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Must note, love "9". Gotta find a cheap copy somewhere and watch it a few times. It's odd, because although I like steampunky stuff from a stylistic perspective, I have a hard time connecting to it personally. Too much grime and too little green. Leave it to a few big-eyed rag dolls to do it, though. Most of the steampunk I've seen seems to involve
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Not having had TV for the past 20 years or so, there are a lot of cartoons I've never seen, I'm sure some of them very good - I just mention the ones I've gone after. I do like the dark Batman stuff, I was very impressed by it at the time, and I had rather a crush on Batman in the comics in my teens (and loathed Superman, heh) but - I get tired of it all, especially after it's been done to death and beyond in those live-action films.
I've never liked the look of anime, the only anime I've watched is Miyazaki - of course he's a genius, no question! - and one or two other things, no TV shows. I know there's plenty of good stuff worth watching. Maybe I'll broaden that interest after I get finished reviewing the past century of cinema, which I've been chasing down for the past several years! (Whew!)
I was thinking of the dinosaur section of Fantasia too, just didn't want to start listing things, but it is also one of my favourites. I like it better every time I see it, actually - it was a bit startling the first time! That's one of the good things about that movie, it has some quite unexpected takes on certain musical works. In fact I'd probably enjoy the Fantasia version of the "Rites of Spring" a lot more than the traditional ballet! :D The cute-Greek-gods take on the 6th Symphony is really well done, but it sort of rubs me the wrong way, because first of all, centaurs aren't supposed to be cute - in Greek mythology they're rough, tough, smelly, lecherous brutes! :D And second, I love Beethoven more than Disney, and it's disconcerting to see him twisted that way. Nevertheless, it is a very delightful sequence, taken without any preconceptions, and it goes all too well with the music.
Why do audiences always want to see the same movie they saw last time? That (plus the desire of producers to re-produce the same movie they produced last time, as long as it made money) is why there is so very little innovation or anything worthwhile in movies...
Oh, yes, and I agree, "Watership Down" is great, the book too. I liked "The Plague Dogs" even more - the movie, not the book so much. Actually, I liked Richard Adam's "Shardik" the book even better than the other two, but nobody has had the nerve or the budget to try to turn that monstrosity into a movie...
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Good luck in catching up on all of that cinema! Thanks to my boyfriend I've been gaining an appreciation for old movies myself. He enjoys analyzing films and really likes older movies compared to more recent ones. I'm returning the favor by getting him to watch more cartoons. I watch TV often, but it's mostly news. I am pretty out of the loop with most programming, but fortunately friends clue me in to the good stuff.
I can understand what you think of the 6th Symphony in Fantasia. If you're familiar with something in one format, it's always a little odd to see it in a different format. Kind of like when a modern artist covers a classic song; they never seem to get it right in the eyes of the fans of the original. Maybe that's why sequels, prequels, etc. in movies don't seem to waver far from the original - people sometimes would just rather leave it with the original and not spin a story farther than it should naturally go. If there's something out there that isn't a continuation of an old story, I'm all for innovation. I don't want to see a film that looks/sounds/has the same story as another, and yet be told that they are two separate things.
I have a copy of "Shardik" somewhere and have yet to read through it. One of those things I have tucked away to get to sometime next century!
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Oh, Superman. I suppose in a way he's not to blame for being such a garish bore - as far as I know, he was among the first, if not actually the very first, of the underwear-sporting ubermensches of the comic world, so he had novelty in his favour and didn't have to worry as much as the later ones about developing an actual personality. (But honestly, those colours.)
By the way, I just thought I'd let you know that I did watch "9" - it was quite good, really did get my attention and interest, and the animation was superb! I'll have to see it again later, definitely worth seeing more than once. I did enjoy it a lot.
I don't know if you've heard of "Mary and Max" - a clay-animated film from 2009, made in Australia. I'd highly recommend that if you haven't seen it, it's a most unusual and refreshing take on friendship. Very funny, in a jaw-droppingly unconventional but very honest way. The animation I found a bit creepy but exactly right for the effect the filmmaker was trying to create.
Yeah, overall I really find I prefer movies made in the 20's, 30's, and sometimes 40's and 60's over almost anything made in the last ten years (and European films too) - with notable exceptions, of course. With old films, a lot of the bad ones have already been weeded out (though many good ones are obscure too), and of course with contemporary stuff we are always in the midst of the slurge that is the normal production at any given time, so recent productions always look extra bad. Still, I just don't like the mind-set of a lot of recent movies, especially if they take themselves seriously. Thus I tend towards the satirical. I guess I'm just getting crotchety and even more out of step with the contemporary world than I already was. (Which is fine with me. :D)
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Glad that you liked "9"! I bought a copy for myself and just watched it again today too, with the special features and deleted scenes. I get the sense that despite Shane Acker's incredible effort in almost all parts of the production, there's a much deeper world in his mind than what came out on the screen, including what the characters are like. It's odd because apparently the look and personality of the other 8 characters didn't really come out in the short (5 is more an amalgamation of 5 and 2, while the other characters are completely nondescript as ghosts at the end), and so they were all developed for the film. I'll be watching this again soon too :) Thanks for telling me about "Mary and Max" too! I think we get all of one movie every year at our video stores here, but I'll have to go on a hunt for it. Just the fact that it's claymation earns points in my book!
I agree with you about old movies getting the 'weed-out' effect, it's like listening to classic rock radio stations :) I think the fact that Transformers 2 made so much money last year is a perfect example of how people are used to slop in the modern movies. A little separation from that is always good!
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I'm sure Acker did have much more in his head than came out on the screen. That's almost inevitable in movies, what with the time and cost limitations and all. Still, he did get quite a rich world across.
As for Mary and Max, if you have trouble finding it, I see that at least for the moment the whole thing is on Youtube in sections, if you want to check for it there, in quite good quality too.
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Thanks for the heads up about the YouTube clips too, once I manage to get a good chunk of time set aside to see them all together, that's what I'll do!
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