Hey, Remember Treasure Planet Was A Movie People Paid To See Once

The other night the kids and I popped in Treasure Planet, Disney's 2002 animated futuristic adaption of the classic Robert Louis Stevenson novel Treasure Island. It's one of the last few Disney animated classics that my kids haven't seen yet, and I myself only saw it once upon it's theatrical release. At the time, it was a rare misstep for Disney Animation but having had another odd flop a few years earlier with Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) it was to signal the end of Disney's decade long reign of producing classic animated fare year after year. Now, Treasure Planet sits on a growing list of titles like Chicken Little, Bolt and Home on the Range as lesser loved and lesser known Disney Animated Films.

So it is with some trepidation that I started up the movie. For me, Disney films are best when they are about princesses and magic and funny animals. They are at their least inviting when they are trying to do something outside of the "Disney Box." Treasure Planet is not a bad film but it's one main flaw runs throughout the entire film. The character design of almost the entire cast is unpleasant and perhaps uninspired.

A dog/man scientist, a cat/person captain, a rock thing is a suit, a lobster, a spider...none of these really played for laughs. The human characters are all bland, and the Long John Silver character is supposed to be half machine half something else...I'm not sure what.

The story is tight, the action is good, there's plenty of humor...although a Star Wars reject character that only speaks through rear-end noises seems a little low brow by Disney standards. I just can't get by how ugly and unappealing the characters look.

Two characters stand out as having a traditional Disney look; a little floating shape shifting blob called Morph and a crazy robot named B.E.N who is voiced by Martin Short. These are the only two characters that could even support any merchandise from this movie. And that's kind of the strange thing about this movie, because even though it's only 12 years old - I don't think the suits at Disney would even finance a movie nowadays that wasn't chockfull of characters that would easily translate into plush toys, action figures, T shirts or the 100 Million other things they need to make a movie a real cash cow nowadays.

In the end, Treasure Planet is not as bad as it's legacy would lead you to believe. It's based on a time tested story retold by master storytellers who chose to step a little too far out of the magical world of Disney for their visual inspiration.

Disney Comes To Netflix

I was pretty happy yesterday to see some honest-to-goodness Disney Classics arrive on the Netflix streaming service. Hopefully this is the start of a beautiful relationship between the two entertainment giants and more titles both popular and obscure will start to surface!

Some major titles making their debut on Netflix:

• Dumbo (1941)
• Alice In Wonderland (1951)
• The Aristocats (1970)
• The Fox and the Hound (1981)
• The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
• The Rescuers Down Under (1991)
• Pocahontas (1995)
• The Tigger Movie (2000)

And then some other goodies from the studio:

• One Magic Christmas (1985)
• Pocahontas II: Journey To A New World (1998)
• The Brave Little Toaster Goes To Mars (1998)
• The Brave Little Toaster To The Rescue (1999)
• Air Bud: World Pup (2000)
• Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch (2002)
• Tarzan & Jane (2002)
• Air Bud: Spikes Back (2003)
• Air Buddies (2006)
• Tinker Bell (2008)
• The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos (2008)
• Mickey Mouse Club House: Road Rally (2010)
• Car Toons: Mater's Tall Tales (2010)
• Spooky Buddies (2011)

I was surprised to see some of Disney's real animated treasures like Dumbo and Alice in Wonderland available and pleased to find some off-beat titles as well. It looks like this could be the start of something magical...

My Week In Movies - November part 1

Anybody who has ever spent any significant amount of time in an arcade or even in front of a game console needs to go see Wreck-It Ralph (2012), a totally unique and charming film from Walt Disney Feature Animation. Filled with real life video game character cameos and lots of gamer in-jokes, the film follows Ralph - a bad guy from an 80's arcade game who travels into other video games looking for a chance to be a hero instead of the villain. My biggest rule for a comedy is to stay funny throughout the whole picture, Wreck-It Ralph succeeds. In addition to all the great video game jokes, the characters eventually enter a game called Sugar Rush which is sort of a Mario Kart in CandyLand game. There, the jokes and references switch to candy and food and there are plenty of great puns and familiar candy brands that the writers had fun with. This is a great time at the movies. I was worried it wasn't going to be very good since the marketing for the film has been shoving clips down our throats for the past 6 months - but it turned out to be a wonderful, well-done movie!

Before Cinderella III, The Lion King 1 1/2 and Lilo & Stitch 4 there was The Return of Jafar (1994), the very first time Disney made a direct-to-video sequel to one of their beloved animated features - in this case Aladdin. Even though it's just television animation, which is several...several bars below the theatrical original, I've always thought this was a pretty decent follow-up as far as humor, story and music. None of it is as good as the 1992 original film, but it's all still pretty fun. It's hard to track down a DVD of this film now, but you can go to any Goodwill and buy the VHS for $1.97.

I have wanted to see This Is Cinerama (1952) for as long as I can remember. The film is nothing more than an introduction to a new film process called....wait for it...Cinerama. Cinerama was the movie industry's attempt to lure folks away from their new TV sets and back into the theatre with a screen so huge, it wraps around the audience. It took three projectors to show the film theatrically. Turner Classic Movies secured a nice print of the film, presented in Smilebox - which is a letterboxing format that curves the picture on a television set to allow the full scope of the enormous screen. I thought it would be interesting to see a movie whose sole purpose was to simply show off a new size of screen but there is only so much "nothing" you can watch before it gets boring. There's no story just lingering shots of boat rides, helicopter rides, concerts and landmarks. The opening shot is a roller coaster ride, which is pretty neat even on a 42" screen and the finale was filmed at Florida's Cypress Gardens theme park which was very beautiful. But in between was a gosh-awful bore.

From the very first time I saw the trailer for Madea's Witness Protection (2012) I knew something was up with this latest Tyler Perry production. Whereas all of his previous films have been black melodramas sprinkled with comedy, Witness Protection is Perry's bid for a bigger audience by playing it strictly for broad laughs. When Eugine Levy and his family end up in the care of the Federal Witness Relocation program, they end up in the home of Madea. If you are unaware of Madea, she is played by Tyler Perry in drag - she's a huge old woman who don't take nuttin' from nobody! Hi-jinks ensure as Madea tries to adjust to having a wealthy white family staying with her. Whereas most Tyler Perry films end with some heavy duty drama, this one sees Madea and Levy traveling to New York in disguise to fool some investment bankers. It's comedy ahoy! In all honesty, I laughed several times - very loud and very hard. I thought this was a solid comedy!

I wasn't expecting anything from another visit from the Madagascar gang and Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012) was even more lame than I could have imagined. The Madagascar machine is on full auto-pilot here with nothing new to offer except Chris Rock's Marty the Zebra wearing a Rainbow Afro wig. That gag must have gotten so many laughs around the Dreamworks office that the wig is the center of attention for almost half the film not to mention the song dedicated to said wig. Ugg! Also, I can't have one regular bear, with regular bear eyes and a real bear growl surrounded by cartoon animals. It doesn't work that way.

Finally got a chance to see Disneynature's fourth film, Africian Cats (2011). I love the Disneynature films because they are one of the few old-school Disney things the company still does. However, this flick about lions and cheetahs was pretty boring. It's essentially 90 minutes of animals chasing each other. And what's with all the slow-motion? I felt the scenes were completely cut of their true drama by slowing down all the action. What's the point of a chase scene if it's slow? The narration is provided by Samuel L. Jackson, who delivers a down to Earth explanation of what you are looking at but this movie in nowhere near as good as the more recent Chimpanze, from the same series.


Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983) is another mid-80's attempt by the Walt Disney Studios to find their voice in the changing movie market. This time they go for a mature, psychological thriller penned by Walt's friend Ray Bradbury. The result is a concoction of creepy images, strange occurrences and some half-decent special effects which unfortunately don't add up to much. The idea of a Disney Thriller was done much better in The Watcher In The Woods. Still, this is one Disney movie that I hadn't seen - so at least now I can check it off my list.

My Month in Movies - October Wrap Up

After cramming 30 movies into as many days in September, I cooled off from the flicks quite a bit this past month. First, there was the 11 days we were on vacation followed by an exhausting experience with some contractors we hired to do some work on our kitchen. Long story short: I only got to 10 films in October - and I didn't do too many Halloween or scary pictures as I would have hoped to. In fact, the majority of my film watching last month was made up of Disney movies.

I stocked up on quite a bit of Disney this month. Some of it in preparation for going to Walt Disney World, others trying to hold on to that Disney Magic after we returned to the "real world". My kids and I watched a bunch of classics. Lady and the Tramp (1955) is one of our families favorites. We ate at Tony's Town Square Restaurant in the Magic Kingdom, which is inspired by the eatery in the film, so this was some prep work to get the kids excited about going to the restaurant. It certainly enhanced our visit, having just seen the movie.

 

Dumbo (1941) is one of my personal favorites, short and sweet at 64 minutes - it's alot of fun for such a quick movie. I wanted the kids to see this because so much of the new revamped New Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom takes it cue from the circus theme of Dumbo. The classic Dumbo ride has recently been enhanced as well as the addition of a Casey Jr. water playground and a Dumbo gift shop. Great movie!

 

We watched Alice in Wonderland (1951) which was never one of my favorites, but it's certainly grown on me over the last few years. Perhaps in comparison to the dark Tim Burton take on the tale, I find this cheerful and silly Walt Disney version quite enjoyable now.

 

And my kids didn't have to ask twice the night they suggested we watch The Little Mermaid (1989), one of my all-time favorite movies. Having had the Mermaid shoved down their throats for a week at Disney World, it wasn't surprising they wanted to see it again. Plus, that night we had just come back from a costume party where I was dressed as Ariel's father - King Triton. I looked pretty good if I do say so myself.

 

Without the kids, I watched So Dear To My Heart (1948) which is just about the most obscure animated film in the Disney library. A story about a young boy at the turn of the century who dreams of raising a prize winning sheep for the county fair. It's a mix of live action and animation, similar to Song Of The South which came out a few years earlier. There are no classic Disney characters to be found in this film, just a ditty called Lavender Blue, which had become somewhat of a Disney standard nowadays. It's good nostalgic entertainment even if it's not nearly one of Disney's best. It is said to have been Walt Disney's personal favorite.

 

Two more I watched without the kids, the creepy and well-done The Watcher in the Woods (1980). Disney's only foray into horror, this came out a time when the directionless Disney Studios was really trying to figure out they were going to fit into the changing landscape of movies. There's some genuine scares tucked in this picture along with alot of creepiness. For someone who doesn't like horror movie, I really enjoyed it.

 

As always, I also enjoyed Disney's The Million Dollar Duck (1971). You can't go wrong with a madcap comedy about the Federal Reserve chasing after a kid and a duck that lays golden eggs!

 

Another Disney World prep film the kids and I watched was Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003). My little guys had never seen the original, which I remembered as being much better than the other films in the series. However, after seeing it again for the first time in at least 7 years - it's pretty much just as boring as the other three except for a few references to the Disneyland attraction it's based on.

 

And the only two non-Disney movie I saw in October were: L!fe Happens (2011), a horrible comedy about a girl trying to raise a kid on her own while all her friends keep partying and living the single lifestyle. It stars Kristen Ritter and Kate Bosworth, both who I really like alot, but this direct-to-everything-but-a-movie-theater film was a real bore! The Magic of Belle Isle (2012) is another movie that seems to have bypassed theaters, however it is a really nice little movie about a slightly odd-relationship between older than dirt Morgan Freeman and 50 year old Virginia Madisen and her daughters. The nice surprise is it's a well-told, mature story that is done without anything inappropriate for children to watch. It's a bit over the top in the sappy department, but it's worth a watch!

 

 

 

October Movie Count: 10

Best New Movie: The Watcher In The Woods

Worst New Movie: L!fe Happens

Best Rewatch: The Little Mermaid

2012 Movie Count: 201

 

 

My Week In Movies - You Go, Simba!

The Lion King 3D (1994/2011) Man, it's great to have a classic Disney animated film back up on the big screen. It used to be standard operating procedure for Disney to rerelease it's animated features to theatres every seven years, but when home video caught on and Disney saw the money to be made from VHS sales, the practice faded out. So now it looks like Mickey has found a new hook to bring people back to the cinema to see old movies - 3D. The Lion King was reprocessed into 3D and has since made close to $70 million at the box office. The effect is neat and the movie looks better than ever back on the silver screen and with all the noticeable detail that 3D glasses allow. Some scenes of the film, like the opening and the stampede scene, are simply breathtaking in digital three dimension. Overall, the added effect doesn't do much to the film - it's already a masterpiece of filming that doesn't need any gimmicks to make it an incredible movie going experience. (OMG! I'm all about some 3D Little Mermaid soon!)

Conan O'Brien Can't Stop (2011) This documentary picks up shortly after O'Brien's legendary boot from The Tonight Show. Unable to appear on TV for six months, Conan O'Brien packs up as much of his show as he can and takes it on the road for an exhausting tour of concert dates across the U.S. The film provides an interesting backstage look at the concert tour, as well as serves as document of the concert itself. You also get to see a less polished portrait of the talk show host than any network TV show would ever allow. This is basically a concert film, and like any concert film you're going to enjoy it most if you're a fan of the subject. If you like Conan, this is fun way to spend 90 extra minutes with Team Coco.

Prom (2011) Yes, I must watch every film to carry The Walt Disney Pictures banner! The last big hurrah of the high school social calendar is the centerpiece of an innocent and slightly sappy teenage romantic drama. Even though Prom is an event for 17-18 year olds, 13-14 year old girls is the target audience for this flick which highly romanticizes the event almost putting Prom on the same level as a wedding. It's almost like Romantic Drama 101 for preteens. There's not much original material on display here, with several very familiar storylines overlapping and intertwining. But the movie has it's heart in the right place and is completely free of swear words or sex, which is refreshing for a high school movie.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) Another masterpiece...the first masterpiece from Walt Disney's animation studio, Snow White is a perfect blend of silly cartoon fun, theatrical suspense and perfect storytelling.

Paul (2011) I found this silly sci-fi spoof to be dreadfully boring. Two geeks on holiday to the states to visit Comic-Con, run into an alien in the desert and bring him aboard their RV for a standard "running from the government guys in black SUV's" adventure. There are some clever homages to classic science fiction properties spread throughout the movie, but the simple act of having a cartoon alien drop the F-word every other sentence does not carry a picture.

George Washington Slept Here (1942) I've been wanting to see this one for years. A great classic comedy with Jack Benny and Ann Sheridan moving from the city to an old home they just bought in the country. The house is a bit of a fixer upper and as the weeks go on it becomes more of a fixer upper. This is a great vehicle for Jack Benny who gets to stay close to his TV character and even tosses off a few references to his show in the movie. Good stuff with plenty of laugh out loud moments.

My Week In Movies - Go See Winnie The Pooh

Winnie The Pooh (2011) Just seeing the joy-filled expressions of innocence on my 7 year old's face during a screening of this Disney "reboot" was worth the $21.50 I dropped on tickets alone. This new Pooh Bear movie is a magical delight of simplicity and childhood fun. There's nothing modern, crude or cynical about this movie, just 69 breezy minutes of old fashioned fun. Taken directly from chapters of the same book the original Disney Pooh Bear cartoons were based on, three sections of the book Winnie The Pooh are blended together to form a less episodic, stream of conscious following in a day in the life of the residence of the Hundred Acre Wood. Winnie The Pooh is easily the best kids film to come out of Hollywood in a LONG time and also one of the most fun times my kids and I have ever had at the movies. Do yourself a favor and go see this movie!

Hall Pass (2011) As far as stupid comedies go, I really enjoyed this raunchy romp about two dudes who are given a week of from their marriages to pursue "other interests." The only problem with this flick is when Owen Wilson and Jason Sudekus are given their freedom it takes them a few days to get reved up to go out on the prowl for women. It also takes the movie a little too long getting reved up to the laughs and interesting situations. Still, it's a good time and if you like a good R-rated comedy you're sure to find plenty to laugh at.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) I really enjoyed this classic sci-fi flick, which I had never seen before. The mystery of what is happening to all the people in town is slowly revealed with alot of tension and suspense. By the time the movie rolls around to the third act, you can't help but be on the edge of your seat with anticipation. There's a reason certain movies have become classics and this one displays a certain intelligent style of storytelling that you just don't see anymore.

Abbott and Costello Go To Mars (1953) You know you're in for a good time at the movies when the opening credits reveal... "And Introducing The Miss America Beauties." A handful of real life beauty pageant queens play the inhabitants of a distant planet where Bud & Lou happen to accidentally land in a rocket. The ladies make Lou their new king while Bud stares on in disbelief. Some good laughs are to be had once the picture gets rolling. This was the duo's second to last film.

Trailer Tuesday - The Boatniks (1970)

My Week In Movies - Unintentional Winona Ryder Double Header

Black Swan (2010) Whaaaaat? Did you see this movie? What is going on here!? Here's the thing, there's a particular scene in this movie....you've probably heard about it. Let's just say it's a love scene. It's like the film makers knew that everybody was going to be talking about this scene and only people who saw the movie in the first week or two weren't going to know this scene was gonna happen. So, when you watch the movie now...it's like the whole first hour is just building and teasing you leading up to this girl/girl love scene. They know you know it's coming...you just don't know when. It's very manipulative that way. Then after the love scene, the whole third act is just bonkers - bananas - and you're not really sure what' really happening and what's a dream. It's kinda crazy. I guess it's a good movie, I mean it was nominated for Best Picture and all...but it's just all so freaky. Oh, what's it about? Natalie Portman is a ballerina who becomes way too obsessed with her craft. Obsessed to the point where she gets it on with another girl and then all hell breaks loose. Oh, and Winona Ryder is in it too.

The Dilemma (2011) First of all,what a horrible title. Couldn't any movie be called "The Dilemma," isn't that just another way of saying "The Plot?" Anywho, you got Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Connelly as a couple and Kevin James and Winona Ryder as their best couple friends. Vince ends up spotting Winona cheating on his best friend and then spends the rest of the movie trying to decide when or if he should tell James about the infidelity. Here's the thing, when you put Vince Vaughn and Kevin James' bankable names above the title - you're expecting a certain something. Both Vaughn and James have an on-screen persona that they stick to pretty well. Here, they play those "characters" once again, and they are pretty funny in it, but they are all stuck in the script of a drama. By the end of this picture the heavy story weighs down what should have been a pretty outrageous comedy. Did I mention Winona Ryder is in it?

The Light In the Forest (1958) I've seen this movie before and really enjoyed it. It's an above average Disney outing about a boy who must leave the Indian family who raised him and go back to the white family he came from. Not only does the boy have a hard time adjusting, so does the town who don't take kindly to injuns hanging around. This is an intelligent film that shows that there is a good and bad side to everybody and that there are always two sides to a story.

My Week In Movies - I Like Horse Movies More Than Actual Horses

Secretariat (2010) Let's face it - there are only so many stories you can tell involving a horse and if the horse doesn't talk that just cuts your storytelling possibilities in half. There's just about nothing new on display here in this Disney biopic about the Triple Crown winning horse and his owner. Every scene and plot device has been seen before in one horsey movie or another. It's a well made film and it gets by on it's charm, thanks mostly to John Malkovich as an eccentric horse trainer, but in the end it offers nothing new. They could have tightened the film up a bit by chopping off 20 - 30 minutes too. As Disney films go, this sits in that weird position of being too fluffy for most adults yet too sophisticated for most children. Rated PG for some mild language.

George of the Jungle (1997) As far as cartoon-to-live action movie translations go, George of the Jungle is at the top of the heap. The original source material is treated with respect and faithfully reproduced with real people in the real world...that's the most you should ask from a movie based on a cartoon show. I remember seeing this in the theatre when it came out and thinking it was absolutely wonderful and hilarious. Perhaps it's another sign of getting older and grumpier but watching it for the first time in at least 10 years it wasn't as funny as I remember it. It's still a good movie, I just don't know if I would consider it the comedy masterpiece I did when I was 24. Relatively inoffensive, this is however a good choice for a family movie night. My kids enjoyed it. Rated PG for poop jokes and elephant urination.

The Giant Claw (1957) Thanks to the same neighborhood kid who got my son hooked on Godzilla, we had to watch this camp classic sci-fi film about a giant bird that terrorizes the planet. The first half of the film is spent watching the characters try to figure out what some mysterious UFO is. Since going into this picture, the audience already knows it's a giant bird there's not much tension built up. When they do discover that it's a giant bird, it's hard to take any of it seriously when the creature is constantly referred to as "The Big Bird." What's worse, Sesame Street's Big Bird is a more realistic bird than the creature in this movie. The wires on the flying creature are clearly visible in almost every shot and the thing flops around on screen like a marionette operated by a drunk guy. My youngest son fell asleep about 15 minutes in while the older one lapped up every second of it. Not rated, typical 50's sci-fi with little to scare the most timid of viewers.

Spring Break (1983) Four guys spend a week in Ft. Lauderdale looking for girls in this T&A comedy classic. The bad news: at 104 minutes, this teenage sex comedy is way too long. These sort of affairs should never exceed 85 minutes. The good news: along with the usual spring break hi jinks on display there is also a super silly subplot involving corrupt politicians. I love it when these type of movies fell they need to have a "real story." Also, somebody gets a pie in the face - that's always good for a laugh. However, the verdict is still out on the wet t-shirt contest scene that literally eats up 20 minutes of this film's run time. Guess what? It's rated R for language and nudity.

Blondie Has Servant Trouble (1940) Let's talk about the Blondie films for just a second. This is the 6th of 28 movies based on Chic Young's very popular comic strip about the Bumstead family; Blondie (played by Penny Singleton who later went on to play the voice of Jane Jetson,) her ditsy husband Dagwood, their son Baby Dumpling and family dog Daisy. Yes, I said there were 28 movies in this franchise - all produced between 1938 and 1950. How awesome is that!? As much as Hollywood loves sequels, we hardly ever go above a part 4 nowadays. The Blondie movies are silly slapstick with simple situations, light laughs and good hearted fun. In this 6th instalment, Blondie and Dagwood end up spending a weekend in a haunted house - for reasons I didn't quite pick up. At the mansion there are met by two servants who turn out to be no-so-good guys. This is classic haunted house stuff here with eyes peeking through pictures on the wall, hidden doorways and people covered with bedsheets mistaken as ghosts. The Bumsteads also meet Horatio Jones, a black character who reminds you just how different racial attitudes were in the 1940's. Although not meant to be offensive, Horatio runs around the haunted house bug eyed, screaming for help speaking in an exaggerated style closely resembling a caricature of a slave. He's even referred to as "the colored guy" several times - not out of hate, which is just the oddest thing in the world to see. Keeping in context that the culture was completely different back then, this is a fun little movie.

Blondie Plays Cupid (1940) One of the more famous/popular of the Blondie films because it features legendary actor Glenn Ford in one of his earliest performances. In Blondie #7, the Bumsteads decide to vacation in the country for the 4th of July weekend because Blondie doesn't want Dagwood and Baby Dumpling to blow their heads off with firecrackers. After Dagwood gets his hand stuck to a freshly painted chair the family hop aboard a train for the country. It's one crazy mishap after another until Baby Dumpling is at the wheel of a runaway car. Can you imagine the hilarity?! Another fun instalment in this vintage series.

Classic Commercial Sunday - #58 Herbie on TV

Herbie Rides Again (1974)

Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo (1977)

Herbie Goes Bananas (1980)

Before It Was Tangled

I've been in a bit of a writing slump this week but I wanted to get something up here today and I was thinking about this random picture so I dug it out.



This picture was snapped in June 2009 at The Art of Disney Animation attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida. It's Tanner standing in front of some art work for Disney's new animated feature Rapunzel. By the time the movie came out in November 2010, the name had been changed to Tangled. Anyone whose seen the movie will agree that Tangled was not a very good title for that film, yet I don't think Rapunzel was the best choice either. In Japan it was probably called The Girl With Long Hair Who Lived in a Tower. Actually, here's the Japanese poster.

New Cars Trailer

At first glance, this teaser for next summer's Cars 2 feels like Pixar might be "jumping the shark" but if we've learned anything from the first 10 films of the Pixar cannon: Never Underestimate the good folks at Pixar!

Go See The Princess and The Frog

The Princess and The Frog (2009)[G] First off, you need to go out and see this movie this weekend. Whether you've seen it already or not, you need to go to the theatre today or tomorrow and see this movie! Ya see, this is the first hand-drawn animated movie Hollywood has put out in quite a few years (The Simpsons Movie doesn't count) and Princess is getting clobbered at the box office by the shinny, hi-tech Avatar...which is largely computer animated. Now we all know that the folks in Hollywood ain't too bright and when they look at the numbers and see Avatar at $212 million and counting...and even Alvin and the Chipmunks 2 making $75 million in one week, and then they look at The Frog which has taken a month to only rack up $64 million...they are once again going to make the assumption that people only want to see CGI/computer animation and it will be another 10 years before we see a beautiful hand-drawn cartoon feature like The Princess and the Frog.


Now, is Princess as great as Disney would like you to believe? No, the film has some flaws. It follows in the footsteps of some of the greatest movies ever made like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella and Pinocchio. It also lives in the recent shadow of movies like The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King - which are all beloved films that have become part of the American culture. These are all hard shoes to fill.


The Princess and the Frog is beautiful to look at. Set in New Orleans in the earlier part of the last century, the backgrounds are full of vibrant colors and rich detail while the character animation is flawless and fun to watch. Visuals alone can't carry a picture, and in the second act of this film the story starts to drag as it gets lost in the bayou. There are a handful of characters that are introduced which seem to serve no real purpose except to kill time. Some of the characters are completely forgettable, like a group of backwoods hunters who show up and still some of the other characters are really great: like Louis, an alligator with dreams of playing jazz and Raymond, a Cajun firefly who almost steals the show but again has no real purpose in the story.

The music is great and catchy and will probably add another two or three songs to the legacy of classic Disney music, but the music almost seems to fail to advance the story the way songs are used in true Disney masterpieces. The musical numbers are enjoyable and the highlight of the film, but they lack the storytelling/showstopping power of Disney tunes of the past.


With all the complaints and criticisms, I still found this to be an incredibly entertaining movie. It's just that the pieces don't quite fit together when compared to other Disney cartoon movies. It's still one of the best movies of the year. Hopefully, the talented Disney artists will have another chance real soon to make a trademark high quality picture like this one...but people need to go out and see it in the movies!!!

My Week In Movies - Point A to Point B

Race to Witch Mountain (2009) Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is a really likable guy and very charismatic screen presence who has suffered from a string of bad project choices for his career. I said a long time ago that he needed to take a page from the Vin Diesel playbook and do a Disney film where he plays against type. And finally he did and scored big with 2007's The Game Plan (which has been parked on my TiVo since March and I still haven't gotten around to watching it!) So, I thought it was pretty cool when they announced that The Rock would be staring in a follow-up to a duo of quintessential 70's Disney films: Escape to Witch Mountain (1975) and Return to Witch Mountain (1978). Unfortunately, this new recent visit to Witch Mountain is a boring plop of poop. Part of what made the original films so much fun were the special effects and the awesome things the alien kids could do with their minds. They could make doors open by themselves, they could fly a motor home, they even made a chandelier fall on a bad guy...and that's like the coolest way to catch a bad guy! But now it's 2009, we've seen special effects in a million movies and opening doors without touching them doesn't quite impress anymore. In one scene, the boy morphs through the backseat of a car to end up standing in the middle of the road where an Escalade hits him and crumples like tin foil while the boy remains unharmed. You can't really hang a movie on tricks like that...we've seen it all before. The story involves cab driver Johnson helping the two alien kids get back to their spaceship while a group of darkly dressed government agents chase them around every corner. There's some cute homages to other sci-fi flicks, including the original Witch Mountain movies, Disney's own Tron (also due for a modern revisit next year) and of course, plenty of Star Wars jokes. I think anyone would be better off watching the original 1975 film instead of wasting an evening on this no-so-great race.


The Incredible Journey (1963) Here's a reversal on the Witch Mountain scenario. The Incredible Journey is a lone animal adventure story from 1963, which Disney revisited twice in the 1990's with Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993) and Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Fransisco (1996). I have seen both the modern films multiple times and enjoyed them but the original Disney classic had reminded one of the few films Walt Disney produced that I hadn't seen.

The Incredible Journey is pure Disney comfort food. The proceedings are narrated by Rex Allen, a warm welcoming voice which has accompanied many other Disney productions including the father in the Carousel of Progress show from the 1964 World's Fair - now playing at Walt Disney World. Allen provides the motives and thoughts of the animals in this story as they do not talk like in the modern remakes. Two dogs and a cat come to the conclusion that they are being abandoned by their caretaker so they begin on a 200 mile journey across the wilderness to return to their original family. Along the way they encounter bears and other wildlife and well as a handful of people. Near the end, the owners discover that the animals are missing and assume they are making the journey home. "That would be incredible!", they all say. This not being Old Yeller they do make it home for a happy ending. An ending that is played out very similar to the 1993 version which I've seen a dozen times and yet still teared up at the thought of a boy I don't know not being reunited with his long lost dog.

My kids liked the movie too, even though they didn't cry at the end!

New Princess Trailer

A new trailer has been released for Disney's upcoming The Princess and the Frog, which is looking like it's going to be one of the season's most enjoyable films!

Mark Your Calendar: October 2

I am so excited about this...

Disneynature - Oceans Preview

Yesterday I mentioned the history of Walt Disney Productions and nature films. Here's a really nifty little film that played before Earth that serves as a quick history lesson on Disney's True-Life Adventure series and also serves as the trailer for the next film from Disneynature, Oceans, which will swim into theatres Earth Day 2010.

My Week In Movies - Plants and Animals

Earth (2009) sets the stage for what will hopefully be a long line of new nature documentaries coming to theatres. The Walt Disney Company has a rich history of producing nature films, practically inventing the genre. In the 50's and 60's, Walt Disney produced a dozen or so True-Life Adventures, movies that told stories from the real world around us using real footage shot in the wilderness. This new film continues the tradition. It's not as focused as most nature documentaries are, but then again the title is Earth which is about as broad of a title as you can come up with. The film's advertising suggests that the stars of the movie are a family of polar bears, a family of elephants, and a family of whales. While these three families get more screen time than other animals, there are plenty of other segments in the film which spotlight other species and remote parts of the planet. This is nothing that you can't see at any hour of the day on Discovery Channel or Animal Planet, but it's fun to go into a theatre and experience the stories of these animals in the same setting you usually see Bruce Willis blowing things up. If you have any interest in seeing this movie, you won't be disappointed. Based on my kids reactions, I would recommend this for ages 6 and up.

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1978) I hate when people say this movie is "so bad it's funny." It's not bad, it's just funny! It's actually very funny! It's filled with loads of clever dialogue, parody, non-sequitor humor and of course silliness. This is one of my all-time favorite movies which I discovered early on in my video renting career, and I've seen it a million times. Before I knew how to copy a video tape or even had the money to buy my own videos, I taped this movie off of television; off a small UHF channel out of Virginia. We didn't get the channel on our cable system, but I saw the movie listed in the TV guide playing at 1 am on a Saturday night. I unhooked the cable and used the antenna in the VCR to record the movie. I must have watched that snowy, blurry tape 100 times. Nowadays, I can enjoy the film on DVD thanks to a deluxe box set Collector's Edition they put out a few years ago. I hadn't seen the movie in at least five years, but watching it this time around I discovered new levels of humor beyond the sheer absurdity of people running from giant tomatoes. This isn't everyone's cup of tea....or tomato juice, I guess...but this is one of the funniest movies ever made. And not because it's bad!

My Week In Movies - Super This...Wonder That

I was planning on going to see Earth this weekend, but the weather was so incredibly nice that I felt bad spending time inside a dark theatre. I had a great time experiencing the real Earth instead. Good Times! Here's what I did catch though...

Superdad (1973) It's amazing how the folks at Disney can be responsible for some of the most timeless movies ever made and also some of the most dated movies ever committed to film. Superdad falls into the dated category. Every scene in this film is dripping with early 1970's: from the wardrobe, to the sets, the music, and the outdated ridiculous way everyone behaves in this movie. Don't get me wrong! It's a a fun film with Kurt Russel in his eighth film for the Disney studios and Hogan's Heroes star Bob Crane, taking a break from his hobby of shooting homemade pornography, in his only leading role on the big screen. Crane plays a father who tries to breakup his daughter and her boyfriend by setting her up with a fake scholarship to a far away school. The hilarity climaxes when Dad must face off against a crazy hippie to save his daughter. The ending of the film kind of has nothing to do with the rest of the movie, but a movie needs an ending....right!? This is good stuff here, folks. You've also got on board Disney favorites Joe Flynn and Mr. Dick Van Patten, plus it's got Ed Begley Jr. and Bruno Kirby in very early roles. I've had this movie on tape for many years, but was thrilled to recently upgrade it to DVD thanks to the exclusive offerings at the Disney Movie Club.

Marley & Me (2008) My kids really wanted to see this when it came out, and my wife and I really wanted to see it too, but we decided to wait for the DVD - more because of the two hour running time than the tear jerking ending. (My three year old seems to have about 70 mins. worth of movie viewing time in him before he starts to get restless, my five year old son could sit and watch Revenge of the Sith two or three times in a row without moving!) Now, I don't want to sound like everyone else in the world who's read a book before it was turned into a movie...but since this is only the third time I've actually read the book before the movie (The Cat in the Hat counts, right!?) I've earned the right to express my literary comparison. The movie is good and stays pretty faithful to the book. It slightly rearranges some events but for the most part one could call this a faithful adaptation. In the book, however, there is more of a relationship between the dog and his male master, played in the movie by Owen Wilson. In the film, the relationship between Marley and the family seems pretty balanced, but in the book there is more of a friendship between the dog and the man. So when you get to the end of the book, you really feel the connection between the two - in the movie, it's more how the family as a whole deals with Marley. In the end, a well done movie. It's not a kids movie, even though it's rated PG and has cute puppies. It's a family movie, probably best suited for kids a little older than 3 & 5. But just for the record: the 3 year old fell asleep about 10 minutes in and the 5 year old cried his little eyes out at the end.

Wonder Woman (2009) I got this from Netflix to watch with the kids since we're on such a super hero kick around here but I ended up watching it by myself and I glad I did. This new animated movie carries a PG-13 rating and had it been a live action film it would have certainly gotten an R rating. (Actually, this cartoon was first rated R and they went back and made some cuts to get the PG-13.) The violence in this movie is brutal. Several people get their heads cut off, we see a sword go straight through some girls chest and there's lots of other chopping and hacking along the way as well. The language never goes beyond a "damn" or a "crap" but there are some sexual jokes and a scene where Wonder Woman and some dude do 12 shots of tequila. It's kind of offsetting watching a cartoon that looks like a Saturday morning show but has buckets of blood and hooker jokes. However, this new Wonder Woman is fun and loaded with plenty of action all while keeping a good sense of humor about itself...but I'm glad the kids didn't see it!

Trouble The Water (2008) This is, like, the 70th documentary I've watched about Hurricane Katrina. This one sets itself apart from the other by featuring home video shot by a woman who lived three blocks from the failed levees and captured the whole thing on tape while her house flooded all the way up to the attic. There's some shocking and brand new footage here of what it was like to be inside the storm. The film starts off pretty strong but by the time it follows people moving to different states to start their life over, the flow and urgency of the film is lost. At one hour and forty-five minutes, they probably could have shaved another 10-15 minutes off the movie, but it's still a pretty powerful look back and a reminder of a horrible chapter in this country's history. (You can catch this movie on HBO this month.)

My Week In Movies - Viva la Jewel Thieves

The Boatniks (1970) As we all know, I'll watch anything with the Walt Disney name on it, especially the films made shortly after Walt's death in 1966. The studio was without their leader, and for a while didn't know what direction to go in. As a result, they produced some bizarre films that are only around to this day because of the Disney name. The Boatniks is one such film as it is drenched in outdated 1970's style. Let's start with the title. I suppose that's supposed to be a play on the word "beatnik"? I don't know!? The story involves the Coast Guard, a marina full of wacky boaters and a trio of bumbling jewel thieves. Now, I have movies about crime...the crime of the century, the perfect crime, the jewel heist of the millennium...I'm not a big fan of the genre. But when you've got bumbling jewel thieves, I'm all in. Here the bad guys are played by the great Phil Silvers, Norman "Mr. Roper" Fell, and Mickey Shaughnessy. Some of you probably don't know who Phil Silvers is, but if you ever see his name on a DVD box you will be doing yourself a favor by watching the movie on that DVD. He is a delight! The cast also includes Don Ameche, Stephanie Powers (Hart to Hart), Al Lewis (Grandpa Munster), the guy from Car 54, Where Are You?, and some guy named Robert Morse, who is apparently on Mad Men now.


Fantasia 2000 (2000) We were listening to the soundtrack for the original Fantasia in the car, and the kids were intrigued by it. They wanted to watch it, but I had a feeling the two hour and 5 minute running time might be a bit much for them, so we went with the follow-up film, Fantasia 2000 which only clocks in at 75 minutes. This movie is every bit the work of art the original 1940 motion picture is. It's beautiful to both the eyes and ears and it's a real nice way to show off a home theatre system. Walt Disney's original idea with Fantasia was to have the film constantly re-released with new segments replacing existing segments. The dream was never fully realized until 60 years later when Walt's nephew Roy took one segment from the first Fantasia and then created seven new musical scenes to wrap around it. The result is very entertaining. One of the segments in this newer film is set to Edward Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance. The visuals involve Donald Duck helping Noah fill his ark with all the sets of animals. This scene alone is worth the price of admission and in my opinion one of the finest pieces of animation to come out of the Walt Disney Studios in the last 40 years.

Miss March (2009) Folks, I love a good "high concept" film. A high school senior falls down a flight of stairs, crashes into a tool bench and goes into a coma. When he awakes four years later, everyone has abandoned him except his best friend. The guy wants to know what happened to his girlfriend and as it turns out, she's the centerfold in this month's issue of Playboy magazine. So, the two guys set off on a cross-country trip to the Playboy Mansion to find the girlfriend. What makes this movie work, is that the movie knows that it's premise is ridiculous. This movie does not take itself serious for a moment and all the situations and wacky predicaments these two guys get themselves into are played out to comic extremes. I have very low expectations going into this movie and I was pleasantly surprised. And I'm glad I got out to the theatre and saw it when I did because it only lasted two weeks in my local cinema. It's grossed only $60 thousand bucks in three weeks.


Grossing slightly higher is Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) which grossed an impressive $60 Million in just three days! My kids were so pumped up for this movie and I've gotta admit I was looking forward to it too. Unfortunately, like so many other movies coming out these days, it was just so-so. They started off with a good idea: the government enlists the help of several 1950's B-movie style monsters to save the world from an alien invasion. It's a well done movie, but all the funny parts were given away in the commercials. And they've been heavily advertising this movie since last Fall. Kids don't care about any of that...they loved it! Both of mine were laughing throughout and spent the rest of the evening after the movie playing Monsters vs. Aliens in their playroom. If you like all the other DreamWorks animated films, they you're sure to like this one too. Myself, I was a little disappointed.