Frozen

Now it is time for a review of Disney's newest animated movie, "Frozen". It's based on a book called "The Ice Queen" by Hans Cristian Anderson. Oh boy, I can't wait to start. So why am I waiting? Let's go.

Hans and Anna

One night in the kingdom of Arendelle two little princesses (who are also sisters) are awake at night. One of the girls is named Elsa (Idina Menzel) has the power to create ice and the other is named Anna (Kristen Bell) who has no powers. They are staying up late playing with the ice powers when Elsa accidentally zaps Anna in the head with a bolt of ice. Her parents take them to some trolls (who look like "Chia Pets") which heal Anna and erase her memory of Elsa having ice powers. Elsa is given a separate room from Anna and is isolated from the outside world. We get the song, "Do You Want to Build a Snowman", where Anna tries to talk to Elsa but Elsa keeps ignoring her. Elsa and Anna's parents go on a trip over seas but their boat sinks. Years later it's Elsa's coronation day. We get the song "For the First Time in Forever". Anna explores the main city and meets a visiting prince named Hans (Santino Fontana) who Anna falls in love with. Hans also says he has 12 brothers. The coronation goes well. At the reception, Hans proposes to Elsa and she say she wants to marry him. I like this bit because it sort of makes fun of how quickly characters in fairy tails fall in love. Elsa has an argument with Anna about marrying a guy she just met, and Elsa loses control of her ice powers. Which plunges the kingdom into an eternal winter. When her ice powers are revealed she flees the kingdom. Anna decides to go after Elsa and she leaves Hans in charge.

Meanwhile, on a mountain range, Elsa sings the song "Let It Go" about being free from the people who are afraid if her. During the song she creates an ice palace and a snowman. Meanwhile, Anna is off  to find Elsa but she falls off her horse and the horse runs away. She stops by a trading post and buys some supplies and runs into a man named Kristoff (Jonathan Groff). Anna asks him to take her to Elsa and he says yes. But their sled crashes and they have to walk to Elsa's ice palace. On the way they meet a living snowman named Olaf (Josh Gad) who was created by Elsa. Now when I saw the trailer for this movie I thought Olaf was going to be that annoying comic relief character that would never shut up. But much to my surprise he was very very funny. They used him just enough so that he wouldn't be annoying and added just the right amount of naivety. Back to the story. They make it to Elsa's castle. Anna tries to get Elsa to come back but she loses control of her powers and zaps Anna in the heart with a bolt of ice. They leave the castle. Anna seems to be freezing up from the inside so Kristoff decides to take Anna to his family for help.



               ***SPOILER ALERT STOP HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT THE END RUINED***



Meanwhile, back in the kingdom, Hans hears that Anna was hurt by Elsa and sends some warriors to capture her. They succeed in their task. Elsa wakes up in the dungeon. Kristoff takes Anna and Olaf to his family and it turns out that his family is the "Chia Pet" trolls from the beginning. The trolls sing another song and tell Anna that only an act of true love can unfreeze Anna's heart. Anna goes back to Arendelle so Hans can kiss her. But when she gets back Hans reveals that he only wanted to marry her for control of the kingdom, and he puts out the fire in the fire place which is keeping Anna alive. Now I have to admit the plot twist about Hans being the real villain seems forced (to me). It just feels like they didn't want Elsa to be a villain. Sorry I went on one of my rants. But Olaf gets in and rebuilds the fire.They go out to find Kristoff so he can kiss Anna. We get the climax in which Elsa gets out of the dungeon and Anna turns into an ice sculpture. Elsa sees Anna as a sculpture and she cries and gives her a hug which breaks the spell. Oh, I get it it's not true love that breaks the spell (like in Sleeping Beauty or Beauty and the Beast). It's sibling love, and that's a nice touch. The summer comes back as Elsa learns to control her powers. Anna and Kristoff get married and they all live happily ever after. The End.



                                             ***SPOILERS OVER KEEP READING***


This movie is great.  Most of the songs are memorable. Olaf is one of the best comic relief characters ever. Also the background animation (and animation in general) is amazing. But there are some problems: They try to squeeze three or four songs together in the beginning and I find the trolls to be annoying. See it while it's still in theatres. I'm also getting it when it's out on DVD.
 

CARTOON EVOLUTION

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Now before I start I want to clarify that I am reviewing the 2005 version of the film. It's based on a book of the same name written by Roald Dahl. Just a heads up, I am putting a cartoon at the end of this review because I feel like it. Let's start.

Charlie's house

The movie starts with a poor boy named Charlie Bucket (Freddie Highmore) who lives with a loving family. Charlie asks his Grandpa Joe (David Kelly) about a chocolate factory down the street from Charlie's house. Grandpa Joe says that he used to work there. He also says that it started off as a small store run by a man named Willy Wonka who made the most amazing candy. One day it turned into a factory that even made a chocolate castle for an Indian Prince. But some spies sneaked into the factory and told Wonka's rivals about all of Wonka's candy recipes. So Wonka closed down the factory. But someone must work in the factory because they still make chocolate. The next day Wonka announces that he hid five golden tickets in five Wonka bars all over the world and he wants five children to find them. Whoever finds them will get a tour of Wonka's  factory, and one of them will get a special prize. The whole word goes Wonka Bar crazy. The first one to get a ticket is a greedy boy named Augustus Gloop (Philip Wiegratz). The second ticket is found by a Spoiled girl named Veruca Salt (Julia Winter) who didn't find it but made her father (James Fox) make a bunch of workers find it (yes she's that spoiled). The third ticket is found by the competitive Violet Beauregarde (AnnaSophia Robb). They changed Violet from just being obsessed with gum to being obsessed with winning (and still gum) which I think is a good change. The Next kid to get a ticket is the aggressive Mike Teavee. Meanwhile, Charlie wants a ticket but he doesn't have much money and he already bought two Wonka Bars already and none of them had a ticket. But one day he finds some money on the side of the road and buys a Wonka Bar and it has a golden ticket inside. He runs back home and tells his family. Grandpa Joe agrees to accompany Charlie at the factory.

The next day Charlie and the other kids go into The Factory and meet Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp). Wonka takes them to the candy forest (well at least that's what I call it). Wonka says that they can help themselves to all the candy they want. One of the kids notices some odd creatures (Deep Roy). Wonka says that they are Oompa Loompas from Loompaland. But Augustus Gloop starts eating from the chocolate river and he falls in. He gets sucked into a pipe, and then the Ooompa Loompa's sing a song. Augustus shoots up the pipe and an Oompa Loompa takes his mother Mrs. Gloop (Franziska Troegner) to the room where the pipe leads. Then the rest of the kids get in a boat. While on the boat ride Charlie asks Willy Wonka about his childhood, resulting in Wonka having a flashback. (Flashback start) Wonka as a kid is trick-or-treating on Halloween when he comes home his father, Dr. Wilbur Wonka (Christopher Lee) who is a dentist, is worried about Willy's health and throws all of his Halloween candy into the fire place (flashback over). The boat stops at the inventing room. Inside the room are weird contraptions which make ever weirder candy. One machine makes a stick of gum which works as a three course meal. Violet tries it and when she gets to dessert (which is blueberry pie) she turns into a giant blueberry. Some Oompa Loompa's roll her away (while singing a song) and her mother (Missi Pyle) comes with Violet. The next room is the nut room. The nut room is a room full of squirrels who crack open nuts, and if they get a bad nut they throw it down a giant hole in the floor. Veruca Salt says that she wants a squirrel and she tries to get one. The squirrels tap on her head and she is declared a bad nut and her and her father are tossed down the hole (while the Oompa Loompa's sing a song). Charlie asks Wonka what the first candy he had was which causes him to have another flashback. (Flashback start) young Wonka is cleaning the fireplace (where his father burned the halloween candy) while cleaning it he finds a chocolate ball, he eats it and becomes obsessed with candy (flashback over). They enter the TV room which turns a giant chocolate bar into a normal sized candy bar on TV. Naturally, Mike TeaVee has to try it. It makes Mike tiny and some Oompa Loompa's take him and his Father (Adam Godley) to the taffy stretching machine to make mike bigger (and this the crazyest Oompa Loopa song in the movie).




           ***SPOILER ALERT STOP HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT THE END RUINED***




Realizing that Charlie is the only child left, Wonka declares him the winner. They board Wonka's amazing glass elevator. Now on the elevator Wonka has another flash back. (Flashback start) young Willy Wonka says that he wants to go to the candy capitals of the world and he runs away from home but he doesn't go far. When he comes back home he sees that his entire house is gone. How it happened, I don't know (flashback over). The glass elevator crashes through the roof of Charlie's house. He tells Charlie's family that Charlie is the heir to the factory. But Wonka wants Charlie to live in the factory without his family. Charlie says no. Wonka's candy sales are going down so he goes to Charlie. Willy Wonka and Charlie go to find Wonka's father. So they go to Dr. Wonka's house and he recognizes him. Wonka is reunited with his father and Wonka even lets Charlie work in the factory with his family. The End.



                                    ***SPOILERS OVER KEEP READING***







This is a great movie. Johnny Depp has some very funny lines. The design for the factory is very wacky and creative. I also like how they improved the kids from the book (who aren't Charlie). It also has a timeless feel to it, like it could take place anywhere between the 1970s and now. But sometimes Johnny Depp can be annoying. Also I find Charlie to be a bit of a goodie-two-shoes nice guy. I enjoyed this film a lot. By the way I am reviewing Frozen next.

                           THE CARTOON FOOD CHAIN ( sorry if it's too hard too read)

E.T. The Extra Terrestrial

It's pretty strait forward, I said I would review it in my last review so here you go. Also it's a classic so that factors in too. Oh and I got request for it so that also factors in. Let's start.

The movie starts with some aliens landing in a forest to collect flower samples. But some government agents come and the aliens leave but one alien (Pat Welsh) is left behind(by the way I noticed that Pat Welsh is not credited as E.T. which is odd seeing as E.T. is the title character). Meanwhile in a regular home, a boy named Elliot (Henry Thomas) is trying to hang out with his older brother Micheal (Robert MacNaughton) and his friends. Elliot is coming back from picking up a pizza. He notices something in the shed. E.T leaves and Elliot's family doesn't believe that he saw an alien. So Elliot leads E.T. to his room with a trail of Reese's Pieces (p-p-p-product placement).
 

The next day Elliot fakes being sick so he can look after E.T. but Ellio'ts brother Micheal and sister Gertie (Drew Barrymore) discover E.T. and they ask where he is from. E.T. tells them by levitating some balls to represent a solar system. Now I never got this next scene. Elliot is at school the next day; his class is going to dissect some frogs then he sets them free while E.T. is at home watching "The Quiet Man" and Elliot and this girl are mimicking whats happening in "The Quiet Man". Again never got the scene..is it symbolic? Is it metaphoric? I think it's a psychic connection but the movie is not very clear. Moving on. E.T. learns to speak with the help of Gertie. When Elliot gets home E.T. tells him...well time for an iconic movie quote "E.T. phone home". So Elliot and E.T. build a communication device so E.T. can go home. That night on Halloween E.T. is disguised as a ghost. Elliot bikes over to the forest and makes a call to E.T.'s home planet.




            ***SPOILER ALERT STOP HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT THE END RUINED***





Elliot falls asleep waiting for E.T.'s spaceship to come. When he wakes up he sees that E.T. is gone so he goes home. Elliot's family is worried when Elliot comes back. He tells Michael that E.T. is gone. Michael looks for E.T. and finds it in a ditch. Micheal takes E.T. home. Elliot's mom Mary (Dee Wallace) is scared by E.T. and to top it all off some government agents set up a medical facility in the house. The government agents try to help E.T. but E.T. dies(I always cry at this part). But then Elliot sees a dead plant that E.T. revived earlier in the movie coming back to life which means E.T is coming back to life. E.T. tells Elliot that the other E.T. aliens are coming so E.T. Elliot and Elliot's friends try to get to where the aliens land. They make it to the spaceship and E.T. returns home.The End



                                  ***SPOILERS OVER KEEP READING***


I love this movie. The design for E.T. is very creative. But it can be very sad in some parts which might make you cry. I also like the magical feel to it. This movie has the perfect combo of happy, sad, and just plain cute. I am looking forward to seeing it again sometime.

The Muppets

So in my review of The Lorax I said I would review E.T or The Muppets I saw The Muppets first so will review that. But I will review E.T next. Anyway let's start my review for The Muppets.

Walter (the puppet) and Gary (the human)

So the movie starts in a small town called Smalltown where we see two brothers Gary (Jason Segel) and Walter (Peter Linz by the way Walter is a puppet). Walter is huge fan of The Muppets. One day Gary and his girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams) are going to Las Angeles and Walter comes with them. When they get there, they go to The Muppet Studios but it's broken down. Walter sneaks into Kermit The Frog's office where he sees an evil business man named Tex Richman (Chris Cooper Tex has this funny running gag where instead of laughing he say "Maniacal Laugh" ) who wants to destroy The Muppet Studios to get the oil underneath it. Walter also hears that if The Muppets can raise $10 million by the time Kermit's  contract expires, The Muppets get the studio back. Walter runs back to Gary and Mary. So they try to get in Kermit The Frog's (Steve Whitmire) house. Kermit lets them in. So Walter and his friends convince Kermit to put The Muppets back together.

So they go to Reno to get Fozzie Bear (Eric Jacobson) who is working for a cheap knock-off of The Muppets called The Moopets. Then they get Animal (also Eric Jacobson) who is taking an anger management class. Then they get Gonzo (Dave Goelz) who is the president of some plumbing industry. Once they get all The Muppets, they only have one Muppet to get, Miss. Piggy(ALSO Eric Jacobson). So they go to Paris France where Miss. Piggy is a fashion designer. They ask Miss. Piggy to be in The Muppets but she says no. So they replace her with her Moopet Knock-off Miss. Poogy (David Rudman). Unfortunately no TV studio wants them to perform. But one TV studio just got a show canceled . So The Muppets host a telethon. The Muppets go to the old Muppets theater and fix it up. Miss. Piggy comes back and Miss. Poogy is fired. But Kermit can't get a celebrity guest star. So The Muppets ask Tex Richman for The Muppet Studios back but he says no (through the worst rap song ever) and reveals that if The Muppets don't get the $10 million they also lose The Muppet name and they wont be The Muppets anymore. Kermit can't get a guest star and Kermit gives up. So Miss. Piggy Takes charge. Miss. Piggy and some other Muppets kidnap Jack Black (Jack Black) to use him as a guest star for the show.

          ***SPOILER ALERT STOP READING IF YOU DON'T WANT THE END RUINED***

"The Rainbow Connection"

So it's time for the show and we get an reenactment of The Muppets Show theme song. and the opening act where Gonzo tries to knock a bowling pin off Jack Black's head. But Gonzo gets the bowling ball stuck to his hand. Then The Muppets do horrible barbershop quartet version of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (its very very very bad watch the original) which tortures Jack Black (that has officially beat the giant eggplant car chase from Mr. Magoo). Then we get a wonderful rendition of "The Rainbow Connection". Then we get the final act where Walter does a whistling act. But Tex knocks out the power and The Muppets are only one dollar off. So The Muppets lose the studio and The Muppet name. But Kermit realizes that they are all still performers and they will start over. They leave the theater and they still have fans.The En...oh wait Tex Richman gets hit in the head with a bowling ball and gives The Muppets The Muppet Studio back.The End.

                                                     ***SPOILERS OVER KEEP READING***


That was The Muppets; it was great. The jokes (like when they break the fourth wall) are funny; most of the songs are memorable. Speaking of the songs, some of them are meant to be cheesy which you may or may not like. It also has the feel of an episode of The Muppet Show. Now there are some subplots I skipped like Walter not being confident and a romance subplot with Gary and Mary. You may find some subplots unnecessary. Overall it's a pretty good film.