It saddens me when people cannot appreciate what goes behind a film.

Or worse, they fail to even realise what is it that truly goes behind one.

Sure, they know to appreciate the blockbuster hits, like Harry Potter and LOTR, they ooh and ahh over the strange, mystical creatures and take delight in them, they are intrigued and are tickled by characters like Gollum (LOTR) and Jar Jar Binks (Star Wars).

Sure, you watch a film for its entertainment value, and so long as the storyline is decent, characters believable, throw in some awesome special effects and a kickass soundtrack, it's almost guaranteed to be a sure hit.

But one shouldn't stop at just that, should we?

It speaks greatly of a generation that cannot go beyond the superficialities.

When I tell people what a superb film Tim Burton's Corpse Bride is, they look at me as if I had gone bananas.

And then they start to say, "But it's just a cartoon." (insert rolling of eyes)

I can't believe the sheer idiocy of these people.

Does being classified a "cartoon" or any other genre has anything to do with whether or not a film is good?

And for your info, Ms/Mr Pompous-I'm-So-Smart-I-Can't-Believe-I'm-Having-A-Conversation-About-A-Cartoon, I won't even classify that film as a cartoon, the furthest I'll go is to say "animation".

And not just any off-the-mill animation, it's Stop-Motion, for chrissakes. Does that word even mean anything to you, you thick skull?

Don't people ever know what they're watching these days?

It's such an insult to the producers, really.

They judge a film by a)how much they enjoy it, b)how big a hit it is, and c)what genre of film it falls into.

Doesn't anyone care what goes behind the scenes anymore?

I say that Tim Burton's Corpse Bride is such a great film not only because it has a moving storyline, unique and interesting characters, some great songs by Danny Elfman, but more more so because it's stop-motion and they did such a great job of it.

They did it so well that most, if not everyone, was fooled into thinking it is a "normal" animation film, where everything is computer-generated.

No no No.

It's Stop-Motion, meaning the producers had to create the figures from scratch (think clay figures but with alot more work and effect), not only figures but everything the characters use, knives, forks, spoons, chairs, tables and piano, everything.

And then how do they actually film the characters?

By moving them for one frame, stopping it there, and taking the frame as if they were taking a picture (i.e. stop-motion).

For every smallest movement (twitch of an eye, quiver of a lip, whatever), they have to actually change the figure, hold it there and take the frame. This goes on for repeated times to capture actual movements. That's how strenuous it is.

If you were thinking of creating the characters from pixels on a computer, you are terribly off the track.

So until you are able to appreciate something for what it's truly worth, it's better to shut your trap lest you come off looking like a fool. It's even worse when you haven't even seen it.