Porco Puts a One Piece Soccer Outfit on My Father's Dragon - Renegade Animation #84
Captain Kaye and the Animation Guru have a packed episode in store for you all. This week, the duo review the Lucasfilm and Studio Ghibli short Zen - Grogu and Dust Bunnies, Zootopia+, The Soccer Football Movie, One Piece Film: Red, My Father's Dragon, and Porco Rosso!
What’s going on, everyone? This is your Captain speaking, and boy is this episode stuffed to the gills! This is honestly a good problem to have, since it gives myself and Cameron plenty of material to work with. We can’t promise that everyone on this slate was worth it, but tune into the episode to hear our full thoughts.
Zen - Grogu and Dust Bunnies
Honestly, I’m more interested in the lead up to the short, and what this could mean for the future, than the actual short itself. Like I said on the podcast, it’s cute enough as it is, but nothing really more than a glorified animation test. Lucasfilm and Studio Ghibli must have something more up their sleeves, because these two entertainment titans are too big for this to be their only collaboration.
“Zen - Grogu and Dust Bunnies: while its release has a big asterisk next to it, it is a cute and chill short that has that Ghibli charm with a splash from a galaxy far away“ -The Animation Guru
Zootopia+
My one major complaint is just that I wanted more. I understand the reason why it’s formatted like this. This is a Walt Disney Animation Studios production, so I imagine it wasn’t cheap. It was fun to see 6 different shorts set in the world of Zootopia, with clever tie-ins to the original film. Think of this as The Lion King 1 1/2 meets “22 Short Stories About Springfield,” and if that sounds appealing to you, I’d give these a watch.
“Zootopia +: while not an expansive look into the world of the film these shorts are based on, Zootopia+ adds entertaining and cute side stories to some of the films most memorable characters.” -The Animation Guru
The Soccer Football Movie
Cameron and I have spoken ad nauseam about Netflix and the terrible marketing of their own products. Normally we’d be upset because that means something great like Wendell & Wild may get buried under the algorithm, but perhaps this time they did us a favor? I won’t mince words, The Soccer Football Movie is terrible. Aside from ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic and a few other professional voice actors trying their best with the material they’re given, this 73-minute slap-dashed assortment of rejected Grubhub commercial character assets barely even counts as a movie.
“The Soccer Football Movie: While Weird Al is trying his best to make this work, he alone can not save this film from its mediocre writing and lackluster animation.“ -The Animation Guru
One Piece Film: Red
Stan Lee once said “every comic is someone’s first,” which can also apply to any medium. Outside of reading a few early chapters of the manga in Shonen Jump and watching the occasional episode or two of the anime on Toonami, I have not been regularly keeping up with the One Piece franchise in its entirety. That being said, I still had a wonderful time watching this on the big screen! Regardless of your history with the franchise, the main attractions here are the gorgeous animation sequences, an awesome soundtrack, and one of the most fascinating antagonists I’ve seen all year. After this movie, I look forward to diving deeper into One Piece, which has been celebrating its 25th anniversary!
“One Piece Film Red: while not the easiest to jump into for newcomers, the Straw Hats new adventure takes on a musical epic to overcome distrust and strained relationships as they attempt to take down a powerful music icon with the help of some old friends.” -The Animation Guru
My Father’s Dragon
Calling this the “weakest” Cartoon Saloon film wouldn’t exactly be fair, but given the studio’s reputation, that still puts this above many of its contemporaries. While the animation itself still retains their house style, narratively the film leans closer to American sensibilities. If you’re into classic Amblin Entertainment style family films, then I can guarantee you’ll like this as well.
“My Father’s Dragon: while more family friendly and approachable than other Cartoon Saloon features, it still offers a fantastic whimsical journey of overcoming fears in an unknown and ever changing world.“
Porco Rosso
If you’re new to the podcast, we have a segment called “Mike’s Ghibli Journey,” in which a random Studio Ghibli film is selected from the Ghibli wheel. These movies are my biggest blind spots, and if I’m going to be taken seriously as the host of an animation podcast, I have to keep up with as much as possible. Anyway, this week’s selection is 1992’s Porco Rosso, which I thoroughly enjoyed! It checks off a lot of Miyazaki’s boxes, from its anti-war themes, to his adoration for aerial flight sequences, and probably features one of the best dogfights depicted on screen since Return of the Jedi. This has been one of Cameron’s favorite films of all time, and now I fully understand why.
“Porco Rosso: Miyazaki’s take on a highflying old Hollywood epic take on a pilot who is trying to outrun his war-torn past with the help of a young mechanic and some airborn drama.“ -The Animation Guru
That’ll do it for this episode! Thank you guys for joining us, and stay tuned for next week, where we address the state of Adult Animation in 2022!
