#arthur rankin jr. in japan

[365days365movies]

March 2, 2021: The Last Unicorn (Review)

I am confused about my feelings.

I’m genuinely not sure how i feel about this one. And I mean that, because it wasn’t bad...no, it wasn’t bad, I did like it. But how actually...WAS this movie? You know what, here’s what we’re gonna do. We’re jumping right into it! No run-up, we’re just doing it! I gotta talk this one out, y’know? Recap is here and here if you want a journey through my confusion. OK, here we go below!

Review

Cast and Acting: 7/10

Tammy Grimes is fantastic, as is Christopher Lee and Angela Lansbury as the villains of our story. Alan Arkin isn’t bad either, although he has more iffy moments that sound more staged than the rest. Still, outside of those moments, he’s not bad. And René Auberjonois also deserves a HELL of a lot of credit for his short, yet quite memorable, role as the Skull. As for Mia Farrow and Jeff Bridges...Farrow and Bridges are not voice actors. Sorry, they just...aren’t. I mean, neither is Arkin or Grimes, but they still did very well with the roles they were given. But Farrow and Bridges just aren’t voice actors. They always manage to sound like they’re speaking into a microphone, and not (as disgustingly pretentious as this sounds) mentally inhabiting their characters. Kind of a necessity for a character that you can’t physically become. So, yeah, since these two are main characters, and one of them is THE main character...y’know, it’s a major issue.

Plot and Writing: 7/10

This story is a very simple one, but also feels a little...disjointed and anticlimactic. Y’know, I thought this was going to be a lot harder to figure out what my rating is, but it’s actually easier than I thought. What’s hard is explaining why it’s so low. And it’s mostly just low because it felt like it was going somewhere big and grand and...it just didn’t. Really fell flat for me, in a lot of ways. It just didn’t work that well for me. Peter Beagle, who wrote the original book, also wrote this film, and it shows. I feel like the book was a lot better in terms of plot flow and fleshing out details, and more probably could’ve been added to the film. And yet, it’s still over an hour and a half long! I don’t know if it’s pacing or the story itself, but I do think it needed some more work done on it. Not bad, but not...great.

Directing and Cinematography: 8/10

So, despite the plot and some acting being disappointing, the art mostly wasn’t! Based off of classic medieval tapestries, the animation is pretty solid throughout. Now, yeah, it is stiff at times, but that’s the Rankin-Bass aesthetic, to be honest. I was prepared for that going in. Artistically, everything else here looks pretty goddamn solid, thanks again to Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass for directing, and Hiroyasu Omoto for Cinematography. Great on both counts.

Production and Art Design: 9/10

And outside of the animation, the actual art style of this film is enrapturing. It’s just a great looking movie, and Topcraft really is top craft, lemme say. Although, to be fair...there are some weird artistic choices in this movie, especially for a studio that mostly marketed to children and families. And yeah, I’m talking about the Harpy and the Tree, as their designs are...why? The Tree is comic relief, OK, I get that. But the Harpy is just...weird. Looks nothing like traditional harpies, for one, but the, uh...only human parts on her are just odd. Legitimately not sure why they were there. Answers to that question are very welcome.

Music and Editing: 8/10

The music’s great! I’m actually tempted to put a song from here on my playlist, but I probably won’t. It’s all composed by Jimmy Webb, and much of it is sung by America. It’s also somewhat remembered to this day, and it’s maybe one of the most iconic parts of the film outside of the unicorn itself? So, why not a 10/10? I mean...look, I don’t want to put them on blast here, but Bridges and Farrow are BAAAAAAAD. They really are not good singers, and they make that pretty well-known in their songs. Just saying...that was a mistake. Could we not have given Haggard a heavy metal song, considering who played the character?

78%, and that'll settle my confusion.

Yeah, that seems right to me. I do like this movie, and I know that it’s beloved by some, but...eh, I dunno. Watching this is an adult probably isn’t helping this movie’s quality for me. Who knows? maybe my future kids’ll like it. Then again...

...maybe I’ll show this to them when they’re older. Or maybe not.

Well, after this point, Topcraft would be sold three years later, making this their last straight-up film for Rankin-Bass, and the last one with a studio from the United States. In 1984, they’d work on another major film, right at home in Japan. It was based on the work of a newly popular mangaka, and that mangaka also was the director of this, his second film. That movie was called Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, and the mangaka was Hayao Miyazaki.

And I am VERY tempted to make this the next movie...but no. No, this one’ll keep...until May. No, we’re going to progress further into Miyazaki’s career, after he’d bought out Topcraft and renamed it to Studio Ghibli. We’re going 4 years into the future, after Miyazaki’s name was well-established in Japan, and soon-to-be in the United States. Buckle up, people, and grab your broomsticks. We’re headed to Japan!

March 3, 2021: Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989)

[animation-appreciation-education]

The Daydreamer

122 in x of animated feature film history Release: Jun. 1st, 1966 Country: USA, Japan Director: Jules Bass, Kizo Nagashima

“Directed by Jules Bass, it was written by Arthur Rankin, Jr. and Romeo Muller, based on the stories of Hans Christian Andersen. It features songs by Jules Bass and Maury Laws. 

A teenaged Hans Christian Andersen daydreams instead of studying for school. He runs away from home. Whenever he falls asleep, he dreams that he is in strange adventures with tailors, a tiny girl no bigger than a thumb, a mermaid, a devil boy in Eden, and others. In reality, as well as in his dreams, Hans is searching for the Garden of Paradise, which in reality, he does not find. The dream sequences are puppet animation, complete with a puppet version of himself. These dreams become the basis for his fairy tale fictions, which he writes as an adult: The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, The Ugly Duckling, The Emperor's New Clothes and The Garden of Paradise.”

(source)

The Daydreamer is available on YouTube.

FIRST POSTED: 1 /3/17

[itsamoviemoviemoviemovieworld]

#199 Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (made for Television) (USA Japan 1970)

*earliest TV Spot found

Dir. Jules Bass & Arthur Rankin Jr.

Fun stuff.

[robertaroberta]

Here comes peter cottontail, jules bass & Arthur rankin jr. (1971) United States, Japan #eastervacaySHAN (at Kilbride, St. John's)