Munir's Disney Retrospective -- Animated Classic #4: Dumbo (1941)

By Munir Abedrabbo.

Last Week's: Munir's Disney Retrospective -- Animated Classic #3: Fantasia (1940)

After such ambitious and polished endeavours as Pinocchio and Fantasia failed to recoup their costs, Walt Disney needed something cheap and simple to make some money. Those elements are usually a recipe for disaster, but in this case, they turned out to be this film’s major assets. Dumbo does not offer such perfect animation as Pinocchio, nor such epic scope as Fantasia, but what it lacks in those departments it compensates for with tons of heart. At 63 minutes, it’s one of the studio’s shortest films, but everything is so perfectly told that there is not a scene wasted in the entire movie. The title character is one of the most endearing you’ve ever seen on-screen and the “Baby Mine” sequence will make your heart melt. As simple as it may seem, Dumbo has enchanted movie-goers for more than 70 years and will continue to do so with the story of the underdog that could. No small feat for such a little elephant. Rating: 5/5.

Next Week: Animated Classic #5 Review: Bambi

Watch: Acclaimed Disney Short Film, Paperman

It's Oscar nominated, it's Annie nominated and now you can watch it online - John Kahrs' acclaimed animated short film, Paperman, which was released alongside Disney's latest feature, Wreck-It Ralph is now on YouTube (embedded above).

Huffington Post's Jim Hill exclusively unveiled the short, and it's a great show of faith by Disney in its fans to release the short in its entirety. Of course, more exposure can't hurt its Oscar chances either - particularly when it's got such strong competition, with films like The Longest Daycare and Adam and Dog.

Given that Wreck-It Ralph still isn't out here in the UK yet, this is the first time I've seen Paperman, and it really was worth the wait. The striking black-and-white look, the depth accomplished through the new, innovative technology, that delicately beautiful score and, most of all, the heart-warming story all make Paperman an absolute must-see - one that, fortunately, we can all now see.

Paperman debuts on the big screen in the UK with Wreck-It Ralph on 8th February.

Plot Synopsis and First Promotional Images from The Muppets... Again!

Sorry for the blog-silence over the last couple of days - I've been severely under the weather. But we're back with some exciting news today: first of all, an official press release, plot synopsis and the first images from Disney's The Muppets sequel, now officially going by The Muppets... Again!

The sequel, whose human stars include Ricky Gervais, Tina Fey and Modern Family's Ty Burrell, began filming in London last week and is due for release on 21st March, 2014. Disney emailed us out the press release for the film, which includes the exciting synopsis - which reveals the roles of Gervais, Fey and Burrell - and you can check them, along with another image, out below.

Brad Bird's Mysterious 1952 Officially Called Tomorrowland

Brad Bird is one of my favourite directors. Obviously. He directed three absolute animatred classics with The Iron Giant, The Incredibles and Ratatouille - as well as helping guide The Simpsons through its golden age and directing one of its best episodes - and proved his live-action chops with Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol. So I suppose I can't really hold it against him that he's not directing Star Wars: Episode VII, particularly when what he is directing is so intriguing.

With a new reveal today, Bird's next mystery shrouded project got a little less, and also enigmatically a little more, mysterious. D23 revealed on Twitter that 1952, the film which Bird is directing from a story and screenplay by Damon Lindelof (Lost, Prometheus) is now officially going by the name of Tomorrowland.

William On The Scotty Jo Podcast

A few days ago I had the chance to speak to Scotty Jo Nicholson of the self-titled Scotty Jo Podcast via video chat, to record a little segment for his show (which this week is Conan O'Brien themed). The show's up on Scotty's website now and you can check it out embedded above.

I'm one of a few special guests (his words, not mine) on the episode and Scotty and I discuss A113Animation, our favourite Pixar memories, my thoughts on Brave, 2013 in animation and, yes, I even have a little rant about UK release dates. Please excuse the tinny quality on my end - my Wi-Fi sucks.You can check out my segment from 4:35 to around the 13:10 mark, although I encourage you to give the whole thing a listen - it's a fun show.

Yes, animation podcasters, I am available for bookings... Y'know, if you like.