to the movie screen, they may have expected some hazards (wait until you see the eye-popping bonus feature in which they're constantly tormented by bees), but they never expected a rare and amazing story to tell itself right before their cameras.
for the film, suffers a difficult loss and a astonishing gain. Sorry if that's too much of a spoiler, but that is only one of the experiences you will share in this, perhaps the most remarkable of the Disneynature film series.
narrates with a fine blend of warmth, concern and humor as this chimpanzee troup lives through various challenges, searches for food and has fun -- like most families.
The film is so engrossing, the 78 minutes seem to fly by. Generous bonus sequences that chronicle the creation of the film, though not as plentiful for DVD users, are almost as fascinating as the film itself. If you see this on Blu-ray, prepare for a breathtaking ride. Some of the scenes are so lush and painterly, they look as if they came from a classic Disney animated feature -- particularly a stunning long upward pan resembling a fantastic mulit-plane Disney sequence.
Young children may be unnerved by some of the material, and there is a disclaimer about the bee sequence -- it's that intense.
it's nice to be able to watch this from a comfy chair in a climate-controlled room and be grateful to the filmmakers for going to such extreme lengths to capture all of this for all of us to experience.
DO SEQUELS WORK OR DO THEY NOT?
Blog, Movies
Posted on Sep 06 2012 by Greg
Walt Disney did not believe in sequels, at least as far as his animated features were concerned. He did not have a problem with
Son of Flubber,
The Monkey's Uncle,
Savage Sam or
Davy Crockett and the River Pirates, but these films surely were a different matter to him entirely.
Of course, debate and comment has never stopped since the direct-to-video release of
The Return of Jafar. This sequel to Aladdin was so successful, it opened the door for direct-to-video (and occasional theatrical) releases of follow-ups (and even second follow-ups) to
Bambi, Cinderella, Peter Pan, 101 Dalmatians, The Jungle Book, The Fox and the Hound, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Mulan, Brother Bear, Lilo and Stitch, The Emperor's New Groove and others I've probably left out. Lots of
Pooh, too.
All of these sequels were produced by Walt Disney Television Animation, later known as DisneyToon Studios, on budgets far less then their originals and with staffs combining talents from around the world. With less money and a different working circumstance, one cannot expect every one of these sequels to strike the same chords.
However, it's not for lack of trying. Despite the constraints, some creative teams were often capable of remarkable results, especially if the team involved was emotionally invested in the original classic AND if there is a second story worthy of telling.
Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure seems a natural for a sequel, since Scamp himself was a popular comic book character for many years. The first movie laid some groundwork for Tramp's new life as a domestic dog.
The creators of the sequel emphatically yearned to recreate the magic of Walt Disney's 1955 canine family romance. For a art direction standpoint, they succeeded admirably. The background elements of
Lady and the Tramp were mined for research and look almost exactly like the original. Animation poses were studied for accuracy. The degree to which these details were reached is worthy of celebration. This is one of the few sequels to feature an audio commentary (thank you!) and the folks involved were earnest indeed.
Perhaps more attention might have been given to the story (or, as in some corporate situations, perhaps it could have benefitted from less unnecessary meddling).
In hundreds of comics, Scamp was a cute puppy who got into mischief. For this film, Scamp is a lovable yet discontented adolescent (which distances him from some of the audience already). It's as if the script must undo something that was fine in the first film.
We get less time with our old friend Tramp (and even less with Lady, voiced by the heavenly
Jodi Benson). In revisiting most of the same locations as the first story -- including the Italian restaurant, which is very clever -- the film can't keep from chewing its cabbage twice.
Still it's a pleasant film with very nice songs by the great
Melissa Manchester and one of my favorite lyricists,
Norman Gimbel (who worded "A Whale of a Tale" for
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, a hit parade of TV themes and the excellent
Pufnstuf movie score).
Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World has the benefit of having lots of additional story left to tell so it doesn't lend itself to the repetition of some sequels. It's actually one of Disney's best direct-to-video sequels story-wise, since the first film kind of left things hanging.
Being a fictionalized biography, it is known that
Pocahontas had quite a life after she met
John Rolfe and moved to England. The film makes the most of every opportunity, from the
My Fair Lady-like sequence in which the young maiden is versed in the English trappings for a grand ball to the inspiring way Pocahontas stands up to yet another king for what is right and true.
Whether or not most of the story actually happened is beside the point -- this is Hollywood, folks -- and there's even a disclaimer at the end of the credits encouraging viewers to read up on the real-life lady. Now that
both Pocahontas and Pocahontas II are combined on one Blu-ray, the films fit together nicely.
One can dispute whether or which film has better songs, but why? Just enjoy the musical excellence in both:
Alan Menken and
Stephen Schwartz in one,
Marty Panzer and
Larry Grossman in the other. Grossman is another of my musical heroes, having written the incredible "Just One Person" for the musical
Snoopy. This gorgeous song became a
Muppet Show icon (he wrote for that series, too).
Bernadette Peters sang it to
Kermit when he guest-hosted
The Tonight Show and it was performed at
Jim Henson's memorial service.
He also wrote another iconic song -- the countermelody, "Peace on Earth" for
David Bowie to sing as
Bing Crosby crooned "Little Drummer Boy" on Bing's last TV special. Both
Pocahontas 1 & II soundtracks are currently available for download on amazon.
FRENCH KITTY CATS, HILLBILLY DOGS & MRS NAUGATUCK IN ONE MOVIE!
Blog, Movies
Posted on Sep 05 2012 by Greg
The first Disney animated feature produced after Walt Disney's passing was 1970's
The Aristocats. While it has never been held in the same esteem as
Snow White, Fantasia, or even latter-day classics like
Beauty and the Beast, it's a thoroughly entertaining romp that places characters and set pieces over a very basic plot reminiscent of
101 Dalmatians and
Lady and the Tramp.
It's also a bit puzzling because it combines disparate voice acting performances from, among others, Hungarian
Eva Gabor as a French cat,
Pat Buttram and
George Lindsey as country cornpone dawgs in rural France and even an elegant performance by
Hermione Baddeley as Madame Bonfamille -- a change of pace from her more familiar blustering
Mary Poppins/Happiest Millionaire domestics or the bawdy Mrs. Naugatuck on TV's
Maude.
What's loveliest about The Aristocats as a film,
especially in the crisp light of Blu-ray on this new edition, is the masterful animation, captured in its spontaneous glory through the Xerox process, a method of copying pencil art directly onto animation cels in place of inking each line again.
As kids, we called this the "scritchy lines" type of animation -- not as clean and polished and at the time, not as preferable. But seeing it today in an age where even TV animation has a slickness and therefore a distancing perfection, this kind of animation is now precious and rare. On Blu-ray, you can really appreciate the lines as they vibrate in every motion. Not a nuance is lost.
Another fine aspect of The Aristocats is its score. Though not a musical in general, there are several fine songs by
Terry Gilkyson, Floyd Huddleston, Al Rinker and especially
the Sherman Brothers, who apparently created several songs left unused in the film.
Richard Sherman is very much a presence on the bonus features (carried over from the previous DVD release and now primarily on the Blu-ray disc). Richard narrates an entire opening sequence that is very different from the one we know.
But from a
Mouse Tracks perspective, the most fantastic thing about the bonus features is that they include mention of our beloved
Robie Lester, who provided
Eva Gabor's singing vocals for Duchess the cat. The appearance of these material on the DVD was the very first time her significant contribution was acknowledged and it's nice to know it's also here on the Blu-ray.
"THE TIGGER MOVIE'S" A WONDERFUL THING
Blog, Movies
Posted on Aug 30 2012 by Greg
Even though it was produced by Walt Disney Television Animation,
The Tigger Movie is one of a handful of direct-to-home-video Disney animated features that had a respectable run in theaters. It's also the last feature film with original songs by
Richard M. Sherman and
Robert B. Sherman.
And find songs they are. My favorite is "Round My Family Tree," which is chock full of clever lines (and visual in-jokes, including a reference to the
Rankin/Bass Saturday morning cartoon,
Jackson 5ive). The end credits introduced "Your Heart Will Lead You Home," which has now become an easy listening standard, co-written and sung by
Kenny Loggins.
It's also the first time the Sherman song, "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers," is sung to completion onscreen. In the earlier films and TV shows,
Paul Winchell (Disney's original Tigger voice) sang four lines of the song, but in
The Tigger Movie,
Jim Cummings (the current Tigger) sings the entire song. Historically,
Sam Edwards was the first actor to sing the whole song, but on Disneyland records instead of films.
The Tigger Movie makes a nice companion to all the original Walt Disney featurettes, or the compilation film,
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, as well as the recent theatrical
Winnie the Pooh. The storyline is simple in the
Milne style and meanders on purpose -- the world of Pooh and friends is simple, direct and free of extraneous spectacle.
My only issue with
The Tigger Movie is that its success, arguably thanks to the Shermans, did not result in their being involved with the follow-up,
Piglet's Big Movie. Instead,
Carly Simon handled the music without the brothers, which is fine, but somehow not the same.
The new "Bounce-a rrriffic" special edition is most notable for how great it looks in Blu-ray. It contains the same features as the 10th anniversary DVD (though some features are now exclusive to the Blu-Ray). For collectors, please note that the new edition does not include two episodes from
The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh TV series.
Among the new bonus features is a collection of very short vignettes called "The Mini Adventures of Winnie the Pooh," basically edited scenes from the "Pooh" shorts and
The Tigger Movie.
What's interesting is that these mini segments are narrated by
John Cleese, who also added his unique narration to the recent Winnie the Pooh feature. The voices of
Sterling Holloway (Disney's original Pooh voice) and Paul Winchell are replaced here by Jim Cummings, so it's interesting to consider the similarities and occasional differences between the performances.
<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Next >>
BACK TO BLOG HOME
0 Comments...
