Spawned in 1993 from the brain of creator Mike Judge, Beavis and Butt-Head are two dimwitted, socially awkward teenagers who spend their days skipping school watching music videos and declaring that everything is either cool or sucks. That is as deep as they go but despite this were a big ratings hit when the original TV show aired on MTV from 1993 to 1997. It was perhaps … [Read more...]
Review: Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
After The Castle of Cagliostro, Hayao Miyazaki made Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Although this is generally considered a Studio Ghibli film, it is actually not. Studio Ghibli was not founded until a year later. However, it is still included in the ˜Studio Ghibli Collection' DVD series. Miyazaki was approached to allow an adaptation of the manga he wrote, and he initially … [Read more...]
Review: Finding Nemo (2003)
Finding Nemo is the fifth feature film created and released by Pixar in association with Disney Studios. It is the first Pixar film not to be directed by John Lasseter, with Andrew Stanton taking over the helm as well as writing it. Like all Pixar films, the cast and crew researched the topic of Finding Nemo in great depth, including learning to scuba dive so as to better … [Read more...]
Review: Persepolis (2007, France)
Persepolis is an animated movie based on a graphic novel of the same name by Marjane Satrapi. Based on her own experiences, Satrapi herself co-wrote and co-directed the movie alongside Vincent Paronnaud, bringing her style of illustration to the big screen. The movie tells Satrapi's own story, that of a young girl growing up in Tehran, the capital of Iran. The film begins with … [Read more...]
Review: Toy Story 2 (1999)
After the success of Toy Story had loudly announced Pixar's arrival in the world of feature animation and A Bug's Life continued their box office success, John Lasseter and friends went back to Woody, Buzz and the gang with Toy Story 2. Reuniting the same cast as the original, but with a new crew due to the work taking place on A Bug's Life and during production Lasseter once … [Read more...]
Review: A Bug’s Life (1998)
The second feature film released by Pixar and to be directed by John Lasseter, A Bug's Life has become something of the forgotten man of the animation houses history. Sandwiched between Toy Story and Toy Story 2 it is rarely mentioned in the same breath as its book-ending brethren, but at the time of release it took over $363m at the box office form a budget of $60m. The film … [Read more...]
Review: Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
Roald Dahl is one of the most popular children's authors ever. Numerous adaptations of his books have made it to the big screen, but none, arguably have been completely successful (the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is probably the one with the most fans, but it's by no means universally acclaimed). The latest to have a go is Wes Anderson with his version of … [Read more...]
Review: Toy Story (1995)
In 1995, fledging animation house, Pixar released their first ever feature film, and the first film to use only CGI throughout, its name was Toy Story. Based on a short film called Tin Toy and using recognisable toy characters from the past, Toy Story became a critical and commercial smash hit and revolutionized animation and immediately made Pixar one of the most exciting … [Read more...]
Review: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979)
In 1979, Hayao Miyazaki made his first movie, The Castle of Cagliostro. He had previously co-directed 6 episodes of the anime series based around the character Lupin III, a world renowned master thief. The Castle of Cagliostro is the most well-known Lupin III film (and there are many), but the least well-known Miyazaki film. It was probably forgotten due to Miyazaki always … [Read more...]
Review: The Secret World of Arrietty (2010)
Most people are familiar with Hayoa Miyazaki's work, specifically Spirited Away, which became the first foreign film to win Best Animated Feature at the Oscars, and went on to become the most successful Japanese film of all time. The film propelled Studio Ghibli into fame, and other films they did, such as Princess Mononoke, The Cat Returns, Whisper of the Heart, and My … [Read more...]