The Ruby Gillman & Nimona Variety Hour - Renegade Animation #113
In this episode, Captain Kaye and the Animation Guru are joined by a Crazy Lemur to discuss Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken and Nimona!
What’s going on, everyone! This is your Captain speaking, and we’ve made it to the end of June! This was an incredibly stacked month for animation, and joining us to celebrate the end of the month is a Crazy Lemur by the name of Bri Gallagher. I’m sure it’s merely a coincidence that Dreamworks Animation’s Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken and Netflix’s Nimona happened to be released on the same weekend, and yet they make a surprisingly compelling double feature. Tune in to the episode to hear the full discussion!
Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken
Regardless how any of us on the panel felt about the movie, it’s always disappointing to see a new original animated feature not succeed at the box office. The thing that hurts even more about Ruby Gillman is that, in terms of its release date, Universal and Dreamworks Animation were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Now, is this a great movie? Probably not, but I enjoyed it enough for what it was trying to accomplish. What it may lack in a strong, cohesive narrative is a vibrant, colorful art style. I adore the noodly body movements of the Gillman family, and the bioluminescence in all of the underwater scenes are a feast for the eyes. Even though I didn’t necessarily love this movie, I could totally see this becoming a favorite for a younger audience.
“While clunky in the story department, Ruby Gillman shows off some amazing/fun animation from the fantastic artists at DreamWorks and tells a fun rowdy story of a generational divide about a fish-out-of-water teen and her family.“ -The Animation Guru
Nimona
This movie rocks, and I’m so glad that it even exists at all! To make a long story short, had Netflix, Annapurna Pictures and DNEG Animation not stepped in to finish what the now defunct Blue Sky Studios started, this would have been another gravestone in the mile-long animation cemetery. But beyond that, it is genuinely a fun, anarchic, and unapologetically queer movie about acceptance, and dismantling a deeply corrupt institution! If Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse hadn’t been released in the same year (let alone the same month), this probably would have been the best animated film of 2023 so far! Specifically, the cherry on top that made me love this movie is Christophe Beck’s score, which was very punk and metal inspired, and fits right into the overall tone.
“A vibrant punk-rock sci-fi fantasy epic that wears its chaotic anarchist energy with unabashed queer pride. If you are down for a duo of unpredictable rebels taking down the establishment, then give this one a watch!“ -The Animation Guru
That’ll do it for this episode! Thank you all for joining us, and thanks again to Bri for joining the panel! Please visit https://entertainmentcommunityfund.org/ and donate under the designation of Film and Television if you wish to support those that are effected by the 2023 WGA Writers’ Strike!
