by Daniela Year: 2012 Studio: Laika
Happy Halloween lovely reader(s)! You're probably having a better Halloween than me because this girl has an exam on Saturday! Hooray for the university student life! Now, a lot of you may have expected me to write about The Nightmare Before Christmas, and even I thought I was going to for the longest time. But I thought I'd shake things up a bit and not talk about something non-Disney related for once in my life. I mean, Nightmare could also be a great movie to talk about around Christmas time, just sayin'.I remember one summer when I was trying to decide between ParaNorman and Frankenweenie. Up to that point I had often mixed the two up. Eventually I went for ParaNorman and to this day, I still haven't watched past the first 15 minutes of Frankenweenie. I blame myself for being easily distracted.
Norman isn't a normal young boy. In fact, Norman can see and communicate with the dead. It's tough being the weird kid in the town of Blithe Hollow when you're considered an outcast even in your own family. But one day Norman comes across his uncle who informs him about the witch's curse that has been placed over the town. Suddenly, the undead have come out to play. Zombies begin to crawl out of their graves and seem to be targeting the town. Along with a troupe of unlikely companions, Norman must use his abilities to save the town. In his attempts he discovers the shocking truth about the curse and must find a way to stop it from haunting them ever again.
Would you trust this gang to save you from a Zombie Apocalypse?
By Daniela Year: 2013 Studio: Pixar Animation Studios
Halloween is just around the corner so I thought I'd get a headstart with the spooky posts! The toys are back with an all new adventure in this special that follow the events of Toy Story 3. I'm still getting over that ending. this 21 minute T.V. special is Pixar's way of building on the mega-successful franchise without having to release another full length film. I would also suggest watching the Toy Story shorts like Hawaiian Vacation, Small Fry and Partysaurus Rex. They're cute and still manage to contain everything we loved about the films in just a few minutes.
Car troubles during their road trip force Bonnie and her mother to stay at the Sleep Well Motel for the night and things escalate quickly for the toys. Woody and the gang find themselves in a frightening situation where one-by-one they are captured by a mysterious figure lurking in the motel. Together they must overcome many obstacles to survive the night and hopefully return to Bonnie before she leaves in the morning. And for one toy, the obstacle may just be facing their biggest fears.
Glow in the dark Buzz lights the way for Woody and Jessie
Some of you may or may not know that I’m an avid listener of
the Rotoscopers: Animation Addicts Podcast and I also love their website. In fact, they were actually the inspiration to start this blog when I first mentioned the
idea to Justine. Earlier this year they posted a list of Disney Classics they’d
love to see on Broadway (which you can check out here) and it made me think
about what movies I’d like to see turned into full-blown musicals. So although
this may be a similar list, these are my own reasons.
Over the last year or so, I’ve started to really enjoy
listening to cast recordings like Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Wicked
and Newsies so I’m fairly new to the Broadway fandom (if you have any show
suggestions for me, please comment them down below or leave me a message on
tumblr). I enjoy musicals even though I don’t even know how a show is put
together. So please excuse my very unexperienced point of view. I’ve only seen
a handful of musicals in my 21 years. The first being one in Philippines with THE
Lea Salonga, unfortunately I can’t even remember what it was called… I was 5 or 6. I
did see Beauty and the Beast when I was 10! Now I constantly check the ticket
websites and try and find the next big show playing in the city.
Disney has had its hand in Broadway musicals and they’re pretty
good at it. Just check out their Tonys and nominations! Their most recent venture is an adaptation of Aladdin and they are
also currently working on developments for The Jungle Book and also Frozen’s big break on Broadway (it was bound to
happen). They’re also responsible for bringing Beauty and the Beast, The Lion
King, Tarzan, and The Little Mermaid to life on stage. Other shows also include
Mary Poppins, Aida, Newsies and many more. So here’s a few more movies I’d love
to see make their Broadway debut.
Over the last few years I've started to pay attention to animated short films. It's probably the perfect thing for a lazy person like me who can't seem to sit through a whole movie at home. For some reason a 90 minute movie can weirdly become a 3 hour chore.
For any Disney and/or Pixar fan you'll know that their shorts premiere before their feature films. Get a Horse played before Frozen, Paperman before Wreck-it Ralph, The Blue Umbrella before Monsters University etc. It's no different when it comes to Pixar's Lava (2015) and Walt Disney Animation's Feast (2014). Disney and Pixar shorts are known for their memorable characters and beautiful scores. I sometimes wonder how in the world they made me care so much for an umbrella of all things! Don't even get me started on how much I love the music in Paperman! Although these Feast and Lava are still relatively unknown and some time away, slowly and surely Disney and Pixar have been releasing little glimpses to tease us for what's to come.
By Daniela Studio: Walt Disney Animation Studios Year: 2012
Disney's Paperman is the Academy Award winning short-film
that premiered before screenings of Wreck-it Ralph in 2012. In a time when
people speculated that hand drawn animation was dead, Disney decides to release
something that's the best of both worlds. Director John Kahr describes the
inspiration to create Paperman from making eye-contact with people for a split
second on your way to work. What if that person would change your life forever?
On his way to work, George comes across a beautiful woman at
the train station. Unfortunately for him, he believes that he let the girl of
his dreams slip away, but fate has other plans. Once in his office, George
spots Meg in the building opposite to him. With the help of a stack of papers
and his persistence to see her again, George hopes his attempts will be enough
to capture her attention once again.
The animation is stunning and a welcomed change from all the
CGI animated movies Disney has been producing lately. Many have wondered if 2D
animation is dead, but Paperman gives us hope that one day it will make its
return. It’s creative, innovative and a great blending of the old and the new. The plot is a simple boy meets girl story with
a cute twist that keeps the audience entertained and separates it from other
classic New York love stories.
The score is by Christophe Beck who recently did the score
for Frozen. It’s a beautiful score that matches every beat of the film. It
starts off understated but builds once the planes take flight. Once the paper
planes develop a personality of their own it I heavily expressed through the
music as it serves as the climax. It saddens me so much that it isn’t available
to buy in the New Zealand iTunes store… WHY?!
The colour palette is mostly black and white with a pop of
red thanks to Meg's lipstick. The red is a way to connect the two characters.
George holds onto his infatuation with Meg by keeping a ice of paper with Meg's
lip print on it. The touch of red is attention grabbing. Think of Schindler's
List and the girl in the red coat. The girl in the red coat is probably one of
the main things I remember from Schindler because it was something that was
different and showed character development for the titular character. The red
lipstick serves the same purpose here and is one of the more memorable
components.
You can just feel the awkward.
George's design reminds me a lot of Roger from 101
Dalmatians. It must be the nose… and the hair. Actually I found myself typing
Roger instead of George a few times... oops. He's dorky, adorable, awkward and
incredibly persistent. My favourite moment would have to be all of George's
failed attempts at trying to get his paper planes through to Meg and all of his
expressions. We've all had those moments when we're so frustrated that we want
to bang our heads on the walls! Meg is elegant and beautiful. Both are very
simplistic which complemented the very simple design of New York. It gives an
old school vibe and retro feel. Let's not forget one of the most important
characters.... the paper planes. The paper planes are animated to have a personality
of their own and become a figurative Cupid’s arrow. They act as a compass for
Meg and lead her to George who seems to be harassed by every paper plane in New
York. These planes are the ultimate wingmen. It's simple, got some trouble
with love? Make a paper airplane!
Sequels. Mentioning that word to any animation fan can bring
utter chaos. Some look forward to them, and some have flashbacks to Pocahontas
2: Journey to a New World. There are few cases where the sequels are actually
good and it is even rarer for a sequel to be better than the original. How to
Train Your Dragon 2 is one of those rarities. Yes people, we have got an EXCELLENT sequel in our hands!
It’s been five years since the events of the first movie and
things in Berk have never looked better. Everyone has a dragon of their own and
Stoick (Gerard Butler) is ready to pass on chieftainship to a 20 year old
Hiccup. But Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) has other plans. He wants to continue being a
dragon rider and discover new lands with Toothless, his dragon. He comes across
a fleet of dragon trappers, led by Eret (Kit Harington) who is working for
Drago Bludvist (Djimon Honsou). They then find out that Drago is creating an
entire army of dragons in order to conquer the world. Once Drago learns about
the dragons at Berk, he prepares his takeover. Along with Valka (Cate
Blanchett), a mysterious dragon master, and the other dragon riders we know and
love, Hiccup must stop Drago’s attack and save Berk from the destruction of his
dragons.
Guess who's back... back again...
The storyline is a great continuation of first movie yet it won’t confuse anybody who hasn’t seen the first. Although
it’s quite long for an animated movie, it’s paced perfectly. There are no slow patches
whatsoever which makes it easy to follow and captures your attention for the
entire 109 minutes. The big battle
scenes have you on the edge of your seat and the conversations between the
characters have you hanging on every word.
Everyone knows how much I LOVE Hiccup and Toothless but I
have to say that a lot of the secondary characters were big scene stealers. Every
scene that involved Ruffnut (Kristen Wiig) had me and everyone else in the
theatre laughing! I’m going to be honest, I thought Astrid (America Ferrera) was
just… alright in the first movie, but this time around I think I’ve grown to
like her a lot. And who can resist any Hiccup and Astrid interactions? Drago is
also a great villain. He’s a no muss, no fuss kind of Viking and won’t let
anything get in his way. We also learn about Valka’s past and understand why
she has become what she is today. Eret, Son of Eret, is tough and cocky but
also brings great comic relief when things get a bit heavy. Let's also not forget how DreamWorks pulled a Neville Longbottom on us with Hiccup. I mean really...
The animation is STUNNING. Yes, the trend of amazing facial
hair has continued and even the young dragon riders have noticeable beards
starting to grow. The alpha dragons are amazingly detailed and so realistic. I
couldn’t help but take a moment to stare at the different textures on all the
dragons. Also, I’m a huge fan of Hiccups new inventions. Where can a girl get
one of those flaming sword things?
How to Train Your Dragon 2 exceeded all my expectations and
is definitely one that you can rewatch an infinite amount of times and never
tire of. It’s an emotional rollercoaster with a VERY MAJOR plot twist that will
leave your mouth hanging open and you may need tissues for this! It’s the perfect balance of action, humour with
a healthy amount of Hiccup and Astrid cuteness that makes it one of the best
releases this year. Hey DreamWorks, I think you're onto something!
KEEP
10/10
Note: I used the teaser instead of the trailers because they do have big spoilers. But I'm sure you can appreciate Hiccup at the end of the clip...
