's <i>Winnie the Pooh</i> after all! You could have a ton of fun recreating these stories. But I still enjoyed it. It really felt like I was watching the original film as a kid again. It's not great, but good. If you're a fan of Winnie the Pooh or just want to see some great animation, I'd say check it out sometime.<br />
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And folks, this is the end of Disneyear. Thank you all so much for reading, subscribing, and commenting with me throughout the year. I'm sure all of you have your own opinions of these movies, so get out there and share your thoughts with the world as I did here. As I did finish ahead of schedule, I think I'll save all the Pixar films for either August or October to review. And when <i>Wreck-it Ralph</i> is released, I'll watch it and share my thoughts here. Until then, thanks so much and take care.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So long for now, folks! :)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01618562818963525364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2953525951646689111.post-66224198251782205892012-07-29T21:19:00.000-05:002012-07-29T23:44:51.520-05:00Disneyear: Tangled (2010)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Unlike the other 3D animated films that Disney made this
decade, <i>Tangled</i> is the only one that truly feels a lot like I'm watching a 2D
film. It's a musical fairy tale, the animation feels like I'm watching a moving
painting, the designs are reminiscent of the classic hand-drawn films, it's
basically a traditionally animated film in the guise of computer-generated
images. From what I hear, this is the most expensive animated film ever made,
adjusting inflation, costing over $260 million to make. It made more than
double back, which did far better at the box office than the last Disney fairy
tale movie, <i><a href="http://cartoonzforu.blogspot.com/2012/07/disneyear-princess-and-frog-2009.html">The Princess and the Frog</a></i>. I have an idea why that is, but I'll get
to that later. I know it's not fair to compare <i>Tangled</i> with <i>The Princess and the
Frog</i>, but when you think about it both films were released around the same time
and one only did okay while the other did much better. So in that context, it
kind of makes sense to compare the two. So I'll do that around the end of the
review. And I'll admit that I was a little skeptical of the movie at first
(I'll explain why later), so I originally wanted to pass it. But I got talked
in into going to see it with my friend and honestly, it was not at all what I
expected! I enjoyed it a lot! Well, time to see what I got wrapped up in
<i>Tangled.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Once upon a time, a magic flower that has healing powers and
provides eternal youth blooms in a kingdom. An old woman named Gothel (Donna
Murphy) figures out that the only way to use its powers is to sing a certain
song to it and she keeps it to herself to restore her youth. But the queen
falls ill, so the royal guards find the flower and grind it up to herbs to heal the
queen. The flower's magic is transferred to her baby Rapunzel’s long blonde
hair. Gothel finds out that the magic is still in the baby’s hair so she
kidnaps her to use her hair’s flower-power keep her youth. To keep her concealed from the world,
Gothel hides Rapunzel in a tower for 18 years and in order to let Gothel live longer, she grows Rapunzel . But every year, there’s a lantern ceremony that happens every time
Rapunzel (<i>Mandy Moore</i>) has a
birthday. This is held by the king and queen in the hopes that the lost princess will one day find her way home. She wants to go see it for herself but is forbidden by her “mother”.
Rapunzel later finds that a thief named Flynn Ryder (<i>Zachary Levi</i>) has climbed up her tower to escape from the royal
guards and one of the horses there. She knocks him out and later tries to get
some information out of him. He agrees to take her there if she lets him go. Here on in, they set off for adventure with sword fights, epic discoveries, magic, love, and much more. That is until Flynn is framed and Gothel finds and takes Rapunzel "home". She realizes she's the lost princess and tries to escape Gothel. Flynn arrives in time to save her, but ends up losing his life. To save Rapunzel, he cuts her hair, removing her magic powers and vanquishing the villain. They make it back to the palace, Flynn is pardoned, and the two marry eventually. </div>
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It's rare that I ever say this, but the story to this film is brilliant. It has a fantastic setup and makes the transition to film perfectly, just like what Disney did in it's heyday. All throughout this introduction, I was shouting "Brilliant! Brilliant!" There's a reason why she's in the tower! There's a reason why the hair is so long! There's a reason to incorporate music into it! It was just wonderful! So just from this ingenious setup, you'd think this would be one of the top 5 Disney films, right? Well... not exactly.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">But to be fair, it comes so close!</td></tr>
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One issue I have is the voice acting. Not that it's bad or that the actors did a horrible job. I couldn't get invested in them. Like when I heard Rapunzel's voice I thought, "Wait.. that sounds like someone familiar". Turns out it was! The same goes for Flynn. I know he's trying too, but he shares the same problem. now to clear things up: the main characters aren't bad. They're well written, are animated nice, and have compelling back stories. I just think it's the voice work that's the issue. I'm always aware that there's just someone behind a microphone. But it doesn't destroy the movie. I'm behind it <i>enough</i>.</div>
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My other issue is the songs. Again, not that they're godawful, in fact it's nice to know Alan Menkin came back to write good songs again, but they feel rushed and didn't always match with the movie. With <i>The Princess and the Frog</i>, they fit in because that music was New Orleans jazz. It fit with the rest of the story. Here, that sort of guitar pop song/Broadway/Top 40 billboard style seem a little out of place. Those are my only two problems, but the're kind of big ones. It's funny because with <i>The Princess and the Frog, </i>the story was my only problem but everything else was great. In <i>Tangled</i>, it's the story that's great but everything else is kind of "been-done".</div>
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There are a few standout moments in the film, though. One is this horse. This guy is so friggin' hilarious! He's one of the great movie horses! I could watch him all day, he just cracks me up! The other is the animation in the entire movie. It looks fantastic, as you'd expect for Disney. It just has this style that reminds me of early Rococco paintings and it looks wonderful. The best animation in the whole film is surprisingly with Rapunzel's parents. They don;t even have a line in this movie but they convey so much. You can just feel how torn apart they are!</div>
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So why did <i>Tangled</i> outperform <i>The Princess and the Frog</i>? Is it race? Slim chance, but maybe. Is it that the music here appeals more to the general public than New Orleans ragtime? It could be. But again, I think it's because the film was animated in 3D. The advertising for this movie played it up like there were going to be more adult jokes in this movie and it felt like we were going to get a road trip comedy (<i>which was why I was skeptical at first.</i>). But it turned out the complete opposite. There wasn't that many adult jokes in the movie, the story was much simpler than in <i>The Princess and the Frog</i>, and the fact that since it was a 3D film, adults thought it was going to be for them too.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oh, and frying pans are hilarious weapons!</td></tr>
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Do I like it? Yes. It's a good flick. While the voice acting and songs <i>can</i> be distracting, there's still fantastic backgrounds and animation, the side characters are fun, there's genuine soft moments, and like I said over and over, the story is great. One of the best alone for that setup. But personally, I think I liked the updates on the classic fairy tale in <i>The Princess and the Frog</i> more than I did <i>Tangled</i>. There's a purely brilliant movie here somewhere. I bet if you combined the characters and animation of the Princess and the Frog with the story of Tangled, we could have a film as brilliant as <i><a href="http://cartoonzforu.blogspot.com/2012/06/disneyear-beauty-and-beast-1991.html">Beauty and the Beast</a></i>! In in there, I know it! But if you want to watch a good fantasy adventure, <i>Tangled</i> isn't a bad choice to consider. Give it a rent and see what you can get invested in.<br />
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01618562818963525364noreply@blogger.com1