Tag Archives: animation

Zootopia 2

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Zootopia was a giant surprise hit in 2016 when it broke one billion dollars worldwide. With that much box office success, one would wonder why it took nearly ten years to have a sequel.

Zootopia 2 is an excellent new animated movie that does a great job of providing a new story and continuing the awesome partnership between Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde.

According to IMDB, “Brave rabbit cop Judy Hopps and her friend, the fox Nick Wilde, team up again to crack a new case, the most perilous and intricate of their careers.“

Ginnifer Godwin and Jason Bateman are the voices of Judy and Nick respectfully. They do a fantastic job with these characters and their voice work is part of the reason this pair is so good together. They are also written well as any friendship you’ll find in the movies.

There is a great voice cast along with Godwin and Bateman. This included Ke Huy Quan, Fortune Feimster, Andy Samberg, Dasvid Strathairn, Idris Elba, Shakira, Patrick Warburton, Danny Trejo, Quinta Brunson, and Bonnie Hunt. In a fun bit of casting, the Zebros were voiced by pro wrestlers, Joe Anoa’i (aka Roman Reigns) and Phil Brooks (aka C.M. Punk).

I liked the story of the film as well. It was nicely developed without succumbing to the sequel-itis where the sequel tried to do way too much, cramming it in. However, this felt very well constructed and worked well. I was worried at first that there would be too much here and make the story feel convoluted, but it came together nicely as it progressed.

The character design is amazing, and the creativity is off the charts. The animation looked fantastic and you could tell that they were having a lot of fun with the film as it translated to the screen.

It had real emotion and some wonderful character moments. It was also hilarious and filled with some great animated action. It was worth the wait to see a sequel.

4.2 stars

Ne Zha II

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If you were not someone who followed box office results, you would not have any idea the answer to the question, “What is the biggest worldwide box office film of 2025?” The answer is the Chinese film Ne Zha II. It has nearly reached $2 billion worldwide, with not much of that total coming from domestic.

Ne Zha II is receiving a wide release in the US, which could push the film to join the $2 billion club.

According to IMDB, “After a great catastrophe, the souls of Nezha and Aobing are saved, but their bodies face ruin. To give them new life, Taiyi Zhenren turns to the mystical seven-colored lotus in a daring bid to rebuild them and change their fate.“

I am going to start off with the strength of this movie. It is, perhaps, the most spectacularly animated movie I have ever seen. Everything about the imagery on the screen was absolutely stunning. The images, the character design, the backgrounds, art design, the colors…. it was legitimately the greatest looking animated movie I have ever seen and that is saying quite a lot.

I usually prefer when a live action film uses subtitles instead of dubbing because the original voices tend to have the proper emotion. That is not usually the case with animated films that I have seen dubbed. Ne Zha II was dubbed with English and, if I am being honest, I was unimpressed with the voice over work. Part of that may have been how the main character of Ne Zha sounded, as he was screaming in that Anime manner, and I have never been a fan of that. None of the voices stood out to me and I found that a weakness of this version of the film. Of course, I do not speak Chinese, so there is that.

The story was a touch confusing, and that might be because this is a sequel to a film from 2019 that I had never seen. I think they updated that part in the opening exposition, or, at least, that is what I guessed. There was another part of the film that I did not love and that was the attempts at humor. I did not find most of the humor to work and I might have preferred them to stick to the action.

Speaking of the action, it was exceptional. This was part of the animation and it was wonderfully laid out and was amazing to look at in every battle. Everything was laid out perfectly and helped build the tension of the film and most of the action also helped to develop the characters.

Ne Zha II is a massive success and is one of the most visually stunning films of all time. It is also the most successful monetary film of all time too. I am glad that I got a chance to see it even the movie may have a few drawbacks when it comes to story and time. It was certainly worth the two and a half hours it took to watch it.

3.9 stars

Bad Guys 2

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Bad Guys 2 is the newest animated film from DreamWorks, released this weekend. It was a sequel to a surprise hit from a few years ago.

The previous movie was fine, but I did not love it. How would the sequel rate in my mind by comparison? About the same really. Honestly, I would say that this sequel is a little better than the first one.

The Bad Guys are a group of reformed criminals who found it difficult to get opportunities as former criminals in the world. After struggling to find gainful employment on the right side of the law, the Bad Guys are recruited by a new group of criminals to join them for a gigantic theft on a worldwide scale.

I had some troubles with this movie. In particular, I did not like the style of animation that they were using. There was something that I was just not on board with in the animation. I believe it was the way they mixed the three dimensional animation with two dimensional flat looking animation. A lot of it was the eyes of the characters, which seemed to be a different animation style than the rest of the characters’ bodies. It bothered me and it took me out of the story several times.

I was not a huge fan of the story being told either, though I did appreciate the messages that the story was holding to and how they were looking at certain concepts. They definitely looked at how difficult it was to “go good” when no one believed you had gone good. Some of the story was a little slow and predictable.

Of course, they spent a lot of time with the fart jokes. Now, I shouldn’t criticize that since I found the fart jokes in Naked Gun today funny, but they kept it at a scene or so where as this was a main character trait for Mr. Piranha.

However, I will eventually recommend this movie and the biggest reason is for the characters involved and the voice actors of the film. The voice work is easily the best part of the movie. Whether it be Sam Rockwell as Mr. Wolf, the lead of the film, or Zazie Beetz as Diane, his love interest and the current governor. Whether it be Marc Meron as Mr. Snake and his love interest Susan, voiced by the wonderful Natasha Lyonne. Whether it be Danielle Brooks as the main villain Kitty Kat or Craig Robinson as Mr. Shark. This cast was great.

I left out Anthony Ramos as Mr. Piranha, Awkwafina as Ms. Tarantula, Alex Borstein as Chief (actually she is the Commissioner) Misty Luggins (and I think she stole all the scenes she was in), and Maria Bakalova as Pigtail. All of these characters had their moments in the film and helped pull what was not the best film I had seen into a much more watchable time at the theater.

In the end, I am giving this a higher rating than the original, but neither of these Bad Guys films are knocking my socks off. They are okay and that is about it.

3.3 stars

Elio

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The latest Pixar movie was released this weekend. It is entitled Elio and, to be honest, it was a film that I was not looking forward to because I just did not enjoy the trailers for the film. It is a brand new IP from Pixar and, while I have enjoyed most of Pixar movies, I just was not excited for this one.

After seeing this, I would say that it is a solid Pixar movie, but that I would not consider it in the top tier of the company’s oeuvre.

According to IMDB, “Elio, a space fanatic with an active imagination, finds himself on a cosmic misadventure where he must form new bonds with alien lifeforms, navigate a crisis of intergalactic proportions and somehow discover who he is truly meant to be.“

I did like the character of Elio, which was something that I worried about from the trailers. The film does a really good job of setting up Elio’s troubles and issues that lead him to look to the stars. Yonas Kibreab (who played Finn in Netflix’s adaptation of Sweet Tooth) does a solid job of voicing Elio, and I bought the relationship between him and his alien friend Glordon (voiced by Remy Edgerly). Much of the film will be centered around that relationship and if it does not work, the film will be in trouble.

The script does a good job of, while being familiar to other Pixar type films, avoiding the Pixar tropes that we have become used to over the years.

The voice cast is very good for the film including Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett, Brendan Hunt, Jameela Jamil, Matthias Schweighöfer, and Brandon Moon.

The design of the characters and the setting is standout, creating a glorious fantasy setting for our characters to work through. It will absolutely give young children something to keep their focus on.

I do think it takes some time getting going and has characters doing things that they may not be capable of doing, but there are some good messages in the film and I do think it will be a good family watch. It certainly was better than I initially thought it would be even if it is near the bottom of the Pixar film list.

3.75 stars

Flow

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Today’s entry in the June Swoon is an Academy Award winner, and you can see why. Flow won the Oscar for the Best Animated Feature at the 2025 Academy Awards, knocking off such luminaries as Wild Robot, Inside Out 2 and Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.

Flow follows the life of a dark grey cat that was living in a forest. A massive flood swept through the land, leading the cat to struggle to survive in a variety of ways.

During the film, the cat meets up with a group of different animals that form a sort of crew, especially while they were on a felucca. The cat joined up with a yellow Labrador Retriever, a ring-tailed lemur, a capybara and a secretary bird.

These animals were not anthropomorphic. They acted like the individual animals would act. The dog was playful and clearly looking to please. The lemur was a thief, collecting trinkets and shiny objects. The capybara, which is a type of rodent, laid around. There were some moments where it felt as if the animal characters transcended their natures and became something more.

The cat served as the POV of the film, as we see things through its eyes. The survival instincts of the cat was on display throughout the film in such a harrowing instance that you could not help but root for these animals.

I am a cat lover and so it was very easy to get into Flow. There were multiple perilous events along the path of this adventure that placed the cat in jeopardy. The whole showdown with the flock of secretary birds was tense and frightening.

There were a couple of scenes that went past just survival and looked at themes of life and death. One, involving the secretary bird, was a lovely moment that leaves you to deduce what exactly had occurred. There was a second scene involving a mutated whale that had saved the cat from drowning earlier in the movie. This scene was heartbreaking.

Flow was beautifully animated with such amazing visuals across the board. The artistic mastery created an incredible tone throughout Flow and some of the visuals with the cat and fish in the water was astounding.

With no dialogue, Flow was able to tell this story through some amazing characters and some fantastic music. According to Wikipedia, the cat of sound designer Gurwal Coïc-Gallas provided the meows for the cat in the movie, which I thought was a funny piece of trivia. It also provided that realistic sound that enhanced the viewing treat.

While I am not sure if I would have given Flow the Oscar over The Wild Robot, there can be no denying that this is a masterful animated film full of life and love and friendship.

Lilo & Stitch (2025)

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As I was sitting in the theater with the credits rolling, I heard a family coming down the steps. The mom asked the little boy what he thought of his first movie, to which he responded with an enthusiastic ‘great.’ I sat there thinking how cool that was. I do not remember what my own first movie in theater was, but I know how the experience can be such an enjoyable moment.

I just recently rewatched the 2002 animated movie Lilo & Stitch to prepare for the remake and I thought that was an enjoyable watch though I would not say that I found it a Disney all-time classic.

The Disney live action remakes have been largely not some of my favorite films with a few exceptions on the list. This film is one that I think would be a decent film, especially for a family viewing experience, much like the little boy whose first theater movie was this.

I do wonder if this film has a real purpose for existing outside of $$$. Now, to be fair, all movies are looking to make money, but there have been some of these Disney remakes that just do not feel as if they have any soul, any real magic that the animated films had in excess.

Still, I do think that, for the most part, the 2025 Lilo & Stitch was fine. There were some plot and character adjustments from the animated movie, but nothing that jumped out at me.

The CGI Stitch was well done and worked as a character, which was vital if you wanted this movie to work. Voiced by the original voice actor, Chris Sanders, Stitch was every bit the rapscallion that he was in the animated movie. Young Maia Kealoha made her acting debut as Lilo, and she did a decent job. Some of the trailers for the film did not highlight the strongest aspects of Maia’s work so to see it in context made it work so much more. Again, if Lilo did not work, this movie would have flopped.

The comedic pairing of Billy Magnussen and Zach Galifianakis as Pleakley and Jumba was good casting as they played off each other quite well. I did miss the voice of the late David Ogden Stiers from the animated film. Sydney Agudong played the role of Lilo’s sister Nani and I thought she was wonderful. She had a film presence that stood out on the screen. Courtney B. Vance, Amy Hill, Tia Carrere, Hannah Waddingham, and Kaipo Dudoit added to the ensemble of the film.

In the end, this was a fine film that did its job, basically. I am sure that there will be plenty of children who see this movie as their first ever movie in a theater and that is a wonderful thing. This would be a good film for that honor.

3.4 stars

The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie

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I do love the Looney Tunes. However, to be fair, Bugs Bunny is my favorite character. I was wearing my Bugs Bunny shirt when I went to see the new WB Animation movie The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie. I knew that Daffy Duck and Porky Pig were the leads of the flick, but I was still hoping for a Bugs Bunny cameo. Unfortunately that did not happen.

Despite the disappointment over the lack of the rascally rabbit, I had fun with the feature-length animated film. There were some moments that I did not love, but, for the most part, this was a good time and the Looney Tunes remain a classic cartoon.

According to IMDB, “Porky and Daffy, the classic animated odd couple, turn into unlikely heroes when their antics at the local bubble gum factory uncover a secret alien mind control plot. Against all odds, the two are determined to save their town (and the world!)…that is if they don’t drive each other crazy in the process.”

The early years with Daffy and Porky being raised by Farmer Jim were wonderful. The way the movie presented Farmer Jim was something special. I found every minute of Farmer Jim to be hilarious, and the different animation style on the character was perfect.

The film really is of two parts. The first part is dealing with the dangerous chewing gum, and the second part switches things up and has to deal with a planet wide emergency, both situations featured Daffy and Porky smack dab in the middle.

The voice acting was solid from a group of voice over actors that may not be known names, but who had plenty of experience to bring great work. They include Eric Bauza (both Porky and Daffy), Candi Milo, Peter MacNicol, Fred Tatasciore, Laraine Newman, Wayne Knight, Ruth Clampett, Kimberly Brooks, Keith Ferguson, and Peter Browngardt.

The Looney Tunes certainly have a place in today’s animated films and this should show that. I want Bugs Bunny next time, though.

3.75 stars

2024 Year in Review: EYG Frame Award- Best and Worst Animation

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Animation has had a big year. However, it seems as if I did not see as many animated movies as I should have. I was starting to look at the list of films from 2024 that would be in the June Swoon in 2025 and there were several animated movies that I had not seen.

Still, I have five animated films for the best and three for the worst. We’ll do this one as a list.

Best Animated Movies of 2024

#5. Kung Fu Panda 4. This one was nowhere near as good as the other films in this franchise, but was still an enjoyable watch. Jack Black is always fun as Po.

#4. Robot Dreams. Watched this during the 4F and it was decent. It received Oscar award nomination last year, but I counted it this year.

#3. Transformers One. A film that I really loved and a film that I almost skipped because of a trailer. This worked so much better than I thought it would.

#2. The Wild Robot. A beautiful story of a robot and a baby goose. Many believe this is the current favorite to win an Oscar this year. Could be, and it would be well deserving.

#1.

Inside Out 2

Pixar’s huge hit this year, Inside Out 2 may be just a step behind the original, but it was every bit as great of a story. Great CGI. Greta emotional storytelling. Great characterization. Inside Out 2 was the highest grossing movie of 2024. It is a massive success and I loved this movie.

Worst Animated Movie of 2024

#3. Crisis on Infinite Earths Part 3. Such a classic comic event turned into a dull and flat animated movie. Part 2 was just about as bad.

#2. Despicable Me 4. Minions and their adventures. Boring. This one is not for adults in any way.

#1.

The Garfield Movie

This movie went ahead and took the character of Garfield and made him an action star. Forget about the choice of having Chris Pratt voicing Garfield, this film did not have any idea of what the character of Garfield was and that is the biggest sin you could have.

Hate* [*A Comedy] (1999)

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So it is Black Friday and I went to Comic World in Dubuque to partake in the sale on back issues. I started talking with Ben, the owner, who was working the front of the store. We were discussing some of the movies I had watched recently, and i came around to talking about Rumours, which was totally crazy, a black comedy with some of the craziest stuff in it I had seen in a long time.

This led Ben to bring up a short that he called a ‘college’ short film, giving me a quick synopsis of the film. He mentioned a chicken moving next door to a guy. It certainly fit in with the weird films we were talking about (yes, we even mentioned Beau is Afraid).

Ben told me that it was available in full on YouTube, so I decided that I was curious to see what this comedy was and how I felt about it.

The film centered around a man named Paul Wilson (Paul Hungerford) who had a chicken move next door to him, and the chicken began tormenting him. Calling him Moriarty, the chicken, named Pembroke Arbaghast (voiced by Brian Carr), was trying not so subtle things to kill his new neighbor… or at least so Paul thought.

When his poker friends died from poisoned chimichangas, Paul decided that he had to do something to stop the chicken’s crazed spree.

This was hilarious. I loved this short. It was so funny and well presented. The key to something like this is to present it in all seriousness, despite it being totally ridiculous. Paul was really scared and bothered by the foul creature and so the silliness of the situation became funny instead of stupid.

It seemed as if every time the chicken was shown, I was laughing, because of its look, and yet, I found a lot of this to be fairly sinister. The puppeteers did a wonderful job making this chicken believable with its playing poker, driving or sending threatening emails.

The final confrontation between man and bird was excellent too. This was a lot of fun and definitely worth the time. The twist at the end was funny too.

The acting was very solid. In particular, Paul Hungerford delivers a strong performance. You are convinced that he is scared of this chicken and that he legitimately is afraid for his life.

This goes to show you how a creative mind can take even the weirdest of concepts and turn it into an entertaining film. Hate* [* A Comedy] was well worth the 22-minutes it took to watch it, available on YouTube, but do not forget the asterisk when searching.

Moana 2

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The sequel to the hit Disney animated movie Moana, Moana 2 came out today with every indication that it is going to be a huge hit for Disney.

According to IMDB, “After receiving an unexpected call from her wayfinding ancestors, Moana must journey to the far seas of Oceania and into dangerous, long-lost waters for an adventure unlike anything she’s ever faced.“

Moana 2 is a perfectly fine movie. I thought this had a lot of positives to it. I just would say that it does not reach the level of the original, and that is okay.

The biggest issue was that you could absolutely tell that Lin Manuel Miranda was not involved in this new film. His music was some of the best parts of the original Moana, but these songs in Moana 2 are, at best, passable. There were even a few of the times when the lyrics of the songs were weak.

Dwayne Johnson and Aulii Cravalho are great voicing their characters. They are definitely the strength of the film. The story of Moana heading out trying to find other groups of people was solid and made sense.

I’m not sure how much I loved the secondary characters that were brought aboard Moana’s crew. They were kind of annoying at times, but it was okay. I did enjoy the wrap up of the movie and the third act felt better than the first couple of acts.

Of course, the film looks incredible. The animation is beautiful and the designs of the film were sensational. The storms were amazing and looked fantastic.

I thought Moana 2 was a fun movie, but it was not terrific. It was definitely enjoyable overall. I did not think it matched the original, and the songs were not memorable. Moana 2 was good enough.

3.4 stars

Robot Dreams

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The eighth film today in the 4F binge was an animated film called Robot Dreams and it was a story of loneliness and friendship. Told without any dialogue, Robot Dreams used music and sounds to help portray the story, and it did it extremely well.

According to IMDB, “DOG lives in Manhattan and he’s tired of being alone. One day he decides to build himself a robot, a companion. Their friendship blossoms, until they become inseparable, to the rhythm of 80’s NYC. One summer night, DOG, with great sadness, is forced to abandon ROBOT at the beach. Will they ever meet again?“

There have been some amazing animated movies this year, and this is yet another. Nominated for an Academy Award this year, Robot Dreams was a sad and bittersweet story of Dog and Robot who each just seem to only have any real success in their dreams.

The film did seem a little too long, but the creativity is off the charts. The use of music is spectacular and I do love the use of “September” by Kool and the Gang throughout the film.

The ending was unexpected and a little sad. No spoilers here, but I am not sure how I feel about the end. I did not guess that it would turn out like this.

Oh, and that DUCK seems rotten. A postcard? Couldn’t she give DOG a phone call? Stop by on the way to the airport? What a quack.

Sweet and sad, Robot Dreams is a fabulous animated film.

4.3 stars

The Wild Robot

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Animated movies have been on a roll lately. I have two 5 star animated movies during the summer (Inside Out 2 and Transformers One) and now we have another exceptional animated movie hitting the theaters this weekend.

The Wild Robot is from DreamWorks Animation and tells the story of a robot named Roz that was designed for helping with tasks being stranded on an island with a plethora of animals. When a gosling hatches from an egg that Roz had found, the baby goose imprinted upon the robot, believing her to be its mother. A somewhat helpful fox with possible ulterior motives named Fink befriends the odd couple, they start to train the gosling runt what it will need to survive the upcoming migration.

There are so many wonderful things about this movie. It has a tremendously fulfilling coming-of-age story that included an underdog type story of the runt, soon to be named Brightbill. There are several moments throughout the story that are funny, feel-good and touching. The story does take a turn about halfway through as the migration happens. One would think that the migration would be the big event of the film, bringing the story to a close, but there is much more after that happened.

The story is emotional, and it sneaks up on you. You are just going along and enjoying what the movie is doing and, suddenly, your eyes are misting up because there is something there that touches you unexpectedly.

The voice work is amazing. In particular, Lupita Nyong’o as Roz and Pedro Pascal as Fink do exceptional work. Roz is a machine that finds that there is more than just her programming and Fink is an unlikable sneak who discovers what it means to have friends. Both of these arcs are emphasized by the wonderful voice work of these two top notch actors.

There are other excellent voice cast members including Bill Nighy, Kit Connor, Ving Rhames, Mark Hamill, Catherine O’Hara, Matt Berry and Stephanie Hsu.

The animation is spectacular. It is difficult these days to release an animated film if your animation is not competitive. The background of this film are spectacular and almost makes one think they were actually in the wilderness. There are a couple of times during action beats that the animation gets a little shaky. I know the reason for that, but it stood out in a picture that is such a piece of art otherwise.

However, there are some wonderful action beats in the film too. In the first half of the film, I was gasping in shock over some of the surprisingly dark moments of the movie. Let’s just say that the circle of life is on display in this movie in several moments.

The themes of this movie are wide spread and one of the most relatable of the year. In fact, there are themes here that will appeal to just about any segment of the viewership, from motherhood struggles to overcoming challenges to friendship. I would venture to say that everyone would find something to connect to in The Wild Robot.

I’m not going five stars with this one, but it is close. There are just a couple minor complaints that bring it down, but The Wild Robot is still a magnificent family film that is perfect for both parents and kids. Beautifully animated with exceptional voice acting, this is another huge win for DreamWorks.

4.9 stars

Despicable Me 4

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The fourth film in the Despicable Me franchise (seventh if you count the Minion films in the franchise) dropped today. It has been hit and miss for me over the lifetime of the franchise, so I had no idea what this one would be.

After watching Despicable Me 4 this morning, I did not find that this new film did much for me.

The film was not aggressively bad. I just did not find the film very entertaining. The humor fell flat with just a few exceptions. The story was simple and dull. The Minions were a huge distractions as always.

The positives were the voice cast was solid, if not really great. Steve Carell as Gru is clearly comfortable in this role. Kristin Wiig, Will Ferrell, Sofia Vergara, Stephen Colbert, Joey King all did a strong job.

The animation was fine too. It may not have been unbelievable, but it is certainly watchable.

While the young viewers may like this, the film is much lower level entertainment for the young kids. Especially since there is a considerably better animated movie for kids out there, Inside Out 2. Despicable Me 4 has a lot of stupidity to it and you do not have to lower the level of story just to focus on kids.

I did like some of the finale, but it went too long and ended poorly.

There was nothing that was special with this film and was basically the same things we have seen in previous Despicable Me movies. There was nothing new and it felt dull. As I stated, there was not much that I found funny, and the story was everything that we had seen before.

2.6 stars

Inside Out 2

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Inside Out is one of my favorite Pixar films of all time. If it weren’t for Toy Story 3, I think it would be the undeniable champion. Even still, it is in the argument. So, I did feel some wonder about a sequel to such a film that I found so beloved.

Rest easy. Inside Out 2 is wonderful. A beautiful film ripe with emotion and a cleverness that many films lack. It may not have the emotional wallop of “Take her to the moon for me, okay” from the original, but there are plenty of deep emotional beats that form together into a wonderful tapestry of what it is like to be a teen in the middle of puberty.

Riley is back, just turning 13 years old and life has tossed some conflict her way. And because of that, there are a group of new emotions arriving in the Control Center, immediately clashing with Joy and the others.

Inside Out 2 has such creativity and imagination with adapting feelings into these personified characters that is so very impressive. Each character has exceptional design and fit right in with the returning Joy, Anger, Disgust, Fear and Sadness.

The returning voice actors are great, including Amy Poehler, Lewis Black, and Phyllis Smith. Tony Hale, who replaced Bill Hader as Fear, and Liza Lapira, who replaced Mindy Kaling as Disgust, do wonderful work as well. Our new voices which include Maya Hawke as Anxiety, Ayo Edebiri as Envy, Adèle Exarchopoulos as Ennui and Paul Walter Hauser as Embarrassment are great additions.

Pixar animation is always top notch and this is just another example of that. The look of the film is visually stunning and gives everyone something to enjoy while watching.

The story is excellent as well as it focuses on Riley at a three day hockey camp. Something happened on the way to the camp that triggered Riley and her emotions have to work overtime in order to make things right, or as Anxiety tries to do, plan out her entire future.

The story of Riley is simple enough that anyone can relate to what she is going through. As a new teenager, this kind of news can be earth shattering and absolutely makes sense as to why Riley is affected as she was.

The movie is so cleverly written and is very funny throughout. It never feels as if it is just repeating the same formula of the original even though several of the beats could be considered alike. Everything inside Riley’s mind has changed enough from the previous film so to make this trip back there something feeling fresh and original.

Yes, there is no Bing Bong type moment, but I think the overall story may be stronger than the previous one. I certainly found the finale to be exceptional and I had tears in my eyes watching it.

For anyone who was claiming that Pixar had lost that magic, this should take that comment away. Inside Out 2 is an exceptional movie for both kids and adults and is probably the best movie of the year so far.

5 stars

X-Men: The Animated Series

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Tomorrow, the new Marvel Studios animated program, X-Men ’97 debuts on Disney + and I expect to be watching it weekly. In order to prepare for this event, I picked out a few of the original series from X-Men: The Animated Series to watch over the last few days.

I watched a few of the episodes: Season one episodes- “Days of Future Past: Part One and Two“, “The Final Decision” ; Season two episode “Mojovision“; Season three episode “Longshot“; and Season three episodes “Old Soldiers“, “Hidden Agendas” and “Graduation Day.“

Graduation Day was the final episode of the series run and it is the one that the first episode of X-Men ’97 is supposed to follow directly after. That is why it was a vital episode to watch. It dealt with the near death of Charles Xavier and how Magneto and the X-Men tried to work together to call on Lilandra of the Shi-ar Empire to help save Xavier. Xavier was taken away in the Shi-Ar spaceship to keep him alive.

The animated series was never great in animation, but much of the storytelling was solid. Specifically, the stories based after the comics. The Phoenix Saga was considerably better in this animated form than it has ever been in a couple of attempts to adapt it into live action.

With the iconic opening theme, X-Men: The Animated Series introduced the concept of mutants to countless young children who have now grown up to be excited about the new series on Disney +. With the X-Men now being used in the Marvel Studios, their arrival in the MCU is right around the corner.