Mi Dulce Monstruo

My six year old daughter and I loved this movie and thought it was so nice that none of the new Disney nonsense was included! My daughter couldn't sit still because she thought it was so amazing with all the different turns and twists. She couldn't stop talking about Barbara and her adventures. Very cute. Lovely soundtrack.

You know, Shrek was fine. It was funny, at places clever, but the animation was low tier. Frozen had 1 catch song, otherwise it was - let's face it - s-tear simple. Yes, I'm starting strong here, lol.

The first thing I saw here was the hair of the princess. It was messy, it was average-people hair, nothing like a Disney-princess' liquid metal hair. Even. Tangled had that very generic hair, mediocre animmation. The hair always tells how top-notch your animation will be.

This also has this slavic background, and one thing it gives is that 1800's looks in the 21th century. Wonderfuly anachronistic atmosphere. Just like the robot servants. The castle only has robots, some female servants, and a fashion-person. Not just for hijinks-sake, but for a good reason (overprotecting parent).

And this is another thing I just love. The worldbuilding. Everything has a reason, a good one. And even the references to other works fit into the story, and if you don't catch them, it doesn't hurt the experience. The twists will still work.

Let's limit myself, so someone will read this, but this is a genuin great animation, on the level of classic Disney. Give it a chance, please!

W A R N I N G: Pauly Shore sings.

Other than that, it's an enjoyable little movie.

The . Animation . Is . Near . Realistic . For . All . The . Scenery . While . The . Characters . Held . A . Cartoonish . Appearance. The . Story . Was . Simple . While . The . Characters . Kept . It . Fun. Most . Of . The . Singing . Was . Enjoyable. I . Merely . Wanted . To . Watch . A . Lighthearted . Cartoon . And . That . Is . Exactly . What . This . Was, . A . Very . Nice, . Lighthearted . Little . Cartoon/animated . Movie. I'm . Trying . Very . Very . Very . Hard . To . Attain . . the . Minimum . Words . Goal . But . I . Really . Don't . Have . Much . Else . To . Say.

It's kinda like when your intimate photos or videos end up in someone else's hands, man. That person's wicked face, in this animated flick, is actually depicted as the bad guy we see. But you know what, even when someone's got something on you, you can't go against the love for your family. I absolutely love how the writer flipped the script on those prince charming tales. It's like a Santa Claus-level plot twist for me. Those dreamy stories, they might just be wrapping up another kind of lie. We're in the dark, unknowingly choosing to anticipate and believe in the intricate stories full of exaggerations and details.

I went in with no idea what to expect. Enjoyed the first ten minutes with steampunk vibes and robots, the flying light globe bots were cute. The quality of the animation is admirable for not having the full weight of the Disney/Pixar/Dreamworks machine behind it. From the lip synch you could tell it had been made elsewhere and I am a long-time fan of European animation, so was gunning for the high production values. But as soon as our main characters started speaking I felt the ick creeping in. Entitled, backdated attitudes about women, children and authority. Simplistic ideas about property, inheritance and power. I know it's a kid's film and had low expectations for plot and attention span, but this really gave me Eastern bloc vibes from the get go. While the message to respect Mother Nature is admirable, I think every adult watching knows who the real Mother implied in this film is. It's not going to poison the minds of your kids but there's better cr@p out there. I enjoyed the literary villain. We all know publishers are the worst.