Top 10 Animated Horses

Special mention to the horse from "What's Opera Doc" for being fantastic

Chinese New Years just ended, and 2014 marks the year of the horse! Because of this event, and because the internet likes lists (my Top 10 Animated Dragons article is still one of my most popular blog entries) I present to you my top 10 animated horses! Because why not!

Yup plain and simple, the horse character has been around pretty much as long as animators needed to do a 4-legged walk cycle, but these horses, in my opinion, go above and beyond their colt brethren to become the best of the best! I'm only looking at horses represented in animation (comics and video games are a neigh,) and only 1 entry per franchise. Points for horses with memorable personalities, cool design, or just something funny or interesting about them. So without further ado, let's get started!

10) Bullseye (Toy Story)

It's kind of a played out cliché in western animation: if you want to make an audience connect with a non-human character, make it act like a dog. People love dogs. Whether it be objects, like a lamp in Luxo Jr., or more recently a moose in Frozen, dog mannerisms are always a sure fire way to instantly love a character, even if you don't pick up right away that this thing, that is clearly not a dog, is acting like a dog.

Horses, being a reoccurring companion to hero characters, are no stranger to being "dogified," but Bullseye from the Toy Story franchise is definitely the least subtle about it. From jumping up and licking people on the face, to his fierce loyalty, I in fact find Bullseye's dog-like behaviour to be even a little too on the nose. However, what saves Bullseye from being cut on this list is the way he's animated. Being a toy horse, Bullseye moves with the same lanky, rag-doll movements that his owner Woody does. It's this extreme acting and overshooting action that makes Bullseye fun to watch for me. His animation kinda reminds me of the Camel with the Wrinkled Knees from Raggedy-Ann and Andy...but, you know, more energetic...and not as depressing...and also not a camel...

9) The Headless Horseman's Horse (The Legend of Sleepy Hollow)

Most of the time animated horse characters are companions to the archetypal hero. Usually they're kind, bright, loyal, or as mentioned before, dog-like. Very rare do we get a truly terrifying beast of a horse....but that's what we got here!

The Headless Horseman from Disney's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (one of two shorts on Disney's film The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad) is a superbly animated force of terror. His pursuit of Ichabod in that short is a great blend of fun and scary, and of course it would be nothing if he wasn't racing along on his manic horse from Hell! (May not actually be from Hell, the ending's a bit vague.) With his blood red eyes, this horse means business...and in this case, business is killing you! Because after all, what's the Headless Horseman without a horse?? Just...."The Headless," and that's not nearly as scary. So points for evil Hell horse for being different, and being an essential part to an awesome villain.

8) Khan (Mulan)

Okay, not all of these are Disney horses, I swear!! But I felt I needed to put Khan in here somewhere. Not as memorable as other horses on this list, or even as memorable a character in this movie, but I really liked Khan because this horse was so...well...horse-like. There was very little "dogifing" like other animated horses, yet he still had a very distinct personality. He was a warhorse. A horse who is serious and brave; the perfect companion for Mulan to ride into battle! And on top of that, the character design of this horse is truly awesome. He looks very muscular, with such a thick neck, but skinny legs. Plus the style of drawing on Khan goes with the movies Chinese painting motif, making this horse a unique looking entry to the list. Not as memorable, but I think cool enough to make it to number 8. 

7) James Baxter the Horse (Adventure Time)

Jaaammes.....Baaaaxteeeer!

Hurray!! It's time for some animation inside jokes!! So...

To those not in the know, the Adventure Time episode "James Baxter the Horse" might seem odd. The plot is there's a horse named James Baxter who balances himself on a beach ball while saying his name in a horse whiney-like way. Whenever anyone sees James Baxter the Horse, they get so happy that they forget all their troubles. Finn and Jake see this, and they try to emulate what James does, but they just can't seem to spread cheer the same way James Baxtor the Horse can, even outright failing.

Folks watching this episode might have some questions like, "who the hell thought up this plot?!" or "why is that horse really, really well animated?!" Well, the answer to that last question is because legendary animator James Baxter (animator on films such as The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and The Hunchback of Notre Dame) guest animated the titular horse (as well as provided the neighing of his name.) The quality of animation on the Horse is so much more detailed compared to the simplistic and stylish characters that normally populate Adventure Time, it really does cheer people up, both in and out of the show. But even more to that, if you read between the lines of this episode, it could be a metaphor for a wishful animator (maybe even Adventure Time creator, Pendleton Ward) wanting to be as good as these classic Disney animators. However, failing to reach that quality of work, they just have to appreciate the work they do and embrace their own style and techniques. But hey! That's just how I read the episode. Maybe I'm not supposed to read too much into a show where a horse balances on a beach ball...but hey! At least that's a good segue to...

6) Spirit (Spirit: Stallion of Cimarron)

Maaaaatt Daaamooon horse

Yes, James Baxter (the animator, not the horse) was the supervising animator on the titular character from Spirit: Stallion of Cimarron (there's your reason he was a horse in Adventure Time! Ya happy now??)

Now, I know a lot of people haven't seen this movie...and let me say, if you want some beautiful animation, check this shit out! Oh man! Most of it is stunning sweeping shots, amazing scenes of running horses, and just jaw dropping animation. And it's one of the few 2D animated features done at DreamWorks Animation, so that alone makes it a unique feature. Like Khan from Mulan, Spirit's horses are more realistic in their horse animation. In fact the main character, Spirit, doesn't talk or make pop culture references, or anything! Well...there is internal horse monologues provided by Matt Damon, but still!

Now, to be fair, the character of Spirit is a bit bland, but in my book you can still get to number 6 on this list if you just look really awesome. And yeah...the animation, again, is just really awesome. If you missed this film and are craving the traditional hand-drawn animation of yesteryear, track this one down. 

5) Derpy Hooves (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)

Ermahgerd! Mah lerttle perner!

Ok, you knew there had to be at least one mention to My Little Pony on this list, right? And I know technically this entry is a pegasus, not a "horse" per say but you know what? Fuck it. It's my list. If I want a wing-a-ling pony on my list, gosh darn it I'm gonna have my wing-a-ling pony! And truly, out of all the My Little Pony characters I could have put on this list, no character is as "special" as the fan named character Derpy Hooves. 

As the tale goes, this grey background pony appeared in the first episode of the series with inexplicable crossed eyes. Was it a slip up? A layout artist having some fun with the background characters? Who knows! But pony fans loved this goofy background character, dubbing her with the moniker "Derpy Hooves." But wait! It gets better! The show's creator, Lauren Faust, loved the fan reaction so much that the character was brought back, messed up face and all, to be hidden in future episodes! Starting with their second season the cross eyed wonder played the role of "Where's Waldo." Eventually, even the character name "Derpy" became cannon within the series! Finally Derpy made her way into an episode in a talking role, even being called by name. But of course, controversy over if this character was poking fun at the mentally handicapped was brought up (which, you know, is totally a legit complaint,) and since then all official mention of this character's name was removed. However, love for the pony formally known as Derpy still persists. Even after they removed her name from episodes, Hasbro released a special edition 2012 Comic-Con figure of Derpy just for the fans! The figures don't have the name of the character anywhere on the package...but we all know who she really is...we all know... (PS, it's Derpy.)

4) Horace Horsecollar (Mickey Mouse)

Ohhh...Mr Horsecollar... What happened to this character?! At one point he was pretty much Mickey Mouse's best friend and sidekick! Mickey frickin' Mouse! And hell! This rubber hosed horse even has the honours of being co-created by the same duo that made that massively marketable mouse: Ub Iwerks and Walt Disney! And Disney himself originally voiced Horace, much like when Mickey first got to speak! So I ask again...what happened to him?!

I guess the easy answer is he just got pushed aside. Other Disney side characters Goofy and Donald were, in many ways bigger and more interesting personalities than good ol' Horace. Horace wasn't as dumb as Goofy, or as temperamental as Donald. So even though he was still featured in groundbreaking Mickey Mouse shorts like "The Band Concert," this "cheerful know-it-all" character just remained on the sidelines of Disney history. He remained more prominent as a side character in the Disney comics for a while, acting as a detective partner with Mickey, but even that faded away eventually. I've always had a soft spot for this relatively obscure character though. And hey! We're even beginning to see a reemergence of Horace! Whether it be self-referential about his obscurity in the Epic Mickey video game series, his role as the technician on the TV series House of Mouse, or as a main character in the 2014 short that appeared before Frozen in theatres, Get a Horse, we're seeing a lot more of Horace! Could this be the triumphant return to form for one of animations long-lost sidekicks?? ....no....probably not. But still! It's cool that he's still around. Keep on truckin' Horsecollar. Keep on truckin'.

3) Twinkles the Wonder Horse (Dave the Barbarian)

Ok, if you haven't seen Dave the Barbarian, you should probably get on that. One of the, in my opinion, many underrated Disney saturday morning cartoon shows from the early 2000s, Dave the Barbarian was created by Doug Langdale (creator of The Weekenders) and Savage Steve Holland (creator of Eek! The Cat) and the result is...strangely a perfect blend of those two shows, but with a fantasy setting. It's weird, I know, and by all accounts I would say that wouldn't be a good mix of styles but...surprise! The show is actually really hilarious. It parodies tropes and clichés commonly found in fantasy, has a biting and oftentimes brilliantly sarcastic script, and features some wonderfully strange side characters. For example, the minor character Twinkles the Wonder Horse. A girly looking horse with a beautiful pink and yellow mane who talks like Christopher Walken and has a extreme case of depression.

...yeah...the jokes just write themselves. Twinkles the Wonder Horse: nuff said. 

2) Maximus (Tangled)

This character made this movie for me. Not to say Tangled isn't a good movie. It's fine. It has a nice fairytale plot, an interesting villain, decent songs, yadda, yadda, yadda. But this horse! My God this horse! This took me by surprise!

There's been so many horse characters from Disney, but Maximus stands out to have the most unique and fun personality of the bunch. Charged with the task of hunting down the thief Flynn Rider, Maximus quickly proves that he's more capable than the captain of the guards who's riding him. And this is where we see the sheer determination of Maximus. He's on a one-horse mission! His persistency won't let up! He's an unstoppable force! Like The Terminator....but a horse!! And that premise alone leads to some of the funniest jokes and scenes in the movie. Much like other horse characters, many dog-like characteristics are given to Maximus, but what makes Maximus even more hilarious is when they give him human-like acting to do. Actions such as shaking hands, or sword fighting (a horse in a frickin' sword fight!) just become that much more hilarious when it's animated with a regal, fairly realistically designed horse.

And hey, that leads perfectly too...

1) Mr Horse (The Ren & Stimpy Show)

Truthbomb time: I'm not a huge fan of Ren & Stimpy. Even as a kid, I just found it too juvenile. I know I'm in the minority here, but I don't know. Gross out humour never really appealed to me. And that, for the most part, was a lot of what Ren & Stimpy had to offer. But I watched it anyway. I have no idea why. It was...mesmerizing? Confusing? A bit of both?

And once in a while, a moment will catch me off guard. Sometimes a pose, or a drawing would be so wacky, so off model, so detailed in weird ways, that it would be beautiful in a strange way. And of course, sometimes there were jokes that still, despite my feelings for the show, just made me laugh. And thus we have Mr Horse, voiced by John K himself.

Mr Horse is one of those jokes that, again, baffle me. I don't even know why I love this guy, but maybe it is because, compared to the rest of the animals on Ren & Stimpy, Mr Horse looked more like a realistic horse, and stands out from the crowd simply by looking normal (relative to the rest of the cast, that is to say.) And on top of that his mannerisms as so very human. The way he talks, the way he dresses. We've seen horses acting like dogs to cute effects. We've seen horses kinda acting like humans for hilarious effect. Well here's a horse who straight up acts human in every way, and it's hilarious. The juxtaposition is so ridiculous, but he acts so serious. It's a simple joke, but for some reason, he stays in my thoughts and is the #1 horse I think of when I try to think of animated horses. 

And hey! If you don't agree with me and my list, at least Mr Horse has the perfect response for you.

Happy Year of the Horse, folks!

- Moo

Frozen (A Review)

Gosh darn, Disney!! You do not know how to market your own shit!!

This movie isn't about the snowman...if you can believe it...

I was all set to hate on this movie. I had a whole "Disney doesn't know what they're doing no more" rant prepared and everything! The previews looked dumb, the characters looked bland, the tone felt like it was trying way to hard to be "hip" (that's what the kids are saying nowadays, right? "Hip?") I just had a bad feeling about Frozen. Hell, even with the one word adjective title, it felt like I've seen all this before. I even referred to Frozen as "Tangled on ice" for the longest time leading up to this film. Well, as it turns out Disney still knows what they're doing... but Disney's marketing department doesn't know how to market this movie at all. Which is weird, cause you'd think this would be an easy sell. It's a classic Disney formula, involving huge influences from the "Broadway sensibility" that the 90s "Disney renaissance" era brought to animation, but with some awesome twists and turns that make Frozen stand out on it's own and actually ends up being a truly unique fairy tale flick. In other words: DON'T TRUST THE PREVIEWS GUYS! THIS FILM IS ACTUALLY PRETTY GOOD GUYS! REALLY!

Elsa also gets a sweet ice dress that shows off her legs... damn grrrl!

The film is loosely adapted in typical Disney fashion (in other words, incredibly loosely) from the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale The Snow Queen. In Frozen, the plot follows the characters of Anna and Elsa, two sisters who are princesses of the kingdom of Arendelle. The older sister, Elsa, is born with mysterious powers to create ice and snow. One day while playing with Anna as a child, Elsa accidentally strikes Anna in the head with her magic. The King and Queen are able to save Anna's life, but as a result they had to remove any memories of her sister's power, and keep the two sisters separate until Elsa can controls her powers. Unfortunately (and since this is a Disney movie) the parents die in a storm, leading to Elsa to become the queen. At Elsa's coronation she looses control of her ice abilities, takes off into the isolation of the mountains, and covers the kingdom in an eternal winter. This leaves Anna to go on a Wizard of Oz-like quest, meeting up with fun side characters along the way, to eventually try to meet and talk to her sister and hopefully find a way to bring back summer.

What could possibly go wrong! ...oh yeah....ice powers...

And that's only the first act! The script does a great job introducing all of this backstory in a entertaining way. But more importantly, it in no way feels forced. What's even more impressive is that once Anna starts playing the "Dorothy" role in their quest, things still don't go as predictably as you might think from a Disney flick. It's not a typical fantasy quest, as there's no dragon to slay, no evil kingdom, no big baddy at the end. There's just two sisters trying to patch things up between them.

And there in is the biggest change to the Disney formula: this is a story about two sisters. That's kind of a big deal. (And not just cause Disney can add not one, but two more entries into their highly profitable "Disney Princess" lineup.) It's amazing because the focal point for this whole story isn't about finding romance. In a Disney princess movie! It's not about romance! That is just crazy!! I mean, there is love interests in there, and they play a part in the plot, but it really takes a back seat to the true focus of this story. This film is about family. The familial love is what pushes the story forward, and the complex sister relationship is something that is not only not seen in a Disney animated feature, it's a relationship that isn't really prevalent in Hollywood movies in general. So kudos on that call Disney. Ya did good.

Professor X recruits Elsa in the Frozen 2...hopefully...

That leads me to talk about my favorite part of the film: Elsa. Oh man, do I love this character. It's wonderful to get a Disney character who is not good, not evil, just a confused shade of grey. She's far and wide the most interesting personality in this film as she's in a position where she wants to be a good sister and ruler of the kingdom, but bad things happen because of her and her uncontrollable powers. She lives in a world that hates and fears her (just like the X-Men!) and she doesn't even know how to stop what she's doing (just like the X-Men!) It's a coming of age super-power metaphor for puberty (just like....ah, you get it...) In fact, as Elsa finally lets loose her powers during her big power song "Let It Go," you can really feel her happiness and freedom in what is probably the best musical number in the film both thanks to the jaw dropping effects animation of Elsa building her ice castle, and the singing power of Broadway star Idina Menzel (who you may know as Elphaba from Wicked....wow, just clueing in that there's a lot of Wizard of Oz similarities going on in this film...neat.)

Oh yeah. And by the way, this is a musical. Surprise! Didn't know it was a musical because the previews didn't even mention this fact? Well...yeah! This is a musical. In fact, music is a huge part of this film. Kind of a big thing to sweep under the rug, Disney marketing! And maybe if you embraced it, more people would be inclined to see this frickin' film! Because, surprise-surprise, the songs are pretty awesome. But whatever, Disney marketing, I'm sure you know what you're doing. ...aaaanyway...

Did someone ask for an EPIC SONG CUE?!

The music is terrific. Much like 90s Disney films employed Broadway familiar employees of the time, here we're treated with some fun musical numbers with a very modern sensibility. Along with getting Wicked flashbacks from Idina Menzel's performance, the songs are penned from Robert Lopez, known for his comedic writing from Avenue Q and The Book of Mormon. And while of course writing for a Disney movie means no raunchy or inappropriate comedy like in those musicals, there's just a huge sense of fun, excitement and at times epic scale to the musical numbers. They're big, loud, exuberant and the centrepieces for all the major plot points. And in my opinion, that's exactly what I want from my Disney flick.

They got different hair! ....that's...somethin'...right?

Now, you might think I've pulled a complete 180 degrees on my opinion of this movie compared to my opinion of its previews, and truth be told, that's not entirely the case. I was in awe with the amazing background designs (especially Elsa's ice castle,) but the character designs...meeeh. There's really no denying the character designs play it a little on the safe side, in that the style is very similar to Tangled. Which wouldn't be a bad thing, but I felt at least in Tangled we got more of a variation between characters, with more unique personalities just from the designs. Elsa and Anna's faces have only tiny variations between that of Rapunzel's (and each other's for that matter.) And while I enjoyed the moose character, Sven, acting like a dog, there's no denying that he was trying to fill that animal sidekick role that the horse in Tangled already did so well (as well as having a much more unique personality.) All in all, most human characters I think could have been designed more interestingly, or with a dash more creativity. True it's a safe design choice, and it's not that bad, but I just kinda wish they'd push the envelope design-wise a bit more.

Graduate of the Lindsay Bluth school of dance 

On the animation side, it's looking good, but I think could've been better. There's a couple of standout character animation performances, one of which being the charmingly clumsy Anna, whose movements are absolutely beaming with personality. Other characters I kinda wished for more animation to convey more of a personality, such as the lead males, Kristoff and Hans (not bad animation mind you, just a little bland.) Then way on the other hand, there's this random Duke character, who is waaaay over the top and cartoony. It seemed like this character was forced in order to get some comic relief in there with his quick pace and awkwardly spastic movements. I know he was trying to be funny, but this character's cartoony animation didn't really fit in with the other, more realistically, animated human characters. But with that said....the effects! Oh man! The effect animation on this flick is just frickin' amazing. The snow looks amazing, and you can really tell they did tests and research on the stuff to make sure this icy wonderland looked brilliant.

Damn it snowman...you've warmed my icy heart...

Now I know what you're thinking: "you're almost finished your review, and you didn't even mention the snowman!" Yes, the snowman. Olaf. That oddly designed, obvious comedic relief that Disney has been forcing down people's throats as the main icon in their ad campaign for this movie. I thought I'd talk about Olaf last because, in many ways, he kind of embodies perfectly how I felt about this film. Going in it felt like he was forced. Really forced. Like Disney said, "you're going to watch this snowman...and you're going to love him...LOVE HIM DAMN IT!!" And I was all set to "stick it to The Man." I was totally going to reject this false snow icon! Here I thought I was gonna hate the snowman, but upon seeing him...damn it. I kinda love him. True, sometimes his antics were a little irritating, but mostly I found him charming, funny, and even a little heartwarming. And that, in and of itself, is how I see Frozen as a whole: charming, funny and even a little heartwarming. I admit that, like the townspeople who judged Elsa harshly because of her powers, so too did I judge this movie before I saw it. So please, ignore how Disney markets this movie. Ignore the fact that they're awkwardly trying to hide Disney's musical roots, or how they're not showing that this is a unique story about two estranged sisters. Just go see it for yourself and be the judge. For me, it was a great example of classic Disney storytelling tackling a new type of fairy tale for a new audience in a new age.

I guess that'll teach me to judge a snowman before I get to know him.

4/5

- Moo

Monsters University (A Review)

Wowie! It's been a while!

Oh yeah. The character design department must've had fun!

It's been 12 years since the original Monsters, Inc., which was the 4th feature produced by Pixar in 2001. It was about the time when Pixar was really hitting their stride as a studio and right before the insane boom Pixar had with Finding Nemo. And even though the characters were charming and the film did well (pretty much becoming instant classic with both kids and adults) there really wasn't any need for a sequel. Not only did they finish all of the main character's story arcs, but it also solved the world's great energy problems in a fun and satisfying way. So the only logical way to bring back Mike and Sully to the big screen would be through a prequel. And so we take our main characters back to their college days, before they were top employees at Monsters, Inc., and when they were unknown students at Monsters University.

Mike's wisely at the forefront this time around.

For those not in the know, our two main characters are James P. Sullivan (aka Sully) and Mike Wazowski (John Goodman and Billy Crystal) who meet for the first time while attending school to learn how to become scarers. Scarers are monsters who enter children's rooms and scare them because they need those children's screams to power their way of life (wow, it's kinda a weird concept now that I've actually written it all down like that, but whatever. It works.) The tricky part is because this is a prequel, we already know exactly how it's all going to end. That said the film does a commendable job at keeping me guessing on how it's going to get there by having these characters start off in such a different places during Monsters University comparatively to the first movie (personality and relationship wise.) While Sully was definitely the heart and focus of Monsters, Inc., it's clear Monsters University is all about Mikey. Here Mike is an enthusiastic nerd with big dreams of becoming a scarer despite not being all that scary himself, and Sully is a lazy jock-like jerk who forgoes hard work and coasts through his classes mostly relying on his family's reputation and his natural talents.

Oh shit...just look at him! Something bad's gonna happen to this guy...

The two start off hating each other, so the film is all about how they grow to eventually become the inseparable duo we know from Monsters, Inc. It's great fun to see these two interact with each other in a new and interesting way. Not to spoil too much, but their rivalry is not only the cause of the film's major conflict, but it grows to a point where if they don't at least cooperate together, neither of them will get what they want. And once the movie ends and we get to familiar territory, it all felt like everything tied together nicely, and every piece of the puzzle finally landed in the right place. Even Randel, the villain from Monsters, Inc. voiced by Steve Buscemi, got a quick little backstory, and while they could have found a way for him to be more involved in the overarching story of this film, it was still a joy to see how he got to be so villinous.

The brothers of Oozma Kappa!

It's pretty much impossible not to compare this movie to Monsters, Inc., so let me get this out there right now: no, this movie isn't as good as Monsters, Inc., but it is really good in it's own right. Monsters, Inc. had a lot of unique things going for it that this movie just can't have because it is a prequel. Things such as the stakes being much higher in the original and the clever themes and parallels to real world energy problems. That and the "adorable factor" brought on by the human child Boo couldn't possibly be featured in this movie (due to her not even being born yet,) so don't expect any of that, which is a shame because she was one of the most memorable parts of the first movie. But you know what Monsters University is? It's fun. Hands down fun. It's a smaller, personal tale, but it's a fun one that has plenty of clever jokes for both adults and kids, and memorable characters and moments. The college setting allows for the writers to work in tons of references to college focused comedies like Animal House and Revenge of the Nerds. And it checks off all the college movie stereotypes in fun and wonderfully designed new monsters, such as the stuffy, no-nonsense dean (played by Hellen Mirren as some millipede/dragon hybrid) and the preppy, jerky frat-boy (played with wonderful ego from Nathan Fillion.) But the best gems are the new characters featured in Sully and Mike's fraternity "Oozma Kappa," which features an abundance of memorable moments from the charming "losers on campus." My favorite being Art, a newage philosophy major monster played by Charlie Day, who doesn't contribute anything of relevance to the plot, but has some great oneliners and his design is so much fun and different compared to the rest of the cast (he's like a fuzzy, purple slinky with a face! Brilliant!) Close second is Joel Murray's character, Don; a mature student whose optimistic attitude would almost put Ned Flanders to shame. Really the characters are why you come to see this movie; they're crazy fun in both their appearance  their acting, animation and their writing.

So is this Pixar's deepest film? Definitely not. Even with a very poignant 3rd act and a surprisingly dramatic monologue from Billy Crystal's Mike, its themes don't nearly resonate as deeply as something like Wall-E, Up, Ratatouille, the Toy Story franchise, or even Monsters, Inc. But is it one of Pixar's funniest films? Well... actually, probably. It's up there! Director Dan Scanlon doesn't have many productions under his belt, but he really managed to make this a creatively fun feature with some genuinely hilarious visual humour and even some much needed heart to this story. So if you want a fun time, something to just take your mind off and watch some enjoyable animation, this is definitely a good one to see. And while it's not as great as Pixar in it's heyday  it's definitely a step up from what they've been producing in recent years.

And at the very least, hey! At least it's not another Cars sequel!

...ugh...

4/5

- Moo

Tron: Uprising (First Impressions)

Welcome back to The Grid.

Ahhh, Tron! Is there anything quite as geeky as Tron? Well...ok maybe ReBoot, but apart from that, the 1982 film Tron is perhaps the pinnacle of geeky genre movies. There's lots of reasons for this. It was a great pioneer for computer graphics. It's a complex metaphor set in a personified version of a computer's mainframe. It makes reference to primitive arcade games, yet makes them cyberpunk and badass. But probably the reason most nerds connect with the franchise, and indeed why I seem to enjoy it as well, is because even though it's a property owned by perhaps the most powerful company in the world (no, not Apple, I'm talking about Disney) it still feels very much like the underdog franchise. It was panned by critics and sold bellow what was expected, but we don't care! We still like it, and no one can tell us otherwise. There's this beer from Nova Scotia called Alexander Keith's whose slogan is "those who like it, like it a lot." And that's Tron in a nutshell. It's a cult film in every sense of the word. And yet somehow, someway, one of those cult members worked their way up the ladder at Disney and proclaimed, "hey you guys! Remember Tron? Yeah, Tron! Let's do another one of those!" And boom! In 2010 we finally got a sequel in the form of Tron Legacy...and of course it got panned by critics and sold bellow expected. Whoops! C'est la vie! Ah whatever, I liked that one too. And apparently so did enough people because it must have sold at least enough tickets to spawn an animated series. Yes, the metaphorical light-cycle keeps on cyclin' as we have more Tron goodies from the house of mouse in the form of a 10 part miniseries, Tron: Uprising. Could this franchise finally be getting the love and attention it deserves? Is this a sign of good things to happen on The Grid? ...like hell would I know! I don't work at Disney. But they are throwing us niche Tron fans a bone here, so the least we can do is watch the series and be grateful there's any new Tron at all. So I watched the first episode and hoped for the best.

Very cool design work here.

The first thing I need to point out about Tron: Uprising is how it looks, which is amazing. The world of Tron has always been, and will always be, it's own distinctive style and Uprising continues that tradition. The darkest of darks mixed with the whitest of whites with streaks of blue and red light is a simple, yet striking art style that you simply can't see anywhere else other than in the Tron universe. But aside from the general aesthetics that come with Tron, there's something unique of this series that deserves to be pointed out. Much like how the 1982 and 2010 were unique in it's styles, bringing about another level of graphic fidelity for live action film, I feel that's what Tron: Uprising is doing in the world of televised animation. While the backgrounds (and the soundtrack for that matter) is definitely rooted more in 2010 film, the design of the characters are something you don't see in the standard animated series. Designed by Robert Valley, the characters all have a distinct face, most being very tall and slender with sharp shadows. Immediately it stands apart from every other action show on TV. The whole package together is so striking and unique. The closest thing I can compare it to is Aeon Fluxx, and even that isn't totally accurate.

Quick! While it's still, soak up that design folks! Soak it up!!

How the show is animated is a bit of a anomaly as well. I read in an interview that this series is a mix of 2D and 3D animation. What was animated with what, I could only make an educated guess (pretty sure the faces are 2D while the bodies and vehicles are 3D) but what's important is, again, it's a style I haven't seen before. Does it work as well as the design? ...eeeh....kinda. In big action scenes, things look amazing. The fights and the chases all look smooth and the style really gets to shine. And also when things are perfectly still you can really soak up the design (I mean, just look at these screen shots!) But where things begin to break down is in the subtel acting. You know, dialog heavy scenes with very little movement. For some reason when the characters have to act in these scenes they seem a bit clunky, or stiff, or they move not quite right. It didn't totally pull me out of the experience, but it is something worth mentioning, and maybe it's something that will improve as the series progresses.

Oh yeah. Dat Tron...

But everyone already knew that Tron looks awesome, that was never the issue. What the critics did bash it for was its focus of flash over substance. In other words, it looks pretty but the plot sucks. While I don't think the films deserved quite the criticism they got (I thought Legacy wasn't a perfect film, but I did enjoy the plot more than most reviewers did) I do somewhat see their point. Does Uprising continue this tradition as well? Well, with only part one out of ten released so far it's hard to say for sure. The miniseries will take place between Tron and Tron Legacy. As shown in the pilot, Beck's Beginning, it will follow a young mechanic program named Beck (played by Elijah Wood) who has taken it upon himself to disguise himself as the fallen hero Tron and start a rebellion against the dictatorial forces of Clu (Tron Legacy's antagonist) under the command of General Tesler (a new antagonist for the series) as they attempt to control all of The Grid. So far it looks like a basic hero's journey of a young dude fighting back against an evil force, gets trained by an old vet and eventually realizes his potential. Knowing what the status quo will be, since I've seen Tron Legacy, I feel like not much will come as a surprise to me in the forthcoming episodes, but who knows! Maybe there'll be a couple of twists coming up that I won't see coming. All in due time, I suppose. But if you're a Tron fan, you'll have lots to love here. Having the main character be a mechanic is a perfect way to showcase all these wicked light-based vehicles, and even the original actor of Tron, Bruce Boxleitner, makes a return to the character.

What I love is the seriousness and dryness in which the plot is delivered. It's taking itself very seriously, and while there's nothing unsafe for children to watch, the tone of the show is much more mature then the standard animated action show you'd see on TV today. Which, if you ask me, is a wonderful jump forward in terms of western mainstream animated content. It's one step closer to having animated shows be seen as more then just kid's stuff, which is definitely commendable.

Geometric shapes never looked so ominous.

So the question remains, should I recommend this series to anyone? Well, I'm once again thinking of that beer slogan, "those who like it, like it a lot." If you liked the tone and the plot from the previous films, then I have a feeling you'll like this too. If you didn't....welll...at least you got a lot of pretty colours to look at, right? And if you've never seen anything to do with Tron before? I think Uprising is a pretty good jumping on point. At the end of the day, it really is something different and, in some ways, new. And when something is trying something new and interesting, the least you could do is keep an eye on it, because who knows! That might be the innovator for years to come. So good luck Tron: Uprising! I look forward to returning to The Grid and seeing where this will all lead.

Recommended!

- Moo

The Secret World of Arrietty (A Review)

Whimsical...I've really overused that word to describe Studio Ghibli films... but damn it! Seeing as how I've misplaced my thesaurus, I'll just go on and say it. The Secret World of Arrietty is one frickin' whimsical piece 'o film!

The mere fact that I see posters for this movie fills me with joy

I have so much to thank Hayao Miyazaki and John Lasseter for. Miyazaki for making such fantastical films, and Lasseter for bringing these gems to western audiences. The Secret World of Arrietty is the latest film to pop up from Miyazaki and the hard working folks at Studio Ghibli, and it's everything you'd expect from a Studio Ghibli film in terms of quality. And with Arrietty, Lasseter and Disney are making the biggest push yet for a theatrical release of a Ghibli film outside of Japan (1200 screens in the US alone.) From a producer's standpoint it might be seen as a bit of a gamble, not only because it's a foreign film, but also because it's a 2D animated film in a culture where currently CG toons reign supreme. But Disney has faith this film will do well with western audiences, and after seeing the film myself I would to. Simply put, it's up there with some of Studio Ghibli's best works yet, and that truly is saying something.


First, just a quick note about dubs. I know this film isn't exactly new, having been released in 2010 in it's original Japanese. I also know that some theatres had a choice between the Americanized dub or Japanese with subtitles. Now, normally with anime I'm a "subs b4 dubs" kind of guy, but with a limited release like this I only had the option for the dubbed version where I'm living, so that's the version I'm reviewing. That being said, Ghibli is known to put extra time and effort into quality dubbing, and the voices here (for the most part) weren't distracting and actually fit the characters quite well. Apparently there's also a dub featuring UK voice actors, and I'd be interested to see that version as well as the original Japanese in the future. Now, let's get on with the film!

This picture practically oozes whimsy!

They really couldn't have picked a better source material to push to western audiences. The story is loosely based on the much loved book by Mary Norton, The Borrowers, about a race of miniature people who live in houses and take small things that human's won't notice missing in order to survive. It's a source material many western audiences would have already known growing up, and as luck would have it, it also happens to fit Ghibli's whimsical (there's that word again) style like a glove. 

In just the couple of minutes we're introduced to our titular character, Arrietty, and she is chock full of the type of zest and charm that Ghibli is known for when portraying their heroines. Soon we meet her family: the worry-sick mother and stoic father. And again, I'm reminded of why Ghibli is just a master when is comes to characters, because I instantly love this miniature family. Ghibli knows how to combine a solid script with top notch character animation, making these characters really seem unique, quirky and special. And even though the cast is small (no pun intented) it goes on to give every character a moment to shine, like meddlesome caretaker Hara, her chubby cat, or the wild borrower, Spiller. Shawn, the human boy character was the only character who took me a bit of time to warm up to, but I think that's mainly due to the dubbing, making some of his earlier lines walk a line between charming and creepy. But hey! Without spoiling anything, it's hard not to feel for the guy by the time the end credits roll.

And everybody's jealous of Arrietty's whimsical room

The tone of the film is any interesting one. It's not exactly an "action packed adventure" like Ghibli's Spirited Away or Princess Mononoke, nor is it the graceful, daydream-like pace of My Neighbor Totoro: it's somewhere in between the two. It's a good balance that I feel will appeal to a wide range of people, having quiet moments about loneliness and friendship balanced out with a fight for survival in epic miniature proportions. All of this is wrapped up in a beautiful package. The backgrounds look painstakingly beautiful (especially when seeing the grass and plants from the miniature size of a borrower.) The music is warm and lighthearted. It makes it hard not to get sucked into this tiny world.

If it's being shown where you are, I highly suggest checking this one out in theatres, not only to promote foreign animation, but to show Disney that there is still in fact a market for quality 2D works. This is a true gem for family films. The story is wonderfully heartwarming, and it's a welcome change of pace from the onslaught of American done animated features both in terms of tone and hand drawn beauty. Every element is a joy, and it all works together to make this a charming and magical little story. (That time the pun was intended.)

4.5/5

- Moo

Valentoons

Love it or hate it, Valentines Day is here again! And what better thing to do with your loved one then to sit around Feb 14 and watch some heart warming animated goodies. 

I certainly can’t think of anything better to do. Other than going dancing, going out for a romantic walk, making a special home cooked dinner, or having seeeeee…conds of said delicious homecooked meal. Regardless, I love to love some lovely cartoons about love with my lovely lover. (Love.) So here I present some Cupid-approved cartoons for you and your hunnybun, smoochy-poo or snuggly bear to watch on this V-tines Day. No need to thank me.

Pepé Le Pew

Here’s the thing. If it wasn’t for his natural stink, I think Pepé would actually be quite a catch. I mean he’s romantic, suave, dramatic, spontaneous, and persistant….well, ok, maybe a little too persistant. Yeah, leave it to Looney Tunes to make even sexual harassment hilarious. But seriously though, if you and your partner love to watch endless flirtations and unrequited love with hilarious results, you can’t go wrong with a dashing french skunk and a cat that has a knack for getting a white line painted on her in numerous creative fashions. And hey! It’s a good lesson for the guys too. Guys, it doesn’t matter how great of a man you are; never underestimate the powers of personal hygiene. 

Great Pepé cartoons include A Scent of the Matterhorn and Little Beau Pepé.

Lady and the Tramp

True, many golden-age Disney stuff has to do with love, or finding love, or being in love, but instead of heading straight to one of the many princess movies Disney has, I’m choosing Lady and the Tramp for the most romantic. That’s right. The one with the dogs and the spagetti. Why? Well, in my opinion, it’s the most complete love story. Many of the classic princess movies have the princess long for Prince Bland (honestly, they’re pretty interchangeable) and eventually they wind up together. But Lady and the Tramp? The whole movie is about their love! You see both sides meet, start off not liking each other, then overtime their love blossoming. It’s probably the most developed romantic relationship that ol’ Walt actually worked on. Plus, who doesn’t want to accidentally kiss their sweetheart while being serenaded by a glorious Italian stereotype? That’s romance, baby!

Arnold’s Valentine

Hey Arnold was one of those shows where the main character wasn’t the reason why you watched the show. I mean, sure, Arnold’s a nice kid, but the real draw was the character of Helga. She was interesting, and also what made the show memorable. Her whole shtick was she was infatuated with Arnold (sometimes to the point of being an obsessive stalker) but didn’t know how to deal with those emotions, so she ended up bullying him. Some of the more memorable episodes dealt with her emotional conundrums, but the first one to take it a bit more seriously was Arnold’s Valentine. In it, Helga got an extreem makeover to disguise herself as Arnold’s french penpal in a hope to express her true feelings for him, while at the same time Arnold has to split his night with the disguised Helga, and a date he set up with his elementary school crush. The result is both classic sit-com hilarity, as well as a strangely mature and poignent statement about love and crushes. Especially for a kid’s show in the 90s. And for Nickelodeon. If you haven’t seen it, or it’s been a while since you’ve seen it, I say check this one out. 

WALL-E

Robots in love. Let me repeat that: ROBOTS IN LOVE! It’s hard to think of a concept for a movie cuter than that. Also happening to be one of my favorite movies of all time for it’s script, sound design, animation, as well as simply having a feature length movie with hardly any dialogue, this film also get the nod for being one of the best animated love stories of all time. It’s still too young of a movie to say, but I really do hope the “define dancing” scene from this movie goes down in history as one of the most iconic scenes in animation. Do I really need to say anymore? If you have a heart, it will be melted by the time the credits roll on this one. See it with your significant other, then get ready for some extreem cuddling. Thank you, Pixar!

Happy V-tines, all!

- Moo

Thoughts on The Oscars: 2012

Ok, just a quick thing on the Oscar noms for best animated feature in 2012. The nominations are A Cat in Paris, Chico and Rita, Kung Fu Panda 2, Puss in Boots, and Rango. 

Here’s my thoughts. First of all, let’s touch on the movies that didn’t make it. I’m glad Cars 2 didn’t slip on by this year, even with their previous Pixar cred. That movie was bad, and maybe it’ll be a nice wakeup call to Pixar. Winnie the Poohis sadly missing, which is another blow to Disney continuing hard-drawn animation. That’s a bit of a shame; I wish it took the place of one of the Dreamworks movies. Tintin is probably the biggest surprise though, having it already won the Golden Globe for animation. While lots of the animation community is happy it’s not there, stating how motion capture isn’t true animation so it shouldn’t even be considered for the category, I still think it should have been up there (again, instead of one of the Dreamworks movies.) And either way, I think it just wasn’t nominated based on it’s merit as a film, and not because of the use of mo-cap. So anti mo-cap people: you can take this as a victory if you want, but at the end of the day I’m pretty sure Hollywood’s still going to qualify this as animation. So tough cookies.

I’m glad to see 2 indie flicks on there with A Cat in Paris and Chico and Rita. I’ll need to track those down as soon as I can. But at the end of the day, usually the mainstream still wins, so my money’s on the winner being Rango. It’s not a perfect film, but it was a great blend of something new with something old, and of course it looked amazing. We’ll see if I’m right come February. 

- Moo

(Also…”Man or Muppet” from The Muppets got nominated for best song…there is some good in the world…)

A Tale As Old As Time…IN THREEE-DEEEEE!!! (A Rant about Beauty and the Beast in 3D)

This past week I was able to step inside a time capsule and revisit an old animated gem. And here’s my thoughts on seeing it again for the first time since the 90s, and my thoughts on Disney’s trend of 3D rereleases. 

Originally released in 1991, Beauty and the Beast is probably one of Disney’s most prestigious animated films. It’s considered by many to be the crowning gem in Disney’s animation renaissance of the 90s, and for a long time held the honour of being the only animated film to be nominated for the best picture Oscar (until Pixar’s Up in 2010.) And now, after the success of The Lion King’s 3D efforts,Beauty and the Beast returns publicly to theatres after over two decades of its release. And it’s a good thing too, cause I actually haven’t seen the film since I was a kid!

I still loved watching it, but I was surprised. Perhaps it was the goggles of childhood nostalgia, but many of the reasons I loved the film now changed from the reasons I loved the film as a kid.

So…what more is there really to say about this movie? It’s the same animated tale that was released years ago, after all. And chances are if you’re reading this you’re already familiar with the source material. So instead of actually “reviewing” said film, I felt like I should just mention some of my passing thoughts while enjoying this particular screening.

I suppose the first thing that came to my mind is “wow…this film feels old.” Not in that the story doesn’t hold up, but rather that you would never, ever see a new flick like this in theatres nowadays. Case in point: our leading lady. Belle, while being perhaps a bit more independent then previous Disney princesses, surprisingly still feels very much the easily frightened damsel of bygone years of Disney’s golden past. That’s something I didn’t remember noticing when I was a kid. Maybe it’s the fact that since Belle we’ve had princesses who are even more self reliant, such as the titular Mulan and Tiana from The Princess and the Frog. But rather than seeing the character as a big step forward for women characters in animation, like it was back then, looking backwards it’s surprising to see just how much she has in common from princesses of Disney’s golden era, like Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. It’s not a bad thing, and I kind of like how it pays homage to the fairy tale princess archetype that Disney set before this, only making Belle a more proactive version of the archetype. Again, not bad, but just something that didn’t really cross my mind seeing this as a kid. 

Speaking of things that I liked as a kid, let’s talk about the side characters, specifically Lumiere and Cogsworth. As a kid, I was crazy about these characters and my love for them probably went even so far as to cloud the whole movie with their presence. Their antics are still amusing, but now as an adult I’m able to appreciate other characters for their subtlety. The Beast’s emotional transition was much more interesting to me now. I was able to actually see Gaston’s transformation from a harmless (albeit, ignorant) brute to a full fledged, bloodthirsty villain. And suddenly, these side characters that completely populated the movie as a kid were put…well…to the side. And I guess that just speaks volumes to classic Disney and it’s ability to craft well rounded stories that both kids and adults can enjoy, but now I can see first hand that they don’t have to enjoy it for the same reasons. It’s something that seems like a no brainer now, but experiencing it first hand was noteworthy. 

Ok, enough on looking back. I’m ignoring the big three dimensional elephant in the room and the one thing different about this screening. So, does the 3D really add anything? Well, in The Lion King’s 3D outing, there actually were some moments where the 3D really helped me get sucked into this world, such as the “Circle of Life” opening and the stampede scene. But that was about it. WithBeauty and the Beast there’s even less scenes that benefited from the 3D “enhancements.” I already found hand-drawn animation with 3D effects a bit odd, like someone holding a piece of paper infront of another piece of paper, but I’m sure weather or not a film would benefit from 3D didn’t even factor why they chose this film (and others on it’s way, like The Little Mermaid) to get the 3D treatment. So let’s call this rerelease of classic Disney movies with 3D upgrades out for what it really is: a cash grab. Disney is the master of milking old titles to get the maximum amount of profit from them (with George Lucas being a close second.) With 3D, Disney has another excuse to rerelease old movies to new audiences. I see both good and bad things that can come out from that. 

Let’s start with the bad: adding 3D to a movie does not automatically make it a better movie. That’s something I wish Hollywood would understand. The best uses of 3D are films that have, since the beginning of their development, decided to be done in 3D. That way, the choices made during the film’s development directly effects the use of 3D and the audience’s viewing experience (great examples are movies like Avatar, Hugo and Coraline.) The problem with adding 3D effects to a completed movie not made with 3D in mind is that you have no idea if the 3D would benefit it at all. In the end three things could happen: scenes could benefit from the 3D, scenes could be worsened by the 3D, or the 3D doesn’t do anything in particularly special. Beauty and the Beast falls into this third category easily, but depending on what movie they’re adding 3D to, it’s still just a crap shoot. I could go on and on about my thoughts on 3D in animation, but I won’t (at least not today.) So I’ll leave the subject for now with this thought: if 3D wants to be seen as more than just a gimmick, we need to start seeing it as less of an add-on and more as its own separate medium.

Now the good part about this 3D rerelease is, and it might seem like not much, but it’s the fact that it gives an excuse to bring this movie back. Honestly, if it wasn’t for the 3D pull, Beauty and the Beast wouldn’t get another worldwide theatrical rerelease like this. And I think that’s very important. There are many kids who probably have never seen a classic Disney musical like this. And even though it’s in “3D” let’s not forget that the animation itself is still 2D, and any excuse to get 2D animation back in theatres is a good excuse in my book. Maybe these types of events by Disney will inspire more traditional animated movies to be made in the future. Only time will tell. 

Overall, yeah, Beauty and the Beast is still awesome. Would I have seen a 2D version last week in theatres if I had the choice? Probably. But the 3D wasn’t distracting, and regardless it was well worth revisiting this epic tale, finding new things I enjoyed about it, and reminding myself why Disney is still regarded as on the finest animation companies in the world.

Now, here’s an amusing picture!

- Moo