Animal Crackers In My Voice - Tooned Up #11
Welcome, everyone, to another episode of your favorite animation podcast, Tooned Up! We have Mike, Cameron, and Jacob discussing all the animation news that’s fit to… well, throw fits about! Moreover, our illustrious hosts know we love our reviews, so they deliver with in-depth looks at Netflix’s Animal Crackers, a film that is three years in the making, and one of the main films featured at this year’s Annecy event, On-Gaku: Our Sound! The animation gods have smiled upon us once again, so please enjoy the latest episode below!
We have some quotes from our distinguished panel to get through, so let’s take a crack at Animal Crackers:
“The story is fairly simple: a family must use a magical box of Animal Crackers to save a run-down circus from being taken over by their evil uncle Horatio P. Huntington. It’s the execution that, while not perfect, gives this movie its own identity. For starters, this has one of the best ensemble casts assembled for a non-mainstream animated film. When you have John Krasinski and Emily Blunt voicing the central protagonists, you are certainly guaranteed two incredible performances and strong chemistry for days. The supporting cast is terrific as well, with actors such as Danny DeVito, Sylvester Stallone, Patrick Warburton, and Raven-Symoné voicing characters that fit them like a glove. With a mere $17 million production budget, the animation may not be at the level of Disney or Dreamworks, but it’s still bursting with creativity, particularly during a thrilling climax.”
“The best word to describe Animal Crackers is fun. It’s a Netflix cartoon that doesn’t set out to be a “gamechanger” with its animation like Klaus or The Willoughbys or show that animated movies could be “adult” or “challenging” like I Lost My Body. It’s a lighthearted affair with memorable characters, top-notch voice acting (comprised of greats like Danny Devito, Ian McKellen, Patrick Warburton, Raven Symone and others), catchy music, a solid story about following your dreams, and just an overall giddy, light-on-its-feet tone. I’m so glad that we finally get to see this Watch it if you have a kid or you just want to feel like one again.”
And now, from Cameron’s written review on his own site:
“This film had a supposed budget of $17 mil, and if you are going to go down the route of comparing its visual quality to some of the bigger films of 2020, it’s not up to par. That’s a pointless observation to make to me because it seems like it’s too obvious of a comment. To me, the film’s visuals, textures, and animation might be lacking, but the designs to me help make the smaller budget stand out. The designs are cartoony, and that helps the visual style. I like the look of the overall film, and the animations are still pretty good. Some characters have a bit more intricate details to them than others, but I think it looks nice for a film that cost $17 million. It looks better and appropriate for films of that budget compared to ones that supposedly cost $50 to $100 mil like Wonder Park and/or Arctic Dogs, but do not show it.”
Now here’s Mike with some thoughts on ON-GAKU: Our Sound:
“ON-GAKU: Our Sound is something I can’t say I’ve ever seen before, a lo-fi indie anime film made on a budget roughly double the size of Clerks. On paper, the story of three high school delinquents forming a band should be right up my alley, but it’s the execution where things get wonky. On the whole, I found the film quite entertaining with its very deadpan sense of humor, and as a lifelong music lover they throw in some pretty clever easter eggs. Everything about the music festival is simply incredible, and you can tell this is where they poured a majority of the animation budget.”
“On-Gaku: Our Sound is a “slacker” movie in every sense of the word, one that harkens back to golden age MTV animation like Beavis and Butthead and Daria. It approaches its “whatever” story about dudes starting a band with an appropriately dry and understated tone that knows when to get bonkers. It may not be one of my favorite titles in the GKIDS library, but its still worth a watch when you want to see another slice of anime. Or if you’re bored I guess.”
And we end on that ringing endorsement! Thanks for listening, everyone, and we once again express our deepest gratitude to the editor of not only our podcasts, but our hearts as well, Kawaii Kyle! Be safe, wear a mask, and be kind and caring to yourself and each other! Until next time, Renegades!
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