The People vs. Larry Flynt: Review By Vamp

This is my first review of a movie that is not live-action, so it's not going to be as good as some of my others, but I feel that I can't legally own an account on this site, without reviewing the best movie of my childhood! What a movie this was too! It's still, to this day, one of my all time favorite movies ever! It has a spot on my top ten on my profile as well. This is just one of those movies that you find yourself watching over and over and over and over and over again because you never get tire of it! This is such an awesome movie too, and like I pointed out earlier, this was my favorite movie when I was a kid. It's just so cool, the entire idea, of intertwining all the holidays into their own worlds. It's just awesome and I love it! If you haven't seen it, then you are definitely missing out on something great! If you've gotten this far, and haven't seen the movie, then go out and rent it right now! THEN come back, finish the review, THEN go and watch it! Do it! If I find out that you ignored this little excerpt, then I'll be very angry! You really need to see this! It's the perfect movie!

Many believe that this film was directed by Tim Burton, but those who think this are sorely mistaken! While Burton wrote the story(Along with the help of Michael McDowell and Caroline Thompson), and created the characters, this movie was directed by a director that I do not know, and this director is Henry Selick, however I know of one other movie that he directed, and that was another of my favorite childhood movies, called "James and the Giant Peach," you might know it yourselves. Anyhow, the vision that Selick had for this film was extraordinary, and astounding, and it is definitely one of the best movies that we've ever seen! The characters are so unique and click together wonderfully because it's the first movie of it's kind. One to imagine an entire WORLD out of the Holidays of Halloween and Christmas(You even have a glimpse of The Easter Bunny, in this movie!). Anyhow, the directing of this animated masterpiece, is a masterpiece in and of itself! It's done by someone who knew what it was exactly that they were doing, and carried it out without a second thought! Now since Tim Burton is in the chair of writing on this movie, you know it's going to be an awesome film, and it is! Only Tim Burton's imagination could think up such an incredible story, with such incredible characters! These guys really did great with this movie, and it's definitely a movie that I will love forever and ever amen! It's just that good!

The visuals in this movie are spectacular for it being such an old movie, and I just love the look of everything. It's clay-animation, so it's really neat, and the over all look of it is just awesome! There are so many things for me to mention here, so I'll try and slim some things down so I don't ruin anything for you! The first I want to mention is the look and feel of Halloween Town. It's dark and scary, yet very cool. I like the look of all of it's inhabitants as well. There are many different monsters, too. I like the tree, it's an evil tree with a face that can speak, and then on it's branches it's got the skeletons of hung men, that talk. The mayor's a cool sight too! He can flip his head around depending on whether he's happy, or he's sad, it's really cool. My favorite thing visually of this entire movie is the place in the forest where Jack finds the door to Christmas Town. It's cool because it's a circle of trees, each with it's own door. There's one with a turkey(Thanksgiving), one with a Four-Leaf Clover(St. Patrick's Day), one with a Colorful Egg(Easter), one with a Heart(Valentine's Day), one with a Christmas Tree(Christmas), and one with a Jack-O-Lantern(Halloween). It's one of the coolest concepts for the holidays that I've seen even to this day! It's just so cool! Then there's Mr. Oogie Boogie, who is the bad guy in this story. He's really cool to see, but I won't explain because I'm tired of saying so many things, and if I say any more, it'll ruin the movie for you, if you haven't seen it yet! So the visuals in this movie, are definitely good!

The storyline of this movie is one of the most original that I've ever seen, even to this day! There's never been one like it! Though many might compare this movie to "The Corpse Bride," you'd be a fool to do so because though the movies LOOK similar, and are both done in some way by Tim Burton, they are completely different story-wise, and even location. That doesn't have anything to do with Halloween Town! Anyhow, like I said there has never been a movie like this before, even to this day! It's so original, and I'd give anything to be able to see this presented in 3-D, but I've missed the theater date, and at the time, I wasn't able to afford it! Hopefully they'll release the 3-D DVD soon, you know, they just released a deluxe edition of this movie, maybe that has it! Anyhow, this movie is one of the most original, as I keep saying, I can't get that point across anymore. The Pumpkin King has grown weary of his same old job, and wishes for something new and exciting to fill the void that has been growing in the void in his bones. That's when he stumbles upon Christmas Town, and decides that he wants Christmas for his own, and immediately sets the entire Halloween Town into motion on creating Christmas, but since they are a people oriented to all things scary, it turns out to be one incredibly twisted and freaky Christmas. It's a movie that gets your attention right from the opening sequence and song, "This Is Halloween," and it's just one of the best movies that you'll ever see!

The lead character in this awesome movie, as many know, even those who haven't seen it, is Jack Skellington, whose singing voice is voiced by Danny Elfman, and his normal talking voice is voiced by Chris Sarandon. Jack Skellington is the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, the king of Halloween, in charge of it all. He's the one that the Mayor goes to for advice because Jack is the one that knows so much about scaring people. However, Jack has just finished another Halloween and has grown tired of Halloween, tired of repeating himself year after year, tired of the same old thing, and his bones ache for something more, something that he can grasp and take with pride. This thing is presented when Jack accidentally wanders into the forest, and is enticed by a door with a big colorful tree on it(The portal to Christmas Town), and is sucked into Christmas Town, here he finds what his bones have been aching for, something new, and this thing is Christmas. He decides that he wants Christmas for himself this year, and with nothing but good intentions, he kidnaps Sandy Claws, but what he finds is that Christmas is going to be a lot more difficult than he had first thought. Sarandon does a perfect voice for this character, making it spooky and everything, and it just works for the whole character. His voice has that sort of bluesy quality, which is great since Jack is searching for something new. Danny Elfman's singing is perfect for the character too, sounding nearly exactly like Sarandon if he were singing, and together these two tie this character together perfectly. Definitely great casting choices for this movie.

Our nest character, Sally, is voiced by Catherine O'Hara. Sally is the being in this story who knows exactly what Jack is feeling, having been locked and chained up to her creator, Dr. Finklestein, and unable to leave because he thinks that she's not ready for it. However, she constantly is escaping him to get out and see the town, and this gets her into huge trouble. Soon, however, she escapes AGAIN, to go to Jack's Town Meeting and see what's going on, because she's just had a terrible premonition about Jack's new found Holiday, Christmas, and she really needs to warn him about how much of a disaster it will be. However, Jack doesn't listen, and she soon finds herself working on his Christmas staff, making him his Sandy Claws suit. However, she still doesn't stop trying to get it through his head that his Christmas will not end up good, but rather end up being a disaster. So that's when Sandy Claws arrives in town, captured by Oogie's little henchmen, Lock, Shock, and Barrel, and so Sally tries to stop Jack by using Fog Juice and making it cloudy, but when that doesn't work, she goes to find Sandy Claws, and finds that he is in the clutches of Oogie Boogie. Catherine O'Hara does a really good voice for Sally, and makes the character's light airiness very convincing, and makes it match Sally's sort of persona. She was definitely a great casting choice for this character.

Ken Page is the voice of the bad guy in this story, Oogie Boogie. Oogie Boogie, is the really name for The Boogie Man in Halloween Town, and he's what I consider the mob boss of Halloween Town. Oogie has his three henchmen: Lock(Paul Ruebens), Shock(Catherine O'Hara), and Barrel(Danny Elfman), and they do EVERYTHING for him, finding him food, and doing his spy work, just anything he asks them to do, and he's earned the reputation as Halloween Town's most feared citizen. Oogie, when he first enters into this movie, is in his cave, and overhears Lock, Shock, and Barrel's conversation about kidnapping Sandy Claws, adn is immediately interested. When Jack orders them to leave Oogie out of this, they promise to, but cross their fingers behind their back, and leave. When they finally catch Sandy Claws, Jack asks them to take him somewhere where he'll be comfortable, and so they take him to Oogie Boogie, and Oogie prepares to eat Sandy Claws. When Oogie meets Sandy Claws, he's taken aback by laughter at the pathetic thing that is supposed to be the ruler of Christmas Town, and prepares to eat him, when alas, another food victim falls into his grasp. Now what Oogie doesn't realize, is that he's invoked the wrath of The Pumpkin King, something that is definitely not good. Ken Page gives a great voice to Oogie Boogie, and makes him sound so neat, and the voice really fits Oogie too because it matches his gambling personality, and fits his jazz style singing, making Ken Page the perfect choice for Oogie Boogie. Definitely a great casting choice by the casting crew.

Edward Ivory voices Santa Claus in this movie, or Sandy Claws, as he's known in Halloween Town. Santa is going through his nice and naughty list when everything begins to go down hill for him. There's a knock at the door, and when he goes to answer it, he hears "Trick-or-Treat!" and sees three children in Halloween costumes(Lock, Shock, and Barrel) and then is nabbed in a garbage sack. There he is rumbled and rolled about being taken somewhere that he has no clue about. When he finally is taken out of the bag, he is met face to face with Jack Skellington, The Pumpkin King, as well as the rest of the inhabitants of Halloween Town, and there he finds out that Jack has decided to take over Christmas this year, and that he can take a vacation. Santa of course says absolutely not, and tries to argue with Jack, but it is to no avail, as Jack tells Santa that he'll be taken somewhere comfortable, and then Jack tells the three children to take him somewhere comfortable. The next thing he knows, Santa is being shoved down some piping, and is met face to face with Oogie Boogie, The Boogie Man. Here he finds that Oogie is planning to eat him, and he must try and find a way to escape, so that he can save Christmas, and that's when someone tries to rescue him, but is caught themselves. Edward Ivory sounds like the quintessential Santa Claus, and though he doesn't have much talking in this movie, he makes the character's voice fit the character, and it really works out well for the whole movie, sounding like the normal deep voiced, jolly man that Santa Claus is supposed to be! He was definitely another great casting choice for a voice in this movie.

All in all this is one perfect movie, and I see no flaws in it because it's so awesome. Everything about it is awesome, and makes for one awesome children's movie, and even if you're not into children's movies then you need to see this because it's so much more! It's got everything that you could ever love in a movie, and more. It, like "The Breakfast Club," is what you'd call a "Timeless Classic" I've loved this movie ever since I saw it, and I've never grown tired of watching it since. The directing and writing of this movie are done masterfully giving us a story that is worth seeing, as well as following, and the visuals are done so brilliantly that it only helps the whole visual experience along even more. The story of this movie is absolutely original and brilliant, and it's one that you'll never tire of because of those facts, and plus it's created by Tim Burton, and that only means even more about how awesome it is! The voicing in this movie are done by people who match their characters exactly, and deliver wonderful performances, even if they're not technically seen in the movie! So this concludes my first review for an animated movie, and I hope I did good. This is definitely my favorite childhood film, as well as one of my all time favorite films ever!!!!!