Film Strip

I have a confession to make. I love Pixar, but I do not like Cars.

There, I said it.

I just don’t like the movie, and I’ll tell you why. 1) Because I’m not much of a NASCAR fan. (Sidenote: That is also the reason I don’t like Talladega Nights.) My oldest brother brought me up on open-wheele racing, so I like Indy-car and F-1 much better. 2) It’s the same exact movie as Disney’s Home on the Range staring Roseanne Bar. And I despised that movie.

Home on the Range, for those of you who understandably don’t remember, was a forgotten Disney movie released in 2004. Still don’t remember it. Good, you’re better off. It was Disney’s last traditionally animated film when they decided to go all CGI, that is before The Princess and the Frog. I saw it because some friends were in town and the only choices at the theater were that, and The Punisher. Even as a die-hard comics fan, I knew better than to see The Punisher. So we saw this Disney atrocity.

It’s about a prized dairy cow who gets sent to a regular farm where she has to learn what it’s like in the real world where you have to care for others and not be the center of attention. Sound like a certain race-car champion who get’s stuck in a small town where he has to learn to care for others and not be the center of attention? Now I know there are only something like 11 – 23 different story plots in all of history, but just the fact that I could equate a Pixar movie released in 2006 with a bad Disney movie released in 2004 was enough to annoy me.

And now there’s a Cars 2 set for release! Arrggg!

Don’t get me wrong. I know why there’s a Cars 2. Little boys love race-cars. I know this. I have a 5-year-old nephew, and he LOVES Cars. I got him a Cars race-track for Christmas. I just can’t get over not liking it.

So why am I ranting about kids movies? Well, Toy Story 3 just came out, and it got me thinking about kids movies, but I also watched Bolt on the plane home from Japan last week.

Bolt was that Disney (not Pixar) CGI movie that came out two years ago. I wanted to see it at the time, but I never got around to it. It looked good. It was about a dog who has super powers on a TV show, but the dog really believes he has super powers in real life. It sounded like a fun concept.

Unfortunately, the movie wasn’t that good.

The story was lacking a lot of substance, and the hamster character that was supposed to provide comic relief was really annoying. It’s basically The Incredible Journey with a twist. Oh, and the cliches that this hamster threw out were appalling. (Yes, I know he was supposed to be quoting all the TV he watched, but still–arrggg!)

Sheesh! And I was afraid this blog would be filled with too many positive reviews since I like most things. Sorry about that.

At any rate, I’m looking forward to Toy Story 3, since I love all the Pixar movies, except Cars. Just between you and me, Toy Story 2 slipped through the cracks for me, so I’m going to have to catch that first. Anyone with kids or any kids-at-heart like me, want to loan me Toy Story 2 before this weekend? Thanks

To infinity, and beyond!