Resurfacing at Apple TV+ after a forced departure from PIXAR/Disney, animation-guru John Lasseter brought along his recipe box. So why cook up this not-so-fresh batch of leftovers? Famously ‘hands-on’ as producer (it’s what got him in trouble), the film is officially directed by Peggy Holmes (script Kiel Murray, Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger), but the relationships, characters, moral lessons and reflexive jokes all display the Lasseter brand. Alas, some ideas reheat better than others, and the alternate world POV our heroine gets sucked into (here it’s the land of GOOD and BAD LUCK), offers far less possibilities for deep-think development than, say, INSIDE OUT or SOUL. This time, Little Miss Orphan has just aged out of the kiddie home and is now on her own: new apartment, first job, new acquaintances, new face, too, since she’s been drawn to look like a middle-aged soap star just back from a face-lift. Something very Susan Lucci about her. Sucked into her adventure following a ‘lucky’ cat, her journey thru a garish playground of happy-go-lucky and happy-go-unlucky beasts underwhelming. Selflessness will save her (she uses her lucky penny to help a young orphan snag a Forever Family), but does little to add interest to this bland creation. I’m at a loss. Not only at how poor this is (conceptually and in execution), but in generally respectable reviews. Perhaps too much product & too many platforms have lowered old standards.
WATCH THIS, NOT THAT/LINK: Instead, burgeoning teen self-awareness from Makoto Shinkai in the superb Japanese anime KIMI NO NA WA / YOUR NAME/’16. An international phenom everywhere but the States where it stalled out at 5 mill. No leftovers on this one. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2018/06/kimi-no-na-wa-your-name-2016.html
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