 Screening Suggestion
Sometimes, for Halloween, you just don't feel like going the whole nine yards for horror. Often enough, the most fun movies to watch at Halloween are actually for the family. You have your obvious ones like 'Hocus Pocus', your fun, edgy ones like 'Monster Squad', and those classics like 'It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown'. But here's one that not a lot of people seem to talk much about that I've always found to be a lot of fun. Hell, it was even nominated for a Best Animated Picture Oscar alongside 'Cars' and 'Happy Feet' (which won). The story begins here with an old crotchety man named Mr. Nebbercracker (Steve Buscemi) who seems to be forcefully shooing kids away from his property, and stealing their toys in the process. Once the deed is done, he heads back inside a very rickety looking old house. All the while, Nebbercracker's across-the-street neighbor, DJ (Mitchel Musso) is spying on him, trying to learn whatever he's up to by stealing these kids toys. One day, DJ and his best friend Chowder (Sam Lerner) are playing with Chowder's new basketball, which eventually ends up on Nebbercracker's lawn. Upon trying to retrieve it, however, DJ is grabbed by an angry Nebbercracker who, in turn, suffers a heart attack and is hauled away by an ambulance. Once that happens, things start to get a bit crazy as the house appears to have it's own evil soul, as it comes to life, seemingly eating up anyone who crosses it's property. This includes a girl named Jenny (Spencer Locke), who the boys catch almost getting eaten alive, but manage to save her. With the help of their new friend, DJ and Chowder take it upon themselves to check out what exactly is going on with the house. To the film's credit, the obvious actually doesn't end up being the answer either. It's not a mind-blowing twist or anything, but I have to admit the way they went with things was fairly unexpected. The animation here does, unfortunately, look rather painfully dated. The look of everything is seemingly pretty basic, including big, plastic-looking doll-like hair that doesn't move much, and somewhat creepy expressions from some of the characters. It's not bottom of the barrel or anything, but it's still fairly mediocre. However, the animation isn't what makes this movie so endearing. I think the biggest charm from this movie comes largely from the characters themselves. It's a movie that doesn't take itself very seriously, and you find yourself kinda having fun with this select group of kids. Chowder, though potentially irritating, does still have quite a few funny lines as the comedy relief. It's nice to see that the humor in this is not childish and just adult enough. Kinda like watching 'Animaniacs' - aimed at kids, but able to be enjoyed by adults all the same. To give it some perspective, though, let's take a look at all the talent that lies within this movie. The writers on this were none other than Dan Harmon ('Community', 'Rick & Morty'), Rob Schrabb ('The Sarah Silverman Program') and Pamela Pettler ('The Corpse Bride', '9'). It was directed by Gil Keanon, who would go on to do 'City of Ember' and the 'Poltergeist' remake, which I suppose isn't a hell of a lot to boast about. However, producers on it included the 'Back to the Future' team of Spielberg and Zemeckis. To top it all off, the supporting cast is loaded with voice talent including Catherine O'Hara, Fred Willard, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jason Lee, Kevin James, Nick Cannon, Kathleen Turner and Jon Heder. The fairest warning I can give you about this film is that you are sincerely just gonna have to throw reality out the window. There's a whole climactic sequence here that, while quite beautifully shot, makes no damn sense. Without spoilers, let's just say it'll make you wonder where the rest of the neighborhood ran off to, suddenly. But, this is just one of those movies you take as it is; Something fun to watch around Halloween. The overall concept is fairly original, and it has quite a few neat ideas, and the writing is often pretty hilarious. It makes for a nice, light, annual watch to get you into the Halloween spirit.
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