The Super Mario Bros Movie

The Super Mario Bros Movie (Netflix) is a 2023 animated adventure comedy film based on Nintendo's Mario video game franchise. Chris Pratt voices Mario, the main character. I'm familiar with these games and the characters, and I'm sure that aided my appreciation. Most reviewers liked it.

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A Boy Called Christmas

A Boy Called Christmas (Netflix) is a 2021 British Christmas fantasy film. The cast includes Toby Jones and Maggie Smith. This is a charming and delightful movie.

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I found this sweet little pink tree complete with ornaments for $2 at a local antique mall a few years ago. I replaced the tinsel, rearranged the balls a bit, and made the star. The angel -I've always called her Singing Angel- is decades old. I can't remember now where I got her. These are on the kitchen counter.

Finding Nemo

Finding Nemo (Disney+) is a 2003 computer-animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The film stars the voices of Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander Gould, Willem Dafoe, and Geoffrey Rush. It tells the story of an overprotective clownfish named Marlin (Brooks) who, along with a forgetful regal blue tang named Dory (DeGeneres), searches for his missing son Nemo. I remember when this came out and we took the kids to the theater to see it. Wonderful movie! It's enjoyable for kids and adults alike. Reviews are positive.

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P.S. I don't keep track of who leaves comments here -it's all I can do to keep track of my own stuff lol- but if you're leaving comments here and I'm not reciprocating on your blog it's an oversight on my part. Please feel free to leave a comment bringing it to my attention. Thanks!

Werewolf by Night

Werewolf by Night is a 2022 TV short film (just under an hour long) based in the Marvel Comics universe. To be honest I'm not overly familiar with the larger Marvel Comics world and enjoyed this show anyway. I watched it on Disney+.

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The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf

The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf is a 2021 adult animated dark fantasy film focusing on the origin story of Geralt's mentor and fellow witcher Vesemir, the witcher featured in The Witcher televsion series. This is a wonderful origin story which stands on its own even if you're unfamiliar with the other witcher stories. I watched it on Netflix.

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Rotten Tomatoes has a critics consensus rating of 100%.

I Lost My Body

I Lost My Body is a 2019 award-winning animated film. It's not a children's film. I don't know what I expected, but I was pleasantly surprised. I watched it on Netflix.

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IndieWire calls it "profoundly moving". Rogert Ebert's web site says, "“I Lost My Body,” a surprise winner of the Critics’ Week Grand Prize this year at Cannes (the first animated movie to do so), is a visually sumptuous slice of macabre storytelling..." Rotten Tomatoes has a 97% critics consensus score.

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is an award-winning 2022 stop motion fantasy film based on the Collodi book. I hate the Disney adaptation and always have, so I was happy to see this and to see it done well. I watched it on Netflix.

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Roger Ebert's website gives a glowing review that closes with this:

A wondrously affecting work, "Pinocchio" becomes a magnum opus for del Toro that channels his interests and beliefs long present in his oeuvre but spun with a luminous new gravitas. It may go against its ethos to deem del Toro's "Pinocchio" an impeccable masterpiece, even if that's an adequate description, but know that if the art of making movies resembles magic, this is one of its greatest incantations.

Rolling Stone says,

The movie is beautiful. This take on the Pinocchio puppet reminds us, among other things, that he’s made of wood. He looks and moves and creaks and breaks like wood. He’s got knots for eyes and an entire personality carved into his body by benefit of the fractal patterns in the pine wood used to make him. He’s got the kind of thin awkwardness befitting a puppet, the kind where the head looks too heavy for the body. And yet there’s a real boyishness to him, somehow — here and throughout, with every character, the animators clearly took care to master the expressiveness of the eyes, the natural flow of movement.

The Verge calls it "a haunting and beautiful instant classic that will leave you thinking about your mortality." Rotten Tomatoes has a critics consensus score of 97%.

Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales

Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales is a 1979 television special:

I remember Bugs Bunny and Looney Toons from Saturday morning TV viewing in my childhood, but this one came out long after my childhood was but a memory.

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Speaking of "looney"... is anybody else watching the Republicans in the House of Representatives crowing about their majority but not able to elect a Speaker of the House after 6 ballots?

The Christmas Witch

The Christmas Witch is part of the Shelley Duvall world of delightful tales and is narrated by Angela Lansbury.

North Pole Nutrias

North Pole Nutrias:

Read more about Miss Pussycat's puppets here.

The Voice of the Nightingale

Why do I link the film name to the Wikipedia entry if there is one instead of the IMDb or other link? Because the Wikipedia entry provides a link to the IMDb entry as well as to other sources of information while the IMDb is self-contained and more limited in the information they provide. YMMV, of course, and I know there are folks who have different starting points for film information, but Wikipedia is my go-to starter site. The film below has a Wikipedia entry for the director but not for this individual film, so the film link is to IMDb.

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The Voice of the Nightingale is a 1923 short (11 minutes) film directed by Ladislas Starevich. It combines live action and animation to tell the story of a little girl (played by the director's daughter) who learns why nightingales sing only at night. Starevich is a Polish-Russian stop-motion animator who in 1912 directed the first puppet-animated film. He kept every puppet he made and would use them again in later films. He was one of the few European animators to be known by name in the United States before the 1960s.

I think this director's work is charming, and the animation is amazing!

Please join me in sharing a post with a drink reference (here's mine):

I'll meet you at the T Stands for Tuesday blogger party.

Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem

Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem is a 2003 animated musical science fiction film. The film serves as a visual companion to Discovery, Daft Punk's second studio album.

via Daily Motion:

Anime News Network has high praise. Rotten Tomatoes has an audience consensus score of 95%.

The Cat Returns

The Cat Returns is a 2002 Japanese animated film directed by Hiroyuki Morita. How can you say "no" to a film about a high school girl who can talk to cats? I watched it on HBO Max.

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Rotten Tomatoes critics have a combined rating of 88%.

The Addams Family 2

The Addams Family 2 is a 2021 animated film. I watched it on the DVD The Husband got as a Father's Day present, but it's also available on Amazon Prime. The Husband loved it, which is what matters, right? I was much less impressed. It's not as good as the first one. I'm hoping the next one in this series will be better.

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Professional reviewers were not kind.

Tales from Earthsea (2006)

Tales from Earthsea is a 2006 film based loosely on some of the characters in the Ursula Le Guin fantasy series. It is not an adaptation of the books, and reviews are mixed depending on whether or not that's what was wanted. I watched it on HBO Max and liked it fine.

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Sea Prince and the Fire Child

Sea Prince and the Fire Child is a 1981 Japanese anime film. It is a story of star-crossed lovers who fight to stay together in the face of seemingly insurmountable difficulties. I've forgotten now where I watched it, but you can see it via YouTube:

It has a 97% audience rating at Rotten Tomatoes.

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is a 1993 animated movie. It stars Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, Abe Vigoda, Stacy Keach, Dick Miller, and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. Don't let it fool you. This is a serious character study. I watched it on HBO Max.

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The Verge has a positive review and says it's "surprisingly complex in its characterization of its protagonist." Roger Ebert's site has a glowing review. Rotten Tomatoes has a critics consensus score of 85% and an even higher audience score. Empire Online gives it 5 out of 5 stars.

Fantasia (1940)

Fantasia is a 1940 animated Disney musical anthology film featuring various pieces of classical music. I've seen it several times, having had it on VHS when the kids were little. This time I watched it on Disney+. It was expensive to produce and was a box office failure. It's a must-see but doesn't in my opinion reward re-watching.

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Film Site has an article and an extensive summary. Rotten Tomatoes has a critics consensus score of 95%. It's listed in the book 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.

The Pied Piper

The Pied Piper is a 1985 Czechoslovakian stop-action animated dark fantasy short film. Shorter than feature length, this film is less than an hour long. It retells (reinvents?) the traditional Pied Piper story.

Ponyo

Ponyo is a 2008 Japanese fantasy film loosely based on (very loosely based, perhaps more accurately "inspired by") The Little Mermaid by Andersen. It is directed by Hayao Miyazaki and animated by Studio Ghibli. It's a pretty film. The voice cast for the English language version I watched is wonderful and includes Tina Fey, Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, Liam Neeson, Lily Tomlin, Betty White, and Cloris Leachman. I watched it on HBO Max.

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Roger Ebert opens with this:

There is a word to describe “Ponyo,” and that word is magical. This poetic, visually breathtaking work by the greatest of all animators has such deep charm that adults and children will both be touched. It’s wonderful and never even seems to try: It unfolds fantastically.

Rotten Tomatoes has a critics consensus score of 91%.