Stubs - My Neighbor Totoro

My Neighbor Totoro aka Tonari no Totoro (1988; version viewed 2005) Voice Acting: Tim Daly, Dakota Fanning, Elle Fanning, Lea Salonga, Frank Welker. Directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Screenplay by Hayao Miyazaki. Produced by Toru Hara. Color. Japan. Animated, Fantasy, Foreign

Hayao Miyazaki is one of the great Japanese anime film directors of all-time, reaching International acclaim with films like Spirted Away (2001), Howl's Moving Castle (2004) and The Wind Rises (2013). A gifted storyteller, Miyazaki got his start as an in-between artist at Toei Animation in 1963 working on the theatrical feature anime Watchdog Bow Wow (1963) and the TV anime Wolf Boy Ken.

By 1968, Miyazaki was the chief animator on Hols: Prince of the Sun, though the film was directed by Isao Takahata. This would begin a collaboration between the two filmmakers that would eventually lead to their founding Studio Ghibli in 1985. It is at this studio where Miyazaki would direct his best-known films.

One of the studio’s early films was My Neighbor Totoro, released on the same day in 1988 as Takahata’s Grave of the Fireflies. The production was influenced greatly by the Art Director, Kazuo Oga, who had previously worked on such films as Barefoot Gen (1983) and Wicked City (1987). My Neighbor Totoro would take his career to a new level and would begin his continued relationship with Studio Ghibli.

The film was originally released in Japan with Noriko Hidaka as Satsuki Kusakabe, Chika Sakamoto as Mei Kusakabe, Shigesato Itoi as Tatsuo Kusakabe and Sumi Shimamoto voicing Yasuko Kusakabe. The film’s U.S. release came via Fox home video, which released the film on home video in 1993 under the title My Friend Totoro. Miyazaki, who had previously been disappointed in how his films were transitioned into English, would not allow Fox to make any edits and they had to stay as close to the original screenplay as possible.

This release dubbed the film into English with Lisa Michelson voicing Satsuki Kusakabe, Cheryl Chase as Mei Kusakabe, Greg Snegoff as Tatsuo Kusakabe and Alexandra Kenworthy as Yasuko Kusakabe. If the first American cast doesn’t sound familiar, you are not alone.

When Fox’s rights lapsed, Disney picked them up. Why not, they have practically everything else? For their home video release, they re-cast the dubbed voices, bringing more recognizable actors to the lead roles. For Satsuki, they cast Dakota Fanning, at the time all of 11, but already an acclaimed actress. For the younger sister, they kept it in the family, casting Dakota’s younger sister Elle. The role of the father went to Tim Daly, who at the time was best known for his long-running role on TV’s Wings series.

While Lea Salonga, who was cast as the mother, might not be a household name in the US, the Filipina singer’s voice had already been used in Disney’s Mulan (1998) and its direct-to-video follow-up Mulan II (2005). The voice cast also featured Pat Carroll, Ursula from The Little Mermaid (1989), and the great Frank Welker, who has voiced just about everything but may be best known in some circles for his work on the Transformers franchise.

Satsuki (Dakota Fanning) and Mei (Elle Fanning) are excited about their new home in the country.

The film takes place in rural Japan and at a time that feels like the late 1950s. By then, a lot of wounds from World War II had healed or were healing. University professor Tatsuo Kusakabe (Tim Daly) and this two daughters, Satsuki (Dakota Fanning) and Mei (Elle Fanning), are moving out to the country. We don’t know from where, but judging by everyone’s reaction to their new surroundings, it must have been from a city.

Granny (Pat Carroll) has been the caretaker of their house and watches after the girls as well.

Their closest neighbors run a rice farm and have a boy about the girls’ age, Kanta (Paul Butcher). The matriarch of the family, whom everyone calls Granny (Pat Carroll), has also been the caretaker of the Kusakabe’s house. She comes by soon after they move in.

The girls' father, Tatsuo Kusakabe (Tim Daly), bathes with them and their laughter rids the house of soot spirits.

But almost immediately, as the sisters explore the house, they become aware of dust creatures called susuwatari. They are for the most part harmless, but their presence sort of bothers the girls. That is until one evening while bathing with their father, they laugh so hard that the soot spirits leave the house, drifting in the wind looking for a new empty house to call home.

Tatsuo takes his girls on a bike ride to visit their mother in the hospital.

The three go to the hospital to visit the mother, Yasuko (Lea Salonga), who is still recuperating from some unknown malady.

The girls' mother, Yasuko (Lea Salonga), is happy to see them.

One day, Satsuki goes to school and father has some work to do. This leaves Mei on her own. While playing, she sees two rabbit-like ears in the tall grass and follows them. Under the house, she discovers two of the creatures and they lead her through a briar patch and into the hollow under a large camphor tree.

Left on her own, Mei follows after two rabbit-like creatures.

Under the tree, she discovers a much larger version of the same kind of magical spirit, which she identifies as “Totoro” based on the sounds it makes. Even though she falls asleep on the large Totoro’s belly, Satsuki finds her on the ground in a briar clearing. Try as she might, Mei can never find the hollow part of the trunk to show her family. But her father seems to already know about the Totoro, telling Mei that he is the keeper of the forest and only reveals himself when he wants to.

Mei meets Totoro, a large magical creature.

One rainy night, the girls go to wait for their father’s bus because they realize he’s forgotten his umbrella. But the bus is late and the girls grow worried when he’s not on the one they’re expecting him to be on. While they wait, Mei falls asleep, so Satsuki carries her sister on her back. Soon after, the Totoro appears, the first time Satsuki has been allowed to see him. Because he only has a leaf to use to shelter him from the rain, Satsuki offers him the umbrella they’d brought for their father.

Totoro shows up while the girls wait for their father's bus.

The creature enjoys not only the shelter the umbrella provides but also the sound of the raindrops hitting it. To show his appreciation, he gives Satsuki a bag with nuts and seeds inside. Not long after, a Catbus (Frank Welker) shows up and the Totoro boards, taking the umbrella with him. Soon afterward, the bus with their father arrives. He apologizes for being late and they leave.

The girls plant the seeds. A few days later, they awaken at midnight to find Totoro and his two miniature colleagues engaged in a ceremonial dance around the planted nuts and seeds. The girls join in, whereupon the seeds sprout, and then grow, eventually combining into a single enormous tree. Totoro, along with his colleagues, take the girls for a ride on a magical flying top. In the morning, the giant tree is gone, but the seeds have indeed sprouted.

The girls help perform a ceremony to get the seeds to grow.

A planned visit by their mother gets postponed because of an undisclosed setback with her health. Disappointed, Satsuki tells Mei the bad news, but Mei does not take the news well. The two sisters get into an argument, ending with Satsuki storming off. Mei decides to take her mom some fresh corn and decides to walk to the hospital by herself.

Mei runs away to give her mother fresh corn.

Satsuki and the neighbors search for Mei, but to no avail. Desperate, Satsuki goes to the camphor tree and asks for Totoro’s help. Totoro is delighted to be asked and summons the Catbus, which takes Satsuki to where Mei is. After the sisters are reunited, the Catbus takes them to the hospital where their father is visiting their mother.

The girls take the Catbus (Frank Welker) to visit their mother.

Sitting perched in the tree, the sisters eavesdrop on their parents’ conversation and hear their mother had been kept from visiting them by a minor cold, rather than something worse like they had feared. Their parents hear something outside her hospital room, but all they find is the ear of corn that Mei had brought for her mother. Meanwhile, the girls are taken back home by the Catbus, which disappears from sight as soon as they get off.

The parents find the ear of corn Mei left, but don't see the girls.

During the end credits, Yasuko returns home and the sisters are shown playing with other children. Totoro and his friends are shown as unseen observers.

This is a gentle film and I mean that in more ways than one. The story is more a slice of life for the Kusakabe family. Mom is in the hospital and the father and the children move to be closer to her. The big difference between their life and anyone else’s is that the Kusakabes lives in a forest with a giant magical spirit.

There does not seem to be much going on in the film. The biggest event in the film is really Mei running away from home, but she’s only gone for a matter of hours and she’s found safe and sound. The Totoro serves more like a Deus Ex Machina, sort of lying around waiting to be called upon to do good and give the story a happy ending.

There’s nothing wrong with that, but if you’re looking for something along the lines of American animated films, where there has to be some sense of the characters in danger, then you need to look elsewhere. Mei is really never in harm’s way and how bad can a situation be if a Catbus is what saves you?

While the film wasn’t colored with these, I came away thinking of it more like water colors than the computerized CGI that dominates modern animation. The color palette is nice, but the colors are never too vivid or wild, which seems to suit the story very well.

Obviously, the story takes place in Japan, but the characters are drawn with a certain universality that defies racial categorization. There are no ceremonial robes or “native” dress in the film, as there are no cultural roadblocks that might separate us from them. While I have a limited exposure to Japanese animation, this sort of style seems to permeate throughout what I have seen.

My Neighbor Totoro was very accessible and rather easy to watch. While I doubt very much that this is Miyazaki’s best work, it does seem to have many of the characteristics that have made him an Internationally acclaimed story-teller. While I’m not sure if these films stand up to repeated viewings, the way some of the best Walt Disney and Pixar films do, I would definitely recommend this film to anyone interested in or, like me, was interested in Hayao Miyazaki’s work.

Stubs - 9 (2009)

9 (2009) Voices by Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer, Crispin Glover, Martin Landau, Fred Tatasciore Directed by Shane Acker Screenplay by Pamela Pettler Based on 9 (2005) a short film by Shane Acker. Produced by Timur Bekmambetov, Tim Burton, Dana Ginsburg, Jim Lemley. Run Time: 79 minutes USA Animated, Science Fiction, Fantasy

If you need proof that you don’t need to make sense to be engaging, then look no further than 9, a computer animated film directed by Shane Acker, based on a short student film he made while attending UCLA four years earlier.

Try to imagine Sackboy from the Playstation video game series LittleBigPlanet in a post-apocalyptic dystopia and you’re getting close to what the film is like. The film follows the life of 9 (Elijah Wood), a sewn together robot created by a Scientist (Alan Oppenheimer) at the end of a war between man and machines. The last act the scientist does is to “inject” some of his soul, if you will, into his creation, in a last gamble to preserve humanity.

In his last act, the Scientist (Alan Oppenheimer) infuses life into 9 (Elijah Wood).

After the scientist dies, 9 comes to life but has no idea where he is. He finds a strange object on the floor and instinctively picks it up and puts it inside his body, which conveniently has a zipper down the front. Everywhere around him is destruction. When he sees something moving outside he ventures out and runs into a similar creature, 2 (Martin Landau). (Each rag doll has a crudely drawn number on their backs and has adopted those numbers as their names.) 2 recognizes 9 as one of his kind and helps him by giving a voice box. But the familial reunion is disrupted when a cat-like mechanical creature attacks. In the struggle, both 2 and the device 9 has on him are taken away by the cat.

2 (Martin Landau) recognizes 9 as one of his own.

Knocked out in the fight, 9 has been retrieved by 5 (John C. Reilly), a one-eyed “brother” who has taken him to the Sanctuary, a loft in a church where similar robot dolls are safe under the dictatorial eye of 1 (Christopher Plummer), who has taken on the appearance of a pope. 1 maintains control over the others in the flock with the help of 8 (Fred Tatasciore), a larger version of the dolls who seems to be an expert in weapons. In addition to 1, 5 and 8, there is also 6 (Crispin Glover), who apparently received any artistic genes the scientist had. He continually draws three objects on paper that is hanging around the Sanctuary.

9 watches as 6 (Crispin Glover) draws three objects.

9 wants to go after 2, but 1 forbids it, mostly because of the danger involved in venturing outside the sanctuary. 1 considers 2 to be as good as dead, but 9 has seen where he was taken and convinces 5 to help him rescue 2. Through the pockmarked wasteland, 5 and 9 stumble with the help of a map. They discover the cave through which the cat-machine has gone and follow him.

The environment they exist in is a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

The tunnel leads to a long-ago abandoned factory, where they find 2, who is still alive but guarded by the cat-beast. They try to quietly rescue 2, but the cat-beast hears them and attacks. They are rescued by 7 (Jennifer Connelly), who appears from nowhere and slays the cat. All is not okay for very long.

7 (Jennifer Connelly) rescues 2, 5 and 9 from the cat-beast.

Having recovered the object, 9 notices that it seems to be designed to fit into an interface and curiosity gets the better of him and he plugs it in. As soon as it seals, it is already too late. A large machine with arms springs to life, grabs the newly rescued 2 and drains him of his soul, leaving him dead, while the other three manage to escape.

9's curiosity leads to the Machine coming to life and killing 2.

7 takes 9 and 5 to the library, where two more sock robots, 3 and 4, reside. They’re twins and their only function seems to be categorizing what is left of man’s intellect in the form of the printed word. Unable to speak, the two communicate with each other using their eyes like semaphores. 3 and 4 can also project what they’ve learned like a film for the others to watch. It is now that we find out about the origins of the world they live in.

At the library, 9 watches a film that 3 and 4 project from their eyes.

The scientist who created them also created a fabrication machine that is seized by the dictator who used to the run the unnamed country. The B.R.A.I.N., as it was called, will be used by the dictator to create weapons and armaments that will give him greater power. But the B.R.A.I.N. decides that humans are the real enemy and starts to build machines in its image. With its robot army, the B.R.A.I.N. directs an attack on all humans. A deadly gas is released which wipes out the humans as well as all other life on the planet.

The Chancellor (Tom Kane) orders the building of the B.R.A.I.N. below,
which is capable of fabricating just about anything.

9 realizes then that the object which brought the B.R.A.I.N. back to life looks like the drawings 6 was doing at the Sanctuary. 9 and 5 then return to investigate but are caught by 1. But before too long, the B.R.A.I.N. dispatches a winged machine which attacks the Sanctuary. This leads to a battle in which 7, who joins in on the fight, is injured. Working together, 9, 5 and 8 manage to defeat the winged machine and save 1.

1 (Christopher Plummer) is the self-appointed leader of the robot dolls.

Forced out of their sanctuary, the robots return to the library. There 6, 3 and 4 reveal the origins of the object 9 found. 1 is not happy about that and chastises the group. He then reveals that he sent 2 out on a mission to die. This news enrages 7, who wants to kill 1 for his actions, but is stopped by 9 from doing so.

A new robot, a snakelike machine, is sent to the library and manages to capture both 7 and 8 by sewing up into their body. While the bot manages to escape with the two in its body, the group manages to recover 2’s body and give it a proper burial.

The group heads out to the Factory to destroy the fabrication machine. 9 goes in by himself, where he sees 8’s soul being absorbed before managing to save 7. When they get out of the Factory, the others light an oil drum on fire, which appears to destroy the Factory.

The robots manage to light an oil drum which destroys the Factory where the B.R.A.I.N. is.

Thinking they’ve killed the fabrication machine, the group celebrates, listening to Judy Garland singing “Over the Rainbow” from the Wizard of Oz (1939). But the celebration is premature. The main machine has not been destroyed with the Factory and, in fact, comes after the group. 6 is captured and his soul is drained, but before he dies, he tells 9 to return to the Scientist’s lab for the answers.

At the scientist’s lab, he finds a holographic message from his creator, informing 9 that all of the robots he created are a little bit of himself, making them the best hope for the continuation of humanity. The creator also explains that the object can also be used against the Fabrication Machine to free the souls trapped inside.

9 tells the others his plan to free the others by allowing himself to be absorbed by the Machine, giving the others the chance to remove the object. 1 starts out against the plan, but in the end, has a change of heart and pushes 9 out of the way, sacrificing himself to the machine. Using the object, 1 manages to free the trapped souls and destroy the machine.

In a ceremony, the souls of 1, 2, 5, 6 and 8 are released and ascend into the sky. The remaining four set out to make the world their own. As they walk away, it starts to rain. Inside the raindrops are glowing flecks of bacteria which symbolizes the return of life to the planet.

In a ceremony at the end of the film, the souls of the departed are released.

The film is not intended for children with its dystopic post-apocalyptic setting. Nor are the themes it deals with kid-friendly. There is a moral component to the story in addition to its Terminator reminiscent man vs. machine storyline. As with all films in this vein, man always loses the battle, but ultimately triumphs in the end, even if it means surviving to fight another day.

Both man and machine are presented with having God complexes. Is it an accident that the movie quotes the bible, saying the Fabrication Machine makes other machines in its own image? Man, in the form of the scientist, not only creates the machine but also creates the fabric robots which are all a part of him, though not physically in his image.

And there is the ever-present concept of a soul, which in the end ascends to heaven the same way Jesus did in the bible. The soul is what makes the robots more than just machines, but the protectors of humanity, which is a pretty tall order.

There are a lot of things in the film that it never explains. While the robots are supposedly known as Stitchpunks, I don’t recall this ever being mentioned in the movie. There is no explanation as well for what stopped the Fabrication machine in the first place nor why the cat-like machine, in the beginning, survived when all the others seemed to have stopped.

These plot holes aside, the film is still very engaging. You want these little fabric robots to succeed, the same way you would a live-action character, which is sort of an accomplishment in itself. The voice acting is also strong which also helps to make the characters more human as well.

The introduction of a strong female character, 7, without the need to glorify her is what films should be doing; creating diverse characters without stopping to pat themselves on the back while doing it. All of the actors have distinctive voices which works well to help separate the robots from one another.

Visually, the wasteland of humankind is represented in muted colors, but in a believable manner. Not too much is made of the destruction, since this seems to be the environment all the robots are familiar with; in fact, they probably wouldn’t exist if everything was rosy and the sky was filled with rainbows.

In the end, though, 9 is sort of disappointing. If all nine make up the whole of humanity, how can only four characters, each imbued with only a few pieces of the scientists’ soul, really carry on without the other five? I would recommend the film, but with a caveat; don’t expect more from the film than it can deliver.

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue

In the interest of holding fans over until the inevitable release of Kingdom Hearts III, Square Enix has released HD Remix compilations of already existing games in the series on PS3. Both of these Remixes, HD 1.5 and HD 2.5, collect two full games and a cutscene version of a third. Recently, in the interest of hyping up the end of the Dark Seeker Saga, they have released a third compilation, this time released on PS4, known as HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue. Unlike the other compilations, this one features an HD remaster of Dream Drop Distance, previously only playable on the Nintendo 3DS, as well as an original short game and an original CG movie which covers the events of an otherwise nonessential smartphone game. Essentially, this particular collection is meant to fully prepare players for the events of Kingdom Hearts III.

The first item in the collection is Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance HD. While it may seem a challenge to port a game from a system with two screens to a system which only allows for one, the team definitely pulled it off. Immediately noticeable is the increased graphical capability, which better takes advantage of the screen size and allows every detail to be seen with better clarity. Beyond this are a number of gameplay tweaks to make the game more controller-friendly, mainly by assigning Dream Eater functions from the second screen to a sub-menu menu system not unlike Kingdom Hearts II. To explain, there is a sub-menu menu for activating special Dream Eater attacks and another for switching out an active Dream Eater with the one in reserve, though these can also thankfully be accessed like a shortcut menu from previous games.

There are a number of additional changes made to the HD version of Dream Drop Distance, including, but not limited to, extended Drop times, three Command Deck commands instead of two, gameplay in 60 FPS and the ability to view a map of the area by pressing the DualShock 4’s touchpad. There are also three exclusive Dream Eaters, Catanuki, Tubguin Ace and Beatalike, for players to create and bond with. While the Dream Eater mini-games have been reworked pretty well to fit with a DualShock 4 layout, the only complaint I have is that a mini-game where you pop balloons involves precision control with the touchpad, which feels awkward at first and takes a while to get used to, since you otherwise have no frame of reference for where your finger is in relation to the position of the balloons on the screen.

Weighing both the good and bad, Dream Drop Distance HD seems like the ideal way to play such an important game in the story. Its improvements are enough to feel right at home on PS4 and provide an ultimately smoother experience.

Next up is an original short game under the, rather lengthy, name Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage-. This game tells the story of Aqua’s journey through the Realm of Darkness after the events of the Secret Episode from Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix. Since the story can be completed in about three hours or less, the story isn’t very deep. However, what we see from Aqua’s point of view does give her some semblance of closure and fairly neatly ties together the points from when we see her at the end of Birth by Sleep to when we see her in subsequent appearances. In addition, the framing device for the story, Yen Sid explaining Aqua’s past to Sora and Riku, serves nicely as both an epilogue to Birth by Sleep and the prologue of Kingdom Hearts III. In other words, this alone makes the game a must-play.

Apart from filling in previously-unseen details of Aqua’s backstory, 0.2 Birth by Sleep is also more or less a demo of the kind of graphics and gameplay players can expect from Kingdom Hearts III. In terms of graphics, it’s a major step up from previous games due to being rendered in Unreal Engine 4 with the new Kingdom Shader applied. While the lighting and environments are impressive, the character models, though well-detailed, end up with a texture resembling plastic, as they are a little too smooth. On the upside, it helps the series finally resemble the pre-rendered FMV sequences seen in previous installments.

Keyblade Master Aqua about to face off against a
Demon Tower enemy made of Shadow Heartless.

As for the gameplay, it feels like a number of gameplay elements from previous games have coalesced into a new whole. The game does away with the Command Deck, instead returning back to the classic Menu system as a base, along with the introduction of a second “page” for the shortcut menu to separate Magic from Items. On top of this base, the gameplay uses the MP system from Kingdom Hearts II, Shotlocks and the Focus gauge from Birth by Sleep and the presence of Flowmotion from Dream Drop Distance, though in a more limited form here. Additionally, the game introduces the ability to teleport between Save Points, Objectives which unlock clothing and color options for Aqua and Situation Commands, which operate as a more upgraded form of Reaction Commands. Magic now also leaves an effect on the environment, allowing for some new effects and interactions in combat.

Controlling all of the gameplay elements during combat felt very smooth and responsive, especially since everything was incorporated in a surprisingly effective way. Knowing that Kingdom Hearts III will introduce more mechanics on top of this, including the return of Summons and Drive Forms, it’s good overall that the developers decided to provide such a glimpse into what’s in store for the future of the franchise. While 0.2 Birth by Sleep is essential to play in more ways than one, it also manages to provide a pretty satisfying experience that may leave long-time fans wanting more.

The last item in HD 2.8 is an 80-minute original feature with the title Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover (read as Kingdom Hearts Chi Back Cover). This film tells the story of a group known as the Foretellers, six apprentices who have been given important tasks to complete in the event that their master, the Master of Masters, disappears. Though it is meant more as a companion to the Kingdom Hearts χ game and its Unchained χ version, it feels like a potential substitute, as it is essentially the events of χ told from a different point of view. Its place as a distant prequel to the rest of the series allows it to explore certain story elements discussed in other entries, mainly the Great Keyblade War, and gives a new context to the Gazing Eye, a blue eye last seen in Xehanort’s Keyblade.

The mysterious Master of Masters.

As much as the feature sheds new light on the events of the series, it unfortunately doesn’t reach a solid conclusion, instead allowing its events to tie into the events of 0.2 Birth by Sleep and, presumably, Kingdom Hearts III. In addition, the narrative is driven by a single question, “Who is the traitor?” On the upside, the rendering is very impressive, as it also uses Unreal Engine 4 and the Kingdom Shader. Though the plastic feeling doesn’t completely go away, the fact that the important characters are all wearing clothing covering their features seems to make the aesthetic more visually appealing. While χ Back Cover isn’t a perfect movie, series fans are pretty much obligated to watch it, if only to feel like they’re staying in the loop.

Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue is an interesting and worthwhile collection. The inclusion of an essential piece of the long-running puzzle and two pieces of original content are more than enough to make this a must-have for Kingdom Hearts fans. Fortunately, the quality of the contents help it to feel less like a mere obligation and the presence of original content in an HD collection for the series also helps justify the price tag. If nothing else, this entry confirms that it is indeed the final stop before the events of Kingdom Hearts III. Now all we have to do is wait just a little bit longer.

The LEGO Batman Movie

After the success of The LEGO Movie in 2014, an inevitable sequel was announced, and with it a pair of spin-offs based on Batman (as depicted in the movie) and LEGO’s popular Ninjago theme. Upon hearing about The LEGO Batman Movie, given Batman’s humorous portrayal in The LEGO Movie, I did have some reservations at first on whether his shtick would be able to carry an entire movie. A trailer paired with the disastrous Batman v Superman gave me a glimpse as to what such a movie would be like, and further trailers towards the actual release helped to assuage any doubts I may have had. In the end, I can say I enjoyed the movie much more than I thought I would initially.

After foiling a plan by The Joker (Zach Galifianakis) to blow up Gotham City, Batman/Bruce Wayne (Will Arnett) goes home to his large and empty mansion, eating microwaved lobster thermidor and watching movies alone in his theater. As Batman looks at an old family photo, his butler Alfred (Ralph Fiennes) suggests to him that he not only fears having a family of his own, he should also consider the possibility of raising a child. At an event commemorating Barbara Gordon (Rosario Dawson) as the new Commissioner of Gotham, this comes to a head when Bruce Wayne unknowingly adopts Richard “Dick” Grayson (Michael Cera), an orphan. Meanwhile, The Joker is upset about Batman not paying him any attention despite being a major villain, and so concocts a new scheme to earn that attention after watching a TV interview with Superman (Channing Tatum) involving the Phantom Zone.

The Joker (Zach Galifianakis) just wants some attention from Batman (Will Arnett).

Though this movie is a spin-off of The LEGO Movie, it generally presented itself as a stand-alone story, the only major connections being the existence of a swirling abyss at the edge of reality and Batman’s abilities as a Master Builder (allowing him to construct whatever he wants using LEGO bricks from the environment). Aside from that, the story was actually rather easy to follow and had some solid writing amidst a slew of largely-clever humor (among them a number of Michael Jackson references). In general, the movie can be viewed as both a celebration and parody of Batman as a whole, since there are a number of references/jokes to previous Batman media (up to Batman v Superman at the time of the movie’s release), many of them to the 1966 Adam West series. The movie also notably features the film debut of a great number of Batman villains (including Z-list characters such as Clock King, Polka-Dot Man, Calendar Man and Condiment King), as well as the first time the entirety of the Justice League has been seen on-screen together (beating out the upcoming Justice League movie by nine months at the time of this writing).

Yes, Condiment King is a real Batman villain.
(Pictured: His appearance as he debuted in
Batman: The Animated Series.)

As with The LEGO Movie, the animation is very well-done, mimicking the stop-motion style rather well. I did notice, however, that more liberties seemed to be taken in regards to character animation, such as minifigure arms and legs, while retaining static positions, moving more free-form around the body to achieve certain poses, as well as there being more ambiguity as to whether the minifigure characters have a static “neck.” Batman’s cowl is also noticeably more animated compared to it remaining static in The LEGO Movie, however the end result maintains the stop-motion illusion by appearing as though multiple cowl molds were swapped out between frames. There is also some minor cheating in that some realistic smoke and water effects are used at times rather than having said elements be made of LEGO bricks, as in The LEGO Movie, though the animators still did a good job overall in maintaining the illusion of being a high-budget stop-motion production.

The voice acting is actually pretty good, with Will Arnett returning to voice his version of Batman and being able to run with it while still delivering a good range of emotion when needed. I honestly did not recognize Michael Cera playing Dick Grayson/Robin, mainly because I’m used to seeing him perform characters along the lines of Scott Pilgrim, which to me proved that he actually has some range as an actor and makes me wonder if he will ever get an opportunity like that again in any future role he is given. Zach Galifianakis delivers a rather interesting take on The Joker, who is portrayed here as being a serious villain while at the same time edging on being one of the sillier Jokers, as he goes out of his way just to get Batman to recognize him as a threat in a way comparable to unrequited love. While Galifianakis is not Mark Hamill, he certainly makes his Joker memorable, which is unfortunately more than I can say about Jared Leto’s Joker as seen in last year’s Suicide Squad. The other voice actors in the movie do a good job in playing the roles in which they are cast, a number of which seem to be played for laughs, such as editor Matt Villa delivering a higher-pitched voice in a brief moment of Killer Croc speaking and The Big Bang Theory’s Kate Micucci voicing Clayface.

The main score is provided by Lorne Balfe, whose resume includes the main entries in the Skylanders video game franchise among other things, in collaboration with drummer Chad Smith from Red Hot Chili Peppers. While his score might not be as memorable as Mark Mothersbaugh’s score in The LEGO Movie, he does a good job in giving The LEGO Batman Movie its own identity separate from its predecessor. A well-composed lounge music cover of the song “Everything Is Awesome” is performed by Richard Cheese & Lounge Against The Machine, however its use is more subtle here than in The LEGO Movie.

The LEGO Batman Movie is a movie for fans of all things LEGO, Batman, and LEGO Batman. While not as good as The LEGO Movie, it keeps the same spirit of its predecessor while having its own identity as a fun action-comedy. It’s especially fun if you are a Batman fan, since, as I said earlier, the movie is essentially a simultaneous celebration and parody of the caped crusader’s 75+ years of history, many of it stemming from the Dark Knight Trilogy and the Adam West series from the 1960s. Attached to the main feature is a trailer for The LEGO Ninjago Movie; while I am not well-versed in the Ninjago theme, I remain cautiously optimistic that the movie will convince me to go see it in a similar fashion to how The LEGO Batman Movie managed to convince me.

Stubs - Beauty and The Beast

Beauty and The Beast (1991) Starring the voices of Paige O’Hara, Robby Benson, Richard White, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, Angela Lansbury. Directed by Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise. Screenplay by Linda Wolverton. Based on the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve. Produced by Don Hahn. Music by Alan Menken. Run Time: 83 minutes. U.S. Color, Animated, Musical, Fantasy

Beauty and the Beast came out following the success of The Little Mermaid (1989), but it was originally considered to be a follow-up to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Disney made attempts to develop the story into a movie in the 1930’s and 1950’s before giving up on the idea. What didn’t help matters was a film version by French director, Jean Cocteau, La Belle et la Bête (1946).

The idea would get resurrected in 1987 during the production of Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). For the first time, a Disney film was developed first as a screenplay rather than through the story-boarding process which had been utilized for all Disney animated films up to that point. As is true in many films, the original script was scrapped and the process started all over again. There was a change in directors and production, which had been originally planned for London, was moved to Glendale, California.

Produced on a compressed timeline, two years instead of the usual four, Beauty and the Beast was only the second feature after The Rescuers Down Under (1990) to employ a computer animation process called CAPS (Computer Animation Production System), a digital system of software and hardware developed for Disney by Pixar (yes, that Pixar).

The film is also known for its use of computer animation in a particular scene, the success of which would encourage studio executives to invest in the new technology. We’ll discuss that again when we get to the scene in question.

The story we're told at the beginning of the film tells a story related to the one we're about to see.

We’re told in an opening narration that a young, handsome prince is cursed when he refuses lodging for an enchantress, disguised as an old beggar. The rose she had offered in payment is now part of the curse. As a result of his actions, the prince is transformed into a beast. The rose will bloom until his 21^st birthday and he has until the last of the rose’s petals has fallen to learn love and be loved in return in order to break the spell. If he fails, he will remain a beast forever. (Is it just me or does this sound a lot like the deal Ariel makes with Ursula in The Little Mermaid, which also involved transformations and oddly specific deadlines?) The Beast is also left with a magic mirror that allows him the capability of viewing the world outside his castle (this will become important later). In addition to the prince’s punishment, his servants, for no fault of their own, are turned into household items and his castle into a dark fortress.

Gaston (Richard White) has his sights on marrying Belle (Paige O'Hara).

Years later, but not too many if the prince was already lord of the manor and not quite 21, a beautiful young woman named Belle (voiced by Paige O’Hara) lives in a nearby French village with her father Maurice (Rex Everheart), an inventor. Belle is a bookworm, who borrows, rather than buys, her books from the village bookstore. She longs for a life beyond the provincial village. Her beauty attracts the attention of the other villagers, who don’t think she fits in. But Belle is pretty and is pursued by the, as arrogant as he is muscle-bound, Gaston (Richard White). Despite the women who swoon over him, Gaston has his sights on marrying Belle. But despite Gaston’s resume and the envy of other men, Belle is uninterested.

Belle's father, Maurice (Rex Everheart), is an inventor.

Maurice gets a wood-chopping machine to work and heads off with his Clydesdale-sized horse Phillipe to a fair to showcase his new invention. But along the way, Maurice gets lost and takes a shortcut through the dark forest, despite Phillipe’s protests. Abandoned by his horse, chased by a pack of wolves, Maurice stumbles upon a dark castle and takes refuge inside. The household servants Lumiere (Jerry Orbach), a candelabra; Cogsworrh (David Ogden Stiers), a clock; Mrs. Potts (Angela Lansbury), a teapot; and her son Chip (Bradley Michael Pierce), a chipped teacup, welcome him in.

Some of the Beast's household servants include Lumiere (Jerry Orbach), Cogsworth (David Ogden Stiers),
 Mrs. Potts (Angele Lansbury) and her son, Chip (Bradley Michael Pierce).

But when the ferocious Beast (Robby Benson) finds out, he imprisons Maurice, throwing him into a dungeon cell. Phillipe, who had actually never been to the castle, leads Belle to it. She confronts the Beast and offers to take her father′s place, who doesn’t look well. Over her father’s protests, the Beast accepts her offer. The Beast moves her from the dungeon into a bedroom and gives her the run of the castle. The only stipulation is that she stays out of the West Wing.

The Beast (Robby Benson) imprisons Maurice for trespassing on his property.

Gaston sulks in the local tavern over his failed proposal while Lefou (Jesse Corti), Gaston’s minion, tries to cheer him up. Maurice arrives, seeking help to rescue her from the Beast. No one takes him seriously, so he sets out alone. 

Lefou (Jesse Corti) is Gaston's sidekick/minion and comic relief.

Belle angers the Beast when she refuses to dine with him that night. But Lumière disobeys his order not to let her eat. While Cogsworth and Lumière give Belle a tour of the castle, she wanders into the forbidden West Wing. There she finds the enchanted rose and the Beast angrily chases her away. Belle then attempts to flee the castle with Phillipe, but they are attacked by a pack of wolves, the same ones who no doubt attacked her father. The Beast comes to her aid and is injured when he fights off the wolves.

Lumiere and Cogsworth take Belle on a tour of the castle.

Back at the castle, Belle nurses his wounds, and he begins to develop feelings for her. She thanks him for saving her life and he impresses her by giving her the castle's vast library. The more time they spend together, the closer Belle and the Beast become. Back in the village, Gaston pays Monsieur d'Arque, the warden of the town's insane asylum, to have Maurice committed if Belle does not accept Gaston's marriage proposal.

The ballroom sequence mixes CGI (the chandelier) with hand-drawn dancing characters.

Belle and the Beast share a romantic evening together, dancing in the great Ballroom together, a sequence notable for its use of computer animation of the ballroom and chandelier. The hand-drawn dancing characters are then composited against it using CAPS. The household goods encourage the Beast to tell Belle how he feels about her, but the moment is never right. Instead, Belle tells the Beast she misses her father, and he lets her use the magic mirror to see him. What Belle sees is her father dying in the woods after a botched attempt to rescue her. The Beast allows her to leave so she can save him. He even gives her the mirror to remember him by.

Belle finds her father and takes him home where she nurses him back to health. Gaston tries once more to marry Belle and when she turns him down, Monsieur d'Arque arrives to put Maurice in the insane asylum because of his insistence on the existence of a Beast. But Belle proves Maurice's sanity by showing the gathered crowd the Beast with the magic mirror. Realizing that Belle has feelings for the Beast, Gaston warns the townspeople that the Beast is a child-eating monster that must be killed, and leads them to the castle. (You have to give the townspeople credit for being able to turn on a dime.)

Gaston convinces the village that the Beast is a child-eating monster.

Gaston locks Belle and her father in their basement to prevent them from warning the Beast. But Chip, who had hidden in Belle's baggage, releases them using Maurice's wood-chopping machine.

The Beast's household goods/servants defeat the townspeople in a pitched battle. Meanwhile, Gaston sneaks away to confront the Beast, who is initially too depressed to fight back. But when he sees Belle returning to the castle, he regains his will and fights back. The Beast wins a heated battle on the castle's rooftops and spares Gaston, who pleads for his life. The Beast frees him on the condition that he leaves. The Beast is about to be reunited with Belle when Gaston stabs him from behind. But in the attack, Gaston loses his balance and falls to his presumed death.

Belle has until the last rose petal falls to confess her love of the Beast.

While the Beast lies dying, Belle professes her love for him just as the rose's last petal falls off. With the spell broken, the Beast comes back to life and transforms back into his handsome prince form. His servants likewise change back into their old forms. The film ends with Belle and the prince, now married, dancing in the ballroom with her father and the servants happily looking on.

The Beast is transformed into a handsome prince by Belle's love.

Beauty and the Beast tells a very familiar story, but in a new and different way. Visually, the film looks very good, especially considering it is mostly hand drawn, something you don’t see that much of anymore. But when computer animation is used, it is quite obvious. And while the use of songs is nothing new in animated films and is still used in modern CGI features, there are almost too many songs, about half of the film’s run time is spent in song.

After watching the film, one wonders if which idea came first: the idea to make an animated stage musical or the idea to make a stage musical from an animated film. It wasn’t too terribly long after the film that the stage musical opened on Broadway and Broadway musicals, despite what we saw on Smash, are oftentimes years in the making.

Further, the film employs some very talented Broadway performers in supporting roles. including Jerry Orbach and Angela Lansbury. While Orbach might be best remembered as Detective Lennie Briscoe on 274 episodes of TV’s Law & Order or as Jennifer Grey’s father in Dirty Dancing (1987), he was an accomplished Broadway performer, starring in a 1965 revival of Guys and Dolls and the original stage production of Promises, Promises in 1969 (a musical based on the film The Apartment). For the latter, he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.

Jerry Orbach was a seasoned Broadway professional with a Tony to prove it.

Angela Lansbury, if anything, was more successful than Orbach. She had her own long-running series, Murder, She Wrote (1984-1996), but prior to that, she was nominated three times as Best Supporting Actress for her roles in Gaslight (1944), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) and The Manchurian Candidate (1962). She also won four Tony Awards for Best Leading Actress in a Musical, Mame (1966), Dear World (1969), Gypsy (1973) and Sweeney Todd (1979). She was also nominated for Best Actress in a Play for her role in Deuce (2007) and won a Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her role in Blithe Spirit (2009).

Angela Lansbury plays Mrs. Potts.

The leads, on the other hand, were either unknowns or surprise choices. Paige O’Hara made her Broadway debut in 1983 and her film debut with Beauty and the Beast. Since then she’s mostly reprised her role as Belle in direct-to-videos, Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997) and Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Magical World (1998). Additionally, she released a series of paintings entitled Belles by Belle.

Paige O'Hara plays Beauty and Robby Benson plays the Beast.

While not an unknown, Robby Benson seemed to be an odd choice for the lead in a musical. Benson was mostly known for his work in TV Movies in the 1970’s prior to his starring role in Beauty and the Beast. Like most voice actors who get caught up in the Disney universe, he’s reprised the Beast role in subsequent related direct-to-video titles: Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas, Belle's Magical World, Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse (2001); TV series: House of Mouse; and Video Games: Kingdom Hearts (2002), Kingdom Hearts II (2005), Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix (2007) and Kinect Disneyland Adventures (2011).

The film at the time of its release received very positive reviews and earned about $425 million worldwide from an initial budget of $25 million. Three years later, a musical based on the movie, with seven additional songs, debuted in Houston, Texas. Later that year, the musical would have its Broadway opening, playing 5,461 performances until 2007. Just as Beauty and the Beast would pave the way for such animated musical features like Aladdin (1992), The Lion King (1994) and Tarzan (1999), the success of the Beauty and the Beast stage musical would lead to other such movie to stage adaptations, including: The Lion King (1997), Tarzan (2006), The Little Mermaid (2008) and Aladdin: The New Musical came to Broadway in 2014. A live-action version of Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson of Harry Potter fame, will be opening in March 2017.

But back to the animated film, which is the point of this review. I would definitely recommend Beauty and the Beast, especially if you have small children. This is a really good example of family entertainment. Unlike many films and TV series aimed at children, the movie doesn’t play down to them. While not my favorite Disney animated feature, this is a very well made and, for the most, part enjoyable film.