So I was on a podcast…

Last week a couple old film blogger friends, Ian and Dan, invited me on their podcast. It’s called Cinema in Seconds. The premises is that they each pick a very small moment in a film, then discuss why it’s such a significant moment in the film. Honestly, it’s a fascinating concept for any film fan you’ll enjoy hearing their discussions.

Anyway, they invited me onto their animation episode! I was thrilled and racked my brain on what exactly to discuss. Animation is such a wide genre, the possibilities were endless. In the end, I decided to go with an example of early classic Disney animation, Bambi, and some of the newest and finest examples of stop-motion animation, ParaNorman. We also discussed moments from The Lion King, The Prince of Egypt, The Snowman, and Batman and Mr. Freeze: Subzero.

Thanks again to Ian and Dan for the fun opportunity! I had a blast catching up and discussing animation with two great film friends. Listen to the episode below:

Missing Link

In Laika’s newest animated film, a British adventurer, Lionel (Hugh Jackman), seeks out the elusive sasquatch. He does this not for research or sport, but to secure a place in some high society club. You see, his peers look down Lionel. They don’t consider his work worthy and they just plain don’t like him or want him around. Nonetheless, Lionel is determined to prove the small-minded men wrong.

After a long journey, Lionel finds the sasquatch (Zach Galifianakis) and to his surprise, he’s a delightful and gentle creature. He’s sweet, polite, speaks perfect English and all around his cave are books he stole from the village to teach himself to read and write. Lionel dubs the creature, Mr. Link (though he later names himself Susan). Susan tells Lionel that he’s lonely and wants to live where other creatures like him are. Together, and picking up Lionel’s old colleague, Adelina (Zoe Saldana) they journey across the world to the Himalayas to find Shangri La, a fabled city of yetis.

As with all of Laika’s previous films, the stop-motion animation here is a sight to behold. Every movement is so fluid and every character’s expressions are so rich it’s easy to forget we’re watching photographed puppets. Susan especially feels so authentic and unique, from his shape and size to the way his arms swing. The team at Laika are masters of their craft and it shines in every frame. Stay during the credits for an amazing behind-the-scenes look at that beautiful scene with the elephant. My son saw it and literally said, “Wow!”

There are two main lessons in Missing Link that I rarely see in movies aimed at children. First, is the sad realization that not everyone is going to like you/want to be your friend/want you around. This comes up right away with Lionel, and sadly later with Susan. In real life, it can be a difficult pill for a kid to swallow, and like Lionel, kids might go about trying to win the haters over. However the second lesson helps deter from that: You don’t need to seek out validation. Simply knowing your own worth is gratifying and no one else needs to tell you so. I love the way Susan,  Lionel and Adelina come to terms with themselves and allow themselves to be happy and free.

“You are a great man, but I deserve greater.”

The Boxtrolls

Compared to animation giants like Disney and Pixar, Laika is very young and inexperienced.  Founded only 10 years ago, their films are mostly a very stylized form of stop-motion animation.  However, their films are also consistently well done.  I was especially blown away by their debut feature, Coraline, earning Laika their first Oscar nomination.  Paranorman is also enjoyable and did well.  I feel that their latest feature, The Boxtrolls is the studio’s most daring film yet.

In the town of Cheesebridge, a boy known as Eggs is raised by the mysterious Boxtrolls.  The townspeople are led to believe that the Boxtrolls are terrible thieving creatures that steal babies in the night.  However, the Boxtrolls are gentle beings that only take trash and use what they find to fix things in their sprawling home under the town.  One night, Eggs’ surrogate father, Fish, is taken by the power-hungry exterminator, Archibald Snatcher (voiced by Ben Kingsley).  Eggs ventures to the surface to save Fish, makes a new friend and exposes Snatcher for the villain he is to the whole town.

Storywise, The Boxtrolls is very strange yet fascinating.  There is a hierarchy Snatcher is trying to climb by ridding the town of Boxtrolls where he will be rewarded with a respectable white hat and cheese tasting parties.  And cheese is weirdly important to Cheesebridge, so much so that the citizens would rather have a giant fancy new wheel of it than a children’s hospital and certain people with severe allergies choose to ignore them.  But I digress, there’s more than cheese at play here…  There’s jelly as well.

What I liked most about The Boxtrolls, as I do with all of Laika’s films to date, is the visual style.  It’s not exactly pretty, yet could not take my eyes away.  Cheesebridge above ground has a Victorian feel, with their characters being more stiff and proper.  Down in the Boxtrolls’ lair things are more haphazard, fun and colorful.  The way the Boxtrolls are so inventive and mechanically minded gives them a steampunk feel, outlined in cardboard.  I believe the unique visual and animation style is what landed The Boxtrolls their Oscar nomination for best animated feature.

Overall, The Boxtrolls is a fine film, though many might find it strange.  Those hoping for a glossy kiddie movie with cheery Disney tones should look elsewhere.  The Boxtrolls rises above the cutesy fray and gets kinda gross and slightly scary for little ones.  But for those who enjoy a good animated film, especially stop-motion animation, check this one out and give it a chance.  And for an extra treat in how involved this style of animation is, stay until after the credits.  You might be pleasantly surprised.  

“Someone’s got the cheese fits again.”

ParaNorman

In Blithe Hollow, Norman Babcock (voice of Kodi Smit-McPhee) is a boy with an odd gift; he can see and talk to ghosts.  To Norman, it’s nothing scary, but it freaks out everyone else, including his family.  They don’t seem to believe him, though it’s hinted that this sort of thing runs in the family.  It’s worse at school, where Norman is bullied constantly, especially by Alvin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), a presumably tough kid that has a great combination of disgusting and creepy.  The only person who believes in Norman’s gift is his friend Neil (Tucker Albrizzi), a kid who gets bullied for being fat.  Through events that are best not spoiled in a review, Norman starts having visions of his town’s past and has to figure out how to save everyone from a three hundred year old witch’s curse.

Between ParaNorman and Frankenweenie, this has been quite a year to introduce kids to horror films.  While Frankenweenie has more references toward the classic Universal monster era, ParaNorman has frequent references to more modern slasher and zombie flicks.  Halloween is constantly referenced, from the movie Norman is watching the opening scene to his ringtone.  Norman’s room is covered in zombie posters and toys.  I would love a pair of those slippers.

Between the film references, zombie hijinks and Norman’s companions bringing their unique personalities along for the ride, the laughs are fun but not constant.  While The Pirates! was a laugh a minute, ParaNorman keeps the jokes high in the beginning and they cool down when our characters are in more perilous situations.  This works because Norman seems like a more serious kid, often we’re laughing with him.  The climactic moments are too powerful for comic relief.

A few images in ParaNorman may be a bit scary for the littlest ones.  Some scenes feature zombies popping out of their graves, a ghost visiting Norman in a toilet and a powerful otherworldly being trying to attack Norman.  While I didn’t find anything particularly scary, I was honestly blown away by the amazing effect of the witch’s face made out of swirling clouds in the sky.  Whether it was CGI or not, I was genuinely impressed with all the animation and effects in this film.

Most animated films aren’t complete without a little lesson for the kids to grow on.  Here, it’s primarily an anti-bullying message, both in a modern sense and shown with a historical perspective.  There also seems to be brief messages about the importance of reading and history, which would have made Norman’s quest easier at one point.

Overall, ParaNorman is a fun family film with great horror bits.  The story is engaging and smart, though it seems to get muddled around the third act.  But best of all, the quality of animation and imagery is what secures its Oscar nomination.  I really wish I shelled out my cash to see ParaNorman in 3D while it was in theaters.  Such a visual feast.

“Mom, tell the Zombie to stop saying stuff about me!”

King Kong

This is a film everyone has heard of, in one way or another, by mid childhood in film-fan healthy cases.  With my dad having a love for classic monster movies, I had seen King Kong a few times before I was nine.  Also, as many blessed upper-middle class kids of the nineties whose families believed in theme parks, I was quite a fan of the King Kong ride at Universal Studios (though riding bikes with E.T. was where the action really was).  At the height of my brother’s adorable preschooler stage, we stood in line for the ride with him telling everyone that, “King Kong is on the rampage!”  Yes, Kong had a healthy existence in my childhood home and I do hope the next generation of children find the original before stepping into Peter Jackson’s sensory overload.  Save the remake for later.

In the film, Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) is a director known for his films showing the wild parts of the world and he is preparing for his greatest expedition yet.  He has a boat, a crew, film and loads of ammunition; when he finds his leading lady, Ann Darrow (Fay Wray), they set off for an uncharted island.  There, the natives have appeased and contained a terrifying beast for generations.  When they see Ann, with her fair skin and golden hair, they must sacrifice her to Kong.  The brave crew willingly charge into the jungle after her, but find terrible creatures beyond their imagination.  Even with the film in ruins, Dunham has a grand idea to make millions off this trip anyway.  What could possibly go wrong with bringing a giant gorilla in chains as a spectacle in New York?

For those who want to get philosophical about an action adventure film about a giant gorilla, it’s all about beauty taming the beast.  Ann’s the beauty.  She can inadvertently put Kong in chains and make hardened sailor John Driscoll (Bruce Cabot) grow soft in love.  So the beast is both Kong and men.  Ah, the idea of men being giant hairy apes.  Suddenly the scene with Kong ripping away layers of Ann’s clothing has a much more sinister feel.

That’s right, Netflix sent me the restored, uncensored version of the film.  That’s right, I got all the stop-motion ape violence the world couldn’t take back in 1933.  This includes scenes with Kong chewing on people, stomping on natives and even peeling away Fay Wray’s clothing.  Compared to the epic violence in Peter Jackson’s 2005 remake, seeing Kong munch on natives is a cake walk.

Some of my favorite moments from King Kong are the stop-motion animation.  The fight between Kong and a Tyrannosaurus Rex is a staple of all claymation.  Even in my adulthood, I still get very into the scene and cringe at the final blow.  The other creatures are just as exciting.  A stegosaurus charges at the men, a brontosaurus chases them and I always feel bad for the pteranodon.  But it’s Kong who is cream of the creature crop.  Plus, the ways he interacts with our live characters is astounding for the age.  One of my all time favorite pieces of movie magic happens when Kong lifts a log with men hanging onto it for dear life, over a ravine.  Oh the humanity!

These days, I can see little twerpy kids scoffing over the old effects in King Kong.  My advice, show them this film before any bit of cynicism sets in, age six at the latest.  If you feel the excitement and adventure in this wonderful classic gem once, I don’t think you can ever really lose it.

“Listen – I’m going out and make the greatest picture in the world.  Something that nobody’s ever seen or heard of.  They’ll have to think up a lot of new adjectives when I come back.”

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Based of the children’s book by Roald Dahl and directed by Wes Anderson, Fantastic Mr. Fox is unlike any animated film I have ever seen.  Using stop-motion animation, the realistic details, especially on the characters, are extremely vivid.  You get an amazing sense of depth and texture here, probably because of the sophisticated high resolution camera used for filming.  The only other film that has made me feel like I could reach out and touch everything on screen was seeing The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3D.

Unlike many movies aimed at children, Fantastic Mr. Fox is very subdued and surprisingly mature.  The laughs aren’t really jokes, but a quiet quirky moment we are witness to.  And the character voices, which boasts some big name actors, do not sound like they were given an extra shot of espresso before their recording.  It’s a different kind of energy, more sophisticated than you’re likely to find in an animated film.  I doubt kids will find a catch-phrase to squeal after watching this film.

Mr. Fox (George Clooney) is a wild animal who does what comes naturally, stealing from the local farmers, but it’s dangerous work.  When he learns that Mrs. Fox (Meryl Streep) is expecting a cub, she makes him promise to find safer work.  After about two years of being a responsible family fox, (we are told that that equals about twelve fox years), Mr. Fox gets restless and moves his family to a big tree.  There, he can see three farmers, Boggis, Bunce and Bean (Robin Hurlstone, Hugo Guinness and Michael Gambon), who are so different in looks, but nonetheless equally mean.  Mr. Fox can’t resist pulling one last heist on these three.  With the help of Badger (Bill Murry), raiding goes well for a while.  However, when things turn ugly, he endangers all his animal friends and will need their help.

The Fox family is quite interesting.  Mrs. Fox seems like a very down to earth, no nonsense mama.  A struggle to control her wild, thrill seeking husband is inevitable.  Their son, Ash (Jason Schwartzman), is wonderfully sullen in his early adolescence.  From the way he dresses, his tendency to spit on the floor, we love the way he is an odd kid with a quietly bad attitude.  When cousin Kristofferson (Eric Chase Anderson) comes to visit, it only makes Ash feel like a loser, causing a perfect tension.  Poor Ash, not only is Kristofferson taller, younger, better at school and sports, but he is also the nicest kid you could ever meet.  And when Mr. Fox recruits Kristofferson for a raid, instead of Ash, the rivalry starts to sting.

The film has a wonderfully quirky feel most of the time.  The music choices help aid that, from The Ballad of Davy Crockett, to a plucky bluegrass feel and a short campfire song explaining the situation the farmers are facing.  The Oscar nomination for Best Original Score was well deserved, just as much as its nomination for Best Animated Feature.  To push the quirkiness further, simulated swearing is slipped into the dialogue now and then.  The natural sense of urgency is still there, but not dumbed down with kiddie words, “You scared the cuss out of us!”  It takes just a moment to get used to this.

While animated films are often considered to be for kids, I would not recommend Fantastic Mr. Fox for the smallest of children.  I imagine they could get bored trying to keep up with the dry, witty dialogue and could be slightly frightened by how realistic Mr. Fox can be in a closeup.  A good gage would be, if the child is old enough to read Dahl’s Fantastic Mr. Fox on their own, then try the film out for size.  For adults, especially those who grew up on Dahl’s books, this is a wonderful film that you don’t need kids around to enjoy.

“That was pure wild animal craziness.”