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Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure (1976)
Soft, Fuzzy, Loony
The story behind the making of this animated film is almost as interesting as the film itself, and it's a shame that it flopped as hard as it did upon release given the hell that it went through just to get made. But luckily, I think it's become one of those odd little projects that found its audience in a later generation with different sensibilities (and a wackier sense of humor).
The film has a rather simple story. Raggedy Ann, her brother Andy, and a few other dolls live in the young human girl Marcella's playroom, becoming fully animate when she's out of the room (I guess this film beat Toy Story to the punch.) For her 7th birthday, Marcella gets a French doll named Babette. Unfortunately, Babette is swiftly kidnapped by the lovestruck Captain Contagious and his crew of pirates, who escape out the window and into the woods. Ann and Andy head out to rescue Babette before the next morning.
On their journey, the two dolls come across an abandoned toy named The Camel with Wrinkled Knees, a blue (figuratively and literally) fellow who has become so lonely that he hallucinates a caravan of camels he can never quite catch up with. With their new friend, our heroes encounter a series of bizarre obstacles: a gluttonous taffy monster calling itself The Greedy, a creepy and obnoxious prank-pulling knight named Sir Leonard Loony, and King Koo-Koo, a tiny king that can only grow in size if he laughs at the misfortune of others.
The film's strengths lie in two major areas, the first being the leads. Raggedy Ann is one of the sweetest protagonists in any animated film. She's kind, empathetic, polite, and she seems to have become the leader of her group of toys by virtue of being the kindest among them. Didi Conn gives a performance that's warm and sisterly without ever becoming insipid. Her brother Andy seems to be the opposite at first glance. He's rough-and-tumble and confrontational, often calling people "dumb" or "crazy" to their face and complaining about having to do girly things all the time. But as the film goes on, we see he's very protective and caring towards his sister and has a heroic streak despite seeming at first to be all talk. Mark Baker's performance is excellent, his tone refreshingly blunt and dry but also soft and kind when it needs to be.
The second major strength is the animation. Richard Williams was known for his painstakingly detailed work, and wow does it show here. Every toy character has a unique way of moving to match their anatomy, for lack of a better word. Ann and Andy are ragdolls, and their movements are appropriately floppy and boneless. The Camel with Wrinkled Knees has a body segmented into two pieces, so they can move independently of each other. But I think the highlight of the animation is the segment with The Greedy. This character is a giant blob of taffy that scarfs down endless desserts, so his body is never the same shape for very long, constantly melting into new limbs and different faces in order to shovel the food into his gullet faster. Oftentimes the desserts he's eating will become part of his face for a moment, giving him an ice-cream cone for a nose or a bowl of candy for a hat. The sequences in Loony Land are also animated extremely well. There's an extensive Dave Fleischer-esque chase scene through a black-and-white building while high-speed ragtime music plays, and the Court of King Koo Koo is crammed full of brightly-colored, obnoxious toy subjects that laugh uproariously out of nowhere and cause trouble in a mindless attempt to be funny.
Now, is the film flawless? No. There are some things in the film that come off as more unintentionally creepy than endearing. There's a pair of dolls called The Twin Pennies that perform a short song and dance number every time they speak. While I think the animators meant for them to be cute, sweet little characters, they have a very uncanny design. Their heads are quite detailed, but their bodies are totally featureless brown plastic. This makes them look hodge-podged from different toys, and they often get way too close to the camera for comfort during their sequences. And while I know it's somewhat immature to say, Raggedy Ann and Andy sometimes act a bit too attached to one another. Don't get me wrong, seeing a pair of siblings that truly care for each other is quite nice, but I bet the animation and some of the language in the film confused a lot of children into thinking Ann and Andy were boyfriend and girlfriend. I actually think this is something that the Chuck Jones shorts made a few years later improved upon, making Ann and Andy more realistic siblings.
Overall, I wholeheartedly recommend this film, whether you're a fan of the characters or are just looking for a new animated movie to watch. The best way I can describe how the movie feels is like when you played make-believe as a kid. It's fun and limitlessly creative, sometimes going a bit crazy, but you ultimately end off wanting to play again sometime.
SHOP: A Pop Opera (2019)
Fun, goofy, and a little poignant
This is an animated short/musical by the incredibly talented Jack Stauber. We follow an unnamed fellow out grocery shopping. With each item he picks up, he encounters an eccentric shopper and has a short conversation with them, which leads into a musical number themed around the item in question.
Shop: A Pop Opera is quite funny, with endearingly awkward exchanges between our hero and the other customers and some clever visual gags. But the short also discusses some rather heavy subjects without coming off as preachy. Themes such as addiction, routine, chaos and social approval are bounced around, but left largely for the viewer to interpret as they see fit.
The musical numbers are the highlight of the short. My personal favorites include the schmaltzy and melodramatic "Milk," the fast-paced "Paper Towels," and the catchy yet introspective "Coffee."
Shop: A Pop Opera isn't anything life-changing, but it is a kooky little celebration of daydreaming and keeping our sometimes bland lives interesting in small ways. Chances are you'll leave this short with a smile.
Opal (2020)
One of the best shorts I've ever seen
Opal is just as layered as most feature length films, yet runs at a concise twelve minutes or so.
This claymation short follows a wide-eyed little girl named Opal, who lives with her doting family. She slips out of bed one night to explore a creepy, derelict house across the street despite her parents' gentle warnings not to. There, she encounters four things.
An obese, blind older man, glued to a recliner and listening to television all day. He smokes to the point of being unable to speak without wheezing and coughing up blood.
A younger man constantly preening himself in front of a half-dozen mirrors, convinced that one day he'll look perfect, and show "them" how wrong "they" were to turn him down.
A woman laying in bed in a drug and alcohol induced haze, mumbling to herself about how much she sacrifices.
And the horrible, horrible truth that lies up in the attic.
The short explores themes of escapism, abuse and neglect, but in a fairly nuanced way. While the three strangers Opal encounters are undeniably awful people, they are also pitiable to the point of being almost sympathetic.
The short has several short musical numbers as well, which are all excellent. "Easy to Breathe," sung by the old man, is a melancholy yet oddly upbeat song about how the old man feels important and loved by the fake friendliness of television. "Virtuous Cycle," sung by the woman, is a disturbing lullaby about the codependency between a daughter and negligent mother. My personal favorite is "Mirror Man," sung by the younger man, a flamboyant, fast-paced and manic song about the younger man's simultaneous self-loathing and narcissism. All of this is bookended by the pleasant, old fashioned sounding "We See You, Opal," sung by Opal's family.
Do yourself a favor and go watch this short. It's short, sweet and poignant, darkly funny yet achingly sad. Well worth a few minutes of your time.
Il cartaio (2003)
Diet Argento
Probably the most frustrating thing about Argento's The Card Player (Il Cartaio) is that there's loads of potential that goes untapped. The plot centers around a serial killer who kidnaps women and challenges the cops to games of online poker, if they win, the woman goes free, if he wins, the woman dies. That's a great idea, but the film somehow makes this idea incredibly boring. Most of the film is focused on awkwardly dubbed dialogue between flat characters, and the over the top and shocking violence in most of Argento's films seems to have passed this one over. Not to mention, the reveal of who the killer is, one of the most important parts of any whodunnit, has a plot hole so massive you could drive a bus through it.
There are glimmers of Argento's old visual flair, a scene in a smoky bar and a creepy house surrounded by wisps of cotton-weed stand out. The electronic score by Claudio Simonetti is toe-tapping and catchy as well. But this feels like a declawed version of Argento's older works, which, while by no means perfect, had heaps more visual flair and genuinely shocking revelations. I would pass this one up unless you're a hardcore Argento fan, and even then, you'll be fine leaving it playing in the background while you do something else.