Just because you >can< render an animated classic into a live-action CGI extravaganza doesn’t mean that you should. Case in point, PINOCCHIO. It’s not an awful film but bringing the animated characters into the real world doesn’t add anything to the story of a little wooden puppet who dreams of being a real boy. Rather,… Read More »
A MONSTER CALLS
A MONSTER CALLS begins, fittingly enough, with a child’s nightmare. We don’t have the context yet, but the primal fear gripping the boy clinging to the hand of a woman hanging over an abyss neatly sums up the emotional journey to come. The boy is Connor (Lewis MacDougall), and the woman, as we will shortly… Read More »
KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS
KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS continues Laika’s string of arresting, unconventional stop-motion animated films that are both sophisticated and enchanting. Like PARANORMAN and CORALINE, KUBO is audacious enough to tackle serious subjects and to do so with no pretense about the finality of death, or the reality of evil. Taking its cue from Joseph Campbell’s… Read More »
Mark Henn & Mike Surrey Invite Us to Meet THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG
I’ve always said that animators are among the happiest people on the planet, and Mark Henn and Mike Surrey were no exception. Tasked with bringing Tianna and Ray, respectively, to life in Disney’s instant classic, THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, they were delighted to talk about the pleasures and perils of returning to a completely hand… Read More »
Mandy Moore & Zachary Levi are TANGLED
Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi share more than their voices in common with their characters from TANGLED. Like Rapunzel and Flynn, these two know how to make their banter sprightly. It was what I enjoyed most about our conversation when I spoke to them on November 7, 2010. Which is not to say that hearing… Read More »