Soul Searching with Lupin III - Renegade Animation #5

Tonight, on a VERY LATE episode of Renegade Animation, our animation amigos are joined by a third party to talk animation, anime, and controversy!

What’s up fellow Renegades? It’s The Director here, giving you the skinny on what’s up in the latest episode of Renegade Animation… recorded back in the ancient year of 2020 (Happy New Year by the way!) Yeah, I know this is late, but it’s a very big episode with two powerhouses of animation that they needed a third person to help out, as PJ CAMPBELL joins The Animation Guru and our Captain!

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The first film they talk about is Lupin III: The First! Now I’m going to admit, I haven’t seen this movie and I haven’t had the chance to search for it. HOWEVER, I do remember seeing the trailer for this film earlier this year, and I remember being absolutely stunned by the style of the animation that it had. Everything about it felt like a beautiful chimera of Lord and Miller’s Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin, and Craig McCracken’s Powerpuff Girls. The thing I love with animation is the fact that there isn’t just one set way of approaching it, and diversity in storytelling is a huge key in this medium! We can have films that look like Disney and Pixar, films that look like Dreamworks, and even Ghibli. So to see something that absolutely doesn’t fit into any of those boxes is always a win in my book, and I am definitely going to give it a watch as soon as possible!

Speaking of Disney and Pixar, the last film our trio talks about is Pixar’s Soul… and I have to admit, I have a lot to say about this one. As expected from any Pixar movie that isn’t named The Good Dinosaur, it’s good! But for my money, this is actually my favorite film that they’ve done so far, and for those who know me, to see anything they do top Ratatouille and Toy Story 4 (yes, I understand how much of a hot take that is), it’s a shock.

The fact of the matter is that the themes that Pete Docter and Kemp Powers touch on in this journey to the great before spoke to me on a personal level — and the fact that they managed to make such universal themes like inspiration, the beauty of life, and the horrors of death so accessible for kids? It’s honestly a miracle and it feels like something that no other animated film before has ever touched on with this level of maturity (at least, from Disney). And yet, it’s not cynical or overly dark, but actually a very beautiful and inspiring message of just living life to the fullest! The message of not shaping your entire life around your inspiration or passion is something that struck home with me, and like Michael says in the show, it makes as a great double feature with It’s A Wonderful Life.

All I’ll leave it with is this: this film made me cry. EVERY TIME I WATCH IT. And I’ve seen it FIVE TIMES. And I barely cry in movies, so I think that should say something.

But hey, don’t take my word for it, why don’t you hear some choice words from our Captain?

LUPIN THE THIRD: “I'm hard pressed to find any major flaws with the film, except for maybe two. It should be par for the course in the heist genre for the story to have numerous twists built upon twists, and perhaps this story took that one step too far. The other issue I could see being a deal breaker is the reliance on Nazis as the main antagonists, but I thought they handled them better than most media. On the whole, I had a blast watching Lupin III: The First!” - Mike goes on a mysterious adventure with Lupin and gives us the straight skinny!

SOUL: “From an animation perspective alone, this might be the studio's most ambitious feature to date, pushing the envelope in terms of combining 2D and 3D animation in ways I've only seen done in their shorts. As for the writing, this is certainly Pixar at their most mature. I understand that animation is a collaborative medium, but this film in particular feels like the seamless weaving of two distinct voices.” - Mike sets up a gig for Pixar with his thoughts on Soul!

Well, the aye’s have it! That’ll do it for this week’s episode, stay TOONED for the next one! Special thanks to Kawaii Kyle for going to the Great Before to find the spark for this episode!