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Secret Life of Pets

The Best Animated Film of 2016

January 3, 2017 by Jacob Sahms 1 Comment

Last week, the staff of ScreenFish had a lively debate about animated flicks in 2016. We couldn’t agree on which one was best – but given that I’d seen more of them than not, I felt compelled to argue. That left me with this list of films from 2016 – and the reasons behind them. Counting up from the bottom, I present you with the least (and most) worthwhile animated flicks of 2016.

ratchet

In the “Don’t Waste Your Time Department”…

#12 Ratchet & Clank. I’m not sure what just happened.

ice-age-collision-course

#11 Ice Age: Collision Course. Seriously, does everyone still love Raymond (Romano)?

norm

#10 Norm of the North. I bet 97% of you have never heard of this one.

angry

We Were Compelled But We Shouldn’t Have Been…

#9 Angry Birds the Movie. I get it, he gets angry. But did we just make that a positive character trait?

panda

#8 Kung Fu Panda 3. Were we actually worried about where Po’s dad was? He’s not a crane?

slop5

You Know You Want To, But Then The Trailer Said It All…

#7 Secret Life of Pets. Seriously, the cat slayed eating out of the fridge. But there wasn’t any additional laughs, and the story didn’t have an emotional payoff.

FINDING DORY

#6 Finding Dory. Ellen DeGeneres is regularly solid; the idea of all of these animals overcoming disability was truly a solid message. It just wasn’t funny.

sing

In Any Other Year, They Would Have Been Amazing …

#5 Sing. American Idol meets Animal Farm … or something. The soundtrack rocked; the ‘find your voice’ message was powerful. Again, not enough laughs to be top dog.

storks2#4 Storks. Funny throughout, with excellent reminders about family. In another year, I’d be raving about it.

I Have to Rank Them But These Are All Great…

kubo#3 Kubo. This is the best animation that I saw all year. The stormy seas, the snow, the fur on the white monkey. The end, community reconciliation and restoration, is as powerful as the end of any live-action film I saw this year. Unfortunately, the lead-up story suffers a bit with predictability.

moana3#2 Moana. Arnaldo’s favorite animated flick of 2016, this one has an awesome story to tell about call and stepping up when others fail to lead. Mark Henn’s animation is solid and it’s funny … sometimes. I found the ending to be a bit slow but still powerful in meaning.

zootopia3

#1 Zootopia. While it’s in the trailer, the sloth scene gets me every time. Like, reduces me to tears. If it doesn’t make you laugh, you’ve never been to the DMV. But the story of the community made up of individuals/races/subgroups who all bring their own strength and have to learn to work together? Geez, I wish we could’ve watched that as a national community right before heading to the ballots. There’s much here to consider about immigration, call, strength, grace, duty, honor, and, dare I say, faith.

Filed Under: DVD, Featured, Film, Reviews Tagged With: Angry Birds, Ice Age Collision Course, kubo and the two strings, Kung Fu Panda 3, Moana, Norm of the North, Ratchet & Clank, Secret Life of Pets, Sing, storks, The Rock, zootopia

Secret Life of Pets: One Furry Community

December 6, 2016 by Jacob Sahms Leave a Comment

slop1In director Chris Renard’s (Despicable Me franchise) latest film, The Secret Life of Pets, a community of diverse and quirky animated animals unite to save the Jack Russell terrier Max (Louis C.K.) when Max’s territorial nature forces him into confrontation with his master’s new dog, the shaggy mongrel Duke (Eric Stonestreet). When Animal Control gets involved, Max and Duke find themselves fighting for their lives, even as separate groups of animals hunt for the two  as well.

The film ultimately proves the axiom/moral that we don’t really know someone until we’ve understood where they come from and what they’ve been through. We see how friendship and community matter, in a world that rejects us and struggles to accept us for who we are. Still, The Secret Life of Pets is best understood through its menagerie of animal personalities and the comedians who voice them.

slop3One of the biggest characters in personality if not size is Kevin Hart’s Snowball, a wild white rabbit who leads the revolution for animal freedom. We understand that he was once magical (a magician’s assistant that is) and lost his mind when his owner abandoned him. He wants to wreak havoc on humanity while seeking revenge, but he’s just… crazy.

slop2

Elsewhere, we meet Lake Bell’s Chloe, my personal favorite for a funny scene where a refrigerator gets cleaned out by her inability to stop eating. The animation of what the tabby cat is really thinking when her owner is away is just priceless, and certainly how cats really think! But this is truly and ensemble.

slop4Dana Carvey plays a wise old bassett hound who helps Gidget (Jenny Slate’s white Pomeranian) find her lost love – the unknowing Max. Max’s friends include the pug Mel (Bobby Moynihan) and the budgerigar Sweetpea (Tara Strong), but there’s a diversity in the other animals, from Albert Brooks’ red-tailed hawk Tiberius to the Himalayan cat Reginald (Steven Coogan). All of these actors (and comedians) provide ample entertainment value, but the animation by Illumination Entertainment literally makes the film memorable.

slop6

On Universal’s special features for the home media on Blu-ray and DVD, we hear from the actors about their characters in “Animals Can Talk” and learn more about the pets through “All About the Pets” with Hart, Stonestreet, and trainer Molly Mignon O’Neill, and “Hairstylist to the Dogs” with Stonestreet and groomer Jess Rona. “Hot Dog Sing-a-long” will help kids and adults join Duke and Max in singing in the sausage factory. Behind the scenes, fans can unpack “The Humans that Brought You Pets,” where producers Chris Meledandri and Janet Healy, and directors Chris Renaud and Yarrow Cheney, share how they made the film.

slop5

Fans of the film will also appreciate the “Best of Snowball” feature, but the three new mini-movies will probably win everyone’s highest praise. (Only on the Blu-ray, fans can check out “How to Make an Animated Film” and the filmmakers’ “Anatomy of a Scene.”) While “Mower Minions” aired as a short prior to The Secret Life of Pets while in theaters, “Weenie” and “Norman Television” are additional bonuses.  There’s a special bonus on the making of those mini-movies as well, just for good measure.

A strong package that includes the clever, funny film and this many features, The Secret Life of Pets will entertain adults and kids – whether you like animals or not!

Filed Under: DVD, Featured, Film, Reviews Tagged With: Chris Renard, Dana Carvey, Despicable Me, Eric Stonestreet, Illumination Entertainment, Kevin Hart, Louis C.K., Secret Life of Pets

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