Rise of the Guardians a flop?

It would appear that Rise of the Guardians is in the slow process of flopping at the box office.  It won't be an epic fail.  But the film had the company's lowest opening debut since Flushed Away in 2006! Dreamworks' stock is already down.  Some films you just know aren't going to cut it.   

I imagine the director pitch went something like "hey, how about we make this The Guardians of Childhood book series into a movie?  Look, we can have Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, the Sandman and Jack Frost fight off the boogeyman!  It's like Toy Story only with holiday/painful childhood celebrations super heroes!"

Wreck It Ralph (2012 - Disney)

Wreck It Ralph is the best Disney Animated feature since. . . since. Wow. I'm going to go with Beauty and the Beast even though they're really different genres. Wreck It Ralph is unique in the Disney cannon. It isn't a princess movie and strictly speaking, there aren't anthropomorphized animals. But Wreck It Ralph does present itself as a quest film which isn't unique.       

Quest driven characters are forced by circumstance to transform themselves. Recent examples include Tangled, How to Train Your Dragon and Kung-Fu Panda. In contrast, Wreck It Ralph goes on a quest as a direct result of wanting to transform himself. The quest is the result of characterization and not the purpose. 

Most people are probably aware of the basic plot by now. Classic arcade character Wreck It Ralph is tired of being a bad guy and wants to become a good guy.  In doing so we're presented with a menagerie of classic and modern video games and characters. What the previews fail to show is how well written this film is. 

Wreck It Ralph contains action, sentiment and comedy galore. What's amazing is that the viewer is never overwhelmed by the world that is created.  Instead of just being escapist, the viewer feels the genuine danger that the protagonists are in and wants them to win. The big surprise is that all of the film's diverse sub-plots fall into place perfectly.    

Visually, the CG of Wreck It Ralph is more functional then spectacular. The greater emotional CG utilized for Tangled is not on display here. But the various types of CG employed, from basic to complex, help deepen the world and pull the viewer in. Which is a lesson director RIch Moore learned while working on the Simpsons and Futurama - the world itself is a character.  

Wreck It Ralph reminds me most of another John Lasseter inspired film, The Brave Little Toaster. In the early 1980's Lasseter had pitched The Brave Little Toaster to Disney as one of the first CG films. Not getting it, Disney fired him and made the film with traditional hand drawn animation. Fast-forward a couple of decades and Lasseter returns to Disney as head of animation.  

Wreck It Ralph has been on and off the shelves at Disney since the late 80's under various names such as High Score, Joe Jump and Reboot Ralph. But Disney couldn't make Wreck It Ralph before John Lasseter took over. They had the idea but they couldn't execute it. This was always Lasseter's film to make. It was his quest to redeem Disney and he came through for us all.

4/4 stars  

I just received the final two Studio Ghibli films I've never seen: Pom Poko and Ocean Waves.  Pom Poko is supposed to be interesting due to the use of characters with visible gonads.  Ocean Waves was a made for TV flim that has no English dub and is not available in the US - I bought my copy from the UK.

Now all I need is time away from kids and a free TV. . .

And the 2013 Animation Oscar Winner Is. . .

I predict Wreck It Ralph will win for Disney.  Lorax could win with an upset. 

Here's the whole list

Adventures in Zambezia
Brave
Delhi Safari
Dr. Seuss' The Lorax
Frankenweenie
From Up on Poppy Hill
Hey Krishna
Hotel Transylvania
Ice Age Continental Drift
A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted
The Mystical Laws
The Painting
ParaNorman
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
The Rabbi's Cat
Rise of the Guardians
Secret of the Wings
Walter & Tandoori's Christmas
Wreck-It Ralph
Zarafa

From Up On Poppy Hill (2011 - Ghibli)

From Up On Poppy Hill is a Studio Ghibli drama set in the 1960's.   Much like Ghibli's other 1960's period drama, Only Yesterday, there is no specific reason for the film to be animated.  The story follows coming of age high school students Umi Matsuzaki and Shun Kazama as they try to save an old club house from redevelopment.

The script was co-written by Hayao Miyazaki and based on a manga of the same name.  The story, without getting into spoilers, is well written and generally moving.  Like all Ghibli films, Poppy Hill is romantic in nature; rejecting both urbanism and modernism.    And like many of Hayao's movies it contains well intended chauvinism and stereotypical gender roles.  Unique for Hayao, Poppy Hill does touch on post-war political issues that are still controversial in Japan.       

Unlike 2010's Arrietty, the art in Poppy is nothing special.  There are few grand vistas for the viewer to get lost in.  Poppy Hill is always grounded in reality and never loses itself to the surreal that Ghibli is so good at.  Director Gorō Miyazaki fails to utilize the format to enhance the plot and never ventures into the post-modernism of older Ghibli films.  There is nothing for the viewer to interpret.  

An English language version will be released in the United States in March, 2013.  And for the first time in over a decade the US theatrical release will not be created by Disney.  Art house animation distributor GKIDS has put together the translation which I have not seen.  3/4 stars

Only Yesterday (1991 - Ghibli)

I just watched Only Yesterday, the 1991 film by Studio Ghibli.  Only Yesterday is the only theatrical release by Ghibli that is still unavailable in the US.  Disney owns the rights to release the film on home video but has no plans to.  So I had to buy a copy from the UK and read the subtitles.  And I can understand why they haven't.  Only Yesterday is not a children's film.  

There is no reason Only Yesterday had to be an animated feature. I would describe it as a drama and more specifically, a chic flick.  The film follows the life of Taeko in both 1982 and her ten year old self in 1966.  The flashbacks take place in Tokyo where the the animation is  minimalistic to impressionistic while the 1982 sections are more realistic and detailed. 

In 1966 we follow Taeko's awkward childhood at school and in her home.  Taeko fails at everything her sisters and friends succeed at.  But more importantly, no one understands her.  In 1982 Taeko has a career in Tokyo that isn't fulfilling.  So she takes her vacations in the countryside to farm.  Taeko is much more at home in the fields then she's felt in Tokyo.

As the plot progresses you watch Taeko develop into a typical hippie.  The movie itself projects a mild rejection of urbanization and technology through the use of cliches.   The pace is slow at times and the art, while pretty, isn't overwhelming.  The characterization is decent and the story moving enough.  A swing and a miss. 2.5/4   

Sarah Silverman/Vanellope Von Schweetz

While watching Wreck it Ralph for the second time it struck me that much of Vanellope Von Schweetz's dialog was probably ad libbed.  And that at no point was Sarah Silverman actually acting.  I imagine she's hard to direct.  You probably have to keep the tape rolling and hope she stays something on target/clean enough.

Using Silverman is more proof that Disney has really changed in who they are willing to be associated with.  Although I'm sure they loved her abortion hoax back in April.