And now for the exact opposite of calm
and relaxed, The Magic Crystal (2012). Otherwise known as Maaginen kristalli, this is a pan-European production. This fast-paced CGI
animated feature stars an orphan boy and a talking dumpster squirrel
accidentally ending up in a power struggle between Santa and his evil twin
brother. Yes, seriously. They race against time to rescue the magic crystal
that powers Santa’s unique method of visiting the whole world in one night
which I won’t spoil as it’s an interesting and different take on the Santa
mythos based more off the European belief in Lapland as the home of the jolly
old elf. I love the design and stretching of the animation that makes it feel
more like the old 2-D animation techniques. But the editing and certain
movements make it clear someone either rushed the schedule or didn’t budget
enough because certain animations of effects in the third act don’t look
finished and I noticed a couple of editing mistakes and reused animation cycles
but despite that messiness and the feature clearly originally syncing lip flaps
to a language other than English, the different design and interpretation of
Santa makes the film stand out and the fast back and forth of dialogue and plot
movement really keeps you from noticing the behind the scenes messiness. Also,
the conflict flows from character flaws yet the characters also use that to
their advantage. Feels like the writing staff thought through their own story
and the players within. But why is it always an orphan boy?
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