Seeing Raya and The Last Dragon in theaters this past month was a very powerful experience for me. After more than year and a half away from the movies due to a world wide pandemic, I finally made my way back to my local theater. For months, I had wanted to see Raya and The Last Dragon but intentionally resisted paying the cost of streaming it so I could see the film on the big screen. Watching the film in…
When you say the name Hayao Miyazaki, many people will likely think of Studio Ghibli; and when you say the name Nintendo, many people will likely think of The Legend of Zelda. Studio Ghibli has a lot of legendary animated movies under its belt — from My Neighbor Totoro to Spirited Away — but today we’re going to discuss Kiki’s Delivery Service and the magical comparisons that can be made between that 1989 classic and The Legend of Zelda. One of the…
Life is too short, guys. Honestly, it’s hard to believe that Coraline turned 11 years old last month, as it feels like I was introduced to the film just yesterday. Having watched it five times during its theatrical run — more than any other movie I’ve seen — I was so entranced by this flick’s imaginative spirit. The endearingly adventurous heroine, the painstakingly immaculate stop-motion visuals, the haunting musical score — it all comes together to create what might be…
The Legend of Zelda is a franchise that knows just how to tell a story. A brave hero battles through the forces of evil in an effort to save a beautiful princess; it’s a tale as old as time. The Zelda games put this tale into action, allowing the player to experience the hero’s adventure first-hand. Whats more, as the series progresses, the adventure incorporates all sorts of iconic elements to dramatic, tragic and sometimes comedic effect. The end result…
My love of The Legend of Zelda stems from a deep connection to the stories told in the games. This love of story has colored my opinions and emotions about the series since I first played Ocarina of Time in the early 2000’s. It is one of the reasons my favorite games are Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword; each game tells an epic story about Link’s coming of age. One of the purest expressions of…
Sometimes, the antagonist in a work of fiction is not a clear-cut villain. Sometimes, the antagonist is not the man who seeks to overthrow the world order for his personal gain. Sometimes, it’s the person, or people, we look up to the most, the one we expect to be the protagonist. This is the message of Star Wars‘ prequel trilogy – but it’s also the hidden message of a few Zelda games, particularly Breath of the Wild. Palpatine and Ganon are…
When it comes to movies with a sense of Zelda built into them, one of the first, and worst, that comes to mind is 2007’s In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale. Directed by Uwe Boll, this infamous titan of video game movie adaptations created something that was uniquely based off another series entirely (the Dungeon Siege games) but just as easily could have been The Legend of Zelda: The Movie with a few name changes. What…
Stop me if you heard this before: the world is idyllic and peaceful, but a darkness brews. An ancient evil seeks to purge the light from this world. A beautiful princess, captured. It’s up to a young, forest-dwelling boy, clad in a green tunic, to rescue her and save the world. Sound familiar? Come back with me to 1986, but not for The Legend of Zelda. Just a few months after we were introduced to Hyrule, Tom Cruise held the…
For my pick in our “Legendary Pictures” series, I decided to take things back to another world, another time… in the age of wonder. I want to divulge why a film that I watched ad nauseum in my childhood to the point that our VHS copy was worn thin reminds me so much of The Legend of Zelda. I want to discuss my treasure, my fate: The Dark Crystal. I’m sure my fellow editors will no doubt convey this sentiment…
Over the years, Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto has been outspoken about his love for classic Disney films and about their influence on his own creative work. As an aspiring cartoonist in his youth, he looked to the characters of Disney’s golden age for inspiration; and upon breaking into the video game industry, elements from those animated classics invariably informed his early works. Miyamoto has even admitted that Disney’s Peter Pan served as an inspiration for Link in The Legend of…
