Coming Soon: Star Wars - The Clone Wars

The latest installment in the Star Wars franchise, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, is scheduled to hit theaters August 15th. While there have been other animated adventures in the Star Wars universe n dating back to the Boba Fett debuting short that was part of the much maligned Star Wars Holiday Special in the late 70s, and even though some people could argue that all of the Star Wars prequels were mostly animated with the likes of Jar Jar, Watto and a bazillion clones, this is the first feature length film billed as a completely animated feature.

It's hard to tell exactly where this movie is supposed to fit in to the overall timeline of everything that's been produced—possibly somewhere between the first Cartoon Network animated Clone Wars series and the second one that lead up to the events directly before Episode III: Revenge of the Sith—but this storyline shows Anakin as a Jedi Master with a Padawan learner, Ahsoka Tano (the red-faced Jedi in the next two pictures shown below), as they depart on a mission involving crime boss, Jabba the Hutt.


Anyone who has read my reviews in the past would know that I've been a long time fan of the Star Wars universe, but like many people I have hang-ups about what has been done with the prequels. In large measure it seems to me that George Lucas is using the Star Wars galaxy as a portfolio piece for what his company, Lucasfilm, is capable of producing. In so doing, the story lines have tended to be a little shallow.


While the voice impersonations are impressive as can be heard in the trailer, Star Wars: The Clone Wars contains none of the actors who appeared in any of the Star Wars Prequels except for Anthony Daniels as C-3PO; Christopher Lee (impressive that he's in it) as Count Dooku; and Samuel L. Jackson (more impressive...) as Mace Windu.


From Warner Bros press materials, here is a synopsis of the story:

As the Clone Wars sweep through the galaxy, the heroic Jedi Knights struggle to maintain order and restore peace. More and more systems are falling prey to the forces of the dark side as the Galactic Republic slips further and further under the sway of the Separatists and their never-ending droid army.

Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan learner Ahsoka Tano find themselves on a mission with far-reaching consequences, one that brings them face-to-face with crime lord Jabba the Hutt. But Count Dooku and his sinister agents, including the nefarious Asajj Ventress, will stop at nothing to ensure that Anakin and Ahsoka fail at their quest.

Meanwhile, on the front lines of the Clone Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Master Yoda lead the massive clone army in a valiant effort to resist the forces of the dark side...

Though it may not sound this way, I am optimistic that this will be an enjoyable movie. I'm excited to see what fresh writers and directors have done in this upcoming movie and I'll definitely check it out when it hits the theaters and will probably have my kids right there with me. I just wish it would have been set in an era with a bit more of a blank canvas, like after the fall of the Empire, post Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. If that were the case, we would be watching something where there would be real danger for the main characters, because we know that Anakin, Obi-Wan, and all of the others will make it through whatever dangers they find themselves in because we see them in the later episodes of Star Wars. I think it would be nice if Anakin's padawan, Ahsoka Tano becomes the central character in this movie so when the TV series begins, it's with a fresh group dealing with fresh issues other than Anakin's inevitable dark deeds.

I guess I just have to hope that if this movie and subsequent series are successful, then maybe someday in the future we'll get to see a Television series or movie about the rise of the New Jedi Order featuring an older Luke Skywalker—it's HIS story I'm most interested in hearing told.

Stay tuned to this site for a review once the movie hits the theaters.

Movie Review: Wall-E

Wow, what can I say? I've been anticipating every new Disney/Pixar release since they wowed me with their first theatrical release, Toy Story. Now Wall•E is out and I'm as impressed as ever!

Set far into the future we encounter Wall-E as he happily labors away at a job he's been doing for the last 700 years, which is cleaning up the Earth.  As he's worked through the centuries, he's developed a few quirks: He's befriended the last living inhabitant of the Earth (that we know of), a cockroach. He watches the songs and dances from Hello Dolly over and over and fantasizes being able to have someone to love and sing to of his own. And he collects things that he finds interesting. Everything from rubber duckies, to lighters. As far as Wall-E is concerned, he's a robot who has it all.

Soon a probe ship arrives at Earth and launches EVE whose mission it is to seek out signs that the planet is once again able to sustain life. Of course, as far as Wall-E is concerned, when he sees EVE it's love at first sight.

From here we embark on a wonderful adventure of Wall-E discovering what has become of the former inhabitants of the Earth as he attempts to stay close to EVE. The wonderful part of this movie is how the simple fact of Wall-E's presence impacts every person he comes in contact with, and changes them all in very positive ways.

Wall•E not only displays Pixar's state-of-the-art expertise in computer animation, but it's also a showcase for the skill level of their animators. There is very little dialogue in this movie at all. Most of everything we learn about Wall-E and the other robots who inhabit most of this film is done through synthesized voices and pantomime. It's quite a joy to watch these seemingly inanimate objects display a wide range of emotions that allow us to empathize with them.

For the first time in a Disney/Pixar film, the future looks bleak. With our planet so polluted that we're forced to evacuate to space and humanity evolving into helpless blobs because the technology they've developed spoon feeds them everything they need, it's really the boldest statement about world issues that Pixar has ever made. I'm sure that many people will take environmental messages from this film, and maybe appropriately so, but the strongest message that I got out of it stems from some of my personal relationships with people who have let their health go so far south that they need full-time caregivers to help them accomplish simple tasks in their daily lives. The message I got from this movie is to never give up your ability to control your own life, whether it's your personal abilities or social freedoms, because if you ever do, it'll take nothing short of a revolutionary effort to gain it back.

Watching this movie, I fell in love with Wall-E in much the same way I fell in love with E.T. when I was a child. My favorite part was in the beginning when we got to see him doing his daily work, and then watch him stop to take in the wonder of the simplest of things. That child-like curiosity is something that I could have watched for hours.

Whether or not you have children, you owe it to yourself to see Wall•E. It's a visual delight and a heartwarming treat that's bound to inspire and touch audiences for years to come!

Movie Review: Kung Fu Panda

When I saw the first trailer for Kung Fu Panda, I was more interested in the comedic prospects of Jack Black than I was in a martial arts movie set in the animal kingdom. What I wasn't expacting was how wonderfully the comedic acting would be portrayed through animation and how much I would care about all the characters by the end.

Kung Fu Panda is about Po (Jack Black), a panda who is inexplicably chosen to become the Dragon Warrior—the lead fighter of the marial arts team he idolizes. The only problem is that the closest he has come to kung fu training is his fantasies with his action figures in his bedroom. What follows is an entertaining exposition of what can happen when you try to fit a very round, bloated peg into a very square, ultra disciplined and trained Kung Fu hole.



As a long time fan of animation, I was pleased to see how they used very understated animation when the characters were interacting. They never resorted to the over exaggerated, Tex Avery-style of movement that can easily become a crutch for animators—the clearest example of which is Who Framed Roger Rabbit. It was really just a joy to watch the simplest dialogue scenes.

With an excellent cast of supporting voice actors, I was dissapointed that we didn't hear more from them. For example, Jackie Chan was the voice of Monkey, but, sadly, he only had about two short lines. However, I am starting to get a greater appreciation of Dustin Hoffman, who voiced Master Shifu, who'd unfortunately burdened with helping Po become the Dragon Warrior. Even though this is an animated film, Hoffman doesn't shy away from altering his voice and delivery to become the character, when it would have been just as easy to give a straight delivery so that his presence could be instantly recognized—which shows me that improving the quality of the movie was his ultimate goal.



My favorite sequence is when Master Shifu realizes the technique to bring the fighting talent out of Po. I was disappointed when this "special talent" of Po's didn't resurface more than once during the climactic battle with Tai Lung (voiced by Ian McShane), the snow leopard bent on claiming the title of Dragon Warrior for himself. I thought it would have made that sequence more entertaining than it already was.



I would definitely recommend this movie for the whole family. I don't think any kids would be disturbed by the action in this movie. It's all very stylized and there are very few, if any, visible deaths—although there are a few implied. There is even enough great sophisticated humor in it to keep child deprived adults entertained.

Movie Review: Surf's Up

They do it for the joy and the rapture and the slow-motion instant replay...

I remember 12 years ago when I was sitting in the theater watching Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story for the first time. The big selling point of the film was that it was the first all-CGI animated feature. Fortunately it also ushered in the fantastic era of Pixar story telling that always exceeded their technological feats.

So now fast forward to 2007 where hand drawn animation has been relegated to daytime animated cartoons and direct to DVD releases and CGI animation has become so commonplace that the story has to be interesting or entertaining enough to draw in audiences, and not just the fact that the images we’re seeing were completely hatched in a computer.

With all of this in mind, it’s so nice to see that a movie like Surf’s Up can provide computer generated visuals that instill a sense of awe, while telling a story that’s unique, touching and entertaining.

Surf’s Up is about a penguin named Cody Maverick, voiced by Shia LaBeouf (Transformers, Disturbia) who doesn’t fit in with his family in Antarctica because of his love of surfing. He soon gets his big break as a sports recruiter comes and signs him up to compete in the Penguin World Surfing Championship.

Story-wise, this film has a lot in common with the beach movies of the 1960s. There’s the mysterious surf hero named Big Z, voiced by Jeff Bridges (Tron, Seabiscuit); the goofy side-kick dude, voiced by the stereotyped Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite, Just Like Heaven); and the beach girl love interest, voiced by Zooey Deschanel (Elf, Bridge to Terabithia)—all of which kept reminding me of the Gidget movies, where the wise and seasoned surfer had to straighten out the naive newcomer.

What makes Surf’s Up so unique is that it’s filmed in a documentary style that mimics many of the reality TV shows that are on the air right now.  This is quite a daring thing to do because of how popular reality TV is—it would be easy in an animated feature to make it look too planned out to work in that format. Fortunately, the animators do an excellent job and combined with the natural voice acting, make you feel like you’re watching something that was captured live on camera instead of being painstakingly posed frame-by-frame.

So, how did this movie affect me? Well, let's just say that when I watched Cars, it didn’t make me want to drive race cars; when I watched The Incredibles, I didn’t want to go out and become a superhero (well, at least no more than usual); but by the time Surf’s Up was over, I was actually getting excited about the prospect of going out and learning how to surf! The CGI animation was so expertly done that I was actually feeling like I was getting a taste of what the sport is actually like. Over the last few years I’ve been lamenting the fact that the movie industry has all but abandoned traditional, hand-drawn animation, but here is a movie that would definitely not have been as effective if it was done any other way.

I think that Surf’s Up was hurt by all of the recent penguin movies. I for one sighed a bit when I saw the first advertisement for it, but take my advice—forget all you know about March of the Penguins or Happy Feet, put on Surf’s Up and get ready for a fun ride!

Movie Review: Cars

Knowing that I’m a big Pixar fan, I decided that I would try to be as impartial as possible in watching the new movie, Cars. I did a good job too—I thought. At first I was jaded as I heard Randy Newman’s Disney/Pixar logo fanfare at the beginning and I thought, “Oh yes, this is a John Lasseter film and he ALWAYS uses Randy Newman.” Then I was cynical as the movie started and I thought, “Is this going to be an hour and a half long Chevron talking car commercial?” And then the race began… I was hooked.

The story is about Lightning McQueen, voiced by Owen Wilson (Wedding Crashers, Shanghai Noon), a rookie on the racing circuit with a huge fan base and even larger ego. When his arrogance leads to botching his easy victory which ends up being a three-way tie, a showdown race is scheduled between the three winners in California for the following week.


On the way to California, his impatience causes him to be stranded in Radiator Springs, an old forgotten Route 66 desert town with an unusual automobile population. It’s here that he learns that his one-man-team/win-at-all-costs mentality is not the way to find true happiness and make real friends.


Pixar definitely is the top CGI animation studio for technological innovation and it showed in the smoke left by the squealing tires and the visual depth of the crowds in the opening racing scenes. The reflections on the cars actually made me think that they must have used real cars in places. The realism was amazing!


As with all Pixar films, their technological prowess never upstages the depth and charm of their characters. Owen Wilson is perfectly cast as the self absorbed speedster, and the Radiator Springs gallery of misfits all have their special charm and appeal. Tony Shalhoub (Monk, Galaxy Quest) does a perfectly unrecognizable accent as the obsessive Luigi, the European auto mechanic; Paul Newman (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting) has a powerful presence as the road weary Doc Hudson; but perhaps the most memorable of the bunch will be Larry the Cable Guy (Larry the Cable Guy), who voices the innocent and brash Mater, the tow truck.

I have to say that Pixar has done it right again. While I wouldn’t classify this as my most favorite of their movies, it in no way tarnishes their reputation for putting out the finest in CGI Animation, if not the finest in family entertainment.

I dare you not to enjoy this movie.

Movie Review: Over the Hedge

Over the Hedge
Rated: PG
Voices by: Bruce Willis, Garry Shandling, Steve Carell, Wanda Sykes, William Shatner, Nick Nolte, Thomas Haden Church, Allison Janney, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Avril Lavigne.
Directed by: Tim Johnson and Karey Kirkpatrick

This movie begins with RJ (Willis) sneaking into the cave of a hibernating bear named Vincent (Nolte) and attempting to steal his enormous stash of food. Caught in the act and accidentally destroying the pile as he tries to get away he is given a week to restore the trash or Vincent will kill him. RJ next runs into a little "family" of assorted animals led by Verne (Shandling). While the family has been hibernating for the winter their forest has been surrounding by a huge sprawling suburban development and a large hedge. RJ recruits them all to forage for food over the hedge. What they don't know is that RJ plans to take the fruits of their labor and turn it over to Vincent. What RJ doesn't expect is to find the real meaning of family.

This is a very well done movie. The writing and acting is very good. The story is well conceived and is perfect for children (I saw it with my 5 year-old), but has enough substance and genuine funny moments to capture adults. It's nothing deep to be sure, but it's certainly a fun way to spend an evening. All of the characters are fun and I think almost everyone will enjoy the character Hammy (Carrell).

My recent review of The Wild complained about the animation of the animals. The animation here looks much better and the scenes are well constructed and interesting. There is nothing particularly remarkable to say about the movie other than that it really holds together, entertains its audience and delivers on what you'd expect.

Recommended for Adults: Definitely fun entertainment.
Recommended for Kids: Definitely.
Overall: Very well done movie.

Movie Review: Corpse Bride

Corpse Bride
Rated: PG
Voices by: Johnny Depp (Victor), Helena Bonham Carter (Corpse Bride), Emily Watson (Victoria), Tracey Ullman, Paul Whitehouse, Joanna Lumley, Albert Finney, Richard E. Grant, Danny Elfman
Directed by: Tim Burton and Mike Johnson

I remember seeing the preview for the Corpse Bride in the theater and finding myself surprised at wanting to see it, not being a big Tim Burton fan (sorry my favorite colors aren't black and gray). I then completely forgot about it, and it came and went while pulling in a decent $50M+ at the box office. I chipped in my own $3.99 for pay-per-view this weekend and was very pleased.

The story is taken from a 16th century Jewish fairy tale where a young groom enroute to his wedding sees a stick coming out of the ground that looks like fingers and jokingly puts the ring on the finger and says his wedding vows only to find himself...


In this version Victor (Johnny Depp) is the shy son of a nouveau riche fish merchant who has been promised to Victoria (Emily Watson), the beautiful daughter of an aristocratic, but dead broke, family. Neither have met, until the day before the wedding at the rehearsal. They fall in love, but Victor just can't get his part of the ceremony right in the rehearsal and the priest threatens to call it off. Victor walks out of town into the woods to practice, and like the fairy tale, finds himself married to a corpse. Emily (Helena Bonham Carter) is a very lovely looking corpse with a maggot living behind her right eye. She is thrilled to be married after all this time (after being killed by her own fiancé just before marriage) and they find themselves in the land of the dead. The Land of the Dead is colorful, bright, and vibrant compared to the dark and cold world above. It's one happy place with musical numbers and a big wedding party. Naturally Victor tries to call this off and escape back to the land of the living. No one down below sees any reason why he can't be married to a corpse even if he is still a bit squishy.

Now I won't tell the whole story, but I will say that it's an enjoyable ride. The music is downright catchy and the story moves right along. The movie is a technical masterpiece of stop-motion animation. Much more rewarding visually and in every other way than the hyper-realistic animals in the recent "The Wild" for instance. The characters have real depth and I found myself genuinely engaged in their story. There are many memorable bits of dialog and imagery, like when Emily gives him a wedding present, that is the bones of his dead dog, that suddenly comes to "life".

Recommended for Adults: Sure, I think you'll like it.
Recommended for Kids: Sure, there are a few scary moments, but nothing too serious, my 2-year old daughter enjoyed it.
Overall: Very nice movie.

Movie News: Meet the Robinsons

With all of the negative comments about the floundering creative soul of Disney over recent years, there’s one bright glimmer of hope for me that would have been encouraging even if it hadn’t been recently announced that Disney was acquiring Pixar. And that glimmer of hope is the forthcoming animated film Meet the Robinsons, which is due out Spring 2007.

I think that most of the best Disney films come when they have choice, time-tested source material to draw from, and in this case their source material is the book A Day with Wilbur Robinson, by William Joyce—a fun adventure where a young boy goes to see his best friend Wilbur and gets a grand tour of Wilbur’s zany family.

Joyce seems to have a good relationship with Disney and was the creative mind behind Rolie Polie Olie, the computer animated show for preschoolers on The Disney Channel. One of his other books, George Shrinks, was turned into a traditionally animated series on PBS Kids. Both shows are favorites in my household.

Because of the simple plot of the Robinsons book, Disney has added quite a lot of detail to flesh out a complete movie storyline. There are also reports that the creative folks at Pixar have been doing some last minute touch-ups on plot points to clean up some things that have been lacking—yet another reason to be relieved at the proposed merger.


So according to the Disney press release, the story in the movie is about an ambitious young inventor named Lewis who creates a Memory Scanner that he hopes he can use to retrieve early memories of his mother and reveal why she put him up for adoption. Before he can use it, though, the dastardly Bowler Hat Guy steals it. Lewis then meets Wilbur Robinson who whisks Lewis away in a time machine where Lewis meets the Robinson clan and tries to hunt down the Bowler Hat Guy. In the process, Lewis discovers the amazing secret of his future family.


I do have one concern about the story though, and that’s the story thread about adoption. As adoptive parents, my wife and I try to be as open with our daughters as we can so there’s no big surprise some day when they find something out. But I get concerned when there are stories or movies that introduce a negative stigma about being adopted—making it seem like adopted children are loved less because someone decided to give them away. I know from personal experience that this is not true. Both of my daughters’ birth mothers were very loving and it was no easy decision to do what they did. I can only thank them every day for the rest of my life. I’ll be checking this movie out before showing it to my daughters because I don’t want them to think that being adopted is bad.


Other than that, I think this sounds like a fun tale and a good family adventure. You can view the trailer online and see that the animation really looks top notch. I look forward to seeing this movie and hopefully having my concerns assuaged.

Movie Review: The Wild

The Wild
Rated: G
Voices by: Kiefer Sutherland, Janeane Garofalo, Richard Kind, Eddie Izzard, Greg Cipes, James Belushi.
Directed by: Steve "Spaz" Williams


"The Wild" is the newest Disney animated film to hit theaters. All I can say is - smart move on buying Pixar. It's not that the film is bad, it's got all your basic formula things down just fine - it just lacks any real magic. The basic premise is that Ryan the Lion lives in the zoo and wants to go discover The Wild as it has been described to him by his Father, Samson the super-lion. Samson has made himself into a super-hero in the eyes of his son with his outlandish stories of bravery and courage.

Ryan pouts about being stuck in the zoo and living in the shadow of his father and runs away and climbs into a shipping container that some pigeons said would take him to the wild. He falls asleep in the container and wakes up just as it is locked and put on a truck to go back to Africa (I guess). Of course he changes his mind at this exact moment, but it's too late. (No you did not fall down a rabbit-hole and end up in a review of Madascar - I'm describing The Wild here). Meanwhile Samson discovers that Ryan is trapped in this crate and runs after him to rescue him, along with his buddies that include a snake, a giraffe, a squirrel, and a 90% irritating koala bear from London named Nigel. I think you can more or less imagine the rest, although the part where a herd of wildebeasts worshipping Nigel as a God did surprise me. Surprise - not amuse, let's be clear about that.

One thing standing between this film and magic is that the major character Samson is basically a cowardly Lion who has been living a lie, and Ryan is a whiny little brat. While these character flaws are ultimately resolved through normal heroics, there was never a sense for me of relating to them or wanting anything for them. Nigel, the funny Koala has some genuinely funny moments, but his gags and lines miss more often than they hit.

I found the animation a bit irritating, but I can't quite put my finger on what was wrong. There were portions that I thought were very well done and others that weren't. It seemed to me that certain motions weren't fully executed and seemed to have segments of the motion missing. In many ways the detail was excellent, but overall it seemed a bit unsteady to me.


All that said, if you are under the age of 10 I can definitely recommend the film as it does have some charm, some good music, and you will probably find Nigel 0% irritating and 100% funny. My 8 year-old loved it. If on the other hand you are a self-respecting adult you will want to like this film, you really will, but you just won't be able to - or you will love it and will prove that I'm simply cold-hearted and jaded. Please comment and let me know.

Recommended for Adults: Not for adults.
Recommended for Kids: They'll have a great time.
Overall: If you have kids, wait for DVD or pay-per-view, turn it on and leave the room.

Movie Review: Chicken Little

"Modern Mallard says that avoiding closure can lead to molting, and I'm already small and on top of that I don't think I can handle being bald!"

It always seems like whenever a movie is made for the sake of something other than the story, it never fails to disappoint. For example, is there any doubt in anyone’s minds that the Star Wars prequels were little more than special visual effects portfolio pieces for Industrial Light and Magic? If you need proof, just listen to the commentaries or watch the behind the scenes stuff and take note of how often the story is talked about in comparison to the effects and production.

I had this in mind as I sat down to watch Disney’s Chicken Little. This was the first major effort by Disney to produce a CGI animated movie solo instead of in conjunction with their long time associate Pixar. Because of this, I couldn’t help but compare it to the Pixar productions as I watched it and by the end I decided it was more a showcase of their CGI animation capabilities than a movie they decided to make because the story was worthy.

But why? It had all of the cool, trendy CGI graphics and animation. What I found it lacking was heart and a well thought out story. From the trailers, one would believe that it’s all about an alien invasion, but I thought that it took too long to set up that situation and then when we finally do see the aliens, they’re gone before you know it.


The story is basically this: a little misfit chicken, named Chicken Little (shocker), is ostracized by the town he lives in because of his seemingly false claim that the sky was falling which sent the town into frenzy. In his efforts to prove him self to the town he finds that what he wants most is to prove himself to his father.

That alone sounded great to me. I really had high hopes that I’d be surprised by this movie and find that it was actually a touching father/son relationship flick. The problem is they just let it hang. It seemed like towards then end that they must have written in the script, “comedic alien invasion,” and let the gags fly. When it came to resolving the father/son conflict, there was no real bonding between father and son, but it was just that the dad turned into a pushover wanting to cater to every whim of his son’s. To me, that was unsatisfying.


But did I hate it? No. Much of it was very funny! As a comedy it worked well. I liked the premise, it just seemed like it was made up of parts of 4 different movies and it could have been great if it had just focused on one. I also like movies that are funny, but end up making us feel good about ourselves and the experience we had, it seemed like Disney was just in it for the laughs in this one.

I wish they could have focused more on one of the included plots to make this movie a bit more cohesive. Let’s see, is it a story about a misfit kid and the heartache of feeling that the whole world is against you? Is it about an ingenious kid whose incredible dexterity and ability to improvise saves the town? Is it about a father who doesn’t know how to identify to his son because he’s not as coordinated or athletic as he (his father) used to be? (A point that doesn’t jive with some of the stunts we see Chicken Little pull off throughout the movie) Is it about an alien child who accidentally gets abandoned on earth and has to be rescued by local kids and given back to the alien parents before interstellar war breaks out? (Hmm, sounds like E.T.) Any of these stories would have been fun to explore with the others becoming sub plots, but there’s really no clear main story for the movie.


But my kids enjoyed it. And I didn’t find anything in it that was offensive, except for the obligatory burp humor to make kids giggle. If I had to compare it to another movie, I would say it’s a lot like Dreamwork’s Madagascar—big on laughs, but only so-so on heart.

Coming Soon: Cars

If there’s any studio that I’d be willing to give a “free pass” to—meaning that I’ll go see anything they make whether or not the initial previews interest me—that would have to be Pixar Animation Studios.

Pixar is the only studio I can think of that fosters an environment conducive to developing a great story above everything else. True, they are on the cutting edge of CGI technology, and have developed many of the tools used by many in the industry, but when one of their movies is on I never sit back and ogle at their technical prowess, I’m enthralled by the story.

Another thing that I really love about Pixar, is that it never talks down to the kids and never thinks that crude humor and innuendo are the only ways to keep adults who are watching the show interested. I’m never worried that my kids are going to start saying words they shouldn’t (like I was from Dreamwork’s Antz) or that they were going to ask me to explain what something meant (like why Pinocchio wearing women’s underwear was such a big deal in Dreamwork’s Shrek 2). Pixar’s movies are sincerely funny and sophisticated.

Why am I bringing this up? Because Pixar’s new movie Cars is due to be released in the theaters June 9th, 2006 and I’m not really all that keen on the concept of the story. I can’t help but think, as I watch the trailers, that this movie is going to seem like a 90 minute Chevron talking car commercial.



But, I will see it and I’m expecting to thoroughly enjoy it. Why this dogged optimism you may ask? Well, I guess it’s in large part faith in the director, John Lasseter. He was the one responsible for Toy Story, Toy Story 2, and A Bug’s Life. But not only that, if you listen to Brad Bird’s commentary for The Incredibles, you’ll hear how many times John Lasseter told him to do what it took to tell the story—that was his primary concern even if it meant increasing the budget or the running time. If you recall, The Incredibles was a remarkably long movie for an American made animated film.

So, from a Disney press release, the story of cars goes like this: “Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson), a hotshot rookie race car driven to succeed, discovers that life is about the journey, not the finish line, when he finds himself unexpectedly detoured in the sleepy Route 66 town of Radiator Springs. On route across the country to the big Piston Cup Championship in California to compete against two seasoned pros, McQueen gets to know the town’s offbeat characters – including Sally (a snazzy 2002 Porsche voiced by Bonnie Hunt), Doc Hudson (a 1951 Hudson Hornet with a mysterious past, voiced by Paul Newman), and Mater (a rusty but trusty tow truck voiced by Larry The Cable Guy) – who help him realize that there are more important things than trophies, fame and sponsorship.”



Sounds like it could be a heartwarming tale if you ask me, and with it’s G-rating, definitely something I won’t think twice about taking the family to.

On a side note, my interest in the future of Disney animation took a great leap when I heard that Disney was acquiring Pixar. But not only that, John Lasseter is the new Chief Creative Officer of their animation studios. Already there has been a stop put to production of many projects. Hopefully all of the retooling will be a good thing and we may even see traditional animation return? I hope so. Milt Kahl, one of the early Disney animation veterans said in the 70s, that the problem with Disney features was that “Walt had to go and die.” Walt Disney was the heart and soul of everything Disney put out. Hopefully John Lasseter will be just the person to bring it back.

Movie Review: Ice Age 2, The Meltdown

What do you get when you end a movie with a Wooly Mammoth, a Sabertooth Tiger, and a Sloth deciding that they can be their own herd no matter how weird that is? You get a sequel that has a mandate to show us how many more odd combinations of herds there can be. Case in point: a female Mammoth who thinks she's a possum.

Now that's not to say Ice Age 2: The Meltdown is a bad movie, it's just that you loose something once the original three have decided that they are going to be a family. You miss the trust issues, the biting banter, and the fear that the tiger is just going to up and eat them. So now that they've set up this "any kind of a herd is OK" motif, they wind up stretching it out so much that the story never quite seemed very fresh to me.



Don't get me wrong, though. It was funny and entertaining. There were many times where I laughed out loud along with the rest of the audience and there wasn't anything in it that made me wish my kids weren't there. It's a good family film. The art and animation is superb in it as well.

In a nutshell the story goes like this: all of the animals live in an area of land that's surrounded by a glacier, which appears to be melting. After a warning by a buzzard, they all realize that they need to make it to this "boat" so they can survive once the ice wall breaks down. As the story's McGuffin, this premise seemed to work fairly well, but there were so many times the characters got sidetracked that it seemed like they either didn't believe the flood was coming, or didn't care.

There were two moments in the movie where I thought that they had actually run out of material and were just throwing in things to fill up their running time. One was a musical number and the other was a nighttime detour that Syd went on. They were cute, but had next to zero impact on the rest of the movie.



So would I recommend this movie? Well… maybe. I saw this with my wife and kids and we all enjoyed it. It was a fun day out which was more about spending the time with the kids and filling up on popcorn, pop and Skittles. Everyone had a good time and I thought it was money well spent. But I don't think I'd rush out to see it if it was just myself and my wife, or some friends. I think instead I'd wait for it to come out on video... or just watch the original.

Movie Review: Howl's Moving Castle

The only Japanese animation that I’ve seen is Star Blazers, back when I was a kid. I really enjoyed it, but I think the advent of Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh and Digimon turned me off of the whole genre.

Earlier this year, however, I saw the trailer for Howl's Moving Castle, and I had to re-watch it two or three times just to take it all in. Every second of it seemed like a work of art. I had also heard some positive things about the movie that made me want to see it.

Well, after searching for it at my local video store and seeing that their one copy was always rented, I grew desperate and went ahead and bought it and watched it with my 8-year-old daughter.

In short, I loved it. I loved just about every moment of it! Every frame of this movie could be framed as a work of art. I’ve never seen a traditionally animated movie with backgrounds that had so much depth and realism as this one.

And the story was great too! It’s a story that could be compared to the fantasy of The Wizard of Oz, with it’s unique characters and surreal vistas. There are a few moments where it’s very clear that many people will interpret what they are seeing very differently.

Howl's Moving Castle is a fantasy about a young girl name Sophie who has an encounter with a mysterious wizard named Howl. Sophie is soon transformed into a 90-year-old woman by the jealous Witch of the Waste. Knowing that she can't stay in her home in her transformed state, Sophie sets out on a journey to find some way to break the spell and return herself to normal. What follows is a wonderful adventure.

There were only two things that distracted me initially in this movie. The first was that I didn’t think there was enough of a relationship built between Sophie and Howl at the beginning of the movie. I wished I could have seen more of Sophie before she was transformed, and maybe have seen that there was more of an emotional connection between the two of them.

The second was a technical animation issue. In traditional animation (Disney feature stuff) there is usually one drawing for every two frames of film, which is called animating “on twos.” In CGI animation, it’s usually one new image for every frame of film, or “on ones” which gives the animation a much more fluid look. I was expecting at least “twos” in this feature film, but it was clear at the beginning to me, that this movie must have been animated on “threes” or “fours” which made the movements a little distractingly choppy. I quickly got used to it though and didn’t mind it as much.

Pixar directors Pete Docter and John Lasseter and Disney were in charge of creating the English language translation and dub for this release and the voice cast features such notable actors as Lauren Bacall (Key Largo), Christian Bale (Batman Begins), Jean Simmons (Spartacus—no Bryan, not the one from KISS), and Blythe Danner (Meet the Parents). Never once during this movie did I experience the “Godzilla effect” where their mouths are saying something their voices weren’t.

I don’t believe I’ve ever left an animated movie with such a feeling of wonder as I did with this one. I really want to watch it again to relive the majesty of it and to see if there’s anything that I can understand in a new way from it all.

I would highly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys animated films as a viable source of entertainment and story telling. This is not a comedy—though it does have its funny parts. It is a fantasy with a more cinematic than cartoony feel to it.

By the way, as one of the biggest signs that my daughter liked it, she immediately wanted to play it with me pretending that I was Howl and she was Sophie. She was even doing a British accent. She also kept asking me if she could watch it again, and again…

Now my homework assignment is to check out other Studio Ghibli productions such as Spirited Away, Nausicaa, and Princess Mononoke. Any suggestions?