Doing this a bit early, but here are the Top 5's for Villains and Songs. The Heroes and Heroines category has been smushed into one this time due to the lack of characters to choose from.
Top 5 Songs:
5) Pink Elephants on Parade (Dumbo)
4) I'm Wishing/One Song (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs)
3) Night on Bald Mountain (Fantasia)
2) Baby of Mine (Dumbo)
1) When You Wish Upon A Star (Pinocchio)
Top 5 Heroes/Heroines:
5) Bambi (Bambi)
4) Grumpy (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs)
3) Figaro (Pinocchio)
2) Sorceror Mickey (Fantasia)
1) Dumbo (Dumbo)
Top 5 Villains:
5) Stromboli (Pinocchio)
4) The Coachman (Pinocchio)
3) Monstro (Pinocchio)
2) Evil Queen (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs)
1) Chernabog (Fantasia)
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Dumbo
Dumbo is one of Disney's earliest films, and is also pretty straight forward as well. This film really helped to save the company in the early 1940's given how the European market was closed due to the war, as well as a labour strike within the company itself. These factors had stalled Bambi and the cartoon shorts just weren't bringing in the needed money, so Disney turned to producing a quick feature film in the form of Dumbo which is also one of the shortest in the canon at only 64 minutes.
One of Dumbo's biggest perks is that it has universal themes that are still very applicable to today's audiences just as much as it applied to the movie-goers of the 1940's. Being an underdog story, it shows how to overcome adversity and the obstacles that come your way, themes which were quite relevant with the world war coming to a boil, and the depression not long forgotten. The short runtime may be a hamper in most other films, yet it feels just right for Dumbo given how simple the story itself is. The Pink Elephants sequence does drag on a bit, but is at least trippy enough to still entertain in its own crazy way. With that aside, the story manages to convey the emotional bond between Dumbo and his mother really well without them ever saying a word to each other, save for the chorus sung Baby of Mine.
The animation here isn't quite as outstanding as the other four films from Disney's first five. Backgrounds are pretty simplistic and are detailed enough to show where we are, and even the characters are designed just well enough so that their expressive faces can help get emotions across during the scenes. This doesn't fully hamper the film, but Dumbo's circumstances were also quite different from the other films for when they were made. One interesting thing to note is that the bright colours of the circus are balanced every so often by much darker scenes at night, which is supposedly due to audiences still being new to colour films and this was to help from having the colours being overbearing.
Easily our strongest character in the film is Dumbo himself, who never says a single word yet manages to get across so many emotions. One thing that I always seem to have forgotten is that during this film Dumbo is only a few days old at best and still very new to the world and because of this his character grows quite a bit during the short run time. One of the saddest things about this film is that the majority of the characters generally abuse and mock Dumbo because of his large ears. While his mother does love him, she is all too quickly taken away and all he has left is his new friendship with Timothy Mouse. One thing that stood out to me was a very subtle touch where when they walk around together, Dumbo holds Timothy's tail with his trunk the same way a young child would hold hands with someone while walking. It's the little things like this that really stand out to me and add to the characters relationships with each other.
Ok. Ok. I know what you're waiting for before I end this review. Yes the crows in here are racist stereotypes, and yes it is frowned upon today and quite inappropriate. With this being said, Dumbo was made in the 1940's before mindsets began to change for the better, and while it doesn't excuse racism it's important to keep in mind the time period in which films were made. The last thing I wish to point out about the crows is that despite their racism, they also help Dumbo by providing the 'magic feather' to boost Dumbo's confidence and in the end gets him to overcome his obstacles with that extra bit.
4/5
One of Dumbo's biggest perks is that it has universal themes that are still very applicable to today's audiences just as much as it applied to the movie-goers of the 1940's. Being an underdog story, it shows how to overcome adversity and the obstacles that come your way, themes which were quite relevant with the world war coming to a boil, and the depression not long forgotten. The short runtime may be a hamper in most other films, yet it feels just right for Dumbo given how simple the story itself is. The Pink Elephants sequence does drag on a bit, but is at least trippy enough to still entertain in its own crazy way. With that aside, the story manages to convey the emotional bond between Dumbo and his mother really well without them ever saying a word to each other, save for the chorus sung Baby of Mine.
The animation here isn't quite as outstanding as the other four films from Disney's first five. Backgrounds are pretty simplistic and are detailed enough to show where we are, and even the characters are designed just well enough so that their expressive faces can help get emotions across during the scenes. This doesn't fully hamper the film, but Dumbo's circumstances were also quite different from the other films for when they were made. One interesting thing to note is that the bright colours of the circus are balanced every so often by much darker scenes at night, which is supposedly due to audiences still being new to colour films and this was to help from having the colours being overbearing.
Easily our strongest character in the film is Dumbo himself, who never says a single word yet manages to get across so many emotions. One thing that I always seem to have forgotten is that during this film Dumbo is only a few days old at best and still very new to the world and because of this his character grows quite a bit during the short run time. One of the saddest things about this film is that the majority of the characters generally abuse and mock Dumbo because of his large ears. While his mother does love him, she is all too quickly taken away and all he has left is his new friendship with Timothy Mouse. One thing that stood out to me was a very subtle touch where when they walk around together, Dumbo holds Timothy's tail with his trunk the same way a young child would hold hands with someone while walking. It's the little things like this that really stand out to me and add to the characters relationships with each other.
Ok. Ok. I know what you're waiting for before I end this review. Yes the crows in here are racist stereotypes, and yes it is frowned upon today and quite inappropriate. With this being said, Dumbo was made in the 1940's before mindsets began to change for the better, and while it doesn't excuse racism it's important to keep in mind the time period in which films were made. The last thing I wish to point out about the crows is that despite their racism, they also help Dumbo by providing the 'magic feather' to boost Dumbo's confidence and in the end gets him to overcome his obstacles with that extra bit.
4/5
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
Well known as the "One that started it all" Snow White is also one of Disney's most well known classic films, and for good reason.
Snow White also made use of the multi-camera and upon watching this in Blu-Ray it really became evident of how well the camera was put to use with the visual clarity being offered in this format. Of course upon seeing it in dvd you can still get full enjoyment from the animation in Snow White. It's really quite a feat considering how just a few years before this, we had very, very rubbery human characters in the Silly Symphony "Goddess of Spring." To compare Persephone from the Silly Symphony to the human characters in this film, you can really see how far Disney's team has come given how realistic our characters look. We also get two really great scenes that are nearly as trippy to watch as Pink Elephants On Parade. The first is when Snow White is running through the forest, frightened by everything as the trees and forest warp to scary images such as grasping hands and alligators. The second scene is later on as the Evil Queen transforms herself and we briefly see the world spinning as her spell works its magic. The story is also rather well paced as we get time to enjoy our characters instead of simply rushing on through things.
Moving along to our characters the pacing is actually a slight hamper to Snow White herself. The main problem with Snow White is that we spend so much time with her that we really discover how plain and one-note she is. Her sweetness is very overdone and borders upon pandering when she coddles the dwarves like a mother, despite being much younger than they are. This is rather ironic as the dwarves themselves were supposed to be one-note characters in terms of personality as each one represented a different emotion. Instead they are just as well fleshed out as the Evil Queen, and more fleshed out than Snow White is. The one dwarf who really stands out is Grumpy as he is the total opposite of Snow White and yet is still shown to care about her well being despite his gruff exterior. As for our villain, the Evil Queen has been described as so frightening and realistic that Walt Disney himself said that he would never make a villain like that again. Despite having the least amount of screen time, the Evil Queen is a very powerful character who has presence even when off-screen and has some really great scenes especially the previously mentioned transformation scene, which frightened me quite badly as a young child to the point that I refused to finish the film.
The last thing to really touch note on is the music itself. Snow White has some very memorable songs that are still well known even today. There isn't really a whole lot to mention about the songs, so I will also take a moment to note that the score itself is timed well to the action on screen and not just there to evoke a mood. This really helps the film and is most effective at the very end when there is no more dialogue and instead it is up to the music and a background chorus to drive the story as Snow White's tear-jerking funeral occurs and her rescue by the Prince as he gives her loves first kiss.
It is quite easy to see why Snow White is such a classic, as well as why it is held to such a high degree. In a few short years Disney went from short cartoons to producing a film like this that quite easily changed and influenced animation as a medium.
5/5
Snow White also made use of the multi-camera and upon watching this in Blu-Ray it really became evident of how well the camera was put to use with the visual clarity being offered in this format. Of course upon seeing it in dvd you can still get full enjoyment from the animation in Snow White. It's really quite a feat considering how just a few years before this, we had very, very rubbery human characters in the Silly Symphony "Goddess of Spring." To compare Persephone from the Silly Symphony to the human characters in this film, you can really see how far Disney's team has come given how realistic our characters look. We also get two really great scenes that are nearly as trippy to watch as Pink Elephants On Parade. The first is when Snow White is running through the forest, frightened by everything as the trees and forest warp to scary images such as grasping hands and alligators. The second scene is later on as the Evil Queen transforms herself and we briefly see the world spinning as her spell works its magic. The story is also rather well paced as we get time to enjoy our characters instead of simply rushing on through things.
Moving along to our characters the pacing is actually a slight hamper to Snow White herself. The main problem with Snow White is that we spend so much time with her that we really discover how plain and one-note she is. Her sweetness is very overdone and borders upon pandering when she coddles the dwarves like a mother, despite being much younger than they are. This is rather ironic as the dwarves themselves were supposed to be one-note characters in terms of personality as each one represented a different emotion. Instead they are just as well fleshed out as the Evil Queen, and more fleshed out than Snow White is. The one dwarf who really stands out is Grumpy as he is the total opposite of Snow White and yet is still shown to care about her well being despite his gruff exterior. As for our villain, the Evil Queen has been described as so frightening and realistic that Walt Disney himself said that he would never make a villain like that again. Despite having the least amount of screen time, the Evil Queen is a very powerful character who has presence even when off-screen and has some really great scenes especially the previously mentioned transformation scene, which frightened me quite badly as a young child to the point that I refused to finish the film.
The last thing to really touch note on is the music itself. Snow White has some very memorable songs that are still well known even today. There isn't really a whole lot to mention about the songs, so I will also take a moment to note that the score itself is timed well to the action on screen and not just there to evoke a mood. This really helps the film and is most effective at the very end when there is no more dialogue and instead it is up to the music and a background chorus to drive the story as Snow White's tear-jerking funeral occurs and her rescue by the Prince as he gives her loves first kiss.
It is quite easy to see why Snow White is such a classic, as well as why it is held to such a high degree. In a few short years Disney went from short cartoons to producing a film like this that quite easily changed and influenced animation as a medium.
5/5
Monday, July 2, 2012
Bambi
Bambi is the first of the final five Disney canon films to be reviewed, and it's quite a great way to start the home stretch as we get to see some of Walt's best films that he had made during his lifetime. Part of the reason these films are among the best is because this was during a time when animated films were new to Walt and still quite exciting territory to explore. Bambi was one film that made use of the multi-plane camera, and it really shows that they used this tool to its full extent.
Bambi is one of the Walt era's best looking films. The backgrounds are lush and have a sense of depth to them, it really looks like a forest is on screen instead of a flat looking background that is simply there. You can also really see a large attention to minor details such as the bark upon the trees or the way the rain becomes a small, rushing stream upon the ground during the April Showers song. There's also a very small moment where very early in the film, a small mouse washes his face with a rain drop on a leaf. These little bits give the film extra touches and take a moment to build on the world around our main character.
As far as music goes, very little stands out in my mind. While the songs are fairly good and serve their intended purpose, they just lack that extra oomph to stick around the next day unlike other songs. My favourite of the songs in this film is the Little April Showers song, a large part of it is because of the visuals we get to watch as the song plays out across the screen. An interesting note here is that none of the main characters sing the songs and instead we get the songs being sung in the background. There is one particular song where a bunch of birds sing a happy song, but none of them are characters that we actually know.
Story wise, Bambi is a far more realistic film in the canon. When we meet Bambi we learn he's a young prince, but this doesn't impact his story at all, it just suggests he's important enough for us to watch him. As we watch Bambi, we don't see him doing anything to work towards becoming a better prince or to do anything that would bring him glory. Instead we get to see Bambi simply living his life, discovering new things as he grows and with each changing season, he learns different lessons. This sense of learning is most evident during winter when Bambi experiences loss. Early on in the film Bambi learns of the danger in the meadow and the entire sequence is a bit tense because a person could almost expect that danger to rear its head, yet nothing bad happens save for a close call when Man first enters the forest. It is not until later, during winter, in which Bambi loses his mother in one of the most heartbreaking scenes in film. We never see it happen, nor do we ever see his mother again or the man who killed her. Instead we only get Bambi's cries for her and a very long silence that feels like forever as he realizes what has happened. This was a really bold move for Disney to take given how family friendly the company has always been, and yet it was well worth it for the emotional impact it has on the story, and on the audience.
I'd like to finish up this review with a few quick notes on the characters themselves. All of our characters fit into the grand scheme of the film. Bambi and Faline meet early on in the meadow instead of having her be the last minute lover interest who appears only near the end. Instead we get a chance to see them interact for a bit first before she seems to be forgotten as we move on to other experiences. Bambi's friends appear only long enough to provide new experiences and never wear out their welcome. I was rather surprised at how little time Flower had and had thought he was in more of the film. I do find the Friend Owl to be rather curious. While he can be interesting and rather funny, I do have to wonder what he eats if he's friends with all the little woodland creatures.
4 1/2/ 5
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