Movie Review: Toy Story 5

 

Note: Sadly, there is still no short film before this Pixar movie. 

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

A pure treat for Pixar fans.

I was very skeptical when I first heard of this film. The franchise's story has come to a conclusion twice and despite how much I love these movies, there seemed no need to continue the story. While this movie is technically an unneeded epilogue to an already finished story, it is a darn good one. 

Jessie has been a franchise standout since her first appearance in Toy Story 2 (1999) and with this movie she takes center stage. If this franchise is going to continue, I think this is the way to do it, instead of focusing on Woody and Buzz, whose stories have been told and feel completed, turning the attention to other characters. Jessie is a perfect choice for this. She is a character that can be fun and funny, but she also has a sense of emotional depth. She received what is possibly franchise's most emotional moment when her backstory was told in Toy Story 2. This backstory is expanded upon here, in a very emotionally satisfying way. One scene revolving around her back story made me tear up in the way only Pixar can do. 

The storyline revolves around Bonnie getting a new tablet device and spending less time with her toys because of this. Jessie of course with her back story takes this especially hard considering what the poor cowgirl has been through. Yet Jessie is not the only character, we create a strong emotional bond with. We also feel a major bond with Bonnie. This is probably the most I have ever connected with this character in any of her three movies. Here she is bullied by her peers for still playing with toys. Trying to seem more grown up and fit in she becomes ashamed of playing with her toys. This is a situation we can all greatly relate to. We all have felt ashamed of loving something that we truly love because someone might view us as childish or not want to spend time with us. This movie does such a great job of digging into this universal experience, creating some very emotional moments. 

I great appreciated how this movie dealt with Lilypad (the tablet Bonnie gets). It would have been so easy to simply makes this character a stereotypical villain. Yet this movie went beyond that. Her only intention is to help Bonnie. Even if she goes about it in the wrong way, she does truly care about Bonnie, just as much as the toys do. The whole film takes a more complex stance than toys are good and tech is bad. Instead, it acknowledges that technology can be a great thing, but it is not a substitute for human imagination or social interaction. 

As well as the great themes and emotional moments, this movie is also really funny. There were many moments here that I laughed out loud. The humor hits on a consistent basis here. 

If I had one problem, it is about how the filmmakers found a way to bring Woody back into the story, after he left the gang at the end of the last movie, yet he didn't really contribute much to the story here. It kind of makes the ending of the last movie lose some of its emotional impact. 

This film is directed by Andrew Staton, who was a screenwriter on the previous Toy Story movies and directed some of Pixar's most beloved movies including Finding Nemo (2003) and WALL-E (2008). Staton also co-wrote this movie with Kenna Harris. She had worked as a story artist on the Disney films, Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018) and Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) as well as the Pixar movie, Luca (2021). She was also the story supervisor for Inside Out 2 (2024) and worked as a character designer on the TV show We Bare Bears. 

As a sidenote, after the passing of Don Rickles, rather than giving Mr. Potato Head a new voice actor, they instead use a few lines from previous Toy Story films. I thought this was nice as it is hard to picture anyone else voicing Mr. Potato Head. As another sidenote, I love the use of a classic song from Bambi (1942) at a very appropriate time. 

A surprisingly great movie.

 

Cowboy Church #272

 Hello my friends and welcome back for another service of Cowboy Church. 

Today's musical selection begins with the King of the Cowboys, Roy Rogers, singing The Circuit Riding Preacher from his and Dale's 1959 album, Jesus Loves Me. Circuit riders were real men back in the late 1700's and 1800's. They were part of the Methodist Episcopal Church and rode on horse across the early United States, preaching the gospel. Naturally this was a perfect subject for Roy to sing about as the lore was similar to that of the cowboy and Roy was a Christian. This song is set to the tune of The Battle Hymn of the Old Republic with a few choruses of Leaning on the Everlasting Arms inserted in there.

This is followed by Ricky Skaggs with The Joshua Generation. This song comes from his 1999 gospel album, Solider of the Cross. 

Afterwards is The Purple Hulls with No Doubt Salvation. This comes from their 2015 gospel album, Why We Sing. 

Then comes Roy Drusky with Softly and Tenderly. The song was written by an Ohio businessman named Will Thompson in 1880.  As well as writing gospel songs Thompson also wrote quite a few secular songs and parotic songs. When the songs he wrote were rejected by publishers he created his own company, Will L. Thompson & Company. This company would not only publish music by sell musical instruments. Softly and Tenderly first appeared in 1880's Sparkling Gems, Nos. 1 and 2, a collection of songs from the company. When evangelist Dwight L. Moody was on his death bed he told the songwriter, "Will, I would rather have written ‘Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling’ than anything I have been able to do in my whole life." This was appropriate as Will decided to make songwriting his career while at a meeting held by Moody. 

Next is The Sons of the Pioneers with their 1948 recording of Read the Bible Every Day. This song was written by Tim Spencer, one of the group's founding members. 

Afterwards is Jim and Jesse with Over in the Glory Land. 

Today's musical selection ends with Gene Autry and Dinah Shore with their 1950 recording of In The Garden. This song was written by C. Austin Miles (who also wrote Dwelling in Beulah Land). As well as a hymnist, Austin's hobby was photography. He wrote this song in 1912 while waiting some film to dry in a cold and leaky basement. Miles had discovered earlier that he could read the bible in the red lighting of his darkroom and often did. This day he was reading John 20. He read about how Mary went into the garden to see Jesus' tomb. Her heart was full of sadness, but when she learned that Jesus had overcome the grave she was moved to great joy. This passage moved Miles as he read it, and this song started to come to him. Miles originally intended this song to be an Easter song and for it to be from the point of view of Mary Magdalene. Miles would later say about this song, “This is not an experience limited to a happening almost 2,000 years ago. It is the daily companionship with the Lord that makes up the Christian’s life.” Learning this story has made this song all the more powerful for me and I hope it enhances the power of this great hymn for you as well. The same day Gene and Dinah recorded this song (April 20, 1950), they also recorded a lovey version of The Old Rugged Cross.

Now for the 16th episode of The Lone Ranger TV show. 

Now for a message from the reverend Billy Graham. 

Psalm 87

Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm. A song.

1 He has founded his city on the holy mountain.

2 The Lord loves the gates of Zion

    more than all the other dwellings of Jacob.

3 Glorious things are said of you,

    city of God:

4 “I will record Rahab and Babylon

    among those who acknowledge me—

Philistia too, and Tyre, along with Cush—

    and will say, ‘This one was born in Zion.’”

5 Indeed, of Zion it will be said,

    “This one and that one were born in her,

    and the Most High himself will establish her.”

6 The Lord will write in the register of the peoples:

    “This one was born in Zion.”

7 As they make music they will sing,

    “All my fountains are in you.”

Thank you for joining me. Come back next week for another service of Cowboy Church. Happy trails to you until we meet again. 

Some Cartoons for Saturday Morning #285

 Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again, it is time for some classic cartoons. 

Today's cartoon selection begins with Tree For Two (1952) starring Sylvester the cat. This short film introduced the two dogs, Spike and Chester. They would only appear in two classic theatrical shorts (the other being Dr. Jekyll's Hyde (1954)), but the popularity of these cartoons has made them make cameos in many post-golden age Looney Tunes projects. This short would later be edited into the feature film, Daffy Duck's Movie: Fantastic Island (1983) and be remade as The Dogfather (1974), the first short in The Dogfather series. 

Up next is the Terry Toons cartoon, Hounding the Hares (1948). This short film features our good friend Farmer Al Falfa. 

Now we join Donald Duck in Sky Trooper (1942). Like many cartoon characters, Donald Duck spent much of World War 2 making service comedies that featured him in some branch of the military. Despite the most famous image of Donald being him in his sailor suit, most of these service comedies featured the duck in the army. Many of these cartoons also feature Mickey Mouse's nemesis Pete as Donald's long-suffering sergeant. The highlight of these films is often the interactions between these two characters. Sky Trooper was written by Carl Barks, who is best known for his wonderful comic book stories starring the beloved cartoon duck as well as for the creation of his uncle Scrooge McDuck (for whom Carl also wrote the comic book stories). The cartoon was directed by Jack King, who directed most of the Donald Duck shorts around this time. The film was released to theaters on November 6, 1942. It made its TV debut on an episode of The Mickey Mouse Club that aired on December 10, 1957. The cartoon would also be used in the Walt Disney Presents episode, This is Your Life, Donald Duck (1960). 

Next is the silent Out of the Inkwell film, Hot After It (1926). This film would later be retitled Koko's Treasure Hunt for television and that is the title you see here. 

Now it is time for a commercial break. 

Next comes Bugs Bunny in Bugsy and Mugsy (1957). This film was a semi-remake of the Slyvester cartoon, Stooge for a Mouse (1950). Bugsy and Mugsy would later be remade as the Dogfather cartoon, Heist and Seek (1974).

Now for the Fleischer stone age cartoon, Way Back When a Razzberry was a Fruit (1940). 

Winsor McCay is easily one of the most important, and most talented pioneers of animation. Contrary to some stories you might hear though he is not the first filmmaker to use animation (Emil Cohl, J. Stuart Blackton, Charles-Émile Reynaud, and Segundo de Chomón beat him to it).  However, his importance to the history of animation cannot be underestimated. Winsor McCay had already enjoyed much success before entering the field of animation, as creator and writer of the newspaper comic strips, Little Nemo in Slumberland, and Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend. These comic strips were the highlight of the comics page back then. They transcended what comic strips had been known for through their abundance of imagination, and expert drawing style. It is only natural for a man who created this to be attracted to the art form of animation. His first film was Little Nemo (1911) based off his own comic strip. This film starts out in live action with McCay betting he can make drawings move (although he incorrectly credits himself as the first to do this), and his friends respond with laughter and disbelief. The live action segment of this film is very clever, and humorous. The highlight of the live action portion though is seeing McCay draw his characters before the animation starts. This is when you know you are watching a great talent at work. The animation segment itself is very well done and entertaining, but it is a little dated. It is obvious he had not yet figured out what to do with animation, and that leads to a lack of understanding our characters, and therefore a lack of personal involvement. However this animation is expertly done. It is very appealing and still looks very good by today's standards. This entire segment was hand-drawn by one man, Winsor McCay himself. He drew four-thousand drawings all by himself for this one short segment of the film. The early color was achieved by hand painting the 35mm film itself after it was complete. this was also done only by McCay.

Now let us close with a song. 

Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry. 

Resources Used

Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin

I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat: Fifty Years of Sylvester and Tweety by Jerry Beck

Donald Duck: The Ultimate History by J.B. Kaufman and David Gerstein

https://mediahistoryproject.org/

https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Sky_Trooper

Movie Review: The Death of Robin Hood

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A-

A compelling and thoughtful revisionist take on the tale of Robin Hood. 

Don't go into this movie expecting a typical Robin Hood film. This is not a swashbuckling adventure starring a young dashing Errol Flynn or Douglas Fairbanks. Rather this is often a quiet meditative film that is more interested in delving into the psyche of the main character than providing an action-packed spectacle. Even when we do get action scenes there is very little fun to them. Instead, these scenes are unforgivingly brutal and hard to watch. Still, this is keeping very much with the theme of this movie, rather than being gore for the sake of gore. The brutality serves a purpose here. It is here to rid our minds of any sort of romantism. Instead, we are thrown into a world where violence, even if it is at first well intentioned, deeply changes a person for the worse. We see Robin Hood as an old man (played marvelously by Hugh Jackman), who does not view himself as a hero but instead as a person whose entire legacy was built on nothing but violence and bloodshed. After some early brutal scenes, the rest of the film is very quiet and introspective causing us to go into dark places that we normally wouldn't associate with a Robin Hood story. While this film will definitely divide movie fans and critics for years to come, it leaves a devastating emotional impact and lots of food for thought. 

Director/writer Michael Sarnoski (Pig (2021), A Quiet Place: Day One (2024)) not only dismantles and deconstructs the tale of Robin Hood but also creates a powerful cautionary tale about violence and when fiction and romanticism override the brutal truth. 

I am not saying this movie is for everyone. It can be unrelenting in its unpleasantness, and the pacing will probably be too slow for those used to big blockbusters. Others will simply have a hard time accepting such a dark take on such a beloved figure. Yet if you are willing to give yourself over to such a challenging movie that asks a lot of its audience, it is an extremely rewarding experience.   

Joan Crawford On Radio

What if Joan Crawford had her own weekly radio show? Joan Crawford herself answers this question in the 1936 article from Radio Stars magazine. If you have trouble reading the article, click on the pages and use your touch screen to zoom in. If you don't have a touch screen, click here.

For an example of Joan on radio enjoy this following episode of Suspense. 

Pinocchio: The Making of The Disney Epic (2015)

 

Pinocchio (1940) is one of the Disney studio's greatest animated movies. Even with the many animated Disney films that have followed there is still something about Pinocchio that makes it stand out as something truly special. When you read film historian J.B. Kaufman's essential book about the making of Pinocchio you will understand why it is so special. Kaufman's research is exhaustive and there is no detail about the production that is too small for this book. This lets us see how the filmmakers spent a great amount of time and effort on the smallest details in this film. There is not a single second that was not the result of much time and effort on the part of the filmmakers. It is a result of how these filmmakers never settled for anything less than perfection that makes this such an incredible movie. 

Kaufman's book is so informative that even the most dedicated Disney buffs will learn a great deal. You may think you know your Disney history before reading this book but there is so much here, you have never even heard about before. This film spends a great deal of time discussing story ideas that were discarded around the time. The story may seem effortless when you watch the movie, but they were anything but. It is fascinating to read about all the different directions this movie could have gone (if you have read Collidi's original story, you can easily note how hard of a story this would be to adapt to a movie). When you read about the various directions this film could have gone in, it is great fun to picture the various completely different movies we could have gotten instead.   

As well as the bulk of the book telling the story of production, this book has various appendixes. One lists who animated what from start to finish of the film. Another goes over the uses of Figaro the cat and his career as a star of the Disney studio's short cartoons. Another goes over Jiminy Cricket and his life outside of this movie. Each of these appendixes are just as fascinating as the main body of the book.

This book also features an extra chapter by film historian Russell Merrit (whom Kaufman had co-written a couple of Disney books with). Merrit gives a deep critical dive into the themes of this film. Some of his discussion involves deep analysis that goes into symbolism that I doubt was on the mind of most anyone working on this film. However, a film is always open to interpretation on the part of the viewer, and his analysis is very well written and intelligent.    

This is a must own for any Disney fan. 

 

Movie Review: Obsession

 

Michael's Movie Grade: C+

A well-made but incredibly predictable horror movie. 

In this film, a young man has a massive crush on a close female friend but is too scared to tell her. One day he comes across an object called a One Wish Williow, which is said to grant one specific wish. Not believing that this will work he uses one and wishes that his friend loved him more than anyone else in the whole world. The wish comes true and at first seems like a dream come true, but her obsession with him gets darker and more twisted. 

The basic storyline is a great twist on the classic monkey paw storyline. It is instantly relatable as many of us might have wished for the same thing he did, only to regret making the wish shortly after. And if we ended up in the same situation he is in, we too would try to shift the blame from ourselves and try to live out our fantasy regardless of how creepy things become. That is the truly disturbing thing about this film. We see darker parts of ourselves that we often try to deny or suppress brought to the surface. This movie also delivers some great scares. The jump scares here are incredibly effective, and the first one definitely made me jump out of my seat. Many scenes revolving around the friend turned girlfriend, Nikki, are legitimately disturbing in the best way possible (though the scenes revolving around the cat were unnecessary). 

However, there are many things that keep this from being the great movie it should have been. The main fault is its predictability. You figure out how this film is going to end well before it happens. The last act can start to make an audience member grow impatient as it takes its time to get to this very predictable ending. Some other scenes that are supposed to be shocking are also incredibly predictable. The movie also tries to inject a lot of dark humor into its storyline, but this humor is very rarely funny. I also felt the whole movie could have been stronger if we knew more about who the main female character was before the wish was made. This could have given the movie a much stronger emotional connection. 

I enjoyed this movie, but I still don't think it fully lived up to the hype around it.