Watching all the Disney films from the very beginning

[Gr8WideSomewher]

Day 86: The Pirate Fairy (2014)

We’re on our fourth Tinkerbell movie at this point and they are starting to grate. Well, grate more. It’s easy to see why I might be fairly indifferent to the Tinkerbell films, after all I’m very much not the target audience, but I don’t know why they’re so actively irritating.

This having been said, I didn’t hate The Pirate Fairy. The storyline was mildly diverting and there were some good points to weigh out the forgettable and the bad.

The good points were mostly centred around Tinkerbell’s group of fairy friends and the new character, Zarina. Before this movie the gang were barely given personalities, let alone character arcs, and were patently just there to expand the collectable plastic figures collection. In this movie, however, they are allowed to be a bit more involved, which does lead to some quite funny moments. Of course, it would have been better if the pirate fairy role had been given to one of the original group, rather than a new character being created from thin air, but it’s not a massive deal. Rosetta, in particular, is fun in this movie, which is a shame - she finally becomes a role worthy of Kristin Chenoweth when Kristin Chenoweth is not playing her anymore. We get cut-price Cheno in this movie, but she’s actually pretty good.

The bad of this movie is, unfortunately, Tom Hiddleston. It’s sad to have to admit it, because Tom Hiddleston is a brilliant actor, but his young Captain Hook might be the most phoned-in performance of all the Disney movies we’ve watched so far. If it turned out he’d recorded all his lines on his phone in the pub I would not be surprised. This is a poor showing from the best villain in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, playing one of Disney’s most iconic villains. Tut tut.

Another slightly weird aspect of this movie is that they actually include a song. You know what I said a few Tinkerbells ago about how there were moments that cried out for a song? Yep, this is my fault, guys, I did this, and I can only apologise. JK, it’s actually not all that bad, and it turns out Hiddleston might not be much of a voice-actor but he can certainly sing. The song stands out like a sore thumb because it is the only narrative song, not only in this movie but in any of the Tinkerbell movies so far, and so in terms of consistency is all wrong, but it’s not the worst song in the world.

Overall The Pirate Fairy is OK. The animation and voice-acting are of the required standard (apart from Hiddleston) and the plot is much more satisfying and complete than the Tinkerbell movies we’ve watched so far.

Can’t believe we haven’t finished with these yet!

[Gr8WideSomewher]

Originally Posted by Goldia

I think olaf is my favourite sidekick, I love his song. He's a cutie.

You're right all the songs are done in the first 30 minutes, it's a shame really. It always means I feel like I can zone out and not bother with the rest of the film. We've got the deluxe soundtrack with lots of songs that never made it into the film and the writers explain what they were thinking when they wrote them. It's a good album and it's a shame that half the songs didn't make it.

I think that Elsa was the new Gloria Gaynor (different generation, perhaps you will have to Google her!). Anyway, she resonated with a whole bunch of women. Sometimes we just need an anthem and we have to belt it out.

I also cannot wait for the sequel, I hope it's as good as the first one and that there are some real showstopper songs.

See more...

Haha of course I know who Gloria Gaynor is - I've been to a karaoke bar!

Totally agree with all of this - the music of Frozen is one of the real highlights, but it's frustrating because you know it could be a smidge better!

[Gr8WideSomewher]

Day 87: Planes: Fire and Rescue (2014)

Like Planes, Planes: Fire and Rescue is very forgettable. It’s also quite a lot like Cars 2, in that it doesn’t have anything at all to do with the movie that came before it. The idea of Dusty as a racer is abandoned so we can explore the exciting world of underfunded public services. I think this movie would be boring to anybody, even the 7-year-old boys it’s aimed at. There’s loads of really talky bits where the characters discuss the Fire and Rescue department’s thin budget - you know how kids love a good budget-crunching sesh - and Dusty crashes almost as many times as he did in the first film. Seriously, this guy is one of the worst planes ever.

The animation is really pretty good, maybe even a bit better than Planes. The lush backgrounds are shown off to their best advantages through lots of wide shots of countryside (and forest fires), but characters are still pretty devoid of personality.

The movie is also very unimaginative, recycling lots of character tropes from better movies - the crusty old mentor (from every Cars and Planes movie so far as well as many many others), the kooky sidekicks (ditto), the ‘spiritual’ Native American character (wow, can’t believe that’s still a thing here in 2014 ) etc. - and failing to do anything interesting with them. In general the movie would be vastly improved by giving the main character a personality (even a recycled one) and some kind of agency - as it is things sort of happen to him and he weakly reacts. He’s sort of Lightning Lite.

In fact our main topic of conversation while we were watching (we tend to talk all the way through movies) wasn’t really about the characters or the plot at all - it was about how confounding the Cars world is and how many questions it raises. Questions like: cars planes and some boats are people in this universe - so are bicycles people too? How about skateboards? Some cars seem to be cows and some planes seem to be birds - are there any organic creatures in this world? Plus, cars seem to get old and talk about being old as if that means they’re near to death - so what is death in this society? And what is life? Also, the planes and cars seem to have mums and dads, but also to have been made in factories, so what’s going on there? And if you have to be made in a factory, how did the cars and planes of this world evolve? How did the factories get there? Were there originally people-people in this world but then the cars took over in a horrific apocalypse, with man and machine fighting it out to the death in a war to end all wars?

Ahem. It’s possible I’m reading too much into this.

In conclusion, Planes: Fire and Rescue is probably better than Planes, but that’s really not saying much.

P.S. Some of you may have noticed that I have set a new countdown - squeeee! We are going to Japan, including a few days at Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo DisneySea, in June! I am going to try and write a trippie so I can share my adventures with you guys, but I also reeeally want to get this project done before we go. Only 11 films to go...

[Goldia]

Wow, congrats on the countdown. Japan is on my list for one day! I'd love to read the trippie.

[DisneyDaffodil]

Well I couldn’t remember Planes very well, but I don’t think we’ve seen this one at all. Sounds like we didn’t miss much 😂

What an exciting trip you have planned. One of our sons and his fiancée spent 17 days in Japan (mainly Tokyo) in January and had a wonderful holiday. They visited Tokyo DisneySea and loved it. He has never understood why we love Disney World so much as we couldn’t afford to take him when he was a child sadly but he is now saying he wants to visit other Disney parks too 😀

[Gr8WideSomewher]

Originally Posted by Goldia

Wow, congrats on the countdown. Japan is on my list for one day! I'd love to read the trippie.

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Thanks - I will do my best! Need to buy a new notebook

[Gr8WideSomewher]

Originally Posted by DisneyDaffodil

Well I couldn’t remember Planes very well, but I don’t think we’ve seen this one at all. Sounds like we didn’t miss much 😂

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You didn't

Originally Posted by DisneyDaffodil

What an exciting trip you have planned. One of our sons and his fiancée spent 17 days in Japan (mainly Tokyo) in January and had a wonderful holiday. They visited Tokyo DisneySea and loved it. He has never understood why we love Disney World so much as we couldn’t afford to take him when he was a child sadly but he is now saying he wants to visit other Disney parks too 😀

See more...

Thanks! I have heard Tokyo Disney is absolutely beautiful - I'm so excited! We're spending a few days in Tokyo and we're also going to Kyoto and Osaka. So much planning to do and so little time!

[Gr8WideSomewher]

Sunday afternoon: We watched Big Hero Six last night, so I thought I’d try and bash out a review now so I don’t fall behind. Bex and I are going on a road-trip to Scotland next week with our dad, so we won’t have much time for watching or reviewing.

Day 89: Big Hero 6 (2014)

To sum up my feelings about Big Hero Six: good film, definitely very creative and original if not as memorable as Wreck-It Ralph. There, now you don't have to read the whole review if you don’t want.

The most stunning aspect of Big Hero Six is definitely its look and feel. Disney are definitely getting into their stride when it comes to 3D animation now and managing to create films as uniquely different from each other as their 2D animated films always were. Tangled and Frozen might look pretty similar to each other, but Wreck-It Ralph and Big Hero Six are totally new. Setting the film in the fictional San Fransokyo was a brilliant idea and of course Disney crushes it with the design of the architecture and the mise-en-scene. They create an entire city, and every detail is perfect! The flying scene where you’re able to take in the full scope of what they’ve achieved feels a bit like a victory lap by the graphics department, but hey they earned it.

The characters are another strength of the movie. The good characters all manage to make an impression, which is an achievement considering there’s so many of them. Hiro is a great main character; since he’s a kid, his more outrageous actions seem understandable and he manages to be adorable at the same time as being a cocky little sh*t. The movie gives him good motivations for everything he does - plus his relationship with Baymax is so damn cute.

I also like the rest of the Big Hero 6 - none of them is a cliche and they all have strong personalities. It would have been good to see their characters develop a bit more in a sequel to the film, though I suppose that’s unlikely to happen now. I particularly like the little touches that make the characters more interesting than your average superhero team; like the way Go Go tells people to ‘woman up’ and the way Honey Lemon over-pronounces Hiro’s name.

The film suffers from the same curse as a lot of Marvel films (Big Hero 6 is based on a marvel comic) in that it doesn’t have a good villain, which isn’t a problem Disney films have traditionally had. Perhaps a more bombastic villain would have drawn focus from the heart of the story, which is Hiro and Baymax, but I don’t know if the solution they’ve gone for entirely works either. Perhaps the film would have been stronger without a villain at all.

The thing that really makes the movie is Baymax - without him it would be a much less good film. He’s a truly original robot, which is something you don’t often see, and he’s impossible not to love. It’s also great to see the direct line drawn from Baymax’s creator to Baymax, so that the character of Tadashi is present throughout the whole film, even though he dies. But I also think this is may be where the film trips up. Turning Baymax from a nurse-bot to a flying, karate-chopping superhero definitely leads to some funny and entertaining moments, but doesn’t it slightly undercut the point of Baymax, and the message of the film itself?

The other slight problem with this film is that it very much feels like an origin story, in the traditional of Marvel origin stories - complete with the main character losing someone close to them, a limp villain and an ending with a big light-thing in the sky that destroys various buildings. Of course we might end up getting a sequel to Big Hero 6 (I mean, it took them six years to do the Frozen sequel) but I think it’s unlikely. I also find it a it annoying the way you can always tell with Marvel movies that they’re setting themselves up for lots of sequels, whether they’ve earned them or not. Hiro ends Big Hero 6 by saying that the team are now going to, ‘help a lot of people’ as Tadashi planned, but it’s unclear what this actually means, and it probably doesn’t matter now anyway.

I do like Big Hero 6. I think it’s not quite as successful or memorable as Wreck-It Ralph, and certainly not as funny, but it’s got a lot of heart and some great characters, and is set in a city I would really like to live in! We’re in the middle of a renaissance, people - Disney Animation Studios is doing what they do best and I am loving it; can’t wait to see what they come up with next. Spoilers: It’s one of their TOP FIVE MOVIES EVER! SQUEEEE!

P.S. Did anybody see the Big Hero 6 show in DLP last autumn? I did and was very confused by it. If anybody could explain it to me I would be very grateful!

[Gr8WideSomewher]

Day 90: Tinkerbell and the Legend of the Neverbeast (2015)

I am running out of things to say about Tinkerbell movies at this stage - so I am handing over to 7-year-old Rosie for her thoughts. I accept no responsibility.

Ooooh I loved this movie so much - it was definitely the best Tinkerbell movie yet. It was about one of Tink’s friends called Fawn who talks to animals, and she finds a fluffy thingummy called Gruff and he has lightning powers! Fawn was my favourite character because she is pretty and was nice to all the animals. She is quite a lot like Tink actually…

Translation: They forgot to give her a personality and had to give her Tink’s at the last minute.

You shush, this is my review. I like that Fawn got her own movie for herself, and now I hope they do one for Rosetta and Irridessa and...the other one...and the mean one as well. Maybe not the mean one, but I hope they do lots more of these!

I don’t.

And also there were cool new warrior fairies in this one, which was awesome. I like when they have new talents for the fairies. If I was a fairy I would be…

An easily-pleased fairy? It’s very lazy the way they keep inventing new talents for the fairies and retrofitting the world to fit in with whatever story they’re trying to tell. I mean, it’s their world and they can do what they want, but I see you Disney!

*Rolls eyes* This was a very pretty movie and Pixie Hollow looks like a really nice place to live. And I liked Gruff too, he was really cool-looking.

Yeah, the animation was actually not bad. Disneytoon Studios is really starting to produce some nice work. Hey, did we just agree on something?

Yes! We agree that Tinkerbell and the Neverbeast is the best Tinkerbell movie and is awesome and…

Woah woah woah. It’s probably the best one in that it has a beginning, a middle and an end and makes an attempt at developing some of its characters. That’s as far as I’ll go.

When I’m old, I’m not going to be boring like you.

Er...Rosie...

[Gr8WideSomewher]

Day 91: Inside Out (2015)

Inside Out is maybe the most Pixar Pixar film. It is peak Pixar. If you had one film with which to explain the Pixar approach to film-making, this is the one you would pick. It’s thought-provoking, funny, sad, full of completely original ideas, slightly wacky, exciting and if you’re not in tears by the end of it you have a heart of stone. There’s no denying how wonderful this film is. It’s not my personal favourite (it is Bex's though), but it’s definitely way up there.

As has sometimes been the case with these reviews, it’s actually too difficult to list all the amazing things about Inside Out, so I’m just going to talk about one aspect of the film, its message, which is so intrinsic to every aspect of it (from the characters to the music to the animation) and which makes the film the unique experience that it is.

Let’s start with the message itself, because it’s not one you come across all that often, especially in a children’s film: it’s OK to be sad; it’s OK to grow up; it’s OK if growing up makes you sad. Whenever I watch Inside Out I’m filled with envy for kids who have this movie to help them with the growing up process. How nice would it have been to have someone tell you, as a child or a teenager, that it’s OK not to always understand your emotions, or to let them overwhelm you? In creating this film, Pixar have given children a literal language and framework for handling emotions that become overwhelming. “Sadness has taken the wheel for a bit,” they can say, “but that’s OK. She’s helping me communicate and make sense of my feelings.” Lucky kids today!

This having been said, I’d be interested to hear from people with kids about their experiences of this film. Inside Out came out in 2015, and I’ve only ever watched it as an adult with other adults. Does it have the same meaning for children? Even if this film didn’t have a huge emotional impact on you as an adult, there’s no denying it’s a very clever and rich film, but does it have the same impact for children? And is the film ever a smidge too clever? I hesitate to criticise the film at all, because I love it so damn much, but the sheer inventiveness of it can sometimes be a little overwhelming. Alongside the big, more developed ideas, there are lots of little touches (such as the facts and opinions getting mixed up, deja vu, the tripledent gum tune etc.) and so many ideas thrown out there all the time that we sometimes don’t get time to properly examine each one. Also there’s lots to explain at the beginning of the movie, which younger children watching might struggle to follow. This having been said, it’s this inventiveness that makes the movie so entirely original and memorable, so I can’t be too mad at it!

As an adult, of course, there’s no aspect of this film that you can’t relate to. You recognise every emotion that Riley goes through and laugh or cry as every aspect of your personality is deconstructed (in the nicest way possible) and literally turned inside out. And one of the movie’s most effective ways of doing this is through the characters of Joy and Sadness. They achieve so much with just those two characters and get the balance exactly right. Both are characters who could be as irritating as they are adorable, but somehow, through the animation and the gorgeous performances, they pull it off. And people just love these characters. I found this out when I cosplayed as Sadness at DLP last Halloween; a lot of people (both adults and children) came up to me, not just to get a picture, but to tell me how much they loved me (her), or to reassure me that everything was going to be OK. She’s a very popular character and evokes a lot of feelings in people, and if that’s not Pixar doing their job right, I don’t know what is!

This is me in the middle. Bex is on the right as Joy.

As someone who works in training and development, the movie is also interesting from a learning perspective. The relationship between emotion and learning isn’t something that’s often explored but, as we see in Inside Out, the strongest memories are those that we have a powerful emotional connection to, and experiencing those emotions is part of the process of understanding ourselves. This isn’t really apropos of anything - it’s just one of many many many interesting ideas that this movie raises, as part of its mission to get you thinking about how you think.

Inside Out is one of the most original children’s films I’ve ever seen and could only come from Pixar. It’s so close to being perfect that I can’t even criticise it...except for making me cry like a helpless baby every time I watch it. Thanks, Pixar!