Stellaluna Review

All right, folks, we're going to review the 2004 made for video movie, "Stellaluna," based on the best-selling award winning children of the same name by Janell Cannon, who's responsible for making bats look like friendly creatures and making owls into dangerous species, which was all thanks to a suspenseful score by the great Jody Gray, who composed the music for Courage the Cowardly Dog. By the way, I'll will right now mention that Stellaluna, the best-selling book has turned the big 25 this year. And I think now's the right time to review this movie that has stuck with me ever since I bought it at Savers. So let's venture into the Sultry Forest to go see Stellaluna.

Janell Cannon's Stellaluna is in many ways a fabulous 1990's fairy tale. The book aired on the PBS series Reading Rainbow in 1994. On that episode, Anne Jackson narrated the story. It is featured in the 2001 movie I Am Sam. No, not Sam I am. Janell Cannon was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, the daughter of Burton H. and Nancy A. Cannon. She attended Burnsville High School, and graduated in 1975. After high school she moved to California, and from 1981 to 1993 she was a graphic artist for the Carlsbad Library, also, on that year, Janell Cannon began writing for the idea of Stellaluna. She spent most of the book by building up friendship with some satisfying payoffs. By the time Stellaluna was published on April of 1993, it caught the attention of children and parents and teachers everywhere and to this day, continues to be the most popular award-winning children's book. Back in 1998, Rankin/Bass' ever popular "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was turned into a 2D animated movie directed by William R. Kowalchuk. And when Stellaluna came along a few years later, the instant popularity of the book made a film version a no brainier. That means showing intelligence. But the book just couldn't be contained into a theatrical feature, so Scholastic and MGM offered to buy the rights from Janell, to make Stellaluna into a made-for-DVD movie, similar in format to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. When Scholastic producers Deborah Forte and Martha Atwater, everything was all set, with a script written by screenwriters Rachel Koretsky and Stephen Whitestone, who had previously wrote The Pebble and the Penguin, which was directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldmna. And then a filmmaker was hired, William R. Kowalchuk, a Canadian animator and director who originally made a name for himself as the production manager for MASK produced by DIC Entertainment. Kowalchuk went on to direct the highly underrated made-for-video movies such as Camelot: The Legend in 1998, and Ben Hur in 2003. Okay, enough behind the scenes talk, let's get on with the plot.

One night, as Stellaluna's mother followed the scent of ripe fruit, an owl spied her. On silent wings, the powerful bird swooped down upon the bats. Mother Bat tried to escape, but the owl struck again and again, knocking Stellaluna into the air. Her wings were as useless as wet paper, down down she went, faster and faster into the forest below. She lands in a bird's nest, and the three birds, Flitter, Pip, and Flap mistake her for a bird. Stellaluna tries to fit in, reluctantly trying to eat bugs without being disgusted by them. However, the Great White Owl is on the loose when Stellaluna accidentally wakes him up, he tries to seek vengeance on the bat he knocked down a few days before.

I highly doubt that Janell Cannon wasn't at least partly inspired by the infamous killer wolves in Beauty and the Beast when creating this vicious owl who abandoned Stellaluna from her mother.

The success of the made-for-DVD movie relied heavily on the casting of Stellaluna. The producers landed on Canadian voice actress, Chiara Zanni, who originally made a name for herself as the voice of Poky Little Puppy in the 1989 TV Special, Little Golden Book Land, and has spent her career doing usually tomboy related characters in roles like Alex from Camp Candy starring John Candy, Mimi Morton in What About Mimi?, Petunia in Baby Looney Tunes, and the colorful Daring Do on My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. So, to me, Chiara Zanni will always be Stellaluna, it sounds like she's having a ball doing this energetic and cowardly character.

During the film's production, director William R. Kowalchuk impressively orchestrated two entirely separate group of actors. American actors and Canadian actors of a bunch, which is no easy task. Flitter, Pip, and Flap were played a group of virtual unknowns while the other characters were played by who's who of recognizable Canadian actors from film and production. Lee Tockar played Askari the Superhero Spider, he would later go on to voice George in 2007's version of George of the Jungle as well as the voice of Snips on Friendship is Magic. Scott McNeil portrays Horatio, a toucan who tries to make Stellaluna look like a real bird. McNeil was also part of the cast of Dragon Ball Z, Friendship is Magic, and Johnny Test, Brenda Crichlow who played the birds' mother, had other roles like an Office Co-Worker in Will Ferrell's Elf and Zecora in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and Kathleen Barr, who played Kasuku is a popular Canadian heartthrob for television, starring in shows like Ed, Edd n Eddy as Kevin and Marie Kanker, Dragon Tales as Wheezie, Kid vs. Kat as Millie, Littlest Pet Shop as Mrs. Twombly, and my personal favorite, Trixie from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Of course, the most recognizable voice among these guys is Blu Mankuma as the voice of the Great White Owl, Mankuma also starred in numerous movies and animated shows, as well as the voice of the red dragon in the Friendship is Magic episode, "Dragon Shy."

Here's a fun fact:  This version was panned by some fans of the original book as "truly unfaithful" and received mixed to negative reviews. Now despite what the critics say, I love this film, but I won't deny that nostalgia is a major factor. While I have read the book before I saw this, I appreciate the movie was able to accomplish, given it's a made-for-DVD. While I will admit that the film is not without its flaws. Specifically the addition of Askari the Spider and the bigger role of the Great White Owl, and the cheesy songs, even though I do like Stellaluna's song before Askari comes onto the screen. I think the filmmakers did all they could with the resources they had, for me though, I've seen this film a lot of times that it doesn't even matter.

It's seems like when it goes for the small scares, it goes really well, like the Owl dodging at the herd of bats, many of these scenes contribute to the film's atmosphere, as does the highly underrated musical score composed by Courage the Cowardly Dog composer, Jody Gray. Gray's compositions give the film an appropriate African tone right from the opening credits. The entire score is exciting, gloomy, and emotional, and you know the Great White Owl is lurking right around the corner, when it starts to become cold, wet, and heavily filled with bass drums and strings. I constant criticism I've noticed suggests that for such a blood-thirsty owl, he doesn't too much out of hooting and laughing at the bats and birds. Scholastic's standards didn't allow the filmmakers to be too severe with showing child birds in danger, which is ironic giving the source material. But they found away to dance around that rule. The Great White Owl corners, hoots, and threatens some of the main characters, but rarely goes in for the kill. This forced the filmmakers to be extra creative with the film's exciting, and some of what they ended up doing was pretty exciting stuff. Sure, the movie is practically "The Goonies" or "Courage the Cowardly Dog" compared to child friendly nature of the original book, but I kind of like it for that.

Over the years, Stellaluna has become the made-for-DVD movie that could. It might not be as well received as other adaptations like Arthur, The Magic School Bus, or Franklin, but from what I've seen, it's a movie that I love despite all the flaws it had. I even put The Great White Owl right up there with the others like the Killer Wolves from Beauty and the Beast, Him from The Powerpuff Girls, and Queen Chrysalis from Friendship is Magic. At the end of the day, the DVD of Janell Cannon's Stellaluna is a great but flawed release of a great but flawed film, and is deserving of a 4 out of 5 stars recommendation, buy it if you run across it.

Ed, Edd n Eddy - "Run for Your Ed"

Now, let's review the episode that came on after "A Case of Ed," and surprisingly, aired the exact same month of February in 2004. It's called, "Run for Your Ed," A take on the old saying "Run for your life!" You can run, but you can't hide from this review.

 Late at night, The Kanker Sisters noticed that someone has broken into their kitchen, and not only that, but they also took their family air loom, the ship in a bottle. Without bothering to call the police, the Kankers decide the next day to wreak havoc on the innocent people of the cul-de-sac of Peach Creek, causing Rolf to hide in his cellar. Meanwhile, Ed has the ship in the bottle stuck on his finger after his sleepwalking stroll. And yes, Ed was the one behind the damage of the Kankers' kitchen, but the trio doesn't have time to worry about that, they have to try to get the bottle of of Ed's swollen finger, while the Kankers terrorize the city. How will this be resolved? Watch and find out.

One thing I should mention is that the Ed Edd n Eddy wiki refers to it as the Destruction of Rethink Avenue. I would also like to point out that this episode kind of reminds me of the 9/11 terrorist attacks from 2001, and strangely enough, this episode came on a few years after that happened. Strange, isn't it? Also, I would like to point out that Kevin never bothered to even beat up the Eds once in this episode, I guess he was still grounded for reasons unknown in "A Case of Ed," but both these episodes are episodic and they belong in their own separate category. At least, the city has been evacuated. I would have to think that the damages would've cost hundreds and thousands of dollars to repair.

Overall, this episode has all of the characters intact, and they all get something to do, and even Sarah knows how to stop the attacks, simply by telling the Kankers where the ship in the bottle is. You know, for a spoiled brat, she knows how to handle situations like this. But either way, this episode is pretty funny, Lee and Marie's lines in the kitchen are quite hilarious as well as their reaction to their ship in a bottle being stolen. The only people who never got injured during their rampage were the three Eds and Rolf who was stuck in the cellar.

All in all, the Kankers did get their ship in a bottle back, and three days had passed, and Rolf still hasn't come out of the cellar.

Watch it if you run across it.

Ed, Edd n Eddy - "A Case of Ed"

Remember when I reviewed Monkey Business? Well, I'm reviewing an Ed, Edd n Eddy episode that is quite similar to this. This is called, "A Case of Ed."

While Kevin is grounded for reasons unknown, Ed and Eddy celebrate his imprisonment. Double D returns from the library after buying some books that were on sale, including the plot important book in question, The Encyclopedia of Obscure Diseases. And Double D finds an interesting one, the Lack-a-Daisy-Cathro Disease, the name obviously has the last name of the show's editor, Ken Cathro. The symptoms are as follows, Rationalising of mundane circumstances, Habitual cleanliness, Abnormal fixation to headwear, and Weakness in lower extremities. Once Double D notices he has all the symptoms, he's convinced he has Lack-a-Daisy Cathro Disease, and Ed and Eddy tease him even more by adding even more symptoms like confusion, spontaneous difference in shoe size, and kicking people. And no, Eddy, rage is not a symptom.

Unlike "Monkey Business," Double D believes all this going on within him due to Ed and Eddy just teasing him, while simultaneously insulting Kevin who is still grounded. Double D could've been more suspicious to realize that this disease's symptoms are just common ailments, ailment means a minor sickness. However, right after Double D does get convinced he has this sort of disease, Eddy at first didn't quite care saying things like "Give it up, Double D, you're about as sick as Ed is." Obviously, if Eddy just tells Double D to go see an actual doctor instead of actually teasing him, then it would've been good enough.

On the plus side, Nazz does cheer Double D up knowing this is all a joke, and I like how Ed uses his toes as puppets in front of Kevin's window, and says to himself "I should be in show business." And once again, the fourth wall is broken in this installment, where Ed looks at the camera and audience and says, "That's some good TV right there." And when a howling sound effect appears out of nowhere, Ed says "I'm turning into a werewolf, Eddy." I wish I could say I felt bad for Eddy and Ed when they got beat up by Kevin near the end, but I can't because they deserved it for all the tricks they've pulled on Double D throughout this episode, which even goes so far as to take Eddy's key to his house and they get a beat down from Kevin and Double D refers to it as Kevin's Pummel Disorder. I still have one question, WHY was Kevin grounded in the first place? Did he call the three Eds dorks too much? Did he bully someone? Did he do something illegal in Peach Creek? Okay, that's all just nitpicking, it's a meh episode.

If you wanna see this plot done better, go read my "Monkey Business" review. Please?

http://vbrunoreviews.blogspot.com/2017/12/hey-arnold-monkey-business.html

The Fairly OddParents - "Birthday Wish!"

Here's another favorite episode from Season 5, "Birthday Wish!" starring Vicky's little sister, Tootie. This is the second Birthday episode I'm reviewing, so let's uh, let's begin.

The story is that Timmy Turner feels bad for Tootie because her birthdays are always ruined by her older sister, Vicky. She wants a party where everyone wasn't too scared of her to come. Feeling bad for the child who's been abused by Vicky, he lends his fairies, Cosmo and Wanda to Tootie for the rest of her birthday, and to make up for all the birthday's he's been ignoring from the delivery man. And, amazingly enough, the party is everything that she ever wanted. It isn't until Denzel Crocker comes into the picture and discovers there was real butter creme icing on the giant birthday cake. And, as usual, Mr. Crocker goes for another evil scheme to prove to the world that Timmy (technically Tootie) has fairies.

The thing that surprised me about this episode was that I thought this would be more about Vicky than Tootie, but boy they proved me wrong. It focuses more on Tootie and her birthday wish, Vicky even gets thrown out of the window to give Denzel the villain spotlight. That, and Timmy was really generous to lend his fairies until 9:00 which is her bedtime. I also like Chester and AJ's minor appearances, as well as Chet Ubetcha reporting on Tootie's birthday. With all the presents, on the cake or anywhere in between, you never know who's going to show up. But don't worry, we're giving you enough Mr. Crocker to go around.

The bottom line is that I too felt bad for Tootie in this episode, especially since nobody ever came to her party due to them having Vicky in them.

I even like all the jokes here, like Cosmo saying "Go for the coma!" And of course, we couldn't forget Crocker's "FAIRY GOD PARENTS!" chant.

I even like how they made Denzel Crocker interact with Tootie for a change instead of Vicky.

If you like birthdays as much as I do, please, at least check this one episode out. It really is worth your time.

Kids Next Door Review - Operation: TRAINING

Since it's still winter, let's review my favorite episode of the Kids Next Door from the third season, "Operation: TRAINING." But before we begin, I want to give a shout out to Arthurengtine's Review Jungle for reviewing this episode along with the episode it was paired with "Operation: BUTT." Here's the link the his review.

http://arthurenginereviews.blogspot.com/2015/12/codename-knd-s3e05-operation-butt.html

Okay, let's get started.

The plot is that Numbuh 2's little brother, Tommy Gilligan is part of the Cadets Next Door, or CND for short. And during some training in the Arctic Base, an emergency mission has been called forth because of Father. Once they leave, the cadets, Tommy, Sonia, and the soft-spoken Lee try the simulation anyway despite the orders not to touch anything. And, here comes the big shocker, on Level 3, it was revealed that Father, voiced by Maurice LaMarche, made the entire mission for the KND just a false alarm, and by the time the real operatives realized they've been fooled, it'll be too late, because Father plans to steal the code module. So, it's up to the cadets to save the day.

The funny thing is usually whenever none of the main characters appear in this episode, it would usually make it not a good episode, a good example being The Powerpuff Girls episode, "Custody Battle," where those girls don't appear at all. But, this episode does the exact opposite. Instead of doing an episode without the main characters that would disappoint me, they instead brought me an episode that really good, and hey, it features other Kids Next Door operatives, so, there's no need for me to complain. My favorite character in this episode has to be of course, Sonia, who would later become Numbuh 83 after the events of Operation: GRADUATES. For those who don't know, Sonia is voiced by Janice Kawaye, who's been featured in several other cartoons like Captain Planet, Dorothy Meets Osma of Oz, Invader Zim, HiHi Puffy AmiYumi, and the voice of Jenny Wakeman on My Life a s a Teenage Robot. I think Sonia was one of Janice's cutest characters. She is just so afraid of everything, the cuteness even goes so far when she winds up in the darkness, shaking with fear, proving to me that Sonia is a nyctophobic. In fact, Father threatens to throw the three, including Sonia into a "terrible, scary," dark little room, which caused Sonia to freak out, and she beats up some of Father's minions to the point of them surrendering, Sonia then says, "What? I don't like the dark." This expects me to believe me that Father probably knew about Sonia's weakness. But aside from all that, this is pretty much a Tommy story.

So, the bottom line, this episode is so awesome, it never tried to disappoint me at least once. A nice slice of life episode, It gives us more information about other operatives outside of Sector V, and it also has an interesting story. All I know is that the Kids Next Door never ceases to amaze me. You could find this episode on the second volume, Codename: Kids Next Door Super Hugest Missions File 2 DVD. I'm not sure if you would find it on Amazon, but you'd probably find it on eBay by now. But don't find a copy that's TOO pricey. You have been warned. Anyway, enjoy the episode all you want. It's perhaps one of the best.

Arthur - "Emily Swallows a Horse"

Now, I'm going to review an episode of Arthur from the ninth season, "Emily Swallows a Horse."

The plot of the episode is that D.W. finds a sparkly ball outside and she and the Tibble Twins fight over who wants it, that is until the ball falls out of their hands and Emily takes it, and she lies to D.W. that it was given to her by Marie-Helene. D.W. finds this suspicious, while the Tibble Twins being the stupid and immature duo that they are, believe in her lies about Marie-Helene having halitosis and being at the hospital. Even when at the store when D.W. talks to Arthur about the situation, Arthur finds it skeptical to think it's all a lie, defending Emily and being accused of being a snowball thief. It isn't until her fears take the best of her when she is being chased by a giant D.W. over a tiny little ball! She meets of with the Old Lady who swallowed a fly, where she admits that she made all that stuff up and she never died, but on the other hand, she would eat a horse. Emily wakes up the next morning and she tells the truth to her friends, and the reason she lied in the first place because she wanted the ball, and after the trouble it caused her, she never wanted to see it again.

This is pretty much one of those post Season 5 episodes I keep coming back to. Emily is really a relate-able character, and she has her fears of telling the truth, and I got sucked into her dilemma and watched it from beginning to end, and I thought it was really good.

The funny thing is since the title card has the word "horse" in it, it has Buster imitating a horse in the title card despite the fact he wasn't in the episode.

I recommend this episode to not just Arthur fans, but also to people who have seen all the other cartoons that talk about telling the truth. The comedy is spot on, and the Tibble Twins are never out of character. Funny and educational all around.