“EPIC,” Is it a Winner? Vote for your Favorite Animated Film too!

This 3D animated film is based upon William Joyce's book, The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs. The original story was not used and a traditional action fantasy story line was developed. The director, Chris Wedge had William Joyce and four other writers work up the script. Wedge explains, "But while Bill wrote a wonderful book, it is a quaint story. We wanted to make a gigantic action-adventure movie." To address online speculations about whether the film is similar to other films, like FernGully: The Last Rainforest or Avatar, Wedge said: "I hate to associate it with other movies. It is adventure on the scale of Star Wars. And it does immerse the audience completely in a world like Avatar. But it has its own personality.”*

The film was a box office hit with $252 million in receipts, about half of what Pixar films generate. Many critics gave it poor reviews, though mixed, while the viewers gave it an “A+” for children and “A” for adults.

If you have viewed “Ice Age” and enjoyed it, you will love this lavish adventure fantasy created by the same production studio. One can see the influences of the above mentioned” Avatar,” “Ferngully,” and “Star Wars.” From the opening scenes we cannot help but think of the beautiful flying scenes in “Avatar” where humans ride upon birds in spectacular landscapes battling for control of the planet. The fight scenes are intense and one feels that the leafmen may very well lose the battle.

The New Look in Animation:

As computer generated animation appears so vividly real in the last decade, it is difficult to separate animation from real-life productions. Avatar is considered to be a live production, however much of it was animation so intense that it was not apparent to viewers. Consider that the main character was an animation when he appeared as the Avatar and one can understand that animation and live actors are now a mix of special effects.

And so it is here and in other recent films like “Brave,” “How to Slay a Dragon,” “Shrek,” “Ice-Age” and others. One could view “Jack the Giant Slayer” and “Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters”, and flip a coin as to whether this is predominantly live-actor or animated.

In “epic” the decision to make it an animated production was a big one. It could have been done with live actors and would have been beautiful and probably not that much different than the fully animated film.

So—What about “EPIC?”

For this viewer it is a dazzling fast-paced thrill-ride that must be viewed many times over in order to take it all in. Subsequent viewings reveal the subtle humor, the brilliant scripting, and vivid characterizations that are missed the first time around. Like the “Ice- Age” films, there are cute characters in every scene that keep the laughs going a mile a minute. The slug and the snail steal the show here. On the other hand there is an conniving frog and his cohorts that are reminiscent of the giant slug in Star Wars.

I agree with Wedge when he says, “...it has its own personality.” Yes, nothing is borrowed here. We are taken into a magical world like no other and then we can learn something from the experience. Like “How to Train a Dragon” I was surprised to learn that I was taken on a journey in which I felt I had leaned from it and was a better person for the experience.

Let's think about the animated films we have all seen during our lifetime. Which one rises to the top? The last decade has been a thrill ride for animated films. The lavish settings and characterizations make the early Disney films look pale in comparison. I viewed 'The Princess and the Frog” which was done in the older Disney style and I had to force myself to view it to the final scenes as the animation seemed weak when comparing it to the newer computer generated films.

I would not want to influence anyone in selecting a best ever, however I will explain why I picked “How to Train Your Dragon” by DreamWorks as my all-time favorite. I loved the lavish Viking settings, the great script, and the outstanding animation. The developing friendship between Hiccup and the dragon captured my heart and the big battle scene all worked for me. The epilogue (no spoiler here) was wonderful and it was then that I realized that I was better for the experience. Others, like “epic,”“Despicable Me.” and “Wreck it Ralph” all rise to the top as contenders for the same reasons. “Brave” competes for a top spot for the memorable authentic Irish voices and beautiful settings.

Here is a list to help you decide, however vote for anything that comes to your mind by making a comment:

Arthur Christmas

Beauty and the Beast

Brave

Despicable Me

Disney films from the past

epic

Escape from Planet Earth

Finding Nemo

Gulliver's Travels

How to Train Your Dragon

The Pirates! Band of Misfits

Puss in Boots

Rise of the Guardians

Rio

Shrek ( series of four films)

Tangled

Tintin

UP

Wall-E

Wreck it Ralph

Frozen

* Source: Wikipedia