RECENTLY VIEWED: TOY STORY 5

I really didn't cry during Toy Story 5, like I did at the other movies, but the film was still extremely sad. I saw the movie with my 13 year old daughter, who announced this past Father's Day weekend that she wants to see the new live action Moana movie with her friend. I am crushed but back to Toy Story 5. Toy Story 5 is a 2026 American animated adventure comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Andrew Stanton, who conceived the story and co-wrote the screenplay with Kenna Harris, it is the fifth main installment in Pixar's Toy Story film series and the sequel to Toy Story 4 (2019). The ensemble voice cast features Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, and Joan Cusack among those reprising their roles from the previous films, joined by Conan O'Brien, Scarlett Spears, Greta Lee, Shelby Rabara, Mykal-Michelle Harris, and Craig Robinson. Set two years after the events of the fourth film, Toy Story 5 follows Jessie (Cusack), Woody (Hanks), and Buzz Lightyear (Allen) as they and the other toys deal with the presence of Lilypad (Lee), a tablet and the new favorite plaything of Bonnie (Spears).

While Hanks said in May 2019 that Toy Story 4 was the final film in the franchise, the possibility of a fifth film had not been ruled out. Development on a fifth film was confirmed in February 2023, with Hanks and Allen returning. Stanton was confirmed as the director in June 2024 and later as a writer. It is the first main film in the series with no involvement from co-creator John Lasseter, who left Pixar in late 2018. The franchise's composer, Randy Newman, returned to score the film, marking his tenth collaboration with Pixar, while Taylor Swift contributed the number-one single "I Knew It, I Knew You" to the soundtrack. With a budget of $250 million, Toy Story 5 is one of the most expensive animated films ever made, and the most expensive film produced by Pixar.

Toy Story 5 had its world premiere in Los Angeles on June 9, 2026, and was theatrically released in the United States on June 19. Like its predecessors, it received positive reviews from critics, who praised its visuals, voice performances, humor and themes, although some questioned the screenplay and justification for existing. It has grossed $310.2 million worldwide, breaking several box office records, and becoming the ninth-highest-grossing film of 2026.

I won't talk about the plot, but there are some truly tender moments. Now that my children are teenagers, I feel like those toys. One line in the film stuck with me: "You may not feel like you don't matter anymore, but what's important is you mattered to someone sometime"

MY RATING: 8 out of 10

FLASHBACK: BORIS KARLOFF - 1966

59 years ago today, December 18, 1966, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! premiered!

  
The 26-minute short was originally telecast in the United States on CBS on December 18, 1966. CBS repeated it annually during the Christmas season until their last airing in 1986. Beginning in 1987, TNT began exclusively running the special. Unlike the years it aired on CBS, The Grinch now ran several times during the Christmas season. In 1990, TBS also began running the special. From 1996 until 2005, The WB Television Network also began airing the special at least once per season. Then in 2006, The Grinch returned to one of the big three networks, this being ABC, which began broadcasting it several times annually during the Christmas season until 2014. On August 13, 2015, it was announced that the special will move to NBC, which will air it twice during the Christmas season under a three-year licensing deal with Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. It is currently aired during the Christmas season additionally on various cable channels owned by Turner Broadcasting System. including TNT, TBS, Cartoon Network, and Boomerang but with some scenes trimmed to fit more commercial time.

Boris Karloff, in one of his final roles, narrates the film and also provides the speaking voice of The Grinch. (The opening credits state, "The sounds of the Grinch are by Boris Karloff...And read by Boris Karloff too!") The special was originally produced by The Cat in the Hat Productions in association with the television and animation divisions of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios.

THE RETURN OF KING OF THE HILL

Life has changed since "King of the Hill" ended way back in 2009.

Hulu has released the first look of the animated comedy revival from creators Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, and the new poster shows a drone flying a case of Alamo beer into Arlen, Texas.

Hank Hill is back with his longtime pals – Bill, Dale, and Boomhauer – drinking beer in the alley behind Hank's house. Hank and company look slightly older, naturally. His pals are embracing change. Bill is enjoying food deliveries by Mega Lo Eats, while Dale is rocking a virtual reality headset with an Alamo in hand.

Judge reprises his voice roles as propane salesman Hank Hill and fast-talking pal Boomhauer. Kathy Najimy returns as Hank's wife Peggy. Pamela Adlon returns as son Bobby, who now works in a fusion restaurant (a career inspired by weekends spent grilling with his dad).

Stephen Root is back as Bill Dauterive. Johnny Hardwick, the voice of Dale Gribble, died in 2023.

Hulu retweeted the poster with the exclamation, "We are so back!" No official date has been given for the series, which is expected in the summer. Show creators will give more information on May 30 at the "King of the Hill" revival event at Austin's ATX TV Festival. Judge, Daniels and other cast members are expected to attend...

RECENTLY VIEWED: INSIDE OUT 2

Usually I jump at the chance to go to the movies with my daughter, who is a fellow movie buff. However, she wanted to fo see Inside Out 2, and I was not that keen on seeing it. I never saw the first movie so we watched it the week before we went, and it was pretty good. It was sentimental and I teared up, so I was more excited to see the sequel. Inside Out 2 is a 2024 American animated coming-of-age film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The sequel to Inside Out (2015), it was directed by Kelsey Mann (in his feature directorial debut) and produced by Mark Nielsen, from a screenplay written by Meg LeFauve and Dave Holstein, and a story conceived by Mann and LeFauve. Amy Poehler, Phyllis Smith, Lewis Black, Diane Lane, and Kyle MacLachlan reprise their roles from the first film, with Maya Hawke, Kensington Tallman, Tony Hale, Liza Lapira, Ayo Edebiri, Lilimar, Grace Lu, Sumayyah Nuriddin-Green, Adèle Exarchopoulos, and Paul Walter Hauser joining the cast. The film tells the story of Riley's emotions as they find themselves joined by new emotions that want to take over Riley's head.

Inside Out 2 premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on June 10, 2024, and was released in theaters in the United States on June 14. The film received positive reviews from critics and has grossed $1.359 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing film of 2024. It had the third-biggest domestic opening weekend for an animated film and became the fastest animated film to cross the $1 billion mark, alongside being the fourth highest-grossing animated film of all-time and the highest-grossing film in Pixar history.

If you saw the first film and enjoyed it, you will probably like this film. I don't think this sequel was as sentimental and heartwarming as the first film, but as my daughter is entering womanhood she really enjoyed the movie. Amy Poehler makes the movie - just like she makes everything she stars in. I recommend seeing it with someone you love - like a daughter and granddaughter, and enjoy a nice Pixar film. The movie wasn't the best but spending time with my daighter on a Sunday morning was...

MY RATING: 8 out of 10

RECENTLY VIEWED: FROZEN 2

With a busy family full of gymnastic practice, basketball games, and school functions, it is difficult for the whole family to go see a movie together. Yesterday though, all four of us went to see Frozen 2 in a packed movie theater. The sequel did not disappoint.

Frozen II, also known as Frozen 2, is a 2019 American 3D computer-animated musical fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. The 58th animated film produced by the studio, it is the sequel to the 2013 film Frozen and features the return of directors Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, producer Peter Del Vecho, songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, and composer Christophe Beck. Lee also returns as screenwriter, penning the screenplay from a story by her, Buck, Marc E. Smith, Anderson-Lopez and Lopez, while Byron Howard executive-produced the film. Veteran voice cast Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Josh Gad, Jonathan Groff, and Ciarán Hinds return as their previous characters, and are joined by newcomers Sterling K. Brown, Evan Rachel Wood, Alfred Molina, Martha Plimpton, Jason Ritter, Rachel Matthews, and Jeremy Sisto.

Set three years after the events of the first film, the story follows Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven who embark on a journey beyond their kingdom of Arendelle in order to discover the origin of Elsa's magical powers and save their kingdom after a mysterious voice calls out to Elsa.

Frozen II had its world premiere at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on November 7, 2019, and was released in the United States by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures on November 22, 2019. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics, who praised its animation, visuals, music and vocal performances, although criticism focused on its convoluted plot. It has grossed $738 million worldwide, and had the highest all-time worldwide opening for an animated film.

I do have to stay that while the movie was great, and as usual I shed a few tears, the songs may not be as catchy as in Frozen. However, my daughter especially loved the film, and it was a great movie to see on a rainy Sunday morning. It was so good, I am ready for another sequel already! If you liked the first Frozen, that don't freeze this sequel out of your heart and go see it...

MY RATING: 10 OUT OF 10

RECENTLY VIEWED: TOY STORY 4

Yep, I'm a 45 year old man, but I cry at movies. Yep, I cried this morning when I went to see Toy Story 4 with my children. Yep, I loved the movie! Toy Story 4 is a 2019 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the fourth installment in Pixar's Toy Story series and the sequel to 2010's Toy Story 3. It was directed by Josh Cooley (in his feature directorial debut) from a screenplay by Andrew Stanton (who had co-written the first three films) and Stephany Folsom; the three also conceived the story alongside John Lasseter (director of the first two installments in the franchise), Rashida Jones, Will McCormack, Valerie LaPointe, and Martin Hynes. The film stars the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Annie Potts, Tony Hale, Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Madeleine McGraw, Christina Hendricks, Keanu Reeves, Ally Maki, Jay Hernandez, Lori Alan, and Joan Cusack.

The film continues from Toy Story 3, where Sheriff Woody and Buzz Lightyear, among their other toy friends, have found new appreciation after being given by Andy to Bonnie. They are introduced to Forky, a spork that has been made into a toy and embark on a road trip adventure. The film is dedicated to Don Rickles and animator Adam Burke, who died in 2017 and 2018, respectively.

Most of the previous voice actors, including Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, signed on to reprise their past voices. Hanks stated in May 2016 that he had finished recording his first lines for Woody. Annie Potts was confirmed to be returning as Bo Peep, after being absent from Toy Story 3. Don Rickles intended to reprise his role as Mr. Potato Head, but died in April 2017, before any lines were recorded as the script was still being rewritten. According to Cooley, Rickles' family contacted Pixar and asked if there was any way to include him in the film. Pixar reviewed 25 years of archival material that Rickles had participated in, including unused lines from the first three Toy Story films, video games and other related media for the franchise, and other works, and were able to assemble enough material to use within the film.

Tony Hale was cast as Forky, a homemade toy suffering an existential crisis. Hale has performed roles before with similar panicked characters, notably Buster Bluth on Arrested Development and Gary Walsh on Veep. When asked to voice Forky, Hale said, "A utensil's existential crisis? I'm in!". Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele were cast as a pair of carnival prize plush toys named Ducky and Bunny. Cooley said that while they brought them on to provide some improvised comedy to the film, "they were story motivated which elevated Ducky and Bunny and the film to a level I never could have expected".

Additionally, Keanu Reeves was announced to be voicing a character in the film, named Duke Caboom. Reeves said he was contacted out of the blue by Pixar for the role, seeking him to voice the part and letting him develop his own riffs on the character. On March 22, 2019, Madeline McGraw, who previously voiced Maddy McGear in Pixar's Cars 3, was revealed to be voicing Bonnie, replacing Emily Hahn. Comedy legends Carol Burnett, Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner and Betty White were added to the cast to voice a set of four toys that Bonnie played with as a toddler but had since outgrown, acting as "veteran" toys to help Woody prepare for when the same happens to him.

Okay, so I didn't cry through the whole but just three times. The first two times were just tears in my eyes, but the third time (at the end of the movie) was just almost sobbing. I am a modern man that is in touch with my emotions. It is fun for my family to see what movies I will cry at! Anyways, the Toy Story series is my favorite series of cartoon movies, and this one did not disappoint. The ending will leave you speechless, and even my six year old daughter (who takes after my wife and is not a crier) had tears in her eyes. After the third sequel you would think the series would be getting tired, but the movie was great and emotionally it takes you to infinity and beyond!

MY RATING: 10 OUT OF 10

RECENTLY VIEWED: RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET

Since I have two young children, I end up watching a lot of cartoons. I especially see a lot of children's movies in the theater. I am so glad that studios make cartoons that can appeal to children and adults alike. One example of this is the great cartoon "Ralph Breaks The Internet" which I went to see with my two children during Thanksgiving break.

Ralph Breaks the Internet is a 2018 American 3D computer-animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures as well as the studio's 57th feature-length film. It is the second installment of the Wreck-It Ralph film series and the sequel to the 2012 film Wreck-It Ralph. It is directed by Rich Moore and Phil Johnston, written by Johnston and Pamela Ribon, and executive-produced by John Lasseter, Chris Williams, and Jennifer Lee. It features John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch, and Ed O'Neill reprising their roles from the first film, with Alan Tudyk returning to voice a new character, alongside new additions to the cast including Gal Gadot, Taraji P. Henson, Bill Hader (in an uncredited role), and Alfred Molina.

Talks for a Wreck-It Ralph sequel began in October 2012, and went through three different scripts before settling on the final plot. The film was officially announced in June 2016, with much of the original cast confirming they had signed on, with new members being added in 2018. It marks the first feature-length theatrical sequel from Walt Disney Animation Studios since Winnie the Pooh in 2011, which was a sequel to the 1977 animated film The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. It is also the studio's first animated sequel to be created by the original film's writing/directing team.

Similar to the first film, which included a number of cameos and references to video games, Ralph Breaks the Internet has additional features to Internet culture and to various Disney properties, including their own films, Pixar films, the Star Wars, Marvel Comics, and The Muppets franchises. Mickey Mouse, Grumpy,Dumbo, Buzz Lightyear,C-3PO,R2-D2,Yoda, First Order Stormtroopers, Iron Man, and Rocket Raccoon also appear in the film, along with the video game characters Q*Bert, Pac-Man, Clyde, Inky, Taizo Hori, Ken Masters, Chun-Li, Ryu, Zangief, M. Bison, Peter Pepper, Frogger, Tapper, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Doctor Eggman from the original film. The band Imagine Dragons (whose song "Zero" is featured in a trailer for the film, as well as its soundtrack) make a cameo appearance in the film, with the members voicing themselves. Stan Lee, Marvel Comics' former writer, editor and publisher, makes a posthumous cameo appearance in the film talking to Iron Man. The filmmakers revealed that the film originally featured a joke about Kylo Ren being a "spoiled child", which was later cut from the film by request from Lucasfilm.

One of the best moments in the film is when all of the Disney princesses makes appearances. The original actresses provided the voices, except for the older movie princesses like Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella. Reportedly this is the first time all of them appeared together on film. Their appearance was much more than a cameo, and they are important to the end of the film. 

Ralph Breaks The Internet has it all. The cartoon part of the film is enjoyable for kids, but the spoofing of ebay, amazon, and other internet hot spots will make the older viewers laugh. It's a great film, and all three of us enjoyed the trip to the movies...

MY RATING: 10 OUT OF 10

BORN ON THIS DAY: CHARLES SCHULTZ

One of my favorite memories as a child was reading Peanuts cartoon strips and watching the annual Charlie Brown cartoons on television. It's creator, Charles Schultz, was born on this day on November 26, 1922. Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Schulz grew up in Saint Paul. He was the only child of Carl Schulz, who was born in Germany, and Dena Halverson, who had Norwegian heritage. His uncle called him "Sparky" after the horse Spark Plug in Billy DeBeck's comic strip, Barney Google.

Schulz loved drawing and sometimes drew his family dog, Spike, who ate unusual things, such as pins and tacks. In 1937, Schulz drew a picture of Spike and sent it to Ripley's Believe It or Not!; his drawing appeared in Robert Ripley's syndicated panel, captioned, "A hunting dog that eats pins, tacks, and razor blades is owned by C. F. Schulz, St. Paul, Minn." and "Drawn by 'Sparky'" (C.F. was his father, Carl Fred Schulz).

Schulz attended Richards Gordon Elementary School in Saint Paul, where he skipped two half-grades. He became a shy, timid teenager, perhaps as a result of being the youngest in his class at Central High School. One well-known episode in his high school life was the rejection of his drawings by his high school yearbook, which he referred to in Peanuts years later, when he had Lucy ask Charlie Brown to sign a picture he drew of a horse, only to then say it was a prank. A five-foot-tall statue of Snoopy was placed in the school's main office 60 years later.

Schulz's first group of regular cartoons, a weekly series of one-panel jokes entitled Li'l Folks, was published from June 1947 to January 1950 in the St. Paul Pioneer Press, with Schulz usually doing four one-panel drawings per issue. It was in Li'l Folks that Schulz first used the name Charlie Brown for a character, although he applied the name in four gags to three different boys as well as one buried in sand. The series also had a dog that looked much like Snoopy. In May 1948, Schulz sold his first one-panel drawing to The Saturday Evening Post; within the next two years, a total of 17 untitled drawings by Schulz were published in the Post, simultaneously with his work for St. Paul Pioneer Press. Around the same time, he tried to have Li'l Folks syndicated through the Newspaper Enterprise Association; Schulz would have been an independent contractor for the syndicate, unheard of in the 1940s, but the deal fell through. Li'l Folks was dropped from the Pioneer Press in January 1950.

Later that year, Schulz approached the United Feature Syndicate with the one-panel series Li'l Folks, and the syndicate became interested. However, by that time Schulz had also developed a comic strip, using normally four panels rather than one, and reportedly to Schulz's delight, the syndicate preferred this version. Peanuts made its first appearance on October 2, 1950, in seven newspapers. The weekly Sunday-page debuted on January 6, 1952. After a somewhat slow beginning, Peanuts eventually became one of the most popular comic strips of all time, as well as one of the most influential. Schulz also had a short-lived sports-oriented comic strip called It's Only a Game (1957–1959), but he abandoned it due to the demands of the successful Peanuts. The rest is history...

RECENTLY VIEWED: HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 3 - SUMMER VACATION

I am a big movie fan so I like old and new movies. I think some of what is coming out of Hollywood is trash these days but some recent movies are quite good. One actor I never liked was Adam Sandler. Some of his early work was mildy amusing, but I'm not a big fan of a 50 year old acting like he is 20. With that being said, I took my daughter to see Hotel Translyvania 3 for a daddy/daughter day. I loved the movie, and even though Dracula is voiced by Adam Sandler, I forgot it was him!

Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (known internationally as Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation) is a 2018 American 3D computer-animated comedy film produced by Sony Pictures Animation and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. The third installment in the Hotel Transylvania franchise, it is directed by Genndy Tartakovsky and written by Tartakovsky and Michael McCullers, and features Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kevin James, David Spade, Steve Buscemi, Keegan-Michael Key, Molly Shannon, Fran Drescher, and Mel Brooks reprising their roles as well as new additions to the cast like Kathryn Hahn and Jim Gaffigan.

Taking place a few months after the events of the previous film, the story centers on Dracula, Mavis, Johnny, and the rest of their family, both human and monster, and friends as they take a vacation on a luxury Monster Cruise Ship. Dracula becomes attracted to the ship's mysterious captain Ericka, the great-granddaughter of Abraham Van Helsing, the notorious monster slayer and Dracula's ancient archenemy.

The night before I went to see this movie with my daughter, I watched 2017's IT on HBO, so I think I was in the mood for a mindless and innocent film. The movie is very family friendly, and it was released on Friday July 13th to an audience that obviously wants to see more from this franchise since the movie had the second biggest opening of the three films.

The plot is simple: Dracula (Sandler) is looking for love. Frankenstein (Kevin James) is trying not to lose an arm and a leg (literally) at the casino, and Mel Brooks is back as Dracula's elderly father. I wish there was more Mel Brooks in the film. All in all, it's a great movie, and my daughter loved the movie. With popcorn and fruit punch, our daddy-daughter Sunday was a great success! Thanks Adam Sandler...

MY RATING: 10 OUT OF 10

RECENTLY VIEWED: UP

Maybe I am just overly sensitive, but I am not too proud to admit I openly cry at movies. Maybe it's the sentimental side of me. I don't know. My wife is the opposite of me! We recently watched the 2009 cartoon UP with our kids, and I had to leave the room from crying. The beginning of the movie is the saddest opening to a movie I have ever sat through.

Up is a 2009 American 3D computer-animated comedy adventure film produced by Pixar and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Pete Docter, the film centers on an elderly widower named Carl Fredricksen (Ed Asner) and an earnest young Wilderness Explorer named Russell (Jordan Nagai). By tying thousands of balloons to his home, 78-year-old Carl sets out to fulfill his dream to see the wilds of South America and to complete a promise made to his late wife, Ellie. The film was co-directed by Bob Peterson, with music composed by Michael Giacchino.

Docter began working on the story in 2004, which was based on fantasies of escaping from life when it becomes too irritating. He and eleven other Pixar artists spent three days in Venezuela gathering research and inspiration. The designs of the characters were caricatured and stylized considerably, and animators were challenged with creating realistic cloth. The floating house is attached by a varying number between 10,000 and 20,000 balloons in the film's sequences. Up was Pixar's first film to be presented in Disney Digital 3-D.

Up was released on May 29, 2009 and opened the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, becoming the first animated and 3D film to do so. The film became a great financial success, accumulating over $731 million in its theatrical release. Up received universal acclaim, with most reviewers commending the humor and heart of the film. Edward Asner was praised for his portrayal of Carl, and a montage of Carl and his wife Ellie aging together was widely lauded. The film received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, making it the second animated film in history to receive such a nomination (and Pixar's first Best Picture nomination), following Beauty and the Beast (1991).

Docter noted that the film reflects his friendships with Disney veterans Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, and Joe Grant (who all died before the film's release and thus the film was dedicated to them). Grant gave the script his approval as well as some advice before his death in 2005. Docter recalled that Grant would remind him that the audience needed an "emotional bedrock" because of how wacky the adventure would become; here it is Carl mourning for his wife.Docter felt that Grant's personality influenced Carl's deceased wife Ellie more than the grouchy main character, and Carl was primarily based on Spencer Tracy, Walter Matthau, James Whitmore, and their own grandparents, because there was "something sweet about these grumpy old guys". Docter and Jonas Rivera noted Carl's charming nature in spite of his grumpiness derives from the elderly "hav[ing] this charm and almost this 'old man license' to say things that other people couldn't get away with [...] It's like how we would go to eat with Joe Grant and he would call the waitresses 'honey'. I wish I could call a waitress 'honey'.

Like I said the film starts out so sad, I have tears in my eyes as I write this, but by the end of the film the tone is happy and optimistic. I lose it every time I see the note that Carl finds that his wife wrote him: "Now go ahead and have your own adventure". I don't think I can write anymore...

MY RATING: 10 OUT OF 10

RECENTLY VIEWED: EVERYONE'S HERO

My son loves baseball movies. Almost any baseball movie he can watch. We have HBO free for a year for renewing our cable service, and I happend to flip around to catch the charming 2006 cartoon Everyone's Hero. My son has made me watch five times now with him so the magic of the movie has worn off, but I still like it.

Everyone's Hero is a 2006 Canadian–American computer-animated adventure sports comedy family film, written by Robert Kurtz and Jeff Hand and directed by Colin Brady, Christopher Reeve (who was working on this film at the time of his death), and Daniel St. Pierre, with music by John Debney. The majority of this film was produced by IDT Entertainment in Toronto with portions outsourced to Reel FX Creative Studios. It was distributed by 20th Century Fox, and released theatrically on September 15, 2006. Everyone's Hero earned $16 million worldwide during its theatrical run. The film stars William H. Macy, Rob Reiner, Brian Dennehy,Raven-Symoné, Robert Wagner, Richard Kind, Dana Reeve, Jake T. Austin, Joe Torre, Mandy Patinkin, Forest Whitaker and Whoopi Goldberg. Everyone's Hero was released on DVD on March 20, 2007 by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.

In 1932, the dawn of the Great Depression, a young baseball fan Yankee Irving (Jake T. Austin), whose father Stanley (Mandy Patinkin) works as a janitor for New York City's Yankee Stadium, dreams of playing for the Yankees but can't even play sandlot baseball well enough to avoid being picked last. One day beside the sandlot, he finds a talking baseball he names Screwie (Rob Reiner).

While father and son are in the stadium, a thief steals Babe Ruth's famous bat Darlin' (Whoopi Goldberg). Yankee's father, who was working his shift at the time, is blamed and accordingly fired. The true thief is Lefty Maginnis (William H. Macy), a pitcher for the Chicago Cubs. Lefty works for Cubs owner Napoleon Cross (Robin Williams), who desires to see the Cubs defeat the Yankees during the 1932 World Series.

Stealing the bat back, Yankee decides to return it to Ruth—and thereby exonerate his father—by journeying across the country to Chicago, where the next World Series' games will be played. Darlin' is able to speak, as does her counterpart Screwie, who she constantly argues and bickers with (though near the end, they finally become friends). Much of the plot is driven by Lefty's comic attempts to retrieve the bat from Yankee, with slapstick results. Other scenes involve Yankee meeting others who will help him in his quest: several hobos (Ed Helms, Richard Kind, and Ron Tippe); Marti (Raven-Symoné), an African American girl; her baseball player father Lonnie Brewster (Forest Whitaker); and in Chicago, Babe Ruth himself (Brian Dennehy).

A series of improbable coincidences allows Yankee himself to bat for the Yankees, resulting in the archetypal home run (technically, a series of errors after an infield pop-up that allow him to round the bases). This restores the morale of the Yankees, who score 7 more runs to take the lead and win the World Series. Cross tries to talk Babe Ruth out of accepting the victory, saying that Yankee is too young to be a counting player. This leads to the arrest of Cross, and also Lefty. Yankee also successfully exonerates his father. Yankee returns home, now knowing what is truly important in baseball.

It is sad that Christopher Reeve died before this film was finished, because it is a great movie. It really captures what baseball meant to the country in 1932. This is before it became the business and cut throat industry it is today. My son still thinks baseball today is like baseball was in 1932, and upon watching this cartoon with him, I do not want to him to lose that innocence, at least yet...

MY RATING: 7 OUT OF 10

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RECENTLY VIEWED: A BOY NAMED CHARLIE BROWN

The other night I had the opportunity to re watch one of the saddest movies I have watched in some time, and one movie that has stuck with me through the years. The movie is the 1969 cartoon A Boy Named Charlie Brown. The movie has been important to me, because in my youth I felt like I was a misfit like the main character poor Charlie Brown.

The movie was the first feature film based on the Peanuts comic strip. It was also the final time that Peter Robbins voiced the character of Charlie Brown (Robbins had voiced the role for all the Peanuts television specials up to that point, starting with the debut of the specials, 1965's A Charlie Brown Christmas).

In this film, Charlie Brown, our hero, has finally proved that he can do something right. He wins the spelling bee in his class. All the kids treat him with their usual lack of tact. He studies really hard and wins the championship at his school and gets to go to the "city" to be in the "National Elimination Spelling Bee" I will not spoil the ending.

Vince Guaraldi, the composer of the music for the six previous TV specials, is back for this one. There are new arrangements of the old music, plus several new songs by Rod McKuen. Guaraldi did not do the music for the next feature, Snoopy Come Home (1972) and that film suffers because of this.

Schroeder has a beautiful salute to Beethoven in this film. While the music plays, we see some beautiful abstract scenes and colors on the screen that look fantastic in Technicolor. Sadly, I have seen this sequence cut from TV showings.

Snoopy has a wonderful sequence while he and Linus are wandering around the city looking for his blanket that he sent with Charlie Brown for good luck. Snoopy discovers an ice skating rink and pretends that he is in a hockey match while he skates around the rink. He also has an encounter with the Red Baron that has some of the same animation that was used in "He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown! on TV.

One thing that I like about this film is when the closing credits are rolling, you get to see animated images of most of the principal creators of this film. Their names are on the right side of the screen, and their images appear on the left. Things like that entice me to sit through the credits instead of walking out as soon as they start.

Since I watched the movie, I can not get the title song "A Boy Named Charlie Brown", sung and written by Rod McKuen out of my head. It sets the whole mood for the film in the beginning and the end. The song and the movie basically tells us that there is a little bit of Charlie Brown in all of us. I love the movie despite its melancholy portrayal of Charlie Brown, and even though I am sad for Charlie, I am quite happy by the end of the film. It is a great film for everyone. You're a blockhead if you don't see this one!

MY RATING: 10 OUT OF 10

THE SAGA OF SONG OF THE SOUTH

Song of the South, a 1946 Disney film mixing animation and live action, was based on the "Uncle Remus" stories of Joel Chandler Harris. Harris, who had grown up in Georgia during the Civil War, spent a lifetime compiling and publishing the tales told to him by former slaves.

These stories — many of which Harris learned from an old Black man he called "Uncle George" — were first published as columns in The Atlanta Constitution and were later syndicated nationwide and published in book form. Harris's Uncle Remus was a fictitious old slave and philosopher who told entertaining fables about Br'er Rabbit and other woodland creatures in a Southern Black dialect.

Song of the South consists of animated sequences featuring Uncle Remus characters such as Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox, and Br'er Bear, framed by live-action portions in which Uncle Remus (portrayed by actor James Baskett, who won a special Oscar for his efforts) tells the stories to a little white boy upset over his parents' impending divorce. Although some Blacks have always been uneasy about the minstrel tradition of the Uncle Remus stories, the major objections to Song of the South had to do with the live action portions. The film has been criticized both for "making slavery appear pleasant" and "pretending slavery didn't exist", even though the film (like Harris' original collection of stories) is set after the Civil War and the abolition of slavery.

Still, as folklorist Patricia A. Turner writes:
"Disney's 20th century re-creation of Harris's frame story is much more heinous than the original. The days on the plantation located in "the United States of Georgia" begin and end with unsupervised Blacks singing songs about their wonderful home as they march to and from the fields. Disney and company made no attempt to to render the music in the style of the spirituals and work songs that would have been sung during this era. They provided no indication regarding the status of the Blacks on the plantation. Joel Chandler Harris set his stories in the post-slavery era, but Disney's version seems to take place during a surreal time when Blacks lived on slave quarters on a plantation, worked diligently for no visible reward and considered Atlanta a viable place for an old Black man to set out for." 

Kind old Uncle Remus caters to the needs of the young white boy whose father has inexplicably left him and his mother at the plantation. An obviously ill-kept Black child of the same age named Toby is assigned to look after the white boy, Johnny. Although Toby makes one reference to his "ma," his parents are nowhere to be seen. The African-American adults in the film pay attention to him only when he neglects his responsibilities as Johnny's playmate-keeper. He is up before Johnny in the morning in order to bring his white charge water to wash with and keep him entertained.

The boys befriend a little blond girl, Ginny, whose family clearly represents the neighborhood's white trash. Although Johnny coaxes his mother into inviting Ginny to his fancy birthday party at the big house, Toby is curiously absent from the party scenes. Toby is good enough to catch frogs with, but not good enough to have birthday cake with. When Toby and Johnny are with Uncle Remus, the gray-haired Black man directs most of his attention to the white child. Thus Blacks on the plantation are seen as willingly subservient to the whites to the extent that they overlook the needs of their own children. When Johnny's mother threatens to keep her son away from the old gentleman's cabin, Uncle Remus is so hurt that he starts to run away. In the world that Disney made, the Blacks sublimate their own lives in order to be better servants to the white family. If Disney had truly understood the message of the tales he animated so delightfully, he would have realized the extent of distortion of the frame story.

The NAACP acknowledged "the remarkable artistic merit" of the film when it was first released, but decried "the impression it gives of an idyllic master-slave relationship". Disney re-released the film in 1956, but then kept it out of circulation all throughout the turbulent civil rights era of the 1960s. In 1970 Disney announced in Variety that Song of the South had been "permanently" retired, but the studio eventually changed its mind and re-released the film in 1972, 1981, and again in 1986 for a fortieth anniversary celebration. Although the film has only been released to the home video market in various European and Asian countries, Disney's reluctance to market it in the USA is not a reaction to an alleged threat by the NAACP to boycott Disney products. The NAACP fielded objections to Song of the South when it premiered, but it has no current position on the movie.

Perhaps lost in all the controversy over the film is the fact that James Baskett (1904-1948), a black man, was the very first live actor ever hired by Disney. Allegedly, though, Baskett was unable to attend the film's premiere in Atlanta because no hotel would give him a room...

MY FIVE FAVORITE SATURDAY MORNING CARTOONS

As a child of the 1980s, one of my favorite things to do was wake up early on a Saturday morning and watch cartoons. It is so sad that my children will never experience the ritual of the Saturday morning cartoons. Feeling sentimental to the days of yore, I wanted to sportlight my five favorite Saturday morning cartoons growing up...

5. The Smurfs (NBC, 1981-1989)
Say what you will of the recent live-action/animated hybrid movies, but The Smurfs Hanna-Barbera Productions television show was a staple of Saturday morning cartoon block in the 1980s. Based on a Belgian comic, the cartoon series followed a colony of small blue creatures that live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest in hiding from the evil wizard Gargamel, who along with his cat Azrael, wanted to capture the Smurfs to create a potion to turn base matter into gold.

4. Pac Man: The Animated Series (ABC, 1982-1983)
Pac Man was also the first cartoon based on a video game. The show follows the adventures of the title character, Pac-Man, his wife Pepper Pac-Man, their child Pac-Baby, their dog Chomp-Chomp and their cat Sour Puss. The family lives in Pac-Land, a place in which the geography and architecture seem to revolve primarily around spheres and sphere-like shapes.

3. Super Friends (ABC, 1973-1986)
Super Friends is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes, which ran from 1973 to 1986 on ABC as part of its Saturday morning cartoon lineup. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera and was based on the Justice League of America (JLA) and associated comic book characters published by DC Comics. When animation company Hanna-Barbera acquired rights to the DC Comics characters and adapted the Justice League of America comic book for television it made several changes in the transition, including the change of name to Super Friends. Nevertheless, team members sometimes referred to themselves as the Justice League on the show. The violence common in superhero comics was toned down for a younger audience and to adhere to broadcast standards governing violence in 1970s children’s television.

2. Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies (CBS, 1984-1991) Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies followed the adventures of preschool-age Kermit, Fozzie, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Animal, Rowlf, Scooter and Skeeter (a new addition to the gang), as they played and dreamed together in a nursery overseen by a nanny. (Voiced by Leave It to Beaver’s Barbara Billingsley; the character was never seen from the waist up.)

1. The Bugs Bunny Show (CBS, 1968-2000)
This show is a classic, featuring characters that most everyone has seen at some point. While the show started out in primetime, after two seasons The Bugs Bunny Show moved to Saturday mornings, where it remained in various formats for nearly four decades. The cartoons inspired countless animators and storytellers and the episodes are still entertaining 45 years later.

Those were the days...

MY FIVE FAVORITE CHILDREN MOVIES

I always liked cartoons like the old ones from Warner Brothers. I could take or leave Mickey Mouse at Disney, but there was nothing like a Bugs Bunny cartoon. I never thought though that I would watch as many cartoons as I do now that I have young children. Amazingly some of them are quite good, and some have a lot of elements that appeal to adults and parents as well. Here are my five favorite children movies that I have seen in recent years:

5. HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS (2000)
It is hard to believe that this movie is nearly 15 years old, so I guess it it hardly considered a recent children's movie. In actuality, I saw this movie in the theater even before I was married or had children. I saw it with two other friends. Jim Carrey was the perfect grinch, and although I am not a huge Carrey fan, he made you forget he was Jim Carrey. Directed by Ron Howard, there is a lot of adult comedy in the movie, and I remember in the movie theater laughing more than the children there did. I thought my son would be afraid of the movie, but he loved it.

4. FINDING NEMO (2003)
This was another movie I saw with my children well after the movie came out. My son wasn't into the film as much as my wife and I were. The story of a father and son always tugs at my heartstrings. Not only are my happiest moments now spent in doing things with my son, but I also reminds me of my childhood and everything my father never did with me. I will admit many moments in the movie were tear jerkers for me, but it was a great movie.

3. HAPPY FEET (2006)
This is another movie that my wife and I like more than my son does. It is a little long for my son's attention span, but there is just something so cute about cartoon Penguins. I loved the voices that the late Robin Williams provided for the film. I haven't watched the movie since Williams' death and Brittany Murphy also is gone, but the movie is fun to watch. The topics in film - saving the habitat for the Penguins is a very adult issue, but the film was done in a way that it appeals to both adults and children.

2. THE CAT IN THE HAT (2003)
Here is another live action version of a Dr. Seuss book. The movie was not as successful as the Grinch  movie, but lately this movie is all my son wants to watch. The Cat is played by Mike Myers, whose schtick gets a little old sometimes. A lot of times, it feels like The Cat is just Austin Powers in disguise, but the movie is well done. There are some really surprising adult jokes in the movie that thankfully pass over the heads of our children. The movie is short so it holds my son's interest, and I actually really love Alec Baldwin's role as the sleazy boyfriend of the Mom. Unlike the Grinch again, you don't get the backstory for the Cat, but it's just a fun movie.

1. FROZEN (2013)
This movie had to be on this list, I can not see how I could avoid it. I was laughing because the cartoon won an Oscar. My son went to see it in the movie theater with his grandmother, and I told my wife that our son saw an Oscar winning movie before we did. The film has everything for children, from peppy musical numbers to cute unsual second banana (like the talking snowman). There are some surprising adult themes when the princesses parents were killed when their ship was lost at sea, but luckily my son always seems to be doing something when that part comes on. Disney set the bar pretty high with this film, and although I have seen the film countless times now I never seem to get tired of the movie and neither does my children. I guess that is the most important thing!

RECENTLY VIEWED: FREE BIRDS

With having young children, the only films I get to see in movie theaters these days are children's movies. Some are good and surprsingly some are really bad. Recently I saw the cartoon Free Birds with my son. Like the movie I saw with him before, Smurfs 2, it is a cute movie but not really a great one. My son liked Free Birds more because it is has beautiful animation and color. The movie was not boring like Smurfs 2, but the plot was kind of strange.

Reggie the Turkey (Owen Wilson) has always been afraid of Thanksgiving because turkeys have always been on the menu. However, his attempts to warn his farm based flock constantly fall to deaf ears and has made him an outcast. When the other turkeys finally realize what's going on, they throw Reggie to the wolves in an attempt to save themselves. In a surprise twist of fate, he winds up being named the "pardoned turkey" by the President of the United States (Jimmy Hayward) and is subsequently taken to Camp David. Although initially hesitant, Reggie soon eases into a routine of doing nothing but enjoying pizza and telenovelas.

About three days before Thanksgiving, Reggie gets bag-kidnapped by Jake (Woody Harrelson), the president and the only member of Turkeys Liberation Front. Jake tells him that a "Great Turkey" told him to find Reggie and take him back to the first Thanksgiving with him to take turkeys off the menu once and for all. Despite interference by federal officials and several attempts by Reggie to trick him back to the surface, Jake manages to commandeer an egg shaped time machine with an A.I. software named S.T.E.V.E. (George Takei) and takes Reggie with him back to the same day in 1621. Once there, they are immediately attacked and separated by colonial hunters led by Myles Standish (Colm Meaney). Reggie and Jake are quickly rescued by native turkeys led by Chief Broadbeak (Keith David) and his two children Hunter and Jenny (Amy Poehler), the latter of whom Reggie is immediately smitten with. Broadbeak explains that the turkeys in the area have been forced underground since the settlers came and that they can't risk fighting back without the settler taking them.

The next day, Broadbreak has Jake go with Hunter to spy on the settlers with Reggie and Jenny spring all the hunting traps they've set up. Despite initial hostility, Hunter and Jake find out that the settlers have already begun preparations for Thanksgiving as well as where they hold their weapons. Meanwhile, Jenny, who believes Reggie is making up being from the future, is impressed with his unorthodox way of springing the traps. However, they are soon intercepted by Standish and Reggie is forced to get her in orbit over the planet aboard S.T.E.V.E., validating everything he said in the process. Reggie tries to convince Jenny to go back to the future with him once everything blows over, but she tells him she can't bring herself to leave the flock no matter how much she likes him.

Jake drags Reggie away from Jenny and tells him he has a plan to attack the settlers. However, Reggie has gotten sick of all his unproved stories and threatens to leave. Desperate, Jake tells him that this trip was more about him making up for him not being able to save three turkey eggs while escaping a turkey fattening facility when he was younger, although still maintaining that the Great Turkey convinced him to go through with this. While still reluctant to believe what he said, Reggie sill goes along with the plan. They manage to use gunpowder to destroy the weapons shack, but Jake inadvertently leaves a gunpowder trail back to the tree the turkeys are hiding under. Standish and his men flush the turkeys out from underground, capturing enough for the feast and killing Broadbeak in the ensuing panic. Jenny is named the new chief and orders the remaining turkeys to prepare an attack on the settlers. Despite Jake's attempts to get him to stay, a heartbroken Reggie heads back to the present.

Once back at Camp David, Reggie is confronted by three future versions of himself. Through the awkward conversation, Reggie discovers that he was the Great Turkey having used S.T.E.V.E. to throw his voice and appearance. Inspired, Reggie goes back in time to stop the attack, trapping Standish in a hole in time in the process. Through S.T.E.V.E. and the pizza delivery boy from the start of the film, Reggie convinces the settlers and the arriving Indians that pizza is a more acceptable meal than turkeys, taking them off the meal entirely. In the end, Reggie decides to stay with Jenny while Jake takes S.T.E.V.E. in order to look for new adventure. However, Jake returns moments after leaving and implies that their antics have caused the future to be thrown out of whack.

I left the movie kind of confused at what I saw, and thinking in my head that I wasted over $10 on these tickets, until my son grabbed my hand looked up at me and said "Daddy, I really had fun watching this movie with you". This movie deserves some points just for that alone...

MY RATING: 6 OUT OF 10

RECENTLY VIEWED: SMURFS 2

Now that I have young children, I do not get to go the movies often. As a matter of fact, the last movie I saw in a theatre was Date Night with Tina Fey and Steve Carell in 2010. So for the first movie my son ever saw in a theatre I figured that the Smurfs 2 (2013) would be a safe film to take him to. I thought my son would be afraid of the dark, but he loved it. Unfortunately, like me, he found the movie to be boring. Even some kid's movies do not make great sequels.

The plot goes like this: Smurfette is having nightmares about betraying her fellow Smurfs and turning them over to Gargamel to be captured. Meanwhile, the Smurfs are preparing a surprise party for Smurfette's birthday, but as Smurfette tries to find out what her fellow Smurfs are planning, none of them are saying a word. She takes this to mean that she is now unwelcome in the village as a Smurf.

In France, Gargamel is now a star attraction, amazing people with his sorcery, but he sees that he is running low on the Smurf essence that gives him his magic powers. With his new creations, the Naughties Vexy and Hackus, Gargamel plans on opening a portal to the Smurf village by using the Eiffel tower as a conduit so that he can kidnap Smurfette and, through her, get Papa Smurf's secret formula for creating Smurfs. However, as the portal he created is not big enough for him to go through, Gargamel takes Vexy and sends her through to the portal to grab Smurfette and bring her to Paris.

One of the Smurfs witnesses the abduction of Smurfette and informs Papa Smurf. Papa Smurf uses his magic to create crystals that would allow several of his Smurfs to travel directly to Patrick Winslow's residence in New York City in order to get his help to rescue Smurfette.

Papa originally intended for Brainy, Hefty, and Gutsy to use the crystals, but instead through an accident Clumsy, Grouchy and Vanity use them. Papa and the three Smurfs arrive in the apartment right after the celebration of Blue's fourth birthday where they meet both the Winslows' young boy and Patrick's stepfather Victor Doyle, a man who is a constant embarrassment to Patrick. The Smurfs soon discover where Gargamel is, and so they and the Winslows set off for Paris in order to find him.

After their arrival in Paris, Patrick and his wife Grace work together with Victor to distract Gargamel during one of his performances while the Smurfs sneak backstage in order to find Smurfette, only to discover what Gargamel is planning. At the same time, Smurfette escapes from the prison and Vexy and her partner Hackus chase after her. Upon her return to Gargamel's hotel suite with the Naughties, Gargamel presents her with a tiny dragon wand as a feigned act of kindness, claiming that he was Smurfette's father all along and that Papa Smurf had no interest in her.

Smurfette is still reluctant to give Gargamel what he wanted until she sees that the Naughties are dying due to a lack of Smurf essence. Faced without an alternative to save them, Smurfette quickly writes it down and Gargamel mixes it up to turn the Naughties into real Smurfs. Immediately after they become Smurfs, the evil wizard puts them into his Smurfalator so he can carry out the rest of his plan.

Meanwhile Patrick, Victor, and the Smurfs work together to rescue Smurfette. The Smurfs are soon captured and put into the Smurfalator, powering Gargamel's "Wanda" (a large-sized dragon wand). Patrick and Victor arrive just in time to destroy the Smurfalator, causing the Smurf-created formula to be destroyed in blue pixie dust that in turn vanquishing the secret formula. Gargamel has gained enough power to use his new wand against the Smurfs and their allies. Vexy and Hackus team up with the Smurfs against their former master and use the new wand to blast him away. They become Smurfs and go back to the Smurf village while the Winslows go home. In the post credits, Gargamel is transported back to his old castle.

Neil Patrick Harris is great in anything he does and any movie he is in, and on a sad note it was Jonathan Winters last work. He returned for the voice of Papa Smurf. Winters died on April 11, 2013. The film was released on July 31, 2013 and dedicated to the memory of Jonathan Winters. It is always fun to see the Smurfs in action, and they were not the problems. The plot was. It was too complicated for young minds to grasp. My son had a great time seeing his first movie in a theater, but it's just that Smurfs II wasn't that smurfy of a movie...

MY RATING: 4 OUT OF 10