Disney- Their Latest and their Greatest
Hey everyone, and welcome to my second blog. Consider it the difficult second album, or the sequel that tries to live up to its predecessor. In life and all that stuff, it’s just been the normal... some great times at cell group hanging out with some really great people getting deeper into friendship and been reading my bible more every day (dropped a bit the last few days but it happens, and they have been busy days) but loving each Psalm that I come across. Plus I got to hang out with my great friend Dale, who lives in Manchester, who I worked with at St Mary’s and is a fellow film fan and all round cool guy and graphics guru. We went to see The Mechanic, starring The Stath (Jason Statham) as a hitman with a conscience, its typical stuff but manages to balance some great action at the end with some proper drama, a surprisingly good film.
Also we saw it at the AMC Great Northern, which is a cool cinema from the US chain AMC, so the cinema is a bit American-ish and has loads of screens and loads of great upcoming film posters that you wouldn’t see most places just yet (like Scream 4, Cars 2, Winnie the Pooh and A Turtle’s Tale, notable for the epic tagline 'He’s Turtly amazing!’) and it also has huge hot dogs. Anyway that was a fun evening, plus I saw Russell Howard live last night at the M.E.N Arena, which was hysterically funny and a great evening too.
Also there’s the usual job seeking and stuff (annoyed a bit because I might be getting less money from Jobcentre but whatever) and seen some more good stuff on the TV (True Blood, How I Met Your Mother, 10 0’Clock Live and Glee tops of them all) but yeah usual fun in life, plus a special mention to Mr Ben Houghton, who is just back from a snowboarding holiday, just because he’s that cool that it’s good to have him back, he kinda’ exudes ‘chilled out’ ness. Anyway onto the blog after much rambling, and it’s time to visit the Magic Kingdom!
Disney’s 50 Animation- Tangled: The Verdict!
Disney have created a lot of films over their lifetime, from their Pixar collaborations that range from the sublime Up, The Incredibles and Toy Story through to the still pretty decent Cars; their live action efforts like Flubber, George of the Jungle and The Santa Clause and some LA/ Animation mixes like the masterpieces Mary Poppins and Who Framed Roger Rabbit?... but mainly they will always be known for their 2D animated classics from Snow White through to The Princess and the Frog. After this main bit, I am going to countdown my fifteen favourite of those, but now Disney have released their 50th animation, a CGI 3D effort called Tangled and it’s every bit as fun, romantic, adventurous, gorgeous and delightful as most of their previous output, it may not reach the heights of say Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Aladdin or Jungle Book but it’s still an absolute cracker of a movie.
Plot- A brand new spin on the classic fairytale of Rapunzel. Born to the king and queen of a magical kingdom, baby Rapunzel is born with magical hair that grows and grows, an evil crone named Mother Gothel discovers this and kidnaps the baby princess into a tower, so she can keep her youth eternally. Living there for years under the belief that Gothel is her mother, she is forbidden to leave the tower. On her 18th birthday, with Gothel away on a trip, she is visited by Flynn Rider; a thief on the run who definitely hid in the wrong tower!
Voicework (9/10) - Mandy Moore is a delight playing Rapunzel, a mixture of life and vigour and a tragic innocence but mixed with a steel and determinedness that you wouldn’t mess with her. It’s the same great sort of voiceover that brought previous classic heroines to life such as Belle and Ariel. Zachary Levi (as to be excepted, after all he’s always such a laconic delight in Chuck) is cracking as Rider, providing smooth and charming narration with a small bit of insecurity, he’s a totally charming lead. Completing the main trio, Donna Murphy is superb as Gothel, a really evil yet snidely charming villain who slowly shows her spots, one of Disney’s best villains in some time (bar Frog’s Dr Facilier) there’s also a great support from such familiar faces as Jeffrey Tambor, Ron Perlman and even Jaws himself, Richard Kiel as the various thugs and thiefs.
Writing/ Direction (9/10) – It’s hard to judge the direction of an animated movie, but it’s generally the way the animation and the characters and the music and the drama works together, and here it gels beautifully. It’s clearly directed with a superb flair, and the dialogue is brilliant throughout, both charming and on a lot of occasions, very very funny!
Tone (10/10) – What needs to be said? This is one of the funnest movies I have seen in a long time, and that in a nutshell is the magic of Disney. No matter how old you are, it will captivate your heart, make you laugh out loud endlessly, sing along, warm loads to the characters and cheer and boo at the right moments. It’s terrific fun, utterly lovely and very very funny and as such, the tone is pitched perfectly.
Look (10/10) – Put simply, it’s a Disney movie... they always look so great but this kinda’ hits another level and it’s very great to see a CGI movie look so indebted to 2D animation whilst carving a niche of its own, the fairytale atmosphere coupled with the CGI making it breath that little bit more, and if you choose to add the 3D it works that bit more brilliantly. The lantern scene alone helps the score hit that perfect 10, with the beautiful sight of the lanterns floating around as beautiful in 2D as it is breathtaking in the sublime 3D. Gorgeous!
Music (8/10) – Disney movies always have great music (though some have drifted to their detriment, Atlantis?) and this is no exception, none of the songs are up there with ‘Wanna Be Like You’ ‘Be Our Guest’ ‘Friend like Me’ ‘Heigh Ho’ ‘Colours of the Wind’ or even Hunchback’s ‘Out There’ or ‘Hellfire’ but there are still a lot of great tunes here; from the rowdy ‘What’s Your Dream’ performed by the thugs and bandits through to ‘Mother Knows Best’ by Gothel and ‘Finally see the Light’ which is the film’s beautiful love theme. Cracking tunes if probably not the best of the best.
Verdict- Easily put a huge delight from start to finish. Witty, charming, heart warming, exciting, hilarious and huge fun! A great slice of Disney magic for everyone of every age x
10/10
The Top 15 Favourite Disney Animation Movies
15) Robin Hood (1973)
Disney’s animal interpretation of the classic Sherwood tale, which may still be most people’s favourite has the outlaw as a Fox and the King John character as a tiger amongst others... hugely charming and fun, it’s a lovely little romp.
14) Mulan (1998)
A underrated late 90’s animation from Disney, taken from an old Chinese tale about a young woman who decides to take her father’s place in battle to save his life and goes undercover as a male solider. A different sort of story for Disney but one done with usual flair, great characters (Eddie Murphy’s Mushu is a top highlight, and for me is even better than Donkey from Shrek) and sumptuous animation and battle scenes. Very thrilling and sweeping stuff.
13) Fantasia (1942)
Disney’s now-classic experimental musical masterpiece, which fuses together classical pieces of music with dynamic animation segments. Most famous for the Mickey Mouse and broom-starring The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, also great are the absolutely terrifying and beautiful Night on Bald Mountain, the Nutcracker suite with the dancing mushrooms, the Pastoral symphony with the cute unicorns and gods and valleys which is gorgeous, plus the very bizarre segment with the dancing hippos and crocodiles set to Dance of the Hours. A delightfully intriguing part of animation history. This manages to be both beautiful and dynamic.
12) Oliver and Company (1988)
Taking the tale of Oliver Twist, and not only updating the setting but also changing the characters into cats and dogs... this late 80’s animated musical is very very underrated and is also a heap of fun. Featuring Billy Joel as head dog Dodger (very artful!) and casting Oliver as an orphan kitty lost in New York, this is cute and fun and charming in equal measure, with hints of darkness towards the end. An utterly charming tale.
11) Fantasia 2000 (2000)
Disney returned to the musical animation experimental phase 60 years later with this update of the format, which while not for most people, is superior for me... mainly for the Rhapsody in Blue and Pomp and Circumstance segments, the latter segment beautifully animated with Donald and Daisy duck trying to board Noah’s Ark and set it off, a beautiful piece of animation. Whilst the flying whale and the nature segments also take the breath away. Simply magical x
10) Hercules (1997)
Taking the Aladdin approach to the Greek myth, and going all wacky humour, Disney also changed their animated style with the help of Gerald Scarfe (you may know his work from Pink Floyd’s The Wall) and it works in spades... keeping the cracking Disney traditions of crazy humour, heart, great music and a great voice cast but turning it all on its head a bit (including a stunning CGI assisted fight with the Hydra).. a sadly underrated Disney classic that I loved tons as a kid and is still way too much fun
9) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1938)
Disney’s first ever animated classic is still a masterpiece of movie-making, ranging from cutesy animated animals through to deadly dark forests straight out of Evil Dead and terrifying evil queens turning to sinister hags... it’s a great blend of the dark and the light, that still has the power to captivate literally anyone. Classic songs, classic characters (Dopey!) and beautiful animation. A masterpiece in every sense of the word
8) The Rescuers down Under (1990)
Probably one of the most underrated pieces of animation ever released by the Disney studio, this simply breathtaking adventure set in the wild outback starts off epic and never lets go... as mice duo Bernard and Bianca set off to Australia to rescue a small boy from a poacher out to catch a golden eagle. From blistering action sequences to simply gob-smacking animation of the outback, canyons and stunning sequences of flight on the eagle’s back that equal everything in How to Train Your Dragon ten years later. Simply epic in every sense
7) The Emperor’s New Groove (2001)
Simply manic and crazy in every sense, I guess a kind of nod to the Bugs Bunny style of cartoon... Disney’s Inca adventure from the early noughties started off a more serious movie before evolving into this madcap adventure, as a disgruntled assistant to the Emperor schemes to steal the throne by killing off the selfish and arrogant Emperor, but due to the daft machinations of her sidekick Kronk (stealing the whole film!) he gets turned into a Llama and goes on the run, teaming up with lowly Pacha to get back and re claim his throne. Simply hilarious in every sense from the wacky animation to the various animal transformations and antics through to the delightful chemistry between the two lead characters... a simply charming and hysterical film that couldn’t be more genius ally daft if it tried... squeaky squeaken?
6) The Jungle Book (1967)
One of Disney’s most beloved animated classics, a swinging musical take of Rudyard Kipling’s tale is an absolute joy from start to finish, with classic characters like Baloo, Shere Khan and the fantastic King Louie. Masterpiece tunes, great characters, brilliant dialogue and a cracking beat throughout, what needs to be said? It’s fab!
5) The Little Mermaid (1989)
The movie that started off Disney’s rise back to the top during the 1990’s and late 80’s, this musical take on the Hans Christian Andersen tale is simply divine from start to finish, with some of the most delightful characters you’ll see like Ariel, Sebastian and the sinister Ursula, fantastic tunes like Under the Sea, Poor Unfortunate Souls and Part of your World plus lovely animation and a heart warming story. A true delight in every way
4) The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
A much darkest and more gothic effort than people were used to at the time (coming after Lion King and Pocahontas) Disney’s adaptation of Victor Hugo’s novel is epic and powerful and charming in equal measure, striking a great story and great characters with a real heart and a real sense of darkness and power. Dealing with themes such as loneliness, religion, sin, temptation and cruelty... it’s a truly dynamic effort from Disney that makes you wonder why so many others don’t have quite as much power and ambition to be a bit more adult. Plus Kevin Kline’s dashing knight Phoebus is my animated doppelganger which helps!
3) Aladdin (1992)
One of the first Disney movies I saw, and still one of the most purely enjoyable. It’s the film that saw the ‘star factor’ step in, with Robin Williams stealing the whole show as the Genie, who is hilarious in every way and a truly brilliant character, as well as other great characters like the sinister villain Jafar and the scene stealing sidekicks like Carpet, Abu and Iago. Truly brilliant animation, fantastic songs and a rollicking pace make this a truly enjoyably fun piece of animated joy, a true diamond in the rough
2) Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Disney’s most successful and most enchanting and epic movie, the first to be nominated for a Best Picture at the Oscars, still holds the power to enchant and enthral. With award winning songs, some of the best ever produced by Disney, some superb characters like Belle, Gaston, Lumiere, Mrs Potts, Cogsworth, Chip, and of course the Beast... as well as sumptuous animation, a truly beautiful score and the most beautiful love story of all time. This movie has it all, what’s to say that hasn’t been said, be their guest! x
1) The Lion King (1994)
Always having been one of my all time favourite movies, it’s no surprise that this masterpiece wound up being my all time favourite Disney animation. An epic and bravado movie on all counts, from the majestic score by Elton John and Tim Rice plus the unforgettable songs they created such as Circle of Life, Can You Feel the Love Tonight? As well as songs like Hakuna Matata, Be Prepared and Just Can’t Wait to be King... through to the fantastic voice cast including Matthew Broderick, Jeremy Irons, James Earl Jones, Rowan Atkinson and Nathan Lane, the fantastic characters like Scar, Simba, Timon and Pumbaa, Zazu, Nala, Mufasa, and of course the delightful Rafiki... it’s a timeless tale that has enchanted thousands and will count to do so for as long as time allows. A truly original story with truly breathtaking content and scope makes one for the ages x
That’s it for this trip to the Magic Kingdom, sadly I won’t be visiting Epcot next week but will simply be laying down the knowhow on two absolute must see movies from the past that I highly recommend, both with one or two things in common. Enjoy your weeks, your food, your fun times, and stay safe and most of all....
You stay classy.... Planet Earth! X
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