The Town Santa Forgot

Based on the poem Jeremy Creek by Charmaine Severson, this Hanna Barbera Christmas special aired in 1993. The only time I really remember this was when it was on Cartoon Network's 24 Hour Christmas Party when I was on holiday for Christmas in Barbados when I was about...seven (yeah, I have a good photographic memory)  So should this Christmas special be more remembered nowadays, or should it be as easily forgotten as the town in the title? Let's take a look!

Story: It's pretty simple to talk about the story when getting down to it: a spoilt brat sends a humongous list of Christmas presents to Santa, the big guy mistakes it for being for multiple children because of an impoverished town which happens to share the same name as the kid, the town is happy & the kid realizes the error of his ways. Sure, it is simple, but I feel like that's what brings the charm of the special. It's simple message of tis' better to give than to receive is shown to be very effective and it doesn't feel obnoxiously shoved in your face or unecessary And I must mention that it all being told in rhyme was a nice way to respect the source material & it makes the special all the more memorable & fun with all the creative rhymes, strangely reminding me of How The Grinch Stole Christmas. Also, the fact that this is told as a story to a couple of kids by their grandfather was a nice way to set up the plot along with the moral of Christmas being A LOT more than just materialistic gifts. But the best thing about it is the execution and character development. While it's easy to assume tht it would be a cheap and crappy Christmas special, this heartwarming yet funny story proves that it's actually so much more.

Animation: Yes, this is a Hanna Barbera special, and with that comes limited animation. The character designs are the classic Hanna Barbera style similar to The Flintstones and The Jetsons, going for a more childish and round look and I will say that it does work well with the tone. While the character animation is limited and admittedly not as creative as it could be, it's still good for what it is and adds more to the basic charm of the look. The backgrounds also help with the Christmas holiday mood thanks to the typical imagery of Christmas trees with colourful trinkets and the snowy suburbia which Jeremy lives in. I know it's a tad difficult to call the animation good in this because Hanna Barbera aren, but it still. Similar to the Rankin/Bass specials, it makes this one have a more rustic and charm to it. In terms of technicality, it may not be all that great, but the around them definitely make up for it.

Characters: The characters in this may seem to be cardboard cutouts, but once you get closer, you'll see that there's much more to them. The main character, Jeremy Creek, is at first such a spoilt brat who throws tantrums when he doesn't get his way & has an insane amount of toys. However, his character development is surprisingly touching when he realizes what good his huge Christmas list did to the impoverished children of the town Jeremy Creek & is so overjoyed by it (obviously before throwing a temper tantrum at first). His parents are pretty much pushovers despite their attempts to discipline their son and they don't really bring much to the party other than raising Jeremy to be such a spoilt brat. The kids at the start surprisingly get a tiny bit of development as they initially get impatient of getting their presents until their grandpa who may or may not be an older version of Jeremy Creek. This also pretty notable to have some voice actors, like Ashley Johnson (AKA Ellie from The Last of Us & Gretchen from Recess), Hal Smith & Dick Van Dyke as the Narrator. They all bring their charm to the characters and Van Dyke's fatherly and warm voice really makes the rhyming all the more entertaining. All of these characters are surprisingly well written, and they really help enhance the simple theme.

Songs: Ok, technically there's only one song, but I thought it be fair to take a look at it! It's sung by the elves when making the presents for the children in Jeremy Creek. I will say that despite the cutesy tone up to the point that it could be like having diabetes, I felt it was pretty sweet. It's not really that relevant in the plot other than to speed the pace up of the elves and Santa making the presents and to establish what this special's version of the North Pole is like. It's definitely not bad, but just really OK compared to the rest of the special.

Overall, The Town Santa Forgot is a sweet little special which should be more appreciated. While the animation is a bit on the crude side, the simple and sweet story and surprisingly well written characters all the more make up for it. I would definitely recommend watching this at least once if you're in need for a more classic Christmas cartoon and it is a good one for kids to enjoy while getting a nice message out of it.
Story: 😄
Animation: 😕
Characters: 😊
Song: 😕
Overall: 😊

Christmas is Here Again

Released back in 2007, this was released as a direct to DVD movie by Renegade Animation, who are mostly responsible for cartoons like the Mr Men series & Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi. This is also funnily notable as this would be made into a stage show & would also be the second Christmas themed movie for Ed Asner after 2003's Elf! Gee, it seems even before Pixar's Up people thought getting Ed Asner for an animated movie would make everything better (which my first entry for this year The Nutcracker Sweet proved VERY wrong indeed)! And strangely, this would be nominated 1 Annie each in 2008 AND 2009 for Best Voice Acting in an Animated Television Production for Madison Davenport as the protagonist & Best Animated Home Entertainment Production. Why? I don't know! Anyway, will this movie make me glad that Christmas comes every year, or will this make me wish that Christmas would never happen again? Let's take a look!

Story: To be honest, the story is a bit of a mix for me. It's mostly just your generic journey/adventure plot as an orphan called Sophianna along with an elf, reindeer, fox & trying to get Santa's stolen sack to deliver the presents back from the evil Krad & his minion Selves. Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that because the sack was stolen, there was no Christmas for thirty years! Not a lot is done to make it original besides the Christmas concept & whatever is done is pretty predictable, including the mole redeeming himself, the message of not giving up, the cliched characters, the cute orphan & the animal sidekicks. It's all a paint by numbers script. And do you want to know the ridiculous reason why Santa's sack is so vital to the North Pole? The sack is made from the blanket used to swaddle the baby Jesus! I am not even kidding even if it's a reason behind why they just can't make another sack from scratch! I mean, that's like the Easter Bunny's basket being made from the straw in the manger Jesus slept in! They simply don't mix together. However, I will give this credit that there are some good emotional scenes thanks to the focus on the characters along with the subtle message of not letting your disability hinder what you're capable of doing (even if Finding Dory did that better 9 years later). It's definitely not bad, it's with no doubt harmless, but it just felt a tad...mediocre.

Animation: Yeah, given that this was a direct to DVD film, the animation isn't really the best. In fact, this feels very limited. The character designs all look pretty generic, but admittedly cute, with what type of characters they're supposed to be up to the point that they're not that memorable except for the villain. The backgrounds can also for the most part look generic like the orphanage and North Pole, although the design of Krad's lair looks pretty cool despite the execution. Funny enough, the overall design sort of reminded me of cartoons like Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi, Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends & The Powerpuff Girls (it makes sense for the latter since this was made by the same animation studio.) There were moments where it looked creative rather it be in a few musical numbers or just the backdrop itself. It doesn't really help that there is hardly any lighting featured, making the movie look virtually flat with no sense of depth to the locations or characters. Sure, the animation may look generic for the most part, but I've definitely seen MUCH worse works than this.

Characters: When it comes to the characters, they can mostly be categorized by their stereotype. Sophiana (Madison Davenport) is an orphan who has a limp & after freeing Don Rocco, tries to get Santa's sack back from the evil Krad. To be honest, she can be a little too perfect with her forever optimistic personality despite being who I like to call Little Miss Woobie because she's just so darn cute (if not cloyingly). Miss Dowdy (Kathy Bates) is just the generic strict woman who runs the orphanage, but isn't really the villain & shows that she does have a heart by the end. Buster (Norm MacDonald) is admittedly funny as the snarky sly fox who helps along with his friend the polar bear Charlie (Brad Garrett), his moral conscience. Wait, why am I getting a sense of deja vu with these two characters...? Paul Rocco is the elf Sophiana befriends and is just your generic sidekick with an obnoxious personality and Dart is just your cute animal sidekick reindeer who happens to be the grandson of one of Santa's original reindeers and wants to follow in his footsteps. Santa (Andy Griffith) & Victoria Claus (Shirley Jones) are just your generic loving parental figures towards Sophiana and don't really do that much to further the story despite his sack being the plot device. But then there's the villain Krad (Ed Asner), who despite his interesting design & Asner's performance, is one of the weakest villains I've seen for an animated film. His only motivation behind stealing Santa's sack besides being evil is just revenge against the big guy for not letting him give coal to children! Despite the good voice acting, a couple of funny sidekicks and not really being that unlikeable, these characters just feel really bland and generic.

Songs: To be honest, all the songs in this feel like they were made up on the spot! Someone Stole Santa's Sack feel very generic and bland. When Will I See? is an overtly schmaltzy song which feels a tad manipulative with making the audience feel sorry for Sophiana despite being a perfect Mary Sue. Easy To Dream is equally as syrupy and doesn't actually say that much other than the 'positive message' like the previous song. It was clearly just there for Shirley Jones to have a song. The Storytelling Song is just there for Paul to recap everything we've literally just seen ten minutes ago to Sophiana and felt obnoxious and annoying. All Because Of Me is the song Santa & Mrs Claus sing about what would happen if the children didn't get presents. It's just filler given that we already know the consequences of what would happen if the sack was stolen. I Stole Santa's Sack is a terrible villain's song which states the painfully obvious and hardly explains Krad's motivations for stealing the sack nor is it even that memorable or catchy. This is What We Should Do is just another 'motivational' song which yet again explains what happened and why they should get the sack back.  I'm Evil is another generic villain's song which, again, doesn't explain Krad's motivations for being evil in the first place. Apparently he was just born evil. The title song is a cloyingly cute song sung by children after Christmas is saved and is equally as generic as all the other songs. The songs overall feel mediocre and uninspired and make the movie feel like it's going on for an eternity.

Overall this is just...meh. The story is pretty bland, the animation, while colourful, is generic, the characters are mediocre at best and the songs were really unnecessary. I don't not recommend it, it's just that it's...OK (seriously, that's the best word I can describe this movie) in the grand scale of other animated Christmas movies out there. Is it a holiday classic that I'll watch every year? No. Do I regret watching it? Absolutely not!
Story: 😕
Animation: 😕
Characters: 😕
Songs: 😠
Overall: 😕

Moana

As promised on Twitter, here's my unconventional fourth addition to the Animation Advent Calendar. Instead of going somewhere snowy like Arendelle, we're gonna travel thousands of years back to the sunny Motonui. The second Disney animated film released this year after Zootopia, this would also be the second Disney film to focus on Polynesian culture af
ter 2002's Lilo & Stitch. To be honest, I hadn't really thought much of it because I was focusing a bit more on Zootopia, but I was still very very intrigued by it, mostly because of the setting, cast (including The Rock himself and newcomer Auli'i Cravalho) and music composed by Hamilton's very own Lin-Manuel Miranda. So will this be as beautiful as the ocean itself, or will this be as bad as feeling seasick?

Story: I may as well just get out of the why that the story follows that same Disney formula of a snarky guy & free spirited girl going on an adventure that's been used since The Princess and the Frog, but unlike the others, there's no romance between them (for obvious reasons). And admittedly, this can be a doubled edged sword now because it felt a bit predictable after seeing it for seven years, just with a different setting and themes. And I will admit, Moana's story felt a tad familiar with the trope of the overprotective father forbidding her to go out to the ocean, even if I give credit that Moana goes out of her way to show that she truely cares about the people in Motonui. However, that doesn't mean that it's bad. Thanks to the execution, what I got out of it was something amazing, emotional and funny. Moana and Maui's adventure is really where the film picks up thanks to the mix of action, humour and emotions as they have to bring back the heart of the island Te Fiti. Thanks to the vastly creative world that the movie is set in, it really leaves you with a feeling of adrenaline whenever Moana and Maui have to defeat different creatures to get to their goal.

Animation: Yeah, there's no denying that the animation in this movie is absolutely gorgeous! The character designs still manage to have that Disney look to them while still capturing a respectful look of Polynesians and the various creatures of Lalotai and the Kakamora all also look very zany and creative. Without a doubt the attention to detail throughout is just perfect. From the outfits of the villagers, the houses, the tapestries and even the boat, they all really capture the Polynesian culture. The same can also be shown in the backgrounds, filled with vast islands and very colourful areas like the aforementioned Lalotai. However, one massive priase I must give is the ocean. The rendering is absolutely spectacular up to the point that it looks almost photorealistic! Another thing to note is that all the tattoos on Maui are actually hand drawn & the way it's integrated into the film is amazing & it helps that it's really frequently, becoming a character itself. Overall, the animation really helps enhance the movie's Polynesian setting and Disney's ever growing innovation, and I must say it really pays off.

Characters: Moana (newcomer Auli'i Cravahlo) is the daughter of Chief Tui who longs for adventure outside of her home. However, this doesn't make her selfish or whiny because the movie goes out of it's way to show that while she longs to go sailing the open seas, she deeply loves and respects the people of her island and genuinely wants to be a good chief for them. It's not like other movies where they want to go away from their homes forever and leave them behind. Maui (Dwayne Johnson) the almighty demi-god is mostly a big-shot & egotistical towards Moana at the start, but there's a sense of sympathy for him as all he wants is to be seen as a hero for the people becuase of his surprisingly tragic backstory of how he got his powers. And with Johnson's performance, it thankfully shows his true acting talents (not that I ever doubted him in the first place despite his embarrassing stint of family comedies). Moana's grandmother, Gramma Tala (Rachel House) is the supportive 'crazy village lady' grandmother who also loves water, but since the movie really dives into her relationship with her granddaughter, she really is such a likable character. Her parents Tui (Temuera Morrison) & Sina (Nicole Scherzinger) can really be qualified as the overprotective father a'la King Triton and the loving mother, even if they clearly have pride in their daughter that she'll be a chief to look up to. Moana's sidekicks, Pua (Puanani Cravalho) and Heihei (Alan Tudyk. Yes, really.) can be adorable and very funny thanks to their personalities, but I felt that Pua was wasted because he doesn't go on with Moana on her adventure. Don't get m wrong, Heihei was very funny thanks to his dim-witted personality, but I personally like Pua more cos of his adorable personality. Tamatoa (Jemaine Clement) is one of the side villains they have to go through to get Maui's hook. Despite his short screen time, Clement's funny and charismatic performance really makes him memorable. And thankfully, unlike recent Disney flicks, this doesn't have the twist of a secret villain. In fact, there isn't really any main antagonist when getting down to it. I know there's the Kakamora, Tamatoa and Te Ka, but they're more obstacles for Moana and Maui to go through. Despite the side characters not being quite as developed, it's great to see that the two main leads are very likeable.

Songs: Written by Hamilton's Lin Manuel-Miranda, Opetaia F'oai and Te Vaka, there's no denying that they'll all created such an incredible soundtrack. From the sneak peek of We Know The Way in the very first teaser, I was immediately hooked into the music and it did not disappoint. Songs like Where You Are, Know Who You Are, the aforementioned We Know The Way and I Am Moana really respect the Polynesian culture by incorporating their traditions and making them highly memorable. Others like You're Welcome and Shiny go for a more fun tone to highlight both Maui and Tamatoa along with showcasing very very fun visuals. And finally, there's the traditional I Want song, How Far I'll Go. Undeniably an ear worm which rivals Let it Go, it really showcases Cravalho's stirring voice and how far Moana will go to both follow her dreams and be a good chief for her people. Well crafted, fun, emotional and unforgettable, this is definitely the cherry on the top for this movie.

While it may not have been as good as Zootopia, Moana is still a highly enjoyable Disney film with an engaging yet tad familiar story, gorgeous animation, well written protagonists and amazing music. I without a doubt recommend that you go and see this movie if you can because it really is worth watching despite the few flaws it has. And by the way, if you stay long enough, there is a very funny post-credits scene and a small cameo from another fairly popular Disney character. As for my thoughts on the short Inner Workings...you'll have to find out in my separate review of it which I'll do soon.
Story:😊
Animation:😁
Characters:😊
Songs:😁
Overall:😆

Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice

Airing back in 2011 yet again on ABC, this would be a sequel to one of my new favourite Christmas specials, well, Prep and Landing. Heck, I love this franchise so much that I even got up to watch this & the first one at 6 in the morning to watch this last Christmas Day on E4 cos there weren't any other showings of it in the day! So will Wayne & Lanny's antics manage to be fun a second time round, or is it as depressing as receiving a lump of coal from a Coal Elf? Let's take a look!

Story: When it comes to the plot, clearly the writers focused on one word: Bigger. Bigger conflict, bigger action, bigger sets, bigger character development. Everything to a T! The main plot involves Lanny & Wayne trying to get a fruitcake from a child who wants to hack the North Pole's database to get themselves off the Naughty List. This time round though, they have a bit more help with Wayne's younger & more popular brother Noel as he's a coal elf only for it to be revealed the hacker is a little girl. However, she ends up accidentally putting every child in the world on the Naughty List in the process which she has to help fix with Wayne, Lanny & Noel despite Wayne's jealousy of the latter. One part I like in particular is we get to see much more of the North Pole & even more types of elves (which in this case is elves who deliver coal to children) which were briefly mentioned in the last special along with how the Naughty & Nice List now works thanks to modern technology. The comedy is also greatly executed & it thankfully doesn't resort to low brow humour like other animated projects out there aimed at kids. And of course, the best part of this is the heart of the special, this time thanks to the relationship between Wayne & his brother as Wayne (along with the rather nice touch the elves write encouraging notes to help them be good instead of belittling them) The only problem I really have is the structure of it is a bit too similar to the first one, with the new character for Wayne to interact with, a kid finding out about the elves & somehow causing trouble at the North Pole which may ruin Christmas & then Wayne has to try & fix it. It's not bad at all & it's not a carbon copy of the last special, but it just doesn't really help when it's easy to predict what's going to happen! Despite that little issue, the story still reminded me why I love the Prep & Landing series thanks to the heart, comedy & expanding the concept of their world!

Animation: Considering the stakes are higher compared to the first special, this is also shown in the animation in this sequel. The characters designs are pretty much the same as they go for the caricatured looks on the elves while making the humans a bit more realistic with that Disney flair. Surprisingly, they both blend very well together & feel like they're part of the same world despite my mixed feelings on the elves' designs still being intact. The textures have also improved as there are more elements & materials touched upon like the coal, snow & especially with the use of lighting. One massive upgrade in the animation is easily the backgrounds as we get to see more areas where the characters go, especially during the mast scene given the giant scale compared to the elves. The animation is definitely an improvement over the last one both technically and in design, but it still manages to keep the same charm from the first special.

Characters: Remember when I said the characters next to the story were my favourite part of the first special? Well, this reminded me of why I love them! With Wayne (voiced again by Dave Foley) It is nice to learn more about both his past & brother as he's always been jealous of him in a Cain & Abel type of way, only for it to turn out Noel has always loved & looked up to him. He's less cynical this time round, but his straight man & snarky personality remains intact, which still make his interactions with Lanny funny. Speaking of, Lanny (sorry for my mistake the first time when I kept calling him Larry) is still the same optimistic yet kind hearted fanboy, except his role isn't as big since the focus is more of Wayne & Noel & his antics aren't as annoying. Speaking of Noel (voiced by Rob Riggle), he's the complete opposite of his older brother being more brawny & is more popular & considered more superior, but it turns out he always looked up to Wayne & it does bring out a more heartwarming side to him & he's never really seen as the bad guy despite Wayne's perspective of him. Grace Goodwin is the new kid character who replaces Timmy (who has a small cameo in this). However, unlike Timmy, I felt that she definitely has more of a personality & while her reasoning for wanting to be on the Nice List is pretty, well, immature (AKA sibling jealousy), the fact she's a kid & doesn't really know any better kinda justifies that & it does nicely parallel Wayne & Noel's one sided sibling rivalry. Magee (voiced again by Sarah Chalke) is the same driven & fiesty coordinator in the NPCECC, but she doesn't appear as much although her scenes are very enjoyable to watch. Thistleton is assists Magee during the mission, although the random romance/kiss between him & Magee confused me as it came out of pretty much nowhere. As for the other characters like Thrasher, Santa, Carol (Grace Potter) & Crumbles, they're their funny selves and were such a delight to watch during their small parts. This special reminded me why I loved these characters, and I humbly welcome the new ones to their creative universe.

Prep & Landing: Naughty vs Nice succeeds as both a sequel and its own special. With yet another heartwarming yet amusing story, improved animation, the same loveable characters along with equally as likeable new ones & a pretty sweet message. Fans of the Prep & Landing films will definitely enjoy this despite it's very similar story structure to the first one & . Do I think it's better than the first? Well... I find they're equally as good, but I personally lean towards the first one because of it's simplicity in the plot.
Story: 😊
Animation: 😊
Characters: 😁
Overall: 😊

Day 2: A Christmas Carol (1997)

Released back in 1997, this is a more obscure version of the Charles Dickens classic and happens to be a musical obviously to emulate a much more financially and culturally successful company at the time. So starring the likes of Tim Curry, Whoopi Goldberg, Michael York, Jodi Benson & Ed Asner, will this manage to be as fun as the Muppet Christmas Carol, or should Tim Curry stick to being a hammy and over the top villain? Let's take a look.

Story: Yeah, I think EVERYBODY knows the story of A Christmas Carol by now & this movie follows it like a Tetris game, keeping the structure, characters & message intact! Sure, it may keep the overall message & plot unlike other people trying to tamper with it up to the point that it's unrecognisable, but the changes that come with it are painful! Because this was made around the time of the Disney Renaissance, the changes made reflect that, including lightening the tone for the kiddies, changing some of the characters, adding in annoying comedy & pointless musical numbers! All of this negate the message remaining intact & the attempts at darkness or tragedy really fail because of how artificial the whole project is. And the attempts to add in references to Robinson Crusoe feel mind boggling because it actually has nothing to do with the narrative other than an attempt to give Scrooge 'development' while in fact giving the opposite effect. But the worst part of it all is that Scrooge already begins to learn his lesson right from the start! It makes the build up to his redemption feel less powerful or heartwarming! Yes, it may be harmless for the most part & it mostly follows the story, but it's clear from the lack of effort & Disneyfication that this is just a soulless cash-grabber!

Animation: Given that this was a direct to video movie, I think it's safe to say that the animation isn't the best! The character designs look generic & really off model with no attention to detail put into them, including derpy eyes & the character animation feels really limited & stiff in its attempts at using squash & stretch on the ghosts or the animation on the comic relief dog. And speaking of the ghosts, the designs for them range from very generic to downright ridiculous, ESPECIALLY with the Ghost of Christmas Past as a child. The backgrounds also somehow manage to look incredibly generic & rough despite the time setting & even rip off Disney's Mickey's Christmas Carol with the setting of Scrooge's house and the bank he works in. Not once do they try to make it look original with the Victorian setting and just immediately assume kids know the story and the setting. It doesn't really help that there's no real lighting put in, leaving the characters looking completely flat with no sense of dimension. I know I may be a bit harsh towards the animation, but I'm not saying that the animators didn't work with what they had. In fact, they've done an OK job.

Characters: The characters in this can easily be qualified as cardboard cutouts of their literary counterparts. While Scrooge is the same curmudgeonly money obsessed grump, the build up to his redemption feels less powerful as he already begins to feel sorry for Tiny Tim & the rest of the poor before his journey with the 3 ghosts! And despite Tim Curry's efforts, I couldn't take him seriously because he goes so over the top, you'd think he was trying to make Scrooge a comedic character! And it REALLY doesn't help when he also voices Scrooge as a young man because it's so blatantly obvious that he doesn't sound like he's in his twenties or thirties! I know it kinda worked for Jim Carey in the 2009 version, but that was because he knew what stage of Scrooge's life he was in & his voice reflected that! And if anything, Ed Asner would've been a better fit for the character! And speaking of Ed Asner, despite his efforts as Jacob Marley, not even he can stop the fact Marley is not scary or threatening at all nor does he that much of an impact. Bob Cratchit (Michael York) is pretty bland besides being happy & kind towards Scrooge & his family, which doesn't really help the tone. The depiction of the 3 ghosts is absolutely ridiculous as the Ghost of Christmas Past (Kath Soucie) is a little boy who's absolutely infuriating with an obviously fake Cockney accent, the Ghost of Christmas Present (Whoopi Goldberg doing a stereotypical British accent) does nothing but laugh all the time & the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (Jim Cummings) looks more like a Scooby Doo villain rather than the Grim Reaper & isn't scary! Fred is just the same happy go lucky nephew with an even blander personality than Cratchit. Belle (Jodi Benson) only appears for one scene when she dumps Scrooge via an unnecessary song because it's Jodi Benson & everyone tries to take advantage of her beautiful singing voice because she's the voice of Ariel. And if all of this wasn't bad enough, Scrooge has a dumb bulldog sidekick because as everyone knows, all animated films in the 90s needed to have an obligatory animal sidekick to copy the Disney Renaissance formula! Yes, the characters are sort of the same & the voice actors do their best with the material given, but their lack of complexity or dimension really diminish this.

Songs: Yes, this is a musical and yes, the songs are all awful! I know this is definitely not the first Christmas Carol adaptation to be a musical, but the way they're crowbarred into this is just ridiculous & they feel like they were made up on the spot! The opening number is just a generic Christmas song which is surprisingly short because they realized they need to get the plot going! Random Acts of Kindness (yep, that's actually the title) is just about the townspeople doing that to further contrast that they're saintly goody two-shoes compared to the grumpy Scrooge (although the scene makes no sense given his curmudgeonly nature). Oh yeah, and it includes Tim Curry rapping!  The song Young Scrooge sings feels like a generic 'I Want' ballad with a pop guitar motif which is entirely pointless. Belle & Scrooge's duet can pretty much be an 'F- You' song for the former as she dumps Scrooge & sounds like another generic pop 'love' ballad yet the actors have no chemistry whatsoever! There's also a reprise of Random Acts of Kindness which the Cratchits sing & is equally as, if not more annoying than the first time. Santa's Sooty Soot is annoying despite the context & trying way too hard to be a funny showtune despite the lack of effort put into it! Song of Love is OK partly thanks to Tim Curry's singing, but the lyrics are pretty generic as they say what we already know & is pretty short. It all feels like the writers were trying to be Disney while never actually having seen Disney!

This movie can easily be described as a Disney rip-off without actually being a Disney rip-off! With a by the book yet butchered story, lazy animation, generic characters & awful songs, what else did you expect from this? And with whether this one is worse than the 2002 version with Kate Winslet... I find they're both equally as bad for different reasons. The 2002 version because it's incompetent direction, the animation is some of the worst I've seen & completely misses the point of the story & the 1997 one because of the hackneyed songs, annoying characters & stupid changes to copy the Disney formula.
And by the way, I'll be experimenting with a new rating system involving emojis. This will be a 5 point rating system now with one saying it's amazing, one saying good, one saying it's OK, one saying it's bad & the last saying it's atrocious.

1. 😁
2. 😊
3. 😕
4. 😠
5. 😡

Story: 😠
Animation: 😠
Characters: 😕
Songs: 😡
Overall: 😠

The Nutcracker Sweet

As promised, I'm back with my Animation Advent Calendar for December leading up to the holidays! I bet you're all wondering where the hell this first movie on my list came from because to be perfectly honest, I had NEVER heard of this until Film Brain had put it on his worst list in his Review of 2015 Bad Movie Beatdown video. Given by morbid curiosity of it despite the 30 seconds of clips already proving it was going to be God awful, I decided to take a look at it for my Animation Advent Calendar. Directed by Eduardo Schuldt & animated by Aronnax Animation Studios, both of whom are mostly repsonsible for obscure low budget animated films (strangely all of which star Drake Bell). So with acting 'superstars' like Alicia Silverstone, Drake Bell & Ed Asner (because every Christmas & CGI film needs Ed Asner in it), will this be as sweet as the Land of Marzipan or is it as sickly as eating too much candy? Let's take a look!

Story: Like every single animated adaptation, this makes a few changes here & there. This case, however, it's for the worst. In both concept & execution, it's absolutely horrendous because it just has the most basic elements of the Nutcracker Story but doesn't add any depth into it, shifts in focus & cuts a lot of vital bits out. It feels like there was no sense of direction because the pacing is so inconsistent up to the point that the plot doesn't properly kick-start until about 40 minutes into this 80 minute movie & scenes feel like they're taking forever! What makes this worse is Fritz in the real world tags along for the adventure by being taken hostage by the Mouse King rather than letting the former take stride & leaving out all of the ambiguity. This in turn leaves nothing that important happening as it focuses on Marie & Fritz learning to love each other as siblings which is never interesting because we hardly get any development from them, neither characters are likeable & all it does is leave the titular Nutcracker Nathan to the sidelines (we'll get to them in a bit). It doesn't really help that the relationship between him, Marie & Princess Marmalade is very poorly done & there's no emotional involvement & we know absolutely nothing about the characters other than Nathan's backstory that's crowbarred in when they decide to pause the plot. And with the final battle...it's without a doubt one of the most anticlimactic battles I've ever seen because nothing ever proper happens, there's no build-up, the stakes are insultingly low & it takes up about a third of the running time & feels like it's plodding on for no reason other than to fill the 80 minute running time (10 minutes of which is devoted to the end credits). And by the way, for those expecting Tchaikovky's music in the soundtrack, it's only very briefly used. Instead, there's crappy pop Christmas music which only happens once 30 minutes into the movie never to be heard from again! Because that's what makes me think of The Nutcracker! This is such a banal, dreadful mess of a movie, I can actually say that Barbie in the Nutcracker was a better movie than this because it at least tried to have stakes & character development despite it's confusing changes!

The animation: Before I talk about the animation, I just want to mention that this had a limited release in cinemas. And now with that fact and looking at it, I bet all of you are wondering 'ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!' Seriously, this was released in 2015 & yet somehow manages to be on par with Foodfight with crap CGI & looks like it was made about 15 years ago! The texturing & effects have no detail put into them (seriously, the skin looks so plastic-y, you'd think this was test animation & the hair on Maria looks like lasagne strips), the rendering on everything is absolutely atrocious & the character animation is stiff & inconsistent. But that's NOTHING compared to the character designs because they're creepy as hell with dead eyes & it's even worse when they're shown close-up most of the time & when Marie & Fritz turn into scary as hell nutcrackers which I guess are trying to emulate the Rankn-Bass stop motion specials despite not having the charm of them. Even the bloody lip synching is off for a majority of the film & they have this infuriatingly annoying habit of using slow motion along with tracking & Matrix-esque bullet time shots for way too long making the movie look like a cheap video game. Even if the backgrounds look nice in concept (if not generic), the execution is just awful thanks to the underdefined texturing & the land of Marzipan just looks like a rip-off of Candyland & the fact we're only stuck in one part of this vast magical kingdom just wastes all of its potential. I REALLY think it's safe to say that the budget did not go into the animation on this this piece of crap.

Characters: With a messy story that this already is, don't expect any of the characters to be complex or interesting! Marie, (Alicia Silverstone doing an awful impression of how a little girl would sound) is just an annoying spoilt brat who doesn't do anything important, barely has any development other than the tacked on moral with her brother & is uninteresting. I never cared for her throughout & she's somehow worse than Barbie's version when she at least did stuff that mattered & had something called character development despite her blandness. Nathan the Nutcracker (Drake Bell doing an awful British accent) actually feels more like a side character due to the shift in focus & even with his backstory, being adopted by the toys, he still manages to be bland & uninteresting. The Owl narrator (Ed Asner) is solely there for exposition at the worst of times with Nathan's backstory & the origins of his rivalry with Lady Mouseling and comes out of nowhere to help Marie save her brother. Speaking of, Fritz is equally as irritating as his sister & he certainly fits into the annoying brother stereotype for the wrong reasons & is actually the plot device for Marie to save in the Land of Christmas Trees. Oh yeah, and the Mouse King feels like no threat at all because he barely appears, his motivation with his family is incredibly weak & his goons are that incompetent, I was confused as to how they became his minions in the first place! Oh yeah, and the great Princess Marmalade has absolutely no purpose or character whatsoever. The rest like Marie & Fritz's parents & Uncle Drosselmeyer barely appear and yet somehow manage to act like absolute idiots doing nothing but tack on the moral for Marie & Fritz! I don't even think I can call anyone in this a character. They feel more like scary dolls spewing out a load of random nonsense with awful voice acting.

Just when I thought the 2010 adaptation of The Nutcracker was the worst thing ever to come out of Tchaikovsky's classic ballet, this comes along to prove me very wrong! The Nutcracker Sweet is without a doubt the Christmas equivalent to Foodfight with an incompetent & lazily put together story missing the purpose of the original, scary & unfinished animation, stupid characters with insufferable voice acting to add insult to injury & not a shred of charm. Please, DO NOT watch this film unless you want your Christmas to be filled with nightmares of the most dead looking animated characters ever put on screen next to the Robert Zemeckis movies!
Story: 1/10
Animation: 2/10
Characters: 1/10
Overall: 1/10

Trolls

Based on the immensely popular toys from the 70s to the 90s, it's now Dreamworks' turn to do a movie based on a toy line akin to The Lego Movie. Featuring the likes of Anna Kendrick, Justin Timberlake, Christine Baranski, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Zooey Deschanel, Gwen Stefani, James Corden and Russell Brand, it's safe to say that Dreamworks is keeping its streak of hiring numerous celebrities to get money out of people. And on top of the hit summer single Can't Stop the Feeling, I think it's also safe to say that they have high hopes for this movie despite their recent decline in box office results. So can this movie
put the Trolls toys back on the map, or is it as disgusting as A Troll in Central Park? Let's take a look.

Story: Right from the start, it's clear what the director and producers did not focus on was the writing. More of a checklist of cliches than an actual plot, it follows the incurably optimistic Princess Poppy who wants to save her troll friends, with the help of a cynical troll named Branch, from being eaten by the evil Bergens. That's literally the entire plot. So what do they do to make up for the 'simplicity?' Filler, bad fart jokes and obnoxious musical numbers, of course! The other subplot I'm talking about involves scullery maid Bergen Bridget being in love with the immature King Gristle and the trolls giving her relationship advice leading to a confusing Cinderella story. But even if it gave me a few chuckles, all it does is hammer down the obvious message that you don't need to make others suffer in order to be happy! Even within the first five minutes of backstory, I could tell it was going to go down that route and I was just sitting there waiting through all the filler, fart jokes, 'cool and hip' slang and stock characters to get to that part. It doesn't really help that there's no stakes or feeling of danger and the climax certainly is the epitome of that problem because it's incredibly rushed. On top of that, the pacing is also a massive problem because everything feels way too rushed, especially the journey Poppy and Branch take to get to the Bergen Kingdom which only takes up about a fifth of the running time. It really just feels like a load of scenes of vignette cobbled together instead of a cohesive narrative. However, I'm not gonna say that all the humour is terrible. There are times where it can be self aware of how annoyingly cutsey and happy go-lucky the trolls are through Branch's cynical nature. But soon after, it can get confusing of who we're meant to side with because there are times where Branch is painted as the bad guy when he's the only one that's making sense. And the 'emotional' stakes also feel as artificial as the trolls themselves and it made it very hard for me to feel for them because of how obnoxiously happy they are. I've known movies to have very simple plots up to the point that there isn't really one, but what they do to make up for it is by giving the characters proper development. This however, doesn't do that.

Animation: Despite the lack of effort put into the plot, thankfully, the animation is the polar opposite. Not only is the colour pallette really vibrant and bright, but also the character designs and backgrounds of the Troll's hideout and outside are very zany and creative in their own right. Even the world of the Bergens, while very dull and grey in colour pallette, is still interesting to look at. The kingdom itself looks grand in architecture and seeing it to scale from the troll's perspectives can make it fun during chase scenes or musical numbers. The textures are definitely the highlight, especially with the attention put into the trolls' hair and the almost felt-like texture of the world, Poppy's scrapbooking and constant use of glitter. The character animation is also very creative, especially on the hair being used either as a mode of transportation, a weapon like whipping enemies or as a mode of camouflage as Bridget's wig. However, I do have a problem with the character designs themselves because while the trolls do look MUCH better compared to their scary toy counterparts (which cleverly have a cameo during the prologue), I still found them a bit unsettling. I think it might be because of the overtly cutesy tone...it's just my opinion, they're still creative designs regardless! To call the animation creative in this is as massive understatement, but given that this is Dreamworks after all, so it shouldn't be a surprise.

Characters: Same as the writing, the characters definitely aren't the strongest aspect of this movie. Each one can either be summed up as having one personality trait or a plot device with absolutely no dimension and is just there to get a celebrity's name. Princess Poppy (Anna Kendrick) is the princess who is infuriatingly optimistic with trying to save her friends. Branch (Justin Timberlake) is just the grumpy cynical character trope until his reason behind why he acts this way comes out of nowhere in the halfway point for some cheap sympathy. Although as mentioned, I gravitated towards him more because he was literally the only character that had a shred of common sense. The villain, Chef (Christine Baranski) recaptures the trolls after the last trollstice 20 years ago went horribly wrong and wants to rule the Bergen kingdom. Why? Who cares because the movie clearly doesn't! Bridget (Zooey Deschanel) is the scullery maid Bergen used for the Cinderella-style subplot, and I will admit that Deschanel's performance did leave me chuckling even if the character herself was very one dimensional. King Gristle Jr (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) is just an overgrown child who can get annoying pretty quickly, even if all he wants is to experience happiness. Creek (Russel Brand) is the spiritual troll and false love interest for Poppy who loves yoga. As for everyone else, they literally serve no purpose at all. Absolutely none. There's the one that farts glitter, the DJ one voiced by Gwen Stefani who I barely remembered, the fashion loving twins voiced by Icona Pop and the giant troll voiced by James Corden who carries that very creepy worm thing. Finally, there's King Gristle Sr (John Cleese) who only appears at the beginning clearly as a favour for the director because of the Shrek movies. Come to think of it, there are some uncanny resemblances to the Shrek universe in this movie...oh yeah, and GloZell voices Branch's grandmother along with a load of other singers, youtubers and TV actors who I couldn't recognise! Seriously, what was the point of their casting? As you can tell, this movie did not make up for the simplicity of the plot with interesting characters! All they are is one dimensional tropes who are being advertised as merchandise for kids!

Songs: Like Strange Magic, this movie decides to use songs from various decades with their own twist to them. And like so, it doesn't make any sense. I get why with the Shrek universe because it's supposed to be a parody, but it doesn't fit in a movie like this where people supposedly don't exist! At least they sound a bit better and they attempt to do original songs. Probably my favourite is Get Back Up Again because it's really the most self aware of Poppy's optimism clouding her judgement despite it's perkiness and catchiness. There's another admittedly catchy song sung by Ariana Grande during Gristle and Bridget's date. The covers don't fare well because of how random they are, from Zooy Deschanel's cover of Hello having no purpose despite her singing, Sound of Silence coming out of nowhere despite being admittedly funny, a mash-up of Move Your Feet, D.A.N.C.E & It's A Sunshine Day which grated on my nerves and a remix of September in the end credits. But the overall problem is they instantly date the movie. From one troll literally having an autotuned voice, to raps and twerking, they feel like they're trying way too hard to be hip and cool for the kids. But there's one exception: Timberlake and Kendrick's version of True Colours. While in context comes out of nowhere as a declaration of love for Poppy and to lift the other trolls' spirits, it just lets the lyrics do the talking without any unnecessary remixing, autotuning or rap. And of course, I can't go into this section without mentioning Can't Stop the Feeling. While I still stand that it feels too much like Happy from Despicable Me 2, it's still a very joyous song which leaves me grinning and dancing whenever I hear it on the radio. And given that kids in the cinema were singing along to it, it just shows how it's become a pop culture staple. So overall, it's more of a mix. Despite serving no purpose in the narrative and trying too hard to be cool, the versions themselves aren't that bad.

Trolls was exactly what I expected it to be: a very generic, simplistic and overtly cutesy story with one dimensional characters and creatively amazing animation. I guess I could recommend it for kids or those who are. And given how depressing of a year 2016 has been for everyone, I guess a cutesy movie with a sugar overload was exactly what I needed.  Don't get me wrong, it is much better than A Troll in Central Park or Shark Tale, but this definitely is a weaker addition to the Dreamworks library. And I'm not gonna lie, but I have massive doubts for Boss Baby coming out next year...
Story: 3/10
Animation: 8/10
Characters: 2/10
Songs: 5/10
Overall: 5/10