Mia and the Migoo’ a Hand-painted Masterpiece in an Era of CGI
By Ranny Levy, Founder and President of Kids First!
With this new release of Mia and the Migoo from Entertainment One, director Jacques-Rémy Girerd reprises the 2008 film that won him a plethora of national awards. The film is an astonishing achievement created from 500,000 hand-painted cels – something that makes for good conversation when you’re sharing it with your grandkids. In today’s world, when most animation is computer generated, the art of hand-painting cels is truly an art that’s falling by the wayside. Gone are the days when Disney’s flock of animators toiled endless hours with pens and paintbrushes.
KIDS FIRST! youth film critic Julianna Noone, age 12, says it took her a while to get into the movie but has found she loves its overall message: “… you should not be selfish and you should be kind to everyone because sometimes what goes around comes around.”
Some high-powered names are attached to this new release: Whoopi Goldberg, Matthew Modine (in a dual voice role) and James Woods add their familiar voices to some of the actors who voiced the earlier version (Amanda Misquez, voicing the title role, and Jesse Corti, Vincent Agnello and John Di Maggio as the film’s major characters).
Mia and the Migoo
Reveiwed by Julianna Noone
(See her full review on video.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLf-FAppZ84
Don’t be so quick to judge, because sometimes true beauty lies beneath the surface.
The film Mia and the Migoo is about a girl named Mia (voiced by Amanda Misques) who has a dream about her father, Pedro (voiced by Jesse Corti), who is away working. This dream is so realistic, she just has to go and see her father, and this sets her off on a grand adventure to find her father because he is the only family she has. However, there is a boy named Aldrin (voiced by Vincent Agnello) who is having troubles with his father, Jekhide (voiced by John Di Maggio). Follow Mia along on her journey and see how her adventure crosses paths with Aldrin and his father.
My favorite character is Mia. I like Mia because she is a very intelligent girl who is brave, strong and fierce. Mia knows what she has to do to find her father and she is determined to find him. She is a fearless young girl.
My favorite scene is the scene when Adrin’s father realizes he is not focusing on his son and he is completely ignoring him. He apologizes to Aldrin and he promises to change his ways, to lose his selfishness and to pay attention to his son more. It’s a touching moment in the movie and I love the overall message that this sends to everyone. I think the message is that you should not be selfish and you should be kind to everyone because sometimes what goes around comes around.
The animation is your basic 2-D animation, which makes the film look like it is hand-drawn or painted. As well, there is minimal CGI, through the snowfall or the rising smoke or the rainfall, to name a few examples. Though it is very minimal, I think this CGI is just enough to compliment the basic animation.
I rate this film three-and-a-half out of five stars because at first, I really did not get the movie, but as it went on, it was much more enjoyable. I also love the great message of the movie and I think a lot of people can learn from this movie.
I think that this movie is for ages 7 to 14 because there are a few scenes that may be a little inappropriate for some of the younger children.
And remember, fighting does not help. Work together and be stronger.
Ranny Levy – Founder and President
KIDS FIRST! / Coalition for Quality Children’s Media http://www.kidsfirst.org Supporting Quality Media for Children Since 1991
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