Inside Out of Daffy's Ultraman - Renegade Animation #148
In this episode, Captain Kaye and the Animation Guru discuss Daffy in Wonderland, Inside Out 2, and Ultraman: Rising!
What’s going on, everyone? This is your Captain speaking, alongside my co-host, The Animation Guru! It is an exciting time to be an animation fan, and I feel like that is expressed quite thoroughly in this week’s episode! There’s just a little over a month until The Animation Guild’s contract expires, but until then, we have quite a bit to celebrate, including two excellent feature directorial debuts that were released last weekend. Without further ado, please tune into the podcast to hear the full discussion!
Daffy in Wackyland
Here is a little taste of the insanity you’re about to witness in the first stop motion Looney Tunes short, now streaming on Max. As great as the Chuck Jones shorts from the 50’s were, my personal favorites have always been the zanier ones from directors like Tex Avery and Bob Clampett. Daffy in Wackyland is a spiritual successor to Clampett’s acclaimed 1938 short Porky in Wackyland, and it’s really impressive how well Max Winston was able to match that same energy in stop motion.
“words cannot fully express the wild amounts of creativity that is unleashed in their first ever stop-motion short. While more visually interesting at points than hilarious, this short still offers an amazing new world for the series to go into in future projects.“ -The Animation Guru
Inside Out 2
I’ve said enough in both my personal Letterboxd review and on the podcast, so I’ll keep it brief here. Inside Out 2 is the best non-Toy Story sequel Pixar has ever produced, and a great expansion of the world that was established in the first film. I’m still not ready to directly compare one to the other, because each has their own strengths and weaknesses. The new additions to the cast are great, the jokes are hysterical, and it has one of the best scenes in its third act.
“It suffers from a bit of the ol sequelitis, but it still tackles teenage anxiety in a rather touching and way-too-close-to-home way of finding out how you want to define yourself. A fantastic Pixar Sequel.“ -The Animation Guru
Ultraman: Rising
This is my favorite movie of the year, animated or otherwise! I’ve been a huge supporter of director Shannon Tindle’s work as a character designer and storyboard artist for years, so of course I’m excited that he knocked his first feature film as a director out of the park! The action sequences are incredible, the animation provided by Industrial Light & Magic looks stunning, but what really makes this movie special is how much we care about the characters. This is story about family, the ones we lost, the ones we gain, and how that shapes us as people.
“Ultraman: Rising is a wonder of animation with a heart and soul as big as our hero. A truly wonderful experience through the trials of fatherhood and dealing with the past and making the bonds that matter. Easily one of the year's best movies.“ -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.
