Despicable Me

When I saw the very first posters for Despicable Me I admit that it didn't take my fancy because, to be very honest, when it comes to 3D animated films I can be very biased if they are not made by Pixar Studios (Pixar films never fall short of making me fall completely in love with them), and Despicable Me is made by Universal. However, when the trailers started showing in the cinema and on tv they changed my mind completely and I knew that I would have to give this film a go. The animation and overall appearance looked really good, the characters interesting and the story line rather different. It centers around a super-villain named Gru (Steve Carrell) who plans to use three orphan girls as pawns for his latest villainous scheme. What Gru does not realise is that the girls, Margo, Edith and Agnes, will change his outlook on love and life for the better.

After I first saw this film I wanted to watch it again and again, as it is super cute, funny and has a genuinely good message with a great feel-good attitude about it. And I am sure that everyone who sees it will adore the three girls, especially Agnes the youngest who has a unicorn obsession and is possibly one of the cutest little girls to ever be animated! Overall, it is just a lovely film that is animated beautifully and is backed up with the wonderful voice talents of Steve Carrell, Russell Brand, Julie Andrews and Nickelodeon sweetheart Miranda Cosgrove ♥

Bambi ♥

For Valentine's Day my lovely boyfriend bought me Bambi on Blu Ray. I was so excited to watch it as I hadn't seen in in years! I had all the Disney classics on VHS, but obviously DVD took over and that was that; I had to wait for all of them to be released again. You may have noticed that Natasha and I are pretty much film buffs and we love our favourite films to be in high definition, so therefore we are currently Blu Ray mad! I have quite a collection that is constantly growing (one day I may do a blog post about it) and Bambi is my latest addition. It is hard to believe that the film was originally released in 1942, as in high definition the film is even more stunning visually, and the old fashioned way of hand-drawn animation stands its ground against the more modern day techniques of computer graphics. You can see the soft lines of the backgrounds and the colours are so rich and beautiful, which I love as I feel as though the film can now be fully appreciated for the masterpiece that it is. What I forgot about the film was how sad it actually is, but that just made me love it more because I love that is is quite a well-rounded story that is realistic; the contrast between the enchantment of the forest and the sweetness of Bambi's friendships, against the harshness of the reality of the world like the forest fires and the threat of man. Bambi is just a dream to watch, as the musicality of it keeps the film flowing and the comedy of characters such as Thumper and Flower bring the film back to lightheartedness between the more upsetting bits of Bambi's bittersweet journey. I am very glad that this Disney classic has now taken it's pride of place in my much loved Blu Ray collection ♥

Gnomeo & Juliet ♥

Gnomeo & Juliet is a super sweet and funny animation, with the story taking a very unique and unusual twist on Shakespeare's romantic tragedy, Romeo and Juliet. The film is set in the neighborhood of two warring houses, with two warring gardens. The Capulets are the Red Hatted gnomes and the Montagues are the Blue hatted gnomes. As the gnomes feud against one another, Juliet (voiced by the lovely Emily Blunt) and Gnomeo (James McAvoy) fall for one another whilst in disguise, and upon realisation that the other is from the enemy garden they start to question and detest the reason why the gnomes are at war. The animation is beautifully done and the detail is amazing. Emily Blunt actually said in an interview that they filmed her whilst she did the voice recording, and upon watching the final film she noticed that they had given her character some of her facial expressions, which I think is a great touch as it makes the characters more well rounded and love-able. It is also full of famous and recognisable voices, including Ozzy Osbourne as a docile but cute deer! Overall I think the film is just a treat; the take on Romeo and Juliet is somewhat lighthearted, as it should be as it is a family film, but the message is still there. If you love fun and quirky animations then this will not let you down ♥

Ponyo ♥

Ponyo is the latest magical creation from Japanese animation company Studio Ghibli. You can see that inspiration has been taken from Hans Christian Anderson's fairy tale The Little Mermaid, as it is about a young boy Sosuke who rescues a fish, befriends her and names her Ponyo. However, Ponyo's father is a sea wizard and in desperation uses his magic to bring her back. When back under the sea Ponyo, being a stubborn little goldfish, steals some of her father's magic to become human, and escapes back to Sosuke, where together they embark on a heart-warming journey of friendship.

I have been a fan of Studio Ghibli films for a long, long time, and Ponyo did not disappoint. It has a beautiful and serene aesthetic like that of My Neighbor Totoro, and the bittersweetness of Kiki's Delivery Service. The relationship between main characters Ponyo and Sosuke, voiced by Noah Cyrus and Frankie Jonas, is just adorable. Cate Blanchett and Liam Neeson also lend their voices to the film as the magical parents of Ponyo ♥