Gerawallstar

You know how animation has a tendency to have a worst time period in history? Animation has been through different eras. Disney was in the golden age of animation by releasing Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Flintstones kick started an animated TV sitcom trend in the silver age in the 1960s and Tom and Jerry/Looney Tunes cartoons were in the era where cartoons were aired in the theaters. The point I’m trying to make is that animation has been in interesting periods in history. Which will bring us to the 70’s known as the Dark ages of animation. If you like the cartoons from the 70’s that’s great. The reason why the 1970s were the claimed the dark ages of animation is because of three things:

1. Actions for Childrens Television Act of 1968

In 1968, an activist named Peggy Charren established the Actions for Childrens Television Act, which came into fruition when she and a couple of “concerned” parents protested over the violence of cartoons in television. What they did was utilized a lot of strict rules for Saturday Morning Cartoons. 1. Obvious rule is No Violence or any action presented in cartoons. 2. More education content/diversity in cartoons 3. Remove any conflict in animation.

While all of these rules are not bad, these rules were the result of cartoons at that time being toned down in violence, having stupid plots/stories, and having pointless celebrity cartoons.

1. “Animation is for kids”

The animation being for kids aspect has been used since forever, even to this day. However, this was more heavily used during this time period because before the 1970’s, animation was aimed both at kids and adults. The Flintstones and Tom and Jerry while children could watch it, they had writing and humor suitable for adults as well. But ever since the Saturday Morning Cartoons were established in the 1960s, it was aimed at kids who want to watch cartoons on a Saturday morning while parents are sleeping. In the 1970s, 95% of cartoons i.e The Brady Kids, Jackson 5, Yogi’s Gang, etc were made strictly for kids. People thought that because animated content was made for kids, they don’t have to try making quality content due to it being stigmatized as something only kids can watch. This is a battle that is still being fought by animation fans/purists like myself because Animation is a medium designed for everybody, not just kids. As this quote from Guillermo de Toro that made Pinocchio says…. “Animation is a Medium, not a genre.”

1. Walt Disney’s Death/Closing of Looney Tunes Studios

Walt Disney died on December 5, 1966. Before Disney died, the Walt Disney Company was making some of the greatest animated movies that spawned a generation. It was his input and vision that made these Disney Movies amazing, and for everyone. But ever since he died, the company was struggling to make movies without him. Which would lead them in the dark ages of the company. The movies that were made post Walt were rough in animation, aimed at only for children, and were playing it safe in stories and action. As for the closing of Looney Tunes Studios, they were closed down in 1969. They got shut down because the shorts were not making enough money.  Plus, the studio where the shorts came from shut down due to the studio being acquired by Kinney National Company. To make it plain, cartoon shorts were becoming a thing of the past, and Television was the way for cartoons to make profits.

Animation goes through various cycles and phases in each generation. While this was the worst period in time for animation, it is a reminder of people to appreciate not just cartoons that may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but to recognize animation as an art form/something to be taken seriously. If you want to look at the good things about 70s animation, look at Ralph Bashkis adult animated movies, Charlotte’s Web, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, and more. I know some people dislike 80’s and even 2010’s cartoons, because they don’t really match the standards of the great 90’s cartoons as well as cartoons from the golden age. Well, whether you dislike 80’s cartoons or not, the 80s did have Ronald Regan deregulating the rules from the Actions for children’s Television Act a little by utilizing violence and action as long it has a message in every episode. While this result did lead to a plethora of cartoons based off toys, these cartoons did make profit and room for some action/actual plots in cartoons, i.e. Smurfs, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Thundercats, etc. The end result of this has led to animation entering an renaissance in the mid-80s with Disney’s Gummi Bears, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and The Little Mermaid. And from then on, animation would dominate the 90s era with being in a renaissance having high quality animated films and shows again

Oliver and Company Review

Hey Guys! Gerawallstar here, and I am here to review the 27^th Walt Disney Animated Film, Oliver and Company, which was released in 1988. Fun facts about this film: this film was released on the same day as former Disney animator Don Bluth’s film, The Land Before Time. Not only The Land Before Time beated Oliver and Company worldwide at the box office, but it was also a critical success than that film. However, Oliver and Company beated The Land Before Time Domestically. Over the years, a lot of people skip this film, and hated it. In my opinion, I was kind of harsh on this movie because when I saw it for the first time, I was underwhelmed by it. But after seeing it over and over, it kind of grew on me. I don’t think it deserves that much hate from critics. This is a good film.

Story:

The Story is about a cat named Oliver who was the only cat who was not adopted, so he encounters a group of alley animals, while also being adopted by an owner named Jenny. The story is very basic, but good. My positive for the story is the bond we get from Jenny and Oliver, the action scene, and more importantly, the big gruesome death of the villain Sykes. What’s great is that we get too subplots with Oliver hanging out with the street dogs, while also being adopted by Jenny. I really enjoyed these scenes.  My problems with the story is that the pacing goes on way too fast. It honestly doesn’t slow down enough for the characters to breathe. The story here is decent. I give the story seven stars.

Animation:

I will give credit here that the animation is actually the best thing about this film. Its not perfect, but it still great animation. The animation really does give a more realistic look to New York City with the fogs, and the buildings. I liked that the sketchiness also portrays New York nicely. There’s also some 3D aspects of the film that really take advantage of the animation such as the piano, and the car chase scene. It does look very innovative for its time.  Despite the great things about the animation, there is one big problem with the animation, and that is the CGI. Don’t give me wrong, the CGI is still good here, but the problem is that they use it way too much here, and I mean a lot. They kind of overdid it a little here. Unlike the Great Mouse Detective where they used the CGI in one scene where Basil and Ratigan were fighting at the Big Ben Clock Tower. Its like they are trying they’re new toy with the CGI in this movie. But alas, the animation is still great to sit through, and the highlight of the film. I give the animation eight stars.

Characters:

After seeing this film for the second time, I did enjoy the characters a little more. they had potential, but the issue is that there wasn’t enough screentime for them to stand out more. The characters are fine as a whole. They are memorable. Let’s start off with Oliver, voiced by Joey Lawrence. I like Oliver. He’s a naïve, cute cat. The other characters that stand out are Jenny, Tito, Rita and Fagan. Tito is entertaining. The voice actor Cheech Marin does an amazing job as Tito. Jenny is cute, and her bond with Oliver does make some good from her. I liked Rita.  Fagan is also interesting, and likeable. I just love the way how caring and friendly he is to the dogs. The voice actors do a good job bringing in the light for the characters. Despite this, some characters are not that good. Dodger is an annoying Dog. Bill Sykes is a weak villain. Scratch that, he is the worst villain in a Disney film. He is a generic villain, and his motivations are so confusing. Georgette is very bland. The characters as a whole are great but some are forgettable. I give the characters eight stars.

Songs:

With the way that the songs are marketed in this film, they are surprisingly not good. It’s a shame too, because this was the first musical that Disney has ever done in a long time that would pave the way for future Disney films. Let me start with the song I really love. “Why should I worry?” is my favorite song in the movie. its catchy, and upbeat. They advertise this song in the trailers a lot that it makes it a good use here. “Once upon a time in New York City” is really good. The song played at the beginning is sad, and the lyrics are good despite it being corny. “Streets of Gold” is forgettable. “Good Company” is a good song. I like it. “Perfect isn’t easy” is just meh. The score is just out there. Its okay. The songs are all right but they are not that great. I give the songs six stars.

Verdict:

I think I was a little harsh after seeing this film a couple of times. “Oliver and Company” is still a decent but forgettable Disney movie. It has great animation, and a catchy song, and the story is good. But some characters and the villain are what makes the movie somewhat fall flat. Considering how The Land Before Time, that was released on the same weekend as this film made a better profit, it is a good for what it is. It has heart. I give this film seven stars out of ten.

7/10

Hey guys! Gerawallstar here and I am here to do a top 5 best total drama episodes. This was my favorite show to watch as a teenager. It had great writing, stellar characters, and surprisingly good animation. So without further ado, here is my top 5 best total drama island episodes.

Hey guys! Gerawallstar, here, and I am here to review the 2001 animated film from Dreamworks called Shrek. This film had a major impact in animation: it was the financially successful CGI film at the time, it was the fourth highest grossing film of 2001, it was the first animated film to win an Oscar at the first best Animated Picture Oscar, beating Monsters Inc, and it was also the film that would finally give DreamWorks animated films an identity. However, it also caused a dangerous influence in animation too: the success of this film, and a few PIXAR films at the time caused a lot of hand drawn animated films to be thrown out the window, and its influence also caused most animated films these days, and back then, to follow the formula of bringing in pop-culture references, toilet humor, and cartoony/comedic styles in animated films. In my opinion, I loved Shrek, and I think it still holds up to this day, no matter what people think of its impact on animation.

Production:

At the time where DreamWorks was founded, John Williams brought the novel, which he reads to his children to Katzenberg. Eventually, Katzenberg’s interest in the novel has led to him making a movie of out of Shrek. Katzenberg put the film in development in 1995, after buying the rights. Steven Spielberg wanted to make it a traditionally animated film, along with making Bill Murray, and Steve Martin to play both as Shrek and Donkey. Katzenberg, and Andrew Adamson both argued about whether to make the film appeal to. Eventually, Katzenberg decided that the film should be appealed to everyone, however, he denied Adamson’s ideas such as adding Sexual Jokes, and Guns n Roses, music, because he thinks that it wouldn’t be good for the demographics. Kelly Asbury joined co-directing the film in 1997, but she left to work on Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and let Vicky Jenson take over as story artist. Most early sketches were done in 1996 and 1997 by using Photoshop, and they featured Shrek living in a garbage dump, Fiona having 100 sculptures, and Donkey being designed by a child named Pericles. Some of the features were removed such as the addition of Goldilocks and Sleeping Beauty. During the casting, Nicholas Cage was originally going to voice Shrek, but he turned it down, because he didn’t want to be cast as an Ogre. Eventually, Chris Farley was going to do Shrek. There were about 80-90% of scenes recorded in the dialogue by Chris Farley, but sadly, he died in 1997 due to drug overdose, so they let Mike Myers, voice Shrek for the final version. When he voiced Shrek, he wanted to use a Scottish Accent for Shrek, along with using Canadian, and Country Accents. The voice actor of Fiona was originally going to be Jeanene Garofalo, but she got fired for unknown reasons, and Cameron Diaz voiced her in the final version. For the animation, Shrek was originally going to be a live-action/CGI hybrid, but later Katzenberg stated that the results looked horrible, and they changed it to CGI with the help of PDI (Pacific Data Images), in 1998, at the same time ANTZ was in production. The results contains lot of realistic fur, and designs of  Donkey, Shrek, and Fiona.  Shrek has over 31 sequences, in 1,288 shots in total. And as for the music, Katzenberg wanted Shrek to have pop music, and oldies music as a part of their story.

Story:

The story is about a lonely green ogre who lives in a swamp rescues a princess named Fiona, while also tagging along with a Donkey. Now this story is good. Its nowhere near as groundbreaking, or great, but its still a good story. What don’t I like about the story? My problem with the story is that its very predictable. What I mean by that is that there is a ogre, and a princess who doesn’t like each other at the start, they fall in love, they have a big misunderstanding, and they even make up at the end, and get married. Its not that the stuff that goes on in the movie is bad. Its just that its very obvious that all of the scenes would happen, and since this is a film that mocks fairytales, including Disney fairytales, its very predictable that these things would happen, as I stated before. The worst part of the movie is that stupid misunderstanding where the characters mope and dope and then realize how wrong they are and make up in the end.  The best thing about the story is the bond between Shrek, Donkey, and later on, Fiona. Shrek and Donkey have an amazing chemistry. They are like a buddy trope that you see in every Disney movie, and what works is their hatred, and friendship. The romance scenes with Shrek and Fiona, while predictable, is still very good. The scene where Shrek breaks down stating that people judge him was very emotional. You can really relate to this guy. The fight scene at Duloc’s castle was entertaining, and hilarious. The wedding scene with Duloc was okay, but the climax felt a little rushed. The scene where Shrek and Donkey save Fiona at the Dragons Keep Castle was hilarious. There The scene where Fiona transforms into an ogre at night was good. The scene where Shrek has an arrow on his butt, and both him and Fiona fighting a couple of Merry Men was funny but also boring. There are a lot of quotable lines, but to make it brief, I will say the funniest ones, such as: “Okay, let me tell you. Do you know the muffin man?”, “Ogres are like Onions,” and “Stubborn Jackass.” Just like the quotable lines, there are some dark humor in the film too such as Fiona singing to the point where a bird dies, and then cooking one of the bird’s babies as Eggs for Breakfast. The ending dance number was good, and memorable. The story may be predictable, but it is still entertaining. I give the story seven stars.

Animation:

While the story is good, I can say the same thing with the animation being just good. The backgrounds, and the castle designs look great. The human character designs however are just average. I don’t think that the animation holds up at all, because it looks very dated. You may argue with me that this film came out in 2001, back when CGI was still in its infancy. I am here to tell you that even though the animation is not bad, but with the CGI animation that PIXAR has done before this film came out, I expected the animation to be a little better from DreamWorks. Especially since that this is NOT the first time where they experienced CGI. The first CGI film, in fact their first film, that they made prior was ANTZ. The Computer-Generated Imagery animation is good, but I expect better results from DreamWorks.

Characters:

The characters are great, and the main highlights of this film. I adored the characters through and through in this movie. Shrek is a very solid character. He’s a mean ogre, but with a lot of heart, and emotions. Hence the campfire scene. Donkey, while being the typical comic relief, is very funny, and very fitting for Eddie Murphy to voice him. Fiona is a good character, too., She is very sweet. I loved her singing voice with that bird. The side characters, which are the residents of Far Far Away such as Gingy, Pinocchio, the three Pigs, etc are very funny, and charming as well. The character I don’t like is Duloc the villain. While he may get a few funny lines in here, he is just very forgettable as a villain.

Verdict:

Shrek is a decent film that really defined DreamWorks, as an animation company. It may not be as good as The Prince of Egypt, and yes, it has dated CGI, and a predictable story, it is still the film that led an amazing impact on CGI animated films, not just from PIXAR, but from non-Disney companies as well such as Blue Sky Studios, and Illumination. Thank you, Shrek, for paving the way for making successful CGI films outside of Disney

Story: 7/10

Animation:7/10

Characters:9/10

7/10

Hey Guys! Gerawallstar here, and I am here to review the 29^th Walt Disney film called The Rescuers Down Under, which was released in 1990. In my opinion, this is an underrated Disney movie, and also a sequel that is way better than the predecessor. Out of all of those crappy Direct-to-DVD sequels Disney has put out, this one, which was the first sequel, takes the job done. After the glorious success of The Little Mermaid, which jumpstarted the Disney Renaissance, Disney released this movie a year after its release, but it has been overlooked. The reason why this film is so overlooked compared to the first one is because this sequel bombed. And how this film bombed is because during its opening weekend, it was ranked #4, being slaughtered by Home Alone, which was also released on the same day as this film, that was #1 on its opening weekend. Disappointing with the results, Jeffery Katzenberg pulled all advertisements out of the film during its released, making it much harder to find its audience. However, because of the success that this film was on home video, Disney decided that all of its sequels(with the exception of Fantasia 2000, Winnie the Pooh(2011), Wreck-it-Ralph Ralph breaks the internet, and the upcoming Frozen 2) will be released on Home Video instead, and that is how Disney started the negative trend of releasing poor quality sequels based off of their popular films. If you guys thought the upcoming/current live action films are bad, those sequels or cheapquels Disney has put out were abysmal. Anyways, onto the review!

Story:

The Story is about two mice Bernard and Miss Bianca travel to Australia to rescue a boy named Cody who is kidnapped and in danger of the evil Percival McLeach. Now the story for here is brilliant, and way better than the first movie. Unlike the first rescuers where the plot of that film suffers from its slow pacing, and without having a lot of action, this film is all action heavy, and very fast-paced. This film deservedly has more action-packed sequences unlike the first one, and they are brilliantly done. It gets really serious when Bernard and Miss Bianca had to save Cody this time around. There’s no turning back! The subplot where a bird named Wilbur (who was voiced by John Candy) gets his back hurt, so he has to stay in a hospital, was kind of funny as well, although it is kind of distracting at times. The ending climax where Bernard and Miss Bianca saved Cody from getting attacked by McLeach in the waterfall was very good. The scenes where Cody figures out a way to get out of McLeach’s trap was also very good. The other Subplot where Bernard tries to propose to Miss Bianca but failed was funny and entertaining. I also liked the ending where he finally proposes to her and agrees to marry him. The story is great, and entertaining, despite that there are way too many subplots. I give the story eight stars.

Animation:

Just like the story, the animation is top-notch. While the first Rescuers did have some decent animation, the animation in down under tops the animation compared to the first one. Fun fact: this is the first Disney movie to fully use the CAPS system, a system first used in The Little Mermaid and The Black Cauldron. They have done an amazing job with animating everything digitally here. Those days where everything was animated using Xerox is now long gone. The animation is so breathtaking that there is an amazing scene where an Eagle flies with Cody which really takes advantage of how awesome the animation really is. I even liked it where Wilbur was diving near the CGI skyscrapers. Oh, and the animation designs from the animals were improved a lot. Thank god, the main characters are not using beady eyes, anymore. They looked horrible with them. The animation is awesome and it will actually make this film known as the first film in history to use the CAPS System. I give the animation ten stars.

Characters:

The characters in this film are great. I loved the main leads Bernard and Miss Bianca. Just like in the first movie, they are both great in the sequel. The sequel has to replace the bird character Orville, since the late Jim Jordan died in 1988, so the producers hired John Candy to voice as a new character Wilbur, and Wilbur is laid-back, but actually pretty funny. I have nothing against Orville, but in the first movie all he was just a strict bird, and that’s it. He was just kind of uninteresting, and kind of one-dimensional. Cody is more adventurous, and a fun child character. He’s way better than Penny from the first movie. And I loved how he doesn’t just wait for Bernard and Bianca to be rescued, he tries to figure his way out to leave when he is trapped Percival McLeach is more threatening than Madame Medusa. Yes, he does suffer from having a stupid motive of getting a bird, but the way he is more threatening is that he does everything he can to harm Cody. He has traps, he kidnaps Cody in his lair, and the battle between him and Cody in the waterfall scene was intense. Jake is an interesting character, with him being adventurous, and hilariously flirting with Miss Bianca. All of the characters are amazing, and enjoyable to watch. I give the characters nine stars.

Verdict:

It may not have been a hit at the box office, but The Rescuers Down Under is an amazing underrated sequel that improves everything from the first movie with a better story, upgraded animation, and well-balanced characters. I would highly recommend this movie who wants to have a fun thrilling time. THIS is how you do a sequel, Disney. I give this movie a 9 out of 10.

9/10

Hey guys! Gerawallstar, here. And I am here to review Walt Disney’s 23^rd animated feature called The Rescuers, which was released in 1977. This film came out during the dark ages of Disney, back when they were releasing films that were failures, and the dark ages occured because of Walt Disney’s death, and the studio having no direction or creative control. However, The Rescuers was something different. This film was one of the critically and financially successful Disney’s films of the dark ages. In my honest opinion, this film is just okay. I get that this film was very successful, but it is just an underwhelming Disney movie by itself. It is a little better than the previous dark age films like The Aristocats,

Story:

The story is about two Mice named Bernard and Miss Bianca rescuing a little girl who is in danger of getting kidnapped by the evil Madame Medusa. If there is one thing that I will say about the story is that it’s boring. What I mean by boring is that the film’s pacing is too slow at times, and the film that’s supposedly have some action sequences, barely has any. All of this makes the film’s plotline very uninteresting. As a matter of fact: the story actually feels like a plot that you would see in a typical Saturday morning cartoon. It kinda feels derivative from a 1970’s Hanna Barbara Cartoon like Scooby Doo. However, that doesn’t mean that there are some good scenes in the story. There are some interesting moments in the story. I liked the darker elements that this film has. The tone of this film feels a lot darker compared to the previous kid friendlier Disney movies from the darker era. The scene where Penny had to get the diamond from Medusa was dark. The scene where Penny was crying after Medusa told her that she wasn’t ever going to get adopted was emotional. The final battle between the animals and Medusa was okay. Unfortunately, there are some scenes that do drag like the scene where the two alligators were trying to eat Bernard and Miss Bianca, and the scene where Madame Medusa was trying to kill both the mice as well. See what I mean about this being derivative from a Hanna-Barbara cartoon?  Despite some good dark, and emotional elements, the films slow pacing, unnecessary filler, and not having any action makes the story feel bland. I give the story five stars.

Animation:

As much as I don’t like the story for this film, the animation is surprisingly good. Its far from the best, but it is still decent. The xerography feels a lot smoother this time around. The backgrounds look grim, and colorful at the same time. The animation designs from the human characters are also good. Unfortunately, the one downside I have with the animation is that the designs of the mice are VERY mediocre. Almost all of the mice in this film uses beady eyes! Now characters with beady eyes in a cartoon show like a Hanna Barbara cartoon for example, can get away with it, because they are using limited animation. But for Disney, they have no excuse for using beady eyes in a film like this, especially for a theatrical film! Not only that, the animation is still kind of sketchy. I give the animation seven stars.

Characters:

The characters in this movie are very dull. I do not enjoy the characters at all. The only characters that stand out the most are Bernard and Miss Bianca. They are both very loveable, and fun to watch. They also have the best chemistry in a Disney film, which makes me love them even more. As for the rest of the characters though, they are lackluster. Let’s start with Penny. I find her very annoying at times, with her “cutesy” voice. Although I did feel bad for her when she was mentally abused by madame Medusa, and I was very happy when she got adopted in the end. Speaking of Medusa, she really isn’t a good villain. Yes, she can be mentally abusive to Penny, and also kidnapping her, but what I dislike with her the most is her stupid motive of getting a diamond. She feels like a rehash of Cruella Deville.  Mr. Snoops wasn’t a good character either. Orville the bird is meh. And the rest of the characters are forgettable. Basically, the characters in this movie are poor. I give the characters four stars.

Songs:

The songs in this film are a mixed bag. The songs that I liked in this film are the emotional opening song “The Journey”, and “Someone’s waiting for you.” They are both tear-jerking, and well-written. “Tomorrow is another day” is fine, but it feels very dated. “Rescue Aid Society” introduction song despite being catchy is kind of bad, and pointless. It feels like an opening of a TV show. The songs are average. I give the songs six stars.

Verdict:

I’m sorry to you all who loves this film, but I think The Rescuers is an average Disney movie that while it has decent animation, suffers from a mediocre story, and bad characters. It is one of the successful dark age Disney films, but as a movie alone, its just okay. I get that Disney was in a dark age at the time, with all of those issues that this movie has, and that they had to cut costs on a lot of things. However, there is a sequel that was released 13 years after this movie came out, and it is a whole lot better than this one. I give this movie 6 stars out of 10.

06/10

Hey guys! Gerawallstar here, and I am here to review the 21st Walt Disney Animated Film called Robin Hood, which was released in 1973. In my opinion, I like this movie. Its an all around good Disney film.  

Story: 

This is based off of Robin Hood, but this version uses anaphormorphic animals. Robin Hood receives money from Prince John/Sherriff whom steals money from the poor. Robin Hood and Prince John have a duel. R.H. winning results P. J. and the Sherriff to raise taxes, putting Nottingham resients in jail. So Robin Hood saves them from prison. The story overall is solid. I loved the execution and the writing. What I loved about this version of Robin Hood is that despite being very kid friendly, it is faithful to the classic Robin Hood stories. The classic duel scene was entertaining. I loved the romantic scenes between Maid Marin and Robin Hood. The climax is fin, intense and thrilling. The ending is also very strong. As amazing as the story is, I will admit, the pacing while great, is very slow at times. There where times throughout the movie that I got bored. An example is when a bunch of animals were talking. Aside from that flaw, the story is great and entertaining. I give the story eight stars. 

Animation: 

I know that this movie was made during the dark ages of Disney. Hence why the animation looks ridiculously cheap. I’ll give the animators some leeway. The visuals and designs overall look ugly and scratchy. What I dislike the most about the animation is the recycled animation in the movie. It was used a lot in one of the songs of the film where the scenes from there are reused from classic Disney movie i.e. Snow White. I find it inexcusable for Disney to be recycling so much animation in this movie. It is not only used in that one song, but it is used in some scenes of the movie as well. The only thing I liked about the animation is just how colorful the movie is. The animation is poor and it looks like something from a Hanna-Barbara cartoon. I give the animation three stars. 

Characters: 

These characters are a blast. They are what makes this movie so good. The titular character Robin Hood is great as this hero of Nottingham. I loved his personality, likeability, and his determination in helping his town. I liked Little John as the sidekick of Robin Hood. I will not lie, he reminds me so much of Baloo. Prince John is hilarious as a villain. He is comical in every scene he is in. I always get a laugh each time he throws a tantrum. Sherriff is another excellent antagonist. I loved how cold and vile he is towards everybody, and how greedy he is when taking everybody’s money. The other characters are memorable and likeable. The characters I don’t like are the kid characters and Maid Marian. The kid characters are boring and dull. As for Maid Marian, I like her as a character. But I’m sorry. She doesn’t do anything that much in the movie, where she disappears in the second half of the film, while only returning in the end. The voice actors are terrific in their roles and perforances. Phil Harris gives this amazing performance as Little John. Brian Bedford was great as Robin Hood, and Pat Buttram gives us this great performance as the Sherriff. His performance in the movie makes it sound like a mean Sherriff.  The characters are amazing, I give the characters nine stars. 

Songs: 

The songs are another highlight of the movie. I loved the southern feel the music from this movie offers. The opening whistle song is a classic. Fun fact: the Hamster Dance song was based off of this song. The other song “ooo-de-lally” is a fun song introducing Robin Hood and Little John. It gives a banjo vibe to it. “Love” is a sweet romance song between Robin Hood and Maid Marian. It puts you in a romantic mood. “Not in Nottingham” is also enjoyable. “Phony King of England” is a blast to listen to, but it is kind of distracting with a lot of recycled animation. The songs are enjoyable and fun to listen to. I give the songs nine stars. 

Verdict: 

Robin Hood is a decent film from Disney. It may have some issues with the characters and animation. It does however, have a unique story, fantastic voice performances and catchy songs to make this a fun film to watch. This is a film that is a textbook example of a perfect film for kids to watch, I give this movie 7.5 stars out of 10.  

Hey guys! Gerawallstar here, and I am here to review the 37^th Walt Disney animated film called Tarzan, which was released in 1999. When this film came out, it was a breath of fresh air from Disney since the last several films such as Pocahontas, Hunchback, Mulan etc were slipping in quantity and quality. However, during the end tail of the Disney Renaissance, this film was a surprise hit receiving positive reviews, and earning nearly $450 million at the box office. Which was needed, because this was their most expensive film produced with an insane budget of $135 million. I liked this movie when I was younger, and I still like it to this day.

Story:

The story is about a young boy named Tarzan who was raised by gorillas in the Jungle after his parents got killed. As he grows up, he has a weary relationship with the father gorilla. The hunters later on are here to hunt the animals. The story is good. The execution is great, and the pacing doesn’t become too slow or too fast most of the time. I loved the opening sequence because there are intense moments with Tarzans parents getting killed by the cheetah, while the mother gorilla saves the baby from the cheetah. It is all done with a song in the background with no dialogue. That’s what makes this scene so iconic and beautiful. And it also displays show don’t tell approach. The relationship between Tarzan and the mother gorilla was touching. The death scene of the father gorilla was very deep, and the climax was awesome. So with all of those positives I said about the story, what could possibly go wrong? Well there is a major problem with the story. The issue I have with the story is how the songs are played throughout most scenes of the movie. They are not bad, but they feel out of place. They do feel a little distracting. With all of that, the story is great and well-written. I give the story eight stars.

Animation:

The animation is beautiful. Once again, Disney has amazed me with their visuals. What makes the animation beautiful is how they blend CGI with 2D animation using Deep Canvas. Fun fact: the Deep Canvas was first introduced in this film and it was used in the 3D aesthetics such as the Trees. That is where the budget was used heavily from this film. They did the Deep Canvas justice. The colors are sparklingly gorgeous. The environment and the backgrounds are beautiful. It makes me want to be in the jungle. Lastly, the character designs are 100%. The animation is colorful and astounding. I give the animation ten stars.

Characters:

The characters are a mixed bag. Some characters are great while some are not so great. Tarzan is a great titular character. He is likeable and very funny. It was funny seeing him talk to humans for the first time, and his character development of him socializing in the movie was good to see. Jane is a damsel in distress done perfectly. She is a character that is needed to be saved many many times but this time, it makes sense. She is a jungle surrounded by danger everywhere. I loved how her relationship with Tarzan and in how she is willing to teach him how to act like a human. The professor is a naïve but charming and likeable character. I loved how observant he is. Kala is a great mother figure to Tarzan and Kerchak serves as an interesting anti-hero. My problem with the characters are that the characters such as Trek and Tantor are VERY annoying. I didn’t find them funny, and I especially found their voices acting from those two ear grating, although Wayne Knight as the elephant was tolerable. Oh yeah, they used a celebrity again to play a character in a Disney movie, and this time it was Rosie O’Donnel as Trek. I disliked her performance as Trek. The villain is terrible. Not only because of his motivation of catching the gorrillas but also how he becomes buddy buddy while evil in the third act of the movie. I’m certain that he serves as a precursor to the twist Disney villians in the modern movies. The characters are good while the other characters are cookie-cutter. I give the characters seven stars to be generous.

Songs:

The songs are written by Phil Collins. The songs are a mixed bag. Its not because Collins is a bad singer as *cough* Nostalgia Critic claims to be, but most of the songs are not good. I loved the opening song “Two Worlds, One Family”, “Son of man” is my favorite. Its catchy, and upbeat. “You’ll be in my heart” and “I wanna know” are okay but “Destroying the plates” is an awful song. There’s no words in the song just noise. It really should’ve been a song to being with. The songs are fine but unnecessary and lacking. I give the songs six stars.

Verdict:

Tarzan is a great movie. It may have some flaws such as weak characters and unnecessary songs, but the story, animation and the main lead characters do make the movie stand out. This was a great movie to close out the legendary era of Disney animation that gave us outstanding stories, innovative animations, new and improved princesses/characters, and beautiful songs. Thank you Dinsey Reniassance. I give this final Disney Renaissance chapter film 8 stars out of 10.

Hey Guys! Gerawallstar here, and I am here to review the 1977 Disney film Pete’s Dragon. This is an interesting film to review for me, because I never saw the original Pete’s Dragon growing up, and I was curious to see what the film was like since I hear a lot of criticisms from the original and some praises of the animation of the dragon. Unfortunately after I saw the film, I kind of have to agree with the critics who bash this film. My issue with this film is that it doesn’t have a clear focus on what it wants to be. The film loses its direction in the story with its ridiculously slow pacing and dull moments. That’s not the only problem I have with Pete’s Dragon. My other problem with the film is that the film barely focuses on the boy Pete and his pet Dragon. The film wants to deliberately cash in on the success of Mary Poppins with being a musical and witty. In the long run the songs and the characters are very forgettable. I couldn’t remember a lot of the songs. The “Bill for Sale” song annoyed me with the annoying redneck adopted parents of Pete singing , and the “Passamaquody” song was trying way too hard to be like the “Supercallafragallischdocious” song from the original Mary Poppins. Even the villain is kind of underwhelming. A few praises I have from this film are the relationship between Pete and his Dragon Elliott. They don’t focus it too much, but the scenes where they do focus on it is very strong. I liked the animation design of Elliott the Dragon. Fun fact: the animation was designed by the legendary Don Bluth, which was his first time as an animation director. I liked the song”Razzle Dazzle day”, and the award nominated song “Candle on the Water”. I also liked the Nora character. She is a lot of fun. Overall, this movie is forgettable and dull at the same time. I liked the animation design of Elliott, the relationship between Pete and Elliott the dragon, but the songs, awful pacing, and being an unfocused film prevents me from giving this film a good score. Its overly long, and a chore to sit through. I know im repeating myself with this, but the movie is that forgettable. I give this film a 5/10.