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.

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.