The creator of “Ren & Stimpy” and an unsparing critic of substandard animation takes on last weekend’s box office champion. Even if you have no interest in this minor children’s movie, this review is notable as a fascinating look inside an animator’s brain. Kricfalusi views “Meatballs” through a real craftsman’s lens, revealing much about what makes for ambitious animation. And he casts a cold eye on how the prevalence of mediocre cartoons has lowered our standards.
“I would give this an even zero — which is leagues ahead of any other animated feature today. Most cartoon features are thousands of points in the negative.
“It’s not like the old days, where cartoons were expected to be entertaining. In the 1940s you might rate cartoons between 50% and 100%, because they had higher entertainment standards to begin with. Even a Terrytoons has some entertainment value — because it’s not purposely trying not to, unlike modern animation.”
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