Top 10 Animated Movies

February 8, 2017 ~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

Because I am a child, and am sitting here watching cartoons right now, gave me a thought for an easy list blog. Needed after the last few days.

10) Disney’s Aladdin- I love music and this film a great soundtrack. It has become a bit of a cliche, but with characters like Iago, the film goes that extra mile. As a kid, this film made me really happy, and to date I still know every word to One Step Ahead. It is one where the straight-to-video sequels (Return of Jafar and Prince of Thieves) are rather fun too.

9)The Care Bear Movie- looking back on it, the animation is shoddy and the audio synching is out, but I still like it. I think it is pure nostalgia that gets this one on the list, as the story was something that resonated with me when I was little. But… I liked animals, and this having the Care Bear Cousins was great for me. The whole idea that the world has stopped caring enough that, the Care Bear’s skyward home of Care-A-Lot is falling apart. So Funshine Bear and Secret Bear set out on a mission. They don’t do kiddy adventure like this anymore. Seriously.

8)Disney’s Lilo & Stitch- poor Lilo no pals finds a fugitive alien, and keeps him as a pet dog. This is a typical Disney film, in the sense it has fun, with the right amount of tragedy. It also has an Elvis Presley soundtrack, which marks it out as a bit different as a Disney film. Also doing that, is the whole alien and space theme, which hasn’t really taken off in Disney’s animated movies, despite previous attempts. This is another one where the home released sequels are also fun. Check out Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has A Glitch and Leroy & Stitch.

7)Pokémon: The First Movie- Like most people my age in Scotland, Pokémon was the first anime most of us watched as kids. I always remember the buzz of the movie, as it ran along with the original series. Mewtwo was a pretty exciting concept, a super Pokémon. It is in a near identical tone to the original series. Team Rocket, Pikachu, Ash, Misty and Brock are all there, and it’s fun. As with much of the series, Team Rocket steal large parts of the show, with their one liners and bickering.

6)Daria: Is It College Yet?- I loved Daria, and whilst people may not include a TV movie-episode as a real movie, I do. This serves as the end of the entire series of Daria. Now, as a teenager, I don’t there was any other TV character I could resonate more with, than Daria Morgendorfer. This movie sees Daria and their classmates preparing to leave High School and head to college. This film pretty much nails that ‘end of High School’ feeling. The fear, the worry, and then realising that nothing really changes. The earlier TV movie, Is It Summer Yet, is also available and greatly entertaining.

5)Disney’s The Fox And The Hound- I have mentioned before on here that I wanted a pet fox as a kid. That was the main reason I looked at this film when I was younger. But it is great, if not tinged with sadness. A fox and a hound dog become friends, without realising they are natural enemies. This is one of the Disney films, that starts sad and ends up at an almighty climax. Talking animal movies have always been a weakness, and this is one of the best. Give the home released sequel a miss though, not a great addition at all.

4) Spirited Away- this Studio Ghibli production is just breathtaking. Little Chihiro is transported into the Spirit world, where she works for a witch to try and get home. It is a beautiful looking movie, with a fantastic storyline that sucks you in. Like, this is one of those movies, where people who ‘don’t watch cartoons’ could watch. It started to change how animated films were thought of, and really pushed anime into a bigger limelight in all corners of the world. This is just a great film to watch.

3) South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut- This film is fantastic. It, like many others on this list, runs along side the still running series. It ridicules so much, and it does it flawlessly. It is focused around the release of The Terrance & Phillip movie, and Kyle, Stan, Cartman and Kenny, need to see it. It, of course, has lots of swearing and lots of fantastic songs, especially Satan’s solo effort. It is guilty of sending lots of kids to schools singing ‘Shut your f**king face, Uncle f**ker’, which was hilarious as a 14 year old. But it was a lot of fun. Still is, the series is still running after 20 seasons, and is still as cutting as ever.

2) Disney’ The Lion King- this is going to shock a lot of people who know me, cause I adore the Lion King. It is one movie that I know word for word, and it’s talking animals, again. The songs, by Elton John and Tim Rice were spot on, as were double act, Timon and Pumba. It is one of those movies that simply comes together. This film just captivates me every time i watch it, no matter how often that is. Both sequels: Simba’s Pride and Lion King 1 1/2 are also really great.

1) Akira- this film is one that captivates people. I remember buying it on DVD, after watching it online a LOT, and my brother coming in and just getting pulled in, even though he had no idea what was happening. It is THAT kind of film. It starts, with a bike crash, and ends up scaring the living crap out of you, or it did me. It is hard to explain why this film is so good, but it is. It has a very harsh look to the animation, which along with the fantastically dark sound track, helps build an atmosphere I have never seen another animated movie do. The pain and suffering that Tetsou goes through can actually become hard to watch, but it helps build this unbelievable tension.

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Have I got it right? When thinking of this list, I assumed it would be a lot more Disney. And when I stared thinking about what an animated film can do… well, Akira had to be number 1. Is there any films any readers would add? Please let me know.

Sketchbook

January 26, 2017 ~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

Since I was little I have kept sketch books full of drawings, diary entries and cut-outs. It’s always been a good way to be creative and work out some anxieties that I may have.

The only problem is, that as life gets busier and I get older, it becomes harder to focus on drawing and stuff. For example. My current sketch book was started about 2 and a half years ago. Which is quite bad. Considering there was a time that I could go through a sketch book every few months.

I am trying to say to myself, that it doesn’t matter how much I do. It matters more, that I am doing anything. Because I look at how little I have done and I feel bad, guilty almost, that I haven’t been doing as much as I maybe would have liked.

But in the last few days I have filled 4 pages with doodles, and it’s kind of motivated me again. So, I thought I would post some of the bits and pieces from previous pages of my sketchbook and try and push myself on further.

Fighting All Sorts of Battles.

April 5, 2011 ~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

Did the possibly bad thing of purchasing Pokemon Black for the DS. Yes, it is a good game, and the effects and feel of the game is the smoothest yet, but bang goes any chance of me getting any work done. Saying that, I don’t ever really need an excuse not to work. -.- At the moment I am working towards my first gym badge. I do have to say, the character design for the Pokemon seems to be getting worse. Maybe it’s just because two of the first Pokemon I met, when the game got started where a cat and a dog. Yeah not so impressed with that. But the new feel of the game is enough to make me overlook that.

Also, writing this up on the family computer, as I try to banish the dreaded malware and viruses AGAIN. This is the second time in as many months, the computer has been rendered useless by infections of some sort. What happens is that my mum, dad and sister, who use the computer, don’t seem to realise how to actually look after the thing. In fact, when I check their antivirus, a full scan hasn’t been completed since the last time I fixed the ruddy thing.

I think that there should be some ‘Internet Security for Dummies’ that should be given away with EVERY PC. So that everyone would have the basic knowledge on how to fix their computer. I mean, it isn’t too much, expecting people who want to go online to have a basic education about defending against viruses. But, trying to get people to know how to limit damage when their PC does become infected.

But that’s too much. People don’t seem to have any respect for their computer and download whatever they want. I mean, to say that I am the only one who knows how to fix computers in this house is one thing, but to know that noone else seems to even try to look after the computer. It makes me feel a little sorry for the poor thing.

I think the problem is being cause by online games, like free game sites. From what I understand, which may be wrong, every time you do something online, your computer needs to download some data to help get display the webpage. And the more complicated the webpage is, whether it contains games or videos, the more data has to be downloaded onto the computer to process things. From what I think I understand, is that some malware is able to be downloaded onto the PC with the data used to play and run games/videos. And because of the manner that the malware comes onto the computer, it eases past the security software, and infects the computer, often stopping the user from doing even the most simple task.

And trying to explain this too my folks, is like mission impossible. -.-