Toys in the Attic (2009)

This film is actually a recycling of a 2009 Czech Republic film. I saw it when abroad and while it is a distinctive and visually appealing stop-motion film, some of the characters are quite scary/disturbing, especially the cigar toting vile bust/statue known as "Head." Head leads the evil "side" of the attic against the peace loving "side" of the attic. A rag-tag group from the peace loving side must overcome the evil Head and rescue a kidnaped antique doll. The voice casting is great, lots of big names and the stop-motion filming is artistic, however, the dark edge of the film may steer this towards the tweens and up (maybe 8-10 and up?). If you're not sure, you might want to preview it before the kids get a chance to see it. Other than the caution for the scary factor, definitely worth viewing artsy imaginative work.

these toys looked after each other with great care! thats what made me enjoy all the adventures of each toy! great show!

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I mean really, I stand in awe.

I didn't know, at first, that this was by Jiri (pronounced kind of like "Year-zhee") Barta. That would have sold me right then, since Czech animators and Barta in particular display senses of the macabre, joyous, heroic, delicate, and mysterious all at once. (Since so many of them worked, or tried to, during the Soviet oppression, that seems rather natural.)

This, like any brilliant work of art, works at many levels. Physically the puppets and objects combine Svankamjer's sensibilities with Joseph Cornell's supply closet. In image creation, Barta melds live action with flip-books (or something close), stop animation, overdrawing, and I don't know what-all in computer animation and postproduction. The stop-animated puppets, however, embody unique personalities in their materials, structure, and articulation, even before you hear them sspeak,

Skipping ahead, I have to applaud the English language rendering. Taken in itself, it expresses the characters and helps bring them to life, even though English was never considered when the movie's original Czech version came out. But, the English is dubbed so it syncs to Czech mouth movements (mostly). This involved heroics on the parts of the scriptwriters, voice actors, and sound masters to create some cadence that a lip-reader might believe.

Backing up to the original, though, this represents a rather daring fable of personal freedom against the militarists, something Barta lived through before the Velvet Revolution. The plaster talking head had some reality in the Stalin era, and the spies and operatives remained real until the Stasi got their pink slips.

Behind and in front of everythign else, though, this stands out as a major artwork, masterfully crafted and carrying more meaning than any one reading can disclose. I've admired Barta's art before. This, however, impresses me in more different ways tha I can hope to name.

-wiredweird

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The English version is very unique and well crafted. Jiri has done great work in the past and this movie is nothing short of magical. The movie kept my attention from beginning to end and the voice-overs fit the characters perfectly. My girlfriends two daughters really enjoyed it. Two thumbs up.

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Great movie. There was so much work put into this movie and you can really tell. I have bought some for gifts.

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