Reviews

Hasbro has captured lightning in a bottle with a cartoon revelation so pure and enchanting, it has captured the attention of even guys who wouldn't normally like My Little Pony. The pilot episode became one of the biggest animation related events since the release of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Lauren Faust has taken her unique character design style and warm-hearted characterizations and breathed new life into My Little Pony. The result is a new spin on the franchise that's super cute but not saccharine with just enough added snark and outrageous humor.

But it should not be looked at as another My Little Pony cartoon. Instead, it should be looked at as a good show that just happens to have characters from the franchise. But instead of being girly or cheesy, the show has winning humor and wonderful characters. The kingdom feels like it has real places with real neighborhoods. The families have brothers and sisters and older ponies. Magic returns to the ponies and feels real instead of tacked on. There are not too many villains in this show but there are a couple monsters. However the real conflict and drive of the show, and what makes it so interesting, is in seeing how different and varied the personalities of the characters are and how they often act like real friends, complete with disagreements. This is the most educational version of My Little Pony yet. However, unlike preschool cartoons, the lessons don't feel forced or pandering.

This is one of the most remarkable cartoons yet. Truly it is a great achievement.

Man I have never seen a movie more utterly boring and haphazard than this movie. League of Extraordinary Gentleman pilfers many great literary works to give us flat, uninteresting characters that are merely products of their own misinterpreted clichés from the literary versions(i.e. Doctor Jeckyl is no longer a tormented man but a hulking brute who is a slave to his "drink"). The plot is shallow and riddled with clichés(how many times are we going to get the cliché of somebody accused of being a traitor but it's really somebody else?). The character Nemo, who was a great, complex man in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, is reduced to a laughable character in this film. That was the last straw. If you want to see a retro "fantasy with technology" movie, see the infinitely better Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.

They call it movie MAGIC for a reason. These days it seems like movies try to be as big, loud, empty and obnoxious as possible or as stuffy, self-important and as overbearing as possible. Check the average explosion-fest summer popcorn flick for proof. Or even worse, look no further than the overrated Hero, a movie which critics are raving about but in my opinion, only loved to hear the sound of its own voice and really doesn't deserve to take away the Oscar, while this movie slips under the radar. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow marks a return to what movies really SHOULD be like--spectacles of wonder, beauty, and awe and vehicles that transport you to fantastic other worlds. It is a movie that is as much fantasy as it is science fiction. It is a movie of an alternate history that probably could've, or should've, been, much like the video game Crimson Skies. It is a throwback to the sensibilities of the golden era, with a soft, fuzzy look that's not quite black and white and not quite technicolor.

The visual and narrative aesthetics unfold like a vintage comic book, with simplified yet personable characters, both heroic and villainous, and campy yet not too cheesy dialogue. Campy Buck Rogers style themes abound, with retro ray guns and transforming fictional aircraft. Yet the robots remind me more of The Iron Giant or Castle In The Sky.

Despite all this retro appeal(that might not appeal to some people), the CGI elements, which is practically everything but the actors, are pure 21st century products of modern movie-making. The action sequences are genuinely exciting and don't feel hollow or mechanical, which is pretty impressive considering what comprises most of this movie. But it never forgets its sense of fantasy and wonder and accesibility to kids of all ages. It drives you to the edge of your seat, but then it smiles and winks at you. It is much like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea for today's era. As a "fantasy in a modern era" movie, this is the film League of Extraordinary Gentleman should've been. As a film in general, this movie is pure fun through and through, if you've got the right heart for this kind of stuff. Too bad Hero will no doubt garner the most praise and awards while this sleeper hit will slip under the radar. It may not be a masterpiece, but I'd rather a movie not try so hard and be just fun than try to look over the top and seem shallow, or even worse, try to be too artsy and just seem pretentious.

Don't confuse my comment with Hollywood junk, which is just pure trash that is entertaining only in fits. The Red Violin is artistic junk, meaning it is a movie that tries to be inspired and that isn't bad, but it isn't very entertaining at all.

I caught The Red Violin on Bravo, home of all the "artsy" movies, not knowing what it was all about and not knowing that it was supposed to be a "masterpiece". I hate it when people toss about that term like it has no meaning because this movie is most definitely not that. A masterpiece implies a movie that not only has narrative finesse but narrative cohesion. The Red Violin is not even entertaining, so it definitely doesn't have the first. At first, I thought The Red Violin was a cool foreign film. But as the movie progressed, it became clear that it wasn't even that. The movie is all about one single solitary violin and what happens to it over the centuries. Sure there are groups of characters that pop up and tell their stories around the violin, but there is no single main character or even groups of main characters. The players don't stick around long enough, and in the end, it's all about the stupid violin. I don't know about the rest of you, but it's hard to care about a violin. The movie jumps about between the centuries so much like they're some kind of cool plot device, that I was uncertain what was going on. As such, it most definitely lacks narrative cohesion. As such, it most definitely is NOT a masterpiece.

I don't know what most people saw in this movie. I guess it's one of those movies that everybody but me seems to think is one of the greatest movies of all time. I don't think it's even entertaining. It's not a bad movie, but it's got too many flaws, is just boring, and is just way too artsy and self-congratulatory for its own good. I like artistic foreign films. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Brotherhood of the Wolf. But The Red Violin is should be thrown into the reject pile. 4/10.

Amidst a year of big eye candy live action movies that will make a ton of money and lame teen comedies that everybody but me seems to find funny, a movie like The Powerpuff Girls isn't likely to stand out. However, this fresh little charmer should be given more than just a fair shot. Sour disappointments like Attack of the Clones and Undercover Brother pale in comparison in many themes and elements to this bouncy, giddy movie.

Last year was a very good year for computer generated animated movies. For me, though, only Shrek wowed me. Monsters, Inc. was a good if fluffy entry from Pixar. Ice Age was also amusing but left a somewhat bitter taste in my mouth. And I don't even want to know about Final Fantasy. This year, it seems that low budget traditionally animated movie reign supreme. Two appear to be duds. Hey Arnold the Movie looks like very cheap, rank garbage. I'll reserve judgement on Spirit, but needless to say I won't be rushing out to see it until it's available for rent at a video store. Then along came Lilo and Stitch, and I was overjoyed. Never before have I felt so alive watching an animated movie. Now add this movie to the "good" pile. It's not Lilo and Stitch, but anybody who thinks that it's trying to be needs to have their brain re-wired.

Granted, you need to be a fan of the series to enjoy the movie. Or at the very least, you have to be open-minded and willing to check out what all the fuss is about. No doubt many critics will pick at the movie's "cheap animation". If you're looking for Disney style brilliance, watch another movie. The Powerpuff Girls has its own brand of style that I still find to be superior to flatly drawn, pandering animated movies like much of Don Bluth and fare like Ferngully. Unlike all of the other cartoons-turned-big-screen movies, The Powerpuff Girls is actually fun to look at. Many scenes are positively magical, some where the animation becomes more fluid than usual to suit the need, others that are a dizzying array of exciting camera angles and colors. In fact this movie is so hyperactive, you'll either go "WOW!" or "What?"

The scripting is a hundred times more well thought out than any of its "cartoon based movies" counterparts that came before, whether it's Transformers, Pokemon, or Winnie the Pooh with The Tigger Movie. The Powerpuff Girls is smooth and clean and never overstays its welcome. There are no cliches, no plot points that seem weird, no sudden changes in pacing and direction that plague many animated and live action movies. The characters are oddly endearing, and there are many moments of warmth and just feeling good. The relationship between the professor and the girls is strangely touching. Other moments are genuinely shocking, heartbreaking, and dramatic in a light kind of way. The climax is suitably ridiculous, with bad puns galore, but there is no shortage of excitement. There is also a running gag in this movie that is quite unexpected. Yet ultimately what makes this movie shine is what's buried beneath this cream puff movie, a message about accepting the gifts that make one special and unique as well as the importance of showing love to those that are shunned and deemed "freaks".

Fans of the series will notice that this movie is not as zany as most of the series' episodes or many of Disney's movies. Yet The Powerpuff Girls was a welcome surprise that I was initially wary of. It is a fresh, light-hearted, bouncy break from the mess that is 2002 and is quite the refreshing change from modern Disney. Go ahead and see Men in Black 2 if you want, but I, personally, would wait until Two Towers came out and skip everything else in favor of Lilo and Stitch and this movie. No, The Powerpuff Girls isn't going to floor you. But if Lilo and Stitch is this year's filet mignon, then The Powerpuff Girls is this year's peanut butter and jelly sandwich--simple, sometimes hard to swallow, but ultimately delicious.

Having seen The Powerpuff Girls Movie, I was suddenly reminded of this movie. I guess I might as well let it be known that I don't like Nicktoons. Nickelodeon used to have good stuff, but I've long since lost all respect for them. Jimmy Neutron is more of the same Nicktoon pandering garbage. Jimmy is whiny and unconvincing, and the only reason for any attachment with the audience is the fact that he's a geeky outcast that nobody loves. This makes him seem fake, like he's less of a character and more a bunch of stereotypes. The other characters are flat, two dimensional, stereotypical jokes. None of this would be too bad if the characters were bouncy and interesting. Unfortunately, they're not even half alive. Many of the characters are rude and unappealing. The villains, if you can call them that, are especially stupid. The humor is occasionally inventive, but many times it's boring, childish, and too straightforward. The message about the importance of your parents is simplistic, pandering, and crammed down your throat, rather than being worked into the movie cleverly. Even then, it's nearly drowned out by the segment that seemingly condones bad behavior. Late in the running, the movie tries to go for heart, but it feels forced and simplistic, sticks out like a sore thumb, and comes much too little too late. Finally, the animation, especially the background, has no sense of art or fun. Quite frankly, it's unimpressive. While one notch above the pathetically lousy Osmosis Jones and several notches above such fare as the Pokemon movies and the Rugrats movies, Jimmy Neutron is just one boring, sugary, pandering "been there, done that" fare. Even though the dvd is out, skip this dog of a movie and just go check out The Powerpuff Girls, which this movie is vastly inferior to.

This movie reaffirmed my belief that the critics are nothing but a big bunch of paid-off, self-absorbed idiots. This is possibly the single most underrated animated movie ever created, surpassing a level of underratedness of even the great masterpiece of 1981, The Fox and the Hound. Lilo and Stitch is not merely a mild cartoon flick with Saturday morning level animation. This is an outstanding flick with gorgeous animation. It is bouncy, engaging, shockingly heartwarming and stunningly sincere. These are all traits I enjoyed in The Fox and the Hound that I find in few other animated movies. Here, there are no good guys or bad guys, just a group of characters, some realistic, others cartoony, playing out one of the most beautifully simple and simply beautiful stories I've ever seen in a Disney movie.

I've always enjoyed an animated movie than didn't try to make a big deal out of everything, hence my love of The Fox and the Hound and now this movie. Not everything needs be laugh-yourself-silly funny. Nor does everything need to have slick computer graphics or obnoxiously detailed animation. Don't get me wrong, though, Lilo and Stitch has wonderful animation. It is reminiscent of the earlier days of Disney where the animation was simple yet fluid and beautiful and the backgrounds were joys to behold. Here, the backgrounds are watercolors, like in the Disney movies of old. While I have a small hunch a few computer graphics might have been used, mainly in this movie watercolor backgrounds were used where in any other animated movie, a computer generated image would've been used, and the result is a hundred times more beautiful and effective.

Some of the things I find fault with most of modern Disney after The Little Mermaid include sappiness, bad and overblown musical numbers, insistance on jokey humor, fake or set up climaxes, and an even bigger instance on putting said jokey humor inside a dramatic scene, weakening its impact and making it feel fake or set up. Lilo and Stitch has none of that. It's never sappy. There are no musical numbers other than Elvis songs, beautiful Hawaiian music, and a touching lullaby. The humor is very funny but character driven. The climax is very entertaining and exciting and nowhere near as ridiculous as many Little Mermaid era Disney fight or chase scenes, and there are no rude interruptions of unnecessary parts.

As far as I'm concerned, you can take movies like Tarzan and Hunchback of Notre Dame and just flush them down the toilet. If you think the best thing to happen to animation in a while are movies like Shrek, Ice Age, or Monsters, Inc., guess again. This it right here. I doubt it will win Best Animated Movie at the Oscars, but not only do I feel it should win, but I also believe it should be the Best Movie of the year. While all the critics are going gaga over this year's loud and obnoxious action films, Star Wars Ep II included, Lilo and Stitch reaffirms basic values and never forgets true storytelling. To sum it up, if you only need to see one movie this year, see Lilo and Stitch. If you only need to see one animated movie this year, despite what critics like Berardinelli seem to think, skip Spirit and see Lilo and Stitch. I confidently call it the best animated movie anyone's ever done since The Fox and the Hound and deserves no less than a 10/10.

Who on earth made this big time stink? Even if there was supposed to be a moral about tolerance and putting aside differences to achieve a common goal, which I doubt, the completely abysmal script utterly annihilates what little depth there was. The rest of the movie is a monstrous bore. The villain overacts really, really, really, really badly. The laughable special effects look like they came from from the Buck Rogers era rather than from the Star Wars era. The fact that any critic could deem this movie a sci-fi classic is a puzzlement indeed.

Much like Monsters, Inc., I had a really good time watching this movie but felt that something had gone wrong somewhere.

First let's start with the good. The jokes are funny and clever and never let up. They're a good combination of the typical verbal humor and the not so typical sight gags. This movie also has one of the longest running gags I've ever seen in an animated movie. The characters are colorful and really know how to tickle your funny bone.

Now the bad. The characters fall prey to unconvincing conventions later on in the movie. The story doesn't have the minor plot nitpicks that Monsters, Inc. had, but it's also much more brutally straightforward. Unlike Monsters, Inc., there's really not much point to Ice Age's story. It's there and back again, and you're left wondering "Um. Yeah."

Even still, Ice Age is a fun knee-slapper that has enough charm and humor to elevate it above Dinosaur. But it lacks the gentle charm combined with zaniness found in The Emperor's New Groove or the craftiness of Chicken Run or Shrek. Even The Land Before Time was a better "buddies on a journey" movie than this one. But at any rate, I give this a 7.

Foreign films like this get no respect, and it's hard to see why. Popular American films are often noisy, cheap feeling, shallow, and drowning in special effects, yet it is the foreign movies that get trounced and laughed at.

Much like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, another underrated gem, Brotherhood of the Wolf is restrained but stylish and populated with imaginative characters. Unlike most movies, I went into this one not knowing what to expect. Oh sure, I've heard the praise on tv and seen one good review, but it wasn't enough to tell me just exactly how good it was. And having not seen the bad reviews, I wasn't spoiled or set up to be disappointed. It turns out to be the right choice because I have no idea where all these bad reviews came from.

The beast in this movie is cleverly realized as the astute viewer will notice that it is not a werewolf or a product of monster movie conventions. While over the top, the beast in this movie could just as easily pass itself as another natural animal, despite its terrifying and vicious nature. And bravo to the movie's creators for throwing out horror movie cliches. If you think men and women in horror movies are divided into the running, screaming, panicky people and the super cool macho men and women, then watch this movie because it has none of it. The beast in this movie is far more stylish and clever than that. It delivers its terror and the right moment and in the right doses. It remains hidden in shadow, hardly ever seen, by audience and by character. By the time it kills, it's already too late, but before it does that, both the character and the audience are on the edge, gripped by terror and wondering where the hell this blasted creature is.

Then there's the other side of the movie's story. Brotherhood of the Wolf isn't a monster movie but a detective story/period piece/romance novel with a little martial arts thrown in. In this movie, the people are nervous and angry at each other, but it isn't because of the beast. Something else is going with this movie, but it remains hidden until the very end. The movie then ties the beast with this hidden machination of the movie in a very clever way. Everything comes together nicely to climax in a stunning ending that will blow your mind. In the meantime, we get lots of action, terror, style, and sex.

Don't believe what you hear about this movie being ugly, brutal, long, boring, and incomprehensible. The movie crafts its story cleverly and masterfully and ties its slowly unfolding elements into each other. Oh sure, a lot of people will hate it. But if you have the right mindset for it, it's a brilliant and thrilling ride and the most fun I've had in a long time.

I've been waiting for a cartoon like Generation O to come along since, well, since I myself was a kid. Ever since the death of Saturday morning with the death of Sonic SatAM, cartoons have fallen into one or more of these categories--drek, Pokemon, and anime. Generation O stands head and shoulders above most, if not all, cartoons and family shows on today and those that were on within the last several years. Considering the dominance of Pokemon and the popularity of said drek toons and anime, it will not be an easy time for Generation O.

Yet consider the stuff that's on right now. Kids WB is littered with repetitive and boring action toons such as Static Shock, MIB, and Batman Beyond, which is nothing at all like the Batman animated series I remember watching. There's also X-Men Evolution, which has none of the edge of the original X-Men. The worst of these action toons is Max Steel, which is nothing but eye candy and has characters so bad it's not even funny. Fox Kids is a barren wasteland, with nothing of value and drek so horrible that it makes Kids WB's drek look like silver. I'm not sure what this Los Luchadores is all about, but it looks terrifyingly stupid. Then you have your copy cat monster cartoons, such as Digimon and the painfully bad Monster Rancher. None of these cartoons have any thought, wit, character or story put into them.

What is Generation O? Combine material from some of the best sitcoms with traditional cartoon sensibilities, some vibrant wit and characters, some surprisingly good animation that puts all to shame and some catchy tunes that will have even some adults snapping their fingers and mix all these together, and you've only come close to describing Generation O. Of course Generation O wouldn't be half so great if it didn't have the valuable life lessons thrown in, which aren't done in the ooey-gooey dopey manner that too many cartoons and family shows use. You won't find generic stuff here. The humor is also clean and top notch, not relying on cheap gags that you see in too many cartoons. The music is also more important, as it is part of the story and not just some side element like in previous cartoons. The songs are being written and performed by Kay Hanley, lead vocalist of the now disbanded group Letters to Cleo. How's that for amazing?

Will Generation O fly high in years to come? We can only hope, as so far, this is the best out there and the most fun I've had with a cartoon in years.

Most critics and ordinary moviegoers alike don't know what they're dismissing in The Emperor's New Groove. This movie was top notch Disney and a true modern masterpiece that has more of old Walt's spirit than any of Disney's other so called masterpieces since Aladdin. Only a few critics actually seemed to get it, and even those that praised it still missed the point by actually believing it was all about the comedy. All the rest trivialized it by pointing to a whole bunch of meaningless "mistakes". Its emphasis on story rather than tired formula and cliches wasn't seen, and its lack of silly, overblown musical numbers tying up the story was booed, not praised. Its old school animation was mistaken as weak, and its vibrant, original, and colorful characters were written off as unmemorable. None of this could be further from the truth. The Emperor's New Groove was stylish and sassy. It was a breath of fresh air that proved Disney was for once willing to flex their creative muscles and think outside the box. The characters were the most original and most memorable I had ever seen in a Disney movie. Not since the days of Lady and the Tramp had a movie like this come along. The Emperor's New Groove spoke to "kids" of all ages. It allowed everybody to laugh at it without going over kids' heads. And it spoke to kids without talking down to them, preaching, moralizing, or beating them over the head. The simple message was that selfishness was evil, and the movie brought that across politely through the use of story, without bursting into song. This was a message kids could actually use and learn from. And kudos to Disney for portraying a happy, normal, biologically sound family. No dead parents here, and I know there won't be any squirming kids because this is one of Disney's least violent movies. So kudos to Disney for what this is, a grand animated masterpiece in the tradition of the old school, and for what this isn't, more overstuffed moralizing grandeur following stale formula. And if I were a parent, I for one won't be afraid to let my kid watch this. Anybody else that didn't see this movie's beauty, well that's your opinion, but it's really a shame. I gave this movie a full 10, a score I haven't given an animated movie since Bambi. I would give it an 11 if I could.

Skywhales is a strange but very deep animated short. It opens on an unknown alien world and in a tribal village floating high in the sky. During the hunting season, many of the village's males go out in airships to hunt the massive skywhales. The father figure of the film's central family is one such hunter. But hunting the massive creatures carries many risks, including a strange curse that turns a random hunter into a ghastly white zombie.

Despite the film's shortness and the characters' alien language, Skywhales has a certain depth to it. You can see and feel the world surrounding the film. The people seen in this film seem to have a living culture and a real language, and despite not being able to understand them, you can still feel and see their emotions. If you ever find a tape of the first international tournee of animation, you should check this short out. It is very deep and very cool.

What a dump. This is what happened to the ink that was leftover from The Lion King, one of Disney's biggest and most energetic movie to date. Having spent all their energy on the previous film, Disney couldn't possibly top themselves, and the result was a movie that seemed really lazy. The songs were unmemorable, as were the characters, and the story was rather boring. Meeko and Flit were, and still are, the most boring characters Disney ever created. Who gives a flying flip how cute they are? A snoozer of a Disney movie. Even The Black Cauldron was better than this movie. And portraying Native Americans as magical people is no better than how they were portrayed in Peter Pan.

Would it surprise you that my ears and eyes almost bled from watching and listening to this awful movie? My eyes almost bled from watching the awful animation and insipid, plotless, empty story. My ears almost bled from listening to the songs that sounded like they were sung by a chorus of howler monkeys. Then my brain almost melted because of this film's complete lack of intelligence. It's formulaic every step of the way. Talking animals are one thing, but a penguin who can fly just to keep with the "dreams can come true" schtick? Show some more faith in the children's intelligence please. Next to Rock-A-Doodle, this is one of Bluth's worst.

Children love dinosaurs. It's somewhat part of their culture. But they've got The Land Before Time. The original. At least that movie had heart. This. This movie is just plain pathetic. Just because kids love dinosaurs doesn't mean you can just slap together any old story and show it to the children. This movie has no plot, the whole premise is stupid, and it's more by the numbers stuff. Not as soul sucking as Theodore Rex, but it's lightyears away from being a Land Before Time.

Don Bluth almost never gets it right. Who knows why? He created two lovable classics, The Secret of Nimh and Land Before Time. It's inconceivable that a man who created two fantastic animated movies could also create such awful animated movies. Yet besides those two, most Bluth movies are poorly executed, saccharine, and undramatic. All Dogs Go to Heaven deserves to be at the lower end of the spectrum. Right next to Rock-A-Doodle. Here, we get the same Bluth trademarks--confused storytelling, poorly executed script, sappiness, lack of true drama, etc. Bad characters and a story too sappy for adults but too scary for kids makes this movie even worse. A Bluth fizzler so bad it hurts. Avoid.

This is, without a doubt, one of the greatest movie classics ever made. From the opening credits that blow you away, to the unforgettable music, to the wonderful characters, to the mysticism of the Force, to light sabers, to the awesome Death Star battle, everything comes together to make one of the most powerful movie experiences ever made. Luke, Obi Wan, Han, Artoo, all of the most memorable characters ever created are right here in one movie. The most righteous of the righteous. The most evil of the evil. Darth Vader is STILL one of the greatest villains ever created. All in all, this movie is a blast.

Anybody who calls this movie juvenile is watching this through the rose tinted glasses of an adult. This is a heartwarming, uplifting, exceptionally animated, and well executed children's classic. The colors, background, and animation are alive and vibrant. Heck, the whole entire cinematography is better than that of The Secret of Nimh! The characters are lovable and innocent, and Littlefoot's mother is one of the stronger parental figures I've ever seen. The story is one of friendship and determination. It's also warm and very emotional. There's laughter. There's sorrow. There's danger. The treestar is also a symbol of Littlefoot's mother's love to him. This is the second of only two really fantastic movies Don Bluth ever did, the first being The Secret of Nimh. All of his other movies are too saccharine, poorly executed, and have downplayed drama and emotion. This movie also doesn't have the hokey formula Disney started developing around this time. Case in point, this movie, at the time, was competing with Disney's own Oliver and Company. This, in my opinion, is many times better than that. It has a better story, a lot more heart, and no need for fancy songs. If there's anything wrong with this movie, it's the fact that the sequels turned these lovable friends into something rather annoying. Just pretend they don't exist, and you'll find a fantastic animated classic.

Aw heck. I could go on forever about what this movie is. Think of anything positive you could say about a film. You name it, this movie is that and more. While Disney kept on reusing their old formula, I was surprised to find something actually original. Go on. I dare you to find an animated movie like this. While some of the humor was a bit dry, most of it was priceless. This movie is the best animated movie of 2000. It's better than Road to El Dorado. It's better than Titan A.E. It's better than Dinosaur. It's certainly better than Tarzan, which came out the year before. As amazing as Prince of Egypt was, this is Dreamworks' most successful feature. And this is their only rated G film. No big surprise there. Get this movie when it comes out on DVD or video. It's fantastic.

Lord only knows why I don't like this Disney film as much as some of the others. There's nothing inherently wrong with it. It marked the beginning of Disney's renaissance. It's lively. It's hip. It's vibrant. So what's wrong? My personal tastes, I guess. The songs are big, but a few got on my nerves, as did a few of the characters. It has neither the charm of some of the classics nor the grandness of some of the later works, especially Beauty and the Beast. The things Ariel does to find happiness are a bit strange, such as her selling her voice to a complete stranger or her falling in love with someone who falls in love with her just for her voice. I also thought this movie was a bit too derivative of earlier classics like Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty. It's the same old fairy tale formula with nothing new added except better animation and bigger, but not necessarily better, songs. But don't let all this stop you from enjoying this movie. Practically everybody else has.

If there's any classic Disney movie that's less likely to be forgotten because of the modern Disney movies, this would be one of them. Part of the reason may be the live action version and its upcoming sequel. Skip those remakes and watch the real deal. The other part of the reason is because this movie is just so charming. Cruella De Vil is one of the more memorable Disney villains ever made. Romance abounds in this movie, and don't forget those adorable puppies. This may not have the animation or the big fancy songs of the moderns, but all that fanciness usually distracts from the story. Classic Disney always rocks, and this is no exception.

Another one of my favorite animated movies, beat out only by The Fox and the Hound and Bambi in my book. Other than them, absolutely nothing tops this. Not even Beauty and the Beast! You heard right. This is exceptionally animated, charming, and romantic. Bella Notte is one of the most heartwarming songs ever sung in a Disney movie. Another plus. This doesn't have any of the silliness found in the modern Disney movies and even some of the classics. Lady and the Tramp is Disney's most enduring classic ever. A perfect 10!

Having not seen this animated series in a long while makes reviewing it rather difficult, but I'm sure if, by some extreme moment of luck, I managed to see this series again, I would still fall in love with it. This was one ultimate cartoon. While many cartoons were either about cheesy action with typical good guy and bad guy routines or about kiddie, but well meaning, stories, this cartoon actually had a deep plot, with very well developed characters. As the name suggests, it was about mysteries and exploration. Many things had to be resolved over the course of several episodes. This cartoon never insulted the child's intelligence by plunking down the obvious right in front of their eyes. And this cartoon wasn't afraid to show a man die in a mask of gold melting into his face. And this was a kids show! Cartoons like this are a rarity. This is like the best of anime, but it didn't have the silliness that pervades much of anime. Networks should try hard to show cartoons like this or bring this one back. Now what's on the air today? Cartoons like Spongebob Squarepants? This is still the king of cartoons. Ranking along with this are other great cartoons like Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea and Ulysses 31. But these greats will never be seen ever again. Sad, isn't it?