With the DVD release of Disney’s Bolt as well as the recent cinema release of Disney’s G-Force, I started thinking about my favorite movies involving animals, animated or live-action. I also started thinking about how many creative liberties Hollywood takes with depicting an animal in a movie. Whether it’s a fuzzy four legged creature, or a six legged “monster” we’ve all seen different takes of animals in movies. The following (in no particular order) are my favorite family movies with animals as the stars, virtual or… non-virtual (is that the right term?). Anyway, on with the show… or blog… whatever…
Not your typical gourmet chef
Take Pixar’s Ratatouille. You have to understand, I had very low expectations for this film. I’m not a rat person. I don’t hate them like some people do, nor am I terrified of them, but I didn’t think this would sit well with the general public. Boy was I wrong! You know how people are scared of rats, or think they’re gross? Either way, I’m glad this turned out to be a great movie. Their personalities were really close to actual rat personalities. The rats moved like real rats. They scrounged for food just like a wild rat would. Sure, rats can’t cook up a meal a-la-Rachel Ray or Giada de Laurentiis, but if I ever did see a rat do that, I’d laugh hysterically before posting it to Youtube where everyone would call it fake. Remy was a great character that marched to the beat of his own drum.
Yes, I read books sometimes too.
Gromit, from the British stop-motion animated (claymation I guess?) shorts and feature film, Wallace and Gromit, is another one of my favorite characters. Sure, unlike real dogs he’s usually on two legs, is actually smarter than his person at times (well that might actually be true for a good portion of people, or am I giving dogs too much credit?… a can of worms?), and relies solely on non-verbal communication. Oh wait… maybe he’s not too far fetched and just an exaggeration of real dogs? Anyway, I like him because he always means well, and is always loyal regardless of how many boneheaded things Wallace does. Reminds me of a simpler, and not so pretentious version of Brian from FOX’s Family Guy, but I won’t get into that.
Where did Donatello go??
What I will get into is the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle live action movie from the 80′s. Yes, I know, they’re not real. But neither is a dog playing basketball like in Air Bud… nor is a Teen Wolf realistic. Not that I don’t like those movies either. But I liked the Ninja Turtles. I wanted to be a ninja as a kid. And they were the antithesis of The Tortoise and the Hare. They could ninja kick the darn rabbit! Sure, slow and steady wins the… KIYAAAAAA! HIIIIYAAAAAA!!! OWWW!!! Ok, well that’s not a good lesson to learn as a kid. But it kept me active jumping around and trying to spin and kick and punch! I loved those things as a child.
Homeward Bound: I swear my dog could talk after I saw this movie
Finding Nemo: It's just funny how Jacques cleans and cleans and cleans
Babe: A little pig goes a long way. It's a good thing I don't eat pork anymore!
So what family friendly movies starring animals, or with animals are your favorites and why?