The League of Super Evil
Very silly fun. A group of self styled 'evil geniuses' live in suburbia. They have the costumes and the gadgets but are geniuses in the same way that Wile E. Coyote is a genius. Their plots blow up in their faces. They try things that fail. The neighbours mostly ignore them, much to the annoyance of the League. It's very silly and surprisingly entertaining.
Legend of the Millennium Dragon
A nice story with good animation and voice work. The story is a little bit by the numbers; a kid from modern Japan is taken into the past to save everyone from monsters. But it is nicely done. I do like that he doesn’t automatically take one side or the other. Both sides are shown to be a little too absolute and he works to make both compromise. Nice.
Letter Bee (Movie)
In a shadowy winter land called Amberground small towns are separated by terrible wilderness. Letter Bees carry the mail between towns. They are guided and protected by their Dingo, a dog or a person with special powers. A very young Letter Bee and his equally young Dingo travel across the land to deliver a package accompanied by a very old Dingo that lost his master years before. Flashbacks fill in the back story. Parts where they battle their major nemesis, giant armoured beetles is exciting. The end is sweet and sad. Not a fantastic film but pleasant enough.
The Life and Times of Juniper Lee
There is a world of magical monsters all around us that we, usually cannot see. June has to keep the supernatural and human world from conflicting too much. Not just beating up the monsters that cause trouble. She also has to help monsters that get into trouble, and fix the messes that appear when humans stumble into monster areas. Junes grandmother had the job before her and provides advice as needed. June is also helped by a talking dog with a Scottish accent that knows all about spells and potions and by her younger brother (if you can call that help). I like the way June has to solve problems, not just fight. It makes this a much more enjoyable show than it would be if it followed a more formulaic model.
The Loony Tunes Show
A 21st century revival of the classic Loony Tunes/Merry Melodies characters. Bugs and Daffy share a house in the suburbs surrounded by other characters and humans. I was very surprised at just how good this is. The show is more like a TV sitcom than the old classic seven minute shorts and consequently the plots are more developed and complex. It is a very well done effort. The RoadRunner short that is tagged onto each show is worth mention as well. Full CGI I frankly, was dreading it but they’ve captured the desperation and slapstick mayhem of the original. Kudos the the people at Warner Brothers Animation for this very worthy addition to the canon.
Louie the Rune Soldier
Louie is an idiot. A student at Wizard School but he would rather solve problems with his fists than his magic. Early on he even breaks his wand when he uses it as a club. He takes up with three female adventurers; a Priestess, a Thief and a Warrior. They tolerate his presence and generally abuse Louie. As the show goes on Louie grows into a true hero and in the end saves the kingdom with the help of his friends. Unfortunately the three adventurers seem to get dumber as Louie gets better. This weakness along with generally sub average writing make this only a mildly amusing if forgettable show.
Luna (Movie)
Beautifully done short about moths. A love story weaving love, a beauty/beast idea, and the power of change. A surprise ending that breaks what could have been a heavy story at exactly the right point. Catherine Winder produced it, BC and Films Canada funded it. A very worthy effort from an artist that we could be hearing a lot from in the future.