Sanjay's Super Team

I have a confession to make. Last weekend I movie hopped. I was with my boyfriend and we went to see The Night Before starring Seth Rogan and Joseph Gordon Levitt. Now don't get me wrong, that movie was phenomenal. Classic raunchy Christmas comedy, as anything would be with Seth Rogan in it. When the movie ended, it was only 7pm and right next door was The Good Dinosaur (Disney Pixar's newest movie) playing at 7:20. We decided to pop in, sit in the back and enjoy the easygoing film. The Good Dinosaur was also a great movie. I didn't last through the whole thing though, as sitting for 5 hours straight isn't really a hobby of mine. The best part of this whole movie-going experience however, was the Disney short at the beginning of our second feature. It's been all talked up and when it came on the screen, I couldn't have been more excited.

This Disney short is titled Sanjay's Super Team. Sanjay's Super Team leads Disney movies in a new direction. This is what I believe to be, the first time that Disney has covered religious topics in one of its films, intentionally and obviously that is at least. This story documents the bond between an Indian boy and his father. They are Hindu, and therefore Sanjay's father follows the ritual of meditation. He tries to teach Sanjay the importance of meditation, but Sanjay is preoccupied with his toys, coloring and television. However, once Sanjay sits down to meditate with his father, he accidentally extinguishes the oil lamp. As a consequence, he is a taken on a spiritual journey and meets the Hindu gods. Once he comes back into reality, his father is upset because he feels like he wasn't able to get through to his son. However, once Sanjay goes back to coloring, he draws a picture of the gods and presents it to his father. His father is ecstatic and we witness a major bond between the two. This is based off of a true story. Once again, Disney Pixar fails to disappoint!

Twas the Nightmare Before Christmas

Since this is my final post, I felt I should end with one of my favorite movies of all time The Nightmare Before Christmas. Also it's good movie for this time of year to curl up with by the fireplace, where I assume your chestnuts will be roasting.
The Nightmare Before Christmas is a post stop motion animation film that was created and produced by Tim Burton (before he lost his stride in my personal opinion). This film broke so many barriers at the time (1993), it was one of the first mainstream post stop animation films released (before it came Gumby and other less known shorts). Henry Selick (also known for Coraline) directed the film. Burton had no hand in any of the animation work because of Batman. The score and lyrics were created by Danny Elfman, a well known collaborator with Burton (Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Batman, etc).
Two useful items were invented during the making of this that would make animators lives a little easier. The first was a light alarm. This device would alert animators if any of the lights on any of the sets were down before they took the next shot. The second was a replacement system where in the animator was easily able to switch out a broken puppet for a new one.
The Nightmare Before Christmas has created a cult following that gains still is growing to this day. I hope you take the time to watch this if not only to see the hard work and long hours the animators committed. Happy holidays y'all.