by Jake Bourgeois, Contributing Writer
I’ve always had a soft spot for animation. More years than not, at least a couple of animated features find their way onto my top 10 list. So, I’m setting out to shine a light on some films that may have passed you by. The idea is to take a look at some underseen gems—so no Toy Story or Frozen here.
Let’s get started.
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With both Toy Story 5and Masters of the Universein theaters this month, it felt only fitting to focus on a toy-based feature. Thanks to a mention at The Ringer, I found just such a project.
When I went to my grandparents’ house, Raggedy Ann and Andy would be waiting in their basement for us. What I didn’t know is there was a nightmare-fuel inducing musical movie based on the characters, Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure.
Richard Williams, Academy Award-winning animator of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? fame, made a musical starring the duo as he was working on his true passion project, The Thief and the Cobbler (which is probably worth its own column eventually). The Roger Rabbit note is interesting to me because, though there isn’t an integration of animation, there is some live-action work when the child is around. The story follows Raggedy Ann (Didi Conn) and Andy (Mark Baker) leave their playroom to rescue Babette (Niki Flacks), a new French doll who is kidnapped by pirates.
It feels very handmade and, before Toy Story, this movie perfects toys moving like toys—specifically with Raggedy Ann and Andy. Each toy has their own feel. Particularly with our main characters, they take advantage of the fact that they’re soft and floppy and can be dropped from heights with no ill effect. That style gets pushed to the max when they meet a camel made of the same stuff. Toys like creepy twin dancing dolls and Babette, the new French doll, that all feel their own. The animation is stunning; there’s just something special about the old hand-drawn style. That great character work in the foreground and it’s boosted by great matte paintings (done by Sue Butterworth, who would later go on to help animate A Goofy Movie) in the background.
There is also a trippy, nightmare fuel quality that I was led to expect and it gives the film a fascinating quality. The amount of drugs the animators for some of these old children’s movies must have been doing while working is truly staggering. In particular, the taffy monster is horrifying, and Loonie Land is an absolute trip.
The music doesn’t do much for me. I just didn’t connect with many of the songs, though there’s a stunning caravan sequence that utilizes a blue palette that stands out. There’s an Oscar nominee pulling the strings (Joe Raposo would be nominated for “The First Time it Happens” in The Great Muppet Caper a few years later) and I enjoyed the ragtime score sprinkled throughout.
Irrespective of its quality even, I just love that for a movie that’s not really available anywhere, there’s been a community drive to preserve and restore it to 4K quality (which is how I watched it on YouTube).
It’s definitely more in the camp of respected rather than liked, but I love the effort to keep it available and have no qualms about boosting that here.
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I’m excited to continue to geek out on some great animated work you may not have had a chance to catch. Next month, I’m going to try to find something that makes me feel better about the fact we’re already getting a Moana live-action reboot.
You can read more from Jake Bourgeois, and follow him on Bluesky and Letterboxd