After years of success together, Disney and Pixar had a little squabble over whether they needed each other. Pixar was a computer animation powerhouse that possessed some of the best CGI technology, and Disney tried to prove they didn’t need Pixar by creating their own CGI technology. It sure seems like somewhere along the line to prove that they had the technology to equal Pixar, Disney forget to make sure their story was any good.
Chicken Little takes a classic fable about misconceptions and miscommunication and distorts it into a flashy piece of eye candy filled with sight gags, self-aware post-90s sensibilities, and pop culture references for the adults. Lest I forget, it’s dripping with smarmy psychobabble focused on parent-child relationships. Instead of one great big misunderstanding that is the original fable (which is covered in the first 5 minutes), it turns out the sky really is falling...and it’s because of aliens!
Honestly, I was fairly insulted by this film. While there is enough humor and silliness to keep the kids at bay for an hour twenty, the real message of the film is aimed at parents. Are we that hopeless as a society that we need to trick parents into seeing a public service announcement by disguising it as a kid’s movie? And ever since Shrek came along, “kids” movies seem to be required to contain humor for mom and dad to pick up on, and that’s annoying. Either make an adult-oriented animated film or be true to your core audience- the kids.
While there were parts that I laughed at (despite being inappropriate and unnecessary for a “kids” movie) and the computer animation was rather good, the story still sucks. I couldn’t decide which pun was more fitting for Chicken Little- I was torn between “This egg is a dud” and “This bird’s flown the coop” because they are both so apt.
Simply hilarious. That’s the only way to put it. You think Will Ferrell movies are funny where his spoof of a certain type of person is the dominating feature of the film? Well then, maybe you shouldn’t watch this movie, because if you think Will Ferrell movies are great, then you lack the intelligence to handle Christopher Guest’s superior wit.
While Farrell spends his time making fun of people and activities that are already the butts of many jokes, Christopher Guest comes out of left field with a mockumentary about a dog show. Just about everyone rolls their eyes when we see a dog show on TV, but have any of us bothered to check out all the intricacies and neurotic behavior exhibited by some of these canine lovers? Guest does and does it well.
Best In Show is an ensemble film, showing the lives of several different individuals and couples as they prepare themselves for the rigors of a regional dog show. The dogs are hardly important in all this, making you wonder which is supposed to be the case- Are dog show contestants actually capable of being as egotistical and superstitious as overpaid professional athletes? Or, are these dog owners just as bad as parents who try to live vicariously through their 8-year olds accomplishments and torment them with condescension until they meet an impossibly high standard? Either way, the ramifications are at once startling and hilarious.
Whether Guest is trying to expose the dark side of dog shows or simply proposing a ‘what if’ scenario to show how ridiculous the drive for athletic success can be when transposed on a different kind of contest, the end result is terrific. Call a doctor ahead of time, because you’ll tear your sides apart in laughter.
After years of success together, Disney and Pixar had a little squabble over whether they needed each other. Pixar was a computer animation powerhouse that possessed some of the best CGI technology, and Disney tried to prove they didn’t need Pixar by creating their own CGI technology. It sure seems like somewhere along the line to prove that they had the technology to equal Pixar, Disney forget to make sure their story was any good.
