Archive for category Animation

Not cool! Hypnotoad totally just sold out!

LITTLE NEMO: ADVENTURES IN SLUMBERLAND – (1989)

Director: Masami Hata, William T. Hurts
Starring: Gabriel Damon, Mickey Rooney, Rene Auberjonois, Laura Mooney
Screenplay by: Chris Columbus, Richard Outten, Jean Giraud, Yutaka Fujioka

In 1905, an artist named Winsor McCay released the first Little Nemo comic strip in William Randolph Hearst’s newspaper, The New York American. It was a whimsical, surreal strip starring the young Nemo’s repeated attempts to join the King of Slumberland, a King Morpheus, and his daughter, Princess Camille, to essentially hang out, have fun, and be awesome. Something would always go wrong, however, forcing Nemo to wake up back in the real world, where his parents would console or admonish his sleeping habits.

McCay, being the badass dude he was, helped define the art of animation and film in general as well. He often single-handedly hand-drew thousands of frames of animation to bring them to life, creating animated works of not only his Little Nemo creation, but also famous cartoons such as Gertie the Dinosaur (predating live-action/animated film Who Framed Roger Rabbit some seventy years) and The Sinking of the Lusitania. You can’t say the mofo didn’t have some serious work ethics.

And here we are with the Japan/American collaboration Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland, the first “anime” to have a theatrical release in the United States. It had a troubled production (Hayao Miyziaki and Ray Bradbury were slated to work on this film) and didn’t do too well upon release; however, it made a killing on its VHS release. So, was the success of the home market warranted?

NOSTALGIC LENS: Not a damn thing, to be honest. At least with the other movies, I remembered some key scenes, some voices, or some bits of dialogue. But every bit of this movie was blocked out my mind, which made me think that I hated it at some level, even though I KNOW I re-rented it thousands of times. I wasn’t jumping at the chance to see it again. I remember the hard-as-balls Nintendo video game more than the movie!

DOES IT HOLD UP: Here’s a math lesson for you: Little Nemo = Spirited Away + Pan’s Labyrinth.

Spirited Away was a delightful, soft but immensely watchable film, while Pan’s Labyrinth’s darker but engaging elements seemed to appeal to most audiences (although not me personally; I had my issues). Both played within the concepts of dreams and imaginations; of escapism versus responsibility, remaining a child versus growing up. Both are rich with content, and sad yet hopeful in tone. Both those movies’ flaws are fixed in Little Nemo; although I sure can’t say that Little Nemo didn’t have a few flaws of its own. Still, it’s interesting, fun, and definitely a hoot; I can see why I watched this multiple, multiple times.

Little Nemo begins with no hesitation; an animated summary of what you will get later on, in full (after the credits):

From a breezy, enjoyable, aerial bed-ride, to a death-defying train chase sequence, Little Nemo is a movie that goes from a glowing, blissful, heaven-like cornucopia of fun to a freaking perilous, dangerous, slightly confusing foray through a hellish realm. In other words—dreams versus nightmares. So have a good night sleep. Mwahaha.

Movies that involved children and fantasy realms INEVITABLY involve some sort of neglect from the parental unit, and this is no exception. Nemo’s papa ignores his son’s enthusiasm over a local parade and circus in town. His mother scolds him over eating pies before bed. His only friend is a flying squirrel named Icarus (to be fair, Icarus is pretty damn loyal). Upset, he falls asleep, where he is whisked away by Professor Genius (uh… seriously?) and Bon Bon by a “dirigible” to the delightful world of Slumberland. (Nemo actually says the word “dirigible”. Not zeppelin. Not blimp. Fucking dirigible. Man, that just takes you out the movie.)

Slumberland is filled with variations of the characters taken from the parade that Nemo had watched that morning, including King Morpheus, Flip, and Princess Camille. Why does everyone want him here? Why, to rule Sumberland, of course. To play and have fun and just be awesome! Train rides, chariot rides, flying-tube-with-balls rides; this place has it all! Well, everything that the real world fails at.

Of course, it’s all in Nemo’s mind, and understanding that actually gives the movie a good thematic element. As far as I’m concerned, pre-adolescence is a much more complicated time than being a teenager. High school concerns are mostly artificial and, well, stupid. Preteens, however, begin the glimpse into adulthood without understanding it. Responsibility, for example, is a word that usually means rewards or allowance; but something about it implies serious character growth. The body changes; opinions about the opposite sex become more pronounced; rules become more commonplace as you seek to explore the world around you; and so on.

In Nemo’s dreamworld, he is smothered with the attention he thinks he didn’t receive from his parents; he finds friends and delves lightly into the “sexual” through his feelings towards the Princess. Hell, he’s given the key to Slumberland and made heir to the throne. The responsibilities he feels he deserves are thrust upon him!

Which also includes the “bad” stuff. His dreams push him to the annoyances of human social development, which intrigued me personally; to see his mind force him through “the rules of etiquette” was a dramatic touch. Still, he wants to play and have fun and be naughty, all embodied through Flip. Voiced wonderfully by Mickey Rooney, Flip instills all the mischievous instincts into Nemo’s mind, including opening the door to Nightmareland, just through morbid curiosity.

All hell breaks loose, which leaves Nemo on a personal quest to save things. This great scene reflects his guilt by comparing his use of the key on the door of the Nightmare King to an earlier scene of him breaking a promise to steal his mother pies:

I could spend forever utilizing a Freudian analysis of this movie and the filmmakers depiction of the id and dreams and so on. I’ll leave that to the comment section.

I think, however, my main issue would be towards the end, as he and his team of friends go to fight the Nightmare King. The dream/real life parallels seem to dissipate into a generic fantasy adventure, involving good goblins called Oompahs and something about a magic royal scepter (although, it is a phallic object… more Freudian debate!) Not that I didn’t like what occurred at the end; it was fun, scary and rewarding. However, what if the Nightmare King was some sick variation of his neglected father? Or worse—of Nemo himself? That would have been something.

IN A NUTSHELL: It’s a nice, short film that’s beautifully animated and smooth, and quite rich in story, content, symbolism, etc. The voice work is great, if they don’t match up with the lip syncing in a couple of scenes. But overall, I enjoyed myself a lot more than I thought I would, and seeing Princess Camille just DECK Flip with a mean right hook was pretty badass. If you have an hour to kill, just watch the thing on Youtube.

August 10th: Tiny Toons Adventures: How I Spent My Summer Vacation
August 17th: An American Tail

Fairies, apparently, go number 2 from their hands.

FERNGULLY: THE LAST RAINFOREST – (1992)

Director: Bill Kroyer
Starring: Jonathan Ward, Samantha Mathis, Robin Williams, Tim Curry, Christian Slater
Screenplay by: Jim Cox

Before driving hybrid cars, going green, and buying “carbon offsets” were cool—and let’s be honest, are they really?—the on-again, off-again environmental movement would sometimes pop into the limelight with some sort of life-changing book, eye-opening documentary, or in the case of FernGully, a harmless but thought-provoking film. Heavy-handed, opinionated cinema is certainly no new thing: see John Q, The China Syndrome, The Life and Times of David Gale. Unlike those, however, this one clearly is aimed at the younger crowd.

Here’s a little interesting trivia: Jim Cox, the screenwriter, also wrote for The Rescuers Down Under. Sounds to me like someone has an obsession with Australia! Shrimp on the Barbie! Fosters! Former British prison colony! Well, that’s certainly the perfect country/continent to depict the best that our planet has to offer. By the way… does Australia even have rainforests? I thought the literal definitely of rainforests defined them as being only located along the tropical regions.

NOSTALGIC LENS: Even though I saw this movie several times, I don’t remember a lot about it. I’m not a hundred percent that I ever just sat down and watched the movie all the way through. Like so many movies, I most likely watched parts of it here and there, and ended up piecing the film together. Did I like it, though? I don’t think I did. It’s certainly not in the region of my brain that hosts my most cherished memories.

DOES IT HOLD UP: And I can see why. I had to get up halfway through the movie to do something else; that’s how much this movie grated on me. I haven’t felt such a “moronic pandering” feeling since watching Happy Feet (which, by the way, is a good-looking yet horrible film). By that, I mean that not only is the movie’s message blatantly obvious, but it tries so hard that it’s embarrassing.

The 90s, as I mentioned in my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles post, was shameless in its desire to pander to teenagers, and this one is no exception. The, uh, region (district?) of FernGully hosts a rich cornucopia of flora and fauna—also, magic fairies. Specifically, half-naked fairy Crysta is our star; she shirks her magic lessons with the old and wise Magi Lune to do what I assume is the “going to third base” version of the fairy world with hunk o’ magic meat Pips.

During your typical early-90s, “look at how amazing our animation is” intro sequences, Crysta orgasmically explodes out past the canopy of the trees, which is forbidden, and sees smoke. (She doesn’t know what smoke or fire is. Damn fur’ners.) What’s causing the smoke? Why, it’s the MAN-made machine, the evil Leveler, that’s just cutting down trees for, I guess, shits and giggles. Curious, as fairies are wont to be, she goes exploring.

The Leveler is an absolutely ridiculous mechanical vehicle; if something like that actually did exist, I’d be more impressed by that than the supposedly natural beauty of the rainforest. It would be badass if it wasn’t wholly impractical. It cuts trees, picks them up with ease, chops them up AND trims them into plywood boards, and stacks them on a table. A TABLE! Inside the machine. I assume the entire thing is attached to Wal-Mart, where people also can walk into this thing and buy the pieces.

The Leveler’s only flaw seems to be it can only cut the trees marked with a red X, and Zak, who I assume is the same Zak from “Saved by the Bell,” is “dat city boi” charged with the task. Crysta inadvertently saves him from a falling tree by shrinking him, and after some clarification and goofy banter, the two are off on a tiny adventure.

I should mention the typical comedy sidekick (ugh) is a bat named Batty (Ugh!) voiced by Robin Williams (UGH!!!). An escaped winged mammal from some scientific experiment, he loathes humans because they tortured him and gave his brain basic cable. He fills the movie with his typical annoying quips (although I will admit that one or two of them made me chuckle). And he busts out a mean freestyle.

Tone Loc, however, schools Batty without even trying in a delicious Big-Lipped Alligator moment.

But the winner, hands down, is Tim Curry as the evil Hexxus, singing Toxic Love in such an over-the-top way that it’s actually goddamn excellent:

Oh, Hexxus is an escaped monster that was trapped in a tree but was released when the Leveler cut it. He took over the machine to attack FernGully. Magi dies to give all the fairies some power they hardly use. Zak and Christy and Batty get together and solve personal conflicts to beat it. I mean, all that is metaphoric filler, really, since the main message is clearly a pseudo-spiritual mantra for kids, that they too “have the power within” to save their environment.

It’s not that effective though. The animation isn’t quite solid, especially compared to the previous Disney films I’ve featured. It’s good at some spots, but god-awful in others. I also like how in some scenes, fairies just appear out of nowhere. Zak also doesn’t seem to mind too much that he’s been shrunk. He does for a little, but he shrugs it off in an attempt to get some fairy tang. If it’s slender and has boobs, guys will go for it.

The line readings are the worse, though. Williams is probably one of the better ones, if only because he sounds like a cartoon character anyway. Ward is forgettable, and Mathis is just worthless. How worthless? She also played the ranger in Broken Arrow (a stupid but at least decent-actiony film) and, worse, Princess Daisy in the Super Mario Bros. movie (a future Childhood Revisited feature, one I’m eager to attack viciously). The winner here is Tim Curry, if because he voices Hexxus with such a devil-may-care, just-for-the-paycheck attitude that it’s actually incredible.

And now, because I loved it so much in the movie, here is my attempt to mimic Tim Curry’s laugh as Hexxus:

HexxusLaugh

It’s the third best laugh in the world, behind Mark Hamill’s The Joker laugh and Tex Avery’s laugh in such cartoons as “Bad Luck Blackie.”

IN A NUTSHELL: It’s silly, although it never seems to push into the territory of absolute revulsion. While I had to step out the room—I’m rather sensitive to overt-message movies—I think a lot of people would probably be able to stomach it and find something enjoyable here. Not to say I didn’t find some good moments: Tim Curry and a few zingers on occasion made me smile. (If you want a solid, less overt environmental message movie, watch Over the Hedge.)

PLEASE NOTE: THERE’S A CHANGE UP ON THE SCHEDULE DUE TO ME WANTING TO WATCH CORALINE AND WATCHMEN, WHICH WERE RELEASED ON DVD LAST WEEK!!

August 3rd: The Adventures of Little Nemo
August 10th: Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Summer Vacation