Tag Archives: Animation

Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Gorilla My Dreams (1948)

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Gorilla My Dreams (1948)
Directed by Bob McKimson
Written by Warren Foster
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Charles McKimson

It’s interesting to review “Gorilla My Dreams” as it’s a fun introduction of the ape villain Gruesome. While Warren Foster does a good job of bringing us new Bugs Bunny foil, Gruesome and this whole premise was applied so much better in the 1959 remake “Apes of Wrath.” I could swear I had seen this short before, but for a long time it was always the aforementioned. It goes without saying that set up for “Apes…” is so much cleverer than the one we get in “Gorilla My Dreams.” That’s not to say that this short doesn’t bring with it its own merits. It’s not a terrible short at all, all things considered.

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Brave (2012)

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It’s shocking how well animated “Brave” is. Brenda Chapman and Mark Andrew’s action drama is filled with an immense scale packed with Scotland terrains as far as the eye can see. “Brave is also packed with great animation featuring our hero Merida’s hair which was intricately narrated for her specific character. All of the ballyhoo about the wonderful animation is all for a narrative that’s—fine. It’s a fine movie. It’s a perfectly mediocre, often confusing movie packed with such a wonderful and brilliant animation style.

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The Sacred Cave (La Grotte sacrée) (2023) [FIAF’s ‘Animation First’ Film Fest 2024]

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FIAF’s ‘Animation First’ Film Festival runs from January 23rd through January 28th.

Directors Daniel Minlo and Cyrille Masso’s “The Sacred Cave” have a lot of interesting lore to put forward for fans of animation, and with their feature film there are so much of the concepts about courage, and importance of family and culture embedded in the classic hero’s journey. The pair of directors knows exactly what kind of movie that they’re delivering, though, as they convey the classic tropes through a unique setting that we rarely see in modern mainstream animation. That should be a catch for animation buffs looking for something different.

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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Slick Hare (1947)

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Slick Hare (1947)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Written by Tedd Pierce
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Virgil Ross

“Slick Hare” is one of the best Bugs Bunny shorts ever made. It’s also one of my all time favorites. It’s hilarious, it’s clever, it’s sharply written, and if you’re a fan of classic Hollywood, you’ll adore all the cameos from famous Hollywood heavyweights of the time. Hell, one of the icons of Hollywood, Humphrey Bogart, plays a large role in the short and helps set off the chain of events that involves Elmer Fudd trying to snatch Bugs and make him in to dinner.

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Nowhere Stream (2023) [Slamdance 2024]

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Director Luis Grane’s short experimental animated film is a genuinely unnerving albeit creative narrative that revels in its randomness. As with most of these kinds of shorts, “Nowhere Stream” is an existentialist computer animated nightmare that ponders on life on the internet as opposed to life in reality.

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The Bootleg Files: The Woo Song

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BOOTLEG FILES 852: “The Woo Song” (2024 music video by Corey Rieman the Dilemma Band incorporating Walt Disney’s “Steamboat Willie”).

LAST SEEN: On multiple social media and online video sites.

AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: Not yet.

REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: The underlying “Steamboat Willie” footage has been the subject of complicated copyright actions.

CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: Some day, perhaps.

On New Year’s Day, Mickey Mouse was the center of attention because the copyright for the 1928 animated short “Steamboat Willie” finally expired and the groundbreaking film that helped usher synchronized sound into the world of cartoons was suddenly denuded of copyright protection. Less than two weeks after “Steamboat Willie” officially became a public domain work, footage from the film was incorporated into a bouncy music video for “The Woo Song” from the rockers Corey Rieman and the Dilemma Band.
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Moana (2016)

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I dare say that not only is “Moana” a better film than “Frozen” but the music is better. I know that’ll leave many aghast since “Let It Go” is a massive earworm (I personally prefer “Love is an Open Door”), but I think “Moana” is so much more well rounded and catchy. Everything from “How Far I’ll Go” and “You’re Welcome” don’t just contribute to Disney’s legacy of catchy traditional music, but they also do their job of establishing characters so much better. I loved “Frozen,” but I think “Moana” has a more cohesive pacing and interesting narrative.

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