Celebrity Voices: Yay or Nay?

As I was looking through the IMDB page for Brave, I realised that I recognised a lot of the names, names like Billy Connolly, Craig Ferguson, Robbie Coltrane and Emma Thompson.  None of these people are voice actors by trade, although to be fair all of these people have had some voice acting experience in the past.  Brave is by no means unusual in this regard - pretty much every animated movie that comes out nowadays has a list of celebrity voices.  So is this a good or a bad thing?  Well, let's take a look at some of the reasons why a studio might get celebrities to do voices, and see whether they hold up to scrutiny. 

Why I'm Looking Forward To "Brave"

I was seeing The Avengers again, and amidst the trailers for stuff that I couldn't care less about, I caught the trailer for Brave, Pixar's 2012 film.  Embed after the break. 

Why I Hate a Canterlot Wedding

Warning: This analysis contains spoilers for the Season 2 finale of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and probably for other episodes as well.

I would also like to note that this document may well evolve over time, if people bring up new arguments or if my opinions change, so as always, comments are welcome.

Edit 16/7/12: The article has been edited to account for various comments I have received here and around the internet about my views.  All edits are marked like this one. 

Why I Hated "A Canterlot Wedding"

The Season Two finale of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic has been and gone. It is reasonable to say that it, at the very least, lived up to the expectations of Hasbro and the Hub, with the first part breaking the network's ratings record. Amongst bronies, the reaction has, at least in the fandom circles in which I travel, been overwhelmingly positive. The episode dominated Equestria Daily's fanart and comic sections for weeks afterwards. Comments about the episode itself have been favourable, with only a few exceptions that I have seen. Such a reaction is all but unheard of in most fandoms in which I have been involved, and is arguably unprecedented even amongst the more positive bronies.

I wish I could share the glee of Hasbro and my fellow bronies. Truly, I do. It is certainly not unheard of for me to look for flaws in something I have set out to hate, and that may explain some of the more nitpicky aspects of the following analysis. On the whole, however, I wanted to like this episode. It had promise, and at many points it seemed like it would fulfil that promise. As I hope to show, however, quality is a fragile thing.

When I critique anything, I prefer what I like to call a "sandwich" style. If I was writing about most episodes of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, this would consist of some positives, then some negatives, and then some more positives to finish off. Since I have, at best, a severe disliking towards this episode, I will do the opposite, first discussing minor negatives, then the episode's many positives, and then finally an in-depth explanation of the factor that ruined the episode for me. In short: the bad; the good; and the ugly. 

Just a final note before we begin: if by some bizarre chance anyone involved in the production of the show (particularly Meghan McCarthy and Jayson Thiessen, as my primary issues are with writing and the episode's place in the show as a whole) is reading this, please feel free to answer my questions, counter my arguments, or respond in any way you see fit. This can even be something as simple as calling me a pretentious jerk who doesn't know what he's talking about. The same goes for anyone else reading this, as well.

Welcome to the Animation Fixation

Hello and welcome to my new blog, "The Animation Fixation", because I have nothing better to do. 

What is "The Animation Fixation"?  Well, aside from a bizarre addiction to cartoons, it's also a repository for my thoughts on all things related to animation.  Whether it be reviews of the latest animated film or a rant about the state of the industry, if I think it, it will probably find its way here. 

What do you cover?  I have a personal preference for western animation.  It's just one of those things.  That said, I will be happy to review anime if there is a demand and I can obtain the relevant DVDs easily and affordably.  I am going to impose an outright rule that hentai shall not be covered here, though, because I don't want to touch that issue with a ten-foot pole. 

What medium do you plan to use?  At present, I'm planning to keep any non-review articles text-based, with pictures where appropriate.  For reviews, I plan to at least attempt them in video form, technology permitting.  Expect the first video review in mid-June. 

How often will you update?  Ah, the most important question to ask of any blogger.  Truthfully, I do not know for sure, but expect at least one post a week, typically around the weekend.  I've written the first draft of my first proper post, so that should be up in a few days at most. 

Your blog design sucks!  Yes, yes it does.  It's very much a work in progress.  In particular, I need a good banner that won't get me sued for copyright infringement.  The rest I'll figure out as I go. 

Who are you?  I don't wish to give out much in the way of personal information here, but I will say that I live in Australia, have a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in English, and am currently writing an honours dissertation on Pixar films.  In short, I have some idea what I'm talking about, though feel free to correct any objective mistakes I make, or just to argue about my opinions. 

Favourite animated films: Most of Pixar's work, Dumbo, The Lion King, The Land Before Time, Watership Down and How to Train Your Dragon.  I always like to find something new, though.  Three of those films were movies I basically took a leap of faith on when watching them for the first time. 

Favourite cartoon series: In no particular order, Sonic the Hedgehog (a.k.a. SatAM), Beast Wars, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003 version), The Simpsons (in its prime), Futurama (although I haven't gotten around to watching most of the newer episodes) and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.  Yes, I'm a brony.  Yes, I will undoubtedly be making many pony references in my posts.  In fact, I will probably reference most of these shows a fair amount. 

That should suffice as an introduction.  Comments are always welcome, no matter how trivial, random and/or insulting they might be.  As I have said, my first proper post will be up in the next few days, if not earlier, so keep an eye out if you're reading this.