My Movie Review on Animal Crackers (2020) (Plus, a Bonus) · 5:00pm May 23rd, 2022
Yo, what's up, Kemosabes?
This is your friendly film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.
Today, for my 270th film analysis, I'm gonna give you guys my take of "Animal Crackers". The animated film that was distributed by Netflix after three years of being delayed, to be exact.
Here's the rundown of this tale:
For nearly a decade, Owen Huntington has been working as a biscuit taster at his father-in-law's dog treat factory. Similarly, his wife, Zoe is working as a member of the factory's board since her Dad wants her to eventually run the company someday. Together, the two of them have a daughter named Mackenzie.
After the Huntington family is notified that Owen's Uncle Bob and Aunt Talia died in an accident, though, Owen and Zoe discover that they're now the owners of Bob and Talia's circus. The two of them also inherit something incredibly magical: Animal Crackers. Magical ones that, when eaten, can turn a person into an animal! This element in question was the circus's main attraction for years, in that Buffalo Bob frequently transformed into animals while performing an act.
However, keeping both the circus and the magical crackers will not be an easy task. The older brother of Bob, Horatio, wants to take ownership of the circus and acquire the animal crackers for himself. Especially because Horatio believes he was robbed of achieving success after he and Bob split up following an ultimatum.
Will Own and Zoe somehow keep Horatio from getting his hands on the circus and animal crackers? Or will Horatio finally get what he believes should've been his?
It's hard to believe, really. I reviewed one of the film's trailers nearly three years ago, but I never did get around to seeing the film once it was finally released. In spite of my interest in seeing it, I often put aside doing so in favor of reviewing other things. Because of the film also being available only on Netflix, it made the chances of ever seeing it seem kinda slim.
However, after I found out that Gilbert Gottfried passed away recently, I decided that I wasn't gonna waste any time finding a movie to create a dedication-review for him. I ultimately chose "Animal Crackers" since Gottfried starred in the movie as Mario Zucchini. In preparation for reviewing the movie, I watched it two times via a free movie website to be absolutely certain on what my thoughts on it were.
So, what do I think of "Animal Crackers" after finally seeing it? Even after watching it twice?
Well, I really can't deny it. All these years of waiting to see the film since first interest turned out to be well worth it. This movie is AWESOME!
For instance, the direction by Scott Christian Sava, Tony Bancroft, and Jaime Maestro, and the story by Sava and Dean Lorey, were fantastic!
Everything about the concept was one of the most original, inspired, and unique I had ever seen in an animated film. I loved how Sava and company explored what would happen if there were animal crackers that could actually turn people into animals, as it was not only imaginative but incredibly relatable for others who were also fascinated by the prospect.
Likewise, Tony Bancroft's involvement as co-director was a clear influence on this movie, especially considering his previous work co-directing Disney's "Mulan" and his contributions to other animated Disney projects. The humor the movie had was a combination of innocent and hilarious, and I have a feeling people of all ages will have fun with the gags thanks to how cleverly-worked and appealing they were. The film wasn't without emotion and heart either, and the morals it had about friendship and family were deeply meaningful ones to live by. The story in question was one of the most character-driven narratives I ever saw, because the way every character moved the plot along was like they really were the story.
The animation was amazing as well.
The overall visualization may not be the strongest I ever saw, but it's still impressive regardless. For a small-budget animated feature, the directors and animators made wonderful use of what they had at Blue Dream Studios, and the results of their hardwork and dedication were outstanding beyond compare. I particularly enjoyed the animation's comic-book influenced style, as well as how lively the character animation was.
The vocal performances, casting, characters, and character development were terrific, if I may add.
With this review serving as a dedication to the late Gilbert Gottfried, I'd like to say that he truly rocked the house with his performance as Mario Zucchini. His portrayal was an example of how he could make any comedic-timing and piece of dialogue funny without even trying, and the way Gottfried matched his voice with all the physical moments Mario got involved in made it seem like he did more than provide the character's voice. He did an awesome job giving his character personality too.
Gottfried's casting as Mario wasn't the only one I enjoyed, I'll tell you guys that. Every performer onboard fit their parts like a glove, and they all provided brilliant texture and personality for their characters. The best part was that they sounded like they were having all-the-fun in the world being part of the movie.
Some prime examples I'd like to point out come from these:
Next to Gottfried, Patrick Warburton was an instant scene-stealer with his portrayal of Brock, and so were Sylvester Stallone as Bulletman, Danny DeVito as Chesterfield, and Wallace Shawn as Mr. Woodley! The castings and performances of James Arnold Taylor as Buffalo Bob and Tara Strong as Talia were also definite instances of professional voice actors being the right people for certain parts, because they portrayed their individual parts in a way that a big top celebrity likely wouldn't do for them.
Also, I really can't lie when I say that Ian McKellen was born for the role of Horatio P. Huntington. Not only did McKellen give his character a classical-villain vibe strongly reminiscent to antagonists from the 80s and 90s, but he performed the part with inspired personality and emotion, which helped Horatio be instantly three-dimensional and fully-realized as a villain.
The performances of John Krasinski as Owen and Emily Blunt as Zoe were terrific as well. The fact that Krasinski and Blunt are married to each other in real-life was obviously their greatest inspiration behind Owen and Zoe's chemistry, and the interactions Zoe and Owen had with Mackenzie was clearly influenced by Blunt and Krasinski being parents to two daughters. Even when their characters weren't together, they invoked outstanding emotion and personality into their portrayals.
Along with the cast giving brilliant performances, the characters themselves were a groovy bunch to hang out with. Every character was memorable and distinct in the best way, in large part because they had spontaneous personalities. Their developments throughout the movie also helped them to stand out all-the-more, and they hardly stopped growing as the movie progressed. If I had to choose which characters that I believe developed the most, it'd be Owen, Zoe, and Horatio.
Finally, the music by Bear McCreary was magnificent.
Everything about McCreary's score was incredibly inspired, and the way his melodies matched the film's tone and characters made his score as three-dimensional as the animation. His use of songs made by various music artists was enjoyable too, examples coming from the moments featuring Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" and Fleur East's "Like That". Horatio's musical numbers, "Welcome" and "Could've Been Mine" were also quite the showstoppers, and McKellen and Gottfried did a fantastic job singing for their characters in those sequences.
In conclusion, I'm proud to say that "Animal Crackers" is truly a wonderful motion picture, as well as one of the best independent animated films I've ever seen. It's creatively-inspired, imaginative, and it has all the hallmarks to make it worthwhile. I'm so glad to have finally come around to checking the film out and creating my review on it, that's for sure.
So, I rate "Animal Crackers" a solid five out of five stars.
To Blue Dream Studios and Scott Christian Sava: I deeply hope you guys acquire the rights to release this movie on home video and other streaming services, like Amazon Prime and AppleTV. It truly deserves to be seen on more than just Netflix, and I'd really like to share this movie with my family without opening up a Netflix account.
Rest In Peace, Gilbert Gottfried (February 28, 1955-April 12, 2022).
You were truly one of the funniest and most talented individuals on the planet. I'll never forget that voice of yours or your ability to make others laugh without even trying.
Before I conclude this post I'd like to show you guys another painting I made a while back, which I completed from March 28, 2022 to April 27, 2022:
So, what do you guys think? Of my review? And the painting?
A most gorgeous piece of art!
Also I'll need to see the film myself to make a proper evaluation of it. May Gilbert Gottfried RIP.
Actually, the film was first shown in 2017 during the animation film festival, making this really a 2017 film. Even then, it was released in China the following year, and then the Netflix two years after that.
5660666
Ultimately, I settled for classifying it as a 2020 film due to it being officially released in America via Netflix that year.
I think I heard about this film through Brian Hull while he was doing a collab video with, I think, Tony Bancroft. I'm interested in seeing it, but I haven't had a chance to . Also, that's some amazing artwork.