By Keith Staskiewicz
The Goodes are the blue-state analogues of the Hills, Mike Judge’s venerable 
Texas-twangers who will soon be packing up the propane after a staggering 13 seasons. A bespectacled father voiced by Judge, an overweight son, a midriff-baring daughter, a cantankerous old coot of a father, and a dog named after a political figure; Judge’s creations for his new series The Goode Family, which premieres Wednesday May 27th (9:00-9:30 p.m., ET) on ABC, are the cultural and political negative images of his previous ones. Rather than chugging beer on the front lawn, the Goodes are more likely to be found swigging soy milk in their solar-powered home and then painstakingly recycling the containers.
Here’s a few clips from the pilot:
The pater familias here is Gerald Goode, a poncho-wearing member of the liberal academe. His wife is a local activist with whom he has two children, one adopted and one biological. The dog is an unwilling vegan and they shower outside in a home-made rainwater catchment system. Read more »
Ratatouille‘s Remy the rat embodied every underappreciated artist, Marlin the fish every overprotective father, and WALL-E every hopeless romantic.
They are beset by packs of vicious dogs, dangerous thunderheads and a series of precipitous heights, but the real obstacles they must overcome are those of loss, abandonment and fear. Carl is one of the most three-dimensional 3D-animated characters ever put to screen. That, plus the fact that much of the violence is surprisingly un-cartoony, provides the film with quite a few moments of genuine peril.
The story of a young girl who moves to Ashland, Oregon only to discover that her house is full of magical secrets was adapted from 
These hand-made worlds are a rare treat, crafted by a small, nomadic club of patient animators. The directors behind these films are members of an even smaller club. In fact, all six of these aforementioned films were directed by either Nick Park (a co-director), Tim Burton or Selick.
