santielkapodeflores Reviews

The Pebble and the Penguin (1995)

(2nd part from my review of "A Troll In Central Park")

[5/10 · 31 March 2014]

Sorry I had problems and I just couldn't have time to write a review for "The Pebble And The Penguin" until now.

Like I was saying in my review of "A Troll In Central Park", Don Bluth achieved being the first true competition Disney had in decades, forcing them to regroup and releasing "The Little Mermaid" which put Disney again on the road. But now Disney was back with all their might, and Don Bluth struggled facing them. Every single of his films would be compared to their Disney counterparts ("Aladdin" to "Rock-a-Doodle", "The Lion King" to "A Troll In Central Park"...) This dangerous habit of comparing his output also severely damaged his integrity when trying to make his films: executives forced him out of his distinctive, trademark style to one the public would be more easily to stomach, with fictional devices and conventions common in Disney films that would be more sure to make money. But when it was the time to release the film on the big screen, distribuitors wouldn't have faith on it, the only animated films that could prove that were capable of make money are Disney's, so why bothering distributing a Don Bluth film when you could as well distribute a proper Disney's?

So, in this lose-lose scenario, having been caught between fire from the executives that wanted a Disney-style film that would be more likely to make money, and the fire from the distribuitors that wouldn't trust any animated film not made by Disney, was where "The Pebble And The Penguin" was made. And how bad it affected it? Certainly, Don Bluth abandoned in the middle of the production and demanded that he wouldn't be credited in this film. An Hungarian studio had to finish it, and so you see why the legendary high-style quality of the animation of Don Bluth, one of the things he never compromised no matter if his films were bad, here hits his lowest quality and seems at times as unpolished and mediocre.

But luckily, Don Bluth had a couple of tricks in his sleeve to redeem the animation, like the opening sequence in 3D musical sheets, the scene of the shooting star, and Drake's musical number. Which brings the next topic, the score was certainly better than "Troll" but nowhere near his best. "Don't make me laugh" (Drake's number) and "Forever and ever" (the opening sequence) are great but others songs aren't particularly memorable. Maybe is the quality of the voice acting that makes what they are, which brings the next topic. I didn't liked Hubie's performance, nor that of many support characters, but Rocko, Marina and specially Drake were fine (see? I'm starting to note that Drake was the best thing of the film)

And the story/plot... well it's OK I've seen plenty of films like this in Cartoon Network, it's perfectly acceptable to have a film like this, with this mood and atmosphere, if I could catch a film like this in a Saturday afternoon on TV I wouldn't see what's different with many other films like "A Nine Dog Christmas" or "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer" so why the film failed and was another flop of Don Bluth? Disney. Like I said, all animation had to be only and just only from Disney. This cruel and sadistic practice of the industry (and to some extent, the public too) would come later to bite back Disney and destroy their traditional animation divisions with the arrival of the CGI, but that's another story...

5/10, it's a perfectly OK, average film, absolutely better than "Troll" and "Rock-a-doodle" but nowhere on par of Don Bluth's best.

A Troll in Central Park (1994)

Oh Don Bluth... from making "An American Tail"... to this...

[3/10 · 8 January 2014]

In the starry sky of the history of animation, Don Bluth stars as one of the greatest directors to ever grace with his works. He achieved the record for the highest-grossing animated film outside Disney not once, but three times (An American Tail, The Land Before Time, Anastasia).

It is said that Don Bluth was the sole major factor that turned Disney to re-organize their strategies, make "The Little Mermaid", and ultimately lead to the Renaissance Age Of Animation.

But sadly, now that Disney was awaken again, Don Bluth was overwhelmed with the competition against them. The issue is complex and I will explain it in my upcoming review of "The Pebble And The Penguin", which was the following Don Bluth film.

Now, I will talk about "A Troll In Central Park".

Well the technical features are high-quality, one of the things that Don Bluth kept in all his filmography no matter if his films were bad. The film has a colorful, contrasting, lavish animation, one of the things Don Bluth never compromised. It even has that style of the '30s-'40s (Snow White, Pinocchio, etc. ) feature films and short cartoons in the gestures and mannerisms of characters. Rotoscoping, employed in the children's parents, is also a nice thing to watch.

The music also saves what otherwise would be a forgettable film. "Gnorga The Queen Of Mean" surprises the public with the sudden modernity of a Pop rock tune like those of the '80s and '90s (why is it that most of the times, the villains have the best songs in a film?). "Absolutely Green" is a poignant song of the kind that makes your eyes watery, complete with a children choir. The fact that is played in two powerful, nicely executed moments in the films surely will make, at least, the youngest of the children cry. Also the background music, just like the animation, is employed here just like Dumbo and other films of the early Disney era.

Now, it is when you start analyzing the human features that the film starts showing its lacks... Tiger and Fievel had an excellent chemistry going on in "An American Tail"... but it's hard to tell why the same voice actors (playing Stanley and Gus, respectively) didn't work as well here. Gnorga has the absolutely best performance of all the film, with an outstanding job of Cloris Leachman in a rather weird role, who clearly enjoys being so hammy and troll-like. Llort is the other performance that passes the exam, although Gnorga wins all the awards by far. As an Argentine I tried to find the dub for this film, but it was never screened in Latin America so only the Spanish dub from Spain was made. I watched the Spanish dub and then the original English. I liked the original one for the voices of Stanley, the kids and their parents, but the Spanish dub is way better for the voices of Gnorga and Llort. Wow, even the Gnorga's song is upgraded from their pretty simple original lyrics and adds way more vocabulary and intricate things!

Now, about the story... well, it's hard to call this a "story". And mind you, I'm a Don Bluth fan but even I admit this film failures. The film has many scenes and passages that seem shallow and simply don't go nowhere, plot-wise, such as Gus and Rosie playing in the park with balloons, boats or butterflies. The musical number of the flowers to cheer Rosie, in another passage, also qualifies. All these scenes make the film seem more like an "anecdote" of the children stroll in the park, but then again, this method can still be done well. Miyazaki proved in "My Neighbor Totoro" that you don't have to have a plot-driven, rather "Western-style" kind of storytelling, but also you can go in another way, with a rather "anecdote" or "trip" kind of story. But you don't see in "A Troll In Central Park" the gracefulness in which Miyazaki could present those kind of stories.

The film also seems to lack more soul, "Rock-a-Doodle" and "Thumbelina" are also among the failures of Don Bluth, but it was their loads and loads of characters that helped to give more substance and charm to the films. Here you have too few characters, in a film with many claustrophobic sceneries (a dark kingdom, an underground cave, barren lands...)

And when all is said and done, you have to look up to the info and find that this film budget was of $23.5 million, but only made $71,368... no words. This was one of the lowest grossing films of all time, one of the most notable box-office bombs (though not the greatest bomb of Don Bluth)

So, even with the animation, the music, and Gnorga to redeem the film and lift the rating, this is such a poorly executed, so underwhelming film, with so many fails and lacks, and such a failure for costing $23.5 million and only making 71 thousand dollars, that I will rate it 3/10. The reason I'm not rating this 1/10 is because of the aforementioned lifting factors.

But luckily, even if this is the worst Don Bluth film, both critically and financially, "A Troll In Central Park" will never be among the 10 worst animated films of all time, not even among the 20 worst ever... for Don Bluth, even in the misery and the mediocrity, still had his signature charm and willpower that made him one day leave Disney, and start an animation studio of his own.

Underdogs (2013)

Metegol. Foosball. CAMPANELLA HAS DONE IT AGAIN!!!

[10/10 · 19 July 2013]

18th July. That was the premier date of Metegol in Argentina. I was expecting this date since days, months, even since the last year. I was determined to go to watch it immediately in the premier date, I was highly anticipating it, as I'm a fan of all the works by Campanella. I watched El Secreto De Sus Ojos, Luna De Avellaneda, El Hijo De La Novia, and the TV series Vientos De Agua. This I'm writing after returning watching Metegol in the cinema.

This is truly a masterpiece that will be remembered as a classic for years and years to come!!!! It is usual from this director, as all his films have become some of the finest and most successful both in the box-office and by critics alike. Campanella has done it again. He has proved that he is made of what Oscar winners are made of. He has proved how an animated film could also be done. He is pioneering and leaving a mark in the history of films. And he is making proud his own country, Argentina.

Metegol (or Foosball, as it will be called in English-speaking countries) makes you immerse in the rich and legendary folklore of football from Argentina. Stories, tales, legends, anecdotes, songs, matches, everything is freshly caught in the screen, in the atmosphere, in the characters. The little town, the bar, the corner where the foosball laid. Everything is familiar, and everything makes you remember the times when you played and breathed those places...

Without doubt the best of the film are the characters. And specially the characters dialogs. Everything they say is a reference to famous folklore cites and famous players sayings. The film is packed with subtle references to several history episodes, like when Grosso shouts his goal to the camera, he is shouting it like Maradona did one of his in the 1994 USA World Cup. When the town major leaves the town, he leaves in a helicopter, like in 2001 did the Argentine president De La Rua (and then the 2001 Argentine crisis was unleashed). And I could continue with more and more references and trivia, but I think it will be tastier if you find them for yourself ;) The other thing of Metegol which is the best, is its animation. OH GOD, THE ANIMATION. You would think that Tangled has set the bar in animation films, with the 260 millions it has cost to be made. Metegol was made with a much lower budget, just 20 millions of dollars. But you don't realize the difference of budgets. In fact you don't realize this is not a film made by Pixar nor Dreamworks. Metegol makes the eye-candy enthusiast rejoice in the vividness of the sequences, and makes the spectators hold tight in their seats as the action-paced scenes go on. In animation academies and schools, one of the classic tests you would have is to make an animation of a ball jumping. In Metegol you see the ball jumping, bouncing around the corners, passing between legs, hitting the body parts, kicked, flying, zig-zagging, being head-butted, being stopped by a player's foot, being handled in several football tricks, and so on. This film truly will be shown in animation academies for years and years to come, pointing out what animation can do. All things considerate, 20 millions of dollars make this film the single one most expensive in the entire Argentine film history, so in a certain way in this film Campanella truly is betting high.

In a trip to Euro-Disney I ate in a restaurant in the park, which was decorated with baseball photos and American imagery. On a wall, there was a picture that said "to understand the American way of thinking, you have to understand the sport of baseball". So watching Metegol could be a nice introduction to Argentine culture, folklore and philosophy. And I will rephrase that one saying I read in a picture on a wall, "to understand the Argentine way of thinking, you have to understand the sport of football". ;)