Classic Movie Monday: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

After all these years it's amazing how "Someday My Prince Will Come" and "Heigh Ho" are songs that are still sung, loved, and easily recognized, and they're 83 years old.  

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is the first movie I remember going to the theater to see.  It's not the first movie I actually saw, which I'll write about next week (it's a sci-fi 80's flick that mainly nerds know about and didn't really go mainstream ;0), but Snow White was the movie that cemented the enchantment of going to a theater.

Before the Disney vault rotated movies for home video release, they showed movies in theaters every 7-10 years.  In 1987 Snow White was fully restored for it's 50th anniversary and was shown in theaters.  My parents took me to this theater in Santa Barbara that was on State Street, fully decked out in grand theatrical fashion.  Somewhere in the back of my mind, through random fractured images, I still remember the theater and being in awe.  It was beautiful.  And I remember loving the movie.  

Walt Disney's first theatrical animated feature film is the stuff of legends, groundbreaking in every way.  If you want to read a detailed history of the film, the Fandom Disney Wiki page and Wikipedia has great articles.

It's wonderful that, even for a movie made in 1937, kids still love Snow White today, even with the modern advancements in animation technology and techniques.  The Disney parks help keep Snow White and her Seven Dwarfs alive with rides, princess meet and greets, and songs during shows.  Though, fun fact, the Disneyland ride has had a makeover.  The original "Snow White's Scary Adventure" has been remade into "Snow White's Enchanted Wish".  Some people may be sad over this, but I'm actually excited to see the changes.  The original ride really is kinda sad with an abrupt ending!  

Happy, happy memories from a beloved classic that will always be amazing.

Sarah

Frozen II, mini movie review

Rating: A

Frozen. I loved Frozen, the first, when it originally came out.  I gave that movie full marks as well.  But as time wore on I developed Frozen fatigue.  The movie was everywhere, especially in the parks.  It's all my nieces seemed to want to watch, and so myself and other members of the family would occasionally slip in Tangled and Lilo and Stitch as well.  (Actually, they do like Tangled.  Don't know how they really feel about Lilo and Stitch, though that's technically my favorite Disney movie. It's so well structured and so forth.)  When it was announced that Frozen was getting a sequel I had mixed feelings.  Glad for a new installment. Not excited for another Frozen wave.

Frozen II takes place a few years or so after the first, not entirely sure the time frame, but the characters are definitely older, as Olaf mentions throughout the film in cute ways.  We learn more about Elsa and Anna's childhood and parents.  We learn about the North and the magic that lies within.  And through all this Elsa hears a voice calling her into the unknown.

Without getting into spoilers, this movie is the perfect addition to the Frozen universe.  Both movies are good and strong in their own ways.  Different.  The elemental magic system introduced is really cool.  And it was nice learning more about Elsa and Anna's family.  All the characters grow in nice ways that compliments who they are as individuals.

There are more songs to be had in this new version.  Nice songs.  The music in the first installment are stronger, more standout-ish, but I enjoyed the music in this new movie as well.  They compliment the scenes they are in.

Overall I appreciate the new tone of this second movie.  Disney doesn't have the best reputation when it comes to animated sequels, the 90's are coming to mind, but this movie is a breath of fresh air.  More adventure, more mystery, but still clearly within the realm we've grown to love.  Though this is a sequel, and Entertainment is overrun with sequels, prequels, and remakes, I respect the originality and fun found in Frozen II.

Frozen II is a great family film to enjoy over this Holiday season and beyond.

MPAA: Rated PG for action/peril and some thematic elements.

Dumbo, mini movie review

Rating: C-

Dumbo, the beloved 1941 Disney animated classic, is the latest Live Action Disney remake.  Though much has changed from the original, this is still a story about a flying elephant.  Baby Dumbo is born with big ears, so big that he's considered a laughing stock.  Instead of the savior of his small circus troop, Dumbo is regarded as a liability, but it turns out these ears are a gift.

There are many difference between the 1941 version and this latest rehashing.  The animals don't talk, and the only animal characters that carry over are Dumbo and his mother Jumbo.  There's no Timothy Q. Mouse, who iconically encourages Dumbo and teaches him to fly.  Instead we have a boy and a girl who takes the job on, hoping to save Dumbo and reunite him with his mother.  There's new side plots.  Many new characters.  A whole back end to the story that's original.

Change is good.  But with this change I feel much is missing.  Scenes are rushed together creating awkward transitions and no growth.  The kids have quite a few days to work with Dumbo after a major accident, but we get a cut to the circus performance instead.  Stuffing the plot creates no true development.  One scene cuts to the next while we imagine the in between.  It's one of the reasons this Dumbo left me disconnected.

Taking away the talking animals changes some of Dumbo's battles.  Here only humans are cruel, whereas in the animated film Dumbo was ostracized from his fellow elephants, his peers; Dumbo was completely alone, until Timothy helps.

I really don't like when villains are added simply for the sake of being a villain, and V. A. Vandevere, played by Michael Keaton, is a greedy man.  It's when he comes into the film that Dumbo truly changes from the original.  We get the promise of grandeur, but receive nothing but ruin.

Did we need this?  No.  Changing from the original is okay, making it fresh, but adding bits that take away from full growth arcs lessen a movie.  (Okay, and that cut scene where Vandevere is showing his vision to the ring master Max Medici, Danny DeVito, holding his hand up to the "future," aka an empty field, Max turns around and looks at his small circus tent before it morphs into a large one.  Before the morph you can see Vandevere still holding up his hand, frozen in place.  It's such an awkward cut.)

I could get into the fact that some characters are simply over the top, two dimensional, stick figures, but I won't.

Dumbo could have been an emotional powerhouse, but it wasn't.  A touching moment here and there, but not the full force it could have been.  I love nostalgia, but I love a good story more, and this stuffed plot leaves the story dry.

The visual splendor of this latest remake--though there are compositing issues with a couple scenes--does not capture the magic of Walt Disney's classic.

MPAA: Rated PG for peril/action, some thematic elements, and brief mild language.

(I do have to add that my Mom really liked it, so there's that.  We were in disagreement.)

Moana, mini movie review

Rating: B-

Moana, Disney's latest animated offering, is about the teenage daughter of an Hawaiian chief, apprehensive about her future leadership role while dreaming of traveling the dangerous ocean, the vast Ocean which has been calling her since she was a baby.  Travesty hits the island where her people live, and she must choose to head her father's warning of entering the sea verses her desire to help save the future of those she will one day lead.

Moana is a beautiful movie.  The art of the Ocean as its own entity, and nature in general, are all so wonderfully captured through animation.  It's amazing how far computer animation has come, especially with water.

I'm mixed when it come to the music.  There are some songs I really like: all the songs in the Hawaiian language and You're Welcome is an amusing song.  It's obvious Dwayne Johnson was having fun portraying Maui.  How Far I'll Go, which is Moana's solo piece, is a good anthem, but it's not to the same caliber as Let It Go, Part of Your World, and Just Around the River bend.  How Far I'll Go got way too many reprises; by the third offering of the song I wished they had written Moana another theme.  I REALLY don't like the songs Where You Are and Shiny.  Where You Are is a weak opening chorus number in the same vain as Honor To Us All from Mulan.  The song Shiny, sung by that 5 minute in the movie Crab, is just annoying.  I just can't like it, and I've listened to it several times trying.

Moana as a character is really likable, and I like newcomer Auli'i Cravalho's interpretation, but overall I have the same problem with her as I had with Rey in Star Wars: A Force Awakens.  I understand Disney wanting to create strong female characters, but strong is being confused with perfection. Fear or apprehension during an unknown journey is not enough of a weakness to shake both Rey and Moana from being two-dimensional.  Though likeable, I wish Moana was more fleshed out.

Moana, the film, plays out as a typical, predictable Hero's Journey.  The formula is thoroughly used to the fault of the movie. 

In the end I did like Moana, and even though it's polished, it's not without faults, and doesn't have the same magic as Frozen or Tangled.

MPAA: Rated PG for peril, some scary images and brief thematic elements.