This is a list of one reviewer's (At least I think it's just one) choices
of movies that deserved a better fate/rep than they got. Here's the
animated movies that made the list. (Note that the list was numbered in
no particular order)
21. The Iron Giant
29. Antz
30. Atlantis: The Lost Empire
43. James and the Giant Peach
91. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
While I agree for the most part (Disagreeing with his over-enthusiastic
backing of Antz over A Bug's Life), I think most of us here note one
title (Three words) that the vast majority of us here think deserved
better...
Cats...
Don't...
Dance.
--
(But what do you think, sirs?)
My name is:
____ _
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And my anti-drug is porn.
>http://www.chud.com/news/mar04/mar22underdog1.php3
>
>This is a list of one reviewer's (At least I think it's just one) choices
>of movies that deserved a better fate/rep than they got. Here's the
>animated movies that made the list. (Note that the list was numbered in
>no particular order)
>
>21. The Iron Giant
>29. Antz
>30. Atlantis: The Lost Empire
>43. James and the Giant Peach
>91. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
>
>While I agree for the most part (Disagreeing with his over-enthusiastic
>backing of Antz over A Bug's Life), I think most of us here note one
>title (Three words) that the vast majority of us here think deserved
>better...
>
>Cats...
>Don't...
>Dance.
>
>--
>(But what do you think, sirs?)
My vote for animated movies that deserve more positive kudos, better BO, or
both are:
"Cat's Don't Dance"
"Balto"
"Batman: Mask of the Phantasm"
"Oliver and Company"
"Brother Bear"
"Wizards"
"The Secret of NIMH"
"Time Masters" (This 1982 French sci-fi flick seems highly forgotten today and
was never released theatrically in the US. From the same director as "Fantastic
Planet")
Any Hayao Miyakazi movie (well praise by critics and audiences, but tend to be
overlooked due to Disney's minimalist distribution/ad campains.)
Could "Watership Down" and "The Last Unicorn" be added to the lists? I know
that they attract a cult fandom today and some possitive ctitical reviews, but
I do not know how much Box Office they made in their initial runs ("Watership
Down" in 1978; "LU" in, what, 1982 or 1983.)
John Shughart
> "Time Masters" (This 1982 French sci-fi flick seems highly forgotten today and
> was never released theatrically in the US. From the same director as
> "Fantastic
> Planet")
I assume this isn't the one stripped of the original plot and edited
into "Asimov's Light Years"?
--
Chris Mack "Refugee, total shit. That's how I've always seen us.
'Invid Fan' Not a help, you'll admit, to agreement between us."
-'Deal/No Deal', CHESS
>>While I agree for the most part (Disagreeing with his over-enthusiastic
>>backing of Antz over A Bug's Life), I think most of us here note one
>>title (Three words) that the vast majority of us here think deserved
>>better...
>>
>>Cats...
>>Don't...
>>Dance.
>
> My vote for animated movies that deserve more positive kudos, better BO, or
> both are:
>
> "Cat's Don't Dance"
> "Balto"
There's no list long enough.
Derek Janssen (basic galactic physics prohibits)
dja...@rcn.com
No, that was a different film, Gandahar. The French title of this film was
Les maitres du temps ("The Masters of Time"). At least "Time Masters" got a
dvd release here in the U.S. as well as France. The only way to get a copy
of Gandahar is to buy a Japanese version.
Has anyone seen Gandahar and been able to compare it to "Light Years"? I'm
curious to how much was actually changed by Asimov and the rest of the
American crew. The running time for both versions of the film is 83 minutes.
From a mangled translation of a plot summary the French version doesn't seem
to be basically different from the American.
Yours in animation,
Richard
Richard Llewellyn
rl...@iastate.edu
Richard's Animated Divots at
www.public.iastate.edu/~rllew/andivots.html
If I had knew about it more before when it was in the theatres, I
would've went to it too (somehow I got confused when a local newspaper
review quoted that the movie "had the earmarks of a Japanese animation
production", have to check that up in the microfishe to make sure I"m
not wrong about that statement).
>"Batman: Mask of the Phantasm"
>"Oliver and Company"
>"Brother Bear"
>"Wizards"
>"The Secret of NIMH"
>"Time Masters" (This 1982 French sci-fi flick seems
>highly forgotten today and was never released
>theatrically in the US. From the same director as
>"Fantastic Planet")
>Any Hayao Miyakazi movie (well praise by critics
>and audiences, but tend to be overlooked due to
>Disney's minimalist distribution/ad campains.)
Somehow I kinda wonder what kind of box office attendance did "Nausicaa"
fared when it was the butchered "Warriors of the Wind" 19 years ago?
>Could "Watership Down" and "The Last Unicorn"
>be added to the lists? I know that they attract a
>cult fandom today and some possitive ctitical
>reviews, but I do not know how much Box Office
>they made in their initial runs ("Watership Down" in
>1978; "LU" in, what, 1982 or 1983.)
>John Shughart
Who knows.
From the Master of Car-too-nal Knowledge...
Christopher M. Sobieniak
--"Fightin' the Frizzies since 1978"--
I wrote --
>>My vote for animated movies that deserve more
>>positive kudos, better BO, or both are:
>>"Cat's Don't Dance"
>>"Balto"
>
>If I had knew about it more before when it was in the theatres, I
>would've went to it too (somehow I got confused when a local newspaper
>review quoted that the movie "had the earmarks of a Japanese animation
>production", have to check that up in the microfishe to make sure I"m
>not wrong about that statement).
And having the earmarks of Japanese animation is bad beacause...? ;-)
Seriously, I did notice how Balto (and some other few characters in the same
movie) have a slight angular look to their designs, but I was cool with it, and
the look and feel of the Universal movie reminded me more of the lushness of
the late-1980s/early-1990s Disney animation and Walt's "Lady and the Tramp"
than Japanese animation.
John Shughart
I wrote --
>>>While I agree for the most part (Disagreeing with his over-enthusiastic
It's my list and my opinions. I have seem many great animated films that I
thought deserved better respect.
For instance I love "Oliver and Company" due to it's brillant animation, great
catchy music/songs, interesting characters, and a strong plot. It was very
different in story and characters from what Disney animators did before. While
the movie enjoyed great success in its inital theatrical run, it's surprising
that some critics and some folks online turned flat on it and instead crown
"The Little Mermaid" as the film to restart Disney's animation.
John Shughart
I dunno, it said a few things. Maybe I'll have to go to the public
library downtown and find out tomorrow! Need something to do to keep my
interest from waining.
>Seriously, I did notice how Balto (and some other
>few characters in the same movie) have a slight
>angular look to their designs, but I was cool with it,
I like the look too (seems to work well with furries I say!).
>and the look and feel of the Universal movie
>reminded me more of the lushness of the
>late-1980s/early-1990s Disney animation and
>Walt's "Lady and the Tramp" than Japanese
>animation.
>John Shughart
Oh well, I'll blame it on the crummy critic who wrote the review that I
had to see that day some 8 years ago. Just didn't see it at the time
thought (hardly went to movies by myself at that point).
>http://www.chud.com/news/mar04/mar22underdog1.php3
>
>This is a list of one reviewer's (At least I think it's just one) choices
>of movies that deserved a better fate/rep than they got. Here's the
>animated movies that made the list. (Note that the list was numbered in
>no particular order)
>
>21. The Iron Giant
Just before IG is "Aliens 3". Enough said.
I wrote --
>>Chris Sobieniak wrote --
>>>>"Balto"
>>>If I had knew about it more before when it was in
>>>the theatres, I would've went to it too (somehow I
>>>got confused when a local newspaper review
>>>quoted that the movie "had the earmarks of a
>>>Japanese animation production", have to check
>>>that up in the microfishe to make sure I"m not
>>>wrong about that statement).
>>And having the earmarks of Japanese animation is
>>bad beacause...? ;-)
>
>I dunno, it said a few things. Maybe I'll have to go to the public
>library downtown and find out tomorrow! Need something to do to keep my
>interest from waining.
>
>>Seriously, I did notice how Balto (and some other
>>few characters in the same movie) have a slight
>>angular look to their designs, but I was cool with it,
>I like the look too (seems to work well with furries I say!).
Yup. We love pretty drawn cartoon doggies. ^_^ And the Phil Colins bear cubs
were cute.
>
>>and the look and feel of the Universal movie
>>reminded me more of the lushness of the
>>late-1980s/early-1990s Disney animation and
>>Walt's "Lady and the Tramp" than Japanese
>>animation.
>>John Shughart
>
>Oh well, I'll blame it on the crummy critic who wrote the review that I
>had to see that day some 8 years ago. Just didn't see it at the time
>thought (hardly went to movies by myself at that point).
>
John Shughart
You weren't an adult at the time, I assume. "The Little Mermaid" was a major
media phenomenon. "Oliver and Company" was just another kiddy film that was
ignored by all adults who didn't have to take their kids to it.
Another one that deserves better treatment is "The Powerpuff Girls Movie," especially because it was released on DVD as full screen only.
-- John Lund
-------------------------------------
Home page: http://hammer.prohosting.com/~jmlund
And that it mostly got played in many theaters in the later hours than
in a more suitable time (like matiness).
Love how you put it! ^_^
>And the Phil Colins bear cubs
>were cute.
>John Shughart
Heh, and because you've been so patient, I actually decided to leave the
area today, where I spent a headaching, and gloomy day roaming the mean
streets of my downtown section, to find out that bit of info I had
glanced at that game me a first-hand view on Balto, at the library of
course, where a quick runthrough of a microfishe of my city's newspaper
from December '95 provided the review I've seen 8 years back. On
December 30th, page 6 of the "Peach Section" (amply named since it used
to once been printed on peach-color newsprint stock), the (Toledo) Blade
printed a review (not from a local critc as I stated) from Michael Price
of the New York Times News Service who had seen the film, and gave off
his opinion towards it, and now here's the full report...
HEROIC DOG INSPIRES AN ENGAGING KID'S FILM
By Michael Price (NY Times News Service)
Heroic canines were all the rage during the 1920s. Rin-tin-tin, a
battlefront police dog, returned from helping to win World War I and
promptly saved Warner Bros. from bankruptcy with a string of
hard-charging action movies.
Meanwhile in Alaska, a sled dog named Balto led an urgent mission
to Nome, covering the last lap of a 674-mile route to bring the medicine
neccessary to put down an outbreak of diphtheria.
This tale is the orgin of the new cartoon feature "Balto", which
uses animation to relate a more serious story than the usual kid stuff.
A peek into one of the darker corridors of film history reveals
that Balto is not the first movie to tell Balto's story.
Hollywood had picked up on Balto's triumph early on, hastening to
film "Balto's Race to Nome" (1925) and tying to film to the dedication
of a statue of the dog in New York's Central Park. Balto and his fellow
huskies were eventually sold to a sleazy carnival promoter - but were
rescued and restored to dignity at the Cleveland Zoo, where Balto lived
to a resonably ripe age.
The new "Balto" concerns itself with the monumental race to Nome.
The collaborative screenplay establishes Balto (voiced by Kevin Bacon)
as a half-wolf maverick, friend to no one except a grouchy goose (voiced
by Bob Hoskins) and hardly the type to undertake any errands of mercy.
This version finds Balto undertaking the desperate mission out of
compassion for one little girl, fondness for one gorgeous lady dog
(voiced by Bridget Fonda) and an overriding wish to be accepted by the
villagers. Jim Cummings portrays and evil dog named Steele, who tries
to sabotage the medicine delivery.
The vocal acting is especially good at convincing the viewer to
believe such a preposterous fantasy, and director Simon Wells' sense of
pacing is well matched to the headlong frenzy of Balto's crusade.
Though of American orgin and boasting former Disney animators among
its key personnel, this Steven Spielberg presentation has the overall
look of a Japanese animation production: The exaggerated roundness of
the characters' eyes, the lack of gravity in the main figure outlines,
even the limited range of delicate colors - all seem more of the Orient
than the Occident.
None of this diminishes the entertainment value of "Balto." It is a
good-hearted charmer, and it should prompt many youngsters to look up
Balto's truer story in the library. If they do, they many learn that
Balto's noble feat - known in real life as the Great Race of Mercy -
evolved into the world-famous Iditarod dog-sled race.
So there you have it! I'm a little surrpised at a few things brought up
in it, but it was what I expected from someone who probably is more used
to the typical Disney formula in animated features and all.
Oh, and my newspaper gave it a critic's rating of two and a half stars
(Above Average). Apparently it wasn't good enough for three stars. :-(
I wrote --
Uh, a movie where the villians are a scary mafia-type man and his tough
dobermans is a kiddie-only film?
Besides, I am a 33 year old man, and I still love the film to this day,
whenever it's for children/the family or not.
John Shughart
I wrote --
>>Chris Sobieniak wrote--
Well, it's close enough to three stars or so in my book :-)
John Shughart
It's really interesting to bring that up in defense! Sometimes we tend
to forget those concepts or ideas, and as many would do, say it's a
kids' flick all the way, without taking in the obvious thought that
adults would like it too.
>Besides, I am a 33 year old man, and I still love
>the film to this day, whenever it's for children/the
>family or not.
>John Shughart
I feel sad I never saw it when it first came out, and I'm 26. Though I
did see "Beauty & The Beast" for which I got to see along with my late
grandmother. Kinda feel embarrased to bring that up, but Belle reminded
me so much like my grandma with the way she was into books and things,
my grandma was an excellent writer, but she never pursue the opportunity
to get any of her work published at all. I still have a lot of her old
manuscripts and other journals in my house that I do glance at now and
then, but it's hard to be careful with them because of their age and
wear (being written mostly in the 1920s and '30s).
SNIPPED!
>> Though of American orgin and boasting
>>former Disney animators among its key
>>personnel, this Steven Spielberg presentation has
>>the overall look of a Japanese animation
>>production: The exaggerated roundness of the
>>characters' eyes, the lack of gravity in the main
>>figure outlines, even the limited range of delicate
>>colors - all seem more of the Orient than the
>>Occident.
>>Oh, and my newspaper gave it a critic's rating of
>>two and a half stars (Above Average). Apparently
>>it wasn't good enough for three stars. :-(
>Well, it's close enough to three stars or so in my
>book :-)
>John Shughart
Ditto! I still wonder why would the reviewer go so far as to bring up
the anime bit in his article. Just seems so strange, and it gave me too
many questions back when I first read it. Almost a year later, I
luckilly saw Balto on PPV and my mom taped it (she was in the mood to
tape PPV flicks at the time instead of renting them at the store).
I wrote -
>Richard Llewellyn wrote --
>>>You weren't an adult at the time, I assume. "The
>>>Little Mermaid" was a major media phenomenon.
>>>"Oliver and Company" was just another kiddy film
>>>that was ignored by all adults who didn't have to
>>>take their kids to it.
>>Uh, a movie where the villians are a scary
>>mafia-type man and his tough dobermans is a
>>kiddie-only film?
>
>It's really interesting to bring that up in defense! Sometimes we tend
>to forget those concepts or ideas, and as many would do, say it's a
>kids' flick all the way, without taking in the obvious thought that
>adults would like it too.
*Nods*. The music also helps draw in adults and teenagers who wouldn't
otherwise go to a cel-animated movie on their own. It was rather at first
difficult for the Disney artists to find the right sense of pop music to use to
fit well into the animation, since not all rock music doesn't seem right for
the rhymth of the movment and life of the artwork. They settled on soft pop
rock for a couple of songs for the soundtrack (like when Dodger, voiced by
Billy Joel, sings the first character song number) and the rest is somewhat
classical (like Jenny's "You and Me"). It helps that Joel and Bette Midler had
voice roles in the movie.
>
>>Besides, I am a 33 year old man, and I still love
>>the film to this day, whenever it's for children/the
>>family or not.
>>John Shughart
>
>I feel sad I never saw it when it first came out, and I'm 26. Though I
>did see "Beauty & The Beast" for which I got to see along with my late
>grandmother. Kinda feel embarrased to bring that up, but Belle reminded
>me so much like my grandma with the way she was into books and things,
>my grandma was an excellent writer, but she never pursue the opportunity
>to get any of her work published at all. I still have a lot of her old
>manuscripts and other journals in my house that I do glance at now and
>then, but it's hard to be careful with them because of their age and
>wear (being written mostly in the 1920s and '30s).
>
I surprised that a cartoon character reminded you of someone you knew. :-)
John Shughart
>>Chris Sobieniak wrote --
>>>HEROIC DOG INSPIRES AN ENGAGING KID'S
>>>FILM
>>>By Michael Price (NY Times News Service)
>
>SNIPPED!
>
>>>=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0Though of American orgin and boasting
>>>former Disney animators among its key
>>>personnel, this Steven Spielberg presentation has
>>>the overall look of a Japanese animation
>>>production: The exaggerated roundness of the
>>>characters' eyes, the lack of gravity in the main
>>>figure outlines, even the limited range of delicate
>>>colors - all seem more of the Orient than the
>>>Occident.
>
>>>Oh, and my newspaper gave it a critic's rating of
>>>two and a half stars (Above Average). Apparently
>>>it wasn't good enough for three stars. :-(
>>Well, it's close enough to three stars or so in my
>>book :-)
>>John Shughart
>
>Ditto! I still wonder why would the reviewer go so far as to bring up
>the anime bit in his article. Just seems so strange, and it gave me too
>many questions back when I first read it. Almost a year later, I
>luckilly saw Balto on PPV and my mom taped it (she was in the mood to
>tape PPV flicks at the time instead of renting them at the store).
>
I was able to buy a VHS vopy of "Balto" years ago after its theatrical relase,
and I was wowed by what I saw. :-) Then more recently gotten the DVD version,
which I haven't seen yet.
So what did you think of it? :-)
John Shughart
If it was a Disney animated film at that time then it was just for kids.
Although it came out in the same year that "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" brought
adults to animation it was still considered a kiddy film, just the same way
that its basis, Dicken's Oliver Twist was/is considered a kiddy book.
>
>Besides, I am a 33 year old man, and I still love the film to this day,
>whenever it's for children/the family or not.
As a 51 year old man I can still clearly remember the public attitude
toward's animation at that time (the Alzhimer's hasn't quite gotten me yet).
By the way, I like "Oliver" also, especially for its watercolor-like
depiction of New York.
I wrote --
Ah, that makes sense now.
>
>>
>>Besides, I am a 33 year old man, and I still love the film to this day,
>>whenever it's for children/the family or not.
>
>As a 51 year old man I can still clearly remember the public attitude
>toward's animation at that time (the Alzhimer's hasn't quite gotten me yet).
>By the way, I like "Oliver" also, especially for its watercolor-like
>depiction of New York.
I know. Many of the backgrounds were wonderful, even if they had to place
billborads, logos, ect, of USA Today, Coca-Cola and Time magazine. (But such
product placement didn't bother me. :-D Seeing the appearance of real-life
company logos and products make the movie look more real.) I also liked how the
backgrounds had a perceptional 3-D enviroment feel to them (like when Georgette
was walking down the stairwell at the final seconds of her music number, as a
great example.) It was the first hand-drawn feature animated movie I've ever
saw using such 3-D tricks, thanks with some sublime computer-image help.
John Shughart
I thought it had very trendy music in that flick!
>It was rather at first difficult for the Disney artists
>to find the right sense of pop music to use to fit
>well into the animation, since not all rock music
>doesn't seem right for the rhymth of the movment
>and life of the artwork.
That is very true, given that it took place in a 1980s New York and all.
You'd had to have something that would fit in perfectly with what the
artwork was.
>They settled on soft pop rock for a couple of songs
>for the soundtrack (like when Dodger, voiced by
>Billy Joel, sings the first character song number)
>and the rest is somewhat classical (like Jenny's
>"You and Me"). It helps that Joel and Bette Midler
>had voice roles in the movie.
It did.
>I surprised that a cartoon character reminded you
>of someone you knew. :-)
>John Shughart
Doesn't it always? ^_^
The DVD? Well I didn't get it myself, since I didn't like the fact that
it was in pan & scan, while the movie was produced in widescreen
on-purpose. The movie was released on LD along with the original VHS
release, and that one was in widescreen anyway, so I have that edition.
Still, it was a much different time then when animated films were still
looked on as babysitter fodder for most parents' troubles.
>>As a 51 year old man I can still clearly remember
>>the public attitude toward's animation at that time
>>(the Alzhimer's hasn't quite gotten me yet).
Has there been studies on animation being shown to and/or the effects
on Alzhimer patients? ^_^
>>By the way, I like "Oliver" also, especially for its
>>watercolor-like depiction of New York.
>I know. Many of the backgrounds were wonderful,
>even if they had to place billborads, logos, ect, of
>USA Today, Coca-Cola and Time magazine. (But
>such product placement didn't bother me. :-D
>Seeing the appearance of real-life company logos
>and products make the movie look more real.)
I had the same impression too. It was far different from the typical
animated film where fake or gag products are usually inserted on
billboards and signs and all (even jokes on the animator's themsleves).
The logos seen in the film still reflect the same products and services
we come to know of as being the Americana. Coca-Cola having been around
for a century, Time Magazine much shorter, and USA Today for a few
decades, they're still true today as they were then (though that says
much about the products that used to be around for ages and how they do
come and go with the times).
On that note, I kinda liked it when Disney did the Mickey Mouse film for
the New York World's Fair of '39 where Mickey pimped for Nabisco. After
watching that from the Disney Treasures DVD set, I couldn't help but
felt hungry for some Oreos and Chips Ahoy. Too bad I don't normally
blow my cash on those cookies anymore (just gets too obsessive with junk
food).
>I also liked how the backgrounds had a
>perceptional 3-D enviroment feel to them (like
>when Georgette was walking down the stairwell at
>the final seconds of her music number, as a great
>example.) It was the first hand-drawn feature
>animated movie I've ever saw using such 3-D
>tricks, thanks with some sublime computer-image
>help.
>John Shughart
At least it gave you some good interest into the use of computers at the
time (namely for still staying simple and basic in design).