Editorial Product Review: :The folks at Pixar can do no wrong with Monsters, Inc., the studio's fourth feature film, which stretches the computer animation format in terms of both technical complexity and emotional impact. The giant, blue-furred James P. 'Sulley' Sullivan (wonderfully voiced by John Goodman) is a scare-monster extraordinaire in the hidden world of Monstropolis, where the scaring of kids is an imperative in order to keep the entire city running. Beyond the competition to be the best at the business, ...
Editorial Product Review: :Nearly every biblical film is ambitious, creating pictures to go with some of the most famous and sacred stories in the Western world. DreamWorks' first animated film was the vision of executive producer Jeffrey Katzenberg after his ugly split from Disney, where he had been acknowledged as a key architect in that studio's rebirth (The Little Mermaid, etc.). His first film for the company he helped create was a huge, challenging project without a single toy or merchandising tie-in, ...
Editorial Product Review: :Dinosaurs come alive like never before in this costly computer-animated film from Disney. After a breathtaking opening (a dino egg is kidnapped), the film changes style; realistic dinosaurs are given human characteristics and voices. The kidnapped egg grows into an iguanodon named Aladar (voiced by D.B. Sweeney), who is raised by lemurs (shades of Tarzan) on a lush island void of other dinosaurs. When a meteorite destroys their island home in a thrilling sequence, the lemur family and Aladar ...
Editorial Product Review: :Based on the books by children's author Marcus Pfister, the adventures of the Rainbow Fish and Dazzle the Dinosaur are brought to life through animation. The Rainbow Fish tells the story of a beautiful fish so mesmerized by his own sparkling scales that he fails to realize how his vanity compromises his friendships. In Dazzle the Dinosaur, Dazzle and his pal Maia take on the mean Dragonsaurus to win back their home. Featuring songs and quaintly drawn characters, the ...
Editorial Product Review: :This sweet, heartwarming 1973 offering from the Peanuts gang (and Charles Schultz) once again shows Charlie Brown in a pickle, as his erstwhile friends impose upon the hapless would-be-host to provide a memorable and traditional Thanksgiving feast. And as much as Charlie Brown would rather forget the whole thing, he just can't help but try for fear of being labeled a failure. Ultimately it's up to Snoopy and Woodstock to save Charlie from certain embarrassment, and it falls to ...
Editorial Product Review: :In this 1999 documentary, Leslie Iwerks offers viewers a look at the work of her grandfather, one of the unsung giants of animation and film technology. Ub Iwerks (1901-1971) was a teenager in Kansas City when he and his friend Walt Disney taught themselves animation. In 1928, Iwerks designed Mickey Mouse's physical appearance and animated the first three Mickey shorts almost single-handedly. He left Disney in 1930 to start his own studio, but his cartoons failed to attract audiences. ...
Editorial Product Review: :Charlie Brown gets rocks in his trick-or-treat bag, Linus awaits a visitation from the Great Pumpkin in his terribly sincere pumpkin patch (while the adoring little Sally sits tight with him), Snoopy falls asleep, Lucy harasses Schroeder, and Pig-Pen kicks up a dust storm even beneath his costume in this classic television broadcast. Funny stuff, but also graced with Charles Schultz's more poignant and gently satiric themes from the 1960s on the influence of faith, failure, and hope in ...
Editorial Product Review: :In the title story, Tommy and his friends fear Santa breaking into their homes after hearing from others about his M.O. That crisis aside, Tommy and the gang try to get to the North Pole with their broken toys in 'The Blizzard.' This inevitable Christmas special deserves to be one of those seasonal classics from the animated world. --Tom Keogh
Editorial Product Review: :The only mystery here is whether Scoob will leave the Mystery Machine gang to go solo. Featuring a laugh track, some musical numbers (!), and the Great Dane hanging with such '70s icons as Charlie's Angels and a disco queen in Qiana, the framing for this 49-minute show is framed as a screen test for a show- biz heavyweight. Shaggy plays agent while his canine sidekick gets to play cowboy for a face-off at high noon and don a ...
India expects to see rough diamond supplies fall by up to a fourth after the Diamond Trading Co (DTC), the distribution arm of De Beers, cuts down on Indian clients, an industry body said on Wednesday.
Hundreds of internet users from across the globe are signing an online condolence book offering their tributes to the slain former Pakistan premier Benazir Bhutto,