This week the DFPP team head to see their good friend Franck the wedding planner who needs their help with a “dahlekit sihtuahtahn” with one of his clients who needs to grow up and let his daughter do the same in the 1991 comedy Father of the Bride.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Thursday, May 31, 2012
John Carter Blu-ray Review
For my last few Blu-ray reviews I felt that Disney simply wasn’t using the Blu-ray platform to its fullest. So when Disney offered me a review copy of John Carter, I jumped at it. Done right, this disc would help Disney achieve a larger return for the movie, so it needed to be good. It needed to stand out and bring something new to the table.
When the Blu-ray first starts up you are presented with a choice of language English, English Descriptive Video Service, French, or Spanish. These are the same language choices presented on the Set Up menu which can be reached from the Main Menu. You can also later choose to enable subtitles that are English, French, or Spanish. Once you choose the language you are presented with an ad for Disney Studio All Access, as well as trailers for Avengers and Frankenweenie.
The visual on the Main Menu is actually quite good. It’s the map of all the research done by the John Carter character in his later years connected by red yarn tying it all together as seen in the movie. And you jump from fact to fact, following a thread of yarn. I thought this was clever, and really wanted to read those facts. I later discovered that this disc has two features that are Second Screen enabled. The first is the ability to watch the movie using Second Screen, however the second is the ability to be able to “Explore John Carter’s Journal”. This is a genius feature to add to the disc, and I look forward to trying it once the Second Screen app is released.
There are also several other bonus features, including some deleted and modified scenes as well as the original opening sequence that was later broken out across the movie. Edgar Rice Burroughs fans will enjoy the “100 Years in the Making” which tells the story of both Burroughs himself and of how the movie came to be. The bloopers reel is cute, but not laugh-out-loud funny. You can also watch the movie with audio commentary by Director Andrew Stanton and producers Jim Morris and Lindsey Collins.
For those who don’t know a lot of what occurs on a production set, there is a feature called “360 Degrees of John Carter” which covers production on a day they shot scenes for the battle in the “Palace of Light”. Some of the cooler stuff you’ll get to see is Willem Dafoe acting on stilts where he passes along his feelings that no matter what the end result will be, even if digitally replaced, you give the role your best. There’s also a lot of detail about intricate detail of the tattoos in the movie that some might really enjoy.
The John Carter Blu-ray release brings it to bear. Combined with Second Screen there are, in English, 4 different ways to watch this movie. As well as plenty of additional content to keep any fan engaged. There is a lot to enjoy on this Blu-ray, and you can really see that despite that this movie was unsuccessful at the box office, it has a good chance of helping to make up for that in the home market.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Princess Diaries & Princess Diaries 2 10th Anniversary Blu-Ray Review
Previously the Disney Film project podcast learned how to throw down like a princess when they reviewed The Princess Diaries back in Episode 31, and more recently they traveled to Genovia to review The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement in Episode 72. These movies tell the story of a your girl named Mia and her transformation from a awkward teenage girl into the Princess and then Queen of the country of Genovia. The movies star Anne Hathaway as Mia and Disney Legend Julie Andrews as her grandmother, the Queen.
Recently Disney provided me with a preview of the 10th Anniversary Blu-ray release set of both movies to review. I was pretty excited to be getting this set, considering it being a 10th Anniversary edition, and its tie in with the Julie Andrews and Disney hosting National Princess Week back in April. After all, there’s a lot of opportunity to be had, considering that even with both movies on the Blu-ray, there’s plenty of space left for extras.
Unfortunately the opportunity was missed. There were not even any Trailers for other movies on this release, not even on insertion of the Blu-ray disc into my player. You simply arrive at the Main Menu, which shows just a few quick scenes from the movie. The movies come with 3 audio and subtitle tracks: English, French, and Spanish. And scene selection is mismatched, with 27 selectable scenes in The Princess Diaries, but only 12 for Princess Diaries 2 - which is not a divergence from either DVD release. Playing the movie is fairly straightforward as well, with no special pausing features outside of scene selection.
The only actual bonus features on the Blu-ray are a series of outtakes and bloopers for both movies which had appeared on the DVD releases. Gone are the other DVD extras that filled those releases like Deleted Scenes, music videos, audio commentary by Julie Andrews and Anne Hathaway, etc.
It’s a shame that more wasn’t done with the opportunity presented by this release. After all there could have been a better tie in with National Princess Week instead of the two seeming like separate events, additional commentaries, etc. The quality of the movies themselves is great, and really the only reason to get this Blu-ray update. Fans may want to hang onto the DVD copies or they’ll lose all the DVD extras as effectively these are just remastered versions of the movies on DVD, with no additions.
Recently Disney provided me with a preview of the 10th Anniversary Blu-ray release set of both movies to review. I was pretty excited to be getting this set, considering it being a 10th Anniversary edition, and its tie in with the Julie Andrews and Disney hosting National Princess Week back in April. After all, there’s a lot of opportunity to be had, considering that even with both movies on the Blu-ray, there’s plenty of space left for extras.
Unfortunately the opportunity was missed. There were not even any Trailers for other movies on this release, not even on insertion of the Blu-ray disc into my player. You simply arrive at the Main Menu, which shows just a few quick scenes from the movie. The movies come with 3 audio and subtitle tracks: English, French, and Spanish. And scene selection is mismatched, with 27 selectable scenes in The Princess Diaries, but only 12 for Princess Diaries 2 - which is not a divergence from either DVD release. Playing the movie is fairly straightforward as well, with no special pausing features outside of scene selection.
The only actual bonus features on the Blu-ray are a series of outtakes and bloopers for both movies which had appeared on the DVD releases. Gone are the other DVD extras that filled those releases like Deleted Scenes, music videos, audio commentary by Julie Andrews and Anne Hathaway, etc.
It’s a shame that more wasn’t done with the opportunity presented by this release. After all there could have been a better tie in with National Princess Week instead of the two seeming like separate events, additional commentaries, etc. The quality of the movies themselves is great, and really the only reason to get this Blu-ray update. Fans may want to hang onto the DVD copies or they’ll lose all the DVD extras as effectively these are just remastered versions of the movies on DVD, with no additions.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 73 - Star Wars Weekends Vacation
This week the DFPP team heads to Orlando for a hard earned vacation together during Star Wars Weekends join them as they discuss some of the movie related attractions at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
Friday, May 25, 2012
A Review of The Secret World of Arrietty Blu-ray Release
So it goes without question that I was excited to receive a review copy of the Blu-ray release of the movie to see what sort of fun might be found within. Knowing full well that The Muppets Blu-ray release, which was exceptional in its features, would be a hard act to follow. And while there’s nothing really outright wrong with The Secret World of Arrietty Blu-ray release it does have a very DVD feel to it, and doesn’t take full advantage of the Blu-ray platform.
Inserting the Blu-ray, you are immediately presented with a Disney All Rewards Access advertisement. This is intended to be Disney’s future answer to Netflix, and some features are already available through Disney Movie Rewards online movie access features. However I feel that this add, while well done visually is not really good at explaining what the service is, or rather, will be. This ad is followed by a Brave preview and then another about the Cinderella Blu-ray Diamond Edition release.
After that you reach the Main Menu, and I was sort of disappointed with this feature. As I implied above it was very old school and could have been more spiced up. The moving images really screamed a need for interactivity. The “Play Movie” choice starts the movie from either the start or where you left off. Like many Blu-ray releases there is a pause feature, this one allows you to jump between the 12 scenes in a manner similar to that presented in the “Scene Selection” menu item. Using the “Set Up” menu, you can pick from 3 audio languages: English, French, and Japanese. Also available are subtitles for English, English for the hearing impaired, and French.
There are a number of Sneak Peeks available on this Blu-ray that can be watched from the “Sneak Peeks” menu. These include the 3 startup advertisements (with slightly different interstitials) as well as an ad for Disney Movie Rewards. Followed by Austin & Ally, Secret of the Wings, Planes (where you can clearly see the infamous 113 on a plane), the Blu-ray release of Aristocats, and something I’m super excited for: the 35th Anniversary edition of The Rescuers on Blu-ray which will also include The Rescuers Down Under.
The most interesting of the “Bonus Features” on the Blu-ray is the ability to watch the entire movie, not as an animated feature but rather using the original storyboards combined with the full audio track. Admittedly this is not something for everyone, but the bit I did watch sold me on the idea completely. Next up are a series of Trailers & TV Spots all of which are Japanese versions with English subtitles. And there are a lot of them, shifting between different versions of “Arrietty’s Song” and various storm noises. I was very jealous of the offering in Japanese markets of a free mini-book if you bought advance tickets.
The Blu-ray offers you to view the music video for Cécile Corbel’s “Arrietty’s Song”. This song is a very haunting melody and really isn’t for everyone, but it really speaks to me personally. I think this is why Disney Channel star Bridgit Mendler was asked to do the song “Summertime” and why they also include this music video on the Blu-ray as well. It’s a very simple music video that has Mendler walking around at the size of a Borrower. If you’re interested in knowing how the “Summertime” music video was made there is a clip that had been on Disney Channel that has Mendler talking about how it was made.
Overall, if you’re a Studio Ghibli fan who hasn’t seen this film, or, like me, really love the visual appeal of The Secret of World Arrietty, then this Blu-ray is for you. If you like to play with new and nifty special features of a Blu-ray I can only recommend trying to watch the movie in sketch form. Otherwise there are no stand-out features on this Blu-ray, and I wish there had been more to play with.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Motor Mania
Yesterday I was bemoaning the fact that Disney in the late
40s and early 50s seemed to be an alternating stream of Donald Duck and Pluto
shorts. So when I saw a new Goofy short
on the upcoming list, I got excited. I
got even more excited when I saw what it was – Motor Mania. This is a short that I’ve seen many times
before, but it never fails to entertain.
But now I’m a jaded reviewer, right?
Having watched so many shorts, this one had to be less impressive, or
was it?
Absolutely not. Motor
Mania holds up today as a prime example of how cartoons can be used as a
comment on life and a mirror to our existence.
If that sounds too deep for a Goofy cartoon, just watch it. The entire short is about the craziness that
people are overcome with once they step behind the wheel of a motor
vehicle. I dare anyone to watch this
short and not see parallels of themselves or someone they know. It makes it instantly relatable and accessible
for adults, but remains funny for kids.
The short details the conflict inherent between Goofy when
he is walking, as Mr. Walker, and his driving self, known as Mr. Wheeler. There’s a Jekyll and Hyde transformation when
he sits down in the car that is so well done they use it twice! It’s everything you are looking for in this
sort of comedy. It’s over the top yet
it’s fairly accurate to things you will see in every day life. That’s the best kind of satire that doesn’t
make you feel like you’re being preached to in any way, but just makes you
laugh.
This is Goofy in his “everyman” period, when instead of
being the loveable Goof he is instead thrust into the role of playing you or
I. It works well because the gags are so
relatable. Watching a fellow motorist
get Goofy in his sights on the car hood, I flashed back to trying to escape the
Citrus Bowl a few years ago, when someone sped up to try and run down my wife
and I. These things really happen, and
they’re not funny when they do, but in cartoons, we can see the inherent
silliness of things we do every day.
Using the omniscient narrator to tell the story, Disney
managed in this short to show how amazingly insane some of our simplest
behaviors can be. It’s the same contrast
they used in the Goofy “How To” shorts, but instead of poking fun at the Goof,
the finger is now pointed at the audience, even if it’s indirectly. It’s this brilliant yet subtle change that
makes Motor Mania one of the standout shorts of Goofy’s career.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Puss Cafe
It seems at this point in 1950, Disney was passing release
slots back and forth between Jack Hannah’s team working on the Donald Duck
shorts and Charles Nichols’ team creating the Pluto shorts. That’s not a bad thing when the shorts are
good, but it does lead to lots of repetition when you are watching them in
succession the way I am. As such, Puss
Café, which is a good cartoon, comes off as a little worse than I think it
actually is.
Pluto is not really the main character in this short. That honor goes to the two cats that are
trying to invade his suburban paradise.
The cats are not named in the short, but Disney history names them
Milton and Lucifer. I’m not entirely
sure which is which and I’m also not entirely sure it matters. What does matter is that they take the lead
here, as they see the milk on the back porch, the fish in the pond and the
birds in their nest as an all you can eat buffet in Pluto’s yard.
This leads to some very funny moments, as the cats devise
various ways to consume this bevy of treats.
The very first scene shows them improvising a waiter pouring a fine
wine, but instead of aged grapes it is a bottle of milk being poured down the
gullet of the other cat. It continues
later when one of the cats is sent under the water of the fish pond with a
picnic basket, and “picks” the fish out to go in the basket, like picking
apples off a tree. Each of these gags is
new and different than we have seen in past shorts.
What’s not different is the chase scenes and interactions
with Pluto. There’s no new ground
covered in how Pluto is used in this short, and that’s okay. It mainly just makes the parts with Pluto
seem much less amusing than the two cats by themselves. Based on watching this short, I’d rather see
a new Milton and Lucifer short than more Pluto, at least based on what is in
Puss Café. Pluto’s character is limited
to that of antagonist, which is not a familiar role for him, and not
necessarily one he is suited for.
I did especially like the twist ending of Pluto running into
a cat that’s just as big and mean as he is.
That’s not a bad thing to add to the mix of Pluto’s repertoire, that
there could be someone besides another dog that is a menace to him. I left this short thinking that the comedic
potential of Milton and Lucifer was much greater than that of Pluto. It’s interesting to see Disney trying out new
characters even in 1950, when the shorts program was less and less of the
business.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Ratatouille Tweetwatch - Tonight at 8:30p ET
Pixar's Brave is coming to Theatres on June 22, so to get ready, Tweetwatches for the next month are the Pixar films that Mark Andrews, director of Brave, was involved in before. Tonight, it's time for Ratatouille, the Brad Bird directed film that Andrews served on as story supervisor. Join Remy as he begins his culinary journey, and we will chat about the movie as it goes along.
If you've never joined Tweetwatches before, it's super easy to do. Here's the plan:
1. Get the DVD or Bluray so you can watch with us. Netflix, Redbox, whatever you need to do.
2. Tonight at a little before 8:30, head over to our Friendfeed room.
3. At 8:30p ET, I'll tweet out the signal to push play, and we'll watch the movie together, while I fill you in on some of the little known facts about each film.
It is tons of fun, and I really enjoy doing them, so make sure you join the fun tonight at 8:30p ET. Look forward to seeing you all there!
Monday, May 21, 2012
Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 72 - The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
This week the DFPP team heads to Genovia for a coronation, and through a strange series of awkward moments they realize that it’s all about progress in the 2004 comedy The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Primitive Pluto
As we have discussed previously in this space, Pluto is a
difficult character to get a handle on, because he doesn’t talk. That puts the burden on the animation and
story teams to create interesting situations for Pluto to get involved in, as
well as forcing the character to display emotions and situations more visually
than through his dialogue. So it’s
difficult to get Pluto right, but in Primitive Pluto, the Disney team found a
good way to make the dog work.
The idea is that Pluto has long ago been domesticated, and
his wild side is itching to break free.
It’s an interesting concept, because we have seen Pluto’s evolution
following that of Mickey, as he moved from the farm dog into the city and the
suburbs along with his master. So
commenting on that move is a bit of meta-commentary that plays extremely well
in this short.
Before Pluto and his id ever leave the cabin where they open
the short, we get to see that Pluto is not ready for the wild. He is literally eating milquetoast, dressing
in ridiculous doggie sweaters with bells and generally just not ready for the
outdoors. You have never seen a dog so
accustomed to the indoors as Pluto, which makes the rest of the short
absolutely hilarious. As Pluto’s id
drags him outside, there is no doubt it will be to a bad end.
Sure enough, things go horribly wrong outside, as they do in
all good Disney theme park rides and the best shorts. Pluto, rather than getting a rabbit to eat,
as his primitive self wants, ends up getting entangled with a bear instead. It’s nightmarish for the little inside dog,
even as he tries to embrace things like tracking and hunting. The short really gives a humorous touch to
the conflict between Pluto’s reason and his desire to go out for more primal
pursuits.
When it ends up with the bear scaring them back inside, we
see the end results as the primal Pluto devours the milquetoast. The roles have switched: the primal version that lived inside Pluto is
now content with the indoor life, and Pluto is feral and wild, trying to corner
his smaller self. It’s a brilliant
storyline that executes perfectly on screen, creating one of the better Pluto
shorts in years.
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