Monsters, Inc.

Directed by: Pete Docter
Co- Directed By; Lee Unkrich & David Silverman
Studio: Pixar Animation Studios
Distributed by: Walt Disney Pictured
Release Date: 2nd November 2001
Running Time: 92 minutes

Monsters, Inc is a 2001, American, computer animated film. The story is set in the city of Monstropolis where all manner of monsters live. A utility company called Monsters Inc works to get the energy that the city survives on. The company sets up portal doors to the closets of human children and extracts the energy from their screams.

James P Sullivan, "Sulley", and Michael Wazowski, "Mike", are two hard working employees that work to collect scream. Sulley and Mike are the company's bests scarers, but their record is endangered after a toddler called Boo slips into Monstropolis, which is a big no-no considering that humans are highly toxic to monsters. Boo is a cute, brave little girl who finds life on the other side of the closet more exciting than her real domestic life. She is also endearingly innocent and blissfully unaware to the dangers she faces, and the mess she creates wherever she goes. The characters in this film are funny and loveable, which the audience can relate and attach themselves to.

The voice acting is superb, especially those of Mike and Sulley. Billy Crystal is the voice of Mike and if you didn't recognize his voice from his films, then you might recognize his as the voice of Calcifer from Howl's Moving Castle. Another famous actor is used as the voice of Sulley. John Goodman's voice has been used in many other animated films such as The Bee Movie, Emperors New Groove, The Princess and the Frog, and Cars.

The film is technically more advanced than its predecessor, Toy Story 2, as will be the case with every computer-animated film as the technology moves on. But for the sake of comparison Toy Story 2 used nearly 1.1 million render marks (a measure of computer power) compared to Monster Inc's 2.5 million. A much more intriguing detail was the breakthrough of depicting a characters' fur and hair, which has all the density, lighting, shadowing and above all the movement is consistent with the real thing.

Overall I think that this is a good example of what Pixar can do. Not the best from the studio, but it still delivers what Pixar sets out to do: A visually captivating film whilst appealing to a wide audience.

Tekkonkinkreet trailer

Friday 15th

Hello everyone the film for Friday is going to be:

Tekkonkinkreet

Hope to see lots of you there!!!

The Aristocats- The last touch of Walt Disney

Theatrical Release: December 24th 1970

Running Time: 79 Minutes

Director: Wolfgang Reitherman

The Aristocats may not be in many a top Disney film list, but I believe this film still holds its charm and grace. It may not be the best but it is still easy to fall in love with And being that it was the last film that Walt Disney gave the nod for, it has its key place in history and makes it a must see for anyone who hasn't seen it.

The film is set in 1910 Paris, and is about a mother cat, named Duchess, and her three kittens; Marie, Toulouse and Berlioz. When their loyal butler, Edgar, overhears that Madame Bonfamille wishes to leave everything to her cats he decides to kidanp the cats and take them out into the countryside. Once he gets out there in his motorcycle, he is attacked by two guard dogs and in the ensuing chaos the cats are left by a river. A stray alley cat, Thomas O'Malley, takes the family under his wing and helps them get back to Paris.

Phil Harris did the voice of Thomas O'Malley and if you have watched any other Disney features you may recognise his voice, as he also voiced Baloo in The Jungle Book (1967) and Little John in Robin Hood (1973). Eva Gabors' gorgeous voice is used for Duchess and you may recognise her voice from The Rescuers (1977) as Miss Bianca.

A few critics just see the film as a spin-off to the 1961 101 Dalmations:

'Remember the classic song-filled Disney animated movie about a sweet group of pets who are in peril due to the interference of dastardly schemers? No, I’m not talking about 101 Dalmatians, although it’s far more memorable than that nine-years-later imitator. I’m talking about The AristoCats, a nice enough Disney feature that some consider an under appreciated classic and others view as a movie that’s distinguished only by the inclusion of a handful of cool jazz tunes.'

Brian Webster, The Aristocats, 6th October 2010, [Online] http://www.apolloguide.com/mov_fullrev.asp?CID=5750

You must agree that there are similarities between 101 Dalmations and The Aristocats such as in both films there are incompetent kidnappers stealing pets. One aspects that lifts the film away from its doggie counterpart is the music, especially the jazzy number 'Ev'rybody Wants to be a Cat', from the Oscar winning combination of Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman, who penned the songs for Mary Poppins. The music is the best part the film, like in most Disney features, and highlights the differences between Duchess' opera world and the street-smarts of Thomas' jazz friends.

Another amazing aspect of the film is how visually beautiful it looks. The film was made in a pre-digital age and the pain staking hours of drawing and painting shows. More than 325,000 drawings were completed for the movie over the course of four years, making for 1,125 scenes in total, using some 900 painted backgrounds. Here are just a few of the backgrounds:

The aspect that this film lacks, that makes it not as good as other Disney features is the absence of a lot of action and sense of place. The film is set in period Paris but with many of the actors sounding like they are from New York or London it is hard for the audience to buy into the french backdrop. And if the place of the film is not believable the action has to be, and alot of the film is cats wandering around. Although you can tell that the artists have studied cats' movements and it does add a certain charm to the film.