Big Disney News and Response at Cannes

May 21, 2015May 21, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

Disney should be speaking in French from now on because they just had an amazing response at the Cannes Film Festival. For us Disney fangirls (and boys) we got a lot to be excited about!

This is going to be a very nerdy post with tons of little details that might not interest the average movie fan but for us Disney geeks you’ll love every last little crumb!

The response from Cannes surprised me because it is known for its tough crowds. This year two films, Michael Caine’s Youth and Matthew McConaughey’s Sea of Trees, were both booed by festival goers. So for Disney to get such a strong response says a lot.

The good things started with the premiere of Pixar’s new film Inside Out. It was greeted with a standing ovation and one critic said it was “probably double the loudest applause of any other film at the festival. It went down like gangbusters”

Needless to say such sentiments have heightened my own excitement to the tilts! I can’t wait! Even hoity-toity NPR critic Kenneth Turan said:

“It’s very funny. It’s very inventive. And really moving, kind of in the way Up was”

Sold! I’m so jealous of everyone at Cannes who got to see it!

But the good news didn’t stop there…

Disney had a 25 minute showcase of their upcoming slate starting with more details about Thanksgiving release of Good Dinosaur. We have heard so little about this movie that I was so curious for these details.

Here is the new synopsis from Deadline article.
“The Good Dinosaur follows teenager Arlo, who is separated from his family when he falls into a raging river and is swept hundreds of miles away. He comes across Spot, a human cave-boy orphan with whom he forms a bond as he attempts to get home.

Lasseter said, “Our films ask ‘What if?’ questions. What if monsters really did live in your closet? What if a rat wanted to be the finest chef in the most beautiful city in the world? I think our next movie asks the biggest ‘What if?’ of all. What if the asteroid that wiped out dinosaurs actually missed Earth?”

I think that sounds pretty amazing! People have been saying for a long time Pixar needs to get back to original storytelling and the way I see it is Pixar has two types of storytelling- the what if stories (Toy’s come to life, Monsters in the closet, rats cooking etc) and more traditional journey narratives (father finding his son, nostalgic cars teaching new lesson, bugs facing their captors, last robot finding love, a family of superheroes, a man and his flying house pays homage to his wife).

With Inside Out I feel they are giving us a What if story- what if inside our head there is an entire world going on. And with Good Dinosaur there is a what if but it seems like it is mostly going to be a journey of Arlo and Spot. It sounds a lot like Finding Nemo to me and that is great!!

Deadline says the Good Dinosaur footage “captivated international audience members…Two french women sitting near me alternately gasped and whispered “extraordinaire” and “incroyable” when amazingly lifelike closeups of CGI foiage were shown. The environment, Lasseter said, is a “living breathing character” in the film”.

Again that sounds very Finding Nemoish to me where the environment of the ocean played such a role in the story (think the jellyfish sequence, the turtles in the EAC etc). This sounds great!!

But the good news didn’t stop there…

Next they talked about Finding Dory the sequel to Finding Nemo. I didn’t know if they needed a sequel but Andrew Stanton is directing which is awesome and the synopsis sounds neat:

“Dory’s memory of her childhood is triggered while she’s at school on the Coral Reef one day with Nemo. She makes her way to an institute that cares for undersea creatures and teams up there with Hank The Octopus who becomes her guide.

Diane Keaton and Eugene Levy will play Dory’s parents and “folks were treated to some of their banter and there was also footage of a kelp forest on California’s northern coastline (“a new look for us” said Lasseter) and a glimpse of the Loons, to whom Lasseter referred as “the Seagulls of the new movie. They’re so startlingly dumb it’s hilarious.”

That sounds amazing!! I can’t wait!

But the good news didn’t stop there…

We got some new details on Toy Story 4. Lasseter said “brand new chapter that’s very personal”. Evidently it is going to be a love story and not be a continuation of the events of Toy Story 3 or involve human characters. It is entirely within the toy world which sounds pretty great to me! Lasseter said “”We’re in the early stages of the film, but it’s shaping up nicely. It’s funny. The story is not as much a continuation of the past films, but a brand new chapter in the ‘Toy Story’ world.”

But the good news didn’t stop there…

Next they moved on to the Walt Disney Animated Studio WDAS which has marked 10 years since the Lasseter/Ed Catmull take over. What a great 10 years it has been! (I know 2D fans might disagree but I’ve loved it). Lasseter said

“Walt Disney Animation Studios is back. Ed and I always believed what would heal this studio- because it was quite broken when we came in, the morale was really low- what would really heal it is if we can make a movie to be a really big hit. These guys are on fire now”.

They certainly are!

Next up for WDAS is Zootopia which looks really cool. Lasseter said it will be ‘classically Disney” and the images look very 2D although it is CG. I wonder if it will have the feel of their Paperman short which blended 2D and CG techniques?

Either way it is an anthropomorphized fox in a ‘modern civilized world’ of animals. ” Jason Bateman and Ginnifer Goodwin star as a kind of buddy cop duo. Again from Deadline article

” Eliciting huge laughs was a scene in which the unlikely partners are rushing to get a run on a license plate, only to find the DMV is fully staffed by sloths.”

That sounds really great!

But the good news doesn’t stop there (only 1 more)…

We learned more about the new princess movie Moana. Directed by Disney legends Ron Clements and John Musker it is a musical set in the South Pacific and was “inspired by the group’s own experience on a research trip to Oceana”

“The story follows a talented young navigator whose father forbids her to sail beyond their island reef. When she sets out anyway and ends up stranded on another island, she meets the fallen demi-god Maui and they set off on an adventure” .

Deadline says “a song montage was shown to Cannes attendees who showered it with applause” (what I would have given to be at that meeting!).

Anyone who knows me knows I love Hawaii, musicals and the ocean. Moana seems like it was designed just for me so of course I am so excited!

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So I know that was a lot of info but each and every part makes me so giddy I just had to share it with all of you!

What excites you? Did any of this information and the Cannes response assuage any concerns or give you a new enthusiasm for the projects? Which of the upcoming films are you looking forward too most? Or are you like me and excited for all of them!

It’s All About the Story

May 4, 2015May 4, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

I thought before I posted my review of Toy Story I would comment a little bit on the big hand drawn vs CG debate. Some in the blogosphere have put hand drawn animation on a bit of a pedestal bemoaning its reduction. People will paint hand drawn in very glorious pictures and CG as its ugly tyrannical cousin.

I’m sorry I just don’t buy it. Whether stop motion, 2D, 3D, CG or whatever else it all comes down to the story. As last years Rocks in My Pockets showed you can have sketches, doodles and with the right kind of execution and story it will be compelling.

Toy Story, Up, Incredibles, Ratatouille, Wall-e, Lego Movie, are not masterpieces because of the animation. It is the story. It is always the story. Same with the Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, Pinocchio, Cinderella, Spirited Away etc. The stories are amazing; thereby making the movie something that will last forever. Occasionally you will have an artistic film like Fantasia that tries something new- mainly presenting a concert in the form of an animated movie. In that case the story takes second fiddle to the art but it is the exception rather than the rule.

Still got 2D on that pedestal? Well think for a second that hand drawn animation gave us this little gem…

But I won’t be too defensive about CG either because it gave us this monstrosity.

But hand drawn can give us this glorious, emotional scene

CG can provide us with this. For my money one of the greatest scenes ever in any film, animated or not.

If that doesn’t convince you both mediums are capable of great artistry and dreck than I don’t know what will. I am an equal opportunity animation format lover. I love great CG animation. I love great 2D animation. I love great stop motion animation. I love great live action movies. But in the end it all comes down to the story (I’ll say it a million times).

And I just have to believe in a world where an entire studio makes stop motion films- one of the hardest most laborious types of filmmaking there is, we will always be a space for 2D animation. It just might not be from the big 2 (currently Disney and Dreamworks) and you know what? That’s fine with me. (I can just hear some of you shouting at the screen). If the only 2D films we get are masterpieces like Song of the Sea from small studios in Europe sign me up.

I really see a 2D studio in the states starting up like Laika and putting out low budget films with an old school feel. If that happens all it takes is for one of these studios to score a big hit with their 2D project and the bigger studios will take interest. Even if it is smaller vanity projects I just don’t believe 2D is dead. Check out Over the Garden Wall which was a stunning miniseries last year. Watch the Simpsons which despite what some think has gotten artistically more interesting in the last few years. Watch Song of the Sea, or this year we have When Marnie was There or The Prophet coming out. We also will get Shaun the Sheep from the Aardman stop motion folks. As I see it the world of animation is as rich and diverse as it has ever been. Last year we had 20 animated films. 20! I remember when we were lucky to get 2. And really how great to not just get the big voices but a wide range of artists using different mediums that help them tell their stories. I know I’m in the minority but I feel very optimistic.

But I digress. My main point is I am not going to defend CG or its dominance in these Pixar reviews because I fundamentally don’t think it is a bad thing. I would put the animation in Ratatouille or Wall-e up against anything in the Disney Renaissance. I really would.

But like I said, in the end CG, 2D, stop motion, live action whatever it might be the story trumps all. Last year there was a movie about a man sitting in a car talking on his phone for 2 hours called Locke and I was completely immersed because it was a good story.

If you like 2D better that is awesome. We all have our artistic preferences but just make sure you aren’t seeing it through rose tinted glasses nostalgia can provide. It’s great. I love it but I also remember the 70’s and 80s when the good animated films could be counted on one hand and we waited years to get them and that was a 2D world! Give me the last 20 years over that 20 any day CG and all.

Anyway, I am certainly grateful for the new tools Pixar gave us and the incredible stories CG animation has told. Because they are special, life changing stories however they might come to fruition in an artists hands.

So let’s enjoy these masterpieces and get started talking about what started it all for CG Toy Story!

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE STORY!

Pixar Review 5- Knick Knack

May 3, 2015May 3, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

We are almost at the first feature film review, Toy Story, in my Pixar reviews but I hope you have enjoyed looking at these early shorts as much as I have. I remember seeing them when I was little on the tape my uncle gave us and I loved them then, love them still today.

The last review we did was the Oscar winning short Tin Toy and today we will look at Knick Knack. It is one of the funniest Pixar Shrots and the comedy holds up remarkably well.

In the commentary John Lasseter says they got the idea for Knick Knack from his wife’s snowglobe collection. He started to wonder ‘what would it be like to be stuck inside there’ which led him to the story of a snowman in a snowglobe looking at all the summer souvenirs and yearning to get out of his dome.

At the time there were only 8 animators working at Pixar. Can you imagine that? 8! Each animator designed their own knick knack for the snowman to gaze at.

The snowman then tries all these elaborate methods to get out of his globe including dynamite and a jack hammer. As with Tin Toy the sound mixing does a ton to convey humor, emotion and the effects of the various attempts to get out.

The accompaniment is an accapella percussion by Bobby McFerin of Don’t Worry Be Happy fame. At the end he says ‘blah, blah, blah, blah”. Lasseter says they didn’t know what to do at the ending so they had written ‘blah, blah’ on the paper meaning to fill in later but McFerin saw that and sang the blahs. It turned out to be the perfect way to end the short!

The ending with the mermaid and the fishbowl is so funny. Lasseter says they were storyboarding the short and the secretary came in and suggested the fishbowl ending. Isn’t that funny?

It has the feel of a Looney Tunes skit like Roadrunner and Wilie Coyote and there is something about that kind of humor in a short which works so well and is timeless.

The animation with the snow flying everywhere also looks great and feels like a snowglobe. I also like the way the coal on his face get all jumbled up each time he tries to break free from his cage!

It’s a real charmer and I’d give it full points A+

Now we are on to Toy Story! What is your favorite of these 5 early shorts- Adventures of Andre and Wally B, Luxo Jr, Red’s Dream, Tin Toy, and Knick Knack. I still think Red’s Dream is my favorite but they are all great!

Disneynature 2- Earth

April 30, 2015April 30, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

After reviewing Monkey Kingdom, Disney’s most recent Disneynature effort I am going back and starting at the beginning with their first film Earth.

Unlike Monkey Kingdom which tells a single narrative of Maya, Earth tells 3 stories but doesn’t give names or that kind of thing. It’s more of a traditional nature documentary.

As the poster might imply Earth follows animals from different parts of the earth, mainly polar bears, humback whales and elephants, for a year. It was filmed along with the Planet Earth project which aired on the Discovery Channel.

It starts out in the Arctic with some adorable polar bears and 2 new cubs. She must find food for herself and the cubs and the ice is melting. The Papa polar bear is lost trying to get food.

Then we go to Africa and follow a herd of elephants. They have cute little baby elephants and have to find water and keep the babies safe from lions. It’s pretty intense really when lions corner a lone elephant and all attack it.

The last set is the whales who must travel 4000 miles to find new feeding grounds with all kinds of challenges.

In between these 3 main stories we get smaller stories of birds, sea lions, dolphins, caribou and possibly the worlds cutest animal penguins.

Watching Earth is a pretty amazing experience and it did fill me with awe at the Earth God has created. It’s so diverse and beautiful. However, this film does not sugarcoat the realities of these species lives. I was surprised how much preying and attacks they did. Some kids might be upset seeing a wolf kill a caribou or what happens with the polar bear Dad or the elephant that gets attacked. It depends on the kid but I would have probably found that upsetting.

If you hate nature documentaries and find them boring than this is not the one that will convert you. It does drag in sections and with James Earl Jones doing the narration it feels very old school nature documentary. I didn’t mind it but it’s not for everyone. It certainly is a natural choice with his iconic voice especially when we see lions.

Some of the details felt a little bit dated to me like the time lapse photography. I think that was really mind blowing in 2007 but it doesn’t hold the same grip in 2015 and they use the technique a lot. Some of their global warming science also is a little bit dated; although, certainly a good message for kids to hear.

I think there are some kids that will absolutely love this, mainly for the visual beauty and not the storytelling. Same with adults actually. If you don’t require a plot and just like seeing all these animals and learning about them than you’ll enjoy it. If that sounds really dull to you it will be. Simple as that. And like I said some of the scenes might be upsetting to small or sensitive children.

As with all Disneynature movies the ending showing how they got shots including a collision with a tree while riding a gyrocopter type device was pretty amazing. There’s scenes where lions and bears try to follow them and the crew looks scared. I’d be scared! They certainly have guts at Disneynature!

Here’s the trailer.

Disneynature 1: Monkey Kingdom

April 19, 2015April 19, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

For my Disneynature reviews I am going to review the current film Monkey Kingdom and then go back and review the previous films, so it will be a little bit out of synch but it makes the most sense to me.

This weekend Disneynature releases Monkey Kingdom about the toque macaques (or monkeys) of Polonnaruwa Sri Lanka. The lead monkey is named Maya and is at the bottom of the monkey class divisions.

The monkey clan is quite the totalitarian regime with a strict hierarchy led by Raja and a trio of sisters who boss everyone around and take all the good warm sleeping spots.

Monkey Kingdom follows the clan for entire year and has a lot of monkey eating, grooming, and sleeping. The variety of food the monkeys eat surprised me a little bit and how rigid the social structure seemed to be (if you believe the movie at least which I have no other knowledge about monkeys to say otherwise).

There is a point where they even swim to get food! Who knew that monkeys could swim! We also get glimpses of other animals both predators and friendly folks like elephants and squirrels. They even branch into human world and the big city for a stretch which is a lot of fun.

Tina Fey is the narrator and she does an okay job. I’m not normally her biggest fan but it works for the cute monkeys. Normally we expect someone with gravitas for such narration but I liked her motherly warmth for Maya’s story.

Here is the trailer to give you a better idea.

Monkey Kingdom is an engaging story that is simple enough for kids to understand and shouldn’t bore their parents. Plus it is a cute way to explain complex social orders and the way we treat those of other classes through the examples of the monkeys. It also may give kids an appreciation for the effort it really takes to do the basics of provide food and shelter. Plus, the monkeys are just so darn cute (and they do give us a ‘hey, hey, we’re the monkeys’ musical number).

Director Mark Linfield and cinematographers Martyn Colbeck and Gavin Thurston give us a lush beautiful look into the monkey habitat and the film could be appreciated on silence just for the gorgeous earth visuals.

As with all the Disneynature films Disney will donate a portion of proceeds to charitable causes. For Monkey Kingdom they will go to Conservation International.

Overall Grade- B (wasn’t anything super exciting to worthy an A but a solid effort).

Pixar Review 2: Luxo Jr

April 18, 2015April 18, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

So now we get to review our first ever actual Pixar branded short, Luxo Jr. In 1986 Steve Jobs bought the computer animation division from Lucasfilms and branded it Pixar.

John Lasetter was borrowed from Disney and he was being trained on how to build models. As his source material he started to look at a luxo lamp he had on his desk because “it was geometric and would show the shadow algorithm well”. At this time computer animation was done with equations and ‘art school math’ as Lasetter puts it.

As he attempts to actually animate his lamp Lasetter grows increasingly more frustrated with the math:

“I’m sitting there with a hand calculator at these expensive computers trying to figure it out using my art school math if a ball is this size how far would it move and I was like ‘what’s wrong with this picture?’ so I went to Eben [Ostby] ‘please can you do something with the computer to help me with this? And that was the beginning of our procedural animation so I just animated the path of the ball and this amazing program Eben developed made it so the ball rotated accurately”

Sounds like we should all be grateful to Eben Ostby for some art we’ve gotten since 1986!

Here he is

Lasseter also got some key inspiration that we can see in his later leadership while making Luxo Jr from a man named Raoul Servais. At first Lasseter just wanted to make a “plotless character study” of his lamp. Servais told him “No matter how short it should have a beginning, a middle, and an end. Don’t forget the story. You can tell a story in ten seconds”.

So that’s what he does. As you will see in Luxo Jr we get a clear story. Most of these early shorts are like silent movies with no dialogue but a clear beginning, middle and end.

It’s a charming little short and did great things for Pixar. Lasseter said in the audio commentary the hardest part was getting the cord right “It was the cord. I will never forget. The cord was so hard. The rolling of the ball was such a pain. [Eben’s program] didn’t help with the cord. The ripples in the cord were done by hand and it was painful!”

Never forget the cord! 🙂

What Lasseter is able to do in Luxo Jr is create emotion extremely quickly and establish a relationship between the two lamps, something that when I write it sounds insane and yet there it is. Some say it is a mother and baby lamp. Lasseter has said it is a father son lamp but either way it is amazing any such connection can be made with a lamp!

This little short, Luxo Jr, “sent shock waves through the entire industry- to all corners of computer and traditional animation. At that time, most traditional artists were afraid of the computer. They did not realize that the computer was merely a different tool in the artist’s kit” (Edwin Catmult, Computer Animation: A Whole New World)

Luxo Jr also became the first computer animated short to be nominated for an Oscar in 1986.

So it’s another of these shorts that is simple on the surface but anything but when you consider its influence in the world of animation. In many ways it may be the most important animated short since Steamboat Willie.

You got to give it an A+. It has emotion where it shouldn’t. It tells a sweet simple story. It was groundbreaking and it is completely charming. It also became the face of Pixar from then on.

Pegs and My First Interview

April 17, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

I’m really excited to share with you my first interview I’ve done on my youtube channel! My friend Heidi was kind enough to let me interview her for my channel. She is an artist that paints these peg dolls that are so adorable. I am really proud of the video so would LOVE if you checked it out and gave me a thumbs up if you think it is a good effort.

I’ve certainly learned a lot and will continue to learn about videography, speaking before a camera, editing, creating thumbnails in photoshop etc. Still, I think it is a good effort and anything you could do to promote it I would be so grateful.

To learn more about Heidi’s pegs you can follow her at instagram https://instagram.com/pegsinasquarehole/

If you know of other local artists that might be interested in a profile or anyone who would make a good interview please let me know. I’m also at 499 subscribers so if you aren’t subscribed you could be 500! Please subscribe! Thanks so much!

New Project Poll Results

April 12, 2015April 12, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

Last week I set up a poll asking you my readers to vote for the next series of reviews you would like me to do. Thank you to all who voted and I must say the responses surprised me a little bit.

The top 5 are

5. with 5% of vote- The Best of Simpsons Series

4. with 5.75% of vote- Studio Ghibli Series

3. with 8.05% of vote- Hitchcock Series

2. with 10.34% of vote- Disney Nature Documentary Series

and the clear winner

1. with 18.39% of vote- Pixar Films and Shorts Series

Any surprises for you? I’m not surprised by Pixar winning especially with Inside Out coming out in June. But I was surprised with Disney Nature getting the second spot. I think it should be pretty easy for me to do both as there are only 14 Pixar films and 8 Disney nature and it will be perfect as both have releases in the next 2 months. I’m excited!

I’m not sure how to structure the Pixar reviews because I am a huge fangirl. Honestly I would give all but 3 an A. How interesting is that to read about me gush about movie after movie? If you guys have any guidance or suggestions about how I could make them interesting I would love to hear.

So Pixar and Disney Nature it is. Thanks again and I look forward to some fun blogging in the future.

McFarland USA Review

February 25, 2015February 2, 2016 | Rachel's Reviews

I got the chance to see a very special film today, McFarland USA. I know you see the pictures and you probably think it’s like every other motivational sports movie but I’m telling you it is a special movie. I happen to love sports movies like Warrior, Hoosiers and Miracle and this is right up there with those great films but it has a human component that you don’t always see which I found very moving.

McFarland starts out kind of like Hoosiers with Kevin Costner’s Jim White getting in an altercation with a football player and getting fired. As a last resort him and his family get a job in McFarland, California, a poor crop picking agricultural mostly latino town.

His wife played by the always lovely Maria Bello and daughter Julie (Morgan Saylor) and daughter Jamie are at first disgusted and a little scared of living in McFarland. It is a seemingly dangerous neighborhood in a foreign land.

One of the things I learned on my 20 month mission for my church was in every poor ‘scary’ neighborhood there are families trying desperately to make things work and to make things better for their children. We have this idea you cross the tracks and it leads to inherent gang activity just isn’t true. McFarland USA does a good job showing this reality. That there are good neighbors in every neighborhood in America. That’s a great lesson for kids.

Costner ends up getting fired as assistant football coach but the principal (Valente Rodriguez) who I loved every scene he was in can’t lose any teachers so he keeps Costner around.

As he teaches PE he starts to notice many of the kids can run and he gets the crazy idea to start a cross country team.

The boys initially resist being on the team because they have work crop picking to do before and after school. Costner even goes out to work at the picking one day and he says it was the ‘worst day of work in his life’ but he vows to make it work for the team and the more time together the more bonded he and the boys get.

This material could have so easily veered into caricature and simplistic portrayals of a white man in a latino world but it doesn’t. The conversations and personalities felt authentic and real. Each of the boys has their own personality but not in the archetype way of Mighty Ducks. These are individuals and we root for every last one of them.

I particularly liked Carlos Pratts as team captain and star runner Thomas Valles. It is a subtle conflicted sweet performance and character.

I also thought the home drama as Costner’s family tries to find a home in McFarland and his daughter Julie turns 15 and gets a quinceanera.

There was a point at the end when I was worried it was going to go the Pay it Forward route and give us an awful ending but then it didn’t so all was well.

It’s really quite the feat because I can’t think of a sport that is more boring to watch than cross country but the sport is just window dressing to a movie about teens, our failing educational system, family, culture, poverty and giving people something to dream about.

I really can’t say enough good things about it. It has huge heart, good performances, and shows a side of urban life we rarely see- the functioning happy families that do exist and add so much to our country.

I think everyone should see and take your kids. It’s a real winner. Trust me on this. It’s great.

There are a few tense moments but other than that nothing to offend or be concerned about. A family film that will inspire everyone.

Overall Grade- A, Content Grade- A