Animation Hall of Fame

I'm putting on Wall-E in a few minutes, and I realized something: I haven't seen this since I bought it on release day. I remember seeing it in cinemas, likeing it, and when I'd first bought it, likeing it, but for some reason I never returned to it. Well, anyway, it's high time now.

*Presses play on the remote*

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Why not just kill them? I'll do it! I'll run up to Paris - bam, bam, bam, bam. I'm back before week's end. We spend the treasure. How is this a bad plan?

I'm going with The Last Unicorn today.

Treasure Planet tomorrow for me then i just have rewatches of Castle of Cagliostro and Waltz With Bashir left.

I need to watch Tokyo Godfathers before the Christmas music at work completely turns me off the idea of anything even remotely related to the holidays.

I rewatch the two movies I saw before so now I should watch TokyoGodfathers too as I promised. I also want to watch the Shining I'm 4/10 watched so I guess I could wait a little bit longer

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WALL-E (2008)


Well, can't for the life of me understand why it took so long to get back to this one. The animation's superb, the characters are both funny and heartwarming, and what interaction we got from the human participants was really enjoyable.

But the humans don't take center stage for this, and neither should they. This story is all about the machines, from WALL-E to EVE to the clearly HAL 9000 inspired AUTO.

To start with, I loved how they designed the diffrent robots, especially WALL-E and EVE, who couldn't look more dissimilar. WALL-E's small, detailed points of articulation and collapsibility made him a fount of possibility when it came to expression, which was something sorely needed in a character who lacks any form of higher verbal communication skills. Trying to accomplish this outside of animation wouldn't be possible, at least not to this degree. Yes, we have BB-8 and R2-D2, but even there they need help with expressing themselves via sound as well as movement(and yes, the robots here rely on sounds too, but they're far less dependent on it and what they get across is far more nuanced I think).

With EVE, they went a diffrent route. Her design was more streamlined where WALL-E's was boxlike, more minimalist to his functional. She, too, can transform, but it's less moving parts and more physical morphing if that makes sense. She's more futuristic, with anti-gravity propulsion and what-not. All her emoting stems from her digital eyes and her free-floating arms. She's also a bit more verbal than WALL-E, again signifying a more advanced robot type.

And then we have M-O, the little cleanerbot who's hounding WALL-E throughout. I think all we need to know about him can be summed up in two scenes: the introductory one where he litterally steps over the line he's suppoed to follow with an quick peek around to make sure noone's coming to put him back, and all that follows, showing his dogged determination to finish his task. I like him.

Finally, let's talk about AUTO, the first mate. He's simultaneously second in command after the captain and the ship's actual auto pilot, creating a being who should be in total control, but for the fact that he's programmed to obey the captain, something I feel he's figured out to his never-ending irritation. He has though, by virtue of order A113 and the general apathy of the crew, managed to take de facto control, without the Captain noticing. As I said, his design is heavelly inspired by HAL 9000, the evil AI from 2001: A SPACE ODDESY. Instead of the long, narrow rectangle with a fish-eye on the base, he's gotten a long arm, but the general look is intact with his one glowing red eye at the center of the ships wheel. And it is the actual wheel, as you can see when the Captain is wresteling with AUTO for control (set to the Monolith motif, very nice) and the ship responds to a hard tug of the wheel that sets it spinning.

As a whole, I have to say that my favourite piece of animation's a toss up between the space dance between WALL-E and EVE and the end credits, where different techniques of depicting trade off with one another, from cave paintings and mosaics to impressionistic painting and finally to bit art. It's the first time in a long time I've watched the credits just to enjoy the visuals and the music. Speaking of...

I didn't remember the 50s style music opening at all. And then it continued with music taken from old movies and from before man left earth. The motif from 2001 was a nice touch, as was the music playing during the dance in space previously mentioned. I can't recall if it was written with this scene in mind or if was a already existing piece, but it fit very well. Overall, a very nice selection of music.

The story as such was very fullfilling and I liked the premis. It annoyed me a little bit that WALL-E fell for EVE within minutes of meeting her(after she stopped trying to vaporize him, of course), but that didn't last very long. Other than that, I have no complaints as far as the story goes. It was entertaining, funny and thrilling. What more can you ask?

To conclude this(I'm sure) overly long and rambling review, I have to say I loved it. I still think that UP has the more gut-punshingly emotional silent beginning, but this is not far behind when it comes to a cold opening. This will make for a grueling showdown at the end, as it's becomming crowded at the top. Superb nom, GB, as I knew it would be!

Also, a thought: as we neared the end of the 11th HoF, Camo brought up a secondary list for a top 5 characters from throughout the HoF. Is there a plan for somthing similar here? Maybe a favourite art style or favourite design of a character, seeing as it is an animation HoF?

The Last Unicorn

I thought going in that this would be a visually appealing film, and it certainly was. I loved the colors and backgrounds that the film had to offer and I loved the basic drawup of the main unicorn character.

Unfortunately, the visuals couldn't hold the rest of the film up. We are taken on a journey to the Red Bull and honestly that journey just felt like a real drag. Not enough going on on the way there for me. The characters that do show up in the film also come out as rather annoying. Certainly that damn butterfly has to be one of the more annoying characters I've seen in an animated film, and that skull man near the end was certainly no better. We won't get into the songs other than me saying that they really were dull and bad. That is the politest that I can speak about that. I liked the unicorns voice acting but will admit when she became human the voice somehow no longer worked for me.

So yes, I was pretty excited to see this initially but this was a monster let down for me. I think nostalgia would certainly pay a huge favor for people here but I've never seen it before so it didn't have that going for it either. Sorry Cosmic.

As I said before, when I was rewatching this, I nearly turned the movie off at this point. It being one of the earlier scenes doesn't help either.

No worries. When I rewatched it, I wasn't even sure if I liked it any more. But I did really enjoy the animation style, and the tone and themes, so nostalgia sort of won out there.

As already discussed, I thought my second choice, Rock & Rule, might be too obscure. So I didn't bother to rewatch it and just went with The Last Unicorn (I couldn't think of anything else worthwhile I'd really like to nominate and didn't want to have to go with something like Fern Gully). But after I mentioned this in the thread, Camo immediately found it on Youtube. So maybe I should've at least watched Rock & Rule first, in case I liked it a lot more than The Last Unicorn. Way too late now though haha.

Treasure Planet

I was pretty sure that I watched this movie for the Animation Countdown, but either I confused this movie with a different movie, or I just didn't remember the movie. (I'm probably confusing it with another movie.) Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.

This is far from a perfect movie, but it's a very entertaining adventure. I liked most of the characters, especially Jim Hawkins and Doctor Doppler. I also liked the relationship between Jim and John Silver. I thought Morph was a cute character, but he became a little annoying at times. IMO, the worst character was B.E.N., and Martin Short's annoying portrayal of him is probably the reason why I disliked him so much.

I thought the adventure was a lot of fun, but the villains were kind of lacking, and it was a bit too predictable, especially the ending. (Between the pirate ship and what happened with the treasure, it kind of reminded me of the ending of the movie The Goonies. Captain Flint was basically this movie's version of "One-Eyed" Willy from The Goonies.)

As for the look and sound of the movie, I liked the animation, although it seemed to have too much of a yellowish tint at times, and I loved the music. Overall, this movie was a fun ride, and a great nom.

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If I answer a game thread correctly, just skip my turn and continue with the game.
OPEN FLOOR.

I haven't had a chance to write about them yet, but I already watched Castle of Cagliostro, The Secret of Nimh, and Wall-E.

The only movies in this HoF that I still have to watch are The Last Unicorn and Waltz with Bashir.

LOL i thought his name was Mark!

I'm halfway through. I'll probably shoot for Treasure Planet next, but that will be Monday at the earliest.

I'm 10% through. Damn. Hah

Just watch me fly through them out of nowhere though, one of these days... BAM! You'll not even see me

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/watching movies for mark f/
MovieMeditation's Cinema Reviews // Film Diary 2015 // Letterboxd Profile // MovieMeditation's Top 50 Horror

What did you watch Meds? Haven't seen a review

Oh snap, I'm busted!

*Goes looking for an old review to post and act like it's a new one*


Uhh, anyways, I watched Wall-E. Yes, yes, review coming.

Tokyo Godfathers is a film that I had previously heard a lot of good things about, and instead of being disappointed with the film when I finally saw it, I actually liked it a lot more than I ever expected to. I liked the story, I liked the characters, and I laughed quite a bit throughout the entire film. I thought the opening credits were handled really cleverly, and it did a good job setting the tone for the rest of the film.

Towards the end, the coincidences were getting a little too ridiculous, but it was still all in good fun. I rather enjoyed the film's quirky blend of comedy, harsh reality, and morality. The animation was solid, and really came alive during reaction shots, or just whenever Hana did anything, and I thought it suited the film really well.

It was a thoroughly engaging film, and I really wish I had more to say about it, but I can't really think of anything right now. Perhaps that's a good thing though, since I normally have more to say about things I dislike than things I enjoy.

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Treasure Planet (2002)


I loved the music in this one! So far, this and WALL-E takes the top spots for best score and soundtrack. The fanfare-esque horns that dominate much of the background during the more action oriented sequences fit perfectly to create a swashbuckling adventure theme for the movie. Also worth a mention is the tension inducing music at the end of the third act during which the remaining characters are trying to outrun a exploding planet. The pressure builds and builds until their safe getaway seems lost, the music cuts to utter silence (nearly deaphening itself after the high volume score) and then, with one massive note, everything comes crashing down around them as they manage to escape. Was it completely rote and somthing we totally knew they were going to escape from? Of course...but it was still awesome!

The mix of animation styles has allways been a bit wierd for me, but as I've seen the movie so many times, I don't think about it so much anymore. The backdrops were beautiful though. The first shots of space as they leave the space port and encounter the space whales (just go with it) were breathtaking, and aside from the whales themselves, carried no hint of the more obvious CGI stuff. The whole trip has a fantastic view to it that makes it a wonder to experience. Everything from Jim and Silver surfing the skiff on the comet to the nebula going supernova looked amazing. The visuals dropped in quality when they reached the planet(anyone else got a Nausicaä vibe of the giant mushroom forest they fell through?), but that's only because they stopped traveling through space, so that's not wierd.

As far as the characters, we have two show stealers, Long John Silver and Captain Amelia. Both steal whatever scene they're in, and while Silver gets the most screentime (loved the introductionary scene where he gets to showcase what his bionic arm can do), Amelia makes good use of what she gets. Her interactions with Dr. Doppler carries the brunt of the comedic load of the film, something they handle admirably. Jim's a bit of a blank slate, doesn't have much in way of character other than daddy issues and a desire to rebuild his mother's Inn.

And then we have B.E.N...whom I really didn't like.

There is a character in the original story filling the same role as B.E.N does here. He too was abandoned and driven mad by the lonliness. But upon seeing Jim for the first time, he didn't jump him and immediately start yelling, he ran. And after understanding that Jim wasn't a illusion, he still only talked to himself mostly; rambling on about something that made sense to him, but needed some translating to be understood by a sane person. Martin Short's portrayal was too loud and obnoxious, you grow tired of him.

This movie had a star studded cast, with stand outs like Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Jim, Emma Thompson as the captain, David Hyde Pierce playing Dr. Doppler and Michael Wincott as the arachnid/crab pirate Scroop. All of them were putting in great performances and gave life to their characters. Extra props to Brian Murray as well, doing a fantastic Long John Silver. He brought heart and kindness to a character with a desparate need to find a giant pile of treasure at (almost) any cost.

All in all a great adventure film with good humor and heart in all the right places. Really nice nomination, MM.

Just one left, my own noination of The Secret of NIMH, and then I'm done. This has been awesome and I can't wait to see the results.