In incredibly sad news, beloved comedian, actor, and voice actor, Gilbert Gottfried has passed away. Mr. Gottfried (1955-2022) was a stand-up comedian with very raunchy material, but was well-known for his voicework in animated projects.
Some of these include Thumbelina, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Animal Crackers, and Cyberchase. But his most famous voice role was that of the parrot, Iago, in Disney’s Aladdin franchise and other projects.
He shall be missed!
Sigh…the more I think about this film, the more I hate it! Sorry, you can already tell that this is going to be a negative review.
Pixar’s 25th film, Turning Red, was the third Pixar film in a row to be released on Disney+ instead of theaters. At first, I wasn’t supportive of this decision, but after seeing this film, I think it was the right thing to do. Without further ado, let’s take a look at Turning Red!
Warning: There will be spoilers ahead!
The 94th Academy Award nominations have been announced and I’ll post my predictions soon. Until then, here are the animation-related nominees:
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
Encanto
Flee
Luca
The Mitchells vs. the Machines
Raya and the Last Dragon
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM:
Affairs of the Art
Bestia
Boxballet
Robin Robin
The Windshield Wiper
Disney’s Encanto also scored Best Original Score and Best Original Song (Dos Oruguitas) nominations.
What do you think of the nominations this year? Let me know in the comments below!
I’m always excited when a new film in the animated Disney Canon is released! It’s such a grand event for me!
But it’s even a grander event when the film is a milestone number in the Disney Canon! I remember the hype when Tangled was released as it was the 50th film in the Disney Canon. Fast-forward ten films and we’ve arrived at the 60th film in the Disney Canon, Encanto! What do I think of it? Read on to find out!
Spoilers ahead!
(UPDATED 11/14/21: His death has since been confirmed and even his Wikipedia page has been edited.)
Apparently, the voice actor, Val Bettin, has sadly passed away at the age of 97. I say “apparently” because no news stories picked up his passing even though it happened on January 7, 2021. The only evidences that seem to confirm his passing are his Star Tiger page and his FindAGrave page.
Mr. Bettin (1923-2021) most famously provided the voice of Dr. Dawson in Disney’s The Great Mouse Detective as well as the voice of the Sultan in Disney’s Aladdin sequels and television series. He shall be missed!
The actor, Samuel E. Wright, has sadly passed away at the age of 74. Mr. Wright (1946-2021) was most famous for his voice role as Sebastian the Crab in Disney’s The Little Mermaid franchise. He also voiced Kron in Disney’s Dinosaur.
Our condolences go out to his family and friends. He shall be missed!
Well, 2020 was some year, huh? Not only did it affect our lives, health, politics, society, etc.; it also affected our film industry. Cinemas were closed for most of the year resulting in many theatrical films being relegated to streaming services or postponed until 2021.
We can all hope 2021 will be a better year, in every respect. To keep our spirits up, let’s take a look at the upcoming animated films set to be released in 2021. Keep in mind that I’ll only be talking about films with set release dates and that I won’t be talking about any live-action/animated hybrid films (like Tom and Jerry, Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway, Space Jam: A New Legacy, and Clifford the Big Red Dog).
So sit back, relax, and enjoy this list with me!
The teaser trailer for Disney’s upcoming film, Raya and the Last Dragon, has debuted. What do you think?
I’m open to it; it looks pretty interesting!
Episode 2 of Season 6 continues with the familiar face of film and animation blogger/fan, Stanford Clark returning in the hot seat! As the title suggests, he doesn’t get any PBS-related questions this time, so does that mean he makes it to the million? Watch to find out!
Movies Past and Present: https://moviespastandpresent.com
Stanford Clark’s Twitter: @StanfordClark
The Movie Guy and Friends: https://andrewthemovieguy714.wordpress.com
We all know that Frozen II was a cash cow. The story of Frozen was not begging to be continued via a sequel, but the successful box office and craze that it spawned pretty much made a sequel obligatory. With that in mind, does that make Frozen II bad? Here are my thoughts.
Mild spoilers ahead!
The Animation Commendation 