Broke 50 tonight, so I'm definitely on track to bust 100, probably around the 24th, if I can keep up this lackadaisical pace. Watched the Laid-Back Camp Movie (2022) this evening (after watching the first two seasons earlier this year), a charming, easy-going slice-of-life anime that scratches what little camping itch I possess.

Already?!

Yes, well, I haven't bothered to count everything I've watched.

I watched my Looney Tunes Super Stars: Sylvester & Hippety Hopper disc yesterday... the whole thing. I've seen them all in the past but that was a first time viewing of that disc. Like most of those "theme" sets (especially the Roadrunner ones) it got more than a bit repetitive by the end but it was still fun.

Go you! I just broke 50 for the sci-fi/fantasy challenge and considered that a good list! I haven't peeked at your list yet, but even if they were shorts, that is a really good start!

I've been a little slow to get going but had some travel come up and while it was fun to do, I haven't been able to watch much in the last 4-5 days. I hope to change that in the next couple weeks, since as of right now, it's pretty clear. Just picked up a couple movies from the library to help. Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio and The Mitchell's vs the Machines. Hadn't heard of The Mitchell's before, so going into it pretty blind, but have been trying to get that version of Pinocchio for a bit.

I watched Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio for the Sci-Fi Challenge and don't want to watch it again so soon but I thought they did a good job on the animation of the puppets. Let us know how The Mitchell's vs the Machines is, I have tentatively slated it to watch next year I believe.

Will do.

In case it's of any interest, I went down a rabbit hole and made a spreadsheet of the original air dates* of the glorified toy commercials that were my top favorite toons as a kid. Sharing for any of you other nerds who might also like to maybe go back through any or all of these as your childhood self got to see them. Each series has its own tab, but I've also combined G.I. Joe & Transformers and He-Man & She-Ra since those pairs share universes. I've also included the live action MOTU and first three TMNT movies as those were released contemporaneously with the toons. You should be able to make a copy of the sheet and then monkey with it to your satisfaction. Don't care about ThunderCats but love Jem and the Holograms? Delete the former and create the latter. Easy peasy.

G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero
He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
She-Ra, Princess of Power
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
The Transformers
ThunderCats

*Local affiliates programmed these shows at their discretion so they may not have aired in your market on these dates. Also, there was no set time slot schedule. It's an entirely arbitrary decision which order to watch shows aired on the same date.

The Mitchells vs the Machines (2021) is a sci-fi apocalyptic family road-trip action comedy. I think it's a lot of fun.

Thanks for the information Coyoteblue. It is definitely right up my alley!

Just finished watching and I did enjoy it. It's very cute and pretty much exactly as you described it-an apocalyptic, sci-fi family road-trip action/comedy.

I had a lot going on yesterday so didn't get a lot of watches in. However, I did manage to complete disc 1 of the Lion Voltron series. It used to be that I always liked Lotor over Yurak. As time has went on though, I began to gain more of an appreciation for Yurak. He really was an interesting character as well as a good soldier who just ended up taking the final blame for defeats that were beyond his control.

Watched another Warner collection yesterday - this time the "Academy Awards Animation Collection: 15 Winners" collection. It's far more varied and has both Warner Brothers and MGM AA winner cartoons in the mix. I enjoyed the lot - even the all music "Merrie Melodies" included, a subset of the Looney Tunes I often don't much care for.

I was charmed by The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics. It was a surprising way to finish, too.

Hmmm... doing more research it seems what I purchased is just one disc out of a 3 disc set that has *13* nominated/winning shorts (not 15 like I posted/thought). I know I meant to purchase the 3 disc set with nominees *and* winners but ordered the wrong one (had a low price and, at the time, had more shorts I didn't already have in my collection). I'm pretty sure I purchased it mainly for the Superman short and possibly the Foghorn Leghorn but it's been too long ago since I made the purchase. I may fix that one day and get a copy of the 3 disc version or just add the other 2 single disc releases of that set...

The one I watched has these:
Popeye the Sailor Meets Sinbad the Sailor
Peace on Earth
A Wild Hare
Puss Gets the Boot
Superman
Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt
Rhapsody In Rivets
The Night Before Christmas
Blitz Wolf
Pigs in a Polka
Swooner Crooner
Walky Talky Hawky
Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Mouse

You're making want to hunt down my copy and watch them again. I have the full set with the noms and winners both on it. I could have sworn I picked it up at Big Lots during that period when they had a ton of movies, but it's from someplace called Video Game Star that must be closed now because I can't find it online anywhere. I don't remember it being a brick and mortar either. Anyway, I do remember it being worth having the full set, just to have good versions of the shorts, so if you can find it for a reasonable price, I'd say go for it.

Last night I watched Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio. I'm a bit torn about how I liked it. It was very well done but a lot darker than I was expecting (though having seen Pan's Labyrinth, I probably should've been). I recently read the original Pinocchio story and that's a lot darker as well. After reading the IMDB comments and the essays that came with the Criterion set I rented, it does seem like del Toro mixed the original story with nods to Disney's version mixed with a bit of religion and politics. It's also a longer one, coming in at just under 2 hours. I ended up pausing it a couple times for a bit of a break.

It won the Oscar for animated films, and I don't disagree with that. Out of that year, I've seen 3 of the 5 nominees, and will have seen 4 by the end of the challenge but unless Puss in Boots: The Last Wish turns into a hidden gem, it did deserved to win. I would say the rating seems a little low...not that there is swearing or anything, but I feel like the themes are more for older audiences and not children. And taking a children's classic like Pinocchio and remaking it, you're going to get a lot of parents just taking their kid without looking it up just because it's animated and if Disney made it, this version must be child-friendly too!

I've watched a couple more of those "Super Stars" single disc collections from WB I purchased several years back but have allowed to languish on the shelf... this time it was the Pepe Le Pew one and the Porky Pig & Friends one. Of the two, I liked the Porky Pig better as it has variety and the Porky shorts don't suffer from repetition/similar plot lines like the Pepe Le Pew shorts. It's much like with the Roadrunner and Hippety Hopper shorts - I like them but only in moderation as they start to feel the same after 3 or 4 have played.

I started the Popeye 1941-1943 collection tonight. Those, too, often have a kind of samey feel to them when Bluto shows up. These are some older releases and look kind of rough though still fun to watch. One thing that annoyed me as a kid and still does it Popeye's voice rarely matches his mouth movements with him often talking/making noises with absolutely zero mouth movement.

I have the Pink Panther set (or a Pink Panther set) and was excited to watch them...until I hit the 2nd disc and was over it. I enjoy one or two of them in a row, but after a while, all of the shorts just blend in together. Some 'toons are good for binging but I'd say Pink Panther is not one of them.

I really enjoyed that Popeye set! There were very few featuring Bluto with more than a few being war based or dealing with war time issues like supplies and rationing. After all, it *was* the war years. Popeye's 4 nephews are featured in a few a well to great effect and are in a couple of the war themed shorts.

One was just a bit disturbing at the end as Popeye killed a guy! That one was "Happy Birthday" and featured a character who was more than a little annoying, especially to Popeye. It opens with that character attempting suicide and Popeye stops him, befriends him, and takes him along to the birthday party. He's so obnoxious that Popeye finally fulfilled the guys death wish.

Quality was generally lesser but that didn't stop me from enjoying the set.

Looking over my unopened/unwatched shelves I discovered I'd inadvertently purchased *two* copies of The Incredibles II and it felt like a sign so I watched one last night (and put the other in the "give to grandkids" pile). I'd absolutely forgotten the plot of this one and recall not liking it as much as the first film. It was much better than I remembered and lots of fun. Still not quite as good as the first but absolutely worth multiple viewings. Jack Jack cracked me up almost every time (which means if there's a 3rd film in the series they'll focus more on him and it won't be as good).

Quite likely! I remember enjoying it but not loving it. I didn't love the original either, though the 2nd time I watched it, I did enjoy it more.

Talking about Pixar, I watched Elemental last night. I really enjoyed it. I know the message is heavy handed, but it's Pixar, that's what they do.

I've been slowing down on my watches. I think I'm a bit burned out after hitting the Sci-Fi/Fantasy challenge pretty hard. I have watched all but one of my unwatched movies and should be able to watch that by the end of the month so I'm happy about that.

Tonight's watch was Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. It has an interesting animation style. It goes back and forth with how it looks. From almost realistic to very highly stylized. I didn't hate it but it was a bit odd, took a bit to adjust.

As for the story line...well, it hit hard. My Crash (he's been in my profile pic since I joined here) is getting up there in age. He's very much the image of Puss in Boots. I've even had him dress as him for Halloween. Well, he's 16ish and he had a stroke this spring and is very much on his last life. I know my time with him is limited but reminders of it are a bit tough. So, I guess that's a bit of a warning...if you have an orange kitty who's in their later stages of life, this may not be the best movie for you!

I think I have finally worked out a system for this challenge after the Sci-Fi one. I have watched an average of 4 shows each day (exactly). Up until now I have watched one to two movies a day with tv episodes once a day and then shorts finishing up the day. I am getting a little tired but all I have left in my watchlist is tv episodes and shorts so I should have no problem with finishing up, and I really didn't get burned out until right about now. I watched the next three Disney movies (I am watching them in date order) and I think I am going to add Illumination after watching Despicable Me for the first time. I really enjoyed it so I think I have a new series to add.

I've actually watched more this year than I expected - 4 or 5 compilation disc sets and a half dozen or so movies... Over the past few days I've watched Zootopia, The Secret Life of Pets, and Cinderella (the Disney classic). All are rewatches but are also in the "unopened" pile.

I enjoyed Zootopia though its message is a bit heavy handed at times (in general I very much dislike "message films," especially when they're aimed at kids/animated, no matter whether or not I agree with the message). It also failed a bit for me with the obvious voice actors. Basically when I recognize a actor's voice in animation, especially with non-human characters, it almost always takes me out of the film. In this case it was Tommy Chong.

I again didn't much care for The Secret Life of Pets. I'm not a "pet person" (have only owned a couple of cats long ago and no pets at all in over 40 years - if I were told I had to have a pet it'd be a cat) so the interaction/humor derived from those attachments and pet antics mostly falls flat for me. I can't see me watching this one again unless a kid comes over and asks to watch it.

Cinderella is a classic... and a partial favorite (the mice get a bit annoying at times preventing it from ranking higher). I've seen this one more than a few times.

I watched Disney's Tarzan last night in a first time viewing. Outside the lame "pop" music segments it was pretty good. I've never been much of a fan of Disney's "musical" approach to their post 1960s animated features but at least the older (pre 1970) stuff has music that sounds like it belongs in a musical, not random pop type songs in the style of the years in which they were made. I watched Disney's Robin Hood a few days ago and it, too, suffers musically (I'm not a fan of Roger Miller, who, IMHO, was miscast as Allan-a-Dale and did most (all?) of the music). Without exception, every Disney animated feature I've seen in the post 60s period features quite forgettable music/songs and almost always effects my opinion of those films negatively.