Disney's Bronze Age - The STAR Age

 After the passing of Walt Disney and one horrible film that took over 5 years to make and get released, we almost had the complete end of Disney Animation.   Many refer to the Bronze Age of Disney animation as, The Dark Age, but I like to think of it as 🌟THE STAR AGE🌟

This era of Disney filmmaking lasted from 1970 to 1988 and like other films of this era had Disney trying new avenues and experiments in movie trends.   It was the final years of, The Nine Old Men, and a changing of the guard in Disney Animation that almost cost the company it's base.

Here we'll go from "worst" to Best, and even though I don't think there really has ever been a "bad" Disney animated feature, this era did hold the worst of them all in one film...

The Black Cauldron, released in 1985, it's production began in 1980 and was one disaster after another, with rewrites, refocus, and went through a slew of producers and directors.  It was released and remains somewhat unfinished with gaps in dialogue and story.  Other than The Horned King and the annoying imp Gurgi, the characters lacked any real strength or depth at all.  The legendary, John Hurt (Alien) was the only major actor of 🌟Star Age🌟 power, but he brought it big as the villain, The Horned King.  It was an attempt to reach a more mature fantasy crowd that would become more defined in 1981's release of, Heavy Metal, in a mix of animated films to catch up to the sword & sorcery genre.  Part of the films "rise of the dead warriors" scene had to be cut to get it a more family friendly rating, something Disney had never had to worry about before.  It was an experimental age for Disney as they also tried getting into the motion picture version of The Space Race with their release of, The Black Hole in 1979 (I'll get into the detail of that film in another post).  This one movie and it's delays almost caused the complete closure of Disney Animation.

Next up is a Disney classic that has some of the most hilarious scenes in the companies animated history and one music scene that is an all time favorite, The Aristocats.  It had some fabulous music and memorable moments, but overall it just didn't really stack up to the classic Disney animation standards, and this was the final film that Walt Disney himself was a part of, but died during production, this might have been why the film, at times, feels a bit lost and unsure where to go.  With the loss of Walt, it seems that many of the others involved simply went with some general Disney ideas and didn't really have anyone to push their limits and creativity.  Also, voice actor Phil Harris (Baloo the bear) lent his voice to the male lead, Thomas and it seems he brought a lot of Baloo with him, more than the role needed.  Eva Gabor voiced Dutchess but it still didn't seem to lend the star power the film really needed, but was part of this 🌟Star Age🌟.  The film also featured Sterling Holloway (Winnie the Pooh), Scatman Crothers, Thurl Ravenscroft (Tony the Tiger),  and Nancy Culp (Mrs Hathaway, The Beverly Hillbillies).

Ranking this next one so low breaks my heart a bit, but it wasn't originally a feature film, it's a piece work of three Winnie the Pooh shorts with animated scenes made to put them together and titled, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.  If this had been a full feature with more time around it, it would be higher.  The film is a truly fun watch but is just one fun time after another. The film is memorable and really plays well when paired on a movie night with the live-action film, Christopher Robin.  But the film lacked any kind of villain and any story than just being a funny buddy-picture with he and his friends.  To this day it still holds one of the quickest re-release dates only 3 years after the initial release, on that re-release the extra title of "and Tigger too" was officially connected to the film.  While it's cast didn't carry the star power of others on this list, even though having Sebastian Cabot as the Narrator is still impressive, Pooh has taken his place as Disney's 2nd biggest leading man.

Robin Hood (1973), it's hard to think of that name without thinking of this Disney venture into the classic adventures.  It still matches up with almost any of its live-action counterparts, it's the same strong adventure story, but with animals...  One of the things that does hold the film back is another bear performance by Phil Harris and it's even harder to ignore this time, since it's actually a brown Baloo.  But the support characters really make the difference with this one, lots of very strong secondary characters that hold up the film throughout.  Here we do have another piece of the 🌟Star Age🌟 with Peter Ustinov playing a double-role of Prince John and King Richard.  Along with musical maestro Roger Miller as Alan A Dale, the musical minstrel and narrator of the tale.

Another big leap for Disney was, The Fox & The Hound (1981), a not so normal buddy-picture that brings in some darker elements of friendship gone bad and the violence of hunting.  The bad guy turns out to be not such a bad guy but a very large and angry bear (this time NOT played by Phil Harris) gave smaller theater goers some scary moments.  There was another 🌟Star Age🌟 with one of the most incredible and yet overlooked performances with Pearl Bailey playing the wise old owl, Big Mama, and if you saw it, you never forget her amazing performance.  But she wasn't the only one, a younger Kurt Russell and a very young Cory Feldman both lent their voices to, Copper the hound dog.  Legendary Mickey Rooney also was in the cast, as he portrayed, Tod the fox, and Sandy Duncan as Vixey the bird.  Jack Albertson (Uncle Joe, Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) played the old hunter, Amos Slade.  And a rare Disney "appearance" by Looney Tunes legend, Mel Blanc.  The picture disc of the soundtrack was a big seller for the studio with all these voices attached.  The man who would finally bring Batman back to the big screen, Director, producer and writer, Tim Burton also worked on this film for Disney in production.

Modern times and popular music elevated our #3 on the list, Oliver and Company (1988) was a modern twist on, Oliver Twist for a homeless kitten who took up with a pack of street wise mutts in the Big Apple and all it's commotion.  This films 🌟Star Age🌟 cast is one of the biggest ever, a young Joey Lawrence voices Oliver and legendary New York piano-man Billy Joel was in for, the Artful Dodger.  Bette Midler, Cheech Marin, Roscoe Lee Brown, Dom DeLuise, Robert Loggia, Sheryl Lee Ralph were also part of this star studded gathering of voices.  Also probably the second more famous voice actor of all time, Frank Welker (Megatron, Freddie from Scooby Doo) had a small part as the hotdog vendor, along with other animals sound effects.  The soundtrack was a big hit and brought Disney animation into the modern age of America and pop culture.  Other pop stars like Huey Lewis and Ruth Pointer (the Pointer Sisters) were part of the soundtrack.

In at the "silver medal" position in this countdown is the movie that brought Disney Animation back from the brink of doom, The Great Mouse Detective (1986) and back to the more classic style of story telling that the company was famous for.  Based on the children's book, Basil of Bakerstreet (a kids ode to Sherlock Holmes), a mouse that lives in the house of the famous detective solves cases of his own.  The 🌟Star Age🌟 power here came from a legend who had wanted to lend his voice to Disney for a couple of decades, the master of the macabre, Vincent Price, who took the role of the dark and sinister villain, Professor Ratigan, one of the darker and more vicious villains Disney had tried so far.  While it didn't have the numbers that Oliver and Company had, it also gave a respectful bit to Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce who had portrayed Holmes and Watson on the radio for decades and in many major motion pictures, giving them a cameo towards the end of the film.  The writers and producers of the era understood that radio dramas had helped advance the cause of voice actors far more than films and made Disney's animated success possible.  They also tapped into the pop music scene with a rousing song by, Melissa Manchester (You Should Hear).

Finally, the winner of this age of Disney, The Rescuers (1977).  With this list it seems a bit of an easy call but this film had it's future animation stars attached along with the 🌟Star Age🌟 cast.  It's not hard to look back and see that Don Bluth had a heavy part of this classics animation and feel.  Bob Newhart and Eva Gabor would lead a mighty cast through a great adventure that had a bit more grit to it than most Disney films before it.  The cast also featured Bernard Fox, Geraldine Page, George Lindsay, John Fiedler and Joe Flynn.  In another respectful nod to the history of voice acting, Jim Jordan came out of retirement to portray Orville, who was famous for his role as Fibber McGhee in the golden age of radio, he passed away before the release of the film, which ended up being dedicated to him.  This film set a tone for much stronger storytelling in Disney's future and became a major fan favorite, spawning a sequel to theaters, The Rescuers Down Under.  When I was a kid, my sister and I named our pet dobermans, Bernard & Bianca after the two lead characters.  The dark visuals of the city and swamp would later come back to us with Don Bluth's work on his own films, Secret of Nhim, and, An American Tale.

With the death of Walt Disney and the long distance of 18 years for only 8 films, it's not surprising how some see this as Disney Animations "dark period" as well as it was part of Disney's experimental time with sword & sorcery, super hero's and science fiction.  We can only be glad for the classics that brought the studio back from the brink and gave us some wonderful memories. 

Even those who try to claim this as the "weaker" age of Disney has to acknowledge the 🌟Star🌟 power that was part of these classics.

Christopher Robin - A true Disney classic, all grown up.

In the middle of Disney putting out lackluster remakes, overflowing with enough CGI to scare George Lucas, it was refreshing to see them put out a truly beautiful, family film again.

Being that it stars, Obi Wan Kanobi (Ewan McGregor) I was, at first, expecting some big moment, something bold and dramatic.  The film was reminding me of, Secondhand Lions and I guess I was waiting for this films version of the fight scene between Hub and the teenagers, but it never came, but by the end of the film, it was okay.  It’s a relaxing and truly enjoyable, family film.  It left we with an uplifting and peaceful feeling, that childlike innocence of, everything’s going to be okay… 

Alongside McGregor is one of the new sensations of Hollywood, Hayley Atwell (Peggy Carter from the MCU) who is not only one of the most talented actresses to come along in a while but also one of the most classic beauties in many decades.  Atwell plays McGregor’s wife, Evelyn who has stuck with Christopher through thick and thin, including many years of him being away for World War II.  

Then one day, as he is very stressed about life, Christopher Robin is hiding out in the park across from his home in London, when he hears an old and familiar voice… Pooh.  Robin turns around to Pooh Bear carrying on a conversation with him as if he’s only been gone a week.  Robin first thinks he’s gone mad, but Pooh had come looking for him to help him find his fellow citizens of the ‘Hundred Acre Woods, and the adventure begins.

The incredible Jim Cummings voices Pooh & Tigger, while Dr Who, Peter Cabaldi voices Rabbit and the amazing Brad Garrett voices Eeyore.  The voices and the old Winnie the Pooh music worked into the films beautiful score bring back a flood of memories.

Contrary to some very foolish sites and lists, this is NOT a remake or reboot at all, it’s a sequel.

It’s like a coming of age film but in reverse, sort of, it shows us the importance of holding on to things that are truly important in life, about priorities but at the same time, about the old Disney adage, don’t completely grow up, or you might lose a very important part of yourself. 

The writing is inspired as Pooh’s naive and childlike view of the world really helps to put a lot of adult things in a clearer perspective.  The film shows that just because we get smarter, doesn’t mean we know more, and certainly doesn’t automatically make us wiser.  In fact, it’s Pooh’s innocent wisdom that really helps Christopher Robin and his family see what is important in their lives.

This film gets 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of five, it really does remind you of the classic Disney family films we grew up on, and that Disney has been missing the mark on for a long time.  I can not recommend this film highly enough as a true, FAMILY Film!

 

Family Movie Night PLUS - GHOSTBUSTERS

 I'm not old enough to remember the days of a cartoon & news reel before the motion pictures in the theater, but I do remember some theaters still running a cartoon before a Disney movie here and there, when I was a kid.

With today's technology and the availability of so much on DVD/Blu-Ray/Youtube we can really enjoy things better than ever before.

Instead of just a plain old movie night, why not pair the movie up with some other bits of the past to make it even better?

Pick a cartoon short that goes with the general theme of the movie your watching and a half-hour episode of a television show that does the same.

For an easy one, I went with this set that, to me, is a great mix....

"Ghostbusters", released June 8th 1984, the comedy/adventure classic as the main showing, it's a really fun family film that almost everyone still enjoys, it's got a great history and we just had the new sequel, "After Life", just came out.

Before Ghostbusters, go all the way back to Christmas Eve, 1937 when Disney released "The Lonesome Ghosts", starring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck & Goofy as the Ajax Ghost Exterminators Agency, who are called to a house to rid it of ghosts, trouble is, it's the four trouble-making ghosts who called them in.  You can find the short version of this short, with about 2+ minutes cut from the original, on Youtube.

Then after Ghostbusters, an episode of "The Real Ghostbusters" animated show, "Citizen Ghost", where Peter tells the story of how Slimer came to live with the gang at the firehouse and follows directly up after the original film.  The suits the Ghostbusters wore to battle Gozer were supposed to be disposed of (oops Venkman) and take on a life of their own, with doubles of the team that try to take out the originals and take their place.  It's available on the DVD Series collection.

Watched together, it all just flows and makes for a really fun night for the family along with your favorite pizza (New York style, of course).  And it should all take less than 2.5 hours but it's something that the family should remember. 

What combinations can you think of that go together?

Just a quick historical note of irony, as "Lonesome Ghosts" debuted on Christmas Eve 1937 in theaters,  With no mention in the schedule at all, HBO gave its subscribers a major surprise Christmas present on Christmas Eve 1984 with a single airing of, "Ghostbusters", which didn't make it's official HBO debut until March 1985.  It's a Christmas Eve tradition of a surprise showing that they would continue for several years.

Happy Birthday & Happy Freaky Friday to Jodie Foster

 

Given certain circumstances, I thought I'd forgo the usual name for the weekly post, and just wish a grand, Happy Birthday to one of the finest actresses of our age, Jodie Foster.

To simply address her as an, Academy Award Winner, even adding the word "multiple" doesn't seem to do justice to her spectacular, and often overlooked career.

One of the best things about Foster is her life of steering clear of most scandals and bad press, but the one she had is more than enough for a lifetime, and we'll skip discussion of it on this one.   

Foster's career started almost by accident, as her mom had totted her along to an audition for her older brother, in a Coppertone commercial in 1965, and the casting agents took a shine to her.  She and her brother would go on to do many commercial roles up until 1969, that year she had a reccurring role on, The Courtship of Eddie's Father, starring Bill Bixby.

It was in the 1970's that her life would change forever as she was cast in two films by famed director, Martin Scorcese, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, and then, as a child prostitute in, Taxi Driver.  For this role Foster had to undergo psychiatric assessment and was always accompanied on set by a social worker.  Her older sister would "stand in" for her during the more sexual scenes.

It was during this film that she was allowed to develop her own character and realized that acting was an artistic craft rather than just acting like a kid in front of the camera, for it, she was nominated for an Academy Award.

Later she would return to Disney for another memorable role, Freaky Friday, where her teen character switched bodies with her mother, it was a box office smash and would later be remade.  She would also make the Disney film, Candleshoe, starring opposite, David Niven.

In 1980 she began as a full time student at Yale University, she put college first and would only make films during her summer breaks.

It was in college that she really began to take her career as an actress more seriously and stopped looking at it as an "unintelligent profession", she wanted to take the next steps in more serious films.

In 1988 she had her "breakthrough" role as a rape survivor in the film, The Accused, based on a real case, and tackled the real world problem of "victim blaming" in cases like it.  Due to the films content, the production was trying on both cast and crew, especially when they filmed the rape scene, Foster was not happy with her performance in the film, and thought it would end her career, instead it was a major success and Foster received an Oscar and Golden Globe for her performance. 

In 1991 she would take on her most famous role, FBI trainee, Clarice Starling in, Silence of the Lambs, opposite Anthony Hopkins as the bone-chilling, Hannibal Lecter.  Both characters are considered two of the best cinematic hero's and villains of all time, like her previous film Taxi Driver, Silence of the Lambs is one of the films preserved in the, National Film Registry.

In 1994 she would replace Meg Ryan in the western-comedy remake of a classic television show, Maverick, costarring with Mel Gibson, and televisions original Maverick, James Garner.  This is my personal favorite of her career, because she and her fellow cast seemed to genuinely have fun making the film.

Foster has started her own production company and gone on to star in many more films and even take charge behind the camera, directing films and episodes of hit television shows like, Orange is the New Black.

One of the things that I've kept from discussing but been sharing in pictures is that Foster is one of Hollywood's most underrated beauties, and even though not always showing it in film, has always kept herself in great shape, she really is one of Hollywood's most naturally sexy women as well, but has only used her looks when a part specifically calls for it.  Foster is one of the great Class Acts of Hollywood.

It is with great respect and deep admiration that I wish to once again say, Happy Birthday Jodie Foster. 💘

Throwback Thursday : Happy Birthday Mickey Mouse

 

Happy Birthday to one of the great American Icons, Mickey Mouse.

It was on this day in 1928 that Steamboat Willie debuted in theaters and gave us a truly classic character for our nation to embrace.

Over the last 93 years, Mickey Mouse has grown to being beyond a household name, he's become part of the fabric of our culture, and Disney with him.

Walt Disney designed Mickey, whose full name is Michael Theodore Mouse, in a garage after being inspired by a little mouse running around.

Mickey's legacy has helped create over 130 feature length animated films, over 300 live-action films, nearly two dozen theme parks and almost every type of merchandise you can imagine.

More than that, Mickey and his friends have created millions upon millions dreams and dreams come true, for children of all ages around the world.

Best Disney Live-Action Remakes

 

Movies are one of my greatest joys in life, have been for as long as I can remember, and I hope that never changes. 💖

When I was growing up, the Fox Theater in Springfield MO would show a different Disney matinee each Saturday afternoon, and so I got to see all the classics (and some not so classic) on the big screen. 

But in the last 20 years, Disney has had no real creativity to it, if not for Pixar, I’m not sure that Disney would ever been able to purchase the Star Wars or Marvel universes, and might not even be going.  The lack of new material out of Disney is truly disturbing, although some of their live-action remakes are actually pretty damn good.

Recently I made the mistake of watching another asinine video from the woke😝 fools at “watch mojo”, one of the internets collections of brainless little twits who wouldn’t know a good movie if a theater fell on them… with a dragon sitting on top of it.  So, when they put out a video trying to rank the, Disney Live-Action Remakes, I just had to chime in.  

1. Maleficent (2014)

This is easily the best of the bunch because it doesn’t give us a predictable copy of the animated original, it’s fresh, and creative as we get the point of view of the “evil” sorceress herself and learn that not all stories are as they were originally told, I personally like this telling more than the original.  The story is inventive, the characters are strong and the actors are really into their roles, especially Jolie.

2.  101 Dalmatians (1996)

They got the description for this one mostly correct, Glen Close makes this film, REALLY makes this film, she is over the top but also still gives us just barely enough believability that you are hooked in and enjoy the ride.

3.  Alice In Wonderland (2010)

I remember when I heard that Tim Burton was making this and how excited it would be to see his interpretation of this classic tale, and he really did not disappoint at all, it was incredible.  Those at mojo didn’t seem to get it, they didn’t seem to understand it at all, but their videos normally show off that it doesn’t take much push to get something over their heads.  This film is an all around visual delight, Depp is phenomenal at The Hatter, possibly his best role outside of Captain Jack Sparrow, he captured the real nature of The Mad Hatter.  I’m wondering if the children are “watch mojo” have ever read ANY of these books???

4. The Jungle Book (2016)

This one they did get a bit right but also over praised it a good bit, it’s very well done and the talking animals fit in very well and it all seems visually believable, although it misses the mark of the colorful playfulness of the animated version.  The voices are good, borderline on very good, but not great.

5.  Dumbo (2019)

Again, the crew at mojo missed SO much on this one, but they were busy being “woke”😝 about the original and its “bad parts”, which in reality, were not and still aren’t, not for the era it was made.  The film was a bit darker than the original and the humor went with it and was a bit more grown up (that explains why they didn’t get it).  The lil fella is ADORABLE though… and the, “monkey in the desk” bit was hysterical! 

Then there are two that aren’t even remakes/reboots….

Cruella (2021)

This isn’t a remake, it’s a prequel, “the making of Cruella” not a remake of, 101 Dalmatians at all.  Unique and BOLD, this film deserves to be on many great lists.  Stone isn’t Close, but she’s not trying to be, she’s being a young Cruella.  Great flick!

Christopher Robin (2018)

This one isn’t a remake either, it’s a sequel, it’s what happens after Robin grows up, grows away from his friends from the 100 Acre Woods, and it’s magical to an older soul.

My guess is that as they get older, the folks at mojo will understand this film better, or maybe not, they are a bit thick.  This movie is a reconnection to youth, letting one know that it’s okay to not totally grow up and that some thing, no matter how childish they seem, are worth believing in and worth holding onto.

Two very high honorable mentions here…

The Jungle Book (1994) & Mulan (2020)

Both of these are for sticking much closer to the source material, to the point that they aren’t remakes of the Disney animated films, they just have the same names and produced by the same company, again, another part of all this that just flew over their heads.  Both are really great films! 👍

Then there are ones on their list that simply NEVER should have been made… remade… however you want to look at it...

Aladdin (2019)
Without Robin Williams, this remake shouldn't have even been considered.  All respect to Will Smith but he just isn't in the same universe as Williams for this role.  If they were determined to make this, it should have had a heavy rewrite and darker tone (no pun intended), for the big kids, instead of trying to copy Williams.

Beauty and the Beast (2017)

Now I am ALWAYS ready to see Emma Watson💘 on the big screen, that lil lady is a spectacular actress and to me, absolutely STUNNING! 😍 but the other characters just don’t do it.  Gaston comes off as a really wimped out version of the original, the Beast looks like a bad oil painting and the other castle characters just have no real personality to them, like the plates, they are just flat.  Then there is the “wokeness” 😝, the push of an lgbtq character on the film, it would have been no big deal if the media hadn’t shoved it down our throat… maybe that’s not the best way to put it… 😆

The Sorcerers Apprentice (2010) 
Was just LOUSY from start to finish, why they even put it on the list is a mystery unless they just like hearing the sound of their own voice… which is most likely.

The Lion King (2019)
Although the thought of the visuals would be insanely great on a big screen, my interest stopped completely when it was announced that Beyonce’ and Oprah were part of the project, and after seeing it, it was just boring as hell, and the visuals were not as cool as a lot you get from the National Geographic Channel.  This film is the epitome of showing just how desperate Disney is these days, it’s sad to the point of pathetic.

Lady and The Tramp (2019) and Pete’s Dragon (2016) 
Were more of the same, showing that they just want to make a new film to see how much $$$ they can make, to hell with the originals.  Both are barely watchable, not to mention the parts left out of Lady and the Tramp due to the mental illness of “wokeness” 😝.

Cinderella (2021)

Of all the animated Disney classics to put on the big screen in live action, THIS is one of the two tops to go for, along with Snow White, but it fell flat.  Kenneth Branagh did a great job and it has some stunning visuals, but who cast the lead?  Cinderella is supposed to be the definition of beautiful Disney Princess and that young lady is somewhat pretty… okay, not really, she’s just not, this character should be STUNNING Beautiful when fixed up, but … no.  We’ll see what happens when Snow White comes out.  If this makes me seem cruel or “mean”, to the small minded, so be it, even if it’s just an honesty you don’t like.

Happy 20th to Monsters Inc.

Twenty years ago today, Disney & Pixar released one of the most memorable and unique family films of all time, Monsters Inc.

In my opinion, this is Pixar's masterpiece 🏆 so far, the story is different, the characters are identifiable and the visuals are brilliant.

The story revolves around, Monsters Inc. a scare factory, that employs monsters to scare children to collect their screams and produce energy... okay, when looking at it like that, it sounds a bit cruel. 😆  But, it's an amazing concept, this is where the monsters come from, in the night, that have been scaring kids, since the invention of the door.

James P. "Sully" Sullivan (John Goodman) is the companies top scarer, terrifying children and collecting record screams for energy.  His trusty assistant/engineer is Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal), he gets the doors for Sully to enter through as the kids sleep.  Monsters are "scientifically" put together with kids who will respond best to their assigned monster.

Company head, Henry Waternoose III (the legendary James Coburn) has run the factory since his retirement and handing off the top scare duties to his protoge', Sully.  But something goes wrong when a little girl from the human world follows Sully through a door to the Monster World.  Boo (Mary Gibbs) thinks that Sully is adorable and some kind of kitty, which she keeps calling him.  Problem is, when a human child or "artifact" is brought to the Monster World it is believed that it can contaminate everything, and when it happens, a "hazmat" like crew shows up to debug the problem, making for some of the funniest moments of the film.

When Boo follows Sully back, he and Mike have to hide her, as they fear for their careers and the existence of the monster world.  Boo followed him back through at door that Sully wasn't even working on.  A corrupt coworker, Randall (Steve Buscemi) has been collecting scares on the side, trying to up his numbers, but something even more sinister is going on in the factory.

Under the watchful eyes of Roz (Bob Peterson) the boys have to sneak Boo back into the factory and try to send her home before Randall can go through with his terrible plan to scare children like never before.

At one point, the guys are cast out of the factory and monster world to ours, but not in some home, but the great white north where they find Abominable (John Ratzenberger, yeah, he's in ALL of these films).  *On a side note, I think that the Abominable was once a scarer for Monster Inc but was cast out for losing his nerve, that would make a good movie spinoff*

In the end, Sully & Mike have to rescue Boo, get her back home, destroy her door and stop the evil plans of Randall... should be easy, right 😆 And, the guys discover that screams aren't the biggest form of power for the Monster World.

The scene of the door rides through the factory and the warehouse where they keep the doors is some of Pixar's finest work ever.  This film is a true treat for anyone and any age and is one of the best animated films of all time.  👍

The film keeps you moving, engaged and emotional throughout.  It hits all the right buttons at all the right times.

Monsters Inc. gets 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of five, with ease, it's one of those films you can watch over and over.

 

MRM : Disney's Lone Ranger: Wild West Wipeout

 

Today's Disney is a sad and pale comparison to it's days of greatness, no film is a better example of this than Disney's attempt at bringing one of the most hallowed and legendary wild west myths to life, The Lone Ranger.

The film was an abomination to the motion picture industry and a disgraceful insult to the American Legend.

One of the worst parts was the casting of, then red hot actor, Johnny Depp to play American Indian character, Tonto, to the loud objections of the masses to cast an actual American Indian in the role rather than just another Hollywood actor.  Depp's character was overplayed and many times seemed to be more of a focus of the film than others, including the namesake of the film.  Depp was, one of the few times, out of his element and really lost on how to portray the character.

The outlandish situations in the story and characters in the film would have been far better put in a sequel to the Will Smith & Kevin Kline hit, Wild Wild West, which was based on such things.

The Helena Bonham Carter character, Red would have been a perfect fit for the second WWW film, as would Disney's interpretation of the lead horse, Silver, who sometimes seemed to believe he was a bird. 

Disney is truly lost, the best they can do in today's market is to repeat stories they have told in the past and to buy out other franchises and characters, rather than telling classic stories in the Disney way.  Creativity has been completely replaced for the sole desire to make money, not understanding that they will never see the revenue they would under the way Walt did it.

I greatly fear for the day that Disney decides to modernize their classic, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, forcing modern political and social issues into the classic tale from Jules Verne, it only seems a matter of time.

Walt Disney's path was to unite the greatest film makers and creative minds that he could, to come up with the greatest creations and telling of tales that would spark the imagination and creativity of audiences, but there seems to be no talent or creativity in the modern Disney company at all.

Disney's telling of, The Lone Ranger couldn't get a lower rating from me, it's one of the worst films that I've ever seen, and being that I grew up watching the reruns of Clayton Moore as the legendary masked man, I consider the film as an insult to Mr. Moore and the legacy he worked so hard to give to the character.

Great Americana Legends : Dick Tracy

 Even against today's movies, Dick Tracy (1990) stands on its own as a great example of the legendary newspaper comic strip hero.

Director/star Warren Beatty did a phenomenal job with brining this classic to life on the big screen, unfortunately not many knew who Dick Tracy was at the time, he'd been somewhat forgotten to the masses.

Produced by Disney Studios, but released

under their Touchstone banner, it has it's great points, it's bad points and it's incredibly bright points.  One of the brightest points, aside from the costumes, was the MASSIVE marketing campaign, that began almost a year early with the teaser you see to the right, but a lot of movie goers were asking the question, "who the hell is Dick Tracy?"  Disney went all out except in the way they needed to, informing the public of Tracy's history and the character of the man.

Then, in the early spring of 1990, another teaser poster was released, this one with a bit more bang... 

Disney had also released the trailer, featuring pop legend, Madonna and great shots of Beatty in the legendary yellow hat and coat, fans who didn't know much about Tracy thought it was going to be more a comedy than an action/hero film, especially with those crazy looking bad guys.

Again, Disney was all over the marketing campaign, they were already working with fast food giant McDonald's for a toy release in their Happy Meals.

Then Disney did a marketing release that was beyond brilliant, a

special opening night ticket that would let everyone around you know you were going, a ticket ON a t-shirt (still got mine) and theater owners/managers encouraged all to wear their shirts all day opening day, now he was EVERYWHERE and IN MOTION, which has a big play on people's minds, it was a very successful opening weekend, but some of the reviews were mixed on the actual story.

Roger Ebbert raved about the lavish colors and the incredible fantasy world the film took us to, and he was correct, the film had NO actual live sets in the real world.  Backlots, soundstages, giant mats, miniatures and straight up animation were used and in many combinations.  It took over 4 months to design and create the costumes for the wild villains of Tracy's world.

But, who was Dick Tracy, finally some of the history started coming out, but after the films release rather than before.  Tracy was the creation of Chicago cartoonist, Chuck Gould and the character was still owned and published by Tribune Media Service Inc.  Gould's daughter spent time on the set and was thrilled with the accuracy and production of the film.

Another great part of the marketing was their association with co-star (and then Beatty girlfriend), Madonna, who portrayed, Breathless Mahoney (the other woman) to tempt Tracy away from longtime girlfriend Tess Trueheart, brilliantly played by the wildly underrated, Glenne Headly. 

The regular soundtrack for the film was from SuperHero staple of the time, Danny Elfman, whose Batman soundtrack was an amazing success and what drew Beatty to lure him into working on Dick Tracy.  The theme that Elfman came up with for Tracy himself was good but the overall soundtrack isn't his best work.  When asked about working with Beatty, Elfman said, "Warren was insane." 😆

Oscar Winnier, Vitorio Slorano was brought in as the Cinematographer and took the comic strip and along with the set designers brought the legendary comic world to real life, it really sucked you in and made you feel it.

Like the comic strips, the story is short & sweet and gets to the point, although it was a one shot film, it used up all of Tracy's main villains in one big bang, leaving no room for sequels (which Beatty isn't a fan of anyway).  But like some of the other period hero films of the early 90's (The Shadow, The Phantom) it stayed on point and was true to the character, thanks to writers Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr.

The cast was an incredible who's-who of major Hollywood names, Al Pacino portrayed the villain, the loud and crass, Big Boy Caprice.  Dustin Hoffman as the mumbling Mumbles, who did an outstanding job for such a "quiet" role, the man is a true acting artist.  William Forsythe as Flattop, one of Tracy's biggest enemies (second only to Big Boy) he was mainly used as just another hired gun.  Mandy Patinkin, Dick Van Dyke and Paul Sorvino also played great parts.

Another interesting part of the film, something you might overlook at first, no brand names.  A hotel was just "hotel" and even the city they are in is never named.  Streets are all numbered and products have no brand names on them either, even the cars.  This was a giant leap away from 80s Hollywood that really overdid a lot of their product placement (no wonder Wayne's World made such fun of it) but Beatty didn't want anything in there.

With a budget of just over $46M (small potatoes to films of today) it made $162.7M, not sure if that is up to date, but is a respectable amount given how little the masses knew about the character before release, the marketing campaign did a great bit of that.

Some still claim it was just a Disney vehicle for album and toy sales, an hour and fifty minute commercial for Madonna.... and toys, but it's so much more than that.  The combination of filming styles and the mixing of animation into other parts of production really are a monumental achievement.

The film gets 🌟🌟🌟🌟  out of 5 stars, leaving one off because it left absolutely no room for a sequel to continue the legend of Tracy on the big screen.  I pity the person who tries to do a remake/reboot of this one.

Critics felt that Beatty himself was a bit two dimensional as the character, but I thought he pulled it off just right, always sticking to Tracy's straight-arrow approach to The Law but also giving way for his co-stars to shine, to me, it was one of his more humble performances... but he was directing to 😎

This are just some of the posters that were produced to promote the film, there were many more, almost all the speaking cast got a poster.  Disney would have done a bit better to produce a one season animated series to let the people know who Dick Tracy was.  Personally, I feel that Tracy is one of the characters that Filmation should have done a run with from the late 70's to the early/mid 80's since they'd already done Tarzan, Lone Ranger, Zorro and Flash Gordon, it seems like a good fit for what they were doing then.

The toy line did not fare well, mainly because of lack of

knowledge of the character and his world with today's kids, and Madonna's outfits kept a lot of kids out of the theaters for the film itself, including a sheer robe that left almost nothing to the imagination.  This is why an animated series leading up to the film, or after could have helped with the toy line.

But, like with other classic hero films of the early 90's I highly recommend this for anyone who hasn't seen it.  Make sure to watch more than once so the second time you can look for all the different realms of production they went through and focus on the amazing special effects with make up! 👍