{"id":6293,"date":"2024-10-19T23:09:50","date_gmt":"2024-10-20T03:09:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=6293"},"modified":"2024-10-19T23:09:50","modified_gmt":"2024-10-20T03:09:50","slug":"life-animated","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/10\/19\/life-animated\/","title":{"rendered":"Life, Animated"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Life, Animated <\/strong>(2016)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Orchard\/Documentary\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 89 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG (thematic elements, language including a sexual reference)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Roger Ross Williams\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Ron Suskind\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Todd Griffin\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Thomas Bergmann\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: July 15, 2016 (Philadelphia, PA)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Owen Suskind, Ron Suskind, Cornelia Suskind, Walt Suskind, Jonathan Freeman, Gilbert Gottfried.<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ****<\/p>\n

\u00a0For many, animated Disney movies are magic, an essential part of childhood. For Owen Suskind, they\u2019re much more. He uses them to understand the world. At age three, he was diagnosed with autism after he suddenly \u201cvanished\u201d (his father\u2019s word) into his own little world. He stopped talking altogether save for some incomprehensible babbling. For a time, the wall he built around himself was impenetrable. Then his family discovered the way in. His father, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind, snuck into Owen\u2019s room one evening and talked to him in the voice of Iago, the villainous parrot sidekick to Jafar in Aladdin, while playing with his son\u2019s Iago hand puppet. It worked; it was the first time Ron had an actual conversation with his son. That\u2019s when they realized that the animated Disney movies Owen watched over and over again were more than just entertainment.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Life, Animated<\/strong>, a touching documentary based on Ron Suskind\u2019s 2014 memoir of the same name, focuses on a crucial turning point in Owen\u2019s life. The 23YO is about to graduate from school and move into his own apartment at a supervised living facility. It\u2019s a stressful thing for those without disabilities so you can imagine it must be extra hard for Owen. But he copes with it the same way he\u2019s coped with everything life has thrown at him. He applies the lessons taught by Disney movies. When it\u2019s time to pack, Owen asks his father if they can watch three scenes from Dumbo first; specifically, the scene where Dumbo has to move on after his mother is taken from him.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Basically, Life, Animated<\/strong> is a coming-of-age story. It\u2019s one in which the central character identifies more closely with sidekicks than heroes. Owen actually sees himself as the protector of sidekicks. In response to being bullied at school, Owen started drawing Disney sidekicks like Iago, Sebastian the crab (The Little Mermaid) and Baloo the bear (The Jungle Book). He turned his sketches into a story entitled Land of the Lost Sidekicks which director Roger Ross Williams adapted into a short film.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I have to say that Owen is one amazing guy. Life, Animated<\/strong> is also a profile in courage. Here\u2019s a guy that society tends to overlook because of his disability. When we first meet him, he\u2019s walking down the street talking to himself. Most people would make a wide berth around him, but not Williams. He turns his camera on Owen and allows us a chance to get to know the person beyond the initial label of \u201ccrazy guy\u201d. We see scenes of his childhood by way of home videos. We see Owen before and after his \u201cvanishing\u201d. In present day, we follow him as he prepares to take that first step on the road to independence. We watch him act as leader of a Disney club he started at school. One day, he brings his friend Jonathan Freeman (aka the voice of Jafar) to read lines from Aladdin with him when comedian Gilbert Gottfried (the voice of Iago) makes a surprise appearance much to Owen\u2019s delight. We share his joy at graduating; we share his pain as he deals with his first big break-up with his girlfriend of three years.<\/p>\n

\u00a0We also hear from his family about life with an autistic family member. In one scene, older brother Walt ponders what will happen when their parents are gone. The role of caretaker will fall to him; it\u2019s a notion that he appears to have accepted long ago.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Life, Animated<\/strong> is moving and inspiring without being manipulative or saccharine. The animated segments depicting Owen\u2019s inner life are a nice touch. I also love that Disney granted Williams permission to use scenes from their movies, a courtesy the company ordinarily doesn\u2019t extend. In a summer filled with one big budget disappointment after another, it\u2019s great to see something as authentic as Life, Animated<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Near the end of the film, Owen is invited to deliver a speech to a roomful of psychologists in Paris. He even attempts to speak a little bit of French. It\u2019s a moment of huge triumph for a person who doctors thought would never speak again. Once again, the audience shares the feeling. Life, Animated<\/strong> is an extraordinary film about an extraordinary individual. It\u2019s an absolute must-see!\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Life, Animated (2016)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Orchard\/Documentary\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 89 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated PG (thematic elements, language including a sexual reference)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Roger Ross Williams\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Ron Suskind\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Todd Griffin\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: Thomas Bergmann\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: July 15, 2016 (Philadelphia, PA)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Owen Suskind, Ron Suskind, Cornelia Suskind, Walt Suskind, Jonathan Freeman, Gilbert Gottfried. Rating: **** \u00a0For many, animated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6449,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-documentary"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/Life-Animated-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6293"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6293\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6451,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6293\/revisions\/6451"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}