Daniel reviews A Charlie Brown Christmas

Hello.

It was 1965, and Peanuts was the most popular comic strip. Lee Mendelson, a friend of Charles Shultz, got a call from Coca-Cola and was asked if they had a Charlie Brown TV special planned out. He went along with it and said yes. They had a week to do it. Lee called Sparky (As Charles liked to be called) and he called Bill Melendez, an animator. They worked as hard as they could, getting voice actors, who were children no less, to create one of the most memorable specials of all time.

The special is so well known that you could recite the plot by heart. Charlie Brown is depressed (of course.) and can't understand the holidays. Lucy, who I think shouldn't be this helpful, tells Charlie Brown that they are having a Christmas pageant and she made him the director. The problem is, they need a tree. Charlie Brown gets the shittiest tree known to man, everybody makes fun of him, Linus recites stuff from the King James version of the Bible, everybody forgives Charlie Brown, the end.

Of course, I think it's good. But that is NOT why I reviewed this special.

Recently, the voice actor of Charlie Brown in this and It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, Peter Robbins, was arrested for stalking his ex wife and threatening her son's life. He was heading over the border, and border patrol saw the warrant out for him and arrested him. If convicted, he might have 9 months, or more.

Good grief. 

Daniel reviews Wakko's Wish

Hello.


Now, like a lot of people, I love Animaniacs. The Warners, Pinky and The Brain and all the other characters cause me to laugh, think, and laugh again. But here's the problem, the series ended in 1998. No new episodes unless you count the stuff they did with Pinky and The Brain. So, Stephen Speilberg and the rest of the people who did the show gave us the made-for-video movie Wakko's Wish.

THIS, my friends, is one of the things that makes me cry. The story is about how there was a kingdom called Warnerstock, and how the king, Sir William the Good, dies. Because of the fighting to control the kingdom, Ticktockia takes over and Warnerstock is controled by King Salizar. Everybody hates him so they go bankrupt. That leads to taxes, and making the entire country, especially a small village called Acme Falls poor. The orphanage shuts down leaving three children, Yakko, Wakko and Dot, on the streets. Wakko, at night, wishes on a star, and somehow picks the real star to wish on, causing a bright light that when you touch the fallen star you get one wish. Everybody finds out, including Baron von Plotz (The Warner CEO from the series) Ralph, and King Salizar. Salizar wants The Warners dead, and almost kills Dot.

Cue my tears

It turns out Dot didn't die, Wakko gets his wish, two ha'pennies, and when Dot gets her operation, they find out that they are the true rulers of the kingdom. Everybody is happy, the end.

It's good, despite the times that cause me serious emotional distress, but I still like it. I would suggest it, but it's either watch it on tape, or watch it on Youtube. No DVD release as of now. Come on Warner Bros. get your head out of your collective asses and release Wakko's Wish on DVD and Blu-ray!

Daniel reviews Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Hello.


Now, if you knew me in real life, you know how much of a fan of classic animation I am. Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse are everywhere in my life, as well as other characters. But, studios stopped doing stuff like that at one point, except Disney. But the problem was, Disney was failing. The most recent films they had released were flops, and the studio needed big bucks pronto. At that same time, Robert Zemeckes was working with Touchstone and Amblin to create a movie version of the Gary K. Wolfe novel Who Censored Roger Rabbit. They ended up getting Disney on board, as well as many other studios to create one of my favorite films of all time.

When the movie came out, it exploded like an Acme bomb. Critics and moviegoers flocked to see Roger and Eddie Valiant, and they came out laughing. My opinion may be biased, since I am also one of the writers for a Roger Rabbit fan blog called Toontown Antics. But, in all honesty, this movie is the one movie I look forward to seeing every time I turn it on. The story goes that Eddie Valiant, a detective in 1947 Hollywood, will never take a Toon case again, since a Toon killed his brother. But, due to a case he took from Cartoon Mogul R.K. Maroon, Marvin Acme, the owner of Toontown and the Acme name is dead. How? A safe was dropped on him. Everybody thinks Roger Rabbit is to blame, even Eddie himself. But Roger ends up in Eddie's office BEGGING for him to save his hide. But, a person by the name of Judge Doom and his henchToons The Weasles are looking for Roger, to put him in a mix of paint thinners called The D.I.P. The only way to do a toon in. But, it turns out, Doom is the Toon who killed Eddie's brother, and now wants to destroy Toontown, the world where every cartoon character EVER lives. But, like most movies, it ends with the bad guy dying and the day being saved. But why? Why do people love this movie? I love it, but I really never thought about it.

Doug Walker, the Nostalgia Critic, in his Disneycember review said it best, it's basically the movie everybody wanted to see. All the cartoon characters we love, in one movie, given the care that we had for them every time we watched them.

That sounds about right.