Kubo and the Two Strings

Great filmmakers and true film lovers are fierce advocates for sharing stories.  There is real power and legacy in storytelling, whether we reminisce about loved ones over dinner.  Or we read our old favorite picture books to children.  And of course we tell everyone we can to go see this movie or that.  The great minds at Laika have created the most beautiful piece of animation in years to go with a fantastic story that will enthrall all ages.  That’s why I’m telling you, go see Kubo and the Two Strings.  

Kubo (voiced by Art Parkinson) is a one-eyed son of a samurai and a gifted storyteller.  From his home in a mountain cave at the edge of the sea, Kubo travels into the village every day with his pack full of paper and his shamisen slung on his back.  He tells the stories his mother told him about his late father to a captivated audience as he plays his shamisen.  As he plays, a magic within Kubo and his shamisen brings the paper to life, folding it into intricate origami characters that fly and act out the story.  

But Kubo never has time to finish his stories.  He must be back home before nightfall.  His mother has warned him that he must never be out at night, or his grandfather, who stole his eye, would find him.  Kubo must also always wear his father’s cloak and carry a small wooden monkey to protect him.  We understand why when Kubo accidentally stays out past sundown, is hunted down by his evil aunts and is projected into an epic quest to find his father’s magical armor.  On his journey, Kubo’s wooden Monkey (voiced by Charlize Theron) comes to life to help guide him.  Along the way he also meets Beetle (voiced by Matthew McConaughey), a giant bug man cursed with no memory, but the instincts of a samurai.   

There are so many beautiful, magical and awesome scenes in the film. Every frame is a work of art.  My favorite scene (and my son’s too) is when our heroes have to fight The Skeleton Demon to find the Sword Unbreakable.  The giant skeleton has dozens of swords stuck in its skull, but only one is the correct one.  The skeleton grabs Monkey, swipes at Kubo, who attacks with a swarm of origami birds and Beetle holds on for dear life.  The slow, deliberate and menacing way the skeleton moves is like nothing I’ve seen in an animated film, and this baddie’s design is just as unique.  It’s a real treat at the end of the film to see the skeleton puppet in raw behind-the-scenes action, towering over its animators.

It can be easy to forget how much intricate, hands-on work goes into stop-motion animated films like Kubo.  This film took nearly five years to make, with animators working hard to produce about four seconds of film a week.  The perseverance of these animators is astounding, their skills are even more so.  Since Laika’s first film, Coraline, I’ve been spellbound and in awe of their work, their intricate puppets and unique visual styles.  What they produce is much more daring, risky and sophisticated than most animated films today.  And with Kubo, I am once again blown away by their craftsmanship and storytelling.  The Oscar season is still far off, but I believe we have a new front runner for Best Animated Feature.  

“If you must blink, do it now.”

Taking a Toddler to the Movie Theater

Accurate depiction of toddlers after midnight.

This summer I have enjoyed taking my son to the local movie theaters to see cheap kids movies they play on weekend mornings.  It sounded like paradise at first; sit in a comfy air conditioned theater with my 2 year old as we share popcorn and enjoy some animated movies for just a few bucks.  

As kids do, he made it a bit more complicated than that.  I never expected that he would refuse to sit his entire first movie.  Or that he would drop his pacifier under the sticky seats.  Or would tell me for the first time in public ever that he needed to use the restroom, and once there refuse to even sit on the toilet.

Even with these bumps in the road, I have loved taking my son out to see movies together.  Not only are they a great outing away from the summer heat, but a perfect way to let him learn about going to theaters and enjoy some mom-approved movies.  But let me give some advice to anyone anxious about taking their kids to movies:

“Sit like a good Minion.”

Prepare your kid.  Tell your child exactly what a movie theater is and what you do there.  I told my son it was a big room with lots of seats and a huge tv to watch, and that excited him.  I also told him it would be dark once the movie started, and that’s why you have to stay in your seat.  I even found pictures of the Minions sitting in their seats for him to model.  

Get some snacks.  Most kids movies run about 90 minutes long, that’s such a long time for a kid to be quiet and still, so have snacks to keep them (and you) happy.  If you plan to visit the snack bar, tell your kid and make it sound like a special treat.  If not, don’t even mention it!  You don’t want to deal with the disappointment of hearing tales of fresh popcorn and candy and then not get any.  I had my diaper bag stuffed with a variety of my kid’s favorite snacks, just in case, and usually have to get a couple out.

Be familiar with the movie you are seeing.  Don’t just check out the ratings, PG films have the potential to be scary or violent in the eyes of a little kid.  Personally, I like to see the movie myself and decide if my kid can handle it.  If that won’t work, at least check out a few trailers or reviews.  

We didn’t make it through The Boxtrolls. Curse you, Snatcher!

Don’t go to a packed theater!  The 8 pm opening weekend showing is no place for a toddler’s first movie experience.  Test the waters on a weekday afternoon or find some morning showings that are specifically for young children.  I found that there are mostly moms with young kids and the occasional day care group at these, so everyone is pretty understanding.

Be flexible and patient.  Even after telling my son to sit “like a good Minion” he refused to sit most of his first movie.  Thankfully, he’s only 3 feet tall, no one was within a few rows of us and he didn’t run or climb.  I let him stand, but he could only have snacks while sitting.  The next movie, he sat the entire time (some of it was in my lap, but it’s progress).  If your little one is a little out of line, but not being a disturbance, play it by ear and use your best judgement.  

Snuff out disasters, but give it another try later.  So your kid is wailing in the theater or covered in a half gallon of soda or decided to army crawl under every seat in the theater to find more Skittles or, like mine did once, is yelling “Not like Boxtrolls!”  He or she isn’t the first (or last) kid to behave like that.  Deal out the warnings and/or your style of discipline (preferably out in the hallway).  If you have to, just throw in the towel and leave.  Nothing lets a kid know you’re serious like leaving.  We did not make it through the first hour of The Boxtrolls.  

The best part of The Iron Giant, obviously.

Enjoy it the best you can.  Watching my son discover the wonders of a movie theater was so much fun despite all the stress.  It was his first time eating popcorn, or sitting in a seat that might fold him up and it was the biggest “TV” he had ever seen.  And letting him sit on my lap as he narrated The Iron Giant, “Uh oh, robot eat train tracks!” was so cute.  

In the end, it wasn’t all about taking a break from the summer heat with a cheap, relaxing outing.  It was about sharing my interests with him in one of my favorite settings and introducing my kid to new films and characters he had never seen before.  He still talks about Snoopy dancing,  and pretends to be a robot eating metal.  Kids don’t stay little for long so I’m glad we made some fun summer movie memories.  Even if he did get stuck between the seats during Shaun the Sheep.

“Every day feels like summer with you!”

Zootopia

Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) is a young, optimistic rabbit who dreamed her whole life of being a police officer.  She’s the daughter of a carrot farmer from her little country town and plans to move to Zootopia, where anyone can be anything.  But there are big obstacles for this little bunny, from a childhood bully, grueling physical police academy tests better suited for lions or bears, and her dismissive boss who doesn’t seem to care for a rabbit on his force.  When she tries to make a difference, promising a distraught wife that she will find her missing husband, Hopps’ boss gives her an ultimatum to find him within two days or she is fired.  

This leads Hopps to seek help from a local hustler she met on duty, Nick (voiced by Jason Bateman), a fox.  Foxes are seen as a very untrustworthy predator.  With Hopps’ childhood bully being a fox, her parents warning her against foxes so much so that they give her pepper spray like fox repellant, we understand the tension between the two right away.  But a friendship forms between them as they work to crack the case of the missing otter and discover a conspiracy that could destroy Zootopia.

Disney films have tackled social issues before, but never so head on as Zootopia.  The tension between predators and prey, foxes and rabbits plays along our society’s problems with racism and sexism.  Gazelle’s line, “It is irresponsible to label all predators as savages,” is a heated one where we can easily replace predator with any minority and savage with any unsavory stereotype.  Yet the film is still kid friendly enough that adults don’t need to worry about their children witnessing any racist acts or slurs that could get them in trouble at school.  It’s easy for children and adults to understand who the victims are here, regardless of their own upbringing.  

The writing about social issues is smart, the mystery plot that unfolds is brilliant.  This is one of the more elaborate stories I’ve seen from Disney and I really enjoyed it.  I think it can best describe it as an animated buddy cop noir with a touch of Chinatown for inspiration.  And adults will enjoy the Godfather and Breaking Bad references.  

While I expect to see Zootopia nominated for best animated feature come Oscar season, I doubt it will take the prize.  Visually, the film does nothing new.  Sure, it’s a lot of fun to see how all these different animals live together, the sloth scene is great slow motion fun and Tommy Chong as a yak running a “naturalist club” is hilarious.  But if Zootopia does take the Oscar, it will be for it’s superb writing, which it may find a second nomination for.  

“I mean I am just a dumb bunny, but we are good at multiplying.”

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

When I first heard that there was going to be a film based on Disney World’s classic ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, teenage me had some doubts.  What kind of silly story could be told based on animatronic pirates who plunder, pillage, auction off women and sing?  But under the direction of Gore Verbinski, the film turned into a huge success that is still treading water with lackluster sequels thirteen years later.  

When a ruthless band of pirates invade Port Royal and kidnap the governor’s daughter, Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), the young blacksmith, Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), tries to save her with the help of a recently arrested pirate, Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp).  Jack isn’t really concerned with the rescue, but wants to get his ship, The Black Pearl, back from Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) and his crew.  Throughout their swashbuckling adventure they get into hair raising situations, meet colorful characters, and discover a chilling curse lined with gold, greed and blood.  

Compared to most films under the Disney name, Pirates of the Caribbean has more twists, mystery, violence and scarier images than we are used to seeing from them.  The punishments for piracy are laid out in the beginning, showing handing, rotting corpses with a sign, “Pirates, ye be warned.”  There is a soft love triangle between Elizabeth, the recently promoted Commodore Norrington (Jack Davenport), and the young pining blacksmith we’re all rooting for, Will.  Best of all, there is a curse over the crew of The Black Pearl (no surprise, given the title), where the moonlight reveals them as they truly are.  

Johnny Depp, clad in a tricorner hat, dreadlocks and messy eyeliner, portrays Captain Jack Sparrow in an Oscar nominated performance.  With his amazing entrance, sailing a sinking dinghy into Port Royal, he sets the tone for a new brand of pirate.  He saunters down the pier with a half drunk grace and casually offers three times the payment to dock his sunken boat with no name attached, then pockets a whole pouch of money.  While at first glance he seems to be a drunken fool and flying by the seat of his pants, he is actually quite crafty, always thinking ahead of Will, Elizabeth and Barbossa.  But mostly, we just wants his beloved ship, The Black Pearl, back.

My favorite scene is the first sword fight between Jack and Will.  Will finds Jack hiding in the blacksmithery and being the noble, upstanding citizen he is, plans to turn in the pirate, especially since he threatened dear Elizabeth.  What begins as a simple sword fight, quickly escalates.  Literally, into the ceiling rafters.  When one sword is lost, swatted away or broken, there are plenty others around, some red hot and tossing sparks when clanked.  When the donkey who runs the mill becomes spooked, he sets the whole workshop in motion.  Then, when a wagon acts like a catapult, the sword fight takes to the rafters.  It is wonderful how the danger and excitement increases every minute until Jack has to resort to more ruthless, pirate-like tactics.  

Pirates of the Caribbean is probably the best film inspired by an amusement park ride ever (please, let me know if I missed another gem in this small genre).  While it is a hard argument to call it the best pirate film ever, is is a great modern pirate film.  It’s got the swashbuckling, the rum, kidnappings, stealing, fun, adventure on the high seas and a bit the supernatural to thicken it all.  And with a total of five Oscar nominations, it earned respect from most critics.  If you haven’t already seen this fun, modern, grown up bit of Disney magic, I highly suggest you do.  

“Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me.”

Finding Dory

For the past thirteen years Dory (voiced by the wonderful Ellen DeGeneres) has been the world favorite forgetful fish.  Between speaking whale, befriending sharks and forgetting the whole thing, she stole the show in Finding Nemo.  And let’s face it, Marlin wouldn’t have gotten far without her.  It makes perfect sense for the magic makers at Pixar to tell her story.  

In Finding Dory, we see flashbacks and fragments of Dory’s childhood (and Baby Dory so stinkin’ cute!).  Dory starts to remember bits about herself, including her parents.  With Nemo (voiced by Hayden Rolence)  and Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks), she sets off across the ocean to find them in California.  They are led to an aquarium, The Marine Life Institute, and find their way inside.  Dory gets some help from a runaway octopus named Hank (voiced by Ed O’Neill) who has some great camouflage tricks while Marlin and Nemo meet Becky… I love Becky too much to spoil.  Dory also meets old friends, finds her old home, faces heartbreaking revelations and shows off her amazing strengths.  By the end everyone will be asking, “What would Dory do?”

One of my favorite scenes was when Dory and Hank are in the Touch Pool.  Those are those shallow, kid height aquariums full of starfish and sea sponges that kids put their grubby hands in to touch the fish.  They looked cute and harmless when I let my kid check it out at the aquarium.  In Finding Dory, it’s a bottom dweller’s nightmare.  My kid jumped a mile on my lap when the first hand dove into the water.  He gripped my arm during this scene and I just felt bad for all the creatures trying to hide.  Maybe next time we’ll skip the touch pool.

What I think Finding Nemo does best is remind us that Dory  is not just our favorite forgetful fish but an amazing, resilient, resourceful and daring leading fish.  Her important memories are not forgotten, just buried deep inside her and are awakened one by one.  Many flashbacks show that Dory’s parents taught her the best they could with her memory loss issue and parents, especially with challenging children, should take note to their resilience as well.  Never count anyone out, it’s amazing what even the most challenged beings can do.

I suspect Finding Dory will be the front-runner for best animated feature, as Pixar films usually are.  Visually, it is superb taking us from familiar oceans to the inner workings of the aquarium.  And Hank’s camouflage antics are a huge hit.  The story springboards off of Finding Nemo, but with it’s zanier antics and quick pace builds it’s own unique tone.  However, like Nemo, it still has it’s heart in the right place with the parent-child dynamic flipped around as Dory searches for her parents.  It will make you cry just a bit and laugh a whole lot.  I think I laughed the most at the use of Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World during some perfect slow motion.  

“My friend, Sigourney, once said: rescue, rehabilitate, release!”

Tarzan

Many of Disney’s films feature anthropomorphic animals.  In most we are either completely in an animal world (The Lion King) or a in human’s world with animals who band together (101 Dalmatians, The Aristocats).  While The Jungle Book comes close, 1999’s Tarzan beautifully bridges the human and animal world in a way Disney never had before.  The opening scene and song, appropriately named Two Worlds, shows this connection perfectly as a grieving mother finds an orphaned baby.  

Tarzan (voiced by Tony Goldwyn) is raised by Kala (Glenn Close) among the other gorillas.  As a child, Tarzan is frustrated by his differences from his playmates and is often counted out.  The way his mother accepts him and encourages him is moving and encourages Tarzan to be the best ape he can be.  He grows into one of the strongest males in the family and just when Tarzan has defeated the jaguar that has been stalking the gorillas his entire life, a new predator comes to the jungle.  

Enter Jane (Minnie Driver), her dorky dad (Nigel Hawthorne) and Clayton (Brian Blessed).  They have traveled to Africa to study the gorillas, but run into Tarzan instead.  Jane and her father are fascinated by him and teach Tarzan to speak English, hoping that he will take them to the gorillas.  While Tarzan is blown away by the new world Jane is showing him, he is oblivious to the danger Clayton poses.  

One of my favorite aspects of this film is the soundtrack.  Who doesn’t enjoy a little Phil Collins?  All the songs are written and performed by him, and they all rock.  Unlike most Disney films, these songs are not sung by the characters, which I like.  I can’t imagine Tarzan breaking into song, it’s just too out of character.  Trashin’ the Camp is the only song that gets the characters actively singing, but it keeps to the gorillas’ character in a very fun way.  This soundtrack includes one of my all time favorite Disney movie songs, You’ll Be In My Heart.  It’s the ultimate parent/child song and it makes my heart swell when my kid dances to it with me.  

If I were to make a list of movies for mothers to share with their sons, Tarzan would be near the top.  It would also be one of the first to show them, even with elements of death and guns, very young children shouldn’t be too disturbed with their moms nearby.  Since before my son could walk he loved watching the gorillas (he used to call them ah-ahs!).  Now, at age 2, he enjoys making elephant noises with Tantar and drumming with the songs.  Best of all, he knows who Tarzan’s mommy is, even though they don’t look the same.  

Besides the lovely mother-son relationship, Tarzan shows a great message about being a man.  Son of Man is another great song here that helps drive the point home.  In the end, we hope boys are inspired to be a man like Tarzan rather than Clayton.  The moment where Tarzan breaks the gun, rather than firing it, is a powerful gesture.  Staying with his family as their new leader is an even better one.  

“What kind of primitive beasts are responsible for this mess?”

Sleeping Beauty

In 1959, after nearly ten years in production and Disneyland’s castle named in its honor, Disney’s Sleeping Beauty was finally released.  It was the first film animated in 70mm and a true feat of artistic achievement.  To this day, many consider it to be the visual high point of animation in the golden era.  

The story is a beautiful retelling of the fairy tale, where the infant Princess Aurora is cursed by an evil fairy, Maleficent (voiced by the amazing Eleanor Audley).  Maleficent’s spell says that Aurora will prick her finger on the needle of a spinning wheel and die.  Thankfully, the last good fairy, Merryweather, still has her gift to bestow on the baby and lessens the spell, so that Aurora will not die, but only sleep until she is awakened by true love’s kiss.  Aurora is then raised in the forest by the three good fairies, (away from spinning wheels) until her sixteenth birthday, when the spell will be broken.  But Maleficent is always looking for her and Aurora’s chance encounter with a prince complicates what should be her joyous sixteenth birthday.

Styled after European medieval paintings, the characters have a surprisingly modern feel as they pop off the intricate, sprawling backgrounds designed by Eyvind Earle.  In fact, Earle was not only in charge of background design, but color styling and the overall look of the film.  I know the Academy has rarely nominated animated films, but how Sleeping Beauty was not considered for cinematography or art direction is beyond me.

However, the film was nominated for best scoring of a musical picture.  In addition to the well known songs like Once Upon a Dream, Sleeping Beauty makes great use of instrumental pieces, some of them from Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty.  One of my favorites is the piece used as Maleficent lures Aurora way to a spinning wheel, Puss in Boot and the White Cat.  It starts slow, then speeds up, perfectly creating suspense but is still light enough for a children’s movie.  

What I think makes Sleeping Beauty such a likable film is the amount of comedy in it.  Even from 1959, these gags have not gone stale over time.  Kids will love Flora and Merryweather magically arguing over whether Aurora’s dress should be pink or blue.  The scene showing how inept the fairies are when it comes to housework is hilarious.  I love the look on Fauna’s face after she folds in the eggs.  

One scene that always gets me laughing is when the kings get drunk while pregaming Aurora’s arrival and get into a fight.  In between choruses of Skumps, they, and the tipsy lute player, guzzle down wine and discuss their children’s future together.  Eventually, King Hubert brandishes a fish at King Stefan and attacks until it goes limp, but they just laugh it off.  Who knows what kind of wacky kingdoms these guys are running.  

There is also a good amount of action for a children’s movie.  Maleficent does not disappoint and the climactic battle between her and Prince Philip (with a little help) is exciting to watch every time.  From his daring escape, slicing through the enchanted thorns, up to slaying Maleficent as a dragon still keeps me engaged.  And the dragon is my son’s favorite part of the movie, although he thinks she just falls at the end.  “Uh oh, dragon trip!”

I know Sleeping Beauty has some problems.  Aurora is a very simplified girl who doesn’t get so say much, even when being the title character.  However, looking past the story and character faults, the film is visual masterpiece.  Personally, I’d love to see it released in IMAX, there are so many ornate details to soak up, you can find something new every time.  

“You poor, simple fools.  Thinking you could defeat me.  Me!  The mistress of all evil!  Well, here’s your precious princess!”