In the vast ocean that is ˜Disney' where anything can occur, a young red head resides. Taking it back to 1989 and one of Disney's finest, The Little Mermaid continues to entertain and amaze. When thinking of Disney and the masses of films that have been churned out over the years, very few have stuck in the hearts and minds of audiences around the world like this one has. The … [Read more...]
Review: Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)
Kiki (Kirsten Dunst) is a 13-year-old witch in training. An old tradition states that at 13, a young witch can leave home and study to become a full time witch. So, even though her parents are not overjoyed, she decides to leave. She takes her broomstick and her cat Jiji (Phil Hartman) and sets off for Koriko, a big port city. Once there, she finds she does not have any witch … [Read more...]
Review: Toy Story 3 (2010)
When Pixar launched their first feature length animated film, Toy Story in 1995 they introduced the world to set of full-realised toy characters, loosely based on their award-winning short, Tin Toy After the original was heralded with critical praise and a very successful run at the box office, the decision was made to release a sequel in 1999. Cleverly titled Toy Story 2, the … [Read more...]
Review: WALL·E (2008)
It is suggested that WALL·E, Pixar's 9th feature film, was developed from an idea by writer Andrew Stanton that was mentioned during the post-Toy Story brain-storming session between him and John Lasseter. Pitched as a Robinson Crusoe style story of loneliness and isolation, but set on an evacuated Earth bears more than a passing similarity to Doug Trumball's now iconic Silent … [Read more...]
Review: Ratatouille (2007)
As part of Pixar's move away from the early childish topics for their films, their 8th feature, Ratatouille, focused on the broad topics of ˜family vs. career' and the need to improve, move forward and change. The budget for the film was $150m, which showed an increase in production costs necessary to improve the computer animation and it took over $620m at the box office. … [Read more...]
Review: Up (2009)
Up was something of a landmark movie for Pixar “ it marked the studio's 10th feature film, was the first animated movie to open the Cannes film festival and was the studio's first film to be presented in 3D (but try not to hold that against it). Directed by Pete Docter, his second time in the director's chair, after Monsters, Inc., it was also a huge commercial success grossing … [Read more...]
Review: Cars (2006)
The John Lasseter-directed Cars is the seventh feature film created and released by Pixar. Following on from the huge box office successes of Finding Nemo and The Incredibles, Cars took a respectable $461m from a budget of $120m. Inspired by a road trip taken by Lasseter and his family in 2000, Cars is the last Pixar film to star the voice talent of Joe Ranft who tragically … [Read more...]
Review: My Neighbour Totoro (1988)
Miyazaki has done some fine work in his time. Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, and Ponyo are widely known as his best films. My Neighbour Totoro is also pretty highly rated. Praised by anime fans and film critics alike, I was expecting a new Nausicaa. What I got was a similar experience to Laputa. It is a better film than that, and it certainly is good, … [Read more...]
Review: The Incredibles (2004)
Pixar's sixth feature film release, The Incredibles, looked to repackage the super-hero and crime-thriller genres into a family friendly offering. Riding high on the exceptional success, commercially and critically, of Finding Nemo, Pixar were obviously hoping that along with their own family fan base, they could engage the superhero demographic and have another monster hit on … [Read more...]
Review: Laputa: Castle In The Sky (1986)
Laputa: Castle In The Sky is Hayao Miyazaki's third feature film. At the time, it was also his best received. It got wide recognition for it's great storytelling, stunning animation, fantastic script, and (as with Nausicaa) a message that didn't shove itself down people's throats. I watched the film hoping for a masterpiece. Of course, hype can kill a film. I don't know whether … [Read more...]