tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33849731.post116226316079131459..comments2009-01-07T01:24:46.525ZRick Rockwellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00142022318290956903noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33849731.post-15926435852391084762007-01-02T19:46:00.000Z2007-01-02T19:46:00.000ZAh, you struck a nerve.<br /><br />I'm glad to see that someone else out there appreciates "Ferngully"; the critics were very stingy with its praise (although, I guess it was blasphemous at the time for any studio to challenge the almighty Disney). Speaking of "Toxic Love", there's a nifty little special feature in the 2-Disc DVD boxset that shows the song portrayed in three different angles - animated format, storyboard format, and in the studio with Tim Curry (god, I love his voice).<br /><br />I was reminded of this film when I first watched "Robots" on DVD. This is to be expected, I guess, since Robin Williams lends his voice to both Batty and to Fender. Tying in what you wrote, animated movies do seem less engaging and more like soulless corporate products. Even with Robin Williams and its beautiful CGI, "Robots" sucked, and it sucked for many obvious reasons:<br /><br />1) The villain was an over-the-top, wussy mamma's boy. Come on now, where's Jafar when you need him?<br /><br />2) The voices were all wrong (with the exception of Piper and Bender) . They really have to stop using big-name stars as voice talents, or at the very least, choose actors that actually add depth to the characters. For example, George C. Scott as McLeach in "The Rescuers Down Under", another favorite movie of my youth.<br /><br />4) Sloppy romantic pairings. In "Robots" they basically slapped it together, with virtually no development at all (another movie guilty of this is "Osmosis Jones", where the character that plays the title character's love interest not only inexplicably is all over him at the very end, but delivers the most god-awful, cheesy line of the film. Ugh.)<br /><br />3) I've seen this ending before - you know, where the entire cast breaks out into inexplicable song and dance? But instead of writing original songs for the finale, for the sake of selling soundtrack albums they decide to be lazy and slap a pop song in its stead (with "Shrek" it was "I'm a Believer", with "Shrek 2", it was "Living La Vida Loca", with "Shark Tale", it was "Carwash", and with "Robots", it was "Get up Offa That Thing" - see a pattern?) <br /><br />So, yeah, when it comes to modern CGI efforts (or lack thereof), I'm a very bitter individual pining for the good old days when animated films were still hand-drawn, and the computer graphics were far and few in-between.<br /><br />That said, I'd give anything to get my hands on a DVD of "Cats Don't Dance". THAT'S one of the best animated films of the 90's.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33849731.post-1162370586117212812006-11-01T08:43:00.000Z2006-11-01T08:43:00.000ZYes, Howl's Moving Castle is a truly amazing work of art, though I think I may actally have enjoyed it more than my little brother. And I also wanted to mention another great movie I didn't have room for on the list, but wanted to give props to--"We're Back! A Dinosaur Story."Caitlin Serviliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08647249539610000732noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33849731.post-1162338199658759152006-10-31T23:43:00.000Z2006-10-31T23:43:00.000ZIt definitely seems like there are way fewer quality animated movies coming out lately, but, there is some hope:) Outside of America, there have been several very cool and innovative animated films. I'd recommend The Triplets of Bellville from France or anything by Hayao Miyasaki of Japan.Allison Doolittlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13440133202262410207noreply@blogger.com