Fone Bone
Matt Zimmer
Star Wars Visions "Sith"
The animation is gorgeous. Admittedly, Lola looks a little too Uncanny Valley, but the animation on the backgrounds and objects is eye-popping and dazzling.
I am a sucker for any Star Wars story where characters decide to choose their own destinies. Those stories are few and far between.
I like that she's an artist. That's a believable reason to want to give the Sith life up. I also love that the little robot has more firepower than we expected (and we are all relieved she managed to repair him at the end too).
Very cool. ****.
Star Wars Visions "Screecher's Reach"
For a short starring kids, that was a shockingly bleak ending.
The cartoony character designs were nice, but it's really amazing how fluid the animation is. You don't ever really see animation that great with those kinds of designs anymore.
I loved the little kids repeatedly saying "arse" in an Irish accent too.
Major props must go to the fact that the design of Screecher is genuinely scary. It is VERY hard to nail a design that is frightening all by itself. Scorpius from Farscape qualified, but that's the only one off the top of my head. The great animation DID do some heavy lifting as well, but so did Wayne Pygram, so the comparison is still apt.
Really shockingly hopeless short. ***.
Star Wars Visions "In The Stars"
I can't decide if that was stop-motion or CGI simulated stop-motion like The Lego Movie. I'm leaning towards the second thing because I don't think TRUE stop-motion ever looks that good.
This short is a good reminder of all of the wanton misery and destruction the Empire inflicted on innocent worlds incapable of fighting back. I think we always think of the Empire only as the bad guys who took out the Jedi but in reality, they made every part of the galaxy worse.
The little kid was TOO precocious. Which is another word for annoying.
Still, that was a visual feast. Trying to figure out if it was real or not. The credits didn't say for sure either way. ***1/2.
Star Wars Visions "I Am Your Mother"
Aardman does Star Wars? HELL. YES.
This IS stop-motion and believably so because it's not TOO amazing. And I love that the humans have the Aardman teeth.
The episode title is a gas too.
The best part of this show is the variations in tone. A goofy family comedy plays equally well as some of the more horrific stuff.
SO great. *****.
Star Wars Visions "Journey To The Dark Head"
I am not what you would call a big Anime Guy. But whenever I DO see it, I can totally get the appeal.
The story wasn't such of a much, but oooh, pretty! ***.
Star Wars Visions "The Spy Dancer"
Even for a series with NOTHING but great animation, that was bananas. The dance sequences alone need to be seen to be believed.
I liked the short going for the Big Drama and Big Hurt by making the Imperial the Spy Dancer's kidnapped son. And by the end even he doesn't know what to think. Things seem so up in the air (and we'll never see the resolution) but I still found that a bit of a hopeful note to go out on.
One last thing: the dialogue in the short is very believable and naturalistic. This is usually a problem for Star Wars, so when stuff like this and Andor have realistic sounding characters, I take notice and approve.
Pretty great. ****.
Star Wars Visions "The Bandits Of Golak"
Weirdly I didn't much care for the animation in this one. Like "Sith" the humans look too Uncanny Valley. Unlike "Sith" the rest of the visuals aren't beautiful enough to make me forgive that.
The action sequences are exciting enough I suppose (although I object to the techno beat in the background of the light saber duel) and the script is pretty good. Best of all the soft-spoken blue dude is obviously the same species as Thrawn. The character animation in the short was subpar. Except for him. The evil expressions on his face were quite excellent.
All right, but didn't exactly set the canon on-fire. ***.
Star Wars Visions "The Pit"
I thought the end was too sad and the "Follow The Light" thing more cringe than inspiring.
But still, this episode is a good reminder, that despite the fact that Andor saw fit to muddy the political waters, the truth is the Empire has no redeeming qualities. I have always argued that the reason the Republic fell in the first place is because it DESERVED to fall. Centuries of cronyism and corruption made a Separatist Movement necessary. When someone as completely unqualified as Jar-Jar Binks is gifted a Senate seat for being friends with Padme Amidala you know the corruption is thick and the organization NEEDS to be burned from the ground up. What's amazing here is all of the good will the Empire could have potentially gained from the wider galaxy at large for cleaning up that corruption immediately went into the crapper, and they instantly became far more corrupt and evil than the Republic ever was on its worst day. It's took centuries for people having enough of the Jedis crap. The Empire made creating a Rebellion to topple it a necessity in pretty much record time.
I liked how the animation LOOKED. But I didn't much like how it animated. It was choppy, which is a choice in anime styles, but I've never dug it.
The tag with the graffiti was nice though. No lie.
So-so. **1/2.
Star Wars Visions "Aau's Song"
More stop-motion, I think real, dealing with puppets instead of clay figures, like the old Rankin Bass specials. The plush characters are especially cute and appealing.
The story is quiet, slight, and more than a little boring. Also Aau's father always trying to get her to stop singing was annoying because I saw the ending coming a mile away.
I liked the music in the short very much. Just for the record.
It was cute but nothing special. ***.
The animation is gorgeous. Admittedly, Lola looks a little too Uncanny Valley, but the animation on the backgrounds and objects is eye-popping and dazzling.
I am a sucker for any Star Wars story where characters decide to choose their own destinies. Those stories are few and far between.
I like that she's an artist. That's a believable reason to want to give the Sith life up. I also love that the little robot has more firepower than we expected (and we are all relieved she managed to repair him at the end too).
Very cool. ****.
Star Wars Visions "Screecher's Reach"
For a short starring kids, that was a shockingly bleak ending.
The cartoony character designs were nice, but it's really amazing how fluid the animation is. You don't ever really see animation that great with those kinds of designs anymore.
I loved the little kids repeatedly saying "arse" in an Irish accent too.
Major props must go to the fact that the design of Screecher is genuinely scary. It is VERY hard to nail a design that is frightening all by itself. Scorpius from Farscape qualified, but that's the only one off the top of my head. The great animation DID do some heavy lifting as well, but so did Wayne Pygram, so the comparison is still apt.
Really shockingly hopeless short. ***.
Star Wars Visions "In The Stars"
I can't decide if that was stop-motion or CGI simulated stop-motion like The Lego Movie. I'm leaning towards the second thing because I don't think TRUE stop-motion ever looks that good.
This short is a good reminder of all of the wanton misery and destruction the Empire inflicted on innocent worlds incapable of fighting back. I think we always think of the Empire only as the bad guys who took out the Jedi but in reality, they made every part of the galaxy worse.
The little kid was TOO precocious. Which is another word for annoying.
Still, that was a visual feast. Trying to figure out if it was real or not. The credits didn't say for sure either way. ***1/2.
Star Wars Visions "I Am Your Mother"
Aardman does Star Wars? HELL. YES.
This IS stop-motion and believably so because it's not TOO amazing. And I love that the humans have the Aardman teeth.
The episode title is a gas too.
The best part of this show is the variations in tone. A goofy family comedy plays equally well as some of the more horrific stuff.
SO great. *****.
Star Wars Visions "Journey To The Dark Head"
I am not what you would call a big Anime Guy. But whenever I DO see it, I can totally get the appeal.
The story wasn't such of a much, but oooh, pretty! ***.
Star Wars Visions "The Spy Dancer"
Even for a series with NOTHING but great animation, that was bananas. The dance sequences alone need to be seen to be believed.
I liked the short going for the Big Drama and Big Hurt by making the Imperial the Spy Dancer's kidnapped son. And by the end even he doesn't know what to think. Things seem so up in the air (and we'll never see the resolution) but I still found that a bit of a hopeful note to go out on.
One last thing: the dialogue in the short is very believable and naturalistic. This is usually a problem for Star Wars, so when stuff like this and Andor have realistic sounding characters, I take notice and approve.
Pretty great. ****.
Star Wars Visions "The Bandits Of Golak"
Weirdly I didn't much care for the animation in this one. Like "Sith" the humans look too Uncanny Valley. Unlike "Sith" the rest of the visuals aren't beautiful enough to make me forgive that.
The action sequences are exciting enough I suppose (although I object to the techno beat in the background of the light saber duel) and the script is pretty good. Best of all the soft-spoken blue dude is obviously the same species as Thrawn. The character animation in the short was subpar. Except for him. The evil expressions on his face were quite excellent.
All right, but didn't exactly set the canon on-fire. ***.
Star Wars Visions "The Pit"
I thought the end was too sad and the "Follow The Light" thing more cringe than inspiring.
But still, this episode is a good reminder, that despite the fact that Andor saw fit to muddy the political waters, the truth is the Empire has no redeeming qualities. I have always argued that the reason the Republic fell in the first place is because it DESERVED to fall. Centuries of cronyism and corruption made a Separatist Movement necessary. When someone as completely unqualified as Jar-Jar Binks is gifted a Senate seat for being friends with Padme Amidala you know the corruption is thick and the organization NEEDS to be burned from the ground up. What's amazing here is all of the good will the Empire could have potentially gained from the wider galaxy at large for cleaning up that corruption immediately went into the crapper, and they instantly became far more corrupt and evil than the Republic ever was on its worst day. It's took centuries for people having enough of the Jedis crap. The Empire made creating a Rebellion to topple it a necessity in pretty much record time.
I liked how the animation LOOKED. But I didn't much like how it animated. It was choppy, which is a choice in anime styles, but I've never dug it.
The tag with the graffiti was nice though. No lie.
So-so. **1/2.
Star Wars Visions "Aau's Song"
More stop-motion, I think real, dealing with puppets instead of clay figures, like the old Rankin Bass specials. The plush characters are especially cute and appealing.
The story is quiet, slight, and more than a little boring. Also Aau's father always trying to get her to stop singing was annoying because I saw the ending coming a mile away.
I liked the music in the short very much. Just for the record.
It was cute but nothing special. ***.
