The Book of Life review

Now in my thirties, I see animation differently.  There's no way around it.  I'm at the age where animation as an art form overpowers the way animation seen as that simple outlet for kids' amusement.  Characters can be abstractly-designed, they can be goofy and one-dimensional (to only serve one purpose), but really... when it all comes down to it... the visual story-telling is what grabs me.

I got very very excited about this film back when I first saw the trailer for it this summer, and caught a glimpse of what this film's story would dub "the Land of the Remembered:"



Quick!  How many skulls do you see?  It's a stunning array of color and banners and candles, and at that point I didn't care how the story would be executed.  I just wanted to see the visuals!  Animation-wise, this film did a great job in combining 2D and 3D elements based off of flashbacks and character POVs.  You see dream sequences and montages all work themselves effortlessly into the story as it centers around three childhood friends.  Director Guillermo del Toro definitely wanted to incorporate his personal dark-fantastical touch to this animated kids' film but also make it an educational opportunity for American kiddos who don't know anything about the Day of the Dead.  It was pretty clever, actually.  Apparently Mexico is the center of the Earth?  :D

Anyway, my absolute favorite part of this whole thing - though I'll admit the film had its faults on it - was the conflicted relationship between Manolo and Maria.



Even though they'd been childhood friends and are very close, the conflict is that Maria has seen the world and read books and might not be interested in love at the moment, while sadly, Manolo can't stop thinking about her.  And the two of them have influenced each other:  Maria gave Manolo a guitar to follow his dreams, and Manolo gave her a baby pig to remember home while she went off to be an educated lady.  It's adorable, but still the conflict remains and Manolo has to prove his love to Maria.

He does it by not killing bulls, even though it totally contradicts his family's heritage.  He does it by attempting to join Maria in the Spirit World when realizing she might be dead... only to make his way out of the Spirit World (something nobody had ever done!) in order to get back to her in the land of the Living.  He does it by sacrificing himself to the biggest town bully, the Chakal.



By the end of it, Maria says "yes."  The elements that play out with the Land of the Remembered, such as never forgetting your family and not seeing death as a tragedy but as something joyful and adventurous... it all brought back the triumphant ending with good vs. evil.  The whole film was a bit silly in a way, with lots of one-liners from the "other" guy, Joaquin, but it really made due with the fact that Love is not all about muscles and heroism.  Sometimes it's all about playing a song to your lady.  :D

Tea Set

I've been pretty busy with work lately (celebrated my 2 month at the new job yesterday!) but I always find time to draw.  Commissions galore!  I'm also excited to say that I'll be officially attending my first professional childrens' writers and illustrators conference in November!  Now I really gotta put my skills to work on some sample pieces and manuscripts - stuff I need to get done on my own time.  Whenever I'm not working, or running, or eating.  Or reading multiple books!

Lucy and John

I've been admiring Lucy's comic work for almost 6 years, and she gave me the chance to show my appreciation!

Lots of Animation Goodness lately

"SIMBA!"

Being on a much-needed vacation these past couple of weeks gave me the perfect amount of rest that I needed before starting my new job tomorrow (!!!), and these past two days, I finally got some time to really dig into my love for animation by catching up on some cool stuff:

1) The LEGO Movie: 

Man, when a film has the perfect mix of comedic timing and voice acting talent, only great things can happen. The fact that this movie wasn't stop-motion animated doesn't surprise me, because it would've taken 10 years to get all those facial expressions and action sequences perfect.  The story?  Beautifully and cleverly done.  In the end it's all about the LEGOs - how they are perceived as both child & adult toys and how that becomes the center of the conflict.  The child sees the Business Man as the villain because he wants the LEGOs to not have imagination and keep things "glued" to order... wheareas the child just wants to have fun and build things without any conformity of what LEGOs should be built as.  It's a really cool concept for a story that really made me nostalgic.  That song "Everything is Awesome!" is still stuck in my head. 9/10

2) LEGEND of KORRA, Book 3

I finally got to my TiVo and watched the first 3 episodes, and man... the animation has definitely evolved!  The thing that concerns me, more than anything, is that Mike/Bryan are freely adapting their original Avatar universe in order to market the show for their 8-14year old target audience.  I can imagine someone from HigherUp said "look, I know the protagonists are older teens and need intense plot points, but can we please give the younger viewers stuff they'll enjoy?"  Cue the overwhelming amount of villains & action, funny side-commentary from Bolin/Bumi, and this new kid character named Kai.  -___-   I don't know.  All of a sudden airbenders pop up all over the place, and it becomes a semi-XMen situation of trying to find them and train them.  Didn't airbending deal with spirituality and peace?  The comic books implied that air acolytes were people dedicating their lives to learning the airbender cultures... so that eventually the bending would come back... but I guess, nope.  It just shows up again.  Ugh.  There are some things that I do like... such as Korra when she doesn't give a shit... and of course, ZUKO!  He's back and he has a fricken' DRAAAAGON!  So yeah, there are some thing that still keep me intrigued about the show.  Visually, it's just stunning - like a Miyazaki film in every episode! 7/10

3) How to Train your DRAGON 2

Oh boy... talk about an overwhelming amount of action.  I'm not disappointed, I was just expecting a good flow for a story sequel.  It's like people in the writing room discussed various ways they would continue Hiccup's journey and then decide, "hey let's just put everything in and see what works!"  Cue all the emotional turns and twists I had to endure to make any sense of this film's conflict.  So... Hiccup meets his mother, Valka (after 20 years thinking she's dead!!) and he has a wonderful time catching up and realizing they share the same bond for Dragon-Training.  But, there are villains who want to capture Dragons and train them specifically for an Army to Conquer Things.  Stoic reunites with Valka and their love rekindles.  Toothless becomes brainwashed by the evil Alpha Dragon that the villain controls, and kills Stoic.  Hiccup is devastated and turns Toothless away... but then changes his mind (???).  Together they defeat the Villain from conquering Berk.  Toothless becomes the Alpha Dragon, Hiccup the Chief of Berk.  Everyone's happy.  The End.  -_____-  So many questions, so many emotional turns, and way waaaay too many action sequences.  I do like how the other characters somewhat kept their personalities, but they were definitely not shown enough.  I could've gone for a much smoother story like Hiccup meeting his Mom, bringing that conflict of "should I travel the world with Mom?  or stay in Berk and be Chief?" into Hiccup's mind.  I liked Valka, but part of me wished she stayed as that adventurous woman among dragons rather than just coming back to Berk.  I dunno - I ask for too much!  Good news is there'll be another sequel, but I'm sure gonna miss Stoic.  6/10.

Legend of Korra is back in a WEEK!

Book 3 is almost here!  Too bad I will be out of the country when it premieres (and I feel like they just rushed into the marketing and execution of this season, but whatevs) but I'm still really excited to see what Mike & Bryan have set up for Korra and the Gang!  Nickelodeon released the above epic Book 3 Trailer!

My Reactions:

1) Combustion Man has a PEOPLE!!!??

2) So many villain-looking characters.  But who is the REAL villain?

3) OMFGSDISYFDJDGY ZUKO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4) Lava-Bending?  =S

5) Lots of crazy bending action scenes!  YESSSSH!!

I'll be putting my TiVO on schedule with much joy to watch everything I missed.

In other news, I GOT A JOB!!!  A real full-time, real salary and benefits, watch-out-world-because-I'm-a-BIG-Girl job!  It deals with student financial services at a university, doing a lot of coordination between education and outreach, which means I'm feeling a bit over my head about the entire position right now.  That's okay.  After months and months of just applying and waiting and interviewing and waiting some more... I got that phone call and realized that after 3 years of wanting to work at this university, I finally FINALLY got my foot in the door.

Of course, this means my artistic projects will have to be made slowly next year, but you know what?  I am on the brink of a career and I can finally be proud of a job title.  I can finally not feel broke or in debt, and I can save some money and start my 30s the right way.  I can still draw and write and get into animation, eventually opening another door, but honestly... it feels so good to start a career path.