You will probably not like this for the simple reason that as a movie it could never stand as far above other movies as it does as a book above other books.
Even among Seuss books it is a sort of marvel. Its structure is such that it balances a story where the point is belief in an invisible deity, with a story about intolerant believes. Its spirit and inquisition and seeing it today, I imagined the great, great divide in my city.
You see, we have radical Christian fundamentalists, the kind that belief in intelligent design. And we have.. Let's say, folks who are sensitized to intolerance. I imagine both of these will go home thinking this story was written for them.
Its a marvelous creation that way: a story about two worlds, balanced between two worlds.
Alas, it lacked oompf, except for two things. One was the inclusion of an impression and quote from JFK. It really had power and almost became the center of the thing.
The other thing was a matter of enlightened film-making, a technique which I call folding. How do you make a cartoon seem closer to reality? Especially a cartoon whose form is inflexibly fantastic because it has to copy the book.
Why, you do that by inserting another cartoon in it, one that follows Ted's law, the law that the fold within has to be the same level of abstraction down as the containing film is from the viewer's world. That's what we have here, a sort of parody of Japanese anime. Its amazingly well chosen and does what is intended.
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
Even among Seuss books it is a sort of marvel. Its structure is such that it balances a story where the point is belief in an invisible deity, with a story about intolerant believes. Its spirit and inquisition and seeing it today, I imagined the great, great divide in my city.
You see, we have radical Christian fundamentalists, the kind that belief in intelligent design. And we have.. Let's say, folks who are sensitized to intolerance. I imagine both of these will go home thinking this story was written for them.
Its a marvelous creation that way: a story about two worlds, balanced between two worlds.
Alas, it lacked oompf, except for two things. One was the inclusion of an impression and quote from JFK. It really had power and almost became the center of the thing.
The other thing was a matter of enlightened film-making, a technique which I call folding. How do you make a cartoon seem closer to reality? Especially a cartoon whose form is inflexibly fantastic because it has to copy the book.
Why, you do that by inserting another cartoon in it, one that follows Ted's law, the law that the fold within has to be the same level of abstraction down as the containing film is from the viewer's world. That's what we have here, a sort of parody of Japanese anime. Its amazingly well chosen and does what is intended.
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.