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Demisemicenturian 
"Four ever European"
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 Posted - 12/03/2006 : 01:27:24
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Happy Feet
I loved it. It looks beautiful and the main penguin, Mumbles, is a typically engaging underdog character. The ending was much bigger than I expected, and (bizarrely, as this is not that typical of me, and it was hardly realistic) it made me rather tearful!
Only one thing annoyed me. Mumbles is supposed to have hatched late and so when the young penguins first go to sea, he still has chick's fluff and colouring. Then, (at least) months later, this is still the case. I know they needed to distinguish him, but this wasn't a problem with any of the other penguins. |
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Demisemicenturian
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 12/04/2006 : 14:24:04
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| A good thing I had forgotten to mention is that the main (sort of) bad penguin has a Scottish accent. In American films, having a Scottish accent seems to be an almost universal sign that a character is in the right, so it's nice to have a change. |
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Demisemicenturian
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 12/04/2006 : 14:29:38
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| Another good thing is that the people in it are live action. When Toy Story came out, I was really surprised that the people were C.G.I. too. It took away from the right effect that it gave the look of the toys. However, I suppose it might have jarred then. In this it looked fine. I assumed they were just very good C.G.I. to begin with. |
Edited by - Demisemicenturian on 12/04/2006 14:30:00 |
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turrell 
"Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhh "
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Posted - 12/04/2006 : 17:18:34
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| Sal - I also got choked up in this movie - I'm a sucker for the outcast who suddenly achieves something important (by the nature of what makes him an outcast) theme. I was also moved by the storyline of Mumbles parents - as a parent I often worry about whether my kids will fit in or be successful (they are young so its silly worrying at this point), so the painful decision whether to sacrifice your own for the community struck a chord with me. |
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Demisemicenturian
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 12/04/2006 : 17:45:34
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Well, so long as if they have a huge talent you don't tell them that it's dangerous, I'm sure you'll be fine!  |
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shoon
"Five(ish?) years as a fwiffer"
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Posted - 12/08/2006 : 06:43:15
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Was I alone in being hugely disappointed? While it gave me the instant gratification that most CGI films do (I like the pretty colours  ) it didn't leave me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside like Ice Age, Finding Nemo and Shrek, for example, did. Decent, but very underwhelming, I thought. |
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Demisemicenturian
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 12/08/2006 : 09:00:27
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| I thought it was much better than Ice Age, which I definitely don't consider to be in the top rank. However, I would place it below Finding Nemo, the Shreks, The Incredibles and Monsters Inc. |
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ChocolateLady
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 12/08/2006 : 09:05:39
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Below Finding Nemo? I was very disappointed with that one, actually.
Where would you put the Toy Story movies on that list? I'd put both of them above Nemo - TS2 would probably be #2 right after The Incredibles on my list with TS1 tied with Shrek1 and Monsters, Inc, if not edging them both out just slightly.
(But Cars would be below Nemo.)
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Edited by - ChocolateLady on 12/08/2006 09:07:07 |
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Demisemicenturian
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 12/08/2006 : 09:11:44
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| Finding Nemo is my favourite cartoon. (It also provides one of the few very funny moments in Flushed Away.) The others I mentioned are roughly equal, then the Toy Stories. I know a lot of people prefer the second one but, like with The Empire Strikes Back, I feel this comes from unfairly giving the sequel equal credit for everything that appears in both, and then more credit for the extra stuff. The first films deserve all the credit for the shared stuff (the essence of the Star Wars universe/Woody and Buzz etc.). |
Edited by - Demisemicenturian on 12/08/2006 09:12:19 |
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Sean
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
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Posted - 12/08/2006 : 10:36:15
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I'd put just about every Studio Ghibli movie above virtually all animated flicks mentioned in this thread, although it is a bit like comparing lasagne to apple pie. They're all good.
US/UK animated flicks of the last 15 years seem to be almost exclusively comedies (if you're an adult, or general entertainment if you're a kid), and I tend to rate them on how funny they are. And some of them are very funny.  Whereas anime tends to be of the human-drama or sci-fi fantasy variety, and those I rate on the emotional punch or how glued-to-the-screen I am.
I'm looking forward to Happy Feet, I can't resist animation (unless it's a Disney musical  ) and being penguin-based it's a must-see. |
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Demisemicenturian
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 12/08/2006 : 11:36:05
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| I've never seen any anime, except for clips. I think I'd enjoy it fine, but I'm not drawn to watch it to the degree that would be expected, given how strongly some people recommend it. I don't so much go for cartoons for the comedy as for their touching quality. Having said that, I suppose the main point of Shrek is being funny. Plus of course I like the animation itself - standard film, however artistic, is really only slightly different from the real world, and usually less beautiful. Perhaps that is a reason why anime grabs me less - I expect you will disagree, but all the characters look the same to me. |
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ChocolateLady
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 12/08/2006 : 19:19:44
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quote:
Originally posted by Salopian
...anime grabs me less - I expect you will disagree, but all the characters look the same to me.
Hm... I always thought the reason I couldn't tell the difference between all the characters was because of my dyslexia.
(If that's not it... perhaps I'm an anime racist!)
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shoon
"Five(ish?) years as a fwiffer"
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Posted - 12/08/2006 : 20:00:10
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| Ice Age is actually my favourite CGI film. I loved the characters, the story, the jokes were great, I really enjoyed it more than most other animated films I've seen. |
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turrell
"Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhh "
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Posted - 12/08/2006 : 23:25:34
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I see a lot of these movies because we have kids and if we are talking all time tops I'd put Nemo, Monsters, Inc, Incredibles and Shrek 1&2 at the top (but close to this list Toy Story and Antz). I would put Cars below these but at the top of my 2006 animated CGI films:
Cars (touching sweet and with all the finer details you expect from Pixar)
Flushed Away tied with Happy Feet (both solid and enjoyable - nothing great but entertaining)
Over the Hedge (some nice moments - Steve Carrell very good - but only so-so)
Open Season (one of the very worst films I've see this year and not much of a crowd pleaser for kids or adults).
I didn't see the Wild which looked like a bad Madagascar rip-off which was only mediocre itself. |
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Demisemicenturian
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 12/11/2006 : 09:34:38
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| When I first saw this, I missed the beginning, so I caught that on Saturday (on top of the other six films!). It has a bigger opening than I expected, and it's moving to see the fathers circling around through the lightless winter. However, it annoyed me to see Memphis looking at the egg, worrying whether it would hatch - because he has just left it on the ice to do so! A penguin would never do this - the chick would die really quickly, which is why they need to transfer it from mother to father so swiftly. Plus, immediately before this, when Memphis drops the egg, he desperately retrieves as fast as he can - so the film has just presented the accurate version of things. |
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Demisemicenturian
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 12/11/2006 : 09:37:13
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Here is my preference order for animations this year:
Happy Feet
Cars
Hoodwinked
Flushed Away
Open Season
Barnyard |
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Happy Feet (contains slight spoilers)
