Animation | jameslsy Photography

Disney has failed to impress me ever since Steve Jobs and John Lasseter created Pixar. Tangled did stir my heart a bit but not as much as how Brave did. This season, Frozen has that Disney magic that has been missing for so long and it comes in full force here.

The Story
The magic happens in Arendelle. Elsa, the older sister of the two royal heir possesses a special power to create ice at will. It was all peaceful till Elsa learn that she has difficulty controlling her power and ultimately strikes her own sister Anna. With their parents gone, fearing that she could do more harm than good. Elsa has chose to flee Arendelle leaving everything including her caring sister behind.

The Film
I grew up with Disney. I have watched every traditionally animated film they have ever produced. It was magic, wonders, dreams and hope. But somewhere Disney went down hill and Pixar stole their thunder film after film. Today. I’m proud to say Disney has redeemed themselves through Frozen. They have gone back to their basics and brought magic and musical back. Song after song, scene after scene. Frozen makes you want more of the magic.
The voice cast which include Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Josh Gad and Johnathan Groff is brilliant. They all played the characters flawlessly with superb ease and likability along with their unique talent in singing. They could really bring out the sympathetic or upbeat songs at will. And most of all, Idina Menzel’s solo of “Let it Go” is the highlight of the entire show. Brings me back wonderful memories of when I was watching Disney classics like ‘Beauty and the Beast’, ‘The Lion King’ and ‘The Jungle Book’. Frozen totally matched the ranks of old.
The last thing I would like to mention is how the animation team has breath life into the animated world with such beautiful graphics. Every whiff and expansion of the snow and flakes just melts my heart. The ice palace building scene was just breathtaking with the wonderful song “Let it Go” accompanying it.

Favorite Scene
Elsa flees Arendelle and unleashes her magic, creating a breathtaking ice palace.

Official trailer

I’ve always thought that Dreamworks productions are always 1 step behind Pixar. But Kung Fu Panda (2008) has proved me wrong. They have a team of animation artist just for special effects like how sparks look and feel when the claws of the tiger grinds the floor! Can’t wait to have a Blu-ray version for me to pause through the animations and admire the 3D artists’ hard work.

So Kung Fu Panda 2 just hit the theaters officially today in Malaysia. Without much hesitation I got the tickets yesterday and had an absolutely awesome time watching the movie today. It’s been awhile since there’s a show that made me laughed this hard in the cinema.

Unlike most sequels, it’s always either better than the first or worst than the first. Not this time, Kung Fu Panda 2 didn’t try to recycle cinematography angles or cheesy lines or similar animation scenes. Which is why I would say – watch it!

I wouldn’t tell you the whole story here and spoil it for you but here are a few points to excite you to watch it!

The new characters introduced in this sequel is nicely thought out. The villain, which is Lord Shen, a peacock has got an interesting background story tied to Master Po. Did I mention freaking cool kung fu too?
Torn between choices for favorite scene but I would pick the dragon looking costume scene cause I seriously had a great time laughing out loud in the cinema.

I did not watch it in 3D version so can’t comment if it’s worth the money. Do comment here if you’ve watched it in 3D version.

Here’s the trailer for Kung Fu Panda 2.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1ftH73f3xg]

Tag Archives: Animation

Watch it! Frozen 2013

Watch it! Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)