WALL-E

I wish I had written this sooner, but I had other things distracting me. But I just had to do a review of Pixar's latest offering, Wall-E.

Wall-E has a story that differs immensely from Pixar's previous movies. Writer/director Andrew Stanton truly has a spark to take us to different worlds, and explore their atmospheres. It starts off on Earth, nearly 800 or so years into the future. The planet's atmosphere is covered with broken satellites, and the entire surface is a wasteland of garbage, sludge, and dust. We then meet WALL-E, a disposal-robot who is revealed to be the last being left alone on the planet.

The majority of Pixar's previous film's were "buddy" pictures (Toy Story, Monsters. Inc, Finding Nemo) or concerned individuals seeking to prove themselves (Cars, Ratatouille). This time, we have a character like WALL-E, who simply wishes to be loved and show affection. The character of EVE more or less follows the latter plot line, except she isn't trying to prove anything; rather she learns that there is something else beyond her directive purpose.
Love is clearly one of the biggest themes in the movie. WALL-E and EVE's budding romance is more central to the story than the romance in Pixar's previous movies.

Wall-E can also be argued as Pixar's most pessimistic story to date. It depicts what would happen if an international corporation (Buy N Large or BNL) gained enough power to be Earth's sole government. The Earth becomes over-polluted, all humans are sent into Space to wait for Earth to be cleaned up, and ultimately, BNL fails to take any responsibility. 700 years later, the humans in space are unaware of what has become of their home planet, and in the care of BNL's robots, they evolve into grotesquely obese beings who are too weak or distracted to do anything on their own.

I think that is a superb premise, and a pretty risky one.

The animation and visual design of the movie is remarkable. The look of the wasted Earth has so much atmosphere and depth. You get the feeling of a place that is really hot and it smells from every direction. You sort of get a feeling of claustrophobia in several places, which soon gets freed up when the setting shifts to outer space.

Something I cannot stress my greatest appreciation for is the way the dialog is handled. Wall-E and EVE (as well as the movie's many other robots) have very few words, including their names for the most part. As such, there is very little reliance on dialog to carry the story in several parts of the movie. The first 40 minutes of the film has so few human voices, that when we shift to the human characters, the sensation is pretty strong (its somewhat similar to 2001: A Space Odyssey, though not exactly).

The music is also quite unique. Thomas Newman, who provided the score for Finding Nemo (also directed by Andrew Stanton), composes a score that tailors itself to the characters. The music is very rhythmic with WALL-E, and very lush with EVE, and it gets busier when necessary. The music when WALL-E sees EVE for the first time is one of my favorite parts of the film, as well as when WALL-E and EVE are dancing outside the space station. And of course, there is a lovely song at the end, performed by one of my idols, Peter Gabriel.

I'm sure this review is too long already. And I think my praise is clear. This is truly one of Pixar's best. I encourage anyone reading this to go see it big-screen before it is too late.

Oh, and one more thing. As usual, Pixar has a short film that accompanies the movie. The short, "Presto," is a really charming and cute telling of the relationship between a magician and his rabbit. It seems to bear a slight resemblance to my own short, Ivan's Act. And also, there wasn't a preview for Pixar's next movie, as there usually is with each of their theatrical releases. Guess we'll find out later on.

Animals and Aliens

I did this for another blog. I should really try doing more of this.

Doodles from a Tattoo Parlor

Summertime is considerably inacitve for animation. At least for me. Until my work restarts and the organizations are up again, I can't really think of anything much to comment on. I'm sure something will come to me at some point. But for now, I'm just going to post some drawings here. Here's something that was done on a visit to a tattoo parlor (not for me, but for a friend of my sister's).

Getting something down

I need to post more drawings.

These were done at the Hubley screening at the MOMA last month.

The Pros and Cons of a Kung-Fu Panda

I can't believe how slowly things move. I can't even bring myself to the blog on a regular basis, because I spend most of my time job-hunting, or working on festivals. I just don't have enough to report on for the time being. Right now, I can at least offer up a review of Dreamworks' latest, Kung Fu Panda.


Let me just start with this. I have a particularly big problem with most of what Jeffrey Katzenberg's animation studio has put out in the past ten years. A lot of it follows the same routine. A bigger emphasis on the celebrities who voice the characters than the actual characters or story; and a plot that is built up around countless pop-culture references. They commercialize these movies to the point that there is no artistic merit to speak of.

Kung-Fu Panda, which I just got around to seeing, is still part of the routine, but with some definite improvements.

The Pros.
The animation here is a hell of a lot better than the previous Dreamworks Animation flicks. The characters don't have that horrible toothpick movement the Shrek movies have. The characters move and stretch in ways that are clear and easy to look at. Some of the expressions are really nice too. And the coloring in certain scenes is quite beautiful.



This is first time (I can recall) there being no recognizable pop-culture references thrown all over the movie's plot. This is a huge relief, because when there is a huge focus on pop-culture in a film, then the final product lacks a sense of timelessness. If this were my movie, I would want it to be remembered. I can't see anything about the Shrek movies being successful in another ten or fifteen years.


And finally. The movie is bookended with traditional hand-drawn animation. This must be a trend that started with nt-style:italic;">Ratatouille's 2D animated end credits. But in Kung-Fu Panda, there is a lot more of it, and it is beautifully stylized and colored. In charge of this animation is James Baxter, a renowned Disney animator. I must applaud Mr. Baxter and his team. .



The Cons.
There is still too much emphasis on the actors who play the characters. Everytime I saw and heard the Panda, I saw and heard Jack Black. I like some of Jack Black's live action work, but I can't applaud his voice over work. The same goes for some of the other actors: Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Ian McShane, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, and others). I have said it many times: some of these actors just don't know how to add charm and charisma to their voices in order to bring these characters to life.

The story and dialog felt like shadows of stories I have heard many times. There was nothing new or inventive about the plot, and I felt like I heard it all before. Some of the characters seemed like shadows as well. For example, there is a scene at the end when it looks like the Kung-Fu master has died, when in fact he is just tired. The way that scene is portrayed felt too predictable and the dialog was too chunky.

My opinion of the film is pretty mixed. It is not a perfect film, but with some vast improvements from previous Dreamworks movies. I guess I could watch this film again, but I can't predict what will become of it in ten or twenty years.

Parasite's Delight

It's been over a month since I last wrote here, and I apologize. I have been hard at work on my film, but it is now finished. And I am ready to share it with the rest of the world (or those who are at least interested).


Parasite's Delight tells the tale of a small, orange parasite named Pitti. He has been living inside a cow, until the cow dies of natural causes. Pitti's palace (the cow) deteriorates quickly, and he is left homeless in a post-apocalyptic environment. He will find a lot is different in this world, where his fellow parasitic species have learned to survive on their own.


This film was very different for me. It used more animation, more coloring, more cut-backs, original music (courtesy of my Dad), and many other little things. If there is anything I am proudest of, it is that I managed to create something with some scale to it, which is tricky for some independent filmmakers. When I say scale, I mean a story that can move through environments and maintain its layers. A lot of commercial films have scale. John Dilworth's work has tremendous scale. Don Hertzfeld's work (after 1999 in my opinion) has amazing scale. Parasite's Delight has many layers to it. There are themes in it which I hope to revisit at some point in future work.





I have the film on YouTube, but I don't encourage you to watch it this way. This film is meant to be seen more clearly.

Now that the film is done, I am in the process of getting it into some festivals now. I am also in the process of finding work.
I hope to be back soon. I am still recuperating.

Those who conquere commercial and independent worlds.

I apologize for being away. I have been sick twice, had to go to a wedding, and the rest of my time devoted to my film, which has less than four weeks before making its debut. Which means less than four weeks to finish it.

Which brings me to the top of this post. Now that I am almost finished with this project, I need to start thinking about where to go next. I would love to start thinking up another personal film, but then I thought about maybe having a long-term idea I could develop before an opportunity comes along. Someone recently mentioned the idea of doing a TV show, something that is sort at the bottom of my list. I thought that if someone actually offered me the chance to do one, I’d probably take the opportunity, as it might open more doors for me in the future. But I don’t want to stray too far away from independent work, which is a great thing to be a part of. I hold great admiration for artists who are successful in exploring both independent and commercial worlds.

These guys managed to establish their own styles through their independent work, and were able to bring them to a larger audience. (I apologize if I should have mentioned someone else, but didn't. These were the first that came to mind).


John R. Dilworth.

I have met Mr. Dilworth quite a few times. He is one of my idols; one of the best animation directors ever. Dilworth has managed to do some stunning independent films, and has also created Courage The Cowardly Dog, one of the best animated shows of the last ten years. Apparently, he refused to do Courage unless he could produce it from his own studio, Stretch Films, in New York, as opposed to moving to Los Angeles.


Dilworth’s own style is evident in both his commercial and personal work. There are elements recognizable in his work prior to Courage, which made it into the show. And Courage is also unusual compared to most animated shows today, in that it has no continuity, but rather unique situations and different characters per episode (although a few episodes made reference to the original film, The Chicken From Outer Space).


You can watch all of Mr. Dilworth's films (small screen unfortunately) in the Works section of StretchFilms.com.



Joe Murray

I have known of Joe Murray since I was 7 or 8 years old. That was when his show, Rocko’s Modern Life was still on Nickelodeon. Looking back, I realize how unique the first couple seasons of that show was (my opinion of the last season is a little sour now).

I admit I only started checking out his most recent show, Camp Lazlo, last summer. But I was intrigued by the show’s distinct character designs, and beautifully textured backgrounds. It was then that I learned that Murray is also an independent animator. Unfortunately, his personal films are hard to find (they must be available on VHS somewhere). I admit I have not seen any of these films, only read about them. I just thought he was worth mentioning.


You can read more about Mr. Murray's work at JoeMurrayStudio.com/.




Danny Antonucci

Mr. Antonucci has been a great advocate of traditional, hand-drawn animation. He has found success with his own work (Lupo the Butcher), and with his commercial ventures (Ed, Edd and Eddy on Cartoon Network). Antonucci’s work personifies what it means to be edgy in animation (actually, I use the term “edgy” to describe what he was doing in the late 1980’s and 1990’s). In 1991, Antonucci had a show on MTV that tethered between indie and mainstream, called The Brothers Grunt. Of course, this was back when MTV was good. But watching that, along with Lupo and Ed, Edd, and Eddy, presents a remarkable diversity. In an interview at last year’s Annecy Festival, Antonucci revealed he looking to return to his indie roots, which I find really exciting.


Ed, Edd, and Eddy stood out right from the beginning. The boiling line style combined with Tex Avery-style gags was something totally new for Cartoon Network's programming. The show currently holds Cartoon Network’s record for their longest-running original program. And he wants to go back to independent work; kudos to Mr. Antonucci.




I apologize in advance if it takes a while for me to post again. My film has to come first, but I am still keeping this blog up.

And I promise, if anybody wants something totally new, that I will have something on my film in my next post. Now, it’s at a good stage for me to start sharing it.

Cheers.