Heavy Metal (1981)

Heavy Metal is an anthology of seven loosely connected stories inspired by the fantasy magazine of the same name. I was too young to see the film at release, but there was a great buzz about it with the older teens. I didn’t give it much thought in the years since until my son heard about it. Damn, there was a lot of nudity.

The stories are connected by a glowing bowling ball of death. The individual stories had very different tones and animation styles because they had different writers and animators. Different enough that the narrative link occasionally seemed a bit forced. SCTV alums Joe Flaherty, John Candy, Eugene Levy, and Harold Ramis lend their vocal talents.

The story that interested my son was “Captain Sternn”, about a Zapp Brannigan type character facing a tribunal. He employs a controversial defense. Having watched it, I found it very familiar. Heavy Metal had some TV airplay early on, so I may have seen parts of it then. Music rights made it difficult to find until very recently.

More culturally influential than high cinema, but Heavy Metal did hold my interest. The opening scene with a car in space definitely influenced Musk’s Tesla in orbit, and do I even need to mention South Park? Damn, there was a lot of nudity. AMRU 3.

Alice in Wonderland (1951)

Alice (Kathryn Beaumont) grows bored with her studies when she sees the White Rabbit (Bill Thompson). Curious, she decides to follow him down the rabbit hole. Thus begins her Adventures in Wonderland.

Loosely based on both Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, it features the most characters of any Disney cartoon. It also differs from many Disney animated films in that there is no romance element. Nor is there really a hero’s journey. It’s just a series of crazy adventures. I found this refreshing.

Truth be told, I never read any part of Lewis Carroll’s books, so I can’t speak to how faithful the movie is in tone nor content. I do understand the doorknob character was invented by Disney. I started reading about Carroll's life but it went down a dark path rather quickly.

Ed Wynn is quite memorable as the Mad Hatter. The character’s likeness was modeled on him. His line “Mustard? Don’t let’s be silly!” was ad libbed and Disney liked it so much he had the animators add it in. Later in his career, Wynn's son Keenan convinced him to move to dramatic acting.

Alice in Wonderland is a fun film. As someone who is less than enamored with Disney, I found this unconventional classic most enjoyable. AMRU 3.5.

Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts

Every year a local cinema exhibits the Oscar nominated short films, animated, live action, and documentary. This year I got to see the nominated animated short films. The live action and documentary shorts played only during business hours, so I had to skip them. Here are the nominees.

in Our Uniform (Iran) an Iranian woman reminisces about the school uniform she was forced to wear. It is not the biting social commentary it might have been, just a personal story about her experiences. The animation style is quite original and it was a pleasant watch.

In Letter to a Pig (Israel and France) a holocaust survivor speaks to school children about his experience. Running from Nazis, he was forced to hide in a pigsty. He recites a letter to a pig that he feels saved his life. Again, the animation style was very original and quite effective. I admit I was left a little confounded. I suppose it was commentary on how the Jews saw pigs as filthy animals, like how the Nazis saw Jews. A second viewing would be in order.

Pachyderme (France) is a very personal story of a young girl's experience staying with her grandparents over the summer. If there was a larger theme, I missed it. Still, it was very heartfelt and imaginative film. You can watch it on YouTube.

WAR IS OVER! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko (USA) is the story of two soldiers playing chess by homing pigeon during trench warfare. Yoko Ono and Sean Lennon (as Sean Ono Lennon) are executive producers. WAR IS OVER! might be the least visually and narratively original story but it was still emotionally effective. The graphics were apparently created using Unreal Engine.

Ninety-Five Senses (USA) took me by surprise. It starts with an old man with a southern accent talking about kids these days but the story takes us in unexpected directions with surprising complexity and impact. It too is available on YouTube.

In addition to the five nominated shorts we were treated with two additional stories.

I’m Hip (USA) is an amusing short featuring a cat singing a jazzy song about, quite ironically, being Hip. The song was recorded by David Frishberg (of I’m Just a Bill fame) back in 1957. Amusing and visually interesting, but not much for depth. I got an Aristocats vibe.

Wild Summon (UK), narrated by Marianne Faithfull, reads like a pretty standard nature documentary, describing how salmon travel back upstream to spawn in the same place they were born. In fact, it could have been taken in whole cloth from a PBS special. The only difference is that the fish are depicted as tiny humans in salmon colored wet suits and flippers. It is quite graphic at times and really brings the carnage home.

Each short film was quite entertaining and imaginative, and I won’t be disappointed whichever wins. Knowing the Academy, I’m guessing WAR IS OVER! will win because the story is the most accessible and it ends with the John Lennon song. My vote, however, would go to Ninety-Five Senses. I've rewatched the two available on YouTube, but they all deserve a second viewing.

The Aristocats (1970)

Rich, eccentric cat lady names her cats heir to her fortune. Faithful butler overhears this and decides to dispose of them. Duchess (Eva Gabor) and her kittens, with the help of O’Malley the Alley Cat, make the long journey home. Cartoon antics ensue.

Many great voice actors are featured here, too many to mention. June Foray was brought in to do cat screeches and Paul Winchell plays a racist stereotype. He was also Tigger. June was everybody. Monica Evans and Carole Shelley play sister geese Abigail and Amelia. They played the Pigeon sisters in The Odd Couple play, film, and TV show, and also Maid Marion and Lady Kluck in the Disney Robin Hood. 

The Aristocats is entertaining enough, and it was fun to see a film I hadn’t in several decades, but it’s a lesser Disney. I felt the story, comedy, and songs were average at best. At least it was out of my usual range. AMRU 3.

The Phantom Tollbooth (1970)

Milo, a bored rich kid, sits on the phone talking about how bored he is with his bored friend, when he notices a giant present for him in the other room. He pulls a lever and it turns into a tollbooth. With nothing better to do, he climbs into a toy car and drives into an animated world of adventure.

There he learns how the kingdom of letters (Dictionopolis) is feuding with the kingdom of numbers (Digitopolis), He travels to the Castle in the Air to rescue the Princesses of Rhyme and Reason. Along the way he meets a watchdog named Tick Tock, a “Whether” Man, a Spelling Bee, Faintly Macabre the “Which”, and a Mathemagician. Get the theme here?

Butch Patrick, you know, Eddie Munster, plays young Milo. The animated world contains a who’s who of 50’s and 60’s voice over actors, including Daws Butler, Hans Conried, June Foray, and of course Mel Blanc.

Finally Chuck Jones got the chance to do a feature film, and because of studio financial troubles it took forever to be released and wasn’t promoted. It’s no surprise that it wasn’t a success. He never got another opportunity.

The Phantom Tollbooth combines life lessons, amusing wordplay, and adventure. Maybe it has so many elements that it becomes muddled. Various characters and situations would benefit from more development and screen time. I can imagine a half hour TV series exploring every nook and cranny of this imaginative world. A big Chuck Jones fan, I was very happy to find this film, and enjoyed it. But maybe from high expectations, or from troubled production, I’m left feeling it falls short of great. AMRU 3.5.

“Time is a gift, given to you, given to give you the time you need, the time you need to have the time of your life.”