From the time he could stand upright and piece together simple chemical compounds, Flint Lockwood was determined to become a famous inventor. The only problem was that all of his great ideas tended to end up in disaster. His spray-on shoes wouldn’t come off. His hair unbalder prompted hair to grow everywhere. His ratbirds were … well, ratbirds.

His mom was always encouraging, but since she passed away it’s been just Flint and his dad, Tim. And they don’t communicate very well. Tim tries to connect with his son, but he’s just not able to fathom all that science nonsense. And Flint never could understand a fishing metaphor.

So the two are acting like a rheostat under an electromagnetic pulse, meaning they don’t know whether to fish or cut bait, meaning they’re just at a loss. Then Flint hits on an idea that’ll surely make his dad drool! It’s a device that reconfigures the molecular structure of water, turning it into … food. Why, it’s just the kind of thing that would prove to his dad, and the world, that Flint Lockwood is a great inventor.

All Flint needs is a few thousand gigajoules of power to jump-start the process. But when he connects his water-to-food machine to Swallow Falls’ power generator the contraption launches itself into the sky—after destroying half the town in the process.

Another invention gone haywire. Flint feels like such a loser. And the whole town pretty much agrees with him.

That is, until it starts raining cheeseburgers.

Source: http://www.pluggedin.com/videos/2010/q1/cloudywithachanceofmeatballs.aspx

Chicken Run

Fowl play threatens the plucky inhabitants of Tweedy’s Farm as dozens of dowdy hens must produce a sufficient out-lay or face an untimely eggs-it. If such puns drive you mad, Chicken Run may be hazardous to your mental health. But for everyone else, this delightful family film shells out positive messages with the same wit and stop-motion artistry Aardman popularized with Wallace & Gromit. Chicken coops look like the barracks of a German P.O.W. camp. Vicious dogs patrol fences topped with razor wire. And after multiple escape attempts and stretches in solitary confinement, the irrepressible Ginger still refuses to accept her poultry fate. She dreams of something more and urges her British birds of a feather to do the same and not give up hope (“The fences aren’t just around the farm; they’re up here in your heads”). One day a cocky American rooster named Rocky flies overhead before crash landing in their pen. He’s on the lam from a circus. Convinced that Rocky can teach these chickens to fly to freedom, Ginger agrees to let Rocky hide out with them in exchange for his services. But time is running out. No longer content to earn chicken feed in the egg business, the diabolical Mrs. Tweedy has hatched a plan to make chicken pies with the help of an enormous gravy-spraying, vegetable-chopping, crust-baking contraption.

Positive Elements: Ginger rallies her comrades, refusing to give up her quest for freedom. They work tirelessly as a team to carry out their plan and rely on one another’s giftedness to succeed. When Ginger is about to become a pie, Rocky rushes to her rescue, putting himself in harm’s way to save his new friend. A dark secret withheld from the group leads to pain and disappointment (allowing parents to discuss trust and the consequences of selfishly misleading others). Audiences in the United States may bristle at Rocky being portrayed as an unreliable mercenary (“Pushy Americans, always late for every war”) who is more interested in tickling ears with what others want to hear than in communicating the truth. Still, there’s an important lesson in that—including how Yanks are perceived abroad.

Source: http://www.pluggedin.com/videos/2000/q2/chickenrun.aspx

Journey to the Center of the Earth

It’s not just that Trevor Anderson is fascinated by rocks, lava and seismic activity. He also feels that he owes it to his brother Max to carry on the “progressive volcanology” research Max began before his disappearance a decade previously. But a scientific breakthrough proves elusive, and the powers that be are about to shut down Trevor’s lab. Distracted by these tribulations, Trevor nearly forgets that his nephew Sean—Max’s son—is about to arrive for a 10-day visit.

At first the two don’t know what to do with each other. But after a few awkward moments, their painful lack of common ground is upstaged by some strange rumblings underground. Despite years of inactivity, one of Max’s seismic monitors suddenly starts uploading data. It seems that the tectonic plates have arranged themselves in precisely the same configuration they were in when Max disappeared.

Trevor and Sean join forces with a mountain guide named Hannah, and the three embark on a quest to unlock the mystery of Max’s departure. Perhaps they’ll even uncover a passageway that will allow them to Journey to the Center of the Earth.

http://www.pluggedin.com/videos/2008/q3/journeytothecenteroftheearth.aspx

Hoodwinked

POLICE LINE — DO NOT CROSS. A cottage deep in the woods is taped off by that intimidating yellow barrier as patrol cars sit idle, lights flashing. Inside, a cool, calculating frog named Nicky Flippers interrogates four figures found at the scene of a domestic disturbance: Little Red Riding Hood, her sweet old grandma, an axe-wielding woodsman and a hungry wolf. A simple case of breaking and entering? Hardly. As each gives an account of his or her day leading up to the chaotic crescendo at Granny’s house, we discover that things may not be what they seem. Their testimonies converge in the present, which results in the unmasking of the forest’s notorious Goody Bandit, a recipe thief who leads authorities on a wild chase in pursuit of happily ever after.

“Our take was that, thanks to music videos, commercials and especially video games, kids are now quite used to non-linear stories—what we call 3-D storytelling,” says writer and first-time director Cory Edwards. “So, in Hoodwinked, we thought they’d have a lot of fun going back in time to learn how these four classic characters they thought they knew so well … all ended up in the cottage on that fateful night in the first place. Anybody who thought they knew the story of Red Riding Hood is bound to be in for some surprises.” Fortunately, they’re pleasant surprises suitable for young children and smart enough to charm the rest of us.

http://www.pluggedin.com/videos/2006/q1/hoodwinked.aspx