Sunday, December 28, 2014

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 208 - 2015 Preview Show



This week the DFPP team once again takes out their secret magic ball of the ‘8’ (pat. pend.) and performs the necessary sacred rights to peer into the future and check out just what is going down with the Disney movies of 2015.


Enjoy the show!

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 207 - The Search for Santa Paws



This week the DFPP team is looking for a mission team that consists of 2 adults, 2 children, a vagrant, 3 dogs, 1 elf, 1 elf-dog, a team of reindeer, and a boy scout to help them with the 2010 holiday film The Search for Santa Paws.

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 206 - I'll Be Home for Christmas



This week the DFPP team is looking for a way home for the holidays that involves Tom Jones, a dress as Santa 5K, a Bavarian themed hotel, and a holiday parade, but what they got was the 1998 comedy I'll Be Home for Christmas.

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 205 - Annie



This week the DFPP team is looking for a missing dog when they run into a little girl who grinned and told them the sun would come out tomorrow so they bet their bottom dollar that it would in the 1999 television musical Annie.

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 204 - Big Hero 6



This week the DFPP team runs into a fire-breathing monster and friends while seeking the secrets of immortality only to learn that it all comes back to knowing the nature of your pain in the 2014 animated adventure Big Hero 6.

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Turner Classic Movies, Walt Disney World Resort and The Walt Disney Studios Team Up to Share Stories Centered on Classic Film

Treasures from the Disney Vault


Turner Classic Movies, Walt Disney World Resort and The Walt Disney Studios Team Up to Share Stories Centered on Classic Film

Press release from: https://pressroom.turner.com/us/tcm/tcm-disney-team-share-stories#.VHYHvIu3fIo
Features Include New TCM Integration in Theme Park Attraction and On-Air Showcase of Disney Treasures
Turner Classic Movies (TCM) today announced new strategic relationships with Walt Disney World Resort and The Walt Disney Studios to broaden its reach in family entertainment with joint efforts centered on classic film.
At Disney's Hollywood Studios, the "The Great Movie Ride" Attraction highlights some of the most famous film moments in silver screen history and is set to receive a TCM-curated refresh of the pre-show and the finale. TCM branding will be integrated into the attraction's marquee as well as banners, posters and display windows outside the attraction. In the queue line, families will enjoy new digital movie posters and will watch a new pre-ride video with TCM host Robert Osborne providing illuminating insights from the movies some of which guests will experience during the ride. The finale will feature an all-new montage of classic movie moments. After guests exit the attraction, they will have a photo opportunity with a classic movie theme. The TCM-curated refresh is set to launch by spring.
As part of the relationship with The Walt Disney Studios, TCM will launch Treasures from the Disney Vault, a recurring on-air showcase that will include such live-action Disney features as Treasure Island (1950), Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959) and Pollyanna (1960); animated films like The Three Caballeros (1944) and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949); classic nature documentaries, including The Living Desert (1953) and The African Lion (1955); made-for-television classics, such as the Davy Crockett series; special episodes from Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color; documentaries about the studio, including Walt & El Grupo (2009) and Waking Sleeping Beauty(2010); and animated shorts, such as 1932's Oscar®-winning "Flowers and Trees."
Treasures from the Disney Vault is scheduled to premiere on TCM Sunday, Dec. 21 at 8 p.m. The opening night will include the holiday and winter animated shorts "Santa's Workshop," "On Ice" and "Chip An' Dale," followed by The Disneyland Story. The night will also include The Reluctant Dragon, Disney's 1941 film that combined a live-action tour of the Walt Disney Studios facility with animated shorts; Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier (1955), a compilation of the first three episodes of the iconic series starring Fess Parker; the Oscar®-winning documentary The Vanishing Prairie (1954), part of Disney's True Life Adventure series; the rarely seen Third Man on the Mountain (1959), an Alpine tale starring Michael Rennie and James MacArthur; and Perilous Assignment (1959), a documentary about the making of Third Man on the Mountain.
"At TCM, it's our mission to share and celebrate the greatest films of all time," said Jennifer Dorian, general manager of TCM. "Disney provides the perfect relationship through which we can share the magic of the movies with every generation, not only through an amazing new showcase on TCM, but also through  newly refreshed components of 'The Great Movie Ride' Attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios."
"We are looking forward to this collaboration, which complements Disney's commitment to telling great stories and immersing our guests in family entertainment," said Tiffany Rende, senior vice president of Disney Corporate Alliances and Operating Participants. "Through this alliance, we are able to share more classic Disney stories with TCM audiences, while further enhancing the guest experience by showcasing TCM content and talent."
This marks an expansion of TCM's already robust relationship with the family entertainment and media enterprise. TCM set sail on its fourth TCM Classic Cruise in October 2014, the second aboard the Disney Cruise Line's Disney Magic. In addition, TCM has collaborated with Buena Vista Home Entertainment on various initiatives, including the 2008 documentary The Age of Believing: The Disney Live-Action Classics, which premiered in conjunction with a 25-movie showcase of family classics. The 2012 TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood featured a multi-film collection of Disney classics presented in collaboration with D23, The Official Disney Fan Club. And the 2014 TCM Classic Film Festival featured the 50th Anniversary screening of one of Walt Disney's most successful films Mary Poppins (1964) at Disney's El Capitan Theatre.

ABOUT WALT DISNEY WORLD RESORT

Walt Disney World Resort is a world-class entertainment and recreation destination, encompassing nearly 40 contiguous square miles and featuring four theme parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney's Hollywood Studios and Disney's Animal Kingdom); two water adventure parks (Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon); 35 resort hotels (25 owned and operated by Walt Disney World Resort, including seven Disney Vacation Club resort properties); 63 holes of golf on three courses; two full-service spas; Disney's Wedding Pavilion; ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex; and Downtown Disney, an entertainment-shopping-dining complex. Walt Disney World Resort also is included in Disney Cruise Line vacation packages. Located in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., 20 miles southwest of Orlando, Walt Disney World Resort opened Oct. 1, 1971, and operates daily year-round.

ABOUT WALT DISNEY STUDIOS

For over 90 years, The Walt Disney Studios has been the foundation on which The Walt Disney Company was built. Today, the Studio brings quality movies, music and stage plays to consumers throughout the world. Feature films are released under the following banners: Disney, including Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar Animation Studios; Disneynature; Marvel Studios; Lucasfilm; and Touchstone Pictures, the banner under which live-action films from DreamWorks Studios are distributed. The Disney Music Group encompasses the Walt Disney Records and Hollywood Records labels, as well as Disney Music Publishing. The Disney Theatrical Group produces and licenses live events, including Disney on Broadway, Disney On Ice and Disney Live!

ABOUT TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES (TCM)

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is a two-time Peabody Award-winning network that presents great films, uncut and commercial-free, from the largest film libraries in the world. TCM, which is available in more than 85 million homes, features the insights of hosts Robert Osborne and Ben Mankiewicz, plus interviews with a wide range of special guests. Currently in its 20th year as a leading authority in classic film, TCM offers critically acclaimed original documentaries and specials; film series like The Essentials, hosted by Robert Osborne and Drew Barrymore, and Friday Night Spotlight; and annual programming events like 31 Days of Oscar® in February, Summer Under the Stars in August and TCM Essentials Jr. during the summer. TCM also connects with movie fans through such events as the annual TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood and the TCM Classic Cruise, as well as through the TCM Classic Film Tour in New York City. In addition, TCM produces a wide range of media about classic film, including books and DVDs, and hosts a wealth of material online at tcm.com and through the Watch TCM mobile app.
TCM is part of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner company. Turner Broadcasting creates and programs branded news; entertainment; animation and young adult; and sports media environments on television and other platforms for consumers around the world.

CONNECT WITH TURNER CLASSIC MOVIES

Website: www.tcm.com
Pressroom: pressroom.turner.com/us/tcm
Facebook: facebook.com/tcmtv
Twitter: twitter.com/tcm | twitter.com/tcmpr
TCM Store: shop.tcm.com
Watch TCM app available for iOS and Android Platforms.

PUBLICITY CONTACT

Turner Classic Movies
Gina McKenzie
404.885.4315
gina.mckenzie@turner.com

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 203 - So Dear to My Heart



This week the DFPP team heads to the farm, but ends up getting some bad directions from a wise old owl and find themselves getting mowed down by a fast moving black sheep in the 1948 family drama So Dear to My Heart.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 202 - Remember the Titans


This week the DFPP team takes in some college football when they find themselves in the middle of an epic battle of indomitable wills that help bridge a gap one thought insurmountable in the 2000 drama Remember the Titans.

Listen, download, etc.



Show notes:

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 201 - Bridge to Terabithia



This week the DFPP team finds themselves in the middle of a springtide struggle between the realities of life and honest truths of imagination and love where there are no real winners in the 2007 family drama Bridge to Terabithia.

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Places: Fire & Rescue Blu-ray Review


Released in the summer of 2014, Planes: Fire & Rescue is an animated Disney feature that is a sequel to the 2013 animated feature Planes.  It is one of the strongest animated sequels that Disney has ever put out, which is likely tied to the fact that the movies were developed at the same time as separate adventures in the life of the star of both movies Dusty Crophopper, voiced by Dane Cook.  Today, November 4, you can bring the movie home as a new Blu-ray release for your whole family to enjoy.  If you’d like to learn more about Planes or Planes: Fire and Rescue you can listen to episodes 137 and 189 of our podcast.

When you pop in the Blu-ray and get to main menu you’ll be presented with scenes from the movie presented as moving pictures interspersed with postcards, posters, and other paraphernalia from Piston Peak National Park.  It’s clever and reminds me of one of my favorite OS X screensavers.  There are a few bonus features on the Blu-ray, many of which have been previously released as part of the movie’s promotion prior to it’s release in theaters.

However, Vitaminamulch: Air Spectacular, is a completely new and enjoyable short with characters from the original planes movie and taking place in Propwash Junction.  In it we see Dusty open an airshow for his old employer Leadbottom.  Chug and Dusty excited to be seeing “Air Devil Jones” and “Vandemonium” perform a dangerous stunt at the show, but Skipper is concerned about it.  The daredevils get detained and don’t show.  This leads to Leadbottom dressing up Dusty and Chug as the the missing daredevils and forcing them to perform.  Mayhem ensues and things end with with a crowd pleasing bang.

There are two deleted Scenes introduced by Ferrell Barron and Bobs Gannaway:

  • Honkers - is a mostly unfinished and longer version of the bar scene shown in the movie.  The basic difference is we see the outside of the bar, and learn that it was named Honkers.
  • Dusty’s Dream No More - this is a storyboard animated scene where Dusty is feeling sorry for himself and goes back to his hanger to check out all his old trophies before getting inspired to test the limits of his broken gearbox.

Air Attack: Firefighters From The Sky is a short about how the crew of the movie visited the Hemet-Ryan Air Attack Base in Hemet California, the home of CalFire.  This is where much of the research for the movie occurred and has a focus on the smokejumpers and their training. We learn that all the new fire fighting characters introduced in the movie were taken directly from inspirations gained while visiting the base.  

The remaining Blu-ray features are:

  • Welcome To Piston Peak! teaches the viewer about the various landmarks and places to visit in Piston Peak National Park.
  • “CHoPs” TV Promo is the TV show introduction as shown in the movie.
  • A music video of the movie’s theme song “Still I Fly” starring Spencer Lee.
  • “Dipper” - in this Dipper introduces herself to the audience.  She talks about who she is, and what she does for her job.  She posts it as her profile on a PlanesDate.com website.
  • “Smoke Jumpers” - in this we learn about the 5 smoke jumpers from the movie.  They build a campsite to roast marshmallows, and then get called off to put out a fire.

That there is not a huge amount of bonus material as can be attributed to the young age of the movie.  Those looking for a good movie for their “Family Movie Night” can count on this film to deliver whether they’ve seen it already or not.  Fans of the characters and/or the movie itself will enjoy that the Blu-ray also includes a DVD and a Digital copy.  Overall, this is a fairly standard Blu-ray release for a new movie.

Monday, November 3, 2014

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 200 - Marvel Phase Three Spotlight


Greetings true believers! This week the DFPP team breaks out their crystal ball to catch a glimpse of the future Marvel Cinematic Universe slate from 2016 through 2019 in what they’re calling a Marvel Phase Three Spotlight.


Enjoy the show!

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 199 - Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day



This week the DFPP team jumps for joy as they feel a shift in the universe and have an amazing, totally awesome, solidly descent, kind of stupendous day in the 2014 family comedy Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Million Dollar Arm Blu-ray Review



Million Dollar Arm is possibly one of the more underrated Disney films of the year.  It has a lot of good feelings wrapped up into it, an almost indie film quality to it, and a really awesome soundtrack.  While it is presented as a sports movie, it really is more of a family drama that takes you through an adaptation of real life events.  If you’d like to learn more about the movie itself please listen to Episode 178 of our podcast.  If you missed the movie in the theater it is now available to own on Blu-ray.

The Blu-ray contains the following extras:

  • Training Camp - Actors Madhur Mittal and Suraj Sharma discuss their own pitching and athletic training for the movie. Like their real life counterparts they too had to learn how to pitch and throw a baseball.

  • Their Story - A discussion by the real JB Bernstein, Dinesh Patel, and Rinku Singh about their story and how it changed them and their lives.

  • Million Dollar Arm: Music by A. R. Rahman - Rahman talks about his creation of the soundtrack for the film  His focus on maintaining balance even through the transition from India to Los Angeles in the film.  And his desire to keep it emotional, while maintaining the focus on it being a sports movie.

  • Deleted Scenes - Watch 3 scenes that were deleted from the movie, the last of which is most interesting as it involves some additional discussion about the contest by the boys in the dormitory while still in India prior to the competition.

  • Alternate Ending - This is a slightly abbreviated ending to the film.  It has the the same result as the original, only this one takes a bit of a leap and does not have quite as much impact or emotion to it.

  • Outtakes - Some simple, funny outtakes.

Here we have a very standard Blu-ray release of a recently released movie. It has the same bonus content problem that many Blu-ray releases of movies that occur close to a new movie.  However in this case there is so much content readily available about the real life counterparts of the characters in this movie that perhaps more of that could have been added to help round out the bonus features more.  The movie itself is still good, and if you missed it in the theater, and are at all interested in the story, it is likely worth picking up a copy.

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Sleeping Beauty Diamond Edition Blu-ray Review





With what has always felt like the perfect mix of fairy tale elements - the classic hero, the fearsome villain, and a beautiful heroine - it’s no wonder that Sleeping Beauty is one of the most beloved Disney animated films of all time.  To celebrate its 55th anniversary Disney has made this a banner year of celebration for the movie.  Earlier in the year with the movie Maleficent, and now with a Blu-Ray re-release of the original classic as the Sleeping Beauty Diamond Edition.  

The Blu-ray contains some alternate scenes from what you find in the movie:

  • Deleted Scene: The Curse is Fulfilled - This is a storyboarded scene that would have occurred just after Aurora is returned to the castle.  She hears a voice calling to her, when she comes upon an old woman with a spinning wheel that she refers to as a “wishing wheel”.  The old lady convinces Aurora to touch it, and she falls to sleep upon doing so.

  • Alternate Scene: The Arrival of Maleficent - Maleficent arrives at the party as “Miss Maleficent Fairy of Darkness”.  It’s a somewhat different version of the scene.

  • Deleted Scene: The Fair - Here was get what is almost an entirely different plotline.  We learn that the fairies cast a spell of protection on the castle, and King Stephan keeps her locked in the castle.  The Princess swaps places with a servant to go to the Fair.  Maleficent’s vulture, who can talk, disguises himself as a bluebird to get some intel about Aurora.  Maleficent meets with Aurora at the fair disguised as a gypsy and gives her a prediction about the future and meeting a tall dark man.  And the vulture finds such a man, and he is introduced to Aurora, and they meet and fall in love.



The Sound of Beauty: Restoring a Classic is a discussion about how the creation of the original 2-channel stereo music for the movie and how it was restored for the Blu-ray release.  Original musical recording sessions were found in the archives, including alternate takes and versions.  We learn how they had to take the magnetic recordings of the audio tracks and clean up the hisses and pops in order to be able to cleanly remix them with the music.  Including some discoveries that had been hidden and obscured due to compression and re-recordings and multiple releases.

In Picture Perfect: The Making of Sleeping Beauty we take a look at the progression of Disney movies from Snow White, to Cinderella, to Sleeping Beauty.  How it moved away from certain story elements like sub-plots, and instead focus on the story elements.  How despite being released in 1959, the story was set in 1952.  Walt’s desire to cater to new expectations of the post-war culture of the 50s.  How he didn’t want the artwork in the film to be watered down, and he turned the reins of art direction over to Eyvind Earle.  Creation, origins and designs of the characters and the challenges of Maleficent’s interactions which are often her speaking to herself and the addition of Diablo to offset that. As well as discussion of many more aspect of the film’s creation and design.

For fans of the Disney Legend there is Eyvind Earle: A Man and his Art.  This is a look at Eyvind Earle, his life, and his artwork and how he came to work at Disney.  And then his climb through his career as he came to work on Sleeping Beauty which is considered his magnum opus.  Earle’s artwork can be found in Sleeping Beauty as well as Peter Pan and Lady and the Tramp.

Continuing this series of shorts that has appeared on other Diamond Edition Blu-rays is @DisneyAnimation: Artists in Motion.  Here Brittany Lee (Frozen, Wreck-It Ralph, Paperman), whom we’ve seen in prior shorts, talks about how she works with paper to help bring to life the designs of herself and others.  As she talks about her chosen medium we watch her build a paper sculpture of Maleficent.



Perhaps the most curious of extras on the Blu-ray is Once Upon a Parade which is the legend of the Festival of Fantasy parade as told by actress Sarah Hyland.  There is also The Art of Evil: Generations of Disney Villains which talks about how the creation and evolution of villains in Disney animated features.  Finally we have Beauty-Oke: “Once Upon a Dream” which continues the theme of including Disney karaoke songs on Blu-ray releases.

This second Blu-ray release of Sleeping Beauty is very well packaged.  If you are not a prior owner of the movie and are looking to complete your collection it is an excellent choice.  Having been previously restored, the movie itself is not changed from the prior release.  The combo pack is the best choice if you’re also looking to own a digital copy of the movie to watch on your tablet or smartphone.  Overall this is a well packaged and presented release.