A New Year's Toast

I would just like to take the opportunity at this time to offer a toast to the late Robert C. O'Brien for his fine work in children's literature (perhaps I should just say literature period). Indeed if it wasn't for his superb skill in crafting "Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH", we probably would not have the excellent film that is based on this book. I tip my hat to Mr. Bluth as well for putting together a fine piece of animation, the likes of which have not been seen in a long while, and sadly may never be seen again as we enter this new age. This is not to say that some of the recent efforts by studios such as Pixar (Toy Story, Finding Nemo, etc.) are not worthy, but they represent a totally different style of animation. One in which computers play an even greater role than was possible back in the "good old days." SON may indeed be the last of its kind. By this I mean a traditional (i.e. Classical) animated feature with true depth in terms of plot, character developement, and overall quality of animation itself. Too often these days we are bombarded by special effects at the expense of any kind of plot developement or due to time constraints, producers are pressured into literally slapping together any old piece of schlock and putting it on the screen for the kids. The sad result of all this is that the artform that is Classical Animation gets pulled down ever further into the abyss of mediocrity. I would call upon all producers and directors, present and future to do what is necessary to reverse this trend and to raise the art of animation to the level it deserves. Once again, my sincere thanks to Mr. Robert C. O'Brien & Mr. Don Bluth.

Sincerely :)
NIMHmaniac

::bows head and offers a humble amen in full agreement with NiMHmaniac::

I have to say that Pixar is one of the few entertainment companines out there that understands that it's plot and character that makes good story that lasts. There's piss all few others that understand that seem to have a clue, Disney is making pure crap these days and Bluth seems beaten down and to forget it as often as he remembers, though at least he's still trying.

In that vein, I'm going to post a new subject in the hope of gathering some marketing data on an idea I'm working on to try and help bring back quality science fiction and fantasy shows. Hopefully this will include movies as well as regular serials and I hope it will help bring about a return to classic storytelling and artwork like we have in NiMH.

--Mav