Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Review
Grand Total: 6 ¼
Disney Movie Reviews
Technical
Watchable 4
Moving +1
An amazing scene (potion) +½
Kids movie +1
Total: 6 ½
Overall impression
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs tells the story of Snow White, a woman who runs away from her home after she is almost assassinated by the jealous queen. She finds a cottage full of dwarf miners who take her in as she teaches them to be clean and kind. The movie itself is not particularly memorable except for a few notable scenes. The movie just isn’t particularly good. I know that the film is a classic, but it feels like more of an achievement than an actually good film. I didn’t like Snow White’s voice, and while that says more about my tastes towards the style of 1937’s singing, it did take away from the movie for me. The prince is fairly useless as well. Still, the scenes with the stepmother/queen really work and she is a pretty memorable villain. The animation, though revolutionary for its time, isn’t that great. It has neat designs (the forest scene and the potion scenes come to mind), but the characters’ mouths never seem to quite match their speech. Still, I suppose that is a pretty mild offense for the first full-length animation film ever.
Total: 6
Pinocchio Review
Grand Total: 9 ½
Technical
Engaging 6
Kids movie +1
Moving +1
An amazing scene (donkey transformation) +½
Great performance/character (Stromboli) + ½
Amazing animation + ½
Great songs + ½
Amazing plot/story + ½
Total: 10 (10 ½)
Overall impression
Pinocchio tells the story of a wooden boy who is brought to life. He must then cope with the many problems of being a wooden boy who is alive and must do things normal boys do (go to school is a good example). I think that is the best way to simplify this story which, on paper, is really really weird. In the movie though, it is really really well done. Particularly noteworthy is the animation, which is absolutely AMAZING. Just take one look at Geppetto’s house, or the underwater scenes which really feel like you’re underwater. Admittedly, the movie does slow down a little after the segments taking place on Pleasure Island, but that barely took away from the film for me. Pinocchio’s voice is just so innocent, Stromboli’s dialogue is amazing and hilarious, the Pleasure Island director is terrifying and his plan is surprisingly dark. The whale scene is really well done and Pinocchio saving Geppetto is really well done as well. Certain elements at the end of the film, including the death of a main character, are particularly moving, and I found myself very impressed by how well the film handled the heavier aspects of its story. I suppose the only character I’m not entirely taken with is Jiminy. While it’s nice to see him as the flawed conscience trying to aid Pinocchio while also learning a lot himself, I guess he just didn’t work that well because he didn’t have the kind of redemption that Pinocchio had. Still, this movie really surprised me, even if it is a little slow in some parts, and I was particularly amazed by the unparalleled animation.
Total: 9
Fantasia Review
Grand Total: 7 ¼
Technical
Watchable 4
An amazing scene (sorcerer’s apprentice) +½
Kids movie +1
Epic in scale +½
Great music +½
Amazing animation +½
Boring part -½
Total: 6 ½
Overall impression
Fantasia is a collage of many old-fashioned “music videos”. By that, I mean that there are many wordless scenes of animation that play to various pieces of classical music. Actually, I was pretty surprised by how low the technical rating of this movie ended up. The only real flaw of this movie is that in the middle, it gets really boring due to the fact that the particular segment playing is really slow. The film is a multiple part music video of its own era. Most of the parts work really well (the sorcerer's apprentice especially) but others don’t work that well. The “middle” that I’m talking about is the segment that comes right before the dinosaurs segment (it’s actually part of it) featuring the origin of the species, played to Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. It just felt really boring and I don’t think that the 1 hour mark of a two-hour movie should be the point at which it begins to feel long. Still, the music is great, the animation is sweeping, and the movie does work as a whole.
Total: 8
Dumbo Review
Grand Total: 7 ½
Technical
Watchable 4
Kids movie +1
Moving +1
Great songs +½
An amazing scene (visiting Jumbo) +½
Total: 7
Overall impression
Dumbo tells the story of a baby elephant born with oversized ears who most learn to accept the way he is by making the most of his supposedly unfortunate mutation. After watching this movie for the first time in a really long time, I realized that I had really forgotten how good it is. The movie flows pretty well, many of the scenes work really well, the songs in the movie are great (especially the song sung by the crows). The animation isn’t nearly as amazing as some of the art featured in Pinocchio or Fantasia, but it’s still good. I also really like the message of the movie, and the character of the mouse. I thought it was a clever twist of irony that the mouse was the one who helped the elephant earn some self-confidence. As for the message, it’s all about how each person (or animal) is unique and that traits that others see as defects can actually be amazing (seriously, who doesn’t want to FLY?). Overall, I was very surprised by the quality and really enjoyed the movie.
Total: 8
Bambi Review
Grand Total: 2 ½
Technical
Boring 2
Kids movie +1
Overly predictable -1
Total: 2
Overall impression
Bambi tells the story of a deer who must grow up in the woods amidst the terror of those pesky, destructive, nature hating, polluting, careless humans. The movie isn’t very subtle on that front and the rest of the movie just bored me to tears. The threats presented by the “humans” who, in this movie, are represented by not-so-subtle “the bad guys are coming” music, are never seen, which is kind of lame. I suppose it’s metaphorical, to show that there are invisible forces out to get you just because you’re what you are, but even I’m laughing as I write this out because I think I’m thinking harder than the movie did. The immortal god stag is an unnecessary character, and Bambi’s growth is completely glossed over. Thumper is a terribly written character that is so annoyingly preachy that I almost gave this movie an “unwatchable” rating. I didn’t even feel anything when Bambi’s mother died because, while she’s a bearable character, nothing in the movie has really been emotionally established enough for me to care. In the end, this is the most overrated Disney movie. I’m appalled to see it in many people’s top 10 Disney films lists because, for me, this is the first Disney movie that REALLY felt like it only had appeal to young children.
Total: 3
Saludos Amigos Review
Grand Total: 3 ¾
Technical
Watchable 4
Kids movie +1
Boring part -½
Too short -1
Total: 3 ½
Overall impression
Saludos Amigos is basically three animated shorts pieced together into a feature film. Given the premise, this is actually not too shabby. The shorts work pretty well, even if the first one and the last one aren’t as good as the middle one. For what it is, this film is ok. But… it’s three short films mushed together and they don’t relate at all. There isn’t much to talk about.
Total: 4
The Three Caballeros Review
Grand Total: 2
Technical
Boring 2
Kids movie +1
Overly predictable -1
Total: 2
Overall impression
The Three Caballeros tells the story of three animated characters whose names escape me even though I just watched the movie (one of them is Donald Duck) who go on an adventure through Latin America. They don’t actually do anything on the adventure, but they walk around with live-action Latin America behind them. Really darn forgettable. I’m having a tough time remembering the movie even though I just watched it. I think a few of the musical numbers were ok, I mean, they’re all latin/salsa tunes. They’re ok. I do remember this movie featuring a lot of pretty bad-looking interactions between live-action and animated characters. There are a lot of women in this movie for the “three caballeros” to cat-call (yeah, this movie is pretty dated) but, as that is the entirety of the movie, I found it to be really boring, and it’s barely an hour long. Bright colors though.
Total: 2
Make Mine Music Review
Grand Total: 4 ¾
Technical
Watchable 4
Kids movie +1
Great music +½
Total: 5 ½
Overall impression
Make Mine Music is like Fantasia, in that it is another partitioned music video. Of the sketches, the most memorable one was one that captured the spirit of “Peter and the Wolf” pretty well. The others were pretty forgettable, though I was never really bored, which is odd given how forgettable the sketches were. In short: the music was nice but the sketches were forgettable. Definitely not as good as Fantasia.
Total: 4
Fun and Fancy Free Review
Grand Total: 3 ½
Technical
Watchable 4
Kids movie +1
Boring part -1
Total: 4
Overall impression
Fun and Fancy Free is a story I can’t really comprehend. I think it has to do with watching a few characters work in different scenes (two sketches). I honestly can’t remember all that much about this sketch-comedy. It’s not really a sketch-comedy but it reminded me of one. Fun and Fancy Free consists of two sketches. I honestly can’t remember a thing about the first one and remember a few human puppets in the second one about a beanstalk. That being said, I wasn’t bored during the second sketch.
Total: 3
Melody Time Review
Grand Total: 5 ¾
Technical
Watchable 4
Kids movie +1
Great music +½
Total: 5 ½
Overall impression
Melody Time has literally the same format as Make Mine Music, but is done much better. Two sketches really worked in this one, those being the Johnny Appleseed sketch (which is actually really good) and the ice skating sketch, which I thought was pretty clever and told a pretty good story. I can’t remember a whole lot about the other sketches but I can’t say I was ever bored.
Total: 6
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad Review
Grand Total: 7 ½
Technical
Engaging 6
Kids movie +1
Suspenseful +1
Total: 8
Overall impression
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is a film that tells two stories. One is about Ichabod, a man who has to deal with the headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow. The other is about Mr. Toad, a hilariously inept and crazy toad who is somehow caught up in a shady business deal. This film is a hidden gem I’d never seen before but now would recommend. I think the story of Ichabod is a more well-known story (Sleepy Hollow) with many people familiar with the headless horseman. That having been said, I think the story of Mr. Toad is a little better. It even involves a little suspense which I was very impressed with. The story is a little zany and cheesy, but I still found it to be quite entertaining. Most of the same can be said about the story of Ichabod. While a little slower, the story was still engaging, pretty funny, and climactic with the appearance of the headless horseman. While the two stories have nothing to do with each other, both worked well individually and have good stories, pretty good animation, and good characters.
Total: 7
Cinderella Review
Grand Total: 4
Technical
Watchable 4
Kids movie +1
Bad message -1
Total: 4
Overall impression
Cinderella tells the story of a girl who dreams of going to a ball so that she can meet the man of her dreams. Unfortunately she has an evil stepmother with evil daughters who constantly get in the way. Now, there is a moment in this movie when Cinderella finds out that she can’t go to the ball. She runs out of the house and collapses, crying, and states “there’s nothing to believe in anymore”. I think that pretty much sums up everything wrong with the movie. While not a terrible story, or with terrible characters, the motivations in this movie and the reasons the story goes along the way it does are really pretty sad. Cinderella is an oppressed character for sure, but she just seems so mopey all of the time. Maybe I’m being a little unfair to her, but I just didn’t find her to be relatable at all. The entire movie just felt like it was trying to take itself way too seriously considering this is a princess movie. I mean, the talking mice, while really sweet characters despite their terrible singing voices, are the best part of the movie. I mean, yes, there is a certain mouse character whose only job is to screw up near the cat so that we viewers feel some fake tension. In spite of that, I still like the mice because all they want to do is help out Cinderella. The Cinderella part of the movie, though, I could do without and that's not exactly a small flaw in the movie.
Total: 4
Alice in Wonderland Review
Grand Total: 5
Technical
Watchable 4
Amazing animation +½
Kids movie +1
Bad songs -½
Total: 5
Overall impression
Alice in Wonderland tells the surreal story of a girl who falls down a rabbit hole to find another world where everything is opposite of what it is in real life. This premise makes for the most creative Disney movie so far. And yet, it is also really tedious. I suppose most of that comes from Alice’s “wonderland”, a world that is designed to be absolutely and utterly confusing. The point of the story is that perhaps your world isn’t so bad after all as long as you have the creativity to make something out of it. Alice learns that her world of everything backwards isn’t so great after all, even though she wished the real world were like that. I think that is a pretty good message, but the movie isn’t very entertaining. I get that the tedium of the movie is kind of the point of it, as most of the movie takes place in her tedious “wonderland”. Too much craziness is exactly that: too much craziness. A world where everything is different, there are so many things you could do with that that would be more entertaining! Apart from that, the character of Alice is really annoying and the songs in this movie are the first ones I can actually categorize as bad. Maybe it’s because of “wonderland” is so weird. Maybe I’ve used that excuse too much.
Total: 5
Peter Pan Review
Grand Total: 5
Technical
Watchable 4
Kids movie +1
Great performance/character (the crocodile) +½
An amazing scene (mother song scene) +½
Boring part -1
Total: 5
Overall impression
Peter Pan tells the story of a group of children (the Darling family) who get whisked away to Neverland by Peter Pan, a boy who doesn’t age. The same voice actress who played Alice in Alice in Wonderland plays Wendy in this movie. The result? A much better character. It’s too bad the rest of the film didn’t hold up as well. Peter Pan is a little bit of a mess actually. It’s got some great elements and some pretty bad elements. The great elements are the bad guys. Captain Hook, Smee, the crew, and the crocodile are the best characters in the entire movie. I really love the crocodile. I was cracking up every time I saw him and his chemistry with Captain Hook is especially great. Surprisingly, the problems of this movie are the good guys. Peter Pan is pretty one-dimensional. He’s just there to have fun. I suppose this movie may have worked if Peter had learned something, but in glorifying childhood and I think the spirit of being a misfit, this movie kind of loses a little credibility. I’m not really sure what the movie is trying to convey because most of the time Peter Pan is acting like a brat with no leash. Is the movie justifying that? Or is Wendy really the center of the movie, bringing motherhood and a more firm hand to the misfit children? Wendy’s song about motherhood is actually a really great scene; for a moment, I actually thought this movie would come to terms with it’s odd story and actually be good. Unfortunately, it didn’t last. Speaking of Wendy, I found the love square between Wendy, Tiger Lily, Tinkerbell and Peter Pan to be pretty unbearable. Each of the female characters spends way too much time in the movie being jealous of the other female characters. Speaking of Tiger Lily, I think the depiction of the Native Americans in this movie to be a little racy. Even though they’re “good guys”, a lot of the dialogue surrounding them is definitely “politically incorrect” by today’s standards. Overall, I really do think this movie is a bit of a mess. There is a lot going on, but it doesn’t really come together too well. I really like Captain Hook and the crocodile but I don’t like Peter Pan and I’m not sure I like the message kids are going to get out of this movie either.
Total: 5
Technical
Engaging 6
Kids movie +1
Great performance/character (the philosopher dog) +½
An amazing scene (Tony’s dinner scene) +½
Too short -1
Total: 7
Overall impression
Lady and the Tramp tells the story of Lady, a high-class cockerspaniel who meets Tramp, a mutt from the streets. Their interactions, coupled with the arrival of a baby to Lady’s owners, make up the story. I like this movie, I like the characters in it, I like the music in the movie, I love the big song in the movie (Bella Notte). I knew I was going to like this movie when I was watching it but for whatever reason, I came out unsatisfied. I think the biggest reason is because I don’t like story that much. In short, a rich girl (dog) with no experience outside of her bubble meets a homeless guy (dog) who knows all about the world outside of the rich girl’s bubble and the story unfolds exactly as you would expect it. My problem is, given the good set-up to the story, that the movie isn’t long enough or developed enough. I would’ve liked to have seen the tramp more developed as I feel his character is not as polished as it should be. I gave a +½ to “the philosopher dog” in the pound because I love his design, his lines, and his accent. He’s on screen for maybe 2 minutes but he’s great. Anyway, the movie is good, but it’s just a let-down because it’s not as good as it should be. Another thing I noticed was that the darkest element of the story (the pound) is almost turned into comedy. But apparently Lady still finds it really terrible. Also, there’s a short scene where a dog is escorted out of the pound to be executed. This is almost completely glossed over with more comedy. I feel like that was a bit of a missed opportunity for the film to really have a message about dog pounds and for Lady’s hatred of the place to resonate. Otherwise, Lady’s disgust for the place really doesn’t make any sense because, despite the fact that it was well below her upper-class standard of living, it wasn’t depicted to be that bad. Overall, though, still an enjoyable film with many strong elements.
Total: 7
Sleeping Beauty Review
Grand Total: 5 ¼
Technical
Watchable 4
Kids movie +1
Amazing animation +½
Boring part -1
Total: 4 ½
Overall impression
Sleeping Beauty tells the story of the Princess Aurora, who is cursed to touch the spindle on a spinning wheel and die before her sixteenth birthday. However, she has three brainless (but full of heart) fairies to protect her. The animation in the backgrounds of this movie is amazing and the movie feels like a flipbook of castle paintings. But the story just isn’t that good. I like that the Prince finally has something to do but Aurora the character isn’t a great female character. I wish she had had more development. The three fairies carry the plot along but not without a lot of cheesiness that I didn’t find to be that appealing. They begin as pretty good characters who share the duties of motherhood over Aurora but as the story picks up, become a little cheesy. They moved the story along pretty well and I was definitely along for the ride most of the way, even if the characters weren’t as round as they could’ve been. The climactic scene (prince vs dragon) is one I wished were longer because Maleficent only lasts for about a minute as the dragon, even though the dragon is so memorable. Still, at least the prince is finally doing something, even though I’d give more credit to the annoying fairies than to him for finally taking down Maleficent.
Total: 6
Technical
Engaging 6
Kids movie +1
Great performance/character (Cruella) +½
Moving +1
An amazing scene (going after the puppies) +½
Great music +½
Suspenseful +1
Amazing plot/story +½
Total: 10 (11)
Overall impression
101 Dalmatians tells the story of two dogs who go after their stolen puppies. For such a simple premise, this is actually a fantastic story. The characters are all dogs that call their owners their pets. The first ⅓ of this movie (before the puppies are taken) is really well done. The narration is spot-on, the dialogue is great, all of the jokes work really well, the story flows well, everything works really well! It’s rare that I have no complaints whatsoever to give to part of a movie made for kids. Apart from greatness of the first third, the voice actors for the two main dogs (Pongo and Perdita) are really tender and you can really feel the emotions of the characters in this movie. Also, I don’t mean to discredit the second ⅔ of this movie. I really liked those too, it’s just that it wasn’t as amazing. The movie plays out like a heist film actually, with Pongo and Perdita out to get their puppies back. Oh, who took the puppies? Cruella de Ville! If the name doesn’t scream bad guy I don’t know what does but she was so delightfully over-the-top and enjoyable to watch. Her henchmen, Horace and Jasper, are also entertaining as the two bumbling idiots who work for her. After the puppies are kidnapped, I was really moved by Pongo and Perdita’s endeavor out to go get them. I almost gave this movie a “too short” subtraction because I feel like the movie could have expanded on their gruelling journey to get to the location of their puppies. The few snippets that are shown of the two crossing a river of snow is deeply moving and I wish they had shown more of that. I finished this movie thinking it might have been the best Disney film I’d seen yet. Afterwards though, I began to nitpick the story and began to realize that a few things didn’t add up plotwise. Cruella (the tiny woman in a huge fur-skin coat who shouts “I live for furs”) being the obvious perpetrator but Pongo and Perdita not knowing why she wanted the puppies is a little sloppy but I didn’t think of that while I was watching the movie. Still, I suppose I only nitpicked the story because it was so good to begin with. As I said in my rating criteria, if a plothole is noticed after the movie but not during, it means that the story was good enough to distract you from it. The only other thing I have to be critical about is that the animation was not nearly as good as the animation in Sleeping Beauty. Still, the music is amazing.
Total: 9
The Sword in the Stone Review
Grand Total: 5 ¼
Technical
Watchable 4
Kids movie +1
Great performance/character (Madame Mim) +½
Total: 5 ½
Overall impression
The Sword in the Stone tells the story of a young King Arthur, and the many lessons he learns before becoming king (he didn’t know he would become king, but the lessons are still important). This movie works really well as a bunch of educational-practical-transfigurative snippets. Each scene works really well as a chapter of a book. But the book itself? That is a completely different question. I feel like the story as a whole doesn’t work too well, the ending being the worst part. I think if there were better transitions between the lessons that Merlin teaches Arthur, the story would’ve worked much better. I liked Madame Mim as a character just because she worked pretty well as a foil to Merlin, but she sort of came out of nowhere and was quickly left behind. Not that her scenes weren’t memorable, they may have been the best part of the movie (and a little lesson themselves). Still, I really have to admit that the story as a whole doesn’t work. The ending, where Arthur pulls the sword from the stone and becomes king is really abrupt and unestablished. A lot of time is glossed over from between Merlin disappearing to the end, time that could’ve been well-spent establishing Arthur or at least showing how much he learned from his teachings. Oh well. The animation in this one is not that great either.
Total: 5
The Jungle Book Review
Grand Total: 1 ¾
Technical
Watchable 4
Kids movie +1
Boring part -½
Unfunny -½
Bad performance/character (Shere Khan) -½
Obvious plothole -½
Terrible adaptation -1
Terrible writing -½
Total: 1 ½
Overall impression
The Jungle Book tells no story, but it’s about a boy named Mogli who grows up in the jungle with animals. The resulting movie is the most forgettable and unnecessary Disney movie yet. Literally, I don’t think anything really happens. There is barely a plot; the film opts instead for scenes that barely merge into each other, which would at least be passable if what happened in them was interesting. But instead it’s pretty boring and features the most one-dimensional characters ever. The first bits of Mogli’s life are completely glossed over and he is instead established as a completely unestablished and ageless child. Who knows how old he is? (it would be relevant to the ending, which makes no sense either). I suppose the film is trying to say that life is going to give you the “bare necessities” and that you shouldn’t worry about it, but does that justify completely abandoning Mogli? I mean, he’s a terrible character but I wouldn’t abandon him. The panther is a pretty lame character, Mogli is terrible, Shere Khan is the most forgettable non-threat Disney has ever decided to give the title “villain”. Both the voice actor and the writing for him suggest boredom. Baloo the bear is actually the only bearable character in the bunch, and I really love the voice actor. It’s unfortunate that he wasn’t given more development. Still, I think the worst aspect of the movie is the writing in general. Nothing seems to work and the movie falls apart both as small scenes and as a whole. The animation is lazy too; there was a scene involving the snake that is repeated later on; I think it is literally animated the same way, as if it were copied and pasted. In short, this movie is the epitome of lame. This movie was so bad I had to look up the plot to make sure I was watching the right movie. The only real points I can give this movie are for Baloo and for trying to have a good message, even if it doesn’t really work.
Total: 2
The Aristocats Review
Grand Total: 7 ½
Technical
Engaging 6
Kids movie +1
Great writing +½
Great songs +½
Great music +½
Boring part -½
Total: 8
Overall impression
The Aristocats tells the story of a high class mother and her three kittens who get catnapped and must find their way home with the help of Thomas O’Mally, the alley cat. Wow is this movie underrated. There is so much in this movie that really works and so much of it that is surprisingly mature. I gave this film an addition for great writing because it really has the best dialogue of any of the Disney movies yet. Trust me, there are many adults jokes hidden amongst the kiddie stuff. I’d bet that about 50% of the dialogue in this movie kids wouldn’t really understand. The voice actor who did the voice for Baloo is back and this time given a really good character. Thomas O’Mally the alley cat is actually a really well-written, well-developed character. All you have to do to understand where he’s coming from is all there in his opening song, which is pretty good too. The scenes involving Napoleon and Lafayette the dogs are hilarious though they reuse some jokes. The music in their scenes and in the scenes where Edgar (the evil butler) is taking the cats away (oh yeah, what was he going to do with them anyway, that would’ve been interesting to find out) reminds me a lot of Mission Impossible and the music in Paris is very French. The voice actress for Duchess is very good and you get a lot of emotion out of her as a mother, trying to find her way back while also protecting her kittens. The film isn’t without some faults though. The beginning is pretty boring in fact not much happens up until Edgar takes the kittens away. Another thing that bothers me about the movie: Edgar. Edgar’s motivation toward getting rid of the cats is so that he can get his part of the will. Doesn’t he seem a little justified in doing so? Why should the cats get the inheritance before Edgar? The movie does try to justify this by saying that Edgar will get everything after the cats die, but seriously, that still seems unfair. Another thing I didn’t like about the movie was how undeveloped “Madame” was. There just didn’t seem to be much to her. The animation in this movie is not that great either. Another thing about this movie is it’s resemblance to Lady and the Tramp. Yeah, both movies involve an upper class female out of place who meets a lower class misfit male who shows her the ways of the streets. During their time together, they fall for each other, the female beginning to like the male over his rough or even fake appearance and the male beginning to settle down a little. Both movies have some scenes that are pretty much shot for shot. In Lady and the Tramp, the tramp notices that Lady has a muzzle on and takes her to a place to arrange for it to be taken off. There is an obstacle of course, so the tramp effectively says “watch this” and distracts the zoo guard allowing them to get what they’re after. In The Aristocats, O’Mally sees that the cats need to get to Paris and says that he can arrange for it to be done but in order for that to happen, he effectively says “watch this” and distracts a truck drive allowing the cats to get on board and get to Paris. Both scenes also help the male establish trust with the unsure female. So which movie, given their similarities, is better? I think most would say that Lady and the Tramp is better and I can see why they’d say that. Lady and the Tramp has a much smoother story that plays out more like you’d expect. The Aristocats, on the other hand, doesn’t have a great story and is definitely harder to remember when it comes to remembering how the story goes. The Aristocats also came during a time of pretty mediocre Disney films (The Jungle Book, The Sword in the Stone, Robin Hood, The Rescuers, The Black Cauldron, etc.) whereas Lady and the Tramp came between Disney classics Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. A gap it shared with memorable Disney films Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan. But the victory doesn’t go so easily to Lady and the Tramp. Lady and the Tramp is also more of a romantic story than The Aristocats which makes it more relatable and heart-warming, even though I think the romantic aspects of The Aristocats work better. The Aristocats is more off-beat, featuring a different style of music and more mature humor. I think if you compare the main characters in each of the movies, you’ll find that the characters in The Aristocats easily win. Thomas O’Mally is a way better character than the tramp and I’d say Duchess and Lady are tied, though Duchess is given way better lines to say. That’s another thing. The writing in The Aristocats is far better than in Lady and the Tramp. If The Aristocats had a better story, I think there would be more people siding with it over Lady and the Tramp. It is really tough for me to choose between them actually, given the battle is better story vs. better characters and better writing. If you think you’re way into one boat over the other, rewatch both and then make your decision. I think you’ll find more to think about.
Total: 7
Robin Hood Review
Grand Total: 3 ¾
Technical
Watchable 4
Kids movie +1
Great performance/character (Prince John) +½
Boring part -½
Too long -1
Obvious plothole -½
Total: 3 ½
Overall impression
Robin Hood tells the story of a fox named Robin Hood, a carefree, hopeless romantic outlaw, who robs from the rich and gives to the poor. This movie is probably fun if you want to turn your brain off to the dozens of plotholes in the story. Still, it is fairly fun, at least when Prince John is on screen. He is the most comedic villain ever. Aside from that though, the story is really unoriginal, stealing many scenes from previous movies. In particular, there is a scene after Robin Hood wins the tournament when he is dancing and literally every character from the “Everybody wants to be a cat” scene in The Aristocats was there shot for shot, dancing in exactly the same way. Watch the two scenes and tell me it isn’t true. Afterwards Robin and Maid Marian go off on their romantic walk which is stolen from Lady and the Tramp. The movie is pretty long too, and slow. It would definitely be a lot of fun for kids though.
Total: 4
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh Review
Grand Total: 5 ¾
Technical
Watchable 4
Kids movie +1
Great performance/character (Eeyore) +½
Total: 5 ½
Overall impression
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh tells several stories that vary in content but generally keep the same characters, who really grow on you. This movie is divided into chapters, as it is literally a book (the characters sometimes interact with the letters and words in the book, which is neat). Each chapter is effectively its own story and there are about four or five chapters. The characters are really what make this pretty touching, because they all have pleasant voices (except for Eeyore, who’s hilarious). The stories are pretty bland and slow but that’s okay I suppose because I enjoyed their simplicity. This definitely appeals to younger kids, but don’t watch this if you hate honey. Still, adults may be bored.
Total: 6
The Rescuers Review
Grand Total: 2 ¼
Technical
Watchable 4
Kids movie +1
Terrible writing -½
Poor animation -½
Bad songs -½
Obvious plothole -½
Uneven tone -½
Total: 2 ½
Overall impression
The Rescuers tells the story of two mice who go on a mission to save a young girl who has gone missing. This story has a lot of potential. It has a decent, albeit cheesy set-up and some characters that the movie could actually do a lot with. Unfortunately, this movie has no idea what it is. Sometimes it’s dark when it shouldn’t be, sometimes it’s lighthearted and supposed to be funny when it could be intense; the tone in this movie just keeps changing. On top of that, the animation is actually pretty bad. For the first time I’ve really noticed it being bad. The sound effects are cheesy and uneven, the music doesn’t come in when it should and doesn’t fit the scene half the time, the songs are bad, and the writing is awful. A lot of the lines the characters are given are pretty terrible, and the voice actors (so many recycled) have all been better in other movies. On top of all of that, the villain is forgettable and terribly written. One thing I can say that I liked about this movie was Bob Newhart’s voice acting. His character is perfectly cast, even if it’s not well written. Kids will probably like the goofiness of the movie even if they get scared when it’s accidentally dark, but adults will get nothing from this movie.
Total: 2
The Fox and the Hound Review
Grand Total: 4 ¾
Technical
Watchable 4
Kids movie +1
Bad performance/character (Vixie) -½
Total: 4 ½
Overall impression
The Fox and the Hound tells the story of a fox and a hound who grow up together only to realize that, once they reach adulthood, they will be sworn enemies. The film itself is ok. There really isn’t anything special about it at all, and there’s nothing terrible about it either; it’s just ok. Some moments work better than others. The sadder scenes (Cooper leaving Todd, the mother releasing Todd) work pretty well but the plot is pretty generic and predictable and the stakes are really low. One thing I didn’t like at all was the character Vixie, the female fox in the story. She doesn’t serve any purpose and her voice actress is not the best. Still, her role is really minor so the damage done is minimal. The movie is never super boring and never super exciting, the animation is average with some nice details and some really unnecessary details. In short, haha, this movie is ok.
Total: 5
The Black Cauldron Review
Grand Total: 0 ½
Technical
Boring 2
Kids movie +1
Amazing animation +½
Terrible writing -½
Bad performance/character (the cast) -½
Obvious plothole -½
Unfunny -½
Uneven tone -½
Total: 1
Overall impression
Imagine if the story of The Lord of the Rings was condensed into 1 hour and 15 minutes. What’s that you say? It wouldn’t work? Nothing would make sense? Too much story? Too many characters? That pretty much sums up The Black Cauldron, a blatant The Lord of the Rings rip-off if ever there was one. The only good thing I can say about this is that the animation is good. Other than that, there is absolutely nothing even mediocre about this movie, it’s absolutely awful. Nothing makes sense in this movie. I wasn’t sure whether or not to give this movie an “obvious plothole” subtraction, because the story is a plothole. Seriously, if The Jungle Book had no story, this movie has an atrociously bad story. I’m not sure which one is worse. I mean, this movie is bordering on unwatchable it’s so bad. None of the characters are any good, none of the scenes work at all. This movie is an absolute catastrophe. I think, in my review of The Jungle Book I said that kids might like the movie because it might be fun and that that was the only good thing about the movie. I can’t say that about this movie because this movie is unnecessarily dark. I think it would scare the crap out of kids, what with all of the skeletons, evil creatures, and jump scares (which are so bad and totally don’t work, by the way). This is definitely the worst Disney movie yet and is one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen.
Total: 0
The Great Mouse Detective Review
Grand Total: 4 ½
Technical
Watchable 4
Kids movie +1
Total: 5
Overall impression
The Great Mouse Detective tells the story of a mouse who goes to the greatest mouse detective to help her find her father (a toymaker), who has gone missing. The story of this movie definitely has potential, it’s just that it is carried out in an odd way with some dark images and mature scenes (a strip club, really) that probably wouldn’t be best for children and really don’t fit the movie. I mean, a toy maker is kidnapped and his daughter hires a mouse detective to find him. That’s the story, so you’d expect a lot of the movie to take place around toys and it does. But the imagery around the toys is pretty dark and there are a lot of shadowy images that might scare kids. Still, it’s not terrible. The animation, in general, is pretty decent and there is a scene where I think there may have been some computer effects going on (the gears in Big Ben). The villain is goofy but has a few decent lines and some good scenes, especially at the end. Still, he’s really underdeveloped and his plan doesn’t make much sense. Nothing is too special about this film, and it’ll probably be forgettable to most.
Total: 4
Oliver and Company Review
Grand Total: 5 ¾
Technical
Watchable 4
Kids movie +1
Great songs +½
Total: 5 ½
Overall impression
Oliver and Company tells the story of Oliver, a cat, who gets lost in the city only to befriend a group of carefree dogs. This was yet another Disney movie I had never heard of, so I went in not expecting anything. Yet this movie actually surprised me. It may not have a lot of story, but it has a lot of touching scenes, especially at the beginning. The first half of this movie was definitely better than the second half, and for a while I thought I’d actually really like this movie, I mean, it’s upbeat and seems to be establishing characters (REALLY stereotypical characters) and the setting (New York City) really well. Not that the movie turned out bad, it’s just that the story took a few turns that I wasn’t impressed with in the second half. The animation isn’t very good, but there are definitely a few moments of computer help that were fun to notice. I suppose this movie isn’t that great as a whole, but it was actually quite watchable, the characters together (just think of every juxtaposing stereotype you can think of put into one group) are entertaining, and there are some pretty genuine moments.
Total: 6
The Little Mermaid Review
Grand Total: 7 ½
Technical
Engaging 6
Kids movie +1
Great songs +½
Amazing animation +½
Bad message -1
Total: 7
Overall impression
The Little Mermaid tells the story of Ariel, a mermaid who exchanges her voice for a pair of legs so that she can meet a man she saved from a sinking ship. Well, okay, she also has an obsessive fascination with humans, but I don’t want to ignore her primary motivation. Before we get to that though, it is worth noting that, for the first time in a really long time, this movie felt like Disney. I mean, the animation is great (the CGI is pretty decent too, when it’s applied), the movie is actually a musical, and it has a decent story. The prince is a decent character (for the second time ever), better than the prince in Sleeping Beauty, and Ariel is a decent character who has pretty reasonable expectations (freedom to explore new ideas and places). The supporting cast have reasonable roles and nobody (except maybe the fish) seem unnecessary, which is good. The villain is pretty good, even if she has pretty generic motivations. Really, the only thing wrong about this movie is its message, and I don’t mean the message about freedom; this movie tells little girls that the only thing that matters to impress somebody is to be pretty. This movie has so many lines about Ariel’s looks and many scenes that have Ariel trying to look pretty. I mean, the plot is basically this: Ariel desperately wants to see this man that she saved one day because she’s obsessed with the outside world so she sells her voice to the bad guy to become a human. In order to stay human, he has to kiss her before three days are up. Basically, that last part is this: Ariel must use her good looks and nothing else to seduce a prince. Oh, and she’s sixteen. I mean, that’s a really bad message to send to young girls watching this movie, and it’s especially bad because I think this movie may be more aimed at a female audience than, say, Aladdin. Still, this movie has a lot going for it and is definitely a welcome return to form for Disney.
Total: 8
The Rescuers Down Under Review
Grand Total: 5 ¼
Technical
Watchable 4
Kids movie +1
Amazing animation +½
Great performance/character (Joanna) +½
Bad performance/character (the lizard) -½
Total: 5 ½
Overall impression
The Rescuers Down Under tells the story of a boy who is kidnapped by an evil poacher and must be saved by two mice, who are the same two mice from the first The Rescuers. This film, the sequel, is definitely better than the first one, especially in the animation and plot categories. Neither are perfect in this movie, I mean, the animation is really good when it’s not incorporating terrible looking CG city shots. And the plot is decent (the plot of The Rescuers was awful). Still, while this movie isn’t great, it just isn’t bad. The characters from the last film (the two mice) are back but they aren’t the key characters anymore. Instead, the key characters are a boy and an eagle. The villain, who is a generic poacher, is trying to use the boy to find the eagle. He’s ok, and so is the boy and so is the eagle. Still, this movie has some great moments are some bad moments. The opening scene of the movie has the boy riding the eagle with some really amazing looking animation and for the few minutes it lasted, I thought this might be a great movie. Unfortunately it wasn’t quite that. A lot of the plot points are really rushed (the poacher’s prison) and there are holes, especially in the second half. Oh goodness, there’s even a love triangle, which means that this film automatically loses points. Still, Joanna the turquoise reptile is really fun to watch, and the sounds that come out of her are great. But for every Joanna there is this super annoying lizard in the poacher’s prison who literally needs to die, he steals every scene by making it awful, and the other characters know it. Overall, the film is better than the first, but still not great.
Total: 5
Beauty and the Beast Review
Grand Total: 10
Technical
Engaging 6
Kids movie +1
Moving +1
An amazing scene (ballroom) +½
Really funny +½
Amazing story/plot +½
Great performance/character (the beast) +½
Great music +½
Great songs +½
Amazing animation +½
Total: 10 (11 ½)
Overall impression
Beauty and the Beast tells the story of Belle, a woman whose father is captured by an evil beast when he intrudes on the beast’s home. Belle frees her father by staying in his place, but quickly realizes that the beast isn’t all she had originally thought. This film is widely regarded as one of the best, if not the best, Disney movies ever made. It’s the only animated film to be nominated for best picture back when there were only five slots for nominees, and it’s still the only classically animated film to be nominated. It has timeless songs (and great music to go along with the songs, which is rare, though the music is pretty soft), a great story, a strong female character (easily the best so far; what a huge improvement over The Little Mermaid), a great message, a great story, and really really good animation. This movie, like the two movies that came before it, uses a lot of computerized effects. However, they are way more subtle and useful in this film, giving additional dimension to the scenes and adding so much wonder to the unforgettable ballroom scene. The movie is really funny too, there is quite a lot of humor among the supporting cast and the Beast (the supporting cast is all great too) and it all works really well. It’s really hard to say anything bad about this movie because, to be honest, there really isn’t anything bad to say. I suppose you could try really hard to say something about the amount of time that has passed over the course of the movie and that Belle falls for the Beast really quickly, but it’s unclear how much time has passed and honestly it doesn’t matter, because the scenes that justify her falling for the Beast more than work. I guess you could say that the villain isn’t that great, but he’s way better than the past twenty or so villains and is actually really entertaining to watch. This movie may be the most technically perfect disney movie I’ve ever seen, even if there are aspects of other films that work better on their own (the animation in Pinocchio or the story in 101 Dalmatians). Altogether, this film is pretty amazing.
Total: 10
Aladdin Review
Grand Total: 9
Technical
Engaging 6
Kids movie +1
An amazing scene (Cave of Wonders) +½
Really funny +½
Amazing story/plot +½
Great performance/character (The Genie) +½
Great music +½
Great songs +½
Amazing animation +½
Great writing +½
Total: 10 (11)
Overall impression
Aladdin tells the story of a homeless boy (he is probably around 20) who finds a genie who is able to grant him three wishes. While a gross oversimplification, this is what the story boils down to. Though, this story is also about Princess Jasmine, a princess who wants the freedom to make her own decisions (hardly an original idea, but whatever). Together, these two stories make for another really good Disney movie. The characters are great (almost all of them), the music is great, the songs are great, the animation is even better (the computerized carpet is especially impressive), and the story is both impressive and ambitious. This is also more action-y than previous movies. Not that that is a problem, actually I think it’s great and makes for some really fast-paced storytelling. Still, the fast pace combined with the ambition makes for a small flaw. By ambition, I mean that this story attempts to convey two big messages, messages that usually take up an entire Disney film. Actually, this story pulls it off really well considering the inherent difficulties with the fast-paced story. Still, the movie does feel a little short, and some moments could’ve done with a little lengthening. Another flaw I found with this movie is the character of the Sulton, Princess Jasmine’s father. He just seems like a dumb father character who is manipulated by the villain (an excellent villain who was in the running for that “great performance/character” addition, along with the Magic Carpet, Abu, and the Genie, who won it). But I guess he isn’t anything that much worse than the fathers in the other princess films (Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty come to mind). I guess, in the end, his poor character is easily balanced out by the great characters of the Genie, the Magic Carpet, Abu, and even Aladdin. The writing in this movie is also pretty amazing (surely a lot of that is thanks to the work of Robin Williams), and the comedy is pretty spot on, especially in the first half. Definitely one of the most enjoyable Disney movies yet, even if it’s not the best one.
Total: 8
The Lion King Review
Grand Total: 9 ½
Technical
Engaging 6
Kids movie +1
Moving +1
Suspenseful +1
An amazing scene (Stampede) +½
Epic in scale +½
Really funny +½
Amazing story/plot +½
Great performance/character (Mufasa) +½
Great music +½
Great songs +½
Amazing animation +½
Total: 10 (13)
Overall impression
The Lion King tells the story of a lion cub named Simba who is about to inherit the entire kingdom of Pride Rock. Before he can do that though, he must learn responsibility, humility, and making right past wrongs. While this simplification of the story may not be the one you may have thought of, the story boils down to that. Well, judging by how many points this movie managed to score in its technical rating, you’d guess that I’d just be showering this movie with endless praise. To an extent, that is true. This movie is amazing on several fronts, the first of which is the animation. The shadows and colors in this movie during many of its scenes are astoundingly good, creating so much extra emotion and making scenes that much more incredible. Those scenes are the second thing that is absolutely amazing about this movie. The serious scenes in this movie are, by far, the best scenes in any Disney movie ever, and the stampede scene and resulting tearjerker may be one of the greatest scenes in CINEMA. I mean, really, it is that good, and it isn’t the only one. Scenes between Mufasa and Simba, actually, any scene with either Mufasa or Scar in it, is really good. The humor in this movie really works too, especially from Scar, Zazu, Rafiki, Timone, and Pumba. The music is superb, even if you don’t like african-sounding music, it’s really good. The drums are heavy in this score, which helps bring a type of “epicness” to this movie, which you can certainly feel in many of the scenes. The voice acting on the characters, just about all of the characters (not Simba, sorry Matthew Broderick) are top-notch, with James Earl Jones as Mufasa and Jeremy Irons as Scar being the standouts, and their characters are really well-written too, and given plenty of time to be established in the story. I mean, the establishment half of this movie (the first forty minutes) are almost perfect. The great characters, tension, heart, and plot are all really well set up, culminating in the show-stopping stampede scene. Then the movie takes a rather dramatic tonal shift, perhaps as a distraction. This is where my biggest problem with the movie lies. This movie is so good on the dramatic front it almost has to compensate for it on the cheesy front. For some of you, this might just prove how well the movie works (and the dramatic elements of this movie are the best, seriously), but for me it was just a little annoying. Maybe that’s because I love the dramatic moments so much, or maybe it’s because those moments are the memorable parts of the movie, but either way, it annoyed me because it made the movie feel more like a kids movie. I mean, I get why they’re there, and for what they are, they’re very good and fairly necessary. They also add a layer of depth to the message of the movie (why Hakuna Matata is wrong) that will definitely get older kids to think. Still, this movie is, at the end of the day, a kids movie with some adult elements and intense scenes. Altogether, I’d love to give this movie a ten, but I really can’t. This is probably my favorite Disney movie, but even I have to admit that it isn’t perfect.
Total: 9
Pocahontas Review
Grand Total: 5 ½
Technical
Watchable 4
Kids movie +1
Great music +½
Great songs +½
Amazing animation +½
Bad performance/character (John Smith) -½
Total: 6
Overall impression
Pocahontas tells the story of Pocahontas, a Native American woman who meets John Smith, the encroaching white man. Apart from the obviously generic (and really subtle, trust me) story, this movie has one great quality. Right from the beginning, you can tell that this movie is visually astounding. The colors and animation in the movie are really amazing and make the first half of the movie, where this is especially apparent and where there is little plot, quite watchable. On top of that, the music and songs are great as usual, and there is a feeling of the greatness and beauty of the new world here that I felt was really captured well. However, this movie isn’t without big issues, the biggest of which is the lack of character emotion. This is especially apparent in the character of John Smith. If I asked someone who had just watched this movie to describe John Smith’s personality, I don’t think that person could come up with a single word to describe him, because he’s just just that bland. The only word that comes to mind when describing Pocahontas’ personality is free-spirited, a personality trait that happens to be shared by the many other Disney heroines. Part of the problem, other than poor development, is that the animation for the two characters’ faces is really blank; there is hardly any expression at all. The fact that the movie’s leads are both bland tells a lot about the movie’s tone, and the story and writing do little to remedy this; they’re both decent, but nothing special. The other issue that I have with this movie is one I’m a little on the fence about: whether or not this movie should have been made longer or shorter. The part of me that says it should have been made longer says that the story needed more development and that the extra time could have been used at the beginning to make the characters more round. The part of me that says it should have been made shorter says that the story already felt long and that the movie is pretty slow. All in all, this is a visually stunning movie with great music and songs that unfortunately has little emotion and dull characters to go with a pretty heavy-handed message.
Total: 5
The Hunchback of Notre Dame Review
Grand Total: 8
Technical
Engaging 6
Kids movie +1
Thought-provoking +1
Great performance/character (Frolo) +½
Great music +½
Great songs +½
Amazing animation +½
Great writing +½
Boring part -½
Too short -1
Total: 9
Overall impression
The Hunchback of Notre Dame tells the story of Quasimodo, a hunchback who is taken in by Frolo, the man who killed his mother (yeah, this story is dark). Quasimodo meets a gipsy named Esmerelda who takes pity on him. The resulting, quite complicated and layered story, results from Quasimodo’s realization that maybe he should decide for himself how to judge himself, instead of letting others do it. My first thought when I saw this on the list of Disney films was “Hmm, this was an odd choice for a Disney adaptation”. And, despite this movie’s apparently inherent setbacks, this movie is actually pretty good. It starts off strong, quickly establishing characters, their struggles, and their end goals and you can immediately see what their motivations are and more-or-less how their stories are going to play out. The most complex of these characters, by far, is Frolo, the corrupt priest. Just watch to see what kind of a dark, twisted, yet oddly human character he is. The dialogue, especially in the first half and in the songs, is very clever, featuring both witty remarks and deep messages. Unfortunately, the setup of this movie’s first half is not fully realized in the film’s second half. It seems like the movie wasn’t completely sure of what to do with the characters it had just created so well, and the story kind of falls flat. The movie also seems to have realized that it spent an entire hour setting up everything and then had to rush to wrap up, which is a shame, because if they’d made the movie longer, they would have been able to properly use all of the great setup and characters. Now, there are some good moments in the second half (any Frolo scene is great) and some good dialogue but it just seems like the movie didn’t know where to go, especially considering how dark the source material is and how un-Disney the ending is. The movie also features a lot of Disney-isms in its second half too, like goofy songs and lightheartedness just for the sake of balancing out the darker (very effective and infinitely better) aspects of the film. All in all, definitely worth checking out, but not your typical Disney film, for better or for worse.
Total: 7
Hercules Review
Grand Total: 3 ¾
Technical
Watchable 4
Kids movie +1
Really funny +½
Bad songs -½
Bad performance/character (Meg) -½
Total: 4 ½
Overall impression
Hercules tells the story of Hercules, a god who is marooned on earth after Hades’ plan to kill him as a child didn’t work so well. If Pocahontas suffered from being too serious and dull, Hercules suffers from being way too silly and dumb. Seriously, almost every sentence in this movie ends in some sort of punchline. All of the characters exist to be comical and the dialogue doesn’t help. Hades, the villain, is a real non-threat. He is just too goofy and says too many dumb things to be taken seriously, which is unfortunate because his plans are serious and could have created some real drama in the film. The animation in this film is pretty unremarkable in that it’s fine, except for one atrociously terrible looking CGI hydra. Apart from the silliness, this movie suffers from an odd tone in the songs, particularly the gospel-choir exposition songs. I don’t know which producer decided that Roman/Greek mythology would go really well with gospel sounding songs, but that’s how we get most of the songs in this movie. The only exception to this unfortunate rule is the song that Hercules sings about going the distance and finding your way. Actually, it’s pretty good and helps the audience understand where Hercules is coming from emotionally. Unfortunately though, the serious moments (far and few) in this movie are almost always clichéd and the goofier moments of the movie completely draw the focus. Still, a few of the serious scenes at the beginning work, but once the character Meg is introduced, all of the serious scenes end up being around her. Unfortunately, this greatly harms the film because she is a very under-developed character that the audience can’t really understand or relate to. She does things in the movie, but ultimately comes across as lame and uninteresting, making it harder to buy Hercules’ attraction to her. Oh and she also has terrible lines. Still, I guess it’s a good thing that the movie is so silly because the second half is completely full of plotholes and “wait what…?” moments that are easily ignored because, by that point, you don’t even care. This, I guess, is the worst aspect of the movie because somewhere, deep down, there is a good message about proving yourself and going the distance to become accepted. But the movie is really bad about making that believable and real and instead opts to distract with dumbness. Overall, a really dumb movie that had potential but got bogged down in cliché and unbelievability.
Total: 3
Mulan Review
Grand Total: 6 ¾
Technical
Engaging 6
Kids movie +1
An Amazing Scene (Then The Fire Nation Attacked) +½
Great songs +½
Bad performance/character (The bad guy) -½
Total: 7 ½
Overall impression
Mulan tells the story of Mulan, a young woman and daughter to a respected Chinese family, who goes to war in place of her crippled father when a draft requires that he fight for his country. She goes for to save her father and also to prove herself worthy of something more than just looking pretty and acting proper. While that sounds like a great premise, this movie does a great job of bringing it down to the level of the target audience: children. For every great moment in this movie there are five dumb moments. Still, the movie doesn’t completely focus on the dumb moments and has some genuinely heartfelt moments. Mulan’s sacrifice by taking her crippled father’s place in the army is a pretty great setup and helps develop Mulan’s character. Unfortunately, that’s the only decent bit from the first half of the movie and honestly, I thought this movie was pretty dumb until the scene. The scene that changes the tone of the movie completely and finally makes it a movie you can take seriously. I call it the “and then the fire nation attacked” scene and for those of you who watched Avatar: The Last Airbender (a fantastic show) you’ll get the reference. Suddenly the movie got real and I definitely liked it more afterwards. Apart from that, this movie has an interesting character in Mushu (voiced by an obvious Eddie Murphy) who is so completely out of place that it’s really funny every time he talks. His lines are usually dumb, but sometimes clever, and sometimes even warming. I guess he’s okay. Shan, the male lead, is pretty unremarkable, except for when he finds out a key piece of information revealed in the “fire nation” scene. Still, I wished they had developed his character more and his father more so that the “fire nation” scene would be that much more powerful. Overall, it’s okay with some good moments and a lot of dumb moments.
Total: 6
Tarzan Review
Grand Total: 9
Technical
Engaging 6
Kids movie +1
Moving +1
An amazing scene (House revisit) +½
Great performance/character (Kala) +½
Great songs +½
Amazing animation +½
Total: 10
Overall impression
Tarzan tells the story of a man named Tarzan who lives with apes. His world is turned upside down when he meets another human (who is, of course, female). It is worth noting, before breaking down Tarzan, that this is the first movie I ever saw. I guess that makes me biased, but I sat in a theater in 1999 and saw Tarzan with my dad. I’m so happy my first movie was a great movie and not a terrible one, because Tarzan really is great for a lot of reasons. The first fifteen or so minutes of it are really beautiful, with amazing animation and great emotional moments, especially between Kala, the mother ape, and Tarzan; their interactions always felt genuine and heartfelt. After those few minutes, however, the movie does a bit of a dive when it has to establish Tarzan’s need to become one of the apes as he realizes that he really isn’t an ape. This leads to some dumb moments with his “friends” who really don’t do much but make dumb jokes and provide exposition for Tarzan. Still, it’s a good motivator for the story to continue on and for Tarzan to grow up. At the thirty minute mark, Tarzan kills the leopard that killed his parents (though he doesn’t know any of that) and you’d think, “well, so much for the story. That was quick!” but actually, the story is just beginning. From then on, Tarzan is a decent movie with some great moments and some not-so-great moments. The story is simple, and that gives the movie plenty of time to establish characters and make for some really heartfelt moments. The songs are amazing too; Phil Collins is (unexpectedly) a great fit for this movie. The only negative things I can say about the movie are that not that much happens (not a ton of plot) and that the friends are pretty useless. Other than that, great movie. As a whole, there is more than enough to call this one of Disney’s finer efforts.
Total: 8
Fantasia 2000 Review
Grand Total: 6 ¾
Technical
Watchable 4
Kids movie +1
An amazing scene (Firebird) +½
Great music +½
Amazing animation +½
Total: 6 ½
Overall impression
This, along with the original Fantasia is a bit of a mixed bag. Fantasia 2000 is a multi-stage music video that consists of mostly good not great pieces of animation. There are two that are kinda… meh (one to Beethoven’s 5th and one to Carnival of the Animals) and one (the Firebird) that is great. And by great, I mean it belongs in the original Fantasia it’s so good. It’s a beautiful piece of art that features one of Disney’s most beautiful characters (I’m pretty sure her name is just “life”) with some brilliant imagery and some fantastic themes; it’s really incredible. Other good pieces are Rhapsody in Blue, Pomp and Circumstance, “The Steadfast Tin Soldier”, and Pines of Rome. Overall, it’s a good, if not completely inspired effort by Disney that ends on a very high note that the film as a whole didn’t quite earn.
Total: 7
Dinosaur Review
Grand Total: 3
Technical
Watchable 4
Kids movie +1
Too long -1
Boring part -½
Bad performance/character (the girlfriend thing) -½
Total: 3
Overall impression
Dinosaur is one of those movies that suffers from not enough plot, because there really isn’t anything that happens. The movie centers around a dinosaur named…. actually I already forgot his name, who is adopted by monkeys for some reason. His monkey family has their island blown up by a meteor shower (actually a good scene, the only one), and the family + the dinosaur are adopted by a herd of dinosaurs traveling to the nesting grounds. And they make it to the nesting grounds and that is the movie. Yep, really. That’s it. There is barely anything in this movie, which also means there is little to talk about. The comedy is sometimes decent, sometimes awful. The characters are mostly terrible, there is hardly any conflict, the animation is pretty good sometimes and other times just plain awful. This movie is a mess, which is impressive considering there is barely anything going on. Oh well.
Total: 3
The Emperor's New Groove Review
Grand Total: 3
Technical
Watchable 4
Kids movie +1
Really funny +½
Too long -1
Terrible writing -½
Obvious plothole -½
Bad performance/character (Emperor Kuzco) -½
Total: 3
Overall impression
The Emperor’s New Groove tells the story of Emperor Kuzco, a selfish emperor who shoves his authority in everyone’s face. But he must learn to be good when he is turned into a humble llama. That is possibly the most hilarious premise ever and I’m being absolutely honest when I say that I actually love this movie. I love the fact that it is so bad it’s actually great. Let me put it this way: this movie consists of one hour and fifteen minutes of constant dumb humor. That’s all there is, and if you’re ok with that, you’ll have quite a fun time with this movie. Forget the fact that it’s incoherent. Forget the fact that next to nothing makes sense. Forget the fact that this movie actually might be trying to push a message. Forget the fact that this movie was made by the same people who made The Lion King. This movie is so bad that I actually had to pause it every few minutes to laugh at how terrible the humor was; this movie feels like a Tom and Jerry cartoon. If you’re not completely fine with effectively wasting an hour and fifteen minutes of your time watching dumb characters do dumber things and say even dumber things, then this movie is not for you. Otherwise, it’s great because it’s so bad. The biggest issue I have with the movie is that it’s actually trying. There are moments when the movie actually sits back and says “this makes no sense. We know,” but there are other moments when the movie is actually trying to make the audience like or feel for the characters, which the movie completely doesn’t allow us to do because every second of potentially good development is shadowed by ten full minutes of dumb humor. That’s a real shame, because this movie actually made me think that Disney wasn’t even trying anymore.
Total: 3
Atlantis: The Lost Empire Review
Grand Total: 7
Technical
Engaging 6
Kids movie +1
Epic in scale +½
Really funny +½
Amazing animation +½
Overly predictable -1
Obvious plothole -½
Total: 7
Overall impression
Atlantis: The Lost Empire tells the story of Milo, an explorer (voiced by Michael J. Fox), who joins a bunch of people as the mastermind of a trip to find Atlantis, the lost city. For what it is, this movie actually pleasantly surprised me. The plot has a decent pace, the characters are well balanced (and provide great comedy), and the movie has a genuine sense of adventure that I really liked. The comedy and characters in this movie reminded me of Oliver and Company where the characters are stereotypical and that the movie likes to exploit that constantly. I guess I didn’t mind it though because they were relevant (mostly) and provided consistently good comedy. The weakest element of this movie is the story, unfortunately, which is full of a lot of holes and unexplained elements. It is also really predictable. But the flaws are pretty easily outweighed by the great sense of adventure found in this movie. I feel like this is due mostly to the amazing scenery brought to life by the really great animation in this movie, both CGI and traditional; they’re both great. Overall, a pretty decent movie. The story could use some work and the characters could use some depth but it’s a pretty decent movie overall.
Total: 7
Lilo and Stitch Review
Grand Total: 6 ¼
Technical
Engaging 6
Kids movie +1
An amazing scene (Nani singing) +½
Really funny +½
Great performance/character (Nani) +½
Obvious plothole -½
Bad performance/character (Agent Pleakly) -½
Boring part -½
Uneven tone -½
Total: 6 ½
Overall impression
Lilo and Stitch tells the story of a struggling family consisting of two sisters who meet an escaped alien creature who Lilo (the younger sister) names Stitch. As you may expect, this movie could definitely play up the “struggling family” aspect of the movie and have that be its message. And you’d be right up until about two-thirds of the way through the movie. Up until that point, the movie had some really fantastic moments, great characters (mostly), and a very mature theme. The movie then decides to turn around completely and transform into a cheesy, unnecessary, and downright frustrating final act. This movie was really good and one of Disney’s more mature movies up until the final act. It was consistently funny too, with characters making connections with themselves and with the audience. It’s as if the movie had it’s age meter around thirteen or so for the first two-thirds and then abruptly moved it down to about five. Oh well. I just wish the movie hadn’t included all of the aliens that are sent to find Stitch. They are all unnecessary, don’t add to the plot or the characters, and are just an annoying distraction from the real story: the story of Lilo and Nani, the struggling family. It’s also strange that nobody seems to recognize the aliens as they inhabit earth unconvincingly dressed as humans but not disguised at all. Whatever. The movie’s family theme was very well done while it lasted and, though it was ruined by the ending, it is still what I will take away from this movie.
Total: 6
Treasure Planet Review
Grand Total: 3 ¾
Technical
Watchable 4
Kids movie +1
Epic in scale +½
Amazing animation +½
Too long -1
Overly predictable -1
Obvious plothole -½
Bad performance/character (B.E.N.) -½
Uneven tone -½
Total: 2 ½
Overall impression
Treasure Planet tells the story of James, a young teenager who inherits an odd object from a dying sailor. James discovers that the artifact is in fact a map to a certain treasure on “treasure planet” but in order to get to it, he must hire a sketchy crew. For what it is, the movie has a decent story, full of holes, full of dumb characters, and full of wasted moments. The strongest point of the movie is its animation. I usually complain about overuse of CGI in animated movies and how the normal animation is always better-looking. In this movie however, the CGI is fantastic and so is the normal animation. The film has so many amazing colors, backgrounds, and shots. I almost wanted to give this movie an “amazing visuals” addition. But that’s against the rules. The writing is not that great and the humor is pretty dumb but the writers did manage to fit in a Star Trek reference, which I enjoyed. Back to the story. It is worth mentioning that James had a father who left him and his mother, and that the movie really hits this pretty hard as one of its main themes. Yet, in the backstory scene that shows his father leaving him and James realizing what is happening, the scene is shot in a montage-style with an upbeat song playing in the background. This seemed like such a wasted opportunity for the movie to have its emotional core played out in a dramatic scene. But these flaws are nothing compared to this movie’s cardinal sin: predictability. Predictability is a major flaw in a movie as it allows a viewer to dissect scenes, predict twists, and spoil major plot points. This is seriously bad if the movie has many of these plot twists and almost relies on them to sell its story. When you can see what’s coming through clichés and obvious foreshadowing, suspense is washed away and surprise becomes facepalming. And this movie has a lot, I mean a lot, of facepalming. Overall though, the movie is decent, featuring amazing animation, some tonal, character, and plot issues, and a lot of facepalming. Still, it’s pretty decent, especially as an interesting twist on the story of Treasure Island.
Total: 5
Brother Bear Review
Grand Total: 4
Technical
Watchable 4
Kids movie +1
An amazing scene (searching for the lost brother) +½
Too long -1
Obvious plothole -½
Bad performance/character (the moose) -½
Boring part -½
Total: 3
Overall impression
Brother Bear tells the boring story of a man who is transformed into a bear after he kills it. His resulting journey to returning to manhood is what makes up the majority of this story. The positives of this movie are all found in the beginning. The opening of this movie and first ten or fifteen minutes of it are actually quite good, reminding me of what I wish I had seen in other tribal Disney movies like Pocahontas. Unfortunately, the movie doesn’t know what to do with it’s strong setup and just contains way too many unlikable characters and way too much dumbness. The movie becomes predictable for a few reasons, and, like Treasure Planet, glosses over an important emotional scene with a montage to a song. Treasure Planet isn’t the only movie Brother Bear likes to steal from. Several scenes and plot points just scream Lion King, even though they aren’t very well done. Overall, a bit of a mixed bag, with a waste of potential set up by the first few scenes.
Total: 5
Home on the Range Review
Grand Total: 0
Technical
Boring 2
Kids movie +1
Too long -1
Terrible writing -½
Poor animation -½
Obvious plothole -½
Bad performance/character (Buck) -½
Unfunny -½
Uneven tone -½
Total: 0 (-1)
Overall impression
Home on the Range tells the story of three cows who go on a journey to capture a cattle-rustler so that they can use the reward money to buy off their farm, which is being foreclosed on. If the premise doesn’t sound stupid enough, the movie doesn’t take itself seriously at all, except for when it does. This movie is a complete mess of a film. It’s a film that is incoherent, unfunny, features terrible characters, and even has terrible animation. Honestly, I usually start with the positives when reviewing a movie, but there are just no redeeming qualities to this poor excuse for a film. At a mere one hour and sixteen minutes, the movie still manages to feel overlong, with hardly any plot, then tons of plot, hardly any character development, and then… still no character development. After watching this film, I had to look up the characters’ names and the plot as nothing was memorable. I regret to inform the Disney fans that there is a movie that might actually be as bad as The Black Cauldron. There really isn’t anything more to say. Young children will probably love the atrociously dumb humor in the movie and terrible puns, but there is not a drop of enjoyment here for anyone above the age of five. Typo there, sorry. *Above the age of negative five.*
Total: 0
Chicken Little Review
Grand Total: 6 ½
Technical
Engaging 6
Kids movie +1
Total: 7
Overall impression
Chicken Little tells the story of a chicken who, after being publicly shamed, tries to redeem himself to both the public and to his father, who is ashamed of his son’s antics while also trying to be supportive. From the sound of the premise, this is a serious movie. For better or for worse, this movie has a lot of serious and silly elements to it that actually strike a pretty decent balance. I think, at the end of the day, this movie is actually trying to be serious, which is difficult when things like alien invasions happen in the second half. I guess I should talk about that. The first half of this movie is actually quite good, and sticks to the premise I described pretty well and does all of the admittedly cliché things a kids movie about family would do. Then, the movie abruptly switches gears. Watching this movie for the first time since I watched it (and quite enjoyed it) as a ten year old, I was really taken aback by how much of a “one-eighty” this movie does. As a kid, I felt that I remembered and enjoyed the silly and rather dumb second half more than I remembered the deeper and more serious first half. To be honest though, I think that’s ok. I don’t think this movie shot itself in the foot, because the second half still keeps a few serious moments and wraps up Chicken Little’s relationship with his father pretty well, even if the way the movie got to its resolution was definitely silly. Overall, I remembered the sillier parts of the movie as a kid but the more serious parts of the movie as an adult. The unfortunate downside to this is that adults will probably be really put off by the silliness, and the kids will find the serious moments of the film to be boring. Together, I think it works decently, but I can see why some may disagree.
Total: 6
Meet the Robinsons Review
Grand Total: 4 ¾
Technical
Watchable 4
Kids movie +1
Obvious plothole -½
Total: 4 ½
Overall impression
Meet the Robinsons tells the story of a young orphan (because they’re all orphans in Disney movies) inventor named Louis who meets another boy from the future. Together, they must stop the evil bowler hat man from sabotaging Louis’ invention so that the future is restored. It’s kind of dumb. But it’s a time travel movie with a science kid as its main character! While the movie plays the science card a lot, it plays the orphan card even more, which you’d expect to create some real drama. Unfortunately, this movie is really dumb and wastes the potential of time-traveling by spinning together a complicated story with really eccentric characters that do dumb things. Actually, the story, when stripped of its silliness, has potential. But the movie doesn’t use it. This movie doesn’t even make ample use of the future. I mean, any time travel movie should show, or at least, explain, neat inventions and innovations of the future. But this movie instead shows us weird people over weird inventions. As a kid, you’d probably love this movie because of the silliness and futuristic world it brings you to. Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot more to it. The villain is pretty hilarious though.
Total: 5
Bolt Review
Grand Total: 7 ¾
Technical
Engaging 6
Kids movie +1
An amazing scene (intro) +½
Really funny +½
Great music +½
Total: 8 ½
Overall impression
Bolt tells the story of a dog who stars in a TV series with his owner, Penny. The TV series is reliant on maintaining the illusion that everything that occurs in production is real for Bolt. So, when Bolt escapes, he must face the real world and the possibility that Penny is just an actress who doesn’t actually love him. While this premise is a little generic and the story is of the same nature, the real power of the movie is in the comedy; this movie is hilarious. The situations Bolt is put into while he faces the terror of real life and the many characters he meets are all hysterical, from the pigeons who watch his show but still don’t recognize him to Rhino, the hamster superfan. As much as this movie has a “homeward bound” type of journey to it, it is still pretty well done, and definitely an enjoyable watch for both adults and kids. Just remember that it is pretty simple, and not trying to be amazing, because there isn’t that much there. John Powell’s score to this movie is pretty great, and all of the various bits of music all fit the scenes in which they are found. It probably won’t warrant a soundtrack review, but this one is a good precursor to Powell’s score to How to Train Your Dragon. Back to the movie. As a whole, a diverting film for kids and adults alike, even if it lacks depth.
Total: 7
The Princess and the Frog Review
Grand Total: 8 ½
Technical
Engaging 6
Moving +1
Kids movie +1
An amazing scene (opening) +½
Great performance/character (the father) +½
Really funny +½
Great music +½
Great songs +½
Amazing animation +½
Total: 10 (11)
Overall impression
The Princess and the Frog is a story about Tiana, a young woman who has aspirations of opening the restaurant her father always wanted to open. At a Mardi Gras festival in New Orleans (where this story takes place), she kisses a frog and turns into a frog. That dilemma makes up the rest of the story. Unfortunately, and as you may be able to tell from the description, there are two stories going on here. One has to do with Tiana getting her restaurant finally opened and the other has to do with the actual “Princess and the Frog” business. Unfortunately, I think the restaurant story was all this movie needed. It didn’t need a villainous voodoo man who turned a carefree prince into a frog, in fact, it didn’t need a villain at all. The opening scene of this movie sets up Tiana and her parents, teaching about how hard work and loving your family and friends is all you need in life. It shows how Tiana’s father (who, though he is only in the movie for three minutes, I love) is working hard to finally open a restaurant. It shows how Tiana loves to cook as well and how her mother is that supportive, full-of-wisdom type of mother. Why the movie had to also be about voodoo and this prince is beyond me. Don’t get me wrong, the characters, music, and culture that the story brings about are great, and I’ll get to them in a moment, but the story is just unnecessary and overwrought. The ending nicely ties up all loose ends, but it just seems like the story was so all-over-the-place to begin with that the ending doesn’t really make it good; I just wish the movie had focused more on Tiana and her restaurant. While I didn’t really like the story, I really liked the characters that are involved in the story. One thing this movie is good at doing is establishing weird characters that are likable, and not annoying. In Disney movies especially, I think this is a really tough feat, and movies like Treasure Planet come to mind when I think of weird characters gone wrong. Apart from the characters, I really liked the culture and music of New Orleans that this movie set up. The tunes and music really made the movie upbeat and joyful, which is what the movie needed. The animation is pretty amazing too, which is to be expected from a hand-drawn animated film by Disney released in 2009 (way after they had perfected it). As a whole, this movie definitely let me down with its story, but had memorable characters, great style, and a few great scenes.
Total: 7
Tangled Review
Grand Total: 10
Technical
Engaging 6
Moving +1
Kids movie +1
Amazing scene (Lanterns) +½
Really funny +½
Amazing story/plot +½
Great performance/character (Maximus) +½
Great music +½
Great songs +½
Amazing animation +½
Great writing +½
Total: 10 (12)
Overall impression
Tangled tells the immensely entertaining tale of Rapunzel, the girl with the really long hair. As it turns out, Disney managed to twist quite a story around this girl with the really long hair. She was kidnapped by someone who wanted to use her hair (which glows and heals people). This someone, named Mother Gothel, has been raising Rapunzel since childhood (when Mother Gothel kidnapped Rapunzel), never allowing her to leave their tower despite Rapunzel wanting to see the lanterns in the sky. Everything turns around, however, when Flynn Rider, a young thief, discovers the tower. Wow is this a great movie; it has everything you could want from a kids movie. It’s hilarious, moving, has great characters, and has a fantastic story. This movie seemingly understands all of the mistakes of past Disney movies and attempts to right them in one shot. Boy does it succeed. This movie has great pacing, seamlessly tying together its stories and characters into one plot that makes sense. This movie limits its amount of characters and takes time developing them, so that you actually care when things happen to them. This movie has great songs with an upbeat attitude, so that you’re always feeling good while watching the movie. And this movie is really, really funny. The humor in this movie is spot-on. Every single joke works, the timing is perfect, just everything works. I gave “great performance/character” to Maximus, who is a horse in the movie. After watching the movie, you’ll know exactly why. To be honest though, I could have given that award to any of the characters, they’re all so well rounded and given the perfect amount of screentime. Moving on to the technical aspects of the film, the music is fantastic. Alan Menken is a composer most known for scoring films like Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin. I don’t really know why he isn’t known for this film too, because it is truly some of his best work. There is a scene in the movie, a long scene, where there is no dialogue and just music. The scene is really, really great because the music just keeps it going and keeps it alive, as if it were speaking for the characters. Wow. Great job Alan Menken. The songs in this movie are also really great. They’re all upbeat (except for the villain song) and make you feel happy. The biggest song in the movie takes place during the scene I called the “lanterns” scene. As I stated in my short summary at the beginning, Rapunzel wants to escape from her tower so that she can see the lanterns, which appear every year on her birthday. The movie is almost centered around them, and they’re mentioned constantly. When this happens in a movie, the payoff from the scene actually coming to fruition better be great, and unfortunately, it is almost always too short or distracted by other things. This isn’t the case in Tangled. The film carefully takes the time to let the scene draw out and plays it’s fabulous song “I See the Light” to it while beautiful animation captures the lanterns and makes this scene my third favorite scene in all of Disney (two scenes in The Lion King beat it). Speaking of animation, as a final shower of praise on this movie, the animation is quite fantastic. The scenery is all great, the lighting is great, everything is beautiful. The lanterns scene (as if I haven’t mentioned it enough times) is absolutely breathtaking and shows some of the best computer animation I’ve ever seen in a movie (the lighting is so, so good). The only thing I can see that is sort of bad about the movie is that it really doesn’t have much of a message. Yes there is the freedom of Rapunzel that she wants and blah blah blah, but there really isn’t a message. I think, given how the film decided instead to focus on story and characters that this was a good move. Yes, it would have been nice to tag along a great message, but really, Tangled doesn’t need one. It’s great just as it is. When I think of amazing kids movies, Tangled is one of the films that comes to mind.
Total: 10
Winnie the Pooh Review
Grand Total: 3 ¾
Technical
Watchable 4
Kids movie +1
Great performance/character (Eeyore) +½
Too long -1
Total: 4 ½
Overall impression
Winnie the Pooh seems to be the only Disney remake that got a theatrical release. Unfortunately, I don’t think it is better than the original because it takes everything the original did well and exchanges those things for more flair and more dumb humor. But before I get to that, Winnie the Pooh tells the story of Winnie the Pooh, a honey-craving bear who, along with his friends which include Piglet, Tigger, Rabbit, Owl, and Eeyore, about whom this story takes place; Eeyore has lost his tail and his friends, led by Pooh, must find it. That story takes up the entire hour of this film and, to be honest, it is really stretched out. Before getting into this movie, I think it’s important to talk about the original. The original had not one, but several stories, all short and simple, and that was the beauty of it; the original didn’t need anything more than a simple story with a message. For that, I enjoyed the original way more than I expected to. This one, however, tried to modernize it with slapstick humor and a plot that took itself a little too seriously. Fortunately, most of the characters stay pretty much the same, and so I, of course, still love Eeyore. The rest of the film is a bit of a bore though, as it strayed away from the simple beauty of the original. Young kids will probably like it more than the original, because it’s geared toward their short attention spans. Unfortunately, that leaves little more for the rest of us.
Total: 3
Wreck-it-Ralph Review
Grand Total: 9
Technical
Engaging 6
Moving +1
Kids movie +1
An amazing scene (Kart-broken) +½
Really funny +½
Great performance/character (Ralph) +½
Great music +½
Amazing animation +½
Great writing +½
Total: 10 (11)
Overall impression
Wreck-it-Ralph tells the story of Ralph, the bad guy in a game called Fix-it Felix where Ralph is the one who wrecks things for Felix to fix. Ralph, however, doesn’t want to be the bad guy, because being the bad guy means that everybody hates him because of what his job entails. One of the game characters tells Ralph that if he wins a hero medal, he may finally earn others’ respect. On the way to getting this medal, Ralph meets Vanellope, a glitch in another game, Sugar Rush. From the start, I knew I’d like this movie because it is full of so many game references that the writing hopelessly exploits in the cleverest of ways. The movie is really good at establishing Ralph as a good guy whose job is to be the bad guy. Another thing I really liked about this movie was the universe it established, where video game characters can travel freely from game to game and interact, or rather mess with, their game counterparts. This makes for some brilliant humor when characters in the Fix-it Felix game interact with characters from another game, which happens to be a hardcore first-person shooter game. You can imagine all of the other possibilities that this type of universe would produce, and this might be one of the only movies I would actually like a sequel or spin-off out of. Other things I really enjoyed about the movie are its great music (video game-style), great spirit (so much fun), and great message about being yourself and understanding that you don’t need to be the hero to be appreciated or respected. Heck, you don’t even need to be appreciated or respected by anyone, as long as you respect or appreciate yourself. That’s a great message from a kids movie, and this one really knocked it out of the park on that front. I also really like the character of Vanellope, the glitch that Ralph meets, because they are both shunned by their game counterparts for the obvious reasons, and this movie gets to explore that quite a lot. Imagine if you were a glitch and weren’t meant to exist. What if every single character you interacted with reminded you of that? How would that make you feel? The movie really deals with this well. On the negative side, I can definitely say that the first half of this movie is far inferior to the second half (which is rare for any movie). This is mostly because the first half is just meant to establish things but, unfortunately, it didn’t establish much of a story and I wasn’t sure how much I’d like this movie. Fortunately, by the time we (the audience) are introduced to Vanellope, we’re pretty much ready for the movie to be great, and it doesn’t let us down. In addition to that, there are a few unnecessary aspects of the movie involving some of the other video game characters getting involved in other video game worlds. The movie also has a few instances of really dumb humor, but the fault here is pretty minor, and overall, I really enjoyed the movie for quite a few reasons. It’s genuinely touching at times too, did I mention that? Oh, and the animation recreates these various video games so well that you’re sometimes unaware that you’re watching an animated movie; you just feel like you’re in the game. Good job movie! If you’ve ever played a video game before, please see this movie. If you haven’t, see it anyway.
Total: 8
Frozen Review
Grand Total: 6 ¼
Technical
Engaging 6
Kids movie +1
An amazing scene (Castle making) +½
Really funny +½
Great songs +½
Amazing animation +½
Too short -1
Obvious plothole -½
Bad performance/character (the parents) -½
Boring part -½
Total: 6 ½
Overall impression
Frozen tells the story of Anna and Elsa, two sisters, one of which has the power of ice. If that sounds vague, that’s because the movie really doesn’t explain it at all, or its extents, or where it comes from, or why she has it, or… anything. Anyway, Frozen tells the story of two sisters who, when one, who has been locked away for life, suddenly lets loose all of her pent-up fear and frustration, must come together to recognize that true love can be love between siblings, and that a princess doesn’t need a prince, or even a man, to save her. But Anna ends up awkwardly with Christoph at the end. Whatever. When watching this movie, if you pay attention to the story, you’ll have to say “whatever” quite a lot, because, unfortunately, the movie isn’t long enough to actually tell a decent story that doesn’t feel rushed. Actually, I think that’s the only real problem with the movie (this and the parents being clueless, but never being blamed for indirectly causing the events in this movie to exist). The story feels rushed. It takes over half an hour to actually get the story started, and spends way too much time on unnecessary aspects of the movie, such as the greedy tradesman from a foreign land. Nobody wants to know about the political struggles between the kingdoms in Arendelle (where Frozen takes place) if the movie never takes us or even discusses the other kingdoms! This, and a few other unnecessary elements of the story, help to overcomplicate things just enough to make you puzzle over why the movie is forgetting to explain things to you. This review is beginning to sound like a rant, and I’m sorry for that. Frozen is not a bad movie; Frozen is a decent movie because it combines a story that is mediocre and that does a poor job of developing its characters with really great music and songs. This is where Frozen really does a great job: in the songs. For the first time in forever, Frozen feels like an actual musical, with many, many songs. Yes, films like Tangled have songs in them, but I don’t think there are as many as there are in Frozen. Regardless, every single song is catchy and fun, though I think most of them, and most aspects of this movie, were aimed at an audience of children. The humor in this movie is pretty good, and Olaf, though he can be annoying, delivers some pretty good lines, and a humorous song. The animation in this movie, particularly during the scene in which Elsa builds her castle, is really amazing. The animators really captured the translucent nature of ice and you can really tell that they meticulously made the light through the ice look as realistic as possible, and boy does it look it. Good job animators! Overall, I would say that Frozen has a good message, but also has a really rushed story that focuses on the wrong things too often. This results in a lot of unanswered questions and some undeveloped characters. Fortunately, Frozen also has a great set of songs and musical tracks to go along with it, which go hand-in-hand with the animation to stand out as the best parts of the movie. Kids will definitely really like this movie though; it’s aimed at them.
Total: 6
Big Hero 6 Review
Grand Total: 7 ¼
Technical
Engaging 6
Moving +1
Kids movie +1
An amazing scene (First flight) +½
Really funny +½
Great performance/character (Baymax) +½
Amazing animation +½
Overly predictable -1
Obvious plothole -½
Total: 8 ½
Overall impression
Big Hero 6 is about Hiro, a teenage genius who creates tiny robots called microbots, with which one can create anything. When his microbots are inexplicably stolen and mass-produced for mysterious purposes, Hiro must build a team to get his microbots back, and finally understand what is actually going on. Unfortunately, we, as the audience, can see everything coming from a million miles away, and the supposed “plot twists” of the movie are really predictable. That’s really unfortunate considering how well this movie could’ve played out. Actually, scratch that, this movie has the exact same potential as any other generic animated super-hero movie because it is… well… generic. There is really nothing special about this movie aside from Baymax, the adorable robotic nurse, and the animation, which is excellent. Honestly, without Baymax, this movie would be pretty boring and unnecessary. With Baymax, it’s only unoriginal. That’s its cardinal sin: you know everything that is going to happen because everything is so clichéd. Yes, it’s done well in some parts, particularly in the emotional scenes (though you know what’s going to happen), but I just couldn’t get over how bored I ended up being with the story as the movie played out exactly as I thought. What kept me interested (or engaged, I guess) was the cool tech that the movie invents. The last time Disney made a movie about geniuses inventing things (Meet the Robinsons), we were treated to a movie that barely explored the inventions or the new world at all. In Big Hero 6, however, we are shown a lot of things, which I really enjoyed. The soundtrack to this movie is very “retro-y”, which is sometimes annoying and sometimes great. The flight scenes in this movie (Baymax is eventually upgraded to fly) are really spectacular, and you can really feel the distance between the point of view of Hiro and the ground far below him. It just struck me as really cool, and it was the only time during the movie that I was actually invested in seeing more. The movie wasn’t revealing any already-spoiled plot points, it was revealing just what the animators could do, and it was great. Apart from the animation and Baymax, however, this movie is really generic, featuring a story that is overdone, predictable, and full of holes. Kids, and probably teens will really enjoy this movie. But I was pretty frustrated with most of it.
Total: 6
101 Dalmatians Review
Grand Total: 9 ½
Lady and the Tramp Review
Grand Total: 7
Zootopia Review
Grand Total: 9 ½
Technical
Engaging 6
Moving +1
Suspenseful +1
Kids movie +1
An amazing scene (after the speech) +½
Epic in scale +½
Really funny +½
Amazing story/plot +½
Great performance/character (Judy Hopps) +½
Amazing animation +½
Total: 10 (12)
Overall impression
Zootopia is the latest Disney film and the first in two years. Disney Animation took last year off, theoretically to make this film a winner. That paid off. Zootopia is about Judy Hopps, a rabbit who wants to make a difference in the world. She’s also strongly against prejudice and stereotyping, trying her hardest to combat these two by becoming Zootopia’s (it’s a city) first rabbit police officer. Unfortunately, her dreams are slowly crushed by the ridicule she faces as a rabbit officer in a world full of huge animals. That begins to change, however, when seemingly normal animals begin to go missing, with reports of their sudden, vicious attacks. Judy gets a lead on the case when she tracks down Nick, a sarcastic fox, and their story gets going. Zootopia isn’t amazing because it has amazing humor, a fantastic story, suspense, or real heart. It’s amazing because it delivers a very relevant message through all of those things I mentioned. Moreover, Zootopia’s story highlights some of the inherent difficulties presented in confronting the unclear issues of prejudice and stereotyping in its message. The movie does such an excellent job of showing how the characters of Judy and Nick have both suffered from these issues in two, scary and heartbreaking scenes. It also shows just how differently they handled their situations. It’s important to note the use of “scary” when I described the scenes, because stereotyping is incredibly scary for its victims. Zootopia amazed me with its lack of pulled punches, something so many family films do. There are so many times when this film could have been less impactful by cutting away from a scene or lessening it, but it never did. There is really great suspense in this film, the likes of which I didn’t expect and haven’t seen in quite some time. The humor was really on point too. There is a scene featuring Nick, Judy, and a pen that had me absolutely in stitches. The humor was everywhere it needed to be in the film, and many of the jokes were recycled to great effect. I also happened to really like the animation of this film. The city of Zootopia has several different zones, acting as different types of environments. They all look amazing, and the scene in which the city is first introduced looks spectacular. These are really just icing on the cake for me, because this film won me over with its maturity and subject material. The only thing I can say that wasn’t up to par in this film was its score. There are a few scenes in this film that would have been much more effective without any music at all, such as a scene in a warehouse that is supposed to be tense, but is nearly ruined by the music that plays. Still, this issue far from ruins the film for me. I left this film with a huge smile on my face and was very impressed in almost every way. It is definitely the best film Disney Animations has put out in some time, and is a film I look forward to seeing again.
Total: 9
Moana Review
Grand Total: 7 ¾
Technical
Engaging 6
Kids movie +1
An amazing scene (putting back the heart) +½
Great songs +½
Great music +½
Amazing animation +½
Obvious plothole -½
Total: 8 ½
Overall impression
Moana is about Moana, the chief-to-be of Motunui, a small Pacific island. When crops and fish around the island start dying, Moana suspects it’s because the island itself is dying. You see, Te Fiti, the goddess of life, had her heart stolen by the demigod Maui thousands of years ago. If they could just get Maui to find the heart and return it to Te Fiti, maybe the island could be saved. Unfortunately, Moana’s father does not approve of going out beyond reef surrounding the island and forbids her to go. But of course she does, and you have a classic Disney story.
Moana’s story and characters are pretty standard as it comes to Disney films. You have the headstrong female lead, the male sidekick, and a few animal friends all going on an adventure together. There are catchy songs and good music to boot. It’s entertaining and perfectly watchable but not original or refreshing in any way. That is, if you don’t count the animation.
The animation in Moana is some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. The colors of the water and the night sky are so breathtaking that every frame seems a painting. The designs of Te Ka (a big lava monster) and Te Fiti are also full of vibrant color that just dazzles. What makes things even better is that the ocean itself is a character in this film, so you get to see it interact with Moana and Maui quite a lot; it’s blue-green color is just magical.
But even if the characters and story are pretty standard and safe for Disney, they still work well. The adventure Moana and Maui go on is a lot of fun, with good chemistry and a fair amount of silly humor. The songs and music in this film work well with the story and the voice work is pretty good.
Overall, Moana tells a familiar story with familiar characters but delivers such a stunningly beautiful film that it’ll still feel fresh and new. There are plenty of conveniences in the plot and nothing is really that original, but it’s entertaining to watch, nice to listen to, and gorgeous to behold.
Total: 7