As we race to the end of 2021, exhausted, if even we have enjoyed them ( and we have) by the sheer volume of shows now available on streaming services, which are breeding like digital, high-resolution, it’s becoming excitingly clear that 2022 has a lot of great things to take Continue Reading
Animation
The short and the short of it: The touching wonder of Louis’ Shoes
SNAPSHOTLouis, 8-and-a-half years old, is autistic. He arrives at his new school and is about to introduce himself. Louis’ Shoes, originally known as Les Chaussures de Louis in French, is co-directed by a selection of talented animation filmmakers: Marion Philippe, Kayu Leung, Theo Jamin, Jean Geraud Blanc – students at Continue Reading
Five Disney classics told by one classic storyteller: The hilarious narrative-spinning of Olaf Presents
If ever there was a breakout character from Frozen, the Disney animated juggernaut that bestrode the world when it first came out in 2013, it is the very much alive garrulously exuberant to a fault snowman Olaf (voiced with a boisterous of childlike wonder by Josh Gad) whose sheer presence Continue Reading
Growing up is a beast: New trailer for Pixar’s Turning Red
SNAPSHOTDisney and Pixar’s Turning Red introduces Mei Lee (voice of Rosalie Chiang), a confident, dorky 13-year-old torn between staying her mother’s dutiful daughter and the chaos of adolescence. Her protective, if not slightly overbearing mother, Ming (voice of Sandra Oh), is never far from her daughter—an unfortunate reality for the Continue Reading
Going back a century! Pixar gives Monsters Inc. the silent film treatment
SNAPSHOTPixar has remixed their wonderfully heartwarming CGI classic Monsters, Inc. into an amusing silent, four-minute, black-and-white animation with such vintage cinematic tricks as intertitles, exaggerated jump scares, and an old-timey piano rag playing in the background. (synopsis (c) Laughing Squid) What a delight! As if Monsters Inc. was already a Continue Reading
They go together like pasta and pesto: The heartfelt Luca redux of Ciao Alberto + Baymax! series trailer
Whatever your thinking about the merits of streaming platforms or production studios holding big, bold splashy all-day events to herald their upcoming shows and movies – crass commercialism or a tantalising glimpse into an eagerly awaited future? – the just-staged inaugural Disney+ Day 2021 was worth its existence alone for Continue Reading
Weekend movie poster art: Encanto and the magical gift on finding yourself
SNAPSHOTWalt Disney Animation Studios’ upcoming feature film Encanto tells the tale of the Madrigals, an extraordinary family who live in a wondrous, charmed place called an Encanto. Each child has been blessed with a magic gift unique to them—each child except Mirabel. But when the family’s home is threatened, Mirabel Continue Reading
Mini mass of animated movie trailers: Sing 2, Even Mice Belong in Heaven, Back to the Outback
My inner child is delighted. There’s a slew of brightly-coloured, cute and sweet, not to mention very funny and heartfelt animated features coming the world’s way, all guaranteed to make things better after another tough year in the bowels of the COVID pandemic. Happily, one of the three is Sing Continue Reading
To infinity and … Lightyear debuts teaser trailer and poster
SNAPSHOTTo infinity and… The sci-fi action-adventure presents the definitive origin story of Buzz Lightyear—the hero who inspired the toy—introducing the legendary Space Ranger who would win generations of fans. Lightyear is directed by American animation filmmaker Angus MacLane, co-director on Finding Dory, and director of the shorts Toy Story of Continue Reading
LEGO Star Wars Terrifying Tales #Halloween
The marriage of LEGO and whatever pop culture property is sensible enough to submit to the power of Denmark’s favourite toy, usually an hilariously manic one. Jokes fly by you at a million miles an hour, character veer between hardcore meta and fourth wall breaking vivacity against a backdrop so Continue Reading