Memoir of Moana's Ghost Cat - Renegade Animation #165
In this episode, Captain Kaye and the Animation Guru discuss the box office juggernaut that is Moana 2, Ghost Cat Anzu, and the critically acclaimed Memoir of a Snail!
What’s going everyone? This is your Captain speaking, alongside my esteemed co-host, the Animation Guru! 2024 is winding down, and while we haven’t quite seen everything, now is the time where various critics groups and organizations such as the National Board of Review for the American Film Institute are beginning to hand out awards. Without further ado, please tune into the podcast to hear the full discussion, including own speculation on certain films’ awards prospects.
Moana 2
Sometimes, what happens on these podcasts is that Cameron and I will make the exact same points, but still overall disagree on a movie or TV series. And yes, we must address the giant shark head in the room regarding the production of Moana 2. It is embarrassingly apparent that this “movie” is the result of hastily re-editing what could have been a fun Disney+ animated series into a poorly paced feature that pales in comparison to its predecessor. For me, it wasn’t a total wash, the animation is still gorgeous, the voice cast is fun, and at least two of the songs stood out from the rest. According to the box office, however, neither of our opinions matter, as it breaks all sorts of records.
“What should have been a slam-dunk sequel to the acclaimed 2016 original is instead a hollow adventure with bland characters and forgettable musical numbers. A gigantic disappointment from the house of mouse.“ -The Animation Guru
Ghost Cat Anzu
I’ll say this, at the very least, Ghost Cat Anzu is the most unique looking animated film I’ve seen all year. What sets this film’s use of rotoscoping apart from the works of Richard Linklater such as Waking Life or A Scanner Darkly is that it leans further into the fantastical. That’s why I much preferred the second half of the film compared to the first, and struggled to find an emotional connection to our main protagonist.
“While its emotional connections could have been stronger, this delightful absurd slice-of-life journey between the friendship of a tween and a ghost cat offers laughs and one of 2024's most visually stunning animated features.” -The Animation Guru
Memoir of a Snail
I knew I was going to like this movie, based solely on the strong word of mouth from critics and friends of mine who have seen it before me. I didn’t realize how much it would destroy me. Adam Elliot is a one of a kind talent in the world of stop-motion animation, who describes his style as “clayography.” This movie deals in a lot of heavy themes, but it’s also uplifting towards the end. One quote that will always stick with me is this, “Life only makes sense backwards. But we have to live it forwards.”
“Memoir of a Snail is a real contender for not only this year’s best animated feature but also one of this year’s best movies. A true blue one-of-a-kind gem that makes you love movies and the medium of animation as an art form. A film that’s adult without feeling the need to condescend to its audience. A film that didn’t hesitate to talk about darker subject matters. A story about love and family and how life will be rough and bad things will happen, but you keep pushing forward. You break out of your shell to keep living life.“ -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.
