Pixar Review 14: Finding Nemo

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

Anyone who knows me knows I love being in the water. All summer long I am in every open water event and group I can get my hands on but most of all I live for getting to the ocean. I think about it daily. I dream about it. I LOVE the ocean. I love the waves, swimming, beach and snorkeling to see all the beautiful aquatic life.

So naturally I love Finding Nemo! Pixar really knocked it out of the park on this one.

It had been a while since I had seen it and I honestly regret not putting it on my Most Artistic Animated Films list. It’s stunning. I mean look at these images and how every inch is animated with sea life and colors.

They are so good at keeping the fishes and water moving while they are talking and having their facial characteristics look natural (unlike Dreamworks Shark Tale…). It looks like if a clown fish was going to talk that’s how their mouths would move. Nothing feels off-putting or grotesque (again unlike Shark Tale).

But all that would mean nothing if the story wasn’t great (remember It’s All About the Story). Luckily the story is even better than the visuals. This last time I really paid attention to little moments of great writing. I totally see why it was nominated for Best Original Screenplay which is a huge rarity for an animated film.

If you don’t know the story is an adventure about a widower clownfish named Marlin (Albert Brooks) who has to go on a journey to find his son Nemo who has been taken by a dentist in Sydney, Australia.

The film starts out very sad and without giving too much away Marlin promises his son that he ‘will never let anything happen to him”.

Thinking he is being loving, he is overprotective and Nemo even says that he hates his father and it’s hard to blame him with how neurotic he is.

As I said Nemo ends up getting taken and Marlin must find his son with little clues and a great big ocean to search through. In addition, the only creature to come to his aid is a memory-challenged fish named Dory (Ellen Degeneres). Dory is such a likable, genuine, sweet character. She finds when she is helping Marlin she can remember things, even hard details like addresses. The two have ups and downs but develop a lovely friendship. Dory even says to him as only a friend “when I look at you I’m home and I don’t want that to go away” which gets a tear from my eyes every time…

Meanwhile Nemo is off to the dentist office where he meets a group of aquarium fish most of whom are from pet stores.

Except Gill who is from the ocean and dreams of escaping and going back. These sections are an entirely different color palate than the ocean but it is fabulous. Gil is pretty down-trodden for a Disney film (kind of like Eeyore) but he believes in Nemo (or Sharkbait as they call him) in a way Marlin doesn’t.

Everyone in the aquarium is most afraid of becoming toilet fodder for the dentist’s niece Darla- the true villain of the film! So funny!

Marlin gets stopped on his trip several times including a hilarious segment with 3 sharks going to an AA type meeting for eating fish. “Fish are friends not food”. When you see these giant sharks it is the last thing you expect and so funny.

They also have a gorgeously animated sequence in a jellyfish colony.

Marlin is rescued from the jellys by a turtle named Crush who is also very funny. I love his line “Dude, you’ve got some serious thrill issues”. However, Crush isn’t just a throwaway comedic character. He actually teaches Marlin something about parenting and letting your little one’s make mistakes and try things on their own. Like the sharks he defies expectations.

When they actually get to Sydney the writers solve how he can possibly get to the dentists office by a bird named Nigel who knows the aquarium fish and likes to watch extractions.

He also saves them from one of the best gags in the movie- the seagulls who say exactly what most would guess a seagull would say ‘mine, mine, mine, mine’. So funny.

There are so many other great parts. Like I love Dory speaking whale and Marlin thinking she is nuts. (Despite her memory Dory is one of the smartest characters in the film).

The voice cast is as good as it gets with famous names but more importantly voices that work. Again unlike Shark Tale, these are voices that make sense for the story not just the celebrity. We get DeGeneres, Brooks, William Dafoe (Gill), Brad Garrett (Bloat), Alison Janney (Peach), Stephen Root (Bubbles), Geoffrey Rush (Nigel), the list goes on…they are all perfectly cast.

It’s exciting, sweet, touching, scary, tragic (especially beginning) and absolutely hilarious all at the same time. Mostly it’s a movie the entire family will love and it is stunningly beautiful at the same time.

And I won’t give it away but the ending is perfect. It shows all that Marlin, Nemo and Dory have learned from their journey and it makes me want to cheer. They could have just ended it with the rescue but they don’t. They take it a step further and show the real growth.

It is movies like Finding Nemo that make a Pixar ranking almost impossible. I sincerely believe they have 8 films that are close to perfect. How the heck do you rate a Wall-e vs Ratatouille vs Finding Nemo vs Toy Story movies? They are all total delights. That says something for a studio when you have 9 pictures including Monsters Inc that are so exemplary. Amazing!

I really have no criticisms of Finding Nemo. I had my computer out ready to write them. The music is away from Randy Newman to his cousin Thomas Newman (very musical family!) but it has a very different feel of the previous Pixar films.

I’ll just end with some of my other favorite lines:

“It doesn’t sound like orca. It sounds like nothing I’ve ever heard” Marlin

“Whoa Dude, Mr Turtle is my father. The name is Crush” Crush

“Hey clown boy, let the lady guess” School of fishes.

“Yes, I’m your conscience. We haven’t spoken in a while…” Marlin to Dory

“When life gets you down what do you do? Just keep swimming” Dory

“Yes I’m a natural blue” Dory

In a great Shining reference “Here’s Brucey!” Bruce the shark

“Humans think they own everything Propbably American” sharks

“Sea cucumbers- normally they don’t talk but in a joke everyone talks…” Marlin

“He’s not very funny for a clown fish” Fish parents.

That’s just a handful of the great writing. It looks fabulous. It has great characters and a good story. What more can you ask for?

Overall Grade- A+ (I told you before doing this project there would be a lot of those!).

The only content recommendation is for very small children I might just start at the first day of school as the beginning scene may be a little too upsetting for them.

Pixar Review 13: Boundin’

June 2, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

Next short to review before Finding Nemo is both big and small in the world of Pixar. It is called Boundin’ and it is big because it is the first real short (not counting Mike’s New Car) that has words or vocal performance. It is small because it is the creation of one man- Bud Luckey.

Boundin’ is written, directed, narrated by, and music written by Bud Luckey. You have to go back to the very first shorts done primarily by John Lasseter to find that kind of all-in-one creation, and I think that is kind of neat. It would be fun if Pixar did more of that with their shorts so you could get a real taste of each animators vision and style- kind of like a showcase in a gallery of animation.

I guess the next question is what Bud Luckey came up with any good? I think it is. It has the feel of one of the Melody Time skits, which you may not remember is my favorite of the package films. It particularly has a strong homage to Pecos Bill with the scenery of the Southwest.

Boundin’ is about a sheep that loves his wool coat so much it makes him dance. This is interesting because he is kind of vein but it’s in a very likable way . It’s more like self-confidence than overly prideful. He is so joyous with his dance that all the other critters around him start dancing too.

But then disaster strikes and our sheep looses his fur and with it his self-esteem. Here’s a clip (I couldn’t get the entire short this time) which will give you a feel for the show.

Just when he is feeling depressed he meets a jackalope who teaches him how to jump and that “bounding is better than dancing”. The message is “getting up when you fall down”. The sheep tries it out and is won over.

The next winter his coat has grown back and cut again but this time he has bounding and won’t get depressed any more.

This is an extremely old fashioned short and so I could see it not being everyone’s cup of tea but I like it. I think it has a really nice rather nuanced message about not just self-confidence but finding joy even when things aren’t perfect. I like that the sheep learns to be happy without his fur that he still loves when it grows back.

From an animation standpoint it looks gorgeous with beautiful dessert (and snowy) vistas.

Like I said it reminds me a lot of Pecos Bill but also the old Warner Brothers shorts that had a simple message with lovely animation and some laughs. I like that vintage quality.

The music is also very sweet and nostalgic. It feels like Roy Rogers telling a story around the campfire!

Nice job Mr Luckey. You’ve done good!

Overall Grade- A

Pixar Review 12- Mike’s New Car

June 2, 2015June 2, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

I just finished watching Finding Nemo but before I post about that I have 2 shorts to review. The first is Mike’s New Car which was made in 2002 and included in the DVD of Monsters Inc.

There’s not a ton to say about it because it is more like a deleted scene than a true animated short. Basically Mike has purchased a complicated new car. He wants to show it off to Sully and all hijinks occur.

It’s amusing and cute and if you like these characters than you will like the short.

However, even more entertaining is to listen to the audio commentary for Mike’s New Car. Instead of the normal directors or writers they have director Pete Doctor and Roger Gould’s two sons Nicholas and Liam (respectively) do it. It is the most adorable thing I’ve ever heard.

My favorite line is little Liam’s idea of what goes into making an animated film:

“”they put it on computer and then they work all together having lunch and then they come home at night and when it’s finished we can see it in the movie theater but then when its been in the movie theaters for a while it gets on a video”.

I like how the eating of lunch is an integral part to the completion of the movie.

Nicholas says “I’d like it if they could transfer the car into a boat and drive it into the water”

Liam responds as if he has made this same suggestion before “I think water is really hard to do with computer animation” (funny with Finding Nemo in production!

“And why is it really hard to do water in communication” asks Nicholas

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s just hard to get the blue on the screen?” says Liam.

I thought that was adorable.

Liam says “There’s one part I think is scary when Mike gets hurt in the engine and when gets inside the engine”

“That’s my favorite part” says Nicholas.

When they get in the car and it jumps around and the wipers go off the two boys were cracking up. It was so cute.

I think more children of directors should do an audio commentary! It was much better than the short itself.

“I think maybe when Mike’s car goes off the screen he never see’s it again and he buys a new car” says Liam.

I bet he is right.

Overall Grade- B- Audio Commentary- A+ (Great job kids although they are probably like 18 now!).

Pixar Review 11: Monsters Inc

May 28, 2015May 28, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

Ok. Do I like Monsters Inc? This should give you some idea.

Yes, I like Monsters Inc!

As the 4th feature film from Pixar and their 3rd original story Monsters Inc is a total delight. This time we get a new director with Pete Doctor with Lee Unkrich and David Silverman (of Simpsons fame) co-directing. The story is wildly creative with humor, adventure and something to appeal to the entire family.

Monsters Inc takes us to a ‘parallel city’ of Monstropolis that is full of different monsters of all shapes, sizes and varieties. In order for the city to run they rely on human screams that are collected when top monsters go into the closets of human children and scare them. So the monster really is in the closet!

Our lead characters are a Jewish eyeball Monster named Mike Wazowski voiced by Billy Crystal and his best friend James P Sullivan or Sully voiced by John Goodman. They are a great duo with Mike being the neurotic optimist and Sully being a bit lazy top dog at the plant.

When you think about the characters in the previous films and look at Monsters Inc it is remarkable. Look at the fur on Sully’s coat. It’s amazing! All the monsters are that way. They are all lush and textured.

Randall is the other top scarrer and main competition for Sully and he is a chameleon who’s leathery skin looks so real. He kind of looks like his voice actor Steve Buscemi who is very creepy (much better here than in Home on the Range!).

The plant is ran by an Octopus Monster named Henry J Watermoose voiced by James Coburn.

And Jennifer Tilly is a delight as Celia Mike’s girlfriend with the oddest hair you’ve ever seen.

I’m sure from those character descriptions you can get a little bit of a feeling for how creative Monsters Inc is. It’s also bright and colorful and Billy Crystal is hilarious as Mike.

The people in Monstropolis believe a human child is toxic and that even the touch of a clothing will require decontamination for a monster. They have an entire defense team that sanitizes and cleans anyone who has contact with a child. Well , the story starts into gear when a little girl gets let into the scare floor and ends up in the possession of Mike and Sully.

The little girl who is named Boo is super cute, so much so that she might annoy some more jaded viewers. I think she kind of needed to be that cute in order to warm over the hearts of monsters who think she’s a killing machine. Imagine if she was some bratty little girl? They would have disposed of her right away. But Sully becomes attached to her and they end up on an exciting adventure to get Boo back home.

The highlight is an amazing chase sequence in the library of doors they have both chasing Randall and trying to find Boo’s door. It is so exciting and one of Pixar’s best animated scenes. I mean look at this scene!

All the while the tension is cut by humor from Crystal who evidently loves playing the part. On the audio commentary the directors said they got both Crystal and Goodman in the same recording sessions which almost never happens in animated films and you can tell. There is a kinship and closeness the two friends. There is also a great little cameo from the Abominable Snowman voiced by Pixar favorite John Ratzenberger.

The only caveat I would say on Monsters Inc is it might be a little scary for children under 5, particularly when the monsters are scaring kids at the beginning. Randall is also a very scary villain and the fact he is hunting down a child may be too much for little ones.

That said, the relationship between Sully and Boo is just lovely and something you don’t see that often between a male character and a child. Usually such tenderness is reserved for maternal female characters.

Sully is willing to do anything to help Boo, even risking his and his friends safety because he knows he needs too. That kind of bond is rare and gives the film a heart elevating it beyond a silly kids film.

Randy Newman’s score is great especially during the door scene and I love the finale song between Mike and Sully.

I went into this rewatch wondering if Monsters Inc would hold up and it is better than I remembered it. It’s a delight. Full of humor, amazing animation, adventure and as I just said real heart. It just shows how great the Pixar movies are that it still will probably rank 9th but we’ll see. (who cares about stupid rankings anyway!).

Overall Grade- A (only because I think those 8 are just a hair better but its amazing! I also still stand by a recent debate I had with online friends that Frozen is better than Monsters Inc. It has characters I related too more, a story less predictable and gorgeous songs. Frozen A+, Monsters Inc A. That’s how I really feel!).

Pixar Review 10: For the Birds

May 27, 2015May 27, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

We come to the next of our delightful Pixar shorts, For the Birds. This short was done entirely so they could work on feathers for the technology of Sully’s fur in Monsters Inc. Indeed the texture they were able to achieve on the birds is really quite remarkable. They were also able to get different personalities on each of the cute birds. That’s pretty good considering all they do is chirp!

A big bird comes to spoil the party and the little birds think he is a real nerd. They don’t like having him around one bit but he just wants to hang out. Like all the Pixar shorts For the Birds is basically a silent movie bit. I love how happy the big bird is. He’s having the time of his life.

On the audio commentary they talk about the feathers as “pringles” and that it was the first time they could move such details around and manipulate them. It really is quite remarkable when you look at the big bird and all those layers of feathers.

The pay off at the end is very funny and the music by country band Riders in the Sky is just right (same band who does Woody’s Roundup theme).

For the Birds won Pixar another Best Animated Short Oscar in 2000 which was well deserved. It’s so likable, colorful and sweet. Check it out. I don’t have any criticisms on this one.

Overall Grade- A+ (I told you guys there would be a lot of those if I reviewed Pixar)

Pixar Review 9: Toy Story 2

May 22, 2015May 22, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

After the drama with Bug’s Life Pixar’s next release couldn’t have been more eagerly anticipated. A sequel to one of the most iconic animated movies ever released. How could it possibly measure up?

Then everyone saw it and Toy Story 1 and 2 are the only original and sequel I’m aware of that both have 100% on rottentomatoes- a rating that is near impossible to get. Toy Story 3 has an embarrassing 99% ;).

So I think folks liked Toy Story 2! And with good cause. It is a great movie!

There are so many things that are smart about Toy Story 2. First of all, they didn’t try and redo the first movie. It would have been so easy for them to introduce another new toy into the room and rehash the same story over again. But instead they go in an entirely new direction and make an adventure!

Toy Story 1 introduced us to the characters and followed Woody as his leadership is threatened. He feels jealous, frustrated, frightened, and deals with insecurities he didn’t even know he had. That’s why people related so much to it. Haven’t we all been there where a rival threatened to displace us? Where we worried we would be forgotten or passed over? Where we felt jealous and envious of another who seemingly has it better? Toy Story 1 crafts a narrative around all those very human emotions.

Toy Story 2 has that emotional core but it is mainly an adventure story. It starts out with Woody getting stolen by a greedy toy collector voiced by Seinfeld’s Wayne Knight. (When you see that character don’t you expect him to sound like Newman?).

It turns out that Woody is a valuable collectible Al has been hunting for to complete his Woody’s Roundup collection to sell to a museum in Tokyo. The rest of the set includes Stinky Pete (Kelsey Grammar), Cowgirl Jesse (Joan Cusack) and Bullseye the horse.

They are thrilled to see Woody because it will mean they can get out of storage and be on display at the museum. Woody at first is dazzled by all the collectibles and can’t believe he is the star of a show. The Prospector is also very manipulative in the way he describes the museum leaving out the details that Woody will no longer be played with by children.

Meanwhile Buzz, Slinky, Ham, Potato Head, and Rex all head out to find Woody and bring him back to Andy’s Room. This includes an amazing sequence with them trying to cross the road in cones and a series of adventures in a large toy store.

All the scenes in the toy store are so funny. We get our first appearance of Barbie who moves in the stiff way a barbie moves and is bright and happy. I loved it.

There is also an entire row of Buzz Lightyear action figures and a Delusional Buzz that still thinks he’s a Space Ranger gets mixed up with the real Buzz. This gives so many great laughs and is very nostalgic to the original movie. Tim Allen is great as both versions of Buzz.

At first Woody is set on going back to Andy’s Room but Jesse and Prospector beg him not to go. They don’t want to go into storage and Jesse warns Woody what will happen when Andy is done being a kid. I defy you not to cry during this song (if you don’t then I don’t understand you!). A fabulous job by Randy Newman and Sarah McLachlan.

This puts Woody in a difficult spot, which is our new, different emotional core than we had in Toy Story 1. The original is all about overcoming personal demons where this film is about how much of our own dreams and life we are willing to sacrifice for others. Woody has to decide whether he is willing to give up his life with Andy in order to keep his new friends from a dark life in storage. It’s a very tough question.

But I don’t want to make it sound morose because it’s absolutely hilarious. The writing is so funny with superb vocal performances from the entire cast especially Don Rickles and Estelle Harris (another Seinfeld alum) as Mr and Mrs Potato Head.

And like I said everything with Delusional Buzz and the Barbies is funny. I also love Wallace Shawn as Rex who is preoccupied for most of the movie with defeating Evil Emperor Zurg who we get to meet in this movie (so funny).

The ending at an airport is stunning where the characters get mixed up in the various belts and mechanisms that deliver luggage around the airport. When you think of where they were in Toy Story 1 it is an especially amazing visual.

There is even a tense horse ride down the tarmac. It really has the feel of an old Western chase scene and I always get those butterflies wondering how they are going to get out of this mess (again like a good action adventure should do).

In the end, Woody realizes things may change but it doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the moment while it is here. His purpose is to be played with not looked at under glass. It’s a sweet lesson for all of us. We all need to find our purpose and not let anyone manipulate us into giving that up.

Toy Story 2 is a total and complete delight. As I always do with these reviews I watched it 3 times over the last 2 weeks and it never felt old or tired. I smiled, laughed and was completely engrossed in the tense sections. Mostly I just love spending time with these characters.

Everything new they tried worked while still holding on to the emotional core and likability of the original characters. The addition of Jesse is the cherry on the sundae. Her journey from being a nervous, depressed character to full of life is wonderful. Her song is gorgeous and I love her spunk!

I would definitely recommend adding Toy Story 2 to your blu-ray library as it is enjoyable for the entire family. I love it!

(Also the audio commentary on Toy Story 2 is hilarious and very interesting. I highly recommend giving it a listen).

Overall Grade- A+

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!

—————————-

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!

Pixar Review 8: Geri’s Game

May 12, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

After the release of Knick Knack in 1989 Pixar took a break from their animated shorts to make feature films, Toy Story and A Bug’s Life. This worked because the same crew which had grown up on the early shorts was ready to do longer films. However, by the end of the 90s they had recruited a lot of new talent who they wanted to test out so they reinstated the animated shorts.

Their first short back is called Geri’s Game and it was designed to push their limits for creating a human being. Nobody can deny that Geri looks a million times better than the humans in Toy Story who were used minimally so it worked but this is a whole another level.

It’s a simple silent movie style story like most of the shorts but it is so charming. It’s about an old man named Geri who is playing chess but with who? With himself! The thing that makes it so charming is as he moves from one side of the table to the other the film creates an illusion of 2 players and Geri gives both characters personality. The player with the black pieces is feisty with a wicked sense of humor, and the other guy is more soft spoken and cowers in fear.

It’s a delightful little short and it is directed very well with neat perspectives where you capture the chess pieces from one angle and Geri from another. It’s great stuff!

Geri’s Game was released in 1997 so it won Best Animated Short in the 97 Oscars but it was shown to most of the public with the release of Bug’s Life. This would become the 3rd Oscar with their special award for Toy Story and Tin Toy for best short in 1987.

It’s neat that Pixar has found a way to not only entertain us with their shorts but to nurture new talent and it is perhaps that reason that at least to me they haven’t made a terrible film. You can feel the unique new voices coming out in shorts like Geri’s Game and it is a complete delight. Also keep your eye open because Geri appears in many a future Pixar feature film including our next review Toy Story 2.

Overall Grade- A+

Pixar Review 7- Bug’s Life

May 11, 2015May 11, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

Hey guys! I hope you all had a good Mother’s Day. Let’s celebrate by talking about what I think is an underrated Pixar film, A Bug’s Life. After the epicness of Toy Story Pixar’s second feature had a lot to live up too. To add to the tension was the premiere of Dreamworks Antz that same summer which I reviewed last week.

With all of that pressure I think they came up with a charming movie with some lovely animation and nice messages for kids. Is it perfect? No but if it was the only Pixar movie I’d still say it was a strong effort.

A lot of people criticize Bug’s Life because it is a formula picture. It tells a story of the oddball character who is sent on a journey where in the end he is finally shown to be special. This is an especially popular formula because of all the writers who no doubt have a similar journey. We also get the liar reveal which we see in lots of movies.

If all that is true then why do I say it’s underrated? Because I think a film doesn’t necessarily have to be original to win an endorsement from me. A movie can follow a formula but do it well and that’s great. One of my favorite movies of all time is You’ve Got Mail and that is a total formula picture. It works because the writing is good and the characters are easy for me to relate too. I think you can say the same for A Bug’s Life.

A Bug’s Life is about a colony of ants that live by a tree surrounded by water called Ant Island. They are a timid species and afraid of any kind of change (even the great twig of 93!). Except for one ant named Flick voiced by Dave Foley who is an innovator and is trying to make things better.

The ants are ruled with an iron fist by a grasshopper named Hopper voiced perfectly by Kevin Spacey. He intimidates them to giving an ‘offering’ every year of food, so it basically works out to servitude but the ants are too scared to fight back.

The ants have their own leadership- a queen voiced by Phyllis Diller and her daughter Princess Atta voiced by Julia Louis- Dreyfus who are both great and 2 of the more dynamic Pixar female characters we see for a long time. We also get little princess Dot voiced by Hayden Panettiere.

Eventually Flick screws up the offering and he is sent away on a seemingly fools errand of finding bigger bugs to help defend the colony.

Through various circumstances Flick stumbles on to a troop of circus bugs he mistakes for warriors and they return to the ant colony. The troop is a total delight with great vocal performances and really funny writing with characters like Francis the ladybug that’s actually a dude (and voiced by Dennis Leary which is so perfect!).

I also love Heimlich the German caterpillar who dreams of being a beautiful butterfly ‘and then everything will be better’. Joe Ranft, who was an animator at the time, did the voice and he gets a laugh from me every time he is on screen.

Like I said at the beginning, the story isn’t really what attracts me to A Bug’s Life. It’s a lot of other things:

1. It’s bright and colorful. It looks great and every scene has texture unlike the brown, brown, brown of Antz. The soil looks like little craters and the grass looks like giant trees because we are seeing it from a bug’s perspective.

2. The voice cast is great. It runs so deep with everyone from Madaline Kahn, Bonnie Hunt, Brad Garrett, Richard Kind and more.

3. Hopper is a terrific villain that is menacing and extremely scary from the point of view of the ants. He also has some great sarcastic remarks.

4. The writing all around is really good. It elevates the more ordinary material. There are a lot of laughs and genuine moments of heart . I particularly like when Flick is trying to convince Dot that she’s just a seed using a rock.

I also really like a scene where the ant children put on a little play letting the circus bugs know what they expect. It’s very funny.

5. The score is some of Randy Newman’s best. I know a lot of people deride Newman but I like his cheerful style and found this to be just the right tone for the story they were telling. The finale song is also great. One of his best.

And that’s enough for me to give it a hearty recommendation. It’s bright colorful, sweet time at the movies. And it’s a movie that will appeal equally to little girls and boys, which can sometimes be hard to find.

Overall I give it a B.

They ended off Bug’s Life with this very cute ‘outtakes’ segment which was kind of a thing in the 90s but I enjoy it.