Am I the Only One Disturbed?

 I love Pixar's Brave.  LOVE it!  The movie features a Scottish princess, after all, and I'm proud of my Scottish roots.

 But the doll set, featuring Queen Elinor and the Bear, that was released before the movie came out Freaked me out a little.

 You open up the bear.

Put Queen Elinor inside.

And close it.

SPOILERS!!!  And the Disney Store didn't even place a "Spoiler Warning."

Toys do seem to give away a little too much . . .

And just holding the bear feels weird.  It looks disturbing, yes, but holding it . . . holding it . . . it's hard to describe.  "It just feels strange," I told my sister-in-law Krista one day when she was in my room.  "See, hold it."

She took the bear from me, shifting it from hand to hand before clutching the middle.  "Oh, that is strange."

I got the set before it was discontinued, the store had it on sale for $10, because I already had a Merida doll.  Merida needs her Mom, after all.  That's the point of the movie.

Now when you go into the Disney Store Queen Elinor is sold by herself, without the bear.

A Trip to Scotland? Yes, Please.

Ah, man.  Being the Disney freak that I am, I'm on their mailing list.  So, every so often I'm sent something that takes my breath away . . . as in, "That's so cool!"  A couple years ago Disney opened a family hotel retreat in Hawaii called Aulani, a paradise every family can enjoy.  For a while there it seemed I was getting a mailing a month for it.  That took my breath away.  Someday I'll make it to Hawaii.

And sometime ago, back in 2005, the company started "Adventures by Disney."  Last year I got a mailing for their Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos vacation that looked amazing.  Though, Italy sounds nice too.  Then last weekend I got this:     

An Adventure in Scotland, inspired by Pixar's Brave!!!  Beside Japan, and Paris . . . and Italy, Scotland is a country I've been dreaming of visiting for years.  It's not just beautiful with amazing ruins and castles, but I've got deep ancestry there as well. 

So I've been dreaming, and drolling, over this all weekend!  "Happy thoughts!" as Peter Pan would say . . . though he seemed to prefer London, despite his American accent. 

Sarah

What's Next for Cerulean Jade?

Goodness, where do I start?

The problem with Steven and I is that we have so many ideas . . . and we're in love with all of them

For me I'm working on a cover of a song from Brave, "Into the Open Air."  I'm playing the piano on this one, and overall it's going to be simple.  For starters, I don't have Steven's amazing ability to sit down at a piano and just play.  We're different like that.  He has a couple months of piano lessons.  I have years!  Plus a music degree.  I'm sheet music dependent.  That's going to change!  This project is going to help me with this, but it's a bit scary.  And I don't know what I'm doing.  Music Theory was the easiest out of the Music Theory core for my degree (which also included Music Dictation and Sight Singing).  My fingers don't work the way I want them too!  This is a skill I really want to learn, and this is a great start.  I also want to throw in some Irish flute.  Steven's never mastered anything other then voice and electronic instruments, so this will be good practice for him, too.

The next combined Cover we're doing is Andy Grammer's "Keep Your Head Up."  It's a fun, upbeat, positive song, and it will be a little like the Payphone cover we did.  I'm not going to promise a release date for this!  I've made that mistake before.  Not doing that again.  But it is a really fun song:0)

And . . . wait for it . . . we're working on an online graphic novel!!!  Surprised?  Before my youngest brother left on his mission, he came up with the bases of a story idea.  We promised him that we would turn it into a graphic novel, as a gift, only that hasn't happened yet.  I'm still in script phase and Steven's developing art concepts.  Our goal is to get the first 10 pages up by the end of September, right before he comes home.  I've been having so much fun playing mad scientist with this world  . . . or should I admit to a slowly developing God complex?  Ehhh, I will admit that I'm having way too much fun.  Think slight Steampunk, slight sci-fi, and Final Fanstasy-ish world, and you have something akin to what Steven, Robbie, and I have dreamed up.  Art Concept drawings coming soon!

Oh, and of course original music.  Steven and I are working on an original song, and the sounds he's coming up with are super fun!  That's 2-3 months out.  Then we're going to do an original song based on the graphic novel world we've created (I can't wait to do the music video for this . . . we just got a green screen :0).  And there's a few jazz songs I've written that I was just going to release under my name, but Steven's like "it would be really cool to do electronic jazz!"  And I'm like "What!?"  He thinks it can work.  We'll see.  I'm slightly doubtfull.

Anyway, are we crazy?  Probably, but insanity is fun.
Sarah    

Brave: Movie Review

Rating: 4.25 out of 5 Stars (I need to find a fancy graphic for that).

Last Friday I saw Brave, the latest flick from Pixar, with my brother Steven, Dad, Alec (a cousin who is still quite young), and two Grandma's in tow.

There have been an incredible amount of anticipation for this film, and I've been doubly excited, and nervous, to see Brave.  For the first time Pixar is doing a Princess movie, taking place in Scotland, and it's also their first time piece.  I have a lot of Scottish ancestry, so that made it doubly exciting for me.

The problem is, going into the movie, much of the plot had already been spoiled by other professional movie reviewers, who know better, and Disney Store toys.  Out of all the toys Disney Store has produced, no other movie release had as much spoiler info then this one.  The reviews were mixed, having received a 75% fresh tomato rating, and that made me all the more nervous.  Cars 2 was a huge disappointment.  The visuals were stunning, and Cars, the first, despite popular opinion, is my favorite Pixar movie.  Brave had to bring it, and in a big way.

I loved the movie!  Sure, it's not perfect, but I'm fine with that.  Some complained the story was weak and not up to Pixar standers.  Personally I loved the story.  It does get a little weird in the middle (a plot point given away in a BIG WAY by the Disney Store toys.  Thank you Disney Store) but it's apart of the fantasy magic of the movie.  Every Princess movie must involve magic.  There's a law written somewhere declaring it.  But I loved the message.  For once a movie is all about honoring your elders, a theme I didn't anticipate, which is missing in a lot of big Hollywood movies, and loving your parents.  It's a movie that doesn't focus on a girl getting a guy, but on a Mother and Daughter working through their problems, albeit in an unconventional way.  Plus the lead character Merida and her younger brothers, three mischievous rascals (who stole a couple scenes) have both parents!  How many kid movies can you name where that happens?  Yes, there's Tangled and Mulan, but it doesn't happen as often as it should.  And I applaud Pixar for the strong family element this movie conveys.

 The music is excellent, with a Scottish flair, by composer Patrick Doyle (I've been a Huge fan of his since his work on Jane Austin's Sense and Sensibility).  The art and landscapes are breathtaking.

What's even more amazing is Merida's hair.  It's lively, displaying perfectly her inner spirit.  I read somewhere that Pixar worked three years developing two software programs for her hair, and it shows.  Each piece of her hair is animated and brought magnificently to life.  Throughout the movie I couldn't decide whose hair had more magic:  Rapunzel from Tangled or Merida's.

My only real complaint would be the portrayal of the men in the movie.  There was a whole lot of testosterone running about like crazy, and not a whole lot of intelligence.  And I wish the little brothers had more scenes, because they were a lot of fun.

At the end of the movie I was quite satisfied (BTW, stay till the end of the end credits, because there's a tag scene with the witch).  My Dad was a little disgruntled, because he couldn't decide what audience this movie was aiming for, which was the same problem Owls of Ga'Hoole had.  Alec, who's about seven, I don't really know his age, liked it, but couldn't say why.  The Grandma's enjoyed the movie.  But my brother Steven, who holds a Bachelors Degree in Digital Media: Gaming and Animation, said it's the best Pixar movie of them all, and that he loved the story and visuals.

The movie brought in 66 million this last weekend, which is a very strong opening.  I'm glad, because I want this movie to do well.

If you haven't seen it, I hope you have the chance.
BTW, the 3D was interesting, but it can easily be enjoyed in 2D.

Sarah