Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts Tres

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FigmentJedi

FigmentJedi

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Kuhio said:
As such, it is not meant to be wholly accurate in terms of either history or geography -- a surprising number of reviews complained that the movie is filmed in Utah's iconic Monument Valley, and other recognizable settings in Arizona and Colorado, when it's purportedly set in Texas. While all that is true, it's beside the point: the events in the movie (and there is some overlap with actual historical occurrences) are fictional. The setting is used primarily to give color and context to the story. Complaining that The Lone Ranger is "unrealistic" in this way is akin to complaining that the knights and warriors in a medieval fantasy movie speak perfect American English.
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And I'm pretty sure there's a law that Monument Valley must be featured in every Western that is ever produced.
 
Animaniac93-98

Animaniac93-98

Well-Known Member
Tahu said:
And all that merch choking the shops is going to keep the Character Warehouses stocked for years to come.
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I like the Lego. Maybe I can get some discounted sets soon? :D

Computer Magic said:
Maybe word of mouth will save the movie and people will start seeing it next weekend.
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Next weekend it has to compete with Pacific Rim (for the geek crowd) and Grown Ups 2 (for the moron/possibly kid crowd). I don't think word of mouth with "save" it, but I can see LR becoming a cult classic in the future.
 
Magenta Panther

Magenta Panther

Well-Known Member
Figments Friend said:
Agree.
When 'Hunchback' was released i was stunned.
I enjoyed the film, and the quality of the animation is fantastic, but some of the story points and obvious innuendos blew my mind.
Disney received a lot of flack for it at the time, but if it came out today it would probably cause even more PC outcries.
It was a animated film that was definately in a class of it's own at that time and took a lot of people by surprise.
That is not always a bad thing....

When i first saw it unspool , I could not believe what i was seeing in a 'Disney' film...but back then DFA was feeling good about themselves.
They felt that they had finally crossed over into being more fully embraced by adult viewers ( thanks to the success of 'The Lion King' ) and started treading much more adult themes.
Studio heads at the time may have also pushed the content into a more mature direction feeling their was now a audience for that.

I think for a lot of people 'Pocahontas' and 'Hunchback' came as a surprise because of them both being more 'adult' films in their tone and subject matter.

I clearly remember catching a showing of 'Pocahontas' on Opening Weekend and seeing that the full theatre was having trouble staying attentive. All the talk, and the love story was putting the kids to sleep. When it was over it was a overall dissapointment for many...at least that was the vibe i came away with after the showing.

'Hunchback' i really enjoy when it focuses on that more mature, serious tone and some of the animation sequences are spectacular visually. The FX animators really had a ball on this film...and it adds a lot to the drama.
When i saw this at a early showing i think some parents actually pulled kids from their seats and left. Had not seen that since the time i saw 'The Black Cauldron' upon it's release and parents were cleaning house towards the end of the film ( The Horned King and his Deathless Warriors freaked out the kiddies apparently....)

It is a shame the film is sometimes kind of 'forgotten' these days, but it is understandable considering some folks may not been overly keen on having the kiddies watch it.
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Me, I was surprised when Disney tried to sell plush versions of Quasimodo. Yeah, kids want to take THAT to bed with them! :p
 
Computer Magic

Computer Magic

Well-Known Member
Animaniac93-98 said:
I like the Lego. Maybe I can get some discounted sets soon? :D



Next weekend it has to compete with Pacific Rim (for the geek crowd) and Grown Ups 2 (for the moron/possibly kid crowd). I don't think word of mouth with "save" it, but I can see LR becoming a cult classic in the future.
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I was thinking a cult classic as well.
 
Magenta Panther

Magenta Panther

Well-Known Member
Mulan had such promise. A terrific "I Want" song - "Reflection" - a potentially good story based on an ancient Chinese legend, a unique heroine...and yet, it's just a limp noodle of a film. Problem number one: Mulan herself is a blank slate of a character. Oh, Disney tried to give her cute traits and a little gumption, like clumsiness and a willingness to sacrifice herself for her father; but her clumsiness was a bit irritating, actually, not endearing, and her running away to fight in her father's place was plain stupid. She knew nothing of fighting. If Disney had shown her father teaching her how to use a sword - out of a wistful desire for a son, perhaps - then her decision would have been believable AND she might have been a much more interesting character. As it was, her decision was too much of a stretch. I didn't believe in her fighting ability for one second.

Problem number two: the dragon. Obviously Eddie Murphy was supposed to accomplish what Robin Williams did with the Genie in Aladdin. He didn't, and it's not his fault. A street-talking jive dragon made no sense in the context of "Mulan". Plus he wasn't funny; the script didn't help, and Eddie's not the ad-libber Robin is. Mushu actually comes off much better in "The Art of Animation" exhibit at WDW; he's terrific, in fact. But he was pretty lame and obnoxious in the film.

As for "Hunchback" - it's quite lavish, but the story and the approach let the animation down. The Victor Hugo novel was an odd choice for a Disney film in the first place. I think the first mistake was making clear that Quasimodo is a nice guy from the start. Showing little glimpses of him in the beginning, in the shadows, then dropping hints as to his true nature might have been much more effective. Anyway, didn't care for it. JMHO.
 
scpergj

scpergj

Well-Known Member
Took the family to see Monsters University this morning (myself, wife, son(15), daughter(11)). Had a pretty good time - no idea that two hours had passed from the time we sat down to previews to walking out after credits, which tells me that it was at least entertaining. We enjoyed it very much - I can see how a coaster could be used to tie in BOTH movies as a theme. Was it a great movie? No...but it was very enjoyable for our family, which makes it at least pretty good.
 
The Empress Lilly

The Empress Lilly

Well-Known Member
mandstaft said:
"I See The Light" is my absolute favorite piece of Disney animation- ever! Gorgeous- and the song is pretty good, too. Packs quite an emotional punch if you ask me. Tangled was a very good film!
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Tangled is one of Disney's greatest films ever and 'I See The Light' is its crowning achievement. So very beautiful.


Hunchback.
Completely underrated. I love the dark, more mature tone. Compared to European and Japanese animation all Hollywood animation is kiddie stuff that's too chicken to touch anything worth making a movie about, so its good to see Disney try for once.
The animation was spectacular at moments! I was lucky enough to see it on the big screen, fantastic.

In DLP's Dreams they show segments from both Tangled and Hunchback (well it's set in Paris after all!). Nothing like seeing the castle transformed into the Notre Dame!


Lone Ranger.
Flop! Yay! Good to see it tank, this saves Frontierland (at least DL) from being Deppified like Pirates.
I guess the public only needed to see Depp play the same role once, no market for him playing Sparrow in Monument Valley.

Pocahontas.
Has its moments. The kids hate it though.
 
Funmeister

Funmeister

Well-Known Member
LR is one of those movies that will most likely bomb at the box office (for various reasons other than the movie itself) and then become somewhat of a cult classic on blu ray and DVD. It is possible that if it does well in that format then it could build more popularity.
 
S

stlphil

Well-Known Member
WDW1974 said:
I won't flame you because you are entitled to your opinions over what films resonante the strongest with you.

But I will fervently disagree with the perception by many in the fan community that Disney's Second Golden Age of Anaimation ended with The Lion King because subsequent features didn't reach the incredible for its time box office that Simba's tale did.

I loved Pocahontas and Hunchback is one of my absolutel favorite Disney films. These were films that didn't talk down to their audience, had some adult subject matter, were beautiful works of art AND had great music as well. Music that is used in theme park productions to this day. ... Colors of the Wind and Out There being just my two favorite examples from films rich in sound as well as sight.
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And Hunchback produced one of the greatest bits of theme park entertainment ever, the wonderful (if short-lived) Festival of Fools at DL. I really feel fortunate that I happened to go to DL while it was playing.
 
Soarin' Over Pgh

Soarin' Over Pgh

Well-Known Member
stlphil said:
And Hunchback produced one of the greatest bits of theme park entertainment ever, the wonderful (if short-lived) Festival of Fools at DL. I really feel fortunate that I happened to go to DL while it was playing.
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Agreed. Best ever "temporary" ...land? Arena? Space? They haven't tried to top it or even get close...or...bother at all. Sad.
 
TowerOfTerror

TowerOfTerror

Well-Known Member
I hope all you enjoyed your "unlimited refills" on your resort mugs, because they will be converting all resort soda dispensers over to RFID.

And yes if you were wondering you can reserve your soda time 60 days out. <--- Hopefully kidding about that ;)
 
bubbles1812

bubbles1812

Well-Known Member
The box office for this 5 day weekend for the Lone Ranger was seriously disastrous. Disney can maybe count that some ground can made up internationally on the power of Depp and the apparent international audience for American Westerns. But I'm not sure international box office can make it all up. Only 47 million. Yikes. Wonder how the Disney execs are doing about now...

http://m.deadline.com/2013/07/despicable-me-2-opens-with-huge-4-7m-late-shows/
 
HenryMystic

HenryMystic

Well-Known Member
For all you fanbois (like @WDW1974) nostalgic for Mickey shaped butter, Universal Orlando has found a way to afford molded butter:

BOh52VqCcAAAcBd.jpg


Credit @AccessUniversal on Twitter
 
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