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Operavox
Operavox
Actors: John Connell, Julie Gossage, David Barrell, Julie Higginson, Donald Maxwell
Genres: Indie & Art House, Music Video & Concerts, Television, Musicals & Performing Arts, Animation
NR     2000     3hr 4min

An unforgettable journey into opera and animation. Operavox is state-of-the-art animation techniques, spellbinding music and unforgettable stories distilled into 30-minute films full of invention, emotion and fun. Breaking...  more »

     
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Movie Details

Actors: John Connell, Julie Gossage, David Barrell, Julie Higginson, Donald Maxwell
Genres: Indie & Art House, Music Video & Concerts, Television, Musicals & Performing Arts, Animation
Sub-Genres: Indie & Art House, Pop, Rock & Roll, Television, Classical, Musicals, Animation
Studio: Image Entertainment
Format: DVD - Color - Animated
DVD Release Date: 04/04/2000
Original Release Date: 01/01/1994
Theatrical Release Date: 01/01/1994
Release Year: 2000
Run Time: 3hr 4min
Screens: Color
Number of Discs: 1
SwapaDVD Credits: 1
Total Copies: 0
Members Wishing: 0
Edition: Classical
MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Languages: English
 

Movie Reviews

A mixed bag
David Gottner | 05/01/2000
(3 out of 5 stars)

"Operavox is a series of six opera performances with animated action. The operas are sung in English. Each opera is abbreviated to 1/2 hour long. Some of these operas "rock", but others are mediocre at best.The highlights: The Magic Flute is awesome, with good singing and imaginative animation. Turandot is wonderful, with the great Jane Eaglen singing the title role, and very good animation. I was disappointed with "The Rhinegold" (Das Rheingold) because while the animation is top notch, the singing and English translation was very, very mediocre. Alberich, in particular was extremely disappointing (if they can get superstars like Eaglen to sing in Turandot, why can't they afford a good cast for Rhinegold?) However, Wagner fans should still see the video, for it's dynamic "Lord of the Rings" reading of Rhinegold. The Rigoletto performance was disturbing in terms of visuals, and I didn't watch this one all the way through. The other operas represented are "Carmen" and "The Barber of Serville".Some of the animations are quite violent, and not suitable for children. In particular, The Rhinegold and Rigoletto (and maybe Carmen) are more adult oriented."
Awesome! A great intro to opera.
partylife | Fairfield, Iowa USA | 06/02/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)

"I know that lots of people where disappointed with these 30 minute cartoon versions of 3 hour operas, but I guess I just loved 'em. I'm 13 and for years I have been shoved into an image of opera as uptight garbage for people with a strange taste for boredom, but while searching thru the DVD section at my library, I found OperaVox and my mind just opened up to opera. I discovered operas to have exciting storylines, beautiful characters, and music that is much more than a bunch of Italian gobbledygook. Okay, so they where in English and didn't fully express the grandeur of opera, but for young people and those who find opera to be a foreign mess not to be touched upon by the average person, it can inspire further exploration and appreciation of opera. I have tickets to see Turandot (with real people, nice seats, supertitles...) and I hope to see more in the future. It's all thanks to OperaVox. I recommend OperaVox to anyone who thinks opera is boring. They are about to be proven wrong. I must warn you that you should not show Rigoletto to too young of people. Naked puppets can be a little scary."
Disappointment
jshultis2 | Shoreline, WA USA | 05/29/2002
(2 out of 5 stars)

"I had eagerly anticipated this disc, but was greatly disappointed in the quality of the sound and the animation. Each of the segments was animated in a different style, and some of them worked OK but some did not work well at all. The Rigoletto, for example, was entertaining and imaginative, but the Magic Flute was disorganized and the story line was almost missing. The Carmen was probably the best of the bunch and the Turandot was probably overall the worst--bad, in fact.The sound was disappointing because the balance was off-the orchestra sometimes overpowered the singers. The singers were generally quite good. The singers were sometimes hard to understand, and the disc would have been better with subtitles, even though all the singing was in English. I love good animation and opera but this just wasn't it."
"Heavy Metal" goes to the Opera
jshultis2 | 12/12/2000
(4 out of 5 stars)

"A mixture of animation styles: drawn, rotoscope, and stop-action puppets. Some adaptations are more successful than others: "Das Rheingold" looks like a Stan Lee/Saturday morning kids' cartoon, but the stop-action puppetry of "The Barber of Seville" works well for this comic opera. "Carmen" is rotoscoped, rather like the animated "Lord of the Ring". Taken for what it is ( 3-hour long operas reduced to 30 minute cartoons ), I recommend it to fans of animation, and opera goers with a taste for the unconventional."