TheMovieStory

Kung Fu Panda is a 2008 animated film about a bungling panda who aspires to be a kung fu warrior. Kung Fu Panda is directed by John Stevenson and Mark Osborne and produced by Melissa Cobb. Although the concept of a kung fu panda has been around since at least 1993,[2] the idea for the film was conceived by Michael Lachance,[3] a DreamWorks Animation executive. Work on the film did not begin until 2004 and the film premièred at the 61st Cannes Film Festival in May 2008. The film was released internationally on June 6, 2008, and was released in the United Kingdom on July 4, 2008. The film was animated by Dreamworks Animation’s studio in Glendale, California, and is distributed by Paramount Pictures.

The film stars the voices of Jack Black, Jackie Chan, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu, Seth Rogen, David Cross, and Ian McShane. In the United States, it has been rated PG by the MPAA for sequences of martial arts action and mild blood, and in the United Kingdom, PG by the BBFC.

Plot

Po (Jack Black) is a panda who works in a noodle restaurant owned by his goose father Mr. Ping (James Hong). He is a kung fu fanatic with secret dreams of becoming a great master in the discipline, however his weight and clumsiness seem to make his goal unattainable; Mr. Ping hopes instead that Po will one day take over the restaurant, and waits for the perfect opportunity to disclose the secret ingredient to his family’s noodle recipe.

The tortoise Master Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) has a premonition that the evil snow leopard warrior Tai Lung (Ian McShane), the former student of his own protégé, the red panda Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), will escape from prison and return to threaten the Valley of Peace. While Shifu sends Zeng (Dan Fogler), a messenger goose, to Chorh-Gom Prison to have the security increased, Oogway orders a formal ceremony to choose the mighty Dragon Warrior who can defeat Tai Lung. Everyone assumes that one of the Furious Five — Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Monkey (Jackie Chan), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu), and Crane (David Cross) — a quintet of supremely skilled martial artists trained by Shifu,[4] will be chosen for this honor.

While the Five demonstrate their skills at the ceremony, Po arrives too late and finds himself locked outside the walled palace square. As a last-ditch attempt to get in, he ties several fireworks to a chair and ignites them, which sends him crashing into the center of the arena. Inspired by this sudden appearance, Oogway designates Po the Dragon Warrior. Despite Po’s protests and Shifu’s pleas to reconsider, Oogway stands by his decision.

Revolted at having Po under his tutelage, Shifu attempts to make him quit by berating and humiliating him. The Five similarly dismiss Po as a worthless interloper. Although he becomes aware of Shifu’s true intentions and is deeply hurt by his heroes’ disdain for him, Po endures their abuse willingly for the dream to become something more than the failure he thinks he is. Master Oogway, still certain that Po is the right choice, gives him sage advice to believe in himself. Eventually, Po endears himself to the Five (except for Tigress) with his tenacity, good cooking, and sense of humor. At this time Tigress reveals to Po how Tai Lung came to be so evil. Shifu raised him from a cub and treated him like a son. When Oogway refused to make Tai Lung the Dragon Warrior, he became enraged and laid waste to the Valley. He then tried to take the dragon scroll. Shifu tried to stop him, but could not bear to destroy what he had created. Tai Lung was defeated by Master Oogway and imprisoned. Tigress ends her story by saying that Shifu loved Tai Lung like he never had before, or since.

Meanwhile, Zeng’s errand backfires when a tour of the prison given to him by the overly confident head of security, Commander Vachir (Michael Clarke Duncan), inadvertently enables Tai Lung to escape. Tai Lung orders Zeng to send word of his arrival to Shifu. In the Valley of Peace, Oogway passes away and ascends to the heavens, leaving his final wish that Shifu train Po. However, upon learning of Tai Lung’s return, and realizing that he has to face the evil warrior, Po attempts to flee. Shifu stops the panda and promises to train him if he is truly destined to be the Dragon Warrior. When Po confesses his belief that he may never be a match for Tai Lung, Shifu is at a loss for a solution. Overhearing this argument, Tigress takes it upon herself to intercept Tai Lung, and the rest of The Five follow her to assist. The following morning, Shifu discovers that Po is capable of impressive physical feats when motivated by food. He leads Po to the countryside for an intensive training regime in which Po is offered food as a reward for learning his lessons. As Shifu hopes, Po swiftly becomes a skilled combatant.

The Five battle Tai Lung but are eventually defeated with a specialized nerve-striking technique, and they retreat to the valley. When they return, Shifu decides Po is ready to face the villain and gives him the sacred Dragon Scroll, which promises great power to the possessor. When Po opens it, he finds nothing but a blank reflective surface. Stricken with despair at the scroll’s apparent worthlessness, Shifu orders his students to lead the villagers to safety while he stays to delay Tai Lung for as long as he can.

As Po participates in the evacuation, he meets his father, who tries to cheer him up by telling him the secret ingredient of the family’s noodle soup: nothing. Things become special, he explains, because people believe them to be special. Realizing that is the very point of the Dragon Scroll, Po rushes off to help Shifu. At this time, Tai Lung arrives at the palace. He blames Shifu for not granting him the title of Dragon Warrior just because Master Oogway did not choose him, and the two begin to fight. For his part, Shifu is crippled by his profound feelings of guilt and responsibility for his former protégé, whom he loved and raised like a son, turning to darkness.

When Tai Lung discovers that the Dragon Scroll is gone, he attempts to kill Shifu in his anger. But before he can, Po finally arrives and challenges him. Although Tai Lung scoffs at Po’s abilities, the ensuing fight proves Po to be a formidable opponent. Despite Po’s skill, Tai Lung temporarily stuns him and gains the Dragon Scroll, but is unable to understand its symbolism. Po tries to explain the wisdom of the scroll to Tai Lung, but the frustrated leopard tries to subdue Po with his nerve strikes. The attack proves useless on the panda, as his nerves are difficult to find due to his body fat. Emboldened, Po counter-attacks with an improvised combat style that takes advantage of his girth to absorb and deflect the force from Tai Lung’s attacks back at him. In the end, Po uses the Wuxi Finger Hold on Tai Lung (a technique Shifu had previously threatened to use on Po), destroying him in a large explosion of golden light that ripples through the valley.

The Five return to the valley to investigate and find a slightly dazed but triumphant Po. Deeply impressed at Po’s victory, Tigress leads the Five to acknowledge the panda as a Kung Fu master. The villagers, including Po’s father, hail Po as a hero. Po suddenly remembers that his teacher is badly wounded, and rushes back to Shifu. At first the master appears to be dying, and Po panics. But it turns out that he is only resting after such a terrible battle with Tai Lung. Relieved, Po rests on the floor with Shifu. After a few seconds, Po suggests that they get something to eat and Shifu agrees.

At the end of the credits, Shifu and Po are seen eating together by the sacred peach tree. A peach seed planted by Shifu before Oogway’s passing has sprouted into a new plant.

Cast

Main article: List of characters from Kung Fu Panda

The Simpsons Movie is a 2007 American animated comedy film based on the animated television series The Simpsons. The film was directed by David Silverman, and stars the regular television cast of Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Tress MacNeille and Pamela Hayden. It features Albert Brooks as Russ Cargill, the evil head of the Environmental Protection Agency who intends to destroy Springfield after Homer pollutes the lake. As the townspeople exile him and eventually his family abandon him, Homer works to redeem his folly by stopping Cargill’s scheme.

Previous attempts to create a film version of The Simpsons had failed due to the lack of a script of appropriate length and production crew members. Eventually, producers James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, Al Jean, Mike Scully, and Richard Sakai began development of the film in 2001. A writing team consisting of Scully, Jean, Brooks, Groening, George Meyer, David Mirkin, Mike Reiss, John Swartzwelder, Jon Vitti, Ian Maxtone-Graham and Matt Selman was assembled. They conceived numerous plot ideas, with Groening’s being the one developed into a film. The script was re-written over a hundred times, and this creativity continued after animation had begun in 2006. This meant hours of finished material was cut, which included cameo roles from Isla Fisher, Minnie Driver, Erin Brockovich, Edward Norton and Kelsey Grammer. Tom Hanks and Green Day appeared in the final cut as themselves.

Tie-in promotions were made with several companies, including Burger King and 7-Eleven, which transformed selected stores into Kwik-E-Marts. The film premiered in Springfield, Vermont, which had won the right to hold it through a competition organized by Fox. The film was a box office success, grossing over US$526 million. It received a significant majority of positive reviews, with some critics saying it was better than the latter seasons of the show.

Plot

While rock band Green Day are performing on Lake Springfield they are killed when the pollution in the lake erodes their barge. At a memorial service, Grampa has a prophetic vision in which he predicts the impending doom of the town, but only Marge takes it seriously. Lisa and an Irish boy named Colin, whom she has fallen in love with, hold a seminar where they attempt to convince the town to clean up the lake.

Meanwhile, Homer adopts a pig from a restaurant. Homer stores the pig’s feces in an overflowing silo and Marge tells him to dispose of it safely. However, Homer gets distracted and instead dumps the silo in the lake, re-polluting it. Moments later, a squirrel jumps into the lake and becomes severely mutated. Nearby, Flanders and Bart discover the squirrel during a hike, and the EPA captures it. Russ Cargill, head of the EPA, presents five options to President Schwarzenegger, who randomly picks the action of enclosing Springfield in a giant glass dome. When the police discover Homer’s silo in the lake, an angry mob of townspeople approach the Simpsons’ home but the family escapes through a sinkhole and flee to Alaska.

Cracks start to appear in the dome and Cargill, not wanting news of what he has done to become widespread, plans to destroy Springfield. In Alaska, the Simpsons see an advertisement for a new Grand Canyon to be located on the site that was Springfield. Marge and the kids decide to go and save the town, but Homer refuses to help the people who tried to kill them. The family abandon Homer and leave but are captured by the EPA and placed back in the dome. After a visit from a mysterious Inuit shaman, Homer has an epiphany and believes he must save the town in order to save himself.

Just as he arrives at Springfield to do so, a helicopter lowers a bomb suspended by rope through a hole in the dome. Homer climbs to the peak of the dome and descends the rope, knocking the escaping townspeople and bomb off. Homer grabs the bomb and a motorcycle. After reuniting with Bart, they cycle up the side of the dome and Bart throws the bomb through the hole, seconds before detonation. The bomb explodes, shattering the dome. The town praises Homer, who rides off with Marge on the motorcycle into the sunset. The townspeople begin restoring Springfield back to normal.

Production

The production staff had considered a film adaptation of The Simpsons since early in the series. The show’s creator, Matt Groening, felt a feature length film would allow them to increase the show’s scale and animate sequences too complex for a TV series.[2] He intended the film to be made after the show ended, “but that […] was undone by good ratings”.[3] There were attempts to adapt the fourth season episode “Kamp Krusty” into a film, but difficulties were encountered in expanding the episode to feature-length.[4] For a long time the project was held up. There was difficulty finding a story that was sufficient for a film, and the crew did not have enough time to complete such a project, as they already worked full time on the show.[5] Groening also expressed a wish to make Simpstasia, a parody of Fantasia; it was never produced, partly because it would have been too difficult to write a feature-length script.[6] Before his death, Phil Hartman had said he had wished to make a live action Troy McClure film, and several of the show’s staff had expressed a desire to help create it.[7]

The voice cast was signed on to do the film in 2001,[8] and work then began on the script.[9] The producers were initially worried that creating a film would have a negative effect on the series, as they did not have enough crew to focus their attention on both projects. As the series progressed, additional writers and animators were hired so that both the show and the film could be produced at the same time.[10] Groening and James L. Brooks invited back Mike Scully and Al Jean (who continued to work as showrunner on the television series) to produce the film with them.[11] They then signed David Silverman (who, in anticipation of the project, had quit his job at Pixar) to direct the film.[11] The “strongest possible” writing team were assembled, with many of the writers from the show’s early seasons being chosen.[10] David Mirkin, Mike Reiss, George Meyer, John Swartzwelder and Jon Vitti were selected. Ian Maxtone-Graham and Matt Selman joined later, and Brooks, Groening, Scully, and Jean also wrote parts of the script.[10] Sam Simon did not return having left the show over creative differences in 1993. Former writer Conan O’Brien wanted to work with the Simpsons staff again, joking that “I worry that the Simpsons-writing portion of my brain has been destroyed after 14 years of talking to Lindsay Lohan and that guy from One Tree Hill, so maybe it’s all for the best.”[12] The same went for director Brad Bird who said he had “entertained fantasies of asking if [he] could work on the movie”, but did not have enough time due to work on Ratatouille.[8] The producers arranged a deal with Fox that would allow them to abandon production of the film at any point if they felt the script was unsatisfactory.[13]

Work continued on the screenplay from 2003 onwards,[13] taking place in the small bungalow where Groening first pitched The Simpsons in 1987.[14] The writers spent six months discussing a plot,[15] and each of them offered sketchy ideas.[14] Jean suggested the family rescue manatees, which became the 2005 episode “Bonfire of the Manatees”, and there was also a notion similar to that of The Truman Show where the characters discovered their lives were a TV show. Groening rejected this, as he felt that the Simpsons should “never become aware of themselves as celebrities”.[8] Groening read about a town that had to get rid of pig feces in their water supply, which inspired the plot of the film.[11] The decision for Flanders to have in an important role also came early on, as Jean wished to see Bart wonder what his life would be like if Flanders were his father.[16] Having eventually decided on the basic outline of the plot for the film, the writers then separated it into seven sections. Jean, Scully, Reiss, Swartzwelder, Vitti, Mirkin, and Meyer wrote 25 pages each, and the group met one month later to merge the seven sections into one “very rough draft”.[10] The film’s script was written in the same way as the television series: the writers sitting around a table, pitching ideas and trying to make each other laugh.[13] The script went through over 100 revisions.[15] Groening described his desire to also make the film dramatically stronger than a TV episode, saying that he wanted to “give you something that you haven’t seen before”.[17]

Casting

For inspiration for the crowd scenes in the film, the production staff spent a long time looking at a poster that featured more than 320 Simpsons characters.[22] Groening said they tried to include every single character in the film, with 98 having speaking parts,[11] and most members of the crowds being previously established characters instead of generic people.[18] The series’ regular voice actors: Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, and Harry Shearer, as well as semi-regular performers Tress MacNeille, Pamela Hayden, Marcia Wallace, Maggie Roswell, Russi Taylor and Karl Wiedergott, reprised their roles.[3] Joe Mantegna returned as Fat Tony,[23] while Albert Brooks, who supplied many guest voices in episodes, was hired as Russ Cargill,[10] after he told the staff that he wanted to be part of the film.[16] For “about a week”, he was to reprise the role of Hank Scorpio from the episode “You Only Move Twice”, but the staff felt that creating a new character was a better idea.[20]

The cast did the first of three table readings in May 2005,[24][3] and began recording every week from June 2006 until the end of production.[25] James L. Brooks directed them for the first time since the television show’s early seasons. Castellaneta found the recording sessions “more intense” than recording the television series, and “more emotionally dramatic”.[26] Some scenes, such as Marge’s video message to Homer, were recorded over one hundred times, leaving the voice cast exhausted.[16]

The writers had written the opening concert scene without a specific band in mind. Green Day were cast in that role having requested to guest star in the show. Tom Hanks also appears as himself in the film and accepted the offer after just one phone call.[16] Everybody Loves Raymond creator Philip Rosenthal provides the voice of the father in the “new Grand Canyon” commercial with Hanks.[18] Due to time restraints, several guests who had recorded parts were cut from the film. Minnie Driver recorded the part of a patronizing grievance counselor in a scene that ended up being cut.[27] Edward Norton recorded the part of the man who gets crushed as the dome is implemented, performing a Woody Allen impression. The staff felt the voice was too distracting, so Castellaneta re-recorded Norton’s dialogue with a different voice.[18] Isla Fisher and Erin Brockovich also recorded cameos, but their scenes were cut.[11] Kelsey Grammer recorded lines for Sideshow Bob, who was to appear at several different points,[18][20] but these scenes were also cut.[16] Johnny Knoxville was also touted as a possible guest star.[16]

Although he does not provide the voice, Arnold Schwarzenegger is President of the United States in the film. He was chosen instead of the incumbent President George W. Bush because then, “in two years […] the film [would be] out of date”.[15] Brooks was nervous about the idea, noting that “[Schwarzenegger’s] opinion polls were way down”, he said that they “were [hoping] he’d make a political comeback”.[2] The animators began by drawing an accurate caricature of Schwarzenegger,[16] but one of the staff instead suggested an altered version of recurring character Rainier Wolfcastle as President.[21] This idea was developed, with the design of Wolfcastle, himself also a caricature of Schwarzenegger, being given more wrinkles under his eyes and a different hairstyle.[16]

Editing

Every aspect of the film was constantly analyzed, with storylines, jokes and characters regularly being re-written.[18] Although most animated films do not make extensive changes to the film during active production due to budget restrictions,[8] The Simpsons Movie crew continued to edit their film into 2007, with some edits taking place as late as May, two months before the film was released.[18] James L. Brooks noted, “70 percent of the things in [one of the trailers]—based on where we were eight weeks ago—are no longer in the movie.”[22] Groening said that enough material for two more movies was cut.[14] Various new characters were created, and then cut because they did not contribute enough.[8] Originally Marge was the character who had the prophetic vision in church. The writers however considered this to be too dark and it was changed to Grampa.[18] The role of Lisa’s love interest Colin was frequently revised. He was previously named Dexter and Adrien, and his appearance was completely altered.[16] One idea was to have Milhouse act as Lisa’s love interest, but the writers realized “the audience was not as familiar with [his] long-standing crush on [Lisa] as [they had] thought”.[18] A car chase in which Homer throws flaming mummies out of a truck at the EPA was replaced with “more emotional and realistic” scenes at the motel and carnival that allowed for a change of pace.[18]

Further changes were made after the March 2007 preview screenings of the film in Portland, Oregon and Phoenix, Arizona.[18] This included the deletion of Kang and Kodos heavily criticizing the film during the end credits.[11] A lot of people at the screenings found the original film too coarse, and some of Homer’s behavior too unkind, so several scenes were toned down to make him appear nicer.[18] Russ Cargill was re-designed several times, originally appearing as an older man whose speech patterns Albert Brooks based on Donald Rumsfeld. The older model was the one used by Burger King for the action figure.[18] Cargill’s scene with Bart and Homer at the film’s conclusion was added in to fully resolve his story, and the “Spider-Pig” gag was also a late addition.[16] One excised scene, before the dome is put over Springfield, had Mr. Burns reminding viewers that it was the last point in the film that they could get a refund.[18] Other deletions included Homer’s encounter with a sausage truck driver, a scene with Plopper the pig at the end,[28] and several musical numbers that appeared throughout.[18] A news report, showing the dome’s effect on daily life in Springfield in areas such as farming and sport, was cut because it did not fit the overall context of the film.[18]

Ratatouille (pronounced /ˌrætəˈtuːiː/, /-ˈtwiː/; French: /ʁatatuj/[2]) is a 2007 computer-animated family film produced by Pixar and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The film was the eighth movie produced by Pixar, and was directed by Brad Bird, who took over from Jan Pinkava in 2005.

It tells the story of Rémy (voiced by Patton Oswalt), a rat living in Paris who wants to be a chef, but has to overcome the disapproval of his family and the prejudice of humans. Using a somewhat hapless young man as a means through which to practice his art, Rémy meets yet another obstacle in the form of a famous, notoriously hard-to-please food critic named Anton Ego, nicknamed “The Grim Eater”.

It was released on June 29, 2007 in the United States, to both critical acclaim and box office success. The title is from the French dish, of which a variation is served in the film, and a pun on the species of the main character.

Plot

Rémy is a rat who lives in the attic of a French country home with his brother Émile and his father Django, the leader of a rat colony. Inspired by a television show hosted by France’s recently deceased top chef, Auguste Gusteau, Rémy does his best to learn how to cook. Underappreciating his exceptionally discerning sense of smell, his clan puts him to work sniffing for rat poison in their food.

The old woman who lives in the house discovers the rat infestation and immediately sets out to exterminate the vermin with a shotgun. As he flees with the rest, Rémy grabs Gusteau’s cookbook. He is separated from the others and floats through a storm sewer on the book, ending up by chance at his idol’s namesake restaurant, now run by former sous-chef Skinner. Alfredo Linguini, a young man with no culinary talent, arrives with a letter of introduction from his recently deceased mother. Because she is fondly remembered by the staff as Gusteau’s old flame, he is reluctantly hired by Skinner to clean up. While working, Linguini spills a portion of a pot of soup and attempts to cover up his mistake by adding nearby ingredients at random. The horrified Rémy, watching from a skylight, falls into the kitchen. While trying to escape out the window, he cannot resist the temptation to fix the soup along the way. Linguini catches Rémy in the act, just as Skinner confronts Linguini. During the confusion, some of the soup is served to a critic, who is favorably impressed.

Rémy discovers that he can control Linguini’s movements by pulling on his hair.

The kitchen’s sole female cook, Colette Tatou, convinces Skinner not to fire Linguini; Skinner agrees, provided Linguini recreates the soup. When Skinner spots Rémy, pandemonium breaks out. After Linguini traps Rémy in a jar, Skinner orders him to dispose of him. Knowing Rémy was responsible for the soup, Linguini cannot bring himself to kill him. He tells Rémy his problems and discovers that Rémy understands him. The unlikely pair form an alliance. Rémy (referred to by Linguini as “Little Chef”) secretly controls Linguini’s movements. The two perfect a marionette-like arrangement; Rémy tugs at Linguini’s hair to direct him (which causes involuntary movement) while remaining hidden under his toque blanche.

When customers ask for another dish besides the soup, Skinner tries to sabotage Linguini by ordering him to prepare an old Gusteau recipe that had been a disaster. Rémy changes the dish, over Colette’s determined opposition, and it proves to be another hit. Skinner, suspicious of Linguini’s success, plies the boy with vintage Château Latour in an attempt to discover his secret. However, the sly questioning yields nothing.

The next morning, Linguini nearly confides his secret to Colette. Desperate to stop him, Rémy makes him fall on Colette and they end up kissing. They begin dating. Meanwhile, Skinner learns from Linguini’s letter of introduction that, unknown to everyone but his mother, Linguini is in fact Gusteau’s son and stands to inherit the restaurant, imperiling Skinner’s ambition to exploit Gusteau’s image to market low-quality prepared frozen foods.

One night, Rémy and his colony are reunited. At the ensuing party, he surprises his father by saying that he is not going to stay, but continue to associate with humans. In response, Django shows Rémy the storefront of a rodent control business, which displays dead rats in traps. Rémy, though horrified, refuses to believe that enmity is inevitable between the two species, and leaves.

While scrounging for food, Rémy finds Gusteau’s will. Just then, he is discovered by Skinner, resulting in a chase through the streets of Paris. Rémy gets away and presents the document to Linguini. Linguini assumes ownership of the restaurant, fires Skinner, and becomes a rising star in the culinary world. Skinner becomes obsessed with ruining Linguini and catching Rémy; he tells a health inspector the restaurant is infested with rats. Later, Rémy and Linguini quarrel and Linguini decides that he no longer needs Rémy’s help. Rémy retaliates by leading a kitchen raid by his fellow rats. Linguini looks for Rémy to apologize, only to catch the rats in the act leaving Rémy feeling guilty.

Things come to a head the next night with an announced visit by demanding food critic Anton Ego, whose contemptuous earlier review of Chef Gusteau’s cooking had reduced his coveted five-star rating to four and eventually led to the chef’s untimely death (which dropped his restaurant’s rating another star). Ego challenges the chef by requesting that Linguini prepare whatever he dares serve him. Rémy returns to help Linguini. Linguini picks that ill-timed moment to finally admit the truth to the staff. They all think he has lost his mind due to the pressure and walk out, even Colette. However, she returns, remembering Gusteau’s mantra, “Anyone can cook!” Django, impressed by his son’s determination, has his rats work under Rémy, while Linguini waits tables using roller skates. The health inspector shows up and sees the rats in the kitchen; he is promptly tied up, gagged, and thrown in the pantry. Rémy decides to prepare ratatouille, a traditional dish not considered haute cuisine, but does it so well that the first taste of it causes Ego to relive a childhood memory of his mother making it for him. Meanwhile, after bursting into the kitchen, Skinner suffers the same fate as the health inspector. Ego assumes that Linguini is the chef, but Linguini says he’s just his waiter making Ego want to know who to thank. After a frantic consultation, Linguini and Colette tell Ego he must wait until the rest of the customers have left. In the end, all is revealed. A changed man, Ego writes a glowing review, declaring the chef at Gusteau’s the greatest in all of France.

In the dénouement, Gusteau’s is closed by the health inspector. Ego loses his job and credibility when the news comes out that he has praised a rat-infested restaurant. However, with Ego as investor and regular patron, Linguini, Colette, and Rémy open a successful new bistro called “La Ratatouille”, which includes a kitchen modified to accommodate Rémy and a separate dining area for rats in its attic. A line of people is shown waiting outside the filled restaurant, under a sign with a rat wearing a toque and wielding a cooking spoon.

Production

Jan Pinkava came up with the concept and directed the film from 2001, creating the original design, sets and characters and core storyline.[3] Lacking confidence[4] in Pinkava’s story development, Pixar management replaced him with Bird in 2005.[5][6][7] Bird was attracted to the film because of the outlandishness of the concept and the conflict that drove it: that kitchens feared rats, yet a rat wanted to work in one.[8] Bird was also delighted that the film could be made a highly physical comedy,[5] with the character of Linguini providing endless fun for the animators.[9] Bird rewrote the story, with a change in emphasis. He killed off Gusteau, gave larger roles to Skinner and Colette,[10] and also changed the appearance of the rats to be less anthropomorphic.[11]

Because Ratatouille is intended to be a romantic, lush vision of Paris, giving it an identity distinct from previous Pixar films,[5] director Brad Bird, producer Brad Lewis and some of the crew spent a week in the city to properly understand its environment, taking a motorcycle tour and eating at five top restaurants.[12] There are also many water-based sequences in the film, one of which is set in the sewers and is more complex than the blue whale scene in Finding Nemo. One scene has Linguini wet after jumping into the Seine to fetch Rémy. A Pixar employee (Shade/Paint Dept Coordinator Kesten Migdal) wearing a chef uniform and apron jumped into Pixar’s swimming pool to see which parts of the suit stuck to his body and which became translucent from water absorption.[13]

Cast

Main characters

• Patton Oswalt as Rémy, a country rat who winds up in Paris, where he fulfills his dream of cooking. Director Brad Bird chose Patton Oswalt to voice Rémy after hearing his food-related comedy routine.[8]

• Lou Romano as Alfredo Linguini, a clumsy garbage boy who becomes a famous chef overnight, though Rémy does the actual cooking.

• Janeane Garofalo as Colette Tatou, the only female chef in the kitchen, who eventually becomes Linguini’s girlfriend and Rémy’s only supporter among the original Gusteau kitchen staff.

• Ian Holm as Skinner, the Napoleon-esque, Facel Vega-driving, owner of “Gusteau’s” (after Gusteau’s demise) and the main antagonist of the film. Skinner’s behaviour, diminutive size, and body language are loosely based on Louis de Funès.[24]

• Peter O’Toole as Anton Ego, a feared, powerful food critic whose harsh criticism drove Gusteau to his death. He claims to love food and refuses to swallow any that does not match up to his lofty expectations. Anton Ego’s appearance was modelled after Louis Jouvet.[25]

• Brad Garrett as Auguste Gusteau, a deceased master chef. He often apppears as a figment of Rémy’s imagination, talking to him and acting much like his conscience. Many reviewers drew upon similarities between Gusteau and the real-life chef Bernard Loiseau, who committed suicide after media speculation that his flagship restaurant La Côte d’Or was going to be downgraded from three Michelin stars to two.[26] La Côte d’Or was one of the restaurants visited by Brad Bird and others in France [12].

• Brian Dennehy as Django, the father of Rémy and Emile. He wants nothing more than for his son to stay with the colony, and has a bias against humans.

• Peter Sohn as Emile, Rémy’s older brother. He is loyal and good-hearted, though unimaginative, and is Rémy’s confidant. He also indiscriminately wolfs down anything that seems remotely edible, much to Rémy’s dismay.

Awards & nominations

Watership Down is an animated film directed by Martin Rosen and based on the book by Richard Adams. It was released in 1978 and was largely financed by Jake Eberts’ company, Goldcrest Films. After a slow start upon release, it became the sixth most popular film of 1979 at the British box office.[1]

The film featured the voices of John Hurt, Richard Briers, Harry Andrews, Simon Cadell, Nigel Hawthorne and Roy Kinnear, among others, and was the last film appearance of Zero Mostel, as the voice of Kehaar the gull.

Art Garfunkel’s British No. 1 hit, “Bright Eyes”, was also featured, although in a different arrangement from the version released as a record. The musical score was by Angela Morley and Malcolm Williamson.

After the genesis story rendered in a narrated simplistic cartoon fashion, the animation style changes to a detailed, naturalist one, with concessions to render the animals anthropomorphic only to suggest they have human voices and minds, some facial expressions for emotion and paw gestures. The animation backgrounds are watercolors. Only one of the predators, the farm cat, is given a few lines, the rest remaining mute.

Synopsis

Watership Down opens with an animated prologue (by John Canemaker), which establishes the Lapine culture and mythological history. It describes the rabbit version of creation, in which the sun god “Lord Frith” creates the world, and in a mixed blessing, deems the mischievous rabbit prince El-ahrairah and his descendants to be forever hunted but also forever agile survivors.

The film switches from a cartoony narrative of the Lapine mythology to a realistic-looking story for the rest of the film. The story is set in the English countryside. Fiver, a young runt rabbit with prophetic abilities to see the future, foresees the end of his peaceful rabbit warren, Sandleford, and asks others to leave with him. Fiver and his older brother Hazel attempt to pursuade their chief rabbit to have the warren evacuated and moved elsewhere. The chief dismisses the two, and then punishes his guard and Owsla officer, Bigwig, for disobeying his Captain’s orders to send Fiver and Hazel away. Though they meet resistance from him, at least twenty of them eventually leave, only to be captured by the warren’s Owsla, the soldiers or police of a warren.

However, eight rabbits fight off the Owsla, injuring the Owsla’s Captain, Holly, in the process and rendering themselves wanted men. They successfully escape Sandleford. This band includes Fiver and Hazel, the burly Owsla officer Bigwig, the Chief Rabbit’s nephew Silver, the shy and cunning rabbit Blackberry, the smallest rabbit Pipkin, and the only female, Violet, and Dandelion. The rabbits first stop to rest at a nearby field, where Violet is killed when she steps out in the open to eat. A nearby hawk claws her.

After crossing a road, swimming away from a nerby hunting dog, and escaping from a rat-infested cemetary, the band reaches a warren which appears to be inhabited by friendly rabbits, led by a rabbit named Cowslip. The majority of the group is content and grateful for shelter, but Fiver is suspicious and senses something wrong. Disillusioned, he leaves, and Bigwig goes to seek him. He taunts Fiver and ridicules him to the point where even Hazel agrees with Bigwig. Bigwig dismisses Fiver by imitating him in a taunting way, only to become caught in a snare when he returns to the other rabbits.

Fiver attempts to get help from Cowslip and his rabbits, but Cowslip tells Fiver not to talk about it, dismissing his statement. The Sandleford rabbits discover that the warren is fed by a farmer, who occasionally snares rabbits in return for his food and care from predators. Bigwig is choked until he coughs out blood and passes out. Bigwig is eventually freed, but it is already too late. The rabbits are convinced he’s dead, and deliver a eulogy of sorts. Bigwg awakes only moments later, bloodied, but alright. He rejoins the group. Shocked and tired, the band move on rather than stay.

The rabbits finally find a place to rest under a waggon, they discover Nuthanger farm, which contains a hutch of domesticated female rabbits. Hazel decides that if they’re going to have a new home, they’l need females with which they wil have children. However, there is also a cat and dog on the farm, the rabbits can’t be seen by them. Hazel promises the does he will return later to free them.

Fully rested and healed, the rabbits set off on their search again and, unexpectedly, are found by the Owsla Captain, Holly, of their old warren, who is in extremis, injured, and exhausted. He tells of the destruction of the Sandleford warren; Fiver’s visions were true after all. Holly and mentions a warren he found called Efrafa, but collapses before he cn elaborate. Shortly after, Fiver discovers the hill Watership Down, where the rabbits discover an empty space suitable to live in.

The rabbits settle in, developing their own warren, and Hazel is informally recognized as their Chief Rabbit. They befriend an acerbic injured seagull, Kehaar, who observes they have no females, and offers to survey the local area for them when healed. The rabbits also return to Nuthanger farm to free the does. Although some escape, Hazel is shot and presumed dead; however, Fiver returns to the farm in disbelief that his brother is dead. Hazel is eventually saved by Fiver and slowly heals.

Kehaar returns, having identified Efrafa as the main warren which may have females. Holly, who knows of Efrafa, begs them not to go there, describing it as a highly militarized and almost totalitarian state. Hazel, however, feels they have no choice but to seek does from Efrafa for their own long term survival as a warren; when a number of the rabbits visit Efrafa, Bigwig stays to infiltrate the colony. He meets the Chief Rabbit, the powerful General Woundwort, who makes him an officer of the warren. While Hazel, Blackberry, and Kehaar explore possible escape routes, Bigwig easily recruits several would-be escapees to his cause. Having arranged a meeting point with Kehaar, at sunset, Bigwig tackles the guard, whilst the rest of the escapees flee and evade the Efrafans.

Howver, Efrafa’s trackers find their trail several days later, and the General himself is coming recapture the escapees. Hazel attempts to reason and offers an alliance rather than conflict, but is dismissed and decides to fight. The Watership rabbits dig themselves in and are besieged; Fiver then slips into a trance in which he envisions “a dog loose in the woods.” His moans scare the Efrafans, but also inspires Hazel to free the dog from the farm and lead him to the warren to attack the Efrafans. Dedicated to killing Bigwig, the General is unconcerned and allows Hazel and three others to bolt; en route to the farm, Hazel offers his life for his warren’s in a silent prayer. They free the dog and taunt him to follow them uphill, but Hazel is caught by the farm cat—only to be saved by the farmer’s daughter, who loves rabbits.

When the Efrafans finally break into Watership Down, it is Woundwort who jumps in first; Blackavar is killed in a scruffle with him. After he finishes off Blackavar, Woundwort is ambushed by Bigwig. They fight to near exhaustion. Woundwort tries to persuade Bigwig to surrender, asking why he chooses to fight an unwinnable battle; Bigwig shocks the General by replying, “My Chief told me to defend this run.” Woundwort stammers “Your … Chief?”—having assumed that was Bigwig, and now imagining a rabbit yet bigger and stronger. Suddenly, the dog arrives, and rapidly kills most of the General’s soldiers. The General emerges and leaps to attack the dog.… No trace of him is found, and his memory becomes a ghost story used by rabbit parents to frighten their children into obedience.

The epilogue shows the warren some years later. Hazel is old and tired, but his warren is thriving. As stories of the warren’s early exploits—distorted and mythologized—are retold in the background, he is visited by a shadowy shape he cannot make out. The rabbit reveals himself to be the Black Rabbit of Inlé (or “Death”) and, it is implied, El-ahrairah, inviting Hazel to join his Owsla. In a reprise of other mystical scenes in the film, Hazel discards his body and follows the Black Rabbit towards the sun—which metamorphoses into Frith—and into the lapine afterlife.

Major cast

Shrek the Third is the third film in the Shrek series, following Shrek and Shrek 2. It was produced by Jeffrey Katzenberg for DreamWorks Animation, and is distributed by Paramount Pictures, and was released in U.S. theaters on May 18, 2007 (exactly 6 years after the first Shrek),June 8 in Mexico, June 22 in Spain, June 15 in Brazil, June 13 in France and June 29 in the UK and Ireland.

It was produced with the working title of Shrek 3, the name being changed to avoid potential confusion with Shrek 3-D. Like the first two Shrek films, the movie is significantly based on fairy tale (specifically Grimm’s Fairy Tales and Disney) themes. The film is rated PG by the MPAA for some crude humor, suggestive content, and swashbuckling action. It was nominated for Best Animated Movie at the Kid’s Choice Awards 2008.

Plot

Harold has fallen ill and his ogre son-in-law Shrek and daughter Fiona are next in line to be king and queen. Shrek declines, insisting that an ogre as king is a bad idea and that there has to be someone else for the job. With his final few breaths, the king tells Shrek that there is one other heir who can become the new King of Far Far Away: his nephew, Arthur. Shrek sets out to find this new king, along with Donkey and Puss in Boots. As they’re sailing off, Fiona runs to the dock and announces to Shrek that he’s going to be a father. Shocked, Shrek begins to have nightmares about his future children on the journey to Worcestershire Academy, where they eventually discover that “Artie,” who is an academy student, is a loser picked on by the other students - even the nerds. Artie is initially thrilled to be the new king, and excited to be on his way to the throne, until Donkey and Puss inadvertently scare him by talking about things like plague and famine. Panicked, Artie tries to take control of the ship and ends up crashing it on an island where they meet Artie’s retired wizard teacher, Merlin.

Meanwhile, Prince Charming has gone to the Poison Apple Bar, where he encounters a slew of fairy tale villains including Captain Hook, the Wicked Queen, Polyphemus, Rumpelstiltskin, Little Red Riding Hood, Mabel the Ugly Stepsister, the Headless Horseman, Stromboli the Puppet Master, and an assortment of black knights, dwarves, trees, and witches. Although they initially despise Charming, he persuades them to join him in a fight for their “happily ever after”. The villains feel their side of the story has never been told and now is the time to do it. Charming and the other villains invade the kingdom and pillage for a time before attacking the castle, disrupting Fiona’s baby shower. They capture all of Shrek’s fairy tale friends (Gingerbread Man, Pinocchio, The Big Bad Wolf (a cross between the Three little pigs and Little Red Riding Hood’s wolf), The Three Blind Mice and The Three Little Pigs, Dragon, and Donkey and Dragon’s children. Fiona and Lilian try to escape through an underground passage, along with Doris the Ugly Stepsister, Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Rapunzel; the ladies are captured, however, when Rapunzel betrays them and leads them into a trap. They learn that she is in love with Charming, who plans to make her his queen once he claims the throne.

Captain Hook and some of his pirates track Shrek and company to Merlin’s island, where they attempt to capture Shrek and kill the others. Shrek and Artie tag-team them effectively, however, and send the villains running, but not before Hook mentions “King Charming” and the takeover of Far Far Away. Concerned for his wife and their child, Shrek urges Artie to return to the safety of Worcestershire; Artie, however, has other ideas. He cons Merlin into coming out of retirement long enough to use his magic and send them all back to Far Far Away; the spell works, but accidentally causes Puss and Donkey to switch bodies because they were touching each other. They find that Charming is bent on revenge against Shrek for ’stealing’ his “happily ever after,” and plans to kill Shrek in a play later that night. Charming’s men arrive shortly, but another clever ruse by Artie tricks the knights into not taking them into custody. They then break into the castle, where play rehearsal and set design are in full swing, but Charming is not good at rehearsing. In Charming’s dressing room, Shrek menaces Charming but Charming is able to summon his men, who burst in and take the four captive.

Charming prepares to decapitate Artie. In an effort to save him, Shrek tells Charming that Artie was just a patsy to take his place as King of Far Far Away. Charming believes Shrek and decides not to kill the boy. Artie, who had just been growing to trust Shrek, is crushed by this and runs away. Donkey and Puss are thrown into the tower with Fiona and the other ladies, where Fiona is growing frustrated with the other princesses and their lack of initiative. Queen Lilian grows fed up when Snow White calls her an old lady, and successfully smashes the stone wall of the prison by head butting the walls. While the women launch a rescue mission for Shrek, who is being held captive elsewhere, Donkey and Puss work to free Gingy, Pinocchio, the wolf and pigs, Dragon, and the Dronkey. As they prepare to enter the castle and join the ladies, they encounter Artie, and Puss and Donkey explain to him that Shrek lied so Charming wouldn’t kill him. Artie seems hesitant to believe them.

As the kingdom watches, Charming stages a theatrical performance in which he heroically rides to the rescue of Rapunzel in her (fake) tower and sings, somewhat badly. To Charming’s profound annoyance, the chained Shrek wins the audience’s support by ridiculing his singing and acting. Just as Charming is about to kill Shrek, Fiona and her friends, along with Puss, Donkey and the Fairy Tale characters, leap onto the stage to confront the villains. It goes awry, however, as the villains largely outnumber the heroes and take them prisoner again. In the nick of time, Artie arrives and convinces the villains to stop and turn over a new leaf, proving himself to possess effective leadership skills. He says a word of wisdom-”Just because somepeople treat you like a loser, it dosen’t mean you are one. The thing that matters most is what you think of yourself. If there is something you really want or someone you really want to be then you are standing in your own way.” The villains drop their weapons and release their captives. Charming, furious at having been thwarted by this boy, lunges for him with his sword. Shrek blocks the blow and appears to take it in his own chest, leading Charming to exult; the attack missed, however, and the sword is lodged harmlessly under Shrek’s arm. Shrek informs Charming that he needs to keep looking for his own happily ever after, “because I’m not giving up mine.” Dragon slyly knocks over Rapunzel’s tower, which lands on Charming, and the crowd cheers. Charming’s crown is sent rolling across the stage by the impact and is caught by Artie. Shrek tells him that the throne is his if he wants it, but it is his decision to make. Artie lifts the crown toward the audience, who cheer him loudly, then sets it on his own head. While the kingdom celebrates their new monarch, Merlin appears and restores Puss and Donkey to their proper bodies, though their tails remain switched.

As Far Far Away is left in the capable hands of young King Arthur, Shrek retires with Fiona to their swamp, having three ogre babies

Cast

Main characters

• Mike Myers as Shrek
• Eddie Murphy as Donkey
• Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona
• Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots
• Justin Timberlake as King Artie Pendragon
• Julie Andrews as Queen Lillian
• Rupert Everett as Prince Charming

The Lion King is a 1994 American animated feature film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation, released in theaters on June 15, 1994 by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 32nd film in the Disney animated feature canon and the highest grossing traditionally animated feature film in history. It was also the last film of Disney’s Renaissance. The story, influenced by the Shakespeare play Hamlet, focuses on a young lion in Africa named Simba, who learns of his place in the great “circle of life” and overcomes many obstacles to claim his place as the rightful king.

Story

The Lion King takes place in the fictional Pride Lands of Africa, where a lion rules over the other animals as king. At the beginning of the film, Rafiki, a wise old mandrill shaman, (commonly mistaken as a baboon), anoints Simba, the newborn cub of King Mufasa and Queen Sarabi, and presents him to a massive gathering of animals at Pride Rock (”Circle of Life”). Meanwhile, Mufasa’s younger brother, Scar, realizes that he is no longer the heir to the throne and plots to kill both Simba and his father in order to usurp it.

When Simba has grown into a young cub, Mufasa brings him on a tour of the Pride Lands, teaching him about the Circle of Life, the delicate balance affecting all living things, which the king must maintain. The tour is cut short when Mufasa’s advisor, the hornbill Zazu, alerts him of hyena sightings in the Pride Lands, and Mufasa sends a disappointed Simba home while he deals with the threat. Back at Pride Rock, Scar piques Simba’s curiosity about the elephant graveyard, a place beyond the northern borders of the Pride Lands, where Mufasa has forbidden Simba to go. Simba, trying to prove his courage, takes his best friend Nala to the elephant graveyard, fooling Zazu along the way (”I Just Can’t Wait to Be King”). At the graveyard, the cubs are greeted by Shenzi, Banzai and Ed, Scar’s hyena minions who attempt to kill the cubs. Fortunately, they are rescued by Mufasa at the nick of time.

Mufasa scolds Simba on the way home, and explains to Simba that being brave doesn’t mean looking for trouble. When Simba asks if his father will always be with him, Mufasa tells his son that the great kings of the past watch from the stars, just as he will watch over Simba one day when the sun sets on his time. Meanwhile, Scar becomes furious, as he intended for the hyenas to kill the cubs. Plotting further, Scar gathers more hyenas and, in a scene resembling Nazi and Soviet military imagery, buys their loyalty by claiming that if he becomes king, they’ll never go hungry again (”Be Prepared”).

Some time later, Scar lures Simba into a gorge for a “surprise from his father,” while the hyenas engineer a wildebeest stampede down into the gorge where Simba is. Alerted by an insincerely dramatic Scar, Mufasa races to rescue his son from the stampede. The lion king successfully saves his son, but struggles to bring himself to safety. As Mufasa helplessly clings on to a steep cliff, he asks Scar for help, but Scar flings his brother into the raging stampede below, after mocking him with the words “long live the king.” Simba rushes down to his father’s body, and tries to wake up the dead king to no avail. An approaching Scar convinces Simba that the young cub was responsible for his father’s death, and recommends that he flee the Pride Lands, never to return. As Simba is running off, Scar sends his hyena henchmen to kill Simba again, but as Simba flees through a thornbush-covered embankment, the hyenas break off pursuit and let him escape. Hurling threats that he will be killed if ever seen again, the hyenas return to Scar and lie that they have murdered the cub. Informed that both Mufasa and Simba were killed, the pride regretfully allows Scar to assume the throne as the closest of kin. Still mourning, they are told the hyenas are now part of the pride.

Simba collapses in a distant desert, where he is found by Timon and Pumbaa, a comical meerkat-warthog duo who adopt and raise Simba under their carefree “Hakuna Matata” lifestyle. When Simba has grown into an adult, he is discovered by his childhood friend Nala, who relays that Scar’s tyrannical reign has devastated the Pride Lands, turning it into a barren wasteland. She asks Simba to return and take his rightful place as king, but Simba refuses, still guilty about supposedly causing his father’s death.

Simba then shows Nala around and they find themselves in love (”Can You Feel the Love Tonight”). But immediately afterwards, Nala tells Simba that she doesn’t understand why he won’t return to Pride Rock. The two become angry, confused, and end up in a quarrel. However, Rafiki shows up and indirectly persuades Simba to return home with a series of metaphors. Combined with an appearance of the ghost of Mufasa, Simba realizes his responsibility and heads back to Pride Rock, followed by Timon, Pumbaa and Nala.

Once back at Pride Rock, Simba confronts his uncle. Afraid of losing the throne, Scar announces to the pride that Simba was responsible for Mufasa’s death. He then corners Simba at the edge of Pride Rock with his hyenas, resulting in a scene similar to Mufasa’s death. At the same time, lightning strikes the dry brush, surrounding Pride Rock with flames. As Simba dangles over the edge of Pride Rock with flames below him, an over-confident Scar reveals the truth about Mufasa’s death. Enraged, Simba leaps up and pins Scar to the ground, forcing him to admit his wrongdoings. A fierce battle between the lionesses and the hyenas ensues. Rafiki, Zazu, Timon, and Pumbaa join the fray as well.

Atop Pride Rock’s peak, Simba finally corners Scar. Scar tries to surreptitiously blame everything on the hyenas, but Shenzi, Banzai and Ed overhear this betrayal. Simba asks Scar to leave the Pride Lands and never return, like what Scar told Simba to do years earlier. Scar pretends to leave, but promptly attacks Simba, resulting in a violent final duel. Simba eventually triumphs over his uncle by kicking him over a low cliff. Scar manages to survive and staggers to his paws, but finds himself surrounded by the now resentful hyenas. The hyenas approach their fallen leader and devour him alive, just as everything is seemingly enveloped by the fire.

A downpour extinguishes the brushfire, however, and Simba subsequently reconciles with his family. Rafiki then directs Simba to Pride Rock’s overlook with the words “it is time”. As Simba reaches the top of the overlook, he see the stars shining down on him and hears the voice of his father booming, “Remember…” Emboldened, Simba roars to signify that he is now king of the Pride Lands. With Simba and Nala as the new king and queen, the Pride Lands become green with life again. The movie concludes with Rafiki lifting Simba and Nala’s newborn cub high into the air for all the animals to see, thus continuing the circle of life

Production

The Lion King was originally called King of the Jungle during early stages of production. As in the case of the earlier film Bambi, animators studied real-life animals for reference, and some of the filmmakers went to Kenya to observe the natural habitat that would be shown in the film.

The film’s significant use of computers helped the filmmakers to present their vision in new ways. The most notable use of computer animation is in the “wildebeest stampede” sequence. Several distinct wildebeest characters were built in a 3D computer program, multiplied into hundreds, cel shaded to look like drawn animation, and given randomized paths down a mountainside to simulate the real, unpredictable movement of a herd. Similar multiplication occurs in the “Be Prepared” musical number with identical marching hyenas.

The Lion King was once considered a secondary project to Pocahontas, both of which were in production at the same time. Most of the Disney Feature Animation staff preferred to work on Pocahontas, believing it would be the more prestigious and successful of the two. While both films were commercial successes,The Lion King received a greater amount of positive feedback and larger grosses than Pocahontas, but both became known Disney classics.

The main locations for the film, including Pride Rock and the Gorge, are modelled after Hell’s Gate National Park in Kenya. This animated film was created and recorded at a studio in Los Angeles, California.

Awards

The film won two Academy Awards: Best Original Score and Best Original Song (”Can You Feel the Love Tonight”). Besides winning in the same two categories in the Golden Globe Awards, it also won Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, and another Golden Globe for film editing. In the Annie Awards, it won Best Animated Film, Best Individual Achievement for Story Contribution in the Field of Animation, and Jeremy Irons also won Best Achievement for Voice Acting for voicing Scar.

The Transformers: The Movie is a 1986 animated feature film based on the animated series of the same name. It was released in North America on August 8, 1986.

The film was directed by Nelson Shin, who produced the original Transformers television series, and features the voices of Eric Idle, Judd Nelson, Leonard Nimoy, Casey Kasem, Robert Stack, John Moschitta, Peter Cullen and Frank Welker. It was also the final roles for Orson Welles and Scatman Crothers.

The story takes place in 2005, 20 years after the events of the TV series’ second season and serves to bridge into the third season. Set to a hard-driving metal music soundtrack, the movie has a decidedly darker tone than the television series, with detailed visuals in Toei Animation’s typical animated feature film styling, and Decepticon villains that are more menacing, killing without hesitation. The film features several grand battles in which a handful of major characters meet their end. The film’s tagline was: “Beyond Good. Beyond Evil. Beyond Your Wildest Imagination.”

Plot

Unicron, a space-roaming artificial planet, destroys and eats robot planet Lithone, along with its population. Several of the inhabitants attempt to flee the planet in spaceships but many fail.

It is revealed that the evil Decepticons have gained control the Transformers’ homeworld, Cybertron. The heroic Autobots are readying themselves on two of Cybertron’s moons for a strike against the Decepticons, preparing a supply shuttle for launch to Autobot City on Earth. Their transmission is intercepted by the Decepticons, who ambush the shuttle and kill its crew, consisting of Ironhide, Ratchet, Prowl, and Brawn. The Decepticons then use the ship to infiltrate Autobot City on Earth without being detected.

Meanwhile, on Earth, Daniel Witwicky and Hot Rod race to greet the shuttle. They notice its damaged exterior and spot Decepticons aboard the damaged shuttle, upon which Hot Rod fires at the stowaways. After a brief battle pitting Hot Rod and Kup against the Decepticons Blitzwing and Shrapnel, the Decepticons begin their attack on Autobot City. The outnumbered Autobots, including Autobot City Commander Ultra Magnus, Blurr, Springer, Perceptor, and female Autobot Arcee, fare poorly. Ultra Magnus sends orders to alert Blaster to radio for assistance from their commander and leader Optimus Prime. An attempt to thwart the transmission by Decepticon Soundwave fails, and the broadcast reaches Moon Base One where Optimus is stationed. Optimus Prime and the Dinobots arrive to successfully repel the Decepticon invaders, including the here far-more-menacing Devastator.

Here too, Optimus Prime, almost single-handedly takes down many Decepticon warriors. In a memorable clash of titans, Optimus Prime and Megatron engage in memorable final battle that leaves Prime mortally wounded (due to the untimely intervention of Hot-Rod) and Megatron severely damaged and near-death as well. Prime manages to turn the tide of battle however and defeats Megatron. The Decepticons retreat with their fallen leader and other war-wounded loaded aboard Astrotrain for transport back to Cybertron, on the orders of Starscream.

Inside Autobot City’s walls, Perceptor alerts the other Autobots that the wounds that Optimus Prime has suffered during his battle with Megatron are fatal. The dying Optimus Prime calls on Ultra Magnus to assume command of the Autobots and bestows him with the Autobot Matrix of Leadership, which Optimus extracts from his chest. Optimus asserts that the Matrix one day will light the Autobots’ darkest hour, right before he dies. Back in space, Astrotrain’s shortage of fuel prompts the Decepticons to eject the dead weight of their injured — including the protesting Megatron. This leaves the remaining Decepticons to bicker among themselves for leadership.

Drifting aimlessly, the Decepticon castoffs encounter Unicron, who offers to give Megatron and the others new bodies on the condition that they destroy the Autobot Matrix, which, Unicron says, is the only thing that can stand in his way. Megatron reluctantly agrees, and Unicron uses his power to kill Megatron off, recreate, and reformat him as Galvatron, with his damaged underlings fashioned anew into Cyclonus, Scourge, and the Sweeps. Unicron provides them with a craft on which they travel to Cybertron, where Galvatron confronts and obliterates the treacherous Starscream and takes command of the Decepticons, as his alter-ego Megatron did before him.

Back on Earth, the Autobots are alerted as Unicron consumes Cybertron’s two moons, along with Autobots Jazz, Bumblebee, Cliffjumper and Daniel’s father Spike (who are ultimately rescued). Galvatron leads the Decepticons in another assault on Autobot City. The Autobots board a pair of shuttles and flee toward their threatened planet of Cybertron. Hot Rod, Kup and the Dinobots are shot down over the planet Quintessa, while Ultra Magnus and company evade their pursuers and set down on the planet of Junk for repairs.

Captured by Quintessa guardsmen, Hot Rod and Kup witness the sentencing and execution of Orbilus and are then subjected to a trial by Quintesson executioners. Before the trial, they see Kranix, now Lithone’s last survivor, who then tells them about Unicron, before he’s taken away by the Quintessa guardsmen to be fed to the Sharkticons. At the trial, Hot Rod and Kup battle the Sharkticons with difficulty, but luckily, they are rescued only by the arrival of the Dinobots. Grimlock intimidates the Sharkticons to rebel against the Quintessons with ease, while the Autobots escape. With help from the Dinobots’ new ally, Wheelie, the group locate a ship and depart for the planet of Junk to join the other Autobots.

Meanwhile, Galvatron finds and hunts down the Autobots on Junk. Ultra Magnus tries but fails to awaken the Matrix’s powers, and then is obliterated to pieces by the Sweeps. Galvatron steals the Matrix, stating that he intends to use it to make Unicron his slave. The remaining Autobots are harassed by hostile Junkion natives, led by Wreck-Gar, until Hot Rod’s party touches down to befriend them. The Junkion allies repair Ultra Magnus and volunteer a vessel to help the Autobots fight against Unicron.

Back in space, Galvatron attempts to subjugate Unicron using the Matrix but is unable to unleash its power. Unicron, seeing that Galvatron is underestimating him, transforms into a huge planet-sized robot and attacks Cybertron. As protest against this, Galvatron opens fire on Unicron, but Unicron simply swallows him up. Decepticon defenders scramble to counter Unicron’s attack, but he destroys each one of them, including Shockwave, Dirge, Thrust, Ramjet, and countless others. As the Autobots reach the scene, Hot Rod crashes his ship into through the giant’s eye and finding themselves separated within Unicron’s body. At that time, Wreck-Gar and his Junkions fight back against Unicron, but Unicron crushes their only ship, although they survived.

Inside, Hot Rod fights the recently consumed Galvatron. Hot Rod secures his grip on the Matrix, and the power of The Matrix is unleashed, transforming him into Rodimus Prime. Rodimus unleashes its power to destroy Unicron from within, but not before he throws Galvatron deep into space, landing on the volcanic planet Thrull. Rodimus leads the other Autobots out of Unicron’s body before it explodes, sprawling parts of the giant across the galaxy. Reclaiming Cybertron, the victorious Autobots declare the beginning of a new age of peace and happiness. The movie ends with Unicron’s monstrous head circling Cybertron, a dark replacement for the two moons that once existed.

Cast

This was Orson Welles’s final film. He was in declining health during production. Shortly before he died, he told his biographer, Barbara Leaming, that he had spent the day “playing a toy”[5] in a movie about toys who “do horrible things to each other.” Film historian Joseph McBride quotes Welles saying of his participation: “I play a planet. I menace somebody called Something-or-other. Then I’m destroyed.”[6] Welles’ voice was apparently so weak by the time he made his recording that technicians needed to run it through a synthesizer to salvage it. The voicework for Transformers: The Movie was the last movie project he worked on; his voice session was on October 5, 1985, and five days later on October 10, 1985, Welles died of a heart attack.[6]

The credits list several characters that either do not appear or do not speak in the finished film. Bell is also credited as Prowl, who does not speak. Messick is credited for Gears, who doesn’t speak, instead of Scavenger, who does. The credits include Bud Davis as Dirge, who had lines cut from the film’s original script, and Walker Edmiston as Inferno, who does not appear in either the film or script.

Peter Cullen is credited above Scatman Crothers, even though the cast members are usually listed in alphabetical order.

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (also known as Batman: The Animated Movie) is a 1993 animated superhero film based on the fictional DC Comics character Batman. Eric Radomski and Bruce Timm directed the film, which stars Kevin Conroy as Batman, as well as Dana Delany, Hart Bochner, Mark Hamill, Abe Vigoda, and Stacy Keach. The film’s storyline introduces Andrea Beaumont, an old love interest of Bruce Wayne’s who returns to Gotham City, restarting their romance as well. At the same time, a mysterious murderer begins systematically eliminating Gotham’s crime bosses, and due to the person’s dark appearance, he is mistaken for Batman. Now on the run, Batman must solve the mystery (which involves The Joker) and deal with the romance between himself and Andrea.

Development for the film started after the success of Batman: The Animated Series. Warner Bros. assigned Alan Burnett to write the story, and Burnett collaborated with writers Paul Dini, Michael Reaves, and Martin Pasko. The original idea was to release the film as direct-to-video, but the studio decided for a theatrical release, giving the filmmakers a strenuous eight-month schedule. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm was released with positive critical success, but resulted into a dismal box office due to Warner Brothers’ decision to release the film in theatres on such short notice. Mask of the Phantasm has since found success with home video and DVD releases.

Plot

During a conference of crime bosses held in a Gotham City skyscraper, gangster Chuckie Sol is killed when a mysterious cloaked figure bursts in on the meeting. Batman is blamed for the death. Councilman Arthur Reeves tells the media that Batman is an irresponsible menace, then attends a party at the mansion of millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne, Batman’s alter ego. Reeves jokingly taunts Bruce for having allowed an old girlfriend, Andrea Beaumont, to get away.

In a flashback to Bruce’s college days, we see him meet Andrea in a cemetery while visiting his parents’ grave. Bruce has vowed to avenge his parents’ murder by dedicating his life to fighting crime. He dons a mask and black ninja-styled outfit and foils an armored car robbery, then begins a romance with Andrea.

Back in the present, another mobster murder by the cloaked figure is pinned on Batman, moving sickly mob boss Salvatore Valestra to hire the Joker to kill the superhero. After inspecting the crime scene, Batman visits the Wayne family grave and is seen by Andrea, who realizes his secret identity. This prompts another flashback, in which Bruce and Andrea are enjoying themselves at the Gotham World’s Fair. Bruce meets her father, Carl Beaumont, a businessman with ties to Valestra. Later, deciding that crime fighting and relationships don’t mix, Bruce asks his parents for a sign that they’ll forgive him for forsaking his vow. As if in answer, Andrea arrives at the site. Their relationship continues to grow, and when Bruce proposes to her in the backyard of the Wayne Manor, bats fly up out of a crack in the ground and momentarily surround them. The next day, Bruce is investigating the underground bat cave when Alfred arrives with a note from Andrea breaking off their engagement and bidding him farewell forever. Bruce makes the cave his crime-fighting headquarters and adopts the fearsome persona of Batman.

In the present, Batman has discovered evidence linking Beaumont with a number of organized crime figures. The mysterious cloaked figure targets Valestra, but is beaten to the punch by the unstable Joker; Batman is blamed again and has a close call with the police. Rescuing Batman in her car, Andrea explains that she and her father had been hiding in Europe, from the mob, to whom he owed a lot of money. Beaumont eventually repaid them, but that did not sati