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More info on the film here.
I'm surprised there isn't a thread for this, but the newest animated film from Blue Sky opened yesterday.
Considering Blue Sky is known mostly for Ice Age and Horton, it's interesting to note a radically different tone in this film. It's not deadly serious or anything, but it definitely is more dramatic and, um, "epic", than their previous fare.
Anyway, I liked this movie a lot. It didn't really feel like a retread of other films; aside from drawing comparisons to Arrietty with the secret race of miniature beings, most every other part of the film felt unique. Yeah, if you really nitpicked the film, you could probably say that certain themes in the movie were familiar (such as strained father/daughter relationships, or the heroes vs. the big bad), but there wasn't a moment when I was actively saying, "Oh this scene has been done a thousand times."
Random thoughts:
-I saw the movie in 3D. While it wasn't poorly done, it didn't really take advantage of that very much; nothing ever comes up right in your face. It offered the illusion of depth between the characters and backgrounds, but that's about it.
-The beginning, with Mary being dropped off at her father's house in the woods, evoked images of Ghibli, particularly Totoro, Arrietty, and Spirited Away.
-Professor Bomba's design and voice kinda reminded me of Crispin Glover's George McFly from Back to the Future.
-The movie did a good job with the sense of scale, particularly in scenes where the characters had to escape Ozzie the family dog.
-Speaking of Ozzie, we may have a runner-up for cutest dog in recent animated memory, rivaled only by Dug in Up.
-Love the character animation on the humans, especially Mary.
-The villain reminded me of William Dafoe. Must have been the chin.
-The movie gets good mileage out of the differences between human speed and the miniature creatures speed, particularly in the second half when they venture to Professor Bomba's house.
-The slugs were entertaining but visually, they kinda felt out of place. Their rubbery nature and jolting animation clashed with the quasi-realistic human-esque characters. They looked like they stepped out of an Ice Age film.
-Refreshingly, there isn't a pro-environment moral clumsily crammed in there, despite taking place in the forest.
-I spotted some familiar names in the credits: Jim Kammerud and Bob Camp, both who worked on Ren & Stimpy!
Overall, it's worth seeing, especially in the recent climate of animated sequels (Monsters U, Despicable Me sequel) and derivative works.
I'm surprised there isn't a thread for this, but the newest animated film from Blue Sky opened yesterday.
Considering Blue Sky is known mostly for Ice Age and Horton, it's interesting to note a radically different tone in this film. It's not deadly serious or anything, but it definitely is more dramatic and, um, "epic", than their previous fare.
Anyway, I liked this movie a lot. It didn't really feel like a retread of other films; aside from drawing comparisons to Arrietty with the secret race of miniature beings, most every other part of the film felt unique. Yeah, if you really nitpicked the film, you could probably say that certain themes in the movie were familiar (such as strained father/daughter relationships, or the heroes vs. the big bad), but there wasn't a moment when I was actively saying, "Oh this scene has been done a thousand times."
Random thoughts:
-I saw the movie in 3D. While it wasn't poorly done, it didn't really take advantage of that very much; nothing ever comes up right in your face. It offered the illusion of depth between the characters and backgrounds, but that's about it.
-The beginning, with Mary being dropped off at her father's house in the woods, evoked images of Ghibli, particularly Totoro, Arrietty, and Spirited Away.
-Professor Bomba's design and voice kinda reminded me of Crispin Glover's George McFly from Back to the Future.
-The movie did a good job with the sense of scale, particularly in scenes where the characters had to escape Ozzie the family dog.
-Speaking of Ozzie, we may have a runner-up for cutest dog in recent animated memory, rivaled only by Dug in Up.
-Love the character animation on the humans, especially Mary.
-The villain reminded me of William Dafoe. Must have been the chin.
-The movie gets good mileage out of the differences between human speed and the miniature creatures speed, particularly in the second half when they venture to Professor Bomba's house.
-The slugs were entertaining but visually, they kinda felt out of place. Their rubbery nature and jolting animation clashed with the quasi-realistic human-esque characters. They looked like they stepped out of an Ice Age film.
-Refreshingly, there isn't a pro-environment moral clumsily crammed in there, despite taking place in the forest.
-I spotted some familiar names in the credits: Jim Kammerud and Bob Camp, both who worked on Ren & Stimpy!
Overall, it's worth seeing, especially in the recent climate of animated sequels (Monsters U, Despicable Me sequel) and derivative works.
