Bartok the Magnificent

Bartok the Magnficent
Aired	July 17, 2018
Running Time	16:00
Previous Review	The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Next Review	TBA
Link	http://channelawesome.com/bartok-the-magnificent/

(The Channel Awesome logo and the title sequence are shown, followed by NC at his desk)

NC: Hello, I'm the Nostalgia Critic. I remember it so you don't have to. It's no secret that the career of legendary animator Don Bluth has had some ups and downs.

(A poster for the Bluth film An American Tail is shown)

NC (vo): Like anyone's legacy, there's been some hits and there's been some misses.

(Cut to a shot of another Bluth film The Land Before Time)

NC (vo): But the hits seem to be when Bluth had the most control over a project...

(Cut to a shot of The Pebble and the Penguin)

NC (vo): ...and the misses seem to be whenever the studio he worked for took the most control.

(Cut to footage of Anastasia)

NC (vo): You can usually tell the studio interference by how much the films imitated what was expected to be popular at the time.

(Cut to a shot of the poster for Anastasia)

NC (vo): Whether it be Disney...

(Cut to a poster for Titan A.E.)

NC (vo): ...Star Wars...

(A poster for A Troll in Central Park is shown)

NC (vo): ...or even other movies that tried to rip off (a poster for Once Upon a Forest appears in the corner) other genres...

(A poster for Thumbelina is shown)

NC (vo): (quickly) ...or Disney...

(A poster for Rock-A-Doodle is shown)

NC (vo): ...there's apparently a lot of meddling.

(Clips from The Secret of NIMH and Anastasia are followed)

NC (vo): Bluth was obviously known for his beautiful style, but was just as well-known for being wild, aggressive, and imaginatively odd. Traditional fairy tales or action films was not something to expect out of such a uniquely strange mind. But the attempts were made, and often were not as successful as others hoped.

(Now, we are shown the clips of the direct-to-VHS 1999 movie Bartok the Magnificent)

NC (vo): But, funny enough, his weird style shines in the last place you would expect it: a straight-to-video spin-off of one of his Disney cinematic knockoffs.

NC: It's the (posters of...) Ouija 2 and Annabelle: Creation of Don Bluth movies: Bartok the Magnificent! Yes, really. (Opening music starts to play, then abruptly stops) Yes, really. (Then the music starts up again)

(The title of the film is shown, before showing more of its clips)

NC (vo): Directed by Don Bluth with Gary Goldman and based on the comic relief from his animated film Anastasia, Bartok had the animation budget of a straight-to-video movie and, honestly, about as much interest from the studio. They seemed, understandably so, more interested in their cinematic release than their smaller VHS tie-in. But because of this, they interfered less, and we got a bizarre, unique and, honestly, kind of enjoyable little special out of it. It's not one of Bluth's grand works or anything, but it has more of his traditionally odd signatures, resulting in a crazy but surreally charming adventure. And we're here to look at this adorably insane film in all its wonderful head-scratching glory.

NC: So sit back and get ready to go, "Why?"...as you should with any good Don Bluth production. This is Bartok the Magnificent.

(The movie starts with showing the inside of the hut on chicken legs, which belongs to a famous Russian witch, Baba Yaga)

NC (vo): The film opens with a song about a witch named Baba Yaga, which in Russian translates to pointless, but funny throwaway joke in Ant-Man sequel. (A shot of Kurt and Scott Lang from Ant-Man and the Wasp is shown)

Chorus: (singing) Baba Yaga!

NC (vo): This immediately gives you a feel for the film. There's clearly little money thrown at this, there's not even that much animation to start out. But the stylized angles, colors and designs are already more unique than what you usually see in the direct-to-video product. This looks like Toys R Us if it went to Hell! (speaks somberly as the closed Toys R Us store is shown with a gravestone) No disrespect. Still miss it.

(We are shown Bartok the albino bat impressing the people of Moscow with his performances on the Red Square)

NC (vo): We got pretty quickly to our main character though a Russian bat named Bartok, played by Hank Azaria.

NC: And before you go insane, he said he was open to a real Russian bat voicing the part.

(However, it is revealed to us that most of Bartok's performances are staged, like the weight-lifting. A blue kite shaped like a big bat is shown)

NC (vo): He travels town to town telling fake tales of his amazing heroics and even taking out leftover animation cells from The Thief and the Cobbler. ???

(A red-nosed bear appears and roars at everyone)

NC (vo): Damn those Russian bears always making their way into the center of Moscow!

Bartok: (blows some dust into a bear's face) Abraca-watch it!

NC (vo): Bartok seems to take out the bear, though, without breaking a sweat.

(A bear falls right into Bartok's wagon, which closes)

NC: (as Bartok) Yes, on to the pile of other...

NC (vo): ...dead carcasses my carriage is apparently built for storing!

(The cheering people throw money at Bartok)

Bartok: Thank you, that's too kind... (A ring is thrown at him) Ooh!

(The ring belonged to Prince Ivan, who arrived in the carriage with his advisor Ludmila)

NC (vo): His antics caught the attention of Prince Ivan, but his advisor Ludmila, played by Catherine O'Hara, wants to stop him from giving Bartok his royal ring, or she'll stab him with her chin.

Ivan (Phillip Van Dyke): Well, perhaps it's time for a change.

NC (vo): He still leaves Bartok with the ring, though, and us with the question: how much did Dimitri from the first film get around? (A shot of Dimitri from Anastasia appears to show the similarity between him and Ivan)

(Inside the Alexander Palace, Ludmila scolds Ivan)

Ludmila: You can't go around giving royal jewels to commoners.

Ivan: Well, I wanted to encourage him.

Ludmila: (overdubbed by Kate McCallister from Home Alone) There are 15 people in this house, and you're the only one who has to make trouble.