Reviews

Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron. This film was animated very well. The blending of 2D and 3D look spectacular. Spirit however does have it's moments of embellishment to the extreme.

Spirit is a wild and carefree mustang who lives free on the plains with his family. One day he discovers something new that has come upon his homeland. He leaves, despite the warnings of his mother, to solve the mystery. He winds up in a camping site of strange two-legs. The humans find him amazing and go after and eventually capture him. Leading him into unknown waters. No worries, always a happy ending of course.

Some of the biggest complaints I have with this film is the background art. While at times the scenes with the 2D painted sky and the 3D blades of grass are gorgeous, the backgrounds keep changing throughout the film. There's really no good explanation of timeframe in this movie. When it begins, it's spring. When Spirit is mature, it's presumably a year or so later. Later on the backgrounds stay nearly the same or change completely. Continuity is important people. At one point it snows heavily, then the next morning the land is completely free of powder. Makes no sense. And of course you have your moments of suspension of disbelief. Believe me it's hard to ignore it in this movie, but you have to because it's still a decent film. Some viewers have said it reeks of Political Correctness, and I agree to that to a certain extent. Again, it doesn't defect me away from the story itself.

The film itself has a good enough story. I honestly wish they hadn't used a narrator to voice Spirit's thoughts. But it is what it is. If you can get past the occasional Bryan Adams song that pops up here and there, believe me, most of them are forgettable. I actually love, "Sound The Bugle:" and "Brother Under The Sun", which the latter unfortunately wasn't used. Most all the songs were just bland. You at least get to care about the characters. Spirit falls for a Paint mare named Rain. All well and good, but nothing as touching or emotional as the parting of ways with the Lakota, Little Creek near the end of the movie.

Not the greatest animated film ever, but certainly worth your time.

To be honest, I had not seen an episode of Hey Arnold in years. A few months back, I bought the entire series on DVD from Shout Factory. I remember some episodes that I loved when I had first seen them. Ones such as Ghost Train, Married and Field Trip were etched upon my mind forever.

For about a year, I had heard of the upcoming release of The Jungle Movie. All year, this... and the final installment of Samurai Jack was what I looked forward to the most.

The Jungle Movie did not disappoint.

The only thing I didn't like about the film was that it was predictable. I knew that guy wasn't Eduardo. The characters are all still the same. It would have been nice if some of them had a life changing experience over the years.

My favorite part comes near the end of the film. Here we see how much Helga really loves Arnold. Very touching and heartwarming scene.

Thanks Mr. Bartlett for giving us such a grandiose film. We love you!

This cartoon had a very negative view on how I felt about cellulite. As a child, I struggled when I heard the word fat, feeling like there was nothing good about it.

From the age of 5 till about 10, I had seen quite a few things about weight portrayed in a horrible light. This cartoon did not help that image.

There were several scenes from this short that stuck with me. Goofy deflating the car tires, grounding the elevator, and his stomach growling like a dog. He tightens his belt to suppress his hunger, only to watch in horror as it busts lose, his gut now whimpering like a frightened pup.

The harshest thing about this was the fact that Goofy's reflection talked negatively to him instead of giving him encouragement. I believe this may well be Goofy's conscious telling him to improve his lifestyle. However, it doesn't seem to work very well and at the end of the cartoon. Goofy's reflection has now eaten all the food. So if this is indeed Goof's conscious, he has taken a turn for the worse and will continue his gluttonous ways.

This cartoon would probably be more funny to me now than a while back. Some of the scenes are just overblown. I will come back later to clean up my review and give a final score for this.

Such a disappointment to the original Brother Bear. I'm not sure why Disney felt the need for another movie. The first one was great.

This one is just a filler for romance. Why do we really need this after the original taught us about what love really means? Sacrifice. Now instead of brotherly love we get love between a man and a woman. A reoccurring theme in millions of films. Enough already! This is a dud. Skip out on this waste of straight to video garbage.

P.S. Sha-Woman!? Worst pun ever.

Major disappointment for the youth who grew up watching the much more impressive films. Even Simba's Pride and 1 1/2 have more heart than this tripe.

I've watched several clips on YouTube. Looks absolutely putrid in design. Talks down to children, major problem these days from media outlets. These kids will be our future someday. They aren't stupid, don't treat them like they are.

Kion. Crap! Hyenas. Where did they come into place all of a sudden since they were supposedly gone from the second film? Great continuity from the people who spewed this awful junk. Thanks for ruining a once proud franchise that was brave enough to go places back in the 90's. I would stick with watching Disney/Pixar films instead. Still entertaining and bold. Not this travesty.

The Pebble and the Penguin is a major letdown for Bluth. Apparently he was not a fan of the final product and demanded his name be removed from the credits. You can't blame him.

Basic plot. Hubie the penguin longs to tell a penguin of female persuasion that he loves her. Hubies is shy and reluctant to tell her but eventually sees that she feels the same way. Hubie goes to search for the perfect pebble to present to Marina, but he soon finds out that he will have competition from an evil penguin, The Drake. The Drake confronts Hubie and tosses him into the ocean. The Drake tells the other penguins that Hubie is lunch for the Sea Lion.

Hubie doesn't end up dead. He ends up on a ship that holds other penguins. These penguins are being picked up and shipped off to zoos. One penguin that ends up on the ship, Rocko, doesn't like being held captive and tries to rally everyone to escape. Hubie is the only one that wants to escape with him, naturally because he wants to get back and present Marina with the pebble and marry her. He and Rocko end up escaping and Rocko agrees to help Hubie take him back to Antarctica.

This is not Bluth's worst film by any means. I think that title goes to Thumbelina. Though I did like the bird in that movie. There are some good parts in TPATP. In some scenes you can see where Bluth's work is still rather present. In others, and most of the film, it seems to be nonexistent. I really enjoyed the scenes of Hubie and Rocko in the ocean trying to escape the Sea Lions and the Killer Whales. Both of those scenes were done well in my opinion. The thing that really hurts this film is the constant pop up of songs that shouldn't have been thrown in the movie to begin with. You knew every time one of them was coming and they were not good songs. The narrator only comes up a total of 3 times. Why? Now to the characters. Most of the characters in the film are blah. Hubie is downright annoying. I actually enjoyed the fact that they gave him a stutter. I wish they had kept it throughout the movie. Marina was so-so as the love interest. The Drake was nasty but not nasty enough. The only character I really felt that had any personality was Rocko. He could be irritating at times, but he had the most heart in my opinion. I thought Rocko and Hubie seemed to have more in common than Hubie did with Marina. They both acted like a gay couple.

In all this movie could have been better. It's sad that several of Bluth's films had internal affairs go bad. It happened on All Dogs, Land Before Time and this.

P.S. The penguins did not need teeth. Yuck!

So I have recently started watching the new episodes of Samurai Jack on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. This had been a real treat seeing as the show was on hiatus for some time.

I have enjoyed this series so far.. Most episode of SJ is great, with very few exceptions. The latest installment has been intriguing, though not as good as the first 4 seasons.

While Samurai Jack is still a great show, it has gotten darker. Blood and battles galore. I wouldn't suggest it for younger viewers. Season 5 is starting to climax and I hope that it keeps getting better. Genndy knows what his viewers like and he doesn't fail in that aspect. Major spoiler..... Jack falls in love. I was hoping that Genddy wouldn't take that route, but I had a feeling it was coming down to that.

The series keeps getting better every week. I'll be sad when it's over.

A Christmas Story has gained quite a cult following over the years. Released back in 1983, it failed miserably at the box office. Years later, it has become one of the most beloved Christmas films of all time.

The story revolves around a boy named Ralph who wants nothing more than a Red Ryder BB Gun for a Christmas gift. Over the course of the film he receives opposition from his mother claiming, "You'll shoot your eye out"! Poor Ralph. He also meets resistance from his teacher, Ms. Shields and a very nasty store department Santa Claus.

I enjoy watching Christmas Story every year. The film never gets old and even though you can catch it being played for 24 hours on TNT, it never fails. This is one Christmas film that lives on forever in our hearts.

Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer: The Movie. This film is a mix of good and bad. So first I'll start with the good.

I think the writers of this movie wanted to take it somewhere. The characters weren't the worst that a Christmas themed special could have. We have good old Rudolph of course. He has his love interest later on in the story. If any of you are expecting it to be Clarice, it isn't. The villain in the movie is played by Whoopi Goldberg, not a bad choice but here, she doesn't seem to be trying her best. She sounded much happier doing Shenzi in TLK. Here, she sounds like she is hardly interested in the part. John Goodman plays Santa Claus and you can't complain about that. Goodman always does a great job when he voices cartoons. Some other good parts of the film are the songs "What about his nose"? The love song, I can't remember the name of it, and "Simply having a Wonderful Christmas time" by Sir Paul McCartney.

The bad parts of this film though outweigh the good. Stormella doesn't seem nasty enough as the antagonist. If you can't predict it, there's a change of heart at the end of the movie that I could see a mile away. Most of the songs are forgettable except for the ones I mentioned above. We get a few characters that are abysmal. Slyly for one. Why couldn't they have just called him Sly? I think one of the worst thing that comes from this guy is his out of nowhere song number. The best thing was seeing him cuddle with Rudolph's teddy bear.

On a whole, this movie isn't the worst, but I can think of much better. Do yourself a favor, and watch the original instead.

I'm not exactly sure what they were aiming for with Balto. The story about one of the most famous dogs ever never seemed to pick up steam. Balto is not a bad film, it just somehow misses the mark. I'm not exactly thrilled with the voice cast. Kevin Bacon was weak as Balto. Bridget Fonda was okay as Balto's love interest. I feel that the best voices came from Bob Hoskins as Boris the Goose, and Jim Cummings as the nasty villain Steele.

I didn't care much for the wolf/dog connection. I thought this was silly considering that Balto was an actual purebred Siberian Husky. The protagonist of the film was given that distinction. Not sure where they were going here.

Balto has some great animation for the mid-90's, especially considering it isn't Disney. If anything, that's probably what saves it from being an absolute bottom feeder of the animation world. To me, Balto just seems rather weak in the story line. I believe they could have done better.

I like but not love this movie. I am very picky about films and I have toyed with the thought of having this in my DVD collection. I will have to give it some consideration.

Final verdict: Worth a shot.

This is an awful film! I have seen the whole Balto trilogy and I can't understand why they wanted to try and squeeze blood from a turnip. The first Balto was so-so. Wolfquest was a decent sequel, but this? Today I watched about five minutes into this film on YouTube and remembered why I hated it.

I would write a spoiler but I can't even remember what exactly this film is about except that it contains a story about one of Balto and Jenna's pups who is involved with aviation. Oops, I guess that is a spoiler. I guess I'll have to check the box.

Just how bad is this crap? Boris gets a girlfriend if that says anything.

Do yourself a favor and watch the other two instead. You'll be better off.

Saw this around Memorial Day this year. Being a fan of the first two films, I was hoping this one would be as good if not better. Wow! I couldn't have been more disappointed.

Kung Fu Panda 3 is not awful but it certainly has some major flaws. The story line is rather simple and easy to follow but it lacks a major thing that the first two had, heart. This one just felt so forced with no love behind it. The jokes seemed forced and unnecessary. Some of them were even potty humor, something this franchise never really dived into with the other films.

And what is with the panda colony? They all seem stupid and lazy. It is no wonder they forgot how to find their Chi. And the father even has the nerve to lie to Po about finding and knowing how to use it. Of course naturally they work things out and there's a happy ending.

One of my biggest issues with KP3 is the villain Kai. First of all he isn't nearly as intimidating as Tai Lung, not to mention that it rhymes. Kai also doesn't have the eeriness of Shen from the second film.

The one thing that really hurt my feelings in this movie was the mentally challenged panda. The fact that they made fun of someone for having bad teeth and a limited mental capacity really didn't sit well with me. DreamWorks really hit below the belt and actually had enough nerve to imply that being mentally challenged is a sin. The panda actually came with straightened teeth in the ending. Shame on you DreamWorks!

In all it wasn't a major disappointment but not enough to hold my interest. I plan on adding the second film into my collection but this one will be off of my list.

The 1970's is not known to be a decade of great cartoons. But once in a while you would get a gem. This gem happens to be Fraidy Cat.

Most people have never heard of Fraidy Cat, possibly because it was never a big hit. There's actually a review for the show on YouTube but it is referred to as an Animated Atrocity. Not everyone will dig this cartoon, but I happen to like it.

The premise is simple enough. Fraidy is a cat who has lost all of his lives except one. His goal is to not avoid saying any kind of words that might sound like a number. Fraidy especially needs to avoid saying the word nine because that is his last life. The cartoon on a whole is something you would expect from Scooby Doo or Jabber Jaw, both of which are great cartoons! Fraidy isn't superb but it is still a cute enough show to grab your attention. His ghost buddies are hilarious.

Give Fraidy Cat a chance if you haven't already. The easiest place to find episodes are on YouTube. You are in for a treat.

I really can't vote on this film because I haven't seen it yet. I intend on not seeing it as well. Ice Age used to be funny but has gone downhill after Ice Age: Continental Drift.

How many movies are they going to milk out? The rumor is that if Collision Course is a success they will make another one. So let me see, success equals money which means more dough to make another film. Makes sense but eventually this franchise will bottom out soon enough. Remember when they stretched Shrek to four films? They stopped because they knew they were running out of ideas.

One thing that really bothers me about these movies is the fact that someone is nobody until they have somebody. That is one of the unhealthiest things to preach to a young child watching this crap. Poor Sid doesn't have anybody to love him and all his friends do. I guess that makes him a loser. But wait, what this? He does find love after all in this film. A lot of people claim this is why this movie was made. I'm starting to think they are right.

And of course we can't forget about Scrat who's been done to death with his acorn. Why don't they just give him a movie of his own?

Another thing the Ice Age monopoly has been doing is pulling out every dirty joke in the book. They aren't funny anymore. Sex jokes and toilet humor is not funny when it's shoved down your throat in every animated film that is made. This is why I like movies like Zootopia and Big Hero 6 which didn't need that stuff to be a great film.

Goodbye Ice Age films. The only decent ones I've seen are the first one and third one.

Absolutely wonderful film from the Disney studios! I can't say enough great things about this movie. Heartwarming! Stunning! Incredible! AWESOME! This was one of the best movies I have seen in years.

This movie had some of the best character development I've seen. All the characters got along very well and helped Hiro when he needed it. I guess if I only had one complaint though, it is that poor Fred came across as a big weirdo to his friends. He invites them over to his place at one point for a hideout. They are very apprehensive to enter first wondering what is on the other side. Once they find out he lives in the lap of luxury everything is fine. I often wonder how they would have treated him if he was poor. One of the friends says, "I thought you lived under a bridge." Okay, so maybe that was my only complaint of the film.

We even get to experience heartache with 2 deaths in the film. This movie had me laughing, smiling and crying the whole time. I was intrigued from the very beginning and did not lose interest. When I am able I am going to buy this movie on DVD. This was fantastic! If you haven't seen this film yet, please do! You may just enjoy it. I was surprised to hear that my nephew who watched it didn't like it. He's only 15! I'm 36. To each his own.

I love Don Bluth's earliest films! They were some of the best animated movies to ever be made in my opinion. The Secret of NIMH, Land Before Time and An American Tail were absolutely golden! I would have to say that out of all of Bluth's films that came out in the eighties, this one was his weakest accomplishment. Don't get me wrong! I love this movie, but it doesn't have the originality of the other films mentioned. Why you ask? Because ADGTH has a glaring omission.

So a little bit of the plot for any of you who haven't seen it. Charlie is a German Shepard who breaks out of prison with the help of his friend Itchy Itchiford. Voiced by the late and great Dom Deluise. They return to a club that was owned by both Charlie and Carface. Carface wants nothing to do with Charlie because he is greed and wants all thee profits made. Carface wants all the goods for himself. So long story short, Carface kills Charlie. Charlie finds out and cheats his way back to earth to take revenge on Carface. Once Charlie is back he finds out that Carface is keeping a talented girl who can speak to animals hostage. Charlie decides to kidnap the girl and make his own profit from her. During the course of the film he starts to love the girl and rights his mistakes.

So here is my biggest issue with ADGTH. When Charlie ends up in heaven for the first time he is told by Annabelle the whippet, "Oh not to worry, all dogs go to heaven. Because unlike people, dogs are naturally good." Charlie wants to get revenge on Carface and sneaks back to earth but is told, "You can never come back!" Meaning a date with the devil. So the real kicker here though is that when Carface dies in the end, he ends up in heaven. Very contradicting message especially considering the nasty things Carface did including homicide.

ADGTH is still a great movie though. I grew up with it and enjoy the film except for those few minor details. The scene where Charlie dreams of going to hell are really intense. Actual footage of the whole scene is kept private in one of Don's secret stashes. I would have loved to see this uncut.

Not Bluth's best accomplishments but certainly not his worst.

What a great film! I have heard so many comments about how this film is trying to send the message of tolerance and forgiveness. There have been many cartoons that have dealt with the very same thing and I'm okay with it. It's much better than seeing a movie filled with potty humor jokes that dumb down our youth.

Zootopia is a grand film on so many levels! Judy Hops is a brave young bunny who believes in becoming the first rabbit ever to join the police. Years later her wish comes true but she starts at the bottom as a meter maid. Not too long into her job she meets up with a cunning fox named Nick Wilde and this is where her dream takes flight.

Zootopia is a great film for our generation. Intolerance and fear is ugly and it is up to us to fight back against it.

My only problem I had with this movie was Judy's parents. Talk about cold and uncaring about their own flesh and blood's future.

I really enjoyed the line at the end of the film about how change starts with us. It is so important for kids today to hear this message. They are our future and even us adults can change our society for the better.

And for the adults who took their young children to see this... why? It was going to go over their heads. It is rated PG, not G.

Looking forward to the DVD release.

I went to see this with a friend of mine who really loves SW. He seemed to really enjoy it but I didn't.

I want to say this much. I never was a big SW fan. I remember sleeping on Star Wars sheets as a youngster but not being overly wrought with joy from looking at them. I have yet to see A New Hope and Return of the Jedi. Yes, pathetic I know. And I think I am one of the rare ones out there who loved The Phantom Menace which I saw before any of the others.

In a nutshell, I hated Attack Of The Clones other than Yoda's awesome light saber duel. Revenge of the Sith was way too violent and this one is more like The Force Died.

This one was a slap in the face. Why does Disney have to take over every franchise known to man? I'm sure Walt is spinning in his grave over this. Disney has now ruined the Star Wars franchise for good! I'm not going to much into detail about the film because there really isn't any need to. The only spoiler I'm giving out is Solo's death! I had a feeling they were going to do something like this and my gut feeling was dead on. I felt a part of me die inside. Did they really have to kill off a major contributor to the film? If they happen to bring him back I would laugh. Disney is a joke anymore.

I had huge doubts about watching this movie. I saw some clips of it on YT and thought it didn't look very good.

I was wrong! Naturally watching only a few snippets from a movie doesn't justify it. You have to really watch the whole thing to get your opinion.

The Good Dinosaur was a good film. It is different and edgy and I love that kind of thing. A lot of people don't and I understand not everyone loves this film. For the people on here bashing all of the bad reviews I say this, everyone has a right to their own opinion whether you agree or not.

On to the movie.

This movie was great! There were a few things I didn't care for such as the many references to killing things. The biting from Spot was unnecessary! And don't get me started on the berry scene. Other than that the movie was great. Nice color and animation. Although the T-Rex leg movement was not the best for running. Very colorful and captive to the eyes. Thank you Disney/Pixar for this refreshing change of pace.

The Good Dinosaur has my mark of approval!

Gone is the heart and soul the first film had. We now have a story that is poorly contrived.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 follows the adventures of Hiccup. We now learn that dragons and humans live together in harmony. They compete in some sort of tournament every year which involves racing and other events.

This movie never gains momentum at all.

Long story short, While out venturing with his girlfriend, they end up in uncharted territory with a bunch of bad guys who are led by a villain named Drago. Drago wants to use dragons to his advantage to start war with the others.

So basically the theme of change is rehashed in this sequel. Hiccup believes that he can speak with the leader of this group and change his evil ways. His father warns him that Drago can not be reasoned with. Hiccup defies this and goes out to try and stop war from ensuing.

Along the way he encounters someone. We come to find out that this is his mother. She has been in hiding for 20 years. We find out later why this is, but the story just seems too silly a reason for her to leave her family. Even the reunion with the husband seems awkward. I would have wanted to know why she left not just run up and kiss her.

One of the characters dies, I won't say who and I was already warned before I saw it. No it's not Toothless.

Why did DreamWorks feel it was necessary to try and use the change theme again? Certainly some people can change, and others can't be persuaded. But change is not something that comes quickly, it is something that takes time.

The saving grace of the movie is the animation and that's pretty much it. Skip this dud and watch the original.

This movie was excellent! To me, the second installment of Kung Fu Panda far exceeded my expectations.

The animation is spectacular! And while the plot uses the typical good vs. evil story, it works well here.

While not as good as the original, Kung Fu Panda 2 offers plenty of action, compassion and laughter.

The villain of the movie, a white peacock named Shen is bent on having revenge from being put away for being too greedy when he is young. His parents sent him away for his own good and he ends up becoming resentful. Does this story sound familiar to you Frozen fans? Anyway, I digress.

On Po's journey to confront Shen, he finds out more about his life as a baby and what exactly happened to him. A symbol on Shen brings back memories of his childhood. While Po struggles with this he eventually finds his way to inner peace and exactly what happened that day.

My favorite new character turned out to be the ram that was Shen's mentor. She was great!

A worthy sequel that will be coming home to my DVD player.

The best movie from the whole series.

I really enjoyed this film which tells the story of how Timon and Pumbaa met each other, met Simba and focuses on their lives together and into adulthood.

This movie isn't actually a sequel but more of a filler of what happened in the first film.

It gives us a look into Timon and Pumbaa's lives before and after their encounter with Simba. In this film we are introduced to Timon's family. We meet his mother who is a little overprotective, but cares about his well being nonetheless. Timon's mom is voiced by the talented Julie Kavner. For those of you who may not know who that is, she also voices Marge Simpson. We also meet his crazy but lovable Uncle Max also voiced by someone familiar, Jerry Stiller from Seinfeld lore. Timon isn't the most popular of his Meerkat family because he tends to be a little laze and clumsy, so he is told to watch for the Hyenas and one day he isn't watching as well as he should and things go haywire.

Timon decides to venture out on his own feeling that he is a burden to his family. During his travels he meets Pumbaa, the warthog who is outcast because of his flatulence issue. Pumbaa doesn't let Timon know this at first but once Timon finds out he is he doesn't see it as an issue. They decide to pal together and find a home. During the course of their adventures they meet up with a badly injured lion and the rest is history.

This film is clever and funny. I personally feel that it is the best out of the whole series. While the animation doesn't match the original it does at least have a great story, unlike the sequel Simba's Pride which had only decent animation and a plot filled with holes.

The Lion King gets much praise. Of course one can see why. The movie has great animation. Most of the characters are put together well and of course it has memorable music. Two of the songs were big hits in the 90's.

So before I get on TLK's faults I will start with the good. The Lion King has great animation. It was Disney's best animation to date and most 2D movies never came close to surpassing TLK style animation.

Now for the characters. I love Timon and Pumbaa. These two were great comedy relief for this film. I loved Mufasa and I hate that he had to die, but I realize that it was an important part of the film, involving the theme of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Rafiki is also quite funny. And those loathsome but lovable hyenas. The only characters I don't like are the main ones. Simba is annoying as a cub and even more as an adult. He's so stubborn as an adult that he has to have sense knocked into him about his past, instead of just finding out his destiny for himself. And the villain Scar, comes off as too weak.

I guess my biggest problem with TLK is that, it is simply overrated. All the merchandise that was pumped out for this movie and its sequels was massive. I don't think Frozen could come close to the explosion of Lion King toys.

On a whole TLK is not a horrible movie, I just don't think it is Disney's best. Most people do and that's fine. I think Beauty and The Beast is better than TLK. But don't take my word for it if you feel differently.