Oliver & Company

Oliver & Company is a very solid film. Nothing in it is exactly spectacular but none of it painful in any way. Disney basically took Oliver Twist and morphed it into a story with cats and dogs set in the 1980s. Of course they take their own liberties such as adding an extremely racist Mexian chihuahua played by Cheech Marin. While that may seem awful on paper, its execution is pretty good. In fact the execution of everything is okay. It's all really solid overall. Oliver is just the right amount of cute, the side characters have very solid entertainment value, the music is enjoyable and the central conflict is engaging enough to keep your interest.

 Oliver is the only cat with a name in the movie and is our protagonist. Just like the rest of the movie he does exactly what he needs to. He's cute, his actions influence the story, and he isn't voiced by an obnoxious child actor with a lisp. Caturday is all about cat media, but Oliver & Company is mostly dogs. The film follows Oliver as he is alone in the streets, adopted by a group of dogs with their homeless owner. He is then adopted by a little rich girl. After the dogs rescue him, he wants to go back to the girl. The homeless Jew, meanwhile, owes Mr. Sykes some money and concocts a plan to get the rich girl's money (who he thinks is a rich man) by trading Oliver for ransom money. When he finds out it is a little girl, he does not take her money and Mr. Sykes tries to kill him in a ridiculous chase scene where he follows them onto subway rails.

            There isn’t a lot to the plot and that’s because the movie is fairly short, only about 100 minutes. It actually works it its advantage though. The pacing is very strong, making sure there is never a dull moment. It also doesn’t overstay its welcome. The only love story is a comedic love story between Tito, the Mexican Chihuahua, and Georgette, the snotty poodle. The story and its surrounding jokes take up just a few minutes overall, and it’s all handled well so that it doesn’t bog down the movie. There are no long scenes which deliver unneeded exposition on the supporting cast. We don’t even know much about Mr. Sykes.

            Speaking of Mr. Sykes, why does a homeless man owe him money in the first place? Why would a mob boss give a homeless man money or anything else in the first place? My theory is that Mr. Sykes was not as powerful as the movie makes you believe. Mr. Sykes runs his operation on an isolated section at the docks. His only henchmen are two Dobermans. That seems like a pretty small operation. Really, Mr. Sykes is nothing more than a small business owner, who is in an unloving relationship with his wife and kids and decided to spice up his life by playing mob boss with a homeless man. He bought a couple of trained dogs, a cheap piece of land at the docks, found a homeless man, and let the games begin. He let it go out of control until it led to his death in a ridiculous chase scene.

            Of course none of that is true, but I like to believe it is. It explains some of the narrative gaps. While there are gaps, they aren’t plot holes. They could be easily explained with a couple of sentences yet the movie decides that those details aren’t important. It sets out to tell a solid self-contained story and does a very fine job with that. There’s nothing bad, nothing amazing, it’s just a very solid children’s film.

Final Purrdict: Pawsitive

Blacksad: Arctic Nation

            Arctic Nation is the second volume in the Spanish/French award winning Blacksad comic series, released three years after Somewhere Within the Shadows. It is written by Juan Díaz Canales with art by Juanjo Guarnido. This review will build off of my first Blacksad review, Somewhere Within the Shadows,  so I suggest you read it first.

Arctic Nation takes place in a fictional industrial suburban town known simply as The Line. From the name and the lack of clear location, it seems that this town is meant to capture many towns instead of Blacksad’s usual approach of using a specific city. Racism is the major theme in this story as Blacksad tries to solve the case of a missing Black girl in a town struggling with race issues. By taking a slight change in the direction of this volume, Canales and Guarnido remain true to the noir nature of the series while still making a very fresh experience. In my last review I called Somewhere Within the Shadows a very basic noir story done incredibly well. It would have been awfully boring for Blacksad to continue with the same classic storyline. One of the reasons I love Blacksad is because it always keeps the noir style, while changing the major themes in each story. The differences in each Blacksad volume elevate the series as a whole, providing for a memorable experience with each story.  Arctic Nation happens to be my personal favorite. Just like the previous volume, the art and writing are absolutely phenomenal.

In the suburban town, The Line, there are very apparent race issues. Since Blacksad takes place in the late 1950s in a universe with the same history, this would be just a few years before the civil rights movement. Race is a little confusing as the discrimination is still based on color. Since these are animals, it is based on their fur color. A white supremacy group, Arctic Nation, has influence in the city. That’s not to say that the black communities of The Line are perfect angels. A gang known as the Black Claws has been causing trouble in their own ways. These two groups are in direct opposition which is causing trouble in this suburban town. Not long after Blacksad arrives, he witnesses the aftermath of a hanging. A crowded street is staring at lifeless body of a black vulture. Wearing a trench coat with a bottle of alcohol in his pocket, it seems likely that he was homeless, an easy target for Arctic Nation to help send a message. That won’t scare off Blacksad, who shares the vultures color, except his white chin of course. He has a mystery to solve.

Blacksad has been hired by Miss Grey, an elementary school teacher portrayed by a deer. Again, it’s important to note how perfect the casting is for this series. Miss Grey as a deer provides the frailty and strength you would expect to find in an old teacher. It’s a combination that is hard to pull off, but a deer provides perfect imagery to convey these traits. Miss Grey wants Blacksad to look for a missing black girl named Kaylie. The town seems uninterested in searching for her, including her mother, who hasn’t reported it to the police. The rest you will have to find out for yourself by reading it. This is one story you do not want spoiled.

The most fascinating aspect of Arctic Nation is how well it handles racism. It’s not uncommon for media to portray racist characters as totally unlikable with flat characterization. Arctic Nation does a fantastic job of fleshing out the characters. Instead of one group acting as a single unit, the white supremacy is multifaceted. We very briefly see Mr. Oldsmill, a white tiger representing the upper class. While extremely influential to spread of racism within the town, he is ultimately detached and unaffected by the problems surrounding racism. There is also the polar bear, Mr. Karup, who is the police chief and a choir director for children at the church. A symbol of morality as the upstanding W.A.S.P., he struggles behind closed doors while having a mysterious past, once being married to a black woman. Then there is Huk, an arctic fox who is cunning and ruthless. He is almost entirely self-absorbed, mainly interested in furthering his own influence and power. These characters with their diverse goals, ideals, and backgrounds allow for greater exploration of racism. While most will agree that racism is bad, there is more to tell than just the message. Arctic Nation isn’t really interested in that message so it focuses on telling a compelling story. The most compelling stories have rich characters. Making a group that is instantly dislikable with most audiences today fully developed was essential in making this story work and it is done incredibly well.

One of the major problems with noir is that the final reveal is often underwhelming in comparison to the buildup. Either the ending is too obvious or it’s nowhere near as exciting or interesting as the buildup. Arctic Nation, on the hand, delivers an ending that is extremely satisfying. Almost every part of the story is important for the end. Clues are placed throughout, in places one wouldn’t expect. This makes this story fantastic to read again just to pick up on the little details you missed.

For those who have already read it, didn't notice this the first time!

It’s hard to find any piece of media, let alone cat fiction that is so flawless. I may be biased because of my love of this story, but I can’t find a single flaw. I have to really grasp at straws in order to do that. The mystery and reveal are amazing, the characters are fully fleshed out and compelling, the art is absolutely spectacular (flashbacks gain more color the closer they are to the present), and the voice in the writing bleeds noir style in every sentence. I can’t describe everything that is right with Arctic Nation because it would take several pages to fully explain how wonderful it is. If you liked Somewhere Within the Shadows even just a little, you have to read Arctic Nation. 

Final Purrdict: Purrfect!

Also, Blacksad gets a sidekick in this volume and future volumes. Weekly, a least weasel who is a journalist for a tabloid called What's News. He fun and adorable. Great sidekick with a lot of comedy. Not super important for the story, but he makes a great foil to Blacksad's more serious nature.

Don't you want to just give him hug? After he bathes of course.

Blacksad: Somewhere Within the Shadows Review

           Blacksad is a difficult comic to explain. Blacksad is a Spanish comic album written by Juan Díaz Canales, with some of the most beautiful art in a comic provided by Juanjo Guarnido.  The comics follow John Blacksad, a cat man detective, through a new story with each comic that focuses on different themes. Every character is portrayed by an anthropomorphized animal. While it is a Spanish comic, its main audience is the French market. It’s usually released in Spanish a month after the initial French release. I can’t understand Spanish or French so I get to read the English translations, the first story, Blacksad: Somewhere Within the Shadows, was published in America by iBooks about a decade ago but they went bankrupt a few years ago and now Dark Horse publishes the English translations. I don’t know how it compares to the original translation, but Blacksad is an absolutely fantastic read in English thanks to the fantastic language throughout.

            The use of anthropomorphism in this comic is extremely unique to any work I’ve read in the past.  It’s not uncommon to see animals used for the sole purpose of attracting children, essentially adding nothing to the narrative. This is not the case with Blacksad. While everyone is very aware that they are an animal, they seem more human than any animal story I've seen before. The same story could be told with humans, though there would be far less animal jokes. What really separates this from animal stories and human stories is the choice of animal for each character. It’s not hard to tell that a rat, especially one with dirty fur and a disheveled appearance, can’t be trusted or that a rhinoceros is tough as nails and will kick your ass. The character choices, along with the writing, give the reader the right amount of information to understand what’s going on without characters giving unneeded exposition. The choice to use animals actually enhances the storytelling. This makes it one of, if not the best use of animal anthropomorphism in fiction.

            The cover page makes it very clear what this first story is all about without saying a word. Blacksad stands in a trench coat, a cat woman on his left, a gun in his right hand with his finger on the trigger. The woman has a very old style of beauty straight out of classic Hollywood. Right away the reader knows that this is an homage to classic noir films, and it is not afraid to feel like Hollywood cinema. The voice of the writing seems like it came straight out of old Hollywood noir. The muted colors and use of shadows perfectly captures the feel and look of classics such as The Third Man.

            The story starts with the death of the woman on the cover. Blacksad and police commissioner Smirnov, a German shepherd (the perfect choice of animal for a police commissioner), are looking over her dead body lying almost completely nude in her bed, wearing nothing but a see through nightgown. The cause of death is a bullet right through the middle of her forehead. Blacksad previously had a fling with this woman, Natalia, and takes it upon himself to uncover the mystery against the advice of his friend Smirnov. As this story is a mystery, I will not spoil much else. Blacksad, like many other noir protagonists, must see how far he is willing to go to solve this case. If you've seen even a couple of noir films in the past, you’ll have a pretty good idea of what to expect in terms of plot for this story.

            What’s very surprising about this series is the adult nature. In most comics, since they are geared towards a younger audience, sex happens but it is never shown and nudity is a blanket covering the woman’s torso. Blacksad is not afraid to get dirty as nipples from Natalia’s dead body are one of the first things you see. This is very strange and somewhat off-putting since the characters are animals. While sex is present, it is never pornographic. It’s handled extremely well and I would call the sex “mature,” not “adult.” If the initial nudity bothers you, I strongly urge you to keep reading. It’s well worth it in the end.

            Somewhere Within the Shadows is only the first of four volumes currently released in the Blacksad series. Its story is not much more than a classic noir story but it is handled extremely well and has some of the best art I’ve ever seen in a comic. I highly recommend it to everyone who likes comics, cats, or noir. If there is something wrong with you and you don’t like any of those things, I still recommend it.

Final Purrdict: Very Pawsitive