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What is Your Best Animated Movie
I'll start by saying I love--absolutely love--animated movies. I probably would prefer to see an animation than to see a normal movie most of the time, and I spend an unhealthy amount of my day watching Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network and Disney--simply because they rock! And they never die! And they never take anything too Seriously! And God is pooh bear and Patrick Starr is the greatest!
I watch and say all these so shamelessly that my more rigid friends have begun to mock me every time! But I can never stop watching Spongebob. Never! I say all this just so you can see how hard it is for me to choose just one single favourite. Anyway, it is a task must be done, and after churning things over in my mind, I've decided to go with--RIO!
RIO, RIO, RIO
Rio is a beautiful, beautiful 2011 animation film produced by Blue Sky Studios and directed by Carlos Saldanha. The title is taken obviously from the equally beautiful Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, where the film is set.
It tells the story of Blu, a male bird, a "SPIX MACAW" to be be exact, who is taken to Rio de Janeiro to mate with another female spix macaw, Jewel. The Spix Macaw is a really rare bird who at the time of the movie was in real danger of extinction. They still are, in fact, and I heard from my sources--and from my sources I mean my friend who shares the great love for Rio with me--that the spix macaw is now extinct.
I looked it up for this post though and I found that they weren't actually extinct but are EIW--Extinct in the Wild, meaning they still exist in a facility somewhere in Rio belonging to an organization overseen by the Brazilian government, where they're being bred in captivity. Hopefuly when they've been bred in abundance they'll be released again into the wild so that nature may once again enjoy their awesomeness.
Oh the spix macaw is such a beautiful beautiful brilliant bird. Perhaps the most beautiful in the world. And the movie with its 3D rendition just captures this beauty perfectly.
Jewel turned out to be such an amazing free spirited bird, too, which was somehow at odds but remarkably fitting and complementary to Blu's reserved and meticulous nature.
The conflict arise when Nigel, a sinister cockatoo tries to smuggle the blue macaws, who were now very much in love. And then it's all thrills and fun and party from there!
THE CARNAVAL
I'm not really a party guy myself, but I'm definitely a carnival guy. And the carnival in Rio is just awesome. The whole climax unfolds in a backdrop of this carnival, modeled after the real life canaval that happens yearly in Rio, which is the biggest of its kind in the world.
I enjoyed seeing that very much and the story, this backdrop of the carnival, and the entire music of the movie as a whole is nothing short of genius! The original score was so awesome it got nominated for the best original song at 2012 Oscars.
It's so awesome I downloaded the entire elbum--even the remix--and rocked it all year. I still rock it. My favorite track was Real in Rio. It had all the actors perform on it, and boy even Jesse Einssenberg sounded damn good! I mean who know Jesse could sing?
THE VOICE ACTING
Which brings to the awesome actors. The cast was so brilliant, and was so me that even if the acting or the story had sucked I would have still loved it.
But as it turned out the voice acting was nothing short of top notch. Jesse Eissenberg is such a talented actor, of course. I fell in love with his acting since his eccentricity in The Social Network and he was also terrific in Now You See Me. And Anne Hathaway is a frigging gazillionly talented actress. (I've always dreamt of marrying her). So when you add those two things together you start to get why this is just the perfect animation for me!
It's also amazing how Will-i-am, the leader of the Black Eyed Peas, was so great a voice actor and how Jesse Eissenberg delivered a nice verse in the music.
ThE COLOR AND THE HUMOR
Two things I love my animations to brim with. And in Rio it was just terrific. The blue of the macaws is obviously the most brilliant color in the world, and the backdrop and lights of the carnival like I said is just divine! I also the love the color of the evil Nigel, the cockatoo. And pretty much everyone else!
And then comes the stomach tightening humor. I can't remember the actual joke anymore but I remember there's this scene that my friend and I used to go bananas over every single time! Whenever we go back to watch the movie and that scene comes on, before it comes on, we'd already be on our backs rubbing our bellies and laughing like crazy and even when we are not watching the actual movie, just discussing it probably outside on a very boring night and we remember that scene one of us just starts laughing like I like an idiot and when the other sees that look on the face we'd already know what we're laughing about. It's pretty fantastic stuff, I tell ya.
THE SEQUEL
Yeah there was also a sequel released in 2014 featuring the whole ensemble cast from the first part. Bruno mars even came on this one. Bruno Mars! Who doesn't love Bruno Mars.
Oh and here Blu and Jewel have kids. The Amazon is in trouble and needs saving. I also enjoyed this as much as I did the first one and the music was also perfect!
So there ya have it! My awesome animated movie. What's yours?