Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts Tres

[Kuhio]

I'd rather have the dumb sidekicks singing showtunes that are entertaining then talking dogs in a movie about infertility, love and loss. ...

I'd rather have dumb talking dogs singing entertaining showtunes about infertility, love, and loss. Time for a very special animated re-make, I think.

♩ So my lady can't have a litter
♪ (We wanted puppies -- six or seven)
♫ But I'm not mad or sad or bitter
♬ 'Cause I know all dogs go to heaven

 

[Kuhio]

That's a key reason why I use and like Metacritic much more than RT. A more realistic portrayal of the review summary, with a "red, yellow or green" orientation to the reviews. While TLR is still at 37 (out of 100), it's worth noting that the user reviews are at 7.1 out of 10:

http://www.metacritic.com/movie/lone-ranger

Yes -- Metacritic's system is more nuanced than RT's, and thus produces more realistic aggregates of critic's assessments. Even so, there is no way The Lone Ranger is even a "37 out of 100" movie. Generally, movies with scores that low tend to be verging on the "direct to video" variety -- the kind of movies that studios are embarrassed to advertise, and actors are loathe to include on their resumes. It ain't Citizen Kane, but there is no way The Lone Ranger is anywhere near that bad.

In a 100-point system where 90+ is excellent (Oscar-caliber material), 80+ is very good, and 70+ is good but with some noteworthy flaws, I would probably give TLR a score in the low to mid-70s, which isn't too far off from Metacritic's user reviews average.

That said, now several days after the fact, I still enjoyed the hell out of that movie. More than Man of Steel, slightly more than Iron Man 3...in fact, looking at a list of this years box office...I can't spot a film (other than Star Trek) that I liked better.

One day after the fact, I appreciate the movie even a bit more than I did yesterday. I would have loved to see a sequel, but of course that's not going to happen now.

I've seen all the "big" studio movies this year except for DM2, and the only one I've enjoyed more so far is Monsters University.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I was bored today (can you tell?) so I made a list of Disney domestic release figures adjusted to 2013 dollars:


The Fox and the Hound: $107 million
TRON: $89 million
The Black Cauldron: $47 million
The Great Mouse Detective: $54 million
Who Framed Roger Rabbit? : $301 million
Oliver and Company: $102 million
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: $261 million
The Little Mermaid: $168 million
Dick Tracy: $194 million
The Rescuers Down Under: $52 million
The Rocketeer: $88 million
Beauty and the Beast: $274 million
Aladdin: $415 million
Hocus Pocus: $76 million
The Nightmare Before Christmas: $96 million
The Lion King: $594 million
The Santa Clause: $275 million
Pocahontas: $257 million
Toy Story: $350 million
The Hunchback of Notre Dame: $179 million
101 Dalmatians: $244 million
Hercules: $171 million
Mulan: $204 million
A Bug’s Life: $275 million
Tarzan: $267 million
Toy Story 2: $384 million
Fantasia 2000: $89 million
The Emperor’s New Groove: $131 million
Atlantis: $117 million
Monsters, Inc.: $359 million
Lilo and Stitch: $199 million
Treasure Planet: $52 million
Finding Nemo: $447 million
Pirates of the Caribbean 1: $402 million
The Haunted Mansion: $100 million
Brother Bear: $112 million
Home on the Range: $64 million
The Incredibles: $334 million
Chicken Little: $168 million
Cars: $296 million
Meet the Robinsons: $118 million
Ratatouille: $238 million
Wall-E: $247 million
Bolt: $126 million
Up: $310 million
The Princess and the Frog: $110 million
Tangled: $202 million

Notable re-issues:

One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1991): $115 million
Fantasia (1990): $47 million
The Jungle Book (1990): $83 million
Snow White (1987): $94 million
Snow White (1993): $80 million
Cinderella (1987): $69 million
Song of the South (1986): $38 million


That only took an hour, lol. But it's interesting number crunching none the less. Some additional notes:

- No, these are not exact, they're based on finding the difference in average ticket price and multiplying that to the original total. BOM does the same, but more precise since the know the total number of tickets sold.
- Making $100 million domestically 'aint what she used to be. So you can stop acting like PatF was special for hitting it.
- Some of these were record breakers for animated gross in their time when not adjusting for inlfation. They inlcude Fox and the Hound and Oliver and Company.
- The re-issues show how much of a cash cow they used to be. The combined numbers for Cinderella, Snow White and The Aristocats in 1987 exceeded $200 million in todays dollars! And with only the costs of new campaigns and prints to boot. This is why Eisner even then considered ditching new animated features (or so I've read, anyone want to confirm this?). Also, even in the 80s Sleeping Beauty wasn't much of a money maker. Less than SotS the same year, but eventually she became a hit on video and merch.

 

[Cody5242]

Isn't it great we can all have opinions? If nothing else, this discussion sort of proves that posters on a Disney forum are in fact capable of having differing opinions without it dissolving into insults and ridicule. Refreshing, I think.

That said, now several days after the fact, I still enjoyed the hell out of that movie. More than Man of Steel, slightly more than Iron Man 3...in fact, looking at a list of this years box office...I can't spot a film (other than Star Trek) that I liked better.

My order of summer movies so far would be:
1. Man of Steel (probably the minority)
2. Star Trek
3. The Lone Ranger (close second)
4. Monsters University
5. Iron Man 3
6. World War Z
That said, no movies so far this year are Oscar worthy in my opinion, which is very dissapointing considering that we are half way done with the year

 

[TP2000]

Weekend box office stats are in, and it's official... The Lone Ranger was an unmitigated disaster that cost Disney $250 Million to produce, and on a record-setting July 4th weekend when box office $ was up 12% from last year. http://www.deadline.com/2013/07/despicable-me-2-opens-with-huge-4-7m-late-shows/

A few notable quotes, Zagat-style .... As predicted fireworks were set off at the Fourth Of July box office... But there was only bad news for Disney’s #2 too-expensive The Lone Ranger which opened disastrously Wednesday, remained weak on Thursday, did only $10.6M Friday, and flatlined for $10.5M Saturday... The Johnny Depp-Armie Hammer starrer’s domestic cume is way below Disney’s initial lowball projection of $65M and the 3rd big-budget bomb of Summer 2013.... As Deadline was first to report, the studio in August 2011 shut down Lone Ranger for six months after the budget ballooned out of control. Too bad Disney didn’t just scrap the pic altogether.

Despicable Me 2 took the box office crown this holiday, raking in 140+ Million over the long weekend, although it only cost $76 Million to make. The three week old Monsters University made $20 Million this weekend, for a $215 Million total from just American theaters so far.

I did, however, spot one (1) man at Disneyland this morning wearing an official Johnny Depp Tonto wiglet-hat. The man, and his wife, were what we might politely call "unique looking people", and he likely has traded in his old Jack Sparrow wiglet-hat from '04 for this new Tonto themed headpiece. They were trading pins (hint, hint) with a CM near the tram loading area. I believe though, that even for him, this will be the only weekend he can pull off the Tonto look without looking like a complete weirdo. He may not mind that, however.

 

[TP2000]

Now that looks cool. Thank you for posting this, it's the type of thing I'm looking for- as I will be going on my FIRSt trip to So Cal and Disneyland this November.

Umami Burger is cool.

What's even better is the dense core of hipster pubs, upscale restaurants, and funky/fun shops found in The Orange Circle in downtown Orange a couple miles due east of Disneyland. I often head to The Haven gastropub at the Circle on my way home from a Disneyland day. A great menu of locally-sourced food, a very impressive microbrew collection, and bartenders who work magic with top shelf ingredients, in a stylish but casual scene. http://www.havengastropub.com/index.html

There's lots of other good restaurants in Orange's walkable downtown core; a real-life Main Street USA for hipsters clustered around a large central plaza fountain with a lazy traffic circle, thus the name Orange Circle. The adjacent Chapman University campus keeps the Orange Circle vibe young and fresh, even though some of the restaurants are decidedly upscale. And this is all about a 10 minute drive on surface streets due east of Disneyland.

The mega-corporate chains that populate the Orlando food scene have their place, but I have also struggled to find anything non-corporate in Orlando. (Ask me about the time I naively tried to find a hip boutique hotel to stay in on an Orlando visit! They don't exist.) Orange County, California has 3+ Million people so it's easy to find big-box carbo emporiums from the nice folks at Darden Corporation, if that's your scene. But it is also easy to find upscale and on-trend neighborhoods with real restaurants owned by hip locals who set the trends for the rest of the country. And many of these fun neighborhoods and SoCal hipster zones are close to Disneyland. The Orange Circle, downtown Fullerton, Laguna Beach, etc.

 

[choco choco]

Let's throw this out for discussion: The Big Bear Mountain and Snow Summit, the two big ski resorts in Southern California (owned by the same company) have put themselves on the market. And Disney is rumored to have toured the property. Apparently a division called "Destination Disney." which I'm assuming is meant to be DVC.

 

[Pioneer Hall]

Umami Burger is cool.

What's even better is the dense core of hipster pubs, upscale restaurants, and funky/fun shops found in The Orange Circle in downtown Orange a couple miles due east of Disneyland. I often head to The Haven gastropub after a Disneyland day, and I'll be heading there later for Sunday supper. A great menu of locally-sourced food, a very impressive microbrew collection, and bartenders who work magic with top shelf ingredients, in a stylish but casual scene. http://www.havengastropub.com/index.html

There's lots of other good restaurants in Orange's walkable downtown core; a real-life Main Street USA for hipsters clustered around a large central plaza with a lazy traffic circle. The adjacent Chapman University campus keeps the Orange Circle vibe young and fresh, even though some of the restaurants are decidedly upscale. And this is all about a 10 minute drive on surface streets due east of Disneyland.

The mega-corporate chains that populate the Orlando food scene have their place, but I have also struggled to find anything non-corporate in Orlando. (Ask me about the time I naively tried to find a hip boutique hotel to stay in on an Orlando visit! They don't exist.) Orange County, California has 3+ Million people so it's easy to find corporate big-box food emporiums from the nice folks at Darden Corporation, if that's your scene. But it is also easy to find upscale and hip neighborhoods with real restaurants owned by hip locals who set the trends for the rest of the country. And many of these neighborhoods and hipster zones are close to Disneyland. The Orange Circle, downtown Fullerton, Laguna Beach, etc.

I haven't posted out here in a very long time, but I figured this was a good one time thing to come out for. This post is easy to be taken as fact by people who only know Orlando as the Disney tourist areas of 192, 535, or I-Drive. I'm sure that in your research for a hotel you looked at the Bohemian in Celebration. Small, 115 room hotel that a lot of people might consider "hip" (can't say I really look for hipster in my life, but to each their own). You also looked into all the independent restaurants in the Winter Park, Celebration, Baldwin Park, and downtown Orlando areas as well, correct? They might not be right outside the gates to Walt Disney World, but then again, not many people are aiming for those things when they come to this area for a vacation.

I mean if you want to compare beautiful, sunny, southern California to the apparent garbage filled wasteland that is the Orlando area, you should at least give a somewhat fair comparison.

We have plenty of places that look like this...

While SoCal has plenty that look like this...

 

[GoofGoof]

Let's throw this out for discussion: The Big Bear Mountain and Snow Summit, the two big ski resorts in Southern California (owned by the same company) have put themselves on the market. And Disney is rumored to have toured the property. Apparently a division called "Destination Disney." which I'm assuming is meant to be DVC.

Makes some sense. DVC is looking to offer additional options and if they could buy the resorts on the cheap and sink a limited amount of cash into them to bring them up to DVC standards it would most likely be a big win for them. I was thinking a ski resort would make a lot of sense for DVC except for the limited season. This could be their chance to get in.

 

[ScoutN]

Makes some sense. DVC is looking to offer additional options and if they could buy the resorts on the cheap and sink a limited amount of cash into them to bring them up to DVC standards it would most likely be a big win for them. I was thinking a ski resort would make a lot of sense for DVC except for the limited season. This could be their chance to get in.

How much do locales like those typically sell for?

 

[GoofGoof]

How much do locales like those typically sell for?

According to the attached article one of the 2 resorts bought the other in 2002 for $12M and the combined resort in its last annual report had $35M in assets but a net loss. I would assume that Disney would look to build a new DVC resort on site somewhere and use the ski slopes as the main draw. A snow lodge version of the wilderness lodge maybe. Building a large indoor water park and some additional off season activity could make it a year round destination. The article mentions a new zip line and some other enhancements already in place for the off season. If not here I could definitely see DVC getting involved in a ski resort in the future.

 

[ScoutN]

According to the attached article one of the 2 resorts bought the other in 2002 for $12M and the combined resort in its last annual report had $35M in assets but a net loss. I would assume that Disney would look to build a new DVC resort on site somewhere and use the ski slopes as the main draw. A snow lodge version of the wilderness lodge maybe. Building a large indoor water park and some additional off season activity could make it a year round destination. The article mentions a new zip line and some other enhancements already in place for the off season. If not here I could definitely see DVC getting involved in a ski resort in the future.

Yay something for people to buy in and use up WDW inventory year after year. Is an interesting way to combat current owners going off prop. build elsewhere. sell it. let them go to WDW thinking OMGsh deluxe and dust!

 

[articos]

Umami Burger is cool.
...
The mega-corporate chains that populate the Orlando food scene have their place, but I have also struggled to find anything non-corporate in Orlando. (Ask me about the time I naively tried to find a hip boutique hotel to stay in on an Orlando visit! They don't exist.)

Not true at all. Boutiques do exist, as do some awesome neighborhood hip/trendy restaurants in various great 'hoods in Orlando. Just have to look in the right places. Winter Park, Baldwin Park, Thornton Park, Downtown...it might be a bit harder to find them, but they're definitely there. And Umami rocks.

 

[doctornick]

Yay something for people to buy in and use up WDW inventory year after year. Is an interesting way to combat current owners going off prop. build elsewhere. sell it. let them go to WDW thinking OMGsh deluxe and dust!

I think it would be actually the opposite were it to happen -- given people who buy DVC in Orlando more flexibility for using those points elsewhere. And in a more convenient/efficient manner than trading to RCI or the like.

 

[ScoutN]

I think it would be actually the opposite were it to happen -- given people who buy DVC in Orlando more flexibility for using those points elsewhere. And in a more convenient/efficient manner than trading to RCI or the like.

I don't know. A ski resort seems to be something that would hit a more special interest crowd than the theme park does. I don't want cold. Won't go to old.

 

[GoofGoof]

I don't know. A ski resort seems to be something that would hit a more special interest crowd than the theme park does. I don't want cold. Won't go to old.

I think a lot of families who frequent Disney parks enjoy skiing too. My guess would be most people who would buy into a DVC at a ski resort would plan on using it mostly at the ski resort, but being part of DVC it would allow them the option to take a trip to WDW, DL or even Hawaii one year instead of skiing if they wanted to. For current DVC owners it would give them an option beyond the parks or beach for trade in. I know there are people who trade in their DVC points through RCI to book ski resorts. Having it be a DVC property would ensure a certain level of quality that you can't be sure you will get with a trade in from RCI.

 

[JimboJones123]

Another huge problem with Lone Ranger is that Disney knew they had a flop, pulled out several times, and STILL went through with it.

 

[Soarin' Over Pgh]

Another huge problem with Lone Ranger is that Disney knew they had a flop, pulled out several times, and STILL went through with it.

I would made a snide snarky comment here but you did a pretty good job of phrasing this already.


Does anyone have any thoughts on Frozen? I saw the US trailer (awful) and the Japanese one (much better) but still can't grasp the feeling of this movie yet.

 

[JimboJones123]

I would made a snide snarky comment here but you did a pretty good job of phrasing this already.


Does anyone have any thoughts on Frozen? I saw the US trailer (awful) and the Japanese one (much better) but still can't grasp the feeling of this movie yet.

Settlr down Beavis. Huh-huh...

 

[TP2000]

Not true at all. Boutiques do exist, as do some awesome neighborhood hip/trendy restaurants in various great 'hoods in Orlando. Just have to look in the right places. Winter Park, Baldwin Park, Thornton Park, Downtown...it might be a bit harder to find them, but they're definitely there. And Umami rocks.

Okay, I trust your judgment. But a couple years ago when I thought "Why don't I try and find a fun boutique hotel in Orlando?" instead of the usual Mega-Corporate Anonymous Theme Hotel I usually stay in while at WDW, I could only find two things that even came close. One was a Marriott Autograph Collection property in a sterile cement canyon downtown; The Grand Bohemian. And one was a semi-promising boutique near Eola Lake called the Eo Inn, but whose stated claim to fame was being built on top of a Panera Bread; as if having breakfast at Panera Store #3314 each morning was some sort of exotic travel experience.

Note To Aspiring Boutique Hotel Owners: Don't attach yourself to corporate chains as a claimed "amenity".

Stupid thing is, I love a Panera sandwich at the mall when I'm out running errands. But not when I'm 2,500 miles from home on vacation looking for local culture. I had a cousin that lived in Winter Park a decade+ ago, and had mixed reviews there. Perhaps it's worth a second look in the 2010's?

What Orlando needs is an Ace Hotel type offering. Or at the very least something from Joie De Vivre. But an Ace like in LA, Portland, Seattle or Palm Springs, that would be... ace.