MOVIE: Alice in Wonderland (1951)

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Alice in WonderlandYear: 1951Rating: GLength: 75 minutes / 1.25 hours Of all the early Disney movies based on literature, Alice in Wonderland (1951) always felt like the odd one out. It wasn’t based on any fairy tales, and the source material it was adapting wasn’t necessarily something that had a narrative plot that connected everything together (other than the main character’s misadventures). Still, its psychedelic aura lends itself well to the animation format and leaves the viewer with at least a few short bits of memorable content. Having never really sat down and watched the whole movie straight through, there’s a reason the handful of more memorable scenes have stood in place for the whole. If anything, the characters in Wonderland make it memorable. The Cheshire Cat, Mad Hatter, and Queen of Hearts all have strong showings in this movie, even if their individual contributions don’t make up the whole film. Their representations here in the Disney animation style are iconic and...
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MOVIE: The Prince of Egypt (1998)

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The Prince of EgyptYear: 1998Rating: PGLength: 99 minutes / 1.65 hours As far as Biblical stories go, the Old Testament’s account of the life of Moses is one of the more frequently represented passages in film. While the epic The Ten Commandments (1956) is usually the gold standard for these adaptations, I would argue that The Prince of Egypt (1998) has the benefit of animation to provide better accuracy to the scale of these events. I’m amazed a movie like this was made, but glad that it exists because of its excellence. One thing that struck me when I was re-watching this movie was how many famous people provided their voices for these characters. The list itself reads like a “who’s who” for late ‘90s actors. Unfortunately, this is occasionally distracting with actors who have more distinct voices (like Jeff Goldblum, Steve Martin, and Martin Short) as I can’t hear these voices as anything other than those actors. Otherwise, the other voices...
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MOVIE: Arthur Christmas (2011)

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Arthur ChristmasYear: 2011Rating: PGLength: 97 minutes / 1.62 hours There are plenty of Christmas movies out there that explore the different aspects of Santa in lots of different ways. Whether it’s the “origin story” of Klaus (2019) or the “legal magic” of The Santa Clause (1994), there are many different interpretations of the magical main character of the holiday season. The one that does its best to modernize and show the logistical challenge of delivering presents to every kid on Earth in one night is none other than Arthur Christmas (2011). I’ve always loved Aardman animation, so it felt a little weird to me to see them work their family-friendly magic in this movie with a visual style that did not fit most of their previous work (like Wallace & Gromit). Still, their standard British humor shines through here while also managing to be a heartwarming story of family and legacy. If anything, their version of the Santa Claus mythos makes the...
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MOVIE: Moana 2 (2024)

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Moana 2Year: 2024Rating: PGLength: 100 minutes / 1.67 hours There’s a trend in quite a few sequels that follow “coming-of-age” stories where the main character must then step into a leadership position now that they’ve figured out who they are. How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) did this, and Moana 2 (2024) also followed this formula. While the first movie usually does a great job of having the main character overcome an obstacle to achieve their goal, leadership is often much more complicated to convey and requires more moving pieces. While rounding out the group dynamic for these kinds of movies is fine for providing a wider range of talents to pull from, with Moana 2, most of these characters felt one-dimensional because they had almost no presence in the previous film to establish their core abilities. The only one that had any previous background was the foe-to-friend Kakamora. And while Moana (Auli’I Cravalho) learned her lesson that she doesn’t have to...
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MOVIE: Finding Nemo (2003)

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Finding NemoYear: 2003Rating: GLength: 100 minutes / 1.67 hours It’s funny how your perspective on movies changes as you shift into new life stages. Growing up, Finding Nemo (2003) was entertaining because of the adventure Marlin (Albert Brooks) went on to save his son. Decades later, I can resonate with Marlin’s desire to save his child because I now have children of my own. Of course, this still doesn’t change the core lesson that Marlin learns, which is to not be quite the helicopter parent and let Nemo (Alexander Gould) explore the world on his own. As with most Pixar films from their early era, Finding Nemo looks great. It has a fine balance between being “cartoonish” and the realism that computers could produce. Taking a break from Randy Newman soundtracks did this movie a great service, as his cousin Thomas Newman’s score fits so well with the otherworldly ocean atmosphere. The variety of characters and voice actors fit their roles in...
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MOVIE: The Incredibles (2004)

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The IncrediblesYear: 2004Rating: PGLength: 115 minutes / 1.92 hours With so many superhero movies having been released in the last two decades, it’s amazing to consider that one of the best superhero films ever created came years before the start of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and had no connections to any comic books or other previous superhero media. Sure, other franchises touched on the core aspects of this film, but its execution was so flawless that I consider it the de facto singular superhero film. That movie is The Incredibles (2004). The closest that any franchise gets to what The Incredibles is about is probably X-Men (2000), since both deal with superheroes as a family unit as well as needing to hide their powers to fit into a society that is weaker than they are. That The Incredibles also includes aspects of the nuclear family—like being a supportive spouse or caring parent—adds to its legacy. Using common superpowers in a way to...
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MOVIE: How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014)

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How to Train Your Dragon 2Year: 2014Rating: PGLength: 102 minutes / 1.70 hours Sequels can be a tough transition for a franchise. There's always a struggle of keeping the magic of the first movie, but exploring the world in new directions. Lean too far in one direction, and the sequel feels stale; too far in the other direction and there's nothing to connect it to the original. The best sequels are the ones that use the fact that the first movie dealt with the "origin story" and now they can use a confident main character to advance the franchise. How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) is a better sequel than most, but it raises more questions. While How to Train Your Dragon (2010) was a coming-of-age story, its sequel also carries a similar plot structure. Instead of figuring out who he is, Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) needs to build enough confidence in who he is to take over being chief from his...
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MOVIE: Enchanted (2007)

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EnchantedYear: 2007Rating: PGLength: 107 minutes / 1.78 hours For 70 years, Disney released movies that built up this fantastical notion of what a “princess” was. From Snow White (1937) to Cinderella (1950) to Sleeping Beauty (1959), and all other princess movies since then, Disney built up an amount of lore around these characters that would look ridiculous if transposed into reality. And while the princesses scene in Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) understands the tongue-in-cheek nature of these fantasy stories, nothing ever quite beats Enchanted (2007) as the best self-aware commentary of the princess genre. Starting off in the animated world of Andalusia, Enchanted introduces Giselle (Amy Adams) as a princess yearning for “true love’s kiss.” Luckily, she falls right into the lap of Prince Edward (James Marsden) who proclaims that they will be wed the following day. Of course, this does not sit well with Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon), who banishes Giselle to the real world. Here, Giselle’s “princess powers” still...
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MOVIE: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

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Snow White and the Seven DwarfsYear: 1937Rating: ApprovedLength: 83 minutes / 1.38 hours The more classic Disney movies I watch with my kids, the more I pick up on the animation breakthroughs each film brought forth. They're mostly hidden to the untrained eye, but realizing things like how colorful Sleeping Beauty (1959) looks or noticing early CGI use in The Little Mermaid (1989) highlights how innovative Disney was in their Golden and Renaissance eras. And the movie that kicked everything off was none other than Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Story-wise, Snow White is your basic Grimm fairy tale put through the Disney filter to make it not quite as terrifying to young kids (although it still has its moments). Nothing extraordinary, but it lends itself to a few interesting animation techniques—some of which I still scratch my head trying to figure out how they pulled it off. Mainly, the human characters look a little weird compared to the more...
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MOVIE: Beauty and the Beast (1991)

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Beauty and the BeastYear: 1991Rating: GLength: 84 minutes / 1.40 hours If one movie were to cement the Disney Renaissance in the 1990s, it would have to be Beauty and the Beast (1991). While The Little Mermaid (1989) kicked this era of Disney off, Beauty and the Beast had a deeper and more meaningful moral based in contrasting reactions to masculinity that was powerful enough to earn it a nomination for Best Picture that year (the first time an animated movie had done so). Disney had figured out their formula here and used it to great effect for the next few years. As with all these modern classics, Alan Menken's songs make this movie quite memorable. The visual style that accompanied everything was bold and distinct, using even more CGI than The Little Mermaid did to even better effect. The variety of character designs and personalities also made the cast feel diverse and well-rounded. It may be a little dark for small...
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MOVIE: Brave (2012)

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BraveYear: 2012Rating: PGLength: 93 minutes / 1.55 hours 2012 was a weird year for Disney and Pixar films. Disney released Wreck-it Ralph (2012), which felt like a classic Pixar movie, but Pixar released Brave (2012), which felt like a classic Disney movie. And while the visuals in Brave are as amazing as ever thanks to the quality Pixar had been known for, the plot felt a bit lacking compared to some classics that have come out of that production company. For once, the movie Pixar released felt just average, which was more disappointing because audiences had already seen Pixar make much greater movies before. Perhaps this was the start of the trend in Pixar movies to deal with generational trauma in creative ways, but it never felt that the "mother turning into a bear" plot-line was as strong as the "I want to be an independent woman" one. Sure, they're both connected, but all the advertising somewhat overshadowed one by focusing on...
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MOVIE: Aladdin (1992)

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AladdinYear: 1992Rating: GLength: 90 minutes / 1.50 hours Growing up, I never felt Disney movies were something that appealed to me as a young boy. Most were fairy tales of princesses, and I didn't connect with Snow White (1937), Sleeping Beauty (1959), or The Little Mermaid (1989). Then along came Aladdin (1992). Not only was the main character male, but the movie was full of action, adventure, and a funny performance by Robin Williams as the Genie. It quickly became my favorite Disney film and remains so to this day. Ultimately, Aladdin taught me a few things about life. Being content with our circumstances can keep us out of a lot of trouble; telling the truth is easier earlier on before the lies grow into more complex scenarios; and sometimes the quick magical fix isn't the right way to go about solving a problem. That I could relate much easier to Aladdin and his struggles as he tries to woo the princess...
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MOVIE: WALL-E (2008)

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WALL-EYear: 2008Rating: GLength: 98 minutes / 1.63 hours In the history of Pixar films, I feel the pinnacle of their filmography is none other than WALL-E (2008). By this point, their technical prowess had an impressive track record, and their stories were proven to be quite heartfelt. Still, some of the earlier films have not aged quite as well as this masterpiece. And the ones that come after have been fairly hit-or-miss. The planets aligned to make WALL-E an achievement of storytelling and visual splendor that has stood the test of time. While Pixar worked around the uncanny valley with the human characters being bloated versions of their former selves, everything else in this movie looks so beautiful and real. Perhaps it's even the techniques they used where it almost feels like the whole thing is actually shot on camera instead of entirely in a computer that gives it that sense of grounding. Because there's personality in a little robot that's rusting...
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MOVIE: Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

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Wreck-It RalphYear: 2012Rating: PGLength: 101 minutes / 1.68 hours One year after the release of the book Ready Player One, Disney also jumped onto the video game setting with Wreck-It Ralph (2012). Both have an astonishing number of licensed characters, even if they're relegated to cameo status most of the time. The larger difference between the two is that Wreck-It Ralph examines the virtual world from the villain's perspective. Redeemable villains have been all the rage for some time, so providing video games as a space to contextualize the concepts of destiny and cultural expectations was a perfect fit. Plot-wise, I enjoyed the video game universe Wreck-It Ralph created—even if there are undoubtedly some plot holes if you take it too seriously. I felt the Sugar Rush section of the film was a little long, but only because it had to deal with an entire other subplot with Vanellope (Sarah Silverman). Sure, feeling like you don't belong because you're a glitch parallels...
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MOVIE: Robot Dreams (2023)

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Robot Dreams Year: 2023 Rating: PG-13 Length: 103 minutes / 1.72 hours I first heard of Robot Dreams (2023) when it was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars. When I looked into it, I learned that there is no spoken dialogue in this film. This creative decision is always intriguing to me (almost as much as the one-shot technique) because it requires emphasizing body language and other "show, don't tell" techniques in filmmaking. For this reason alone, I wanted to see it. What I got out of it was a somewhat philosophical treatise on relationships. While the animation in Robot Dreams is crisp, it's not trying to do anything extraordinary here. And while having most of the characters as animals or other non-human beings was also a creative decision, the only thing I got out of it was a few jokes tied to the characteristics of these animals. And ultimately, I think the lack of dialogue in this movie was right at the...
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MOVIE: Megamind (2010)

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MegamindYear: 2010Rating: PGLength: 95 minutes / 1.58 hours It's odd how few superhero movies ever look at the villain's perspective. Sure, modern villains have been written to be tragic figures whose descent into evil is justified based on their background and past trauma. However, taking all the tropes of the genre and flipping them on their head can expose how ridiculous some of these heroic premises are. As a satire of the genre, Megamind (2010) is surprisingly deep considering its animated and child-like appearance. The argument of nature versus nurture (and brains versus brawn) is front and center here as two alien beings voiced by Brad Pitt and Will Ferrell arrive on Earth and are given distinctly different upbringings. But once Megamind finally defeats his heroic counterpart, he sees how he tied his identity up in his role as a villain. And in creating a new hero to fight him, Megamind learns the difference between the contrasting hero motivations of altruism versus...
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MOVIE: The Iron Giant (1999)

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The Iron GiantYear: 1999Rating: PGLength: 86 minutes / 1.43 hours There's something magical about a coming of age story where a young boy befriends an alien entity. The Iron Giant (1999) is among the ranks of E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) and How to Train Your Dragon (2010) for these similar stories with equally magical results. I'm not sure if the moral of these films is that adults are more likely to want to kill what they don't understand or if there's an inherent peaceful nature to every creature—at least until it's threatened with violence. What works well for The Iron Giant is the Red Scare of the 1950s providing a backdrop for the fear of unknown technology. Having just demonstrated the power of nuclear weapons in World War II, the titular giant can be seen as both a helpful and extremely dangerous entity. The ability of children to assume the innocence of things they don't understand sits in stark contrast to...
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MOVIE: The Wild Robot (2024)

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The Wild RobotYear: 2024Rating: PGLength: 102 minutes / 1.70 hours Having grown up with both Pixar and DreamWorks movies, the level of quality has usually been on the side of Pixar. Whether in their visuals or their storytelling, Pixar had a special magic that seemed to outdo whatever DreamWorks was putting out. In recent years, this has flipped. There's been less heart in Pixar films, but DreamWorks has knocked it out of the park with original and heartfelt ideas. That DreamWorks has also leaned into their more "stylized" animation styles has made it stand above and apart. The Wild Robot (2024) is probably the best recent example of how DreamWorks has created a timeless story that resonates on several levels. The juxtaposition of natural and mechanical is front and center, but deeper down the themes delve into parenthood and the ability for machines to feel human emotions. As a parent, this movie hit hard with its ability to show how nurturing also...
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MOVIE: The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012)

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The Pirates! Band of MisfitsYear: 2012Rating: PGLength: 88 minutes / 1.47 hours I've always been a fan of Aardman Animation and I usually make it a point to watch the films they put out. And while not everything can be from my favorite Wallace & Gromit franchise, their movies can be a little hit or miss, depending on a variety of factors. I appreciate that they've been trying to improve their already impressive stop-motion visuals, and The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012) shows off a lot of visual style. However, the plot itself felt just average. The most impressive visuals here are all the little details in absolutely everything. Characters. Settings. Backgrounds. All the little jokes sprinkled throughout that you'd likely have to pause to catch are a nice touch, but almost feel too hidden to be truly appreciated. The voice work is also quite good, as it relies on a ton of famous actors like Hugh Grant, David Tennant, and Martin...
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MOVIE: Transformers One (2024)

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Transformers OneYear: 2024Rating: PGLength: 104 minutes / 1.73 hours For a series that originally appealed to children, it felt like the Transformers movie franchise took a long time to focus on its original demographic again. Sure, the nostalgia bait of the early Michael Bay films led to its continued popularity. But focusing on smaller, origin-based stories like Bumblebee (2018) has brought some life back into the flashy, CGI-heavy explosion fests that these movies had become. That's why I was pleased to find Transformers One (2024) reaching back to the roots of its original audience and focusing on the medium that kicked everything off: animation. Compared to the busy, almost incomprehensible action sequences of the previous live-action movies in the franchise, Transformers One has focused and well-designed set pieces that lean into the fact that animation can often do more than any live-action/CGI hybrid could. There was almost a beauty to the simplicity of the character designs instead of the eye-watering detail that...
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MOVIE: Ratatouille (2007)

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RatatouilleYear: 2007Rating: GLength: 111 minutes / 1.85 hours There are few films that hit home quite like Ratatouille (2007) does. Not only is it a gorgeously animated representation of French cooking (and cooking in general), but its message about pursuing your creative dreams despite the obvious challenges is an important one. I think this film and La La Land (2016) both speak volumes about what it means to work in creative spaces. True talent will rise to the top, but only if they have the grit to keep with it. I have a soft spot for Brad Bird's films, and Ratatouille is no exception. The theme of exceptional outsiders strings through from The Iron Giant (1999) to The Incredibles (2004) and really lands here in Ratatouille. While there are so many movies out there that tell you to "follow your dreams," Ratatouille does so with such a juxtaposition that you figure it would never happen. Rats are dirty, so how could one...
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MOVIE: A Matter of Loaf and Death (2008)

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A Matter of Loaf and DeathYear: 2008Rating: PGLength: 29 minutes / 0.48 hours One of the weird things about claymation is that there's this fine line between rough early works and super-refined later films. For Wallace & Gromit, the quality of shorts like A Grand Day Out (1989) shows potential, and the next two shorts of The Wrong Trousers (1993) and A Close Shave (1995) refined the feel of the universe while still having that organic, handmade aesthetic. After having released the full-length Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005), the next short of A Matter of Loaf and Death (2008) actually felt too polished. Stylistically, A Matter of Loaf and Death is perhaps the most consistent of the shorts. Whether CGI helped or if the processes to make stop-motion films have improved over time, it's difficult to tell. Whatever the reason, so much of this short feels too clean—there aren't the errant fingerprints or other artifacts that reveal the handmade nature of the...
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MOVIE: Bolt (2008)

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BoltYear: 2008Rating: PGLength: 96 minutes / 1.60 hours Mid-2000s Disney was an interesting time for their CGI movies. Pixar had been dominating for at least a decade and created gorgeous films with heartwarming plots. Struggling to keep up with this new medium, Disney still hadn't fully committed to CGI, and it has not aged well. Just as an example, think about how incredible WALL-E (2008) looked and realize it came out the same year as Bolt (2008). Not to say that Bolt is a terrible movie, it just feels bland in comparison—both on looks and plot. Part of the problem of this era of CGI movies is how dated they can feel. Sure, Disney was using some CGI in their animated films even as far back as The Little Mermaid (1989). It's just that Pixar seemed to understand that humans needed to be more like caricatures to escape the uncanny valley. The people in Bolt look so weird and wrong that it's...
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MOVIE: A Close Shave (1995)

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A Close ShaveYear: 1995Rating: PGLength: 31 minutes / 0.52 hours I think it's difficult for the third film in a series to live up to the success of its predecessors. When the first film feels a bit rough and the second is polished to perfection, the third has a lot to live up to. A Close Shave (1995) is definitely better than A Grand Day Out (1989) but I think its scarier elements hold it back from the perfection that is The Wrong Trousers (1993). After all, the levity of Wallace & Gromit is what makes it fun to watch. As is always the case in these early Wallace & Gromit shorts, the technical achievement here is incredible. Aardman makes it look so easy that you don't even realize how they pulled off stop motion flying sequences or have so many moving parts working all in tandem to make a sweater. And the reason why this is falls squarely on how engaging...
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MOVIE: Madagascar 3 – Europe’s Most Wanted (2012)

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Madagascar 3: Europe's Most WantedYear: 2012Rating: PGLength: 93 minutes / 1.55 hours After the first two movies in the Madagascar franchise explored what it was like for zoo animals to survive in the wild, the natural conclusion to this arc was to bring them into an adjacent space for performing animals: the circus. While this didn't allow for nearly as much individual character development as was in Madagascar: Return 2 Africa (2008), Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012) was still a fun ride that looked the best the franchise as ever looked. If anything, Europe's Most Wanted shares more with the first Madagascar (2005) than the second one. The focus on animals performing (including that somewhat annoying "Entrance of the Gladiators" bit that Marty (Chris Rock) does) and the return to Central Park is a good bookend to bring closure to the saga started in the first movie. At least this journey was more purposeful than a mere accident that put the...
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MOVIE: Madagascar – Escape 2 Africa (2008)

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Madagascar: Escape 2 AfricaYear: 2008Rating: PGLength: 89 minutes / 1.48 hours It's interesting how sometimes the first sequel in a franchise can deliver the plot the first movie promised. While Madagascar (2005) was more a "fish out of water" adventure with jerky animation and humor way over the kids' heads, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008) really showed the contrast between these zoo animals with their contemporaries in Africa. This comparison felt like a much better plot device than the cringe-worthy way the first movie handled the idea of zoo animals living in the wild. The jokes in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa felt less unhinged from its predecessor. That they played into each of the sub-plots better helped more than just being a string of pop culture references that didn't quite fit the setting. The best gag of course was none of the group being able to pick out Marty from the herd of zebra (in the, "you all look the same" vibe)...
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MOVIE: Madagascar (2005)

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Madagascar Year: 2005 Rating: PG Length: 86 minutes / 1.43 hours DreamWorks movies have always had a harsh comparison to their competition at Pixar. The visuals were never as stunning, the jokes as high-brow, or the plots as thought-provoking. And while Shrek (2001) was an early outlier, enough time has passed that they've developed some great movies like How To Train Your Dragon (2010) and The Bad Guys (2022). Still, movies like Madagascar (2005) highlighted everything that made DreamWorks movies distinctly of that studio—and also ultimately "less than" the comparable fare being put out by Pixar at the same time. Ironically, Pixar explored the whole "predators can't deny their instincts" plot to a much greater effect in Zootopia (2016). In Madagascar, these four Central Park Zoo animals find themselves separated from the support system that made their life comfortable. Their reactions to being in the titular country are played for laughs through the "fish out of water" trope. And while the frenetic, jerky motions of...
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MOVIE: Trolls (2016)

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TrollsYear: 2016Rating: PGLength: 92 minutes / 1.53 hours When it came out, Trolls (2016) was one of those movies that didn't align with my particular Millennial nostalgia—troll dolls always felt a little weird to me. As such, I didn't watch this for the first time until I had kids of my own. Amusingly enough, this is a movie meant for Millennials who have kids. The bright, colorful aesthetic is meant to keep kids entertained. However, the soundtrack for this movie is exclusively filled with music most Millennials will recognize and will probably have some nostalgia for. It's encouraging that there's something more to the plot of Trolls than just a bunch of naked, long-hair dolls. Creating this identity of creatures that have songs, hugs, and happiness as the core of their identity is a bit silly, but it works to offset their gigantic enemies who have none of those qualities. And since songs play so heavily into the troll culture here, it...
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MOVIE: Epic (2013)

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EpicYear: 2013Rating: PGLength: 102 minutes / 1.70 hours One reason I loved the film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) growing up was the different perspective it brought. When characters are tiny, a yard can be a vast forest. Steps are enormous cliffs. Danger is multiplied. This is not an original idea by any means, but shrinking down characters to experience a much smaller world seems to always have some merit. Even books like Micro have touched on this subject. Epic (2013) is merely another entry in the "miniaturization" trope, but with some good action and world-building to back it up. As with many films like this, Epic wraps its main character, M.K. (Amanda Seyfried) in the troubled trappings of a teenager who is somewhere she does not want to be. It takes an adventure in the nearby woods to appreciate her nerdy father (Jason Sudeikis) and his attempts to connect with her. This revelation is only loosely connected to the battle...
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MOVIE: Monsters, Inc. (2001)

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Monsters, Inc.Year: 2001Rating: GLength: 92 minutes / 1.53 hours Early Pixar films always had a way of being grounded in our reality. The toys in Toy Story (1995) had to make sense as toys. The insects in A Bug's Life (1998) were all known insects. It wasn't until Monsters, Inc. (2001) when an entire world had to be created to explain the "monster in the closet" fear most children grow up with. And while this film is definitely another tech demo to show how good Pixar had gotten at simulating cloth and fur, the plot itself is one of the most original pieces Pixar has ever created. Coming up with dozens of different monster designs was only the first step. That Pixar created a world designed for these monsters to live and work in was the basic follow-up, but creating a whole system of door portals that could access any room in the human world was genius. And having screams power the...
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MOVIE: The LEGO Movie (2014)

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The LEGO MovieYear: 2014Rating: PGLength: 100 minutes / 1.67 hours As a child, LEGO was my toy of choice. I collected it. I built with it. The endless possibilities it provided gave me endless hours of entertainment. In translating this toy to the big screen, the primary concept of imaginative play is front and center. The LEGO Movie (2014) benefited from an alignment of two forces that made it into an instant classic. First, the animation accurately depicted the feel of these plastic bricks. Second, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller have created another comedic masterpiece for kids and adults. The debt that The LEGO Movie owes to all the kids (and adults) who used the bricks to make their own stop-motion films is unavoidably huge. The LEGO video games were a bit more flexible in their character animations...sometimes to their detriment. By keeping the models stiff and abiding by the blocky limitations of the medium, The LEGO Movie made each scene feel...
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MOVIE: Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

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Fantastic Mr. FoxYear: 2009Rating: PGLength: 87 minutes / 1.45 hours There's a point in a famous director's filmography that may make you scratch your head and wonder why they pivoted into something so different. Hindsight is always an interesting way to see how the change in genre or form eventually brought on the full realization of the director's style. For Wes Anderson, his previous films had begun to develop into his distinctive style, but Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) seemed to cement its aesthetic for all future Anderson movies. Hearkening back to the original stop-motion effects from the early years of cinema, Fantastic Mr. Fox is full of frenetic energy—partly from the fur covered creatures voiced by plenty of famous actors. These aren't clay molded stop-motion models like something from Aardman or Laika. Instead, there's a sort of jointed stiffness that is played to great effect by Anderson's love of straight lines and centering on the frame. That Anderson would eventually return to...
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MOVIE: Big Hero 6 (2014)

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Big Hero 6Year: 2014Rating: PGLength: 102 minutes / 1.70 hours Even though Disney has a reputation for being good at the "Princess" movies, I have found that the films geared toward the guys are often overlooked gems. This was probably most obvious during the early 2000s with movies like Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) and Treasure Planet (2002), both of which were sci-fi movies that flopped. Fortunately, Disney adapts and aligns with popular trends to create some better received films geared toward the boys. Fusing the sci-fi genre with an anime-like setting and superhero theming, Big Hero 6 (2014) has stood up well over time. I think the only weakness of Big Hero 6 is how closely it plays to the standard tropes. Superhero origin stories are seen as necessary for starting a franchise, but there are only so many ways that plot can be explored before it feels too similar to other movies (with Iron Man (2008) parallels being made here)....
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MOVIE: The Wrong Trousers (1993)

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The Wrong TrousersYear: 1993Rating: PGLength: 29 minutes / 0.48 hours There are plenty of movies where the second installment in a franchise takes all the lessons learned from the first film and uses them to make the absolute best movie possible. Terminator 2 (1991) and Spider-Man 2 (2004) are my go-to examples of this. This can also extend to short films, as seen by the second Wallace & Gromit short film, The Wrong Trousers (1993). There were a lot of improvements from A Grand Day Out, and I still think that this is the pinnacle of the Wallace & Gromit shorts. This time around, the Plasticine duo is up against Feathers McGraw—a dastardly villain who takes advantage of Wallace's kindness and gullible naivete. The pacing, music, and tension would fit right in with a Hitchcock film, which is what makes it that much sillier when the antagonist is a penguin with a rubber glove on its head. Having such a solid (and...
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MOVIE: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)

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Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Year: 2009 Rating: PG Length: 90 minutes / 1.50 hours One of the most memorable books of my childhood was Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. I was skeptical a short book with no plot could become a feature-length movie. But, just like trying new foods, I gave Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) a chance. The result was something hilarious that both kids and adults could enjoy on different levels. Somehow, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller transformed this beloved book into a fun movie with lots of valid points about life. For their first film, Lord and Miller knocked it out of the park with their style of humor. It was goofy. It was smart. There's no doubt that this movie helped catapult them into other projects like The LEGO Movie (2014). Sure, there were the occasional bathroom humor bits, but there were so few of them as to not ruin the vibe. The voice acting fit...
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MOVIE: Astro Boy (2009)

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Astro BoyYear: 2009Rating: PGLength: 94 minutes / 1.57 hours There's no doubt that Astro Boy was one of the foundational anime series that helped establish the genre we have today. Like other well-known anime like Speed Racer, this anime finally received a movie adaptation in the late 2000s. Having only a cursory knowledge of the source material, I can't say how faithful Astro Boy (2009) is to its origins. In my opinion, there's always room for anime adaptations, since it's honestly a fairly untapped market. As for this adaptation, it's a fun movie that has quite a bit of heart despite being shockingly dark at a few key moments. As is the case for a lot of animated films, the celebrity voice acting is fine here. It's probably even a bit above average. However, voices like Nicholas Cage, Donald Sutherland, and Nathan Lane are so recognizable as to almost make it distracting when their characters are speaking. Similarly, the animation is fine—nothing...
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MOVIE: Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024)

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Kung Fu Panda 4Year: 2024Rating: PGLength: 94 minutes / 1.57 hours Where movies like Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024) are the exception to the "fourth movie after a contained trilogy" rule, Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024) is the unnecessary sequel that's still just trying to cash in on a franchise. While I think the first Kung Fu Panda (2008) was the best of the first three movies, their story of Po's (Jack Black) journey to becoming a kung fu master felt complete by the end of the third film. That this movie barely had any of the characters from the previous movies should give you an idea of how the actors saw it. The problem Kung Fu Panda 4 falls into is the same one that I think plagued Cars 3 (2017). When the main character of the franchise is now set to be the mentor of the next generation, it usually means the writers are out of ideas....
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MOVIE: A Grand Day Out (1989)

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A Grand Day OutYear: 1989Rating: Not RatedLength: 23 minutes / 0.38 hours I grew up watching the Wallace & Gromit shorts on VHS. There's a certain nostalgia I have for these stop motion films that I wanted to share with my daughter. So I pulled out the DVDs I had of these shorts and watched them again. Not only do they hold up, but just thinking of the technical achievement to create a thing like this is mind-boggling. The first of these, A Grand Day Out, isn't the best of the original three, but it's a grand movie, nonetheless. Like watching a silent comedy of the early era of Hollywood, A Grand Day out has a simple (if not completely absurd) premise of going to the moon because Wallace (Peter Sallis) is out of cheese and he figures it's the best place to get some. The beauty of A Grand Day Out isn't entirely in its ability to appeal to children and...
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MOVIE: How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

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How to Train Your Dragon Year: 2010 Rating: PG Length: 98 minutes / 1.63 hours There are a few movies I would consider pinnacle achievements in story, animation, and heart. When I saw How to Train Your Dragon (2010) in theaters, I knew I had just witnessed something special. It felt like DreamWorks had finally grown up from the bodily humor of the Shrek (2001) era and into something that could be taken seriously. It's no wonder that I still consider How to Train Your Dragon to be one of my favorite films of all time. I have always appreciated the stories that successfully convey the "brains over brawn" mentality without being too critical of either side. This film not only emphasizes a creator/tinkerer mindset, but the importance of empathizing with nature. That it made sense to kill dragons without the full context of why the dragons behaved the way they did didn't make the "brawn" side of the equation the enemy in the way...
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MOVIE: The Little Mermaid (1989)

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The Little MermaidYear: 1989Rating: GLength: 83 minutes / 1.38 hours There's no doubt that The Little Mermaid (1989) was a turning point for Disney. It helped revive the studio into its Renaissance after struggling for decades. Some of their best films came in this era sparked by The Little Mermaid, in part due to its success. Its songs and animation were its strong points, both of which are remembered today. However, its lesson (if there even is one) seems to be either too lost in the details or perhaps a bit too old for the young girls who love watching this movie. Several of the songs in The Little Mermaid are Disney classics that most people can probably hum a few bars. Alan Menken established himself as the de facto songwriter for Disney movies with these hits. Watching this movie as an adult, I'm still blown away with Disney's animation techniques here. There were several moments that had me scratching my head,...
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MOVIE: Inside Out 2 (2024)

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Inside Out 2Year: 2024Rating: PGLength: 96 minutes / 1.60 hours Inside Out 2 (2024) is one of those rare sequels that build upon the first movie in new ways that expand the narrative of the world. There were already hints of a puberty subplot at the end of the first Inside Out (2015), but adding new emotions to the mix really helped round out that teenager experience. As a parent, I loved how the first film made it easy to talk to my kids about emotions, but now there's a whole extra level of parenting I can unlock by using this movie as well. Most of my gripes about Inside Out 2 are minor—partly because the first movie had these issues as well. For a head full of emotions, there really is only room for a story about one or two of them. That there were four new characters added in this movie felt a bit much, especially when most of the...
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MOVIE: Wallace & Gromit – The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005)

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Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-RabbitYear: 2005Rating: GLength: 85 minutes / 1.42 hours Having grown up with the Wallace & Gromit short films, I've always held the belief that this duo is the core to Aardman Animations' success. For their first outing in a feature-length context, there was bound to be some growing pains with the transition from short films. Granted, this wasn't Aardman's first foray into feature-length stop motion films, but there were a lot of expectations riding on this film based on how well the previous Wallace & Gromit shorts had done. With the leap into a feature-length movie, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) pulled out all the stops for its visuals. The whole thing looks great, even if it's clear in spots that there were computers being used instead of just the raw physical medium of Plasticine. As always, Gromit is the most expressive silent character of this century (and I'd even say...
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MOVIE: Lilo & Stitch (2002)

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Lilo & StitchYear: 2002Rating: PGLength: 85 minutes / 1.42 hours The early 2000s were a weird time for Disney. After a solid run of their 1990s renaissance—full of classics beloved by all—they started exploring ideas outside their wheelhouse. With most of their best work in the fantasy genre, Disney hadn't quite figured out how to do science fiction. Despite all this, they created a few cult classics during this period. One of these was none other than Lilo & Stitch (2002). A common theme in children's movies seems to be outsider kids befriending creatures they probably shouldn't. This list includes (but is not limited to) E.T. - The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), The Iron Giant (1999), How to Train Your Dragon (2010), and even Bumblebee (2018). Where Lilo & Stitch takes this a step further is how it embraces the idea of the "found family." With so many orphans in Disney movies, it surprised me it took this long to hone in on this...
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MOVIE: Inside Out (2015)

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Inside OutYear: 2015Rating: PGLength: 95 minutes / 1.58 hours It's amusing that a movie studio like Pixar—which has been making us feel all our emotions for decades— made a film solely about those emotions. They already succeeded in making me cry in almost every other film of theirs, and this is no exception. And while they've always had some significant lesson in them, Inside Out (2015) feels like the best kind of therapy you can buy to make discussions with your kids much more approachable. After all, emotions are part of the human experience and everyone can relate to these feelings in some small way, at a minimum. Visually, Inside Out is great because it combines some well-done realism with the spectacular imaginative world inside a pre-teen girl's head. There are a ton of great jokes based on wordplay that are both funny and somewhat educational. The voice acting is superb, and the plot is a solid exploration of how to navigate...
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MOVIE: Sleeping Beauty (1959)

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Sleeping BeautyYear: 1959Rating: GLength: 75 minutes / 1.25 hours Even though the whole Disney Princess franchise has a target demographic (that's more aligned with my daughter), I do have a favorite Princess movie. It's Sleeping Beauty (1959), but not for the reasons you might think. Sure, Sleeping Beauty is one of the few Princess films where the Prince plays a major role—even going so far as to have to fight a dragon to save the kingdom. However, the technical prowess on display here is perhaps forgotten by modern standards. And the fact they use Tchaikovsky for the soundtrack is a huge plus. As a Princess film, Sleeping Beauty has a few tropes it shares with its sister films. There's the bumbling father figures, the fantasy creatures added for comic relief, and the (by now) standard house style for all characters. It certainly spends a lot of time in its middle with almost meaningless filler, which doesn't even pad it out past 75...
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MOVIE: Kung Fu Panda (2008)

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Kung Fu PandaYear: 2008Rating: PGLength: 92 minutes / 1.53 hours Many people give animated films flack for being directed at children. DreamWorks movies have historically leaned toward the younger demographic with plenty of fart jokes while still having the occasional adult jokes sprinkled throughout. The problem with discounting the medium on the whole is that there are some things it can do very well. Kung Fu Panda (2008) not only has a great message about playing to our strengths, but it also uses the fact that it's animated to present some extremely well-done kung fu fights. Jack Black brings Kung Fu Panda to life with Po, the kung fu obsessed panda who doesn't fit the physical model needed to practice the martial art. Despite being chosen as the next Dragon Warrior, Po must learn kung fu so he can protect the land from one of the most dangerous practitioners of the fighting style. It's important for kids to see that he struggles...
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MOVIE: Toy Story 2 (1999)

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Toy Story 2Year: 1999Rating: PGLength: 92 minutes / 1.53 hours For all the flack that sequels get, there are the occasional few that surpass the original. Whether it's flipping the script by making the first movie's villain the hero (as in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)) or merely having room to grow the characters past their introductory stories (like in Spider-Man 2 (2004)), a well-done sequel should advance the story of the franchise and not just repeating the success of the first film. Toy Story 2 (1999) is one of those rare movies that does an excellent job of advancing the groundwork laid in Toy Story (1995). Not only does Toy Story 2 now have its original semi-villain, Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), as the hero saving Woody (Tom Hanks), but there's also room to explore what in means to be a toy in the context of collectors items instead of just as a child's plaything. Considering how revolutionary the original Toy Story...
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MOVIE: Migration (2023)

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MigrationYear: 2023Rating: PGLength: 83 minutes / 1.38 hours If there’s one thing I took away from Migration (2023), it’s that Illumination has finally matured as an animation studio. Sure, just like there’s a Disney/Pixar/DreamWorks “style,” Illumination has a look to the characters in their movies (especially the humans) that makes them immediately distinguishable. In Migration, there was less of that distinctive style, but the freedom to match what the movie needed to tell its original story about a family adventure. If this is what taking risks looks like, then I think it was a successful foray into more original fare. The voice acting was superb, mostly because there were only a few characters whose voices were immediately obvious who they were. I do wonder if director Benjamin Renner’s previous work, Ernest & Celestine (2012), helped shape some of the voice acting decisions, because they certainly fit the characters well. The animation also feeling closer to a 2D traditionally animated film while still...
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MOVIE: The Boy and the Heron (2023)

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The Boy and the HeronYear: 2023Rating: PG-13Length: 124 minutes / 2.07 hours Studio Ghibli films—specifically the ones directed by Hayao Miyazaki—are immensely beautiful and imaginative. The distinct visual style in movies like Castle in the Sky (1986), Princess Mononoke (1997), and Spirited Away (2001) is nothing but consistent. In the latest (and perhaps last) film by Miyazaki, The Boy and the Heron (2023) still maintains the beautiful 2D animation that everyone loves from this studio. The one trick with these films is that sometimes I feel the plot is a little lost in translation from Japanese to American audiences. This isn’t anyone’s fault, but it left me feeling a little lost. While I understood the major coming-of-age themes present in The Boy and the Heron, there were so many fantastical elements in it that I felt I may have missed something from one scene to the next. Perhaps I was too tired to give this movie the adequate attention it deserved, but...
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MOVIE: Leap! (2016)

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Leap!Year: 2016Rating: PGLength: 89 minutes / 1.48 hours In searching for movies to watch with my daughter, I figured Leap! (2016) was a good fit since she is actively interested in dance/ballet. She seemed to enjoy it, but I wasn’t entirely impressed. I’m willing to give animated films a try when they aren’t from big studios with lots of gravitas, but this one felt just generic enough as to be almost indistinguishable from the swath of cheap direct-to-streaming fare that clogs these services. I will grant that the animation looks pretty good for 2016, but visuals aren’t the only thing that makes these kinds of movies tick. The story in Leap! is mostly your generic “follow your dreams” fare that most movies directed at kids have done before. Common tropes of persevering and working hard are here, as usual, but with the slightly more troubling trope of lying to catch a break. Sure, gatekeeping isn’t a great way to discover new talent,...
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MOVIE: Elemental (2023)

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Elemental Year: 2023 Rating: PG Length: 101 minutes / 1.68 hours I initially wasn’t too sold on the concept of Elemental (2023). The idea that elements live together in a city felt a bit too close to Zootopia (2016) to be truly original. However, Pixar (generally) has a good handle on stories, and I eventually gave this one a shot. I was surprised to find not only an approachable love story—which is rare for Pixar—but a touching look at expectations from immigrant parents and what it’s like to integrate into a society that isn’t made for you. As always, the visuals were striking, and the emotions were heartfelt. While the movie poked fun at certain human-based design decisions for the city (like when both main characters easily pass through a chain-link fence), the overall concept felt thought out enough to truly invoke the ethnic boroughs that many cities have for immigrants of similar ethnic backgrounds. Choosing the fire people to be the “odd element out”...
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MOVIE: Tangled (2010)

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TangledYear: 2010Rating: PGLength: 100 minutes / 1.67 hours Tangled (2010) is one of those movies that hit me at a vulnerable time in my life. Shortly after I bought it on Blu-Ray, I ended up watching it at least once for ten days straight. I had the soundtrack memorized and I still cry at the pivotal scenes. I danced to the lantern song at my wedding as the first dance with my wife. Clearly, I'm going to give this movie full marks here, but even over a decade later, I think it holds up. After college, I moved out of my home state and was finally living on my own. Even with a good job and a handful of new friends, I related to Rapunzel's (Mandy Moore) first song of the movie: When Does My Life Begin? There were societal expectations that I didn't feel like I met, so seeing Flynn Rider (Zachary Levi) grow to accept non-toxic masculine traits—thanks in part...
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MOVIE: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Mutant Mayhem (2023)

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem Year: 2023 Rating: PG Length: 99 minutes / 1.65 hours I don't have a lot of nostalgia for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Sure, I played the arcade game quite a few times and saw some episodes of the original TV show—it just wasn't one of those franchises that stuck with me through the years. With this in mind, what made me watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (2023)? Honestly, I'm intrigued by the new wave of stylized animated films, and this movie fits the bill. I'm glad I gave it a chance. Of the four words that make up this franchise, the one I felt was never accurately represented was the first one: Teenage. Most of the iterations of these four mutated reptiles I've seen focus on the "Ninja" part of their background. Here, these characters truly feel like teenagers, and the choice to make them closer to 13 than 19 was a refreshing take on the franchise....
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MOVIE: Castle in the Sky (1986)

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Castle in the Sky Year: 1986 Rating: PG Length: 125 minutes / 2.08 hours Having only seen a handful of Hayao Miyazaki films, I finally got around to some of his earlier works. Castle in the Sky (1986) might not seem special by today’s standards, but in the era when it was released, I’m sure it was quite a bold statement. As a steampunk-styled adventure, there’s a lot in this movie that has since been copied and adapted into other works (case in point, my younger brother noticed that it’s almost an identical plot to Mega Man Legends which came out a decade later). As Miyazaki’s third film, Castle in the Sky sees many of his established visual styles and themes (like flying girls) that he has used in many of his following projects. Even with a relatively simple plot, the gorgeous animated visuals are always a major draw for Miyazaki movies like this. There’s a charm that’s hard to describe, but it’s there in...
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MOVIE: The Sea Beast (2022)

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The Sea BeastYear: 2022Rating: PGLength: 115 minutes / 1.92 hours It’s weird how there’s been such a shift in CG animated films that something like The Sea Beast (2022) feels like they made it years ago. The realism in CGI has reached a point where movies from studios that aren’t Disney, Pixar, or DreamWorks look gorgeous. Since there’s been a leveling of what animated films can look like, the plot has become more important to these kinds of films. Unfortunately, while The Sea Beast looks great, its plot feels derivative of How to Train Your Dragon (2010), just with pirate-like characters instead of Vikings. That there aren’t a ton of sea-faring stories out there, let alone animated ones, makes The Sea Beast a unique setting. With so many fantasy worlds set in medieval Europe, basing one off the slightly more modern sailing age feels fresh. I’m a little surprised that there weren’t more inventive uses of the technology of that era, since...
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MOVIE: Puss in Boots – The Last Wish (2022)

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Puss in Boots: The Last Wish Year: 2022 Rating: PG Length: 104 minutes / 1.73 hours It's honestly been so long since there have been any movies from the Shrek franchise. I had almost forgotten Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022) was a sequel to a spinoff that came out 11 years ago. Animation has changed a lot in that time, and this movie shows that traditional CGI animated fare is now following a much different look. Even with the change in animation style, The Last Wish excels at the thing that made the Shrek movies great: unique takes on well-known fairy tales. It surprised me how dark parts of this film were, considering its target audience. When the titular character has to come to terms with his own mortality in the form of death as a deadly sickle-wielding wolf, it gets perhaps a bit too scary for younger children. Sure, there are comic relief characters like Perrito (Harvey Guillén) to lighten the mood....
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MOVIE: Nimona (2023)

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Nimona Year: 2023 Rating: PG Length: 101 minutes / 1.68 hours It's funny how I initially read about Nimona (2023) as an upcoming animated film on Netflix, which inspired me to read the graphic novel, which itself made me watch the animated film when it came out. And while the movie was good, it was missing some of what made the graphic novel great. But that's always going to be the challenge of adapting a book into a movie. Using the source material as inspiration helped make this film a tight story that works for the medium. Sure, I would have liked to have seen an animated film in the distinctive style of the graphic novel. The emotions and climax didn't have enough time to get deep enough—like they did on the printed page. Still, I can accept that movies like The Shining (1980), Ready Player One (2018), and Nimona are distinct and different, but just as good as the books they're based on. An...
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MOVIE: Spider-Man – Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Year: 2023 Rating: PG Length: 140 minutes / 2.33 hours Without fail, I have watched wildly successful movies gain sequels that were too big for just one movie. The latest entry in this Trilogy Conundrum is none other than the animated Spider-Verse series. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) was a stylish and refreshing animated film that won the Best Animated Feature Oscar. Its sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023), is equally good in both storytelling and animation. However, the size of such a story being stretched over two films affected some of this movie's pacing. I am increasingly becoming a fan of the "stylized" animated movies like Into the Spider-Verse and Across the Spider-Verse. Pixar can show how realistic CGI animation can be, but I found truly creative CGI animation in other studios like this one. This "cartoony" style lends itself to the humor of the fight between Miles (Shameik Moore) and Spot (Jason Schwartzman). It's also versatile enough to be...
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MOVIE: The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)

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The Super Mario Bros. Movie Year: 2023 Rating: PG Length: 92 minutes / 1.53 hours I’ll admit that I was skeptical about this movie going in. Some of the casting decisions were questionable, but I also knew Nintendo would have a much tighter hold on their intellectual property after Super Mario Bros. (1993). An animated take on a simple video game concept was the better way to go, but I also know Illumination has a reputation for somewhat “cheap” CGI movies. All this being said—nostalgia is a heck of a drug. The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) is bright, colorful, and a lot of fun to watch. I felt like the character designs were definitely on-point—which wasn’t hard to do when Nintendo already has 3D models of almost every character that appeared in this movie (something the previous attempt at this movie did not have). While the plot was simple, it’s not like a game from 1985 really had that much plot to go off,...
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MOVIE: Cars 2 (2011)

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Cars 2Year: 2011Rating: GLength: 106 minutes / 1.35 hours If anyone asks me for my unpopular movie opinion, they're likely going to hear that I think Cars 2 (2011) is the best entry in the Cars trilogy. While it still doesn't hold a candle to the superior works that Pixar released before it, Cars 2 took a risk by adapting the spy genre to its kid-friendly films. I was never much of a fan of NASCAR-style racing, so pushing these characters into worldwide Grand Prix races felt much more exciting to me. Still, I can see why some didn't like this pivot. As with most of the Cars movies, I never cared much for Mater (Larry the Cable Guy). The forced comedic relief always felt like it was based on how cringe-worthy they could make the character. Unfortunately, Mater had a much larger role in this movie, which only marginally worked because of how it felt like The Man Who Knew Too...
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MOVIE: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022)

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Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio Year: 2022 Rating: PG Length: 117 minutes / 1.95 hours Disney has dominated the fairy tale adaptation for so long that it’s refreshing to see something like Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022) take a different approach to the story of Pinocchio instead of merely copying the 1940 version. Fittingly enough, using stop-motion for this movie was a great way to be creative as well as align with the whole “talking wooden puppet” motif. And while the time jump into World War II Italy obviously doesn’t make this a faithful adaptation of the original work, it’s at least grittier than the more colorful animated versions have come to represent. I appreciate all the work that goes into stop-motion animated movies. I enjoyed Aardman’s Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) and Laika’s Kubo and the Two Strings (2016), so it’s nice to see other animation companies like ShadowMachine enter the feature-length movie realm with their work. That being said, the...
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MOVIE: Toy Story (1995)

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Toy StoryYear: 1995Rating: GLength: 81 minutes / 1.35 hours One benefit of having children is revisiting movies from my youth. I saw Toy Story (1995) in theaters and was immediately struck by how amazing it was that they made the entire film with computers. While this is no longer something that causes awe, there is something about the first movie to make this leap. Almost 30 years later, Toy Story shows its age in some of its visual aspects. However, the cinematography and storytelling here are top-notch and often made me ignore the CGI which is comparatively less polished than today’s effects. To Pixar’s credit, they did the best they could by focusing on slightly easier-to-animate characters than humans or animals. The people and pets in Toy Story look horrific (sometimes on purpose) but there has to be grace for the limitations of the time. Still, with the immense flexibility of the digital camera, some shots in Toy Story that would have...
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MOVIE: One Piece Film – Red (2022)

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One Piece Film: RedYear: 2022Rating: PG-13Length: 115 minutes / 1.92 hours One challenge of making movies for such a long-running anime series like One Piece is that there are so many characters and aspects of the canon that it's hard to make a film that includes fan-favorite characters in a way that makes sense with the overall story. With Eiichiro Oda on board for One Piece Film: Red (2022), we finally have a movie that could easily be part of the canon for the series while also having stakes high enough to warrant the characters who appear to save the world. While I definitely enjoy One Piece movies that string together powerful moves from the best characters, like Stampede (2019) did, most of the time the villains for these movies are so separated from the series as to be completely inconsequential. For Red, including Shanks' family was a smart way to make the story relevant to the wider One Piece world without...
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MOVIE: Minions – The Rise of Gru (2022)

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Minions: The Rise of Gru Year: 2022 Rating: PG Length: 87 minutes / 1.45 hours It always felt weird to me that the prequel spinoff series to Despicable Me started with Minions (2015), set well before these yellow tic-tac creatures even met their eventual boss. As a true prequel to the main series, Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) was the movie the previous Minions movie should have been. And while it definitely lives up to the somewhat immature nature of these films from Illumination, I am constantly in awe of how visually impressive these movies look despite not coming from Disney, Pixar, or Dreamworks. While definitely still geared toward children, Minions: The Rise of Gru definitely has its moments that parents forced to watch along with their kids will chuckle at. In particular, the names of the villains are puns well above little ones' heads but are quite amusing for the adults who know (Nun-Chuck (Lucy Lawless) being my favorite). I mean, they even...
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MOVIE: The Bob’s Burgers Movie (2022)

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The Bob's Burgers Movie Year: 2022 Rating: PG-13 Length: 102 minutes / 1.70 hours Let a television show get popular enough, and eventually, you'll see a movie get made of it. This is true for older shows like Get Smart (2008) as well as modern shows like Bob's Burgers. It seems that animated shows have finally "made it" when they get their first animated movie. South Park, The Simpsons, and SpongeBob SquarePants are among the ranks of well-known animated sitcoms that made the leap to the big screen. Now Bob's Burgers joins their ranks with The Bob's Burgers Movie (2022). The challenge for a 30-minute animated show expanding to a feature-length movie has always been the strength of its intertwining plotlines. For this movie, introducing an enormous sinkhole that's blocking the entrance to the restaurant ups the scale of normal shenanigans, especially on the first day of summer when people are ready to go out to eat. Add to this a murder mystery that the...
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MOVIE: Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2021)

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Marcel the Shell with Shoes On Year: 2021 Rating: PG Length: 90 minutes / 1.50 hours The documentary format is so ingrained as a genre of film that it can be quite easy to take the same visual style and plot structure and apply it to something that doesn't actually exist. In the case of Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2021), the audience gets a glimpse into this peculiar little creature named Marcel (Jenny Slate) who lives in an Airbnb with his grandmother—both of which are shells that have shoes and can talk. Equally charming and meta, this film is a cute piece of fluff. While I never saw the short films this movie was based on, they must have been significant enough at the time (roughly a decade ago) for me to feel like this was a familiar piece of media that I had somehow missed from my childhood. The stop-motion style of these small creatures helps to show the challenges they face...
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MOVIE: Lightyear (2022)

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Lightyear Year: 2022 Rating: PG Length: 100 minutes / 1.67 hours One of my favorite bits from the Toy Story saga was the opening sequence from Toy Story 2 (1999). Seeing Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) in his element, fighting to save the galaxy, was an exciting start to one of the best Pixar films to hit the big screen. I have some strong nostalgia for the characters from Toy Story, which is why I had high hopes for the Lightyear (2022) spinoff. After all, Pixar rarely does science fiction—with WALL-E (2008) being the most notable example of what they can do with the genre—so I can appreciate them adding more sci-fi to their filmography. As a sci-fi movie, Lightyear is fine. It hits a lot of good tropes that are common to the genre. Visually, the efforts of Pixar look stunning as always. The problem I have here is with the characters and the plotline surrounding Buzz Lightyear's (Chris Evans) stubbornness. It's exhausting to watch...
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MOVIE: Cars (2006)

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Cars Year: 2006 Rating: G Length: 117 minutes / 1.95 hours In terms of early Pixar films, I always felt Cars (2006) was a bit of a step backward for the animation company. I've never been much of a "car guy" and I find NASCAR racing a bit silly. Still, Pixar's focus on the story helped make this a solid sports movie. After all, the timeless "mentor teaching a cocky up-and-comer" narrative works for a reason. And while I'd love to see other Pixar franchises get as much love as this one, I can see why it's done so well for its target demographic. Cars is an excellent movie for freeze-frame analysis for the number of puns and visual gags alone. Granted, there are also a lot of disturbing extrapolations if you spend a significant amount of time thinking about this universe of sentient vehicles. Still, the growth of these characters helps make this movie into something more than just a vehicle (har har) for...
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MOVIE: The Bad Guys (2022)

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The Bad Guys Year: 2022 Rating: PG Length: 100 minutes / 1.67 hours I honestly love that computer technology has improved so much that animated movies like The Bad Guys (2022) don't have to use super-realistic visuals and can instead have a stylized animation that gives it a lot of personality. What's a little astonishing to me is how this film is the first animated movie I can think of that takes the "heist" genre and runs with it. I love a good heist, after all. And while the twists are a bit obvious and the moral is a bit hokey, The Bad Guys is still a lot of fun. There's no reason to blame The Bad Guys for making a movie that children can figure out. It's loosely based on a series of children's books, so I get that some twists are going to be obvious to the adults in the audience. The thing that strikes me weird is that all the characters that...
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MOVIE: Turning Red (2022)

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Turning Red Year: 2022 Rating: PG Length: 100 minutes / 1.67 hours I'll give Pixar credit for taking on a challenging subject like puberty. Of course, they also played it safe by making it modern enough that there are computers and cell phones, but not so modern that social media is a big issue. Oh, to long for that early 2000s nostalgia. While I couldn't relate to the gender issues presented in this movie, I definitely experienced late puberty around the film's timeframe. And perhaps that's why I found Turning Red (2021) so funny: they nailed a lot of the popular cultural elements. Also, as a guy, I actually found a lot of the "period humor" to be hilarious as well. Perhaps because it's somewhat embarrassing, but also a totally natural part of growing up, these jokes had me laughing out loud. Or, maybe my humor is just a bizarre combination of memes and puns. Probably the latter (gotta love all the multiple meanings of...
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MOVIE: Redline (2009)

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Redline Year: 2009 Rating: Not Rated Length: 102 minutes / 1.70 hours Redline (2009) is one of those films that I saw a few clips of and decided it looked interesting enough to sit down and actually watch the whole thing. After all, I enjoy a good anime, and if I don't have to get invested in a multi-season show, all the better. Of course, anime can also be quite weird. As long as it looks cool, though, it doesn't really matter. Sometimes, the more stylized an anime movie is, the more entertaining it is to watch. And Redline is certainly a stylized anime. Produced by Madhouse, Redline has a distinct visual style that aligns with their other works. I'd probably say it's closest to Trigun in terms of overall feel, but that's likely because Trigun was one of the first anime I watched while growing up. There's an almost manga-like quality to the visuals here. Plenty of hard black outlines and shadows, but with...
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MOVIE: Ron’s Gone Wrong (2021)

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Ron's Gone Wrong Year: 2021 Rating: PG Length: 107 minutes / 1.78 hours Let's face it: social media is a challenge for parents trying to raise kids in an increasingly tech-savvy world. Adults all know the dangers of it because we were the test subjects. Now it's exposing our children to the addicting and potentially dangerous concept of trying to "go viral" by any means possible. While documentaries like The Social Dilemma (2020) reveal how these dark systems work, there aren't many movies directed toward kids that show these dangers in a way they can understand. Ron's Gone Wrong (2021) attempts to fill this gap. The problem with how this movie goes about teaching its lesson is that the premise requires a large amount of suspension of disbelief. In this universe, parents are completely oblivious to the dangers of giving their children AI robots who act as their gateway into social media via pranking videos or TicTok beauty clips that get tons of likes. Sure, there...
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MOVIE: Encanto (2021)

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Encanto Year: 2021 Rating: PG Length: 102 minutes / 1.70 hours As Disney hits all the cultural checkboxes across the globe, Encanto (2021) follows in the footsteps of Moana (2016) and Coco (2017) to expose audiences to the culture of Columbia. With catchy songs by Lin Manuel-Miranda, Encanto is full of fun and color in a way that doesn't seem disrespectful to the culture it's representing. And while I know little about Columbian culture, I know enough about Latin America to realize that the foundational lesson in Encanto is important for everyone, regardless of their culture of origin. On its surface, Encanto is about a family with magic powers that live in a magic house. Everyone in the family except Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz). Normally, the story about Mirabel trying to figure out why she didn't receive magic powers would be enough for this kind of movie. Encanto, however, digs deeper and addresses the significant pressure that can come from an individual's family to live up...
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MOVIE: The Summit of the Gods (2021)

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The Summit of the GodsYear: 2021Rating: PGLength: 95 minutes / 1.58 hours As the tallest mountain in the world, there are more movies about Everest than any other mountain in existence. A good chunk of these movies are documentaries, and even the "Hollywood" movies are about actual events (like Everest (2015)). From my own experiences climbing mountains, there comes a point where movies about mountain climbers end up all looking the same...especially when the mountain they're climbing is the same. Fortunately, The Summit of the Gods (2021) takes a novel approach to this repetitive type of story: by using animation. Based on the manga of the same name, The Summit of the Gods has a story to tell that's much more interesting than the adrenaline junkies who feature in other mountain climbing movies like Meru (2015). Sure, there's still the link to actual people and events, but The Summit of the Gods uses animation to its advantage to tell a story that...
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MOVIE: Evangelion – 3.0+1.01 Thrice Upon a Time (2021)

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Evangelion: 3.0+1.01 Thrice Upon a Time Year: 2021 Rating: R Length: 154 minutes / 2.57 hours One of the classic series of anime, Neon Genesis Evangelion, is both exceptional spectacle and moments of "WTF?" It balances the line between post-apocalyptic survival and psychological horror. While it's always exciting to see large "robots" fighting alien creatures, a lot of Evangelion's appeal comes from the struggles of its characters. Sure, there's plenty of fan service (which is a staple of the series), but there is also an equal amount of philosophy that makes you question what it means to be human. Evangelion: 3.0+1.01 Thrice Upon a Time (2021) is the last movie in the Rebuild of Evangelion series. This series has attempted to bring the flashy 1990s action anime into stunning HD while also attempting to fix some of the original's more confusing aspects. It's difficult to pin down Evangelion's "true" version. Still, I think the Rebuild series does a fine job of maintaining some of the...
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MOVIE: Over the Moon (2020)

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Over the Moon Year: 2020 Rating: PG Length: 95 minutes / 1.58 hours Over the Moon (2020) snuck under my radar until it was nominated for Best Animated Feature. At that point, I figured I had to check it out. I appreciate that there is enough room in the entertainment industry for CGI animated films not made by Disney/Pixar, Dreamworks, or *shudder* Illumination. Over the Moon is certainly unique, even if it's geared toward Asian cultures that I know little about. And perhaps that's my issue with this film: I'm not its target audience. While Disney wrote the book on adapting Euro-centric fairy tales into animated films, there are plenty of other cultures in this world that have their own rich lore from which we can extract interesting stories. However, because I haven't grown up hearing these stories, their adaptations seem strange to me when they're in a modern context like Over the Moon. What's worse is that some elements I know about Chinese culture...
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MOVIE: Luca (2021)

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LucaYear: 2021Rating: PGLength: 95 minutes / 1.58 hours It's interesting how computers continue to become more powerful, just so they can make 3D CGI look more like traditional 2-D animation. Granted, this usually applies to the characters, as textures and settings are becoming so realistic as to be nearly indistinguishable from the real thing. While I'm sure we could probably jump the uncanny valley by now, Pixar chooses to play to its more "cartoony" roots in perhaps the most charming way possible. Their latest film, Luca (2021), oozes charm in a way that a small story like this can only achieve. Set in what appears to be early to mid-1960s (at least by the movie posters hung on the town's walls), Luca is another coming-of-age tale like Onward (2020) but with less emphasis on family bonds and more emphasis on personal independence. And while I appreciated the "big brother" narrative of Onward, I think Luca's format worked a little better since not...
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MOVIE: Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)

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Raya and the Last Dragon Year: 2021 Rating: PG Length: 107 minutes / 1.78 hours For a studio that built itself on Euro-centric fairy tales and stories, I can appreciate how Disney is (finally) trying to make movies that explore other cultures of the world. While not necessarily based in any lore from Asian countries, Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) pulls enough aesthetic influence from these cultures to be a nice homage. As always, I’m stunned at the visuals Disney can produce with CGI, and Raya and the Last Dragon is no exception to this rule. Add to this the incredibly well-choreographed fight sequences, and this film certainly had its moments. However, what’s weird about Raya and the Last Dragon is how parts of it felt done before. Kung Fu Panda (2008) might not have had realistic humans using martial arts techniques. Still, the choreography for this kind of animated movie was already there more than a decade before Raya came along. Similarly, the “collect...
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MOVIE: Wolfwalkers (2020)

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WolfwalkersYear: 2020Rating: PGLength: 103 minutes / 1.72 hours I wasn't sure what to expect when I sat down to watch the third installment in Tomm Moore's "Irish Folklore Trilogy." The Secret of Kells (2009) was a unique animation style that also carried over to Song of the Sea (2014). Wolfwalkers (2020) continues this "rough" visual style but perhaps has the strongest story of all three films. That's not to say its predecessors don't have interesting stories, it's more that Wolfwalkers builds upon the foundations established by these previous entries of this loose trilogy. As is the case with these films, Wolfwalkers follows a young girl (Robyn Goodfellowe (Honor Kneafsey)) who encounters the fantasy of the world adjacent to her own. Shapeshifting wolves and disappearing forests are more complex than she first realizes. Many stories based on ancient lore are meant to teach lessons to children, and this movie is no different. Granted, there are quite a few cliches in how the plot progresses,...
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MOVIE: The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)

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The Mitchells vs. the MachinesYear: 2021Rating: PGLength: 113 minutes / 1.88 hours After Sony Pictures Animation released the visually stunning, Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), I awaited their next project with great interest. Eventually, they put out a trailer for a movie titled Connected, which seemed to be exactly what I was looking for. Then the pandemic hit. Netflix grabbed the rights, renamed the film, and released The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021). Ultimately, it was a fun movie, even if it followed many tropes of the family road trip. Visually, I'm finding the new style of 3-D animated movies that look closer to the traditional 2-D animated films to be an intriguing middle ground. There are benefits from both styles, and this movie takes advantage of them. Ultimately, though, I think this kind of movie knows its demographic is millennials and does its best to pander to some of our absurd humor (like a fantastic scene with Furbies) as we...
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MOVIE: Happy Feet (2006)

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Happy Feet Year: 2006 Rating: PG Length: 108 minutes / 1.80 hours Very few movies have pivoted so hard on me like Happy Feet (2006). I vaguely remembered the trailers for this film back in the day but wasn't too interested in it because it wasn't from Disney or Pixar (I might have also confused it with Surf's Up (2007)). However, the fact that it won Best Animated Picture for that year should have told me there was something special here. However, my expectations for Happy Feet were much different than the plot twist that I hadn't seen coming. Since I was coming in cold to this film (har har), I had expected it to be the standard "individual is unique, but doesn't fit in with the status quo" type plot. After all, the main character (voiced by Elijah Wood) is the odd-one-out in a community of penguins by being unable to sing. However, this inability to sing is overshadowed by Mumble's extraordinary ability to...
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MOVIE: Cars 3 (2017)

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CarsYear: 2017Rating: GLength: 102 minutes / 1.70 hours I'm usually a huge fan of Pixar films. However, I'm not wild about the Cars franchise. Something about these anthropomorphized vehicles is a little too cartoonish for me. Granted, the first movie in the series was the only film to make me care about the outcome of a NASCAR-type race. While the visuals are definitely improved in the 11 years since the original film came out, this end cap of the trilogy feels like a rehash of what worked before. Distancing itself from the trilogy's black sheep, Cars 2 (2011), this third part of the trilogy felt all too similar to the plot of Cars (2006). Sure, some of the roles were swapped around to show the "full circle" narrative from student to mentor. Still, ultimately it was about a car finding its racing mojo and utilizing well-known driving techniques to defeat its opponents. Ultimately, though, I don't care for the main character. Lightning...
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MOVIE: Soul (2020)

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Soul Year: 2020 Rating: PG Length: 100 minutes / 1.67 hours I'll give Pixar credit: they know how to make trailers that give away almost nothing about what the plot is. Sure, I could roughly gauge what Soul (2020) was about, but I could never have guessed it would be this deep. Of course, when dealing with concepts as heady as the afterlife, Pixar had to really balance the line between adhering to any particular religious belief. Be prepared to tear up at least a few times because Soul can hit hard when it comes to life itself. As is the case with any Pixar film, I usually watch for CGI modeling/technology advancements. In Soul, they took the time to perfect the look of some of the most difficult hair to animate, and it shows. This isn't to say that we're getting closer to jumping the uncanny valley (of which they can probably do by now) because this would also ignore the mind-bending "architects" who...
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MOVIE: Song of the Sea (2014)

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Song of the Sea Year: 2014 Rating: PG Length: 93 minutes / 1.55 hours In perusing Netflix a while ago, I came across Song of the Sea (2014), a nominee for the Best Animated Feature Oscar that had completely gone under my radar. At first glance, this film seemed to be by the same people who had done The Secret of Kells (2009). I appreciated the 2D style of the animation from Kells and looked forward to additional stories that could be told in that style. I was not disappointed in the visuals, but I was confused, perhaps more than I should have been with the plot. Don't get me wrong: the plot is pretty simple. I certainly was able to understand the story of a brother and his mystical mother and sister. Some of the plot points seemed pretty cliche, all things considered. What I had trouble with was some of the Irish folklore that ran throughout this movie. Perhaps it was all part...
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MOVIE: Klaus (2019)

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KlausYear: 2019Rating: PGLength: 96 minutes / 1.60 hours It’s weird to me how many Christmas movies there are out there, and how few of them are any good. Fortunately, we now have a little gem with Klaus (2019). Animated in a beautiful 2D-esque style that uses 3D CGI as its base, Klaus works backward from what we understand as the current lore surrounding Santa Claus and develops a heartwarming story to explain all the little impossibilities that tie to the Yule tradition. And while it hits mostly predictable story beats, certain moments had me tearing up. What makes Klaus different from the rest of the Christmas-themed animated fare is that there seems to have been plenty of care devoted to the artistry of the visuals. It seems like most modern animated Christmas movies skimp on quality just to get something out to cash in on the holiday. The characters and character designs are unique and fitting to the story this movie is...
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MOVIE: Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution (2019)

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Mewtwo Strikes Back: EvolutionYear: 2019Rating: PGLength: 98 minutes / 1.63 hours Growing up with the Pokémon franchise during the peak of its fervor, I definitely remember going to see the first movie when it came out in theaters. Consequently, there is an amount of nostalgia that I associate with this first forray of the franchise onto the big screen. When I saw that Netflix had recreated the 2D anime of my childhood with their style of CGI animation, I was intrigued enough to check it out. Much like in the recent CGI version of The Lion King (2019), just because a movie was faithfully recreated using newer animation technology does not make it a better movie. Additionally, I believe the fact that I had aged since I first watched this movie made it so I could see it through a more objective lens. What I found was that the story was incredibly light, and the only thing that made it worth watching...
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MOVIE: The Lion King (2019)

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The Lion KingYear: 2019Rating: PGLength: 118 minutes / 1.97 hours Many years ago, I learned that The Lion King (1994) was basically the plot of Hamlet reenacted with animals. And while many people consider the original 2D animated version of this story to be one of the greatest Disney movies ever created, I never really cared that much for it. Fast forward to 2019, and the new "live-action" version of The Lion King is released. Again, I wasn't really wowed by anything in it because I was ambivalent to the whole story anyway. I did find it odd that they marketed it as "live-action" when it was completely CGI. It was an animated remake of an animated movie. Perhaps my biggest issue with this new version of The Lion King was that they didn't really change anything. It felt like the 1998 version of Psycho (1960) that recreated the whole movie shot-for-shot in color. While it was technically as close to the...
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MOVIE: The Little Prince (2015)

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The Little Prince Year: 2015 Rating: PG Length: 108 minutes / 1.80 hours I understand there are limitations when it comes to adapting picture books into feature-length movies. The amount of content present in these books isn’t even enough to cover a few minutes just reading it aloud, so extending it out over 100 minutes requires a bit of framing and exposition. While movies like Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) took the approach of explaining why there was giant food falling from the sky, The Little Prince (2015) framed its iconic story with your standard “overbearing parent wants their child to succeed at the detriment of said child’s childhood” sub-plot. When I was growing up, I never encountered The Little Prince in all the picture books I read. Even without this prior knowledge, I could get a sense that the entirety of the book’s content was contained in the stop-motion sections of this movie. I felt there was a missed opportunity to do...
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MOVIE: I Lost My Body (2019)

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I Lost My Body Year: 2019 Rating: R Length: 81 minutes / 1.35 hours Some movies can only be done with animation. Whether it’s the fantastical or alien nature of the content or the visual aesthetic trying to be achieved, animation is pretty flexible with what it can do. Enter I Lost My Body (2019), which is a prime case study in the power of animation. Sure, this could have been done up in realistic CGI, but then it would probably be more in line with the horror genre than the “slice of life” (har har) we have on display here. Either way, I have never seen an entire movie centered on a severed hand trying to get back to the body that lost it…until now. With hints of Homeward Bound (1993) and The Addams Family (1991), I Lost My Body plays out in parallel with the strangely-relatable severed hand and the flashbacks of the whole body, Naoufel (Dev Patel). At times heartfelt (even in...
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MOVIE: Onward (2020)

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Onward Year: 2020 Rating: PG Length: 102 minutes / 1.70 hours I always look forward to Pixar films, mostly to see how visually stunning a movie created entirely in a computer can look with each passing year of technological and programming advancements. The other reason I will always go to see a Pixar movie is their dedication to a good story. Sure, there have been some missed steps over the years (The Good Dinosaur (2015) being the latest example), but their track record has been good enough to warrant me seeing their films in the theater. While I was looking forward to this year’s offering of Onward (2020), the result felt a little lackluster overall. Choosing to explore a storyline with a deceased parent was odd in that it felt like something that had rarely been addressed in movies geared toward children while also having a strong “after school special” vibe to it. Either way, putting it in a pseudo-Monsters, Inc. (2001) fantasy world was a fun way to...
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MOVIE: Frozen II (2019)

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Frozen IIYear: 2019Rating: PGLength: 103 minutes / 1.72 hours After the cultural phenomenon that was Frozen (2013) had cooled off a little, a sequel was an inevitable conclusion. The trouble with such sequels is multi-faceted: how do you recapture the magic of the first movie while also creating something new that advances the story? Unfortunately, Frozen II (2019) falls into the trap of focusing on what made the first so successful that it almost feels like it’s mimicking its origins. To top it off, the new elements introduced in this film are either predictable plot points or over-done tropes. But hey, it’s Disney, and it looks absolutely gorgeous, even if some of the main characters seemed slightly more exaggerated in their presentation (perhaps starting to edge closer to the uncanny valley). While the songs all hit similar beats to their predecessors, most of them seem to fall short or were emphasized in the wrong places. Case in point, I found “Show Yourself”...
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MOVIE: One Piece – Stampede (2019)

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One Piece: Stampede Year: 2019 Rating: PG-13 Length: 101 minutes / 1.68 hours It’s interesting how different Japanese franchises handle their 20th-anniversary movies. In the case of Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You (2017), a nostalgia tactic was used to bring in those viewers who might not have seen a Pokémon movie since the anime started airing back in 1997. Two years later, and another well-known anime (or at least it should be well known) has a movie that celebrates the 20th year of its animated series. One Piece: Stampede (2019) takes a somewhat different tactic here and embraces everything that turned it into what it is today. While anime movies rarely interact with the canon of the series they’re based on, it is essential to note that the author of the original manga did help create the story for Stampede. The reason why this is important is that this movie was able to bring together 20 years’ worth of extraordinarily overpowered and unique characters in a way...
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MOVIE: Toy Story 4 (2019)

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Toy Story 4 Year: 2019 Rating: G Length: 100 minutes / 1.67 hours After the Toy Story “trilogy” ended in 2010, I was honestly a little confused and irritated that Disney/Pixar would open up this franchise again for a fourth entry. That being said, I now see the entire “story” was not complete at that point. There was still some amount of finality that the franchise had not reached. Of course, now I’ll be mad if they decide to make a Toy Story 5 since Toy Story 4 (2019) wrapped everything up so nicely and conclusively. Then again, maybe the next entry in the series will finally explain the odd rules about toy sentience. By far, the most striking thing about Toy Story 4 is its visuals. I was ten years old when Toy Story (1995) came out. Even in the four years between it and Toy Story 2 (1999), I could see massive improvements in what computers could create in terms of CGI imagery. With Toy Story 3 (2010) having just over a decade to improve its visuals,...
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MOVIE: Missing Link (2019)

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Missing Link Year: 2019 Rating: PG Length: 94 minutes / 1.57 hours It’s been about a decade since I started loosely paying attention to the works of Laika Entertainment. With so few studios committing to stop-motion animation, I’m always intrigued by a movie that isn’t just straight up CGI animation. For the most part, Laika’s films have been entertaining, but not incredibly extraordinary. Movies like Coraline (2009) and ParaNorman (2012) were certainly high points, but my personal favorite was definitely Kubo and the Two Strings (2016). Initially, when I saw advertising for Missing Link (2019), I didn’t realize it was a Laika film. Once I learned that it was, I made sure to see it. Unfortunately, while I would have liked another film along the lines of Kubo, Missing Link was more like The Boxtrolls (2014) in terms of its humor and presentation. I understand these films mostly target children, but the amount of crude humor mostly turned me off. That’s not to say that the technical achievements of Laika’s stop motion aren’t on full display here. With...
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MOVIE: How to Train Your Dragon – The Hidden World (2019)

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How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World Year: 2019 Rating: PG Length: 104 minutes / 1.73 hours I haven’t always been a fan of DreamWorks movies, but the How to Train Your Dragon series is, in my opinion, perhaps the best they’ve ever created. Of course, I’m probably a little biased because each entry in the series came at a time in my life where I was reaching a milestone. How to Train Your Dragon (2010) came out as I was settling into my life as an independent adult. How to Train Your Dragon 2 (2014) followed me from dating into marriage. Now, the final chapter in the series, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019) is on the cusp of my transition into parenthood. Consequently, I had high expectations for the end of this trilogy. I wanted it to go out with a grand finale like Toy Story 3 (2010) did (before they even decided to make Toy Story 4 (2019), that is). Unfortunately, I did not find this to be the case....
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MOVIE: The LEGO Movie 2 – The Second Part (2019)

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The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part Year: 2019 Rating: PG Length: 107 minutes / 1.78 hours Back in 2014, children at heart everywhere were able to experience the world’s most successful building toy brand on the big screen via The LEGO Movie. With a catchy, Oscar-winning song, this Matrix-like movie was fun and self-aware. Fast forward five years, and the sequel, The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part (2019) released with hardly the amount of fanfare and advertising that accompanied the original. I think this may have been in part due to how the formula the first movie used to great success has been done to death now. With spinoffs like The LEGO Batman Movie (2017) and The LEGO Ninjago Movie(2017) saturating the market, it's hard to capture the magic of the original. The real problem with The Second Part comes via the twist at the end of the first movie. Now that we know these toys merely exist in the imagination of a young boy, it’s hard to put that reveal back...
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MOVIE: Spider-Man – Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

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Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Year: 2018 Rating: PG Length: 117 minutes / 1.95 hours There’s no hiding that Spider-Man is my favorite superhero. My reviews of Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and Venom (2018) say as much. I grew up watching the 1990s animated Spider-Man show, so when I saw early trailers for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), I half-thought it would be some direct-to-video movie. After all, everything up until now had been live-action. I was encouraged to learn that it would receive a theatrical release, especially when I started to see more footage of its unique artistic style. Not only does Into the Spider-Verse embrace its comic book origins, but it also does so with a flair and panache that I’d almost like to see in other superhero franchises. Over the years, I’d only loosely been paying attention to what was happening in the Spider-Man comics. Sure, I knew about Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) and Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) but more in the sense that they were departures from the white-male Peter Parker (Jake Johnson) that...
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MOVIE: Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)

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Ralph Breaks the Internet Year: 2018 Rating: PG Length: 111 minutes / 1.85 hours Back in 2012, I was impressed that a movie like Wreck-It Ralph could exist. The amount of licensing agreements needed to bring together so many recognizable characters from famous franchises was a daunting task the likes of which I hadn’t seen since Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988). Similarly, the sequel to Wreck-It Ralph, Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) had the challenge of integrating so many brand names and websites into something that could work as a story without becoming too dated as time marches on. In both cases, I think the balance between brand-name recognition and original content helped to make for an entertaining film. In the lead-up to the release of Ralph Breaks the Internet, I was concerned that it was going to rely heavily on internet memes for its laughs—taking a somewhat similar tack from The Emoji Movie (2017). I also had concerns that this movie would also focus...
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MOVIE: Incredibles 2 (2018)

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Incredibles 2 Year: 2018 Rating: PG Length: 118 minutes / 1.97 hours Before we start, I have to say that The Incredibles (2004) is perhaps my favorite Pixar film. Back when superhero films were starting to become successful (albeit, not nearly as lucratively successful as the Marvel Cinematic Universe), The Incredibles artfully blended a superhero film with a family/midlife crisis plot that worked on so many levels. It is then no surprise that I was truly looking forward to its sequel, Incredibles 2 (2018). In the back of my head, I knew that most of Pixar's talent had switched over to Disney about eight years ago, but I hoped enough of the original team would be around to make this sequel something special. Unfortunately, time seems to have worked against Incredibles 2. If this had come out ten years ago, it would have enjoyed some of the originality that comes with beating the Marvel behemoth out of the gate. As it is now, I'm not sure if Incredibles 2...
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MOVIE: Isle of Dogs (2018)

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Isle of Dogs Year: 2018 Rating: PG-13 Length: 101 minutes / 1.68 hours A few years ago, I got on a Wes Anderson kick. I practically watched his entire filmography to that point in one long binge-worthy day. After catching up, I felt I truly appreciated his quirky, orthogonal cinematography and deeply complex characters. I’ve essentially been a fan of his since Moonrise Kingdom (2012), so I was looking forward to his latest work, Isle of Dogs (2018). After all, he had proven his skill at stop-motion animation with The Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) and had received nominations for Best Picture and Best Director for The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) since then. Unfortunately, while Isle of Dogs carries Anderson’s distinct style and charm, it felt a little watered down. Sure, the shots were full of their beauty and symmetry, and the story had its cute moments, but it mostly felt like he was on autopilot. Maybe the PG-13 rating was holding him back? I don’t know. In most fiction, there is a suspension of...
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MOVIE: Pokémon the Movie – I Choose You! (2017)

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Pokémon the Movie: I Choose You! Year: 2017 Rating: PG Length: 98 minutes / 1.63 hours Over 20 years after its debut, it seems that Pokémon is not a fad and will be here to stay for the long haul. Of course, considering the mania surrounding the first games in the series back in the mid-1990’s, by now enough time has passed for nostalgia to be a contributing factor to the franchise’s continued success. The children who grew up with Pokémon are now adults in their late-20’s and early-30’s (i.e., “millennials”). In an attempt to cash in on this nostalgia, Pokémon’s latest movie, I Choose You! recounts some of the memorable first moments of the anime, but with a slightly different storyline. Initially, I was worried that this plot would be a pared-down selection of key moments from the anime, much like what has been done with other anime movies like One Piece’s The Desert Princess and the Pirates (2007) and Episode of Chopper Plus(2008). Fortunately, this film managed to...
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MOVIE: Coco (2017)

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Coco Year: 2017 Rating: PG Length: 105 minutes / 1.75 hours In the never-ending string of incredible visuals brought to life by Pixar, Coco (2017) continues this trend into the afterlife. At this point, I’m convinced Pixar could just go ahead and shoot live video and put their animated characters in the scene and I’d still think the whole thing was animated. The interplay of color, light, and shadow really come out in this celebration of Mexican culture. All spectacular visuals aside, Pixar again delivers on an emotional impact that left me crying, as always. When it comes to new ideas, Pixar certainly still knows how to create a visually-compelling story. While Coco has a lot going for it, there are a few weaknesses, some of which are my own opinion based on my likes and dislikes. I know the film mostly targets children (and older children at that), but the plot was just a smidge too predictable. Sure, it was enjoyable to see my...
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MOVIE: Loving Vincent (2017)

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Loving Vincent Year: 2017 Rating: PG-13 Length: 94 minutes / 1.57 hours Animation has become somewhat easier since the days when every frame was drawn out by hand. This change has been mostly due to the use of computers to simplify the animation process. And yet, there are still those who want to embrace the painstaking process of manual animation, mostly for the artistic merit that it gives the film. Usually, this is done in short form, like the stop-motion film, Fresh Guacamole (2012) by PES, or the paint-on-glass animated short, The Old Man and the Sea (1999). Both of these short films were nominated for the Animated Short Oscar, with the latter winning the prize. With Loving Vincent (2017), we now have a feature-length (albeit at a short 94 minutes) animated feature that took the time to recreate the aesthetic of Van Gough’s paintings via a plentitude of hand-painted oil paintings that comprised the individual frames of the film. If awards are given for artistic merit alone, Loving Vincent deserves to win...
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MOVIE: Despicable Me 3 (2017)

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Despicable Me 3 Year: 2017 Rating: PG Length: 90 minutes / 1.50 hours Sometimes I wonder how this franchise became so popular. Perhaps this perception is due to the oversaturation of the annoying little “Minions” that seem to pervade every corner of social media. And yet, when I go to see a movie like this, I am soon reminded that there are relatable and underappreciated storylines and plot points contained within this silliness. I have rarely seen a better “adoption” storyline than the one presented in Despicable Me (2010). Of course, Despicable Me 2 (2013) took the natural next step and provided a “single dad looking for a wife” storyline that also is rarely seen in animation. With Despicable Me 3 (2017), the franchise transitions more into a series of vignettes better suited for a television show than a feature-length film. It was a little hard to tell which storyline was the main one for the film, even if they were all intertwined in some...
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MOVIE: Frozen (2013)

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Frozen Year: 2013 Rating: PG Length: 102 minutes / 1.7 hours It's hard to deny the worldwide phenomenon that is this movie. While I'm sure parents now twitch any time "Let it Go" comes on, the fact of the matter is many factors led to the success of this film. Starting in the mid-2000's, Disney saw they had a problem and set about trying to fix it. By rehauling how they told stories, and how they approached the characters in these stories, they soon were back on top of the animation industry (while Pixar continues to be content pumping out Cars sequels). Stunning visuals can only get you so far in a Disney movie, and Frozen (2013) certainly takes the cake when it comes to visualizing snow and ice through computers. What makes Frozen work as a story is its complexity. No one character is completely good or completely bad, each having their faults and limitations, as well as their good intentions and personal desires. This...
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MOVIE: The LEGO Batman Movie (2017)

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The LEGO Batman Movie Year: 2017 Rating: PG Length: 104 minutes / 1.73 hours While The LEGO Movie (2014) did a good job of initially not making its universe seem like it was just in the imagination of a 10-year-old child, The LEGO Batman Movie (2017) dispenses with that illusion and goes full-bore into the child-like mind. From the dialogue to the wide variety of licensed characters to the regular “pew, pew pew” sounds made when guns and lasers are fired, The LEGO Batman Movie steps right into what you’d expect a movie about a children’s building toy would be. Of course, with Batman being one of the best characters from The LEGO Movie, it’s no wonder why he was first to get a spinoff film. Regarding plot, it was simplistic. Kids would certainly be able to “get” that family matters, even if they aren’t biologically related. But fear not adults, there’s plenty for you in this film as well. Perhaps the best mark of...
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MOVIE: Moana (2016)

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Moana Year: 2016 Rating: PG Length: 107 minutes / 1.78 hours Let's get one thing straight: computers are incredible. Each successive year that passes, I find my eyes blown away at the amazing capabilities of computers to create the kind of imagery found in movies like this. From hair and water effects to some of the more supernatural aspects, the visuals of this film are quite commendable. Sure, Zootopia (2016) looked good too, but since its characters weren't human or in a "human" environment, it was difficult to see just how amazing the visuals could be. But this was likely due to Zootopia having more focus on an interesting plot instead of stunning effects. I am impressed that Disney has taken the leap to another non-white "princess" with Moana, but much of the cliche trappings of this type of film are out in full force. If I were to tell you Disney made a coming-of-age movie featuring the main character with an animal sidekick, a mute...
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MOVIE: Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)

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Kubo and the Two Strings Year: 2016 Rating: PG Length: 101 minutes / 1.68 hours We live in the future, and it is incredible. I’ve found stop-motion animation to be a fascinating medium, not only for its “dirtiness” when compared to CGI, but also because of the painstaking care it takes to produce a full-length feature with this process. Animation studios like Aardman and Laika are really starting to take advantage of all the tools at their disposal to create some awesome stop-motion movies. We’ve come a long way since the films of Henry Selick, the most famous one being The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). Through Selick, we now have a handful of fantastic films through the Laika brand. While their previous work, The Boxtrolls (2014) had started the trend away from more morbid themes and plots, Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) shows just how capable the stop-motion medium is to tell a fantastic story. With an origami motif existing throughout, Kubo and the...
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MOVIE: Finding Dory (2016)

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Finding Dory Year: 2016 Rating: PG Length: 97 minutes / 1.62 hours As is the case with the rest of Hollywood right now, Pixar is cashing in on the nostalgia factor of their previous films. Just like Monsters University (2013) before it, Finding Dory (2016) brings together the same team of voice actors who brought their respective originals to life more than a decade ago. And while this sequel was more akin to the likes of Toy Story 2 (1999), the amount of time between the two films really gives Pixar the chance to show off how much the power of computers has advanced in that time. Unfortunately, while the visual style has been drastically updated, the plot has not. In its purest essence, Finding Dory is just like Finding Nemo (2003): a fish separated from its parent tries to find their way back home while the parent does everything in their power to find their child. I would have liked a bit more originality from...
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MOVIE: Ernest & Celestine (2012)

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Ernest & Celestine Year: 2012 Rating: PG Length: 80 minutes / 1.33 hours While the visuals of CGI-animated films can be quite realistic and stunning, there’s something to the simple, drawn lines of a classically animated piece. Often, the realism of CGI is actually a bit of a detriment as any human characters will start to fall into the “uncanny valley”, wherein our minds reject the characters because they’re close to being human, but there are still elements that can’t be captured and our minds pick up on these flaws. Granted, I will admit that the classical look can still be obtained with computers, but it’s nice to see every once in a while, especially with the proliferation of new animation studios. Part of the challenge of standing out amongst the large number of animated films comes in the visual style used in the animation. With Ernest & Celestine (2012), the visual style doesn’t try to imitate any successful studio (like Disney), but instead attempts to recapture...
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MOVIE: Zootopia (2016)

by benmweilert3 Comments
Zootopia Year: 2016 Rating: PG Length: 108 minutes / 1.8 hours Let me just start by saying that I've really become a fan of Disney's animation since about 2010. Before then, I was wild for Pixar, but around the time Tangled (2010) came out, Pixar hadn't been making the quality films I had become used to. Instead, Disney was now churning out great films like Tangled (2010), Wreck-It Ralph (2012), Frozen (2013), and Big Hero 6 (2014). Their latest film, Zootopia (2016), certainly upholds the level of quality expected of this animation studio. Not only were the visuals stunning (as always), but the plot and characters were all on-point. As is almost expected of a film meant for children, but made with adults in mind, there were a number of popular culture references that I found myself laughing uproariously for while the rest of the audience missed the joke. From slight alterations to animal-themed products (i.e. "Cub Soda"), to jokes pertaining to certain animal characteristics...
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