Tim Johnson
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Filmography
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More derivative than you expect from DreamWorks, which has delivered originals like Shrek, How to Train a Dragon and Kung Fu Panda, Home borrows from alien/child buddy movies such as E.T. and Lilo and Stitch, and hits hard the message that no matter how unique (read: quirky misfit) you are, there's a home for all of us.
Before donning cheap plastic 3-D glasses was considered de rigueur and when artists still prided themselves on drawing images by hand, Disney made a brave move and released the two-dimensional “Lilo & Stitch” in 2002—just as the computerized revolution that began with “ Toy Story ” and continued with “ Shrek ” and “ Ice Age ” was about to make such non-CG cartoon titles nearly obsolete.
The character design is a bit questionable, particularly the humans, but humans have been the Achilles' heel of DreamWorks/PDI animated features for as long as they've existed, and the ones in Home are no more stiff and soullessly robotic than the ones in Megamind or Turbo , and quite a great deal less so than the shuffling corpses of the Shrek films.
Home , the latest animated feature from Dreamworks Animation, producers of the Shrek , Madagascar , and How to Train Your Dragon franchises, might seem at first a rather bland kids' movie.
“Home” should rack up decent box-office coin but the question of repeat business, which is how DreamWorks built its studio with “Shrek” and “How to Train Your Dragon,” is uncertain.
It doesn’t completely succeed in either regard, but Home does give off a curiously dinky vibe, as if DreamWorks—which shunted the film from its original November 2014 release date to make room for the first Penguins Of Madagascar movie—prematurely gave up on the idea that Home could stand alongside the company’s animated franchise-starters like How To Train Your Dragon, the Madagascar series, and even The Croods, which currently has a sequel and TV series in the offing.
By that metric, Home seems, at first, like their best feature since The Croods .
She also represents DreamWorks Animation’s third female protagonist, the others starring in Monsters vs. Aliens and The Croods.
It doesn’t completely succeed in either regard, but Home does give off a curiously dinky vibe, as if DreamWorks—which shunted the film from its original November 2014 release date to make room for the first Penguins Of Madagascar movie—prematurely gave up on the idea that Home could stand alongside the company’s animated franchise-starters like How To Train Your Dragon, the Madagascar series, and even The Croods, which currently has a sequel and TV series in the offing.
Home , the latest animated feature from Dreamworks Animation, producers of the Shrek , Madagascar , and How to Train Your Dragon franchises, might seem at first a rather bland kids' movie.
Home’s animation isn’t particularly sophisticated and doesn’t come close to the work in DWA hits such as How to Train Your Dragon.
“Home” should rack up decent box-office coin but the question of repeat business, which is how DreamWorks built its studio with “Shrek” and “How to Train Your Dragon,” is uncertain.
Director Tim Johnson has worked on better films ("How to Train Your Dragon") and worse (he co-directed "Antz"), but he knows how to put one of these things together.
Kung Fu Panda (2008)
Directed by Mark Osborne
influenced Home (2015), Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)
Plot
More derivative than you expect from DreamWorks, which has delivered originals like Shrek, How to Train a Dragon and Kung Fu Panda, Home borrows from alien/child buddy movies such as E.T. and Lilo and Stitch, and hits hard the message that no matter how unique (read: quirky misfit) you are, there's a home for all of us.
Their anthropomorphic Kung Fu Panda was wildly successful as was their How to Train Your Dragon films, but they’ve been largely unsuccessful in their other outings.
Their willingness to take a chance on new independent properties left us with the Kung Fu Panda and its sequel, How To Train Your Dragon, the criminally underrated Megamind, and the against-all-odds-watchable Puss in Boots.
"The Prince of Egypt" and its tale of the ancient Hebrews was fine, but the Hispanic "The Road to El Dorado" was a snooze, and "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas" a Middle Eastern disaster.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
Directed by Gore Verbinski
influenced by Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)
Visuals
To the extent that this and other scenes remind me of anything, they recall some of the animated derring-do of The Emperor’s New Groove, Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, and The Incredibles.
Before donning cheap plastic 3-D glasses was considered de rigueur and when artists still prided themselves on drawing images by hand, Disney made a brave move and released the two-dimensional “Lilo & Stitch” in 2002—just as the computerized revolution that began with “ Toy Story ” and continued with “ Shrek ” and “ Ice Age ” was about to make such non-CG cartoon titles nearly obsolete.
Treasure Planet (2002)
Directed by Ron Clements
influenced Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)
Plot Visuals
Hoping to capitalize on the rollicking success of Treasure Planet , Dreamworks will release Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, a very similar animated feature voiced by a cadre of A-list stars including Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michelle Pfeiffer.
By and large, though, the film is nothing more than a base redux of last year’s intolerable Treasure Planet .
With its swashbuckling action and blend of traditional and 3D computer animation, Sinbad most resembles Disney’s Treasure Planet — yet for once DreamWorks handily outdoes its archrival, with bravura action set pieces, a surprisingly complex romantic triangle, and an even more remarkably thoughtful exploration of moral issues and character.
CGI has become a permanent fixture in today's animated movies, and most filmmakers seem to have figured out how to use it effectively (see last year's underrated Treasure Planet for an example).
One scene, in which Sinbad and Marina are taunting each other on a deserted island, instantly reminded me of Madonna and her hunky cohort in "Swept Away" — except it was better performed, even by animated characters.
Tangled (2010)
Directed by Nathan Greno
influenced by Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)
Characters
Flynn Rider (Zachary Levi) is a dashing rogue, a charismatic bad boy with a more than a bit in common with DreamWorks’ Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, though Flynn turns out to be more complicated.
You can’t help but feel bummed that the full movie – with its insistence on tired toilet humour, forced dancing and crowbarred-in pop songs – rolled downhill into the DreamWorks dump of forgettable family-friendly films (right next to Bee Movie and Shark Tale).