Here’s a list of Disney Live Action Remakes that I enjoyed:
Cinderella (2015)
The Jungle Book (2016)
Pete’s Dragon (2014)
Here’s a list of Disney Live Action Remakes that I did not enjoy:
Beauty and the Beast (2017)
The Lion King (2019)
Now, I could go into each and explain the things that I did and did not like about each movie (and certainly, there were things I did and did not like in each one), but given the amount and the general structure of these remakes, plus general quandary that are the Alice and Maleficent live action films, there is a question that mostmany some people ask which is:
I have wanted to talk about Ready Player One for a while, but I wanted the, for lack of a better word, “hype” to die down first so that there could be an attempt at a reasonable discussion. But there’s one more thing that I feel I should do before getting into the themes and problems with the film, and that’s to essentially deconstruct why it’s not actually all that special.
So there’s this movie, which is ostensibly about a corporation that is trying to take over a place in order to use it for commercial purposes. Doing so would disenfranchise a not insignificant portion of a marginalized population. But that is more or less background noise until the final fight– the main story is a mystery, where the main character searches for clues with the help of allies in order to solve it. Part of the gimmick of the film is the huge amount of references to classic media.
So there’s this movie, which is about a group of five kids that are promised a prize unlike any other. A mysterious man guides them through a place of wonder and horror and fantasy. Our main character is a boy who is rather unremarkable in most respects, but his intuition and understanding of what makes the place wonderful is why the mysterious man thinks he is worthy of receiving the ultimate prize. The film also condemns those who lie, cheat, and steal to get ahead in life.
The first time I did one of these posts, I wrote about the original Disney princess. Now, I’m going to talk about my favorite. Beauty and the Beast is as much of an artistic triumph as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,if not more, given that it won at least some of the Oscars it was nominated for. While Belle is not necessarily the Disney Princess– that would probably have to go to Cinderella– she is almost always included in and on any merchandise for the brand (see my post on the Disney Princess brand for more info). Plus, Belle and Ariel were the first to ring in the Disney Renaissance, which put Disney back on the map in terms of being a studio powerhouse.
As with the last post, we’ll be looking at the history of the character and her story, as well as go into the production of the film and its impact on popular culture at large. I’ll also take a dive into some of her other portrayals, both within the Disney company and without (though certainly not all of them, and I’ll explain that as well). It’s called a tale as old as time for a reason, and Disney’s film is no exception.
So the most popular post on here is still my post about the Disney Princesses and their cultural impact, but that was more the Disney Princesses as a brand. I didn’t really talk much about the girls individually, and that is worth doing because each of them are unique characters in their own right. Yes, even Princess Aurora. This new series is to highlight the history and character of each of the Disney princesses and talk about their films on an individual basis. I might expand out to doing profiles on other Disney characters (Prince John is actually much more interesting than Robin Hood makes him out to be), but if we’re starting with the princesses, we might as well start with the princess that started everything.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is an historical feat of animation– the first ever cel-animated, full-length feature film. Of course, with how old it is and how much people praise it, there is the inevitable backlash. Many people find it boring, say it doesn’t have a good message, say it’s sexist, etc. Filmmaking and storytelling of the 1930’s can be quite different from the sensibilities of current moviegoers, but this film is still an excellent piece of cinema and an important one at that.
2017 was a rough year for media and those who love fiction. Almost every major franchise underwent major polarizing events, from Harry Potter to Marvel to Star Wars and Star Trek, and that’s not to mention the changes to the landscape. The only thing I can say is that I hope it allows new creative voices to shine with less of the weight of what comes before them.
There was a lot to like this year though. I personally enjoyed Justice League and Wonder Woman and The Last Jedi and the new Thor movie. Coco was true to form for PIXAR, the new DuckTales is a phenomenal blend of Gravity Falls and the Donald Duck comics, and Netflix’s A Series of Unfortunate Events and Stranger Things were incredibly bingable. Doing this blog is still fun (though apologies for another unintended hiatus!) and is definitely something I want to continue, though I might switch around the schedule and the way I plan out posts. We went to some stranger places, some academic places, and some downright obscure places, but I talked about the things I loved, and maybe some things that you love as well.
Halloween is a great time for Horror films, but most Horror fare isn’t exactly family friendly– and there are some who simply don’t like the Horror genre overall. But there are films that are perfectly Halloween-y or have a dark enough tone that all ages can enjoy them this month, regardless of genre.
The following films are rated either G or PG, and are listed by recommended age ranges; however, different kids have different reactions to movies. Keep in mind what your kid can handle before you show them a movie they might not be ready for.
About a year back, I talked about some movies that would not have been made if it weren’t for Star Wars. That was far from a complete list, of course, so in honor of Episode IV’s 40th birthday (yes, it’s been 40 years, Gen X-ers) I’ve decided to talk about some more. These have a bit of a different theme though. Last year’s post was mostly about effects and film-making techniques. This year, I’m going to talk more about executives and directors and people— movies that literally would not have been made were it not for George’s “silly little sci-fi film”. Many of the films listed here are made by people who were inspired directly by Star Wars, or are films that have a symbiotic relationship with Star Wars (even more so that Star Trek). These are films, ultimately, that people decided to make due to the success of Star Wars, or due to the power of its film-making.
This is still talking about the Original Trilogy, of course.
The internet loves lists, saying things are the best thing ever or the worst thing that exists. Hyperbole for the sake of comedy and all that. I’ve been wanting to do a post like this for some time– A thing like this sort of lays out biases and what people look for in their entertainment and why they like certain things over other things. For me it’s not as simple, I think. Ranking things subjectively, sure, but actual favorites? Well, my Spotify “Starred” playlist has over 1000 songs on it, so it’s never been particularly easy. I have standard answers to many things, of course. “Empire Strikes Back”, “Harry Potter”, “Teen Titans”, etc. but I’ve never been one for real favorites.
Which is part of the reason I’m organizing this list the way that I am. See, the title is a bit of a lie, because I’m not including many of my favored films on this list. That is, I’m not including any franchise films. Not Star Wars, not Harry Potter, not LOTR, not any of them. Nor am I including any Disney or PIXAR films, though I do absolutely love many of them. I want to talk about movies that I love that aren’t the one’s I would immediately answer with. They’re not un-famous, many are quite recognizable in fact.
The Walt Disney Company is responsible for some of the most recognizable music of the 20th and 21st centuries. From “When You Wish Upon a Star” to the recently Oscar-nominated “How Far I’ll Go”, they’ve put out so many great albums, and have more platinum albums (20, according to the RIAA search function) than Led Zeppelin (18), Madonna (17), or Bob Dylan (15). Kids around the world learn the lyrics to their favorite songs, from their favorite movies– every girl knows the feature song for their favorite princess, at least.
And that is what we’re talking about.
In this series, I am going to go through every Disney soundtrack that accompanies each of the Disney Animated Canon– currently, 56 films starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and going to Moana— and pick the best song out of each album. I will be breaking this series up by era and releasing them over the next couple of months, with other stuff in between so that this doesn’t just turn into a Disney blog. This week, we focus on the Golden Age of Disney. This era includes Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, and Bambi. These first five movies are all classics, made in quick succession within the span of 6 or 7 years. These movies put the Disney company on the map as a movie studio, establishing the tropes that they continue to use, and setting the standard for family entertainment for years to come.
The Walt Disney Company is responsible for some of the most recognizable music of the 20th and 21st centuries. From “When You Wish Upon a Star” to the recently Oscar-nominated “How Far I’ll Go”, they’ve put out so many great albums, and have more platinum albums (20, according to the RIAA search function) than Led Zeppelin (18), Madonna (17), or Bob Dylan (15). Kids around the world learn the lyrics to their favorite songs, from their favorite movies– every girl knows the feature song for their favorite princess, at least.
But that’s not what we’re talking about.
A John Williams Moment is a moment in a film that is carried by the music. The last time I talked about these, I talked about the man himself, and that was easier to some extent. That’s because John Williams moments are generally not musical numbers (there will be some exceptions in the list, but bear with me for now). Disney, on the other hand, is the champion of the movie musical, more so than most other studios. This means that many moments of high emotional impact are sung– “Let it Go”, for example, or “Part of Your World”. That’s not a John Williams moment. Luke looking out at the binary sunset contemplating his future and dreams, that’s a John Williams moment. But given this is Disney, some of the following “moments” are more full scenes/sequences. Here are what the rules will be:
It has to be something that Disney put their name on. This list will not have PIXAR (they deserve their own list), LucasFilm (kinda covered that in the last post), Marvel (they don’t really have great scores), or Touchstone pictures.
If there is singing, it will not be by a named character (that is, one named on screen), at the very least. Disney has some great choral scores and I want to recognize that tradition.
There will be some live-action, a lot of animation, and one from the park. That’s not really a rule, more of a statement.
As before, this will be in chronological order, because my brain hurts just picking only 15.
10/11/2019
What Great Cover Songs and The Legend of Zelda Can Teach Us About the Disney Remakes
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Here’s a list of Disney Live Action Remakes that I enjoyed:
Here’s a list of Disney Live Action Remakes that I did not enjoy:
Now, I could go into each and explain the things that I did and did not like about each movie (and certainly, there were things I did and did not like in each one), but given the amount and the general structure of these remakes, plus general quandary that are the Alice and Maleficent live action films, there is a question that
mostmanysome people ask which is:“Why remake these movies at all?”
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