ANI-MOVIES, *The Snow Queen

Way before Frozen, one of the earliest feature-animated movies to tell Hans Christian Andersen's tale was done in 1957 directed by Russian animator Lev Atamanov. Only a few others of Atamanov's works have been released in English, but this particular one has had four separate dubs, the first one of which was in 1959 that was also the first full-length animated movie released from Universal Pictures which is quite the stretch considering it took came out during the Cold War. This is one of the classic movies that helped influence Hayao Miyazaki which is also one of the few to be inducted to the Ghibli Museum Library. The original dub of this had a special live-action piece at the beginning of it with Art Linkletter celebrating Christmas even though it's well known that The Snow Queen is not a holiday story. The 1959 release had voice over icons like Paul Frees and June Foray, plus other actors like Sandra Dee and Tommy Kirk. Atamanov did implement rotoscoping into the film's production, and the fluid movements of the characters made you actually care about them and feel the despair that most of them face. Quite a few reviewers preferred Atamanov's adaptation over the original Andersen story as it was considered more coherent, possibly due to the fact that there was a Jiminy Cricket substitute shoved into the film to act as the narrator, a small elf called Dreamy who claims to be Andersen's muse.

Kai and Gerda are neighbors and very much in love with each other even though they are barely in their tweens. After hearing a story about the mystical Snow Queen who brings about winter, Kai jokingly says he would melt her which ticks off the actual Snow Queen to no end, so she makes Kai's heart cold as ice and takes him her ice castle far away. Gerda goes on a journey to reclaim her boyfriend and runs into all manner of obstacles such as a well-meaning witch, a generous prince and princess, talking ravens, and highway robbers. After being kidnapped by bandits, Gerda is added to the menagerie of animals of the thief girl Angel who after hearing Gerda goings on about her quest has a change of heart sending off on a talking reindeer. Gerda eventually gets to the Snow Queen's pad and just tells the frosty femme to blow off since its now spring. Kai and Gerda head back home free of the Snow Queen's cougar tendencies.

The Snow Queen is one of the most impressive hand-drawn animated movies ever made, although the 1959 release which is the only one usually available does have some footage missing and much of the darker scenes are hard to make out leaving you longing to watch one of the restored editions. The 1959 version is charming in its own way and even added some of its own original musical numbers, but if you want to enjoy its complete visual brilliance you might want to check out one of the other releases even the restored Russian edition.

Rebuild Of Evangelion Retrospective

In 1995, the studio of Gainax was planning to do its second anime TV series after Nadia: The Secret Of Blue Water. Gunbuster director Hideaki Anno headed up a new project combining some elements from the latter half of Nadia and allied Gainax with Tatsunoko Production to create a new anime titled Neon Genesis Evangelion. This was intended to be a breakdown of the mecha genre as up until then it was all super robots and space operas. It also blended Christian mythology with a deep psychoanalysis of humans confronting trauma. Evangelion went on to be the most groundbreaking anime of its time, however the final two episodes seriously through audiences off, so a theatrical retelling of the conclusion called End Of Evangelion was met with better praise. Cut to a decade later, Anno decided to do a complete reboot of the franchise branded Rebuild Of Evangelion which would be a tetralogy, and Studio Khara would handle the production instead of Gainax which utilized traditional animation along with CGI that was a step up from the 90s TV production. This 4-part movie series would not be just a retelling of the original story but instead taking it in a totally different direction halfway through the saga. The Rebuild was intended to be more understandable to fans for the new millennium without having to view the original anime.

Starting with Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone in 2007, the first installment covered the first few TV episodes with a couple of new additions where Shinji Ikari is a teenager coerced to pilot a giant mecha called an Evangelion along with the lonely Rei in a post-disaster Japan which is continuously being attacked by monsters labeled as Angels and only the special organization of Nerv can stop them. Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance came out two years after that which went over much of the next quarter of the series with the introduction of Asuka and the premiere of a brand-new character, Mari who is original to the movies. Three years later, Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo was released and became a full departure from the previous plot taking place 14 years later with the planet suffering the consequences for Shinji’s failed attempt to save Rei. Then, an entire nine years passed until the finale, Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time, was at long last shown in theaters to great success with Shinji trying to stop his father Gendo’s mad scheme to bring about the apocalypse. The lengths of each film varied, although the concluding movie was the longest of all trying to wrap up most of the loose plot threads.

Originally, Anno was just going to redo the Evangelion saga hoping it would act as a gateway for new generations to make it into the next Gundam franchise with various others eventually making their own take, but he decided to take control of the revamped anime himself with the intention of doing a modern update with another altered ending. Anno changed gears after the second movie gained notoriety with the addition of Mari to the cast, as well as his depression kicked in again after the third chapter while he was also directing Shin Godzilla and voicing the main character in Hayao Miyazaki’s The Wind Rises. Anno also had to leave Gainax and founded Studio Khara to reach his ideal vision of a new Evangelion anime. All of these factors along with the pandemic were what caused the nine-year delay of the last movie.

Many American fans experienced the movies in a sporadic manner. The first three films were dubbed by Funimation with some of the original ADV actors with their own physical release. The final movie was instead released by GKids featuring some more of the ADV cast added in which received a separate distribution from the Funimation line. Eventually, Amazon Prime streamed all four movies with a second dub of the first three movies to fit in with the fourth, and GKids released all but the third movie on DVD and Blu-Ray with the first two only being sold as limited single hard-copies. No word so far if the entire quartet will get a physical release and if it will include both dubs.

The Rebuild movies are very aloof from the original Evangelion plot as they start out like the TV show timeline, but as the story goes along, we learn that there is a multiverse, most of which the character of Kaworu is the only one aware of the fact that there are several timelines and that there is an incarnation of himself present in them. When Shinji is fighting with his father in the Anti-Universe in the end and learns of the myriads of different realities with Evas in them are a cycle like Ragnarok that has gone on numerous times. The solution to ending the cycle was removing the Evas and Angels altogether which sends Shinji to a rebuilt reality and was finally allowed to age as one other addition to the Rebuild series is that all Eva pilots are stuck physically as a teenager which is why Asuka and Mari didn’t age during the time skip between 2.0 and 3.0. However, this does not mean that the possibility of future installments of Evangelion aren’t unlikely.

The character of Mari is another major adding to the mix that jarred a few fans. The inclusion of another Eva pilot in some of the Evangelion games that also acts as a possible girlfriend for Shinji is not uncommon. Mari had no presence in first movie, a slight introduction in the second along with playing a part in that film’s final battle, she’s given little to do in the third movie, and the final one only has one scene when she is physically in the same room with Shinji and Asuka. Mari is believed to be inspired by Hideaki Mono’s real-life wife Moyoco who is also a manga creator responsible for Sugar Sugar Run, although whether she was the physical model for Mari is up in the air. Moyocco created a gag manga titled Insufficient Direction which parodies her marriage to a famous anime director which further concretes Mari’s status as a welcome character. This also added to the waifu culture where the main character has multiple love interests which had divided fans since the original TV anime.

The roulette wheel of realities that the finale presents us with informs the viewer that there are numerous outcomes where not only Shinji but much of the cast could have their own distinct conclusions. The curse that leaves the Eva pilots stuck in the body of a teenager represents how otaku and the anime industry can become stagnant when it comes to their willingness to improve themselves without relying on nostalgia. We learn that the multiverse concept means that the Rebuild movies are adjacent to the original TV series just in an alternate timeline, especially when it flashes back to scenes from End Of Evangelion. This presents a more optimistic approach where if someone who forms relationships with others does so to give something instead of gaining you will reach a better level of self-consciousness.

A large deterrent for most watching the Rebuild films one after the other is that there is a tremendous amount of lore thrown into backdrop of the plot. The original TV series delved somewhat into Christian dogma, but the Rebuild movies have more backstory than Star Wars and Lord Of The Rings combined. This is like the technical jargon used in nearly any Star Trek episode, but during the action scenes on the Eva films demand that you have the entire fan wiki hardwired into your brain so you can pick up on every single tidbit they briefly mention like something from the Dead Sea Scrolls or alluding to some military arrangement from the Vatican which can change the viewing experience into an esoteric trivia contest.

Rebuild Of Evangelion was a grand experiment that tested the limits of the creators’ efforts plus the patients of old and new fans. The tetralogy’s prolonged theatrical run made many recognize the weak world-building, but at the same time you become aware of how Anno’s depression brought a sense of deja vu to some of his past productions like Diebuster. For some, the Rebuild films were a coming-of-age ceremony while older otaku are left with a more gratifying conclusion.

MISC. MANGA, *Sand Land

Akira Toriyama, the maker of Dragonball, did this short series collected in Viz's magazine, Shonen Jump.

Taking place on a post-apocalyptic Earth, a down and out sheriff named Rao teams up with Beelzebub, the prince of all demons, and his sidekick Thief. They set off into the desert to find a long lost lake to help the thirsty humans and demons who are under the tyranical rule of a greedy king and his army. Rao turns out to be an retired soldier from the royal army, but is going against the system to help his people. After hyjacking a tank, they run into opposition from the army itself, and a strange band of desert bandits called the Swimmers who dress like they're going to the YMCA pool. Beelzebub has it out with a giant insect before the lake is found, and the day is saved.

Sand Land ran through several issues of Shonen Jump, and is conveniently wrapped together in this cool one-shot graphic novel.

MISC. MANGA, *.Hack//Legend Of The Twilight

As part of the triple-pronged hit of the anime TV series and video games, this .Hack chapter was actually the first one to be released in Japan, or at least as part of a monthly manga publication magazine. Legend Of The Twilight is in fact a sequal to .Hack//Sign, the RPG, and the underhyped OVA, Liminality, taking place four years after the apparant threat to the virtual world of The World has passed.

Here, Shugo and his twin sister Rena have won the character avatars of original .hackers Kite and Black Rose, meaning that their online selves resemble those of the playable characters from the RPG, accept slightly younger looking. Once online, Shugo dies during a quest, but is brought back thanks to Aura, who is an AI that exists within The World's mainframe. She grants Shugo a bracelet which has the same abilities that Kite's did, accept this one can actually be seen as a real wearable item. This attracts the attention of a young rare item hunter named Mirielle, who is really the 4-year old daughter of one of the original .hackers. They also befriend an American player named Hotaru, and Ouka, a female werewolf who fights barehanded. Shugo also attracts the attention of Balmung, who was a key player in the video games, but now is a system administrator for CC Corp who runs The World. Shugo later runs into Zefie, a young AI who turns out to be Aura's "daughter". Shugo and the others then set out to find a way of reuniting Zefie with her mother, despite that fact that Zefie is selfish, pushy, and clings to Shugo like a monkey. However, the Cobalt Knight Brigade, who are an official group of player thugs for CC Corp, like a Nazi version of the Crimson Knights, learn of Zefie's existance and plan to wipe her out. After capturing Shugo and his party, they lock them up. But Zefie's abilbity to manipulate the world Neo-style allows them to escape and seek out Aura.

The manga follows a different approach than the anime based on it. In the .Hack//Legend TV series, Zefie isn't in it at all, and Shugo's party has to take on a sort of anti-Aura and her group of hacking followers from destroying The World. The manga goes on for two regular-sized volumes, and then one double-sized third volume complete with bonus chapters. Rei Izumi's artwork is great though and really brings the story to life offline. This is for real fans who've played all four video games, and seen both prior anime series. It might be a little hard for others to integrate themselves in the .Hack universe though.

ANI-MOVIES, *Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone

Since the original TV series and movies left most of the average otaku with a serious WTF taste in their mouth, director Hideaki Anno decided to do a Star Wars: Special Edition take on the Neon Genesis: Evangelion saga, except this time it's a whole remake of the story. This was the first a four-part movie series which will retell the story but add several new elements to it. Although it might not seem like it in this first film, as it's mostly a newly scripted adaptation of Eps. 1-6 of the TV series.

It begins during the 20-teens, some years after what was called the Second Impact which destroyed Antarctica by a monster classified as an Angel. This caused a large portion of the world's population to be killed, so in order to prevent a possible Third Impact a special organization called NERV is put together to protect the Second Angel called Lillith underneath an underground base in a geo-front. When a new Angel appears, NERV springs into action to prevent it from coming in contact with Lillith which could cause Third Impact and end the world. Gendo Ikari, the head of NERV, gets his unwilling son Shinji to pilot their ultimate weapon, Evangelion Unit 01. The Evas are giant mechanical humanoids that can be operated only by a select group of fourteen-year-olds. Shinji manages to take out the one Angel and starts to settle into his new life in the city of Tokyo-3 where NERV headquarters is. He moves in with the sexy captain Misato and her pet penguin, although his school life is a little harsh. The arrival of another Angel breaks Shinji in with some new friends though. As he starts to learn more about the pilot of the prototype Unit 00, the enigmatic Rei Ayanami, the next Angel attacks which proves to be more of a problem. With the combined efforts of the Japanese government and Rei's near sacrificing herself, Shinji manages to snipe the Angel's ass away. The film ends with the character of Karou(who doesn't show up in the TV series until near the end)awakening on the moon and talking to the head of SEELE, the secret cabal that actual commands NERV.

Now, this first movie seems like the other three flicks will be also just rewrites of the original story. However, the recently released second movie actually takes a very different turn with the introduction of new Eva Units and new pilots. Plus, major changes in the characters, like Asuka is now a captain, and a slightly different take on Rei's origins. The story folds out a little better in this movie than it did in the first few TV episodes, aside from no explanation given as to why Shinji got beaten up by Toji at school. However, a lot of positive factors were added to it, like Gendo's planning in advance for Rei and Shinji to develop a relationship, and the revelation of Lillith in NERV very early on which is something that unknown even to Misato until much later in the TV series. The animation is of course seriously upgraded and makes a real difference in the theatrical quality. I have the feeling that despite this film seems like a retread of the old show, that when it's compared to the other three movies after they're released it will look like a more fitting beginning to this tetralogy. But only time will tell that.

R.I.P. Masako Ikeda. The Original Maetel.

 

ANI-MOVIES, *The Adventures Of Prince Achmed (Centennial Celebration)

Lotte Reiniger directed several silent animated movies in her career, but one of the few to not have been lost to time is the oldest surviving full-length animated film, The Adventures Of Prince Achmed. This features silhouette animation which gives off the appearance of a totally black appearance of all the characters and parts of the background using cutout figures shot frame-by-frame. Reininger had already done a few shorts based on fairy tales such as Cinderella, but for this film she went above and beyond the normal scope by merging three stories from Arabian Nights into a single plot using her own personal style of animation inspired by Javanese wayang puppetry. When the film was released in 1926 it didn't get a warm reception, but when it premiered in France it was considered ahead of its time with its romantic and sometimes arousing movement plus its poetic storytelling. Considering the film didn't even have a distributor and was denied an initial theatrical release in Germany, is still managed to gain a wide reputation thanks to a privately funded screening including filmmakers like Fritz Lang. The movie went through a restoration in the late 90s which helped reinvite it to a whole new century.

An evil Sorcerer tries to win the heart of the lovely Princess Dinarzade by offering her father the Caliph a mechanical flying horse. Prince Achmed is having none of his sister marrying a shifty sorcerer and accidentally launches the horse far and away. Achmed ends up in the islands of Wak Wak ruled by the fairy queen Peri Banu who he comes across taking a bath, and unlike most chivalrous princes he ends up kidnapping her on the flying horse taking her to China. After saving Peri Banu from marrying the fool of an emperor thanks again to the Sorcerer, the genie woman returns Achmed's fondness only to be captured by the demons of Wak Wak who are cross with their lovestruck leader. Achmed gets help from a Fire Witch who is the Sorcerer's enemy and they happen to run into the young lad Aladdin who stops the plot to tell his backstory of how he found a magic lamp with multiple spirits in it to grant him wishes as he tried to marry Dinarzade. The Sorcerer stole the lamp which the rescuers need to enter the sealed off realm of Wak Wak, so the Fire Witch ultimately defeats him and reclaims the magic lamp. Achmed and his allies unleash the spirits of the lamp to repel the demon horde and save Peri Banu. They use Aladdin's enchanted castle to fly back to the Caliph's kingdom where both the Prince and Princess are wed to their soulmates.

The Adventures Of Prince Achmed is considered to be Lotte Reiniger's greatest works even at the time it was release since most of her other films are considered lost. Most filmgoers consider Disney's Snow White to be the first animated feature film, but Reiniger had Uncle Walt beat by more than a decade. This movie's influence is seriously underappreciated as both a relic of cinematic history and a visually enchanting adventure, so since it's in the public domain there are several formats to watch it on.