With endless sterile controversies behind it, Disney’s new ‘The Little Mermaid’ has already been released, with live action that defies the sense of disbelief because it has actors and little else for real. Let’s be honest, any positive aspect of that film is going to come from having replicated it from the original animated filmso the list is going to revolve around that one.
‘The little mermaid’ animation is a prodigy when it comes to bringing life under the sea to life through drawing. There is something majestic about water that filmmakers of this style cannot resist looking for ways to capture it on screen, and that is why we have this and these three other jewels with different animation techniques that they offer us. a first class underwater experience.
‘Ponyo on the cliff’ (‘Gake no Ue no Ponyo’, 2008)
Address: Hayao Miyazaki. Distribution: Yuria Nara, Hiroki Doi, Tomoko Yamaguchi, Kazushige Nagashima, Yūki Amami.
One of Hayao Miyazaki’s films with more of a children’s story character, although it is nonetheless a delight for everyone like ‘The Little Mermaid’. It makes sense, since the Japanese director was also inspired by the Hans Christian Andersen story for his film, although he takes his own liberties that show why it is one of the best animation filmmakers and of the country.
In the case of this Ghibli film, it conquers with that classic delicacy to tell a beautiful story of friendship that is simple, but never simple. Here we find some of Miyazaki’s best visual displaysfrom the creation of the underwater world that is a prodigy to the action typical of disaster movies, also going through his way of illustrating food.
Watch on Netflix | Criticism in Espinof
‘The song of the sea’ (‘Song of the Sea’, 2014)
Address: Tom Moore. Distribution: David Rawle, Brendan Gleeson, Fionnula Flanagan, Lisa Hannigan, Lucy O’Connell.
From Japan we jump to Ireland, this time not with a Danish tale but with another fabulous fantastic tale inspired by the folklore of the island. Tomm Moore has done Cartoon Saloon one of the great traditional animation studios of this centuryand that greatness was fully noted with this contemporary marine fable.
Not only does he have a daring and defiant spirit to maintain the traditional style in an era where computer animation has taken over (no problem with that, mind you), but also to update the Irish legends and heritage in a way that touches everyone. perfection for everyone. not only has a wonderful storyis that it is a beauty in the visual.
Watch on Amazon Prime Video and on Filmin | Beyond Disney, Pixar and Ghibli: 17 movies (and 3 shorts) essential for lovers of animation
‘Luca’ (2021)
Address: Enrico Casarosa. Distribution: Jacob Tremblay, Jack Dylan Grazer, Emma Berman, Maya Rudolph, Jim Gaffigan.
Very similar to ‘The Little Mermaid’ in her search for a life beyond the depths of the sea and to settle for the hidden life to which she has to resign herself, Pixar offers a delightfully simple story of coming of age with an exquisite subtext. A job that would have been nice to enjoy in a movie theater, instead of being mercilessly dumped to fatten the catalog of a streaming platform.
‘Luca’ is part of a resurgence of originality at Pixar, which, in addition to taking up new stories, is looking for new authors who want to tell their own. Enrico Casarosa does here a big fantasy adventure on a small scale who wants to celebrate summer, that time when as a child you only thought about riding your bike from one place to another and inflating yourself with pasta and ice cream with your friends. Beautiful even in its animation, where Pixar experiments with his techniques to give a special texture to the story.
Watch on Disney+ | Criticism in Espinof
In Espinof | The best animated movies of all time