Condorito & other miscellaneous animated fare

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Condorito & other miscellaneous animated fare

Post by droosan » January 16th, 2018, 1:32 am

Currently in limited release in U.S. movie theaters is Condorito: The Movie, adapted from the famous Chilean comic books by Pepo:



The movie is presented in Spanish language, with english subtitles .. and is apparently only in ~140 theaters nationwide (fortunately, one of them happens to be in Burbank..! 8) )

For a first animated feature film (from Aronnax Animation Studio in Peru), it's pretty darned impressive .. comparing favorably with the design & animation quality seen from Blue Sky or Illumination, and with a quirky humorous storyline reminiscent of Warner Animation Group's Storks. I'm certainly gonna keep an eye out for whatever Aronnax does next..!
Last edited by droosan on January 17th, 2018, 12:53 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Condorito

Post by Ben » January 16th, 2018, 6:58 am

Did. Not. See. That. Coming.

I jumped in given Droo's exuberance, and was half expecting a Ratatouille/Turbo rip-off about a little bird making his mark in a different world, when the aliens arrived and everything went wacko! I actually enjoyed Storks a lot (certainly more than any of the Lego movies), so this would be right up my alley, although I’d liken the production value to be closer to a Eurotoon than that of Blue Sky or even Illumination, though better than the usual Weinstein/Lionsgate product they like to dub so much. Don’t get why this didn’t get a dub, though...with the better values and an English-graphics trailer, they might have had a shot at countering whatever the new Fifty Shades is called and nabbing the post-Paddington family audience in February!? Seems like a no brainer?

I’ll keep an eye out for a disc of this whenever it hits these shores. :)

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Re: Condorito

Post by droosan » January 16th, 2018, 8:41 am

Yeah, a fairer comparison in terms of animation quality may be to the likes of A Monster in Paris or The Nut Job films. :oops:

And the plot is 'paper-thin' .. but definitely keeps things moving with fun sight gags and 'out-of-nowhere' twists on movie tropes. There's even a fleeting bit of 'heart' now and then, which provide sympathetic moments for the alien emperor and Condorito's prospective mother-in-law.

There were about 10 people in the audience of the screening I attended .. though, that was on a Monday evening. An english dub certainly may have helped the movie to have broader appeal .. but it was still rather enjoyable! :)

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Re: Condorito & other miscellaneous animated fare

Post by droosan » January 17th, 2018, 1:13 am

Another animated feature I've been hoping to see stateside -- which apparently does exist in an 'english-dubbed' form -- is the french movie Zombillénium, an adaptation of the BD album series by cartoonist/designer extraordinaire Arthur de Pins (who also makes his directorial debut with this film!)



The story concerns a safety inspector who discovers the local 'monster-themed' park isn't merely staffed by people in costumes .. and finds himself cursed, and unable to leave the park as a result!

The movie was released in France last October, and is slated for french Blu-ray & DVD sometime in February. The existence of an english-language trailer had me hoping it would come to the U.S. eventually .. but so far, I've seen no news on that front. Perhaps the english version saw a U.K. or Australian theatrical release..? :|

I'm hopeful that it might at least get a Blu-ray release in Canada .. which is how I was able to get my hands on an NTSC 'Region-A' Blu-ray of Ballerina (as opposed to the slightly-goofier Leap! english dub of that film).

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Re: Condorito & other miscellaneous animated fare

Post by droosan » April 18th, 2018, 5:32 am

Just a heads-up that Condorito: The Movie has been released on home video in North America .. on DVD only; not on Blu-ray. The DVD does contain an optional english-language dialogue track, however..! 8) This movie was goofy fun, and is well-worth seeking out. Now, if only the comic books on which it's based were as easy to find ..

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Also just (finally!) released on Region 1 DVD -- and also, alas, not on Blu-ray -- is Animalympics, the 1980 musical TV special spoofing the Olympic games in general .. and annoying sports commentary in particular. Definitely a '70s time-capsule, of sorts, which hasn't aged all that well .. but still a fun time -- and something unavailable commercially in the U.S. since the days of VHS!

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Re: Condorito & other miscellaneous animated fare

Post by Ben » April 18th, 2018, 12:52 pm

Really, really odd that I just though about this again the other night and was going to go hunting for some obscure Euro Blu-ray or something.

Nice to see this (Animalympics) finally make it to DVD, might have to buy to retire my aged VHS. This got a LOT of play back in the day and my sister and I still make reference and quote lines from it; we were mentioning Keen Hacksaw just last weekend!

Big fun, and a very cool picture in its single feature-length version (it was originally a two-parter TV special) and featuring a host of later well-known animation talent. Clever writing, a pretty good story arc (considering it’s made up of lots of different segments) and more than decent songs of the time make this a keeper.

Such a shame it isn’t better known or remembered...thanks for pointing this out, Droo! Now I can go watch the Calamari Brothers once again! :D

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Re: Condorito & other miscellaneous animated fare

Post by Dacey » April 18th, 2018, 4:04 pm

Ironically, its release was ruined in the states by the US boycotting the Olympics that year (which I think is why it became a TV special instead).
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Re: Condorito & other miscellaneous animated fare

Post by EricJ » April 18th, 2018, 8:44 pm

But director Steve Lisberger got enough attention from Disney to go on to bigger projects...Some 80's video-game thingy his studio was pitching, wasn't it? ;)

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Re: Condorito & other miscellaneous animated fare

Post by Ben » April 20th, 2018, 3:32 am

Tron actually makes his debut right at the start of Animalympics... :)

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Re: Condorito & other miscellaneous animated fare

Post by EricJ » April 20th, 2018, 7:31 pm

Actually, that's the Lisberger Studios logo, which became their famous Boston radio commercial--If you lived in New England in the late 70's, you'd know that. 8)

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Re: Condorito & other miscellaneous animated fare

Post by Ben » April 20th, 2018, 8:34 pm

Yes. Well done. And that character is called Tron. The backlit frisbee disc concept also features in the logo. If you had the Disney Archive Edition LD of Tron, you'd know that. :roll:

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Re: Condorito & other miscellaneous animated fare

Post by EricJ » April 21st, 2018, 1:00 am

Nope, never had LD, just the 20th Anniversary DVD, which was the first time I ever realized they'd done that animated Boston "Evening at Pops" opening before moving out west.
Saw that opening a hundred times, growing up, and now can't even find a decent YouTube of it. :x

(Spot How EricJ is Wrong in This Post challenge level: 7)

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Re: Condorito & other miscellaneous animated fare

Post by Ben » April 21st, 2018, 8:38 pm

Wrong #1: there's a more than decent-looking handful of radio promos I just found on YouTube that use the Lisburger Studios logo for their visuals. Maybe not the exact same Boston one you saw, but they’re all the same anyway, just repurposing the branding to whichever station is being promoted.

Wrong #2: you only saw that opening 97 times, not a hundred. ;)

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