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Post by mickeygubitosifan on Sept 27, 2011 21:13:03 GMT -5
I agree about the 3-D. Some parts in 3-D were pretty neat, like the opening scene, but I just wanted to go see it on the big screen. I sometimes get the idea that when the studio converts these classic animated films to 3-D for a repeat run on the silver screen, it's because they think they have to make up for some inherent visual deficiency in the traditional animation technique (as opposed to computer animation). I've always preferred hand-drawn cell animation, though, and I think that it's well worth the extra work and expense. Nonetheless, I was just happy to see The Lion King back on the big screen again. It was the very first movie I ever saw in the movie theater (I was 3). Actually, (this story is a bit off topic) I work at a daycare, and when a little girl left with her mom, she was excited because she was going to get to see the Lion King in theaters tonight. The girl's mother said it was going to be her first movie at the theaters, and I actually thought this was really, really cool how young kids today get the chance to see TLK in theaters in 2011. I know what you mean. Part of the joy of the theater experience is in watching the film alongside other people who may be seeing it for the very first time, an event that most of them will never forget. I, myself, still vividly recall watching Disney's Snow White when it was brought back to theaters for a special anniversary reengagement some years ago, and how terrifying the wicked queen was on the giant screen and in full surround sound. I hope Disney re-releases more movies for the big screen in the future; The Lion King apparently did well at the box office, and I'm sure if they put out something like Aladdin (which is a movie suitable for girls AND boys... it's not as princess-y as some other Disney films), it would do pretty well. I'm hoping for this, as well. I'd love to see Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame be brought back to theaters. Quasimodo leaping from the bell towers above the awe-inspiring French cityscape, singing the grand song "Out There". I've long seen The Hunchback of Notre Dame as one of Disney's three greatest animated films, with emotional potency and depth of story to rival even The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast. I would also love to see Disney's Pocahontas return for another run in theaters. Oh... and the end scene, when it's raining and Simba slowly walks up Pride Rock, and Mufasa's voice says, "Remember." That scene was amazing on the big screen and sound... I've seen The Lion King well over twenty times in my life and I've never felt so emotional toward it. It gave me goosebumps (as did the Circle of Life part at the beginning). Oh yes, I know exactly what you mean. The Lion King is an emotional film the first time one sees it, and that connection only deepens and intensifies with familiarity and time. Simba's final ascendancy on Pride Rock to take his place as king is a moment that resonates with extraordinary power, and I think it's because the happy ending was earned by the characters at such great personal cost. Though Scar has at last been defeated, there's still no bringing back Mufasa, no replacing the years that Simba lost with his family; and so the happiness that they've earned as Simba triumphantly strides up Pride Rock carries a sharp poignancy along with it. This is no cheap happy ending, and so it means all the more to us.
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Post by littlerascal4891 on Oct 1, 2011 18:22:01 GMT -5
^I know what you mean about The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I never really liked it when I was younger; I remember thinking it was "creepy" and a lot of things went right over my head. But I watched it again about a year and a half ago, and was able to really appreciate it. It's very dark for a kid's movie. Frollo is one of the cruelist villians and has one of the most intense villian songs in a Disney animated film. It almost seems more appropriate for adults than children.
I'm not trying to say that kids shouldn't watch it or anything; I'm sure many children would/have enjoyed it... there's comic relief and fun songs, etc. But it's just a very different Disney movie... the word "hell" is used (more than once I believe) and religion is tied into it as well.
I agree though, it would be a good film to see in theaters again. The animation is very good.
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Post by mickeygubitosifan on Oct 4, 2011 14:33:32 GMT -5
I've heard it said before that Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame is an unusually dark movie for Disney, and appeals less to younger audiences than most of their animated films. I'm not sure I agree with that philosophy, though. For me, personally, I always gravitated toward films and books that had deeper meaning and more sobering themes, even back to when I was in Kindergarten and before then. I think that sometimes we underestimate what younger audiences can absorb and understand from a story like The Hunchback of Notre Dame, as deeply wrought and emotionally searing a film as anything that Disney has produced.
Over the last week or so I've been thinking about other Disney animated classics that I'd like to see make a return engagement to theaters, and one that I keep on coming back to is The Fox and the Hound. Don Bluth and his team may have departed the studio before the heavy animating work on this particular film really got under way, but I still see so much of his influence in the movie's animation style, and how the story is told. I consider The Fox and the Hound to easily be one of Disney's ten greatest animated pictures.
By the way, Happy Birthday to Scotty Beckett, today! :-)
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Post by mickeygubitosifan on Oct 4, 2011 19:27:52 GMT -5
Hey, here's some good news. It appears that Disney will be rereleasing several of its most successful animated films to theaters in the near future. movies.msn.com/movies/article.aspx?news=673518>1=28130Of those four, I'm most looking forward to Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid.
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Post by littlerascal4891 on Oct 4, 2011 21:48:48 GMT -5
I saw that today! I agree, those are the two I'm looking forward to as well.
As for the Hunchback of Notre Dame thing... yes, I'm sure there are plenty of kids who could undertand the movie and enjoy it, despite it having darker themes than many Disney movies (although you could argue that death or the threat of death is relevant among many animated films, and that is considered one of the "darkest" themes there is). But for me personally, I just couldn't get into when I was younger... now it's a different story though. I like that the film has more of a complexity to it. But as a 6-year-old, it didn't really hold my interest.
If you don't mind me asking, mickeygubitosifan, how old are you? I was just wondering what Disney era you grew up with.
And yes, Happy Birthday Scotty, one of the cutest little rascals. :-)
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Post by princej on Oct 29, 2011 17:16:10 GMT -5
Of course I am greatly impressed by Max Fleischer and Ubbe Iwerks, the Disney multiplane camera films, and Warner Brothers. Anything by Tex Avery, especially Droopy Dog! Has anyone seeen the films of Windsor McCay, pioneer of annimation? Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend. Gertie the Dinosaur.
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Post by ymymeatemup on Oct 29, 2011 18:57:11 GMT -5
Has anyone seeen the films of Windsor McCay, pioneer of annimation? Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend. Gertie the Dinosaur. I've got a DVD containing all 10 (unless there were more) of McCay's animated films. Definitely fascinating stuff. He was going for the 'art' side of cartooning at a time when others were barely learning the craft.
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Post by littlerascal4891 on Apr 5, 2012 16:59:54 GMT -5
Bumping this up again!
Does anyone remember the show Recess? It premiered in 1997 on ABC's "One Saturday Morning," and for many years Disney Channel and Toon Disney played reruns. In many ways, it was a lot like Hey Arnold, and I'm still not sure which one I like more. They are both great shows.
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Post by mickeygubitosifan on Apr 5, 2012 19:25:13 GMT -5
Oh, sure, I remember Recess! I agree that it had a similar feel to Hey Arnold!. I believe I've heard that the shows had a handful of writers in common, which may have been why Recess borrowed a couple of names for its one-time characters from Hey Arnold!. Stinky Peterson was one such borrowed name, but there were at least one or two others. I liked both Ross Malinger and Andrew Lawrence as the voice of TJ Detweiler, but probably preferred the latter.
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Post by mtw12055 on Apr 5, 2012 20:30:08 GMT -5
Ah, yes "Recess". Definately one of the best "One Saturday Morning" shows. Now that you mention it, "Recess" is an awful lot like "Hey Arnold!". And like "Hey Arnold!", I really would have liked to see this show go on a little bit longer. One only wonders how TJ and co. would have behaved once they became the seniors of Elementary school.
Does anybody remember the Disney version of "Doug"? I really don't remember it that well, as I mostly only got to see the original Nickelodeon version. Most people tend to agree that the Nick version is far superior.
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Post by mickeygubitosifan on Apr 6, 2012 12:29:08 GMT -5
Does anybody remember the Disney version of "Doug"? I really don't remember it that well, as I mostly only got to see the original Nickelodeon version. Most people tend to agree that the Nick version is far superior. I only saw a few episodes of "Brand Spanking New" Doug. I wasn't always a fan of all the show's changes during that time, such as pairing up Skeeter Valentine and Beebe Bluff to be a couple, but the episodes that I saw were, in general, still very good. My personal favorites were Doug's Secret Christmas and Oh, Baby, which was kind of a sequel to the Christmas episode.
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Post by Hard-boiled Harry on Jun 24, 2013 11:38:55 GMT -5
My favorite cartoon series is definitely Horrid Henry, I've got all the episodes on DVD. In the past books and series featured Just William and Jennings, who despite their best intentions managed to cause mayhem but Henry is different, he chooses to be deliberately horrid, which is refreshing. www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pyJhHfMlWYI also liked the first two series of the CGI TV series Reboot, which I thought was pretty advanced for its time and which seemed to be the inspiration for the attack on Zion in The Matrix movies. CGI movies? How To Train Your Dragon and Polar Express stand out for me.
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Post by mickeygubitosifan on Jul 7, 2013 1:50:59 GMT -5
The Polar Express certainly was a fine film. I've come to think of it as being on par with some of the greatest Christmas motion pictures ever made, films such as It's a Wonderful Life, The Santa Clause, Miracle on 34th Street (1947) and White Christmas.
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Post by mtw12055 on Jul 21, 2013 19:53:34 GMT -5
I watched "The Brave Little Toaster" for (technically) the first time yesterday. I say technically because I saw parts of it when I was very young, but can only vaguely remember parts of the movie. I really enjoyed it. The story's great, the characters are fantastic, the score and animation are both beautiful, the voices are charming (Jon Lovitz as the radio is probably my favorite; I'm still surprised he managed to record all of his dialogue in one sitting).
It feels very much like a Pixar movie (not surprising, since many future Pixar employees worked on it). Like a Pixar movie, TBLT has a strong story, and well-thought out characters. The writers and director really thought about inanimate objects to develop their individual personalities. Toaster is a warm character, one that the others can see themselves in. Lampy has his bright moments, but can also be rather dim. Blankey is supposed to be a security blanket, but without anyone to comfort, he becomes an insecure blanket. Kirby the vacuum holds everything inside of him, which is why he never really expresses his true feelings towards the others. And radio is an entertainer.
And like a traditional Disney movie (yes, I know this isn't technically a Disney movie), TBLT isn't a "kids' movie". Rather, it's the type of film that the filmmakers wanted to make. Ultimately, it has some sort of appeal to viewers of all ages (though the darker themes may not - and in the past, did not - sit well with some children). And the filmmakers weren't afraid to break the then rules of G-rated flicks. The dark, depressing moments in the film (the death of the flower, the cars getting crushed, etc.) would never be found in a Disney film of that era. Overall, a fine film. Strange at times, but beautiful.
I had fallen in love with the characters so much that I wanted to see them in further adventures. And so right after finishing the first movie, I watched the first of two sequels. I was half-expecting a mediocre sequel, but again the great characters made me want to see it. Boy, was I disappointed with "The Brave Little Toaster to the Rescue". It was clearly made in an attempt to cash-in on the home video success of the first movie. None of the original crew returned. Three of the original cast members returned (Jon Lovitz was probably too busy by this point, and Timothy E. Day was most definitely too old to convincingly play a childish character).
Everything that made the first TBLT so great is missing from this movie. The story is extremely dull and predictable, and the main characters take a back seat to the largely uninteresting new characters (and to the story). Overall, a huge letdown. And now I'm reluctant to see the third Toaster flick ("The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars").
So now that I'm done gushing about an animated feature, any thoughts on "The Brave Little Toaster" and/or its sequels (if you've seen them)?
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Post by mickeygubitosifan on Jul 21, 2013 21:27:51 GMT -5
The Brave Little Toaster is a fine motion picture, and has been an all-time favorite of mine for most of my life. I have the same view of the sequels that you seem to have, though. I wouldn't make an especially strong effort to obtain a copy of The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars if I were you, but instead you might want to read the book by Thomas M. Disch on which The Brave Little Toaster was based: www.goodreads.com/book/show/938625.The_Brave_Little_Toaster?ac=1
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