Posted on February 27, 2009 at 8:00 am
This is what television used to look like. Watch this beguiling episode of “Father Knows Best” where Bud gets into trouble for shirking his chores to play a baseball game. It is impossible not to charmed by the innocent wholesomeness of the story and by the matter-of-fact portrayal of the role that the church and the clergy plays in the life of the family.
Posted on February 25, 2009 at 8:00 am
Michael Landon Jr.’s new film is The Velveteen Rabbit, based on the classic book
The movie opens in select cities this Friday, February 27, and will be out on DVD
It must have taken a lot of courage to adapt a book that has such passionately devoted fans!
It was very daunting. One of the things though that I wanted to do that’s quite different than Margery Williams’ source material was that she tells the story form the rabbit’s point of view and there have been sweet little films
In our story, the boy, called Toby, is sent away for the holidays with his stern grandmother. He finds the attic with all the forgotten toys and this little rabbit leads him to this imaginary world that he loves.
Is the movie live action or animated?
Both! It is live action, shot in Montreal, until Toby goes to the imaginary world, and that part is animated. We wanted to try to give it a period kind of feel because it takes place in 1910. We wanted to keep that feel through 2D and update it a little with 3D. Feature Films for Families owns an animation company and they spearheaded the animation, which took over three years. The cast includes Ellen Burstyn, Tom Skerritt, and Jane Seymour. The live action scenes were done more than three years ago.
Wow, so the kid who played Toby must be practically grown up!
He’s a teenager now! Wild to hear him.
Why has this story been so powerful for so many people over the generations?
The theme for me is that love makes us real. That’s a theme that transcends time. There’s definitely something for everyone in this film and something to connect the generations, just as it is when you read the story to children. Any parents and grandparents who see this, they’ll leave inspired and not only entertained but want to be closer and love better.
Did you have a special toy when you were a kid?
Charlie, a monkey! He was by far my favorite, he was my bud. He would still be with me but my mom got rid of all my stuffed animals, which devastated me.
What films and film-makers inspired you?
In terms of overall storytelling ability, Spielberg. No one is as versatile as he is. He can can tell a story like “E.T.” and then do “Jaws” and “Schindler’s List.” He’s on the top of my list. I like visionary directors like Ridley Scott. He is stunning. His background in production design makes his films something to behold, mesmerizing. Chris Nolan is a genius film-maker; I’m blown away by him. Going back years, Frank Capra is one of my all-time favorite classic directors, who tells a story that is not only compelling but makes me want to be a better person. That’s more of what I set out to do with this film and my others, too.
What makes you laugh?
My kids crack me up, not necessarily on purpose! And I love the old Pink Panther films with Peter Sellers.
What are you doing next?
I’m finishing up a novel, The Silent Gift, co-writing with Cindy Kelley, with whom I co-wrote “The Velveteen Rabbit” and other films. Coming in late spring early summer I have “The Shunning,” an Amish story based on a novel by Beverly Lewis and I am also working on “When Calls the Heart” with Maggie Grace. I have a history with both of those authors and it is wonderful to be able to continue to develop those relationships.
Posted on May 21, 2003 at 1:10 pm
Pixar Studios may have the most advanced animation technology in the world, but they never forget what matters most in a movie: story, characters, imagination, and heart. “Finding Nemo” has it all.
It is an epic journey filled with adventure and discovery encompassing the grandest sweep of ocean vastness and the smallest longing of the heart.
Marlin (Albert Brooks) is a fond but nervous and overprotective clown fish. A predator ate his wife and all but one of their eggs. The surviving egg becomes his son Nemo (Alexander Gould), and when it is time to start school, Nemo is excited, but Marlin is very fearful.
Nemo has an under-developed fin. Marlin has done a good job of making Nemo feel confident and unselfconscious. They call it his “lucky fin.” But it still makes Marlin a little more anxious about protecting Nemo, and it still makes Nemo a little more anxious about proving that he can take care of himself.
On his first day of school, Nemo swims too far from the others and is captured by a deep sea diver, a dentist who keeps fish in his office aquarium. Marlin must go literally to the end of the ocean to find his son and bring him home.
And so, in the tradition and spirit of stories from the Odyssey to “The Wizard of Oz,” Marlin takes a journey that will introduce him to extraordinary characters and teach him a great deal about the world and even more about himself. He meets up with Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), a cheerful blue tang who has a problem with short-term memory loss. They search for Nemo together, despite stinging jellyfish, exploding mines, and creatures with many, many, many, many teeth.
Meanwhile, Nemo has made some very good friends in the dentist’s aquarium, including a tough Tiger Fish (Willem Dafoe) who helps him plan an escape before the dentist can give Nemo to his careless eight-year-old niece, whose record with fish portends a short lifespan.
The movie is a visual feast. The play of light on the water is breathtaking. The characters imagined by Pixar in “Monsters, Inc.” were fabulously inventive, but they have nothing on the even more fabulously inventive Mother Nature. This movie will make an ichthyologist out of anyone, because all of the characters are based on real-life ocean species, each one more marvelous than the one before. While preserving their essential “fishy-ness,” Pixar and the talented people providing the voices have also made them each wonderfully expressive, and it seems only fair to say that they create performances as full and varied as have ever been on screen.
There are some scary moments in this movie, including the off-screen death of Marlin’s wife and future children. It is handled very discreetly, but still might possibly be upsetting to some viewers. There are terrifying-looking creatures, but one of the movie’s best jokes is that even the sharks are so friendly that in an AA-style program, they keep reminding each other that “we don’t eat our friends.” There really are no bad guys in this movie — the danger comes from a child’s thoughtlessness and from natural perils. The movie has no angry, jealous, greedy, or murderous villains as in most traditional Disney animated films.
Another strength of the movie is the way it handles Nemo’s disability, frankly but matter-of-factly. But best of all is the way it addresses questions that are literally at the heart of the parent-child relationship, giving everyone in the audience something to relate to and learn from.
And there is another special treat — the chance to see Pixar’s first-ever short feature, “Knick-Knack,” shown before the feature. It shows how far the technology has advanced, but it also shows that Pixar’s sense of fun was there right at the beginning.
Parents should know that even though there are no traditional bad guys in this movie, there are still some very scary moments, including creatures with zillions of sharp teeth, an apparent death of a major character, and many tense scenes with characters in peril. At the beginning of the movie, Marlin’s wife and all but one of their eggs are eaten by a predator. It is offscreen, but might upset some viewers. There is a little potty humor. The issue of Nemo’s stunted fin is handled exceptionally well.
Families who see this movie should talk about how parents have to balance their wish to protect their children from being hurt (physically or emotionally) with the need to let them grow up and learn how to take care of themselves. They should talk about Nemo’s disability and about everyone has different abilities that make some things easier for each of us to do than for most people and some things harder. How do you know what your abilities are, and what do you do to make the most of them?
Families who enjoy this movie will also enjoy the other Pixar films, “A Bug’s Life,” the “Toy Story” movies, and “Monsters Inc.” They will appreciate other movies with underwater scenes, including Disney’s “The Little Mermaid,” “Pinocchio,” and “Bedknobs and Broomsticks,” and “Yellow Submarine,” with innovative animation, a witty and touching script, and, of course, glorious music from the Beatles. Families with younger children will enjoy reading “The Runaway Bunny,” and families with older children will enjoy “Amazing Fish” from the outstanding Eyewitness series.
Posted on January 20, 2003 at 4:01 pm
This movie may be too scary for kids under six, but older children and their families, particularly fans of the Roald Dahl book, will love this spectacular musical fantasy from Tim Burton and Henry Selick (“The Nightmare Before Christmas”).
James has a blissful life with loving parents until they are both killed by a rhinoceros. He then goes to live with his horribly mean aunts, until a mysterious stranger brings him a bag of magical crocodile tongues.
James trips and spills them on the ground, near a tree that then grows a giant peach. When James climbs inside, he meets a collection of human-sized insects, including the lovely Polish-accented spider (voice of Susan Sarandon) and violin-playing grasshopper (voice of Simon Callow). The peach takes off, and, tethered to 300 seagulls and flies to New York.
Exquisite stop-motion claymation, computer animation, and special effects combine to create real movie magic and an instant classic.
Kids who love Dahl will also enjoy the films of his other books, “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” and “The Witches” and Children will also enjoy Dahl’s “Matilda,” another story of a child overcoming cruel adults.
Posted on December 13, 2002 at 10:52 am
Like all Muppet movies, this latest entry has plenty of jokes to keep the parents happy while the kids are enjoying the story. This time, the story focuses on a question that has intrigued Muppet fans for years: exactly what IS Gonzo? Gonzo feels alone and outcast, even in the midst of the busy Muppet group house. He dreams that Noah refuses to let him on the ark because there is only one of him, and Noah wants only pairs. But then he begins receiving messages and learns that he is an alien, and that his alien family is coming to meet him.
There is a problem, though. Edgar Singer (Jeffrey Tambor of television’s “Larry Sanders Show”), who works at a mysterious government office that tracks aliens, captures Gonzo and orders a scientist to remove his brain for study. Gonzo’s pal Rizzo the Rat is put in a cage with lab rats. Kermit, Miss Piggy, Animal, and the others set out to rescue them.
The movie has sly references to just about every space movie classic, from “The Day the Earth Stood Still” to “Independence Day” and “Men in Black” (plus “The Shawshank Redemption”), cameos from stars including Andie MacDowell, Ray Liotta, and David Arquette, and a bouncy score of rock classics. While the score draws from performers like James Brown, The Commodores and Sly and the Family Stone, the human performers are overwhelmingly white, a mistake also too often committed by the sci-fi movies so lovingly parodied. With that caveat, and with the further warning that this may not be the Muppets’ all-time best, it is a very pleasant way to spend a quick 90 minutes, and the best movie of the summer for families with younger children.
