The Year in Animated Features
Another great looking film, The Powerpuff Girls, failed at the box office, but I hope it doesn't discourage Cartoon Network from trying again. The visuals were superb, but visuals alone, as they have learned, do not a movie make. Powerpuff had some story problems, which could have been fixed, but I did like the idea that they went with an "origin story" approach. Is the lesson of this film, and Hey Arnold!, one that people won't pay for what they can get at home for free?
The Wild Thornberrys Movie tried to disprove that theory at Christmas time. I admire Klasky-Csupo's ambition with the features they've made and Thornberrys didn't disappoint. Families who saw this film were entertained with a big, bonafide theatrical feature, not a blown up TV pastiche.


Lilo & Stitch, Treasure Planet and Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron were enjoyable, strong state of the art, character animation films. But why, oh why, did Disney decide to kill Treasure Planet three days after it opened? The trouble brewing in Disney's executive ranks exploded at year's end. Let?s hope a phoenix will rise from these ashes. I believe it will.


The low budget Jonah: The Veggie Tales Movie was not the embarrassment I thought it would be. Aimed at young youngsters, it was suitable family fare and made a tidy profit at the box office. A couple of other films snuck into L.A. for Academy consideration, though nobody saw Mark Swan's The Princess And The Pea nor Italy's The Living Forest and lived to tell about it.
I sort-of admire the surrealistic Eden (from Poland). It was like one of those abstract, absurdist student films you see at short film festivals ? only it went on way too long and wasn?t very funny. India's CGI Ali Baba feature was clearly the worst animated film I'd saw last year. Stiff motion-capture is hard to achieve, but the Pentamedia studio achieved it. To the film's credit, I still can't get some of its haunting images out of my mind. The nightmares from the atrocious dubbing, poor animation and horrible character design are ones I'll likely keep forever.
























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