Wallace & Gromit: Spellbound Secret Levels - Renegade Animation #168
In this episode, Captain Kaye and the Animation Guru discuss the video game anthology series Secret Level, the animated musical fantasy film Spellbound, and Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl!
What’s going on, everyone? This is your Captain speaking, alongside my esteemed co-host, the Animation Guru! 2024 may be over, but we still have some unfinished business to attend to. There are a number of movies and shows that we just couldn’t get to in a timely fashion. So without further ado, please tune into the podcast to hear the full discussion!
Secret Level
While some shorts were better than others, what I loved about Love, Death + Robots was the variety it offered in terms of the stories told, and the styles in which they were presented. I unfortunately cannot say the same thing about Secret Level. It’s not because of a lack of talent, rather a lack of a real identity. Seldom will I ask “who is this for?” when watching any movie or TV series that may not be targeted at myself, but this time the question feels warranted. A second season is in production, perhaps this time Tim Miller and the teams at Blur Studio and Amazon MGM can decide whether they want this to be purely a marketing campaign, or to tell genuine stories inspired by video games.
“What should have been Love, Death, and Robots but with video games, it ends up feeling more like a marketing pitch for upcoming video games than talented studios and creatives wanting to tell stories using said games as a foundation. While there are a few solid shorts, the rest are entirely forgettable.“ -The Animation Guru
Spellbound
Remember how many knock-off animated movies were made in the 90’s to capitalize off the success of the Disney Renaissance? That’s what Spellbound feels like to me, only much more transparent in its ambitions, considering who’s in charge at Skydance Animation. Let’s not mince words here, this movie is bad. It may not be completely unwatchable, but even the opening musical number is clearly not Alan Menken’s best material. The only thing it has going for it is an admittedly unique story beat that isn’t fully realized until near the end of the film, and even then they can’t even commit to the follow through.
“It might be marginally better than Luck, but Skydance is now 2/2 for mediocre animated films. While it may be ambitious to use a magical world to discuss topics like divorce, it all falls flat with some of this years worst writing and storytelling.“ -The Animation Guru
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
Nearly two decades after The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Wallace and Gromit have returned with a brand new feature film adventure, and it was well worth the wait! The biggest selling point for this movie has been the return of cinema’s greatest criminal mastermind, Feathers McGraw, but not in a nostalgic cash-grab fashion. His character plays a crucial role in the film’s sharp as a tack commentary on artificial intelligence, and the over-reliance on technology for the sake of convenience. This is a movie packed with so many great visual gags, clever word play, and one of the most exciting chase sequences since the epic train scene from Wrong Trousers.
“The dynamic cheese loving duo return with whip smart commentary on AI and the over reliance on technology with 2024s biggest laughs, and the return of the world’s most diabolical chicken.“ -The Animation Guru
That’ll do it for this episode! Thank you all for joining us! We have provided a link to several GoFundMe pages in support of those affected by the 2025 Wildfires in LA. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10gvOxituYvxxknoY9IQa-YEqfK8WvCjcLBcg4hsmME4/edit?pli=1&gid=0#gid=0
