A Flintstone Christmas (1977)

 Hi fellow animation fans, welcome to my look at A Flintstone Christmas.

Synopsis: When Fred (voiced by Henry Corden) agrees to play Santa for fear of getting fired, he never expects to meet the real Santa, who falls of the Flintstone's roof injuring himself. This leaves Fred and his trusty sidekick Barney (voiced by Mel Blanc) to finish Santas work, delivering the magic of Christmas to all the children of the world.

The Good: 

* For me I think the best part is the nostalgia, I loved the Flintstone cartoons as a kid, and this looks just the same as the show did. It also has the same story beats, Fred and Barney torment each other, Fred upsets his wife or boss, but by the end everything is good again.

* The movie is relatively short clocking in at less than an hour, perfect to keep the younger kids amused as you finish those last Christmas jobs.

* I also enjoyed some of the jokes, mostly the one-liners delivered by Barney, even better it does not have the annoying laugh track the cartoon series had.

The Bad:

* Some of the songs are recycled, one from the previous Flintstones Christmas episode and another from the Yogi Bear cartoon, I admit I googled this because I remembered Boo-boo singing it, now I feel old. Plus, one of the songs is sung by a totally unknown person (supposedly Wilma) which just didn't fit well considering up until that point the actors had done all the songs.

* The children at the end yelling for Santa and presents was a shock, I honestly can't remember entitlement like that being shown in a Flintstone's cartoon before and for me was the most un-enjoyable part.

* In this day and age, I feel that some of the jokes may not be well received, especially those about Fred's weight, so just be warned if those kinds of jokes upset you.

           IMDB 6.8/10              Rotten Tomatoes (not rated)                 Me 6.5/10

Barney and Fred after a rough chimney landing.

That Christmas (2024)

 Hi fellow animation fans, welcome to my look at That Christmas, (currently available on Netflix).

Synopsis: Based on a series of children's stories by Richard Curtis, That Christmas has multiple intertwined stories from family and friends living in the small British village of Wellington, during a storm on Christmas Eve.

The Good:

* I actually enjoyed this movie and thought that it had a nice blend of sweetness, humor with a bit of drama mixed in without it becoming overly saccharine. But I did find that the individual stories were mixed when it came to storytelling quality, first up the Danny and his Mum story was beautiful, it made me cry. Then the story with the twins was sweet and really made me think about what is really good or bad. The adults in the van were pretty funny in spots, but the kids' alone story was a bit convoluted, and I doubt most people will pick up on the meaning.

* The animation was all really clean and clear even during the snowstorm scenes.

* I also found all of the voice acting to be really well done.

The Bad:

* I believe the story with the children alone was supposed to be about how Christmas traditions should be fun for everyone and not just the adults, but it focused too much on how the eldest child should have been more responsible. So, I didn't enjoy that part as much as the rest.

* The part with the adults in the van had a really senseless moment when the men stripped down to provide the ladies with extra clothing, cuddling up would have done a better job, I think it was supposed to be funny, but it wasn't. 

                   IMDB 6.8/10                Rotten Tomatoes 66%               Me 7.5/10

One of the sweet moments.

Spellbound (2024)

 Hi fellow animation fans, welcome to my look at Spellbound (currently streaming on Netflix).

Synopsis: The young Princess Ellian (voiced by Rachel Zegler) goes on a quest to return her parents into their human form after they were cursed to become monsters.

First up I would like to address the elephant in the room, currently this movie is getting a lot of hate because it deals with parental separation with some of the thoughts and feelings that go along with this. Unfortunately, the trailers do not make this clear so if you are worried about the questions it may raise with your child/ren due to your own families circumstances it may be best to watch it yourself or just avoid it.

The Good:

* I honestly enjoyed the underlying theme and applaud the filmmakers for having the courage to do this, it is something that can make many families feel a little uncomfortable, but it was approached in a non-judgmental way without any sermonizing. 

* I also really enjoyed the animation and creature design.

* The comedy was also really well done with John Lithgow the absolute standout, he had me laughing out loud many times.

The Bad:

* While the songs were relatively good, not one of them was particularly catchy or memorable.

* There are a few scenes that might frighten young children, that is if they can sit through the almost two-hour runtime.

                 IMDB 5.7/10             Rotten Tomatoes 45%              Me 8/10

Ellian and her parents watching the oracles.

Piece by Piece (2024)

 Hi fellow animation fans, welcome to my look at Piece by Piece.

Synopsis: Piece by Piece is a documentary about the life of Hip-Hop artist and producer Pharrell Williams but told via Lego animation.

The Good:

* As someone who also experiences synesthesia, depending on the sound or music (mostly the Beatles), I really enjoyed the way they described and went on to show this phenomenon.

* I also enjoyed the insights into the music industry, I thought the part where the producer set up a High School talent show just to spot talented kids was really creepy. 

* I also found the animation to be really well done, and I really liked the way they portrayed different concepts such as the room where beats were stored as all different shapes and colors. This led to one of the more poignant moments, where he showed a beat that was colorless with no flashes of light and said it was written for Prince.

The Bad:

* To me this felt more like a vanity project than a story that needed telling, his childhood was happy, he had natural talent, he had the support of family and friends with the only drama coming because of his own ego.

* I believe fans of Hip-Hop fused with pop music would probably find all the music in this movie to be quite enjoyable but I myself couldn't really get into it, but this could be attributed to my age as I grew up listening to the likes of Ice T, Biggie Smalls and Busta Rhymes whose focus was more on the lyrics, not the beats.

* My biggest problem with this movie though is I can't figure out who the intended audience is, Lego animation doesn't exactly scream hardcore rapper hip-hop so I think many music fans will avoid it, but on the other hand the story isn't exciting enough to hold children's attention for long even though it is rated PG. 

            IMDB 6.9/10             Rotten Tomatoes 83%                Me 5/10

Pharrell and supporters dancing in front of his childhood inspiration.

Little Johnny the Movie (2024)

 Hi fellow animation fans, welcome to my look at Little Johnny the Movie.

Synopsis: This movie is based on Little Johnny a young lad who was the star of many bawdy and politically incorrect jokes that were quite popular in the 80s. While many of his classic jokes are shown the underlying story is of Johnny (voiced by Genevieve Morris) trying to win the heart of his primary school sweetheart Mary (voiced by Eloise Grace).

The Good:

* For me the best part was the animation, it looks and feels like a classic 1980s Saturday morning cartoon, the kind of thing you would have watched as a kid with a bowl of cereal while still in your pajamas. 

* As a fellow West Aussie I also quite liked that Kevin 'Bloody' Wilson had a starring role and while most of us know him for his politically incorrect comedy or his sexual songs the movie showcased some of his normal country music which was quite enjoyable. 

The Bad:

* As a child of the 80s I grew up hearing many Little Johnny jokes, so I had heard all of the ones used in the movie and in the end the only times I actually laughed was when the poor rooster was trying to do his job.

* The worst part about this movie for me though was the editing. For the first half of the movie it jumped from joke scene to joke scene leaving you to fill in many blanks. The worst part of the editing though was during the fade out between scenes, in some places you get up to 5 seconds of black screen as the characters finish their punchlines or it fades out making it difficult to hear the punchline at all.

* I also found that most of the voice acting showed little to no emotion, it was if the actors were just reading the script, and they went with the first take.

               IMDB 5.1/10                Rotten Tomatoes 52% (audience score only)     Me 4.5/10

Uncle Kev, Rojer, Little Johnny and his sweetheart Mary.