Christmas Dream: Flow of Rohirrim - Renegade Animation #167
In this episode, Captain Kaye and the Animation Guru discuss Dream Productions, That Christmas, Flow, and The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim!
What’s going on, everyone? This is your Captain speaking, alongside my co-host, the Animation Guru! This will be our last podcast of the year, and it’s quite a packed episode. We finally get to talk about two of my most anticipated animated movies of the year, one of which could be a serious contender for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards. So, without further ado, please tune into the podcast to hear the full discussion!
That Christmas
Look, I’ll continue to pick on Love, Actually until the end of time, but I really am a fan of Richard Curtis’s work. Without him, we wouldn’t have Blackadder or Mr. Bean, so for that reason alone, I owe him a debt of gratitude. That Christmas is a charming little movie, one that has a nice message, a handful of sneakily hilarious comedic moments, and fantastic character animation.
“It’s a flawed but harmless holiday feature all about how we can all come together to solve problems. It could have been funnier and more compelling, but it’s a decent time.“ -The Animation Guru
Dream Productions
I’m not entirely sure that we NEEDED a spin-off to Inside Out that stretched out one of the many sight gags from the first film into a 4-episode miniseries that’s essentially Parks & Recs meets The Players, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit. I like the new characters that were introduced, and I love how much it’s playfully riffing on the film industry.
“Dream Productions is a weird possible meta look into the world of Pixar and disneys feature film situation via Inside Outs Dream Productions. It’s a creative mini series they may hit too awkwardly for those that are in the know of the current state of both studios, but it has a lot of that Pixar appeal to make it a fun watch.“ -The Animation Guru
Flow
We recorded this podcast before the Annie Award nominations were announced, so I was genuinely wondering whether or not the frontrunner for Best Animated Feature would be this or The Wild Robot. To be honest, it doesn’t matter who wins, because both movies are phenomenal. Flow is a feat of wonder that conveys so much emotion in its storytelling without a single line of dialogue. If more movies like this were readily available to the public, it would be so much easier to accept that animation truly is cinema!
“There is a reason why this film is winning acclaim all across the board with its unique visuals and no-dialogue narrative. It’s ambitious for an animated film and it stands out among what we normally get from studios. It doesn’t work as well in the third act when it gets too abstract but it’s a 2024 classic for a reason.“ -The Animation Guru
The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
On the one hand, yes, it is unfortunate that this movie only really exists because WB and New Line Cinema wanted to retain the film rights to Tolkien’s Middle Earth novels. That’s why it was only given a $30 million budget, and next to no marketing beyond one trailer and a handful of TV spots. However, is this not also what animation fans claim they want to see? 2D animation on the big screen, a movie for adults that isn’t a comedy? It may not perfect, we talked about a handful of its shortcomings, but on the whole it’s still something I recommend everyone check out!
“While it may lack an overall strong cast, this grand epic animated fantasy is a good time on the big screen and deserves more support.“ -The Animation Guru
That’ll do it for this episode! Thank you all for joining us! We have provided resources for those who wish to support the victims of the Israel-Hamas war: https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/, https://www.ifnotnowmovement.org/, https://itch.io/b/2120/games-for-gaza, https://www.instagram.com/palestineredcrescent/, https://buildpalestine.com/2021/05/15/trusted-organizations-to-donate-to-palestine/, https://www.npr.org/2023/10/13/1205235922/help-israel-gaza-humanitarian-organizations.
