The Wind Rises (2013)

 Hi fellow animation fans, welcome to my review of The Wind Rises.

Synopsis: Based very loosely on the early years of Japanese aeronautical engineer Jiro Horikoshi from the time he was a young boy to when he designs and completes the Model Zero fighter airplane. From a young age Jiro (Hideaki Anno) has a dream of flying airplanes, but due to his need for glasses he sets his sights on becoming an aeronautical engineer, which it turns out that he is a bit of a prodigy. He is quickly employed by Mitsubishi motors to work on designing aircraft for the military, along his journey he finds inspiration and love in surprising places.

The Good:

* The animation is of course what you would expect from Studio Ghibli, beautifully designed characters, imaginative machines and stunning hand drawn scenery. 

* The sounds in the movie are a standout, instead of the usual recordings of actual planes or trains the sounds for these are made by human voices and it just works amazingly, especially during the train ride during the Tokyo earthquake.

* Like much of Miyazaki's work the story is open to interpretation, I liked to think the part with his wife and the ending dream was an analogy about war being a horrific disease, but others may see it a different way. 

* The love story was done in a tender and beautiful way that will definitely provoke emotions, I think this is a good thing even if they aren't always happy emotions.

The Bad:

* History buffs probably won't like how much creative license was used.

* Some of the subject matter may distress some viewers.

                         IMDB 7.8/10            Rotten Tomatoes 88%           Me 9/10 

Jiro presenting his design ideas to his team.

Song of the Sea (2014)

 Hi fellow animation fans, welcome to my review of Song of the Sea.

Synopsis: A young boy named Ben (David Rawle) lives on a lighthouse island with his dad Conor (Brendan Gleeson) and his sister Saoirse (Lucy O'Connell), who he has bitter sibling rivalry with. But strange things are happening around Saoirse and when she is found on the beach late at night their granny panics and forces the children to go and live with her in the city. Neither child likes this, and both run away home, it is on this journey Ben discovers his sister is the last of the Selkies (people who can turn into seals), and she needs his help to send the fairy's home.

The Good:

* The hand drawn animation has a really ethereal, dreamlike quality to it and is absolutely mesmerizing in parts, making this a movie that you just have to continue watching from start to finish. 

* The music is also perfectly matched to help provoke the dreamlike telling of the story.

* The voice acting from everyone is brilliant.

* The story is easy to follow and has a great messaging about not bottling up your feelings, which is great because the ending is quite emotional, and you may need tissues.

The Bad:

* Some scenes may frighten younger children and some of the folklore concepts may need to be explained.

                   IMDB 8/10                  Rotten Tomatoes 99%                  Me 10/10

Saoirse and Ben.

Megamind (2010)

 Hi fellow animation fans, welcome to my review of Megamind.

Synopsis: When two alien babies are sent to Earth one lands in an affluent area, whereas the other lands in a prison yard. These two different upbringings lead these two to become rivals and grow up to be Megaman defender of Metro City and Megamind the greatest supervillain the world has ever known. But when Megamind finally defeats Metroman he discovers that he is bored without a hero to fight, so he creates one, changing his destiny forever.

The Good:

* I love this movie because it is a fun good versus evil movie with evil learning a lesson that children will find entertaining. The main reason though is because the story has real depth to it that you can only really appreciate as an adult, for example Megamind's battle isn't really against Metroman but against himself, the way he was raised, and the expectations people have of him. Seeing him change himself for the better is brilliant storytelling.

* The soundtrack is awesome with some great hits such as Welcome to the Jungle by Guns n Roses and Bad by Michael Jackson.

* The animation is all really nice with no noticeable blur even when hundreds of Megamind's drones are on screen at once.

* The voice acting is brilliant, I have to admit I am not a huge fan of Will Ferrell' live action stuff but his voice over work in this is great.

The Bad:

* There is a little bit of slowdown in the middle of the movie when Megamind is bored of having no hero to fight, so people after nonstop action may be disappointed.

                 IMDB 7.3/10            Rotten Tomatoes 73%            Me 9/10

Megamind doing it in style.

Ernest & Celestine (2012)

 Hi fellow animation fans, welcome to my review of Ernest & Celestine.

Synopsis: A young dental apprentice mouse, Celestine (Pauline Brunner) and the struggling street musician bear, Ernest (Lambert Wilson) live in a world of deep-seated prejudice, where bears are supposed to stay above ground and mice below. But a series of unique circumstances see Ernest and Celestine working together, which earns them the ire of their respective authorities and forces them to go into hiding together. It is here their friendship blossoms and their talents bloom as their love for each other also grows. The authorities though catch a lucky break and now it's up to Ernest & Celestine to win their freedom and maybe change their world in the process.

The Good:

* The animation appears to be a fairly basic storybook style, but it is so well suited to the story that it takes on an almost dreamlike quality towards the end. I quite enjoyed it and I found that even in times of action everything was clear and easy to see what was happening, there weren't any points the animation became muddied (which sometimes happens with this style of animation).

* The voice acting was really good, I watched it in the original French and found that the musical quality of the speech helped enhance the dreamlike quality of the animation.

* I really enjoyed the story and found it quite heartwarming, without being overly sweet. I especially liked the fact that they were able to take such a heavy subject as prejudice and still make it suitable for all ages.

* The humor was also really well done, there's a little bit of slapstick and some nice subtle tongue in cheek laughs that had me laughing out loud in a few places.

The Bad:

* I think one or two small moments may scare younger children.

                             IMDB 7.8/10             Rotten Tomatoes 98%                 Me 9/10

Celestine and Ernest learning to be friends.

How To Train Your Dragon (2010)

Hi fellow animation fans, welcome to my review of How to Train Your Dragon.

Synopsis: Set in a mythical world of sturdy Vikings and untamed dragons, and inspired by Cressida Cowell's book, this action comedy unfolds the tale of Hiccup (Jay Baruchel), a Viking teenager who doesn't quite enjoy his tribe's venerable tradition of heroic dragon slaying. Hiccup's life is upended when he meets a dragon that challenges him and his fellow Vikings to perceive the world from a completely different perspective.

The Good:

* The animation is really slick and shows great facial features on all the characters, but it really shines on the dragon Toothless who is able to show many emotions just with his eyes.

* The story cruises along at a nice pace, mixing action with storytelling elements in such a great way that you don't have time to feel bored at all.

* The comedy in this is really well done, with laughs for adults and children. I can thoroughly recommend watching with kids, their infectious laughter makes a brilliant movie even better, if that's possible.

* It has dragons, enough said really.

The Bad:

* There are a few moments that young children may find frightening, so just be aware of that.

                     IMDB 8.2/10                    Rotten Tomatoes 99%               Me 9.5/10

Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) meeting Toothless.

The Lion King (1994)

Hi fellow animation fans, welcome to my review of The Lion King.

Synopsis: In the deep heart of Africa at a place called Pride Rock the King Mufasa (James Earl Jones) and his Queen, Sarabi (Madge Sinclair) welcome the birth of their son Simba (Jonathon Taylor Thomas as the young Simba), much to the disgust of the king's brother Scar (Jeremy Irons). Simba of course is a very inquisitive cub who likes to push the boundaries, so Scar uses this to enact a dastardly plan with the help of his hyena friends, this sees him obtain the position of king and has Simba running away thinking that he is an outcast. On the verge of death Simba is saved by a warthog named Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella) and a meerkat called Timon (Nathan Lane), together they raise him with their 'no worries' values. When he obtains adulthood, Simba (Matthew Broderick) is found by his old childhood friend Nala (Moira Kelly) who tells him how Scar has ruined Pride Rock and begs him to come back. Now it's up to Simba, will he keep running or fight to claim his rightful place as King.

The Good:

* For the age of the movie the animation is still amazing, with bright colors, beautiful landscapes and well-designed animals.

* The voice acting is brilliant, as to be expected considering the cast, but my highlights would have to be Rowan Atkinson as Zazu and Cheech Marin as Banzai, both of them were hilarious in their roles, Rowan Atkinson even has a surprisingly good singing voice.

* The music is brilliant with catchy song after catchy song, all of which are great fun to sing along with.

* The story is really well done and at no point does it get boring, even after multiple watches.

The Bad:

* There are some themes that may not be suitable for all audiences.

                       IMDB 8.5/10                Rotten Tomatoes 92%             Me 9/10

Simba being presented to the animals of Pride Rock.