Where is the Affection Coming From for Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure?

In may of 2021, I did a review of the 1977 movie Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure, a bizarre and kind of over-stimulating movie that I thought was worth watching solely for the fact that it was one of very few kinds of movies. Weirdly enough, this little cult movie has taken on quite an interesting legacy, as in 2023 a pilot was released for this internet series titled The Amazing Digital Circus, and to say that the show has obvious influences from Raggedy Ann is putting it lightly. It is interesting to me because, this show may have revived the Raggedy Ann fandom, or at least made it more visible. Everyone pointing out references and entire lines taken from the movie, it is quite clear that the movie had left an impact on Gooseworx, enough for them to sneak all the references into their own show. There definitely is a growing appreciation for this movie, and while I cannot say that it is all thanks to The Amazing Digital Circus, I think it helped to put this movie back into the spotlight. Which makes me ask, where does the affection come from?

I think it's pertinent to begin with the movie's reception at the time, because like most cult movies it did not have the smoothest start. From what is documented as a four-million dollar budget, the movie was a massive flop not even coming close to breaking even, this is of course, not the biggest budget or lowest box office returns, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within had a budget of 137-million dollars and only made up just over 85-million at the box office, but the disparity is still pretty notable. The film also did not do so hot critically, which is not to say it didn't do well critically, Roger Ebert had some positive words on the movie, and another critic even said the movie "Compares favorably with the best of Disney." This is not low praise, however there were criticisms about the story, pacing, characters, and the songs. As of right now (March 12th, 2025 as of writing) the movie has a 6.7 Rating on IMDb and 58% on Rotten Tomatoes. Clearly this is not a movie that everyone will enjoy, but those who do enjoy it absolutely enjoy it.

I must confess, I can't argue with the movie's criticisms, I think the movie does have a sloppy plot, sort of bland characters and an overabundance of songs, I also found the movie to be very overstimulating at points, but with all of that said, I still can't help but love it. I don't think I can put this highly in my list of favourite movies, but I can't think of any other movie that is this level of anything, in my review I said "It's like Yellow submarine dialed up to twelve", and I stand by that, it is a one of a kind movie that I don't think we've seen the likes of before or since, and that is why I admire the movie as much as I do like it. If there was one movie I could suggest you absolutely have to watch at least once, it would be this one, solely because it genuinely is a "You have to see it to believe it" kind of movie, and that is no guarantee you'll like it, I don't think all that many people will like it, but it's just that kind of movie where watching it is an experience, something that really showcases what is possible in animation, and I think this is what a lot of people are gravitating towards.

If I had to hazard a guess as to where the affection for this movie comes from, and I must stress this is simply assumption on my part, I think the affection comes largely from the unique identity of the movie, and the love for bizarre animation. I think people have a craving for things that are weird and more out-there, stuff like a Don't Hug Me, I'm Scared or even a Sam & Max: Freelance Police, and we shockingly get little of that in animation. Yeah, there are weird things in animation, but there is always a grounding in these weird projects that give them a sense of normalcy, and there really is not much of that here. Plus, there also has to be affection for this movie on a technical level, the animation is excellent at points, almost hypnotic, and when the songs are good, they are memorable and well put together. I think affection for this movie also comes from the same kind of affection I have for Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings movie, in that there is an ambitious project here that is not fully realized, but in this case I think it is a lot more realized than Lord of the Rings was.

Given the movie's unique identity, animation and songs, and the ambition of Richard Williams and the rest of the crew, I think the affection this movie has is more than understandable. Of course there is one aspect that has yet to be touched upon; nostalgia. Raggedy Ann & Andy are a big part of a lot of people's childhoods, and seeing as this was the only movie based on the characters, it makes sense people nostalgic about them would gravitate towards it. It also does not hurt that this is probably the best Raggedy Ann animation we currently have, with things like the Fleischer Studios cartoon being kind of sucky, the Chuck Jones shorts being alright, and the 1980s cartoon series being... a thing that exists, the only real competition the movie has are the original books, and maybe the comics. It makes sense that someone feeling nostalgic would probably find this movie, give it a watch and have the bizarre adventure stick in their mind like that annoying commercial jingle that will never go away.

I think it's nice to see this movie kind of given a second life, it's practically one of a kind so I like that it's being pulled out from the obscure abysses. I don't see this movie taking over the internet in the same way that Shrek or SpongeBob or even Bee Movie ever has, but I definitely see a growing fanbase for it. While I can't say it is a particularly great movie, the affection for it is not undeserved in the slightest. Maybe the fanbase will be vocal enough at some point for the characters to come back into popularity, but as for now we have some charming books, some delightful comics, a wild and wonderful movie, and some other animated properties that are nice to have around. Plus that Fleischer Studios short film, that one also exists. If you haven't seen this movie yet, I gave it a slight recommendation in my initial review, but that is still a recommendation, I do not want anyone to pass up the experience of this weird, bizarre, but all around lovable movie.

Analyzing The Simpsons: Is Bart Simpson Actually "Cool"?

We all know who The Simpson family members are as characters. Homer is the dimwitted but ultimately loving father, Marge is the caring but no-nonsense housewife, Lisa is the smart and principled daughter, Maggie is the surprisingly competent baby, and Bart is the cool, trouble-making son. However, is that actually true? I stand by most of what I say about Homer Simpson, I think that beneath his callousness, he is still a good person who cares deeply about his family, and I would love to make a whole analysis on as to why I believe that. However, there has been someone else in the Simpson family that absolutely mystifies me, someone who has such an established persona that I'm no entirely sure is accurate to who the character is. It's time I ask this question in earnest, let's take a page out of Super Eyepatch Wolf and TheRealJims and talk Simpsons; Is Bart Simpson inherently a cool kid?

Now, to begin with, it will be important to define the word "Cool". What is "Cool"? There are a lot of definitions for the word "Cool" which range to unfriendliness, calmness and the temperature. The "cool" definition we're going for is the aesthetic one. Described as "Being compatible with admirable social norms of society or a group of people" by the Oxford English Dictionary, or at least, by Wikipedia sourcing the Oxford English Dictionary. This definition is going to be the big point of contention for this argument, because the perception of what is "Cool" varies from not only group to group, but also person to person. So, it will be good to analyze the kind of culture that Bart Simpson wants to fit in.

First and foremost, Bart Simpson is a rebel, he is someone who likes to act different from the crowd. This is showcased especially in "Bart's Inner Child", where he finds that once everyone starts acting like he does, he is not as fond of it as he thought. This is because, at his core, Bart Simpson wants to stand out, he wants to be noticed. In "Summer of 4 Ft. 2", when Bart sees Lisa trying to make new friends, he does a whole routine to get their attention, even sabotaging Lisa out of jealousy. It's very much in Bart's character that when attention is taken away from him, he doesn't always handle it well. This is why Bart constantly has to pull bigger and more destructive pranks, because the old cherry bomb in the toilet would get old, so to keep the attention on him, he has to do more outrageous things.

On my Tumblr, I put up a poll where I asked this question. Tumblr can be a fantastic place for communities and fandoms, but it is also a total hellhole of a website, plus the poll only got nineteen votes anyway so take it with a grain of salt. On the poll, I gave three options, "Absolutely" Bart is inherently cool, "Well... Kinda" Bart isn't cool, but has his moments, and "No, he's a dork", which should be self-explanatory. Out of the nineteen votes, the majority of voters, 47.4% of them, said "Well... Kinda", falling into the middle where Bart does have his moments of being cool, but overall isn't really a cool kid. 36.8% of voters thought that Bart is inherently cool, while a minority, 15.8% of voters, voted that Bart isn't cool, and he's a dork. To be absolutely clear, I don't vote in my own polls, largely because I want the results to surprise me, and I can't really say I'm surprised by these results. Even if I had one hundred votes, or even a thousand votes, I expect the results would be rather similar, with most people taking the middle ground, but a larger majority saying that Bart is cool. The irritating part of it is that I specifically put "(Explain)" in the options because I wanted to hear people's opinions, and there were only two comments that gave one sentence explanations, and I'm pretty sure one is a role-play blog.

So it's clear that a majority of people do, on some level, think that Bart is a cool kid, and I can see why. Remember, The Simpsons was a big part of the pop culture of the 1990s, so Bart encapsulated a lot of the clichés and stereotypes of disenfranchised youths. Bart was not afraid to disrespect authority, be it his principal, his father, or whoever he sets his mind on. However, I don't think that inherently makes anyone "Cool", being a rebel is not just how you respond to something, but how you stand for something. Bart will pull pranks, do graffiti, put cherry bombs in toilets, but when push comes to shove, he still goes to Church with his family, even though he openly dislikes it and thinks it's rubbish. What I'm saying is, I don't think Bart is actually cool at all, he very clearly does what he does for attention, not for any other reason. He may take a stand for something, sometimes, but more often than not, he's doing something solely for the attention he receives from it.

This may have changed in later seasons, I'm not exactly TheRealJims or The Simpsons Theory over here, but my view of the character is that, he only causes trouble because it gets him attention that he craves. Bart is very much the kind of person who would openly mock a pop-star one minute, and then become their biggest fan the minute they become cool to like. Bart may be a rebel, but he still follows a crowd because that is where the most eyes will be on him, and I don't think that is particularly cool. I think being "cool" is a lot about being true to yourself, but also standing for principles, and being willing to stick to those despite how much others try to beat you back into conformity. When people are mocking you for being Vegetarian, or are trying to force you back into Christianity when you left, and you stand by your principles to defy them, that is what I think is genuinely cool. What I'm saying is, I think Lisa is actually cooler than Bart is.

It's kind of ironic in a sense, Bart, the bad boy rebel who skateboards and disrespects authority is the uncool kid, while Lisa, the over achieving nerd who has few regular friends and spends most of her time alone is the actual cool one. However, that is only ironic on a superficial level, if it's ironic at all, look the word "Irony" is thrown around so much in analysis that it's kind of lost any meaning. Regardless, the point I'm making here is that Bart is really only cool on a surface level.

I think that saying Bart is a "Dork" is a bit much, like I wouldn't put him in the same league as Milhouse. That being said, Bart comes off as someone who is very conscious about his image, so he'll only try something new if others encourage it. Bart is someone who could very easily slip into that "loser" role, become someone who is washed up and desperate for attention. If we were to use an analogy, I see Bart as a YouTube channel that has millions of subscribers, but the content is just kind of bland and same-y, while Lisa is a more specialized niche channel that has large gaps between uploads, but the content is engaging and gets genuine engagement. In other words, Bart is a MrBeast while Lisa is a DefunctLand.

In some respects, I don't think this revelation is really that shocking, there are lots of moments where we get a glimpse behind the curtain of Bart. I think even the writers kind of pegged Bart as a follower in a rebel's jacket from the start, as seen in "The Telltale Head", where Bart almost proudly shows that he cut the head off the Jebediah Springfield Statue, until the bully trio start saying they're going to beat up the person that did it. It makes sense that Bart does things that he thinks will get him the most attention. Really, the idea that Bart is not as cool as he thinks he is, probably isn't that new of a concept, I mean his best friend is Milhouse of all people, the ultimate follower. It kind of says something when hanging out with Martin is an upgrade. I wouldn't go so far as to call Bart a "Poser", mostly because that word is like "Irony" in that it's been thrown around so much it's lost all meaning, but also because I do think Bart does genuinely enjoy the things he does, but it seems like that is more of a perk to doing them than anything else.

Bart Simpson is not a cool kid, that is the main argument I'm making, that is the opinion I am expressing. However, I think the main takeaway here is, Bart isn't uncool because of the things he does, he's uncool because he does things for essentially the wrong reasons. It kind of reminds me of when influencers or celebrities make a statement, there is a difference between Conrad Veidt mandating in his contracts that any Nazi he portrays has to be a villain, and Madonna making the "American Life" album, one is an actor making a demand that others have to follow because of something he believes in, the other is a musician who is making claims and statements to drum up attention and controversy to keep the spotlight on them for just a little bit longer. Bart Simpson is an attention seeking kid who does things predominately for the kind of attention he would get from it, and I don't think that makes him cool. Still, he's cooler than Milhouse, so that's got to be worth something, right?

The Simpsons Movie (2007) - A Good Movie with a Bit of a Deeper Side

 

Has there been a movie that you feel is underappreciated? Not a movie that is over-hated or obscure, I'm talking about movies that generally, people are positive towards, but not necessarily favourable. Like, you bring up the movie and people will go "Yeah, that was a good movie", but not much else. For me, The Simpsons Movie is that movie, that movie I think doesn't really get the admiration it deserves, which is weird don't you think? I mean, this movie is not something like Felidae, a risky and one of a kind animated movie, nor is it like Treasure Planet, a very expertly crafted movie that can be considered a masterpiece. The Simpsons Movie seems like it would fall more into the camp of movies like The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie or DuckTales: The Movie, good movies that are entertaining, but that's all they aspire to be, and there is nothing wrong with movies that just want to be solid entertainment, but to say The Simpsons Movie is one of the most underappreciated movies, is to imply that it is more than an entertaining romp with our favourite characters. It also helps that I've been watching a bunch of Simpsons episodes recently, strike the ADHD iron while it's hot, am I right?

The plot is not wholly different from a usual Simpsons episode, it starts with one plot and then veers into another entirely. As condensed as I can make it, The Simpsons Movie follows the Simpson family as another one of Homer's screw-ups puts Springfield under a dome, but they manage to escape. It's kind of like three Simpsons episodes put together, like the first part is Lisa's plot about the lake and Homer's plot about getting a pig, then the second part is the dome, and finally it's Alaska and the plan to blow up Springfield. Despite this, each bit flows into each other nicely, we can see the progression from point A to point B to point C. Homer gets the pig, needs to dispose of it's feces, and dumps it into the lake, which was established to be heavily polluted by Lisa's plot. This prompts EPA involvement which leads to the dome, and so on and so forth. However, this plot is not the stuff I want to talk about, it's fantastically done, but there is something deeper here.

The Simpsons Movie is about how far one man will go to protect the people he loves. That statement may sound wrong, after all this is Homer Simpson we're talking about, this is like saying Family Guy is about one man learning to love his family. However, Homer is not Peter Griffin, while both of their idiotic tendencies have been amplified over the years, there are lines Homer would never cross that Peter has. Peter is callous while Homer is just thick in the head, so it doesn't feel like a stretch to say that this movie is about him and the lengths he'll go to protect his family. Listen to his excuses when the angry mob is trying to kill him, his excuse is that he's afraid for his family, obviously a cover for his real fear, but it's interesting that his first excuse was to protect his family. Him blowing off Marge as she uses his own words against him, an awful thing absolutely, but think of it from his perspective, he and his family are safe, and now Marge wants to risk everyone's life for a town that tried to kill them. Homer also does ridiculous things like dog sled, and then walk, from Alaska to Springfield, or does the motorcycle ride up the dome, this is not a man who doesn't care. He is destroyed when Marge and the kids leave to save Springfield, and his epiphany vision has features them prominently.

I'm not going to sit here and tell you that this is one of the deepest character dives in cinema history. I am however, going to say that this movie might have been hiding something in plain sight. I could easily see the writers pitching ideas for how Homer goes from Alaska to Springfield, and they could have done something really silly and jokey, like Homer dog sledding to an airport or a seaport, or even managing to hitchhike with some hilarious one-off character, but they went with something that wasn't as silly, which strikes me as interesting.

Beyond the plot, the movie is pretty solid. It's comedy is a bit... 2000s, but there are a lot of jokes and gags that do make me chuckle, to straight up roar with laughter. This movie was released between Seasons between 18 and 19, which is the era of Simpsons I grew up with, so if you're fond of this era of The Simpsons, I think there should be some bits here that you'll enjoy. These are still some of our favourite characters with some good writing. Admittedly, the satire stuff, like President Arnold Schwarzenegger, or Mr. Burns claiming "For once the rich white man is in charge", have aged a bit, and one gag about Fox advertising shows during movies, I mean in the era of Streaming, that joke feels like a relic of a by-gone era, but I think there are more jokes that are still fresh, than jokes that are aged and kind of groan worthy.

Animation wise, there are a couple flaws I noticed, like Lip-Syncing not matching with dialogue, some shots where characters look out of place, and some movement animation not being complete, but overall, they really aren't obvious. I swear anyone who says that "You need to study animation to appreciate it more" really has no clue what they're talking about, because I've become way more critical of animation since learning to animate. Barring these minor flubs, The Simpsons Movie doesn't really look all that much different from modern HD era Simpsons, maybe a little bit cleaner, like you can tell the difference at a glance, but it doesn't look too different. I think it looks great, minor flubs aside.

The amusing thing is, The Simpsons 2000s run, and even their modern run, are kind of getting second looks. People are going back to these seasons and going "You know, maybe our initial reaction was a bit harsh", yet people don't seem to be doing the same for The Simpsons Movie. I feel that is a bit unfair. I think the problem is it isn't completely a fun and wacky adventure with our favourite characters, but it also isn't something that is entirely deep and emotional, it's kind of an attempt to balance the two. I don't know if audiences would prefer it skew more towards one way or another. On the one hand, a wackier plot would be funnier, but it would be reminiscent of a standard episode like "Bart on the Road" or "Kill the Alligator and Run", whereas a more serious plot would let us care more for the characters, but would ultimately leave behind what The Simpsons is, it's a comedy, not a Drama.

I think there is a lot here to admire about this movie, it is still The Simpsons, the characters and humour are still here. Plus, given a plot that is both silly and character-driven, I really do think that you should take another look at this movie. With The Simpsons modern era getting some more appreciation recently, people may look at the movie as the bridge between classic era and Modern era Simpsons, I don't think it is, "Classic" and "Modern" are descriptors that change with time. I feel like The Simpsons Movie gets lost a little, and I think it should get another chance in the spotlight. I don't think it's on par with the best Simpsons episodes, but when you have highs such as "Cape Feare", "And Maggie Makes Three" or "Last Exit to Springfield", that is a pretty high bar to reach. I say, give it a watch, and let it stand on its own merits, and I think you'll find this movie is more than you may have initially thought of it.

Avatar (2009) - An amazingly investing and amazingly boring movie

 

Continuing on with the Special Effects movie marathon, one of the biggest movies released in my lifetime. I remember when Avatar came out, everyone went mad over it, it was the Jurassic Park of the 2000s, one of the greatest movies ever made, and the highest grossing movie of the year, decade, and of all time before it was overtaken by Avengers: Endgame. It was a movie everybody saw, except for me. I never saw this movie until I decided to do this marathon for my blog. I never really had the desire to see this movie, so after about thirteen years after its initial release, what are my thoughts on it?

The plot is fairly standard. Ex-Marine Jake Sully is sent to the alien planet of Pandora, in an effort to study the native inhabitants and find a way to make them leave so they can mine gold... no wait that was Pocahontas... Uh it was... kill all of them to expand their city... No that was Wolfwalkers... right it was to mine Unobtanium, wow that name is spectacularly terrible. Anyway, Jake enters in an "Avatar" essentially a meat puppet he controls, and learns the ways of the Na'vi people. Of course the plot has to happen so there's gonna be conflict and you know how these stories go, the liar revealed, the war between the two people, there's not a whole lot special here. Honestly, the plot is kind of mixed for me. On the one hand, I really love watching Sully learn the ways of the Na'vi, I like seeing his video diaries about what it's like learning their ways and experiencing their culture. It goes back to what I said about The Three Caballeros movie, it is way more interesting learning about these cultures than it is just seeing them. On the other hand, the rest of the movie is pretty much a standard boring action flick. It's got all the stuff you would expect, it even has that one type of sequence I despise in movies. You know the ones, it's the sequence of shots that are slow motion of battle scenes, explosions, people caught in explosions, people getting gunned down, and this dramatic orchestral music comes in, sometimes they have a dramatic singer as well, I effectively dub these the "War is Hell Sequence", but I don't know if they are called anything else. It's just cheap emotional manipulation. I was interested in the first half, but after the military stuff came back into the picture, I just lost a lot of interest. In fact I think I was withdrawing interest from the bits I liked, because I knew that the stuff I wasn't going to like was coming. Is that a thing that people can do?

Character wise, I mean, you don't have a very unique selection, but they're palatable. Jake Sully is your typical kind of protagonist, not really too much special about him, other than the fact that he's in a wheelchair, which I guess is kind of cool. You also have the Colonel, Miles Quaritch, and yes, I did have to look up his name. As soon as he appeared on screen my immediate thought was "Oh, he's the bad guy, the General Rourke." He even kind of looks like Rourke, doesn't he? The rest of the cast are.. fine. They do the jobs they are required, the actors give fine performances, I just don't think I could tell you anything about them off the top of my head. It's a shame because Sigourney Weaver is one of my favourite actors, and she stars in Alien, one of my all-time favourite movies. I was interested in the world they set-up, but I was not as invested in the characters, I think that is the best way I can put it.

The visual effects are spectacular, too much. The visuals are beautiful, and I can imagine seeing this in IMAX in a dark room, if I did see this movie back in 2009, I probably would have loved it. The thing is though, and this is going to sound absolutely weird, but I feel like this movie should have been entirely animated. Now I am not the kind of person who says that in most cases, Marvel movies, totally fine with them being live-action, Disney live action remakes, I mean we already have animated versions of them so who cares? Other kinds of special effects movies, perfectly fine with them being partially animated. It's just that in this case, you have all these amazing looking animal and plant designs, and you put them right next to realistic looking settings and real actors, they just don't look real. Like, imagine if this movie was completely animated, wouldn't the designs mesh better in the settings they created? If it was fully animated, I genuinely believe that this could have been the movie that made animation the respected medium it deserves to be. I mean this movie made 3D films much more popular, why could it not have done the same for animation?

Honestly, I really, really wanted to like this movie. But the boring second half, the bland characters and the amazing effects that really made me wish this movie was fully animated, just really keep me from enjoying it as much as everyone else has. Maybe though, I am enjoying it as much as everyone else. Like, for a little while I kept hearing of Avatar, but around the mid to late 2010s I heard not a peep about this movie, the only Avatar that mattered to everybody was The Last Airbender, in fact the most I heard of it was when Avengers: Endgame was released and I saw people on Twitter talking about how it would soon overtake Avatar. It really does seem like this movie was big for its time, but left no impact, but then again there is that upcoming sequel slated for release this year. I am curious, because I am interested in seeing how the world building will improve and if the characters will become a bit more defined. I can't say I really like this film, but I can respect what it tried to accomplish. On top of that, I totally get why everyone went nuts over it, it is a big movie, in the sense that it just feels like an event. So, now the question is if I recommend it and... on one hand I can, I do think this is a movie you should watch at least once, even if it doesn't sound up your alley. On the other hand, it is hard for me to really say it's a must see. I guess the caveat though is that you probably already have seen it. If not, I do give this a slight recommendation, if only to form your own opinion.

First Impressions: The Bob's Burgers Movie (2022)

You know Disney, you are on pretty thin ice.

Okay that comes off as a bit harsh to the movie, so I do want to clarify I did enjoy The Bob's Burgers Movie. I thought it was decently entertaining and if you like the show you will probably like this movie fine enough. I will say, the mystery element of the movie was kind of meh, not that it wasn't entertaining to watch, it was actually my favourite part of the movie, but I think I'm just kind of tired of red herrings. To be fair the rest of the movie had some decently entertaining bits, I liked when Bob, Linda and Teddy were selling burgers at the pier, so overall I do think this is a solid movie.

It's just that going in, I had no idea what to expect, and this is not because I haven't binge watched all of Bob's Burgers, it's because the marketing was absolutely dreadful. The trailers barely showed any of the plot, and I only learned what the main plot of the movie was with the second trailer. Yeah, the key detail that Bob and Linda are gonna have their restaurant equipment foreclosed on was not revealed in the first trailer. In fact, I don't even know what the first trailer revealed, outside of the fact that there was gonna be a massive hole? Oh and another thing that both of the trailers failed to mention was that this movie is a musical. Yeah, this movie is a musical, and none of the trailers that I saw shared that little bit of information.

I really don't want to make this another Buck Wilde blog, but the marketing for this movie absolutely baffles me, with some fairly useless trailers, it really does seem like whoever was in charge of marketing this movie had no idea what to do, as if a musical mystery based off of a popular show is difficult to market. Maybe fans of Bob's Burgers wouldn't expect a musical, but then the question becomes why are you making this a musical? If you're making a movie off of an existing property and you can't sell it to fans of said property, you may want to go back to the drawing board.

But that is just marketing, as I said the movie itself is solid. It is a musical mystery comedy, and again if you are a fan of the show, you might enjoy this movie. Yeah this was a fairly short first impressions. I don't really have that much to say about this movie, if you're absolutely lost from the trailers, consider this free advertisement, and I genuinely mean free I don't even get ad revenue doing these, it's pretty much just a hobby at this point. I guess I can give this a solid recommendation, even if I'm probably not going to put this high on my favourite films of the year list, I still had a good time watching it, and who knows, I may even watch it again when it comes to Disney+. So yeah, I do recommend it, and be sure to tell Disney that the trailers where awful.

First Impressions: The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild (2022)

Disney... We need to talk.

Look, I get it, movies get scrapped for a variety of reasons, it sucks but I can overlook the canning of Nimona if something super spectacular comes along to take its place. In Nimona's place, you gave us Raya and the Last Dragon, a movie that is just fine, and nothing else. You gave us Cruella, which did not need to exist. You gave us Encanto, which almost makes up for Nimona, but then you bring a Blue Sky property back to life for... why? Why are you bringing back Ice Age? Nobody is clamoring for the return of this franchise, because the franchise started going downhill with the second movie.

On principle I don't want to watch this, because let's look at the facts. Fact number one, Disney acquired Blue Sky during the Fox acquisition. Fact two, Disney closed down Blue Sky in 2021. Fact three; Blue Sky was working on an adaptation of the graphic novel "Nimona", which a lot of people were anticipating. Fact four; Disney decided to scrap the Nimona project, along with a bunch of other promising projects that Blue Sky was working on. Fact Five; The next thing we see from a Blue Sky property is a sequel to an Ice Age movie that goes directly to Disney+ in January. The facts show that Disney cut a movie that a lot of people were anticipating and gave us a movie for a franchise a lot of people wanted to stay dead. If I wasn't giving the benefit of the doubt, I would assume that Disney only greenlit this movie as a show, to say "See, we do care about this studio and their franchises", despite giving us a garbage movie and saying "well clearly you guys don't care about the franchises, I mean look at the viewer results".

I'm giving Disney the benefit of the doubt here, despite the fact that I highly doubt they've actually earned it. Companies operate on how much money a product could make, but I have doubts that Ice Age would make more money than a movie that a lot of people were vocally excited about. I can only assume Disney either did not know about the hype surrounding Nimona, or they were aware of the hype but were afraid of pissing off some bigoted market, and let's just say, Disney is no stranger to editing movies for said bigoted countries.

Oh and let's talk about other movies that Disney is planning on releasing, like that Snow White remake that Peter Dinklage has called out for dwarfism, and also could be a movie with the Snow White tag on it. Disney's also releasing another Rio movie, that'll be fun to talk about. Oh yeah, and Turning Red is gonna be Pixar's next movie to go directly to streaming. Which leaves me wondering if Pixar is gonna be the next Blue Sky and we're gonna get a Toy Story 5 out of it, but let's not dwell on that topic anymore. Disney has been making a lot of bad decisions, and the new Ice Age and Rio movies might just be the worst of them. Well, of their recent decisions, I mean their messing up of Copyright Law and the hiring of Eisner and Katzenburg might have been worse than this one, but that is talking with the added benefit of hindsight.

Why was all of that important? Because, screw Disney!

As a huge Disney fan, I can say without any hesitation, screw Disney, and I'm keeping it there because I do want to keep my swearing to a minimum with this blog. Disney represents the very worst of the entertainment industry, at least the entertainment industry that doesn't include video games, but we'll see which company they end up acquiring. Disney is devoid of creativity, almost discouraging creativity, does not listen to their audiences, and aren't even very good at pandering or virtue signaling. Disney makes great products, on occasion. I wasn't kidding when I said Encanto was Disney's best film in years, and it sadly might be Disney's best film for another few years. Disney has and can give us a lot of the best stuff, while representing the worst of it all. That is why I can say, screw Disney.

And screw this movie too, it's dull and boring and unfunny. No disrespect to the people who worked on it, but it really does feel like a TV show that was retooled into a movie, something Disney has a shocking amount of knowledge about. Did Michael Eisner really leave Disney? Because this seems like something he would suggest. It has all the failings of a movie that was meant to be a TV series, because this movie was meant to be a TV series. Quite frankly, I'd say don't watch this movie on principle, but it's not even worth breaking those principles for, and quite frankly, I think I should be paid to watch movies like this. Screw Disney, don't watch this movie.

Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure (1977) - Weird, bizarre, over-stimulating... and one of a kind.

I'll be honest, for the most part I try to avoid reviewing movies I don't actually own copies of, there are exceptions of course, but generally if a blog has the "Review" tag, that typically means I own a copy. I can really only think of two instances where I decided to review something despite not owning a physical release of the movie. The first was "Duck Duck Goose" which was a Netflix original and then there was "The Thief and the Cobbler: Recobbled Cut", which I don't think has a physical release. Well, I am going to add another film onto that list, and what a coincidence that I mention The Thief and the Cobbler because this movie was also directed by Richard Williams.

I think Richard Williams is in that grey zone where people know him and his work, but he isn't a big name like Chuck Jones, Hayao Miyazaki or even Ub Iwerks. He's done a lot of fantastic stuff and I really think all of his work is worth checking out just for the animation alone. However, I do have to look beyond the animation and see if the movies have more to offer, so, for no real reason whatsoever, I just felt like it, let's take a look at the 1977 box office flop that is Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure.

In a small room lives a group of dolls, which include Raggedy Ann and her brother Andy, owned by a young girl named Marcella. One day, Marcella's birthday, she gets a new doll from Paris named Babette. Unfortunately, one of the denizens of Marcella's playroom, a pirate in a snow globe named The Captain, kidnaps the French doll and Ann and Andy have to rescue her, coming across bizarre and nonsensical locations and characters along the way. So yeah, this is a pretty typical animated adventure flick, and much like Yellow Submarine, it's more focused on the locations than the plot. That being said, the plot is... not exactly very clean. They kind of just randomly appear in locations, literally one character pops out and chases them into a different place, and after that we find the Captain's ship and see that Babette is now the captain and... I guess in the long run it isn't a messy plot, it is easy enough to follow and is, at its core, easy enough to understand. I guess I'll give it a C grade for plot.

Animation wise, well it's a Richard Williams production, the animation is wonderful. Now, I watched a 35mm Film transfer from YouTube, so the quality may have been affected by that. That being said though, the animation is energetic, fluid and smooth. Raggedy Andy's movements during his song number, when he is twisting himself all over was almost hypnotic to watch, and The Greedy is just beautifully animated, always morphing and melting. In fact, the animation may be too energetic. There is always something moving and it can be a bit over-stimulating. There are times when it does slow down and keep everything subdued, but lots of the song sequences and The Greedys scene have lots of movements and while it kept me interested, it was also really exhausting. It's all amazing animation, but it really can be overstimulating.

The audio can be overstimulating too. Looney Land especially is over-stimulating to the nth degree. Everything is laughing, so many sounds play out and the music is going, and it gets too much too fast. In fact, most of the audio in this movie is mixed. On the one hand, it does have some nice songs, "No Girl's Toy" is fun and a lot of people seem to like "Blue" and "Rag Dolly", which aren't bad, but this movie has the same problem, the exact same problem as the Steven Universe movie and Arlo the Alligator Boy. Too many songs that aren't spaced out enough. At least the songs aren't too bad, though a lot of them are very unnecessary. It also doesn't help that the singing voices aren't always great. While Mark Baker does an excellent job as Raggedy Andy, a performance that lots of viewers have literally fallen in love with, Didi Conn's Raggedy Ann is... Well, she can't exactly hit a lot of the notes the songs require her to hit, which is probably why people remember "Rag Dolly" over her first song "What Do I See?".

The characters are for the most part, very simple. I don't know if that is really a criticism or not because most of these characters are not really major, The Greedy is gross and a big eater, the Camel with Wrinkled Knees is lonely and miserable, Leonard Looney is unforgivingly annoying, Looney Land's King is small and angry, no character really gets a lot of... well character. Even our leads, Raggedy Ann and Andy have rather basic character. They weren't completely boring to watch, they weren't ever unengaging, so for characters I'd give this movie half marks.

In fact, I'd say this movie as a whole deserves half-marks. It's not paced very well, its plot isn't very fleshed out, the songs are too numerous and too inconsistent in quality, the animation and audio can be over stimulating, the characters aren't very complex... But this movie is one of a kind.

I know I brought up Yellow Submarine, which I do think is a better movie, but Yellow Submarine did not have this level of animation, this level of bizarre stuff happening, this level of "I don't even know what to describe". It's like Yellow Submarine dialed up to twelve. So, on some level I can recommend this movie and can even see people enjoying it. It's definitely one of a kind, and worth seeing at least once. That being said, it still has plenty of problems that can make watching it a more negative experience, so if the problems sound too much for you, I don't think you're going to miss a whole lot. So I can't fully recommend it, but I thankfully have a rating for films like this. I think this may actually be the perfect example of a "Slight Recommendation".

Isle of Dogs (2018) - One of the best films you may not have seen

2018 was the year I began to take animation more seriously, and tried to watch all the animated movies that were released in theatres, even if I knew they would suck. From this, I ended up with a lot of surprises, such as Early Man and of course Into the Spider-Verse, but even with all of the great animated features, Hell movies in general, released in 2018, one remains my favourite of the year, Isle of Dogs, which had one of the emptiest theatres of any showing, not THE emptiest, that award goes to UglyDolls, which was dreadful, but this one was still pretty barren, and it's a shame too because it really is one of the greatest animated features I've ever seen.

In a, honestly pretty dystopic Japanese future, dogs have been banished from the island due to an outbreak, and sent to a place called "Trash Island", which is exactly as it sounds. One young boy named Atatri braves through the island of garbage to find his dog, who was the first to be sent to the island. However, there is a conspiracy going on that the mayor of the precinct had the dogs intentionally infected and desires to destroy any and all opposition, including poisoning a scientist who has found a cure for the dog disease and staging it to look like a suicide. No, this movie's plot has no ties to any current events happening currently, no government that is oppressive to any group of living beings, no pandemic sweeping the nation, none of that at all, heh heh...

Well, there's no going back now.

That aside, the movie's plot moves really well. A lot of the information of the movie is given as flashback, and I think that was a brilliant move. It means that very little is left to be exposition dumped, only what has to be. I think this movie offers a good example of something that has to be exposition dumped on the audience, the scene where Atari's dog, Spots, is explaining that he has to give up his duties. On top of brilliant moves like that, there is also a good amount of foreshadowing, and a good use of montage to cut down on the large amount of travel the characters do.

Now, I am terrible when it comes to identifying character, and it's a bit tougher here because, with the exception of the dogs and two humans, the entire cast speaks Japanese, untranslated and unsubbed. I don't think it's any surprise that I failed my highschool Japanese class.

I don't have any issue with the film being predominately Japanese, most of the important sutff is translated in some way so audiences won't be lost, and you can still get some idea of what the characters are saying. Obviously, Atari is ranting about something, or the servant is scolding him. It is also very clear that Chief is kind of the defacto leader, even though he says they're all the leader, and it's kind of amusing that the other dogs are pretty tired of him.

I must also comment that the acting is incredible in this movie. I could barely tell Jeff Goldblum, Edward Norton and Bill Murray were in this movie, and they have pretty distinct voices. I do kind of forget that these characters are dog puppets, but in the end that really is high praise to the actors.

Let's also not forget the animators, as someone who has done stop-motion animation, it takes a long time. My animations are a couple minutes long at most, so I can't imagine how long it would take to shoot a 101 minute long film. Plus there are so many little details, like paper flapping in the breeze, rats running around, and things they really did not need to animated, but did anyway to give the movie that feeling of being believable. One scene that really has to be complimented is the sushi making scene, I think fellow animated movie reviewer Animated Antic shared some behind the scenes video on how that scene was made, and it is just so smoothly done that you can only tell it's stop motion by the textures and lighting. If I had to nitpick, I will say I am not really fond of how they show any Television images in the film, they're obviously two-dimensional images, but the heads are still animated like they're three-dimensional puppets and it's really uncanny. It's kinda like watching Robot Chicken puppets interact with two-dimensional flash characters, there's a disconnect that makes it weird to look at.

Of course, there is a bit of controversy surrounding the film. Of course, since it heavily focuses on Japanese humans, there has to be some focus on their culture. Personally, I don't get it, maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see the film as too bad in that regard. I think a lot of it is that we don't focus too much time on the human characters, we focus a lot on the canines, and it is clear that not all of the humans agree with the anti-dog propaganda. I feel like people are putting too much emphasis on this aspect because, it's obviously a heavily fictionalized story and it's not looking at a major aspect of Japanese culture, as far as I'm aware. I also don't think the view of "The white character saves the day is valid", she obviously didn't win at all, she was almost kicked out of the country until Atari showed up. Again, maybe I'm missing something, but I don't think this is, too bad of representation, it's better than The Aristocats... Why Paul Winchell.. why?

Honestly, it was nice to talk about a movie I love this time, especially after such a... flaming mess that was the Felix the Cat movie. This movie really is wonderful, with an engaging plot and characters, stunning animation and some of the best cinematography and background score of any movie I've ever seen. If I can steal some lines from Animated Antic's review of this movie; This is something that people who love movies should see.

It really is an incredible movie, and I really hate to think of it as a movie very few people have seen, or even as a flop. Apparently nobody is exactly sure what the budget of this movie was, but it made about 64 million at the box office, so it's clear a lot of people did see it, which is good, but I really think more people need to see it. It's a marvelous movie that is most certainly on my list of must see animated films.