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animated

The Bad Batch: Bad Batch, Good Series

May 4, 2021 by Steve Norton Leave a Comment

(L-R): Crosshair, Echo, Hunter, Tech and Wrecker in a scene from “STAR WARS: THE BAD BATCH”, exclusively on Disney+. © 2021 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.

It’s hardly a secret that May the 4th has taken on a life of its own.

Though it began as an internet joke by fans, Disney has leaned into this unofficial Star Wars holiday to release new content and celebrate the galaxy far, far away. Now, with the day upon us, Disney+ has taken the opportunity to begin their next chapter of the Wars world with The Bad Batch, the latest animated series from hit-maker Dave Filoni.

Admiral Tarkin in a scene from “STAR WARS: THE BAD BATCH”, exclusively on Disney+. © 2021 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.

As the creator of the original Clone Wars and Mandalorian series, Filoni has become one of the founders of modern Warsstory-telling. With an emphasis on character development and long-form narrative arcs, his style has served them well, especially with the company’s increasing emphasis on Disney+. With The Bad Batch, Filoni returns to the Clone Wars era but, rather than simply continue the franchise (again), the story now focuses on a rogue squadron (pun intended) of faulty clones. Similar to the way in which Mandalorian offers a twist on the familiar, The Bad Batch also takes the world created by Lucas and creates something exciting and new(ish).

Picking up immediately after the clone troops have executed the now-infamous Order 66, the elite troop of soldiers Clone Force 99 are left shocked and confused by what has just taken place. After having followed their Jedi generals for years in the heat of battle, suddenly they have been commanded to wipe them out. (“All of them,” growls Palpatine.) However, as members of a bad batch of clones who have been genetically enhanced above their brothers-in-arms, Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Crosshair and Echo seem immune to the Emperor’s orders. Lost and confused in the post-Clone Wars era, the Bad Batch must attempt to find their place in a much darker world than they could have imagined.

Emperor Palpatine in a scene from “STAR WARS: THE BAD BATCH”, exclusively on Disney+. © 2021 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.

With a slightly darker edge than its animated predecessor, Bad Batch has genuine potential to be the next great Star Warsseries. Featuring solid story-telling and interesting characters, The Bad Batch is entertaining and engaging from the first episode. Filoni and his crew have yet again [re]created a world that’s worth our attention. Although this set up of a rag-tag band of freedom fighters may feel familiar within the Wars universe, the fact that the group consists of Imperial troopers somehow makes it seem fresh. 

What’s more, the timing of the story feels like it actually fleshes out part of Lucas’ original vision. (Admittedly, the poor writing of the prequels leaves ample space for this to happen.) By continuing the story post-Order 66 from the perspective from anyone outside the Jedi Order, Filoni opens up the importance of that moment to those who aren’t normally featured. This is yet again another example of how Disney+ has allowed Star Wars to give smaller characters not named Skywalker their moment in the sun. (Who knew that I’d be glad to see the Kimino cloners again?) Though formulaic, it is still working… and fun to watch.

Omega in a scene from “STAR WARS: THE BAD BATCH”, exclusively on Disney+. © 2021 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.

Admittedly, the story doesn’t need the addition of a ‘kid’ to the group. (At least, not from the first episode.) With the inclusion of ‘Omega’, the Batch has someone else to protect and provide the necessary childlike innocence that they will need. This seems to be the trend for more mature Wars stories in order to ‘soften’ the groups for younger viewers (read: Yoda, Baby) but it isn’t always necessary. 

What makes this Bad Batch interesting is that, as ‘faulty’ clones, they have a unique flaw that sets them apart from other troopers: free will. Because of their genetic modifications, this crew of misfits are able to avoid the power of the Emperor’s viral commands and make their own decisions. In other words, despite their Clone DNA, this batch has the ability to make moral decisions instead of following orders blindly.

(L-R): Echo, Tech, Hunter, Crosshair and Wrecker in a scene from “STAR WARS: THE BAD BATCH”, exclusively on Disney+. © 2021 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.

This squadron has a conscience.

Usually viewed as mindless drones who execute the Empire’s wishes at will, this group of troopers with the ability to reason for themselves creates some interesting tensions. In the pilot episode alone, the frictions within the unit mount as they attempt to wrestle with the implications of disobeying orders for the first time. Having been told what to think their entire lives, their circumstances have forced them to decide the nature of their duty for themselves. On the one hand, they value the military chain of command and accomplishing their mission.

On the other, they have begun to question what’s right and wrong.

Admiral Tarkin in a scene from “STAR WARS: THE BAD BATCH”, exclusively on Disney+. © 2021 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.

For this group, morality is a new experience and offers solid potential as the story unfolds. As they process their way through a new world, Hunter and his crew are literally blank slates in search of their own identity and ethics. As a result, these new toys appear to have given Filoni and his team the opportunity to explore what makes something good or evil.

It’s also what appears to make watching this Bad Batch a good choice.

Star Wars: The Bad Batch premieres on Disney+ on Tuesday, May 4th, 2021 with new episodes airing on Fridays.

Filed Under: Disney+, Featured, Reviews, SmallFish, Star Wars, VOD Tagged With: animated, Dave Filoni, Dee Bradley Baker, Disney, Disney+, Lucasfilm, May the 4th, Star Wars, The Bad Batch, The Clone Wars, The Mandalorian

Wolfwalkers – Natural Freedom

November 12, 2020 by Darrel Manson Leave a Comment

“I’m afraid one day you’ll end up in a cage.  “I’m already in a cage!”

Wolfwalkers is the third offering from Cartoon Saloon that focuses on Irish folklore. Like the earlier films, Secret of the Kells and Song of the Sea, this is a brilliantly artistic animated film. The film is directed by Tomm Moore (who also directed the earlier films) and Ross Stewart. All three of the films are visually beautiful, as well as stories that engage and speak to our spirits. The artwork in the film draws on the art history of the time period, such as Celtic artwork.

Robyn Goodfellowe (voiced by Honor Kneafsey) in “Wolfwalkers,” premiering globally later this year on Apple TV+.

Set in 1650, young Robyn Goodfellowe (a bit of a Shakespearean reference?) has come to Ireland with her English father. He father is a great huntsman, and he has been tasked with clearing the woods of wolves. Robyn fancies herself a huntress as well, but she is forbidden by her father from leaving the fortress/city. But Robyn is determined to head out, following her father at a distance. In the woods she comes across another girl, Mebh, whose behavior is more lupine than human. Mebh, we discover, is a wolfwalker—human when awake, but when asleep her spirit roams the world as a wolf. He mother, a wolfwalker who leads the wolves, has been asleep for a long time. After a bite from Mebh, Robyn discovers that she too has become a wolfwalker. As her father and the Lord Protector’s soldiers seek to destroy the wolves, Mebh and Robyn must try to find and rescue Mebh’s mother’s wolf body so she can lead the wolves to a safe area.

As in the other films in this series, there is a strong connection to nature—and the supernatural aspect of the natural world that is grounded in Irish folklore. There is a very clear difference between life in the town and life in the outside world. One of the key differences is freedom. It is not inconsequential that the Lord Protector, a sort of royal governor, is there to assert English rule. English flags are seen frequently. A reminder that Ireland spent a great deal of time in the “cages” of English oppression. Inside the city, everything is ordered. Everyone has their place and they are expected to act accordingly. The role that Robyn is assigned as a girl does not fit with the role that she believes is really hers. All of that is very different than the life in the woods. Mebh is able to roam freely. The animals live lives in harmony with all around them. We see that freedom in a series of scenes as Robyn and Mebh frolic in the woods while we hear Aurora’s song “Running with the Wolves”.

Robyn Goodfellowe (voiced by Honor Kneafsey) and Mebh Óg Mactíre (voiced by Eva Whittaker) in “Wolfwalkers,” premiering globally later this year on Apple TV+.

A key element of the oppression that the Lord Protector brings, is the idea that it is God’s will that order is maintained, including the taming and destruction of the natural world. This view of religion is very different from in The Secret of the Kells. The first film, set in a monastery, saw Celtic Christianity as one of the keystones of Irish identity. In Wolfwalkers we see that Christianity (or any religion) can also be an oppressive force. The kind of God the Lord Protector invokes is quite different than the God who is celebrated in Secret of the Kells.

Robyn Goodfellowe (voiced by Honor Kneafsey) in “Wolfwalkers,” premiering globally later this year on Apple TV+.

While the film reflects certain political and spiritual aspects of freedom, like the other films in the series, the key is to discover the freedom within oneself and in our own nature. For Robyn and her father, the demands of the Lord Protector clash with their own sense of who they are. Even as a hunter Robyn’s father is deeply connected to the natural world. He is only following orders—orders he doesn’t feel capable of disobeying. It is only when Robyn, through her disobedience, leads him to a new understanding that he is able to stand for what is right.

An additional element is added to that concept of freedom when we consider that a bite from a wolfwalker changes the nature of someone who is bitten. Even before being bitten, Robyn was headstrong and independent. But after being bitten (and healed) by Mebh, she has a whole new understanding of the world she lives in. That bite and its transformative power is truly a gift that is bestowed on her. Perhaps another part of freedom is also being able to see the world as others do—to see our world in new ways.

Wolfwalkers won the Audience Award for Narrative Feature at AFIFest. It will be released in select theaters Nov. 13, and be available soon after on Apple TV.

Photos courtesy of GKids.

Filed Under: AFIFest, AppleTV+, Film, Reviews Tagged With: animated, Cartoon Saloon, folklore, Ireland

Self-Isolation Film Festival: Ralph Breaks the Internet

March 30, 2020 by Darrel Manson Leave a Comment

Life is going along just fine, but then a virus begins spreading, threatening everything and everyone. That is a scary prospect. How is someone supposed to respond to such a crisis? That’s a problem raised in Disney’s Ralph Breaks the Internet. So, as we continue our own struggle with a threatening virus, perhaps we can learn something from this animated tale.

This film is a sequel to Wreck-It Ralph, and focuses on the same two main characters, Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly), a somewhat dim video game character who destroys things, and Vanellope (Sarah Silverman), a cute, but sassy video game racecar driver, who happens to be a princess. In the first film they bond into a great friendship. In this film, when Ralph tries to make Vanellope’s game more challenging for her, he unintentionally causes the game to be broken. Without a new part (only available from eBay) the game will be sent off to salvage. In an effort to save the game, Ralph and Vanellope set off into the unknown world of the internet.

The film is a delightful look at this virtual world we so often tap into (as you have to read this). Of course, Ralph and Vanellope have no idea how any of that works, so their trip becomes a bit complicated. Along the way things like YouTube, search engines, and Twitter are gently teased. One of the most fun subplots deals with Vanellope encountering all the Disney princesses. The film shows that the Disney studio has enough of a sense of humor to parody itself.

But Ralph and Vanellope’s friendship is put to the test when Vanellope wants to stay in an exciting, violent driving game. Ralph, wanting to save their friendship, takes a virus to the game. But because he has ruined Vanellope’s chance for enjoyment, this may be the end of their friendship.

The key part of the film I’d like to focus on for these days of COVID-19 is the last 1/3 of the film. It is then that the virus escapes the driving game and is at large in the internet. The virus finds insecurity and begins copying that. And since Ralph is so insecure in his relationship with Vanellope, soon there are zombie-like Ralph clones everywhere, threatening to overwhelm the entire internet.

This film isn’t about the disease that has us self-isolating in our homes; it is about the other virus that has attacked our culture: the virus of insecurity and fear. Why are the store shelves empty in the toilet paper aisles? The virus hit us. The virus that made people afraid of what was coming. And when others heard that people were buying up the toilet paper, they made sure they’d have enough for the rest of their lives. And it grew and grew, like the viral Ralphs, until things started to fall apart.

We are reliant on the scientific community to help us deal with the Corona Virus, but we need to look within ourselves and our community to overcome the secondary virus. There will be toilet paper again. There will be eggs, and soup, and hand sanitizer. So, don’t let insecurity deprive others of their needs. Share. Care. Those are the cures for this secondary virus.

Ralph Breaks the Internet is currently streaming on Netflix and Disney+

Filed Under: Film, Reviews, SIFF, VOD Tagged With: animated, Disney

Dilili in Paris – Vive le Belle Époque

October 4, 2019 by Darrel Manson Leave a Comment

Dilili in Paris is a celebration of fin de siècle Paris. While it is an animated story of a young dark-skinned girl’s adventure, the core of the film is to meet some of the amazing men and women (especially women) of the Belle Époque.

The center of the film is Dilili, a young girl from the South Seas, who is part of a cultural display, but has been well educated by Louise Michel (probably the first of many names you’ll want to look up). Dilili catches the eye of Orel, a young delivery boy, who offers to show her Paris on his tricycle. He doesn’t know that she has been taken in by a Countess. But soon the two are busy going all around (and under) the city.

But all is not well in Paris. Little girls are being kidnapped. Dilili wants to solve this mystery. Along the way she meets a wide range of people of the arts and sciences: Pasteur, Marie Curie, Picasso, Debussy, Monet, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Proust, Colette, Rodin, Eiffel, the future Edward VIII, and many others. Those are just some of the names I knew. Many others required some time in Wikipedia.

We discover that a male-dominant sect, the Male Masters, is behind the kidnapping. They want to force women into complete submission. With the help of Orel, opera singer Emma Calvé, and various others, Dilili liberates the kidnapped girls and the Male Masters are defeated.

But the plot is really just the vehicle for a journey to Belle Époque Paris. The film is a bit Franco-centric in the choice of characters we meet. Early in the film Dilili started writing down the names of the people she met. I started doing the same, just to try to keep up. (I suggest you do the same.) And many of them (such as Gide, Chocolat, Anna de Noailles) were unknown to me. Even people who don’t appear as characters are often alluded to in posters or conversation. These include Jules Verne and the Lumière brothers (what movie about that time could not include them?). The film may take some liberties with time, but it really isn’t about a specific year, but a golden age.

Dilili in Paris is also a celebration of the place of women in the world. At the turn of the twentieth century, women were relegated to the background. They did not have power or votes. When we meet Colette she tells Dilili she has written books, but had to publish them under her husband’s name. The villains of the story, the Male Masters, represent not so much real people as society’s understanding of the inferiority of women. So writer/director Michel Ocelot makes a point of showing the many women who were doing important things. They may or may not have been recognized for their greatness, but as we look back, we know that there have always been women who have made such contributions to the arts and sciences. From over a century away, we may note that the contributions of women are still often buried in history. (Cf., Hidden Figures)

The film is in select theaters and available on VOD.

Photos courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films

Filed Under: Film, Reviews, VOD Tagged With: animated, fin de siècle, France, Michel Ocelot, Paris

Toy Story 4 – Old Friends, but…

June 20, 2019 by Darrel Manson Leave a Comment

After nine years, the beloved Disney-Pixar Toy Story franchise continues in Toy Story 4. It brings back the characters that we have enjoyed and even loved in the previous films. For that reason alone, I’m sure that many people will be enthralled with the newest part of the story and love this film as much as the previous three. And everyone I have heard talk about the film has had glowing opinions. But for me the glow is a bit dimmer. Encountering Woody and Buzz (and some new characters) is enjoyable, but for me the film doesn’t reach the same heights as the other Toy Story films.

When the story left off nine years ago, Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks), Buzz (Tim Allen), and the rest of Andy’s toys had been taken to Bonnie (Madeleine McGraw). (Nine years hasn’t passed in the Toy Story universe, but there is a prologue of something in that universe nine years ago). Things are different for Woody. Bonnie doesn’t play with him as much as the other toys. She even takes his sheriff’s badge and pins it on Jessie (Joan Cussack). But Woody is determined to keep Bonnie happy. When she is apprehensive about a kindergarten orientation, Woody sneaks into her backpack in case she needs him.

©2019 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

When Bonnie ends up at a table alone with nothing to do, Woody gets things out of a trash can that the inventive little girl uses to craft a toy out of a spork, marker, pipe cleaner, and glue-on eyes. Thus, Forky (Tony Hale) is born. But Forky can’t grasp being a toy. He assumes he is trash, having been used already. As he keeps trying to get back into the trash can, Woody tries to educate him about the purpose of being a toy.

When Bonnie and her parents set off on a road trip, Forky tries one more time to escape being a toy by jumping out of the moving RV. Woody follows and as they work their way back to Bonnie (who is distraught at not finding Forky), the adventures begin.

©2019 Disney•Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

On the way through town Woody sees a lamp in the Second Chance Antique store window that reminds him of his friend Bo Peep who was in Andy’s sister’s room. Sneaking into the shop, Woody and Forky encounter other toys, but the toys in the shop are ruled by Gabby Gabby (Christina Hendricks) and her band of ventriloquist dummy henchmen. Like Woody, Gabby understands the role a toy can play in a child’s life, but she has never had that because her voice box was defective. So she has been on a shelf for 60 years, hoping for a chance. In Woody, she believes stealing his voice box will give her that chance.

As the adventure plays out, Woody is reunited with Bo Peep (Annie Potts) who is running a gang of lost toys, but for them that status has brought a sense of freedom, not the fear that Woody has always understood that to mean. Bo Peep and the others help to bring all the trials and dangers to an emotional ending.

©2019 Dinsey/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

And that ending will be satisfying for most viewers. But for me, it came up short. My first reaction was that this film stripped part of the humanity away from the characters. The value of the past films was not that we were watching toys, but that we sensed that we were watching ourselves. Woody has to deal with jealousy, with loss, with a midlife crisis. Buzz is constantly dealing with his hubris. This time around, there’s much more problem solving than personal growth–even though the story has ample opportunity to deal with personal issues. For example, Woody is reaching something akin to retirement. What is his role going to be if he’s not played with? Because he has spent his life doing the job he was built for, he must feel a bit of being lost at the prospect of being put out to pasture.

The film also raises an issue about disabilities that doesn’t quite fulfill its promise. Gabby Gabby was made with a defect. That defect has relegated her to a world without love. Her story line has a happy ending, but only after her disability is fixed. Another character, Duke Caboom (Keanu Reeves), a posable action figure of Canada’s greatest stunt rider, was discarded when he couldn’t do the jumps that were in commercials. Are people’s value dependent upon their abilities or could these toys (and people like them) have been loved for other qualities they have? I wonder how someone born with a disability or deformity would find themselves in this story. Are they lovable only after being fixed?

©2019 Dinsey/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

This is a story that had the possibilities of greatness that the other Toy Story films reached. I don’t think my problem is that I’ve outgrown my love for these toys, or that I’ve moved on to flashier toys. But I think this time around they just aren’t quite the same friends that I found in the past.

Filed Under: Film, Reviews Tagged With: animated, Annie Potts, Christina Hendricks, Disney, Joan Cussack, Keanu Reeves, Madeleine McGraw, Pixar, Tim Allen, Tom Hanks

GIVEAWAY (Canada Only): UGLYDOLLS Sneak Preview!

April 24, 2019 by Steve Norton Leave a Comment

Have some fun with your family this weekend!

The free-spirited UglyDolls confront what it means to be different, struggle with their desire to be loved, and ultimately discover that you don’t have to be perfect to be amazing because who you truly are is what matters most.

When: Saturday, April 27th
Where: Toronto – Cineplex Yonge-Dundas – 10:00 am

Montreal – Cineplex Forum – 10:00 am

Vancouver – Cineplex International Village – 10:30 am

Winners will receive a Family Pack of 4 tickets to the preview screening of Ugly Dolls in their city

To enter, simply write your city in the comment section and like or share our post on Facebook! For a bonus entry, like or share the post on Twitter and Instagram.

All entries must be completed by 11:59am on Friday, April 26th, 2019.

A special thanks to VVS Films for their support.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzbxSpBOJ6Eh

Social: @vvs_films, #UglyDolls

Filed Under: Film, Giveaways Tagged With: animated, Blake Shelton, Janelle Monáe, Kelly Clarkson, Nick Jonas, Pitbull, Ugly Dolls

Returning to the Woods: 1on1 with Brigham Taylor (producer, CHRISTOPHER ROBIN)

August 4, 2018 by Steve Norton Leave a Comment

Produced by Brigham Taylor (Jungle Book, Tomorrowland), Disney’s Christopher Robin reintroduces fans to such beloved characters as Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore and many more. Taking place in the mid-1940s, Christopher Robin is now a family man living in London. When he receives a surprise visit from his beloved childhood bear, Winnie the Pooh, the two embark on a journey to find Pooh’s friends and, in turn,  help Christopher Robin rediscover the joy of life. A life-long fan of the characters, Taylor felt the time was right to return to the Hundred Acre Wood and explore their relevance today.

“I’ve always loved these characters,” he begins. “I’ve loved these stories and, when I stumbled upon this notion of maybe telling the story within a live action context from the perspective of an adult Christopher Robin, I felt like it was whole new opportunity to re-examine the relationship we’ve all had with these characters for generations. So, it was a new way I think to sort of evaluate who these characters are and what their value is now. That was always a really exciting thought for me.”

Since their introduction to the world in 1926, A. A. Milne’s beloved characters from the Hundred Acre Wood have continued to charm audiences of all ages. To this day, Pooh, Eeyore and company have remained enduring in our culture, a quality that Taylor credits to their commitment to each other and ability to overcome obstacles.

“I feel like they, Pooh especially, embody the ideal sense of friendship and valuing that. All these characters–Rabbit, Owl, Piglet, Eeyore–they’re all very different,” he believes. “They all have weaknesses and foibles, but they all are able to overcome those and value their friendship on top of it. They exhibit amazing patience and kindness for each other, even though they can annoy each other deeply. I think there’s huge lessons in that. There’s a huge amount of sort of charm and sentiments that goes into that. When you see that kind of generosity that these characters have, you both want that in your life and want to emulate that in your life.”

In order to reach today’s audiences, one might wonder if there was any temptation to potentially bring Pooh and his friends into the modern age. Still, Taylor believes that one of the qualities that gives them their charm stems from their consistency and timelessness.

“It was a fun development process,” Taylor feels. “There was consideration about where the movie should be set because we were utilizing Christopher Robin as a fictional character, not as the historical person who lived. So, we were free from biographical detail, but we could tell a more every man story and, at different times, the script was in sort of a timeless contemporary setting. Then, we realized we’d rather just sort of adopt the timeline when we all became a sort of familiar with Pooh, which was when the character was first published in 1926. So, we said our fictional Christopher Robin would have had his childhood then and experienced the war time (being English), and then our story picks up postwar. We have a very real and grounded time period, which I think is helpful. It keeps these characters in this time and space that we ultimately really embraced and liked.”

“Then, the other decisions just flowed out of very simple questions. What would happen to any one of us if we’d had this very active childhood where we had these wonderful imaginary friends that filled our days? Whenever we grew up, what would happen? We all grow up and become busier become encumbered with our responsibilities. What would happen if the childhood friends that you hadn’t seen in 30 years came back? It all just flowed from that. We decided that Pooh never really seems to set about with a specific goal in mind or, at least, the result isn’t usually the because of the specific question that he had in mind. He’s really about his own thing. He doesn’t realize he’s there to rescue Christopher. He thinks he’s just there to help him find his own friends. Out of that, of course, the important journey unfolds, which is Christopher rediscovering his own childhood.”

In order to establish a sense of authenticity to the film, Taylor and his team decided to shoot the film in Ashdown Forest, the actual area that A. A. Milne used as inspiration for his original stories.

“Our locations were a combination of Ashdown Forest and Great Windsor Park, which is… in and around Windsor Castle,” Taylor remarks. “[That’s] unique because it has an untouched and unspoiled section that hasn’t been manicured or logged for a thousand years. It’s really beautiful. We combined those locations to create the Hundred Acre Wood. The goal from the outset was that we wanted to create a very real, grounded [set]. We didn’t want to have something that was super stylized. We wanted the beauty of actual nature to sort of be our guide. That carried over even into our city locations, where we wanted it to feel like a very grounded and real postwar London, not to throw brightly colored paints or CG onto the greenery. We want it to be very real. We thought the characters would be all the more magical if we treated them as actual things that existed in the real environment.”

Another unique aspect of Disney’s iconic original film is the music. Written by Richard M. Sherman and his brother, Robert, classic songs like “Heffalumps and Woozles” and “When the Rain Rain Rain Came Down” have become almost as important to Pooh Corner as the characters themselves. As a result, when the opportunity came about for Taylor to bring Richard M. Sherman (now 90 years old), onboard to record new music for the film, he jumped at the chance.

“I’d had really the wonderful pleasure of working with Richard on Jungle Book because he came in to rewrite the lyrics,” he recalls. “He came in and wrote new verses. It was fantastic! Richard was lovely and he remains really sharp, active and prolific. That was the first time that we said, ‘Richard, we’d love for you to write a few songs in the vein of originals that you and your brother did [for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh]’ and he said, ‘Absolutely!’ We asked for two songs and he came back with three songs and we were just overjoyed about that. Our film opens with one of his new songs, closes again with some songs and then we found some application for some of his classic tunes that you’ll discover in different little ways inside the movie because they were such a strong voice for the original features. So, it’s great.”

Most importantly, however, any return to the Hundred Acre Wood brings with it the challenge of bringing Pooh, Piglet and the rest of the family to life. With this in mind, he also felt the burden of responsibility that comes with attempting to bring these characters to life three dimensionally.

“Pooh was born out of the notion of a very real teddy bear that a young boy could hold, and obviously in the realm of animation, it became a very charming 2D version of that,” he explains. “For most of us, he really existed as that glorious 2D animated character, but I felt like that the ability to transit that character back into a real 3D, hand-sewn, huggable toy, that would be in and of itself a really novel experience. It would force you to re-evaluate what these characters were. They were born out of this conceit that Mel was telling stories about these real stuffed animals that were in the boy’s room.”

Since the most iconic representation of Pooh remains the 2D animated version, Taylor wanted his incarnation of the group to feel authentic to the time period.

“On the creative side, I think the biggest challenge was to translate these characters back into three dimensions in a photo real way,” Taylor reflects. “We really benefited from a wonderful conceptual artist. Our brief was to say to have a character that was recognizable as the animated version that we’ve all known and loved, crossed with the original illustrations from E. H. Shepherd in the book, but also by way of a vintage teddy bear that would have been produced back in the ‘Twenties. He sketched out these original images and, from the first one we saw, we knew he had nailed it. That was our north star as we built it practically because we had hand-built versions of all the stuffed animals with us on the set so that we can use them in shooting, even though they all eventually got replaced by our animation. So, that was a huge challenge to sort of nail down the books and translate them into this movie.”

Since the film reintroduces Christopher Robin as an adult, there is a heavy emphasis on rediscovering your childhood and even running from our past. As such, Taylor hopes that families experience the film in a way that reminds them to focus first on each other.

“For me, from the outset to me, this was an examination of what is the value of Pooh and his friends, these characters in our lives now, even as adults,” he considers. “What better way to understand that then to tell the story through the perspective of an adult Christopher Robin?… I’ve never felt like that either on the page or even in the original animation that these characters were less relevant to me as an adult than they were to me as a child. It brings home the notion that they stand for certain ideas and principles about friendship and kindness that have no expiration date. That’s ultimately what the story’s about. In its simplest form, it’s really just about we need to remember and remind ourselves that we all get preoccupied and we all forget valuable lessons, whether it’s from the age of six, 10 or wherever. We need those reminders. We need external voices to remind us of the important things. In this movie, we focused on the importance of taking time out for each other and just to be present with the people that you love and your family especially.”

Christopher Robinis in theatres now.

For full audio of our conversation with Brigham Taylor, click here.

 

Filed Under: Film, Interviews, Podcast Tagged With: A. A. Milne, animated, Brigham Taylor, Christopher Robin, Disney, Eeyore, Ewan McGregor, Jungle Book, live-action, Piglet, Pooh, Richard M. Sherman, Winnie the Pooh

Incredibles 2 – Family Bonds

June 14, 2018 by Darrel Manson Leave a Comment

Incredibles 2 continues the story of the Parr family from The Incredibles. While it is ostensibly a superhero story, at its heart this is a film about family and especially about parenting as children go through all the changes of growing up.

As in the original, superheroes are still illegal, but with the supervillain The Underminer on the loose, the family of superheroes goes into action—rather heavy-handedly, creating a mess of the city and being relocated. Forced to live in a motel, the family tries to think about what the future will hold for them. The parents, Bob, aka Mr. Incredible (voiced by Craig T. Nelson), and Helen, aka Elastigirl (Holly Hunter), know that one of them will need to get a job to support the family. Meanwhile, their middle school aged daughter Violet (Sarah Vowell) is attracted to a boy at school, son Dash (Huckleberry Milner) struggles with his homework, and toddler Jack-Jack is a handful just in himself.

But Mr. Incredible, Elastigirl, and their friend Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson) get an offer from industrialist siblings Winston and Evelyn Deavor (Bob Odenkirk and Catherine Keener). They want to improve the world’s opinion of superheroes and make them legal again. Their plan is to use Elastigirl to stop some crimes (she does far less damage in the process that Mr. Incredible or Frozone). So Helen goes off to the big city while Bob stays home with the kids.

It turns out that Bob is a stereotypical incompetent father. He tries, but he can’t grasp new math, has no idea how to help Violet with the boys, and Jack-Jack is impossible to get down for the night. Plus, Jack-Jack now is manifesting his own superpowers—a wide array of powers.

Helen is busy doing battle with The Screenslaver, a villain who uses screen (TV, computer, whatever) to hypnotize people and have them do his will. She feels bad that she isn’t with her family, but relishes the opportunity so show off her skills. It’s not unlike the juggling of priorities that many parents experience. But when The Screenslaver gets the upper hand, Bob and the kids head off to save the day and the world (mostly it’s the kids, including Jack-Jack, that get their parents out of hot water).

What is charming about the Incredibles films is that they give us a chance to see superheroes who aren’t sullen loners, but rather people with happy family lives—happy even when the going is hard. The film, I think, allows parents to be reminded that the job they do matters.  As the diminutive designer to the superheroes Edna Mode (Brad Bird) says, “Done properly, parenting is a heroic task.” As Bob mopes about being left out while Helen is fighting crime, this is a reminder of what the really hard job is. Parents aren’t gifted with super strength and powers—only with the love they have for their children. With that, parents face years of problems but also years of joy.

For the Parrs, a family where everyone has special powers, what really ties them together is not being strong, fast, elastic, invisible, or having lasers shooting out of their eyes. The connection they have is really the bond that can exist in the families of all those who go to watch the movie together.

Let me also put in a word here for Bao, the short directed by Domee Shi (the first woman to direct a Pixar film), playing along with Incredibles 2. It is a delightful story of a woman whose handmade dumpling comes to life. We watch as she and the dumpling go through the years. The dumpling passes through all the phases of childhood and into being a young adult. It is hard for the woman to let go of her baby dumpling, but in the end, we see just how wonderful it is to see your child grow into an adult.

Photos courtesy of Walt Disney Studios

Filed Under: Film, Reviews Tagged With: animated, animated short, Bob Odenkirk, Brad Bird, Catherine Keener, Craig T. Nelson, Disney, Family, Holly Hunter, Huckleberry Milner, parenting, Pixar, Samuel L. Jackson, Sarah Vowell, superheroes

Oscar Watch – Best Animated Short

February 1, 2018 by Darrel Manson Leave a Comment

When I was young, there would always be a cartoon that was part of the program of going to the movies. (Of course, those were also the days when you always saw a double feature.)  Those cartoons were always comical, often with cartoon characters we knew from TV cartoons. The art of making animated short films is developed greatly since those days, as is evident to the films nominated for Best Animated Short Film. These films vary greatly in terms of artistic style as well as in the kind of stories they tell and the messages the share. Many people may think of Animated Shorts as an unimportant category within the Oscars, but I’m really impressed with this year’s nominees. Give just a slight difference in how one weighs each film, any one of them could be a worthy winner.

Let’s start with the question of whether Kobe Bryant needs an Oscar to go with his five NBA championship rings and two Olympic gold medals. Dear Basketball (6 minutes) is an adaptation of his retirement announcement. It has been animated by Glen Keane (also nominated), who trained as a Disney animator. Add to that music by the incomparable John Williams. It is Bryant’s love letter to the sport that has been his life since he was six years old. As a wannabe jock, his love for playing a game resonated strongly with me. Too often athletes seem to make their performances all about their skill. In this film, Kobe focuses on the game that has given him a life of enjoyment. “I’ll always be that kid with a rolled-up sock, garbage can in the corner, five seconds on the clock, ball in my hand. 4, 3, 2, . . . 1.”

Suppose a mansion sits idle for some time, what kind of things could amphibians find there? Garden Party (8 minutes) from a French animation team follows toads and frogs through a house and yard that seems abandoned. Is this a post-apocalyptic world in which amphibians get to enjoy our leftovers? (Not exactly, but close.) The animation here is outstanding and beautiful. And there is great humor in watching these animals discovering the things we may think of as the good things in life. As we watch and wonder what happened to the people, we may also wonder about the age-old question of what is the value of things that are left behind.

Lou (7 minutes), directed by Dave Mullins, is no doubt the most widely seen of the nominees, because it played before Disney/Pixar’s Cars 3 this summer. When a playground bully steals various treasures from the other kids, the monster of the Lost and Found box takes notice. As the battle to rescue the things the bully has taken escalates, the monster learns the boy’s name and realizes that he has lost something special as well. That provides the leverage to change the boy so he learns that giving is far more blessed than receiving. (Seems like I read that in scripture.)

Negative Space (6 minutes) by Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata, shares a boy’s story of how his father taught him how to pack a suitcase. It seems the father was often traveling for business, but the boy seemed bonded with his father by being able to pack for him—and the appreciation of filling in space. There is a metaphorical element that becomes evident in the ending. How do we fill the spaces in our lives—and what spaces will remain unfilled?

The longest and most complex of the films is Revolting Rhymes (30 minutes) by Jakob Schuh and Jan Lachauer. It is based on Roald Dahl’s retelling for familiar fairy tales. In this version, a wolf meets a babysitter in a coffeeshop and tells her the sad stories of the demise of his nephews. We recognize the stories of Little Red Ridinghood, Snow White, and the three little pigs, but of course the wolf has a much different perspective. The reimagining of these stories is filled with Dahl’s somewhat twisted (and I mean that as a compliment) sense of humor. Because it has a longer running time than the other nominees, it is able to delve a bit deeper into characters and give us new insights into the familiar stories.

As I said, I could probably make a case for any of these films being a worthy winner of the Oscar, but I’m going to go with the one that touched me the most—Dear Basketball. For runner-up I’ll go with Lou as the one that carries the best message in an entertaining format.

The Oscar Nominated Shorts will be playing in select theaters worldwide beginning February 9.

Photos courtesy of Shorts.tv

 

Filed Under: Film, Oscar Spotlight Tagged With: animated, animated short, Kobe Bryant, Oscar nominated, Roald Dahl

Ethel & Ernest – Extraordinary Ordinariness

December 15, 2017 by Darrel Manson Leave a Comment

“There was nothing extraordinary about my Mum and Dad. Nothing dramatic. . .. But they were my parents and I wanted to remember them by doing a picture book.”

British author and illustrator Raymond Briggs told his parent’s very ordinary story in a graphic novel, Ethel & Ernest, which has now been made into an animated film. The film is as simple and unassuming as the two people at its heart. And that is where the emotional power of the film comes from—just seeing the story of people who lived their lives, as nearly all of us do, without fanfare, but still find happiness and love.

Ernest (Jim Broadbent) is a milkman who is both affable and outgoing. Ethel (Brenda Blethyn) was serving as a maid when she met Ernest, and having learned upper-class manners never likes to think of the family as working class. They have very different outlooks. Ernest, a socialist, favors the Labour Party; Ethel supports the Tories. They needle each other about this through the years. Ernest is always up-to-date on world affairs; Ethel usually looks no further than the family needs.

Although the Briggses are very typical, the times they lived in were certainly dramatic. They have a chance meeting in 1928, which leads to courtship, marriage, family. They live through the Great Depression, World War II, and the post-war social shift and spreading affluence. They died within months of each other in 1971. The film leads us through this history, but it is always focused on the love and relationship that gave meaning to their lives. Even when they have a child, the real focus of the film is the relationship of Ernest and Ethel. (After all, it is that child who created the story. He is intent on celebrating these two loving people and has managed to keep himself a minor character in their story.)

When I got the promotion about this film, I thought it sounded like an animated “Masterpiece Theatre”. And it would be a good fit for that PBS series. But unlike the cultural voyeurism of Downton Abbey, Ethel & Ernest is very much the story of everyday people. It is the story of the people who are around us. It is the story of us. Raymond Briggs did not tell their story because they led extraordinary or dramatic lives, but because of the love they shared with each other and with him. That may seem ordinary, but in reality it is the most extraordinary kind of life.

Photos courtesy Ethel & Ernest Productions

Filed Under: Film, Reviews Tagged With: animated, based on graphic novel, biography, Brenda Blethyn, Jim Broadbent, Raymond Briggs, Sir Paul McCarney, UK, World War II

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