|
Alice In Wonderland (1951)
With the voices of: Kathryn Beaumont, Sterling Holloway, Ed Wynn, Richard Haydn
When this animated Disney gem came out, it was a bit sidelined by Cinderella and Peter Pan, which both came out
pretty much around that time. But, for me, Alice in Wonderland is much better than both of them. Alice is a little spoilt and curious, one day, she sees a white
rabbit walking by and saying that he’s late. Obviously, she follows him but falls upon a strange, psychedelic and surreal
wonderland in which nonsense and utter madness reign. There, still following the rabbit, she meets colourful and unhinged
characters. The Cheshire cat, for example, is a hilarious creation: he appears and disappears randomly, he comes up with the
most random questions and answers thinkable, he sings, he’s cheeky and brings poor Alice into more and more trouble.
The Queen, who keeps screaming “off with your head!!!” constantly, is completely insane and very funny. Arguably
though, it’s The Mad Hatter (not the Batman villain) who steals the show: with his pal The March Heir, they invite Alice
to an UN-birthday tea party but it soon become clear that they’re both raving lunatics who make no sense whatsoever.
The film contains an amazing score and some beautiful songs as well as some visually impressive animation and colours. For
me, it’s definitely the most imaginative Disney film ever made and one of the funniest. That film may be old but it’s
still pretty hilarious and is entertaining from start to finish. It’s not only extremely funny but its also moving and
creepy at times (the Walrus and the Carpenter). The very end may be a bit sudden but when an animated film is this good, it
doesn’t matter at all. Alice in Wonderland is definitely the best adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s children’s
book to date and is, without a doubt, one of Cablo Gula’s favourite animated films ever. An underrated animated masterpiece.
Overall: *****/5
The Little Mermaid
(1989)
With the voices of: Jody
Benson, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Samuel E. Wright
This enchanting animated gem from Disney can be seen
as the young girls’ Aladdin. Both films strangely seem to have the same basic structure, and they’re both brilliant.
The Little Mermaid follows 16 year-old red-headed mermaid Ariel: she’s headstrong and dreams of one day going to the
surface to live in the world of humans, who are seen as "barbarians" by Triton, the king of the mermen’s and Ariel’s
father. When she saves a man, Prince Eric, from drowning, she instantly falls in love with him and when Triton learns about
this, he obviously goes nuts! Ursula, the sea-witch (an evil glamorous octopus), learns this and finds it is the perfect opportunity
to make a deal with Ariel and manipulate her in order to get to Triton. Ursula gives her legs in exchange for her voice and
tells her that if she doesn’t get the kiss of true love from Eric in 3 days, she will remain a mermaid and belong to
her forever! What a screwy plan, huh? Anyway, Ariel accepts and she becomes human. Then, with the help of her friends: Jamaican
composer crab Sebastian, loveable plump fish Flounder and a goofy seagull, she’s going to try and kiss her Prince before
the end of the 3rd day. The whole thing contains some excellent, unforgettable songs: Under The Sea, Part of Your
World and Kiss the Girl. Even though visually it’s not quite as stunning as, say, Beauty and the Beast or Aladdin, it’s
still brilliantly animated and charming. Ursula is definitely one of the best Disney villains ever: a sort of mix between
Cruella Devil and Jafar, and she can be quite terrifying and creepy. Sebastian steals the show and Ariel is arguably the prettiest
female Disney character there was. It takes a man to admit he really likes The Little Mermaid…ok fine…I admit
it.
Overall: ****1/2
/5
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
With the voices of: Robby Benson, Paige O'Hara, Richard White, Jerry Orbach
This
is the famous story of a handsome Prince who, because he rejected an old woman who asked for shelter in exchange for a single
rose, is turned into a horrible beast: he can only become human when he falls in love with someone who loves him back. But
if he fails to do that before the last petal of the enchanted rose falls, he will remain a beast for eternity alone in his
gloomy castle. Beautiful Belle lives in a little French Provencal village and longs for adventures etc…When her father,
an eccentric inventor, gets lost in the woods and stumbles upon the Beast’s castle, where he hoped to find refuge, he
is captured and locked in the donjon by the Beast. Belle goes to the castle in order to find him and when she does, she agrees
to take her father’s place and stay in the castle forever. This animated Disney film was surprisingly nominated for
a Best Picture Oscar: a first for an animated film. Even today, the film looks awesome: the animation is great and the twisting
and twirling “camera” works perfectly. The songs are good, especially “Be Our Guest” (an Oscar-winning
song actually) even though they aren’t all memorable. It is one of Disney’s last truly magical film (Aladdin being
the last one) and contains some of the imaginative greatness that was in Alice in Wonderland, for example. The talking furniture
is very inventive and Lumiere, the chandelier, is great fun. Gaston, a pretentious
and obnoxious tough guy who wants to marry Belle no matter what, is an energetic villain but isn’t quite as evil as
Jafar (Aladdin), (Lion King) or Ursula (Little Mermaid) for example, who are
all quite scary. The message the film lets through has been used countless times: beauty is on the inside. But it’s
all done so well, that’s not a problem. Overall, it’s magical, visually stunning and very enjoyable. It may not
be quite as inspired as Aladdin or The Lion King, but it’s still one of Disney’s very best.
Overall: ****1/2 /5
Aladdin (1992)
With the voices of: Robin Williams, Scott Weinger, Linda Larkin, Jonathan
Freeman
With
this animated masterpiece, Disney took on the 1001 Nights’ Tales and adapted the famous story of Aladdin. Aladdin is
a young and poor thief who “lives” in the Arabian town of Agrabah with his loyal cheeky little monkey Abu. One
day, he meets a beautiful girl unaware that she’s Princess Jasmine, daughter of the Sultan, who was running away from
home. Meanwhile, the evil scheming vizir Jafar (and his cranky parrot Iago), who managed to open an enormous secret cave containing
a treasure and a lamp, learns that Aladdin is the only one who can get into the cave. In disguise, Jafar lures Aladdin to
the cave and tells him that he’ll reward him with riches if he goes inside and brings him the lamp. Inside the cave,
Abu touches something he shouldn’t have and there’s a cave-in. Jafar is left fuming as Aladdin, Abu, a magic carpet,
and the lamp are left stuck inside the cave. You know the rest: Aladdin rubs the lamp, an exuberant blue genie flows out and
explains that he can grant him 3 wishes. The genie is a hilarious creation voiced by an excellent Robin Williams on top form.
The film is visually stunning: the action sequences are incredibly thrilling and nail-biting thanks to some computer animated
backgrounds and some perfect animation. As for the songs, what can I say? Every song is toe-tappingly good and memorable,
from the beautifully dark “Arabian Nights” song at the beginning (which still gives me goose bumps) to the Oscar-winning
“I Can Show You The World” and the grandiose “Prince Ali”. Jafar is one of the best Disney villains
and is equally spooky and funny. Some scenes in Aladdin are just beautifully imaginative and magical. It has to be said that
the whole thing is also very funny: the genie provides some hilarious one-liners and is the source of most of the laughs,
but so is Iago the grumpy parrot who always complains. Overall, it’s one of Disney’s best animated films (certainly
the most entertaining Disney film) and is Cablo Gula’s personal favourite. Just brilliant.
Overall: *****/5
Antz
(1998)
With the voices
of: Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Sylvester Stallone, Jennifer Lopez, Gene Hackman, Christopher
Walken, Danny Glover
Some years ago, there was
a CGI animation battle: Antz versus A Bug’s Life. For some reason, A Bug’s Life was a bigger success, sure it
had a good villain voiced by Kevin Spacey but when compared to Antz, it’s simply a vastly inferior film, in every way.
I guess Antz is probably more appealing to teenagers and adults whereas A Bug’s Life is basically kiddy stuff. Woody
Allen does the voice of Zee, a worker ant which we first see talking to its “shrink” about how he is having trouble
fitting in with that whole Communist-ish way of life. One night, at a bar, he meets … (Stone), not knowing she is none
other than the Princess of the colony (out for a rare evening of dancing) and he falls head-over-heels in love with her. Trouble
is, he’s just a worker and it’s not very likely he will ever see her again. So, he switches places with his strong
soldier friend (Stallone) in order to get a chance to talk to her or at least see her again during the army parade. Little
does he know that the army is in fact going off to war in a suicide mission against the superior and considerably larger termites.
So poor Zee finds himself on the battlefield in what is probably one of the darkest scenes I’ve seen in an animated
film. Miraculously, he is the only survivor and comes back a hero. Meanwhile, the shady General (Hackman) is planning to flood
the entire colony and kill the queen in the process. After a misunderstanding, Zee soon finds himself kidnapping the Princess
and going through the garbage chute to land on the outside world where a mythical utopia is believed to exist: Insectopia.
But is there really such a thing or where these simply the ravings of a drunk lunatic? Antz is animated to perfection and
has a very very cool voice cast. Woody Allen is at his best and funniest and the few references to Manhattan are obviously
a delight for older viewers and Allen fans. This is most definitely not A Bug’s Life, don’t expect blue plastic-looking
goody-goody insects or friendly love bugs, instead, brace yourself for an epic war between ants and termites and, of course,
some neurotic ants. Antz is also, it must be said, very funny, thanks to the excellent script and the spotless interpretations
from the voice cast. Overall, Antz is an adult-friendly, impressive creation: the animation is terrific, the story is gripping,
the whole thing is witty, clever, and great fun. An underrated CGI animated masterpiece.
Overall: *****/5
Prince of
Egypt
(1998)
With the voices of:
Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Patrick Stewart, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Goldblum, Steve Martin,
Martin Short, Danny Glover
This fine animation from Dreamworks
tells the familiar Exodus story of Moses and the freeing of the Hebrews in Egypt. The film starts with baby Moses being
placed on the Nile by his mother who didn’t want her young son growing up as a slave. His rough little voyage ends in
him being adopted by the pharaoh’s wife. He is therefore brought up as an Egyptian prince and is just as reckless and
arrogant as his brother Ramses, who’s also his best pal. One night, Moses finds himself in the narrow streets of Cairo
and he meets his real brother and sister, the latter tells him that he his a Hebrew like them, a meeting which leaves Moses
confused and angry. Especially when he discovers that his father ordered the death of every first born Hebrew child years
ago. From then on, Moses rethinks his whole life and realises the cruelty of the pharaoh and how wrong the slave situation
is. He wanders through the desert alone and starts a new life amongst Hebrew people as a shepherd. One day, he encounters
a mysterious burning bush and the Lord tells him to go back to the Temple and demand that the pharaoh lets his people go.
Moses does just that but, to his surprise, finds that the pharaoh is none other than his old friend and brother Ramses. It’s
soon obvious that things can never be the way they used to be and that their close friendship is doomed. You know what comes
next, the seven plagues of Egypt, the freeing of the slaves and, of course, the opening of the Red Sea. There’s a lot
to admire in this stunning animation: it’s definitely one of the most visually impressive non-CGI animated film there
is, the Red Sea and the Seven Plagues scenes are very stylish and powerful. My favourite moment though has to be the inspired
wall scene near the beginning where we see Moses finding out about his “father’s” evil doings in the style
of an Egyptian wall painting. Having said all that, the Prince of Egypt is not exactly a masterpiece. The songs are admittedly
lovely if slightly forgettable and I can’t help but feel disappointed by the “Big Boys Now” song which could
have been a darkly comical gem, especially since it’s sung by comedy kings Steve Martin and Martin Short, but falls
surprisingly flat. I guess the big problem of this film is that it’s just not fun. There are some attempts at being
funny but they’re never convincing and seem a bit forced. The montages, the animation and the style of the visuals are
all spot-on and often stunning but the film tries so hard to be faithful to the Bible story without offending anyone by making
changes that it forgets that it’s really kids who go see animated films and sadly there’s really not much for
them here. Overall, the Prince of Egypt looks amazing and sounds good too but it’s more serious and dramatic than exciting
and enjoyable, which is a bit of a shame. It’s worth seeing, definitely, but just don’t expect to have too much
fun watching it: Aladdin this isn’t.
Overall: ***1/2 /5
South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (1999)
With the voices
of: Trey Parker and Matt Stone
The humour of Parker and Stone (Baseketball,
Orgazmo) is one that you either get totally or, like, totally don’t get: it’s childish, it’s vulgar and
it’s full of mean piss-takes of just about everyone you can think of. I, for one, find their uniquely stupid yet very
clever “wit” hilarious and this feature-length film of their hit cult South Park cartoons is a
real knockout. One thing you must know about this film, if you haven’t seen it, is that it is in fact a musical. And
if you know Parker and Stone, then you know they have a certain talent for writing very silly yet undeniably catchy tunes
(Cannibal: The Musical, Team America). I must say they really outdo themselves in South Park: The Movie as
there are plenty of memorable, hilarious songs to applaude there. The highlights being the side-splitting Shut Your F***ing
Face Uncle F***er sung by the flatulent Canadians Terrence & Phillippe, Saddam Hussein’s superb “I Can Change”
(which sounds suspiciously like Poor Unfortunate Souls from the Little Mermaid) and Big Gay Al’s camper than camp grand
“finale”: “I’m Super!”. As for the story, it’s filled with the guys’ trademark political/social
satire as Terrence and Phillippe’s foul-mouthed, vulgar new film influences all the children of South Park to swear their fucking asses off! (woops, shit, sorry…). This F-word overdose shocks their parents to the
point that they actually manage to start a war between the US and Canada. Terrence and Phillippe are soon kidnapped and their cruel execution is planned. But the kids (minus Kenny who
dies early on in the film) create their own underground organisation, La Resistance, which will allow them to try and save
the Canadian farters and maybe even end the f***ing war. Meanwhile, Satan and Saddam Hussein prepare themselves to ascend
to Earth as soon as the blood of T&P is spilled on the Earth’s bosom...did I just say bosom? Anyway, will The Resistance
succeed in saving the world or will the war end in an apocalypic climax? Fans of the South Park cartoons will be in heaven with this film and will laugh their little 2D butts off during most of it. Sure the
animation isn’t exactly Shrek or The Incredibles, but has it ever been like that? F*** no! So F*** that! I personally
believe they couldn’t have made a better South Park film, like Mike
Judge couldn’t have made a better Beavis and Butthead film. Overall, this is a toe-tapping, joke-a-minute, laugh-a-minute
animation which will appeal to most. It is, in two and a half words: excellent, m’kay?
Overall:
****1/2 /5
Finding Nemo (2003)
With the voices of: Albert
Brooks, Helen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould, Willem Dafoe
Martin is a clownfish who has been overly protective of
his young son Nemo ever since his wife and unborn children were killed (in other words: eaten). One day, Nemo is carelessly
captured by a human diver. Martin is devastated but he is determined to find his son. With the help of extremely forgetful
fish Dory, he will have to make his way across the ocean in order to...well...find Nemo! A visually stunning film, you
can actually feel the waves (well almost)! It is also very funny and is a triumph for Pixar and 3D Animation. Cablo Gula's
heart belongs, however, to Spirited Away whose imagination surpasses Finding Nemos. Overall, this is an excellent film that
everyone will enjoy, especially kids!
Overall:
****/5
The Incredibles (2004)
With the voices of: Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson, Jason Lee and
Brad Bird
Directed
by Brad Bird, who has been part of “The Simpsons” team for years, The Incredibles is the brand new animation from
Pixar, who brought us the Toy Story films and, more recently, Finding Nemo. This time, we leave the enchanting underwater
world of Nemo for the kick-ass world of superheroes. After all superheroes have been put out of business,
forced to have normal lives and contain their powers, Mr Incredible, a superhero with extreme strength hangs his super-suit
forever and settles down with his very flexible wife Helen (aka Elastigirl). They have 3 kids with powers of their own (speed,
invisibility), they live in the suburbs as a normal family and Bob (Mr Incredible) goes to work at a dead-end job. When Bob
receives a mysterious call for help and he is sent to remote island to take care of some destructive machines, their new lives
are about to change dramatically. These days it seems that every year Dreamworks and Pixar battle for the best animated film
of the year.The Incredibles may not be as funny as Shrek 2 but it’s just as impressive and entertaining. The first half
of the film ressembles a sitcom as we see the super-family trying to “fit in” and after that there are some truly
breathtaking action scenes. The whole thing is also very funny thanks to Brad Bird’s “Simpsons” humour we
all know and love. The only problems the film has are the fact that there are no “new” super powers and some cool
(wink wink) characters are unfortunately sidelined. Having said that, The Incredibles is great from beginning till end and
is fun for all the family.
Overall: ****/5
The Polar Express
(2004)
With the voices of: Tom
Hanks, Tom Hanks and Tom Hanks
Directed by Robert Zemeckis (Back to the
Future, Forrest Gump, The Frighteners), this is a Christmas film animated in a CGI-Gollum style and stars Tom Hanks in about
6 different roles! This is the story of a young boy who doubts of Santa's existence on Christmas Eve and is woken up by a
huge steam train which has to bring him along with a bunch of other confused kids to the North Pole. The film starts off brilliantly,
the first scenes look mind-blowingly real and stylish, the train ride is very exciting and fun and there are some excellent
moments such as the Forrest Gump-like flying ticket scene. Unfortunately, when the train stops, so does the action and consequently,
it all gets very schmaltzy and syrupy when they all get to the North Pole (as well as predictable). The kids and just about
all the other characters look creepy but the animation is still very impressive nevertheless. Great for kids, maybe not for
adults.
Overall: ***/5
Team America: World Police (2005)
With the voices of: Trey Parker and Matt Stone
From
the makers of South Park comes a political spoof with puppets. Team America is a counter-terrorism unit sent to sent to keep
the world safe. But there’s a problem: they suck! In the movie we see them destroying the Eiffel Tower and The Pyramids
by mistake! When one of their teammates dies during a mission in Paris they search for a replacement to help them bring down
the still-at-large terrorists. With the help of Broadway actor Gary Johnsson’s acting skills ( obviously a Tom Cruise
caricature) they will try to stop the evil Korean dictator in his plots for world-domination. Predictably the whole thing
is very rude, very dumb and, at times, very funny. As a Top Gun/ Thunderbirds spoof it works very well and there are even
some good Matrix spoof scenes. The songs are all great especially “The Montage” one and the “Pearl Harbor
Sucked” one. Sadly, as a political satire, it doesn’t work, even though there are some funny jokes from time to
time. The Korean dictator (who suspiciously sounds like Cartman) is nowhere near as funny as Saddam in the South Park Movie
and there’s a strong lack of George W. Bush whom we don’t even see at all. What we do see a lot of, however, are
celebrities (with voices imitated “badly”) but there are too many targets and consequently the only funny and
original ones are Matt Damon and Michael Moore. It’s definitely not as funny or as good as South Park or Baseketball
but it’s nevertheless very funny at times. I would recommend you to wait to see it on DVD because seeing puppets on
a bit screen feels a bit dumb! Overall, it’s probably the dumbest film of 2004 and sadly, not the funniest but still
good fun.
Overall: ***/5
Madagascar
(2005)
With the voices of: Ben
Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Coen
Madagascar is the latest animated film from Dreamworks,
who brought us the inspired Shrek films. Earlier this year we saw Robots flop quietly at the box office but it’s very
unlikely that Madagascar will suffer the same fate for the latter has much more energy and really feels like a summer movie.
It will undoubtedly be a hit, with its great cast, Dreamworks’ reputation and the summery setting (Madagascar, duh!).
It’s basically about a bunch of animals who live in a zoo in New York City: Marty, a zebra who dreams of going to the
wild (Rock), Alex, an energetic showboat lion with an unhealthy obsession with steaks (Stiller), Gloria a tough but sweet
female hippopotamus (Smith) and Melman, a neurotic, whiny and clumsy giraffe (Schwimmer). When Marty escapes from the zoo
and takes a walk on the “wild” side (see what I did there?) in the streets of New York, his worried friends escape
as well in order to bring him back to the zoo. Unfortunately, they all get caught and are soon put in boxes and sent by boat
to Africa, the real wild. Even a bunch of penguins, who also got caught along with the gang as they were attempting to make
a break for Antarctica, are part of the boat trip. When Marty and co. land in Madagascar by mistake it soon becomes pretty
clear that they don’t really belong in the jungle. As Marty sees his dream become reality, Alex starts to find the lack
of steaks on the island very hard to live with. And as for Melman…well, what can I say? It’s Ross! The 4 friends
soon encounter a whole population of cute lemurs and befriend their leader King Julian (voiced by Ali G in person). The gang
will have to try and adapt to the wild or their friendship will start to tear itself apart gradually. Madagascar has a promising
concept, a cool cast, great animation and a welcome original retro look. The makers of the film tried to introduce a lot more
Tex Avery-like loud and crazy slapstick and it does bring more life to the usually slightly stiff computer animation. However,
it does feel a bit unnecessary and overly chaotic at times. Also, there are some longueurs which break the rhythm of the film
and makes the whole thing slightly uneven. There’s a serious lack of villains as well, where’s the bad guy in
all this? All that said, the mistakes are very few and there’s much to enjoy here: it’s visually flawless, it
has some hilarious moments (the penguins steal the show and every scene in which they appear), a brilliant lemur rave party
scene with Ali G singing a catchy tune and good likeable characters (although Gloria is a bit sidelined). I must also mention
Alex’s terrific dream sequences, one of them a clever parody of American Beauty. Overall, like Ice Age: it’s entertaining,
great fun, very funny and has some unforgettable bits and pieces (the penguins! The penguins!). It’s much better than
Shark Tale but not quite as inspired as Shrek or as good as The Incredibles. Kids’ll love it and adults will find much
to enjoy. Great summer fun, not a masterpiece but very enjoyable nonetheless.
Overall:
***1/2 /5
|
