Author: The Animation Commendation
Disney Canon-Forgotten/Minor Characters #9: The Yawning Trees
When I started this project, I mentioned that the characters that I’d choose would be major, but forgotten; or minor and unmemorable; or just in the background and caught my attention. Today’s entry is mostly of the latter category. Continue reading “Disney Canon-Forgotten/Minor Characters #9: The Yawning Trees”
40th Annie Awards Nominations Announced!
Yes, the nominations for the 40th Annie Awards have been announced! The Annie Awards, for those of you who don’t know, are like the Academy Awards for animation. It’s probably the highest level of recognition that one in the animation industry can get! I may post the full list of categories and nominations later, but for now I’ll just list the nominations for Best Animated Feature: Continue reading “40th Annie Awards Nominations Announced!”
My Thoughts: THUMBELINA (1994)
Let me just get it out there: I’m not a fan of Don Bluth and his films! None of his films ever captivated me like how a Disney film would and I consider some of his films to be quite bores. With that in mind, you can already get an idea of how I found his film, “Thumbelina” to be. Well, let’s dive in! Continue reading “My Thoughts: THUMBELINA (1994)”
Disney Canon-Forgotten/Minor Characters #8: Johnnie Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet
Next up is Disney’s 8th feature and 3rd package film, “Make Mine Music”. Released in 1946, the film is somewhat like “Fantasia” in that it’s a collection of unrelated shorts set to music. This time, most of the music is actually lyrical and popular (for the time, at least). And like I’ve said before, I actually prefer this film over “Fantasia”.
ANYWAY, this film is composed of 10 segments in its entirety. Continue reading “Disney Canon-Forgotten/Minor Characters #8: Johnnie Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet”
Cate Blanchett in “Cinderella” Negotiations
Australian actress Cate Blanchett is apparently in talks to portray the evil stepmother in the Disney live-action reboot of “Cinderella.” Yes, Disney’s planning a live-action reboot of the classic 1950 film in the same manner as “Alice in Wonderland” and their upcoming “Maleficent.” The script is apparently being written by Chris Weitz.
Personally, I’m not a fan of re-imagining these animated masterpieces as live-action. I’m not saying that they’re bad; but if I had my way, I’d let Disney come up with new ideas for live-action films instead of feeding off their old hits of a different medium. Anyway, what do you think of this upcoming “Cinderella” reboot and what would your ideal casting be for it?
Disney Canon-Forgotten/Minor Characters #7: Burrito, the Flying Donkey
Wow, first Pinocchio’s talking donkeys and now a flying one! What’s with donkeys being portrayed with impossible characteristics in Disney movies? And why are they somewhat forgotten? Oh, well! Continue reading “Disney Canon-Forgotten/Minor Characters #7: Burrito, the Flying Donkey”
“Rise of the Guardians” Opens at #4
Dreamworks Animation’s “Rise of the Guardians” opens with a somewhat disappointing 4th place at the weekend box office. The film drew in $32 million over the Thanksgiving break. That’s understandable since it had to do battle with the latest Twilight flick, James Bond flick, and the Oscar buzz-generating, “Lincoln.” With a $145 million budget, I feel that the film can still become a hit, especially due to overseas markets. But, we’ll just have to wait and see. For all of you who have seen it, how did you like the film?
Disney Canon-Forgotten/Minor Characters #6: Mt. Aconcagua
We now arrive at Disney’s 6th animated feature-length film, “Saludos Amigos.” And when I say feature-length, I mean it BARELY makes it with a runtime of 42 minutes! (A feature-length film by definition is 40 minutes.) Heck, even when I say animated, I don’t mean fully animated, because this film has a good amount of live-action in it!
Released in 1942, this is the first of 6 consecutive animated Disney films that will be known as his “package films”. Package films, or anthology films, are movies that are just a bunch of shorts, unrelated mostly, put together to make a movie. Arguably, “Fantasia” and its sequel can be considered package films as well as the “Winnie the Pooh” films, but generally the term is used to refer to these 6 films during the ’40s. There were a number of reasons why Walt had to make these package films instead of a usual story-driven coherent film. Some include that these were inexpensive to make and hopefully would cause the studio to regain their money from previous flops; these films were made during WWII and many of his animation studio were drafted; and that the American government wanted Walt and other animation companies to focus on making nationalistic cartoons rather than waste time and money on films. Whatever the main reason, let’s talk about our first package film, “Saludos Amigos.” Continue reading “Disney Canon-Forgotten/Minor Characters #6: Mt. Aconcagua”
My Thoughts: BATTLE FOR TERRA (2007)
So, I’ve always wanted to review a film (animated, especially), i.e. give my thoughts on it, and now with this blog, I’m able to do just that. And I’ve recently watched a 2007 animated film entitled, “Battle for Terra”, so this will be my first review. Warning: There may be spoilers!
Ok, first off, “Battle for Terra” is a 2007 feature-length animated film that is based on an animated short film called “Terra.” Other animated films have come about this way as well such as Tim Burton’s “Frankenweenie” and Shane Acker’s “9.” The film is directed by Aristomenis Tsirbas and didn’t fare well at the box office only bringing in about $6 million worldwide. Is it really a bad film in my opinion? Well, let’s look at the film’s components one at a time. Continue reading “My Thoughts: BATTLE FOR TERRA (2007)”
