Movie Project: Day 9 - Samurai Jack Ep. 27

In the spirit of continuing to expose my daughter to new shows, we took a stab in the direction that most would not tread. Genndy Tartakovsky is one of the revolutionary animation directors of the aughts and turned the page for the animation industry. I have have been a fan of his work since Powerpuff Girls, in which he directed a few episodes. He finally went out on his own with Dexter's Laboratory, and then went on to do Samurai Jack. He is most famous for the Clone Wars microseries commissioned by George Lucas which served as a transitory work for Star Wars Episodes II and III. He has not worked with the current Clone Wars Series, nor does he have any plans to work with Lucasarts anytime in the near future. Currently, he is developing a feature length production for Samurai Jack.

Please note this does contain spoilers to the episodes content.

What better way to introduce this brilliant director to my daughter than with one of the more unusual episodes of the series. This is a little bit of an understatement, because all episodes of Samurai Jack stand apart from each other. In this one particularly, it features a character which my wife and I channel when we get frustrated. There is no explanation regarding most characters, and most are only seen for one episode, with a few exceptions such as the Scotsman. In this episode, Jack accidentally bumps a misanthropic wizard with an incredibly short temper. Although Jack apologizes for his error in genuine humility, the wizard flies into a rage and transforms Jack into a rooster, although he is referred to as a chicken, clucks like a chicken, and even the episode is titled "Chicken Jack."

It's hard to say just what the inspiration behind this episode was, but the bulk of the show has Jack competing in robot pit fighting. It could be referred to as cock fighting, but Jack is the only bird we ever see. As the episode progresses, it is hard to know how the continuity of the series is going to carry forward, because it seems that Jack is doomed to a life as a prize fighting bird, imprisoned by an irresponsible master. But just when almost all hope is lost, and Jack starts to accept his lot, the tables turn. The fat, rude, and slovenly man who found Jack is dressed to the nines ready to take Jack to a main event fight, when he bumps into the irascible wizard. POOF! Jack is back and the fight manager is now a chicken. It is one of the biggest WTF (What The Fruitcake) moments in the series.

Although Rini was a little scared by all the fighting that occurs during the pit fighting, she did enjoy the ludicrous plot and over the top characters. She especially thought the fact that Jack was a chicken was particularly funny.

Nonetheless, I'm quite sure that Rini will have to watch the episode a few more times before she fully understands why my wife and I shout, "ALWAYS!" in order to lighten the mood when we're hot under the collar.

Movie Project: Day 8 - Treasure Planet

Movie Project was on a bit of a hiatus while I was recovering from a back injury. I have since learned that just because water is dripping on concrete steps does not factor out that there could be ice on said steps. On a related note, it is a very terrifying feeling to forget how to breathe.

In the spirit of the Movie Project, I picked a title that I was not sure Rini had seen, or if she had, it had been some time since she had seen it. Truth be known, I had not watched Treasure Planet in years, and it has special significance for me. True, it was a box office bomb met with tepid reviews, but holds a fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes, and it was also the first movie my wife and I saw in theatres. The first movie we saw together was Bandits, but we're not going to show that movie to Rini until she's in her teens.

Back to Disney's 43rd animated full length feature, and the first to be shown in both regular screens and IMAX at release, I kept watch to see what would be the hook for Rini. Whether it would be the pirate story narrated by MegaByte Tony Jay, the solar surfing, or any one of the zany and odd characters that are featured in the movie. Rini was moderately engaged up to when Morph appears on screen, and that was what hooked it for her. Much like Abu in Aladdin, another one of Rini's favourite characters, Morph adds a very strong comedy relief to this science fiction themed retelling of the Robert Louis Stevenson classic.

The movie itself can be a bit of a struggle to figure out, especially if you take into account the facts about the vacuum of space that would tend to not allow for open vessels. Though I will admit that an anthropomorphic cat voiced by Emma Thompson would not be near as hot if she were wearing a space suit similar to that of Dr. Doppler's instead of the feisty pair of thigh high boots. Sometimes you have to relieve your sense of logic and just go along for the ride and Treasure Planet is definitely one of those movies. If you can get over the fact that in this movie space is NOT a vacuum, then you can also grasp the concept of a planet that is one massive construct with plant life growing on its metal surface.

Another movie that is strewn with scientific inconsistencies is WallE. It's not really fair to put Treasure Planet on the same page as WallE as the story behind the Pixar marvel is very powerful and original, while the other is a fancy dazzle display of 2D animation on top of 3D decorated with a mild, adapted tale.

Did Rini like it? She did ask to watch it again today and she laughed when Morph did his cuckoo crazy impersonation of B.E.N. during today's viewing. She also did her own little, "Cuckoo" to echo Morph's. I'm certain this will not be the last we've seen of this movie.

Sometimes I wonder if we are spoiling our daughter too much with the theatre setup we have at home. While it is nice to watch movies on a big screen, Caitlin almost prefers the surround sound we have, since it allows for the details that occur off screen as does in Treasure Planet. Another movie that has little easter eggs in the rear channels is Cars. When Mia and Tia (they're like, his biggest fans!) are carted away by security, they shout "WE LOVE YOU, LIGHTNING!" you can hear Mia/Tia shout, "No, I love you more!" when the camera goes back to Lightning McQueen.

Eh, time will tell.