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Director: David Soren
Release date: May 21, 2017
Rating: ★★★★★
Review:
In Captain Underpants two boys, George Beard and Harold Hutchins, write and draw comic book stories together. Unfortunately, their elementary school is the dullest, most depressing place on earth, thanks to the mean principal, Mr. Krupp. But then one day, somehow their comic book hero, Captain Underpants, comes alive, and he is even dumber than George and Harold had imagined…
This movie was one of the surprises of 2017. I saw this movie in a plane, not expecting much from a film with such a childish title, but boy, was I pleasantly surprised! Compared to this film most of the American computer-animated output of the 2010s feels pretty generic. Dreamworks’ ‘Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie’, on the other hand, boasts visuals that are incomparable to any other animated feature.
Moreover, the film’s story is delightfully unpredictable, and knows neither dull moment nor any of the cliches invading almost every American animated feature of the era. Even the moral, the value of laughter and that of friendship, is played rather casually, and never takes over from the sheer mayhem put on the screen. On the contrary, a lot of what’s happening on the screen is pleasantly over the top. I liked the use of Yello’s song ‘Oh Yeah’ when the two children make a particularly cool entrance, and when later an Einstein-like villain from ‘New Switzerland’ joins in, mayhem is ensured.
Most of the film is genuinely silly, and even though its target audience obviously is about as old as George and Harold, the film is enjoyable to everyone. What certainly helps is the great voice cast. Both George and Harold are voiced by adults (Kevin Hart and Thomas Middleditch), and Ed Helms does a great job as both Mr. Krupp and Captain Underpants. It’s also interesting to note that Mr. Krupp isn’t only bad, he’s depicted as a shy and lonesome human, too.
Of course, much of the charm of ‘Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie’ comes from the original source material, the illustrated children’s book series by American author and illustrator Dav Pilkey, which already counted twelve volumes by the time this movie was made. The film is apparently based on the first and fourth volume first four volumes [thanks Jonathan Wilson for the correction]. During production Pilkey worked closely together with director David Soren, and that certainly has paid off.
The film has translated Pilkey’s charming drawing style into 3D computer animation surprisingly well. What’s better, several parts are animated in 2D, in the children’s comic book style, there’s even a sequence in cut-out animation. Even the animation during the end titles is nice to watch. But the most outlandish sequence comes when Harold’s imagination of the future runs away with him. This scene was done by Screen Novelties in live action, with sock puppets, with hilarious results.
In all, ‘Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie’ is a pleasant and very welcome diversion from Dreamworks, and one of the best animated movies of 2017, which with e.g., ‘Coco’ and ‘The Breadwinner’ was a strong animated feature year, anyway.
Watch the trailer for the ‘Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie’ yourself and tell me what you think:
‘Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie’ is available on Blu-Ray and DVD
Director: John Eng
Stars: Duckman
Airing Date: April 9, 1994
Rating: ★★★★
‘Gland of Opportunity’ starts with the family being stuck in a long traffic jam on their way to an amusement park, loosely based on Disneyland.
Inside the amusement park, Duckman and his family spend the rest of the day waiting in an overlong line for a roller coaster, but Duckman chickens out just before the ride.
In a rather incomprehensible scene switch he suddenly finds himself in a hospital about to get an andrenoid gland transplant. He goes through with it in the hope to get more courage, and to become more of a role model to his kids.
And indeed, as soon he awakes, and convinces himself he has the gland of a deceased daredevil he becomes a superhero, solving crimes by the dozen and becoming a superstar in now time. But he also is a bad influence on his kids, whom he takes from school to experience ‘the school of life’, which is one long trip around the world. It’s up to Cornfed to restore the situation.
What’s great about ‘Gland of Opportunity’ is that the makers make clear that Duckman’s newborn drive may be originated in a delusion, but that it’s motivated by Duckman’s desire to be respected and admired by his sons. Of course, in the end he utterly fails, but by then we viewers have had a wonderful roller coaster ride of an episode.
Watch ‘Gland of Opportunity’ yourself and tell me what you think:
This is Duckman episode no. 5
To the previous Duckman episode: Psyche
To the next Duckman episode: Ride the High School
‘Gland of Opportunity’ is available on the DVD-box ‘Duckman – The Complete Series’
Director: Robert McKimson
Release Date: July 7, 1956
Stars: Daffy Duck
Rating: ★★★
Review:
‘Stupor Duck’ is a spoof on the Fleischer’s Superman cartoons, a series that had ended 13 years before, and was earlier parodied by Chuck Jones in ‘Super Rabbit’ (1943), starring Bugs Bunny.
This time Daffy is “Stupor Duck”, who, overhearing a television program, seeks for the non-existent villain Aardvark Ratnick, seeing his deeds in everything. Daffy, for example, rescues a submarine from ‘sinking’. The best part of the cartoon is its opening sequence which perfectly parodies the Fleischer’s opening sequence. The rest of the cartoon is unfortunately hampered by mediocre timing.
Watch ‘Stupor Duck’ yourself and tell me what you think:
http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/82993447/
This is Daffy Duck cartoon No. 75
To the previous Daffy Duck cartoon: Rocket Squad
To the next Daffy Duck cartoon: A Star Is Bored
‘Stupor Duck’ is available on the DVD-set ‘Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume Five’
Director: Bruno Bozzetto
Release Date: October 31, 1968
Rating: ★★★★
Review:
‘Vip mio fratello superuomo’* is Bozzetto’s second feature, and it a great improvement on his first (‘West and Soda‘ from 1965).
The designs are bolder, the pace is higher, the timing sharper, and the story more original. The film starts rightaway with a hilarious history of the VIP superheroes through time. It then introduces our heroes, the superhero SuperVIP and his weak little bespectacled brother, MiniVIP. They end upon an island where a super-villain plans to turn mankind into brainless consumers.
The result is a very nonsensical superhero story, told to a great effect, with the minimum of means and very limited animation. It also shows Bozzetto’s aversion against consumerism, a theme he would expand upon in his masterpiece ‘Allegro non troppo’ (1976). Unlike that latter feature, ‘Vip mio fratello superuomo’ remains virtually unknown. This is a pity, for this funny film deserves a wider audience.
Watch and excerpt from ‘Vip mio fratello superuomo’ yourself and tell me what you think:
* also known as ‘My Brother Superman’
Dr. Grob's Animation Review 