Toonboy

Still fuming at Disney's treatment of The Fox and the Hound, but at least we get a DVD box cover that isn't ugly(looking at YOU Bambi). Anyway, that's neither here nor there.

I didn't bother picking up any of the "Treasures" DVDs, but this treat came with the 25th Anniversary Edition of The Fox and the Hound. It recalls the old classic style filtered through the lens of Dumbo. Not only does it feature an old Dumbo favorite, but the animation recalls said movie's gorgeous painterly style. There's no "technical wizardry" ala the earlier, more important animated shorts. It's just beautiful hand drawn character animation.

This isn't one of those shorts you watch for stand out character personality. It's more of a parable than anything. However Lambert's mother is a joy to watch. And listening to the narration by Winnie the Pooh(lol) is always a treat.

While nowhere near as funny or even as envelope-pushing as Family Guy or The Simpsons, American Dad is still enjoyable in its perverseness. It's actually hard to fault a show as likable as this, even if it's the same material we've seen before and done better. American Dad, once again, warps the nuclear family mechanic and rips into teen troubles, alcoholism, and American jingo-ism with liberal use of gross out humor.

It's been years since I've seen this film. I was much younger and not as picky. I still felt like I needed to apply paint thinner to my eyeballs. I don't care to watch this film again. There are only two Don Bluth films terrible enough that I would call "toxic". This is one of them.

My head was doing mental gymnastics trying to decide on what score to give this movie while still remembering the core target audience. For every defense there was a denouncement. The G3 cartoons weren't exactly well received by the hard core 80s fans, and I wondered what justification Hasbro had in changing the style yet again and foisting this new chibi look on the pony universe and whether those who finally DID get used to the G3 look will accept the change. I wondered if people would miss the former larger cast instead of this Core 7 trend. I wondered if people would miss Minty. I wondered what people would think about Hasbro going wholesale "PC" and swapping Christmas for a Winter Festival.

In its defense, Hasbro is probably just following the marketing trends. In fact, they're rather late to the party. It has already been several years since old franchises have been given "girliness upgrades", where characters have been either modernized, "tweened up", or chibified and where characters who were formerly tomboys and confident girls suddenly became fashion models. This trend has been met with hit or miss reactions, with the new Rainbow Brite and Strawberry Shortcake being just about the worst offenders.

Seems Hasbro has been holding out for a while, but I didn't think it was possible anybody could squeeze any more cuteness out of a franchise known for its saccharine themes. Twinkle Wish Adventure proved me wrong. Be sure to pack a toothbrush.

Ultimately, I settled on "I liked it." The main plot is even more simplistic and straight-forward than previous movies, but I think Hasbro does well in this DTV format by not making everything such a big deal. The voice actors sell the characters, and the characters sell the story by making you forget just how silly it all is. There's an enchanting "sibling rivalry" element that provides for an entertaining groove not found in the previous movies, and Ponyville seems more like a natural neighborhood of childhood friends than before.

The retro animation is appealing and actually fluid, despite the whole candy-coated feel, and the flat, paper cut-out backgrounds are an interesting artistic touch.

Mark Watters and Lorraine Feather have outdone themselves in this show, and the songs are once again the star. They're likely the best group of songs you'll ever hear in kiddie entertainment. The main theme song, which previously went missing during the G3 videos, has been given a modern pop spin that makes it snappy instead of annoying, and it's refreshing that the other songs are sung by voice actors with actual talent. The highlights are Somewhere Super New, a Paul Simon-esque travelogue song, and A Wonderful Winter Song, a bonus song that's probably the grooviest the franchise has ever had.

Not one of the better shorts I've seen although I'll admit it has some clever moments and I like this short a bit better than, say, Big House Bunny. The best bits are when Bugs and the bull engage in a duel to the tune of "La Cucaracha" while the bull is dazed out of his mind and the ending when Bugs whips up an elaborate contraption to cause an explosion of TNT over the bull.