Cartoon Marathon

Just finished a marathon of cartoon movies. Had been behind times lately, so thought I'd catch up on some animated movies. Saw 'The Wild', 'Over The Hedge' and 'Cars' in a four hour marathon. Phew...was it taxing.

Speaking of animated movies, I still remember how it all started. Late 80's with 'Little Mermaid'. Then came 'The Lion King'. Now that was a spectacle. After that it all went quiet for a while. Last eight years came a flurry of animated movies. Think the earlier ones were better. Not in terms of animation of course, but more in the storyline. Animation is fantastic but it doesn't make a movie to be remembered. I liked 'Mulan', 'Monsters Inc.', 'Finding Nemo', 'Toy Story (the original)', 'The Incredibles', to name a few.

Despite much of the hype, 'Madagascar', 'Ice Age 2', 'The Wild' and 'Over The Hedge' is just so-so. 'Cars' is a different premise. Maybe because it didn't focus on animals for a change. Yup, too many animal-related animations, it was getting to be a bore. Or maybe because it was a Disney movie...made it a more family-orientated. A bit of original laughs too. I liked Mater, the tow truck. Think it had some of the best lines in the movie.

Earlier animations had more meaningful, 'lesson-to-be-learned' stories initially, but I guess became watered down over the years because of commercialisation. Too bad really, because cartoons reach out to both young and old...which of us have not seen a cartoon we really remembered? Would be a great learning tool for kids and teenagers. And the music too. They were great then, but who can remember a great tune from animations nowadays?

All that said, I still look forward to animation movies. Probably I remain a kid at heart. Hopefully one with a good story and great music to boot.

Keep up the good work Disney and Pixar!