I’m back with another video.
I’ve noticed that many studios are plundering the past and making our nostalgic cartoons of the past into big-budget movies. I want to chime in on this trend. So this week I write a letter to Hollywood.
Film
Bootleg Classics: The Iron Giant
10 years ago, one of the finest animated movies ever to grace the bigscreen debuted in theaters. The Iron Giant was the breakout movie that put Brad Bird’s (The Incredibles, Ratatouille) name out there among the elite animation directors. Even though it underperformed in theaters and was a box office failure because many felt Warner Bros. didn’t properly market the film, The Iron Giant was praised by critics and is still seen as one of the better examples of storytelling in animation. See the original trailer here:
(Hit the jump to read more about this Bootleg Classic) Continue reading
Miyazaki’s Quiet Protest of the Iraq War
I found this article on Cartoon Brew. I have always enjoyed Miyazaki’s social commentaries in his movies, but his way of protesting the Iraq War was quite interesting. Also ,I knew Howl’s Moving Castle had that anti-war commentary attached to it, but I never thought it was a direct commentary of the Iraq War. I may need to re-watch it and do a retro-review…
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by: Amid
Hayao Miyazaki didn’t come to the United States in 2003 to accept his Oscar forSpirited Away because of his opposition to the Iraq War, he recently told the LA Times:
“The reason I wasn’t here for the Academy Award was because I didn’t want to visit a country that was bombing Iraq. At the time, my producer shut me up and did not allow me to say that, but I don’t see him around today. By the way, my producer also shared in that feeling.”
Critic Daniel Thomas MacInnes offers some context to Miyazaki’s actions onThe Ghibli Blog:
It should be common knowledge to any serious Miyazaki scholar that he abhorred not only the Iraq War, but war itself. The idea of violence is depicted in his work as violent tragedy, slapstick mockery, or both…I don’t think very many Westerners know that the war in Howl’s Moving Castle was itself a reflection on the Iraq War. It was a comment on that war, viewed through the lens of Miyazaki’s long career.
Top 5 Cartoon Wedding Moments…
For those of you not in school with me, this is a rare glimpse of the blogger behind Art of the Cartoon.
So every week for Animation Mentor (The school I’m attending) I make an intro video to the week. I try to be entertaining, it is more of a way to get my face out there and to put some fun into other students’ workspaces. Anyway, this last video I did I talked about my Top 5 Cartoon Wedding moments. Enjoy!
If this gets a good response, I may post up more of my intro videos in the future…
SIFF 09: Alisa’s Birthday
Alisa’s Birthday/ dir. Sergei Seregin/ 2008/ Russia
It has nearly been a month since the 2009 Seattle International Film Festival ended, and I am now finally reviewing the last animated feature I saw at SIFF this year. And I can’t think of a better movie to end my 2009 SIFF experience.
The art style and animation may turn folks off of this film and if you saw the SIFF trailer for Alisa’s Birthday, with its awful English voice-over dub and its campy upbeat tone, you may think its just a bunch of children’s fluff. To be truthful, yes, Alisa’s Birthday is geared more towards younger children, but unlike the other PBS kids’ specials I watched at SIFF, Alisa’s Birthday offered the audience a richer experience with moral dilemmas, contemplative moments, and *gasp* real emotion. All of which eventually led to a pretty decent animated film. Make no mistake, it doesn’t reach the pinnacle of Pixar or Studio Ghibli animated films, but Alisa’s Birthday is entertaining nonetheless. Continue reading
Three Times
I have been on a mini hiatus from this blog. With school starting up, and work keeping me busy (especially in this economy…yeesh!), it’s hard to keep up with all the animation, cartoons, and comics that come my way. The reviews that I want to write are waaaay backed up (I have about 4-5 animated movies I want to write about). Add to that all the Bootleg Classics, the Set the VCR moments, the film studies, Filipin@s, and all the animated shorts I want to plug, and I’m really backed up (at least I never run out of material to write about).
Anyway, let’s begin again. Here’s an animated music video for “Three Times” by Giacomo out of the UK. I enjoyed the beat, and the paper cut-out stop-motion animation gave this piece a surreal kind of vibe to it.
Giacomo “Three Times” /Plasic Horse Films/ 2009/ UK
Review: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen/ dir. Michael Bay/ 2009
As a huge fan of the Transformers franchise, especially of the original Generation 1, all I really expect from the 2nd live-action Transformers movie is some great Autobots vs. Decepticons fighting complete with guns, explosions, battle damage combined with a bunch of transforming action, and give a nod to the fans, especially those of Generation 1. If you do that, I can pretty much forgive the shortcomings of the film. For example:
Weak Story/ Confusing Plot: That’s fine! Let’s be real, Transformers has never been about story, its been about huge robots that transform and fight each other. And as a veteran of countless animes, I can deal with a confusing plot. Continue reading
SIFF 09: Nak
Nak/ dir. Natthapong Rattanachoksirikul/ 2009/ Thailand
Out of all the animated features at SIFF, I was most excited to watch Nak. The big reason for my excitement was that Nak was a Thai animated movie, and I was looking forward to seeing some Southeast Asian animated cinema. (Because from my observations, if the animated feature isn’t from China, Korea, or especially Japan, nobody is really taking notice. ) Plus, the guy who produced Nak, Prachya Pinkaew, was the same dude who produced Ong Bak, and Nak featured Thailand’s most famous ghost, Nak, alongside some other mythical ghosts from Asian lore.
Although Nak is a solid animated effort by director Natthapong Rattanachoksirikul and cast and crew, (and yes, I was thoroughly entertained)I can’t front, after watching Nak I was a little disappointed… Continue reading
Green Lantern (Live-Action) Trailer
Don’t get too excited now…
This is a FAN-MADE Trailer, but nonetheless, it’s awesome. Plus it shows that a Green Lantern movie must be made! Enjoy:
PS: Dear Warner Bros. judging by this trailer, Nathan Fillion seems like a nice fit for Hal Jordan! Make this happen!
Art of the Cartoon 