Tag: Animation

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Movie Review

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

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Movie Review

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

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Movie Review

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.

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Movie Review

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.

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Movie Review

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.

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Movie Review

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.

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Movie Review

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.

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Movie Review

Megamind (2010)

Director: Tom McGrath

Starring: Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, David Cross, Justin Theroux, Ben Stiller

Based on the idea of Lex Luther defeats Superman.

Megamind blasted to Earth from a dying planet and Metroman from a rival planet both grow up on Earth to become best of enemies. Megamind is out blue antihero and his faithfully second minion keep finding plans to first escape prison, kidnap Roxy and try and fail to defeat Metroman.

One day he does, then we are left with a super villain with no hero to stop him. feeling empty inside he starts to question is motivation until he decides to create a new hero. This plan like all his other fails and Megamind himself must now become the hero.

With a great list of voice talents including Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt, Tina Fey, Jonah hill and David Cross. this is one of your usual ABC animation of good is in all however evil you may well have been. Megamind is very likable anti hero who always wanted just to be loved and to be a normal person.

My Overall Score is a strong 85%