I finally got around to writing my thoughts on the movie Frozen (affiliate link). Yes, I know I’m late to the party. Princess movies just aren’t a priority for me. I’m not the target audience.
Watched the movie a few times this weekend with my eight year old daughter. We have big arguments about animated movies and shows all the time. It’s fun.
After watching the movie, I have to say that I enjoyed it. I even liked Olaf, who I didn’t think I would like.
So I decided to just brake down my thoughts on the movie into two list of Pros and Cons. I’ll start with the Cons since I want to finish on a positive note.
Just remember that these are just my personal taste in movies and has nothing to do with the quality of the film making.
I really did enjoy the movie. So, here we go…
The Cons
Male Supporting Characters Are Forgettable
Most Disney Princess movie have VERY forgettable male supporting characters/love interests. And if they aren’t forgettable, they are portrayed as idiots. I think the exception to the rule is Beauty and the Beast, and perhaps Prince Phillip in Sleeping Beauty (but only because he fought a dragon). I would have said, Aladdin, but that’s not a princess movie. And Jasmine is a very interesting supporting female character anyway.
Generally, there’s nothing really all that interesting about them. They’re just there to be the love interest.
Male villains are usually much more interesting and memorable.
Frozen is no exception. The male supporting character (s) was/where really dull. The male villain, was interesting though.
The Princess’ Designs
I hate to say it but the design of both Princess’ reminded me of Rapunzel. They could have ALL been sisters.
Compare their designs to Merida from Brave, who had a very unique look to her.
I’m being picky here, because this is a Disney movie It’s not that they weren’t appealing characters but Disney has some of the best artists working for them. They could have done something a little more unique.
It’s a Musical
Yeah, the songs are nice. I liked them, but I’d rather not watch an animated musical anymore.
I know I’m in the minority here. This is just my personal opinion. It bugs me when characters just spontaneously brake into Disney music videos. Especially when it interrupts the flow of the story and doesn’t further the plot.
This occurs one too many times in Frozen.
The Pros
Plays Against Formula
My biggest gripe again most Disney princess movies is the “Disney formula,” their stories tend to fall into. Frozen plays against this formula beautifully. It leads you to believe you’re going to get the same story as always, only to veer off it just enough to make it completely new and unexpected.
I think there’s a reason why this movie has gotten so many great reviews and it’s really this. It only goes to show how tired everyone was of the same old movie and getting something just a little different really made this movie great.
Great Film For Girls/Young Women
This movie is a great female friendly movie. It’s a nice family movie too, but it’s more geared for females than any other audience.
The women are strong, independent, smart, fun, funny, attractive and driven. They’re great role models.
Also, there’s that “freedom” scene. You know what I mean, the “I’m and independent woman, let it go song” It reminds me of my sister.
It’s the highlight of the movie and I’m sure, within the context of the movie, it resonates, with a lot of young women.
Great Message About Love (Agape)
It’s go a great message about Love. Not necessarily about romantic love, and not even about filial love, but about, what Catholics commonly referrer to as Charity or Agape.
In other words, self-less love.
It’s a great lesson. It’s spelled out very well and very clearly. In fact, ti’s almost annoying because there are a few moments of selfless love in the movie that don’t seem to do that “trick” that would fix the problem or isn’t acknowledged.
They don’t make sense to me but, I guess it would have been less climatic is they did the trick so…I guess it’s okay?
Final Thoughts
Overall the movie was great. I really enjoyed it. It’s one of the better animated Disney movies to come out in a while.
It’s worth watching if you haven’t already. Although, I doubt that anyone wanting to see this hasn’t already.
What do you think? Agree disagree? Leave a comment below.
ANIMATION/SUPERHEROES – Four Reasons Young Justice is the Best Superhero Animated Series
Hands down,Young Justice is the Best Superhero Animated Series.
There are other animated superhero shows that come very close. Justice Leagueanimated andJustice League Unlimited do so, but Young Justice takes what those two shows did so well and elevates it to another level.
If you haven’t seen it, you’re really missing out.
Here’s Why:
Fantastic Art
Young Justice is one of the best drawn animated series the U.S. has ever produced. It’s only rival isThe Legend of Korra .
The character designs are great and the action is fantastic.
The look of the show very much appeals to a much older audience. It captures the superhero comic book feel very well.
I love just looking at the show. It makes the heroes look so darn cool. Very well done.
Great Characters
Although this show doesn’t have nearly as many characters as a show like Justice League Unlimited, the characters that show up are really great.
From the very first episodes you get a taste of what these characters are like and how they work together.
This show is not about Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Martian Manhunter, and the rest. It’s about the young people in all these heroes’ lives.
Characters like:
Superboy, Robin, Kid Flash, Miss Martian, Artemis, and a brand new original Aqualad is also introduced.
You might dismiss these characters as “lame” or “just sidekicks,” but the way they’re written makes each one very compelling. You’d think it would be odd to have Aqualad for example, but he’s one of the best characters in the series. He’s a Water Wizard and does more than just breath underwater and control fish.
The fact that they’re young and are learning to take on more and more dangerous responsibility, makes them even more compelling. In other words, these characters turn out to be VERY cool.
But the roster of characters doesn’t stop with them. The team roster eventually increases as we enter into the second season. Characters like Batgirl, Wonder Girl, Beast Boy, Blue Beetle, Zatana, and even Nightwing make an appearance.
I also like the relationships between the young team and the older Justice Leaguers. Especially the very tense relationship between Superman and Superboy. In this show Superboy is clone of Superman and Lex Luthor. Something Superman is NOT comfortable with, at all.
He expresses this by not wanting to have anything to do with Superboy, who is in desperate need of a father figure like Superman. This really is some of the more dramatic elements of the show.
Which leads me to the other thing I love about this show. The…
Unexpected Storylines
As you can see from the unexpected reaction Superman has to Superboy, this show loves to throw Monkey Wrenches at your Superhero expectations. These storyline are the heart and soul of the show. They keep you coming back for more.
Stuff the happens in the this show often leaves you in stunned silence.
The general rule of this show is, expect the unexpected. From the first episode, characters you think will join the team, don’t. A character you think will lead the team doesn’t. Characters you don’t expect to get together, do.
There’s characters that are working for bad guys in the team. There’s backstabbing, betrayals, five year skips in time that keep you scrambling to know what happened.
There are even stories where the entire Justice League is not even on Earth for months, leaving the young team in charge of the world.
I LOVE it. The Stories are so fun. You never see them coming. There’s some truly gutsy storytelling in this show. They take elements that we’ve seen in shows like Justice League animated and Justice League Unlimited and take it to a whole other level.
All this leads to…
Fun Drama
The combination of these great characters doing unexpected things through out the show leads to some really dramatic stuff.
I really can’t convey how awesome this stuff is. It’s very hard, without spoiling it all. Needless to say, this stuff gets emotionally epic really quick.
That characters are young. They’re learning to be adults. They’re reckless and eager to prove themselves. This combined with all the twists and turns the show throws out is a recipe for very high drama.
It’s good and it’s fun.
The Best Animated Superhero TV Show
http://youtu.be/UMs6_QOV10g
The four things above individually would have made Young Justice a good show, but in unison, they make it the best animated superhero TV show.
It’s so worth watching. It works as a stand alone show to watch.
It only ran two seasons unfortunately. Mostly because the Young Justice toys weren’t selling. NOT because of anything wrong with the show. If there was one flaw the show had, it was that is wasn’t kid friendly enough.
This should tell you right away how much more mature the stories where.
The best part for anyone who has Netflix, is that it was just released on streaming, so you can watch it all whenever you like. I recommend sooner than later.
If you’ve seen this show, sound off on the comments below.
ANIMATION- The Four Best and Worst Things About Anime
I love anime. I really do, but it’s not perfect. There are some awesome things about it and some not so awesome things. That is what this post is all about.
I grew up on watching anime.. Some of the first cartoons I remember watching were Heidi, Gatchaman, and Mazinger Z.
Those shows have influenced my taste in cartoons to this day. But that doesn’t mean that anime is perfect.
There are some things that REALLY annoy me about watching anime. But the best things about it keep me coming back for more again and again.
I came up with four things I like and dislike about anime and wrote them down here. I started with the worst so that I can leave you with the positive stuff at the end.
One thing that some American animation elitists will find missing from my “worst” list is the idea that the animation in anime is bad. I won’t go there because I disagree.
The animation in anime is stylistically different by choice and I like it that way. It’s not better or worst than American animation, just different. To think otherwise is to be a snobby animation elitist.
Okay, now that that’s off my chest, let’s get started…
THE WORST
Whinny Protagonists
This is by far one of the most annoying conventions in anime, the whinny protagonist. It’s not in EVERY anime but it’s in enough so that it drives me crazy.
We are meant to follow this guy (it’s usually a male protagonist) through his adventure and identify with him, but how can we? All he does is whine about his circumstances all the time.
The worst is when most of an episode is taken up by the protagonist not taking story furthering action because he’s whining. Effectively stopping the show or movie.
I don’t mind if, the character starts off being scared and as the show or movie goes on, he slowly becomes more self confident. But when he stays whinny from the start of the show till the end, that’s a huge turn off.
The worst I’ve ever seen was in the show Neon Genesis Evangelion. The character Shinji was a whinny baby from the first episode to the last and never changed.
So annoying.
Lack of Style Variety
Anime lacks style variety. There I said it. It has a certain look and it doesn’t veer from it much.
Yes, there is variety of styles within the anime style but that all it is, variations within a SINGLE style In general anime tends to look the same. It’s very rare when you see a Japanese cartoon and don’t realize it’s a Japanese cartoon.
There are exceptions but not very many.
I LIKE the style. It’s very appealing to me. Don’t get me wrong. But it’s only the one SINGLE style done in slightly different ways.
Pretensions and Preachy
Sometimes anime creators decide to preach their world view via their cartoons. And they do so in such a heavy handed way that it not only comes off as preachy but also very pretentious.
Now, almost every story has some sort of message. I’m not against that. But if it comes across as self righteous preaching, that’s when it gets annoying. Especially when they stop the story to do so.
And it’s even worse when the world view comes across like something an adolescent hormonal kid came up with and it’s just downright ridiculous.
Even if it’s an interesting world view though. Even when the world view is worth thinking about, when it stops the story so that the characters can preach to the audience about it, it just comes across as pretensions mumbo jumbo.
Let me get out of the story what I want to get out of the story but don’t try forcing it down my throat. It’s annoying.
Sexism and Misogyny
Panty shots, girls with gigantic bouncy boobs bigger than their heads, submissive women, tentacle rape or just plain rape and other abuse of women. Anime can be very sexist when it comes to objectifying women, and it’s often very misogynist.
I understand that a lot of it is meant to entice male viewer to watch. I get it, but it doesn’t make it right.
“Oh but women in anime are very strong and pro woman.” Really? Then why is she wearing a bikini in every episode? “It’s because women should be proud of their femininity.” Oh, so it’s not because you want to see them wearing as little as possible? *sarcasm*
One of these outfits is not like the others.
Case in point, Major Kusangi, a character in one of my favorite anime series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. Major Kusanagi is by far one of the strongest, self assured, badass female leads in an anime I’ve ever seen. She’s awesome, but she’s pretty much wearing underwear in every episode.
All the men are wearing normal clothes. They’re in suits. Which makes Major Kusanagi look even more ridiculous. They give an excuse in the show for her outfits but, it’s lame. It’s just an excuse to have her wear revealing clothes. It’s sexist.
It’s so bad, that it’s tough to recommend some good anime because of the embarrassing sexist portrayal of women in them.
And, let’s face it, some of this stuff really screws up the way some guys view women.
THE BEST
So if anime has so many annoying things like what I wrote above, why even watch it? Because it’s not ALL universally like that. Besides, the best in anime makes up for that bad stuff.
Good stuff like…
Variety of Genres
No other animation culture has the variety of genres that anime has. Not American animation, nor European animation.
Japanese animation has, pretty much every genre under the sun. There’s something for everyone. For kids, for grown ups, for teens, for adult males and adult females.
It’s my go to for animation because it actually caters to my tastes.
I love mecha stories, anime has them. I love space operas, anime has them. I love cyberpunk, anime has those too. Action adventure, Samurai stories, historical fiction, game cartoons, fantasy, cartoon about drawing comics…, you name, they have it.
So awesome. I love it.
Definitely, hands down, one of the best things about anime.
Great Action
Anime action is tough to beat. It’s tough to do action in animation without being influence at some level by Japanese cartoons.
They’re visceral and dynamic. Often epic in scope.
Anime is often coming up with better and better way to show action in animation.
There are even shows that are ONLY about people fighting just because the action itself is so fun and dynamic.
I love this about anime.
Great Draftsmanship
Nothing beats a hand drawn action scene of two anime mechas fighting. For an example of what I’m talking about, watch Gundam 00, SO AWESOME!
The draftsmanship involved in drawing something like that is unbelievable. It’s even better when the drawings of the people are just as well drawn.
Anime has a way of making other animated cartoons look like lazy art. I’m sometimes amazed at how well drawn the art in these cartoons are. Especially since they also move. Some more then others but they move none the less.
Yes, there’s some short cuts being taken but the end result is no less beautiful.
It’s eye candy and just inspiring. I love it, and I love it so much that I strive to draw just as well in my work.
Positive Messages
One of the thing I’ve appreciated more and more as I watch anime is the positive messages being conveyed through many of the protagonists.
It’s often a message of being confident, and having a sense of self worth. Sometimes it’s a message about friendship, and how we all need the love of others.
There’s also plenty of messages about self sacrifice and putting others ahead of oneself.
I love seeing that. I think the confidence and self worth messages in anime are by the far the most unique of all. This is mostly done in characters who are the antithesis of the whinny protagonist.
The confident protagonists who doesn’t let anyone get them down. The character who has goals and is willing (sometimes joyfully) to power through the hardships that will get them to that goal. Those characters are worth emulating.
The optimism and the drive. The fearlessness is something I think we should all learn from.
Great positive stuff.
Sound off
I know I’ve made some people very mad at me. Especially because of what I wrote in the first part of this post. Let me know what you think.
Just be polite or I’ll erase your post.
I love anime. These are the things I love about it and the things I don’t. If you agree with me, I’d love to hear from you as well.
ANIMATION/MOVIES – Top Ten Dreamworks Animated Movies
As lousy with bad sequels and spin offs as Dreamworks is, they’re also the studio, I think, is taking the most risks.
What do I mean by this? Well, they dare to make action adventure movies, catering a tad more to the male audience, than any other American Animation studios.
Yes this means that their movies aren’t as successful, considering it’s a demographic very difficult to get to go watch an animated movie, but they try. For this, I’m grateful, it means there’s an animation studio that makes movies that I will find appealing.
After thinking about it, I decided to make a list of my top ten Dreamworks movies.
I expected less from this movie. I really didn’t have any desire to watch this movie based on the trailers. I think it was poorly marketed.
After watching it, I was pleasantly surprised. It was reminiscent of Pixar’s Ratatouille but much less focused. It also veers away from Pixar’s movie enough to make it it’s own movie.
I liked how it had a lot of minority characters in it. That part was great. I liked how they incorporated the “Fast and the Furious” racing culture in there too.
Had they stuck more with that I think the movie would have been much more successful,. But they added a big snail culture thing at the beginning and made it more about the Indy 500, which didn’t fit with the other stuff.
They tried to cater to too many groups all at once and really failed to nail all of them. All that said, I still liked the movie for the bits they did get right.
By far one the ugliest movies Dreamworks produced. A movie so ugly I wasn’t going to go watch it. But I got curious, so opening weekend I went to watch it and laughed so hard I almost soiled myself.
This is the movie that put Dreamworks on the map. It’s first real hit. So very funny. So unexpected.
The ugliness of the designs ended up not being a big deal compared to how fun this movie was.
It’s difficult now, to remember how refreshingly funny and fun this movie was, now that it has so many sequels. That said, this is still a funny movie.
Aardmann animation and Dreamworks teamed up to bring us Wallace & Gromit the Curse of the Were-Rabbit. The second stop motion movie Dreamworks produced. This is Aardman charm at it’s best.
It’s a great parody of a horror movie starting Wallace & Gromit. It’s so good and darn funny.
The animation and action is top notch. It worth watching over and over.
My kids love it with good reason. This is a great movie.
Dreamwork’s attempt at a superhero movie. I really liked this one. Of course it helps that it’s my favorite genre but I didn’t know if it was going to be any good when I first watched the trailers.
I found myself really enjoying myself. The twists and turns in the movie where fun and it made me laugh.
If I’d liked the designs of the characters a bit more, it may have been higher on my list.
This is a movie I wouldn’t have minded seeing a sequel to.
This is yet another superhero movie. Only this group of superheroes are Santa Claus, The Tooth Fairy, The Easter Bunny, The Sandman and Jack Frost.
The problem is that the audience that they were catering to, which was teenage boys, were’nt going to go watch a movie about Santa even it he DID have swords.
I really liked this movie because it was a superhero movie. I liked the action and the story was not bad. I also liked the designs of the characters.
This was a fun movie. I have a feeling adults liked this movie more than the kids who watched it did. And I doubt enough teenage boys watched it.
This one could almost be called a masterpiece. It’s also got a special place in my heart because I went to the Dreamworks studios for the first time around the time it was being developed and I got to see some amazing concept art for it.
The story was great, the animation was fantastic. The designs were a bit more watered down than the ones I saw but still, they where great.
The art direction is stunning. The music is not bad.
This movie moved me and it was such a promising start for the studio. They did something with hand drawn animation that no big studio had done before. It was a risky movie that paid off.
Kung Fu Panda 2 was not as surprising as the first movie but still had everything the first one had. This made it very good. It’s the only movie on this list that is a sequel.
I liked this movie quite a bit. It was fun, funny and action packed.
It gave me exactly what I wanted and I left happy. I wouldn’t mind seeing yet another one of these.
Oh man, definitely one of my favorite movies. I loved the dragons, I loved the journey the characters take. I like the setting the characters designs, the action.
Everything about this movie is really fun. If only more animated movies where like this.
ANIMATION – Top 10 Favorite Animated Movies of All Time
I sat down to make my list of my favorite animated movies of all time. I opened the list to, not only theatrically released American films, but also direct to DVD movies from all over the world.
Granted, I haven’t see everything and the list can and will most certainly change in a year or so. That said, I was a bit shocked with the list I put down.
There aren’t any Disney films in it. Well one is technically a Disney film but I consider it a Pixar movie more than Disney. Otherwise, none of the movies that inspired me to get into the industry to begin with made the list.
Has the animation industry really surpassed or outdone the classics or has my taste in animated movies changed that much?
My choices for these movies had nothing to do with the quality of the animation. That would have produced a completely different list.
This list was based on how much I enjoy watching these movies over and over. What type of movies I gravitate to more and want to spend time immersed in.
This is the type of movie I really enjoy. Funny, exciting, imaginative, unconventional and full of action. This is fantasy done right. Actually I think I I should have put this movie on my list of Top 10 Animated Fantasy movies. DOH!
Anyway, I love the characters, the story, the designs. It’s so much fun to watch.
I like the universe of this movie as a whole. More action adventure movies of this type should be made in America.
Oh my gosh RANGO! A western “furries” starring a very odd chameleon. This movie is brilliant. I can’t say I like the character designs in this movie, but at the same time, it’s one of the qualities of the movie that makes is so interesting.
The fact that it’s a full blown western is mind blowing. It’s so odd, so unique, and so interesting. A very unexpected movie and I just love it. Rango.
I wrote a whole post just on Secret of Kells. This is the best movie about an illuminated version of the Gospels ever made. On top of that, the design of the characters are based off of medieval illuminated art and Eastern Orthodox Iconography.
It’s eye candy. The story about a little monk wanting to be an artist is compelling.
Did I mention it’s about Catholic Monks, and it’s a positive representation of said monks? And it treats their faith as something normal? It’s refreshing.
It’s also very dramatic, scary and magical. A must see.
I love Kung Fu. I like watching Kung Fu movies. Then suddenly there’s this fantastic animated movie series featuring Kung Fu? I’m in.
Yes, yes, yes, more movies like these please. Fighting movies! Action movies! Yes. Why doesn’t the animation industry have more of this kind of stuff? What is wrong with us?
These movies are so good. So fun to watch.
I know I’m cheating putting two movies here but, hey, they kinda feel like one big story.
Miyazaki, is a genius. Spirited Away is a brilliant Fairytale in the same vain as Coraline only, it’s somehow just a tad deeper.
I don’t know why I like this movie so much. I don’t know what resonated with me about it but I really like it.
A girl growing in confidence and maturity under extremely fantastical circumstances full of magic and mystery. It’s great. If you haven’t watched it, you own it to yourself to do so.
Yes, this on the list. I debated putting it here. I haven’t watched this movie in ages., but every time I think about it I can’t help but smile. This is the movie about being an artist.
This is the movie where Miyazaki talks to the audience about what is is to be creative. He does so completely and totally in an indirect way.
Perhaps that’s why I continue to think about this movie. It’s also quiet, contemplative and interestingly paced. If “feels” so real. I love it. Kiki’s Delivery service.
One of the best family movies ever made. One of the best superhero movies ever made. This movie really hits home.
The characters are so true and believable. They feel like a real family, and at the same time, they’re so fantastical. After all, they’re all have superpowers.
Action, adventure, comedy and heart, this movie really has it all. Including, great character designs.
This is where this list goes off it’s rocker and gets completely unconventional. This is a straight to DVD movie! What’s it doing higher on the list than The Incredibles?
Warner Brothers animation are the only studio producing these kind of movies at this caliber of quality. Marvel has yet to catch up.
I think this Batman movie is better written than any of it’s live action counter parts.
Sure, the quality of the animation isn’t the best. This isn’t full animation but the designs and draftsmanship on the characters is amazing. Also the story is mind blowingly intense. This is a very dramatic movie.
The story is so good. The characters really get put through the ringer here. A must watch for any superhero fan and any Batman fan.
This movie is not for kids. My kids have yet to watch it. It’s PG13 for a reason.
Yup, a made for DVD movie made my number one. Again, the animation in itself isn’t the draw here. The character designs aren’t even all the great. They’re okay but not the best. I’ve seen better Warner animated movie designs, although, just like Batman: Under the Red Hood, the quality of the art is amazing.
So why is it my number one?
One, because I LOVE Superman and I’m a Superman nut, but…
Two, because the story is so mythic. This is the story about the last days of Superman, based on the comic series by Grant Morrison. This is what Superman does when he finds out he’s terminally ill, is going to die and there’s nothing he can do about it.
This movie is a love letter to the history of Superman as a character. Just like almost every movie on this list, this movie is full of action, but it’s more than that.
It’s what Superhero stories are best at, morality plays. This is Superman at his most iconic. Perhaps it’s what people wanted from the live action movie Man of Steel.
This movie doesn’t explain itself. It doesn’t explain Superman, it doesn’t explain the history of the antagonists who he fights, it doesn’t dwell on explaining the universe it takes place in. It just goes and trusts the audience will let go, be child like, enjoy the fantasy and immerse themselves in the mythic nature of the movie.
The best Superhero movie of all time, and I think it’s the best animated movie of all time. All Star Superman. Watch it.
Am I Crazy?
What’s you favorite movie of all time? I shared mine. Would you put a direct to DVD movie at the top of your list? Somehow I doubt it.
Sound off on the comments below and let me know what you think.
ANIMATION – 3 Reasons “Attack on Titan” Anime Blew Me Away
It’s no secret that I like anime. I grew up watching it. I think it’s one of the few sources for unique animated cartoons in the world.
The Japanese are not afraid to take risks when it comes to stories and genres in animation. Most of the time because the anime is based off of already successful Manga with huge fan bases.
When I start watching a new anime show or movie I’ve never seen or heard of, I watch it hoping for the best but expecting something mediocre of bad. I’ve watched enough anime to know that there’s some pretty bad stuff out there.
Recently on Netflix, a new anime by the name of Attack on Titan came to my attention. It was recently released yet it had four stars. This was quite surprising.
The title made it seem like it would be a science fiction story. Maybe, it would take place in outer space.
I had to take care of holding Baby Gio at the time. I didn’t really have much to do since I had to hold and rock him to sleep, so I put the cartoon on to pass the time. Imagine my surprise when I was instantly gripped by this cartoon.
I’ve rarely been so enthralled so quickly. Here’s the three reasons why this cartoon blue my mind:
1. It’s a Fantastic Premise
This is NOT a cartoon about outer space like I thought it was. If anything, the title almost makes no sense. It should have been called, “Attack on the Titans,” or “Attack of the Titans.”
It’s a fantasy story about the last of humanity and the giants who have all but wiped them out.
This isn’t your happy fairyland and magic type of fantasy, this is dark, dreadful, “we’re all going to die” kind of fantasy.
After a century of safety and peace behind these giant walls that protect humanity from the giants that have wiped out almost all humans, the giants manage to breach the first wall, thus starting humanity’s last stand.
It’s as intense as it sounds.
And the world building is really well done.
2. It’s Got Some Fantastic Cinematography
One of the things that is just mindbogglingly good is the use of the camera in this cartoon. It’s a hand drawn cartoon but uses CG backgrounds to move through the streets, following the soldiers as they do their thing.
Believe me when I say that what the soldiers do in this cartoon is very dynamic.
The cinematography adds a visceral flair that really builds the intensity of show. I can imagine how much duller this show would be with static cameras.
3. It’s Gripping
From the very first minute of this show, you’re hooked. THIS is how to tell a story. It’s truly gripping.
It’s one scary show. Very intense. Very creepy. Very suspenseful.
If you’ve watched the Battlestar Gallactica reboot from a few years back, you have a bit of an idea of the intensity of the situation the characters in this story are dealing with. It’s a very similar premise.
And the giants in this show are really horrific. The show goes out of it’s way to make you realize how awful these things are. The are REALLY SCARY. And humanity really doesn’t stand much of a chance against them.
You empathize with the protagonists right away, simply because their situation is so dire.
This is one of the reason the show is so gripping. On top of that, the story is so full of twists and turns, shows often end in these crazy cliff hangers. And just when you think things are finally going to be okay, they throw in another twist.
It’s brilliant.
Watch It
If you have Netflix streaming and you want a great, intense show and don’t mind reading subtitles, this is the a show you should watch.
I’ve watched a lot of anime, and they rarely grip you like this. This show is obviously based on a manga series. Now that I’ve watched the anime, I’m curious how much more story there is in the manga.
Have you seen this show? If you have, what do you think? Do you agree?
ANIMATION – 10 American Animated Movies With Great Premises That Didn’t Deliver
It’s not the idea, it’s the execution. You can have the greatest idea for an animated movie ever, but if you don’t put together the right story and tell it in the most compelling way, it can fall flat on it’s face.
Too often I’ve been excited about the prospect of an animated movie only to have it fall short of my expectations.
I don’t mean to be mean.
The people that worked on these movies worked their butts off. They did their best to make the best movie they could. I actually KNOW people who worked on some of these movies personally. I have nothing against the effort and art they put into making these movies. In fact, the stuff I saw them do was actually really great. But for whatever reason, the movies just didn’t work out as well as they should have.
Out of all the movie on this list, this movie came the closest to actually being good. The character designs where amazing. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles where great. The action was superb.
It really felt right.
But the story was lacking. It was only okay. There was nothing about it that really made this movie outstanding.
It’s really too bad, it’s not a horrible movie. I own it, and I enjoy watching it for the action and the look of it. It just didn’t turn out to be as good as it should have.
Out of all the movie on this list, this movie has the least exciting premise. When you hear the premise it doesn’t really get you all that exciting. That said, the pedigree behind the movie was incredible.
This was the movie that was made right around the time Dreamworks was first formed. At the height of their headhunting the greatest artists and animators in the world.
Dreamworks potentially could have done no wrong here.
Visually, this movie was exactly what was promised. It’s a masterpiece of animation. The art direction and character designs are amazing. The draftsmanship top notch.
But the story…well, it fell short. It’s really too bad. This is a beautiful movie.
Man, this movie got a lot of people excited. It had the potential to “fixing” the bad after taste of the Star Wars prequels.
Problem was, it was never meant to a movie. It was just the pilot for the TV show released theatrically.
The show was animated overseas, the assets the show had to work with where limited. The budget was that of a TV show, and the story wasn’t as ambitious or epic as the show later became.
It was a “meh” story. It shouldn’t have been released theatrically. It disappointed. It was a bad start to what eventually became one of the best animated shows on television.
Oh man, I love Astroboy. I was excited for this movie. How could you go wrong?
Simply adapt one of Osama Tezuka’s many great Astro Boy stories into a CG animated movie and watch the money come in. Simple. The character has lasted this long for a reason.
So what happens? They ignore the source material and end up with some weird Americanized version of the character that lacks any of the “Kokoro” of the actual Japanese version.
Missed opportunity. The movie looked good but it was really disappointing.
I’ve never read the The Chronicles of Prydain books. I’ve heard from a friend of mine who read them as a kid that they were quite good.
This movie had the potential to be The Lord of the Rings of Disney animated movies.
Unfortunately it wasn’t. I don’t know what happened during it’s production but the movie just didn’t grab anyone’s attention and the story didn’t quite get executed well.
Fans of the book series where disappointment and the movie has gained cult status as THE worst of the Disney animated movies.
Wow, Beowulf. This was an ambitious premise to tackle. The epic of all epics.
Perfect for animation…but it wasn’t animated, it was motion captured. And the characters where made to look as life like as possible, which put the movie in that odd “uncanny value” territory.
Then the adaptation of the story which was written by non other than Neil Gaiman wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be.
The best thing in the movie was the dragon. I’m pretty sure, that part wasn’t motion captured.
Great premise, good attempt at a mature animated movie. I appreciated that part, but the overall movie was disappointing.
FINALLY Disney was going to start making the type of movies I wanted to watch. This movie had it all, Pirates, treasure, adventure, a proven story and it was going to be science fiction.
How can you go wrong?
I don’t know what it is about this but it just wasn’t as good it could have been. I had VERY high hopes for this.
The art direction, the animation, the character designs, where all there. I even liked the song. It SHOULD have worked…but it didn’t.
This movie sealed the coffin on Disney movies moving further in this direction with their animated movies.
This is the movie Disney wanted Miyazaki to direct. More than Treasure Planet, this one really seemed like it was going to change Disney animation.
This was the closest Disney got to an animated Indiana Jones movie.
I was excited. Mike Mignola was brought in to help with the art direction. This was going to be like a high octane comic book movie.
Even some of the characters look like comic characters.
Unfortunately, it didn’t quite deliver. The story wasn’t compelling enough.
The animation was great, the art direction was exceptional, but the characters designs were all over the place. None of the characters looked like they belonged in the same universe.
Out of all the Dreamworks movies, this is the one that most disappointed me. Once again you have some of the best artists, animators and designers in the world working on a movie but THIS time the premise is AWESOME.
The adventures of Sinbad. This promised to have some superheroics and monster fighting. This sounded awesome! Just going to watch a movie of the concept art alone would have been mind blowing.
So I went to the theater excited. Finally the kind of animated movie I wanted to see coming from a major studio and it would be really well animated. Only to come out of the movie theater so darn disappointed.
The movie was as beautiful as it promised to be. The art was great, the animation great, the designs…where a little watered down and a touch generic. And I say this because I’ve seen the concept art of the characters which were more interesting than the final version. The action WAS there but it was empty. I didn’t care. The story was lacking. I could see what they were going for but it missed the mark.
That movie marked the end of hand drawn animation at Dreamworks.
Don Bluth’s animated movies are really inconsistent at best. Some of his movies are AWESOME and some are just down right awful. I don’t know why. I don’t know the circumstances behind the inconsistencies.
All I know is that when I saw the trailer for Titan AE I was totally in. It was the first, full blown attempt at an American hand drawn science fiction feature film by a big studio in years.
I couldn’t have been more excited.
The movie started off very promising, only to slowly become more and more meandering as it went. It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t good either. The characters where generic and the animation was rotoscoped, which puts the motion in that “uncanny valley” place. Which I hate.
I own this movie. Once in a while I take it out and watch it. Just the attempt at such an epic science fiction idea goes a long way in my book.
The idea was so great only to be so disappointing. It’s really too bad.
ANIMATION – 6 Reasons Why Watching Justice League Animated is a Great Way to Learn About the DC Universe.
If you’ve been watching Arrow, enjoyed the The Dark Knight Trilogy or theMan of Steel movie and want to learn more about the DC universe where do you go? What’s the least painful way to do so without having to read a ton of comics?
Well, actually, since the New 52 reboot of the DC Universe, the comics are actually a great place to start. BUT if you want an alternate way, then watching Justice League animated along with all the other shows of it’s kinds is a great way to go.
You can watch the video below or read the article yourself. This video is different. You’ll actually see me reading this article. Usually I just get my video transcribed:
(Many of the links in this post are affiliate links. thank you for your support.)
Now, I know that the title of this post is how watchingJUSTICE LEAGUE animated is a great way to learn about the DC universe, BUT the truth is, Justice League is only one of FOUR DC animated shows the revolve around the same animated Universe.
I recommend you start with Batman The Animated series Season 4, then watch Superman The Animated Series followed by Batman Beyond so when you watch Justice League/Justice League Unlimited, you can get the most out of the show.
BUT since that may be WAY too much to ask, then starting with the Justice League animated series by itself is just about as good a place to start as any.
Just recognize that the six reasons below can just as easily be applied to the other animated shows I mentioned as they can to the Justice League show. Alright then, let’s begin:
1. It Introduces You to the Core Members
The first episode of Justice League introduces you to the core members of the League, witch include: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and Hawkgirl. Everyone of the these characters that didn’t have their own animated series gets quite a few “spot light” episodes where you get to know background about them.
Mostly though, you get to know them by the way they act in high pressure and dangerous situations.
When it comes to Superman and Batman, their animated series goes into further depth on those characters than the Justice League show does. The Superman animated series is especially good in this regard.
2. It Introduces You to All the Toughest DC Villains
Right off the bat the Justice League series needed to bring out the big guns. This is the Justice League cartoon after all. They’re the best and most power heroes in the DC universe. For the story to be interesting you need to bring out the meanest bad guys the DC universe has to offer: The Manhunters, Felix Faust, Mongul, Morgaine le Fey, Vandal Savage, Dark Seid, Braniac, Despero are just some of the many villains that make their appearance in this show.
3. It Stories Takes you Through Time and Space of the DC Universe
This show goes EVERYWHERE. From Dark Seid’s planet Apokolips, to the Wild West, from the Batman Beyond future, to the Green Lantern Planet OA, from the far future Earth where the sun is Red, to Skartaris (a hidden world inside the Earth’s core). This show takes you to some amazing DC locations.
It’s pretty impressive how vast the DC universe is.
4. You’re Introduced to Practically Every Superhero and Villain in the DC Universe.
One you hit season 3 of the Justice League show called, Justice League Unlimited, the flood gates open and every superhero in the DC universe is invited to become a member of the Justice League.
For you fans of Arrow, this is where Green Arrow makes his appearance, along with Black Canary, and Roy Harper. But you also get characters like Supergirl, The Question, Booster Gold, Hawk and Dove, even Batman Beyond makes an appearance, I mean, just about every single superhero ever created in the DC Universe make, at least, a cameo.
And you can’t have that many superheroes without almost all the villains in the DC Universe showing up too. Lex, Solomon Grundy, Captain Cold, The Trickster, The Leech,The Crime Syndicate. There’s whole episodes with the Legion of Doom, swamp Headquarters and all.
It’s pretty fantastic.
Although, I will say, that if you want to get the full story of Dark Seid, the New Gods and their history with Superman, the place to go is the second season of Superman The Animated Series. You will also find the full origin of Braniac there as well.
5. The Stories From the Show Where so Good That They Influenced the Comics.
Alan Moore’s story “For the Man Who Has Everything,” is adapted into an animated episode. It’s a great one, but mostly the episodes of the show were original. They were so good in fact that, as I read comics, I saw the same stories from the animated cartoon start popping up in the comics.
There’s a whole series where the Earth Governments go to war with The Justice League because they’re afraid of how powerful they are. It’s really dramatic stuff.
There are just too many great stories to count in this show. I’m going to have to make a top ten list.
6. It Acclimates You To the Type of Action You Get in the Comics
This is something I think is important. Especially after the backlash that the movie Man of Steel got from the crazy over the top Zod vs. Superman fight at the end of the movie.
Movie audience that never pick up a comic where shocked at the destruction, but if you read the comics, that kind of damage is very common.
Watching these cartoons will help. Once you’re used to seeing that superhero action is always over the top and very destructive, when you watch the live action heroes do it, it will feel a bit more true to form.
So There You Have It
Alright, so those are the reason why you should watch Justice League/Justice League Unlimited. I still recommend you start with season four of Batman The Animated series and move on to the other shows before getting to Justice League, BUT if you only start with Justice League, you’ll be alright.
I’ve made a few videos about anime. I’ve done my top ten Miyazaki movies, I’ve done my top ten anime TV series, and I don’t want to do a top ten anime movies because pretty much Miyazaki is it.
So I’ve already done my top ten Miyazaki movies, which basically is the best anime movies out there. But I did want to recognize, there’s other TV series and other made-for-video movies in anime that are worth watching.
This is the best of the rest, I guess I should say.
You can either watch the video or read the transcription below. Below, you’ll also find links to these shows and videos so you can get a taste of what they’re like:
I’ve watched a lot of anime over the years. Some of it just doesn’t quite fit my categories of these top ten lists, so I’m just going to point them out to you as far as the stuff that I really, really like, and I recommend.
You may disagree with me violently, especially with the first one, number ten, but hear me out.
My number ten. Okay, you ready for this?
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Yes, Yu-Gi-Oh!, you read right. That show that everybody hates, that everybody, every single time somebody says, oh yeah, Yu-Gi-Oh!. And you see someone playing that, it’s just like,
“Oh that’s an awful anime. That’s an awful cartoon. How awful!”
I love Yu-Gi-Oh!, and one of the reasons why I love Yu-Gi-Oh! is, I play the card game. Yes, I go and I look at the cards and I play them and it’s a fun, fun game.
I actually like it more than playing Magic: The Gathering, and, yes I also play that game by the way. And hey, I also play the PokémonCard Game with my daughter.
So, yeah, I like the trading card games and I do like Yu-Gi-Oh!. I think Yu-Gi-Oh! is one of the very best trading card games. And because I like the game, when I watch the show, it literally feels like playing the game.
You know, if you watch the show, you’re seeing this over the top—okay, first of all, let me remark, one really quick thing about Yu-Gi-Oh!, and that is the character designs are terrible. They’re just ugly, ugly, ugly. I personally don’t like the character designs.
But I do enjoy the over the top melodrama of the show and that’s what really keeps me involved. And I like how they’re just playing a card game, but they make it so melodramatic and over the top and there’s always all these stakes, it just makes it a lot of fun to watch.
So I highly recommend watching Yu-Gi-Oh!, okay. It’s great. I like it.
Gunsmith Cats is basically about two gunsmiths, but they also get hired out to do bounties and different things like that.
They’re very good, one’s an expert shot, one’s an explosive expert. And this is just about guns, cars, and girls.
Emphasis on the cars and the guns. I mean, they lovingly reproduced the sound effects and all the research on all these guns, and there’s something about just the feel of these things.
I don’t know what it is about the show. Maybe it’s just the muscle cars in it, I don’t know. It’s fun, it’s beautiful to look at, and the intro music, very, very cool, kind of very retro, jazzy. It’s great.
My number eight is very popular and I haven’t talked about it, it didn’t make my top ten anime TV series but it’s very highly regarded, and that is Neon Genesis Evangelion.
This is a giant robot show, where the one difference between this and many other giant robot shows is that even though it still follows the formula of the boy getting his grandfather’s or father’s robot, fairly formulaic, saving the earth from alien invasions, but the aliens are a little bit vague and there is a lot of psychological melodrama that goes on with these characters.
The robots are unique because they’re organic and the characters go into these capsules. So the thing that makes this unique is when the character actually goes into the robot, they feel what the robot feels.
That’s the extra step that this show took that made it go a little bit further. My number one anime TV show, if you look at my other list, was Vision of Escaflowne, and they kind of do that a little bit too, but this is the one that kind of invented it.
There’s a lot of other things in it. It’s super melodramatic, it’s very beautifully drawn, it’s frustratingly opaque, and the reason why it’s not even in my top ten AnimeTV series is because the character Shinji, is the most annoying main character ever written.
He is such a wuss, and he’s so whiny, and all he does is whine, and he never actually grows. This is taking the idea of Amuro Ray from Mobile Suit Gundam, the original 79, and Amuro Ray was a little bit whiny, but he grew up and became a man.
This guy never has that happen, and it’s so irritating, but it’s still worth watching.
It’s a very, very unique, very beautifully done anime. I highly recommend it. Neon Genesis Evangelion.
Ranma 1/2 is about this guy who, when he gets hit by water, turns into a girl. Yeah, it’s very, very strange.
It’s under what’s called the harem genre of anime where it’s one guy and a bunch of girls like him, so he’s basically got this harem of girls who are actually madly in love with him, and he has no interest in almost any of them.
In this show, the two main characters of Ranma and Akane are betrothed, so it’s kind of a romantic comedy about these people who, everything they do is martial arts. Everything they do is martial arts. Anything goes, martial arts.
Whatever it is, it has to have martial arts in it. So if it’s cooking, it’s martial arts cooking. If it’s ballet, it’s martial arts ballet. If it’s chess, it’s martial arts chess. Everything involves fighting.
So it’s ridiculous, crazy, weird stuff.
Ranma’s father, when he gets hit by water becomes a panda, and then there’s this other character who gets hit by water and becomes a pig, this other girl gets hit by water and she becomes a cat, and it’s all curses because they went to China and they fell in the spring that cursed them forever for doing that.
It’s just wacky, crazy, and it’s a romantic comedy, and the best bits are when these characters kind of almost admit that they like each other and then don’t really, and it’s full of crazy, wacky, fantastic characters.
There’s a bazillion, bazillion episodes of this show and I’ve got almost all, every single one of them, and I was addicted because it’s so funny, and I really liked it. Highly recommend it. Ranma 1/2.
Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust is actually much better than the original Vampire Hunter D.
This is a supernatural horror action-adventure movie with, characters with superpowers. But very supernatural, werewolves, vampires, that sort of thing.
Madhouse produced it. It’s fantastic. I can’t say enough good things.
Well drawn, it’s just got—I don’t know what else to say except you should watch it.
It’s one of the best animes you could possibly watch. My number six is Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust.
Same company, same producers, same director. It’s samurai stuff, let’s see, but there’s nudity, it’s rated R. It’s rated R, heavily rated R. It’s got stuff in it that maybe you don’t want to watch with your kids around.
But again, another one of these things where it’s like, bad guys have all these superpowers and it’s just super powered martial arts coolness action. It’s just action, action, action, with characters with incredible superpowers, and it’s so fun to watch.
This is a series that is stylistically fantastic. Science fiction. It’s just, this is one of the best shows out there, and it is Cowboy Bebop.
Cowboy Bebop is about bounty hunters looking for work in outer space, and the adventures that they have in this very science fiction world. Characters are fantastic, storylines are great.
There’s a general overarching storyline in between all these adventures that these characters have. There’s elements of Lupin the Third, very reminiscent of Lupin.
The kind of guy, the Lupin archetypes, and they just kind of set them up and recreate them in a more space setting.
So I highly recommend watching Cowboy Bebop. It is fantastic.
My number three is from the same producers and directors and writers of Cowboy Bebop and that would be Samurai Champloo. Samurai Champloo is actually beautiful, beautiful art.
The thing that makes this interesting, it’s a samurai show and it’s kind of a historical samurai show, but the way it’s shot, it’s shot like it’s got a hip-hop rhythm to it, in a way they’re trying to direct it in a very hip-hop way.
It’s a lot more lighthearted, it’s a comedy with a lot of action in it. The artwork is incredible, the characters feel a teeny-tiny bit like the characters in Cowboy Bebop, but definitely, definitely, definitely take them to a much more comedic level.
The characters are very archetypical, but if you watch it with an eye towards comedy and action, then you’re going to really, really enjoy it. On top of that, you know the rhythm thing with the hip-hop is really, really interesting.
And I’m going to mention the artwork again, I can’t not mention it because it’s beautiful, it’s really well-drawn. Samurai Champloo.
My number two is another one that I don’t own, I watched it all on Hulu. Oh wait, yes I do, I have the first DVD. And that is Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, I bought the first DVD, I watched it, I watched the first four episodes, and I was not, not, not impressed at all.
I was like,
“Really? This is the most boring show I’ve ever seen, the characters are sitting around talking. It is boring,” okay, so I’m like, “this is terrible.”
But one day I was desperate to watch some cyber-punk, so I started watching the rest of the show on Hulu, and I’m like,
“I’m just going to keep it in the background while I work,” right? So that’s exactly what I did, and I started watching it and watching it and watching it, and then little by little I started realizing how good the show was, but it really took a long time for it to get going.
Once it got going, it was incredible and it was so good. And then the way in which the first season ended was really well done. And then the second season, the way the second season started, it was one of the best episodes.
It was beautiful and it was exciting and it was amazing and it was incredible cyber-punk.
I highly, highly recommend going and watching Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, the TV series.
My number one, I’m not going to talk too much about it, I already dedicated an entire video to it, and that is Giant Robo.
Giant Robo is basically an over the top action-adventure, beautifully drawn series with a giant robot in it and a bunch of characters who are just over the top super powered.
In a lot of ways, very reminiscent of both Vampire Hunter D and Ninja Scroll with the crazy super powered characters, and I’m a sucker for that stuff. I love it, I love that stuff.
So I highly recommend you go watch Giant Robo. That is my number one.
So what do you think? Am I crazy, including what I included in my list?
Let me know. While you’re here, you could also subscribe to my newsletter. If you do, you will get a digital download of my book Angel Cowgirl, which has got a bunch of my artwork in it, it’s my art of book.
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ANIMATION – The Best of Science Fiction Animation.
Science fiction in feature animation is pretty much non existent. Very, very, very few science fiction feature films are made. And even when they are made they’re not necessarily always all that good, so they wouldn’t be worthy of the list.
So instead, I’m doing a list of the best in animated science fiction, animated science fiction as far as the movies that they have made, plus straight to DVD movies, plus TV series, plus straight to DVD series.
There’s a plethora of those types of science fiction animated cartoons, but not necessarily movies. So I’m just going to clump all of it together and I’m going to make my top 10 best in animated science fiction.
Science fiction is one of my favorite genres and I really, really want to watch more science fiction animation. I would love there to be more science fiction animated feature animation.
You can watch the video below or simply read the transcription, it’s up to you:
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While you could watch Futurama in a lot of different places, you could watch it on Netflix. I highly, highly recommend you watch it.
It is a great, funny, fantastic show which makes fun of the genre. Overall, it’s really disappointing that it was cancelled but it is really fantastic.
Please watch Futurama if you love sci-fi. It’s a satire on all things sci-fi, so I highly recommend it. My number 10 is Futurama.
My number 9 is my first Japanese cartoon on the list, and that’s Cowboy Bebop.
Cowboy Bebop, about two bounty hunters in space and the crew of crazies that end up joining them. It’s got a very deep through line throughout the whole story and it ends really dramatically.
It’s really interesting. You don’t know where these characters are going. It’s great.
Character designs are great. The art is great. The universe that this takes place in is very cool. Spaceships are fantastic; the warping and it’s just cool. So I highly recommend this show – the series Cowboy Bebop.
My number 8, I’ve dedicated an entire video to this series and that is Giant Robo.
Boy, and his robot surrounded by the Experts of Justice. It’s got fighting, action, adventure and it’s beautifully drawn. Like I said, I did a whole entire post about it.
You could just watch that. It’s ten minutes long; it’s how much I rave about this show.
My number 7 is a classic, I don’t know many people who haven’t heard about this movie.
Akira is the name of the weird boy that blew up. Yeah, it’s about a boy who blew up Tokyo named Akira, and so they had to rebuild it and called it Neo-Tokyo. It was built around the explosion site.
It turns out that there’s some kind of thing about evolution and experimentation with humans and about energy that can’t be contained. And it’s basically about a motorcycle gang that kind of gets involved in the middle of all these thing. And it’s amazing.
It’s one of the most fully animated anime movies you’ll ever see. It’s one of the rare animated Japanese movies where the dialogue was recorded first and the mouths actually work with the dialogue – the Japanese dialogue – because usually in Japan it’s done the other way around.
They animate it first and then they record the dialogue. In America it’s done the other way. The audio is recorded first and then you animate to the audio.
They did this movie the western way, so it is a little bit more fully animated than most anime you’ll actually see. It’s a beautiful, beautiful movie Akira. It is my number 7.
I don’t own this one because there is no American distributor of this movie. You’ll have to find it online in the translations sites, and that is Macross Frontier.
This was my number one anime series, I believe or my number two. I talk about in another list but this is basically – they expand the idea of Robotech from the 80’s.
Macross is basically what Robotech actually was in Japan. They took Robotech years into the future.
This takes place in another spaceship with another different types of set of aliens as the villains and it’s also got a love triangle again. It kind of follows the follows the Robotech formula but it veers off of it.
It’s got transforming robot. The fighting is incredible. The story is so much fun. Highly recommend it. Really great sci-fi, my number 6 is Macross Frontier.
My number 5 I also don’t own. In fact it’s kind of impossible to own unless you download it from iTunes or from Amazon via digital.There is no DVD copy of this show, and that is Tron: Uprising.
Tron: Uprising is based on the movie – the prequel to Tron: Legacy. It kind of takes place in between Tron and Tron: Legacy.
It’s called Tron: Uprising, and it’s a story about a guy who becomes Tron’s protégée so that he goes and tries to liberate The Grid from the bad guys who conquered The Grid.
It’s beautiful. I dedicated an entire post just to Tron: Uprising. Here’s the link:
My number 4 is the Iron Giant. The Iron Giant, what could I say.
There’s a giant robot from outer space in a town in Maine. There’s a little boy who finds the giant robot befriends it. Little did he know that the robot is actually not the nice guy it seems but it’s meant to be a weapon.
It’s really interesting. There’s a lot of really, really good things in this movie. Written and directed Brad Bird who also wrote The Incredibles, and directed The Incredibles.
Iron Giant, if you haven’t seen it watch it. It’s one of the best Warner Brothers movies that came out of the Warner Brothers animation studios back in the 90’s. Yeah, I highly recommend it, The Iron Giant.
My number 3 is, I’m cheating here it’s an entire series. Just about anything with the name Gundam in it is going to be great sci-fi. The original Gundam, the sequel Zeta Gundam…
Anything with Gundam in it is pretty good. There’s some really, really bad ones out there, but generally as a rule, most of the Gundam series are really pretty good.
What makes Gundam robots unique, it was the very first time that any robot was actually used as what they are, which is, as giant tank. It didn’t have any kind of sapient mind. It didn’t have a soul. It was just a machine.
You get in it, and it’s more about the pilot’s skill. It does have to do with the quality of the machinery in the robot, but a lot more of it has to do with the pilots and the drama around the pilots. And that’s one of the things that they really play up on the Gundam series in the different reboots of the shows.
These robots have “Light Sabers,” they came up with the Light Sabers idea for these Gundams before they had seen Star Wars. Star Wars hadn’t come out yet when they were producing this. So when Star Wars showed up, they were like “Oh man! They’re going to think that we stole the idea from Star Wars.”
But these guys actually came up with the laser sword idea as well around the same time that Star Wars showed up.
Interestingly enough the pilots tend to have a kind of Jedi-ish powers, at least on the original version of Gundam.
My number 2 is Clone Wars, either one, Genndy or Dave Filoni Star Wars: Clone Wars.
These shows are sci-fi at it’s best. If you love Star Wars, you’ll love these. That’s it. That’s the end. You want to watch these, period. Science fiction, Star Wars enough said. Watch it.
This is the best in science fiction you can possibly get so much so that I dedicated one post just for the Genndy type Star Wars: Clone Wars, and one for the Dave Filoni Star Wars: Clone Wars. And I even compared the two and tell you which one I think is better, or if there is even a fight at all.
So I highly recommend watching any one of these series, Star Wars: Clone Wars.
Okay, my number 1 best in sci-fi animated movies is, The Incredibles.
This is the second one in this list that is actually an American feature animated science fiction movie. Both feature animated science fiction movies that I’ve mentioned in this list come from the same person, Brad Bird.
Written and directed by Brad Bird, same person that wrote and directed Iron Giant. This is science fiction because it’s got superheroes and they’re fighting giant robots and all kinds of different things. And its science fiction from the 50’s, or the 60’s I should say.
It’s great. I love it. Fantastic, this is what American science fiction can be. It really needs to be pushed more in this direction, I think.
Yes, there’s Wall-E, it didn’t make the list because the other stuff I think that I’ve had on my list, I mean seriously I really do think Futurama is better than Wall-E.
So what do you think of my list. I really do like to hear your opinions on this stuff.
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Alright then, thanks for watching and I’ll see all next time, bye.
I finally got around to writing my thoughts on the movie Frozen
Most Disney Princess movie have VERY forgettable male supporting characters/love interests. And if they aren’t forgettable, they are portrayed as idiots. I think the exception to the rule is Beauty and the Beast, and perhaps Prince Phillip in Sleeping Beauty (but only because he fought a dragon). I would have said, Aladdin, but that’s not a princess movie. And Jasmine is a very interesting supporting female character anyway.
I hate to say it but the design of both Princess’ reminded me of Rapunzel. They could have ALL been sisters.
It’s go a great message about Love. Not necessarily about romantic love, and not even about filial love, but about, what Catholics commonly referrer to as Charity or Agape.
or the 
movie and want to learn more about the DC universe where do you go? What’s the least painful way to do so without having to read a ton of comics?
is a great way to learn about the DC universe, BUT the truth is, Justice League is only one of FOUR DC animated shows the revolve around the same animated Universe.
, 
, 
, and Justice League/
. All of these shows are part of one big story and all take place in one connected superhero universe.
because it’s available there. But if you want a digital copy, just subscribe to newsletter and you’re going to get a copy of that.
