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lyxthen · 11 months

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Also extremely happy for Villanous like NATIONAL PRIDE BABY WE DID IT WE ARE PLAYING WITH THE BIG BOYS!!!

And honestly just the fact that Pixelatl is hosted in Mexico and that people like Alex Hirsch and Dana Terrace and of course our favorite uncle Memo Totoro (he's from here ofc but it's worth mentioning because dude has a TWO FUCKING OSCARS ARE YOU KIDDING) have been here and given talks and all that.

Also shoutout to Las Leyendas, incredibly underrated show, I think it is genuinely really good? It's not like, Adventure Time, or any of the big names you have probably heard of, but it *is* story driven, and the story is good, and I am angry it didn't get a second season because Netflix es un puto pedazo de mierda y merece arder en los mil infiernos But. That's a topic for another day.

I feel like a lot of Mexican animation is just not fit for a wider audience precisely because of how Mexican it is. Like, Una Película de Huevos would NOT make sense to an American, you'd have to perform some amazing translation gymnastics to even get the *title* right. And also because of some racially insensitive shit with Chocolate Egg (I love him so much and he's awesome and I know it wasn't created with ill intent but that is certainly A Design Choice and like can you judge them this started as an indie animation series in fucking newgrounds). BUT LIKE, IF YOU GET PAST THAT I SWEAR ITS GOOD. BUT YOU REALLY HAVE TO KNOW SPANISH.

I feel like Las Leyendas is a lot more approachable to a theoretical international audience, even if La Leyenda de la Nahuala has animation that has not aged good at all, the other ones are a bit more solid. Yes, it is based on Mexican myths and history, and specifically in the colonial era. But I wouldn't see it as a barrier.

My personal favourite from my childhood was Nixtlé. I don't think it's based in any particular myth, and since the movie is supposed to be taking place in olmec times I feel they had a lot more freedom in terms of making shit up (context: we don't know a lot about the olmecs because they are an actually dead civilization, and were so long before European arrival. We just know they were the first people to arrive to mesoamerica and are thus related to modern indigenous peoples and cultures).

Anyway the movie is OK like nothing out of this world but it bears a place in my heart, specially because of the "bussiness" scene which is just, the absolute ridicule reality bureaucracy. It's so funny. And at least the main recurring joke (la ramita de tenmiacá, or the holdon branch) is easy to translate.

Other movies off the top of my head include the Topcat movie because anima studios manage to get the rights to the Hanna Barbera cartoon somehow, Marcianos VS Mexicanos which I hear is just an avarage adult comedy (but yk, made for a Mexican audience) and Pinocchio (NOT a Mexican movie, but the director is Mexican and how can you not be proud). Honorable mentions to every anime ever made, the Shreck movies, The Simpsons, and all the cartoons made Certified Mexican by the efforts of the voice actors.

Also love how Puss in Boots has half the same actors in Spanish and English AND it includes a variety of Spanish accents like Argentinian fucking goldocks I love her she is everything to me.

I totally forgot Ana y Bruno. Traumacore. Silly child-friendly shenanigans in the psych ward. The tonal whiplash of this movie is insane. It spent decades in development and you can clearly see the issues but it was also made with so much love. It made no money at all and if no one archives it it's gonna become lost media.

Hmmmm mmmmm mmm shit I should go to sleep

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th3okamid3mon · 4 years

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La Liga de los 5, México has their own heroes [SPOILERS]

Superheroes are very popular now days, kids love them very much, so let Anima Studios jump into the opportunity to tell the story of group of heroes with unique and not orthodox superpowers. Mexicans have a new group of heroes and they are spicy!

Sinopsis:

After their parents passed away, Chema and Dolores have been living together while hiding. After using her powers and getting the attention of the main villain, she gets kidnapped and is held to be used for a ritual that brings back the worst evil the world has seen. Now Chema has to look for his parents´ comrades to save his little sister before it´s too late.

Art design and animation:

Let me get something out of the way: people always talk shit about this studio and about any animated Mexican movie. Mexican movies tend to be either gross humor and obscenities when it comes to animated movies, at least the ones with Huevo Cartoon, even Mexicans talk shit about their own studio! I hate that. Animation here is complicated to take out, people get inspire and do try to give something, to tell a story they believe in and show their creativity. People inside and out of the country have to understand we dont have the same resources but we do try to make something good. Ana y Bruno might not have looked pleasant but what it doesnt have in animation it has in character development and story. La leyenda de la Nahuala might have looked awkward, but the story and the effects (at the time) looked and gave slight horror to the kids who watch it. It´s a try and fail, it´s been a REALLY long time for animation in Mexico and this creators are trying their best, the main things they are using to tell stories might be viewed as over the top but those are practically the main parts of our culture. Of course there´s more, there are legends and places and such but for the love of god give the studio and the creators a break. They are trying to entertain you, they are trying to tell a story of bravery, of family, of accepting one self. STOP SHIT TALKING ABOUT MEXICAN MOVIES AS IF THEY ALL SUCK. THERE ARE PLENTY OF GOOD MEXICAN MOVIES, OLD AND NEW. SAYING MEXICAN MOVIES SUCK IS NOT A PERSONALITY TRAIT, CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM EXIST, YOU ARE NOT COOL FOR HATING A MEDIA.

Now where was I? Right.

As always, Anima Studios amazes me with their different animation skills and artwork. Maybe for some people who are used to Pixar or Dreamworks this doesnt look appealing, but hey, it looks way better than I thought, this is actually an improvement from previous works. Their style is recognizable and distinguish. If you dont know which studio is Anima or what they´ve done, maybe you´ve heard of La leyenda de la Nahuala. No? How about Legend Quest? Yep. They made Legend Quest.

The character design is always a treat, everyone look different from each other and always pop in their own ways. Even the background characters look different from each other, this people actually take care to make sure everyone looks unique. For some reason they didn´t use as many models as they used too, it look pretty empty in comparison to their other works but considering this is AN OPERA PRIMA from Maverick Núñez I think they did a really good job.

The main protagonists also come in different shapes:

Just... Look. You can tell everyone apart.

The backgrounds are really eye catching to being waaay too different from the main characters animation, that´s like they common thing now. I dont really mind, they capture what A MEXICAN CITY LOOKS LIKE NOT LIKE OTHER USA OR WHATEVER OTHER COUNTRY PORTRAYS IT. I can´t find many pictures since it has been almost a week after it came out.

The animation looked very fluid, one thing that is really awesome is that they use different types of animation, you have the main 2D and they mix up the 3D animation for villains and other models of backgrounds. Sure it pops up but it doesn´t do it as awkward as before, they made sure to blended a bit better. The effects are fitting and blend WAY better than other movies they´ve done. It looks part of the characters and part of the animation than a separated after effects thing. Anima Studios has improved a lot.

Sound and editing:

I don´t know if you know this, but sometimes some Mexican movies have troubles with sound, general sounds. Sometimes they are way to loud, other times way too low, then it has too much noise or sounds like a sound taken from the internet. This is one of the reasons some people don´t like Mexican movies, though the ones I´ve seen so far have improved more (And let me tell ya, Hollywood movies sometimes have sucky sound too. Really bad sound design sometimes, specially for horror movies and they HAVE A BIGGER BUDGETS! For example: The Conjuring used 20 000 000 dollars, Belzebuth, cost around 191 500 dollars. Like... Bruh).

In this case the sound design was on well done, it wasn´t over the top and the sounds made sense. effects for the cars and the steps do sound like they were done. The designers really tried and accomplish, the dialogues were at the same volume and never were uneven. I liked they didnt use a lot of popular songs, Pachuco was actually a good song for the car chase scene. The music? BOI. I loved it. For some reason they have this whimsical and epic music and I have no idea where they got it. Even in La Leyenda de la Nahuala they always had this type of music: really well made, fitting to the scene, perfect between events and its not over used, letting the silence spaces to be silent and/or letting the background sounds do the job.

The editing had a really fast pace. I´ve notice lately that a lot of animated movies are really fast now or feel really fast, this was way too fast. There´s not exactly enough time to breath, the events pass so quickly you have to pay attention to what´s going on. Even at moments where there has an emotional moment it passes so fast because of a next action. At some point they slow it down but then it makes it fast again. I think the main problem is the time, it is a 1:30 movie like many others but I feel this movie was longer than that so they had to reedit it to make it go faster. Plot is understandable, just fast.

Writing and Characters:

Ah, shit! Here we go again. I like this studio, I like the movies they´ve made (not all of them. Agente -P2? seriously, guys? That was a dark time...), but the writing has always been slightly awkward for me. Sometimes they have too many pauses or what they say doesn´t land correctly. I thought it was the voice actors but no, guys. The voice actors are really good, we have a lot of talent. In general is the writing. They did improve a lot, the pacing and the dialogues were cleaner and sounded natural but for some reason this one has the same problem in certain parts. It´s not like people dont talk like this I think its the pauses that make it weirder. Other than that, the story of the origins of the main 2 is not really original. Then again, as I said before, Originality is a lie. The characters and their powers are the original part. The tale of two siblings that become orphans and have to hide because the main villain is looking for them is old, its what happens around and how the characters act that matters.

It could have used a bit more of a build up, maybe more interactions between the siblings to know them better. The opening scene and introduction was great, it shows you the characters, what happened to the parents and then you flashforward to the main two in their... teenage years? I think they are teens. It´s perfect, but other than that we don´t know Chema or Dolores that well, we know Chema is careful and gets worried a lot while Dolores is a bit more carefree and cheerful, and they interact and you can tell their personalities. i just think it could have used a bit more of their relationship. Dolores powers involve turning into a ghost, flying, going through walls and apparently, being a vessel to bring the evil Dr. Vampire.

The other 4 characters are La Tuna, Catrina, Tetlepanquetzal and Tin Martin.

Tin Martin is kind of annoying to me. He is smart and builds the different gadgets the heroes use, he is really useful and also the comic relief though he actually shows he cares about what I presume are his nephews. Its really competent in his area, all the gadgets he provides work perfectly which is odd to me, its usual for this type of guys to have something that doesnt work. It´s a nice change.

La Tuna is a wrestler and has a goofy look, but this guy knows how to fight and really well. He is extremely strong, as strong or more than Tetlepanquetzal, and he actually has a soft side that isn´t shown as a weakness. He gives advice to Chema when he is down and encourages him to be brave and to believe in himself. Chema is really insecure because of his powers that are to make everyone get spiced. I´m not kidding, his power is to make the air spiced, like if you take chilli peppers and throw them in peoples faces, he does that without having any peppers around. Tuna tells him to believe in himself because his powers dont define him, Tuna had issues too because of his short stature and his powers are becoming prickly and secreting slimy substance (you know, like a nopal. Tuna is a prickly pear) but tells him his father told him that non of that matter, what really matter was who they were inside. Its a really nice and touching scene, Chema is a kid who had to grow fast and misses his parents and now he has a couple parental figures to help him with whats troubling him.

Catrina is kind of a fresa? Like a rich queen or something, or its portrayed like that. Stylish and such, but she is loyal and does care about his friends and dont diminish them, she only teases them because they´ve known each other for a while. She is powerful, summoning bones to be use as armor and to kick the bad guys butts. Catrina has a strong personality, not taking shit and trying to focus on every situation, she is practically the glue that keeps the team on track.

Tetlepanquetzal is the most left out character there is. He is silent, his expressions are ok but he doesn´t provide with any remarks. He does his job, his power is really cool too. He transforms into any animal he touches for a certain amount of time. He is the extra muscle, Tetlepanquetzal is smart but really goofy, due to having animals characteristics from the transformations he does lot of goofy stuff but other than that its just like a silent wall. Strong wall that is.

The villains... We have 2 which one of them I have no idea how it´s called. They never called him by his name in the whole movie. One of the henchman calls him boss so I will call him by that. Boss is a pyrotechnic mastermind, he controls the fireworks and uses that to destroy everything. He is the one that wants to use Dolores and open a portal to bring Dr. Vampire (which is the second villain). The reason? He used to have a daughter, and her daughter died in his house because of fireworks going off, she was burned or suffocated. The Dr. Vampire promised him he would bring her back if Boss brought him back.

Turns out the vampire lied and kind of turn his back on Boss, who now felt like an idiot and wanted to save Dolores. (There´s a point where Dolores enters Boss´ mind with the help of an obsidian mirror and sees the flashback of the daughter dying, so both characters do kind of have a mild bond)

Dr. Vampire is the weirdest, dumbest looking villain I have ever seen. He looks like a edgy teenager but looks old as fuck. It´s super weird and is completely evil, bringing certain Mexican monuments to live and bring havoc to Mexico City. like... Holy shit, he has red messy hair, long face, nose and teeth, wears A FREAKING GOTH CLOAK AND BOOTS and has a trident. It´s a weird design for a vampire. We don´t know shit about this character, only that he was supposed to be brought back by Boss and that´s all. BUT HE IS PURE EVIL!

They manage to defeat the villain by fighting each of the monuments and then fighting against the vampire, Chema and Dolores have a special combination that not only provokes an explosion but also gives the other 3 characters a power boost. I dont know why that happens, there´s no explanation. If there´s more of it I WISH AND HOPE THERE´S A SERIES. THIS!!! THIS RIGHT HERE:

THIS CAN BE TURN INTO A SERIES. PLEASE, NETFLIX: YOU ALREADY TOOK LA LEYENDA DE LA NAHUALA, TAKE THIS ONE! PLEASE!!! PLEASE!!!

(If you take a closer look you can see the aura is in a pepper form, its so funny to me. The big pictures at the movie theater glow at a certain angle if they are stroke with a light)

There´s something I like a lot and that´s that there isn´t a separation moment, they never get separated because of ¨I have to prove myself¨ or ¨i need to do this alone¨. They get separated due to circumstances like following a truck while others take care of a fallen comrade, but Chema is never alone. He is with at least one of them, mostly La Tuna (that´s how we get their emotional talk) and IM SO GLAD THEY DIDNT DO THAT KIND OF CLICHE. Chema never fights with them for stupid things or misunderstandings, they all work whatever misunderstanding right then and there and always stick together because THEY KNOW HOW DANGEROUS IT CAN BE. AND THEY LISTEN TO EACH OTHER! ITS GREAT! THEY ARE GREAT!

Also the last scene, which parodies marvel movies:

Tin Martin: OH NO! A giant snake is eating Trompa´s wall

La Tuna: Let the snake eat it.

(People call Trump El Trompas, trompas has several meanings like trumpet but we use it to also refer to the duck face)

Conclusion:

Superheroes are really overdone. Marvel, you are ok I guess but please just let yourself die (At least after you give me Black Widow and the next Guardians of the Galaxy). In México the close to a superheroe we had was Santos and Blue Demon, being really popular wrestlers and movie stars and all in the silver era. Sure, we also have Villainous that explores villains and heroes that TO ME ARE ALL MEXICAN UNTIL PROVEN THE CONTRARY, but this is a movie not a web-series (that has probably being cancelled ´cause Ituriel doesn´t seem to know how to administrate his company and properly treat his workers).

Anima Studios took the chance with Maverick Núñez and they really made a good job. As an Opera Prima it looks and sounds awesomely, the writing could still use some work but other than that it is an entertaining movie. It has a nice message, the characters are really well made from design to voice acting and the story is interesting. From what I read it had a really good opening, but it didn´t quite made it in the box office. Still, I think you should give it a watch, not because it´s a Mexican movie, but because it´s a superhero movie that just takes place in Mexico. It´s different from Marcianos vs Mexicanos because that one was full on ridiculousness and comedy while this one is drama with comedy. If you followed Anima Studios, you will see how much they have improve and advance. This company was and is the start of animation in México and they are becoming better.

Now I´m waiting for their next movie: Las Leyendas: El origen. And you know why I am excited? Because it´s 2 movies from the same Studio in 1 year, they are really becoming bigger.

Animation has never been this amazing, and Mexican Animation is growing faster and better. Please, be objective but supportive. Don´t be destructive for the sake of being destructive. People are trying their best and it is paying off in my opinion.

Sincerely, a Mexican with hopes for more animations in her own country.

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