ScreenFish

where faith and film are intertwined

animation

7.14 Creating Kumandra in RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON

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With their latest animated tale Raya and the Last Dragon, Disney transports the viewer to Kumandra, a nation that has remained divided for centuries. However, when an attempt at reconciliation goes horribly wrong, it falls on Raya, princess of the Heart region, to embark on a quest to find the mythological last dragon and restore peace to the world. This week, we form our own Fellowship of Butt-kickery as Jolie Featherstone and Miriam Ibrahim assemble to talk about the evolution of the Disney Princess, the meaning of Kumandra and the power of soup.

You can stream the episode on podomatic, Alexa (via Stitcher), Spotify or Amazon Podcasts! Or, you can download the ep on Apple Podcasts!

Want to continue to conversation at home?  Click the link below to download ‘Fishing for More’ — some small group questions for you to bring to those in your area.

7.14 Raya and the Last DragonDownload

Reporting from Slamdance – Animated Shorts

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The Slamdance Film Festival has a section set aside for animated shorts. (Some of the films is other sections are also animated, but this report will focus on the Animated Shorts Section. There are a wide variety of styles and approaches represented. Some of these films are art school projects. Some strike me as somewhat experimental with the form. Here are some of my impressions.

Bad Mood. (10 minutes, directed by Loris Giuseppi Nese) A recounting by a girl/woman at ages 11, 16, and 21 of her mother working as a domestic worker taking care of dying people for €5/hour. She must deal with getting attached to patients, then losing them. As the girl grows older, she too must go to work.

Friend of a Friend. (15 minutes, directed by Zachary Zezima) A story of a sexual assault, revenge, and sexual ambivalence.

Knife Hanging From a Tree. (4 minutes, directed by JiHee Nam) This is a piece that is really more about experiencing the art and sound, rather than a traditional telling of a story.

Lizard Ladder.(6 minutes, directed by Ted Wiggins) Another that isn’t so much about story, but the artwork around the dog, lizard, and snake that are in the film is interesting.

Molly Dane. (7 minutes, directed by Ida Lasic). A cocktail party fundraiser and a death occurs. Not really fond of the artwork in this one.

Opera. (9 minutes, directed by Erick Oh) A mesmerizing world of tiny people in a pyramidal hierarchy. Each little section is busy with its own activity. There’s working, worship, war, and rebirth. What a pleasure to explore!

Papa Sun. (7 minutes, directed by Noah Gallagher) Music and poetry mixed with some interesting art work. A bit uneven.

Poise. (8 minutes, directed by Luis Soares). What to do with a handful of flies? As a man tries to decide, the whole world is set in indecision.

Return to the Peach Blossom Wonderland. (19 minutes, directed by Haoman Peng, Yue Huang, and Yuchao Luo). This harkens back to a 1600 year old Chinese fable of a utopian vision. It contrasts that with modern life in China (or an any modern city). Interesting view of modern life.

Something to Treasure. (3 minutes, directed by Annapurna Kumar). This has an experimental form and is an experiential piece. It’s the kind of thing I wouldn’t be surprised to see as a visual installation in a museum of modern art.

The Land of Whim. (9 minutes, directed by Bettina Bozek). This is an animated world of Dali-esque surrealism. Objects shift and evolve in bizarre ways. It has a very pleasant visual style and energy.

Urges. (2 minutes, directed by Angela Stemple). Bright, colorful pop-art style of animation seeking to visualize sensual pleasures and desire.

White Horse. (8 minutes, directed by Yujie Xu). A dreamlike world in which a man follows a horse through a maze, then they transform and really can’t get together.

Among this section of shorts, my absolute favorite is Opera. Others that I found especially enjoyable (for reasons I can’t quite explain) are Lizard Ladder and Return to the Peach Blossom Wonderland.

The Little Prince – The Value of Childhood

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littleprince2“Growing up isn’t the problem. Forgetting is.”

Childhood is meant to be a magical time when play and exploration are the “work” a child should be about. But more and more, some children are being pushed to achieve just as adults are. In The Little Prince a girl who is being groomed for the “right” school by her mother is living a very organized and regimented existence—until her possibly mentally unbalanced neighbor opens her eyes and her heart to another way of seeing things.

If the title sounds familiar, it’s because this is an adaptation (or sorts) of the well-loved children’s book Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. However, the Saint-Exupéry story is a story within the bigger story in this film. But it is also the engine that drives the larger story.

The world of this story is one of efficiency where everything is valued according to what it can add to the bottom line. It is a very mathematics oriented world. We hear news in the background that is all in some way about numbers and productivity. That seems the only thing that matters in the world—what can be seen and measured. Even when The Girl (voiced by Mackenzie Foy) is doing her constant studying it is always some form of math. She is being prepared to be another cog in the machine of this world.

But her house is next door to an old, wildly-bearded Aviator (Jeff Bridges). One day he sends her a paper airplane with the beginning of his story about The Little Prince who came to earth from an asteroid and taught The Aviator the importance of things that cannot be seen. (Fans of the Saint-Exupéry story may know that Saint-Exupéry was an aviator.) Slowly The Girl warms towards him and begins a friendship that leads her away from her books and into a world of imagination. Essentially she is being lured away from business school to instead study the humanities. (That is a tension that is very real—not only in higher education, but even in the ways we approach childhood education.)

Stylistically the film is divided by two forms of animation. The story of The Girl and The Aviator is done in CG animation, while the story of The Little Prince (which comes from the original book) is done in stop-motion animation. That works very well to remind us of the two worlds the film is living in.

What matters in this film are relationships: The Girl and The Aviator, The Aviator and The Little Prince, The Little Prince and a fox, The Little Prince and a rose. These relationships are based not in what one can get from another, but the joy and love that can be shared—not in anything that can be measured, but that only be seen with the heart. As we learn at one point, “It is only with the heart that we can see rightly.”

That means not only love, but also faith. When The Aviator speaks of what became of The Little Prince, The Girl wants to know how he knows The Prince is among the stars. How can he be sure? He responds, “It would comfort me very much to know for sure. But I choose to believe that he’s up there.” That, for me, speaks far more clearly than the historical creeds of the church.

This is a film that speaks of many deep things: the bottom line and its immeasurable spiritual cost, love and loss, the joy of childhood that we so often forget, and life and death and life after death. Yes, it’s a children’s story. Yes, it’s animated. And yes, it may make you want to be a child again. Hopefully, you’ll remember how to do that.

The Blu-ray edition includes the making of featurette and the music video of “Turnaround” by Camille. 

Soul – Pixar’s Holiday Present (but…)

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“You can’t crush a soul here; that’s what life on earth is for.”

Since Pixar’s Soul is coming to us on Christmas Day, I can’t help but compare it to a present. This is the largest present under the tree. It has the most amazing wrapping paper and beautiful ribbons. We can hardly wait to get to it, but when we open it up . . . we discover it has clothes from Grandma. It’s not shabby clothes, but still ….

This really is a big package, as are all Pixar films. Not only is it Pixar, but it’s Pete Docter, who co-directs along with Kemp Powers, and co-writes with Powers and Mike Jones. Docter’s writing and directing credits include some of Pixar’s best: Toy Story, WALL-E, Inside Out, Monsters Inc, and Up. Originally slated for a summer theatrical release, the COVID-19 pandemic pushed it into the Christmas slot with in home viewing on Disney+ streaming service.

As to the amazing wrapping, Pixar always brings its A-game to animation. The animation here is a mixture of its familiar round seeming three-dimensional characters, astonishing realistic renderings of cities and nature, with some Picasso-esque art thrown in. Add to this the music. Jazz is integral to the story line, and it adds life, joy, and anguish to the film.

That gets us to the content.

Here is the story of Joe Gardner (voiced by Jamie Foxx), a middle school band teacher, who has struggled for years to be a jazz musician. The same day he gets an offer to make his teaching job full time, he gets a call from a former student who now plays drums for a well-known jazz quartet that needs a pianist to sit in with them. On his way home from a successful audition, there is an accident, and Joe wakes up as a sort of peanut shaped being on a conveyor belt headed to a bright light—The Great Beyond. Not ready to go there, he tries running back, but ends up falling through a strange vortex into The Great Before—a park-like setting filled with new souls waiting to get their personalities, and most importantly their “spark”, before they go to earth.

The counselors of the camp assume he has been sent there to mentor a soul. He is assigned Number 22 (Tina Fey), a cynical soul who has burned through a plethora of mentors—some pretty big names among them: Gandhi, Lincoln, Mother Teresa, Copernicus, Marie Antoinette, and Mohammed Ali. 22 just isn’t interested in living. And as her failures to find her spark accumulate, she has settled into being a loner who will never go to earth.

Joe’s plan is to help her find her spark, then steal her ticket to earth and use it to get his life back and begin his career as a jazz pianist. But when the two of them get past the barriers between the worlds, 22 ends up in Joe’s body, while Joe is in the body of a cat. They can speak to each other, but naturally no one else knows that the cat is speaking. He must try to shepherd 22 though the streets of New York to try to find a way back to Before and set things aright. That process gives them both new understandings that tell us all that every moment of life is worth cherishing.

So what makes this clothes from Grandma? First of all is that there are a whole lot of concepts that won’t be understood by many of the children who see it. But that really is only a minor problem since I don’t think Pixar makes movies for kids. Pixar makes movies that will draw kids into the theaters (or in this case to Disney+). The real audience for Pixar films ais the adults who bring the kids. Since it seems like a kids’ movie, adults watch with their defenses down. We often pay more attention to what we overhear than what is said directly to us. Pixar makes movies that adults will overhear.

In this case, however, there really isn’t that much to overhear. Here the film is clearly aimed at adults. We see a character facing a midlife crisis. In one scene Joe tells his mother, “I’m just afraid that if I died today, my life would have amounted to nothing.” Some of the language may even be over the head of many adult viewers. For example, 22 explains that “I was a theoretical construct existing in a hypothetical waystation between life and death.” The only real façade of this being for kids is that it is animated. The usual multi-layered humor that is a hallmark of Pixar films is missing. I wouldn’t be surprised if children came away deeply disappointed in the film. There really isn’t that much here for them.

I also note in my Christmas present analogy that these aren’t shabby clothes. There are times when the message about the importance of enjoying the life we have comes through. Sometimes it’s when Joe is told that he is important to students. He doesn’t really seem to appreciate that, but we do. Perhaps my favorite scene in the film is when Joe (inhabited by 22) goes to the barber. The barber tells of his dreams that didn’t play out, but the happiness he has as a barber. It is something Joe needs to understand in his own life. But that revelation is actually countered in a scene about rescuing a lost soul—an account manager who is stuck in his job without having any joy. The key should not be escaping your life, but rather finding joy in it. In the end, we have hope that both 22 and Joe will have a chance to live life more fully than either ever imagined.

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But the best thing in the box is the concept of the “spark”. Joe and 22 mistakenly think that the spark is a purpose that animates your life, as music does for Joe. But it turns out the spark is really more akin to Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount: “No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” The spark is the light we share in the world to light the way for other. Maybe Joe will share that spark through his music, or maybe through his teaching, or finding a way for both. But he now knows that taking that spark into the world is the real purpose in his life.

And yes, I suppose I should write Grandma a thank you note for the clothes. They are, after all, very nice and I need them. It’s just not what I really hoped for or expected.

To hear our conversation with director Pete Docter and producer Dana Murray, click here.

Photos courtesy of Pixar.

Saturday at AFIFest 2020

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Going to festivals often results in a bit of emotional whiplash. My Saturday viewing at AFIFest 2020 Presented by Audi is an example of that. From stories about executions to animated folklore to the angst of a recovering addict heavy metal drummer who suddenly loses his hearing. It is a day of very strong reactions.

The Iranian film There Is No Evil won the Golden Bear for Best Film and the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the Berlin Film Festival. Director Mohammed Rasoulof has recently been sentenced to prison and banned from making films in Iran. This is a series of vignettes that eventually ask the question “What kind of animal could execute someone?” We meet a family man doing his daily routines. We see a soldier who struggles with having the job of executing a criminal. We meet another soldier on his way to celebrate his girlfriend’s birthday who finds the house in mourning. We see a young woman who has come back to Iran to visit her uncle and aunt, only to discover an amazing secret.

The beautiful cinematography and the excellent stories show us a very human view of these people who all in some way are touched by capital punishment. The stories evolve to our discovery of a twist we probably didn’t expect. At the heart of the film is the question of what kind of effect capital punishment has on those who must carry it out. A powerful film that is very deserving of the accolades it has garnered.

The film I most anticipated coming into the festival was Wolfwalkers, directed by Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart. This is the third animated film based in Irish folklore from Cartoon Saloon. Like the previous films, Secret of the Kells and Song of the Sea, the hand animation is beautiful, drawing on the art history of the time period being portrayed. The story involves a young girl, Robyn Goodfellow, sent to Ireland with her hunter father. Her father is tasked with ridding the woods of wolves. Robyn wants to hunt with him, but her father forbids it. She doesn’t mind. In the woods, she comes across another young girl, Mebh, who has more lupine than human behavior. Mebh is a wolfwalker, she is a human when awake, but when asleep, her spirit takes the body of a wolf. She also has magical healing powers. Her mother, the head wolfwalker, has been asleep for a long time.

As Robyn tries to help Mebh, she discovers that because of a bite from Mebh, Robin is now a wolfwalker as well. Meanwhile Robin’s father and the Lord Protector are trying to wipe out the wolf pack. The folkloric stories that Cartoon Saloon has brought us all have an environmental message in that our efforts to conquer the natural world has had a terrible price. Like those who created such tales, we need to live more in harmony with the world around us.

Riz Ahmed as Ruben in SOUND OF METAL Courtesy of Amazon Studios

In Darius Marder’s Sound of Metal, we encounter a man who seems to lose everything in his life, but may indeed find true peace. Ruben (Riz Ahmed) is a heavy metal drummer who plays with his girlfriend Lou (Olivia Cooke). When he suddenly loses most of his hearing, he wants to push forward with cochlear implants, but the cost is prohibitive, and as a recovering addict, he is struggling. He reluctantly joins a community of deaf recovering addicts. He rebels against his deafness, but slowly begins to fit in with others with hearing impairments. When he sells all he has for his surgery, he may be back into addiction behavior (addiction to hearing or past life?).

Through it all the leader of the deaf community tries to get him to stop trying to fix things (mostly his deafness). He urges him to try to just sit—to find stillness. He tells Ruben that moments of stillness are the “place of the Kingdom of God.” I should point out that this is an emotionally exhausting story. I don’t mean that to discourage anyone from seeing it. That emotional involvement in the story should be a key goal of all filmmakers. Darius Marder, in his first feature narrative film manages to summon our emotions for Ruben’s search for happiness and life.

I should also comment on a short that I’ve seen. Shorts are always an important part of AFIFest. In A 1984 Period Piece in Present Day from Sean Glass, we meet a couple who check into a somewhat spooky motel for the night. There they watch an old episode of “Creepshow”. It is one that the man remembers fondly, but when looked at from the present day, there are serious issues with it. Has the show become outdated, have we grown as a culture, or is it just as spooky to consider as it was then?

Building a Snowman: 1on1 with Joe Izzo (ABOMINABLE)

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Dreamworks’ Abominable tells the story of young Yi (Chloe Bennet) who inadvertently discovers a yeti on her rooftop. Naming him Everest after the famed mountain region that he calls home, Yi and her two friends embark on an epic quest to reunite the magical creature with his family. However, along the course of the perilous journey, the young adventurers must also be on their guard to protect Everest from a wealthy financier and a determined zoologist who will stop at nothing to capture the beast for their own gain. As a member of the production team (and the voice of Everest), actor Joe Izzo was thrilled to have been part of the film’s development from the very beginning.

“We’re super proud of the picture, especially with the character design. Everything about it is so sweet and beautiful,” he beams. “I worked on the movie in a production role very, very early on, [maybe as far] back [as] 2013. I was a production supervisor, so I was alongside the director as we were getting the first version of movie up. Some things changed over the years and… I came back to help out with some voice work.” 

“I worked at Dreamworks and I worked on the first version of the story. So, I had a super behind the scenes and close look at the very beginning stages of it. Honestly, when I first read the script, I just I fell in love with story. It was always that good from the beginning.” 

Having also been involved in other high-profile projects such as How to Train Your Dragon and Boss Baby, Izzo maintains that his joy in animation stems out of his love of collaboration.

“I think you feel more involved in animation because the process takes a lot longer,” he explains. “You get to see all of the stages and, literally, the characters and the story comes to life, not just through animation, but through writing and voice work and all the different artists that bring it together. I did a little bit of a work in live action but nothing gets you as involved… as animation. It’s really inspiring.”

Since he was involved from the beginning of the film, Izzo remains excited about how Everest developed over time in the hands of an amazing director and incredibly talented crew of animators. Asked how he developed the voice of Everest, he claims that the sounds of the lovable yeti came directly out of the character design. 

“I think it goes back to the design,” Izzo reflects. “We had so many great storyboard artists that that drew the character and, in a way for me, I just felt like, ‘Oh, this is how he has to sound.’ The way they made him act, move and some of the mannerisms just made it easier. Jill [Culton]’s just a great director so, just being at her side, and kind of playing around with how playful he can be and how much of an animal he can be. [It was] just kind of a fun process that way.” 

Throughout the film, Everest’s playful energy pops off the screen but also connects deeply with the youth who are changed by their relationship with him, especially Yi. Similarly, Izzo also notes that Everest’s journey home parallels Yi’s emotional arc as well.

Says Izzo, “I think they’re both [beginning to] understand what home is. I think that’s the big overlying theme of the movie. Home just means something a little different as they’re going on a journey. It’s what they need and [it’s about] how they find it through each other. There’s a sense of growing and maturity that they kind of find with each other too in the sense of… his ultimate sense of purity. He’s just good. He’s like nature. Sometimes he can look a little scary, but ultimately he’s good and necessary and we don’t necessarily understand him.” 

Interestingly, Abominable is actually the 3rd animated film to feature the yeti in the last two years*. While each film is entirely different in tone and style, Izzo believes that they are also similar in their desire to instill a sense of wonder into their audience.

“With most animated movies, there’s that sense of wonder and sense of something that you don’t quite understand,” argues Izzo. “There’s something really neat about the whole thing that there’s something else, you know? I think all those movies still try to do the same thing. They relay that he’s a good person or a good character, you know? He’s not a monster.”

One of the most beautiful aspects of Abominable stems from its celebration of the power of music. Brought together from the relationship between Yi and Everest, music is shown to contain a live-giving quality that offers healing and hope to those around them. 

“I that was something that Jill, the director, had in very first draft of the script very early on its something she held on to,” he recalls. “I think music is just very important to her. I think the violin was always… something that we tried to bring to life. You don’t necessarily have to know how to play music or know what the song means or really understand the history behind certain things, but there’s a sense of power behind it. There’s the sense of beauty and wonder. It’s something that we can all be united for that.” 

In light of this, the film also contains a powerful message of hope through the emotional journey of its characters

“[I think that hope is] that sense of the future, especially as they’re younger characters,” Izzo believes. “It’s something to look forward to as they saw themselves grow and mature and saw the change in the villain, in the sense of the end. Just knowing that they have [made an] impact [and] to be part of that change.” 

For full audio of our interview with Joe Izzo, click here.

Abominable thunders onto 4K and Blu-Ray on December 17th, 2019 and is available on VOD now.

*Smallfoot (2018) and Missing Link (2019)

Why Live Action Remakes?

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Often when we grow up, we look back at our parents’ lives and think that we can do things better than they did. Sometimes we are right, but not always. New technologies lead to different ways of telling stories. My parents listened to radio. I had TV. My sons had video games (hooked up to a TV). My grandson has all kinds of things I’ll never grasp on a handheld device. What is better and most imaginative? It’s a matter of perspective, I think.

But when a big media company grows up, it may think its technology outshines what has come before it. The Walt Disney Studios are currently working on a number of live action remakes of earlier animated features. They have already done Beauty and the Beast¸ Jungle Book (really more computer animation than live action), Dumbo, Aladdin, and currently the Lion King (also computer animation). In the pipeline in various stages of development or discussion are live action remakes of Mulan (coming next March), The Little Mermaid (currently getting a lot of buzz from casting Halle Bailey as Ariel, causing some racist backlash), Winnie the Pooh, Pinocchio, The Sword in the Stone, and a number of spinoffs from Disney cartoons, such as a Tinkerbell film.

My question is whether or not this is a good thing. The cynic in me might say, Disney just wants the money that comes with a ready-made audience. But actually, I think that that is not enough of an answer. I think that the extent of this live action remake trend reminds me of those generational difference I note above. It’s like my thinking TV is better than radio, or my grandson thinking his tablet is better than my TV.

I don’t think I’m just being a grumpy old guy. I liked the live action Dumbo better than most reviewers. I think Mulan could be an intriguing remake that works especially well in live action. And I expect Lin-Manuel Miranda and Alan Menken will make some wonderful songs to enhance The Little Mermaid. But overall, I think Disney is making a mistake in making all these remakes. The underlying premise to these remakes is that live action (or in the cases of Jungle Book and The Lion King, computer animation) is intrinsically better than the animation of the originals. I find it only slightly ironic that the studio that bears Walt Disney’s name, no longer makes any of the kind of animation that Walt Disney was the master of. The new versions of animated classics essentially diminish the originals. They say by their very existence that those older versions are not good enough for today’s world. I dissent.

Animation—both computer and hand-drawn—makes for an excellent medium for storytelling. Many of the original Disney classics were based on fairytales or other stories that were especially conducive to the use of animation: Snow White, Cinderella, Pinocchio, Peter Pan. Each of these could easily have been made as live action films at the time, but the choice was made to do it with animation. And I believe that was the best choice. These stories and the magic they weave for the audience is enhanced by being told through animation.

Of course the studio continues to tell stories with animation under both the Disney and Pixar names. These are almost always well received and of great quality. (Although I personally mourn their decision to rely entirely on computer animation. I still love to see traditional animation as we get from Studio Ghibli and Cartoon Saloon.) This format is still an important tool in the studio’s storytelling. But just as I’d hate to see Disney’s classic Old Yeller made into an animated feature, I wish that they would respect the animated gems of past generations enough to let them be the wonders that they are.

Aladdin – Making Way for Prince Ali (Again)

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No, he’s not like Robin Williams… and that’s okay.

Ever since Disney released the first trailer for Aladdin, their latest—and second of four this year(!)—live-action remake of their own animated property, the #1 issue on the Twitter-verse has been the questions surrounding Will Smith’s portrayal of the Genie. Originally made famous by the wildly frantic Robin Williams, few (if any) Disney characters remain so closely tied to their respective voice actors in terms of tradition. As a result, Twitter has not been kind to the prospect of a new suitor for the role, even someone with enduring star-power like Will Smith. What’s more, unfinished special effects or underwhelming song clips did little to excite audiences about Prince Ali’s mighty return. Thankfully, while not perfect, the film (and Smith’s performance) remains an endearing and entertaining family night out.

As in the original animated classic, Aladdin (Mena Massoud) is a lovable street urchin who meets Princess Jasmine (Naomi Scott), the beautiful daughter of the sultan of Agrabah. Enlisted by the villainous sorcerer Jafar (Marwan Kenzari) to find a mysterious lamp, Aladdin stumbles upon a magic oil lamp that unleashes a powerful, wisecracking, larger-than-life genie (Smith). As Aladdin pursues his dream of winning Jasmine’s hand, he also soon discovers a plot by Jafar to overthrow the Kingdom

Directed by Guy Ritchie, this depiction of Aladdin still manages to charm. Massoud and Scott have solid chemistry onscreen as the star-crossed lovers and Smith brings his trademark charm, humour and swagger to the role. (In fact, the very fact he took on the role is somewhat courageous and a no-win situation. Even if they had cast someone similar to Williams, Disney would be accused of the person of ‘trying too hard’ or being ‘too Williams-esque.’) As such, the casting works and the musical numbers are presented with the proper balance of nostalgia and fresh takes. Even the new Oscar-targeting ballad, “Speechless”, while feeling modern than the older songs, pops and shows actress Scott’s range and talent. (Although, it’s clear that Guy Ritchie seemed most uncomfortable shooting these scenes.)

Another traditional knock against Disney’s live-action remakes has been their ability to pad the narrative unnecessarily. Similar to previous examples, this version of Aladdinis a full forty minutes longer than the original, yet never really feels as though it’s dragging or taking away from the primary story. Whereas other live-action films such as Dumbo or Beauty and the Beast have added distracting side plots (A rival circus? The mystery of Belle’s mother’s death?), Aladdin keeps the film flowing for the most part by simply adding more humor or increased exposition. In short, the film still feelslike Aladdin… and that’s probably why you went in the first place.

One of the most significant changes to the film is Jasmine’s character who, in this incarnation, is much more assertive and proactive. Subtle changes to dialogue and a significant (but important) change to the film’s ending give Jasmine a voice in a culture of oppression. Unlike the original version, Jasmine is far more aware of the need for change within her kingdom, whether it stems from the value of the poor to the role of women. Thanks to the wisdom imparted by her deceased mother (who was ‘loved by the people’), Jasmine recognizes that true leadership involves knowing and respecting those under her care. Rather than content to stay in the palace, Scott’s Jasmine is one who sees vibrancy within the lives of others (and her own) and seeks to empower them. (Interestingly, a slightly more-fleshed out story for Jafar also suggests that his attempt to usurp the throne also stems from the abuse of a caste political system.) Unlike the original animated film which simply accepts its cultural oppression, this Aladdin(2019) recognizes that more work needs to be done to give voice to those who are ‘speechless’. 

While not necessarily perfect, Aladdin is certainly one of Disney’s best live-action properties thus far. Vibrant with color and filled with (mostly) well-crafted musical numbers, Aladdinsurprises with its ability to re-capture the heart of its audience. While it’s not entirely a ‘whole new world’, it is still worthwhile to ‘make way for Prince Ali’.

Aladdinis currently making his way in theatres.

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World – Letting Go For Love

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What began as an unlikely friendship between a young Viking and his fearsome dragon has developed into an epic adventure over much of their lives. In How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Hiccup has grown as chief and ruler of Berk alongside Astrid (America Ferrara) and has created a stunning yet frenzied dragon utopia. When their life is threatened by a mysterious new foe, Hiccup and Toothless are forced to run from their home in search of a hidden world most believe is a myth. Lost and alone, the people of Berk must grapple with starting a new life while face with the darkest threat their village has ever seen.

Written and directed by Dean Deblois (Lilo & Stitch), the Dragontrilogy is one of the more highly regarded animated film series in recent memory. With both previous entries having been nominated for Best Animated film at the Oscars, the series is known for its dramatic integrity and interest in handling issues such as death and physical disabilities in an emotionally mature manner. With the third (and presumably final) entry, Dubois and his team create a satisfying emotional climax to the journey of the now beloved characters. Visually, the film looks spectacular in 4K, especially within the Hidden World itself. Filled with every conceivable colour and creature, Deblois and his team paint the screen with stunning and seamless animation.

Throughout the trilogy, fans have witnessed Hiccup grow from inexperienced teen with dreams of teaming with dragons into a young man grieving the loss of his father. Now, as we meet him in The Hidden World, Hiccup has matured as a leader and seen his vision of a human-dragon paradise come to fruition. His relationship with Astrid has grown to the place where marriage is being considered and he is questioning what the next step is for him. While Hiccup has never been perfect, he has always sought to be a good leader and young man of integrity, especially with his faithful Night Fury, Toothless, by his side. However, when Toothless comes face-to-face with a female of his own species, their alliance is threatened by romance and Hiccup is faced with his greatest challenge: stepping out on his own. 

While this film is more playful than the other two entries—the romance between Toothless and his beau is lighter than the previous dramatic themes—The Hidden Worldgrapples with what it means to let go of your expectations of others. While Hiccup dreams of a world hisway, his world is shaken when he begins to realize the importance of letting others set their own course. As he continues to grow and develop as a leader, he learns that truly placing value on others allows them to spread their wings and fly in their own direction. In this way, Hiccup learns that simply because the journeys of others don’t fit into his vision, it also doesn’t mean that their love for one another means less. In fact, it creates a mutual respect that encourages the emotional and spiritual health of both involved, be it human or dragon.

Special features on the disc are solid with a number of featurettes summarizing the development of the series (some from the perspective of the characters themselves). However, the highlights may be the two shorts – Bilbyand Bird Karma– which rival Pixar in quality and entertainment value. Also, a feature-length commentary by the creative team is also welcome for a deeper dive into the development of the beloved franchise.

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden Worldis currently available on 4K, Blu-ray and VOD.

Beauty and the Beats: 1on1 with Kelly Asbury (UGLYDOLLS)

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Directed by veteran animator Kelly Asbury (Shrek 2, Gnomeo and Juliet), UglyDollstransports the viewer to the adorably different town of Uglyville, where eccentricity is celebrated and beauty is understood to mean what lies underneath. Wondering what lies on the other side of the mountain, Moxy (Kelly Clarkson) and her UglyDoll friends discover the of Perfection, where more conventional dolls are trained and sent into the world. Considered outcasts, the UglyDolls are challenged on their ideas of perfection and learn that differences can be amazing too.Absolutely enthusiastic about the project, Asbury believes that part of the charm of the film stems from its roots in traditional Hollywood musicals.

“I realized that this was a very heartfelt [and] emotional story with a lot of characters feeling a lot of things,” he begins. “As a result of that, I said, ‘Let’s make this a musical. We’ve got this great first song. Let’s get Chris Leonard’s and Glen Slater, the songwriters, to give us eight or more new songs to go through here and make those the emotional benchmarks for the movie.’ That really is what started things off for me and we moved forward and we did just that. We made ourselves an animated musical… We approached it just like an old-fashioned movie musical, like Singing in the Rainor American in Paris. We just said let’s just make this an old Hollywood musical with new characters.”

As the film started to transition into a traditional musical, Asbury and his team began to consider who had the energy and enthusiasm to bring the film to life. After Kelly Clarkson joined the cast, the team saw the potential of filling the cast primarily with recording artists.

“After Kelly Clarkson came on, she took so quickly to the character,” Asbury recalls. “She really gave us herself. The character of Moxy really is Kelly Clarkson through and through. They’re one in the same. They really fit together. She even asked if we’d written the part for her. While we didn’t intentionally, from that point forward, we started writing. She became the character and it helped us a lot with Moxy’s attitude and mental state during different parts of the movie. Kelly was great for that and she was really able to relate to it. But as a result, we started to ask who could be great in these other roles that might not be a traditional actor that can give us the singing and the performance. So that sort of got the ball rolling… and the primary cast were recording artists who also were great actors.”

While developing any story comes with its own set of challenges, Asbury also believes that part of the difficulty inherent to creating a story about UglyDollslies in the fact that it’s based on a pre-existing toy line. 

Says Asbury, “It [was] a challenge [to make a film based on a toy line]. In this case, I had never done a movie that there were toys that existed first. What’s difficult about that is it’s like ‘Hey, there’s this great character—let’s say it’s on Saturday Night Live—but it’s just a character. It’s almost just a costume that a guy puts on. Let’s make an entire feature film about that.’ We have to figure out who is that character, what’s important to them, and what sort of things does he/she do. With the case of UglyDolls, what was fortunate was that, while the UglyDolls were established as a toy line and there were a few things that each of them had some sort of vocation or some sort of little quirk if you knew them, it wasn’t so developed that the characters were defined. So, if we’re going to take this character, Moxie, and we’re going to really come up with a story for her in the process of trying to create a Hollywood musical, I started thinking to myself what if this were Debbie Reynolds or Judy Garland? What kind of movie would they make if they were a character that was deeply in need of something they couldn’t attain?” 

“[So, I said] let’s delve into Moxie as that main character and surround her by supporting characters who help her achieve that goal…,” he continues. “I think that was helpful jump out point is because we didn’t know a lot about what the UglyDolls were all about. So, that’s a challenge because you know the characters you need in the movie, certainly the studio is telling you we really want Babo and Wage in there. So, you say, ‘Here is my chopped basket and now I have to make something with it.’ That’s sort of what it feels like at the top and then, after a while, you’re cooking and it feels better. [laughs]”

Having worked in the animation industry for almost three decades, Asbury feels incredibly fortunate for his experiences as an artist, especially in the midst of the drastic changes since the advent of 3-D CGI.

“I loved animation from the time I was a child,” he beams. “[Also,] I’ve been there working in the industry from the 2-D whirlwind resurgence in animation that happened with Little Mermaid and Who Framed Roger Rabbit. I was really lucky to be in the animation business during the advent of CG and watching it begin to develop. I was able to work on Toy Storyand see this great vision that Pixar had in order to create something that rivaled the 2-D acting and emotions. Then, from Toy Story on, it’s been amazing to watch the explosion of CG. I’m sorry that 2-D has gone by the wayside as much as it has, because I think that is also an art form that should be recognized as something very valuable. In the meantime, we have to keep going forward and I know that CG is what people want to see at the moment. I do think it’s an amazing art form. The same artists that do 2-D are able to adapt to 3-D. So, the same mentality and the same thought process goes into it. It’s just a new paint brush really.” 

Within the story of UglyDolls itself lies an important conversation about what it means to be yourself. Asked what he hopes families get from their experience, Asbury hopes that they can relate to the experience of the characters by accepting themselves for their quirks and uniqueness.

“I think the movie is as much about embracing yourself as others,” he states. “It’s about looking in the mirror and once you see realizing that you see is just fine. Then what you see can go out in the world and be just as happy and do just as many things as anyone else. What you see is not as important as what’s inside. Everybody is an ugly doll. I think every morning when we wake up and look in the mirror, we’re an UglyDoll. We may be a different version of that but we all have to say this is where I am today and this is what I’m going out in the world as. You have to have confidence with that. You can’t feel bad about it. Different people have different ideas of what pretty or ugly are… It never really works when you try to duplicate someone else’s version of themselves and just trying to be someone else.”


UglyDolls steps into the spotlight in theatres on May 3rd, 2019

For full audio of our interview with Kelly Asbury, click here.