[8/10] I’ll confess, I had no idea this existed until the Robin Williams lost boy made a cameo in the short film Once Upon a Studio. And I’m glad I found out about it, because as always, WIlliams is a delight.
If anyone was born to be in cartoons, it’s him. It’s such a blast to see a pre-Genie collaboration between Williams and Disney, that takes Williams’ motormouth, free-association style and realizes it in the medium of animation.
I’ll admit, it’s a little odd pairing him with Walter Cronkite or all people, but they make for a surprisingly effective pair. Cronkite is a good straight man, and the combination of Williams’ whimsy and Cronkites steadiness pays dividends. Just seeing them banter in front of gigantic books or seeing Cronkite work as Robin’s wry guide through the tribulations of animation is unexpectedly fun.
This is also a solid introduction to the process of hand-drawn animation. Obviously there’s a lot of intricacies left out, but especially for the purposes this was intended for -- introducing people to these concepts on a studio tour -- this is a perfect little primer.
I enjoyed the Duck Amuck-esque hijinks of animated Robin flitting about the studio, wanting to transform into other personas or bibbing and bobbing with the famous Disney squash and stretch. The work to mix him into live action and play around with backdrops and settings is superb.
And the scene we get with him in Neverland is stellar as well. Corey Burton does a great Hook (as Kingdom Hearts fans know). Williams is outstanding as a fretful and then frenetic foil for the not-so-good captain. And the solution to the problem, of a little pixie dust to spare Lost Boy Robin and make the crocodile a floating problem for Hook, is clever and amusing.
All-in-all, if there’s someone who makes sense within the world of animation, and as a lost boy at that, it’s Robin Williams. I’m sorry I didn’t know about this until now, but it’s a wonderful little tribute to the man and to the medium all at once.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2024-04-30T04:46:48Z
[8/10] I’ll confess, I had no idea this existed until the Robin Williams lost boy made a cameo in the short film Once Upon a Studio. And I’m glad I found out about it, because as always, WIlliams is a delight.
If anyone was born to be in cartoons, it’s him. It’s such a blast to see a pre-Genie collaboration between Williams and Disney, that takes Williams’ motormouth, free-association style and realizes it in the medium of animation.
I’ll admit, it’s a little odd pairing him with Walter Cronkite or all people, but they make for a surprisingly effective pair. Cronkite is a good straight man, and the combination of Williams’ whimsy and Cronkites steadiness pays dividends. Just seeing them banter in front of gigantic books or seeing Cronkite work as Robin’s wry guide through the tribulations of animation is unexpectedly fun.
This is also a solid introduction to the process of hand-drawn animation. Obviously there’s a lot of intricacies left out, but especially for the purposes this was intended for -- introducing people to these concepts on a studio tour -- this is a perfect little primer.
I enjoyed the Duck Amuck-esque hijinks of animated Robin flitting about the studio, wanting to transform into other personas or bibbing and bobbing with the famous Disney squash and stretch. The work to mix him into live action and play around with backdrops and settings is superb.
And the scene we get with him in Neverland is stellar as well. Corey Burton does a great Hook (as Kingdom Hearts fans know). Williams is outstanding as a fretful and then frenetic foil for the not-so-good captain. And the solution to the problem, of a little pixie dust to spare Lost Boy Robin and make the crocodile a floating problem for Hook, is clever and amusing.
All-in-all, if there’s someone who makes sense within the world of animation, and as a lost boy at that, it’s Robin Williams. I’m sorry I didn’t know about this until now, but it’s a wonderful little tribute to the man and to the medium all at once.