Wreck-It Ralph

I've been avoiding going to movies geared towards children not because I dislike them, but because I like to concentrate on the film.  Especially since nowadays a lot of kids' films throw in a few jokes for adults, you're rewarded for your attention to detail.  It's hard to pay that much attention when there are kids talking, screaming, running, and basically being children the moment they're asked to sit still for 90 minutes.

            For once that didn't stop me.  On Saturday I went out and saw Wreck-It Ralph, children be damned.  But a funny thing happened.  Not a single kid stirred from their seat, and barely a word was spoken for the entire 101 minute run-time.

            On to the review!

            For those of you who don't know, Wreck-It Ralph is a film about video games.  Or, more specifically, video game characters and what they do in their down-time when the arcade is closed.

            Poor Ralph (John C. Reilly) has been toiling away as the titular bad guy in Fix-It Felix Jr. for 30 years now, and the only thing he has to show for it is the fear and distaste of all the apartment dwellers.  The tenants would much rather spend time with Felix Jr. and his magic hammer.  Ralph is finally sick of being the bad guy, and goes on an adventure to earn his own medal, thinking that's all it will take for everyone to accept him (and maybe make him a cake).

            His adventure starts off poorly when he tries to earn a medal in Hero's Duty, a modern-day shooter.  His continued misadventures take him to Sugar Rush, our Mario Kart stand-in.  There he gets into some shenanigans with an unwanted racer named Vennelope von Shweetz (Sarah Silverman).  Meanwhile, Felix Jr. (Jack McBrayer) is hunting down Ralph before their game gets unplugged, enlisting the aid of Sergeant Calhoun (Jane Lynch) from Hero's Duty.

            Got all that?  Good.

            What's best about Wreck-It Ralph is the word that's built around the story.  The idea of characters travelling to other games via a game-central station, which is in reality the arcade's surge protector, is pretty ingenious.  Having characters from games we know about such as Q-Bert, Street Fighter and Super Mario Bros. is just an added treat.

            The movie is fun and smartly written, and the script manages to keep kid's interest while still delivering engrossing and intelligent dialog for us old fogeys.  Hell, there are only two poop jokes!

            Everyone delivers a great vocal performance and it seems like everyone was perfectly cast, or was at least having so much fun that you can't tell if they were just picking up a paycheck.  Jane Lynch especially delivers a great performance as the gruff leader who's seen too damn much and doesn't have time for your shit.  The only voice that threw me off was Felix's, because Jack McBrayer was quite literally playing the exact same role that he does in 30 Rock.  That was kinda weird.

            The animation is fantastic, and they even went so far as to have different characters from different games move, well, differently.  The apartment dwellers in Fix-It Felix have a jerky, old-timey animation style, while the characters from newer games move much more fluidly.  This visual clue is neat reminder of how far we've come in video game animation.

            If you even remotely enjoy kids' movies, video games and/or game references, or just want a solid story with great animation, you should do yourself a favor and check out Wreck-It Ralph.  It is easily just as good as some of my favorite Pixar films.

The Importance of Don Bluth

Were you under the age of ten at any point in the 1980’s?  If so, I’ll bet you have at least one combination good/screwed up memory of an animated children’s movie from your childhood.  Even better, I’ll bet you I know exactly who made that animated children’s movie that left you so permanently altered and psychologically scarred.

            His name is Don Bluth.

            An American Tail, The Land Before Time, All Dogs Go To Heaven, The Secret of NIMH.  These are the biggest ones, but they’re not the only ones.  These are the greatest animated films of the ‘80’s.

All these movies have a few themes in common that also help them to stand out from the rest of the pack.  Their animation style is different than what Disney was offering back in the day.  They all involve kids as either the protagonists or the plot points.  They all have similar themes of loss, overcoming adversity and soldiering on no matter what. 

            Also, they’re all dark, despairing, and creepy as fuck.

            Sure, Disney made Oliver and Company and The Little Mermaid during that same time period, but there’s no way you can convince me that either of them are as heart-poundingly CREEPY as The Secret of NIMH, nor are they as horribly depressing-yet-laughter-inducing as All Dogs Go To Heaven..  Plus, Disney shit out The Black Cauldron in the 80’s, and I’ll never forgive them for that travesty.

            Basically, without Don Bluth, my generation would not have grown up knowing that you can overcome the death of a loved one or a family member and still succeed (with violence.)  All is not lost.  An illness can be overcome.  There is hope out there.  Never say never.

            But he also taught us that first we’re going to have to go up against something that is SCARY AS FUCK.

            That prepares a kid for the real world a lot better than anything Disney put out during that time period, or arguably ever.

            Plus, Don Bluth does not mess around.  Check out his IMDB page.  He wrote, produced, and directed several of his films.  He even did his own animation.  Pete’sDragon?  That was him too.

            Yes, I only wrote this article to remind the world how awesome this guy is, and to opine a bit about the current state of ‘cartoons.’  While I dearly love Pixar, and I’ll freely admit that Toy Story 3 had me tearing up, there will never be another set of films like Mr. Bluth put out in the ‘80’s.  No other movies will ever prepare a kid for the realities of the world while still keeping the happy ending.

            Do us all a favor.  If you have children, be sure to show them a Don Bluth animation.  It will make them better people.  Sure, Disney has the princesses, but Sleeping Beauty isn’t going to teach your child the importance of having to stab a rat in the chest in order to get medicine for your son.

The Secret World of Arrietty

During the 2010 holidays, I stayed with my brother and his family.  This included my adorable, obnoxiously energetic 3 year old niece.  For everyone who does not have or spend time around children, let me give you one piece of gee-whiz information:  they do not get sick of things like us boring adults do.  She wanted to watch three DVD’s on a never-ending loop the entire time I was there.  These ‘movies’ were

1.) Frosty The Snowman, the 1969 animated classic.

2.) Elmo’s Potty Time, which can hardly be called a movie, but did teach me how to really enjoy pooping.

3.) Spirited Away, the classic film from Studio Ghibli, written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki.

            One of these things is not like the other.  Two of the ‘films’ were short, to the point, and arguably aimed directly at a specific audience.  Namely children under the age of 5.  The third movie?  Why, a sprawling, 2+ hour film that deals with far more difficult topics than bowel movements and magical hats.  Yet, thanks to the magic touch of Miyazaki, kids and adults alike can get something magical out of it.  That’s something that I doubt will ever be said about Elmo’s Potty Time; no matter how useful the film is as a training video, it’s not exactly enrapturing.

            That’s why I was so happy to see The Secret World ofArrietty yesterday.  Though I’ve said that I won’t review children’s movies, the combination of this one being a Studio Ghibli film, my not having anything lined up for today, and the fact that the movie I’ll be watching this weekend is the stupid-looking Project X, I’ve decided that rules are meant to be broken.

            On to the review!

            The Secret World of Arrietty is a Japanese film based on the American story of The Borrowers, and had also been explored in similar animated themes when The Littles premiered back in 1983.  So how exactly do you do rehash such a lighthearted concept?  Why, you make the movie breathtakingly gorgeous, of course!

            There is no mistaking that this film was created outside American studios.  Though adults can enjoy it, it's not because there are adult jokes hidden in the subtext.  Kids can enjoy it even though it never caters to the lowest common denominator of poop and pee jokes.

            Visually, it has the same strange combination of loose lines and amazing texture as all Studio Ghibli's films, such as Howl’s Moving Castle and Kiki’s Delivery Service.  What really makes Arriety stand apart is the sound design.  In order to convey the size differences of our main characters, this movie takes great pains to make what are slight, subtle sounds to human ears become huge, booming noises to the Borrowers, the 4-inch tall people who live under the floorboards.

            The plot is very simple and straightforward.  Arrietty (voiced by Bridgit Mendler) is the only child of Pod (Will Arnett) and Homily (Amy Poehler) and they may be the final three borrowers in the entire world.  (Note that the UK version has completely different voice actors.)  They live by one rule and one rule only:  If you’re seen by a Bean (human being) then you have to move, because the Bean will never leave you alone once they know of your existence.  Of course, Arrietty is seen by Shawn (David Henrie) on two separate occasions in spite of her attempts to stay hidden.  Shawn, however, is desperately lonely and tries to convince her that he means no harm.  Nevertheless, Arrietty's parents decide they should move, but not before some chaos involving the housekeeper (Carol Burnett!). 

            That’s the entire plot, and though it sounds like it could make for a busy movie, rest assured that this film luxuriates in atmosphere.  I have never seen a slower children’s movie, yet every frame is so full of beauty and detail that even the long stretches where nothing important happens are enrapturing.  I often found myself trying to absorb all the detail at once and getting overwhelmed.  The simple act of Arriety travelling from the front yard to her home was so full of amazing sights and sounds that nobody in the theater seemed to mind that it was a five minute scene that didn’t really accomplish anything plot-wise.

            This is why Studio Ghibli is so important for American audiences.  Our Western children’s movies are fast-paced and so chock full of go-go-go every second that the kids are never given a chance to just absorb the film.  Miyazaki’s movies almost force you to do just that.  The funny thing is, despite the constant barrage of plot and action in movies like Shrek, Madagascar and Happy Feet, these movies only ever need to be seen once, if at all.  The only American film company that comes close to the Japanese aesthetic is Pixar, and everyone readily agrees that it’s because they’re nothing like the rest of America’s purveyors of children’s films.

            Go see The Secret World of Arrietty if you’ve got an eye for detail, an ear for amazing sound, love good children’s movies, love good movies, or just want to support the continued success of films that don’t cater to the bullshit belief that our children need shot-a-minute ADHD crap shoved down their eyeholes.