Lorenzo

I saw this short film before 'Raising Helen", and was quite surprised by it.

The animation combined with CG like movements from background to background is really good, but the storyline leaves something to be desired. An obnoxious cat, gets a spell put on his tail, by a odd mystical black cat, so it comes alive and starts to tango with him. And after a while i was starting to get a little freaked out by what all this cat was trying to do to his tail to make it stop. (running it over with a train, drowning it, electrocuting it, and ultimately wanting to take a knife to it) This cartoon is defiantly a different direction for Disney, and is not for everybody.

Tonight I went to go see "Raising Helen". I was pleasantly surprised to see this pre-show cartoon! I was taken aback. What an absolutely incredible piece of work!! An astonishing blend of traditional (2-D) animations and CG environments and painting techniques. But beyond the technical achievements, the story (based on an original idea by Disney icon, Joe Grant) was darkly hilarious!! Quite a style break for Disney, yet it wasn't edgy for edgy's sake. Totally satisfying. It was a perfect marriage of fun storytelling and great design and technique. Pure artistry. I will buy "Raising Helen" on DVD just to get this cartoon alone. I sure hope it will be available!

The setup is a fat spoiled cat who flaunts his unearned advantages in front of skinny little felines. He is especially proud of his magnificent tail. Especially when a tailless cat shows up. But this cat has something Satanic about him and takes it upon himself to teach our big guy a lesson. The animation is striking, full of color and movement. The threatening of the cat is quite frightening.

Watching Disney films (animated and live action), shows and cartoons shaped my childhood, a couple of their films were among my first ever even ('Cinderella', 'Peter Pan' and 'The Lion King', still love all three). As a young adult most, not all mind, still hold up between very well and brilliantly. It is very sad though that with exceptions their output now does not have the same magic, like for instance 'Phineas and Ferb' is pretty much the only show on the Disney Channel worth watching from personal opinion.

Don't consider 'Lorenzo' one of their best short films or among the best they've ever done, but found myself surprisingly liking it very much after giving it the benefit of the doubt, after not expecting too much. From the description, was honestly expecting something that may be well made but was not very funny, charmless and potentially distasteful with a titular character that could veer on the wrong side of obnoxious. Didn't find it to be any of those things, other than the well made, really did think that something entertaining could be made out of an annoying sounding cat with a tail of its own but 'Lorenzo' manages that feat.

The story is slight and could have had a little more momentum to begin with.

At times, the music is a touch too intrusive.

However, the animation is just fantastic and blends the different animation styles expertly, while executing the animation styles with astonishing detail and colours full of vibrancy and atmosphere. The music a vast majority of the time is very catchy and is an entertaining fit, anybody who loves tango music will be in heaven. Can understand why 'Lorenzo' won't be for all tastes tonally, am going to join the camp of those that found it very funny and surprisingly full of charm

Even if the lead character's methods are darkly brutal though also very funny and clever. To me though, those methods were not overly freaky. Neither did the story, which is compelling once it gets going, come over as mean-spirited to me, despite how it sounds like hearing about it. The lead character is purposefully obnoxious but this trait is not overdone, so he manages to be entertaining and rootable still as well.

Concluding, surprisingly very good. 8/10

"Lorenzo" is an interesting sort of experimental film but even though it's from Disney, it's an animated film that no doubt would appeal more to the adults out there than kids. This is because the film is set to very loud tango music and the usual sound effects and style are absent. This isn't a complaint...it's still a very nice cartoon.

The story begins with a very spoiled cat enjoying the life of luxury--and not caring the least for the poor and hungry cats just outside his house. When a cat missing a tail comes by, Lorenzo is sure to rub it in that he has a beautiful and long tail. And, because of this, he is taught a lesson as the tailless cat is magical...and makes Lorenzo's tail come to life on its own. Lorenzo is terrified because the tail wants to do his own thing and so he tries a bunch of funny (and brutal) methods to get rid of the pesky tail. A cute story about karma.