Disney remains the big kid on the block. Mulan was a minor hit, and was received to the best reviews of any Disney animated feature since Toy Story. A Bug's Life garnered even better reviews and more money, not to mention more merchandising. Disney also released a number of films directly to video, the most notable being a Lion King sequel and Kiki's Delivery Service, first in a series of Japanese films by animation master Hayao Miyazaki. Disney has many films in the works. Planned for 1999 are Tarzan, Toy Story II, and Fantasia 2000 (due to be released on December 31, 1999). Also, Disney will dub and release Mononoke Hime, Miyazaki's top-grossing film.
DreamWorks has thrown down the gauntlet at Disney. October saw the surprise release of Antz (which had originally been planned for March 1999). Because it preceded the similar-in-subject-matter to A Bug's Life, and it did successful business. Then in December came the long-awaited Prince of Egypt which, although being derided by some animation critics, was received to raves from conventional film critics. DreamWorks has several projects in the works, with The Road to El Dorado probably the next major release.
Mulan (1998), directed by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook
Mulan, the first released of the four movies I'll review here, was billed in advance as something of a departure for Disney. It featured a non-caucasian cast, was based on subject matter not familiar to most Americans, and was animated by Disney's Florida studios. In reality, the film was hardly a departure at all. It was a musical, it featured goofy sidekicks (with Eddie Murphy in the Robin Williams-style comedy role), and told the tale of a spunky heroine with serious father issues, just like so many other Disney films of late. Too bad that the film could not be like the original trailer, which misrepresented the film as a serious Chinese epic adventure.
In general, I liked Mulan, even though I gagged at the obvious artifices (must the animators and writers make such an effort to seem hip? Don't they realize how badly this movie will date in 20, 30, 40 years?) Perhaps I can put it best this way: I enjoyed the movie while I was watching it. It wasn't until afterwards that the disappointment really set in.
In any case, at least unlike the previous year's Hercules, Mulan did have a serious moment or two, not to mention some moments of great beauty. But what might have been.
Antz (1998), directed by Eric Darnell and Tim Johnson
Antz featured the starries cast I've ever seen in an animated film. Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Sylvester Stallone, Anne Bancroft, Gene Hackman, and Christopher Walken are only a sample of the voices offered in this CGI extravaganza (produced by Pacific Digital Images, possibly best known for their "3D" Simpsons segment of a few years ago).
The film itself, only the second all-CGI feature ever (after Toy Story) marked an advance in the art. While Antz was not so colorful as Toy Story and A Bug's Life (it tended more towards the earth tones that one might find in an ant nest), the expressions made possibly by software advances were astounding. At times, one nearly forget that this was an animated feature, thinking instead that these ants were merely oddly-shaped actors or puppets.
Best of all was the script (which was rumored to have been doctored by the Woodman himself). How many cartoon films have their been about the creation of Marxism? The film also found terrific comedy in the stranged places: a disembodied head, a pair of WASP wasps, a birthing scene straight out of Brave New World. The film was not aimed at the kiddies, but at a literate adult public.
A Bug's Life (1998), directed by John Lasseter and Andrew Stanton
The cast of A Bug's Life seemed to be taken from NBC's "Must See" lineup (with actors from Seinfeld, Frasier, and NewsRadio). The biggest shortcoming was in the writing. While there were funny lines throughout, the whole effort reeked of formula. There were no comedic scenes, just a series of gags. There certainly was none of the trenchant, subversive insights of Antz. It must be said, however, that the film's art was outstanding: the backgrounds were almost indistinguishable from reality, while the characters looked like actual three-dimensional figures. If only the writing reached such quality.
One of the most popular features of A Bug's Life were the "outtakes" at the end (in the manner of Jackie Chan and Burt Reynolds movies). An astounding amount of critical and popular attention was paid to this not-terribly-creative idea: television's Cartoon Network has been running an "outtake" promo of this kind for several months now. A better feature of the film was preceding it with the Academy Award-winning short Geri's Game. This film was reminiscent of the classic animated shorts in that it used the animatino medium to tell a story, rather than being script-based.
The Prince of Egypt (1998), directed by Brenda Chapman, Steve Hickner, and Simon Wells
The Prince of Egypt was easily the best animated film of the year. Gorgeous backgrounds, characters with long, lined faces (I'm tempted to say they looked like El Greco figures, but that would be overstating the case). Computer graphics were used to good effect in several scenes, including the parting of the Red Sea, the movie's "money shot."
The script was a very tight version of the Exodus story, playing up the frateral bond and rivalry between Moses and Pharaoh, with strong performances by actors Val Kilmer and Ralph Fiennes, not to mention the army of animators who worked on those characters. The songs (yes, this is a musical) varied in quality. Surprisingly, the big song ("When You Believe") getting radio airplay is actually pretty good, although you wouldn't guess so from the wailing of Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey in the pop version. In the context of the movie, it works as a piece of musical theater, better in that respect than any Disney flick since Toy Story, or perhaps even Beauty and the Beast.
On the whole, just as 1998 was an excellent year for film overall, it was an even better one for animated films. The Prince of Egypt, a film aimed at adults, is a strong Top 10 list contender. Antz was unique, a good quality for any film to have. A Bug's Life and Mulan had their moments as well: even if they were not brilliant or outstanding, they had their virtues and I do recommend them. A Rugrats Movie and I Married a Strange Person have their admirers and defenders (Quest for Camelot has none). In all, any year that produces four recommendable feature-length cartoons is a good one. I can hardly wait for the big releases of 1999. Bring on Tarzan!
The Prince of Egypt: Three-and-a-half stars
Copyright 1999 by Dale G. Abersold
A Bug's Life followed shortly after. Despite the fact that it too was a CGI film about a worker ant who saves the colony and wins the love of the queen, in reality it had little in common with Antz. A Bug's Life was reminiscent of Three Amigos, while Antz was closest, perhaps, to Fritz Lang's Metropolis.
The year's final animated release was the long-awaited Prince of Egypt. This movie had been the first major project to be announced by DreamWorks. It was highly anticipated both by those who predicted fabulous financial success and Oscar nominations, and others who foresaw doom and an albatross around the necks of Spielberg, Katzenberg, and Geffen. Reality, however, lay somewhere in the middle.
Antz: Three-and-a-half stars
Mulan: Three stars
A Bug's Life: Three stars
