Anyone who still thinks cartoons are for kids should check out a pair of animated features now on video. Don't look for Disney sticky-sweetness or Warner Bros. sass here these films are infused with adult sensibilities, albeit in a cockeyed manner.
Bruno Bozzetto's 1976 Allegro Non Troppo is a devastatingly brilliant spoof of Disney's Fantasia. As with Fantasia, celebrated works of classical music receive animated treatments � but this time around they function as backdrops for bizarre surrealism akin to Yellow Submarine or Monty Python's animation sequences.
The best segment is easily Ravel's "Bolero," in which the story of biological evolution begins with one-eyed ooze that grows into behemothic dinosaurs only to crumble in the face of man's brutal ascent. Ravel's erotic music provides an unlikely but magnificent partner to this offbeat spin on the evolutionary tale, with each new generation of creature marching to the sensual rhythms. Both weird and wonderful, Allegro Non Troppo deserves a standing ovation.
On a somewhat less musical plane comes RoujinZ, one of the most stunning Japanese anime productions ever shown. Conceived by Katsuhiro Otomo, the genius behind the cyberpunk classic Akira, this story combines raucous action with chilling social commentary. RoujinZ is set in a futuristic society where the care of the elderly is considered a dreadful burden. One aged invalid serves as a guinea pig in an experiment involving the Z-001, a computerized bed that provides for all the patient's needs except human kindness. Things go awry when the invalid's brain waves merge with the Z-001's computer network, creating a monster machine with a mind of its own. RoujinZ raises many troubling questions about society's view of the elderly, particularly those who require round-the-clock care.
Neither Allegro Non Troppo nor RoujinZ is for young kids; the former includes animated scenes with full-frontal nudity, and the latter contains frenetically violent action sequences. But for older kids and adults with a taste for something different, both titles are well worth tooning into. They sure beat watching Aladdin or Bugs Bunny for the umpteenth time.
Allegro Non Troppo: US$29.95. Home Vision Cinema: (800) 826 3456, +1 (312) 878 2600. RoujinZ: $19.95 dubbed, $29.95 subtitled. Central Park Media Corp.: (800) 626 4277, +1 (212) 977 7456, fax +1 (212) 977 8709.
STREET CRED
"Rules? In a Knife Fight?"Fear and Loathing in Congress
Haute Design Meets High Performance
'Toons Not for Tots
