A Personal History with Global Appeal: In February, Danish director Jonah Poher Rasmussen’s Flee set a new precedent for the recognition of animated films, scoring an Oscar nomination hat trick with nods in the Animated, Documentary and International Feature categories. Critics and festival juries around the world have raved about this powerful true story of an Afghan refugee confronting his trauma and identity, which in the English-language version stars Riz Ahmed and Nicolaj Coster-Waldau. The Blu-ray release includes a New York Film Festival Q&A with the director. Available March 1. (Decal/NEON, $15)
Ode to the Stage Spectacular: Soar on wire riggings of animated fancy with Illumination’s latest blockbuster, Sing 2. Directed again by Garth Jennings, the sequel follows Buster (Matthew McConaughey) and his troupe to a Vegas-y entertainment mecca, where they must convince a reclusive rock star (Bono) to join their ambitious new show. The all-star cast and soundtrack of wall-to-wall hits is overshadowed only by the sparkling CG animation, rendering a menagerie of animals in elaborate stage numbers or surprisingly subtle, emotional moments. (Universal, DVD $35 | BD $40 | 4K $50)
Romanian Retro: Mircea Toia and Călin Cazan’s wildly surreal sci-fi adventure Delta Space Mission (1984) is ready to thrill a new generation of audiences Stateside, thanks to a new 4K polish from Deaf Crocodile Films. Set in the year 3084, this blacklight poster-hued adventure follows an alien journalist named Alma who becomes the unwitting love interest of the AI running a state-of-the-art spacecraft — with disastrous results. A Heavy Metal-style mash-up of modern art, Eurodisco and Saturday morning cartoons, the Blu-ray release includes a new interview with Cazan, an essay by comicker/film historian Stephen Bissette and two (even rarer) cartoons from the DSM shorts series. Grasshopper Films will release the remaster on VOD on April 19. (Vinegar Syndrome/OCN | $30)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: 85th Anniversary Edition
Disney Movie Club Exclusive, with new featurette 10 Ways Snow White Changed Animation Forever (DMC | $25).
Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san: Complete Series
Honestly, I am a little offended that no one told me about this slice-of-life comedy among the manga shelves sooner. すごい！(Discotek | $40)
Supersized Creativity: Awkward adolescence never looked so good as in the fluffy, luminous new Pixar feature from Oscar winner Domee Shi (Bao). The Art of Turning Red delves into the making of this deeply personal pic, which is both a terrifyingly relatable reflection of coming-of-age and an ode to the camaraderie and particular joys of growing up in the ’90s. The 160-page hardcover is stuffed with character designs, storyboards, colorscripts, exclusive interviews and a dizzying array of inspirational eye candy. Studio head Pete Docter penned the intro. (Chronicle Books | $43)
Oceans of History: As a great illustrated man once said, “I yam what I yam,” and author Fred M. Grandinetti certainly yam one of the biggest Popeye connoisseurs on deck. His latest book, Popeye the Sailor: The 1960s TV Cartoons, picks up the story of E.C. Segar’s beloved character as the popularity of his theatrical shorts translated into TV superstardom with King Features and Paramount Cartoon Studios. This 230-page history covers the iconic animators who brought the 220 toons to life, characters, voice artists, spinoffs and more, including an episode guide organized by producer. What else would you expect from the co-founder of the Official Popeye Fan Club?! (BearManor Media | ebook $10, paperback $25)
Celebrate your favorite Disney earworm of the year with this fun, retro horror-inspired Vintage Bruno T-Shirt, inspired by Encanto. (TeePublic | 10 color options | $20)
Blast off with the new two-issue comic-book event, Radio Spaceman — a standalone steampunk space adventure from Hellboy creator Mike Mignola and Black Cloud artist Greg Hinkle. Monsters! Mystery! Excessive gear wheels! In space! (March 2 & April 6 | Dark Horse | $4 each)
Stuff We Love is now the monthly Must Have list. To find previous reviews from the print edition of Animation Magazine, use the tag below or type “Stuff We Love” into the AnimationMagazine.net search bar.
