A new trailer for Laika's 2014 film, The Boxtrolls, has been released!
Now, it isn't your usual film trailer, showing more prominently the making of the film than the actual...film. But, with these beautiful stop-motion films I love to see behind the scenes on the sets and looking at the models.
The last half showcases some footage from the finished film and it looks just superb. Laika is one of the most innovative and inspiring animation studios there is, with their previous films (Coraline & ParaNorman) both being critical and financial successes, and this one looks to be no different.
Overall, The Boxtrolls is looking to be one of the best 2014 animated movies, and easily my most anticipated. I can't wait to watch it.
Well, here we are again with the second part of The Animated Kid's Top 10 Animated Villains, where I count down my favourite baddies from animated features! The same rules apply for this section of the list, the character has to be from a feature length animated film, no TV villains here, they must have performed some sort of antagonistic act, and I'll try not to put too many Disney villains in this. Other than that, listen to the music and enjoy! Oh, and remember, spoilers ahead!
5. Dr Facilier-The Princess and the Frog
‘I’ve got friends on
the other side!’-Dr. Facilier
The Princess and the
Frog is, honestly, one of my favourite movies, and I think it’s a real shame
that it’s not as loved as some other movies. But one aspect of the film that I
know everybody loves is the villain: Dr. Facilier. He’s a manipulative, charismatic
witch doctor who gives people faulty spells. His plan is pretty complicated,
but it involves selling everybody in New Orlean’s souls to some ghosts in
exchange for power. Sheesh.
He carries out his plan in a really cool way, from
kidnapping princes to crushing innocent, funny sidekicks with the sole of his
foot. Poor Ray! Anyway, another thing that adds to his general coolness is his
song ‘Friends on the other side’, which is sung brilliantly, and is one of
Disney’s best villain songs. His is outfit is also very detailed and slick,
fitting the character perfectly. From the first moment we see him, to his
frightening death, Dr Facilier is, hmm, how do I put it. Oh yes, in the words of Prince Naveen 'he was very charismatic!'
4. Hopper-A Bug’s Life
‘It’s a bug eat bug
world out there, princess. One of those circle of life things.’-Hopper
Tyrants. We all love ‘em.
And Hopper, the ruthless villain of A Bug’s life, is the king of them. He leads
the grasshoppers, a reasonably small gang who prey on the fears of the much
larger, weaker ants. He uses them to collect his food over the seasons,
otherwise he’ll crush them. But when Flik accidently loses all the food, he
turns his anger up to full power, whilst still keeping his cool. He wouldn’t
hesitate to kill a small child, or punch his wimpy brother.
He only fears one thing:
birds, which eventually fuels his horrid death. Kevin Spacey provides a
deliciously evil voice for him, giving the character enough crazy dementedness,
and enough sophisticated mannerisms. Even going as far as to say to a beaten up
Flik ‘you are mindless, soil shoving losers put on this Earth to serve us’.
Wow.
3. Queen Grimhidle-Snow White & the Seven Dwarves
‘Bring me back her
heart... in this.’-Queen Grimhidle
And now we go back to
the very first full-length animated film: Snow White & the Seven Dwarves.
I’d be lying if I said it hadn’t dated a bit, but one thing that hasn’t changed
its greatness is the villain of the picture: Queen Grimhidle. She is a cold,
emotionless, vain pile of emptiness. The only thing she cares about is her
beauty (but, really, is she that pretty?), and she will crush anybody who may
be more pleasant to look at than her.
She is fine with murdering a child, as
long as it’s not her doing it. Her crazy obsession soon becomes the end of her,
as she swallows a potion to transform her into a hideous witch so she could
kill Snow White without her knowing it was her. What I love most about her
character is that she barely shows any emotion, making her all the more evil.
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the evilest of them all? Let’s find out.
2. Lotso-Toy Story 3
‘Where's your kid now, Sherrif!?!’-Lotso
A pink teddy bear!? A
pink teddy bear that smells of strawberries is at the second spot!? You’ve got
to be kidding me. That is what you might be telling yourself if you hadn’t seen
this gem of a film, but it’s his cheerful exterior that makes the sudden mood
change in the film even more rewarding. He used to belong to a girl called
Daisy, who loved him very much. But one day he was accidently left behind at a
field with two other toys, and when they eventually got back to Daisy’s house, Lotso
found out he had been replaced.
So he lied to the other toys, telling them that
the girl doesn’t love them, and he went to Sunnyside Daycare to rule over the
toys there. He is a rather disturbing character who uses his minion’s brute
strength to get what he wants, but that’s what I love about him. He is such a cold, cruel teddy bear, and probably one of Disney's evilest. I love that
Pixar took a risk with this character, and it more than paid off. And, did he
just leave the toys to die after they saved him?!?
AND MY NUMBER ONE ANIMATED VILLAIN IS...
1. Feathers McGraw/The Penguin-Wallace & Gromit in the Wrong Trousers
‘It’s the wrong trousers
Gromit, and they’ve gone wrong!’-Wallace
I KNOW, I KNOW!!! I
know this is technically cheating, as he came from a 30-minute short, but he’s
so cool! This is Feathers McGraw, international jewel thief who's also... a penguin? Wanted by police everywhere, he disguises himself as a chicken to get around. He can easily outsmart the humans around him, just by sticking a
rubber glove on his head! That alone is awesome. Although his intentions aren’t
entirely evil (stealing a giant diamond), it’s his execution that makes it worthwhile.
Like the queen, he never really shows any emotion, but this guy takes it to
perfection, never saying a word. His intelligence is clearly above average, as
he managed to rewire the techno-trousers without Wallace noticing, and manipulating Wallace so Gromit would feel like he wasn't loved and leave, with the dog being Feather's only real threat.
Also, the
final battle on the model trains is the most hilarious part of the film, thanks
to Feathers. He just fits into that bottle so perfectly! As if I couldn’t love this movie enough, Feathers McGraw takes its
perfection one step higher. So, that's it. I hope you enjoyed my list, feel free to comment, don't kill me for not including Maleficent and, until the next time, that's The Animated Kid, over and out.
Hello, I’m The
Animated Kid, and this is my first ever, top 10 list: my top 10 animated
villains!!! Yes, today, I will be counting down my top
10 cartoon villains. I’ll restrict this list to only baddies from only feature
length animated films, so no TV villains here. As the whole list would take too long, this is only 10 down to 6. I’ll try not to dominate the
list with Disney antagonists, and I think that’s all I’ve got to say! So sit
back, relax and listen to the music provided as you read THE ANIMATED KID’S TOP
10 ANIMATED VILLAINS. Oh, and remember, spoilers ahead!
10. Mrs. Tweedy-Chicken Run
‘They’re chickens you
dolt! Apart from you, they’re the most stupid creatures on this planet! They
don’t scheme, they don’t plot and they are not organised!!!’-Mrs. Tweedy to her
husband.
Mrs. Tweedy, Aardman’s
first villain in a feature length film. She runs her concentration camp
look-a-like chicken farm along with her bumbling husband with an iron fist. She
crushes all chances of the chickens freedom, and delights in doing so. But one
day, she decides to make the chickens into pies via a horrid pie machine, so
she can make more money. Now, she doesn’t appear an awful lot in the film, she
makes a huge impression in the screen time that she does have, berating
everybody around her.
Her plans might not seem that evil at first, but you can
see that she knows that the chickens have feelings and emotions, and she loves
the thought of chopping them up into pies. Heck, even in the climax when the
chickens have escaped in a plane, she will still try to kill them! Whether it’s
with an axe in her mouth, or her boot up a bottom, Mrs Tweedy is determined to
make life for everyone a living hell.
9. Scar-The Lion King
‘BE PREPARED!!!! For
what? For the death of the king! Why, is he sick? No fool, we’re gonna kill
him!’-Scar and Banzai.
The Lion King,
Disney’s 1994 critical and commercial success, the highest grossing hand drawn animated
film, often said as the best Disney film of all time. What do I think of that
statement? Well, I prefer Beauty & the Beast, but one thing that the film
really does right is its antagonist, Scar. Scar is Mufasa’s twin brother, and
the next in line for the throne. That is, until Mufasa’s son Simba comes along,
pushing Scar back even more. Scar plans to, along with his crazed hyena
minions, kill Mufasa and Simba so he can become king. Pretty basic plan, but
the thing is he accidently kills Mufasa and presumably Simba, but of course
that last part is not true.
The fact that he would send his brother hurtling
down into a stampede of wilderbeest without a single regret is just heartless. His
villain song ‘Be Prepared’ is also really cool, probably my favourite villain
song! The only reason he’s this far down the list is that when he does take
over the Pride Lands, he just doesn’t do much with his power. So be prepared
for the next instalment on this list!
8. Rameses II-The Prince of Egypt
‘I will not be the
weak link!’-Rameses II
Now here’s a truly
tragic villain. The next-in line for the Egyptian throne, he is scared that he
will mess up his father’s great empire built by slaves, so treats the poor
people as badly as his father did. When his brother Moses comes back with God
backing him, Egypt is given seven horrid plagues, smiting poor Rameses of his
son. This is the moment when you really understand the drama of the situation,
with the two being brothers and all. He is portrayed by Ralph Fiennes, of
Voldemort fame, who layers the already complex character even more.
He is so
obsessed with not disappointing his father, he loses sight of the other people
around him that he used to care for. Like a lot of the other villains on this
list, he is driven into madness at the end, charging his armies into the sea to
kill the Jews. I’m not Christian, and I don’t really root for either side in
this film (well, apart from when it comes to killing all the babies), which
makes me sympathize with him even more.
7. The Other Mother/The Beldam- Coraline
‘Black is
traditional,’-The Other Mother
Coraline, the 2009 stop-motion film
directed by Henry Selick and based off the book by Neil Gaiman. It was scary,
whimsical, dark, awesome, and was loved by people everywhere for its unique
creepiness. Perhaps this nowhere more evident when it comes to the antagonist,
The Other Mother. She spies on children who move into the Pink Palace, and
lures them into her world where everything’s better. She pretends like she
loves them, but she really wants to ‘eat up their lives’. But Coraline said no
to the buttons being sewn into her eyes, and fights The Other Mother, till she
becomes this:
AAAGH!!! Anyway, she
is a really cool villain who you just love to hate. Her plan is evil and
detestable, using her own creations to help her, and then killing them if they
disobey them, which they obviously really want to do. Teri Hatcher is a great
voice for the character, able to stretch her range to the situation that is
presented. The button eyes are a really great touch, adding the perfect,
surreal scariness to the character. It’s true: be careful what you wish for...
6. Cruella De Vill-101 Dalmatians
‘Cruella, isn’t that a new
fur coat? My only true love, darling. I live for furs. I worship
furs! After all, is there a woman in all this wretched world who doesn't?-Anita
& Cruella De Vill
Cruella De Vill. What
can I say about her that hasn’t been said already? She is the iconic baddie of
Disney’s 1961 101 Dalmatians, pursuing the poor puppies so she can get herself
a grand fur coat. So what makes this character so enjoyable? Lets start with
the voice actress: Betty Lou Gerson. She voices the character perfectly, with superb flair. As
the film progresses, Cruella descends into madness, shown most clearly in the
dramatic climax, with Cruella madly pursuing the dogs in her car, ending up
crashing in a hill.
I love crazy demented villains, and she bottles it up
perfectly to unleash it at the final battle. Her design is also slim and
slender, with a huge fur coat to top it all off. She is rarely seen without a
cigar in her hand or not abusing her two bumbling minions, Horace & Jasper,
to get them to stay in line. She is perhaps the most well-known character of
her franchise, and rightly so. Even the song taunting her evilness is still
laid-back and cool. 'Cruella, Cruella, De Vill.'
So.. until next time when I'll finish off this list, that's The Animated Kid, over and out.
