Spirited Away (2001) - A Rich Story About Childhood

Spirited Away: A Children's Film with Bite

When you get older, you tend to forget the things that animated you as a child: your fears; your relationships with your parents; how new and strange so many things in the world seemed.  In "Spirited Away" (2001), Hayao Miyazaki of Ghibli Studios manages to capture and portray the sense of wonderment and unease that so many of us felt we had left behind forevever.

Chihiro (Daveigh Chase) and her parents (Lauren Holly and Michael Chiklis) are moving from their city to a Japanese town in the countryside.  Her father makes a wrong turn on the way and they wind up stuck in a tunnel.  Rather than rush off and leave, they decide to get out and look around.

On the other side of the tunnel, they wander into a ghost town.  Getting hungry, Chihiro's parents smell some food and find a restaurant that is deserted but that has food ready to be eaten.  They sit down to eat, but Chihiro wanders off to explore.

During her walk, she meets a young boy, Haku (Miyu Irino).  He warns that her parents should not eat the food or something bad will happen to them.  Chihiro rushes back, but finds that her parents have been turned into pigs.

Not only that, but it no longer is a restaurant: instead, now it is a strange bathhouse, populated by spirits, monsters, ghosts and gods.  The witch Yubaba (Suzanne Pleshette) owns it.  Chihiro must rely on Haku to help her save her parents and return them to the normal world.

This is traditional, hand-drawn animation.  There is great attention to detail, and the story itself is wonderful and compelling.  At the beginning of the film Chihiro is unsympathetic, a spoiled, whiny brat.  Her adventure in the spirit world transforms and matures her, and by the end of the film she appreciated more of the world and becomes independent, respectful and self-assured.  It is a "coming of age" story that may be read as a metaphor for many other things.

Miyazaki also makes subtle points about Japan itself changing from a beautiful, pastoral place to just another urban jungle.  This has even greater resonance now, after the natural disasters that have overtaken Japan.

This was Suzanne Pleshette's final film, and she is wonderful as the witch, Yubaba.  The score by Joe Hisaishi is beautiful, but unobtrusive when appropriate. At times, it imparts a dreamlike quality with only a muted piano playing, in keeping with the film's theme.  Highly recommended, especially for mature audiences who enjoy animation.

2012

Read More

Toy Story (1995) - The Creation of Andy's Room

Toy Story: An Epic Experience in Animation History

In the Universe, there was the Big Bang. In the field of exploration, there was Christopher Columbus stumbling upon an entire continent that had somehow gone un-noticed by the Europeans. In film history, there also are pivotal moments: the introduction of the Hays Code in 1934; the advent of talkies in 1928; technicolor in the 1930s; 3D in the 1950s; the "Disney Renaissance" of the 1990s; and "Toy Story."

Buzz Lightyear and the aliens in the claw game

Well, "Toy Story" (1995) by itself perhaps doesn't quite reach those kinds of levels, but it comes darn close. "Toy Story" put Pixar on the map and began the pre-eminent animation franchise of all time. "Shrek" may have pumped out more films in its decade-long run, "The Land Before Time" might have generated, what, a dozen sequels, but nothing touches the grandeur of the "Toy Story" franchise and its bedroom full of wacky characters.

Woody greets Buzz

Tom Hanks, at that time just off his Oscar run in "Forest Gump" and "Philadelphia," stars as Woody, a pull-string cowboy toy owned by young Andy (John Morris). He is Andy's favorite toy, but his more important role is as the leader of all of Andy's toys. While acting lifeless with people around, the toys all come to life when left alone. One day, Woody leads an away team to find out what Andy is getting for his upcoming birthday. They find that one of those presents is a brand new space ranger toy, Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen). Woody feels threatened and resentful that anyone should think that he alone is not enough for Andy. The other toys also worry him because they give Buzz a lot of attention. "Toy Story" chronicles Woody's jealousy and the beginning of his amiable rivalry with Buzz.

Woody and Buzz

Andy is going with his family to Pizza Planet, which has a science fiction theme, and he is going to take Buzz. Woody, though, is jealous and hides Buzz so that Andy can't find him and will have to take Woody instead. Instead of hiding Buzz behind the desk, though, Woody somehow drops Buzz out the window. The other toys are suspicious, thinking that Woody intentionally murdered Buzz. The plan works, though, as Andy winds up taking Woody to Pizza Planet anyway. On the way, though, Buzz gets in the car when they stop for gas and confronts Woody. Both toys wind up on the pavement, and Andy drives off without them.

Woody in the hands of his new owner Sid

Woody spots a truck going to Pizza Planet, so the two toys jump on it and ride there. Once at the restaurant, Buzz wanders off to an arcade game, thinking it is a ship that will take him back to his home world. Inside are aliens who have their own culture, honoring the mighty claw arm as their god. Woody comes to rescue Buzz from the machine, but Andy's neighbor Sid Phillips (Erick von Detten), who has a terrible reputation among the toys, captures both of them with the claw arm.

Buzz about to take Woody for a ride

Sid takes them home, and Buzz and Lightyear are frantic to escape quickly because Andy is moving to another home soon. Buzz tests whether he is, in fact, a toy and tries to fly, falling and losing his arm. Woody uses the arm to wave to his comrades in Andy's house and get help, but they assume he murdered Buzz. Sid's toys, who are all nice but mangled due to Sid's experiments with them, help out by reconnecting Buzz's arm, but Sid decides to have some fun and straps Buzz to a rocket to destroy him completely. Woody and Sid's toys rescue Buzz, and Woody scares Sid off by coming to life and telling him off for hurting defenseless toys. Woody and Buzz leave through a hole in the fence, but find that Andy and his family are gone to their new home.

Wood enjoying himself while flying

Buzz and Woody manage to get to the truck taking Andy's toys to the new home, but Sid's dog Scud chases them and almost gets Woody until Buzz intervenes. Buzz is now in peril, but Woody's attempt to save him using a remote-controlled vehicle fails when the other toys become suspicious of his motives and toss Woody off the truck into the street. The other toys realize their error, though, and come to help out. The remote-controlled car's batteries die, so Woody improvises and uses the rocket on Buzz's back to propel them all back into the truck. And comes by and is happy to rediscover the toys he thought were missing. They all get to the new house, and find out that Andy's Christmas gift is their worst nightmare, a new puppy.

The Toy Story cast

"Toy Story" is beloved by all, and is one of the best-reviewed films ever, and not just animation films. It was a breakthrough, because, while Disney had been dabbling with computer generated imagery (CGI) for decade, since "The Black Cauldron," it hadn't felt the need to create an entire film using CGI as Pixar did with "Toy Story." For Pixar, a nerdy little computer graphics company that did contract work for Disney, "Toy Story" was a bet-the-company gamble, and it worked. That Pixar, with no experience putting together feature-length animated films, was able to get all the minute details of such a production - casting, dialogue, plot, imagery, continuity, music ("You've Got a Friend in Me" by Randy Newman is a classic), on and on - done to perfection was a staggering accomplishment. Pixar's expertise is especially evident in the expressiveness they give to the toys' faces, particularly Woody's. This is what draws the viewer in and makes the toys friends and not just objects that can talk. Wisely, Pixar hired some of the most engaging actors in the industry, including Allen, Hanks, Wallace Shawn (Rex), Annie Potts (Bo Peep), Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head, John Ratazenberger as piggy bank Hamm, and the like to reinforce the human-ness of the toys. All this combined gives the ingredients for a smash hit. Which, of course, "Toy Story" was.

Bo Peep turns traitor: "Buzz has more gadgets on him than a Swiss Army knife.”

At heart, the key to the success of "Toy Story" and its sequels is that, in the tradition of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and too many cop films to count, it is a buddy film. Woody and Buzz form a terrific "Odd Couple," with Woody going through a very understandable sequence of emotions when his domain is threatened by the newcomer Buzz, but then backing off and not only accepting Buzz, but embracing his presence. Seeing the two work out their differences so that together they can accomplish more than either one of them alone in the final third of "Toy Story" is extremely satisfying. Allen has perhaps the best lines as the cocky Buzz, but Hanks always will be the sentimental favorite in any showdown between them because of his inherent likability. Hanks also gets some terrific "diva" moments, such as when he rants to Buzz about the true nature of their existence, a truly classic line of dialogue that is so good because it is so ridiculously appropriate and undercuts the sense of disbelief that may exist in the viewer's mind and lets him/her know that Pixar is in on the joke all the way:

“You are a toy! You aren’t the real Buzz Lightyear! You’re an action figure. You are a child’s plaything!”

While Mr. Potato Head is a fan favorite, Rex the cowardly dinosaur also provides lots of laughs

Buzz, of course, also has a great set-up to his character. For the entire first half of this Pixar film, he is convinced that he is on a failed space mission and has to repair his ship or find some other way back to his home world. Tim Allen is perfect as the deluded astronaut who keeps finding just enough positive reinforcement for his wrong-headed belief to maintain it in the face of stark reality. When he finally does face reality, his reaction is quite touching, and you will feel bad for this toy that he in fact is not out exploring the galaxy, but is forever entombed in Andy's bedroom. Tim Allen has just the right "everyman" attitude that is as convincing and winning as Hanks' amiability and soft-heartedness for Woody.

Sid just delights in mangling and torturing his toys

The most amazing thing about this franchise, though, is that "Toy Story" itself was just the humble beginnings. It may have grossed over $300 million, but that was a mere "bag of shells," as Ralph Kramden would say, in comparison to what was to come. "Toy Story 3," which came out in 2010 with Randy Newman's best work of all, nearly tripled this film's gross. What that says is that the franchise built up an awful lot of good will with this introduction to some of the most loveable animated characters ever created and attracted more viewers based on that reputation. It used to be thought that sequels could never do better than original films at the box office, but "Toy Story" showed that opening the door with a surprise-hit animated film was enough to generate billions later if the quality was good enough.

Woody feeling a bit left out

You can nit-pick all you want - boys usually stick with GI Joe dolls, and there isn't a single one in sight, the Hell of Sid's toys is not really explored sufficiently to give them life - but that gets you nowhere. "Toy Story" is a great animated film. If you have never seen "Toy Story," you might as well go out of your way to do so, because odds are terrific that, sooner or later, a friend will drag you to a sequel or will have one playing while you are visiting and you will enjoy it tremendously, but not as much as if you saw the original and the establishment of all the toys' relationships. It will just make the entire experience more enjoyable. Consider it fun homework.

Andy and his two recovered toys

Below is the original trailer for "Toy Story," and below that the Randy Newman theme song, "You've Got a Friend in Me":

2012

Read More

Toy Story 3 (2010) - Our Old Friends Return

Toy Story 3: The Toys Think They May Be Given Away

Animated films exist on their own continent, perhaps even in their own dimension. Stars you haven't seen in a live-action major Hollywood film in decades, or whose last television series got cancelled in the '70s, find eternal youth voicing characters drawn by others. It has to be the easiest gig in acting, perhaps in any type of employment. Come in, read for a few days, get called back in a year or three later to do a few more lines, and that's it. Nice work if you can get it.

Toy owner Andy, who once again makes only the briefest of appearances.

The beauty of the entire process is that the sequels are almost automatic. Unless an animated film really dies at the box office or has some kind of Mysterious Problem at actually putting together a quick sequel (cough cough "Finding Nemo" cough cough), the studios can spit these out whenever they want. The character become our friends, helped by long-ago associations made when the voice actors were still major players in other productions. Controversial or edgy actors tend not to last long in animated films, it is the laid-back, feel-good types that prosper.

It's a wild and crazy group

"Toy Story 3" (2010) has one of the best such voice casts in the business. Mr. Nice Guy himself, Tom Hanks, reprises his role as Woody, while Tim Allen once again is Buzz Lightyear. These guys may not be quite the fire-eaters they were fifteen years ago, but they are amiable and fit the friend-mold perfectly. Comfortable Don Rickles, who was entertaining all of our parents when they were young, is Mr. Potato Head, and "Mr. Cheers" himself, John Ratzenberger, is along with a lot of his trademark seen-it-all quips as well.

The toys with Andy

In this one, the toys are mistakenly delivered to a day-care center. They think they have been abandoned by Andy (their owner) and his family, but Woody knows that Andy (John Morris) is a nice boy and wouldn't do anything like that. Does it all work out well in the end? With all these friends around, what do you think?

We come in peace

In my opinion, the plot doesn't really matter anyway. We get to spend some time with our old friends, who once again are facing a common problem as a group which they must overcome, and that is enough right there. It's the simplest, sweetest theme in show biz, and it works like a charm every time it is used, whether it be in Rickles' own "Kelly's Heroes" or "Lost" or the entire "" franchise.

Woody looks happy with this sequel

These sequels do not exist in a vacuum. While you don't need to have seen "Toy Story" and "Toy Story 2" in order to understand this film, it sure helps. Besides, you miss out on all the camaraderie if you don't watch the previous instalments. It is fine being friends for one film, but don't you want to get the full experience? Who wants to be the late transfer into high school, with everyone else already friends and in their well-established cliques? Better to join the ride at the beginning, not half-way through.

The toys love their home

As usual, in a trend that began long ago but matured only with Disney's "Beauty and the Beast," which begat the hit Broadway show of the same name and many other spin-offs, "Toy Story 3" was nurtured into a cottage industry. Aside from the obvious toy sales it drives, "Toy Story 3 On Ice" toured the country. Mel Brooks must have had a lot of fun thinking about that! Just amazing how these guys respect the power of synergy.

Yes, it's Toy Story 3 On Ice!!!!!!!!

Watch the first two chapters before you try this one, and you'll have a lot more fun. Oh, it was the top-grossing film of 2010 for a reason, and currently the second-highest of all time among animated films. It's a great film, probably the best in the entire "Toy Story" series and the entire Pixar library, and well worth your time.

2012

Read More

Cars (2006) - An Amazing Race

Cars: Lightning McQueen and Paul Newman

"Cars" (2006) is quite sophisticated for an animated Disney movie aimed squarely at kids. Directed by old Pixar pros John Lasseter and Joe Ranft, it raised the animation bar to a new level. If your child decides to play this non-stop for a few months, you may wind up enjoying it enough to start watching the film yourself now and then.

Simply put, this is an awesome animated film. I never would have watched it at my own behest because the ad campaign made it seem like a kid's film.  However, somebody who is just obsessed with this film recommended it highly.  Her excitement led me to watch it. I'm so glad I did.

The graphics are just amazing.  Compare this to, say, 1988's "The Land Before Time" and you will be just blown away.  The cars are "people" that talk and do everything else that people do. Once you accept that, which might take a few minutes, then you can sit back and enjoy a truly outstanding tale about a hotshot race driver and how he learns some difficult but much-needed lessons about life.

Now, the story isn't all that original, though it managed to keep me involved. While traveling to California for the final race of the Piston Cup against The King and Chick Hicks, Lightning McQueen accidentally damages the road of the small town Radiator Springs (name most likely taken from Colorado Springs) and is sentenced to repair it. He has to work hard, but fixes things to the town's satisfaction. Along the way, he finds friendship and love in the simple locals.  He changes his values during his stay in the small town and becomes a true winner.

The execution is what reaches through the screen and grabs you and won't let you go. Some brilliant voice acting by Owen Wilson, Paul Newman and Bonnie Hunt (of all people) carries this film way past ordinary animation. If you know much of anything about NASCAR or the history of auto racing in general, you will be shocked (as I was) by the attention to detail about racing cars of the past. That The King Richard Petty himself gets in a few words here and there just adds to the majesty of this film.

While the kids will like this film, the plot has a lot of adult overtones that should keep just about anyone interested. I actually cared about whether two animated cars would hook up in the end! I guess that's what they call suspension of disbelief. Anyway, it worked for me, and it should work for you, too.

Probably the most enjoyable animated film I've ever sat through.

2012

Read More

Cars 2 (2011) - Another Wild Funny Car Romp!

Cars 2: Lightning McQueen Goes International

"Cars 2" (2011) is the sequel to the smash animated hit "Cars."  This time, Pixar Guru John Lasseter shares the directing role with Brad Lewis. As those familiar with the series know, it has anthropomorphic cars voiced by top voice actors, with many celebrity cameos from the world of racing.  The plot involves an oil company conspiracy to destroy an alternative "green" fuel.  There is a lot of action, and much cloak-and-dagger sneaking around. Lightning McQueen takes a back seat in this adventure to Mater, his down-home friend from back in Radiator Springs.

Lightning jockeying for position with Italian racer Bernoulli

Once again, Owen Wilson voices "Lightning McQueen."  Larry the Cable Guy is along as his down-to-earth friend "Mater" the tow truck, Michael Caine is British spy Finn McMissile, who is an Aston Martin like James Bond and helps the gang uncover an insidious plot.

The Radiator Springs gang

An evil mastermind, Professor Zundapp, is voiced by Thomas Kretschmann.  Doc Hudson is revealed to have passed on.  The animation is the real draw, which is just mind-boggling in its detail. This time, in addition to the stark beauty of the mountain ranges of the American West, we get nice shots of sophisticated European venues and even get to fly in a plane named Siddeley (Jason Isaacs).

Lighning is having fun!

There are plenty of familiar character actors and celebrities, many from the world of racing, voicing minor cars, including Bruce Campbell, John Ratzenberger, Brent Musberger, Darrell Waltrip, Katherine Helmond, Bonnie Hunt, Eddie Izzard, Jeff Gordon, Marin, Paul Dooley and Tony Shalhoub. One of the delights of this series is playing "guess the star" as they come in to voice one car or another.

Aren't those mountains beautiful?

Some of the races are overseas, so we see some historic foreign locales including Tokyo and Italy.  They released die-cast versions of the cars, and many people assembled nice collections of them.  As usual, there always was that one car that you couldn't find....

Mater and Lightning look dazzled!

In essence, the plot revolves around a new fuel that is cleaner than oil. It is being promoted by Sir Miles Axelrod (Eddie Izzard), who institutes a series of Grand Prix races around the world to bring the fuel to the public's attention. An oil profiteer, Professor Zundapp, wants to discredit the fuel and will do anything to accomplish that, including killing Lightning if necessary. Finn McMissile investigates when the racing series gets to England, and mistakes Mater for an American agent. Mater then proceeds to solve the mystery, but not before Zundapp and his henchman cause all sorts of trouble.

Brent's car, with headset!

This is a middle-of-the-pack Pixar film, which means it is quite good. The focus shifts to Mater, who speaks with a heavy Southern accent, and he has to carry the picture. It is a tough assignment, but he does his best. If you like old James Bond films, this should be a very satisfying romp, complete with cars that fire missiles and all sorts of spy stuff.

I like the fan!

If the film has any problems, it is the fairly pedestrian and worn script. However, the colors will dazzle you, and the cars are just astonishing in the way they talk as if they had normal human faces. It would be a good idea to see the first film before this one, though, because this film relies on Lightning's relationships with his pals that he established in Cars.

Burning Rubber!

There is a nice twist at the ending that few will see coming. This film was released in both 2D and 3D, and the IMAX version is especially impressive. If you liked the first "Cars" film, you are almost certain to enjoy this one as well. There will be at least two direct-to-video sequels focusing on Siddeley the Plane, both currently being made by DisneyToon Studios in Burbank, with the first one due out in Fall 2013.

He's a great plane!

Fun for the whole family!

Watch a trailer for "Cars 2" below:

2012

Read More

Monsters, Inc. (2001) - A Top Computer-Animation Film

Monsters, Inc.: Stay Tuned for Monsters University!

Pixar brought out the animated "Monsters, Inc." (2001), featuring cutting-edge computer-animation, to rave reviews. It was a breakthrough film, easy on the eyes and designed for everyone to enjoy, though kids will probably get the most out of it because of the warm, fuzzy, accessible characters.

In the city of Monstropolis, populated solely by monsters, the power company is named Monsters, Inc. Life is normal there until the intrusion of a human baby girl (also animated) named "Boo." A confident, tough, large, furry and blue behemoth-like giant monster named James P. Sullivan (better known as Sulley) and his Cyclopsian wisecracking best friend (a short, green monster with one large eye), Mike Wazowski, are forced to try and deal with this unexpected situation.

It is up to Sulley and Mike to send Boo back home before anybody - especially two evil villains named Randall (of whom Boo is very afraid, and who possesses the ability to change the color of his skin) and Mr. Waternoose (Mike and Sulley's boss at, and chairman and chief executive officer of, Monsters, Inc.) - messes things up and causes events to spiral out of control.<

Directed by Pete Docter, Lee Unkrich and David Silverman, we have the usual collection of top voice actors in this one - Bonnie Hunt as Flint (who also has a lead role in the "Cars" franchise, and her character's name may be a nod to James Coburn's classic '60s roles playing a hitman named Flint), John Ratzenbrger as The Abominable Snowman (who turns up as a supporting character in almost every animated film these days), John Goodman as Sulley (also in "Cars), Billy Crystal as Mike (ditto "Cars"), Frank Oz (Miss Piggy in "The Muppets"), et al. Some top talent that doesn't do a lot of voice work also participated: James Coburn as Mr. Waternoose, Jennifer Tilly, and Steve Buscemi. Seriously, these animated films can get so incestuous with cross-over voice actors that you just imagine the producers sitting around a big table, shouting across at each other, "OK, I'll take one Steve Buscemi and raise you James Coburn!" "Well, I'll take your Coburn and raise you Dustin Hoffman!" Everything proceeds at a standard pace, this was put together by real pros who know what they are doing and pay a lot of attention to detail. The film is a bit dark in spots (at one point, a child is strapped into a machine that will make her scream), so it may not be suitable for the youngest children, but there haven't been a lot of complaints about it.

The story is full of knowing winks to adults, as you would expect in these animated films. On the flip side, some of the adult humor may fly right over some kids' heads. Everyone should still appreciate the colorful monsters and the novelty of a city with only monsters walking the streets.

The "trademark" of this film is the monsters are loveable (of course) and many have weird eyes - either just one eye in Cyclops fashion, bulging eyes, tiny eyes, or something along that theme. Nothing too scary for little kids, but they will probably notice it more than you do. Incidentally, "Finding Nemo" was in a sense spun off from this film, because if you look carefully, you will see Nemo's first appearance as a stuffed toy on Boo's couch.

At one time - and perhaps still - this held the record for most DVDs sold. Recommended for kids and anyone else with an open mind regarding animated films. A long-awaited sequel, "Monsters University," is currently filming and due out in 2013.

Read More