Tag Archives: 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.

Oct 9 2019

Boonie Bears: to the Rescue (2019) Movie Review

Director: Leon Ding

Writer: Brian Bullock, Leon Ding (Screenplay)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Rick Jay Glen, Siobhan Lumsden Paul ‘Maxx’ Rinehart, Justin J Wheeler, Toni Thompson

Plot: Make way, all-the forest has an unexpected visitor. The Bear Brothers and Logger Vick are shocked to discover a tiny baby girl in their sprawling territory among the pines. But the long-time enemies instantly warm to this lost little angel and in order to care for her, agree to the unthinkable: They establish a truce. Yet even as these rough-and-tumble outdoor hombres undergo an uproarious crash-course in infant care, danger lurks on the edge of their paradise.

Runtime: 1 Hour 33 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Monsters Inc Meets Yogi Bear

Story: Boonie Bears: To the Rescue starts as Logger Vick clashes once again with the bear brothers Briar and Bramble, who manage to steal his new tool case, leaving Vick with another case, which happens to contain a baby girl, one that has been missing for a week.

When Vick tries to do the right thing for the baby, he only finds himself on the run from the law and the original kidnappers, before he reluctantly teams up with his enemies Briar and Bramble to return the baby.

Thoughts on Boonie Bears: To the Rescue

Characters – Logger Vick has been working on cutting down the trees in the forest, which has seen him become rivals with a couple of bears, his rivalry has seen him spending more time trying to allude the bears, than dealing with his actual job, when his latest equipment is take by the bears, he learns a new responsibility when he must take care of a baby who has become lost in the forest. Briar is the smarter of the two bears, he always has a plan in mind and lets Bramble learn his correct place in the couple’s plans. Bramble does focus on getting most the laughs between the bears, he is meant to be the dumber of the two which comes off clear, with how he deals with keep Lola happy. Lola is the baby that ends up under the care of the unlikely partnerships between bitter rivals.

Story – The story here follows the unlikely union of the television show character Logger Vick and the brother bears Briar and Bramble as they want to protect a little baby girl they find in the forest, who is being tracked down by criminals. If you have seen the TV show, you will enjoy seeing the unlikely union, think Bugs Bunny working with Elma Fudd. If you haven’t seen the TV show you will see how characters similar to Yogi Bear and Ranger Smith clash over certain things. Having this mixed together we do get a Monsters Inc environment, with the baby being thrown into the hands of people and animals with no idea how to raise them and them finding comical ways to make her happy. This is clearly marketed for a younger audience and you can see why they would be happy to sit and enjoy the characters adventures.

Adventure/Family – The adventure side of this film shows us just how far the unlikely group will go to save a baby, it has plenty of references to other adventure films too, while this might be one that is targeted more for the younger members of the family, parents could enjoy watching with their single figured aged children.

Settings – The film uses the settings to get an extra laugh here and there, as it shows us just how the three characters live with their own rivalry.

Animation – The animation in the film does look like it has come from a TV show, which still makes it look fantastic throughout.


Scene of the Movie – The bonding between the three.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Being unsure what the rivalry between Logger Vick and the bears really is.

Final Thoughts – This is a fun family comedy that will keep the younger audience happy throughout the film, it does have a big heart at the centre and could be compared to Monsters Inc and Yogi Bear with ease.

Overall: Fun family animation.

Sep 15 2019

Scooby Doo: Return to Zombie Island (2019) Movie Review

Director: Cecilia Aranovich, Ethan Spaulding

Writer: Jeremy Adams (Screenplay)

Starring: (Voice Talents) Frnak Welker, Grey Griffin, Matthew Lillard, Kate Micucci, Janell Cox, David Herman, John Michael Higgins

Plot: The gang is pulled out of retirement to investigate a mystery on a familiar zombie-infested island.

Runtime: 1 Hour 20 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Standard Adventure

Story: Scooby-Doo: Return to Zombie Island starts when the Mystery Inc team, Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo decide to give up solving mysteries and sell the Mystery Machine, looking to have fun they win a holiday in a tropical island, which just so happens to be infested with zombies, but the group refuse to look to solve the mystery.

The resort the gang end up, just so happens to be Moonstar Island, the very location where the gang faced one of their few real mysteries of the supernatural, only the island has unfinished business with the gang and they must break their promise to not be involved with a mystery.

Thoughts on Scooby-Doo: Return to Zombie Island

Characters – Scooby-Doo and Shaggy have both become tired of solving mysteries, they want the team to stop and get their way, they win the holiday for the gang which sees them going to an old location needing to decide whether to let the group solve the mystery on the island. Fred has sold the Mystery Machine, he is having daytime dreams of it returning to him, where he judges most other vehicles for not being on the same level as his beloved. Daphne is here, though we don’t see anything we haven’t seen before from her, while Velma has a blog showing us just how the character has evolved for the time, which does show the frustration here character has when she can’t solve the mysteries anymore. Most of the new characters are left to feel just here with only Alan the hotel manager and Seaver being properly introduced.

Story – The story here follows the mystery inc gang who get invited back to an old location to solve the mystery from their past, only to find themselves needing to fight cat people once again. The story tries to be self-aware of many of the previous films, which has worked before, but for some reason doesn’t quite click this time. The fact we have seen the evolution of Velma and not the rest of the characters disappoints, which also seems to play along the idea of being a film within a film, that just again puts too much wink, wink, nudge, nudge to the audience. If you are a Scooby Doo fan, this story is everything you need, even if it does have a couple of flaws along the way.

Adventure/Comedy – The adventure does see the gang return to one of their most famous locations, which is different to much of what we have seen before, while the comedy does land in a couple of places very well.

Settings – The film does take the gang back to Moonscar island to face a new host of enemies in one of the most famous locations.

Animation – This does have the typical animation you are used to seeing for the Scooby Doo movies, it never lets down and works for the slapstick side of things.


Scene of the Movie – The big jump.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Daphne is almost just painted background character.

Final Thoughts – This isn’t the best Scooby Doo animated movie, it disappoints in a lot of places with how it handles certain decisions in the story and too many wink wink nudge nudge moments.

Overall: Basic Scooby Doo.

Jan 10 2015

2014 Awards – Worst Animation

Through the month of January I will be looking back on 2014, I will be looking at a range of subjects where I will be picking my best or worst in separate posts.

Today I will be look at Worst Animation – we have had plenty of terrible animated films, but I am going to pick the ones that actually disappointed me rather than a poorly made one for kids.

Mentions that could have been number one;

Penguins of Madagascar – I have never been a fan of the franchise and having its own spin off is not really for me at all.

Rio 2 – rio 2I think the first Rio film was average and did not expect anything better from the sequel.

Postman Pat: The Movie – The plot made me avoid this like the plague, what were the animators thinking?

My pick for worst

  • The Nut Job – nut jobThis looked bad from the trailers so it is no surprise that it wins this award.