Is Hand Drawn Animation Dead?

November 15, 2014November 16, 2014 | Rachel's Reviews

I just wanted to share this video with all of you from the Cartoon Palooza. He covers the history of the transition from hand drawn to computer animation. This is a divisive topic but I will share some of my thoughts after the video.

I’ve said it a number of times I think 2014 has been one of the best years for animation in the last 20 years. It is thrilling to see so many different voices and visual styles being told. Everything is out there from Book of Life to The Lego Movie to Big Hero 6. And I’ve liked at least on some level every animated movie I’ve seen this year except for Legends of Oz and The Nut Job. It’s an exciting time to be an animated movie fan and part of the reason we are able to have such variety and creative output is because of computer animation.

It is just a fact that the average studio can put together a computer animated film faster than hand drawn. Disney just admitted as much when they changed their upcoming release Moana from 2D to CG so it could be finished 2 years sooner. 2 years is a long time for a studio to hold out a film just for artistic integrity that will probably not show as any benefit in the box office (of the top 5 biggest animated films ever at box office only 1, Lion King, is hand drawn).

Cartoon Palooza makes a good point about Tangled but the reason why that film was so expensive was not because of the animation. It was all the rewrites, reshoots and it being their first 3D film. If a studio can make a movie 3D than they are going to make more profit and computer animation looks better in 3D than hand drawn.

Now we are getting hand drawn movies from the Studio Ghibli team and other smaller studios. This December we get Song of the Sea which looks stunning.

What I want is good quality movies and if computer animation makes more people jump into the game than I think it is great. If I was just going on personal preference I’d pick hand drawn but not a strong preference. I love the artistry of the Pixar films. Ratatouille, for instance, has some of the most gorgeous backgrounds of any movie I’ve ever seen. So it just depends on the movie.

Or how about this scene from Wall-e? It’s stunning.

Most importantly I just want to be entertained whether it is 2D, 3D, hand drawn or stop motion. So if CG allows for more than 2 players to be in the game of animation and we get more years like 2014 I am a happy girl.

That said, maybe John Lasseter could set aside a few animators that could work on something over time like a Lilo and Stitch- not a big expensive epic just a simple story with hand drawn animation? Something that would keep the medium alive? Or it would be great if studios came to be known for hand drawn like Laika with stop motion animation. Someone could make it their nitch and at least do well enough to keep the studio profitable. If they are careful about release dates (which has been brilliantly timed for all the animated movies this year. Only one stinker at the box office Legends of Oz) than it will probably do quite well.

Maybe a way to go is to use characters from an animated series like reclaiming the Avatar series after what Shyamalan did to it? That way you would have a natural fan base to tap into? If they can pump out the hand drawn for the shows maybe it wouldn’t be too hard to make them into a movie?

Again, thankfully we do have Studio Ghibli and Cartoon Saloon putting out quality, if not American, hand drawn films. So it is not a totally dead art.

The way I see it animation has gone through different periods. We went through the Xerox phase in the 60s and 70s and there were some good one’s (Jungle Book, 101 Dalmatians, Winnie the Pooh) and some bad one’s (Aristocats, Sword in the Stone, Black Cauldron). Now we are in the CG phase and there have been hits and misses but all it takes is that one big movie to hit with hand drawn and people will be back on the bandwagon. So, no I do not think the medium is dead. Like I said Song of the Sea is coming out this year so it is being made by smaller, foreign studios. Even a moderate hit will prick the executives ears and they will make hand drawn again. It goes down to supply and demand.

But like I said to me what matters most is being entertained. I want to see art, music, and a great story in any medium. I hope hand drawn is not dead but I understand why studios don’t want to take the risk. From a business decision it does often make sense, and they are after all businesses first.

Addition-

Here’s something I think shows what I am trying to say. For years we would get 1, maybe 2 animated films a year. This is the result of hand drawn animation. As glorious as those films could be and could not be it was just not a venture every creative thinker could do.

If we look at the 100 best reviewed films on rotten tomatoes we see the following. You will notice that in the 90s during the renaissance there was only 1 film that made the list for most of the years. It wasn’t until 1998 when we got both Antz and Bugs Life that things start to pick up in numbers. The largest number is 2012 with 9 films that critics at least gave the highest scores too. My point being with computer animation more ideas and projects are able to get greenlit and that’s a good thing.

People are still making traditional animated films. Even if it is not the big studios there are 2 releases this year so they exist. I can totally see a studio like Liaka emerging with the hand drawn niche. There will be 2 more added to 2014 by the time the reviews come in for Song of the Sea and The Tale of Princess Kaguya to this list . That will mean that 2014 will have as many critically lauded animated movies as the highest year 2012. That’s a good thing for the future of animated films. Plus, all of the animated films in 2014 made money except Legends of Oz. That’s also a good thing. People feel inspired to take creative risks when they know there is a population that wants to see said movies. So if you want hand drawn movies than support the one’s that do come out. It’s as simple as that.

1991	1
1992	1
1993	1
1994	1
1995	1
1996	1
1997	2
1998	4
1999	5
2000	3
2001	6
2002	4
2003	3
2004	2
2005	4
2006	4
2007	4
2008	6
2009	8
2010	7
2011	6
2012	9
2013	3
2014	7

Now you can debate whether critics were duped by certain movies and the blogosphere knows better but the output has without a doubt increased. I like hand drawn but if computer animation means we get more stories and things as beautiful and different as Book of Life or as funny as The Lego Movie than sign me up.

I hope the big studios will make hand drawn animation but I don’t agree that it is dead, and like I said, I think the state of animation is in an amazing place.

But again this is just my opinion but it’s my blog and so I call it like I see it. Feel free to disagree. Just do so politely.

Favorite Disney Non-Villain Songs

November 15, 2014November 15, 2014 | Rachel's Reviews

Another fun list for you guys!

My top 27 favorite songs of Disney in no particular order (why 27? Because that’s how many I thought of! If I had to pick a favorite song it would probably be Part of Your World, but you guys know how important Little Mermaid is to me)

Out There- You guys know I’m not a huge fan of this movie but this song is so great. I love that Quasimodo has a normal voice not a professional sounding voice. It is so real.

Bear Necessities- Probably the best Sherman Brother’s song. Such a fun rhythm.

Once Upon a Dream- One of the Disney greats. Based on the Sleeping Beauty ballet but just a beautiful song.

Sing Sweet Nightingale- Cinderella has a lot of great one’s and this one is often forgotten but I love it.

Bibbity Bobbity Boo- One of the sweetest Disney songs and sung by the great Verna Felton. Great hook and wonderful song.

Friend Like Me- Robin Williams was evidently very nervous about the singing. Well, he didn’t need to be. It is one of Disney’s best with hilarious lyrics and great animation.

Beauty and the Beast- One of the best vocals in a Disney film by 4 time tony winner Angela Lansbury. She basically became the Mother to generations and this song speaks so much to the need for forgiveness, understanding and love in all of our lives.

Baby Mine- One of 2 great lullabies by Disney. A gut wrenching song, beautifully animated. Just gorgeous.

When You Wish Upon a Star- Became the Disney anthem for a reason. Just about a perfect song about hope and never giving up on even seemingly lost causes.

Let It Go- Yep, bring on the Frozen haters. Love this song and Idina Menzel is a goddess. I even thought she nailed it at the Oscars which people were all critical of. So there!

You’ll be in my Heart- My favorite Disney lullaby. I used to sing it to my baby sister and my nieces (I’m a rare person where those are only 4 years apart!). My favorite is the Broadway version because it is sung by a woman and not Phil Collins (who is fine. I just prefer the Mother singing it to her baby).

Why Should I Worry?- Probably Disney’s best pop song with a great hook and one of Billy Joel’s best vocal performances (I’m a huge BJ fan). Him and Bette Middler save Oliver and Company.

Almost There- I love jazz music so I’m inclined to love The Princess and the Frog for it’s music alone. The lyrics aren’t great but this is a terrific riff and the vocal performance by broadway star Anika Noni Rose is one of the best pure vocals in Disney history.

Second Star to the Right- Peter Pan does have some great music. Normally I don’t care for the 50’s choral sounds in movies like Make Mine Music but this one I like and the animation of the boat in the sky at the end is gorgeous.

He’s a Tramp- Again ,I love jazz music and Peggy Lee’s music in Lady and the Tramp is fabulous. She provides the vocals for this number and it is a perfect cabaret-like number.

Reflection- I am actually not a huge fan of the pop ready Oscar winning ballads of the 90s (Can You Feel the Love, A Whole New World, Colors of the Wind etc) and usually like other songs better in those movies but Reflection from Mulan is an exception. Another broadway star, Lea Salonga, gives a great vocal and it’s such a heartfelt song. I think most humans can relate to staring at the world and not liking what it reflects back. People just sometimes don’t understand our hearts or what we are trying to say and those are tough moments. And the Christina Aguilera version isn’t half bad either.

Circle of Life- The pop influenced score of Lion King works great and technically my favorite number is Be Prepared but Circle of Life is terrific. It has a good hook and the tribal elements are a ton of fun.

Little Black Rain Cloud- Perhaps too much of a lark to be on such a list but I love the Winnie the Pooh music. Stanley Holloway’s vocals are perfect and it’s all as sweet as honey!

Part of Your World- Definitely my favorite song as a child. It builds momentum perfectly and you see the character go from being sad at the beginning to determined to change her life by the end. One of Disney’s best in that regard. Jodi Benson’s vocals are some of the best in Disney history and it is just that perfect song for young girls who long to be taken seriously by the world.

Be Our Guest- Boy who knew that Lieutenant Brisco could sing? Jerry Orbach is fabulous as Lumiere. The song feels like an old vaudeville number with touches of old Hollywood musical thrown in the animation. I defy you to watch this song and not smile.

Under the Sea- Probably Howard Ashman’s best song and the decision to go reggae Jamaican was inspired. Terrific lyrics like ‘What do they got a lot of sand? We’ve got a hot crustacean band’. Every fish is a different color and they all play different instruments so by the end it is an orchestra of over 50 harmonizing instruments. Just fabulous.

Won’t Say I’m in Love- I love the music in Hercules and Won’t Say I’m in Love is a fabulous, sassy number by one of my favorite Disney women: Megura. Susan Egan, who played Belle on broadway, is Megura and she sings the song like a broadway pro!

I’ve Got a Dream- The music in Tangled is often derided as too pop influenced but I really enjoy it. Mother Knows Best is my favorite but I think I’ve Got a Dream is a lot of fun as well. It’s just charming.

A Star is Born- Again, I love the muses in Hercules. I love gospel music! The Gospel Truth is great but I think I like A Star is Born even better. Makes me want to dance every time I hear it and I am not a dancer.

Legend of the Sword- Another movie I am not a big fan of but I think this song introducing the tale is gorgeous. I just wish the rest of the movie had lived up to it.

Winnie the Pooh- I like both the 2011 version and 1977 original. “It’s Winnie the Pooh snuggy little teddy all stuffed with fluff”. You play the first few chords of this song and I bet 80% of Americans will be able to sing the start of the song. It defines childhood for most of us.

Make a Man Out of You- I’ll end with the second best song from Mulan. One of the best Disney male vocals by Donny Osmond of all people. We get a ton of character development and plot in the song and yet it is still very catchy.

Once Upon a Time Season 1 Review

November 15, 2014 | Rachel's Reviews

Being a Disney buff I have often been asked for my feelings on Once Upon a Time and indeed I probably should have started watching the show much sooner but it was on Sunday nights and my Sunday nights were filled with Amazing Race, The Simpsons and other shows. Now TAR is on Fridays and I find myself having little to nothing to watch on Sundays besides the Simpsons and I’d heard great things about the recent OUAT season featuring characters from Frozen that I decided to give it a watch. Luckily seasons 1-3 are on Netflix stream so that makes catching up very easy!

It’s a pretty simple premise for a show, one that only ABC could stage with it’s Disney pedigree. The story begins with a town in Maine called Storybrooke. It is a town of displaced fairytale creatures who have all forgotten their alter-egos because of a curse put on them all by the Evil Queen/Regina in modern world. Regina is played with a lot of gusto by Lana Parilla.

A seeming commoner named Emma comes into the town by a boy who claims to be her son. She is played with mixed results (the acting is not great in this show…) by Jennifer Morrison who some might recognize from How I Met Your Mother.

Henry played by Jared S Gilmore is Regina’s adopted son but he hates her and knows she is out to destroy everyone in Storybrooke. It’s kind of funny to have a kid completely deplore their mother. Never seen that in a show before.

Emma becomes the Sheriff and as she seeks to uncover her past we meet with a variety of storybook characters. The biggest are Snow White played by Ginnifer Goodwin, who I am not a huge fan of but she is Ok here. Of course she has her Prince Charming who is played by Josh Dallas in a more fleshed out role than the few seconds the animated film gives us (naturally of course). His storylines about being a false prince is one of the most entertaining of the first season.

Then we get episodes with one or more of the following characters.

Geppetto and Pinocchio

Belle played by Lost’s Emile de Ravin

Cinderella played by Jessy Schram

The Blue Fairy from Pinocchio (and other fairies and one who I think is Tinker Bell but I’m not sure) The 7 Dwarves, Grumpy in Particular gets a plot Hansel and Gretel

Red Riding Hood by Meghan Ory

Jimminy Cricket- a heavy Snow White and Pinocchio influence on the show

The Genie

The Mad Hatter

Maleficent

And our main villain of the franchise aside from Regina is Rumpelstiltsken who is played very creepily by Robert Carlyle. I kind of hope that success of this series might inspire Disney to do a Rumpelstiltsken. I’ve often wondered what their version would look like. It would be different than any of their other animated fairytales because it would have to feature a princess who gets married towards the beginning of the story and has a baby. So far Disney princesses have always been virginal adolescent girls. Also, you’d have to have her marry a King who was going to kill her if she didn’t make straw into gold which isn’t exactly PC but it would be interesting to see what the Disney people could do with it .

So what are my thoughts on the first 22 episodes of the show? Well, overall I’m entertained by it. The acting is sometimes cringe-worthy and the production values are not strong but the story is interesting enough and keeps me flipping between worlds enough to be engaged. It’s not meant to be taken too seriously, just a lot of fun.

Some may wonder why I hated Maleficent, a recent fairytale adaptation and give a passing recommendation to this telling. Here’s the difference- Maleficent fundamentally changes the characters. What was once evil is now good and what was good is evil or inattentive and idol at best. In this show what was bad in the movies are still bad. Sure Regina has a few softer moments but she’s pretty ruthless both as the queen and mayor of town. Anything that is added to it is in addition to the original stories, not a replacement for those stories.

Maleficent pissed me off because it ruined the character of Maleficent. Plus, I am way more likely to be forgiving of terrible production values and bad acting in a TV show than a big budget Disney movie. When they carefully restage pivitol scenes from the original movie and then change everything that happens it makes me angry. They do not do anything like that here in Once Upon a Time. The events are the fairytales. It is the before and after for the characters and the importance of said actions that matter.

For example, the Snow White story is basically the same as the movie down to the poison apple. Where it changes is after they are married and the curse is placed on them and all in attendance. Pinocchio is basically the same down to Monstro and the Blue Fairy (although no Pleasure Island yet) but what happens to Pinocchio when he grows up is different. You see what I mean?

All the lame fairytale retellings of late have attempted to reshape and reform the originals and they’ve all sucked. This does it’s own thing and it works pretty well. It’s campy and silly but I was entertained. I’m curious to keep watching (which I suppose is the real test of a good show).

What do you guys think about Once Upon a Time? I’ve still got 2 seasons to watch before I can catch up to Season 4 but I have been enjoying the podcasts over at Post Show Recaps by my twitter friend Mike Bloom. If you like that kind of thing be sure to check it out.

http://postshowrecaps.com/category/once-upon-a-time/

Rio and Rio 2: Review

November 14, 2014November 14, 2014 | Rachel's Reviews

Blue Sky’s Rio and Rio 2 remind me a lot of Disney’s Bolt. They are entertaining to watch, pleasant to look at, but in the end kind of forgettable. That said, you will enjoy the experience of watching them so it is a mixed bag

In Rio we meet Blu who is a rare blue macaw living as a pet with his owner in Minnesota. He is a completely domesticated bird and does not know how to fly. Blu is voiced by Jesse Eisenberg and he is one of the many poor voicework choices in the movie. Especially once they get to Brazil the voices don’t make any sense and are forgettable. I found Eisenberg’s nasal nervous quality to be very grating so it was not a good choice.

Blu’s owner is contacted by a man from Brazil who has found another blue macaw and he is hopeful the two birds can mate and he successfully convinces the owner to bring Blu to Rio to try it out.

The girl macaw is named Jewel and is voiced by Anne Hathaway in another poor choice. If a bird is supposed to be exotic living in Rio is Anne Hathaway the exotic voice that comes to mind? Not for me. Really George Lope and Rodrigo Santoro are the only voice actors in the cast who give it any kind of Portugese flair.

The rest of the cast we have Jamie Foxx, Tracy Morgan, Jermaine Clement, Leslie Mann, etc.

Of all the voices the only one I liked was Jermaine Clement as the bad Cockatoo named Nigel. He is very funny and reminded me of Tim Curry.

The basic plot is pretty standard cat and mouse chase game with Jewel and Blu getting birdnapped by Nigel’s owner and the awkward Blu getting used to the tropical environment, bickering and romancing with Jewel, and learning to fly. It’s all very predictable but in an entertaining way.

The colors and the light in the film are gorgeous and it looks beautiful throughout. The animation quality holds up to any other studio.

But the music I could have done without. Not a single number stood out or was memorable. I really didn’t think the story needed to be a musical, especially with a lead like Eisenberg who isn’t exactly known as a singer.

Some of the music does give a latin feel but this could have been accomplished with a the score and not the extended musical numbers that don’t do anything for the story and are just kind of average.

So of course our bickering couple end up in love and going back to their owners to live together (who also fall in love at the end of the movie).

The strongest part of the movie is Nigel. He is very funny and an intense villain for this kind of story. I could have used even more of him and less of the singing.

Like I said, Rio is a perfectly adequate movie. It looks great and clips along pretty well and kids will enjoy some of the humor (although they might get a little bored in some of the extended songs or the underwhelming action) but I think they will probably like it.

A warning to parents- there is a scene at Carnival where the human owner voiced by Leslie Mann is wearing an extremely skimpy outfit for a kids movie. It felt rather garish to me.

But other than that there is nothing offensive or crass. Rio has a sweetness about it and it is an ok flick.

Overall Grade- C+

So then we got Rio 2 this summer and I’m afraid to say it but I thought it was weaker than the original.

To start with it has all the weaknesses of the original with weak voice cast (although a hip hop influence with Bruno Mars and Will I Am was a fun addition), predictable plot and underwhelming musical numbers. It still looks fabulous but it doesn’t really surprise the viewers or do anything new. It all feels very tired even though it looks great.

In this story Blue and Jewel have baby birds and they live in a life of pancakes and ipods and Jewel is worried they will have forgotten their roots. She yearns for the wild and through a variety of circumstances they end up in Rio looking for their owners (who have married since the original).

The big mistake this movie makes is it draws each step out too long and it is very cluttered. Where the strength of the original was Nigel, in this film you have Nigel for brief spurts than a Big Boss who wants to tear down the rainforest (yawn of a villain), and a red macaw clan who don’t like the blue macaws. They even face the red macaws in an extended soccer scene.

Nigel is a theater man in Rio 2 and not quite the villain of the original. He’s still my favorite character in the Rio movies but I wish they had just focused on him instead of the other storylines and villains which are much more predictable.

Jewel finds out there are other living blue macaws and they eventually find a massive colony in the amazon (they must have not been looking very hard to miss that many blue macaws!). It turns out it is the flock Jewel grew up in and it is ran by her father

Jewel likes being in the wild and Blu hates it. Blu’s new father in law thinks he’s a wimp. There’s a long soccer match in the middle and a ton of side characters and attempt at humor that doesn’t really work.

Nigel has a side character that is a little poisonous frog voiced by Kristen Chenoweth and she sings a song called Poisonous Love which feels so out of place in the movie. It’s a gorgeous operatic number and the divine Kristen of course can sing well but it does not fit the style of the movie at all. But she is a cute character and watching her fall in love with Nigel is funny.

There are so many characters we could list them all day but the George Lopez toucan who is head over heels in love with his wife bird is cute and I liked Bruno Mars as Jewel’s childhood friend and her father’s right hand bird.

So in the end, Rio 2 looks great, has some appealing characters but the songs are forgettable despite the hip-hop additions and the voicework is still a problem. But your kids will be entertained and it’s not a bad movie. You could certainly do worse with your kids. That’s for sure.

I enjoyed watching both Rio and Rio 2. They are far from perfect but the colors are bright, they look gorgeous, Nigel is a lot of fun as a villain, and the characters are engaging enough even if not on the Pixar/Disney quality level. They just need to work on simplifying the stories and making them more interesting and getting better voice talent not necessarily famous voices.

Overall Grade- C

My Favorite Disney Canon Scores

November 12, 2014November 13, 2014 | Rachel's Reviews

Hey guys! I think you will all enjoy this a lot. I love a great score to a movie. I’m a lover of classical music and when you have a story behind said music it makes it even better.

I have a little hobby of collecting scores of all types and then listening to them while I work. This isn’t as distracting as vocal music can be but you still get the entertainment and the story.

I thought it would be fun to put together a list of my favorite scores. Some of these are part of strong movies and others are not. So the quality of the movie doesn’t really affect the value of the score.

That said, some of these are integral in making the movie work. Rescuers Down Under, for instance, uses the John Williamesque score to give the feeling of an Indiana Jones type adventure very effectively.

I also tried to put in some variety because I don’t only like epic scores but also the electric video game feel to Wreck It Ralph and the pop anime influence of Big Hero 6.

If I had to pick 2 favorites it would probably be Lion King and Bambi because in both films the score tells a lot of the story, especially Bambi. Instead of having sound effects for rain, it is music. Without the score Bambi would be a much weaker movie.

(Also I’m not counting Fantasia, Fantasia 2000 or Sleeping Beauty since those aren’t original scores. If I did they would clearly be the top)

What are some of your favorites?

This list is in no particular order

Beauty and the Beast by Alan Menken

Great Mouse Detective by Henry Mancini

Black Cauldron by Elmer Bernstein

Rescuers Down Under by Bruce Broughton

Frozen by Christophe Beck

Treasure Planet by James Newton Howard

Mulan by Jerry Goldsmith

Pocahontas by Alan Menken

Hunchback of Notre Dame by Alan Menken

Pinocchio by Leigh Harline and Paul J Smith

Bambi by Frank Churchill and Edward H Plumb

Little Mermaid by Alan Menken

Lion King by Hanz Zimmer

Snow White by Paul J Smith and Leigh Harline

Wreck it Ralph by Henry Jackman

Big Hero 6 by Henry Jackman

Alice in Wonderland by Oliver Wallace

Princess and the Frog by Randy Newman

Winnie the Pooh by Sherman Brothers and Buddy Baker

Atlantis: The Lost Empire by James Newton Howard

Jerks, Trolls and Critics

November 10, 2014November 12, 2014 | Rachel's Reviews

I’ve mentioned on this blog several times how I have always loved the art of criticism, particularly film criticism. I grew up watching Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert debating about movies passionately like someone had insulted their child and not a movie. Gene and Roger taught me to love movies but also that part of the fun of movies was talking about them with friends.

Unfortunately I don’t have that many friends who love movies in my real life. I’m not sure why but most of my friends are more TV people than movies which is cool and certainly can provide much to talk about but there is something about the whole story of a movie which excites me in a different way. Books you live with characters for many hours. TV shows you get regular updates on said characters and plots; whereas, a movie you get the whole story in 2 hours and that’s exciting.

So I turn to the blog community and discuss the movies I see and 99% of the time I have a wonderful experience. Like Gene and Roger sometimes we disagree strongly on films but again that is part of the fun of it.

However, there is something that annoys me in the online movie community. I feel like some critics/bloggers approach reviews like I do when given a manuscript to review. If I’m being requested as an editor I am going into said reading looking for what can be better, looking for mistakes. That is different than my approach as a general reader of books.

Sometimes I feel like people go into movies trying to be an editor and not an audience member. Instead of letting the movie dazzle you and having an open mind you nitpick every little thing that doesn’t make sense or requires a logical leap for the story. Every little last flaw is noted until it seems like they had a miserable experience at the movie.

To be fair, there is something about truly bad movies that invites that type of analysis. I heard Emma Thompson say once ‘only in bad movies do you notice the craft services table in the shot’ and that is so true. If I’m enjoying the experience and loving the characters I am way less likely to care if a plot hole exists or a character is one-note.

We also all have our tastes and it is impossible to go into a movie with a completely blank slate. If you are a part of the movie online community you are going to hear buzz, watch trailers and have some expectations. For example, many people seem to be disappointed with Interstellar because probably partly the expectations were very high (haven’t seen it yet) whereas Gravity was more of a pleasant surprise for a lot of us since it’s not supposed to be a Christopher Nolan masterpiece.

So yes we all have some preconceived notions going into a film but I try to set those aside and am more than willing to admit when a movie surprised me. For instance, I hated The Rescuers, so wasn’t expecting to like Rescuers Down Under and then the movie dazzled me and won me over.

Recently I was so impressed with Big Hero 6. I thought it was something new and different from Disney and was just charmed by it from beginning to end. For the most part critics agreed with me but the blogging community has been more mixed. Many are in the middle on it which I respect and can understand but one review I listened to yesterday said ‘it was the weakest Disney offering in the last 20 years’. I’m sorry but that is just absurd. You are going to tell me that Big Hero 6 is worse than Chicken Little? I defy anyone to make that case.

Such hyperbole I suppose gets clicks but sometimes I wonder with certain bloggers if going to movies is such an unpleasant experience than why go? Some are so routinely negative on their posts that I don’t get why they go to the movies at all unless they just like criticizing stuff.

That’s not to say I don’t enjoy a bad movie review. I love the Nostalgia Critic and every year get a kick out of Jeremy Jahns or the Schmoes Know’s Worst of the Year list. Why? Because it is either funny in the case of the NC or they have proven their viability in recommending many good movies that I trust them with their bad reviews. I have seen their perspectives fleshed out in videos so even if I disagree and like a move they hate I can understand where they are coming from and respect it.

When I was reviewing the renaissance periods I started reading the rotten reviews on rotten tomatoes because I figured ‘who doesn’t like these movies?’ (at least Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Lion King). I mean I can see it not being a favorite but to say they are rotten is nuts IMO. I started to notice that in many Disney classics a magazine called Slant kept coming up on the rotten side. This magazine gave Beauty and the Beast 1 1/2 stars. They gave Little Mermaid 2 and Lion King 2 1/2. I’m sorry but that just screams ‘click baiting!’. They want people to go to their website because most people just look up one such movie review. Those clickers don’t realize this is a magazine that clearly is trying to stir the pot and be an agitator. Once I saw they were so universally critical and couldn’t really back it up they certainly lost my respect.

There is a certain part of the online community that behaves in this way. They want to attract attention so they dog on things that others love instead of trying to see some value. Again, why? What does that offer in the way of discussion and conversation about movies to just criticize everything?

If we go back to Siskel and Ebert they were advocates of film. You knew they wanted every movie to be good so you respected their opinions when it wasn’t, even if you disagreed. One of their most famous reviews was for the movie North, which I have not seen given their warnings. This review was over-the-top but it was because they had such passion for films that it was taken seriously by most people. If they harped this way on all movies their feelings on North would have been unmemorable.

It’s a tough to do but I wish more bloggers would try to be an advocate for film. If animation is your thing than be an advocate for it. Explain to me why a film frustrates you because you love the art and it even angers you to see it done so poorly. But also share with me that transcendent experience of when a movie works and takes you to a new place, makes you a better person. I’ve tried to do both and enjoyed it immensely. Siskel and Ebert were amazing advocates for films they loved. If we look at their review of Hoop Dreams we see equal passion as their hate for North.

That’s what I hope my reviews do. Yes, I have movies I hate but it’s only because I love Disney and animation so much that the failures frustrate me! In fact, I recently did a worst of list; however, there were only 3 F’s in all my reviews (4 if you count my Maleficent) so even a movie like The Rescuers which I personally hate I still had some good things to say about and gave it 2 grades because I can see why others really like it. I think only having 3 Fs says something about my love for animation. If there were 25 F’s than my reviews start to lose any sense of credibility. (I had 22 A’s!)

We are so lucky to live in an era where we can all be part of this discussion, not just the professionals.

A youtuber that I think does this balance of critique and finding the positives is named Oliver Harper. I can’t give enough praise for his reviews. They are thorough, almost more like a podcast than a 5 minute review, and he covers everything from the music, to the casting, to everything else. He always shows such respect for any movie even true stinkers like Batman and Robin and again it gives his reviews a lot of credibility in my book.

In fact, most youtubers are very fair and most bloggers, so I am talking to a small minority here. I’m talking to the people who just never seem to have anything nice to say. They just have such miserable experiences at every movie that it seems like a hopeless enterprise. Maybe start reading or playing video games or something else and maybe you’ll enjoy that more?

Like I said, I really don’t mind when a critic dogs on a film. In fact, I find it quite entertaining but it has to be earned and the approach of the review should be as an audience member not as an editor with a red pen marking all the stuff that is wrong.

When I was doing the Mulan review I started looking at feminist blogs and was overwhelmed at how negative many of them were. They just hated every movie and again it begs the question why are you watching movies? There was one I saw that had 10 movies they recommended and literally 100s of 0 to 1 star including Mulan. Groan.

That’s why I was pleasantly surprised by frequent commenter on this blog Swanpride and her feminist media blog ‘Honoring the Heroine’. I don’t always agree with her but I enjoy talking about movies with her. I think some issue bloggers like feminism see themselves more as voices of protest than movie lovers. One such site said ‘it’s time to be vocal about what needs to change”. I’m sorry but we are talking about movies. This is not politics with laws that could hurt or help women. The idea that your nitpicking every movie is somehow part of a great change for women I find laughable. If anything the honoring approach of Swanpride is much more likely to change anything in leading people to positive portrayals of women, but in the end it’s entertainment. Want to change the plight of women? Stop harping about movies and go volunteer at a shelter or help UNICEF. Honestly these movie blog crusades are just silly.

Again, back to Siskel and Ebert, that passion and discussion is what makes movie-going fun. And I feel a lot of bloggers, crusaders or not, miss the fun part of it and just try to to turn the word critic from a noun into a verb.

When I wrote my Wreck It Ralph review I was nervous because I do not love that movie as much as other people do. I don’t hate it but to me it is average. I defended what I had to say as well as I could and surprisingly didn’t get much of a pushback. I have to believe that is partly because I had established a blog with a tone that was fair and passionate about animation. People are less likely to be resistant of your opinion if they can tell you respect them, their feelings and the film they love.

Anyway, this long rant is just to say be positive, expect to be dazzled and then when you find movies you don’t like go for it! But enough already with the trolls and jerks and let’s have real critics. Don’t just be the Statler and Waldorf of movie blogs. Just be yourself and let your passion for films come out and enjoy the discussion!

Disney’s Planes Fire and Rescue: A Review

November 9, 2014November 9, 2014 | Rachel's Reviews

I’ve been trying to get through the 2014 animated releases and I’m not going to post reviews on all of them (Sorry Nut Job and Legend’s of Oz aren’t worth my time) but occasionally I will. Tonight I watched Disney’s Planes: Fire and Rescue.

This is a sequel to 2013’s Planes which didn’t get very good reviews but did well at the box office. Both films were spin offs from the Pixar Cars films but are done by the Disney Toons Studio and I enjoyed both. They aren’t masterpieces but I thought they were fun. The sequel Fire and Rescue is actually better than the original.

The key to the Cars or Planes movies is accepting the world upfront because it is incredibly silly. The idea of a world completely of mechanical items like cars and planes is a stretch and it does not hold up to any kind of thoughtful analysis. For example, why are there no robots? If a world can somehow procreate planes, cars and trains why not robots? They have televisions? Also we know there is death in the car/plane world because the old Paul Newman car died in the first Cars film but if a car is given a new engine, and retooled like a hot-rod is it somehow resurrected or does it have an entirely new personality? See I’m already down the rabbit hole on this one…

So you have to make a logical leap and just go with the world presented. Some people can’t do that but for whatever reason I can. The same is true for the much maligned Cars 2. The idea of cars being secret agents is so strange but in a world with only cars they probably would need secret agent cars. There probably would be car crime unless it is a world of only peace loving cars and planes.

Again, digging too deep on this one! It’s just a world of cars and planes for kids that like cars and planes. That’s it. So in this sequel Dusty has become a star on the racing circuit but at the outset his ‘gear box’ is giving him grief and unfortunately his gear box is no longer in production (another weird part of this world. Who decides what cars are worthy of life saving organs and others are not…) so he can no longer race.

I love it in animated movies when characters fly and the flying sequences in this film are gorgeous. It really has a sense of scope and majesty. The scenery is beautiful although later it appeared to be a combination of Yellowstone and Yosemite but I guess in their made up world that can happen?

So Dusty causes a fire in the airport wing that threatens to close down their Corn Festival (I guess they need corn to turn into ethenol?) if they do not get a firefighter plane on site soon, so Dusty gets sent to the National Park to learn how to fight fires.

This again is beautifully drawn and felt like a national park. The scenes of the firefighting training and the characters were a lot of fun.

There’s a helicopter named the Blade Ranger who is a former celebrity TV star that had to settle for fighting fires (isn’t that similar to the Paul Newman car?) and there is Dipper who falls in love with Dusty. Again, best not to overthink that one. There’s a fire that is encroaching upon a new lodge and the evil Cadillac car doesn’t want to evacuate and miss his grand opening (another greedy corporate villain but I didn’t mind it because he’s not in that much of the movie).

Dusty is conflicted with his excitement over learning to fight fires and his love for racing that has just been taken from him. The helicopter Blade Ranger can relate to that feeling and they have some nice dialogue together.

All the voice performances are pretty good with Dane Cook, Stacy Keach, Brad Garrett, Teri Hatcher, Julie Bowen, Ed Harris and more. And the music is very good with a score by Mark Mancina with songs from Brad Paisley (another carry-over from Cars).

But mostly the movie works pretty well because it jumps from one flying sequence to another. They keep the action going and there is more than one fire which are all drawn quite vividly. There isn’t many moments when you stop and say ‘wait a minute. How would that work?’ and certainly a kid won’t worry about such things. They will just enjoy a story about cars and planes zooming in and out of canyons and putting out fires.

This is kind of like my review of God’s Not Dead. If you read my description of this movie and it sounds like you will hate it than you will probably hate it but if it doesn’t sound that bad than you will probably enjoy it. It has good voice work, great flying sequences, beautiful animation of fire and non-fire settings and a briskly paced story. I think boys will particularly enjoy it.

Of course it has problems and it is not a top tier Disney film but I don’t think it is really trying to be. Within the limitations of the world they were given I think it is about as a good a movie as could be made. I had a fine time watching it.

Overall Grade- C+

The Worst of Disney

November 8, 2014November 8, 2014 | Rachel's Reviews

So people love a worst of list including myself. There’s something fun about dogging on the hard work of hundreds of people and a giant studio like Disney. Every year I love watching all the worst films lists on my favorite youtubers (and loved it back in the Siskel and Ebert days). In Disney’s defense they have very few true stinkers. There are only 3 that I would really call stinkers and even them I would rather watch than stinkers from other studios like this years Legend’s of Oz, The Lorax or The Smurf movies. So this is all relative.

But you guys asked for it so here goes…

Worst Movies (you know this from my rankings).

Gold- Dinosaur

Silver- Chicken Little

Bronze- Brother Bear

Worst Villain-

Gold- Radcliffe- Pocahontas

Silver-Sykes- Oliver and Company

Bronze- Kron- Dinosaur

Character I Personally Dislike the Most-

Gold- Medusa, Rescuers

Silver- Buck Cluck, Chicken Little

Bronze- Kenai, Brother Bear

Worst Songs-

Gold- Say it with a Slap, Bongo from Fun and Fancy Free

Silver- Mine, Mine, Mine, Pochahontas

Bronze- A Guy Like You, Hunchback of Notre Dame

Worst Protagonist-

Gold- Kenai, Brother Bear

Silver- Taran, Black Cauldron

Bronze- Pocahontas, Pocahontas

Worst Sidekick-

Gold- Gargoyles, Hunchback of Notre Dame

Silver- Koda, Brother Bear

Bronze- All the Cows, Home on the Range

Most Offensive Disney Moment-

Gold- Redman, Peter Pan

Silver- Judge Frollo burning family alive, Hunchback

Bronze- Ending, Jungle Book

Most Boring Disney Movies-

Gold- Dinosaur

Silver- Three Caballeros

Bronze- Brother Bear

Worst Script-

Gold- Home on the Range

Silver- Chicken Little

Bronze- Oliver and Company and Brother Bear tied

Movies that Others Like that I Don’t (don’t hate them but not crazy about them either)-

Gold- Sword in the Stone

Silver- Hunchback of Notre Dame

Bronze- Wreck it Ralph

Aristocats a lot of people give a pass too.

Corniest Movie-

Gold- Fox and the Hound

Silver- Home on the Range

Bronze- Brother Bear

There you go! Remember just an opinion. Everyone has different tastes and these are just mine.

Movie 54: Big Hero 6

November 7, 2014November 7, 2014 | Rachel's Reviews

This is the review you’ve been waiting for. #54- Big Hero 6 and boy did it not disappoint. I will do my best to keep it spoiler free and won’t tell you any more than the trailer (maybe even less because it’s kind of a spoilery trailer).

I was really excited to see this movie and that usually means I’m a little disappointed unless you are Pixar but in this case John Lasseter has worked his pixie dust and made an extremely satisfying movie. I would be stunned if you didn’t find something to like, even love about the movie.

It is based on an obscure marvel comic much like Guardians of the Galaxy this summer Big Hero 6 creates a super hero movie of unlikely members and gives the movie just enough laughs, excitement and tears (I actually cried a lot).

Big Hero 6 is written and directed by Disney vets Don Hall (Winnie the Pooh) and Chris Williams (Bolt and Mulan) with Paul Briggs (Frozen), and Joseph Mateo (Tangled).

The setting for Big Hero 6 is unique. It is a futuristic fusion of San Francisco and Tokyo called San Fransokyo which I thought was very clever. It is futuristic but only slightly so. There aren’t flying cars or anything too out there. Again kind of the way Guardians of the Galaxy felt futuristic and nostalgic at the same time . San Fransokyo was beautifully portrayed and if you can see it in 3D do because it was so immersive and gorgeous. One of Disney’s best cityscapes ever.

The story is about a boy named Hiro who is a genius orphan (of course. It’s Disney!) who lives with his brother and Aunt Cass. Hiro is an instantly likable character. Kind of like Ralph in Wreck it Ralph or Aladdin. He’s smart and sweet and sassy.At the beginning he is just frittering away his talent at ‘bot fights’ which are illegal gambling operations kind of a like a cock fight. His brother Tadashi is also a genius but he is applying his talents at the local technical school (supposed to be Cal Poly I think) where he works with robotics.

This is stated pretty clearly in the trailer but tragedy strikes and Tadeshi is killed but he leaves behind a robot he has invented that is kind of like a robot nurse. His name is Baymax and he looks like the Stay-Puff Marshmallow man.

I don’t know when I’ve seen a character I’ve taken too so immediately as Baymax. He is warmth and love and his soul purpose is to care for Hiro. It is kind of like the ultimate mother.

Then we get our villain who was pretty clever. I won’t go too much into things but it surprised me. He has layers and is not clean cut like some bad guys.

To defeat the masked man Hiro reprograms Baymax to fight while still keeping his brothers code for caring. Then the team at the school gather to support Hiro and become our rag-tag group of super heroes. They were so much fun!

I loved there were different races and sexes and that Hiro is 13. It’s so rare in a Disney movie that the protagonist is a child or young teenager. Most are young adults.

The voice cast is excellent and mostly unknowns but all excellent. Ryan Potter voices Hiro Hamada, Scott Adsit is Baymax and Daniel Henney is Tadashi and they are all great. The only famous voices are TJ Miller as Fred (one of the college guys who becomes the team), Damon Wayans Jr as Wasabi (the black guy on the crew), Maya Rudolph as Aunt Cass and James Cromwell as Professor Callaghan.

The score is wonderful by Henry Jackman and includes little snippets of pop music like Eye of a Tiger but it is brief and there is a good song you’ll hear in the trailers called Immortals by Fall Out Boy.

There is such heart in this movie. It reminded me of Up in the way we bond with a character quickly and we see their importance to our protagonist and that love we feel for the deceased character lives as a palatable force throughout the movie. Just like Ellie’s love for Carl painted every scene in Up with love so does Hiro’s interactions with Baymax remind us of the love of his brother Tadashi.

It’s hard to think of a movie about two brothers which is so well done. How nice after Disney gave us the love of 2 sisters they give us equal heart with brothers.

But if that kind of heart isn’t your thing there is also a nifty plot and fun action adventure like any other Marvel film. Like I said, the villains really surprised me and there’s a good twist. If you like The Incredibles Big Hero 6 is right up there with it. It’s got everything Incredibles has but it’s about a group of friends instead of a family . They are both wonderful so high praise!

Also the crew all have fun personalities and bring in a lot of humor.

I think there is something in Big Hero 6 for everyone. It’ looks gorgeous, great performances, wonderful music, fun story, great heart. What more could you want?

Once again I admire Disney on being so bold . I can’t think of an animated movie which has such real, modern feeling characters. At least not since Oliver and Company!

I really will be shocked if you guys don’t love it. What an amazing year for animation 2014 has been and I hope they nominate 5 films because Lego, Big Hero 6, Book of Life, Boxtrolls and How to Train Your Dragon 2 all deserve recognition. I honestly have no idea which I like most. They are all so different and wonderful!

Anyway, I loved Big Hero 6. It made me cry, laugh and carried me away with the adventure. There is a brief section in the middle with fighting that dragged a little bit but other than that I’d say it was perfect.

Overall Grade- A+ This is officially now my new #6 in my rankings!

The short before it called Feast is ADORABLE!!

Here’s my video review