![]() Today’s NYTimes features an article on Savion Glover‘s dancing for this film. George Miller is a director who knows how. It was just good ol’ plain, film making know how. A delicate mix of live action embedded into the MoCap drawn world. It, like everything else in this film, was done well. I liked the use of live action in the end, and thought it would have been the only real way to get their point across. They all sound appropriate for the roles. None of the voices are star turns that dominate the film. ![]() After all those years at King of the Hill, she certainly has proven herself, and displays her talent well in this film.Īctually, all of the voice work is good – though I sometimes had trouble telling some of the males apart. She also does most of her own singing, and she does it well. The same is true for Brittany Murphy she’s extraordinary, though her part doesn’t require enormous depth. Equally interesting is Nicole Kidman, though her character has no stand-out action. I thought there were some scenes with the father character (voiced by Hugh Jackman) that were just excellent. Savion Glover can be seen in all the dancing, but the acting is expressive – especially given the lack of expression on a penguin’s face. I think of MoCap as more a form of digital puppetry than animation, and the movement in this film is fine. Here, in Happy Feet, he is at the top of his game. He’s written many other excellent film scores. He went on to Disney where he scored The Emperor’s New Groove then to Robots and Ice Age II. He was just starting back then, but he came fully developed. Powell scored my short for HBO, Goodnight Moon, back in 1999. Listen to the underscoring of a couple of the opening numbers it’s amazing. They use a lot of songs from the 70′s-90′s to accent a tempo, but the score by John Powell is one of the best film scores of the year. I believe animation should be tied tightly to music (even the absence of music in animation is a critical choice that has sometimes worked.) This film is dependent on and in love with the music constantly remixing on its soundtrack there is no possibility of separating the action, camera moves or story from the music. It is a musical in the truest sense of the word it thrives on the music. Regardless of whether it was done 2D, keyframe, live action or MoCap, it’s a well made film. ![]() I’ve made myself obvious about my dislike of MoCap, but this is a good film. There’s no doubt this is the best of the films on the short list in the animated feature category. I’m sorry I hadn’t seen it initially in a theater, and I know I’ll go back to see it on a big screen soon. Last night, I watched the Academy screener of Happy Feet. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |