The Princess and the Frog

The Princess and the Frog is Disney’s new take on an old story. The new parts are really just there to extend what otherwise would be a very, very short story.

Said story takes place in a town in Louisiana, who’s residents apparently communicate frequently though large choreographed sing and dance numbers. One of these residents is a girl named Tiana, who dreams of opening a world class restaurant. As it so happens, a prince is also visiting from his homeland, in order to marry into more money. The prince is cornered by the mysterious “Shadowman,” and morphed into a frog. Tiana runs into the prince and, after some haggling, agrees to kiss the prince in his frog form just like in E.D. Baker’s novel.

At this point things go a little haywire and instead Tiana is transformed into a frog as well. During their journey they run into several characters who help them figure out how to regain their original forms. In the end, the Shadowman is defeated, and the characters realize that “all they need is love.” (Yes, that was a Beetles reference.) This is a Disney move after all, it’s mostly expected how things play out.

This brings me to my one, out of two, complaints about this movie. It seems as thought the production team was given a checklist of things to put in, in a certain order, with very few surprising events. (Though, there are a few.) It’s like Disney left them a manual that has been collecting dust all this time, and the animators have just now decided to pick it up…and follow it in a deliberate, literal, and cult like way. Don’t get me wrong, Disney was a good animator, but I don’t think he was looking for a formula to follow for ever, like the kind the Disney staff seems to be searching for. He was an innovator after all.

The second complain revolves around the interesting character of the Shadowman. Who’s motives were never really revealed outside of the mustache twirlingly clichéd plan to, brace yourself, take over the town. I cant help but feel that if the character was being manipulated or if I was supposed to feel sorry for him he would have faired much better. The reason it bothers me so much is , as with many Disney villains, the character is a visual marvel to watch, more so then any of the good guys for sure.

All in all, it’s a good movie. Just don’t expect any variations on the “Disney formula.”

Review: Secret of Kells

The Secret of Kells is an interesting film for several reasons. Reason one is the fact that the film is foreign and in many cases, especially in animation, films from other countries tend to be overlooked here in the states. The other reason is that it tells bits of its story from an abstract perspective that purposefully tries to stray from reality. You guys remember abstract 2D animation right? Before it was mandatory that everything had to be realistic and make logical, physics based, sense at all times?

The story takes place in the ninth century, during the time of the Viking invasions. Our protagonist, young Brendan, is being trained by his uncle, Abbot Cellach, to be the next abbot of the monastery that they live in. All is normal until Brother Aidan appears carrying his “Book of Iona,” a piece of literature that is, like Aidan himself, highly revered by the other monks. While Brendan embraces Aidan’s emphasis on writing and drawing, his uncle is more focused on building a wall to block off the incoming Viking invasion. Brendan ends up going against his uncle by focusing more on creating Aidan’s book, which Aidan has requested that he finish for him, instead of the construction of the fortress wall.

It all is wrapped up in the end when Brendan flees the Vikings, who ended up breaking through the wall after all, and returns many years later to a forlorn Abbot Cellach. Cellach admits that the book was important after all, and he finally sees the completed work. My favorite character had to be the fairy Aisling. Who was brilliantly animated throughout the film, and put a sense of wonder into the story as a whole. For a character who is drawn in such a simple style, it is surprising to me how much personality was squeezed into her. I think people should pay more attention to this because, as low budget animation becomes more popular, animators will need to find ways to instill the same amount of life into their characters as they do with the big time projects.

All in all, there’s a lot going on in this film. Certainly more then what I’ve written about. If you miss it, you’ll be missing out on something truly spectacular.

Move Review: Ponyo

Ponyo is an animated movie about a goldfish princess who longs to become human. It’s a story clearly inspired by Hans Christian Anderson’s, “The Little Mermaid,” but stands on its own quite well. In the beginning, Ponyo escapes her overprotective father and falls in love with a boy from a seaside village named Sosuke. Her parents ultimately give her a chance to make her dream of being human a reality by testing Sosuke’s ability to love Ponyo as she is, both as a fish and a person. Sosuke is successful, Ponyo is transformed, and the world is saved…literally.

Ponyo’s plot is very simple, and by that I mean there isn’t much in the symbolism department, which is odd for a Miyazaki film. However, it is beautifully animated and perfectly fits the needs of a child’s story. My favorite character had to be Ponyo's father, show started off as an antagonist, but actually changed roles pretty smoothly. Note that I’m not saying it’s only for kids, far from it. Ponyo is a real treat for anyone who enjoys high caliber animation. As with any of Hayao Miyazaki film, the music is great, the characters are well designed, and the dubbing is top notch. Just don’t expect anything deeper then what it is. Princess Mononoke, this is not. 

Review: Waiting for Guffman

The film, “Waiting for Guffman,” is a mockumentary that takes place in the fictional town of Blane, Missouri, whose residents have decided to put themselves on the map by celebrating their town’s 150^th anniversary in the form of a musical, honoring the town’s history. In order to create the show, they hire the local drama teacher, Corky St. Clair (Christopher Guest), a flamboyant New York playwright whose eccentric ideas have exiled him from the big apple’s stage. Corky then goes about gathering his cast, who include the local dentist (Eugene Levy), two married travel agents (Catherine O’Hara and Fred Willard), a taxidermist (Lewis Arquette), a young mechanic (Matt Keeslar), and a local Dairy Queen employee (Parker Posey). He also enlists the help of the local music director (Bob Balaban), who sets the bar for contrast with the other characters by playing the stiff, logical, and truly talented, “straight man.”

Eventually Corky ends up at odds with the town’s leaders, after asking for a hefty $50,000 extra to fund his play. After being denied this, he spirals childishly into a wacky depression. The cast learns about Corky’s fate and, ignoring the advice of the music director, decide to go to his aid. This forces Corky’s epiphany, that he has made a difference in the cast members lives, and he returns to finish his work.

In terms of pacing, the film seemed to start off a little too slow for me. The character’s introductions seemed to linger on a bit, forcing out intentionally awkward speech gags. However, once the show gets rolling it does manage to garner a few giggles. Guest does an excellent job of moving so that his character acts the way you could expect him to act, even when the character is literally “acting” as a character from a script. As a personal side note, one part of film’s ending was genuinely sad for me. The Dairy Queen waitress goes back to working for the restaurant. I’m not really bagging on anyone that works at Dairy Queen, but it saddens me that the character truly didn’t learn or change a damn thing about herself…which is tear jerking in a “Oh what a sad reality this is!” kind of way.