Reviews

Okay, first thing to note going into this is that, well, don't expect the entire thing to be a completely new story. They actually take what I like to call the old Loony Tunes approach and create a story that's basically an excuse to showcase older episodes, though in this case, they all have a particular theme to them, specifically the kids building a friendship with the kindergartners. As such, we're treated to 3 classic episodes, but what makes this film worth it is the addition of a 4th new story, specifically back when Gus was in kindergarten. For the most part, it's fine. I can at least believe most of it, but there is one major plot hole that kind of removes whatever credibility the writers clearly wanted us to think it had. See, it's revealed that Gus actually had the same kindergarten class as the others, and while this is questionable at first, they not only address the obvious plot hole here but also come up with a generally good reason, that being that the others can only remember a fraction of their kindergarten years and thus it makes sense that they wouldn't remember all of this. However, it does not explain why, if Gus had a good enough memory to remember this, he genuinely had no idea who all five were when he first appeared in the series. I wouldn't mind this so much, except this show is actually pretty good when it comes to continuity. They have a nice concept here, with Gus actually being the one who helped all five of the others find their callings, and even the whole subplot with Mikey picking on the other kids was confusing at first but made sense when you found out why he did it. (It also ties into Randal once telling his father that Mikey used to be a schoolyard bully... that's actually kinda neat) Again, I do feel like that one small detail from the first episode kind of contradicts a lot of the forth story, but it's still fine and I like the setup enough that this is more of a nitpick. Again, maybe if the film had been all new material and the main story tying it all together wasn't so paper thin, I'd recommend this more, but if you're a die-hard Recess fan looking for a nostalgia trip, I'd say this is worth seeking out.

Since there's no summary written here, I'll give you all a brief rundown of what this special's about. A turtle named Harold was unfortunate enough to be born without a shell. Because of this, despite having many talents because of his lack of one, every other turtle looks down upon him. As such, a vulture aptly named Monsieur Volture, helps Harold get over his depression by finding him a shell, ultimately giving him an army helmet from the dump. But while this does gain Harold respect (While going under the uninspired alias, 'Bob'), things take a surprising turn when he finds himself needing to sacrifice his new identity to save a life.

I have to admit, I came into this expecting this to be about as cheesy and schmaltzy as most of these made-for-TV specials usually were back then. It doesn't help that the art style looks really cheap. And yet the final result is not only a lot of fun, it's also surprisingly well-written. Yes, this special has intelligent writing and actual wit to it, such as a joke about Harold possibly being drunk, the fact that the special acknowledges how messed up wearing an army helmet is and how uninspired the names Bob and Volture are and my personal favourite, Harold singing about how he'll kill Volture if his promise to get him a shell ends up being empty. And ultimately, the overall message about staying true to yourself is conveyed very well. Also, for as cheap as the art looks, it seems like a lot of the budget went into the animations as the movements themselves are surprisingly fluid. The main character is also likable enough. You understand his plight and he never comes off as too whiny or insufferable. Also, there are a couple of songs written for the special and while the second one is kind of forgettable, 'Misfit Turtle' is pretty catchy.

On the whole, this is a surprisingly good Christmas special that I think kids and adults can enjoy equally. I'm not sure if there's really any way to see it without relying on the method I used (Which I won't mention for, um, reasons) but if you can find a way to watch this, do so. It might surprise you.

First off, for those getting after the film for not following the book's plot, keep in mind Disney does this all the time with their adaptations and still makes it work, so that's not what prevents me from loving this. Oh no. But before I get into my gripes, I'll talk about what I found good.

David himself is a fairly likable character. I like some of the sides, the cheese monster getting a little bit of development in the final third. I also respect this film for showing kids the hardships faced by sweatshop workers. Most of the songs are pretty catchy, even if the melodies are so stuck in the 90's that they kind of lose any chance at having a timeless feel, and it can be entertaining.

Now onto the stuff that needs work. As far as TV animation goes, it's nothing too special. It's not bad but there's nothing special about it. (Also, the editing could use some work) Micawber's also not a particularly enjoyable villain. They have the right idea with him being an irredeemable jerk, but he's so non-threatening that I couldn't really take him that seriously. The opening number also has no reason to exist. You think it's to establish a character, but then it's revealed that, oh, it didn't actually tell us anything about her, so it was literally there for the sake of being there. Though my biggest gripe is that the final conflict is kind of rushed. It's like the director suddenly realized the budget could only cover 5 more minutes, so he just threw everything he could at us, including the duke changing sides in less than a second just because he saw David's not-famous aunt storm Micawber's factory. I would take off points for the main romance being there for the sake of being there, but that was common at the time and is still a thing sometimes in this day and age, so I'll let that slide.

But all-in-all, I like this film fine. It's nothing too special, but it's decent. If you're a fan of animation and you're curious about some non-Disney works, check it out. You might not love it, but you'll probably get something out of it.

It's been ages since I last saw this and I'd almost given up hope on finding a way to watch it in its entirety after all the years. Well, I lucked out and found a way to watch it again. I remembered many things about it, and finally having seen it again, it's still enjoyable, but not as good as I remember it being. The animations, for one, don't quite hold up, though I still find it neat that they blended animation with real backgrounds. I actually kinda miss the time Australia used to do that with all of their animated films. As far as the story goes, well, yes, it's environmental propaganda, which was so common in the 90's. But, what makes this film slightly better than a lot of those other environmental films is that this one put its focus where it matters: on the characters. See, my biggest issue with films like this is that they spend so much time on the message and the visuals, they forget that unless the characters are interesting, it's hard for the audience to get invested in the moral it's trying to get across. This movie actually focuses more on characters and their interactions, and that's a major plus. The only issue I do have with the story is that the intro is kind of rushed, but once we get to the flashback, the pacing improves immensely, so it's alright. As for the songs, well, they're fun, they're energetic, but I have two issues with them. First issue is that they stop after the first half. This is something that bugs me, when a musical stops being one halfway through. No, if you make your film a musical, you spread the songs out more otherwise it doesn't feel like one. The second issue... um... can anyone point out one song that actually contributed to the story? No, really, there isn't a single song in this film that felt necessary to the plot. Say what you will about the songs in Ferngully and Once Upon A Forest, at least most of them helped to tell the story in some way or another. Every song in Blinky Bill feels like it was added for the heck of it. But on the whole, this movie's enjoyable. It's not great, but it's still fun and for that, I give it a small recommendation. That said, though, the show is better.

I'll admit, for the first half-hour, I really didn't see what was so bad about this film. The first little while felt like an episode of the series and even the talent show story line at least made sense as Pat was doing it for his wife and not for himself, and Pat's always been selfless so that was great. I was already a little sceptical when they revealed the whole Robot Pat thing, but when it escalated into a bigger plot, this was where the movie almost lost me. I was able to accept the existence of cellphones and a PS Vita, of all things, in the world of Postman Pat, but the evil robot thing really shouldn't be connected to this.

And before you say anything, yes, I know movies connected to cartoon shows usually try to differentiate themselves from their source material. And honestly, I think the talent show plot was good enough. You could have had the fame and attention get to Pat's head only for him to learn a lesson in the end and that would have been fine. As if that's not enough, we also get a terminator reference and, yeah, is this really Postman Pat?

However, in spite of all of this, I found this strangely enjoyable, but more as its own stand-alone sort of thing. Like Tom and Jerry the movie, I don't really like this as something connected to its respective series but rather its own entity. Every time the movie did something to make me groan, like when the villain revealed his evil plan before it was too late for Pat to stop him and, probably the most painful of all, Jess not being able to tell the difference between his beloved owner and a robot, it managed to pull me back with either a decent joke or something equally entertaining.

All-in-all, I can see why a lot of Pat fans don't like this movie. After the first half-hour, it starts to lose a lot of its charm in favour for something I'd accept in any other animated film, but I still found it strangely entertaining. I can't recommend it, really, but it's a guilty pleasure for me.

Seriously, this was surprisingly charming. With the series becoming so mean-spirited ever since season 5 started, this was kind of uplifting. Here, there's a reason for the characters to act like jerks, well, except for Patrick who's still kind of a jerk even without having eaten Plankton's fruitcake. The songs are quite good and actually add to the plot, unlike Atlantis Squarepantis where every single number except for maybe the first one was a complete waste of time and effort. The humour is actually good and while Squidward does get tormented at one point, at least it's the film's antagonist doing it and not one of the protagonists, who the episode would likely want us to believe is in the right. The only downside is that, honestly, I wish this had come out earlier. This special more-or-less pretends that every episode leading up to it never happened. It feels more like something you'd expect from season 2 as the jerkish behaviour of the citizens is implied to be out-of- character for them despite a boatload of recent episodes proving otherwise. Also, the animations are really good, and even the Patchy segment wasn't anywhere near as painful to sit through as they usually are. All-in-all, for Spongebob fans, I think this is worth checking out, especially if you've been as annoyed by recent episodes as I've been. Seriously, if you haven't seen it, give it a go.

Hoodwinked is not a particularly great film, but to be honest, it's really not that bad either. It's one of those films I should probably hate for a good number of reasons, but I kind of enjoy it for others.

For one thing, I'm not gonna dwell on the plot. I refuse to believe this film was really meant to tell a heartwarming story, and considering there are a few emotional moments in there, I'm actually kind of impressed. It had an interesting enough premise that it works.

The characters are generally likable. At first, I was a little annoyed by Red's obvious "I'm tougher than the original character" persona, but the film did enough with it that it worked for me after a while.

The animations, by a film standard, are bad, just bad. Not awful, but bad. Not only is the look like a Playstation 2 game, the movements are like a Playstation 2 game. I heard the look was supposed to pay homage to the old Rankin Bass Christmas specials, and to a degree, I only notice this a little bit. The characters do kind of resemble toys, I'll give the animators that. Other than that, I just don't see it. (The German kids scare me... just thought I'd get that out there.

So what makes this really work? Well, unlike its atrocious sequel, it's actually funny most of the time. The script has actual wit to it, which 2005's animated works weren't giving us a lot of, and even the modern references didn't bother me as much as they would in a typical Dreamworks film.

I also commend this film for coming close to being the first CGI musical ever created. I say close because there's one thing that, in my eyes, prevents it from truly being a musical: the songs don't take up enough of the film and they're incomplete! If you hear the soundtrack versions, you'll see that a LOT was removed from the songs. The only song that didn't have too much removed from Be Prepared, which only had about 30 seconds taken off. However, Great Big World had over a minute removed, the Schnitzel Song is about 2 minutes shorter than it should be and Top of the Woods has about a minute removed. That annoys me as it's like the film makers did this on purpose so people who liked the songs would HAVE to buy the soundtrack to hear them properly.

Nevertheless, Hoodwinked is a generally enjoyable film. It's no masterpiece, but if you're bored and need something to watch, it's worth a look.

You know, for over a year after I saw this for the first time, I pretty much convinced myself that this movie was actually good, and no, it isn't. It is a terrible mess of a film with poorly-written characters, a contrived plot and... to be honest... that's actually why I like it.

If you go into this movie knowing how poorly contrived it is, you will actually get a lot of enjoyment out of it. It starts off with a very interesting premise, one that made it worth questioning the immediately contradiction of its plot that wasted no time before rearing its ugly head, but the minute Edmond is introduced to the whole thing it becomes laugh-out-loud hilarious! The animations are very nice, the Grand Duke sometimes looking like something out of an 80's Bluth film and the good guy songs are nice to listen to (Which is why it's a shame Phil Harris talks over most of them) but all in all, this is a movie that's enjoyable simply because of how bad it is. The minute Edmond enters the story and we get quite possibly one of the strangest team-ups ever, it's impossible to take the movie seriously in the slightest.

It's kind of a shame, though, as this movie did have a lot of promise. The characters Peepers and Edmond both have speech impediments which could have made for great development between the two, but no, we get none of that. Maybe if Pinky had been the main villain and the animals were looking for Chanticleer for a, well, less selfish reason than saving their own hides, we could have still gotten a great entertaining movie with a much better message of acceptance. Maybe instead of the whole "owls threatening to eat them" thing, they could have sought out Chanticleer because without him, productivity on the farm would decrease or something like that.

Still, for what it is, it's unintentionally hilarious and that's why it passed in my eyes. Still, it's a shame the writers clearly weren't taking it seriously enough otherwise it could have been really good.

When I started watching this, I expected it to be more like how The Simpsons portrayed it, with Magoo missing up his parts due to his blindness. Surprisingly, that is not the case. This is a very heartfelt adaptation with Magoo himself making a great Scrooge. The songs are very touching, sweet and memorable and while the animations aren't that great, hey, it's old-school Hanna-Barbera. What can one expect, Disney quality? The only thing that's a little off-putting (This may be a spoiler) is that the Ghost of Christmas Present appears before Christmas Past, but that's a minor detail and they made it work.

Anyway, this is a very good adaptation of A Christmas Carol and I highly recommend it, especially now that it's finally on DVD.

Well, after seeing Rio recently, I feel like sharing my thoughts towards it. Walking into this film, I actually didn't know that much about it other than the fact that it was about birds in Rio De Janeiro. I saw the positives reception it was getting and what really patented my interest in it was that my good friend Vivzmind posted a journal entry gushing about how awesome this movie is. Well, here's my review, and remember, this is my opinion, not what everyone else thinks.

The plot is unfortunately one of the film's drawbacks, and it seems a shame to open up with that, but hey, writing about the plot first just feels right. As far as the story is concerned, it's your typical talking animal adventure film: a bird named Blu gets separated from his owner and has to find her. The only thing that's not been done in every film of this kind is that they also throw a romance into it. Nothing else is really that special. The villains are pretty typical as are the supporting humans, but hey, they're entertaining to watch. Probably the one major highlight of the story, though, is how the romance is handled. At first, Blu and Jewel can't stand each other, but it slowly and believably develops as the movie goes on and unlike most romances of this nature, it's not in-your-face wink-wink nudge-nudge or super-mushy. It's handled very well. You know it's going to happen, sure, but it's handled in a way that at least makes the audience want it to happen.

As for the other side characters, they're actually quite fun themselves. Rafael, the Toucan, is probably the most interesting and likable character in the film while the other two bird sidekicks, Pedro and Nico are also enjoyable. Pedro is the kind of character I would normally find irritating, but he didn't get on my nerves all that much even if just about everything he did seemed like a desperate attempt at being cool. And of course, the villainous bird, Nigel, is a good solid addition to the film and is much more interesting than his human owners, the other main villains I spoke of earlier. It's a good thing this movie focuses more on the birds than the humans, isn't it? There's also a bulldog named Luiz who I found really funny most of the time.

Speaking of funny, the humour I find to be a mixed bag. See, not only is the story average, most of the dialogue's kind of half-and-half as well. I didn't find myself getting much of a kick out of the verbal gags but I found the visual gags hilarious. It's just that half of the dialogue- related jokes seem tacked on and forced. There are also a few bad puns, too, one such example being a bit where Luiz is enjoying himself and says "This is the spit!" because he's always drooling.

The animations are a whole other thing and are one of the film's strongest points. They are just so much fun to watch. The plumage on the birds themselves is very impressive and everything is just so active and energetic that I can't help but get a kick out of watching it. Where the animations really shine is during certain moments that I'm just about to get into starting... now.

This movie's a musical... bet none of you saw that coming, did you? I may have known Tangled was going to be one despite the trailers saying otherwise, but despite this taking place in Rio, I was not expecting musical numbers. And what's more... they are incredible! The songs are so catchy and the numbers themselves are so well animated. Heck, you can find the opening number online simply titled "Rio-First 2 Minutes". That scene in itself is spectacular and the others are no exception. There are also a couple that really surprised me with how good they are. First is a song titled "Hot Wings". Normally, I would hate this kind of song. It uses so many audio effects and lyrics that seem like they're trying way too hard to be cool for the kiddies, but this song is really well-written and composed and I just love it. Another is a love ballad sung by Nico called "Fly Love". When I heard Jamie Foxx about to sing a love ballad, I wasn't sure what to think, but this song is absolutely beautiful, which is why it's a shame the dialogue kind of drowns it out. The only musical number that did not impress me too much was "Pretty Bird", the villain song naturally sung by Nigel. Not that it was a bad song or had poor choreography. No, I actually really liked those aspects. However, this scene bothered me for one simple reason: it goes almost completely against Nigel's character. Here we have an elegant, graceful villain and what does he get? A cheesy rap song. I wish I was making that up. For a cheesy rap song, yeah, it's catchy, but it's also out-of-character. Even the lyrics sound nothing like what Nigel would say. It's like the writers were desperate to make him seem "hip, cool and on the fly". Nonetheless, the music and animations are fantastic.

If it wasn't for the generic story and writing, Rio would be up there with films like Rango, which used their clichés as best as they could to make them feel fresh, or maybe even something Pixar could pump out, but those small drawbacks prevent it from being a masterpiece. That said, though, Rio is still a very enjoyable film and if you're looking for something entertaining and love animation, check it out.

Subject: Rio Score: 7/10 Would I get it on DVD?: For the fantastic music and animations, this one's a definite maybe.

Yes, this is a very dorky film, but what makes it work in my eyes is that it really does embrace the fact that its dorky. As I watch this film, I don't see a movie that's meant to be taken seriously. A lot of this is just impossible to take seriously to the point where it is actually kind of funny.

The acting is hit-and-miss half the cast doing an okay job and the other half almost unconvincing. But in its own way, the bad acting adds to the humour and what's more is that the acting does get a bit better during the second half.

The only thing I almost couldn't forgive was the romance between Veronica and Balthazar, and this is only forgiven due to the fact that Veronica wasn't on-screen enough to possibly be properly developed. What bothers me about this romance is that when we finally see it happen, Veronica doesn't seem all that interested in Balthazar and this is fuelled by the fact that when he 'dies', she doesn't seem to show remorse of actual sadness over the loss of him. She just kind of accepts it in no time flat. Lady, your boyfriend just died in front of you! Stir up and emotion! With that said, though, this is a generally fun movie with some good but not perfect special effects. It's a popcorn flick and it works in its own way.

As the title indicates, I have a love/hate connection to this one. On one hand, the story is a jumbled mess with some good ideas that just don't seem to work well together. Also, some scenes really drag on for too long, though I heard this was because Richard Williams was trying to make up for his "stolen" project, The Thief and the Cobbler. Finally, Ann and Andy themselves aren't that interesting and barely undergo any development throughout the film.

On the other hand, the animations are spectacular for a 70's animated feature, especially when you take into account that most 70's works had small budgets for this sort of thing. Secondly, I don't care what anyone says, I think the soundtrack is amazing, bringing a great Broadway feel to the film. There is admittedly too much singing in the film, but the songs themselves make up for it. The only actor who can't sing well is the guy played Leonard, and I'm pretty sure that was done intentionally since the character is meant to be crazy. Also, as mentioned, I thought a lot of the ideas were good. Babette, while kind of annoying, was at least relate-able as she just wasn't used to a life outside of her home country. The Greedy is another relate-able character despite his pointlessness as his loneliness led him to gluttony. A lot criticize the camel for his hallucinations, but he's also an interesting character as his subplot was more interesting than the main one. I also liked little moments such as Babette taking over a pirate ship mostly because that sort of thing was rare back in the day.

This is far from a great film, but it's certainly imaginative and has some major highlights to it. Would I recommend it? Not completely, but I think it's worth checking out at least once.

For the first 10 minutes of this film, I was expecting nothing more than a cheap, so-so knock-off. Well, the animations still weren't exactly the highest of quality, but they worked. As for the story itself... I was wondering how they could possibly expand the Princess and the Pea to over an hour, and they did by almost making the pea storyline non-existent and instead focusing on another. This film should have been called The Prince and the Peasant, but I digress, titles don't always matter and the story it gave us was actually very interesting/clever. The songs were also quite good. Again, this was just loads better than I thought it would be and ended up being a very enjoyable experience.

Heck, let's ignore the fact that every film by this Brazillian company is ripping off a successful American film. Is it still enjoyable? No! It only manages to get more than 1 star simply due to the fact that it's unintentionally funny with how bad it is.

The story's weak and almost non-existent. For the most part, the writers just try to pad it out by repeating the boring suiting up sequence, dedicating the first 5 minutes to characters talking about how great the food at Ratatoing is and god knows what else. The script is also pretty bad but not too bad, but does precisely need to be a catchphrase? Really? Just be thankful it didn't hit theatres first.

The animations are just... laughable, really. I've seen much better from light-wave, and that's the cheapest form of CGI animation out there. What's more is that every other movie of this kind with the exception of the Frog Prince is just as horribly animated. The worst example is that cat. No cat moves like that! It looks so awkward for that thing to move! Ultimately, even if you think of this movie as a parody it's still hard to enjoy it. Again, it gets points for being unintentionally funny but that's about it.