Antz Review

May 8, 2015May 8, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

Btw this is my 300th post on this movie blog! Can you believe it? It hasn’t even been a year and 300 posts!

I figured before I review Bug’s Life it might be wise to also talk a little bit about the other ant movie which came out that year- Dreamworks Antz. I have always felt like Jeffrey Katzenburg was a real snake for going to Dreamworks and clearly spilling the beans on Pixar’s project. Pixar was such a tight community at that point it’s the only explanation that makes any sense. So I never watched Antz because I thought it was a lame thing to do and didn’t want to support it.

So I clearly have no sentimental attachment to Antz and was approaching it with a fresh perspective not knowing much about it but that it is about bugs. I must say rarely have I been left so befuddled by a movie. I didn’t like it but it is so so strange I kind of admire what they were trying to do with the story. An ambitious failure perhaps? (although how ambitious can a movie starting out as a copycat be?)

It’s an extremely odd movie.

First of all, the animation has not held up well. Maybe I’m just biased but I think Bug’s Life looks way better. It’s brighter, prettier, the characters flow and move better and I can actually tell the characters from one another. In Antz it is like the UPS drivers designed the art direction of the movie. Brown, brown, brown, brown and if it wasn’t for the voices I’d have no idea who was who.

There are a few sequences when they get to Insectopia that are fun to look at but for the most part it just looks extremely brown and dated.

The story centers around Z an ant voiced by Woody Allen which is the part of the movie that worked the best for me. Allen is very funny although extremely inappropriate at times and jokes way over kids head (do kids even know what a shrink is?). With Allen’s history it is perhaps an odd choice for a childrens movie but this really isn’t a children’s movie (that was kind of an unfortunate trend in mid to late 90s).

The ants are basically living in a dystopian society. All choice has been taken away from them and they are assigned at birth their role in the colony and nobody questions it. Z and his 2 friends Azteca and Barbatus (Jennifer Lopez and Sylvester Stallone) have no problem with the situation but Z hates digging as he tells his therapist.

The bad guy is a an ant named General Mandible voiced by Gene Hackman with Christopher Walken oddly playing his henchman (shouldn’t that be reversed?). He is basically a Nazi. He wants an all powerful colony of ants, so he develops a scheme to get his army above ground and basically drown the entire colony; thereby, starting afresh at his rule and order. All they need is camps and you’ve got the 3rd Reich.

I’m sorry but that’s a lot for an animated movie to conquer and this movie aint no Watership Down…

Z runs away and kidnaps the princess Bala (after meeting at a bar earlier…). They of course hate each other at first but warm up as the movie goes on and head towards Insectopia.

One cool thing in the movie is all the insects are to scale but some of the scales seemed odd. Like the termites are 6 or 7 times bigger than the ants. Those are some big termites! Still, the idea was interesting. There is even a termite war at one point.

I liked when they met 2 wasps that were very funny. Wish they had been in the movie longer (Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtain).

The last 20 minutes start to pick up momentum as Z and Bala return home and try to thwart the General’s plan and save the colony.

There are some good things about this movie. I like Allen. I like how it tries to dive into these bigger themes (nobody loves a little romp through political philosophy more than me). However, there are a lot of problems.

To begin with as I said it is very ugly to look at and the voice performances are another Dreamworks attempt to get famous people rather than the right people for your parts. Someone like Christopher Walken as basically a toadie is bizarre.

As much as I like the attempt at political allegory it just feels too muddled and safe to really say as much as they want it too. Again watch Watership Down if you want that kind of allegory for adults.

Aside from Allen the characters are all kind of unlikable. They wine, complain, or we see them so little we don’t care about them. Pixar is so good at helping you to care about its characters. Even a hopping lamp we care about in Luxo Jr.

My other major problem is the innuendo and language. It’s a lot like Road to El Dorado in that way without its racism. For example, I do not want to see an animated film where a character is referred to as a tight ass. That’s not going to fly in my world. There’s also a line about how Z is going to have erotic dreams about Bala and several scenes with characters getting tortured by the General for information. (Can you believe it but its true!).

Antz is just weird enough that I can see why some like it. To me it is just too ugly all the way around to enjoy. It’s not as bad as Road to El Dorado but few animated films are (although that one looks better than Antz).

In the end I don’t think it really is in the same league as Bug’s Life and I certainly can’t recommend it. (You starting to catch on why I really don’t want to do a Dreamworks Canon series! Just not my cup of tea).

Overall Grade- D+ Content Grade- C

Incidentally for another brilliant movie about ants watch last years Miniscule Valley of the Lost Ants. It’s so good!

Pixar Review 6- Toy Story

May 5, 2015May 6, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

What is the great human fear? I think it is the fear of being replaced or forgotten by those we love (or even the world at large). I propose to you that is the reason why Toy Story is such a great movie. Yes it’s a game changer in the world of animation and yes it introduced the world to 2 of the most delightful characters in movie history but at it’s core is a message that we can all relate too.

Toy Story is of course Pixar’s first animated feature film and the first CG film from any studio. After getting Oscar recognition for Tin Toy the idea of a lost toy started with John Lasseter and crew and they were able to convince Disney to sponsor their project. It took them 5 years to make and what they came up with is one of the most likable entertaining animated films ever made.

I asked on facebook and twitter- Any thoughts on Toy Story 1? What impact did it have on you? Do you love it? What do your kids think of it?

Will said

I love, love, love all of the Toy Story movies. They’ve been been very formative on my life. For one thing, they taught me that you shouldn’t abuse or mistreat anything whatsoever, on the off chance that they are sentient.

Jeremiah said

It completely changed the way I look at animated film. The script was so refreshing and the computer graphics blew me away! It’s still my favorite animated feature film. My girls are 18 & 19 and they grew up on Toy Story and they still love it today!

Jeremy said

I loved it as a kid. I had a toy Woody and a toy Buzz who I played with a lot. I’m actually the exact same age Andy was in Toy Story 1 and 3, and I went to see Toy Story 3 on my 18th birthday the summer before I went away to college. Suffice it to say, many feels were had.

Megan said

I LOVE Toy Story. My 4-year-old loves it as well. I try to only get him hooked on movies that I don’t mind listening to thousands of times over again! Hahaha.

Gina said

kids (ages 5-9) love it. Buzz lightyear is still a hero, even though the movie came out a decade before the oldest was born

Terry said

I loved it! Wish I was having lunch at Pizza Planet.

Kyle said

Like a majority of Pixar’s films, it’s a masterpiece. The impact it had on me? Teaching me how to do lean storytelling right

I particularly like that last sentiment. Toy Story is such tight storytelling.

The beginning is all to build up the introduction of Buzz. We see Woody as basically the CEO of the bedroom. Everyone has their job and he is comfortable in his spot as the leader. They even have a little staff meeting.

But suddenly this new seemingly better version of Woody comes along and just like any kid would do Andy is super excited; thereby quickly unraveling Woody’s world. The posters are gone, the old west town cardboard is gone and a spaceship has replaced it and finally Woody’s spot is now a Buzz comforter and sheets. At least for that moment Woody has been replaced.

Woody then experiences two of the most deadly sins but we can all relate too- envy and jealousy. He’s envious of what Buzz has that appeals to Andy and the other toys and he is jealous of all that Buzz has taken away from him.

He handles these emotions sometimes being angry, sarcastic, sad, and depressed but it is always a response that at least I relate too when I’ve been faced with similar situations. We are also always given bits of joyous comic relief like the famous flying sequence.

The other thing that is so brilliant in the Buzz and Woody relationship is they are seeing the same things and yet in totally different worlds. Buzz is a space ranger and is seeing everything through those goggles. Woody is a toy and looking from his viewpoint. How often in life does conflict come from 2 worldviews crashing into each other like that? Again another reason why so many children and adults relate to Toy Story and love it.

Once Buzz and Woody get lost the story becomes a real journey. This is perhaps one of my favorite scenes in all of animation. ‘You are a toy!’ Again it’s those two universes coming into conflict.

The design in these sequences is just beautiful. The stars at the gas station and the fun of Pizza Planet. I agree with Terry I wish I was having lunch at Pizza Planet.

Then the story moves to our villain Sid who is actually a really creative kid in a lot of ways. He isn’t just playing but creating; however, in the world of the movie he is basically an evil mad scientist who is murdering toys. It totally works within the world of the movie.

The brilliance of the sequences at Sid’s house is Buzz is not Woody’s competition any more but his only ally. It’s kind of like you may hate a person in your sorority but if it is only the two of you walking down a scary street all the sudden you feel this bond. Group dynamics work that way! Buzz also learns that Woody is right he is just a toy. Surely we can all relate to that moment where we realize we are very small insignificant person in the grand scheme of things. That’s what makes this scene so powerful.

Randy Newman’s music is wonderful for especially the Toy Story movies. He has a modern feel mixed with a Great American Songbook style. It describes what’s going on without being too literal, poetic while still feeling marketable which is perfect for a movie about toys. It just works.

As tension builds Buzz is tied to the rocket and Woody has to think of a way to save his once enemy now friend. He realizes these creatures he once feared are really wonderful (another good lesson for kids) and they stage a little lesson for Sid.

But that’s not the end. No they have to get to the moving truck before Andy leaves. This last segment is so great both plot, animation-wise and everything else. It is such a triumphant moment for Buzz when he realizes he can save the day for the people in his life (again a very relatable emotion).

All the voicecasting is great especially of course Tom Hanks and Tim Allen who are just perfect for the roles. Who would have thought Tim Allen when he was on Home Improvement would make a great space ranger toy but it works. Tom Hanks is more of an obvious choice but his experience in both comedy and drama make him the right pick for the part. All the side characters are completely lovely with Potato Head Don Rickles probably being my favorite. John Ratzenberg is great as Ham. Annie Potts as Bo Peep and Jim Varney as Slinky Dog are all great.

They were so clever too with details like watching the Mr Spell or the Etch-o-sketch for little jokes. It’s also brilliant to have a dinosaur that should be fierce be neurotic. Wallace Shawn is terrific as Rex. They all have accepted their place like in a business and work together well. Even when they are ostracizing Woody it makes sense from their point of view.

Anyway, what more is there to say but Toy Story is not just the first CG animated film but it is one of the best. The story taps into themes we can all relate too and taps into universal emotions. It also gives us some of the best characters ever in film. The adventure is so much fun and it still looks great today. I love it. If it was the only Pixar film I would still be singing their praises.

Overall Grade- A+ (you’ll see that a lot in these Pixar. It’s just the way I feel).

Toy Story was so well loved that the academy gave it an honorary award for special achievement and I think that was the catalyst for the Best Animated Feature Film category, so great films like Toy Story wouldn’t be ignored in the future or need special awards. It’s really touching to hear John Lasseter talk about the films creation and team.

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!

Pixar Review 4- Tin Toy

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

Hi guys! I’m back from Georgia and it is time for another Pixar short review and we are getting our baby on with the landmark animated film Tin Toy.

Tin Toy was created for SIGGRAPH in 1988. The genesis for the project happened when John Lasseter was watching his niece play with her toys. She was sucking on, throwing, stomping on them. The idea occurred to him that to the toys this sweet adorable baby would be seen as a monster.

So they got hard at work and designing an actual baby proved to be a mammoth task and they invented new facial recognition software and was the first computer graphics with bendable joints and a fluid body.

The story of Tin Toy is a baby named Billy who has a toy named Tin Toy that is an old school Japanese one man band type toy. Both the toy and the baby turned out very cute and the sound mixing is perfect.

When the toy see’s Billy sucking and throwing his toys he naturally becomes terrified and flees leading to the big laugh of the movie- All of Billy’s toys are hiding under the sofa shivering in fear from the monster that is Billy.

Each of the animators was given the task of designing one of the toys under the bed and it was this shot that started the idea of Toy Story. In fact, Disney was so impressed with Tin Toy that they sealed an agreement with Pixar to create their first feature film about toys.

Tin Toy also is of note because it is their first Oscar win for Best Animated Short and the first CG animation to win an Academy Award in 1988.

The great thing about Tin Toy is how many emotions they manage to show in a 4 minute film we get joy, anger, hurt, fear, remorse, envy, desperation and more.

When I think of what makes a character like Woody so great he has all those emotions, sometimes very rapidly and who knows if the storytelling would have grown if such robust characters weren’t cultivated in these shorts first.

Here is John Lasseter and Bill Reeves getting their Oscar for Tin Toy. It helps give you a sense of who they were and the community that built Pixar as we know today.

It’s worthy of the Oscar and is certainly an A+. A great early short. (Only 1 more short to go till Toy Story!)

Pixar Review 3- Red’s Dream

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

Of Pixar’s first 5 early shorts Red’s Dream is probably my favorite. It’s so beautifully realized and has tremendous heart.

Released in 1987 for the SIGGRAPH conference Red’s Dream feels less like a proof of concept and more like an actual story. It is not one that I have to make excuses saying ‘it would look better but they developed the technology while making it”. No, this one looks great on its own.

It starts out with a gorgeous cityscape. It’s a rainy night and we focus in on a bike store and then on a little unicycle who is dreaming of an incompetent clown. Red of course is the true star not the Bozzo clown.

Director John Lasseter says in the audio commentary they picked the project because Eben Ostby (hint Eben’s bikes) had taken up a fascination with bikes and they had a 3D digitizer that could load sculptures and animate.

Early animator Bill Reeves used it as a chance to work on animating rain which it looks flawless. Lasseter says “I’d say it’s the Pixar blue period” because there isn’t really a happy ending to the piece. It is really quite sad for our little unicycle but there is something about that which makes it feel vintage and old school animation like a Dumbo or Pinocchio.

This was also the first time they animated something at night and again they did an amazing job.

As with all these shorts it has the feel of a silent movie like a sketch you might see Chaplin or Buster Keaton do but certainly with enough pizazz to appeal to a modern audience.

Evidently Ollie Johnson, one of the 9 Old Men, saw the short and “he shook Lasseter’s hand aferward and said meaningfully ‘John, you did it'”

The music is by David Slusser and there is an article at http://www.sfgate.com that says “pixar sound editor by day, saxman by night” Evidently he is the one playing the perfect bluesy saxaphone accompanying Red’s Dream. I think he wrote the music too. Pretty great.

Like I said it is probably my favorite of the shorts and so I give it an A+

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.

Pixar Review 1: The Adventures of André and Wally B

April 15, 2015April 15, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

Welcome to the start of my new project reviewing all the Pixar films and animated shorts. The first 5 of these reviews are going to be shorts made by Pixar from 1984 to 1995 release of Toy Story. I have a fondness for these shorts because my uncle Mark used to work for Pixar in their financing department back in 1990ish. One year for Christmas he gave us a VHS tape with some animated shorts made by his company. It had Luxo Jr, Knick Knack, Tin Toy etc. I loved watching those shorts and I’ve always felt that I was an early Pixar fangirl well before Toy Story. How many can say that? 🙂

That said critiquing or analyzing these shorts is tough. By modern standards they seem crudely drawn and very simple. For example, most of them are silent films without any dialogue just music. But we have to consider these shorts were basically tools to help them create the technology that we now have with great CG animation. In that sense they are not simple and are really quite groundbreaking.

The first short Pixar ever created is called The Adventures of Andre and Wally B. It is a 2 minute bit about an android (that’s what John Lasseter calls it) named Andre that meets a bee named Wally B. He distracts said bee and runs through the forest but is eventually outwitted and stung so hard it twists the bees stinger.

Adventures of Andre and Wally B was created by John Lasseter in 1984 when Pixar was a new division of Lucasfilm for a conference called SIGGRAPH and it feels like something made for a conference, more to show off technology than tell a story.

The big breakthrough in Andre and Wally B is they were able to design a motion blur technology called the motion doctor that allowed for characters to not just be geometric shapes but move in a realistic way that flows. Lasseter had been working at Disney and was brought on to animate the characters but I really think this short has more of a Looney Tunes feel than Disney with its physical comedy and silent movie feel.

What was really interesting in the audio commentary is technical lead Bill Reeves says “In retrospect it’s amazing that John didn’t do a robot. Where would be today if he had? Who knows but I’m so glad he didn’t”

So I suppose we can all be grateful for Andre and Wally B because it forced Lasseter to start designing outside of boxes like a robot would have been. It would take 11 more years to perfect the technology to the level of a feature film but Andre and Wally B got the ball rolling and the creative juices flowing.

I have no idea what grade to give it. Just enjoy it because it was the first and it is 2 minutes long…

What’s your favorite of these early shorts? Next up the iconic Luxo!

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.