Partysaurus Rex (2012)

Starring: Wallace Shawn, Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Corey Burton

Director: Mark A. Walsh

Genre: Animation, Short, Comedy

Rating: B

Rex (Shawn) is a party pooper, always disrupting the toys when they're playing because he's over thinking the consequences.  That is until one day Bonnie (Emily Hahn) picks him to join her in the bath and leaves him behind in the tub.  There he learns that the bath toys would like to continue playing but can't without water - and none of them can turn on the water, because they lack arms.  Fortunately, Rex has arms and he can start the party again - and thus prove that he is Partysaurus Rex not Party-Pooper Rex.

I'm not really sure how I felt about this one.  Ben Kendrick said that it  is "easily the most enjoyable franchise spin-off to date," which I can see.  Franchise spin-off shorts tend to be less than great, and Partysaurus Rex is definitely fun.  It just doesn't really convey the emotion or, really story, that a lot of the other shorts have.  It was enjoyable, but didn't set me up as emotionally as a lot of other shorts have done.

Paperman (2012)

 Starring: John Kahrs, Kari Wahlgren, Jeff Turley

Director: John Kahrs

Genre: Animation, Short, Comedy

Rating: A

George (Kahrs), sees Meg (Wahlgren) at the subway and falls for her, but their meeting is short lived - after a brief meet cute, they're swept in different directions by the trains.  Cut to his work, where he comes to the realization that the girl is just across the street from him and if he can throw the perfect airplane he can get her attention.

I really liked this short.  The emotion that it succeeds in conveying without words is just awesome.  You totally get the feeling of love and despair that George has, and are rooting for him the entire time.  Every time he throws a paper plane you find yourself holding your breath, hoping it goes into the right window.  The short is cheesy and a bit ridiculous, and definitely set in a dream world, but it's still fun and enjoyable.  In a lot of ways it really reminded me of shorts like Geri's Game or For the Birds, just because of the pure emotion.

Rise of the Guardians (2012)

Starring: Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, Isla Fisher, Jude Law

Director: Peter Ramsey

Genre: Animation, Adventure, Family

Rating: B

"It is our job to protect the children of the world. For as long as they believe in us, we will guard them with our lives.."

As far as Christmas movies go, this one's a bit awkward.  In a way, it kind of reminds me of The Nightmare Before Christmas simply because while appearing to be about Christmas, it's actually about something more than that and Christmas itself is rather secondary.

Rise of the Guardians follows the spirit of winter, Jack Frost (Pine), on a journey as he comes to realize his destiny.  Opening 300 years ago, we see Jack emerge as Jack Frost, with no memories of who he was before, having been lifted from the ice by the Man in the Moon (who also tells Jack his name).  While Jack has great power, however, he is invisible to everyone, since no one believes in him.  Fast forward 300 years, where Jack is still unbelieved by all, the Guardians of Childhood, lead by North (Baldwin), are informed that the Bogeyman, Pitch Black (Law), has returned and it is up to them and newly appointed Guardian, Jack Frost, to stop him.  Pitch has lived much like Jack, invisible and unbelieved, but has figured out how to attack the children of the world by transforming the dreams created by the Sandman (who does not speak) into nightmares.  Pitch's ultimate goal, however, is to make the Guardians feel what he has felt, and cause all the children in the world to stop believing in them - and thus make them invisible and powerless.

To start, I really loved the portrayal of the different Guardians, although I was a bit confused by their loss of power.  As we see that Jack Frost still has his powers without being believed in, I had to wonder why the other Guardians didn't also have their powers, or at least some of them.  Although, I guess perhaps we're only seeing the limited manifestation of Jack's powers as it is before he becomes believed by many, and it is not until he is believed in that his true power really begins to manifest - perhaps North, Tooth, and Bunny are all weakened so much because they have forgotten what it's like to not be believed in, since they've all been around for so long.  The worlds that each inhabit, with the exception of Jack Frost who is very much of this world, are absolutely amazing though, so I can't blame them for not knowing how to deal in the real world.  I'm a bit torn on who I loved most here - North, who lives in his snow palace filled with dimwitted elfs and intelligent yetis; Tooth (Fisher), whose airy castle is filled with the baby teeth, and thus memories, of everyone; or Bunny (Jackman), who's bright and festive world is very much reminiscent of Easter Island.  We don't get to see the Sandman's home, but we do get to see much of his sandy dream creations which is awesome, and we also saw Pitch's lair which is completely perfect for his character.  I look forward to a future installment in this series (if it becomes one), where we get to see Jack Frost's home.

I also liked the story, particularly how it wasn't simply about saving Christmas.  The competition between the different characters, even the ones who were technically working together, was great.  The new take on old classic characters was also great - especially as it kind of took things on a completely different path than we're used to.  I love the idea of Santa looking (and sounding) like a member of the Russian mafia.  The whole idea of the Easter Bunny was great too.  This movie was just all around good fun.

Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

Starring: John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch

Director: Rich Moore

Genre: Animation, Comedy, Family

Rating: A+

Okay, so I'm just going to stick this out there: I was looking up the movie's cast list for this review when I saw that Alan Tudyk is in this as King Candy.  Nothing bad comes from having Alan Tudyk in your movie or TV show - hell, he was even great in Dollhouse, and Dollhouse wasn't all that great despite being from the mind of Joss Whedon.  He's not starring, but he should be because his role is significant and he's awesome.  Adding to this awesomeness is Jane Lynch, who is equally as awesome!  She is by far the best part of Glee, and I have to say I love watching old shows from the late 90s and early 00s, and seeing her randomly appear.

Wreck-It Ralph is about an old arcade game villain, Wreck-It Ralph (Reilly) who is tired of being the villain.  He is never appreciated for what he does and the essential role that he plays in the game, and wants to be appreciated in some way - to get the kind of recognition that his game's hero, Fix-It Felix, Jr. (McBrayer), gets. After an argument with one of the game's Nicelanders, Mayor Gene (Raymond S. Persi), Ralph decides to leave his game and go in search of one where he can win a medal, like the one that Felix gets daily.  He travels to the first-person shooter Hero's Duty, where he can win a medal for climbing a tower and killing bugs.  In between games, Ralph does just that - but in the process he accidentally hatches a Cy-Bug, which clings to him as he stumbles into an escape pod.  The bug and Ralph fly into the kart-racing game Sugar Rush.  Here Ralph meets game glitch Vanellope von Schweetz (Silverman), who dreams of becoming a racer, despite the hatred that the other citizens of Sugar Rush hold for her.  Meanwhile, Felix has also left Fix-It Felix, Jr, with the realization that if he doesn't find Ralph the game will be unplugged an everyone in it will be left homeless in Game Central Station.  Felix pairs up with Sergeant Tamora Jean Calhoun (Lynch), the hardened lead character of Hero's Duty, who realizes just how bad the escape of the Cy-Bug is.  The bug doesn't realize it's a video game character, and will set out to destroy any game that it's in - before moving on to Game Central Station and infesting other games.

I love the many dimensions to this movie.  There's a lot going on with the plot, but it never feels like it's too much.  The one thing that I didn't like, at least at first, were the many references to "going Turbo", which I felt could have been explained earlier.  To me, "turbo" is the power charge that you get in race type games, and so I had no clue what it meant in the video game land - something that they realize in Wreck-It Ralph, because they do set out to explain it after awhile, but in my mind not soon enough.  I understood why Ralph's disappearance was a threat, but not why they called Ralph's actions "Turbo."  It worked out in the end, but there was that momentary annoyance whenever they mentioned it.

Beyond that, however, there's a lot going on in this movie.  Each of the main characters, really, has their own plot and has to come to different realizations.  I love that, especially given as it's a children's movie.  While I've come to expect depth in a children's movie, I don't expect this much.  I loved it.  Including this, there's also a lot of really little details to this film.  Stuff like the way that Felix and the Nicelanders moved, as if they actually were pixelated creatures - I think it would have been really nice had this continued on to Ralph as well.  There are other things too - early on in the film Vanellope tells Ralph that double striped candy canes disappear when you grab them, and throughout the film you see double striped candy canes.

There's also the humour to this film.  The thing that I love about Disney is that it really nicely balances the juvenile and adult humour.  The relationship between Ralph and Vanellope is so cute and childish that you can't help but love it.  At the same time there are so many little things that bring a smile to your face and are completely for the adult viewer. I love the fact that this is a video game movie that makes references to an entire history of video games.  I loved it.

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Starring: Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon, Catherine O'Hara, William Hickey, Glenn Shadix, Ken Page

Director: Henry Selick

Genre: Animation, Family, Fantasy, Musical

Rating: A

It's almost Halloween, which means that it's officially the time to question whether The Nightmare Before Christmas qualifies as a Halloween or Christmas movie.  I personally like to think both.

Jack Skellington (Sarandon, singing voice by Elfman) is the Pumpkin King of Halloween town, but as of late his heart hasn't been in the scarring people business - he wants something more.  This something more is found after Jack discovers the portal to Christmas Town and decides that this year Halloween Town will do Christmas.  With the help of the town he prepares for Christmas, even going so far as to have Lock (Paul Reubens), Shock (O'Hara), and Barrel (Elfman), kidnap 'Sandy Claws' so that Jack can replace him - although unbenknownst to Jack, the trio deliver Sandy to town bogeyman Oogie Boogie (Page).  Watching it all with apprehension is rag-doll and love interest Sally (O'Hara), who is certain that Jack's Christmas is not going to be a success.

It's no surprise that the best part about this movie is the music.  The songs are simplistic, catchy, and well sung.  Honestly, in my opinion one of the best parts about most Tim Burton films is the Danny Elfman soundtrack, and Nightmare really shines as one of his best.  Some of the songs aren't as good, but most of the music is just iconic of the stylings of this film.  It's a perfect blending of the styles of Burton and Elfman - sadly, for actual director Henry Selick he's kind of left out of the limelight a bit here by the two bigger names.

The next thing that makes this movie great is the world that Burton and Selick have created.  It's beautifully crafted stop motion animation, meaning that everything about it has actually been crafted.  The attention to details and what not isn't just some computer program - I realize that there's more to computer animation than just the computer doing it, but it has a different feel to it.  Somehow, the knowledge that the creations in Nightmare are all actually crafted things makes it feel more real.  You might not be able to have as much going on in the background when you're using stop motion, but what happens in the foreground just has this extra little charm to it - and really, Nightmare doesn't lose all that much of the background either.  The fact that they had about 400 heads for Jack alone says something about the time and effort that went into this movie.

Rounding out the greatness is the fact that it's a movie that does, or at least can, appeal to people of all ages.  It's animated and intended to appeal to a younger audience, but it also works really well as a movie for adults.  I actually hated this movie as a kid because I found it to be too scary, but as I got older and it began to reemerge a bit I really got into it.  It's fun, it's cute, it's dark, but it's also light at times.  It's probably the best thing that's come out of Tim Burton, or at least pretty close.  Definitely the best thing Henry Selick's directed.

Finding Nemo (2003)

Starring: Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould

Director: Andrew Stanton

Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy

Rating: A

"P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney! You asked me where I'm going? OK, I'll tell you: P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney! That's where I'm going!" 

Oh, my God, I love this movie.  It's definitely my favourite Pixar film and one of my favourite animated films of all time.  It's cute, it's funny, it's sad... it's really the whole package.  While I'm not sure if I would say that it's everything I want from a film it's definitely got so much going on that the entire time I'm watching it I'm completely submerged in it, and when I'm done watching it I'm still quoting from it.  It's the kind of movie that makes me excited about watching movies.

On the Great Barrier Reef lives a clownfish, Marlin (Brooks), and his son, Nemo (Gould).  Marlin is horribly overprotective as the result of the death of Nemo's mother, some years earlier, and thinks that Nemo isn't as capable because of a bad fin.  Nemo responds exactly as you would expect - and rebels, which leads to him being abducted by a scuba diving human.  In his journey to find his son, Marlin meets Dory (DeGeneres), a fish with a severe memory issue who helps him find his son.

The thing that really makes this movie great is Dory.  The role was written for Ellen DeGeneres and it's one that I really can't imagine anyone else playing - which is saying a lot, given as it's voice acting.  Someone else could have easily done any and every other role in Nemo as well as the actors cast, but DeGeneres really steals the show.  After seeing this movie I'm always left quoting her lines, or singing "just keep swimming" - and I even have a friend who can often be heard trying to speak whale, regardless of the presence of actual whales.  Dory just makes this movie awesome.

Dory, however, isn't the full movie.  There's also this insanely amount of detail put into it.  I love the shots of the Reef and the way that the fish in and out of water looked different - although, I did think that they didn't do much to differentiate between in and out of water when not dealing with fish, which does kind of take away from the fish thing a bit.  The supporting characters are also amazing.  I love the sharks and the turtles and the seagulls - God, I love the seagulls.  The way the seagulls are portrayed is just so perfectly and exactly what you think a seagull is saying.  This movie is like those seagulls - pretty much perfect.

La Luna (2011)

Starring: Krista Sheffler, Tony Fucile, Phil Sheridan
Director: Enrico Casarosa
Genre: Short, Animation
Rating: A

I think one of my favourite parts of going to see a Pixar movie is the short film at the start.  Brave does not fail in this regards, as it is preceded by the overly cute short film La Luna.  While not my favourite Pixar short La Luna had a good, easy to follow story that really served to bring you into the kind of mindset one needs before watching an animated feature film.

La Luna follows a little boy as he is joining his father and grandfather at work for the first time.  I'm not going to give away just what that work is, although I will say that the title of the short is in itself an indicator.  The bit that I liked most about La Luna was the way in which you see the boy trying to find his place in the world.  Both his father and grandfather have different views on things - even just in how to wear a cap - and the boy is caught in between them; the elder men want to influence the young boy, while the young boy wants to please both of them.  His struggle to do so is the crutch of this short, which becomes as much about his journey to determine who he is as it is about the Moon.  There isn't much more that I can say about this short without really giving it away, as it is a short, so I'm going to end it here.  This was a cute short that both served its purpose in bringing you into the right mind set for the upcoming movie and makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Brave (2012)

Starring: Kelly Macdonald, Julie Walters, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson, Robbie Coltrane, John Ratzenberger

Director: Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman, Steve Purcell

Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure
Rating: B

The latest film from Pixar, Brave enters into the 10th Scottish highlands and follows Princess Merida (Macdonald) of Clan DunBroch.  The film opens with a bit of an introduction to the background of the story; we see a young Merida being given her first bow from her father, King Fegus (Connolly), who then defends his family from the bear Mor'du and loses his left leg.  Following this introduction the film rushes forward to when Queen Elinor (Thompson) announces that Merida is to be betrothed  to the eldest son of one of the other three clan leaders; Dingwall (Coltrane), Macintosh (Ferguson), or MacGuffin (McKidd).  Merida resists the betrotahl, however, causing her kingdom to be plunged into chaos when she (first) refuses to marry any of the eldest sons, resulting in the clans going to war against each other.  Then she runs off and meets a witch (Walters), who provides her with a spell to change her mother's nature - which then changes her mother into a bear. It's up to Merida to save both her kingdom and mother before it's too late.

There were a lot of elements of this film that I really enjoyed.  The basic plot is a bit tried and true, especially for a children's movie, but it is cute.  There are points where you know what's going to happen next and points when if you've been paying attention you can figure it out rather easily.  That actually might be my biggest problem with this film; the foreshadowing is very heavy handed, it's hard to miss the signs for what's about to come.  Despite that, however, the moments between Merida and her family are touching and alternatively cute, funny, and heartwarming - and at times a combination of the three.  The biggest saviour for the film in general is the fact that it's a bunch of people speaking with Scottish accents.  I cannot stress this enough: if it has Scottish accents, I will watch it, and I will probably enjoy it thoroughly.  My actual favourite part of the film in general was the music.  Composer Patrick Doyle really looked at traditional native Scottish music and mixed it rather nicely with a bit of a more contemporary sound.  The music itself is rather heart wrenching and moving.  Doyle went so far as to utilize Scottish reels, jigs, and strathspeys, to create a drinking song, and to record an unaccompanied Gaelic psalm. If you enjoyed some of the music in it, you should check out Scottish Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis, who sings on the soundtrack.

Beyond the music, however, I really liked the attention that the animators and creators paid to the details.  The highlands are elegantly crafted in this world, and as we see Merida travelling through it I felt as though I had a sense of just where she was and how she got there.  I loved the different ruins that they show and the standing stones that Merida discovers.  I even love how they paid such close attention that the different clans wore different tartans - the presence of tartan in itself is rather anachronistic as it didn't come into prominence in Scotland until the 16th century and clan tartans didn't exist until the 19th century, but I still love that they took something that is so clearly associated with Scottish culture and tried to do it right.  I even loved how one of the basic themes of the movie was the importance of learning your history, but I'm special that way.

The Pirates! Band of Misfits / In an Adventure with Scientists (2012)

Stars: Hugh Grant, Martin Freeman, David Tennant, Salma Hayek, Jeremy Piven, Imelda Staunton
Director: Peter Lord and Jeff Newitt

Genre: Animation, Adventure, Family

Rating: C

I’m not exactly sure where to begin in explaining my disappointment in this film.  Trailers for it made it look like a cute animated film about a band of pirates who aren’t exactly good at being pirates and are entering the Pirate of the Year competition.  Silly, yes, but cute.  And in the post-Pixar world, I think it’s safe to say that we’ve come to expect adult friendly children’s films.  Sadly, this really wasn’t what The Pirates! Band of Misfits (In an Adventure with Scientists outside of North America) was all about.  Yes, there were pirates, yes they were incompetent, yes there was a competition, but the actual plot was a lot more than just that – and it was in that extra development that the film really lost me.

The Pirate Captain (Grant) is the captain of a crew of pirate misfits; there’s the Pirate with a Scarf (Freeman), Peg-Leg Hastings, the Pirate with Gout, the Surprisingly Curvaceous Pirate, the Albino Pirate, and the Pirate Who Likes Sunsets and Kittens.  They are, very much rightly, ridiculed by the pirating world, especially by the Pirate Captain’s nemeses, Black Bellamy (Piven) and Cutlass Liz (Hayak), two surprisingly competent pirates who frequently win the Pirate of the Year Award.  Determined to prove himself, the Pirate Captain and his crew set out to prove themselves, and while doing so they board the Beagle and take Charles Darwin (Tennant) captive.  Yes, that Darwin.  It is at this point that the plot of the film becomes somewhat overly complicated; it is revealed that the Pirate Captain’s parrot is in fact the last remaining living dodo.  Darwin is very much your modern day stereotype of a science geek, - complete with an awkwardness around girls and a crush on someone far out of his league, specifically Queen Victoria (Staunton) – wants to take Polly to the Scientist of the Year awards, where he’s sure he will win both the top prize and the love and affection of the Queen.  The Captain, however, sees this as an opportunity for him to gather a huge booty and thus win the Pirate of the Year Award.  Queen Victoria, however, is adamantly against Pirates and also collects very rare and endangered animals, for her own devious means.  It is up to the Pirates and Darwin to save the day.

If that all seems a little ridiculous, it’s because it is.  In fact, it’s completely ridiculous and over the top.  It claims to be smart, but really it’s just over the top.  The humour is, for the most part, rather dull and a bit dimwitted, it’s talking down to its audience.  The premise of the plot is extremely implausible.  I love a good fantasy as much as the next person, but I hate it when something attempts to situate itself in the real world and then makes the plot overly complicated and unrealistic.  If it was just about a band of misfit pirates (as it was promoted) who were trying to win the Pirate of the Year award it would be one thing, or even if it was just about that time that Charles Darwin accidentally found a dodo hidden as a pirate’s parrot.  Combining the two just takes it over the top, as does Queen Victoria as the villain.  The characters are all really just absurd caricatures, presenting stereotypes and over the top ridiculousness.  In the post-Pixar world it is easy to expect more of a children’s movie, but The Pirates fails to deliver.

Dr. Seuss' The Lorax (2012)

Stars: Danny DeVito, Ed Helms, Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Betty White, Rob Riggle

Director: Chris Renaud and Kyle Balda
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Family

Rating: C+

I was a bit disappointed by The Lorax.  The trailer for it made it appear to be a fun movie, a bit of comedy, a bit of romance, a bit of suspense, and the occasional musical number.  While technically it did follow through with this, it did so in a manner that left me wanting.  The story overall was good in theory, but somewhat poorly executed.  In many ways the walled city of Thneed-Ville appears to be a utopian society; everyone’s pretty happy and gainfully employed, and everything is very, very clean – largely due to the complete removal of nature.  Rather than have real trees, dirt, and everything that comes with that the world is covered in cement, Astroturf, and blow up trees, and oxygen comes in bottles.  Everyone is completely satisfied with this state of affairs – everyone, that is except Audrey (Swift), who dreams to see a real tree.  Enter protagonist and love interest Ted Wiggins (Efron), who sets out to find a tree for her, taking him beyond the walls of Thneed-Ville to the home of the Once-ler, who tells him the tale of the Lorax and the trees.  This brings him attention to corporate giant Aloysius O’Hare (Riggle), who has made his fortune from selling air and consequently does not want anyone to bring back the trees.

If you think that this sounds like an environmentalist, anti-corporation film you’d be right, and in that manner it does justice to the book that it’s based on.  I have no problem with the message in general, and in general it’s handled well although a bit heavy handed at times.  Some of it made me roll my eyes, particularly in regards to the use of bottled air, especially as there’s a lack of continuity there – the Thneed-Villians have to buy air for their home, but have no problem breathing outside, it’s just when they leave the city that this becomes an issue.  There is a difference between the ending of the book and the film; in the book, it’s rather ominous and fore boarding.  There is a sense of hope, but just a sense.  In the film, however, things are a lot happier in the end and there is a resolution.  Given the nature of the issue, however, I was a bit disappointed that there was a resolution; it’s an ongoing issue, and I disliked the way that it was resolved with a nice little song and dance.  The point of the book is that there is more to the issue of saving the environment than just the trees, but the trees provide a start.  The film implies more that if you save the trees then you save the world, and everything is hunky dory afterwards.

Other problems… I wasn’t amazed by the voice acting.  It really seemed a bit half assed, which was disappointing given some of the actors.  I don’t really expect much from Taylor Swift or Zac Efron when it comes to acting, but I do have expectations with other cast members, especially Betty White.  Danny DeVito was great, but I think his role was somewhat sidelined, which is odd given as he played the title character.  I was especially disappointed by the Once-ler.  In the book he’s a rather foreboding character, hidden except for his green arms.  It’s easy to believe that he’s this formerly malevolent character, who has seen the err of his ways and holds the last hope for humanity.  In the film, he’s really just a pathetic character who failed to listen to the Lorax, who didn’t have any real power to begin with, then faded into legend as the world was left to deal with the consequences of his actions.  It was a disappointment, as was the film overall.