I am a fan of family entertainment. I don’t think it’s possible that I’ll ever “outgrow” it. I grew up with the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon back in the days they actually showed interesting cartoons and programs. I’m not saying everything is bad on TV today, but everything seems to be pushing kids to grow up faster and faster. There really isn’t much of anything between the preschool shows that really talk down to kids and the live action shows directed at young teenagers. What happened to Peter Pan and Neverland and growing up being the furthest thing from kids’ minds? Is it a sign of the different times we live in? Is being a kid and truly enjoying it a thing of the past? Being a kid no longer seems to have that appeal that it used to. Now kids seem to be focused on growing up and being as “mature” as they can be. To any kids that may be reading this: Don’t fall for it. Being a kid is a time for amazing opportunity and fun. And you shouldn’t let anyone, the twelve year olds wearing makeup on TV or your friends force you to grow up. Take your time and take it all in. You only live once, and you will have plenty of time later to worry about joining “the real world”.

I’ve been reflecting on recent animated movies and upcoming movies that have interested me. I must say, Wall-E was truly the best film I had seen in 2008. I adore the minimal dialogue. Sometimes, less really is more. Wall-E and Eve are both appealing characters and really connected real human emotion without being depicted as cartoony robots. The nod to classic musicals, namely Hello Dolly! was amazingly done, I believe. All to often, animated movies tend to throw in random classic rock or older music to appeal to the parents in the audience without any significant relevance to the plot.  This was not the case for Wall-E. Believe it or not, I actually had chills running down my spine to see the images of space coupled with Put On Your Sunday Clothes. I don’t consider myself a fan of romance, but that was the heart of this movie and it was incredibly done. Wall-E is indeed one of those rare movies that I could literally watch over and over, but it’s also something that needs to be seen to be appreciated. Just reading a review about it doesn’t give it justice. So if you haven’t seen Wall-E, I recommend it.

The other animated movie I saw this year was Bolt. I admit, I still have hard feelings over the fact that Chris Sanders (writer/director of Lilo and Stitch) was taken off this project and I wish I could see the movie he had planned. Bolt wasn’t a bad movie, and I wound up liking the characters more than I thought I would. (Rhino, the hamster and his fanboy ways irked me from the commercial.) But there were some snarky elements that really took me out of the film. I wanted to enjoy it, and for the most part, I did… But the way the agent acted and how the mom put up with it throughout most of the film, I just wanted to yell at the screen! I’m not a mother, but if that were my child, I would have stuck up for the kid from page one! But she just sort of… stood there. Anyway, it was a sweet little movie and I do recommend it. But not with the same enthusiasm as I recommend Wall-E.

Currently, I am really looking forward to seeing Pixar’s Up and Disney’s latest traditionally animated film, The Princess and the Frog.

Tags: Bolt, cats, Disney, dogs, kids, movies, robots, Wall-E

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