Tag Archives: Animation

Jul 1 2020

The Fairy Princess and the Unicorn (2020) Movie Review

Director: Aina Jarvine, Federico Milella

Writer: Pamela Hickey, Dannys McCoy, Vanessa Walder (Screenplay)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Madison Mullahey, Jessica Webb, Olivia Manning, Sara Petersen, Marc Thompson, Gregory Max

Plot: Fantasy country of Bayala is on danger. Only twin sisters Surah and Sera can save it.

Runtime: 1 Hour 25 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: One for the Younger Audience

Story: The Fairy Princess and the Unicorn starts as we head to the kingdom of Bayala, here we have the sun elves and the shadow elves, with twin sisters Surah who was raised in the shadow world, and Sera who is a sun elf, the land is split as the evil Ophira is looking to control the land, with the disappearance of dragons to the land.

When a dragon egg is discovered, Surah, Sera and Marween must return it to the parents before Ophira discovered it and the magic is lost forever, the magic which could save the land.

Thoughts on The Fairy Princess and the Unicorn

Characters – Surah is a sun elf that was held captive in the shadow realm, leaving her with shadow wings, she is an outcast in the sun elf land with the power to save the land, in hope of getting to her friend, who still remains trapped in the shadows. Sera is the sun elf that has waited for her sister to return, going on the adventure to try and save her land. Ophira is the evil ruler of the shadow realm, she has trying to destroy the rest of the world, doing everything she can to stop the mission. Marween is the young else that discovered the dragon egg and has the ability to communicate with dragons, this will be her first adventure.

Story – The story here follows elves as they must looks to defeat an evil that is trying to take over the land in a race against time to bring the light back to the land. When we see the idea of elves, magic and unicorns we know the audience we will be aiming for, this is a story that plays perfectly for that audience, with chuckles along the way, we are never put in any truly scarier peril with the light feeling about the journey being kept away from scaring the youngest audience members.

Adventure – The adventure side of the film does take the elves to different lands, which offers new dangers to the world for them to face.

Settings – The film does create beautiful landscapes for the characters to travel through, filled with colours to bring to life the environment.

Animation – The animation does look strong with the computer graphics bringing everything to life with ease.


Scene of the Movie – The final battle.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The generic other leader elves.

Final Thoughts – This is a film that the younger audience will enjoy, it will give them plenty of joy with the positive message throughout.

Overall: Kids will love.

Signature Entertainment presents The Fairy Princess & The Unicorn in Cinemas nationwide July 4th

Jun 29 2020

Dreambuilders (2020) Movie Review

Director: Kim Hagen Jensen, Tonni Zinck

Writer: Soren Grinderslev Hansen (Screenplay) Kim Hagen Jensen (Original Idea)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Robyn Dempsey, Emma Jenkins, Luke Griffin, Tom Hale, Karen Ardiff, Brendan McDonald

Plot: It centers on Minna, a young girl who misuses her newfound ability to create and control other people’s dreams to teach her bothersome stepsister a lesson.

Runtime: 1 Hour 21 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Fun Animation

Story: Dreambuilders starts as Minna and young girl and her father John are trying to remain close in life, with their third member being a hamster called Viggo Mortensen, only John is about to let his new girlfriend Helene and her daughter Jenny a social media addict, who only cares about herself, hates everything about the home.

While Minna is more understandable about what is happening, putting her happy hat on, her limits do get pushed by Jenny’s behaviour. That night Minna accidentally ends up inside a dream factor, where she learns how dreams are made, using this to her advantage to live the life she wants.

Thoughts on Dreambuilders

Characters – Minna is a young girl that lives with her father and pet hamster, they have a close relationship until a new potential stepmom and stepsister move in, she does try to be positive about the changes, until she finds herself caught in the development of dreams, deciding to use them to try and control her stepsister, seeing her own perfect life start to spiral out of control. Jenny is the new stepsister, a social media addict that is glued to her screen and isn’t afraid to be honest with anyone she doesn’t like, she makes Minna’s life difficult shattering the peace she is used to, she does have a reason for acting out, but she doesn’t make it easy for anyone else to be around. John is Minna’s father that has always wanted to do the best thing for his daughter, he does also want to move on with his life, with this latest chapter about to begin. Gaff is the dreambuilder that has been working on Minna’s dreams for years, he reluctantly helps her try to fix her life, finding himself making the same mistakes someone he once admires make.

Story – The story here follows a young girl that must deal with a sudden change to her life, when her father’s new girlfriend and daughter move in and she learns she can change dreams, to try and make her life get back to how she wants it, learning how difficult this will be. We do get a big life lesson in this film, learn the truth about people before judging them, talk, communicate and you can learn to build on the differences, add in the idea that change is coming in life and you can’t do anything about it, we get the important life lessons across film. The dream side of everything is also entertaining, giving us elements of Monster’s Inc, which is entertaining to see.

Comedy/Family – The comedy doesn’t hit as hard as it wants to, but the family theme is the highlight of the film.

Settings – The film uses the home setting to show how difficult change can be, along with the imaginative dream world, where the dreams are built, which gives us a factor feeling and shows a creative side to the film.

Animation – The animation in the film looks beautiful, with how different environments are created through the film.


Scene of the Movie – The rescue.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – It seems strange that a parent would just move a new family into the home without the daughter meeting them first.

Final Thoughts – This is a delightful animation that is filled with heart, teaching about acceptance of other people and learning how to adapt to change.

Overall: Delightful.

Signature Entertainment presents Dreambuilders in Cinemas nationwide July 4th

May 17 2020

Scoob! (2020) Movie Review

Director: Tony Cervone

Writer: Matt Lieberman, Adam Sztykiel, Jack Donaldson, Derek Elliott (Screenplay) Joe Ruby, Ken Spears (Characters)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Will Forte, Mark Wahlberg, Jason Isaacs, Dina Rodriguez, Zac Efron, Amanda Seyfried, Kiersey Clemons, Ken Jeong

Plot: Scooby and the gang face their most challenging mystery ever: a plot to unleash the ghost dog Cerberus upon the world. As they race to stop this dogpocalypse, the gang discovers that Scooby has an epic destiny greater than anyone imagined.


Tagline – His epic tail begins

Runtime: 1 Hour 34 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: What the Hell is This?

Story: Scoob! Starts as we see how a young lonely Shaggy meets Scooby Doo, along with their growing friendship, they meet Fred, Daphne and Velma before solving their first mystery before growing up solving countless mysteries.

When the team needs more money to continue their adventures which sees Shaggy and Scooby being pushed out, only for them to be thrown into their own adventure with their hero Blue Falcon, after Dick Dastardly tries to take Scooby Doo for his own reasons.

Thoughts on Scoob!

Characters – Shaggy seems to take the centre focus on this film with him always trying to find his place in the world, always feeling lonely when his friends are moving on in life, he even sees Scooby get a chance to be a hero. Scooby Doo became the best friend to Shaggy, he becomes important in a new mystery, together they are great, apart they show their weaknesses. Fred, Daphne and Velma seem to take a back burner for the most part and when we do see them Fred seems to have become dumber. Blue Falcon is the superhero that is trying to help Scooby, only he is dealing with leaving in the shadow of his father, never being as smart as the rest of his team. Dick Dastardly is the villain trying to capture Scooby Doo, he uses his gadgets to stay ahead, with his own mission being one very personal to him.

Story – The story here follows Scooby Doo and Shaggy finding themselves in a bigger battle against Dick Dastardly, where they need to discover the true meaning of friendship to save the world. The story might have the friendship heart involved, only it seems to fail on capture the magic we always knew the stories would involve, there just isn’t a mystery that we need to see, we are just dealing with an established villain that wants something that isn’t even that evil. We also seem to get bogged down with a new selection of characters with the Blue Falcon and his crew getting more screen time than most of the mystery Inc gang.

Adventure/Comedy – The adventure takes characters from a simple idea of stopping criminals, on a worldwide adventure completely going against the tone if the cartoon, the comedy does hit at times, we get a couple of good laughs.

Settings – The film does take us all over the world, which does seem to leave us in the wrong cartoon.

Animation – The animation in the film seems weird, it doesn’t give the cartoon the same love it looks.


Scene of the Movie – Fred defending the honour of the mystery machine.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Lacks any mystery, which is what Scooby Doo is all about.

Final Thoughts – This is just a terrible version of the much loved characters, we do have heart with friendship, only it lacks any mystery required which is the central point of the whole show.

Overall: Terrible Animation.

Mar 25 2020

Ella Bella Bingo (2020) Movie Review

Director: Atle Solberg Blakseth, Frank Mosvold

Writer: Jeffrey Hylton, Frank Mosvold, Johnny Smith, Rob Sprackling (Screenplay) Frank Mosvold, Tom Petter Hanson, Trond Morten Venaasen (Creator)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Summer Fontana, Jack Fisher, Gard B Eidsvold, Mara Junot, Chris Anthony Lansdowne

Plot: Ella Bella Bingo (Elleville Elfrid) and Henry are best friends, but one day a new boy moves into the neighborhood and everything changes.

Runtime: 1 Hour 15 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Heart Warming Animation

Story: Ella Bella Bingo starts as the two best friends Ella and Henry perform magic tricks around town, with their chickens, they get into a range of adventures around town together. With one of their first shows about to happen, they get interrupted by a new kid Johnny, who offers Henry a chance to learn new tricks, leaving Ella to prepare alone.

This day will become difficult for Henry as he sees the two friends in his life, fighting over his attentions, with the idea of picking just one being one of the decisions, he can’t handle. Ella and Johnny need to put their differences aside to have a bigger group of friends that can have their own adventures.

Thoughts on Ella Bella Bingo

Characters – Ella has always been the one that creates the adventures for the pair, she has always planned to make them fun with the latest to start a circus between the two, she gets jealous when the new kid arrives in town and gets determined to prove she is the closer friend of Henry. Henry is Ella’s best friend, though when Johnny arrives in town, he wants to hang out with him, be interested in the new toys he has, he ends up getting caught up in the middle of a battle for his attention, causing him to go into hiding, spending the day with his father instead of the two friends. Johnny is the new kid in town, he comes into the neighbourhood acting extra cool, showing off his expensive toys, he wants to be Henry’s friend, with these new toys and after Henry runs away, always makes a point of showing off his fancy toys.

Story – The story here follows a perfect partnership friendship that gets shattered by a new kid in town, only for the two that clash needing to work together to fix the problems. This is a story that puts a firm spotlight on friendship, how hard it is to have, to start and maintain through changes in lives, showing the three young children needing to learn this is outstandingly done, this is a lesson people will always need to learn and for it to be told to the youngest members of society, is wonderful to see.

Settings – The film is set in the small town where everybody is close, which highlights how out of place the new kid would be, only for it to show how important welcoming people will be.

Animation – The animation looks great through the film, it does show us how you can get the message over with how the animation is displayed with comedy that doesn’t go over the top.


Scene of the Movie – The magic show.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – The bull looks too much like Ferdinand.

Final Thoughts – This is a wonderful little family film with a firm message about friendship shining through.

Overall: Kids will Love.

Jan 12 2020

ABC Film Challenge – Catch Up 2019 – L – The Lion King (2019) Movie Review

Director: Jon Favreau

Writer: Jeff Nathanson (Screenplay) Brenda Chapman (Story)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Chiwetel Ejiofor, James Earl Jones, Keegan-Michael Key, Seth Rogen, Billy Eichner, Donald Glover, Beyonce

Plot: After the murder of his father, a young lion prince flees his kingdom only to learn the true meaning of responsibility and bravery.


Tagline – Be Prepared.

Runtime: 1 Hour 58 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Animation is Fantastic, the Rest is Terrible

Story: The Lion King starts as a young lion cub Simba learns about the kingdom his father Mufasa rules, he learns his place in the pride and just what he will need to do to be prepared to take over one day. As Simba continues to want to learn about his place, he only gets himself into more trouble, forcing him to leave.

As Simba grows up under the guidance of Timon and Pumbaa, he learns to take life more laidback until Nala finds him, getting Simba to return to end Scar’s reign of terror on the kingdom.

Thoughts on The Lion King

Characters – Simba is the young king to be, he is starts as a cub that is exploring his future kingdom, already wanting to break the rules, as a cub he attitude towards Scar doesn’t make their bond get any better. After he is forced to run and hide after his father’s death, he sees a new lifestyle, until he learns that he must learn his rightful place in pride rock. Scar is the brother to Mufasa, he was next in line to be king before Simba and he wants his chance of being king of the pride, he has always been planning his own ideas to take over, breaking the rules, close to be exiled. Mufasa is the king of pride rock, every animal looks up to him and he protects the land fairly. Zazu is very annoying, it sad that they decide to make more bout the voice actors stand up than an actual character. Timon and Pumbaa are the unlikely partnership of a warthog and a meerkat that helps Simba see life in a different way and want to use him as protection for their own life, they do have excellent chemistry though.

Story – The story here follows a young lion cub that sees his father killed and must learn his place in the world to reclaim his rightful place as king. This is a remake of the 1994 version of the film, with the story offering little to nothing new to what we saw back then in storytelling, it does seem to make more out of the villainous ways of Scar, with him always holding a grudge against Mufasa, knowing he could never replace him. Simba however is made to feel a lot more annoying as the cub, he is an entitled character who only seems to care about himself. If you want to see the same story, it is a lot easier and more reward to watch the 1994 version.

Adventure/Musical – The adventure is showing how Simba must learn about his future even after running from his past., the musical side of the film, well we are going to go through the songs comparing them to the originals,

  • The Circle of Life – Weak

  • I Just Can’t Wait to be King – Lacks the Sparkle

  • Be Prepared – Serious what was this?

  • Hakuna Matata – Passable, the best of the songs so far, but still not on the level of magic as the original.

  • The Lion Sleeps Tonight – Cut too short.

  • Can You Feel the Love Tonight – Oh, Boy this was bad.

  • Spirit is a new song and is the only one that seems to fit this film.

Settings – The film does recreate the original settings, well but this is more about just how good the animation really is.

Animation – However much we can talk about the weaknesses in this film, the one true standout part of the film is the animation which looks beautiful and the team involved should get all the praise in the world.


Scene of the Movie – Timon and Pumbaa’s entrance.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Simba is more annoying this time around.

Final Thoughts – This is such a pointless remake that only gets the praise for the pure quality of the animation being used, otherwise it just does nothing.

Overall: Just Terribly weak outside of the Animation team.