Posted on November 18, 2011 at 3:40 pm
The wonderful folks at Veggie Tales have a new DVD for the holidays, Little Drummer Boy
I have a copy to give away PLUS a special drummer boy surprise. Send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with “Drummer” in the subject line and don’t forget your address! I will pick a winner on November 26. Good luck!
Posted on November 18, 2011 at 8:00 am
Roma Downey knows something about angels after playing one on television in the fondly remembered “Touched by an Angel” series. Now her Little Angels
Downey says, “For many years I had the privilege of playing an angel on television, bringing the message of God’s love to millions of Americans. As a mother I have longed to be a part of a project that would help to bring that same message to children through the foundations of education.” She calls the series “critical learning skills through the lens of timeless and appropriate Bible stories,” including spiritual, moral, and ethical lessons along with the three R’s.
I have a “Little Angels” DVD to give away! Send me an email at moviemom@moviemom.com with “Angels” in the subject line and don’t forget your address! I’ll pick a winner November 26. Good luck!
Posted on October 27, 2011 at 6:00 pm
The popular feline bandit of the “Shrek” series gets his own feature film, one that is less of a fractured fairy tale and more of a swashbuckler. Antonio Banderas returns as the voice of Puss in Boots, the cat with the heart of a lion — and the eyes of a cute little kitty.
This is a prequel, set in a fanciful Spanish countryside, showing us Puss’ life as an orphan, his early friendship with Humpty Dumpty, the betrayal that led him to become an outlaw, and his efforts to find redemption.
“What can I say? I was a bad kitty,” he tells us as he bids farewell to a pretty feline whose name he can’t quite remember. He is “a fugitive from the law, searching for a way to clear my name.” He walks into a bar and silences the snickering caballeros, telling them, “You don’t want to make the cat angry.” He is looking for a way to score but he has his own set of values: no stealing from churches or orphans.
Magic beans, on the other hand, are another story, especially if they have already been stolen. And it turns out that the magic beans have special significance to Puss and to his old friend.
Puss makes a new friend, too, a hooded fellow thief who wants the same beans. At first, in a charmingly designed cat hide-out, they compete against each other with an hilarious dance-off. But then the thief removes the hood and is revealed to be the notorious Softpaw, a brilliant and beautiful female thief (voice of Banderas’ “Desperado” co-star Salma Heyek). And they are joined by Humpty, though their history makes it difficult for Puss to trust him.
The beans are magic, and the beanstalk takes them to a cloud-land where they find the goose that lays golden eggs. Or, as Softpaw puts it, “It’s a gold pooper; we’re taking it.” Will this be a chance for Puss to right past wrongs? Or will it just make him an even badder kitty?
Less visually striking, less funny, and less heart-warming than the Shrek movies and with completely unnecessary 3D, it is a step down for the series. The kitty hide-out and dance-off are well handled and there are some funny moments, but the death of a major character is too jarring for younger children. Puss is a better supporting player than a star.
Posted on October 18, 2011 at 3:52 pm
Just last week, I decided to watch the original 1977 “Star Wars” again and enjoyed it very much. I’ve lost count of how many times I have seen it, but I can tell you that when my then-fiance and I saw it in the theater, we sat through it twice. (How long has it been since you could do that?)
But, as an amusing and informative piece in Slate by Michael Agger points out, even a sturdy knowledge of the original trilogy is of no help at all when the younger generation is hooked on the latest iteration of the saga that takes place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away: Star Wars: Clone Wars
Posted on October 17, 2011 at 3:59 pm
I had a lot of fun talking to animator Mark Henn about “Winnie the Pooh” last summer so it was a pleasure to get to talk to him again, this time about The Lion King
Were you surprised by the support for the theatrical re-release of a 1994 movie?
Yes — seventeen years gone by and this little film that we had no idea how well it would do back then is surprising us again even today. Still the king of the beasts, I guess, and a nice shot in the arm for hand-drawn animation, which is still viable.
I think it is less due to the 3D than because people want to go to the theater to see a movie the whole family can enjoy.
I don’t disagree. The 3D is a hook but it is still a great movie. I haven’t seen it in a long time and even I went, “Wow, this is a really good movie!” And the 3D on top of it gave it a fresh twist but it’s really a great movie and there’s a whole new generation to see it, too.
You start by going there. I was not a part of the original research trip but the directors, head of story, head of layout and head of background go on these trips. I did one for “Mulan.” They went to Africa and I had the opportunity several years after the film came out to go to Africa to do a promotional trip and when I showed up there, I said, “Oh, my gosh, there’s Pride Rock! There’s where the wildebeests were!”
It all goes back to Walt Disney. He believed everything had to be based in reality and fact and then you go from there. We went to zoos and studied real lions. Even though there are some liberties with color and things like that, that’s what you can do with this medium, adjust the colors and moods but it is all based in fact and reality.
What was your role on the movie? 
We’re the actors. In a live action movie we can offer it to Tom Hanks or Brad Pitt but for animation we are usually cast on a specific character. I was responsible for young Simba, the beginning of the movie through “Hakuna Matata,” those scenes of him growing up. Animators, like actors, have a variety of strengths, some are better with villains or comedy but I’ve tended to do more lead characters, especially the girls. The directors, when the sequence is ready to go into production they can sit down with us and communicate what Simba is doing and part of my job is not just the design of the character, what he looks like, but how he acts and moves. So I act like quality control between the director and the other animators working on Simba, and make sure that what they do is what the directors want and consistent in the way he looks and acts throughout the the film.
One of the highlights of the film for me is when young Simba sings “I Just Can’t Wait to be King.” How do you make a lion dance?
You have to know how a lion walks and moves first, and how they’re put together. And then you can break the rules and have some fun with it. You push it until it looks broken and then you back it up. It wouldn’t be appropriate for him to get up on two legs — you had the rhythm and choreography but it had to be on all fours.
We have the voice and the music, particularly with songs, but the rest of the score comes in later. We get the very specific musical beats and highlights and accents they need to hit and the lyrics — you have that to move the character to.
What does the 3D add to it?
It completes it, in a way. The film was already very vast and epic in the way it was laid out. We did what we could with the tools that were available in 1994 to make it that way. If we had this technology then we would have used it. So the technology has caught up with us to provide the final piece of the puzzle. It is really something to see Zazu walking the lion cubs out into the middle of the Savannah. You can feel him floating in the air with the cubs below him and it is really neat, an extra little tool that enhances the movie-going experience.
