Once Upon a Forest (Essay)

Released June 18, 1993

Studio(s): Hanna-Barbera Productions, HTV Cymru, 20th Century Fox

Directed by: Charles Grosvenor (Land Before Time 5-12)

In the early 1990s, Fox released 3 animated features that got lost in the mix of the Disney Renaissance and other big-name fare (this was Jurassic Park's competition). I saw this as a kid and then, years later, spent probably 2 more years trying to remember if I had dreamed it or not. I know I had a badger pencil-topper from a movie with forest animals and something that flew, and I asked every video store worker I came in contact with if they knew what it was. Finally I found it and eventually got it on DVD; a movie called Once Upon a Forest.


Based on Welsh graphic designer Rae Lambert's characters created specifically for a feature film, Once Upon a Forest follows three "Furlings" as they travel through their forest to find herbs to help their friend. It's an environmental movie, as their friend who needs saving, Michelle (the pencil-topping badger), has been poisoned by gas leaked from a crashed semi. The gas has spread throughout the Furling's home of Dapplewood and has claimed the lives of Michelle's parents. When the gas reaches their homes, the Furlings run to the aid of their teacher, Cornelius, who is Michelle's uncle. He is the one who tells them the only thing that will cure his niece is two herbs: lungwort and eyebright, and they're only found in a neighboring forest far away.

The three lead characters are Abigail the woodmouse, who is brash and tomboyish; Russell the hedgehog, who is fat and slow but not cowardly; and Edgar the mole, who is a mama's boy and scared of everything. They're not particularly deep characters but it's not a particularly deep movie.

On their journey, the Furlings encounter the obligatory evil owl, a staple in all movies involving mice (a staple that never equals The Secret of N.I.M.H's Great Owl). They also meet something I've never seen in any other animated film I can think of: a group of gospel-singing birds. One of their own has been trapped in the mud by "Yellow Dragons" and even though he's still alive just kind of standing there, the community is already mourning him. Loudly. After the birds sing one of the film's three songs, the Furlings encounter the aforementioned dragons before reaching their goal. But they have one last hurdle to overcome, which leads them to build the Flapper Wing-A-Ma-Thing, an apparatus conceived by Cornelius that was one of the things I had remembered from watching it when I was 8. This contraption also allows the characters to get back home in a matter of seconds, where they are greeted by humans cleaning up the mess they created.


Once Upon a Forest didn't have the big name actors the Disney films (or even the other two Fox films) of the time had. The only notable one is Michael Crawford, who played the Phantom in the Broadway Phantom of the Opera. One of the films songs is sung by him, obviously, you don't cast a Broadway singer and not have him sing. The other notable name I suppose would be David Kirschner, whose name allowed the "From the Creator of American Tail" tag on the poster.

Not particularly well-received, the film made back only half its budget ($6 million) and has no postive reviews of the five it has on RottenTomatoes. However, it fared better on home video and DVD. The studio's predecessor, another environmental film, Fern Gully, performed much better and completely overshadowed Forest. It did, however, perform comparatively better than its successor The Pagemaster.

Overall, the film wasn't big and important to the industry or the style, but it wasn't meant to be. It was meant to be fun for kids and maybe teach them something. And then have them forget about it for 10 years until they go "Oh yeah..." and buy it on DVD.

District 9 (review)

WARNING: May contain spoilers.

Science fiction either works or it doesn't. It can either change the way movie-goers think of cinema and the world around them or it can fall completely flat. The genre walks a very thin line, with one side being completely unbelievable and sometimes laughable and the other masking its nonexistent story with wall-to-wall action in an attempt to make bank at the summer box office. Luckily for us, District 9 is a tight-rope walker extraordinaire. Achieving the perfect balance of action and suspense, District 9 is one of the best sci-fi films I've seen in years. Directed by Neill Blomkamp, District 9 proves that good summer movies still exist and that filmmakers don't have to throw out smart dialogue and a deep, thematic plot in order to deliver spectacular action and visuals.

Following Wikus Van De Merwe, tasked with relocating over 1 million aliens out of Johannesburg where they arrived some 30 years ago, the film takes viewers somewhere very unexpected, greatly differing from the cliche human-meets-alien plot-line. Surprisingly, the film bypasses the usual "what are these things?" introduction and cuts straight to 30 years later, when humans and aliens must find a way to coexist. Behind the mask of some of sci-fi's most recognizable subjects (aliens vs. humans, grotesque deformations, high-tech machinery, etc.) lies a deep, thematic character commentary highlighting some of mankind's most infamous qualities: racism, greed, and the unquenchable desire for power. Wikus tackles these demons head-on throughout the film as he is quite literally put into the skin of the thing he knows the least about and thus fears the most: an alien species.

It was not by accident that this film takes place in South Africa. Just as Nate mentioned below, the film seems to be reminiscing about a nation torn in two by apartheid. Much of the film takes place within District 9, a militarized slum where the aliens have been forced to live since their arrival. Filled with pieced together sheds amongst heaps of garbage, District 9 is massive evidence of the oppression forced upon the aliens. Of course racist ideals fuel the human populace's toleration of such miserable living conditions. This deep-seeded racism is the general theme of the film as Wikus must deal with his own view of the aliens which continual changes as the plot advances.

Wikus Van De Merwe is a seemingly oblivious character to begin with, baring a striking resemblance to Murray from “Flight of the Concords” in both look and speech. Despite being somewhat of an “expert” when it comes to the alien species, Wikus has the longest to go in reversing his racist tendencies and thus proves to be the perfect character to follow. His “playful” racism, however, is juxtaposed with the supporting characters' “murderous” racism and a clear distinction between good and evil is made.

The imagery of District 9 is simply haunting. Think City of God meets Signs. To think that people actually do live like the aliens in their slums is enough to make you lose sleep. The aliens look perfect, despite the few minutes it takes to get used to them; not once was I forced back into the reality of the theatre to think “that's fake.” The nonstop violence of the second half rarely gives the viewer time to take a breath. Despite the few comedic moments designed to break the ice, District 9 is an intense film that does not get bogged down with making the viewer feel safe. Each piece of the narrative, from Wikus' efforts to redeem himself to the aliens' attempt to return home and the forces that be fighting against them both, ties together in one neat package with no thrown in side stories that go nowhere or useless characters that just get in the way. Blomkamp does a great job keeping the plot focused and every character doing exactly what they should be doing.

Overall District 9 is an amazing achievement that greatly exceeded any expectations I had going into it. Thus far it is easily one of the top five movies of the year and probably the most entertaining and masterful sci-fi movies I've seen in quite a long time.

Ponyo (Review)

Well I've seen it. I'll preface my review by saying I will go again. Twice. Opening day. Once it finally comes here. Australia gets it August 27th so I hope against hope I'll get it sometime around then (no word yet).

I live for Miyazaki. Ever since I saw either Totoro or Mononoke (can't remember which was first), it's been my purpose in life. To watch his movies. Spirited Away cemented my love. It's the best movie of all time. So basically I've been looking forward to Ponyo since 2002 or 2003. So it's also safe to say my expectations were gargantuan. Even pretty devout movie freaks wouldn't understand how high they were. The only thing that would compare would be a super-religious person's expectations of Heaven. And (you probably expected this), those expectations were utterly crushed.

What I (and you) have seen in the trailers is all from the first half. Really they showed nothing. Happy about that. The story is pretty damn simple. Ponyo is a curious goldfish who meets a five-year-old boy (Sosuke) and wants to become human. Sosuke is the son of a fishing boat captain and a senior center aide. He's an intelligent boy who knows Morse code (so he can talk to his dad on the ship from his cliff top house), can pilot a small boat, swim with great confidence, and be a good friend to an entire town. Lots of Miyazaki's main characters are like this (Nausicaä and Patzu come to mind instantly), but Sosuke feels more real. Yes his world is still fantastical, but he's just a normal little boy.


This is Miyazaki's "youngest" effort since Totoro, and Ponyo rivals it in target audience age. It's a kid's movie. And there is no one on the planet who can make movies that can universally connect with children, from anywhere, and of any age. I can't imagine any kid wouldn't be enthralled. The kids are so relatable and good you just root for them. You want them to succeed. You feel sad when they do, and happy when they do. There is conflict but no one's ever in any real danger. Well, maybe they are, but their confidence gives you confidence as well. As per tradition there really is no "bad guy", Miyazaki villains (excluding Muska from Castle in the Sky) tend more to be "conflict instigators" who create conflict but with no real bad intentions. That's especially true here. Fujimoto doesn't want to give up his daughter, he's as much a bad guy as King Triton is in Little Mermaid.

This was the first Miyazaki I've seen in Japanese. I think with this it made no difference as there actually wasn't all that much dialogue. The subtitles I think will be almost exactly what the English dialogue will be. There was very little to change so there weren't many made (Japanese-speaking friend of friend said they were pretty close). I'm very interested in the English cut now though. Big stars with very very few lines, Matt Damon's character in particular, will be interesting. Most of the dialogue is spoken Sosuke (little Jonas), his mom (Tina Fey) and Fujimoto (Liam Neeson), and I'm sure they'll all be able to pull off their roles (how hard can it be for a little boy to voice a little boy?).

I'll be the first person to tell you Pixar is the best American studio making films today. They are. There's no question or competition there. But when it comes to best in the world, it's a different story. No person or studio that is, has been, or will be can even hold a candle to Miyazaki and his artists. Ponyo is a work of art from first to last frame, each and every one meticulously hand crafted by the best animators in the world. Water color was definitely the way to go for a water-based film like this. The colors are rich and vibrant and they sparkle on-screen. Whether it's Sosuke's house or a group of trees or an underwater seascape the drawings seem to breathe even if nothing living is in them. The characters, be they human, fish (real or not), or god are perfectly at home in this village that resembles a present-day version of the coastal town in Howl's Moving Castle.


Joe Hisaishi's score, as usual, deserves its own paragraph. He is one of the great composers and Ponyo's score is new and beautiful and perfect in every way.

I can't really put into words how utterly brilliant and amazing this film is. The best works in the medium happen to be animated and come from Japan and this is the best since Satoshi Kon's Paprika. And it will certainly be the best until Kon, Miyazaki, or Ghibli veteran Isao Takahata release another masterpiece.

District 9 (Review)

I think by now, everyone knows the story of how District 9 came to be. At least I assume everyone does. Well the story goes 3 or so years ago Universal and Fox came to Peter Jackson offering him a live action adaptation of Halo. Jackson enlisted a then-26-year-old South African filmmaker by the name of Neill Blomkamp to direct. But later on, the project kinda collapsed and the studios pulled the plug. But being interested in Blomkamp, Jackson still wanted to make a movie with him. District 9 is the result.

Made for $30 million and shot in Johannesburg and Wellington, District 9 tells the story of Wikus Van de Merwe, an agent put in charge of kicking aliens out of their slum. The role is played brilliantly by first-time actor and Blomkamp's school friend Sharlto Copley. Copley is apparently a man with a great sense of fun and humor, and it shows in his character. Wikus is friends with everyone, he even can talk to the aliens easier than anyone else. He treats them like humans (albeit incredibly dangerous ones), which helps us sympathize with them.


I'm not particularly familiar with South African history and apartheid and all that, but District 9 is clearly a statement about that and it's obvious even to this outsider. The aliens appeared in the city nearly 30 years ago, unable to get home, and were put into a massive slum where the population and violence escalates, just as it would if they were human. The way Blomkamp portrays the aliens' situation does make one feel bad for them, especially knowing places like that exist around the world and are occupied by humans.

To me, a lover of the works of Orson Scott Card, District 9 was like a Speaker for the Dead/Halo mash-up set in present-day South Africa. I invoke Speaker because the relationship between the humans and aliens in D9 is much the same as the Buggers or Piggies and humans in Speaker. Are they "ramen", able to communicate and coexist? The humans and non-humans in both works speak, or at least understand, each others' languages. And humans in D9 can't use the alien weaponry. Or are they "varelse", unable to coexist and therefore war is inevitable? This is left up to interpretation in Card's book and Blomkamp's film, but in both cases I'd like to think it was the former.


But enough philosophy, let's talk action. If anyone was highly anticipating a Halo movie (and I can't say I was), then District 9 will be upsetting. Because it would have been real good. The drama in the film is perfectly balanced, and the documentary-style shooting mixed seamlessly and without distraction with the more conventionally-shot parts. The action was tense and exciting, at one point my palms were sweating, which hasn't happened in ages, because I haven't cared this much about what happens to the characters in a long time. I find that to be utterly essential, and the best judge to how good a movie is. WETA's effects were some of the best I have ever seen. I said this out loud in the theater, thanking any of the crew who might have been within earshot. The original plan was to use puppets and costumes for the aliens, but they decided against it and went full CG, though in some close-ups you could hardly tell. Especially in the day and outside oddly enough, the aliens are truly believable. Their ship, too, looks excellent silhouetted against the Jo'Berg skyline.

Overall District 9 was an entertaining action flick with some deeper thinking, easily the best of it's kind of the summer. So far it's in my top 5 for 2009 and depending on one other film with "9" in the title it may stay there. And it's definitely worthy of its position.

Introduction

Greetings and welcome to Munkee Movies, a blog for movie-related reviews, essays, and brotherly debates written by two accomplished award-winning brothers living on opposite sides of the globe.
Eventually the place will look better than it does currently and soon the posts will flow. Expect detailed writings of many different kinds of films, from Starship Troopers to Once Upon a Forest. And thanks to New Zealand's timezone, I can see movies and post reviews at the same time the US critics are publishing theirs all over the place, a couple days before the American release, so you can avoid torturus "films" like Wolverine.
Stick around and check back often, the fun hasn't even started yet!