In 2018, Sony took us Into the Spider-Verse, with a film Animated Views called a “game-changer”*. It won the Best Animated Feature Oscar, was the first non-Disney movie selected by our readers as the best of the year, and made a ton of money. So a sequel was a no brainer. But Sony has never been one to shy away from exploiting their Spidey film rights as far as possible, so it wasn’t too much of a surprise when they announced two sequels.

The first, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, picks up about a year and a half after the first film. Miles has grown into the suit, both physically and talent-wise. But being Spider-man takes a toll and he misses the friends he made who went back to their own universes. On her version of Earth, Gwen is struggling alone with her responsibilities and has issues with her father. When they discover a secret society that moves across dimensions to keep things in balance, they both want to join for their own reasons. What happens next? Ummmmm…**

Let’s discuss the first of two elephants in this multiverse. When the film title was originally announced, it was called Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Part One. A few months later, the “Part One” was removed and “Part Two” was officially retitled Beyond the Spider-Verse, with both halves being made simultaneously. So going in, savvy viewers knew we weren’t going to get the complete story this year.

Other made-as-two-part films have threaded this needle in different ways. Back to the Future II and III took two mostly separate stories and weaved them together with a cliffhanger ending sandwiched between. Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame (originally titled Infinity War Parts One and Two) took one epic story, and strategically divided its story elements over two films. These two series of movies worked well because the first part did the job of being both a satisfying and freestanding film that was also able to setup a followup.

Across the Spider-Verse chose a different path. The filmmakers took one long story and just arbitrarily cut it down the middle. Despite its massive runtime, the entire movie is just a big setup for part two. There is almost no plot point resolved in this first half.

That’s not to say the setup isn’t interesting or entertaining. The half of the plot we do get is leading to something good. I was definitely left wanting to know what happens next. But I also felt somewhat cheated due to getting only half of a film. If the credits started rolling on The Little Mermaid right after Ariel makes her deal with Ursula and you were told to come back next year for the rest, you’d wonder why you even bothered to watch this half now rather than wait for the whole thing.

The second issue that can’t be ignored is the length of the film. At two hours and twenty minutes, Across the Spider-Verse is the longest animated film in Hollywood history. Arguably, only two other major studio animated films have ever crossed the two hour threshold***, so not a common event. Even with the amount of animation released seemingly increasing exponentially over the past 30 years, runtime is not something studios have been willing to experiment with. The fact that Sony allowed its filmmakers to not only split this movie into two pieces but also make the first half so long, would hopefully imply they had confidence that the most would be made of all the extra time.

Unfortunately, that faith may have been misplaced. As I’ve already stated, the plot is not uninteresting or unentertaining. Not by a long shot. There is, however, too much filler. It’s like once the animators got the permission to not worry about runtime, they used that leeway to stop editing the story they had, rather than to fill the extended time with more story. Over and over, scenes drag on well past what is needed. The opening scene runs so long that when the title card finally shows up it’s almost a surprise that we’re still so early in. A later scene features a needlessly slow moving device that we watch way too long before a character notes the ridiculous speed in a throwaway joke. An excessively long chase scene seems to be the main plot of a third of the film. There was so much room to tighten up this story, that the runtime feels more like an ostentatious luxury than a necessary requirement.

Looking past all that, most of the other aspects of the film are pretty great.

The brilliant and unique animation style of the first movie is continued here, with mostly similar results. With each different dimension of the Spider-verse getting its own distinctive look, there are plenty of beautiful visuals. But occasionally the effect felt forced or not up to par with the original. The music of the Spider-Verse is fresh and fun. But the audio mix of some of the dialogue really could have been a lot better.

The voice actors were the best parts of the film. The returners (Shameik Moore as Miles Morales, Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy, Brian Tyree Henry as Jefferson Morales, Luna Lauren Vélez as Rio Morales, and Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker) step back into their roles without missing a beat from their great performances in the original. And the newcomers (Oscar Isaac as Miguel O’Hara, Jason Schwartzman as The Spot, Issa Rae as Jessica Drew, Karan Soni as Pavitr Prabhakar, and Daniel Kaluuya as Hobie) easily rise to meet their level.

I need to reiterate that the half of this movie we do get is not bad! My complaints are more with the length and pacing, and the choice to not give the audience more of a standalone film. I’m sure when these two parts are watched back to back, the experience will be amazing… and I’ll be the first in line for tickets! But I’m only able to review the half that we were given and not what might be Beyond.

After being betrayed by rogue con artist Forge Fitzwilliam, widowed bard Edgin Darvis and his barbarian companion Holga Kilgore plan to get back at their former associate and reclaim Darvis’ daughter Kira. Fitzwilliam has become Lord of Neverwinter and he’s bringing back a popular, yet controversial event with high-stakes betting that will fill his vaults with riches beyond imagination. The ideal target for a heist. Darvis and Kilgore enlist the aid of half-elven sorcerer Simon Aumar and tiefling druid Doric. But in the background is Sofina, a red wizard setting a nefarious plot into motion that leaves the group having to deal with more than just breaking into a heavily guarded vault.

One of the biggest hurdles in adapting Dungeons & Dragons into a film is that there is no one plot to be based off of. It’s generally up to the players to create their stories and how they would play out. Supplemental material have been released over the years offering pre-made content, from world settings to adventure ideas, for players to use. As such, there’s numerous options to choose in developing a film. For Honor Among Thieves, Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley went with telling an original story and based it within a popular setting called The Forgotten Realms. This has helped settle on a nice mixture of options for the presentation.

Most stories within the fantasy genre tend toward an eventual “saving the world” plot. To have Honor Among Thieves be more unique, the filmmakers instead are telling a heist that happens to be set within a fantasy world. This allows for emphasis to be on developing the characters and less on spending time having to flesh out the world when it is unnecessary to do so. If there’s any lore to be told, it’s because it’s something that will benefit the characters. Thus there is a purpose to the group spending time learning about and trying to locate a magical item called the Helmet of Disjunction as it will help Aumar break the powerful enchantments placed upon the vaults.

Another big hurdle has been how to portray the game’s mechanics and spirit. The mechanics is perhaps the hardest at bringing to life as much of how things work are not visual. This led the previous feature film to make spell casting inaccurate to how they’re done in the game so that it could be apparent on screen that such is happening. Honor Among Thieves is interested in the mechanics and figures ways to showcase them with delightful results. Aumar possess a token that brings a dead creature back to life. It is alive only long enough to answer five questions, then it is dead for good. What can be a conundrum is that it answers any five questions spoken aloud.

Honor Among Thieves captures the spirit of the game in realizing its key component: fun. More often than not, films in the fantasy genre tend to play with such seriousness that they run the risk of being droll and stiff. The other direction is to spoof the genre, lampooning the troupes to a corny degree. Goldstein and Daley instead looked to find a middle ground in which things are not taken with great seriousness, but it’s not a mockery. This is exemplified with Xenk Yendar, a human paladin the group seek the aid of to find the Helmet of Disjunction. But though they are in awe of his stoic prowess as a true heroic figure, his mannerisms get on their nerves very quickly.

Adding to the fun factor is the wonderful performances by the ensemble cast. Chris Pine captures the charm and occasional vulnerability of Darvis. Michelle Rodriguez hits the right beats playing the tough and warm Kilgore. Hugh Grant perfectly personifies the deliciously despicable Fitzwilliam. Justice Smith works quite well as the neurotic Aumar. Sophia Lillis is lovely as the unpredictably endearing Doric. Regé-Jean Page seems to be made to portray the righteous Yendar. And Daisy Head stands out superbly as the devious Sofina. Often in these films an actor’s presence can overtake the character. Here the whole cast embody their characters very nicely.

What’s also fun are the Easter Eggs fans of the game can discover. They’re utilized in such a way that audiences unfamiliar with Dungeons & Dragons don’t need to feel like it’s something very important, which happens to hilariously be spoofed in the film when Sofina explains in few words how it is the vaults are enchanted to a pair of delegates who just take her for her word. There’s quite an Easter Egg late in the film that’s sure to bring a smile to fans, which I won’t reveal even though clips of it have been shown already. And I was howling over a credited cameo appearance and how it’s done both visually and its part in fleshing out the backstory of one of the characters.

It’s almost a given that Honor Among Thieves would be special effects heavy like the first Dungeons & Dragons film. Whereas the previous film relied on the effects to carry the film, this film uses just enough that they do not hinder the storytelling. A lot of the visual effects animation is done for Doric whenever she uses her wild shape ability to transform into a creature. There’s a fantastic escape sequence that evokes being a single take shot in which she’s changing between herself and into various animals while trying to avoid getting captured. It’s impressive by itself, but made more so because it serves the plot in showing how dangerous the heist is going to be.

The visual effects are used quite well in bringing to life the many races and creatures that previous adaptations hardly touched upon. While they don’t play major roles, their presence lends itself to showing that there’s more than just humans, elves, and dwarves. There’s the eagle-like aarakocra and the aptly named dragonborn conversing with the characters. One of the most recognizable creatures within Dungeons & Dragons is the owlbear, brought to life is Doric’s preferred wild shape transformation whenever in combat. There’s even a unique use of a red dragon that’s wonderfully done with great animation making it all the more fresh and fun.

Honor Among Thieves is so much fun that it’s few flaws can be overlooked very easily. It tries not to be a spectacular epic like The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It flirts with going for the scope one would expected from the fantasy genre, but doesn’t quite go all the way. This can be either a good thing or bad depending on one’s interests. Same can be said with keeping the world-building at a minimum. While it would detract the story, digging deep into the history and lore of The Forgotten Realms would be enchanting to those interested. I may have to listen to it a few more times, but I found the score by Lorne Balfe to be merely pleasant and I’m not entirely sure how memorable they are. Again, these are minor criticisms that are forgivable for a film that’s difficult to dislike.

I’m hopeful that Goldstein and Daley have developed a blueprint on how to adapt Dungeons & Dragons into a feature film and make it work. Honor Among Thieves doesn’t take itself too seriously, yet it also avoids being a parody of the genre. The narrative benefits character development over unnecessary world-building, allowing for audiences to enjoy things happening and their servicing the storytelling. The animation is very nice and the overall visual effects do a wonderful job of bringing to life creatures and races from the game that had yet to be showcased on screen before. It is just a fun movie to watch from start to finish, having managed to roll a critical success.

The brand was also being displayed in other media with positive results. From its use in Stranger Things and The Big Bang Theory to its influence on the Pixar film Onward to tribute parodies in Gravity Falls and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Even celebrities publicly expressed their love with Joe Manganiello regularly hosting sessions that included Vince Vaughn, Game of Thrones showrunner DB Weiss, Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello, and “The Big Show” Paul Wight. The game was garnering its biggest mainstream appeal since the 1980’s.

It would only be natural for Wizards of the Coast, the current owners, to try adapting it into other mediums. But while it had managed to establish a line of video games, novels, and comic books, its actual presence in film and television had been limited. This was largely because, at its heart, Dungeons & Dragons could be about anything. While supplemental content had been developed, there essentially wasn’t any one true story to encompass the whole of the franchise. Thus making a Dungeons & Dragons program would be complicated and challenging.

As such, there had only a few adaptations made. So few, in fact, that a couple were actually translations of gaming sessions and would branch out to become their own franchises. The high fantasy nature generally used for the brand would make animation ideal to be used in the adaptations. But as challenging as it would be just to develop a Dungeons & Dragons program for the screen, it would be just as challenging to execute. Attempting to convey the spirit and mechanics of the game would prove to be rather tricky.

Dungeons & Dragons really started to surge in popularity in the early 1980’s. Alongside an impressive television commercial containing both live-action and animation, original publishers TSR, Inc. looked to further capitalize on the increased interest. This would result in them partnering with Marvel Productions in developing a Saturday morning cartoon for CBS that was simply titled Dungeons & Dragons. The show would tell a seemingly never-ending quest of six teens looking for a way home after being mysteriously transported to The Realm.

While the show used aspects of the game, such as the teens having specific class roles, it didn’t necessarily follow the core mechanics entirely. Yet it did capture the spirit of the game in that the teens were challenged to think their way through situations rather than charging into battle. This was noted with their magical items being defensive in nature, exemplified by Sheila having the Cloak of Invisibility or Eric using the Griffon Shield that projected a protective force field. It wasn’t so much winning battles as it was surviving encounters.

Marvel Productions had a working relationship with the renowned Japanese studio Toei Animation. As such, the animation would be of a high quality compared to most other Saturday morning cartoon shows. This allowed for experimentation with darker graphical designs one might expect from its title. From the presence of a cursed skeleton warrior to the varying magical attacks from the evil five-headed dragon goddess Tiamat, there was always something dangerous and exciting that made the show visually unique and impressive.

The Dungeons & Dragons animated series was a big hit in its own right, having led its time slot for the majority of its run before declining ratings resulted in its cancellation without a proper finale made. Rights issues would hamper a lasting legacy some and a few within the Dungeons & Dragons community would look down on the premise when applied against the game’s darker aspects. The show would nevertheless be fondly regarded in representing the brand positively and for pushing the envelope for a Saturday morning cartoon.

Dan’s Review: I’m of the generation that grew up on the animated series. It was what I thought of most when it came to the brand and the show itself was an enjoyable romp to watch. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve been more mesmerized by the talent that worked on the show, such as pre-Optimus Prime Peter Cullen voicing the villain Venger and show writers that included Batman: The Animated Series greats Paul Dini and Michael Reaves. The animated series was a wonderful trip down memory lane that was worth revisiting from time to time.

In Japan in 1986, Ryo Mizuno and his Group SNE serialized their gaming sessions as Dungeons & Dragons “replays” in the magazine Comptiq. Mizuno would go further by publishing the stories of human fighter Parn and his adventuring party into a successful series of novels called Record of Lodoss War. It’s popularity would see eventual animation adaptations, first with a 13-episode original video animation (or OVA) from Madhouse Studios in 1990 followed by AIC adapting the Chronicles of the Heroic Knight story arc as a television series in 1998.

Lodoss War would retain much of the mechanics and rules from Dungeons & Dragons even as the series evolved through its numerous adaptations. A key part of this would be the utilization of the classes to shape character personalities. Being a fighter, Parn would often be impulsive as he was brave. Etoh, on the other hand, would be cautious and thoughtful being a priest. Encounters would also create a sense of challenge, forcing them to determine if they were strong enough to contend with a dragon, much less an ancient dragon.

The series had been looked upon as pioneering the presentation of high fantasy for Japanese audiences. Madhouse Studios would take it further with how high fantasy would be visualized in anime as the original OVA series had often been regarded as an elite title within the genre. Mixing the look of medieval culture with their tried-and-true approach in animating stylish action sequences, the OVA series was a majestic beauty to behold with rich details that had allowed for it to hold up and age stupendously in the years since its release.

While the anime scene had managed to expand to unprecedented regularity and recognition, Record of Lodoss War would quietly remain a seminal favorite over the years. It would set the standard upon which every other high fantasy anime would be measured to and continued to evolve, such as recently releasing the video game Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth. The Dungeons & Dragons influence would be such that Group SNE would create their own game, Sword World RPG, upon which they would continue to craft similar high fantasy adventures through.

Dan’s Review: A great deal of my visualization for high fantasy would end up coming largely from Record of Lodoss War. I was enchanted from the first moment I saw the OVA, albeit catching it at its climax. It nevertheless interested me enough to check it out as much as I could and really liked what it presented. Deedlit would embody what elves were like for me to such a degree that I felt true elves needed to have as long and pointy of ears like her. It would remain one of my favored anime titles, certainly among those in the high fantasy genre.

After numerous attempts that dated as far back as the 1980’s, a Dungeons & Dragons feature film was finally released in 2000. Directed by Courtney Solomon, the film told of a ragtag group of assorted folk coming together to retrieve a scepter that controlled red dragons before a power-hungry mage could use it to oppose the land’s Empress and her gold dragons. The difficulties of getting the film made were unfortunately displayed throughout the film, showing just how challenging it was for the first-time director to handle.

Solomon’s attempts to bring to life the essence of the game was heavily hampered by the complications faced since securing the rights to make the film as a producer in 1990. The end result saw a relative lack of utilization of the mechanics. Character classes were not properly defined or showcased and what little of the unique spells that were displayed were modified that they were not entirely accurate. Coupled with a generic screenplay and there was hardly anything that made viewers believe they were being immersed in Dungeons & Dragons.

The film managed to be made a very small budget in comparison to similar films of the genre. This would certainly have an affect on the presentation of the visual effects. Despite attempts to cut corners and still be able to produce quality content, there was no denying that they looked cheap in the final cut. From small shots like fire burning upon a watery surface to the climatic battle between armies of dragons, the animation came off appearing no better than kind of low quality efforts regularly seen on cable television movies.

The Dungeons & Dragons feature film was a commercial and critical failure. It did very little in generating any interest in the brand and would be immediately swept under the rug. Surprisingly, it nevertheless managed to spawn two direct-to-video sequels in Wrath of the Dragon God and The Book of Vile Darkness. Both films managed to be a somewhat closer in showcasing a bit of the game mechanics than the theatrical film. But in the end, the films were widely disliked and many within the community wanted to forget they ever existed.

Dan’s Review: I had hoped that Jeremy Irons playing the villain Profion would have been enough to give the film a pass when I first saw it. But despite Irons going hilariously over-the-top and with brief, but no less nice appearances from Tom Baker and Richard O’Brien, the film was just bad. And time had made it worse, looking at the poorly aged animation and cringing with embarrassment. I’ve seen some of Wrath of the Dragon God, but it’s hardly any better. I’m concerned about watching it again, fearful that I won’t laugh as much as I would cry instead.

As a result of the commercial failure of the feature film, Wizards of the Coast would scale back on further attempts at adapting the game for the screen. At the same time, DVD was emerging as a viable media viewing platform. The interactive options the format offered was intriguing enough to try out a smaller feature in 2003 with Scourge of Worlds, a choose-your-own-adventure that allowed audiences to determine how the story of a trio of heroes trying to prevent an unspeakable evil from being unleashed would play out from start to finish.

Scourge of Worlds would be the earliest feature to utilize pre-existing content. It would take place in Greyhawk, a campaign setting that was initially designed by Gary Gygax, and featured established characters in human fighter Regdar, halfling rogue Lidda, and elven wizard Mialee. The choose-your-own-adventure approach would give viewers a sample of how one could play the game, though it didn’t show off the full mechanics. Furthermore, it was still relatively linear whereas the game would allowed for thinking outside the box.

The animation for Scourge of Worlds had not aged all that well. Even at the time, it was hardly of any quality better than what was already being used on television. The characters were stiff as rocks, regardless of the occasional wild facial expressions. Despite the use of motion capture, movements lacked fluidity. And the designs were about as good as they were going to get with the financial and software limitations director Dan Krech and his studio faced. It might have seemed interesting at the time, but the animation would come off as basic nowadays.

The potentiality of what could have been done for the Dungeons & Dragons brand with choose-your-own-adventure animated DVD features like Scourge of Worlds might have sounded good on paper. It was the execution that would cause it to be lost in the abyss of time as it would be forgotten in the years following its release. A real lack of genuine interest coupled with animation that just wasn’t up to snuff to properly flourish. It ended up being nothing any one would go out of their way to check out, all things considered.

Dan’s Review: Curiosity got the best of me and I decided to give this one a look. It wasn’t quite as terrible as I feared, but it wasn’t any better than merely decent at best. It’s super obvious how old this felt compared to the animated fares that would emerge in the years that followed, with its sluggish movements to the lack of refinement in the details. And I never got a feel that this represented the brand all that well, rather coming off as a standard direct-to-video animation title that just happened to have the Dungeons & Dragons name associated.

Before Record of Lodoss War in Japan, a publication of gaming sessions was first done in 1984 with the beloved Dragonlance series. Initially conceived to support the Dragons of Despair gaming module, the first novel Dragons of Autumn Twilight would enchant fans with its story of an adventuring party reuniting in time to be swept up in the opening stages of a great war. There was a great desire to see the Dragonlance stories adapted and that wish would be fulfilled by Paramount Pictures with a direct-to-video animated feature released in 2008.

Unfortunately, someone made the decision to try to adapt the entirety of the over 400-page narrative into a 90-minute feature. As a result, the richly detailed story was heavily condensed in favor of moving from scene to scene as quickly as possible. This would give little to no time for proper character development to be displayed and hardly any of the game’s mechanics to be showcased outside of the briefest of moments to explore the human wizard Raistlin and the consequences he would physically bare in his pursuit of power.

In addition to the narrative being woefully truncated, what really disappointed fans was the animation. Being a direct-to-video feature was hardly an ideal format to begin with. But it just seemed as though there was never any genuine desire to really bring to life such a beloved world in a satisfying manner. The animation came off as a poor attempt at replicating the art style from a previous comic book adaptation combined with some computer generated imagery that failed to impress. A shockingly huge visual downgrade compared to what fans were imagining.

Much like the Dungeons & Dragons feature film before it, the direct-to-video animated adaptation of Dragons of Autumn Twilight was a major letdown to fans and to Wizards of the Coast. The feature hardly made any traction in piquing interest, with lack of any sort of marketing making sure of that. The film just came and went in the wind. Those who actually did manage to take a look were not impressed with what they saw, be it the bad animation or a presentation that lacked the proper context that made it such a beloved title in the first place.

Dan’s Review: I had thoroughly enjoyed the Dragons of Autumn Twilight novel long before the animated feature was made. Given that it was direct-to-video, I kept my expectations low. The voice acting at least tried to make the film work, with Kiefer Sutherland in particular being an excellent choice to voice Raistlin. But in the end, it still managed to be a disappointment. I’m actually surprised Paramount decided against what would have been an obvious cash-grab and tried to make sequels regardless of the negative reception.

Dungeons & Dragons would experience a renaissance in the 2010’s thanks to the advent of broadcast streaming. At the forefront would be Critical Role, the gaming sessions of well-known animation voice actors that became a surprise global phenomenon. Following one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns to date, a much desired animated adaptation of mercenaries whose need for coin would lead them into becoming the unexpected heroes in the land would come to fruition with The Legend of Vox Machina being released in 2022.

A major part of what made Critical Role so popular was the ability of the players to adapt and work off the results of their rolls, turning the mechanics of the game into the foundations upon which to develop compelling story moments. The Legend of Vox Machina carefully enhanced these for even greater dramatic affect, showcasing the excitement of what would happen from a single action. As such, importance would be carefully given to how things worked under the game’s rules and the alluring narrative benefits they could provide.

Thanks to the Kickstarter campaign’s overwhelming success, the animation quality was assured to be at its best and then some. A joyful mix of Japanese animation with the graphic appeal of some of modern western titles created a visual look that was stunning to behold. The added benefit of how descriptive the players were with their role playing allowed for the animators at Titmouse, Inc. to go the extra mile in details that made for displaying some of the most beautiful and majestic scenes ever seen even in the high fantasy genre.

The Legend of Vox Machina further elevated what was already a very successful production of Dungeons & Dragons. From utilizing the game mechanics to create rich storytelling moments to the top-notch animation visualizing the heart-stopping action, it was everything a fan could hope for and more. Recently, it was announced that the second Critical Role campaign The Mighty Nein would be adapted alongside more seasons of Vox Machina, giving audiences more unique characters and stories originally crafted from playing a game of Dungeons & Dragons.

Dan’s Review: I’m pretty sure everyone would know by now what a Critter (or Critical Role fan) I had become over the years. It would be the catalyst for my actually playing Dungeons & Dragons. That I would like The Legend of Vox Machina would be a given. What delighted me was that it managed to be quite an excellent series in its own right. I was enchanted from the first frame onward savored every second that was produced. This would be the fanboy in me saying this, but the show would be the finest representation of the brand to date.

As could be seen, adapting Dungeons & Dragons for film and television was not something that could be done with any relative ease. That the game could be played to be about anything meant that any one looking to develop a program based on the brand would have to conceive of virtually everything from the narrative to how the mechanics would be utilized. And how to present the uniqueness of those mechanics would be just as challenging to showcase, often conflicting with creating a competent narrative and thereby causing both to suffer in quality.

Even the use of animation, a medium in which anything could be possible, would have mixed results. When they worked, they could be quite majestic to view. The really good ones could also end up setting the standard for the look of the high fantasy genre. When they didn’t work, they would age poorly and run the risk of setting things back a step or two. Often it would come down to understanding how animation can be used to visualize just about anything that could be imagined in playing Dungeons & Dragons and for it to not be taken for granted.

Perhaps because there were not that many adaptations, each one were special regardless of their varying quality. The unsuccessful titles seemed to be able to fail in an intriguing manner to elicit curiosity. Those that succeeded helped elevate the brand and provide a positive representation of the game. The next time a Dungeons & Dragons adaption would be released, such as the upcoming Honor Among Thieves, it would be interesting to see, for good or bad, what unique narrative could be conceived from the imagination and how animation could bring it to life.

In Honor of Michael Reaves

This retrospective was in the middle of being written when Michael Reaves passed away at the age of 72. Reaves became the primary writer of the Dungeons & Dragons animated series from the second season onward. He also wrote what would have been the finale to the story and the foundation for a new adventure had a fourth season proceeded before the series was canceled. Reaves would post the script online to great fan interest and it would lead BCI Eclipse to produce it as an audio drama for their DVD release of the series.

The big night is here! Oscar statuettes will be bestowed on lucky filmmakers this evening at the 95th Annual Academy Awards. And we’ll be covering it as part of our annual Oscar event, now in its 19th year!

Join us at 7:30pm ET for a live chat during the Oscar telecast in the Animated Views forum where you can join the AV staff and other readers as we discuss the people, the story-lines, and the awards.

If you entered our contest (for a chance to win a $50 Amazon of Fandango gift card!), you can view or print a PDF of all the nominees and your picks to check how you’re doing at home. You can also follow along during the show as we track the results of the contest online in real time as each award is announced.

Want a sneak peek at who might be taking home the trophies tonight? Here are the the consensus picks in each category according to people who entered our contest!

Launched into the surprise space adventure of a lifetime, Lisa and Sean discover that their seemingly average dad has a job that is anything but boring. Dodging dangerous aliens, robots, and laser fights galore, family bonding time becomes much more than they bargained for as they try to help their dad in pursuit of his toughest fugitive yet. With his kids along for the ride, Dad must show up for them when they need him most — and they’d better make it home before Mom finds out!

Everett Downing and Patrick Harpin are the creators of this warp-speed adventure across the constellation of ups, downs and moments in-between that shape family life.

Everett is a feature film story artist and animator with over 15 years of experience in the industry, having worked in both capacities at studios such as Blue Sky Studios, Pixar Animation Studios and DreamWorks Animation.

Patrick is also a story artist. As such, he contributed to series and films like Gravity Falls, Hotel Transylvania 2 and Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, and also The Smurfs And The Lost Village.

Animated Views: First of all, can you take us through the initial idea and the early development of the series.

Everett Downing: Pat and I frequently had coffee with each other and we would lament about not being able to tell the stories that we wanted to tell. We’d kick around all the films we loved and the types of stories we wanted to tell. We share a mutual love for the Amblin days — stories with kids’ adventures like The Goonies or E.T.

Patrick Harpin: We talked a lot about those stories, about how there’s movies for kids and then there’s movies about kids. Like E.T. and Stand By Me — those are about kids, but they’re more than just kids’ movies. They’ve got more substance. We were just talking a lot about what we’d want to see on screen. And since we’re both big sci-fi heads, we felt the genre could do so much more than it was doing right now.

AV: When did you realize that your sci-fi story wouldn’t just be about kids, but an entire complex family dynamic?

ED: I had two young girls at the time. After spending all this time on movies that I hoped would be great, but sometimes weren’t, I started to wonder, “What am I doing here?” So, I wanted to write a love letter to my family. And Pat and I both felt we wanted to tell stories about dads where the dads weren’t idiots.

PH: That was actually my dad’s request. He was like, “Can you show somebody who’s at least trying?” So, we thought it would be cool to show a more three-dimensional family conflict, but also, any sci-fi story is only as good as the people in it. The people ground it. If they’re grounded and you believe in them, you’re going to believe in the more spectacular elements of the story.

AV: How did you achieve that balance between strong cinematographic references and doing a kids’ series?

ED: There’s this wealth of material that came out in the late 80s – early 90s in sci-fi that we hadn’t seen in a while, and there’s such creativity in it that we wanted to revisit those points of inspiration. From the beginning, we wanted to do something that we were inspired by but we also wanted to try to do a new take on it. So, everything that we were working on comes from very specific points of inspiration, and then we asked ourselves, “what do we add into it?”, like you add value to something.

PH: Also, I think, sci-fi can be about the future, but it’s usually about the time it’s made in. We are inspired by all this stuff, but that’s essentially the medium that we’re using. The message and everything we’ve done is what we feel, and we kinda do it through this genre. And in terms of film language, we referenced things that are not sci-fi all the time. We were just trying to find the best way to shoot like, say, someone crawling through an air duct. Die Hard! They have the best air duct scene. So, let’s get some fish eye on that, just like they did. We were also inspired by David Fincher’s movies, and things like that, like for Blobby’s apartment, and also by the movie Dredd, some harder sci-fi that we could mix in into our kids cartoon. So, it’s more like a general approach, I guess.

AV: The way the series is shot is also very interesting.

PH: Indeed, we tried to shoot a lot of times from the kids’ point of view up at the dad or the dad looking down them. But always keeping a kind of kid-eye level. They’re the ones we want to experience things through, so, that definitely affected our shooting style.

ED: We were very specific. Most of the time, it’s the kids but there are a few times, when we are with the parents, the perspective changes.

AV: Can you tell me about the music, which is very original and very strong for a kids’ series.

ED: Music is such a big factor in our show. We really wanted to feel different. First, we wanted it to be influenced by what the dad could like when he was younger, like hip hop from the 90s. Also, the king of sci-fi for us is John Carpenter, and Pat came up with this idea of “hip-pop John Carpenter”. Then, they gave us a list of composers. It was a long list, and Pat and I listened to the whole thing separately, and we both agreed Joshua Mosley was the best person for our show.

PH: Everybody on this production treated it like a movie, even if they weren’t supposed to. That was just a ripple effect throughout the production. And Joshua did the same. For him, the series looked like a movie, so, he wanted to treat it like a movie. It’s really big, both music and sound in general.

AV: How did your collaboration go with Dwarf Studio, which is based in France?

ED: It was really a great experience. When we got our okay for the development of the series and wanted to test some studios, we got in touch with 4 different ones. In the end, we got 2 contenders, one of them being Dwarf. They both had really strong animation tests but there was just something about Dwarf that felt really cinematic. It felt like an animated movie. The quality was so high. And they did their best to adopt all the elements that we put together and displayed them to us. So, that was clear to us.

PH: Their tech sci-fi design was so elevated, the hair on the characters, the textures, everything that Dwarf was doing was at such a high level. So, we had to go with these guys. And French sci-fi is best. The Fifth Element was more of an influence on us than Star Wars! Because Fifth Element is more playful. Dwarf brough such a level of believability to the whole world and a feature quality to what could have been a cheap-looking series.

ED: And at a time when everyone was working remotely because of Covid, the distance wasn’t a problem. Our schedules worked out very well. When they were finishing their days, the day we would start out for us, so that made a very good point of contact.

PH: It was definitely a learning process. This was not an easy show to do. And Dwarf, to their credit, has never wavered in quality. We’re still finishing stuff right now (the interview was done November 30th, 2022) and it still looks as good as the first episodes, and sometimes even better!

With our thanks to Fumi Kitahara, Everett Downing, Patrick Harpin and Amber Bracken.

There are Popeye cartoons, and then there are Popeye cartoons. The good stuff, as many fans know, are the black and white Fleischer theatrical shorts of the 1930s through the early 1940s (plus their three color two-reelers), which began just a few short years after Popeye first appeared in the Thimble Theatre newspaper comic strip. The subsequent color shorts from Famous Studios (essentially what became of the Fleischer studio once Paramount took them over) in the 1940s and 1950s are still pretty good, but cannot match the amazing quality of the Fleischer ones, and over time the Famous offerings devolved into largely formulaic and bland cartoons that many fans don’t mind forgetting. And next came the television cartoons and a further, inevitable dip in quality.

Popeye animated cartoons initially entered people’s homes via television syndication of his theatrical shorts; but King Features Syndicate, the owner of the character, hoped to grab a bigger piece of the profits by producing their own series of cartoons for mainly television exhibition. The result was a package of 220 cartoons of variable quality. “Variable” might be charitable, as many fans would describe these shorts – on the whole – as cheap, poorly-animated, mistake-filled messes that offend the eyes and heart.

Ah, but Popeye superfan Fred Grandinetti would like to remind us that the KFS cartoons were not all bad, not at all. Many were decent, and a few were even pretty good; and even the bad ones are interesting in their way. He has touched on this topic previously in his book Popeye: An Illustrated Cultural History, but he has now expanded on the topic considerably in his new book, Popeye The Sailor: The 1960s TV Cartoons. Bear Manor media is offering the book in hardcover and softcover editions, for anyone for wishes to have some help in navigating through the many KFS cartoons.

One might say, “Fred has watched them all, so that you won’t have to!” However, as you read the book, you will inevitably be curious to watch these cartoons, either to appreciate some fun Popeye action, or to pick apart the worst of the worst. Regardless, the cartoons are an important part of television history. I previously reviewed a DVD set of these cartoons, and I can confirm that the quality ranges from poor to good, and none of them can match the best of the theatrical output. The reasons for the differences is explored in Grandinetti’s book, as he describes the production history of the cartoons and the players involved. We learn of how the cartoons were farmed out to several producers, in studios across the US and Europe. It may surprise some that many of the folks involved were well-respected pros, like Jack Kinney, director of many a classic Disney short. Directorial talent, however, can only go so far, and Grandinetti details how budget, time, and the availability of animation talent adversely affected this series.

Anyone with even a passing interest in the squinty-eyed sailor should find the text interesting, as it delves into a brief history of the character in comics and animation, then proceeds to describe how the KFS cartoons came together. The main players, like Kinney, Gene Deitch, Larry Harmon and others are given concise biographies, and the various studio circumstances are described. Spin-offs of the cartoons – including merchandise and exercise campaigns – are discussed, participating television stations are identified, and there are plenty of trade ads presented. Ratings and profits are highlighted, and the success of the shorts is celebrated. This is a basically a treasure trove of TV cartoon history- and that’s all before we get to the bulk of the book, which gives a synopsis for each cartoon, consisting of a solid one or two paragraphs each, in which we learn of the story but also any trivia or animation mistakes related to the short. Most helpful in our appreciation is that the cartoons are divided by studio, and the directors are identified, with Grandinetti pointing out differences in how the series was handled depending on who worked on each cartoon. This scholarship is most welcome, as we learn to understand that this was not a uniform glob of cheap cartoons, but rather the product of many hands in several places.

This makes for a fun and informing read on a lazy Saturday afternoon, likely to be followed by seeking out the cartoons themselves either on DVD, or on YouTube, where they have all been uploaded onto the official Popeye channel. With that kind of availability, and a helpful text that contextualizes each short, it’s a great time to re-evaluate the KFS Popeye cartoons.

It may be hard to come up with a reason as to why, but 2022 felt like a collective blur for many of us, perhaps a result of the depressing pace of the past few pandemic-dominated years, or maybe we were all just too busy for our own good. Regardless, the months just zipped by, merging into each other almost as much as some of the year’s most-hyped entertainment options occasionally seemed to — just how many Star Wars and Marvel streaming shows were there, anyway?

Not helping with our collective confusion was having to read the same headlines over and over again (did you happen to hear what Will Smith did at the Oscars?), giving us all a bad case of déjà vu!

Among such stories were major shakeups within Hollywood, including the sudden replacement of Bob Chapek as Disney’s CEO with that of another Bob (welcome back, Iger!), and some shocking and frankly blatantly cynical decisions made by the recently merged Warner Bros. Discovery. Of course this is a business at the end of the day, but cancelling the release of completed movies (sorry, Batgirl and Scooby-Doo!) just for the sake of a tax write-off is an evil move even by cartoon villain standards.

As is sadly always the case, more people were lost this year than we could ever fit into one column, with the passing of Queen Elizabeth II capturing the attention of the entire world. Other notable deaths included comic book legend Neal Adams, Jules Bass of Rankin/Bass fame, Irene Cara, Barbara Walters, Gilbert Gottfried, Harry Potter star Robbie Coltrane, Leslie Jordan, James Caan, Sesame Street cast members Emilio Delgado and Bob McGrath, iconic Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy, and legendary actress and singer Angela Lansbury, all of whom will be missed.

On a lighter note, audiences gave theaters the comeback they had been starving for, with Top Gun: Maverick behaving like an old school blockbuster on a level that hadn’t been seen in ages, and the myth of superhero movie fatigue proved to be just that, with four of them easily zooming past the $300 million mark in the States. And Avatar: The Way Of Water has proven, yet again, that you should never bet against James Cameron, as it quickly became the biggest hit of the year after less than a month in release.

Join us now for a look back on the rest of the year’s brighter and more animated aspects, as we present…

Ben’s Picks

It’s something we say every twelves months: “where did the year go?”, but this year it might never have applied more! Perhaps a consequence of life slowing down to a more leisurely pace since March 2020, to where people took time to take things in more, kept in touch with family and friends more, and did things like going for walks more and just simply enjoying the world again — as much as it was barraging us back with viruses and increasingly dynamic weather events — but as life opened up, that otherwise lovely spell of a Don’t Worry Darling 1950s style life with 21st century technology quickly sped up and seemed to zoom (not Zoom!) by ever faster.

Professionally and personally, 2022 has been a rollercoaster for me, and how! The year began with a pandemic-delayed film, The 355 (essentially a female-fronted Mission: Impossible yarn to which I had variably contributed some uncredited cutting) coming and going in January, before a longtime friend and collaborator tapped me to cut his directorial short film debut, Aping Edwin Porter, which we shot in February and posted between then and May (when, at the premiere, we staged a bit where I feigned being upset at a remark in his “thank-yous” and took to the stage and slapped him, in a nod to another infamous incident that had just appallingly occurred in front of a much bigger audience).

The film [right] hit the festival circuit over the summer and has incredibly garnered over 100 “best short” awards, nominations and nods so far, including several for editing and sound design. If anyone out there reading this is looking for a feature editor or wants to offer representation, I’m ready and waiting!

That high was somewhat tempered by a couple of “real life” hiccups, including Covid finally catching me in the summer. While not as bad as flu that hit me in 2008, it was worse than a bad cold, left me coughing uncontrollably, and still these months later a little drained. It is not an experience I wish to repeat!

Luckily, I’m still here, which seems as good a place as any to mark several personal heroes who did leave us: Angela Lansbury, Peter Bogdanovich and Sidney Poitier, to name just three out of many that were continuing to create new work and leave the bright lights of showbusiness a little more dimmed with their loss.

Escapism was again found on big and small screens, where new films began to flourish once more and old films found themselves restored and available again in the home. Topping everything had to be the sublime Everything Everywhere All At Once [below right], the Daniels’ film that seemed to creep up on everyone distracted by the empty numbingness of various multiverses to present its own very unique take on the same concept, via a hugely ambitious scope illustrating a very intimate story. Profound, hilarious, uplifting, different, erudite, silly and brilliant, I’m so glad to have discovered this one, and that it’s ended up making its own mark in the world.

Less successful creatively was the “final” Jurassic World movie Dominion, whose opening line set things off course from the start and never really recovered.

Having destroyed the island in the last one, and promising a new and different “world of dinos” scenario, we were quickly back on another island and simply going through the motions, where even the returning Park cast — as much as it was nice to see them again, and in much more than just cameos — couldn’t help this ultimately feeling rote and boring.

I wasn’t much better impressed by the other hyped films of the year, such as The Batman, and have yet to see Wakanda Forever, though wasn’t much of a fan of the first and admit to suffering a bit of Marvel fatigue and needing a bit more grown up nourishment cinematically speaking. But Maverick certainly surpassed expectations to deliver a first class experience even for those, like me, that didn’t like the first one, and I’d argue that Glass Onion is a better film than Knives Out, right down to director Rian Johnson’s frankly blatant explanation for what he was attempting to do with Star Wars, even if the chief suspect and last one standing were both fairly evident very early on.

I was left fairly dazzled by Baz Lurhmann’s Elvis [below right], a couple of caveats aside (including that I personally can’t quite get past the fact that the otherwise excellent Austin Butler looks very little like The King, and have yet to hear any reasoning on Tom Hanks’ incredibly baffling choice of accent for his insidious Tom Parker), and would love to see an extended cut I hope the director gets a chance to put out there and that I would snap up on disc.

Speaking of, this year was a quieter than usual for new releases and classics, with a fair bunch getting 4K “upgrades” that, while reviewers were eager to wax lyrical about “shadow detail” and the like, very rarely gave any real reason to buy again, especially given that many were shot on earlier, grainier stock to begin with (the one exception being the on/off/delayed release of seminal sci-fi Invaders From Mars, which has never had an HD release and, by all accounts, is truly phenomenal in its restored form, which I look forward to seeing as soon as possible!).

The Godfather turned 50 with a stunning new collection, and I was also pleased to add one of the final Hitchcock Blu-ray holdouts in Stage Fright to my shelf, along with the superlative restoration of George Pal’s The Wonderful World Of The Brothers Grimm to the always enticing Warner Archive, the bonkers Return Of Captain Invincible in two cuts with a CD soundtrack (!), and — finally! — the excellent Arsenic And Old Lace from Criterion. Of the newer stuff, it was great to see Ken Branagh receive a screenplay Oscar for his personal film, the lovely Belfast, which no less than Spielberg is looking to build upon in the awards race with his own autobiographical The Fabelmans, a slightly lesser film that felt more insular and doesn’t reflect anything going on in America at the time other than in the fledgling director’s own family.

In animation — the reason we’re here, right? — I haven’t been truly wowed by anything in a while, though did appreciate Sony giving delightful Vivo a deserved physical release. But Disney, Pixar, DreamWorks and Illumination were otherwise MIA with future classics (I mean, as entertaining as Turning Red was, does anyone really expect it to make any best of the decade lists? And Sing 2 was sadly as lackluster as the first one was a breath of fresh air, though I still need to see The Bad Guys, but have heard good and bad about it, which is never a perfect sign).

Disney+ continues to be frustrating in its mix of good-not-great content — although I’m hoping to get to widely praised Andor before too long — and resolutely seems to want to pivot away from actual Disney productions that aren’t — yawn — Marvel or Star Wars. And, yes, before you bring up Disenchanted, please don’t: the less said about that enormously disappointing, ten-years-too-late misfire (and Zemeckis’ frankly bizarro Pinocchio) the better — mediocrity should never be “acceptable”, but this wasn’t even that!

Even newly available films didn’t particularly entice: Thor fizzled, Dumbledore disintegrated and Luck ran out, although most unexpected was the enjoyment of the also bizarre and bonkers Chip ‘n’ Dale: Rescue Rangers movie, which was just so random and wrong on many levels that it couldn’t be anything other than surprising fun. That was about it, though, leaving most of my interest in documentaries: The ILM Story‘s opening episode promises to be a series I’ll enjoy the more I can watch, and Leslie Iwerks’ The Imagineering Story followed up her previously terrific docs on her grandfather and Pixar, and was again joined by a companion book [above] — a great gift for any discerning Disney history fan! — that, a slightly disappointing lack of images aside, really gives one time to take in all that research (it is rightly labeled a biography!) in a very nice, weighty tome kind of way. Which, if I had a Christmas or New Years wish, would be just that: more time. And that’s just about where I came in, I guess! Have a good one!

Dacey’s Picks

Once again, I fell ridiculously behind on what I considered to be “required viewing” in 2022 — I still haven’t caught widely acclaimed movies like Turning Red, Marcel the Shell With Shoes On, or either of DreamWorks Animation’s excellent-looking offerings.  Alas, tending to physical and mental health took a lot of my attention this year. Perhaps I’ll be able to remedy this for 2023, but in this case, don’t consider these picks to be “the best of the year” so much as “the best of what Dacey found the time and energy to watch”!

In many ways, Avatar: The Way Of Water [above right] faces seemingly impossible odds — not only is it a sequel to the biggest movie ever, but also one that many rather inexplicably expected to bomb under the delusion that no one really cared about the original. At this point, though, should anyone really be shocked when James Cameron is able to shatter expectations?

It almost feels like a gross understatement to say that Water is gorgeous, as it’s a sensory experience that might leave you as out of breath as the swimming blue aliens are from how much you are openly gasping at the screen. Is it overlong? Probably. Overstuffed? Maybe. But when it reaches its final hour, you’ll have a hard time looking away, as Cameron fires on all cylinders to fully immerse the audience in action so jaw-dropping and intense that it must, yes, be seen to be believed. Pandora wasn’t the only place I found cinematic thrills, as superheroes remained a dependable source of adrenaline. While the DCEU might be in complete chaos right now, The Batman certainly wasn’t; a moody, hypnotic comic book outing that feels as daring as it does familiar.

On Marvel’s side of things, Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness was a gleefully violent, fun-filled rollercoaster, while the “TV special” Werewolf By Night was an exhilarating love letter to the Universal monster films of old, and a promising directorial debut for composer Michael Giacchino.

On Netflix, stop-motion was refreshingly prominent — even if they seemed to forget to actually market the films sometimes!

The House [above right] was a nifty anthology of three separate stories — which range from devastatingly scary to strangely sweet — making for some truly unique (not to mention R-rated) animation unlike anything else I saw this year.

I am a bit sorry to say I didn’t “love” Wendell & Wild, as it’s weakened by a plot trying to do everything everywhere all at once. Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key are lovably funny as the titular dim-witted demons, and one can’t deny Henry Selick’s talent and imagination, so it’s a shame he allows the focus to get so out of hand here (you could make a case that he’s best when he has strong source material to play off from). Fortunately, it’s at least very entertaining, and it’s possible I’ll like it more with a repeat viewing.

Where I won’t be an annoying contrarian is with Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, which really did live up to the hype for me and was as beautiful as others have been saying, gracing the viewer with a reassuring yet creepy handcrafted look that brings to mind the work of the late Will Vinton.

In fact, there’s such an astonishing level of detail that it might be impossible not to be in awe of it — so much work went into every frame of this film that its existence alone is an accomplishment.

From Disney, Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers was the borderline demented spiritual follow-up to Roger Rabbit that none of us knew we wanted, but ended up being very thankful for, filled with so much hilarious meta-humor that it’s almost shocking the Mouse House itself actually made it!

Obi-Wan Kenobi, while supposedly being “divisive” (but what Star Wars content isn’t these days?), was something truly special for fans of the prequel trilogy, elevated by a fantastic performance from Ewan McGregor (who was also great in Pinocchio) and some spectacular lightsaber battles. Finally, The Owl House [above] continued to be terrific as it set exciting new standards for the studio, and it’s going to be very painful when it’s time to actually say goodbye to this amazing series when it ends in just a few months.

The biggest and most pleasant surprise for me in 2022 came in the form of something I wasn’t even expecting to like, and that was FX’s very adult comedy Little Demon [below right]. At first glance, it could be easy to write it off as another crass Rick & Morty imitation (not coincidentally, it’s from one of that show’s co-creators), and while it would be impossible to recommend it to “everyone” due to its pervasive violence, language and nudity, Little Demon is surprisingly subversive, relatable, and even poignant, managing to juggle its frequent fart jokes alongside themes of broken families and regret in ways that are bafflingly effective.

The voice cast is to die for — Satan has never been more appealing than when played by Danny DeVito — and there’s a promising sense of world-building that leaves me begging to find out what happens next. You wouldn’t necessarily expect this level of praise for a cartoon about the literal antichrist, but Little Demon feels sincere, heartbreaking, and bizarrely comforting. It deserves all of the love it can get…and more episodes ASAP.

Before I wrap this up, I must give some quick shout-outs to more “grown-up” fare, including House Of The Dragon which, despite having a smaller scale than Game Of Thrones nevertheless managed to feel just as massive, setting the table for what is sure to be a grand epic in its future seasons. And X and Pearl were a duo of horror titles within a fresh franchise from director Ti West that came out in the same year and, if that’s not impressive enough, were both delightfully twisted films in their own right that also happened to compliment each other perfectly.

Dan’s Picks

In some ways, 2022 turned out to be not that much different from 2021 as it was another curiously lazy period for me aside from an overwhelming work schedule. It was enough that I completely missed out on watching an animated feature. Nevertheless, I still managed to do stuff. I got to watch some fine programs when I could, attend numerous events, and was able to participate in a closed beta for the upcoming Street Fighter 6 video game. I even won an auction for a rough animation sheet of Milo from Atlantis: The Lost Empire! So perhaps beneath the surface, it was a rather productive year for me despite how inactive I otherwise was.

A show that really won me over from the start was Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury [right].

The first mainline Gundam series in five years distinguished itself from the rest of the franchise by taking a bold approach in telling a well crafted narrative that would not be what viewers would expect.

The lush, beautiful animation and emotionally epic music score wonderfully bolster the presentation of its uniquely developed and lovingly fantastic female leads Suletta Mercury and Miorine Rembran. I’m absolutely engrossed and am looking forward to what the amazing crew at Sunrise have in store for the rest of the series as it continues.

I’ve consistently had Critical Role among my “Best of…” entries the last few years. And why not? The weekly broadcast of animation voice actors playing Dungeons & Dragons was an absolute blast to watch as Matthew Mercer and company would craft together compelling stories and characters through tabletop gaming.

This year was extra special with the premiere of The Legend Of Vox Machina [right].

The animated adaptation of their first campaign adventures was a critical success featuring crisp, beautiful animation alongside outstanding music, great writing, and a top-notch cast. The future continues to shine brightly for the pop culture phenomenon.

For me, the live-action front would not so much be on the screen as they would take place on the stage. A trip to Broadway yielded opportunities to see Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster in The Music Man [below right] in its opening week, Wicked a second time, and Hadestown featuring the last regular performance of Amber Gray as Persephone.

The Music Man was so delightful as Jackman and Foster were having a ball. Wicked was as fantastic as ever, made the more special being at its home the Gershwin Theatre. Hadestown, though, was outstanding and an absolute thrill to behold from start to finish. It was a wonderful experience that made it tough for any film or show to compete with.

Truth be told, the programs that interested me in 2022 were documentaries. I was enamored with learning about how things came to fruition.

Two documentaries that stood out were the series Arcane: Bridging The Rift and the feature Mickey: The Story Of A Mouse. Both offered fascinating insight into the development of their respective subjects.

Arcane: Bridging The Rift provided a comprehensive deep dive into how the groundbreaking series was carefully crafted. Mickey: The Story Of A Mouse was a modest, yet no less intriguing look at the cultural impact the character had for nearly a century. Good documentaries like these were what captured my undivided attention.

One thing that picked up was my attending events. As my recaps could attest to, the San Diego Comic Con and the D23 Expo were amazing, worthwhile experiences that made my year and then some. From world premiere screenings to star-studded surprises, both were quite literally packed to the gills with so much greatness.

Another event that shined brightly was the opening reception of The Owl House Exhibition at Gallery Nucleus [right]. Featuring a fun, insightful panel with the animation crew, admiring the beautiful artwork displayed, and witnessing an exploding fandom in all of its glory, it was a fantastic time to be had that was unlike any other.

Rounding out the year, I could not begin to tell you of the jubilation I felt when Disney produced not one, but two Oswald The Lucky Rabbit shorts. While each one might only have been a minute long, every wonderful second of the long-awaited new animation was lovingly cherished.

The Owl House itself had an outstanding year, airing some of the series’ finest episodes to date ahead of the upcoming finale. The return of Bill Willingham’s Fables was warmly welcomed within a rather unremarkable year for comic books, although Marvel published two great mini-series in the excellent Dark Ages and, my favorite, the ultra-hilarious X-Terminators.

Randall’s Picks

Like the real world, the entertainment industry is feeling the effects of huge change. The worst of the Covid pandemic seems to be behind us, but we are now in the midst of a “tripdemic”: there’s conflict in Europe, and we all know about the crazy inflation at the grocery store and elsewhere.

Meanwhile, movie theaters are focusing on showing what supposed blockbusters they’re being offered, even as the media giants try to navigate a new paradigm in which they largely insist on streaming-focused content.

The streamers, though, are finding the road to the new world a little choppy, as competing services have returned us to the cable mindset of needing to buy whole packages of content (now multiple streaming services) in order to find what we want to watch. And so it goes.

In this confusing and tempestuous new world, the film studios have decided to play it as safe as possible for their corporate masters. This is hardly news at this point, but 2022 was another year of franchises and sequels, sticking with the familiar rather than attempting much new – at least, in theaters. Disney’s only film from their own studio was Strange World, which admittedly was not a sequel, but it was also not very interesting or groundbreaking, aside from some ballyhooed representation. Its poor box office is a reflection on its quality, perhaps, but also the weak promotional push that Disney decided to give it before quickly moving it to streaming. Pixar had the all-new Turning Red [above right], which I enjoyed well enough, though mostly for doing a nice job of showcasing the multiculturalism I see in my native Canada. Their Lightyear, however, spun off from the Toy Story franchise, was a somewhat muddled and unappealing film.

DreamWorks did better with The Bad Guys, which had a pleasantly refreshing animation style, and a good story, but still won’t go down as one of their classics. Interestingly, their late-year release, Puss In Boots: The Last Wish has been much better received than the 2011 original, which I actively disliked. Illumination kept its winning streak of fun but forgettable films alive with its popular Minions: The Rise Of Gru, which smoked the nearest animated competition at this year’s box office, over three to one!

Other big studio films went direct-to-streaming, including adequate sequels like Hotel Transylvania: Transformania and The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild, and the underwhelming and appropriately named Disenchanted (blending live-action and animation). Rescue Rangers, at least, managed to stay fun and clever for the franchise’s fans. Apple TV+ began its association with Skydance with Luck, though its questionable premise and lackluster trailer didn’t have me tempted to get the service to see it.

I think that the best place for animation these days is Netflix, which has really sought out bolder and more interesting and diverse projects. Richard Linklater’s Apollo 10½, utilizing his specialized animation-over-live-action style, was a charming and nostalgic look back at 1969, and it was great to see Henry Selick’s latest stop-motion masterpiece, Wendell & Wild find a home there as well.

Speaking of stop-motion animation, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio [above right] was also brilliantly accomplished, in all the ways that Disney+’s Pinocchio lame and misguided remake was not. I don’t think that I have ever really loved a del Toro film, but I was very impressed with the brilliant technique employed in his animated film, with a story that showcased his usual preoccupations with war and death.

I also caught The Sea Beast, which impressed with its visuals and storytelling, and only fell flat in its ending, which failed to adequately explain the motivation of its “villains”. Cartoon Salon, after one attempt at an Apple partnership, is now at Netflix with their latest, My Father’s Dragon, though I still need to watch it. Regardless, for me, Netflix is really the place to be to see the best of this year’s animated films.

Not all franchises interest me, so I likely will not see the new films based on Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Bob’s Burgers, or Beavis And Butthead. Meanwhile, DC may be having its problems in live-action, but they continued their strong showing in the animation arena, with the surprisingly well-received theatrical DC League Of Super-Pets [above], and strong direct-to-video outings for Green Lantern: Beware My Power and Batman And Superman: Battle Of The Super Sons (Catwoman: Hunted being less interesting). Warner Brothers also offered Scooby-Doo and Tom & Jerry more direct-to-video adventures too, and even Tweety got King Tweety, proving that some things remain eternal.

James’ Picks

2022 was a rough but ultimately amazing year for me personally. After years of planning, my wife and I finally made the move from our long time home in Tennessee to Orlando, Florida so we could be closer to the Most Magical Place on Earth!

It took nine months for us to get everything done, and we barely made our goal of having it all finished before the end of the year. But as of the last week of December, we are officially in our new home, living just four miles away from Disney World [above]!

Unfortunately, all that work has meant I’ve been missing in action around Animated Views. 2022 has been my lightest year in terms of output, having posted just two reviews (both the first half of the year) and only 18% of the site’s news items.

I’d like to thank the entire AV team for being so patient in allowing me the time to make this move. But hopefully being this close to major hubs of two giants of animation (Disney and Universal) will afford Animated Views some opportunities we might have missed out on not having someone in the area. (Looking at you, Destination D23 in September!)

In between all the many, many, many chores I’ve had to do to sell one house and buy another, I was able to see a few things this year. But again, 2022 was probably my worst year when it comes to getting through my watchlist. Of the 27 Oscar eligible animated films this year, I saw…five! So I don’t think it would be fair to do my usual personal top three ranking. In the coming months I’m hoping to do some major catching up, so maybe by the time the Academy Awards rolls around I’ll look into doing a belated piece with my best of the year.

Of the five things I did see, my favorite was easily The Bad Guys [above]. It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed an animated film that much in theaters…and much, much longer still since that film was from DreamWorks! And the film that surprised me the most was DC League Of Super-Pets. I went in expecting a toy commercial, but found a lot of fun for fans of the DC comics and superhero movies in general.

Again, major thanks to my fellow AV staffers, and also to you our readers too, for all the understanding during these long months of transition in my life. I’m really looking forward to 2023 being much more productive. (And a lot less stressful!)

2023 marks the tenth anniversary of us asking you, our readers, to turn critic and choose your top animated films of the year and, to celebrate, we’ve created an archive of past results you can peruse to see your picks of the past!

So…which movie did you select this year to join those previous winners?

Your top animated film of 2022 was Pixar’s Turning Red, with a score of 58 out of a perfect 100. It appeared on 73% of all ballots, and was the number one selection of 37% of voters.

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio took second place with a score of 37/100. 43% of you voted for it in your top three, while 29% chose it at the top.

DreamWorks earned the third and fourth place spots: The Bad Guys scored 23 out of 100, appeared on 32% of all ballots, and was picked as the #1 film by 10% of voters, and Puss In Boots: The Last Wish scored 20/100, while showing up on 42% of all ballots and getting 3% of the first place votes.

Finally, Disney’s Strange World was the fifth place pick with a score of 13/100. 24% of voters put it on their ballot, with 8% of voters putting it at the top.

Well, that’s all, folks! As always, we thank our wonderful and loyal readers for sticking with us for as long as you all have, and look forward to bringing you more content throughout the new year. Until next time, stay safe, stay healthy, and stay tooned!

— Dacey and the entire Animated Views Team.

A film that can be watched by both young and old equally, it has the feel of something that can bring families together. “Obviously, our hope is that people will sit and watch it together,” says producer Cara Speller.

We had the chance to meet three of the creators of this magnificent film: Charlie Mackesy himself, producer Cara Speller, and co-director Peter Baynton.

British artist, illustrator and author Charlie Mackesy began his career as a cartoonist for The Spectator, before becoming a book illustrator for Oxford University Press. His award-winning work has featured in books, private collections, galleries, and public spaces around the world. His internationally bestselling book, The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse, was published in October 2019 and holds the record for the most consecutive weeks in the Sunday Times Non-Fiction Chart across all formats, as well as being the longest running Sunday Times Non-Fiction Number One of all time.

Cara Speller is an Oscar-nominated, Emmy-nominated, BAFTA-winning and triple Grammy-nominated producer, and serves on the Executive Committee of the Short Films and Feature Animation branch at The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She was best known for her work with Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett on their animated band Gorillaz, with responsibility for the visual side of the band. She also developed and produced a slate of projects including Robert Valley’s Oscar-nominated and Annie-winning film Pear Cider And Cigarettes; the Emmy-nominated Marvel’s Rocket & Groot and Marvel’s Ant Man; Zima Blue and the Emmy-winning Ice from Tim Miller and David Fincher’s critically acclaimed anthology series Love, Death and Robots for Netflix; and 101 Dalmatian Street for Disney Channel. In 2020, she teamed up with Charlie Mackesy to form a new film and television production company, NoneMore Productions, to develop multiple projects based on the world of Mackesy’s books.

And Peter Baynton has been directing animated shorts, music promos and commercials for 14 years, and has picked up over 30 awards at film festivals around the world along the way, including an Annecy Crystal in 2013 and a couple of British Animation Awards. After years of making shorts and commercials, in 2015 he decided to follow his heart and pursue longer form animation, working as a storyboard artist on the BAFTA-winning CBeebies show Sarah & Duck, and then as 2D Animation Director for Paddington 2. In 2019 he was Animation Director for C4’s Emmy award-winning The Tiger Who Came For Tea. After directing The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse, he’s now in the early stages of directing a feature film for Lupus Films Ltd, to be released in 2024.

Charlie Mackesy: When I first started drawing, it wasn’t really at school. It was when I left. When I was 19, I worked on a boat, and got left on the Île de Ré, off La Rochelle, France. All I had was paper and pens and I drew a lot on that island. What I loved is that the French have a completely different response to artists than the English. When I sat on pavements in Saint Martin or La Flotte, all these places around the island, they talked to me, gave me cups of tea and were very encouraging. And that attitude sounded deep into my psyche and soul. Now, fast forward to 2019, at the beginning, three years ago, it was just drawings I did for friends who were having a difficult time. Then, I put them on Instagram, and Instagram followers reacted in a very explosive way. As I respond well to encouragement – I don’t have much self-belief – I went on doing those drawings for a year and a half, and then exhibited them, and then there was a publisher who came to the exhibition, and encouraged me to make a book. I made it, and I was very surprised it had again such a response. Six months after that, I was approached by filmmakers, many of them, and notably Cara, and we chose her as the head of it all.

AV: How did you come to choose your characters to tell this story?

CM: I’ve always drawn people, I used to draw big scenes, some with mothers and children. So, the boy was already in my head. But I’ve already loved moles, too. One of my favorite books is The Story Of The Little Mole Who Knew It Was None Of His Business. As for horses, my sister is a horse trainer. And foxes used to come around in my garden. So, there’s all these creatures around my head. I began drawing them a bit and then, one day, I’m not sure why, they decided to speak to each other. I think, as an artist, I’ve always felt frustrated because fine art is without words, just image, and I like words too much to ignore them. So, I wanted to marry the two. This felt right. That’s how they began talking, and every time I woke up in the morning, I had another question the boy might ask. For the mole’s obsession with cakes, I’m not even sure where that came from. The horse felt very strong and gentle and wise. The thing is that all the creatures came out for no real reason. They were never meant to be a book; they certainly weren’t meant to be a film. It just sort of arrived.

AV: Cara, how did you discover the book, and how, as a cinematographer, did you get to want to make a film out of it?

Cara Speller: I discovered the book like many people, after it being published. That was about November 2019. I think I saw it on Amazon first. I bought it without knowing anything about it, because the illustration on the front cover was so peaceful, so lyrical and so poetic. I didn’t even know whether there were any more illustrations inside the book, or whether it was a written story, a more traditional story. Then, of course, I received the book and loved it, and really felt like there was so much material in there that could adapt into a more cinematic piece. So, I immediately tried to get in touch with Charlie and his partner Matthew Freud for it. I ended up having a very lovely meeting with them talking about the possibilities, and how I thought this could work. And it was always really important to me right from the start that Charlie be at the center of any team that we put together to make the film. You can tell immediately from the book that he has incredibly strong instincts about what works. To me, it didn’t make any sense to try and make that without having him so closely involved.

CM: I wouldn’t have let you! (laugh)

CS: True, but I didn’t know that at the time. I just felt that you needed to be at the core of it. Then, we put a team together, and created NoneMore Productions because we needed a production company in order to make the film in the first place. Of course, we hope that there will be many more projects after this one. We’re waiting to see whether people enjoy the film and want to see any more…

AV: How did you build your crew?

CS: It was a very international crew, coming from 20 different countries. We started the work on the film in the middle of the pandemic, so everyone was working remotely from their homes. We built the team in the same way you build any team on a production. You’re always looking for the most talented artists you can find; it doesn’t matter where they are in the world, as long as you think they’re the right fit for the project and for the team.

It’s been a phenomenal effort from so many people. We’ve had 120 artists working on it around the world. And each of them has gone above and beyond in every imaginable way. Hopefully you can actually feel that in the finished work – the love and commitment that has been poured into it.

AV: Peter, how did you manage to translate Charlie’s unique visual style into animation?

Peter Baynton: Well, Charlie’s drawing is underpinned by a great knowledge of anatomy. So, even though he draws extremely quickly and quite impressionistically, you can tell he knows horse or boy or fox anatomy so well. For the mole, it’s a little bit different.

And on top of it, he has this beautiful, lyrical, free-flowing line. So, the challenge was trying to find a way of drawing the characters that enabled us to nuance performances that could communicate the subtle emotions that we wanted to express. It was important not to lose that lovely loose quality and make things stiff. So, we came down to a system where we would animate quite tightly on detailed models, and then, on the ink stage, we encouraged the artists to find that looser way of inking. It was about finding that very fine line that sort of drifts around the characters. That came sort of through experiment, how they should behave. Sometimes we found that they felt too stiff and became worried it didn’t do justice to the way they are in Charlie’s drawings. Other times, they became too lively and like they were taking on lives on their own. So, we had to find a happy balance with how they behave.

AV: Speaking of performance, how did you manage the different designs of the characters?

PB: I think it’s one of the very remarkable and noticeable things in Charlie’s book, one of the first things I remember, where you have these very realistic and well-proportioned horse and fox and child, and then this strange, little, graphic mole with tubular circles on this black triangle nose. Like a little doorstop. It’s a very charming aspect of what Charlie created, that sort of contrast. In order to animate, we went back to the book, and developed that naturalistic, as non-cartoony as possible approach for the boy, the fox and the horse, and then a bolder animation for the mole.

AV: The score by award-winning composer Isobel Waller-Bridge echoes both the emotions of the characters and the sounds of nature in a particularly subtle way.

CS: Actually, sound design and music were made at the same time; this was all happening together. We started working on the soundtrack about six months before we finished the film. Every time we were updating cues or sequences in the film, both Isabel and our sound designer Adrian Rhodes were getting updated cuts of the film and understanding how the two things had to work together.

CM: To answer your question, I would start by saying that even though the film looks quite cute and cuddly, the messages are not. The point is it’s for adults, too, not just children. Had it been aimed just to children, the music would have been very different. We had to make a score that would address people of all ages and experiences, and fit with the landscapes and the messages and the content. So, the score can feel serious or profound in a way that it wouldn’t have been otherwise. If you saw a still from the film, you might imagine a music to be quite childlike. The point is – I don’t think it is. Isobel Waller-Bridge was a fan of the book way before the film, and helped us with the audio-book. She had a deep sense of what was needed for the messages to land for an adult as much as for a child. She was extremely intelligent, and very humble. And those two things make a very profound combination for making such a score, because she listened to us and made changes very rapidly. Because we’d been making the film a long time before she arrived, even though she knew the book, there were things we were trying to say that she had to sort of catch up with. In the end, I think she did an extraordinary job going from liberty to pathos to liberty to pathos, and balancing between them. That’s an essential part of the charm of the film, along with the visuals.

AV: How would you like people to feel after watching The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse?

CM: I hope they’ll feel better. Or more hopeful. Or lighter. I hope they’ll feel… comforted.

With our thanks to Fumi Kitahara, Charlie Mackesy, Cara Speller and Peter Baynton.

To accompany them musically, the creators of Strange World appealed to composer Henry Jackman, who seemed indeed to be the perfect candidate for the job. Jackman has established himself as one of today’s top composers by fusing his experience as a successful record producer and creator of electronic music – which did wonders on Wreck-It-Ralph, Ralph Breaks The Internet and Big Hero 6 – with his classical training.

Growing up in the southeast of England, he began composing his first symphony at the age of six. He studied classical music at Oxford and sang in the St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir while getting involved in the underground rave scene and producing popular electronica music and dance remixes, eventually working with artists such as Seal and The Art of Noise.

So, the composer is obviously used to stretching his creative muscle to explore the most diverse of universes, from Winnie The Pooh to X-Men: First Class, Kick Ass or Puss In Boots.
Strange World provided another territory for him to explore, and was a particularly exciting challenge.

Henry Jackman: Indeed, in the case of Ralph and Big Hero 6, big themes and the big orchestra were associated with strong electronic elements. In the case of Wreck-It-Ralph, it was very much 8-bit. With Ralph Breaks The Internet, it was more modern, and in Big Hero 6, the techno elements would reflect the science of the sets, almost like the Silicone Valley. Now Strange World is very much not like that, in the sense that it depicts a fantastical, but organic, not so technological world. It is very much a celebration of the symphony orchestra in all of its pomp and glory. That’s not to say that there’s not some extended colors. It’s orchestra plus real concert choir enhanced with a kind of otherworldly synth choir that blends with it. Also, sometimes string lines are combined with fantastical string sounds. But it’s just an augmentation, unlike Big Hero where you hear things that are very deliberately supposed to sound like they come from the fabric of the world of electronic music. In Strange World, electronic elements are used to enhance and extend the sound of the orchestra, a bit like augmented reality.

AV: Indeed, the strangeness of the musical world you created for the film doesn’t just lie in these augmentations. The truth is out there…

HJ: Rather than going through electronics, the most important device I’m using to evoke another world is unusual melody and harmony. There are some augmented colors in it, but I’d rather take my inspiration from great composers like Debussy and Scriabin, composers who have a wide range of use of harmony that’s intriguing and otherworldly. Don Hall, the director, with whom I’d already done Winnie The Pooh and Big Hero 6, has been nothing but encouraging. We also talked about other musical references, like Raiders Of The Lost Ark and Empire Strikes Back. I wouldn’t dare compare myself to John Williams, but these scores correspond to a certain type of action-adventure, a certain use of committed thematic orchestra. It’s a reference for everyone. People come and know what that feels and what that sounds like. Of course, you can’t hope to reach the grand style of the master himself, but at least you could give yourself an ambitious inspiration. So, I was very happy we were all on the same page with what this world should feel like.

AV: How did you make your score “strange”?

HJ: I was working on The Gray Man for Netflix and I’d been talking about Strange World, then I got this little idea. So, I took a couple days out of the production which was in very good shape, and I came out with these four harmonic positions, like a series of arpeggios that was a sort of a four-chords sequence. When I first came out with them, I didn’t analyze the harmony, I just wrote them as they came and felt happy with them. And because the four chords themselves were so unusual, when it came to writing a melody, there was only a certain amount of notes that were available to me, and it ended up pushing me into all sorts of unusual dissonances that were still melodic. It felt like beautiful-ish and melodic but also a bit dissonant. Because it was written almost away from picture, I wrote that as 3 minute and a half piece which I called “Strange World Passacaglia”. It was strange because it almost felt like the piece was in charge of writing itself and I was in charge of serving the piece. Some of the arpeggiation with the harp reminded me of Debussy-Ravel, like La Mer. Also, something about the string line feels a bit like an Austro-Germanic tone poem, something Wagnerian.

Because of that kind of unsettling character, I was prepared for some reactions. I remember thinking that the people of Disney would think maybe that would better fit to a concert hall than to an animated feature, but they loved it in the end! Even during the recording, the leader of the orchestra came to me to ask: “Are you sure of that note? Do you mean that?” “Yes, I mean that! I know it’s not what you could expect, but it’s correct. Trust me.” Having written this piece away from picture, it provided the DNA of the score with its contradictory tension, and it made something that felt lush at the same time. Not scary like the score of Predator, but very odd. Somehow like the trumpet theme in Jerry Goldsmith’s Alien score. That’s a good example of something melodic, almost like a romantic overture for that sort of a theme. It’s melodic, it’s beautiful, but it’s not safe…

AV: How did you use that material within the very score of the movie?

HJ: Even though I wrote it away from picture, and because the directors loved it, I used it as my secret weapon, my Leitmotiv. For any entity that appears in this strange world, I tried to keep going back to this original material. Then, I kind of deconstructed that material from the Suite to fit the story. Some way or another, everything coming into that strange world comes from that piece. It’s kind of the DNA of that world. My secret code…

With our thanks to Henry Jackman, Matt Justmann and Samantha Shea.