Some films simply look so odd that you have to track them down and check them out. Zhang Ying’s The Fantasy of Deer Warrior (1961) is a case in point: it is a Taiwanese children’s film, produced in black and white, and … Continue reading REVIEW: The Fantasy of Deer Warrior (1961)
Jim Henson died in May 1990, on the verge of selling his famous Muppet characters to the Walt Disney Company. No one was quite sure what was going to happen next, although the Disney deal fell through without Henson as … Continue reading REVIEW: Muppet Treasure Island (1996)
Disney has been on an absolute rampage this year with remakes of their earlier animation studio works. Audiences have been bombarded with four remakes in total – five if you include the Maleficent sequel – and for this critic at least … Continue reading REVIEW: Lady and the Tramp (2019)
With the Walt Disney company launching its own international film and television streaming service Disney+ within two months, one of the big questions was with what sorts of productions would the service launch. New and exclusive series like Star Wars spin-off The … Continue reading 10 archive highlights among the Disney+ launch
If there is a topic that seems to dominate among film geeks this year, it is Walt Disney’s growing program of live-action adaptations based on their animated back catalogue. It was only back in late May that I wrote: ‘It … Continue reading REVIEW: Dumbo (2019)
Emilia (Ella Jäppinen) lives in Finland with her mother and her mother’s new boyfriend. When her pet guinea pig bites her one day, it embues her with the powers of Super Furball: a four-foot tall guinea pig with super-strength and … Continue reading REVIEW: Super Furball (2018)
Every year, a group of talented children’s football teams assemble on the Westman Islands, off the Icelandic coast. There they play out a tournament in the shadow of a looming volcano. When 10-year-old Jón comes along with his team the … Continue reading REVIEW: The Falcons (2018)
As winter approaches, and the Moomins prepare to hibernate until the spring, Moomintroll (Bill Skarsgård) grows concerned about what happens while he sleeps. When he wakes early he, his father Moominpappa (Stellan Skarsgård), and Little My (Alicia Vikander), and drawn … Continue reading REVIEW: Moomins and the Winter Wonderland (2017)
Ten-year-old Morten lives unwillingly with his guardian – the ballet-obsessed Anna – while his father is away captaining a ship. When the mysterious magician Senor Cucaracha comes to town, Morten is shrunk to the size of an insect and trapped … Continue reading REVIEW: Captain Morten and the Spider Queen (2018)
Decades after leaving the Hundred Acre Wood for boarding school, troubled veteran Christopher Robin (Ewan McGregor) now works in middle-management at a London-based luggage company. Neglecting his wife (Hayley Atwell) and daughter for his job, Christopher reaches an ethical crisis … Continue reading REVIEW: Christopher Robin (2018)
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