SOUL Review

Disney and Pixar have always had a tradition of being innovative if not groundbreaking, but with their latest - Soul - the animation studio pushes itself to what is unquestionably the most existential ground they've ever broken. What might have driven writing/directing duo Pete Docter (Up, Inside Out) and Kemp Powers (One Night in Miami...) to not only address death outright in an animated movie seemingly intended for children, but place it front and center as the biggest hurdle our protagonist has to overcome in the context of the film is a curious strategy. It's bold to say the least, but by the time my wife and I were a mere thirteen minutes in we were already convinced this would be far too much for our six year-old to handle as she already bursts into spontaneous tears at bedtime before bringing up that she doesn't want to lose her mom and dad to what Soul refers to as "The Great Beyond". It's not hard to understand why the ambition to tackle such difficult subject matter is present as movies are more than capable of being counseling and coping tools, but the question I was left to ponder as Jon Batiste's wonderful rendition of  "It's All Right" played over the closing credits was why Docter and Powers along with co-writer Mike Jones felt it necessary to try and steer children through the reality of death by barreling into the topic headfirst rather than finding an avenue through which to better explore the more prevalent themes like the idea of success equaling satisfaction or notoriety equaling credibility. There are glimpses of these ideas early on as we're introduced to Joe Gardner (voice of Jamie Foxx) and witness him wrestling with a conflict that pits his need for gratification against a more enduring legacy, but Soul quickly transitions to feeling as if Docter took the concept of Inside Out (as well as some of the character designs) and applied it to the afterlife as opposed to personifying emotions. It's like if a band started re-configuring their "greatest hits" while only being three full-length studio albums into their career; you want to remind the people why they fell in love with you in the first place, but you don't want your sound to stop growing and evolving. That isn't to say Soul finds fault for a lack of growth or evolution, but given the ethereal feel of this world we've never seen before along with the fact the film kills off its lead in the first half hour in order to answer questions about the meaning of life it would seem that, upon the film's conclusion, that some of the answers to those big questions would be a little more deeply felt, that they might tug at the heart strings a little more, or maybe even touch something deep inside ones...soul.     

MOANA Review

I've been watching a lot of The Little Mermaid lately thanks to my two year-old daughter and like Ariel, Moana faces a father who is something of a control freak and who stands in the way of her and what she feels is her destiny. The difference in the plights of Ariel and Moana come very quickly though as rather than a forbidden romance, Moana simply wants to explore the waters of the sea out past the reef that surrounds her people's island. So, in short, they actually long for the exact opposite of one another, but you get the point. This analogy of sorts works throughout Moana as the latest from Disney Animation plays very much to the strengths and structures of its predecessors while making just enough tweaks to appropriate it for the current cultural landscape. Meaning directors Ron Clements and John Musker, who both not-so-surprisingly wrote and directed not only The Little Mermaid, but Aladdin, Hercules, and The Princess and the Frog among others, know what they're doing, but more are well-aware of the anatomy of a Disney movie and how best to perform such a feat as creating something that is both fun yet familiar. Creating a place audiences can go to find a refreshing bit of nostalgia in the Disney animated musicals of old while witnessing the marvels of today's animation as their children soak it all in for the first time the moral of Moana is that there will always be new generations of audiences who need to be coaxed or have a gateway to those aforementioned Disney hits of the nineties. Moana is very much an amalgamation of all that has come before it while encapsulating all that Disney's brand of animation can be moving forward. Taking cues from those that have come before, acknowledging them in humorous ways, and then going on to execute them in exceptional ways Moana is something of a treasure that never slows down (save for the obligatory bit of self-doubt that must be overcome in the third act) and continues to surprise by not necessarily going in any unexpected directions, but more by being as creative as possible in the approach it takes to those directions. It is difficult to describe exactly how a movie that brings so much joy is capable of doing just that, but I was unable to drop the smile and/or awestruck expression from my face for the entire runtime. For this and for its keen sense of when to borrow and when to innovate Moana is easily my favorite animated film of 2016.

New Trailer for Disney's MOANA

It can't help but feel like there is an onslaught of animated movies coming out this fall. We have Storks next week from Warner Bros. followed by DreamWorks' Trolls in early November and the now giant animation house of Illumination following up The Secret Life of Pets in December with (the kind of terrible looking) SING. Still, despite the more saturated than usual state of the market one of the most exciting films this holiday season is that of Disney Animation's latest film, Moana. Following up the billion dollar success of Zootopia the non-Pixar division of Disney looks to continue its hot streak with this strikingly beautiful film that is proud to tout it will indeed feature original songs as well as the pairing of mega-star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as demi-god Maui with the unknown Auli’i Cravalho voicing the titular character. Add to this the fact that Disney recruited well-renowned directing duo Ron Clements and John Musker who were behind the likes of both The Little Mermaid and Aladdin as well as Hamilton mastermind Lin-Manuel Miranda to compose the original songs for the movie and it's hard to imagine how this won't be incredible. Like four out of their last five hits Moana will open on or around Thanksgiving making the likelihood of the film reaching the epic-like proportions of Frozen even greater. As for the full trailer, this looks pretty fantastic. The colors are bursting and The Rock seems to be having an especially good time as his Maui looks to not simply be the comic relief but a genuine scene-stealer. The Pairing of these two characters feels inspired with their destined quest to find a fabled island and destroy evil demigods serving as a jumping off point to what is hopefully a cool exploration of a different culture. Moana also features the voice talents of Alan Tudyk, Phillipa Soo, Jemaine Clement, Rachel House, Temuera Morrison, Nicole Scherzinger, and opens on November 23rd, 2016.