UPsy Daisy

The opening - a silly looking lamp jumping on top of the letter I and pushing it down! And then sitting spell bound for two hours.

A talking toy, talking cars, lovable and funny monsters, a rat who cooks, flying houses, a panda who kung-fus! I think you all get the drift of what this blog is all about. :)

Yeah. Animation! Disney, Pixar. Fun. Entertaining. Magical.

Since the time I saw Beauty and the Beast to today when I saw UP, I have fallen in love with animated movies. Perspectives have changed - earlier when I used to watch it as a kid, laughing at all the silly slapstick antics, now - we smile and appreciate the creativity, the brilliant concept and of course the really smart jokes ( i still laugh at all the slapstick, silly jokes :P) - but the love for animated fare has only grown stronger.

I am sure as kids, most of us saw cartoons and read comic books. Why did that excite us so much? I think there was something very magical about it. It made us believe that there are superheroes that can save the world, detective dogs, fighting robots, strange visitors from outer space. It opened up so many different worlds and possibilities for us apart from the school life and books that most of us used to spend our majority time in. It meant escaping into those different worlds, forgetting all other things around. Tell me frankly, how many of us imagined ourselves to be he-man or superman or acted like giant robot? I definitely tried to act like he-man - the cricket bat being the sword and then uttering those iconic lines - "By the power of Grayskull...I have the power!" They also drove in very sensible points and the right messages on our highly impressionable minds.

Coming back to the present, there is something about these movies which brings a smile to your lips, leaves you feeling happy and contented, sometimes making you wonder why things in the world can’t be as wonderful and joyous and creative. For close to 90 minutes, you forget the worries which you are always mired in and get drawn into a world full of amazing stories and characters. You are mesmerized by the creativity of the stories, the concept (where do these people get their ideas from? I want to know what they have for breakfast!), the execution with the almost life like characters, and the simple message which drives the story forward in every movie. That’s the best part about these movies - there is always one very simple and strong message which you take with you and which stays with you for a long long time.

Think of all the reasons for going to a movie - A means to escape from the present, get entertained, leave worries behind, laugh, chuckle, marvel, get delighted?? Animated movies can give you all this and more! So for all those people out there who think that animation is for kids, think again. Just watch any of the animated movies and bring some magic into your lives.

Here is a list of my 5 favourite animated movies.
1) Lion King (Unbelievable scenes, memorable music, unforgettable characters)
2) Monsters Inc (the concept was just out-of-this-world. Loved the idea! And Mike Wazaouski!)
3) Ratatouille (brilliant concept, simple story, super message)
4) Toy Story (I can watch this movie N number of times)
5) Ice Age (this was fun!!)