Mulan - the original one not the new one

Over the weekend I watched Mulan for the first time - the original animated feature, not the new one for $30 on the Disney Plus streaming service. It was really entertaining, my first time learning about the centuries-old Chinese story about the warrior who is a woman posing as a man. The DVD I purchased has a commentary track and bonus features, so one day I will check those out more as well. The film includes many moments where characters talk about the traditional gender roles and customs of the times, which I don't is common in many Disneys.  The movie certainly had plenty of comic relief from the talking dragon (Eddie Murphy), and I liked the cricket who doesn't speak but has some funny moments. It does seem very "Americanized" and "Disney-fied" but I suppose that's the point of it. 

The new Mulan seems to take on a more serious and darker tone without any songs or talking dragon (review from CNN.com here), but I won't be seeing it until the price comes down. 

Virtual reality used in new Lion King movie

I haven't seen the new Lion King movie, but the way it was filmed with virtual reality sounds really cool. Some links to recent articles below.

DISNEY'S NEW LION KING IS THE VR-FUELED FUTURE OF CINEMA

https://www.wired.com/story/disney-new-lion-king-vr-fueled-future-cinema/

The Insane Way Jon Favreau Directed ‘The Lion King’ on a Virtual Reality Set
https://www.indiewire.com/2019/04/jon-favreau-directed-lion-king-virtual-reality-set-1202128319/

'Lion King' director Jon Favreau explains how they used VR to make the movie
https://mashable.com/video/jon-favreau-lion-king-virtual-reality-filming/

Treasure Island (1951)

I watched this recently with a group and enjoyed it for the most part; it's notable for being Walt Disney's first full-length live-action film without any animation (not even the Long John Silver's parrot). Robert Newton was very good as Silver. Bobby Driscoll was OK; he was probably the most famous child actor at the time, hence his casting. The last five or ten minutes of the film seemed very "rushed" to me for some reason. Another thing that's noticeable by today's standards is that it is pretty violent. I wasn't expecting to see so much blood for early 1950s - a guy gets shot in the face, and several others stabbed and shot. After all, pirates are pirates but for a Disney film it seemed to push the envelope; apparently the censors didn't object to the scene when the young boy shoots a pirate in self defense. But overall I enjoyed watching this version, especially Newton's performance.

Toy Story 4 (2019)

I went to see it because I was a very big fan of the last movie, and wanted to see/hear the new characters. I heard that Mel Brooks, Carol Burnett, Carl Reiner, and Betty White were lending their voices, and that seemed pretty cool. But honestly their cameos were so short that it was a little disappointing. I did like the adventure story and rescue that took place in the antique store. And some of the new toys were cool (a pair of carnival dolls are voiced by the comic duo of Key and Peele and they are funny).

There was an extended sequence having to do with trash cans, but none of the characters brought up the scary incinerator experience in the last movie -- probably too traumatic for anyone to rehash. I liked the Randy Newman song "I Won't Let You Throw Yourself Away" that played during the sequence. I'd recommend it, but I didn't think it was a good as the last one.

Coco (2017)

Dia de Los Muertos is Spanish for Day of the Dead, and always is celebrated in the two days after Halloween. Originating in Mexico and celebrated around the world today, it is a multi-day commemoration to celebrate the multitude of ways the living and dead can connect --

•     by telling stories about loved ones in our lives that are no longer with us
•     by displaying their photos on an "ofrenda" (elaborately decorated altars with flowers and candles and cherished family mementos)
•     by celebrating life with delicious food, brightly colored decorations, and festive gatherings.

Examples of food that are enjoyed include "pan de muertos" (bread of the dead), which is a tasty baked sweet roll, and atole, a hot drink of masa, water, cinnamon, sugar, and vanilla.

Coco is a fantastic movie that captures of the essence of why people celebrate Day of the Dead. It's an animated music-filled comedy adventure, which takes place on Dia de Los Muertos in a town in Mexico. The story focuses on young, aspiring musician Miguel who manages to "cross over" into the land of the dead; he also meets his ancestors who he knows about from the photos on his family's ofrenda and from the stories that have been passed from generation to generation. His oldest living relative is his great-grandmother Coco.

I first watched this on DVD in 2018, and now enjoy watching this movie every year or so because it not only helps me understand why families celebrate Dia De Los Muertos but also reminds me of my own relatives and loved ones that have passed away and that I miss. 

It stirs my imagination and makes me think of what the afterlife could be like. It also gives me some encouragement that injustices that aren't settled on Earth can be worked out in the afterlife, and subsequently resolved on Earth. I'm referring to the character of De La Cruz the world-beloved singer that has evil secrets that should be exposed. 

I highly recommend this movie if you haven't seen it. (Available on Disney+, DVD/Blu-Ray, and may be available from your local library). 

Surrender to the Void blog here

A Slate Article here "A Gringo’s Guide to Coco"

An article from Mental Floss blog here - "11 Facts About Día de los Muertos "

Another post from Order of the Good Death here - "Your Guide to the Movie Coco"

The Black Cauldron (1985) and The Great Mouse Detective (1986)

My local library had two Disney movies from the 1980s, and I was curious to see if they still held up after 30 years.

The Great Mouse Detective I saw in the theaters when it first came out when I was 10 years old. I remember liking the commercials and the poster with the big dog -- I can just imagine someone in Disney marketing saying "let's focus on the big dog - no one wants to see a movie about rats and mice".  Funny how after almost 30 years I don't remember one thing about the movie at all - not even what the dog did.  I wish I could l say that all my memories came back to me after re-watching it last week, but they didn't. The beer drinking and the dancing French maid mice went way over my head. Maybe I fell asleep in the theater.  My favorite part was when the Sherlock mouse calculates a way of escaping from the mousetrap set up by Ratigan (Vincent Price). I also really liked the old-timey song that played during the escape, which I found out was co-written by Henry Mancini; I didn't appreciate his contribution to the film when I was 10.

Here's a neat blog post about this movie from  Classic Film and TV cafe https://www.classicfilmtvcafe.com/2021/09/great-mouse-detective-film-review.html

The other one I watched was The Black Cauldron. This was a first-time watch for me. Something about the movie back in 1985 didn't capture my interest, even if it was meant to be a "boy" movie instead of a "girl"/princess movie. Maybe it was the high-fantasy aspect. I was never a big fan of the genre; never got into Hobbit or Lord of the Rings either. But since those movies have been so popular as well as Game of Thrones. Cauldron might be big a hit if released today.

I enjoyed the movie, despite the corniness of some of the characters including the furry short guy, a real moocher if there ever was one, always looking for "munchies and crunchies" (food). I like how he redeems himself in the end. I also liked the main hero, a young pig farmer who has a magical pig that can predict the future.  And I liked the harp player who bickers with his harp. The princess was OK; she had some sort of floating, glowing glass ball or "bauble" that serves no purpose; I kept waiting for that thing to pay off but it never did. She also had her own theme music which sounded alot like one of the pieces from Ghostbusters. I then learned that Elmer Bernstein was the same composer for both movies. Many of the musical sounds in Black Cauldron sound like those in Ghostbusters, but that's not a negative thing.  The villain is pretty scary, too.

Stan Freberg (1926-2015)

I was saddened to hear of the passing of Stan Freberg, from Leonard Maltin's blog.

Also reported on  New York Times |  CNN.com |  NPR.org |  Splitsider.com

You might not know his face but you know his voice from countless radio programs, commercials, TV shows (Beany and Cecil), movies (Lady and the Tramp) and cartoons (Tex Avery, Looney Tunes) for over 60 years. He was a Radio Hall of Famer, a legend of advertising and satire, a Grammy winning recording artist, and a man of 1,000 voices.  One of my favorite of his satires is "Green Christmas" which he recorded some 50 years ago.

If you have never heard it, have a listen here.



May his voice and his recordings live on forever.

Lady and the Tramp (1955)

Each viewing of this movie becomes a little more enjoyable, I'd say. There are a number of "adult" issues in the film that I never understood as a child.  The death of Trusty disturbed me the first time I saw it. I think it was one of the first times I ever saw someone die in a movie, dog or otherwise. Funny how I always think he dies each time I watch it. Spoiler: he doesn't die, and I'm always glad to see Trusty alive!

The "Making Of" documentary on the DVD is just as enjoyable as the film. It features: interviews with Disney experts explaining how the story originated in the 1930s with an idea from Disney animator Joe Grant; original TV footage with Walt Disney himself talking about the movie; Frank Thomas' son and wife enjoying home video footage of Frank studying dogs in the backyard; Ollie Johnson's thoughts about the film; footage and photos of Peggy Lee rehearsing and recording the songs, featuring Peggy Lee's daughter.

Toy Story 3 (2010)

I didn't see Part 2, but I don't think you really need to see 1 or 2 to enjoy this film. The story deals with toys ending up in a daycare, where they meet a big teddy bear called Lotso Huggin' Bear and a number of other retro toys. The geniuses at Pixar came up with this funny marketing gimmick to promote the film,e a faux kiddie commercial with the bear circa 1983. You just have to check this out -



The toys try to escape out of the daycare to get back to their owner - but it never becomes a ripoff of The Great Escape. This is one escape unlike anything you've seen.

And there's a funny homage to Cool Hand Luke; one of the toys repeatedly finds himself in the box - which turns out to be a sandbox.

But favorite part of this involves a sequence with a cymbal-banging monkey toy.

Mickey's Gala Premiere (1933) - With Celebrity Appearances!

Another classic cartoon short featuring caricatures of Hollywood celebrities of the day. I just discovered this classic Disney cartoon, and had fun trying to recognize all the celebrities. Couldn't recognize some of them, though. Here's a good little synopsis of the cartoon, written by Jon Reeves (imdb.com): Mickey's film is having a premiere, and all the stars turn out at the Chinese Theatre. Among those shown: Laurel and Hardy, the Marx Brothers, Jimmy Durante, Clark Gable, Sid Grauman, Mae West. The picture, Galloping Romance (Pegleg Pete kidnaps Minnie, and Mickey gives chase on a variety of animals), starts, and everyone in the audience sways along to the music, then rolls in the aisles with laughter. After, everyone comes on stage to congratulate Mickey; Garbo smothers him with kisses. Celebrities, in order of appearance: 1. Keystone Cops (L-R: Ben Turpin, Ford Sterling, Mack Swain, Harry Langdon, Chester Conklin) Getting out of limo: 2a. Wallace Beery & Marie Dressler 2b. Lionel Barrymore (in beard as Rasputin), John Barrymore (as Prince Paul Chegodioff), Ethel Barrymore (as Czarina Alexandra) all in costume from the film they were in "Rasputin and the Empress". (Read the Wikipedia post on the film) And more trivia: John Barrymore is the grandfather of Drew Barrymore. 2c. Laurel and Hardy 2d. Marx Brothers 3. Maurice Chevalier 4. Eddie Cantor 5. Jimmy Durante 6. (L-R) Jean Harlow, Joan Crawford, Constance Bennett 7. Clockwise: Harold Llyod, Clark Gable, Adolph Menjou, Edward G. Robinson 8. Ticket Taker: Sid Grauman (of Grauman's Chinese Theater fame) People entering the theater: 9a. George Arliss 9b. Joe E Brown 9c. (crawling on floor) Charlie Chaplin 9d. William Powell 9e. Marx Brothers (over-stuffed coat) 9f. Mae West ("Come up and see me some time!") 9g. Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Clarabell Cow 10 Seated in theater, front row: Chester Morris, Gloria Swanson, George Arliss Back Row: Helen Hayes, Edward G. Robinson, William Powell 11 Jimmy Durante 12. Marie Dressler and Wallace Beery 13. Caricature of "censorship czar" Will H. Hays (of the "Hays code") 14. Eddie Cantor with Joan Crawford 15. Greta Garbo 16. Front: Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery, and Will Rogers Back: Groucho, Charlie Chaplin, Lionel Barrymore 17. Ed Wynn 18 Bert Wheeler & Robert Woolsey ("Wheeler & Woolsey" comedy duo) 19. Laurel and Hardy 20. Dracula (Bela Lugosi), Mr. Hyde (Frederic March), Frankenstien monster (Boris Karloff) 21. Buster Keaton and Joe E. Brown 22: Falling out of seats: Douglas Fairbanks and Jimmy Durante 23. Rolling in isles: Oliver Hardy, Chaplin, Groucho, Joe E. Brown, Marie Dressler 24. On stage: Will Rogers (pulling Mickey by rope) 25. Shaking hands: Marie Dressler, Joe E Brown, Jimmy Durante, Laurel and Hardy, Edward G, Eddie Cantor, Chaplin, Wallace Beery, George Arliss, William Powell, Douglas Fairbanks, Clark Gable, Fatty Arbuckle, Harold Lloyd, Lionel Barrymore. 26. Getting onstage: Greta Garbo 27. Walt Disney and 2 other men (one of them Warner Baxter-dont' know who the other guy is supposed to be), with Groucho. 28. Pluto the dog Source: 2719hyperion.com a post about classic Disney animation.

Song of the South (1946)

Producer Walt Disney had a dream project of bringing the American folklore of "Uncle Remus" to the big screen. He wanted animated sequences of his tall tales featuring the mischievous and cunning "Brer Rabbit" character. This movie is the result, but due to its offensive racial stereotypes it has not been showed in theaters since 1986 (when I first saw it as a kid).

The setting is the deep South. Little Johnny (Bobby Driscoll) is traveling from Atlanta to a plantation mansion (he thinks it's a vacation --- his parents have ulterior motives)...he travels along with his mother (Ruth Warrick from "Citizen Kane") and father, as well as their maid played by Oscar winner Hattie McDaniel.

There are a few nice scenes in the movie with McDaniel & Uncle Remus talking together, but not many. The entire movie is told from little Johnny's point of view---he hates having to stay in this big house, owned by his mean old grandmother (Lucille Watson, from "Watch on the Rhine"). He's also suspicious of why his father has to move back to Atlanta without him and mom (he writes un-explained controversial articles for a local newspaper). Further explanation of the father's actions may be too "adult" in nature for a kid's film, though. The parents later reunite.

Johnny runs away first chance he can get (can you blame him?), but meets up with the famous Uncle Remus, who tells him a tale of Brer Rabbit running away from his briar patch but finds nothing but trouble. Basically Uncle Remus is teaching him a lesson in "staying put".

Johnny then meets up with a little girl named Ginny; she gives him a little puppy and then her two mean brothers pick on him.

Remus then tells Johnny a few stories about bullies Brer Fox and Brer Bear. All these stories eventually teaches Johnny valuable life lessons.

The mean white adults don't appreciate Remus, and scold him for keeping Johnny after curfue with his tall tales.

Movie turns very sentimental when Remus, feeling unappreciated, decides to move out and away to Atlanta. Little Johnny races after Remus begging him to come back, but in the process, he gets trampled by a bull and almost dies. Remus tells another tale of Brer Rabbit.

I remember seeing this movie in the the theaters in 1986 when I was 10 years old. All the racist stuff flew over my head, and I was bored with all the drama and scenes with the humans - I just wanted to see more of the cartoon sequences with Brer Rabbit - which are just about 20 minutes in the 90 minute film. Seeing the film again in its entirety again as an adult I am able to appreciate the moral of the story and what Disney was trying to express on the screen. He meant it to be an inspiring film with alot of toe tapping and hummable tunes. A film like this is most definitely a product of it's time.

Read more about this film and its sources from the blog Voyages Extraordinaires (from Jan 2019)

Trivia:
"Zip A Dee Doo Dah" won the Oscar for Best Song of the year.