Tag Archives: Rated G

The Princess and The Frog

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In the last couple of years (let’s be honest, the last decade or so), Pixar has held the monopoly on good animated kiddie films. Sure, other companies have been producing films here and there, but the ones I can remember the clearest belong to that little upstart company married to Disney.

I’d even go so far as to say that other childrens’ films really get a bad rap for not being Pixar films. So when I can, I try to branch out to other companies, just to see what’s going on out there. And while Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog” has a lot to offer (especially to girls looking for a nonprincess character to love), I can’t help but think how much better this film would have been with Pixar’s magic touch.

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Ponyo

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Most fantasy stories fall into one of two groups. The first group places fantasy elements into the ‘real’ world and forces the fantasy to interact with our laws, such as gravity and occasionally evolution (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer” is a good example of that type). The second group just goes ahead and makes a whole new world and establishes the rules of order in the text (“Lord of the Rings” is a good example for group two).

“Ponyo,” written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, falls firmly in the second group. Miyazaki has taken the backbone of “The Little Mermaid” tale and crafted this world that is absolutely breathtaking.

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“Planet of the Apes” (1968)

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Long story short, I really didn’t enjoy “Planet of the Apes.”

I saw the remake on the theater way back in 2001, and while I had fun making fun of it (and nearly got myself kicked out of said theater), I never really felt the need to go back.

But I did. I’m not entirely sorry I watched the original, but this is a film that is so familiar, it almost feels unnecessary to watch it.

There is good potential here, and like all good science-fiction films (and TV shows), “Planet of the Apes” takes the fears of the day and paints a picture of the worst-case scenario. The problem here is that while the message still largely holds up (we are quite capable of destroying everything we are), there is no suspense to this story.

Everybody knows how it ends; the big reveal has long since passed into the pop culture collective unconscious, and while movies aren’t always about the ending, when the journey itself is not that exciting (and at times very heavy handed), it’s hard to get invested in the story.

Like the original “King Kong,” I really would have liked to have seen this when it came out, before it was a massive hit and all the secrets were revealed.

Pop culture backlash really bites.

“Planet of the Apes” (1968)

Written by Michael Wilson and Rod Serling

Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner   

 Starring: Charlton Heston (Taylor)

Roddy McDowall (Cornelius)

Kim Hunter (Zira)