Animation Hall of Fame

Treasure Planet (Ron Clements and John Musker, 2002)
Imdb

Date Watched: 11/5/16
Cinema or Home: Home
Reason For Watching: MovieMeditation's Nomination for the MoFo Animation Hall of Fame
Rewatch: Yes.

Cyborgs, robots, portals, aliens, space surfing - All these things had me rolling my eyes several times during the movie, but damned if I didn't have a good time with it in spite of myself. Technically this re-imagining of Treasure Island was a rewatch, but I only saw it once in the theater 14 years ago and had pretty much forgotten it since.

The basic premise is that a teenaged boy tries to rescue a mysterious stranger that crashes near his mother's inn. The boy discovers a strange object that the stranger was carrying but before he can figure out what it is, the stranger's pursuers arrive and burn down the inn, while the boy, his mother, and a family friend narrowly escape. Later they discover the object is actually a map to a legendary treasure. Trying to redeem himself, the boy and the friend hire a ship and crew and set out to find the treasure.

And, of course, being a Disney film we can't possibly be without the cutesy sidekick or the comic relief - found in the form of a morph (a creature that can change shape and resemble any object or creature it chooses) and an obnoxious robot (with memory loss, voiced by Martin Short, which didn't help matters) respectively. Also, being Disney, the protagonist couldn't possibly have had a stable and happy childhood. No, we MUST remove at least one biological parent from the picture, so our protagonist Jim is dealing with daddy issues after his father abandoned him and his mother.

So, of course, while on his adventure Jim finds a new father figure in an unexpected place, only to be betrayed by him. But - shockingly - the new "daddy" redeems himself and helps Jim save the day and make it possible for Jim's mother to rebuild the inn.

But I don't mean to complain - too much. As one would expect from Disney, the film is beautifully animated and features solid voice performances and a good score. It also features some pretty breathtaking visuals and despite the cliches it is a rather unique take on a very old tale. I also admit that the film's emotional manipulations were effective and I was a little touched by the scenes between Jim and Silver.

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Is that five already Miss Vicky? On a roll!

Glad you liked it, MV!! Especially since you didn't seem to think much of it before this rewatch.

To me, why I like this film, is even for the updated and modern feel, it's simply a good old adventure flick that is entertaining, breathtaking to look at and a great ride and movie experience. I'm aware of the clichés and I don't act like they don't exist, but it's just so entertaining that it doesn't bother me too much. It's just a fun ride.

But damn, MV, you are on a roll! I did watch Wall•E yesterday though, so I'm not zero movies in at least.

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/watching movies for mark f/
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I am

Good thing about this HOF is a lot of movies are on the shorter end minutes wise, so I may be able to get 2 in on Monday.

At least I just have one movie left for 11th HOF than this is the only thing I'm committed to......until the next one starts

Watching Madagascar 2 later, then maybe Night On The Galactic Railroad.

I was already looking forward to watching Treasure Planet (it's definitely next on my list). Seeing that Miss Vicky liked it despite the sci-fi elements makes me want to watch it even more now haha.

Yes, that's five. Six if you count the disqualified one.

I've got Castle of Cagliostro in hand from the library and two and half weeks left until it's due back. I own the rest of the nominated films on DVD so there's a good chance I'll keep this pace up until I've watched all of them.

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath, 2008)
Imdb

Date Watched: 11/6/16
Cinema or Home: Home
Reason For Watching: tatmmw2's Nomination for the MoFo Animation Hall of Fame
Rewatch: Yes.

I've always considered the Madagascar franchise to be good, but not really impressive on any level and the second film of the series is no exception.

As tends to be the case for many sequels, Madagascar 2 borrows heavily from the original for its humor and some of the jokes - especially the old lady ("Bad kitty!) - run pretty thin. The story is also not particularly inspired - Alex, Marty, Gloria, and Melman - decide they want to go back to New York, but the run down plane that King Julien provides ends up crashing landing in continental Africa and the gang meets others of their own respective kinds for the first time. Some fairly predictable conflicts arise but are worked out and in the end their friendships are stronger than ever.

But what it lacks in originality it pretty well makes up for in simple, mindless entertainment. It's an easy watch and does not require any advance knowledge of the characters or previous film to understand. In fact it might arguably be more enjoyable without that prior knowledge, since the recycled jokes won't be stale to someone new to Madagascar.


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I had planned to watch Treasure Planet yesterday, but somehow ended up watching Rush instead. If I don't get around to watching it after work today, it probably won't be until Thursday evening.

I'll probably watch another film this weekend as well, but I don't know what yet. Maybe All Dogs Go to Heaven, or Tokyo Godfathers since a few others have already watched it.

I've seen the first Madagascar but don't remember much about it, so I guess that might benefit me for the sequel haha.

Castle of Cagliostro

This was Miyazaki's directorial debut, based off of an animation series. The first time I saw it I thought it was really fun. This time I liked it even more. The animation is pretty good for being made in the 70s, but the true greatness of this film for me is the story and the screenplay. The chase scene I believe really gives the film a lot of steam and seems to draw us into the story and it's characters. The characters, especially Wolf and Clarisse, were very interesting characters. The Count Cagliostro made for a good villain as well. The movie had a bit of a James Bond gone animation feel to it. I really liked the sense of action and adventure that the film had. The castle itself was imaginative, and I especially liked the scenes at the clock tower. I would have liked to see a bit stronger ending to the film, but that's the only real negative that I have about it. This isn't Miyazaki's best film but it is up there and I would certainly call it his most underappreciated work. But Wolf is definitely in discussion for being one of my favorite Miyazaki characters.

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All Dogs Go To Heaven

I don't think I ever watched this film from start to finish as a child before. That being said, there wasn't any nostalgic appeal. But it wasn't bad. I thought maybe it would be a bit emotional given a dog dying twice, but it wasn't. As the film grew I began to care for Charlie more, and Carface was a truly evil dog. The little girl reminded me of Snow White for some reason (kind of looked like her) and surprisingly wasn't too annoying. The songs at times could be rather annoying. I liked the song in the end credits though. The animation itself was pretty much average, I wasn't that wrapped up in it though. Overall, a quick and easy watch but nothing I would consider a classic. With time and maybe a few more watches maybe it would be good. Didn't even know my wife had this movie until I watched it for this haha. My favorite character was probably the alligator.

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Waltz with Bashir (2008)



The story of a man trying to discover what he's forgotten and the cost of finding out.

A somber and melancholy story, this. But then again, I guess war stories shouldn't be uplifting, especially not one like this one. Centering around the Sabra and Shatila massacre in 1982, a former israeli soldier tries to remember what he was doing during his tour of service leading up to the attack. This mission takes him on a trip, visiting men he served with and pieceing together his experience while also listening to theirs.

The artstyle...

I don't want to call it bacis or crude but...maybe simplistic? This entails the characters, not the backgrounds. The backdrops and the landscapes were very well done. They had a depth to them that the character animation lacked. It seemed as if two teams, working separately, created their parts of the movie after a discussion about how they wanted the finished product to look and then only met to piece them both together at the end.

One example of this was the opening: A pack of dogs are running down a street, but they seem separated from their surroundings, a city center late at night, everything in scales of grey except for the sky and the dog's eyes, which is a brilliant yellow. In part it's because it seems like they're drawn with an slightly different style (maybe more cell-shaded than their surroundings?), and the other being that they move too fluently. They don't seem to actually make contact with the ground as they move; rather, they glide over the ground while going through the motions of running. I know this must be a b**** to get right, as even a small error can make it stand out, but here it did stand out to me.

The art itself I liked. It brought to mind the animated parts from Watchmen, the comicbook story within the watchmen's own about a haunted freighter. It got cut from the theatrical edition but was made available later as a separate "mini-movie" you could buy with the film proper. It emphasised much of it's characters profiles and features by shadow, as if they'd let the light fall from the side, casting half the face in shadow and thereby getting an outline for the half that was lit. They use this effect here too, mixing it with standard, full face animation as well.

While on the faces, I thought I detected some fluidety there, too. Not so much the motion in itself (apart from what I mentioned earlier, I felt they did a good job), but the somewhat wierd effect it had on the facial features. Now, I admit I'm not actually sure if it's the case or if I'm imagineing it, but when a character's in a mid/close-up shot and they turn their head or simply move, it looks like their features can't quite keep up, as if some inertia first has to be overcome before they can move. A pair of eyes glides or a beard stays put when they should follow the rest of the face. We're talking a fraction of a second if at all, and as I said I'm not sure if I'm just imagineing it or not. But that said, it's not a criticism of the creators, just something I noticed. I guess it's up to you guys to tell me if you see it too or not.

Overall, I don't know if this is a movie you "like" or not based on the story. It feels more like something to be experienced, something that is told in a way you favor or don't. The documentary style telling of the stories appealed to me, even if I don't watch too many documentaries.

The subject matter's horrible, and in the end, as in the real world, it does just that: It ends. We don't get to see how our protagonist reacts to what he's remembered, wether he regrets now knowing what he knows or if it's cathartic to finally have the whole story. No ending neatly tied up in a bow. All we get is a cut to black and then the credits roll.

Heavy subject, beautiful backdrops, interestingly told. Overall a film I'm glad to have seen. Good nom, Camo!

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Why not just kill them? I'll do it! I'll run up to Paris - bam, bam, bam, bam. I'm back before week's end. We spend the treasure. How is this a bad plan?

Nice write-up, Clazor.

I only watched Bashir once a couple of years ago, but I don't recall being bothered at all by the animation. I do remember being blown away by it - even rating it a at the time. I may watch it again tonight and see if I'm just as impressed by it as I was then.

I loved Waltz with Bashir, and had it pretty high on both my animation list and my documentary list.

The plot of Treasure Planet is very typical, and follows a predictable path from start to finish, but that doesn't mean that the ride is not enjoyable. I liked the characters of Jim, Silver, and the Captain quite a bit. I wasn't a fan of the robot, but he was the only one (other than what I'm going to call “the fart creature” whose screen time is thankfully brief) that I didn't like. All of the performances were good, with Emma Thompson and Brian Murray doing a particularly good job bringing their characters to life.

While I liked the design of what I saw, I wasn't a fan of the animation in this. I know I'm probably going to be in the minority here, but the blend of traditional and CG methods just did not work well for me at all. Digital animation has to be absolutely astonishing for me to like it, but that wasn't the case here. I wouldn't say it ruined the look of the film, but it certainly took a lot away from it, which is a shame because I think it would've been really beautiful otherwise. I don't remember Titan A.E. having the same problem, but I also haven't seen that film in 15 years, so maybe it does. I can't fault the film too much for it though, because I know that's entirely a matter of my personal taste.

I think the parts leading up to the betrayal were better than what followed, and I think if there had been more time put into the emotional implications there, I would've appreciated it a bit more. I did enjoy the building of Jim and Silver's relationship though, and it's definitely the highlight of this film for me. I also liked the visual design (just not the execution), and its mix of fantasy and sci-fi elements. I just wanted a little more out of the film on an emotional level. Or maybe a less happy ending (though again, that's just me personally preferring things to be more bittersweet).

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I will add that I'm very happy to see a nice mixture of films in this HOF. From Pixar to Disney to Foreign to Bluth to Kon to Miyazaki

Really good review Clazor. So glad you liked it

I'll comment on it once i've re-watched and reviewed it myself. I do love the animation myself; it's very unique and i think the unconventional movement made the nightmares feel very dream-like.

Waltz With Bashir (Vals Im Bashir) (Ari Folman, 2008)
Imdb

Date Watched: 11/7/16
Cinema or Home: Home
Reason For Watching: Camo's Nomination for the MoFo Animation Hall of Fame
Rewatch: Yes.

I first watched this animated documentary film in 2014 while preparing for the MoFo Animation Countdown. I've loved animation for quite some time, but I'll admit that - prior to seeing Waltz With Bashir for the first time - I had a very narrow view of what animated films could and should be. This film totally blew those preconceptions away and opened my eyes to the possibilities.

This is a film about memories - some vivid, some only half-remembered. It also calls into question the merit of memory itself and the mind's tendency to omit the traumatic and to fill in gaps when the true details are fuzzy, even to the point of believing fabricated memories. But this is only a short digression and the focus of the film is to uncover what really happened to the film's director and star and how culpable he is in a heinous act that happened in a time and place he can't quite seem to recall.

Drawn in bold lines and colored in shades of gold and blue, the animation is both crisp and yet somehow crude. The images don't move with the fluidity that you expect to see in modern animation, but this is not a flaw. The style of the artwork adds greatly to the sense of surrealism and a sort of numbness that accompany its depictions of the horrors of war. Many of the film's scenes are oddly beautiful - the reflection of a man in the eye of a dying horse, the graceful, dance-like movements of a soldier firing countless bullets into surrounding buildings as he spins circles in the street, and the glow of flares that light up the sky while soldiers murder civilians below. It's all strangely entrancing. But it's the final scene - the actual footage of the aftermath of a massacre - that is the most powerful. All that stunning animation gives way to images of the innocent dead - piled atop each other, partly buried in rubble or simply left lying in the street - and the grief stricken. It's a jarring transition, but one that is undeniably effective.

Waltz With Bashir is a film unlike any other I've ever seen. It's haunting and thought provoking and it presents its ideas in a stunningly unique fashion. It's a definite must-watch for any appreciator of animation and an excellent nomination for the Hall of Fame.

Great review and so glad it held up for you

Feels weird you praising my nom though Messaging Raul and asking him to change it to The Lion King.

That would actually make me happy. Between this and Wall E, I'm starting to get concerned about where my own nomination will place on my ballot.