Editorial: Top 5 Best *NON-ANIMATED* movies of 2022

(Look, I didn't have any ideas for the title card for this blog so I just re-used the idea from the last post.)

That's right, I watch more things than animation. I think it is good to have a varied and diverse palette when it comes to art, but chances are you probably feel the same way, if a movie, game or book strikes your fancy, why should it matter that it isn't part of your preferred genre? If it looks like a good time, you might have a good time. Granted, not every movie I saw this year was good, but hey, I want to end this year on as positive a note as I can, so why not, here are my top five favourite live-action movies of 2022. Keep in mind, I did not get the chance to see every movie that came out in 2022, I mean, so much was released this year that it kind of would be insane to watch everything, and that is excluding everything that didn't go directly to Theatres or Netflix, so if you don't see a movie you like on here, maybe I didn't see it, maybe I didn't like it. Someone else probably agrees with you, so why be angry about it?

Over all I'd say that 2022 was an... adequate year in film. Of course, since my focus is  primarily animation I spent a lot of my time on that front, but from the movies I did see, yeah we had a decent selection. Some really cool movies that really go to show how far the technology has evolved since the late 1800s, some movies that, weren't deep but were still solidly entertaining flicks, and of course, some duds and clinkers. That is just the stuff I watched this year, but I think 2022 has been better on the live-action front than the animated front, at least in cinema. I feel like everyone is going to have a different favourite movie of 2022, so feel free to share your favourites, like I said, these are mine.

#5. The Batman

I feel like this movie could have gone either really well, or really poorly. Making this one a real murder mystery, portraying this interpretation of Batman as inexperienced and still learning his way through being Batman, having one of the iconic villains not even look like the iconic design, this movie could have gone wrong. Thankfully, everyone seemed to know what they were doing when making this movie because it turned out really good. I like that this Batman does seem inexperienced, I like that they are showing the fact that it would take more training to be Batman than just being in a ninja cult for multiple years. I liked the mystery of what all these people being offed have in common, I liked Catwoman, I liked Falcone, I liked Penguin, I was invested in this story, and while this was a very dark movie (Both thematically and visually), I thought it worked well. Definitely the best Batman movie since The Dark Knight.

#4. Everything Everywhere All At Once

As someone who is very easily frightened by existentialism and the nature of existence and the universe, this movie was... something. Not to say I didn't like it, I liked the characters, thought the scenarios were fun and was intrigued by the concept. I don't really know what to say about this one since literally all I think about when I think about this movie is how much I am terrified of existing, literally just existing, but you're not here to read about my apeirophobia or Existential angst, you're here to read about the movies I liked, and I did like this one. I think the movie strikes the right balance of just silly enough to make this concept more palatable to common viewers, but they do also mix the silly with the more serious as well, like that universe that couldn't sustain life so they became rocks, yeah this movie is interesting.

#3. Bullet Train

Something a bit more my speed, a solidly entertaining thrilling action flick. While I was immediately sucked in by the action scenes, and there are a lot of them, seeing how everything unfolded, how all the characters were tied together, it was kind of clever. I don't really think there is much else for me to say here, it was a fun and exciting action flick with an interesting plot and some really likeable characters, I actually liked the two citrus guys, and Brad Pitt's character was the movie Luck's character done right. I enjoyed this movie enough to actually buy the book it was based on, haven't read it yet, but I may get around to it.

#2. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

However, I think my favourite action movie of the year was this one. Prior to this movie, I watched that Foo Fighters horror vehicle "Studio 666". It was garbage, a generic horror movie that disappointed me, I was kind of expecting a satirical horror movie, a movie that poked fun at the genre while still being a horror movie. Plus, I feel like you could have put any other bad in the Foo Fighters' place and it would have been the same, save for a few references that could easily be changed. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent was the kind of movie I thought Studio 666 was gonna be like, still undeniably an action movie, but definitely one that had fun with the fact that it was a silly action flick, plus a lot of references to Nicholas Cage's career. Is this somewhat self-indulgent of Cage? Probably, but hey, when you have a scene as perfect as when him and Pedro Pascal are holding each other at gunpoint, who cares?

#1. Jackass Forever

Is this the best movie of the year? Oh heck no, it's a Jackass movie, it's low-brow schlocky entertainment for morons, potheads, dude bros and the kind of people who fit the "Peaked in high school" description. It's a collection of footage of guys being jerks, pulling mean pranks and getting hit in the balls, what reason could this movie have for being anywhere near a best movies of any year list? Because god damn it, I had a good time with this movie and isn't that what entertainment is meant to be about? No, this movie is not a deep and philosophical look at anything, but it never aimed to be, it's a bunch of guys having fun and we're having fun along with them, because damn it, sometimes I do like entertainment made for the lowest common denominator, I ain't high class, I'm here to watch a movie that I hope to be entertaining and damn it, if I'm laughing and smiling more often than not, than this movie succeeded at its job. Plus, Johnny Knoxville with grey hair, just yes. I can't deny it, of all the movies I saw in 2022, none of them were more entertaining than this one, and it was just such a nice breath of fresh air to sit in the theatre after so long and enjoy the dumbest of stuff thrown onto a theatre screen. Why is Jackass Forever my favourite movie of 2022? because It's a Jackass movie, it didn't want to be any thing more, and I didn't need any thing more.

I'm anticipating a lot for 2023, so I'm curious to see what movies that year will bring.

Editorial: Top 10 Best Animated Movies of 2022

I have made my feelings on 2022 quite clear, this year was full of okay at best releases in the animated part of cinema. That all being said, even the movies that were just "okay" we're still somewhat good, and to be absolutely fair, this year was full of pretty awesome things, sure Disney dropped the ball a couple of times, but Netflix has actually been on a solid winning streak this year, not kidding, I was impressed with Netflix's releases this year, bravo to them for having more than one good movie release on their platform this year. On top of that, it isn't like this year was devoid of quality releases, so let's talk about them.

Again, my rules from the previous list apply, I have not watched everything from 2022, I missed Hotel Transylvania 4, the Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie, the new Puss in Boots movie, the new Beavis and Butt-head movie, and I didn't have the time to watch My Father's Dragon. On the same note, movies that had major releases in 2022 qualify for this list, I am not qualifying Sonic the Hedgehog 2 though that movie was entertaining, and this is my personal list. With all of that said, here are my top ten animated movies of 2022... well... nine and a project.

#10. The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie Rehydrated

Honestly, I'm mentioning this project, not because I genuinely think it is a great work, but mostly because I am impressed with the amount of passion and love everyone put behind this project. I'm not even really big on reanimated projects, I mean if you're going to do multiple animation and art-styles you can try to transition between them more smoothly, but I'm aware that is not always the easiest thing to do. All in all, the amount of work that everyone put into this project, from the animators to the voice actors who redubbed the entire thing, even if I can't say I fully love this I do have to admonish the effort put into it. It is the kind of project that almost makes me appreciate fandom, as the little details and references snuck in by everyone that could could only be appreciated by a SpongeBob fan really does make this seem like a passion project. It may not be my kind of project, but I can admire it for what was put into it.

#9. Charlotte

Guys, this movie hurt. This is not an easy sit through, as it tells the story of a Jewish artist during the rise and Nazism in Germany, and that is not the only difficult part of her life. This is the kind of movie I really feel people need to watch to get a sense of how powerful animation can be as a medium. It's actually kind of difficult to talk about this movie, but I really recommend it, it has an excellent cast, the animation is really good and the story of this woman is just so fascinating, I think this movie got a very limited release, it was only playing at one theatre in my location, so I don't know if this really counts as a 2022 release, but it did get a theatrical release this year, so, I'm counting it.

#8. The Bob's Burgers Movie

You know, I had no clue what to expect when I went into this movie, I wasn't expecting a murder mystery, I wasn't expecting a musical, I was just kind of expecting a movie where Bob and Linda has to save their restaurant. I guess I did get what I was expecting, and all in all I do think this movie is... fine, it's a fine movie. I guess in the end, if you're expecting an enjoyable story with you favourite characters, this movie will be satisfactory, and that "Lucky Ducks" song was a total bop. I guess out of all the "Okay but not fantastic" movies of the year, I would choose to watch this one again over something like Strange World or Minions 2, not like that is really saying much, but even then I can't say this one was bad, it was an enjoyable time, and if you're going in expecting an enjoyable time, you'll get it.

#7. Scrooge: A Christmas Carol

This movie was a totally different take on the classic Charles Dickens novella. Taking a new approach to certain aspects of the story that I thought really made this version stand out on its own. A lot of the animation is great, and while it does look low budget, the stylization I feel makes up for that, plus some of the songs were total jams. I really liked some of the twists they took with this movie, like the Ghost of Christmas Past having a fun personality, the Ghost of Christmas Present becoming Christmas Yet-to-Come, and while I do wish it was explored deeper, having Scrooge and Cratchit have a history together was an interesting idea. While this movie isn't going to top the big three adaptations of the story, but that is a high bar to reach. If you want a more one of a kind take on the famous story, this might be a movie worth checking out.

#6. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

I can't think of a movie that was more anticipated than this one, which really says a lot about 2022 don't you think? I mean, Guillermo del Toro, Stop Motion animation and The Jim Henson Company? Why isn't this movie straight at number one? Well, I mean it's good, but I am a firm believer that the main point of any form of entertainment media is to entertain, and while I was completely absorbed into the dark story, the smooth as polished glass animation and the talented voice cast, which actually also included Tom Kenny, weird, two Pinocchio movies in one year for that guy. While I was engrossed in this movie, I can't say this was the most entertaining movie of the year. Still a fantastic movie, and definitely one you should check out if you haven't already.

#5. The Bad Guys

Honestly, I don't know if this movie was a good time on it's own, or if what made it fun was me and my friends making jokes about how Mr. Wolf character is a total simp for Foxington, not that I really blame him. Still, that being said, this was a very unique movie in DreamWorks' catalogue, being a lot more visually stylish than the rest of the company's filmography. Even if we could tell where the plot was going, it was still a fun flick to put on, shut your brain off and just enjoy, and it may be a fun movie to watch with friends and riff on, and to joke about how Mr. Wolf definitely enjoys... I should stop there in case children are reading.

#4. The Sea Beast

Yeah, I missed this one when it came out. I don't really get a lot of chances to check out releases on Netflix, but it is a darn shame I didn't catch this when it was new because I would have loved to share my thoughts on it. Well, here we are now. At the end of the day, The Sea Beast is not a wholly original story, but it makes up for that by being an exciting adventure. The characters bonding was nice, and the climax was fairly tense all things considered. Plus, I really like these monster designs, while I have seen similar, I still think these are some cool designs, and the blue pudgy thing in this movie, way cuter and more marketable than the blue pudgy thing from Strange World. If you didn't see this movie when it was a new release, like me, you should give it a go.

#3. Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood

Another movie I sadly missed when it came out, and I really should have caught it because this movie was fantastic. Easy High Recommendation from me, and for the same reason my next two movies were High Recommendations too, it is just such a different movie. The animation is all rotoscope, which some may consider cheating, but when done right can give a project a unique look and feel, plus they do some creative things with the rotoscoping, so when the characters are watching something on TV, where a regular movie would use footage, this movie rotoscoped over the footage to make it fit in with the style of the rest of the movie. It was a fascinating look at childhood in the sixties during the space age with a bit of alternate history mixed in. A truly fascinating movie and you really should give it a watch. Again, if you were like me and missed it when it came out, well it's on Netflix, so get to it.

#2. Wendell & Wild

If you would have told me that Netflix would take up half of my best list this year, I would have called you crazy. The platform that brought us such gems as Duck Duck Goose and Pets United? Really? They're lucky to distribute one good movie, how are they going to distribute five? Well, easy, they get Henry Sellick and Jordan Peele, have a soundtrack that contains X-ray Spex, have delightful characters and a fantastic voice cast, top it off with some delightfully Henry Sellick imagery and you've got easily my favourite original release of 2022. I do think that stop motion animation is becoming more and more accepted, thanks to the popularity of studios like Laika, and the fact that Netflix released three (The House almost made this list) of these movies this year I think goes to show that. The streak of genuinely good movies from Netflix this year made me really excited for what they can do next year, especially since Nimona is slated to release in 2023, and I am anticipating that movie hard. So, if this is my favourite original release of 2022, why isn't it number one? Well, because my number one really only makes this list because of a technicality.

#1. Marcel The Shell With Shoes On

Yes, this movie had a film festival release in 2021, but it got a major release in 2022 and everyone is going to associate this movie with 2022. So I don't see why this ambitious, unique and somewhat risky movie can't be on my list. This is a mockumentary with stop motion animated characters based on a web video, does this movie sound like a good idea to you? Well, it ended up being phenomenal, such a different kind of movie from everything else released this year, and I can safely say, I am glad it's gotten the attention it has. I saw a Tweet come across my Twitter feed asking what everyone's favourite animated movie of the year was, and said "Excluding Marcel", and a couple other movies, the Letterboxd scores are insane with over 22 thousand five star ratings, 99% Critical score and 91% Audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, 7.9 out of 10 on IMDb, I think it is safe to say that this movie is definitely one that is loved by animation fans, and I can't think of any other movie I liked more than Marcel The Shell With Shoes On.

2022 was not a fantastic year for animated cinema, but we did get some good movies out of it, and to be fair, there were also a couple good movies that weren't animated. You know, maybe later this week I'll share the non-animated movies that I liked. That would be fun.

Honourable Mentions:

Lightyear - I went in expecting a fun sci-fi action flick, and that's what I got.

Turning Red - Not my kind of movie but... oh well. Yay, Canada rep!

The House - So close to making my list, but that second story was... a lot.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - Alright fine, I'll put it here.

Strange World - Again, it is paint by numbers to the Nth degree, but it wasn't a bad movie.

Minions: The Rise of Gru - Fair is fair, is Strange World gets an honourable mention, so should this movie, it wasn't bad, just... Minions.

Editorial: Top 6 Worst Animated Movies of 2022

I have made it no secret that I believe 2022 has been the most mediocre year for animated features in recent memory. Not that there weren't any good movies or bad movies, but the majority of the movies released this year felt same-y and interchangeable, like the only major difference between one movie and another was that this movie had Sam Rockwell while this movie had Jake Gyllenhaal, this movie had Minions, this one had a robotic cat, this movie had Jordan Peele produce it, this one had John Lasseter. To be fair, that is a major over-simplification, but it really felt like 2022 was full of these okay at best, mediocre at worst kind of movies.

That being said, 2022 managed to surprise me with how agonizing these movies could get. Bland, boring and benign were only the starting point to what was wrong with some of these movies, so I'm gonna count down what I consider the 6 worst animated movies of 2022. Keep in mind, I've pretty much done a first impressions blog on most of the animated releases this year, so don't think there are going to be any surprise entries. Also keep in mind, this is just my opinion, if you disagree, which with one entry I'm positive most of you will, that's fine. Just keep things civil.

With that said, let's get into the list proper shall we?

6. Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank

Despite giving this movie an "Avoid" rating, I could not in good faith put this movie in my top five officially, but I still wanted to bring it up. This movie spent eight years in development Hell, had a nightmare production, and was kept on life support, and the end result was a half-baked and mediocre parody of a parody. I knew from the get go this movie was going to suck, but the fact that it ended up being this bland and boring, it just added insult to injury. This movie has nothing to make it stand out even amongst the worst, it's just a bland movie for kids, it did not make me mad, more just... sad. It made me sad because people spent hours of their life on a movie that was kept on life support, when someone should have realized that this movie was a dud at some point in development. There are some movies I'd rather not have than have in a sorry state, and this was one of them.

5. Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers

I know, I might be too harsh on this movie, it might not be as bad as I thought. Hell, I'll even extend an olive branch and say that I probably went into this movie with the wrong expectations, but I swear I gave this movie a fair chance, and while it was much better than I anticipated, I still disliked it. I can look past the expectations of this movie being 2022's Roger Rabbit (It isn't), I can look past the wasted potential for the cameos that did appear, Hell, I can even look past the controversy of making Peter Pan the villain and having his backstory mirror that of Bobby Driscoll's, but what I can't look past is just how unfunny I found this movie. There were so many jokes that I feel were done better elsewhere, jokes that I feel were wasted potential, jokes I feel were too spelled out, and jokes that I just felt weren't funny. I can extend the olive branch to people who enjoyed this movie, but I'm still on the boat that says this movie is going to be one of those that gets worse every time you watch it. Time will tell, but I have a feeling time will not be as kind to this movie as it is to Roger Rabbit.

4. Ella and the Little Sorcerer

So, here's a funny story, when I initially wrote my first impressions blog on this movie, Letterboxd had this movie listed as a 2021 release. Literally not too long after I posted that blog, Letterboxd suddenly changed it to a 2022 release. I swear Letterboxd had it listed as a 2021 release, was that a flub on their part, is the 2022 release date a flub? Who cares? No seriously, who cares? Does any one care about this movie? it got a theatrical release in my city, and I'm still not convinced it was anything more than a joke, a sick joke that costed me fifteen dollars. This is direct-to-video quality, direct-to-video quality animation and direct-to-video quality writing, I've watched some of the lowest budget trite, movies by the name of Trolled, Bible Bees, Penguin League, and this pretty much fit right in with all of them, sure it looks a smidge better, but the actual animation is still terrible and most of the character models just feel like recyclable assets to use in another schlock direct-to-video movie, I swear that cloud thing was just a fluffy Globglogabgolab model, and the writing was just mediocre at best. I swear, this movie only got theatrically released because my theatre wanted to know if there was a market for non-Disney animated features, or again, as a joke at my expense, and it probably would have only been my expense because I can't imagine anyone else saw it.

3. Pinocchio: A True Story

I mean, do I even need to say anything here? There is a reason most other reviewers tend not to review these kinds of movies. When you get past the the borderline so bad it's hilarious voice acting, all you're left with is a mediocre and boring retelling of Pinocchio. I mean, what can I even say about this movie? It's a direct-to-video animated release from Russia, it's dubbing sounds like it was done in a single go, the story is sloppy, and the animation, I mean... it's a direct-to-video animated movie for kids, what more needs to be said?

2. Luck

You want to know what I think the biggest hot take in animation was for 2022? It was when Mr. Enter, yes, Mr. "Turning Red needed to address 9/11" Enter, made a video where he said that Luck was not actually that bad. Of course, he is allowed to have his opinions, but it just amuses me that Luck of all movies, this absolute nothing of a movie, is the one where he says it is over-hated. As for me, I've made my thoughts on Luck very clear, I hated it. It was an agonizing sit through, watching this woman stumble through her bad luck, and all the time I was thinking "You know some of this would be funny if she actually deserved it", I don't like watching decent people get dumped on, and yes I know the point of the movie is that she overcomes it, hooray, that does not make anything entertaining. Also, how absolutely boring could you have made a magical world? Onward had a more interesting magical world, and that was literally just our world with elves, this movie went for a very corporate aesthetic, which just sucks out any interest this world would have, and I can not stand how all everyone will acknowledge with this movie is the involvement of John Lasseter. Seriously, he was just a producer, not even the only one, yet the movie banked on his involvement, the studio banked on his involvement, and most audience members seem to only care about his involvement. There is a lot more dislike about this movie than the involvement of a problematic figure, let's not forget that.

1. The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wilde

Yeah, I went rather hard on Disney for this one. I spent literally all of my blog ranting to Disney, a company whose employees have much better things to be doing than listening to some nobody on the internet tell them what to do, and only spent the last paragraph talking about this movie, and even then only minimally. Really, did I have to say anything? You all knew this movie was a bad idea, you know this movie was going to be awful, we all knew that this movie was going to be one of the worst things of the year, and watching it only confirmed what we already knew. This movie is just the remains of a scrapped series sewn together to make something, you know, it's fitting that Bob Chapek got fired from Disney considering that under his leadership, Disney was doing the exact same thing that Michael Eisner was doing. It has the look and feel of a movie that is just episodes of a series sewn together human centipede style just to throw it out there and wash your hands of it. Ice Age has been a franchise that just continuously got worse and worse and worse with each passing movie, and at the end of the day, the franchise goes out, not with a whimper, but with the tiniest and most pathetic cough in the world. Well, there was that Scrat series that really sent this franchise off, but that does not excuse this dreadfulness of a movie.

Well, that was that. However, 2022 did have some good movies, so that will be next week.

Honourable Mentions? Umm...

DC league of Super Pets - Bland, Boring and Benign, but some respect for taking itself somewhat seriously

Riverdance: The Animated Adventure - A harmless, if not very entertaining movie

Marmaduke - Absolutely unwatchable, not on the list because, who cares?

Strange World - The definition of Paint-By-Numbers, but not a bad movie so... eh.

Minions: The Rise of Gru - I think I'm just putting this on here because I hate the Minions.

A Christmas Carol (1997) - A Flawed, but Serviceable Adaptation of the Holiday Ghost Story

 

Easily one of the most famous Christmas stories in pop culture is A Christmas Carol, while other stories may be more renowned or popular, A Christmas Carol has remained an iconic and memorable tale since the original publication of the Charles Dickens novella in 1843. With an almost uncountable amount of film and stage adaptations, parodies and homages, and episodes of television shows that have this as the main basis for a plot, it is safe to say that everybody is familiar with some form of the classic holiday ghost story. I've reviewed one adaptation of the story before, the 2009 Robert Zemeckis motion capture feature starring Jim Carrey. It was a movie that had a lot of really good stuff in it, but ultimately failed due to the constantly shifting tone, and the story being made too extreme. However, there is another animated Christmas Carol movie, well there is one from 1971 starring Alastair Sim which was produced by Richard Williams and Chuck Jones, but that one doesn't reach forty minutes. The one I referred to was a version from 1997 that stars Tim Curry as Scrooge, and features Ed Asner, Whoopi Goldberg, Michael York, Jodi Benson and Frank Welker. This is A Christmas Carol, 1997.

Strange to say but, there is a reason this movie has been on my list, and it's not just that I adore the story of A Christmas Carol. I remember vaguely being at my grandmother's place, around the holidays and what should be on television but this exact version of A Christmas Carol. This may have been my introduction to the classic story, and all these years later, I wanted to see if it was as... well I'll be honest I didn't really like it as a kid, but I was a kid and I had weird opinions. A part of this review is me making sure this was the version I watched on my Grandparent's TV all those years ago. Has it improved with age, or is still as weird as I remember it.

I'm not going to go over the plot this time, seeing as this is a retelling of a story I've already talk about I feel it isn't necessary. You know the story of Scrooge, the three spirits and the moral of keeping the spirit of the season in your heart. So, how good of an adaptation is this one? They do an... adequate job, but not much else. They get the basics of the story down, making it book accurate, however this does include the inherent flaw of the book. In the book, Scrooge almost immediately begins regretting his actions, and yet does not feel like he changes until the very end. You can still believe he is redeemed, but at the same time you don't really get that arc. It is quite apparent in this movie, but it is a flaw you get with most adaptations, they just hide it better I guess. That being said, I am impressed with what they managed to squeeze into just over an hour. When the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come shows Scrooge the dead body under the sheets, they cleverly combine this with people stealing from the dead man, rather than being dragged to Old Joe's. It is a serviceable adaptation, but not much else.

The same goes for book dialogue, there are lines that are from the book, but they have slight changes that make them feel different, and don't get me wrong, different is not bad. The 1984 version with George C. Scott also changed some dialogue, but this just is not the same. When we got to the point where the Ghost of Christmas Present throws one of Scrooge's lines back at him, my thought was not "Oh, the hammer's coming down", it was more "Wait, did he say that line earlier?", and yeah, I went back to the earlier scene and checked and he said the line, but it was not the same. I guess it also does not help that the tone is also a bit different in this version, toning down the darker aspects of the story and putting more emphasis on the emotional aspects. Rather than a dark and horrific scene of the dead trying in vain to aid a helpless woman, it's just two ghosts offering things to a woman who can't see them. Yes, it does get the point across, but it is a very different tone. They also add in a bit of a comedic edge, which... is fine. I didn't find it that amusing, but it did not hurt this movie. Save for how they handled Jacob Marley's face in the door knocker, it didn't upset me at all.

This is an interesting adaptation character wise. In the role of Scrooge this time is Tim Curry, definitely a good choice, he is someone I could see playing an excellent Scrooge, there are some moments where it sounds like he's channeling his interpretation of The Joker from the Batman animated series, and I'm not just saying that because that was my previous review, some of his reads sounded like that. The character is also a bit nastier in this version, going to the point of straight up attacking children and some hints that he is abusive to his dog. Oh yeah, he has a dog in this version, he doesn't add much, but is again, mostly harmless. They add a detail where Scrooge ends up relating to Tiny Tim a little bit, which is actually a kind of interesting addition to the story. In the original, and most versions of the story, Tiny Tim is less of a character and more a representation, a symbol of never-ending cheer and optimism, he's not really meant to be mourned as a character but as one would mourn the loss of innocence or faith. Having Scrooge have something to relate to with Tiny Tim makes the kid feel more like an identifiable character rather than an idea.

The ghosts were also handled interestingly. The Ghost of Christmas Past is a tricky being to really adapt properly, so design wise they went with a young child. For some reason they made him... cockney? I'm not good at identifying specific accents. The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is done well, again they do tone down the darker scenes of the story, so when Scrooge is staring at his grave at the end, it's played a bit more emotionally than dark. Then we have The Ghost of Christmas Present, and this is going to be a tough one. So, for those of you who don't know, England had a winter figure of their own before Santa Claus, in fact he was a big influence of the modern day Santa Claus. His name was Father Christmas, he was a giant man who wore a green robe and had a wreath of holly on his head like a crown. Does that sound familiar? The Ghost of Christmas Present was literally Father Christmas. Which begs the question why they made this version of the character a black woman played by Whoopi Goldberg. So, in this decade of the two-thousand and twenties, the subject of race swapping a character has... not become touchy, it's been a touchy subject for a while, but kind of became a bigger discussion with the announcement of Halle Bailey as Ariel for the live action Little Mermaid remake. Is it right to cast a person of color in the role of a character that was originally not? This is a tough issue, especially in this case. On the one hand, Father Christmas was a cultural figure, but on the other, he has been all but replaced by the modern day Santa Claus, so I don't really know what to think. To be fair, the character mostly remains unchanged despite the race and gender swap, so... yeah... I'll leave this one up to everyone else.

On to the technicals, a much easier topic to discuss because the animation is objectively passable. It's a direct-to-video movie, so the animation is not going to be spectacular. That being said, it was definitely passable, not a lot of major mistakes. The same could be said for the backing score, it is perfectly serviceable, it does its job, and not much else. The Music was composed by Megan Cavallari and John Campbell, and I can't really find much else on these two. I found a website for a John Campbell who is a composer who did work on a version of A Christmas Carol for television, but there is not confirmation on the site that it is this version of A Christmas Carol. The songs in this movie are also not that great. They serve their purpose, they aren't awful songs, but they are pretty bland. I can't imagine anyone begging for a release of this movie's soundtrack. Overall, the animation and music are serviceable.

I think that is a best word to describe this movie; Serviceable. It wanted to be a decent retelling of A Christmas Carol and it was a decent retelling of A Christmas Carol. There really isn't much to this one, and I don't really know how to rate it. Do I condemn it for being nothing special, or to I commend it for being watchable, both just kind of feel wrong. I guess it does not hurt to compare it to other versions of the story, most notably the three big ones and the 2009 version. I have a theory that the big three adaptations of the story all worked because they each highlighted an aspect of the character of Scrooge. Alastair Sim was the self-loathing misanthrope who felt like he was beyond redemption, George C. Scott was the bitter man who was molded into something he never wanted to be and Michael Caine was the good man buried under years of pain and never saw the joy in life. I don't really get any of that with Curry's Scrooge, and I can't really argue this movie being as good a movie as those three. 2009's A Christmas Carol is a different story, as that movie was almost good, fantastic even, but the minor changes really piled up and made the movie into something the story was not. I guess it depends on what you want between these two. The 2009 version takes a lot of liberties, while this one is pretty safe and bland. I dunno, I kind feel generous to this one since it is a harmless, maybe a bit too harmless, telling of the story. No, I don't think it will really change your life, but if you find it on TV, I can think of bigger wastes of time.

First Impressions: Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022)

I don't think there has been a more anticipated release for 2022 than Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio. It seemed like every little scrap of information about it made everyone far more excited for the movie. Guillermo Del Toro was immediately a draw, and him adapting such a famously dark story as Pinocchio was enough to draw a crowd, then add in Stop-Motion, throw in a production credit from The Jim Henson Company, and also give us Ewan McGregor, which come on, how would that not be a draw? I can't think of a movie that excited more people than this one. Of course, any movie that lives on hype usually dies by hype, but I think it's safe to say that this is easily the best Pinocchio movie of the year.

Yeah, high praise when you consider the direct-to-video movie and the Disney remake are not exactly high bars to jump over, but all in all, this movie was pretty good, not great, but pretty good.

I think my biggest issue would be the story, since you can kind of tell what is going to happen. They brought up that the Cricket would be given one wish at the end, and I immediately knew what he would use that wish for, that being said, it did take a few interesting turns, like Pinocchio going to this land of Death, that was pretty cool. The story taking place during war-time Italy surprisingly did more for the story than just being a depressing backdrop. No, this is not accurate to the original text, but it does seem like nobody really wants to tell a book accurate Pinocchio story any more. Pinocchio is kind of like A Christmas Carol in that regard, everyone who wants to tell the story will want to try and put their own spin on it, and I think that is pretty neat, but we don't really have that many book accurate versions of Pinocchio, even the Disney one takes its own liberties with the story.

That all being said, I did like the way the plot moved, I felt Pinocchio was a really well done character as well, you can sense that he is a good kid, just naïve and doesn't understand a whole lot. I should also talk about the animation. Netflix really had an interesting year with animation didn't it? They did Apollo 10½ which was all rotoscoped, they did Wendell & Wild which was stop motion, and they did the Scrooge movie that was a total animation trip. I feel like Netflix is spreading their wings a bit more with the kinds of movies they produce and distribute, and they are getting more A-list releases, which is fantastic. The animation for this movie is really good too, sometimes I forgot it was stop motion and thought it was really stylized computer animation.

So, this easily has to be the best movie Netflix released all year, right? Well, no. I still have to give that honour to Wendell & Wild, and honestly, Apollo 10½ comes in second. I just thought that Apollo 10½ was a very unique movie, a fascinating look at 1960s culture through the eyes of a child, and did some very interesting things with the rotoscope technique. The Sea Beast would probably be my third, since I found that one a really exciting action/adventure, though it too had a fairly predictable plot. Not that del Toro's Pinocchio isn't a really good movie, but I think I'm more impressed by the technical aspects of the movie than actually entertained by it.

That being said, I do think this is the movie that will finally lead Netflix into the right direction with their A-Game. Netflix has been seriously lacking in real A-list releases. Sure, they had Klaus, and I could argue Arlo the Alligator Boy as an A-list, but almost everything else has been D-List at best. The House is definitely a B-tier release, but almost everything released since has been A-tier quality. I think the only exceptions that I watched were Scrooge: A Christmas Carol and Marmaduke, the former being a solid B-Tier and the latter being absolute unwatchable garbage, but I think Pinocchio fit's nicely in the A-tier, and I feel that Netflix is starting to shape up. I think movies like Duck Duck Goose and The Larva Island Movie will be, not necessarily a thing of the past, but less common to see on Netflix's service. Which is good because Nimona is set to release in 2023, and I am stoked. It really does seem like Netflix is the best distributor for Nimona, and del Toro's Pinocchio kind of proved that. I can't really recommend this movie enough, this is one of the few times the end result somewhat lived up tot he hype.

First Impressions: Strange World (2022)

 

Disney has had a... fascinating year in 2022, hasn't it? They began this year by releasing easily the worst movie of the year, and they have been making misstep after misstep. From mishandling Pixar releases to releasing subpar trailers, it really does seem like Disney was in a... whatever kind of state this year. Of course I would be remiss if I did not bring up the fact that Bob Chapek was let go as CEO and Bob Iger came back, I think that is just the peak of how strange this year was for the Disney corporation. I guess it wouldn't be so rough if they released something that was a total "Wow" movie, something that was really great. It really feels like the best movie they released all year was The Bob's Burgers Movie, which wasn't bad, but like, if that is the best movie you release all year, than the year really is not your best. However, the latest movie in the Disney animated canon has been released. This is the high point of Disney's releases, because this is the one that everyone can get into, kids, parents, animation fans, the lot, everyone can be excited for a release in the animated canon, so how was Strange World?

It was okay.

This is not a Raya and the Last Dragon okay, I did enjoy this movie, but this just kind of felt like a standard animated movie. It's the kind of movie I feel is the standard of what is expected of Disney movies today. Remember Encanto? That was a really good movie, it felt different from the rest of Disney's catalogue even though it really wasn't that much different. This is the opposite end of Encanto, it feels the same as other Disney movies, but it has some things that make it stand out. I've heard this movie described as "By the Numbers" and I do have to agree, not that I could really predict every point this movie was going to hit, but like, nothing was surprising. I feel like the best movie to compare this to would be Klaus, which was a good movie, but very predictable. While this movie wasn't as predictable, it also wasn't as good. Klaus got away with the predictable plot because of the great characters and unique animation, and since Strange World doesn't really have either, you aren't really left with a whole lot.

Not that the characters are bad, they're just kind of standard. They kind of spell out the arc the father is going to have to go through, they spell out the arc his son is going through, and they do these arcs well, but like, if you're going to do something that's been done a thousand times, you should aim for better than "done well". Like that Scrooge movie I talked about in my last First Impressions, we've seen A Christmas Carol done dozens of times, so it decided to do something a little bit different, and I think it succeeded, this one feels like its going through the motions. It's story, characters and themes are not wholly unique, and that isn't bad, because they are done well, but that is all they are, done well.

I think what made Encanto really work was that it was more of a twist in expectations, there was no real villain, there was no grand adventure that needed to be taken, there was no huge climax, there was no big reveal. Encanto wasn't atypical of Disney's output but it was different, Strange World really isn't, especially since this movie has a reveal. Disney's reveals have usually been for their modern villains, like Hans, Bellwether and so forth, but those aren't the only reveals, and Strange World's reveal is... I don't want to say it's stupid, but like, I feel like you could have told this story without the big reveal.

So, where do I stand on Strange World? It is a good movie, but like, it just kind of fits in with the big conglomeration of mush that is 2022's animated feature line-up. It really does seem like a lackluster year when a reanimated project and two movies that were film festival releases from last year warrant spots on the "Best of the Year" list. 2022 has been the year where the bad releases weren't that bad, and the good releases weren't that good. Like, what movies could be on my bad list? Luck, Pinocchio: A True Story, DC League of Super Pets, Paws of Fury, none of these movies are that bad, like they're bad but they are mostly the bland and boring kind of bad. Meanwhile the good movies mostly ended up being the "it's okay" kind of good, and Strange World really falls into that category. Do I recommend it? On some level, yeah, but I can't say that it's a strong recommendation, it's the kind of recommendation where I say, "If you have some time to kill and want something that isn't bad, check it out." That really has been the theme for 2022's animated movies this year, hasn't it?

First Impressions: Scrooge: A Christmas Carol (2022)

It's December, that time of year we all start to put on our favourite Holiday classics. Rudolph, The Grinch, Charlie Brown, Home Alone, maybe you're one of those people who watches Die Hard on Christmas, I don't judge, but everyone has at least one Christmas Carol movie in their holiday rotation. Maybe it's The Muppets version, maybe it's the Mickey Mouse version, maybe it's the one with Alastair Sim or George C. Scott. Plenty of classic Holiday movies to enjoy, and Netflix has released yet another holiday movie that may or may not be a classic. You know, I'll be honest, though I had my issues with Klaus, I thought it was still pretty solid, so will this adaptation of A Christmas Carol fall into the same line? or is this the one to break Netflix's winning streak of 2022?

First and foremost, I must be real, do not treat this as a straight forward adaptation. The iconic story is still intact, but it is very clearly its own interpretation. While dialogue is definitely based on the book, it is not lifted from the book word for word. I actually quite enjoy this change, and while I'll miss some iconic lines, at the end of the day, it is nice to see a much more unique take on the story. It is not just another retelling, it takes some liberties, it makes some changes, it becomes its own thing. It's not just A Christmas Carol but with The Muppets, it's not just A Christmas Carol but with some extra scenes, it is not just A Christmas Carol but traumatic, it is its own version of the story, and I do have to respect and admire that. I feel that if you are going to adapt a story like A Christmas Carol, an old story that has a countless number of adaptations, at some point you are going to want to deviate from the book in some new ways, and the ways they did were interesting.

One of my favourite changes was The Ghost of Christmas Past, they kept the candle motif, but they gave her a very snarky personality and I absolutely loved it. The Ghost from the original story was always typically portrayed as ethereally distant, a straight-laced "Here are the facts" kind of person. Here, she is a lot more enjoyable to watch and they do have fun with her being a candle made of wax, having her shapeshift. They also change the Ghost of Christmas Present a bit, he feels a bit more like the Muppets version where he is just a bundle of good cheerful vibes, but at the end instead of him just dying, they actually make him become the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, now that is ingenious, I genuinely thought that was an excellent idea.

I also think the characterizations are good. Scrooge is a bit tricky to get right, but they definitely got close with this version. He is a bit like the Michael Caine portrayal, where he is the good man buried underneath years of pain, though with Caine it came out a bit stronger since we actually saw his character arc. We see him go through his past and then he's cracking jokes with Christmas Present, he has his awkward dance and is excited to see the festivities of the holiday. This one feels a bit like Caine mixed with George C. Scott. I should give special mention to Luke Evans, who managed to be a good casting choice for Scrooge despite me never thinking he could pull it off. Somehow this movie succeeded where the 2009 adaptation failed.

I mean that in more ways than one too. The 2009 version tried to be thrilling by amplifying the darker aspects of the story, to the point where it became too dark and the pleasant moments failed to balance out properly. Here, the thrilling stuff they added was well done, could be much for a young child but not too much. It is that kind of cool sort of creepy where you're scared, but you can't quite take your eyes away. The 2009 version was also just unpleasant all around, the spirits genuinely felt spiteful and angry, but here, they feel very playful, and their jabs at Scrooge feel like, well playful jabs. While there are some dark moments in this movie, it never gets as dark as the 2009 version, so I do think this is good to show kids, it fits in with kids movies from like the early nineties.

So, is this one of the greatest versions of A Christmas Carol of all time? Well... no, there are some things that do hold it back. The technical aspects are a bit lacking, the animation is kind of that generic looking CG, but when you don't have the budget or expectations of a studio like Disney or DreamWorks you do get a bit of leeway. The songs are pretty hit and miss, the opening song and the song in Christmas Future are a bit lacking, and The Ghost of Christmas Present's song number is lyrically lacking, but gets by on just being a vibe, it's not an "It Feels Like Christmas", but it's in the same ballpark, to be fair the rest of the songs range from "Not great but hits to notes" to genuinely really good. Then we get the stuff that I also could have done without, namely the flashbacks. Throughout the movie, there are small scenes that show stuff we have previously seen, usually to connect what happened in Scrooge's past to what happens in Scrooge's present. I feel like this is unnecessary, kids are much smarter than we give them credit for and I do think they could make the connection with something familiar, especially within the same movie.

That all being said, I actually quite enjoyed this movie. I think I would rank it as my fourth favourite adaptation of the story. The Muppets is first, than Alastair Sim, than George C. Scott, then this one. Mickey's Christmas Carol follows closely, it's a good short, but it is a bit too condensed for my liking. I do feel like this one tries to be its own version of the story and succeeds at trying. If you want a straight forward adaptation, I'd go for one of the big three, but if you are getting tired of the straight forward adaptations and want to try something that is, identifiably A Christmas Carol, but not trying to be a true adaptation, I say give this one a go. I really have to say this, Netflix you have been on a winning streak for animated movies this year, you do have some duds, but overall, I'm impressed with your output.

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) - A Fantastic Adventure Starring the Caped Crusader

 

On November 10, 2022, the world lost an amazing talent. Kevin Conroy, American actor and iconic voice of Batman since 1992, passed away. Kevin Conroy for many was the voice of the Caped Crusader. We argue everyday about the best live action portrayal of the Dark Knight, but when it came to the animated Batman, Kevin Conroy was the only name on everyone's lips for a good while. While many actors have stepped in the booth, none have become as synonymous with the hero as Kevin Conroy has. It is a bit difficult to write this since Kevin Conroy was, and always will be, my favourite Batman. The way he slipped between Bruce Wayne and Batman gave the performance more life and believability than most of the live action actors (Looking at you Kilmer and Clooney). Batman means a lot to a lot of people, and Kevin Conroy really got the power and pain of the character. To honor him, and his legacy, I have decided to take a look at the first animated Batman movie to reach the big screen, 1993's Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.

A new menace sweeps over the city of Gotham, and it is striking some prominent gang members. While everyone believes that Batman has gone off the deep end, Batman is trying to get to the bottom of the new mysterious being known as the Phantasm, which becomes difficult when one of the targeted gang members gets The Joker involved. Meanwhile, an old acquaintance reignites some memories in Bruce Wayne, memories that deal with becoming the Masked Vigilante. The mystery of the Phantasm is solid, and the flashbacks can be downright heartbreaking. The entire plot is suspenseful and intense, especially when The Joker gets involved. They do leave a few things unexplained, but nothing that is really essential to the overall plot of the movie, the whole plot was exciting and intriguing and really made you feel for the characters. I do feel like the crew behind the Animated Series really understood Batman better than most other people who work on Batman do.

This extends to the characters, what really makes the Animated Series Batman my favourite Batman is that they really understood batman's Lawful alignment. The episode "Trial" is one of my all-time favourites, as it is a perfect example of this. Well, this movie is the same Batman we know and love, and he, as usual, is voiced perfectly by the late Kevin Conroy. The rest of the characters are great as well, the love interest Andrea Beaumont is very much a lot like Bruce in a lot of ways, trying to hide the pain of the past. Of course, The Joker is a wonderful mix of entertaining and threatening, and Alfred also gets some good snark in once and a while. This is all emphasized by amazing voice talent, of course with Mark Hamill as The Joker, but also Dana Delany, Hart Bochner, Dick Miller, Stacy Keach, and Abe Vigoda, all turning in excellent performances. I never would have thought Abe Vigoda would translate into the booth very well, but he surprisingly did. I also really got to give kudos to the writing, not just the writing of the plot, but of the dialogue. Many characters are given small lines that a lot of movies would probably have cut out, just small little reactions to each other that makes them feel much more real. Really, this dialogue is just the icing on an already really good cake.

What really got me in this movie were the intense and thrilling action scenes. Not just because of how well they were done, but because of the music. The background score did what a good backing score should do, it emphasized the scene without distracting from it or fading into the background too much. Striking this balance can be difficult, so major props to Shirley Walker. Let's also not forget the animation, the animation for this movie is top notch. While some close-ups look odd and there is one scene where Batman uses his grappling hook that just didn't look right to me, the rest of the animation is phenomenal. Minor facial expressions are scattered around this movie which give us an idea of what the characters are thinking, the impact of physical blow can almost be felt, of course The Joker is always fantastically animated, and I really love the opening credits, panning through a stylized CG rendering of Gotham City, it is all very cool.

So of course, the question now has to be asked, where does this rank amongst the other Batman movies? Honestly, I think the answer depends on what you're looking for. If you're looking for a more old school comic book movie, you have Batman '89, but a more serious crime drama would give you The Dark Knight, while The Batman 2022 is much more of a serious murder mystery, and this one has a little bit of all three. In the end, I guess it depends on what kind of Batman movie you want, do you want a comic book movie, a crime thriller, a murder mystery or something in between. I do think this movie serves as a good transition point between the milder 80s and 90s Batman movies and the much darker Nolan trilogy and 2022 movie.

Despite failing at the box office, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm has become recognized as one of the greatest superhero movies of all time, and for good reason, this movie is very well done. The animation is great, the music is stellar, the writing is believable, the action scenes are intense and thrilling, and the mystery is solid and keeps you thinking. It has a little bit of everything for a Batman fan, and if you're a fan of the animated series, well it's just a no brainer to give this a watch, but if you are a new comer, I really only recommend watching the Animated Series first because it's just a fantastic show, but you can come into this movie completely blind. It has a little bit of everything for a Batman fan. It's exciting, suspenseful and humanizes the main cast, it is easily one of the best Batman movies ever made, I can't recommend it enough. Rest in Peace Kevin Conroy, we'll all miss you.

Tom and Jerry: The Movie (1992) - A Weird Way to Make a Movie Featuring an Iconic Duo

 

When it comes to iconic cartoons of the golden age, according to Wikipedia being from 1928 until 1972, which seems way to broad because that covers the rise of theatrical animation, television animation, Computer animation and just barely reaches the release of Pong, but regardless, in the era of theatrical shorts, there were many iconic names, Walt Disney, Termite Terrace, Fleischer Studios, and probably one of the most iconic, Hanna-Barbera. Though Tom and Jerry was an MGM property, they will forever be linked to the two men who brought television animation into the mainstream. Their form of comedy was not as well written as Looney Tunes, but more cartoony than a standard Disney cartoon, making Tom and Jerry icons in animation for years to come. Like most icons in animation, it was only a matter of time before they got their own movie, but these two work best with slapstick comedy and little to no dialogue, how can a movie around these two work?

I'm actually not the biggest Tom and Jerry fan, I do enjoy the shorts but I don't really go out of my way to watch them. I think to my favourite shorts from the Looney Tunes and remember just how brilliant the writing was and how well the characters worked off each other, or Goofy cartoons and remember some of the satire on American culture, and all I can really think about Tom and Jerry is how good the slapstick is, and it is very good slapstick, but I do tend to gravitate towards the better written comedy. Then again, a movie may be what this series needed, cinematic writing could make the slapstick even funnier, so does the iconic duo work in a theatrical setting?

The plot follows Tom and Jerry as they wander the streets after being left behind as their owners move house, or is it just owner? Doesn't matter, this part of the movie is almost completely silent, has a decent background track and works alright, it's not a particularly funny segment, but once the movie gets going it should get better right? Well, then they come across a little orphaned girl who is running away from her awful Aunt, this is in a Tom and Jerry movie. Okay, giving the benefit of the doubt that this was all necessary for a Tom and Jerry movie to function, that a human character with a problem for Tom and Jerry to assist with was the only way this movie could work, a little girl trying to avoid her awful guardian and look for her lost father is probably the last thing I would think of for a Tom and Jerry movie plot, it flows alright, but the plot is just flawed from the ground level.

The biggest thing a lot of people will bring up is the fact that Tom and Jerry actually speak in this movie. This is a problem because Tom and Jerry were mostly silent characters, though Tom did have some dialogue on occasion, but when that happened it was predominately to emphasize a joke. It's not like a movie with silent characters can't be done, or even characters that speak incomprehensibly, but there is a lot of effort that needs to be put into a movie like that. On top of that I really don't think Richard Kind works as the voice of Tom, he doesn't get the screams right, and it just doesn't sound right coming out of Tom's mouth, which you think would be a problem with the fact that the characters are speaking, but Jerry's voice is a bit closer to how I would imagine Jerry would sound. This was the final film role for the late Dana Hill, and while her voice does make Jerry sound very young, it does work better than Richard King as Tom. To be fair, the rest of the voice acting is okay, my only other problem is with Tony Jay who sounds like he's doing a Vincent Price impression.

On the topic of vocal performances, this movie is also a musical. I'll be honest, the songs are not great, but they aren't the worst I've heard. A big part of that is because of the music by Henry Mancini, who also did the music for The Great Mouse Detective. While I don't really like the songs, they are memorable, and the music is well-done, it's just a shame that they aren't all sung the best, or the best written. Which is similar to what can be said about the animation, it's not the worst and does bring the classic characters into the modern age visually, it's just a shame that some of the shots look weird and the editing is not the best. On top of that, the actual slapstick in the movie just does not hit as well as it should, we never see any of the characters morph to show the impact of the hit, or the slapstick itself is just very light and basic.  This movie doesn't work as a slapstick comedy, and it doesn't really work as an exciting adventure.

On some level, I can kind of respect the choices they made for this movie. I can imagine that the idea of making a movie starring Tom and Jerry was difficult from the get-go and a lot of tough choices had to be made, but on the other hand not a lot of those choices really work. It fails as a slapstick because the actual slapstick is not very good, it fails as an exciting adventure because it's Tom and Jerry these two things just should not go together. On the one hand you have Peanut Butter, the other hand has jalapeños, I mean with the right amount of each you probably could get something good, but when you throw them together without much thought as to how it would all work, you're going to get something bad, and yeah, this movie is bad, but I would not go as far as to say it's awful, it kind of harkens back to my thoughts on the Felix the Cat movie, where if you're a big fan of Tom and Jerry, you're probably going to despise this movie a lot more, but even if you aren't it still is not a good movie, stick with the classic shorts.

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977) - A Cute and Comfortable Viewing Experience

 

October was a bit more packed than I anticipated, so apologies for the late review but I did not have the chance to really watch anything, when that happens I think it is just easiest to put on a comfort movie, a movie that might not be great, it might not even be good, but you have watched it so many times, and every time you do it just brings you a certain amount of joy that not even your favourite movies really match, easily my favourite comfort movies are The Muppet Chirstmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island, but I think I should talk about a movie prior to the 1980s, not that I have not looked at any movie from before that time this year, but it has been leaning more towards more recent movies, movies from 1990 onwards, so I figured today, let's take a look at one of my other favourite comfort movies, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, which I do have to call it that to distinguish it from the 2011 movie, simply titled Winnie the Pooh, is an interesting movie in the Disney Animated Canon. Technically, this qualifies as a package film. Disney's package films were mostly part of their war-time era output, where the films did not really have much of a narrative and were just a bunch of shorter films and ideas strung together. I've looked at two of these movies prior, The Three Caballeros sort of qualifies as it is kind of a similar idea, but does have some semblance of a central theme, of course the first movie I reviewed for this blog was also one of the package films, Fun and Fancy Free, neither of those movies were great, but not absolutely awful. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is a compilation of the three Winnie the Pooh shorts released prior, "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree", "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day", and "Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too". I'll talk about each short briefly before talking about the big picture as a whole.

Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree is the classic Pooh bear story, Pooh wants honey, he can't get honey, he goes to have lunch with Rabbit and plugs up his doorway. I think this is the story everyone is familiar with. A couple interesting things to note is that Piglet is nowhere to be seen in this story. Rather, a new character, Gopher, is introduced, not being from the original books. Regardless, it is still a cute little story. This is followed by Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day, which is also a cute story and we are introduced to Piglet, Tigger and the Heffalumps and Woozles in this short. It is also a more memorable short with Tigger's introduction jungle, the Heffalumps and Woozles nightmare and Piglet flying like a kite. I do think that Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too is the weakest of the shorts, I dunno I just remember not liking it as much as a kid. Maybe it was just that I didn't like seeing people be sad, I dunno. I like the start of it with Rabbit trying to lose Tigger in the woods, only to end up being lost himself, but still, this is probably my least favourite short of the three.

In between shorts are, I'm assuming new segments to tie them together. These are mostly with Pooh and the narrator talking. These are actually quite cute little bits of fourth-wall breaking. There is also the ending, which isn't some big song number or major emotional moment. It is still an emotional moment, but it is a more subtle one, one that isn't really direct about how the audience should be feeling. Is it a sweet moment between Pooh and Christopher? Is it a sad moment? Is it both, is it neither? I think moments like this are important for children's films because emotions are complex, so it is important to know that it is okay to not know how you feel, or how you're supposed to feel. While I don't think it is one of the best endings to a Disney movie, Monsters Inc. still has my vote for that, I can say it is a good one.

I think what really makes this movie work though is that, it is just a nice warm, fuzzy, comfortable watch. It's not like there aren't any major stakes, but the major stuff does not last for very long, and it resolves satisfactory, this movie is not an episode of Arthur or one of the Franklin specials, it doesn't have major emotional issues that the characters have to deal with, but it's not all sugary-fluff minor issues either. I brought this up before, but the characters do have to be believable for the plot, like you wouldn't see Winnie the Pooh deal with the sensitive topic of Cancer, and it felt really weird that they used the characters to discuss the topic of Stranger Danger. The conflicts in this movie do seem like conflicts these characters are more fit to deal with. On top of that, the characters are just so comforting to watch, they mostly embody one trait, Eeyore is pessimistic, Owl is narcissistic, Piglet is timid, but these characters work of each other so well. It's kind of like Fraggle Rock, on their own the characters are fine, but they work the best when they're together. It also helps that their voices are perfectly cast, no offense to Jim Cummings, but Sterling Holloway and Paul Winchell will always be Pooh and Tigger in my mind.

To top it all off is the animation and music. This was the era where Disney's art style looked a bit sketchier, and while I can see some people not liking it too much, I think this is the movie where the style works the best. It looks like an animated children's book, which is perfect because this movie is pretty much an animated children's book. plus the colours are easy on the eyes, there are not too many animation errors, and while there is reused animation, and it is pretty obvious, it isn't egregious, the worst example is the reversed animation during the ballet dance part of the Heffalumps and Woozles sequence. Speaking of which, the songs in this movie are wonderful, I mean, they're Sherman Brothers songs, and these guys pretty much laid the groundwork for modern Disney musicals. Alan Menken, Elton John and Tim Rice, Lin-Manuel Miranda, they're all continuing a path that the Sherman Brothers refined.

So while I can't argue that The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh is one of the greatest movies in the animated canon, I mean when you're putting it up to movies like Beauty and the Beast, The Fox and the Hound, Treasure Planet, Encanto and Fantasia, yeah, it is not going to hold much water, but I don't think it wants to. I think this movie was what it was, a cute and charming little movie that everyone can get behind. It's simple enough for children, but has some subtle complexities that adults can really get into. I mean, there are people who could talk about the complex simplicity and the simple complexities of Winnie the Pooh, heck, someone wrote an entire book explaining Taoism through Winnie the Pooh. It's hard to not really recommend this movie, I do consider it mandatory viewing for anyone who wants to go into art, animation, filmmaking or storytelling, so while it is not an exceptional movie, I do think it is a worthwhile one.