Best movie of this year hands down!
... View MoreI wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.
... View MoreYour blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.
... View MoreThis is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.
... View MoreLove animation, it was a big part of my life as a child, particularly Disney, Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, and still love it whether it's film, television or cartoons.Also have much admiration for Tex Avery, an animation genius whose best cartoons are animated masterpieces and some of the best he ever did. 'Magical Maestro' may fall short of perfection, with cutbacks showing in some background art limitations and a few of the characterisations not being for the faint-hearted, but regardless it is so creative, so entertaining and so cleverly constructed with an amazing soundtrack and Avery's unique animation style still coming through that it is still one of his best. The theme of 'Magical Maestro' is a familiar one, but this is one of the best cartoons to use the theme with a wonderfully unlikely duo of lead characters.Besides, there are far worse-looking cartoons than 'Magical Maestro' and cartoons that offend much more. Found myself still admiring Avery's character design and the rich colours and also admiring that the uncut version didn't play it too safe.The two lead characters have terrific comic timing and have the endearment factor, particularly Poochini. The voice acting throughout shows the likes of Daws Butler and Carlos Ramirez at the top of their game.Avery does a wonderful job directing, with his unique, unlike-any-other visual and characteristic and incredibly distinctive wacky humour styles all over it as can be expected.Once again there is nothing sadistic or repetitious, instead it's imaginative, wonderfully wild and hilarious with some inspired transformations and caricatures.Limited backgrounds aside, the animation is colourful with some inventive expressive moments. The music, courtesy of Scott Bradley, is lushly and cleverly orchestrated, with lively and energetic rhythms and fits very well indeed, while the pre-existing music choices (including "Largo Al Factotum", perhaps the most famous operatic aria in animation) are even more amazing and used so well in providing a lot of the humour.In conclusion, musical magic. 9.5/10 Bethany Cox
... View MoreIf this isn't the very best of all the Tex Avery cartoons, it's certainly near the top of the list. There isn't a second to spare in this constantly inventive cartoon. Everyone seeks out the hair-in-the-projector gag but there are so many more. It's true that some of the jokes haven't fared too well and have managed to offend some viewers these days. Anything that is not praise is somehow bad. The solution to this, I suppose, would be that no humor aimed at any group of people should be allowed, or better yet, no humor aimed at any individual. That's certainly the safe course. No one would be able to take offense at anyone, ever! Thank goodness this was made at a time when people could look at themselves and find humor...and even laugh on occasion. We could ban Elmer Fudd because he stutters or Daffy Duck because he has a lisp. The list is endless. Just imagine - Pepe Le Pew taken out of circulation because he's a skunk with a French accent! How utterly insulting to an entire country and anyone in the world with a drop of French blood...Curtis Stotlar
... View MoreAs long as we understand that "Magical Maestro" contains some politically incorrect scenes, we can enjoy it for the purely crazy, as a sadistic magician plays all sorts of tricks on a snobbish opera singer by changing the guy's persona every couple of seconds. I think that my favorite one was the little kid.I believe that it was the Klingons on "Star Trek" who declared "Revenge is a dish best served cold." Maybe the magician doesn't go quite that far, but he sure has some funny things up his sleeve! It just goes to show that while Tex Avery may not have been as clever as the people behind the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons, he certainly had some great ideas. Worth seeing.
... View MoreLet me first state that I think that Tex Avery is to the animated short what Walt Disney was to the feature-length animated film. So many of the conventions of animated shorts were either started by Avery or so effectively used by him that he gave us the cartoon format that we know and, hopefully, love. And Magical Maestro is vintage Tex Avery-gags fired at the viewer one right after another, most of them hilarious. This is excellent work from a master of a highly under-rated art form. Bravo! Encore!
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