Most underrated animated movie

[ringshin]

Well i do agree with you about the treasure planet.
I'm really obsessed with all classic/animated Disney movies. Of course I love ones like : The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Aladdin , Beauty & The Beast, Dumbo, etc.

But there are tons that aren't as popular but still great.

I think underrated ones are:
Oliver & Company
Nightmare before Christmas
Hunchback of Notre Dame
more....
they all have great characters, songs, themes, etc.

[Vernadyn]

Resurrecting an old thread... but I just saw Oliver and Company again and was surprised to see that one of the writers was James Mangold, the very same man (unless IMDb is lying) who directed Cop Land, Girl Interrupted, Identity, Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma, and Knight and Day, among others.

The film itself still stands up well, despite occasionally choppy animation and some dated elements. The score by J.A.C. Redford fits the film well, and it's a pity he didn't get more prominent scoring assignments.

[eddievalient]

True, but he did later do the score for Newsies, so there's that.

[Baree]

I kind of want to mention the David Copperfield movie from 1993, which perhaps is not so much underrated as not that well known I think. Problem is though, voice acting can add or take a lot from a movie and in my opinion the Dutch voice actors do a better job then the American ones for this movie, especially in the case of David. This really shows when David sings "Is there anyone..." (I think those are the English lyrics anyway). In the Dutch dub this is truly a pleasure to listen too, in the English version its not really all that great.

Another movie I feel like mentioning is Sebastian Star Bear: The First Mission. Again, probably not that well known. In this case however most of the voice acting is better in the American version then in the Dutch version though. Main issue here is that its definitely a kids movie, not much (if anything) in it for adults.

[carlminez]

I kinda feel that Bolt was terribly underrated and overlooked back in 2008. When it comes to animated movies, Bolt is my all-time favorite. (Much thanks to the cute titular character)

http://cinefantastiqueonline.com/2009/0 ... nderrated/

[droosan]

I was heartened to hear The Rotoscopers' positive discussion of A Monster in Paris.

This is a movie that I really enjoy -- but when I've expressed this opinion elsewhere online *coughCartoonBrewcough*, I was dismayed to discover that the majority opinion there was overwhelmingly negative (though, in retrospect, that actually shouldn't have been such a surprise).



I did get to see the movie theatrically in a L.A. film festival a couple of years ago, but was still disappointed that it never got a wide theatrical release (or even an 'Oscar-qualifying' run).

I bought the french DVD via Amazon.fr shortly afterward, which ended-up getting passed around so widely among my co-workers at Rhythm & Hues that it eventually disappeared.

I also bought the Shout Factory Blu-ray, which was released in the U.S. last year .. but was disappointed that only the english-language version of the movie is presented on the disc.

The Canadian Blu-ray release does include both languages, on separate audio tracks -- but (oddly) the english subtitles are simply a 'closed caption'-style transcription of the english-language dialogue; they are not a translation of the french dialogue. Also (even more oddly) Amazon.ca refuses to ship this Blu-ray outside of Canada. I've often purchased canadian-exclusive DVD titles from them without incident, in the past .. so, I'm not sure why this particular release is subject to such an embargo.
(EDIT: this entire paragraph has proven to be incorrect; see below)



strange trivia: The lip-sync for the characters' dialogue was animated to the english voice cast -- presumably to increase the film's chances for a North American theatrical release.

This means that the french-language release is actually the 'dubbed' version of the movie.

This was also the case for Asterix and the Vikings -- which likewise never got a U.S. theatrical run, despite being 'animated' in english.

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The complaints at .. that other animation website .. seemed to hinge upon a perceived sense of 'bait-and-switch' with regard to the movie's early french 'teaser' trailer, which some there felt seemed to promise a much more 'serious' film than promoted in the english trailer, nearly a year later.

I suppose I can understand that sentiment, to an extent .. but the reality is that both trailers are correct. There is an underlying 'monster/horror' element to the movie -- along with a lighthearted briskly-paced sense of fun and adventure.

Besides, this is a movie written and directed by Bibo Bergeron -- the director of The Road to El Dorado and Shark Tale..! What exactly did these people expect?!

If you enjoy those two films (and I know of several here who do), then A Monster in Paris cannot disappoint.



Even if the story-telling isn't to your taste, there's no denying that A Monster in Paris is a beautifully-designed film. No 'Art of/Making of' book has been published, to date .. but I would purchase one in an instant, if it did exist.

Happily, many pieces of pre-production art -- including concept paintings, character studies, layout drawings, color keys and etc -- have made their way online .. and the movie's end-title sequence is liberally sprinkled with several such examples, as well.

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As the Rotoscopers mention, A Monster in Paris is set against the backdrop of an actual event in Parisian history: the flooding of the River Seine in 1910. The production design crew took full advantage of this period's contemporary 'Art Nouveau' styling to inform the film's lush visuals.

The movie's soundtrack isn't quite so contemporary to the 1910s, but is juiced by a few very catchy songs -- which can take several days to get out of your head..! IMO, the french songs are a bit more enjoyable than their english-language counterparts .. but the melodies are identical, so that's just a matter of taste.

Vanessa Paradis sings and voices Lucille in both french and english. French singer -M- provides the voice for Francoeur on the french soundtrack, with Sean Lennon singing the english versions. Overall, the movie is enjoyable in both languages; though, (IMO) Raoul and Emile come across as somewhat less than purely 'comic-relief' types, in the french cast .. while the villainous police commissioner seems rather more menacing in the english version.

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I do also agree with The Rotoscopers' assessment that the movie seems better upon a second or third viewing .. this was certainly my experience.

The movie sets-up a few things early-on which 'pay off' very late in the film .. but it's easy to miss some of those clues in a first viewing; thus, certain events can seem to 'come out of nowhere'. These clues are easier to spot the second time around .. since now, the viewer knows where the story leads.

By that same token, however .. If you'd prefer to remain 'un-spoiled' during your own first viewing of A Monster in Paris, I'd highly recommend seeking-out the movie on DVD or Blu-ray before listening to The Rotoscopers' podcast, if possible. (I realize that it's difficult to discuss a movie for an hour without 'spoilers' .. but, yeah)

[Randall]

I really loved A Monster in Paris! It was "lighter" in some ways than I expected, but overall I really enjoyed the mix of horror, comedy, and especially the music. The fun, quirky tone won me over, and I immediately replayed my favourite scenes immediately after finishing the film. I would also recommend it to others, and plan to introduce it to friends in the future.

I have the UK Blu-ray release, but as I recall it also has only the English track--- which is fine for me, really. Droo, if you need help acquiring the Canuck release, let me know!

[Randall]

About the Canadian release....

Blu-ray.com does not have a listing for a canuck Blu-ray, and Wikipedia only mentions a DVD release for Canada. The DVD is bilingual, if you are interested. I've checked other Canadian online retailers, and found only the DVD.

The Amazon.ca listing for the Blu-ray actually shows the Shout! cover, and only English is listed in the specs. So, this is the US release, and you likely were trying to order from a "Marketplace" seller who only ships within Canada, thereby explaining your difficulty.

[droosan]

Thank you, Randall, for the offer to seek this out .. and my sincere apologies for the fact that such an edition apparently does not actually exist.

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Re-visiting the Amazon.ca listing in question revealed the source of my mistaken assumption that the Canadian Blu-ray of A Monster in Paris contained both english and french audio tracks:

Amazon lumps customer reviews of the DVD in with the Blu-ray listing, making no distinction as to which individual reviews are for which format.

Come to think of it: this is also sometimes a problem for DVDs which have been released multiple times (in which a customer review for a title might be for an earlier edition with a different transfer or special features, for example).

Now it makes sense .. looking at the listing, I can't believe I didn't notice earlier that all of the customer reviews referring to a french audio track are talking about the exclusive Canadian DVD edition (even though they appear within the Blu-ray listing).

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I've 'struck-through' that entire paragraph in my post, above; I certainly don't want anyone else to try chasing-down a 'non-existent' edition, based on my own misunderstanding of an Amazon listing..!

[EricJ]

I really loved A Monster in Paris! It was "lighter" in some ways than I expected, but overall I really enjoyed the mix of horror, comedy, and especially the music. The fun, quirky tone won me over, and I immediately replayed my favourite scenes immediately after finishing the film. I would also recommend it to others, and plan to introduce it to friends in the future.

Thought AMIP looked so EXACTLY like a BlueSky-ish attempt to replicate every last cloned DNA of "a Dreamworks comedy" (loser hero, jerk villain, patiently-crabby eye-rolling heroine between them, big aerial chase at the end), except for the one obvious difference: Musical numbers.

It literally makes you realize how much better real Dreamworks comedies would be if they tried putting in an original musical number now and again. Y'know, original ones you make up, not "Karaoke of annoyingly overexposed 70's and 80's songs".
("Ick! People singing! Only princesses do that! Evil, icky, un-PC DISNEY princesses!!!!")

[Dacey]

I don't know which DreamWorks Eric is talking about, but I can't even recall the last time one of their films had a "karaoke number" in it. I know the Madagascar films have the "Move it, move it!" thing (which I love, if I'm honest), but that's about as recent as I can remember, and I wouldn't even put it in that "category."

[TitusTodd]

While not thrilled with the concept, I did enjoy the execution of A Monster in Paris. Enjoyable characters, designs and overall look. I also enjoyed the musical numbers. I was pleasantly surprised when watching it on Netflix. My kids enjoyed it as well, warranting multiple viewings.

[Karizma]

Just recently discovered this animated flick called 'The Road to El Dorado'. I was rolling on the floor all the while watching the movie; it was that funny! Surprisingly the movie was pretty good as well, and when I read about who had composed it, it turned out to be the same team as The Lion King.

[Randall]

I do think that Road to El Dorado is underappreciated. It has great animation, lots of laughs, and decent music. I didn't care for the end as much, but as one of DW's few "tradigital" films, I do treasure its existence.

[Ben]

"Holy...ship!"

Love El Dorado and the soundtrack is a fixture here too. The only one of DWA's tradigital flicks I wasn't too keen on was Sinbad, though I'd be up for watching it again in a Blu came along. I must say Spirit was a grand attempt at something different and it looks gorgeous in HD.

We need more classic DWA on Blu-ray, but this seems another area in which the company has no clue. Celebrating a 20th anniversary should have seen all their back catalog issued again, either as standalones or as a DreamWorks Animation Collection box or different box sets, perhaps one for the tradigital films and one for the early CG films not yet on Blu...but all we got was a half decent book.