Category: Animation

4 reasons to watch Rango

Rango is a blast

By: Jake Rajala

Rango is one of the most underrated animated films in the 21st century. All it did was score an 88% Rotten Tomatoes score. Furthermore, the film garnered an award for “best animated feature film”. With that said, I’m going to lay out four reasons to watch Rango.

  • Theme

The theme of Rango is complex. It illustrates the challenge of making a reputation in a new community. Rango exaggerates his abilities by saying he took down a gang with a single bullet. He’s clearly insecure. Early in the film, Rango is told to cross the desert to find a town. This town has a bird that reigns over the town and draws fear in the city. Water is also scarce. This reminds me of Mad Max.

  • Director

Gore Verbinski was a man on a mission with this piece. He just so happened to be the director of Pirates of the Caribbean! His best piece of work was “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl”. I like that he directed the “Lone Ranger”, which was also a western piece with Johnny Depp.

  • Visual effects

As noted by many Reddit users, the visual effects on Rango are unmatched. It’s CGI. It almost seems Illumination did the graphics, due to the superb visual effects. With a wide array of characters, it was certainly a challenge for them to hit on each one, but that’s exactly what they did.

  • Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp might just be Gore’s best friend. They are in Pirates of the Caribbean together and the Lone Ranger together. Depp is one of the best actors of all time and it would be a shame to miss a film that was well written with Depp in it.

Rango was a unique piece, as it meshed animation and western. The film is currently on Netflix and it’s more than worth watching, before it goes away.

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Denzel Washington loves “The Incredibles”

Incredibles reflection

By: Jake Rajala

The wise Denzel Washington is one of the most inspiring actors in Hollywood. He is also one of the few major Christians in entertainment. He has shown his faith in “The Equalizer” and “The Book of Eli”. Well, he has used his spotlight to point on other films that touched his heart, too. The badass oddly likes Pixar. It may seem like a strange combination.

Washington is married to Pauletta Washington. He went to Fordham University. He has a net worth of $300 million dollars.

According to the “Far Out”, Washington said, “When I was on vacation a few years back, and I sat, and I said I’m going to watch “The Incredibles”. Man, that is one of my favorite movies of all time now!”

The Incredibles is rated as one of the best Pixar films of all time. It has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 97%! That is the eighth highest RT score among Pixar movies. Of course, the film came out in 2004. The sequel to the main film is “The Incredibles 2” and it garnered an 93% RT score! Brad Bird knocked each film out of the park.

We need more adult faces in the movie industry to branch out and watch more cartoons. They can all bring joy, especially during the holidays. They are also filled with heartwarming visual effects.

Personally, my favorite Pixar films are Soul, Up, and Wall-E. These films ignite a warm spark in my heart. They have powerful storytelling, as well.

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Toy Story turns 30: reflecting on the movie

Toy Story turns 30 years old!

By: Jake Rajala

We all remember the first Pixar film, Toy Story. It showed the importance of having a childhood-like spirit, regardless of age. Andy is a typical young kid that loves to play with his toys. The main toy and character is named Woody and the voice of Woody is Tom Hanks. Buzz Lightyear is also in the piece and he’s played by Tim Allen.

Well, after Andy leaves, his toys come to life and hang out. They love to stay in Andy’s room. After all, the doorknob is high for them.

This transformation of ordinary things coming to life after people leave is a common thing. “The Secret Life of Pets” showcases animals that act somewhat more human after their owner leaves. Furthermore, “Night at the Museum” talks about historical figures that come out of their position and move around the museum at night. On a side note, it would be very cool if museums made this possible in the future.

As noted by ABC News, Disney and Pixar wanted to make one computer generated animation movie. This film is none other than Toy Story. It came out in 1995.

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that it scored 100% on Rotten Tomatoes due to it’s visual effects, actors, and theme. The director Pete Docter knocked the film out of the ball park.

Pixar isn’t the only company to make animated films. DreamWorks Animation has spewed out many animated films, such as Kung Fu Panda and Shrek.

Pixar has really touched my heart over the past decade. I was in love with “Cars” and a child, partially due to them having a video game. My mother and I watched “Up’ recently, and that is quite surreal. WALL-E and Soul are also classics in my opinion.

Ever since “Toy Story”, there have been three other Toy Story movies. There will also be a sixth Toy Story movie. It was hard for my mom to watch Toy Story 4, where Andy goes off to college, as my brother was 18 and a senior in high school at the time.

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Trailer for “Hoppers” is here

Trailer for “Hoppers” is officially here

By: Jake Rajala

Hoppers appears to be a family, friendly film that has cheerful, philosophical themes. It follows Mabel (a nerd) able to transfer her mind into a robotic-like beaver. Why did they pick a beaver out of all creatures? I don’t know. Perhaps it is less likely to be hunted than the likes of a Deer or a bird.

It feels quite similar to Jake Sully in Avatar, as he switches into one of the blue people’s body. He is able to speak their language and learn their culture.

The movie is bound to hit theaters on March 6th of 2026.

I really hope this film can stand out in the Pixar world. We’ve seen too many flops as of late. Elio wasn’t glorious. Elemental was one of the worst Pixar movies in quite some time.

Let’s not forget the beautiful actors in this well-anticipated piece. Piper Curda (Mabel), Jon Hamm (Mayor Jerry), Meryl Streep, Dave Franco, and Kathy Najimy are the notable voices. Piper has also been in A.N.T. Farm.

Wel, it would blasphemous to forget the director for this stud Pixar movie. Daniel Chong is the director. “We Bare Bears: The Movie” is his piece of work.

We shouldn’t hide the rest of the Pixar films coming out in 2026. Toy Story 5 will be released, as well.

Take a closer look at the trailer below:

Clearly, the movie appears to create empathy for animals and how humans are hurting their land. Mabel chooses to fight for the animals, despite being born a human. This film doesn’t only have a powerful theme, characters, but it has impressive visual effects. That shouldn’t be a surprise, as it is a Pixar movie.

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Michael B. Jordan and Juno Temple join “Swapped”

Swapped outlook

By: Jake Rajala

There is a bubbly and cheerful film called “Swapped”, which will be showcased on Netflix in 2026. Two creatures swap bodies and must decide how to go about life and resolve this chaos. This isn’t the first film where two figures switch bodies. We all remember “The Change-Up'”, which came out in 2011. Obviously, those were humans and not animals.

Let it be known that Michael B. Jordan will join the film as a voice for the woodland creature. It will be fascinating how the face behind “Creed” will star in a children’s movie. The other voice is Juno Temple, who starred in Ted Lasso, is the other main figure. Both stars are younger than 40 years old (as Jordan is 38 and Temple is 36).

The film will be directed by Nathan Greno. Nathan is a stand out when it comes to making movies for youngsters. He had the keys to “Bolt”, “Tangled”, and “Meet the Robinsons”. The producers are Dana Goldberg and Mary Ellen Bauder. Dana has done “Jack Reacher” and “The Family Plan”.

Netflix is home to plenty of animated films, such as “Shrek”, “Shark’s Tale”, and “The Wild Robot”. This movie has the potential to be the best animated film and a Top-10 film on Netflix when it comes out.

This film is bound to be a feel good film with superb visual effects. The creatures and theme of understanding another’s view point reminds me of many animated film, such as “Migration”.

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Why it’s worth watching Surf’s Up

Surf’s Up reflection

By: Jake Rajala

Surf’s Up is one of the most underrated animated films of the 21st century. I will unfold why the film is special and rewatchable.

Shia is one of the coolest, laid back actors in the business. He plays the main character named Cody Maverick. Cody wants to leave the island and pursue his dream of surfing. His brother and mother aren’t fond of his dream. He looks up to “Big Z”, who was one of the best surfers when he was a child. This makes me remember how I deeply admire and look up to the mythical, deceased Steve Jobs.

The theme of this movie is “follow your dream” at all costs. Cody was left at his hometown, but he kept trying to get on the whale to go to the surfing tournament. He eventually got on the whale. It teaches people not only once to reach out to a boss for an opportunity, if they say no at first.

Cody also met Big Z. Clearly, Big Z was washed up and not ready to come out of retirement. This doesn’t mean that he can’t teach Cody how to be a championship surfer.

Between the vital scenes, there is some amusement with Chicken Joe. He is boiled alive from a clan of penguins, but he thinks it’s a hot tub. He’s from Wisconsin, which is near my hometown in Houghton, Michigan.

Being an underdog is also a vital piece of the film. Cody doesn’t have any experience in tournaments. Well, he is going up against Tank Evans, who probably lost count of all his trophies. It’s worth noting he is only 17 years old, too.

There is an underrated element of love in the film. Cody falls in love with Lani, who is a life guard. She is played by Zooey Deschchanel. Cody, Big Z, and her ride off into the sunset together.

The film received an overall positive impression. It garnered an 78% Rotten Tomatoes score, and 77% of Google users admired the piece. If the movie was longer with an extra dose of mentoring from Big Z with Cody, I believe it would be at least an 85% RT score.

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