I thought you guys might enjoy this. It is books I think would make a good movie (or a new version would be good). I think True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle would make a great Disney movie. I can’t figure out why that hasn’t been adapted.
What books do you think would make good movies?
Year: 2014
Movie 40: Emperor’s New Groove
Do you think David Spade is funny?
Just like with Tarzan and Phil Collins, it is easy to figure out if Emperor’s New Groove is a movie you will enjoy. The lead character Kuzco is voiced by David Spade and if you think his brand of sarcastic humor is funny you will probably like the movie. If not, this one can be a skip.
Luckily I do think he is funny, and I do enjoy this movie.
For some reason we are usually quick to dismiss comedies, whether animated or live action, as being less worthy of praise than dramas or musicals. I’m not sure why this is because if anything making people laugh is harder than making them cry. That’s at least my experience. In writing for Nanowrimo the sections where I am trying to tell a joke are brutal and what I think is funny others don’t give a chuckle. So I stand up for comedies, especially Disney comedies.
While Disney has comedy in most of its movies there are 5 I would classify as outright comedies-
1. Jungle Book
2. Robin Hood
3. Aladdin
4. Hercules
5. Emperor’s New Groove
Each of these comedies for me has strengths but as far as non-stop laughs I think Emperor’s New Groove is the best. Jungle Book has great music, Robin Hood adds some adventure and dry wit, Hercules goes gospel, and Aladdin has the funniest single performance in Disney, but it feels like Emperor’s has a joke every 2 sentences and for me 99% of them make me laugh. Therefore, it is a successful comedy.
I also appreciate the comedy is funny for adults and children. It’s not like Shrek with innuendo and lewd humor. Most of it is very sarcastic asides, oftentimes breaking the 4th wall (the characters talking to the audience).
The story is also cooky enough to also make laughter easy. It’s all so ridiculous it puts us in a mood to laugh. In fact, when I first heard about a Disney movie about a man being turned into a llama I thought it sounded so stupid, but then I saw it at my college theater and laughed a lot. Such low expectations made it feel even better than it was but it has held up and still makes me laugh.
Production-
The production behind this movie is interesting. They had originally assigned Roger Allers from The Lion King to direct a serious picture called The Kingdom of the Sun. They hired Sting to write the songs and his wife made a documentary on the mess (not available I checked everywhere).
Delays kept happening and Michael Eisner was feeling the heat from McDonalds and other companies who were waiting for a movie. He put the pressure on Allers to produce a film but it was still slow so Eisner asked writers Mark Dindal and Chris Williams to write a 2nd script just in case.
It got up to a year and change before the release date. Sponsors were getting nervous so Eisner pulled the plug on Kingdom of the Sun, Allers quit and Dindal and Williams completely retooled their idea into what we see today.
Poor Sting was left with only 1 song in the credits. The only other song is sung by Tom Jones called Perfect World which is our intro to Kuzco.
The movie did fine at the box office but word of mouth has made it very popular.
There are celebrity voices just as in the Lion King including David Spade, John Goodman, Ertha Kitt, Patrick Warburton, Wendie Malick, Jon Fielder
The animation really isn’t that special. It is supposed to be an Incan world but just like with Hercules there is no attempt to be true to the time period or lore of the native people. This is a comedy and it stands only upon its writing, which I liked.
The Story-
The introduction is very good. We see Kuzco as a llama in the rain telling us what a sad situation he is in. He then begins to narrate the story in flashback starting with what a greedy pig he is (but in a comical way)
He’s so greedy in fact that he is going to build a summer home called Kuztopia on the site of a village where our hero, Pacha lives voiced by John Goodman.
He fires Yzma his ‘assistant’ and she grows angry and decides to poison him. Yzma is a great villain voiced by Ertha Kitt. Maybe not the most complex but very funny. I love when they try to use a trap door and it ends up taking her to crocodiles ‘why do we have that lever.’
Unfortunately her poison plot doesn’t go as planned:
Yzma has an assistant named Kronk who is hilarious. He is a loveable buffoon who loves to cook and battles angels and devils on his shoulders (literally). The writing for Kronk is consistently funny.
Yzma tells Kronk to get rid of Kuzco but he puts him on Pacha’s wagon and figures he’s done for.
Pacha finds Kuzco as a llama and is reluctant to help him since he was so rude about the summer home, but being a good guy and hoping he can convince him to change his mind, Pacha rescues him in a very funny section of slapstick (it reminds me of Captain Hook and the crocodile scenes in Peter Pan).
Pacha is very caring towards Kuzco despite his continued bad attitude and rudeness (creating a lot of the humor). For example, there’s a nice moment where Kuzco is cold and Pacha gives him his poncho for the night.
They end up making it back to a bridge and it breaks trapping Pacha. To his horror Kuzco says he is not going to help him and that he is going to have him arrested once they get to the castle. Pacha yells back ‘we shook hands’ calling back to an earlier conversation. Then Kuzco trips and they both end up suspended and we get a funny scene with a nice message on trust and teamwork
On the other side of the bridge it is going to be 4 more days together so they end up at a diner in a very funny scene. Yzma and Kronk are also at the diner but neither of them know it. This is just classical physical comedy
Kuzco realizes Yzma tried to kill him and the llama was just a mistake and they find out Yzma and Kronk are at Pacha’s home.
Pacha’s family is one of the best family’s in all of Disney, and his wife is pregnant which is the first time a pregnant woman has been on an animated feature. Go pregnant women! But seriously cool to show all types of women not just pretty adolescent girls.
The kids are very funny locking Kronk and Yzma in the closet and give Pacha and Kuzco time to run away.
Finally they get to the castle and as they look for the potion Yzma is there and we get a great chase sequence that I think is just as good if not better than the wizards duel in Sword in the Stone (still don’t get all the love for that movie) . They turn into all different shapes and sizes depending on the potion they drink.
My favorite is probably when she turns into a cat and has a new voice:
In the end, Kuzco is changed back, Kronk is head of the junior chipmunks and Kuzcotopia is no longer built on Pacha’s village. (Even that you get a good joke with a man Kuzco threw through a window saying ‘it wasn’t the first time and it won’t be the last time’. That’s funny to imagine an old man frequently being thrown through windows)
Movie Review/Conclusion-
It shouldn’t take you more than 5 minutes to know whether it is for you or not. The tone and type of humor is obvious from the start and it either makes you laugh or it doesn’t. For me, it does, and I think that is worthy of praise.
There is some nice messaging and I think the villain is pretty good but all that would be nothing if the jokes weren’t so consistently funny and so plentiful.
So give it a shot. It’s humor your whole family can enjoy which is actually kind of rare. Nothing inappropriate or offensive. Just sarcastic, silly comedy.
The animation is on the Saturday morning level and it is probably on par with good Disney afternoon episodes of Ducktales or Tailspin in that department.
The voice acting is uniformly good and the Tom Jones number at the beginning is fun (if you have a boy who hates musicals this is a good one for him).
My score is going to seem high but it truly did make me laugh that much, and it is one I find myself wanting to rewatch again and again.
Overall Grade- A-
Disney Renaissance Best and Worse
So I recently finished reviewing the Disney Renaissance and I know how everyone loves lists, so I will do my best at ranking these films (and I will try to not have everything be Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid.
Best Villain-
Gold- Ursula
Silver- Scar
Bronze- Gaston
Best Artistry-
Gold- Tarzan
Silver- Beauty and the Beast
Bronze- Hunchback of Notre Dame
Favorite Lead Character/Hero-
Gold- Belle
Silver- Mulan
Bronze- Ariel
Favorite Side Character-
Gold- Genie
Silver- Sebastian
Bronze- Lumiere
Even More Minor Characters-
Gold- Wilbur, Rescuers Down Under
Silver- Mushu
Bronze- Zazu
Best Vocal Performance-
Gold- Robin Williams, Aladdin
Silver- Samuel Wright, Little Mermaid
Bronze- Pat Carroll, Little Mermaid
Honorable Mention- John Candy, Rescuers Down Under
Best Original Score-
Gold- Lion King, Hans Zimmer
Silver- Rescuers Down Under, Bruce Broughton
Bronze- Little Mermaid, Alan Menken
Best Song- (this is tough)
Gold-Part of Your World- Menken and Ashman
Silver- Be Our Guest- Menken and Ashman
Bronze-Friend Like Me- Menken and Ashman
Honorable Mentions- Out There (Menken and Schwartz), Under the Sea (Menken and Ashman), A Star is Born (Menken and Zippel), You’ll Be in My Heart (Phil Collins), Reflection (Wilder and Zippel)
Best Villain Song-
Gold- Poor Unfortunate Souls, Menken and Ashman
Silver- Be Prepared, Elton John and Tim Rice
Bronze- Savages, Menken and Schwartz
Honorable Mentions- Gaston (Menken and Ashman),
Worst Villain-
Gold- Radcliffe
Silver- Clayton
Bronze- Shan-yu
Saddest Moment-
Gold- Mufasa’s death
Silver- Quasimodo getting mocked and tied up by gypsies
Bronze- Beast dies
Best Comedy-
Gold- Aladdin
Silver- Hercules
Bronze- Rescuers Down Under (not a comedy but the funny moments were so funny)
Scariest Moment-
Gold- Mcleach and the knife throwing, Rescuers Down Under
Silver- Mob Song, Beauty and the Beast
Couldn’t think of anything else scary in Renaissance. That’s strange.
Cringe-worthy Moment
Gold- Burning down house with family in it, Hunchback
Silver- Hellfire, rape and murder song, Hunchback
Bronze- Pocahontas teaching John Smith about how gold is stupid, Pocahontas
Honorable Mention- Basically all of Pocahontas except Savages number
Underrated
Gold- Rescuers Down Under
Silver- Mulan
Bronze- Hercules
Most Romantic Moment-
Gold- Belle and Beast dancing
Silver- Kiss the Girl
Bronze- Jasmine and Aladdin kiss
Grand Champions-
Worst- Pocahontas
Best- Beauty and the Beast
Co-Best- Little Mermaid (I love both so much!)
I just finished reviewing Dinosaur (oh my…) and here’s how we currently stand rating-wise
| A+ we have 6 | B+ we have 4 | C+ we have 2 | D we have 3 |
| A we have 9 | B we have 1 | C we have 3 | D- we have 3 |
| A- we have 2 | B- we have 1 | C- we have 3 | F we have 1 |
What are your favorites from the Renaissance? Please share.
Thank you to everyone for your comments. We might not always agree but I enjoying conversing with all of you!
Movie 39: Dinosaur
I knew it would happen. Eventually a movie would get the dreaded F. Even a movie that I really didn’t enjoy like Three Cabelleros or The Aristocats I still found things I liked. Literally the only thing I liked in Dinosaur, Disney’s 39th animated classic, is the music by James Newton Howard. Everything else really sucks.
Production-
Dinosaur is directed by Ralph Zondag and Eric Leighton and it was the first movie for Disney to use all CGI. At the time it cost $100 million to make and Disney said in the screening kit “The visual effects will make it an instant classic”
Boy have they not held up. I hate CGI and these dinosaurs look particularly bad. Honestly they look like their plastic toys from Mcdonalds
Here’s the toy-
Here’s the dinosaur from the film-
Take out the backdrop they look the same. In fact I actually think the toy looks better…
The velociraptors look so bad. It boggles the mind.
Just as a comparison the velociraptors in Jurassic Park made 7 years earlier in 1993. It looks so much better-
Just like Jurassic park there are backgrounds that are real, which is cool at the beginning when it is lush and pretty. The first 5 minutes was shown in the trailer and it is beautiful if you take out the CGI dinosaurs
The Story-
So the visuals, which were supposed to make it so special, have not held up. How about the story?
Unfortunately I saw little to like about that either. It starts out a lot like Tarzan with a Carnotaurus (why not just do a T-rex. That’s what we all know as the villain of the dinosaurs…) kills a herd of dinosaurs. An egg is saved and taken by a bird dinosaur (I don’t know all the names sorry!) to an island and it is found by lemurs (although the film refers to them as monkeys).
These lemurs look fine in a photo but the way they move in the movie feels so choppy- like the monkeys in Indiana Jones 4 that look so bad. It’s kind of amazing when you think about Dawn of the Planet of the Apes which blew me away in creating realistic apes. How far we’ve come (I realize motion capture isn’t exactly the same but still the computer fur and movement looks so much better).
Just like Kala in Tarzan a nice female lemur named Plio decides to raise the baby dinosaur (why not have the male raise the baby dino and the mother resist? That would be new and different just anything other than the tired story we get). We even get the baby urinating on the male. Like a bad sitcom with dinosaurs (actually there was a sitcom with dinosaurs and it was much better than this!)
There are friend monkeys just like Tarzan’s friends and one is called Zini and he is unlucky in love but he thinks he’s a smooth talker- never seen that before…
Various things happen and then we get a giant meteor shower that destroys the jungle. Even this scene looks awful. The characters look washed out, the explosion looks fake. Like I said, the music is only thing I like.
So with the land now desolate and ugly they start searching for a new home and find on the other side of the ocean a herd of dinosaurs like Aladar. You would think when you come across your own species as a dinosaur and you’ve been living with monkeys you’d be pretty excited but not so much.
In the herd we get every cliche. There’s the love interest, jerk, crony, wise talker, and everything else. The big conflict for the rest of the movie is to find the nesting grounds.
As they march the leader Kron refuses to wait for the weaker dinosaurs. He’s a Darwinist and believes ‘only the strong prevail and the weaker should be left to die’. At first I thought this was a joke from the filmmakers. I mean really? A movie about dinosaurs is going to tackle Darwinism?
The whole species is basically killed by the sun…
Wouldn’t it make sense to keep the herd strong with as many as possible and not just kill off the weak? They constantly show these predators out there, and I think if there was a thinning herd that is good for nobody but this movie isn’t smart enough for that.
And it is all handled in such a preachy and stupid way it really doesn’t matter. Kron is bad. Aladar is good. People are thirsty. They stomp their foot and find water (no joke) and the carotaurus appears sporadically and radically changes sizes throughout the movie. At one point he is as big as a velociraptor, at others as tall as high mountains.
Part of the problem too is the dinosaurs show no emotion on their faces. They look exactly the same when they are happy, sad, angry, and everything else and they don’t really have any arms to show emotions. It makes t all very stale.
The writing is also laughably bad. I tweeted that Michael Bay and George Lucas must have secretly wrote this script because it sure seems like their type of movie. We get line stale lines like these:
“What’s happening?”
“My brother’s moving the herd”
“If you ever interfere I will kill you”
“stay away from him”
“Aladar, no. Just go”
“What’s with you? At least I know to get out of the rain”
What was this written by 5 year olds at a script convention? Every line explained the obvious like that. We see he is moving the herd! It’s the twilight school of dinosaur script writing…
Eventually they get to the nesting grounds. The carotaurus eats Kron and that’s it. 82 minutes of my life I’ll never get back.
Movie Review/Conclusion-
This movie sucks. If you like it great. I don’t get it. It looks awful. Almost unwatchable. The story is stupid and plodding. The script is laughably bad.
The voice work is fine and the score is very good.
That’s it.
Overall Grade- F
Movie 38: Fantasia 2000
“For of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: ‘It might have been!'”
It seemed appropriate to start this review with those words because this could have been great. Indeed it has moments of greatness but Fantasia 2000 certainly didn’t work for me.
Out of 38 films I’ve only given 6 A+ so far (and 6 D’s, 17 A’s so all you that think I’m too harsh please!). Those 6 are: Fantasia, Cinderella, 101 Dalmatians, Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, The Little Mermaid, and Beauty and the Beast. All 6 I would not change in any way. To me they are perfect.
Yeah, I know. I know. You out there think the original Fantasia is boring. I’ve heard it a million times. Those of you who find it boring would you also find going to a classical music symphony orchestra for the night boring? It’s ok. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea but I love it.
What made the first one special is it was a concert. It took itself very seriously as a concert. But then you got these amazing images to go with the concert as almost like a bonus. So instead of putting out $150 to go to a gallery opening and a symphony you could pop in Fantasia and enjoy both (well, go to the movies back then but still it was cheaper and easier than a symphony and museum).
That’s what I think most people get wrong with Fantasia. They approach it as a movie, but it’s not really. It’s a concert performance art piece, and as an adult it blows me away.
Now we get to the problem of Fantasia 2000. It’s a clip show not a concert. Everything from the laughably short segments, to the celebrity introductions, to the less than iconic music choices, make it feel like a clip show not a classical music experience.
This would be ok I guess if the animation was great. Unfortunately with the exception of 2 segments it falls woefully short (well 3 if you count replay of Sorcerer’s Apprentice).
The main problem is the reliance on CGI and at this point the technology just doesn’t hold up. Everything looks like plastic instead of art, and I did not feel creatively inspired or challenged by it at all.
Sigh…
By the way, the original is 2 hours which I recommend people divide up. If length is the only barrier than watch a segment a day!
Fantasia 2000, on the other hand, is technically 75 minutes but if you take out the Sorcerer’s Apprentice and the lame celebrity introductions it is well under an hour, which again makes it feel less of a concert experience and more of a 1 hour television show on Disney channel.
So, let’s talk about the segments:
1. Beethoven’s 5th-
This is probably trying to pay homage to the Toccata in Fugue of the original where we see animated lines and shapes. Here we get paper butterflies dancing around.
This segment is fine but it is frustrating because Beethoven’s 5th is one of the most iconic songs ever written and I find it amazing they couldn’t think of anything darker, more foreboding than triangles flying around. It doesn’t expand upon the music or give me something exciting.
Beethoven’s 5th would have been great for a On Bald Mountain-like sequence with thunder and lightning. It’s so menacing there are a million ways they could have gone but triangles? It doesn’t make sense to me.
Then we get the first of our celebrity introductions. With the exception of Quincy Jones these are all lame, usually joking and making terrible puns. This again adds to the clip show feel and takes away from the concert environment. Honestly just fast forward through them, especially Pen and Teller introducing The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (ridiculous. Show’s they were treating this like a lark and not a serious work of art).
I’m going to ignore those for the rest of the review but for the record we get Steve Martin, Itzhak Perlman, Bette Midler, Penn and Teller, James Earl Jones, Quincy Jones, and Angela Lansbury.
2. Pines of Rome by Ottorino Respighi-
This segment is frustrating because it is a clever concept with some beautiful images but then the whales begin to fly and the cgi also takes flight. It looks like plastic whale figures not art. The music is pretty but I just didn’t like the look of the whales.
3. Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin-
Done in the style of Al Hirschfield’s caricatures with Gershwin’s music (think United Airlines theme song!) is by far the best segment of the movie. It is artistic. and interesting to look at. The music is well performed and I enjoyed it.
It tells the story of a day in the life of New York City and moves from one vignette to another.
It is also seems to me to be the longest segment which is a good thing since it is the best. I couldn’t find a complete clip but here’s some of the best parts:
4. Piano Concerto No 2 in F Major- I. Allegro by Dmitri Shostak-
I really don’t understand their music choices. Why not do Bach, Mozart, Vivaldi? Classical music with real heft to it. Most of these songs I had never heard of before.
This segment tells a story of The Steadfast Tin Soldier and it is basically about a one-legged toy soldier, a mean jack-in-the-box and a ballerina.
It would be fine but the CGI looks terrible, especially on the Jack in the Box. These kind of special effects just haven’t aged well and the story is not interesting enough to overcome the bad look. Either way it certainly isn’t art like the original.
5. Carnival of the Animals Finale by Camille Saint Saens-
Another piece of music I had never heard of and this segment is incredibly short. I swear it was under 5 minutes.
It is about a flamingo and a yo-yo .
It is in obvious homage to the hippo ballerinas but the thing about them is they didn’t know they were funny. They were hippos dancing taking it completely seriously. That made it funny and amusing.
It was also set to a ballet by Ponchielli called ‘Dance of the Hours’ making a ballet make sense it just happened to be with hippos.
The carnival is just a piece of classical music, not a ballet so it is music with a flamingo and a yo-yo (why not do something with Yo-yo Ma? That would have been funny?)
6. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Paul Dukas-
Biggest mistake they made in this movie was including the iconic Sorcerer’s Apprentice piece from the original. It showcases the artistic and musical weakness of the pieces we’ve been watching.
Every beat of this segment is timed perfectly with the music . It all makes sense and is filled with beautiful imagery of bubbles, shadows and brooms. For 12 minutes I was transfixed.
7. Pomp and Circumstance- Marches 1,2, 3-
Now after seeing Mickey it will be great to see Donald in a piece, right? Well, kind of. This segment isn’t awful but it isn’t the Sorcerer’s Apprentice either.
Pomp and Circumstance is like the wedding march, so associated with an event, graduation, that it is distracting to hear it accompanying anything else. It’s kind of like if you heard the melody for Jingle Bells as a country song. It just feels weird.
For some reason they decide to use the music to tell the story of Noah’s Ark with Donald Duck as Noah. This is a strange choice because Donald is an animal and the whole story is about animals going on the boat. Why is Donald the only animal that wears clothes? In fact, at the beginning Donald is naked on a hammock and he is embarrassed. Why aren’t the other animals embarrassed? I know I’m overthinking it but it was distracting from what little art was in the piece.
There is even a scene where Donald see’s 2 regular looking ducks getting on the Ark. Isn’t that so strange?
We get an attempt at humor (so many lame jokes in this movie. It’s a concert not a comedy club!!!). with the animals that didn’t make it on the ark.
Donald gets separated from Daisy on the ark. (They are the only animals that appear to talk although we never hear their voices which isn’t that one of Donald’s charms?)
They get reunited and our scene is over.
I do like the light of the piece but not enough to think of it as art. Not enough to be blown away and inspired creatively.
8. Firebird Suite by Igor Stravinsky-
This is the other strong segment along with Rhapsody in Blue. It is a nice homage to the original that used Stravinksy’s Rite of Spring for the creation story (love that segment!).
Kind of like a combination of On Bald Mountain and the Nutcracker Suite in the original it tells the story of a Sprite who is waking up the world from Winter (like the fairies in the Suite of the original).
She is beautifully drawn. 
As she is waking up the earth she comes across a boulder that will not respond to her. She blows on it and inadvertantly wakes up the Firebird which is the spirit of the volcano.
If anything this segment is not long enough but it is lovely and comes closest to capturing the spirit of the original.
Movie Review/Conclusion-
Originally Walt Disney wanted Fantasia to be a regular event with animators presenting concert films like they did documentaries and other features. Unfortunately the original did not make enough money so it was never attempted until Fantasia 2000.
What amazes me is why make such a half-hearted effort when you finally do decide to make the sequel? Why have all the celebrities making stupid jokes? Why do so much on the computer with CGI? Were they just so in love with the technology they couldn’t see its lazy look?
Why pick the music they picked when they could have been so much more epic? Why make everything light when you could have a mixture like a good concert should have? I mean they had Beethoven’s 5th for crying out loud!
I just wish they had taken the concert idea more seriously. Instead we got a clip show with mostly mediocre results.
And if you are going to be mediocre don’t remind us of the greatness in the middle with the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. That just made it all worse.
Like I said I like Rhapsody in Blue and Firebird. The rest I could live without.
Overall Grade- D
Disney 2000-2009
So now we are starting the part of this project I am probably looking forward to the least- the Disney 2000s. To be honest, if I could just watch 12 Pixar movies instead I would be a lot more pumped but I promised to go into the project open minded and I will do so with each of these films.
In fact, most of them aside from Emperor’s New Groove, I either haven’t seen or haven’t seen in a long time. So I am hoping to be pleasantly surprised kind of like I was with Rescuers Down Under. Hopefully I will find a hidden gem.
So, I am curious, my wonderful readers, which one (or more) out of these 12 do you like and why? Get me pumped! Which is your least favorite? I promise I will not let your likes or dislikes affect my view of the films so don’t worry about that. Just share in the comments or message me on facebook or twitter at @smilingldsgirl.
Thanks for reading!
Rachel
Movie 37: Tarzan
So do you like Phil Collins?
I ask because in the end enjoyment of Tarzan will radically lie whether you like Phil Collins or not. Also, if you aren’t a big fan of The Lion King style of movie, I don’t know if you will like Tarzan.
I, however, am a fan of both, so I do like it. It isn’t perfect but there is a lot to like in Tarzan.
Production-
Released in 1999 it marked the end of the Disney Renaissance and the last film to make a lot of money before the slump of the 2000s (it’s going to be interesting reviewing the next decade).
Directed by Disney regular Chris Buck and Kevin Lima, Tarzan is adapted from the movie adaptations and novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan and the Apes.
It’s actually the only Tarzan movie I’ve ever seen so I can’t tell you how close it is to any other version.
First of all, the whole movie looks gorgeous. Tarzan kind of surfs on the trees and the backgrounds zoom in and out and are so lush . The water scenes look stunning. If I was just going on visuals it would get an A++++. I could turn off the sound and just watch it and be entertained.
To create some of the look they actually created a new technology called Deep Canvas which allows 3D painting and you can tell. It looks great!
The reason why I said it reminded me of the Lion King is they are both very pop influenced films. We even get the hook structure of pop music from the dramatic beginning with a bold title card just like Lion King. All of the 5 songs Phil Collins wrote have a pop feel where Lion King did have Be Prepared, which was a little different.
Tarzan also has the comedic song/side characters, Terk and Tanto, which may as well be carbon copies of Timon and Pumba.
Incidentally, Tarzan was made into a Broadway musical and it was considered a big flop, but I actually prefer the music they added and the way the songs are sung by the characters not background.
The Story-
The story is pretty predictable but it is engagingly told. We start out with our dramatic beginning showing us how Tarzan is adopted by the apes. This might be a little scary for young kids under 5.
You either get hooked in with this intro or you don’t. You either like Phil Collins singing or you don’t. I’m always hooked. I think it is pretty engrossing.
So Tarzan gets adopted by Kala voiced by Glen Close (another similarity to The Lion King lots of celebrity voices who don’t have to sing much).
Kala rescues Tarzan but her mate Kerchak does not like the idea of having the ‘man cub’ (to use the Jungle Book) in the herd. So, he is hostile towards Tarzan from the beginning.
As Tarzan begins to cry Kala sings the best song of the movie and my favorite lullaby- You’ll Be in my Heart. If I am rocking one of my nieces it is the perfect song. I LOVE it!
I actually prefer the Broadway version with the mother singing it the whole way so here it is:
We then get a bunch of middling scenes with Tarzan feeling excluded and having a hard time making friends. Eventually he makes 2 friends (the Timon and Pumba stand ins)
He grows up and there is a song called Son of Man. My Mother hated the song because son of man is a title of Christ, and she felt it was sacrilege for a pop song to have the same name as the Lord. (We got into the biggest fight one time over it. Sigh…)
Terk, his guerrilla friend was voiced by then talk queen Rosie O’Donnell and it is not my favorite vocal. She kind of grates on me.
Eventually Tarzan hears a sound and follows it to find a woman running in distress, being chased by monkeys.
Some people will no doubt groan at the Jame, damsel in distress, trope but I don’t mind it here. She’s strong in other ways and I don’t think every female character has to be strong. They just have to have a personality of some kind (that’s what drives me crazy in Bella. She’s damsel in distress and no personality).
Plus, I am a mess in the outdoors and an animalphobe so if I was being chased by monkeys I would be screaming louder than Jane so I guess I relate.
I had a really hard time finding clips for this movie for some reason but I do like the encounter of Jane and Tarzan first meeting. It is very well done.
This is the first movie I can recall where Disney uses the big eyes common in Japanese animation such as Studio Ghibli. Some people don’t like the large eyes but it doesn’t bother me.
Jane is in the Jungle with her father and their guide Clayton to try and study the guerrillas. Clayton is a snooze of a villain who like Radcliffe in Pocahontas is only there for the GOLD! Greed is only on his mind in the form of guerrillas to sell for money!
Unlike Pocahontas who teaches John Smith her ways, Jane teaches Tarzan her ways which was very well done and then Tarzan shows Jane his world. I really like the chemistry between Jane and Tarzan. I liked that neither was stupid or patronizing. They seemed sincerely interested in each other and their views. Minnie Driver is very good as Jane’s voice .
We also get a song sung by Terk called Trashing the Camp which is basically the Hakuna Matata of the movie and it’s ok. I’m sure little kids love it.
Eventually the time for Jane to leave comes and Tarzan realizes he doesn’t want her to go. Clayton convinces him if he shows them the guerrillas Jane might stay. Kerchak has forbidden this for the safety of the herd.
Tarzan decides to anyway and at first it goes well. It’s just beautiful!
But Kerchak comes and is enraged at Tarzan for betraying their home. They fight and Tarzan leaves. It is then that Kala takes Tarzan to the tree-house where she found him. He learns who he is and decides to wear his father’s clothes and go with Jane and since Kerchak has forced him out what choice does he have?
The day of departure comes and they get on the ship only to find Clayton and all his men roping everyone up and going to get the guerrillas to sell.
Terk and Tantor help free Tarzan and the gang and they get back to help the herd and there is a great final battle with one of the gnarliest villain deaths in Disney history. It is maybe too intense for little children to see a man hang himself? I don’t know.
Our ending with Jane and Tarzan ending up together in the jungle is predictable but I think done very well. I liked it.
Movie Review-
I own this movie on blu-ray because it is so beautiful to watch, and I don’t mind the music, so I really enjoy it. The vocal performances are good and I think Tarzan and Jane have nice chemistry and are a believable couple.
The comedic characters don’t work as well for me, but they aren’t terrible, and the villain is super one-note, but I still think it is a very satisfying picture.
I love You’ll Be in My Heart and like I said I just love watching him fly through those trees. It’s stunning.
Overall Grade- B
My Take on Darkness in Disney
One thing which has been continually brought up on the blog is the issue of darkness or evil in a movie and when does it cross the line into disturbing and violent. It’s a hard question to answer to be honest. It is kind of a ‘I know it when I see it’ situation but I will try to explain.
Few things to keep in mind.
1. I am not a fan of scary movies or horror- I personally do not like the sensation of being scared, never have, never will. I recognize that is my personal preference and there is nothing inherently wrong with horror movies, but everyone comes to movie viewing with a set of likes and dislikes such as disliking musicals or romantic comedies. I am Legend, Rear Window, Wait Until Dark are about as scary as I get.
Even a very popular super hero franchise is too scary and intense for my taste. I find violent content sticks in my brain and I have a hard time getting rid of it.
2. I am also a deeply religious person with conservative values so some things I do not care for because it crosses a line between ghost story and evil such as exorcism movies. I can’t really take off that hat because it’s who I am so I can only look at films through that perspective and try to learn from others who see through a different lens (that’s the whole point of blogging like this!).
Ghost stories are usually OK-
What I mean by this is a story can be set in an all dark world, a ghostly world and it usually is pretty good. For example, I like:
Corpse Bride-
ParaNorman-
Nightmare Before Christmas-
Spirited Away-
These types of movies are not as upsetting to children or me because they are entirely within their world so the characters become likable and have nuances within the darkness. There is usually a protagonist in these types of movies who is very easy to relate to despite their crazy environment.
Coraline I wasn’t as big a fan of not because of the images but I felt the story dragged and I didn’t feel that connection to the lead I needed for the dark imagery.
Good vs Evil is OK-
Many children stories are about the battle of good vs evil and I think that is great. Kids should not grow up believing the world is gumdrops and rainbows. In fact, being a religious person an understanding of Satan and evil is very important with of course an understanding of Christ and His goodness to compliment it.
I think that balance is the key to my liking a good vs evil movie. There should be hope throughout the film mixed in with moments of real peril. When it is all evil, evil, evil, evil and then finally the good guy wins I grow frustrated.
One of the great things about the Harry Potter movies is evil is a real palatable force but there is always hope, friendship, love and kindness.
The Wicked Witch of the West is a pretty scary villain. It is unclear how Dorthy is going to make it out of the situation alive. I know kids where Wizard of Oz is too much for them, so a lot of this depends on the kid (or adult watching). I would say Wizard of Oz pushes the line for small children but she is so over-the-top to be almost more funny than scary that I think it’s fine for most kids. Most of the Disney villains fall into the category of the Wicked Witch. They are villains but so over-the-top that they don’t bring us down but entertain us with their evil ways. The heroine or hero is never completely without hope and there are enough moments of peace and safety to make it all work.
Return to Oz on the other hand did not work for me and petrified me as s child. It’s one thing to have a wicked witch. It’s another to have a witch who has a hallway of her collection of heads, with wheelies and electroshock therapy on Dorothy. That’s crossing the line and it gave me nightmares as a little girl.
Don’t be mean spirited!-
You’ve heard me say on the blog, particularly about The Rescuers, is I thought it was a ‘mean spirited’ film. What do I mean by that? Well, it goes back to tone. Villains can exist and should exist in a movie, especially a fairytale but when a character is picked on to the point of being an unempowered victim than the movie starts to lose me. Penny is treated so badly in The Rescuers. She is told she is worthless, unadoptable, homely, shot at several times, and forced to go down the cave. To me there is no sense of empowerment or hope for the character. It’s just beat her, beat her, beat her until she is rescued. That’s where it crosses the line to me and becomes mean spirited, when it loses its hope.
So not only do you have to get the right kind of villain but you have to use them in the right dosage. Rescuers Down Under I loved because it kept its hope and used McLeach very little- just enough to be menacing without being shrill or overbearing.
Again, this is just my perspective but I thought it might helpful when reading my blog. I was scared of Medusa (not in the good way) as a little girl because nothing that happens in The Rescuers (except for the mice rescuing Penny) is really that outrageous. It could totally happen and probably has happened that a little girl has been abducted by mean people to help them with a task like going down the cave (or some other scheme to make money).
The music and color palate can also have a big influence on creating tone (and nothing is harder as a writer than creating the right tone). The Rescuers had music which made me feel even worse for Penny and it was all very unpleasant. Not exciting, funny or shocking like a good creepy villain or scary scene will do.
In Rescuers Down Under Cody immediately has friends when he’s abducted and there is a hope and light that makes it less dark and mean spirited.
Pinocchio was too far over the line for me as a child. Pleasure Island is very disturbing and no resolution is ever made. Evil is not defeated, the kids are never changed back to kids from being donkeys. This was terrifying. It has only been as an adult I can appreciate it for the morality play it is but I still couldn’t give it an A because I just know I didn’t enjoy it as a child and that has to count for something.
The thing about Pinocchio is it also maintains its tone throughout, which was terrifying as a child but as an adult I can appreciate it more; whereas, other movies try to swing around more and so they aren’t pleasant as an adult or a child. Pinocchio does have Jimminy but for most of the movie it is a dark, scary tone. I hated it as a child but like it all right now.
Don’t Be R Rated in G Rated Film-
Occasionally a film will come out using childlike themes or settings but for adults. I think this is great! A perfect example is Pan’s Labyrinth. I admire Guillermo del Toro for not trying to wedge his vision into a G rated movie but just making the hard R he wanted to make. I wish Disney would at least once be brave enough to make an adults only movie. I think with Hunchback the artists wanted to but the studio toned it down creating a tonal mess.
I was lucky enough to be somewhat sheltered as a child and it served me quite well. While I think it is healthy for children to learn about evil and that bad things can happen there are certain subjects I don’t feel a little boy or girl needs to know about until they are older. Rape and violent murder are in that discussion. That was my main issue with Hunchback. I do not want to have to explain to my 7-year-old about lust, rape, assault and burning a family alive. To me that crosses a line which kids don’t need to cross. It doesn’t make them a better person or inspire their imagination like a Wizard of Oz or a Nightmare Before Christmas.
Like I said before, there are also certain things because of my religious views that I don’t really want to explain to children until they are older. For example, in Princess in the Frog the villain is a voodoo man (won’t give away my review). If I had kids that would be a concern for me because I don’t really want them to know about voodoo, possession, exorcism, heathen practices. My parents would never let us play with Ouija boards for the same reason. I recognize everyone does not have the same beliefs but those are mine and they affect my enjoyment of a movie.
Kids can be Sad-
You might think I only like movies which are happy Christian films and that is not the case. I love movies that take children’s feelings seriously. It is fine for children to be sad and to learn about themselves as full people. I love Where the Wild Things Are and many people feel that is a depressing picture but I remember being that thoughtful, sometimes sad kid, wondering about life. 
I wrote up a defense of Where the Wild Things Are on my other blog:
http://smilingldsgirl.com/2014/02/20/where-the-wild-things-are-defended/
But it also gets a bit of a pass for me because like Pans Labyrinth it wasn’t really marketed or made for kids. There are moments which are kid-like but they are still enjoyable to adults not like the gargoyles made clearly to appeal to only kids. If I had kids I would have to weigh the type of child and maturity levels (and ability to handle a slower paced movie) before watching Where the Wild Things Are..
I love stories about people who don’t feel at home in their environment, who break free and find out who they really are. That’s why I love The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Where the Wild Things Are . I could go on and on…
Who Knows…
Perhaps when I have kids I will go even further away from darker pictures. I don’t know but I know what I like now, what I liked as a child and how certain pictures come off to me. If I say something feels mean-spirited or hateful it doesn’t mean I don’t like darkness in children’s films. I’ve just given you a number dark films I do like. It just means that on the particular day with that particular film it was too much. It was too hateful. It was too mean.
I think part of it also has to do with having been bullied as a child badly. I know people roll their eyes know when they hear bullying stories but it was a profound experience in my life. I guess that’s why I am more sensitive to situations where I feel a character is being victimized not merely threatened.
I also know I have become softer and less tolerant in some ways as an adult. A few years ago I reread a bunch of Roald Dahl books I loved as a child and they seemed very violent to me. I was shocked. So, who knows! I just do my best to give and defend my responses and what I would feel if I had a daughter viewing the films.
That’s all I can do and I’m having a great time doing it, so thanks for reading!
And I realize I am probably in the minority and a bit of a wimp in these views but it’s me and hopefully I still have positive things to say about any movie even if I don’t like the dark tones (no F’s yet! Always something I like).
Movie 36: Mulan
If you are reading all of my reviews you will remember my recent thoughts about Pocahontas. I was not a big fan. I felt the characters were more caricatures and everything was very predictable. It also bothered me a little bit that the Powhatan tribe had tried to help Disney tell the true story and they had been denied that opportunity and hated the end picture.
So, now we have Mulan= also telling a non-Caucasian ethnic group’s female legend story. Am I going to dislike it too?
Nope! I really enjoy Mulan.
The reason Mulan works better than Pocahontas is it has a layered and more complex lead character and aside from Mushu, it doesn’t try to teach Westerners or talk down to them. This is a story about a Chinese girl and all that she meets and interacts with are Chinese. Some of them are meant for humor but it is never cold and degrading. At least not to me.
I did look online for about an hour to see if I could find any blogs of Chinese or Chinese Americans who hated the film but for the most part it was all positive. (There were some hard-core feminists who still found fault with it. Geesh!).
Most of the movie is about Mulan fitting in and finding her place in the army. And that it does very well.
The Production-
Mulan was released in 1998 and it was conceived as a way to appeal to the Chinese market. Lion King had been a huge success there and Disney was on thin ice with the government because of their funding of a live action movie about the Dali Lama in Tibet.
They took a poem called The Song of Fa Mu Lan and a book called China Doll and combined them together to get the story. Many scenes like the emperor’s palace were studied by the artists to be authentic.
They also used new technology made by Pixar to create thousands of soldiers in the battle scenes and they hold up very well- better than most CGI at that time.
They also do a good job teaching kids about the costs of war without showing death, wounds, blood etc.
Such scenes give the film real heart and gravity without becoming overbearing or too much for children.
It has some problems but overall I really like it.
The score was written by Jerry Goldsmith with songs by Matthew Wilder and David Zippel. It only has 4 songs and 1 reprise but they are a lot of fun.
The Story-
The Huns have attacked the Great Wall and word has gone out to the Emperor who decides to gather together an army to defeat the invaders.
Meanwhile Mulan is getting ready to appear before the matchmaker and be approved as a bride. We get our first of 4 songs which sets a nice tone and helps us understand Mulan’s predicament (kind of like Belle in Beauty and the Beast).
The matchmaking ceremony does not go well and Mulan seems devastated. It reminds me of Ariel in Little Mermaid- a girl not at home in her world, her body. If you haven’t gathered I love when that storyline is in a movie . I relate to it so much. I think a lot of girls do.
Desperate for a sense of belonging Mulan sings one of the better 90s Disney ballads sung beautifully by Lea Salonga (who was also Jasmine’s singing voice)
My favorite part of the character Mulan is how well- rounded and interesting she is. She doesn’t always behave the way you expect her too. She isn’t just willful and disobedient (like an Ariel wouldn’t have even shown up to the matchmakers). She’s trying to do what she is told but it isn’t working. Same is true in the army. She never has to be rescued at any point in the movie (actually her lowest is after the matchmaker, not after battle. Love that!).
The main catalyst for the movie starts with Mulan’s father Fa Zhou being asked to fight in the war against the Huns. Mulan tries to speak in his behalf but in doing so she shames him. With her father unwilling to dishonor himself or listen to her she takes matters into her own hands (also like Ariel) and sneaks off in his armor to join the army, as a man
The music and staging of this scene almost reminds me of an 80s action movie. (Pat Morita of Kirate Kid fame is the emperor in this movie btw).
Mulan’s ancestors hear of her leaving and accidentally send a dragon lizard to support her instead of a stone dragon. These ancestors are a little bit cringe-worthy but they are in the movie so briefly that I don’t think anyone will be offended by them.
The lizards name is Mushu, and he is the Genie of the movie, the fast talking comic relief voiced by Eddie Murphy. To be honest, I much prefer his voice work here to the Shrek movies. It is less shouty and the writing is less crude.
Arriving at the training camp Mulan muddles her way along, pretending to be a man, and learning to be a soldier. The fellow soldiers are a lot of fun and her trainer Li Shang (singing voice by Donny Osmond believe it or not) is tough without being too mean for kids.
I really like everything about this musical number:
There is also a very funny scene where all the soldiers surprise Mulan as she is bathing! This is good physical comedy
They end up going off to battle to try and help Li Shang’s father and we get our last song- A Girl Worth Fighting For.
but they have been caught and destroyed. Just then they are ambushed by the huns and we get our battle.
This is probably a good point to bring up Mulan’s greatest weakness as a movie- the villain. I watched it twice today and I still had no idea what his name is or anything else about him except he is a Hun. Even Edgar in the Aristocats had more personality than this guy. I’m going to say it- worst Disney villain ever. Honestly his hawk is less bland.
But in the battle with nameless villain army Mulan saves the day by creating an avalanche with a rocket but in celebrating she is wounded. Her secret is of course out as she is bandaged up. We get the classic ‘liar reveal’ story trope but it isn’t played to hard and Li Shang is angry but does not kill Mulan because she just saved his life.
The storytelling clips along so well in the movie. Hardly anything drags and I think that’s what makes it work so well even with a predictable moment like the liar reveal.
Mulan is left in disgrace and the army pushes forward to the Emperor. But as she mounts her horse Mulan see’s some of the Huns survived the avalanche and are heading towards the city. Racing Mulan warns Li Shang but he still feels betrayed by her and won’t listen, and the Huns take over the palace.
Through some creative thinking Mulan rallies the troops and they are able to defeat the Huns. I can’t imagine a kid in the world not enjoying this scene. It’s exciting, funny, and even with a lame villain it still works:
In a great moment Mulan is honored by the Emperor for her bravery and quick thinking.
Finally at the end we see Li Shang has forgiven Mulan and come to visit.
Movie Review/Conclusion-
The movie is actually really rich and deep in its characters. I didn’t even go into the soldiers who are all funny, Mulan’s Grandma, a cute cricket, and a crotchety assistant to the emperor. We meet a lot of people yet the movie doesn’t feel cluttered or crowded. It is about a girl in the army so it is appropriate to have a large cast. Perhaps this makes up for having the lamest Disney villain?
Mulan is kind of like Tangled in a way. Both movies were made to please both boys and girls instead of the girl movie/boy movie philosophy so often employed by Disney. I think it completely succeeds in that appeal. Boys will like the action and humor from the soldiers and Mushu.
Girls will like Mulan because she can be their first warrior princess (ok. She’s not a princess but you know what I mean). Mulan is layered and interesting. She is unselfish but not without flaws. In fact, I think Mulan is one of Disney’s most dynamic characters.
Like I said, really my only flaw is the villain. I think one or two scenes giving him some personality would help the movie. As it is, the film certainly isn’t ruined by its villain.
The songs are more of the Aladdin/Lion King pop vibe, but I like them and the ancestors scenes are really the only cringe-worthy segments, which is saying a lot for Disney in an ethnic movie (usually not their strong suit).
They also do a good job blending in the traditional Chinese watercolors with the animation (see Girl Worth Fighting For…). The backdrops are also beautifully drawn with a watercolor flair. There are a lot of little touches like that which help it feel rich and textured.
But mainly I just like the character of Mulan a lot. She is definitely one of my favorites.
Overall Grade- A