murfSTUFF

The Iron Giant

This film was the brain child of Brad Bird, who would later direct Pixar’s The Incredibles and Ratatouillie. While performing miserably in theatres, The Iron Giant would find its place in the home video market. Taking place in Cold War era Maine, the film focuses on a young boy named Hogarth who finds and befriends an amnesic alien automaton. The film plays around with hard-hitting themes from missing father figures, understanding of self, paranoia of the escalation of the Cold War and condemnation of needless violence. It does it all masterfully well. It’s easy to see why Pixar hired Bird to enter their pantheon of animation gods. Of course, the most touching moment comes from the film’s finale where the giant willing performs self-sacrifice in order to save the town when he chooses to be “Superman.” Its one of those moments where guys will simply claim they’ve got something in their eye, but we all know better. The Iron Giant is one of those films that isn’t stuck in the public consciousness like others on this list, but is a film loved and endeared by those who have seen it. I highly recommend watching it if you haven’t already, and even if you have watch it again. Added bonus, then unknown Vin Diesel provided the voice for the Giant in what is easily his most simplistic, but most heartwarming performance ever.

The Lion King

NANTS INGONYAMA BAGITHI BABA! Seriously, how awesome was that opening? Remember when Disney was awesome and epic, the songs were great, the art was amazing and when you actually looked forward to what they came up with next? Yea… I miss those days sometimes. But if the 2nd coming of Disney has a poster child, it has to be Simba. The crazy part is that it wasn’t meant to be anything special. They had Little Mermaid, Aladdin and Beauty and the Beastand then Pocahontas was supposed to their next big film. In the middle ofBeauty and the Beast and Pocahontas was this “toss-away” movie to fill the time called The Lion King. It is probably one of Disney’s best films ever. An epic story of family, treachery and duty. Seriously, this film is damn near Shakespearean in its story. The art is astounding, the animation is beautiful and smooth and the songs are among the most memorable in Disney’s recent history. For people my age though, perhaps the most memorable moment was of course the death of Mufasa. Everything about that scene is top-notch. It is heart pounding and riveting, and the performances by James Earl Jones as Mufasa and Jeremy Irons as Scar just ooze out of the screen with perfection. The after math where Scar gets Simba to believe he is responsible for his own father’s death is probably one of my favorite villain moments in movie history because it so sickeningly and deliciously evil. Previous generations cried at the death of Bambi’s mother, but for me Mufasa’s death is one of those moments of my childhood that sticks with me to this day and still tears me up.

Up

Pixar is the modern-day Disney, and not just in the fact that they are owned by Disney. I’m talking about in terms of skill, expertise and delivery. They are the current masters of the animation world. One of their most recent outings (and also my personal Pixar favorite) was Up and is the story of a curmudgeonly old man, Carl Fredrickson, who goes on a crazy adventure to fulfill a promise to his late wife. This adventure entails floating his house to South America with thousands of balloons. On his journey he is joined by the overly eager Wilderness Explorer named Russel, a dog with a collar that translate its thoughts, and a goofy looking giant bird. The adventure lets him cross paths with his childhood hero who turns out to have gone crazy over the years. Its an excellent adventure with fun, excitement and humor at every turn. What truly sells Up is not the adventure, but the gut-punchingly emotional first 8 minutes of the film. We’re introduced to a young Carl and his wife-to-be Ellie as adventure loving youths in the 1930’s. We are then shown the story of their lives from their marriage, to Ellie’s death. But what makes this scene so great is that there are only two things in it: Music and Visuals. No dialogue, no sound effects, nothing else at all. In this short scene we learn everything about them worth knowing  and we become fully invested in Carl and his story. By the end this montage if you’re not crying or damn close to it, I’m convinced you’re not human.

How to Train Your Dragon

The most recent addition to my list is Dreamwork’s How to Train Your Dragon. It’s not the most artistic, or even the best film on this list, but it is probably the most fun. The story involves a nerdy outcast in a village of barbaric vikings who have a major pest control problem in the form of dragons assaulting their island village and stealing their livestock. The film’s hero is Hiccup, son of the village chief, and is a wonderfully clumsy and nerdy character who attempts to makeup for his lack of viking-ness with ingenuity and engineering. In one attempt to prove his worth by downing a dragon and manages to down the most elusive of all dragons: a Night Fury. Sadly for Hiccup, no one sees this. He later finds the dragon, and unwilling to kill it he sets it free. Later, the inquisitive young viking attempts to study and befriend the dragon in secret, while undergoing dragon combat training with his peers. As he befriends the dragon he has named “Toothless,” he becomes torn between his new understanding and appreciation for the dragons and his duties to the village. The story is one of friendship, understanding differences and the search for acceptance. Not to mention it’s also a boat load of fun. The visuals are great, the music is exhilarating (one of my favorite soundtracks in recent years) and story is touching. What made me sad was the film came out the same year as Toy Story 3. While I’m a huge Pixar fan, having Dreamworks finally make a movie that DESERVED the Animated Film Oscar come out against Pixar’s totally Oscar-bait (but none-the-less amazing) Toy Story 3 just doesn’t seem fair.

WALL•E

While I regard Up as my favorite Pixar film in terms of story and entertainment, WALL•E is far and away their magnum opus in my mind. There is an adage in visual media known as “show, don’t tell” which basically means you want to do your best to keep expository dialog as minimal as possible and tell your story through the visuals. No film does this better than WALL•E. In its 98 minutes run, there are a mere handful of lines of dialogue. The story is conveyed almost entirely on visuals alone. Furthermore is the fact that robots with simple emotive capabilities are capable of expressing such vibrant personality and emotion despite being designed for “function-first” meaning each robot had to be able to do its job with out the emotive aspects getting in the way. WALL•E is a masterful work of art that is also highly entertaining. It is the story of a robot who cleans a garbage filled Earth non-stop for 700 years, alone. At WALL•E’s core is a love story about two different robots, from two different worlds. WALL•E arrives from Earth to chase the girl of his dreams, and gets caught up in a 700 year old plot to keep humans away from a desolate and barren Earth. In his attempt to get the girl, WALL•E must also save humanity from a life of monotony from a 700 year pleasure cruise in space. Despite the outlandish setting and use of robots, WALL•E’s story is human at its heart. The story of an awkward nerdy boy who fell in love with the super-hot awesome girl who was out of his league. The difference is, in the end, the nerd gets the girl.