Change Your Image
![](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMjQ4MTY5NzU2M15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNDc5NTgwMTI@._V1_SY100_SX100_.jpg)
millenniumf
Reviews
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009)
Good film for families
I'm puzzled by the number of poor reviews some are giving this film. It's not The Godfather, Shutter Island, or Scent of a Woman. Heck, it's not even Star Wars.
This is Alvin and the Chipmunks, for crying out loud. If you want deep messages, incredible dialogue and profound story, go rent 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The message of this film is plain and simple: family is your most important resource, and sacrificing it to attain your own goals will come back to bite you BIG TIME. In a day and age where family is often portrayed as being in the way of achieving your life goals, it's a big relief to see a film that gives kids a strong moral message like this.
Alvin's egotistical antics and selfishness are brought out in this film. He is led on by the jocks and is allowed on the football team. The fact that he isn't even that valued by the team is evident in that he wasn't even put in the game till they were almost defeated anyway, so what did they have to lose with a (questionably legal) Hail Mary pass? This of course sails right over his head, and instead of keeping his promise to his brother, Simon, he goes out partying. Brittany hit the nail right on the head when she said, "You don't care about anyone but yourself." Alvin wants to retort, but instead swallows hard. When he arrives home, he goes to the bedroom and tries to apologize to his brothers, but of course they are so deeply hurt by his selfishness that they don't even bother to reply! That's a whole new level of hurt right there, and you can tell just how down about the whole thing Alvin is by the sigh he lets out when he sinks into bed.
Simon is a good role-model in this movie, because he is the most mature of the three. Dave was wise letting him be in charge, as we can see later when Simon tries (and fails) to hold the family together by making Alvin promise not to miss the sing-off. Another good character trait in Simon is his family values. He highly values his relationship with his brothers, and you can tell how deeply it cut him when Alvin let him be made a fool of with the whole 'litter monitor' joke. Yes, he is a bit anal-retentive and even has a bit of an ego, but it's clear he is the most respectable of the trio.
Theodore is also a good character in this film, but not as an example kids should follow. Rather, he is the glue that holds the 'family' together in this film. It was so cool to see Alvin and Simon come to his defense so readily. I don't see too many families where older brothers (at least, more mature ones) would come to the aid of a younger brother like this. When Theodore hurts in this film, it just tears your heart out, because he's so innocent. He's the shy kid who doesn't really fit in, and his vulnerability is very endearing. His heart of gold is most apparent when he tells Eleanor how he thinks she's just fine the way she is. How many guys could be counted upon to be that honest?
In the end analysis, Squeakquel isn't the most ground-breaking film of all time. It isn't world-shattering, it's not block-busting, and it's not anything more than fluff when you get right down to it. But at it's heart is a good, clean message that should be something every kid in the world needs to be reminded of every once in a while:
Family is your most priceless possession. Cherish it. You'll never realize just how precious it is . . . till you lose it.
TaleSpin (1990)
Great pilot, great plane. . .
Ahh, Talespin! What can I say that hasn't already been said about this great show? Nothing! This is without a doubt one of the most well-written shows I've ever encountered, live-action or animation. The newer stuff is way too dumbed down for my tastes, and some of the "mature" stuff I have to shoo kids out of the room for. But not Talespin.
The stories are engaging and very plausible. Some of them could even be stretched out to an hour or two for a movie. Episodes like Stormy Weather and Her Chance to Dream are very dramatic while still being enjoyable for kids and adults alike. Then there are the pure comedy episodes such as the Bluest of the Baloo Bloods and Stuck on you, where the emphasis is on hilarity. I can laugh myself to tears in a few choice ones.
The drama aspect is very lacking in most shows nowadays(at least, those which aren't specifically geared toward it), especially in cartoons. In the episode Stormy Weather for instance, Kit Cloudkicker decides that he's going to join an air circus, but Baloo believes that it would be too dangerous. In the biggest fight of the episode, Baloo yells at Kit to stay away from Daring Dan, to which Kit screams "NO! You can't tell me what to do! YOUR'RE *NOT* *MY* *DAD*!" and buries his face in his pillow. The next day he leaves for the air circus. This kind of drama is a rarity in a cartoon, and would be most welcome in the ones created nowadays.
The Characters have a lot of depth to them. Baloo is pretty much the way he is in The Jungle Book, plus or minus a few degrees of laziness. Rebecca is a cunning business woman whose ideas on getting money, while good in theory, are seldom good in practice. Molly is a cute little girl, but you can't let that deceive you. She can be a real hellion sometimes. Kit Cloudkicker is a darker character than the rest. He doesn't trust adults much unless they appeal to him, and he has a tendency to break off relationships. Watch his expression in Plunder and Lightning when he grabs the grappling hook: he looks as though he's prepared to put it right through a pirate.
In the end, it's the drama combined with the very real chemistry between the characters that makes this show #1 in my book. The relationship between Baloo and Kit is very real, almost father and son. This is demonstrated well in All's Whale That Ends Whale when Baloo takes Kit's word for it that Seymour is abusing the animals in his aquarium instead of siding with the other adults. Baloo and Becky's relationship is also realistic, due to Baloo's motivation for working comes from wanting to buy back the ol' Sea Duck, not necessarily a desire to help Rebecca. But something tells me that if he did get the Duck back he'd still do jobs for Rebecca.
The Sea Duck, not to mention all the other planes in the series, is pretty realistically designed. The plane's functions don't change once throughout the series(continuity like that is hard to come by also), and unlike most other "super-planes" of other cartoons, it doesn't have one single weapon on board(unless you count mangoes!), and relies instead on it's cunning pilot's great skill to get out of trouble. It's hard to think of a hero vehicle that doesn't have some sort of gun turret, laser cannon, or even a handgun somewhere on board. And the fact that they use their heads to get out of trouble is so hard to find in a cartoon nowadays. Plus it's just such a darn cool design!
This is definitely the best cartoon. Ever. Period. Definitely worth all ten stars!