Croods return, Shaun the Sheep faces Farmageddon, and Red Shoes and 7 Dwarfs appear! - Renegade Animation #6
Welcome to another episode of the rechristened Tooned Up, now known as Renegade Animation! In the sixth installment of our long-running podcast, Mike and Cameron discuss Croods: A New Age (the sequel to Dreamworks’ Croods), Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs (a new take on the Snow White tale), and A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (featuring everyone’s favorite sheep named Shaun)! Plus, all the animation news that fit to talk about with commentary from the Captain and the Guru! What are you waiting for? Hit that play button!
Rather than blather on and on about random things to fill space (kind of like what I’m doing now, isn’t it?), I’m going to hand the reins over to our Captain, with his reviews of the films featured on this podcast! First up is Croods: A New Age!
“The Croods: A New Age is the long awaited sequel to 2013’s The Croods, that almost didn’t happen. A sequel was first announced in 2013, with the original directors Chris Sanders and Kirk DeMicco slated to return. Universal initially got cold feet and pulled the plug in 2016 after acquiring Dreamworks Animation, but the film was brought back to life by a new director, Joel Crawford. In this installment, we follow the prehistoric Crood family searching for a safer habitat. Along the way, they discover an idyllic, walled-in paradise that meets all of its needs. Unfortunately, they must also learn to live with the Bettermans — a family that’s a couple of steps above the Croods on the evolutionary ladder. As tensions between the new neighbors start to rise, a new threat soon propels both clans on an epic adventure that forces them to embrace their differences, draw strength from one another, and survive together. Honestly, with the exception of Shrek the Third, Dreamworks Animation is batting a thousand when it comes to sequels. Whatever problems I might have with a few story beats here, one thing I can’t say this suffers from is sequelitis. The only real problem I have here is the exact same problem I had with Trolls World Tour, which was arbitrarily splitting apart the romantic leads to advance the plot. However, doing so early on in the film opens the doors to some wildly creative story opportunities, and colorful new settings. All the voice actors from the previous film return, with Ryan Reynolds’ Guy sharing center stage equally with Emma Stone as Eep and Nicholas Cage as Grug. I love the additions to the cast, with Leslie Mann and Peter Dinklage playing the perfect foils to the Croods known as the Betterman family. Even Kelly Marie Tran is great in what I believe is her first voice acting performance as Dawn, the daughter of the Bettermans and a childhood friend of Guy’s. This film has 4 credited writers (Dan Hageman, Kevin Hageman, Paul Fisher, and Bob Logan), and while sometimes that may lead to some wonky lines of dialogue, it’s Joel Crawford’s direction that keeps things moving at a good pace. As for the music, while I do miss Alan Silvestri’s score from the original, Mark Mothersbaugh is not too shabby a replacement, and I love the inclusion of bands like Tenacious D and Haim on the soundtrack! The Croods: A New Age does all the things a good Dreamworks Animation sequel does right, and I wouldn’t mind seeing at least one more sometime in the future.”
Any movie with Tenacious D on the soundtrack and Emma Stone (gosh, I love her) and Ryan Reynolds (DEADPOOL!!!!) in the voice cast has my attention. I think I’ll give this one a watch as soon as it’s streaming.
Next, we have A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon!
“A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon is the long awaited sequel to 2015’s Shaun the Sheep Movie, based on the Shaun the Sheep television series from Aardman Animation. When an alien possessing strange powers crash-lands near Mossy Bottom Farm, Shaun the Sheep quickly makes a new friend. Together they must run from a dangerous organization who wants to capture the intergalactic visitor. I think the jury is out on whether or not this stand alone sequel is better than the first film, but I’ll never not be disappointed that it didn’t get a theatrical release in the US. On the one hand, I understand that Shaun the Sheep is not nearly as popular stateside as it is in the UK, but Farmageddon’s premise just feels more cinematic. There’s a lot to love about this movie, one of which is clearly the handmade stop motion animation we’ve come to know and love from Aardman. The character design of the alien Lu-La is simply adorable, making it easy to root for her on the mission to get her home. Much like the original, this movie is basically a silent film, with the dialogue consisting of gibberish, which helps gives this franchise its own identity outside of most contemporary family films. As a sci-fi fan, I love all the easter eggs and references they sprinkle throughout the film. If I had to criticize one thing, it would be that the plot is a touch derivative of E.T., especially with the government agent going after the alien. However, it’s well executed enough that it’s not nearly a deal breaker. One thing that really stands out over the original is the incredible score composed by Tom Howe, who previously worked with Aardman on Early Man. A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon is a delightfully silly romp that doubles as a love letter to sci-fi, and if that sounds like your cup of tea, check this out ASAP!”
Okay, so I’m pushin’ 40, and Shaun the Sheep unfortunately doesn’t really appeal to me, but hey, I’m not the target demographic at all. It’s a sweet and charming (and very silly) tale that will surely appeal to kids, and as Mike said, the stop-motion animation is a real treat to behold, especially in this day and age. So happy Aardman is keeping that animation technique alive!
Finally, we have Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs, a new take on a classic!
“Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs is a South Korean animated film, written and directed by Sung-ho Hong, and distributed worldwide by Lionsgate. The film derives its title from the classic Brothers Grimm fairytale Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and the Hans Christian Anderson fairytale The Red Shoes. The story revolves around a group of princes known as the Fearless Seven, who have been turned into dwarfs. To break the curse, they must seek out a lady wearing the red shoes. My co-host Cameron and I have been quite critical of Lionsgate’s previous animated ventures, so expectations for this one were tempered. It’s not great, and the plot can at times be very needlessly complicated. But when it works, it really works. I’ve seen my fair share of fairytale parodies/deconstructions to eventually figure out where this story was headed, but that doesn’t mean I can’t still appreciate some of the stops along the journey. For starters, the voice cast, directed by Tony Bancroft, does a great job to elevate the material. Chloë Grace Moretz adds a great deal of warmth to Snow White/Red Shoes, and Sam Claflin is perfect as the charming yet arrogant Merlin. These two have the most believable chemistry, and I really bought into their romance. This film has some of the funniest villains I’ve seen in quite a while, with Patrick Warburton providing the voice of the mirror Magichard, and Jim Rash stealing every scene he’s in as Prince Average (it’s pronounced “Avooraj”). The groan worthy moments are when the jokes feel like they’re trying too hard, making each of the dwarfs come off very unlikeable. One thing I was not expecting to love was the action scenes. Without the curse gimmick, I honestly would have loved to see a superhero film with the fairytale equivalent of the Justice League. Unfortunately that’s not what we have here, which makes the tone of this film seem uneven in a lot of places. Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs is a movie I can comfortably recommend, but only if you’re an animation completist like myself and my co-host.”
Hm. I like the character designs on display with that one and the parody elements looked cool based on the trailer I had seen. I might check it out if it ever is available on Netflix or another streaming service, but I’m in no rush to see it.
Well, folks, that brings our sixth installment of Renegade Animation to a close! Thank you so much for supporting this show and be on the lookout for more episodes in the future! We appreciate you taking time out of your day to listen to our content, especially now, when things are just insane out there. Please be safe, take care of yourselves and each other, and be kind to one another! See you next time, Renegades!
- Neoplasmic
Featured
Previously on Renegade Animation, Captain Kaye, The Animation Guru, Haley, and Teresa dove head first into the Spring anime season and took in the good, the bad, and the bizarre. And now… Squid Game: The Anime.