Disney Film Project

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 57 - The Hunchback of Notre Dame

2012-02-06T01:20:00.003-05:00

This week the DFPP team heads to visit their friend Quasimodo in Paris only to discover that he and some golden haired dude have gone to rescue a gypsy girl from being burned alive in the 1996 animated drama The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

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Show notes:

Enjoy the show!

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 56 - Real Steel

2012-01-30T00:42:00.000-05:00

This week the DFPP team heads to the future only to discover that in a world where boxing has gone to the robots only one boy, his robot, and his dad can survive the Japanese YouTube sensation in the 2011 science fiction drama Real Steel.

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Show notes:

IMDb (Quotes since IMDb is lacking)
Wikipedia
Official Homepage
Rotten Tomatoes
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube Channel (Ambush, Atom, Midas, Noisy Boy, Twin Cities, Zeus)
"Steel" - Twilight Zone
Interview with Richard Matheson
Soundtrack
Highland Park Ford Plant (Crash Palace)
DAPs Magic Hugh Jackman Interview
Apple Trailers Page
RED EPIC cameras

Enjoy the show!

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 55 - Dead Poets Society

2012-01-23T00:00:00.000-05:00

This week, the DFPP team chooses to seize the day, as we take a look at the new Blu Ray release of Dead Poets Society, starring Robin Williams as John Keating, the professor we all wish we had in school. Join us for tales of dead poets, romance and more, some of it not suitable for the kiddies. (Fair warning.)

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Show notes:

IMDb
Wikipedia
Soundtrack
Sam Pickering - who John Keating is based on (UConn)
Dead Poets Society at The Peter Weir Cave
Filmed at the St. Andrew's School (originally supposed to be here)
AntiRomantic.com - a series of essays on DPS (fans will love this)
Odes, 1.11 - the source of "Carpe Diem" / "Sieze the Day"
The Charles Atlas 97-lb. Weakling Ad

Enjoy the show!

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 54 - The Jungle Book

2012-01-16T00:13:00.001-05:00

This week the DFPP team finds themselves in the jungles of India in search of the elusive Wolf-Boy who manages save himself from the claws of the Tiger King with the aid of a bear, a panther, and some fire in the 1967 animated classic The Jungle Book.

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Show Notes:

Enjoy the show!

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 53 - 102 Dalmatians

2012-01-06T00:40:00.004-05:00

To kick off their second year the DFPP team goes to visit their old friend Cruella in the asylum only to discover she’s out on parole and still obsessed with spots in the 2000 live action sequel to a live action remake of an animated film 102 Dalmatians.

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Show Notes:

Enjoy the show!

All In a Nutshell

2012-01-03T16:26:00.000-05:00

When watching Donald Duck battle it out with Chip and Dale in All In a Nutshell, it occurred to me that everything would be so much simpler for Donald if he paid protection money of a kind to the chipmunks. After all, it seems like every time he settles down to a meal or to a business venture, Chip and Dale show up to ruin it. If he just gave them a little food every time, I imagine he’d be alright. He usually has more than enough to go around.

In this version of the epic war between these parties, Donald has set up a roadside stand to sell Don’s Nut Butter. The catch? His stand is shaped in the form of an acorn, which attracts the attention of the chipmunks rather quickly. They’re out gathering acorns for food, after Donald has stolen their acorns to make his nut butter. Hilarity ensues.

What I find somewhat interesting about this version of this long running battle is that most of the short involves Chip and Dale trying to hijack the giant acorn stand, instead of messing with Donald directly. Their efforts are futile, of course, but they are quite entertaining. It’s when we finally see the two crack the shell of the acorn that the real fun of working against Donald begins. But that doesn’t happen until about midway through the short.

While it’s fun to see these little skirmishes between Donald and the chipmunks, it ultimately doesn’t add much to the overall war. There’s nothing new or original in this short, it falls mostly along the lines of every other Chip and Dale short. To be fair that’s not a bad thing, as these shorts are generally entertaining. The fun and whimsy of these shorts make them easy to watch, even when there’s nothing new.

My problem is that I expect big things of Disney, and there’s not big things in the Chip and Dale shorts. They are formulaic, lack any sort of breakthrough animation and do not measure up artistically with the earlier shorts. Again, they’re fun and entertaining, and that counts for a lot. There are many other companies that produced shorts that were not entertaining during this period. While I enjoy Chip and Dale, I don’t think it’s enough to make for classic Disney fare. Enjoy it for the brief escapism that it is.

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 52 - 101 Dalmatians

2012-01-02T00:57:00.002-05:00

To finish out their first year the DFPP team has a Close call with Cruella De Vil as they discover her passion for little spotted puppies is about as over the top as the rest of her wardrobe in the 1996 live action remake 101 Dalmatians.

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Show Notes:

Enjoy the show!

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 51 - Cinderella

2011-12-25T23:34:00.003-05:00

This week the DFPP team sets out to help their friend Betsy solve The Case of the Missing Glass Slipper by first reviewing the crime scene footage of her latest encounter with the Wicked Tremaine Gang in the 1950 animated classic Cinderella.

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Show Notes:

Enjoy the show!

Tennis Racquet

2011-12-20T16:10:00.000-05:00

Here’s the way to get me to check out a Goofy short – feature some sort of sporting event. Since the beginning of the Goofy formula of having a narrator discussing the proper way to execute some athletic endeavor while the Goof does it poorly, I have enjoyed every single one. Some work better than others, but every one of them has great entertainment value.

Tennis Racquet gets to one of the few sports Goofy has not yet touched – tennis. And as usual, it’s not with a reverent tone. Instead, every convention about tennis is made fun of in this short. It starts with the attendees, who are all packed into the middle of the stadium. That’s the ones who actually go to the tennis match, and not to the nearby flower show instead. That’s just the start of the jokes at the expense of the game of tennis.

One twist to the formula this time around is that instead of an omniscient narrator that is offscreen, the short features a broadcaster in a booth calling the action. It’s that broadcaster that provides the narration, often inaccurately. This little twist makes things interesting, because the commentator has to often lean over to the spectator in front of him to make sure he is making the right call. That’s a great addition to this series.

It’s needed, because I may be jaded, but the sports action in Tennis Racquet is not as interesting as some of the other shorts. The two Goofys competing against each other in the tennis match have some fun gags, but I think that some of these are less compelling because we’ve seen Goofy tossed around so many times before. My favorite, though, is the groundskeeper, who continues to mow the lawn, pick the weeds and tend to the grass on the court despite the play of the competitors.

Despite what drawback there might be to this one, it is just fantastic to have Goofy back in circulation with a sports short. I think this is how the Goof works best. It is another step along the way towards the evolution of Goofy from the bumbling guy we saw in his early cartoons to the “everyman” of the later shorts. Soon enough, we’ll see Goofy become a father, a suburban man and several other roles. The design and mannerisms of that future Goofy are present here as well.

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 50 - Meet the Robinsons

2011-12-18T23:48:00.000-05:00

For their 50th Episode the DFPP team and friend Shelley decide to keep moving forward by getting their hands on a time machine and following two kids and a old guy with a robot for a hat through time in the 2007 animated adventure Meet the Robinsons.

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Show Notes:

Enjoy the show!

Honey Harvester

2011-12-13T17:00:00.000-05:00

Has anyone else noticed that Donald Duck has a preoccupation with food in the latest shorts of the 1940s? I mean, everything he has done in the Chip and Dale shorts has been about protecting his feasts. Now, for want of honey, Donald is going after an innocent bee that has been taking the honey from his flowers. Thus, the basics of Honey Harvester are in place for a pretty enjoyable short.

While this short doesn’t have much of the trademark Donald temper tantrum, it replaces it with Donald plotting against the bee. A plotting Donald is generally pretty entertaining, because his plots rarely work out and will inevitably involve the main duck getting his comeuppance. In this case, the bee is quite the character, which makes it doubly satisfying, because he is a joy to watch.

The short begins with the bee demonstrating his technique for removing honey from the flowers, and storing it in an old rusted out car’s radiator. It’s an ingenious system, because it hides the honey from other animals, especially Donald. Once Donald gets wind of the little guy, he begins to do the math in his head. Quite literally, actually, as we get to see Donald adding the pieces together to come up with the idea that he needs to steal the honey.

Donald’s dogged pursuit of the honey is something to behold. He continually tries to trick the bee into leading him towards the prize, but to no avail. It’s quite an accident when he figures it out and begins to steal the honey from the car. As you may imagine from my previous statements, this is a big mistake. The bee goes on a rampage, stinger to the wind, and starts divebombing Donald from all over the yard. To say this section is funny would be a huge understatement.

The bee manages to steal a stinger off of a cactus to overcome some of Donald’s defense mechanisms, making for a very potent stinger. Everything works about this part of the short. The sound design of the bee as a bomber, the fast moving animation, Donald’s expressions – it’s all top notch. Every single piece works together beautifully. Honey Harvester is that rare example of a Donald short where Donald doesn’t have to lose his temper in order to make a really fun cartoon.

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 49 - Monsters, Inc.

2011-12-12T06:00:00.000-05:00

It's been 10 years since Monsters, Inc. came out, but it seems just like yesterday. On this week's Disney Film Project Podcast, the gang takes a look at this Pixar classic, and tries to put that thing back where it came from, or so help them. Join us for Boo, Mike Wazowski and more fun than you can shake a tentacle at.

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Show Notes:

IMDb
Wikipedia
Soundtrack
Official Site
Pixar Site
Boo shows up in Toy Story 3
The full "Put That Thing Back Where It Came From Or So Help Me"
The perennial Monsters Inc Coaster Rumor
The existing Monsters, Inc. Attraction at Disney California Adventure
The Right Stuff

Enjoy the show!

Bubble Bee

2011-12-08T16:32:00.002-05:00

Bubble Bee is a short about a dog chewing gum. Let that sink in for minute, and you’ll understand why I was not a huge fan of this Pluto adventure. Pluto fighting against another dog, or against other animals? That’s mildly entertaining. Pluto fighting against himself trying to chew gum? Hand me a pillow, because I’m going to fall asleep.

Where to begin? First, there is the rather silly idea that Pluto is just dying to get himself a piece of gum from a gumball machine. I don’t know how that makes sense, because I’m not a dog owner, but I have not seen many dogs pursuing a ton of gum. Nevertheless, when Pluto walks by a gumball machine, you’d think he had never seen anything so enticing in all his life.

On top of that, his inability to get into the gumball machine to claim his prize causes great frustration. That frustration is only compounded by a bumble bee that takes off into the machine and comes out with a piece of gum. Following the bee to its hive, Pluto finds the hive is stuffed with gumballs which he proceeds to extract and eat. This would have been the perfect spot for a nice gag with bees attacking him, but no, we get a dog chewing gum.

Indeed, that is the next 90 seconds of this 7 minute short. You heard me. That much time is dedicated to watching Pluto chew gum. Sure, there are some gags with the bubbles and how he blows them, but for the most part, it’s coming up with interesting ways to show Pluto chewing gum. The bee gets involved looking for revenge, and uses the gum to tie Pluto in knots.

If any of this sounds appealing to you, then you should go and watch this short. I think you can tell that it does not appeal to me. There was no flow to the short and no story for me to latch on to in order to keep going through the gum chewing. I don’t know what the animation team had much to work with in this instance, or if the story team took the week off, but Bubble Bee was definitely a subpar story.

Winter Storage

2011-12-07T17:09:00.000-05:00

Donald Duck works with Chip and Dale. It just makes sense, and that’s why we see them together so often in the 1940s. Donald has to have a foil to showcase his giant temper and amusing frustrations, and nothing brings that out of him more than the two chipmunk heroes trying to steal his food. In Winter Storage, at least they have a very good reason for trying to do so.

As the calendar turns, the chipmunks are working feverishly to stock up their stores for the cold winter to come. They run into difficulty when they encounter the park ranger Donald Duck, who is using acorns to seed an area of the park with new trees. The acorns being what Chip and Dale are after, it works out well for them. They are able to follow behind Donald and make mischief, getting the acorns to literally fall out of the bags.

The interesting twist in this version of the familiar trope is that Chip and Dale end up at each other’s throats. It’s a nice difference from past shorts, where the back and forth between Donald and the chipmunks has been done to death. With the chipmunks getting irritated with each other, it’s puts a new spin on a familiar story.

The other thing that happens is Donald is able to trap these two in a box, marking the first time I can remember where Donald gets the upper hand. It doesn’t last, however, as the two manage to put aside their differences and escape. I really enjoyed the animation in this short, as the frantic actions of Chip and Dale are so fluid and exciting that it really sucks you in. Past shorts have featured this as well, but it felt very manic and exciting in this one.

Winter Storage is definitely not a groundbreaking short, because it doesn’t offer much new in the way of animation, and only minor changes to the standard Donald vs Chip and Dale formula. I did enjoy the hockey scenes at the end, where Donald’s mad attempts to prevent the acorn theft turn into some high quality hockey goalie action. It’s a harmless little short that entertains, but ultimately is nothing new.

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 48 - The Muppets

2011-12-04T23:34:00.001-05:00

This week the DFPP team can’t seem to wipe the smiles off their faces as they use the map travelling skills of 80s Robot to recreate that rainbow connection for their old friends Kermit, Fozzie, Miss Piggy, and Gonzo in the 2011 comedy The Muppets.

Listen, download, etc.

Show notes:

IMDb
Wikipedia
Soundtrack
Official Site
About the Muppets: Wikipedia & Muppet Wiki
Rotten Tomatoes & Box Office Mojo
Hobo Joe: Ron Lee & Buckeye Arizona Statue
Kermit's Mansion
Pixar's Small Fry: IMDb, Wikipedia, & Official Site
The Original Ending

Life's a happy song!

Pluto's Sweater

2011-11-30T17:04:00.000-05:00

Oh boy, more Pluto has come around in Pluto’s Sweater. This time, though, it’s an effective use of the character, as we get to see him going through all sorts of slapstick humor in an effort to rid himself of the titular sweater. That is the way that Pluto should be used.

To back up, the central idea here is that Minnie has knit a sweater for our favorite pooch, and has forced him to wear it and enter the outside world. That’s the basis for this short, with the added benefit of Figaro around to mock Pluto in his sweater. I have never cared much for Figaro as a character, but if he’s going to be in a short, this is the best way to use him. He shows up early, pokes fun at Pluto, then gets his comeuppance in the end.

The majority of the short, though, takes place outside, where Pluto desperately struggles to get the sweater off, only making it more cumbersome in the process. Again, Pluto isn’t my favorite, but this is a really effective way to use him. The sweater sort of takes on the characteristics of Silly Putty, and makes this a really funny slapstick sort of humor.

Having the sweater twist and transform into different shapes gives the animators the freedom to play with Pluto and other forms. I especially like when he falls into the pond and comes out looking like a whale, but there are so many others. The sweater gets turned into headgear, a midriff shirt and various permutations that are so clever that you just have to watch the short to get them all.

As I mentioned, Figaro gets his in the end, as Minnie sees the shrunken sweater and slips it onto him, causing a great consternation in the cat. I’ve written before about how Pluto doesn’t work best when he is by himself, but this is the exception to that rule. Giving him the foil of the sweater is a perfect way to let Pluto shine without the adversary taking the spotlight away.

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 47 - Disney Holiday Movies

2011-11-28T00:44:00.000-05:00

With Thanksgiving behind us, it's time to look forward to the fun and frivolity of the holiday season! Disney has created some very memorable holiday films over the past few decades, and on this week's episode the DFPP team sorts through them to find the good, the bad and the ugly. Take a listen to see what you should be checking out to get in the holiday spirit.

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Show notes:

Enjoy the show!

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 46 - Squanto: A Warrior's Tale

2011-11-20T23:50:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Ever wanted to see the first Thanksgiving? I bet you never thought it would involve kidnapping, monks, popcorn and magic horses, did you? Well you'll get all that and more in Squanto: A Warrior's Tale, Disney's attempt at telling a Thanksgiving story. Take a listen this week as the DFPP team takes on this twisted tale.

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Enjoy the show!

Sea Salts

2011-11-15T14:41:00.000-05:00

It’s unusual to see Donald Duck taking on a bit of a different role in Sea Salts. I guess it should not be a surprise to see him as a sailor in this short, considering that his every day dress is that of a sailor uniform. Still, we’ve seen a whole lot of Donald on dry land, and very little of him at sea. In Sea Salts, most of the short is spent at sea, with Donald and his bug companion.

In fact, the entire short focuses more on the bug who is Donald’s whipping boy than it does on the main duck himself. The way the bug is telling things, the two of them have a symbiotic relationship. I guess that’s true, but only if you see “symbiotic” as “Donald abuses the bug for his own selfish means, then take pity on him to keep him around.” That’s pretty much what happens throughout the short.

This poor bug is put through the wringer by Donald. His favorite trick is to give both of them straws to a drink, then squeeze off the bug’s access on the straw, ensuring that only he gets to drink. If that sounds awful, it is. Basically, Donald is denying his only friend access to nourishment. Yet this is treated as a comic and silly sort of thing. Even the final gag in the short is the old version of Donald and friend enacting this same gag.

The tone of this short is off because of that reason. That straw gag is repeated at least three times, but even past that, there’s the idea of the bug being used as bait for fish. Donald tricks him into jumping on a hook, then lowers him in front of fish that seem like piranhas jumping out of the water. It’s the kind of thing that just feels cruel.

That’s why I didn’t care for Sea Salts. It’s fun to see Donald be cruel, don’t get me wrong. Watching him mistreat his nephews is fun…but only when the payoff is Donald getting his just desserts in the end. In this case, he’s treated fairly, and the person he antagonizes throughout the short ends up his lifelong companion. There’s some kind of strange disconnect in this that I couldn’t quite get over. It’s amusing, but that kept me from enjoying it.

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 45 - The Pacifier

2011-11-13T23:40:00.001-05:00

This week the DFPP team decides to take the highway option and head over to the home of the Plummers to perform a special rendition of the Peter Panda Dance as an audition for a local performance of the Sound of Music in the 2005 comedy The Pacifier.

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Show notes:

IMDb
Wikipedia
Script
Soundtrack
Seen in the movie: MRE (Meal, Ready-to-Eat) and The Club
The Sound of Music (stage musical)
Official Disney Site

Enjoy the show!

Pluto's Surprise Package

2011-11-10T16:59:00.000-05:00

Pluto shorts are the toughest ones for me to watch, because I don’t connect to the character. How can I? He’s a dog, and I am not. But really it has more to do with the fact that Pluto is a difficult character to get right. So often we see him merely pitted against another animal, and that conflict is what drives the short. Such is the case with Pluto’s Surprise Package.

The opponent in this case is a turtle that appears in the mail. It’s never explained why someone was sending a turtle in the mail, which is the question I was wondering the entire time. Why is someone sending Mickey a turtle through the mail? Is it the same person who once sent a kangaroo that Donald had to deal with? I’m not sure what the deal is with sending livestock through the mail, but I’m pretty sure it’s not cool these days.

Regardless, we get to see Pluto face off with the turtle, which is about as exciting as you’d guess from reading that sentence. The turtle has a little string noise that plays every time it takes a step. That’s a neat little quirk as the short starts, but to be honest it became quite annoying throughout the short. It was not adding anything to the turtle’s personality or identity. Since the turtle and Pluto do not talk, this was the only way that we were able to get some sounds from the small creature.

I have not talked much about what happens in the short, because not much really does occur. Most of the short is about a little dance between the turtle and Pluto. It’s a group of small actions that don’t really add up to much. Pluto tries to pack the turtle up and take him with him, that doesn’t work. The turtle tries to run off, Pluto tries to catch him. The most excitement comes when there’s a chase over the side of a cliff, which ends with mail ending up in the water below.

I’m not sure that Pluto’s Surprise Package qualifies as a bad short, it’s just not that interesting. While Pluto and the turtle work out their differences in the end, there’s really not much of a difference to start with. I’d rather have seen some more conflict or something new from this short, so it fell quite flat.

Donald's Happy Birthday

2011-11-08T09:20:00.000-05:00

As I watched Donald’s Happy Birthday, I couldn’t help but get a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. It’s a short that for whatever reason recalls my childhood. I don’t recall watching it when I was younger, but everything about this cartoon felt familiar, like a comfy blanket. It’s the kind of feeling I really love to associate with Disney shorts, because they’re supposed to make you feel good.

I think part of that feeling comes from the simplicity and fun of this idea. It’s Donald’s birthday, but his nephews have no money to get him a present. The rest of the short is all about figuring out how to get around that, and get Donald his present without revealing what they’re up to. It’s an old style of story where there’s a twist that makes it a simple case of misunderstanding.

Not only that, there’s a bunch of fantastic comedy to this short that seemingly has been missing in some of the recent efforts. The wild energy of the nephews is part of the fun as they are running around frantically to complete their chores to get money from Donald. Then they’re trying to finish their shopping, but Donald keeps getting in the way. It’s a mad dash for both Donald and the boys, which makes it even more fun to watch.

This is a case of Donald doing what he does best as a character. He jumps to conclusions, makes rash decisions about what he should do for the boys, and ends up costing himself instead of making things better. Donald is a character designed for this sort of thing – getting in over his head and instead of trying to get out of it, just digging himself a deeper hole.

There’s so many great moments in this short that it’s hard to think of them all, even though it’s only several minutes long. Donald making the boys smoke all of the cigars they bought for him is one that comes to mind. Another is the fun way that the kids try to hide their money from Donald so he won’t see what they’re up to, but it doesn’t work. There’s just so much fun packed into this seven minutes that you have to watch it to enjoy.

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 44 - The Nightmare Before Christmas

2011-11-07T00:22:00.000-05:00

This is Halloween! This is Halloween! Oh...that was last week, wasn't it? Well, what better film to bridge the gap between Halloween and Christmas than Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas! The DFPP team gets into some freaky stop motion fun with this cult classic that's become a mainstream hit. Check out all the fun as Briana watches it for the first time and we discuss her reactions, all the quibbles of Henry Selick and so much more.

Listen, download, etc.

Show notes:

IMDb
Wikipedia
Disney's Nightmare Before Christmas site
Extended Soundtrack (differences) - lyrics
Tim Burton Collective's Nightmare page
Oingo Boingo (Wikipedia) - Tender Lumplings
A Visit from St. Nicholas
Edward Gorey - The Gashlycrumb Tinies
Star Wars Connection: Greg Proops

Enjoy the show!

Pueblo Pluto

2011-11-02T17:11:00.000-04:00

Oh Pluto. The shorts they put you in during these days of the late 1940s have gotten worse and worse it seems. Not to say that Pueblo Pluto is not entertaining, it’s just not on the level with some of Pluto’s better roles through the years. If this is how we’re kicking off 1949, I am a little concerned about the direction things are going.

This one starts off with Mickey and Pluto out in the desert, where they drive through what I assume is small outpost in New Mexico full of pottery, desert souvenirs and more, including a stack of dinosaur bones. It’s the last one that catches Pluto’s eye, and Mickey tosses him one before going inside. It’s fair to note that this Mickey is a little different from his last appearance in Mickey and the Seal. This is a little rougher, different Mickey. It’s not a big deal, since he’s barely on screen, but it is odd that his appearance would noticeably change in the span of a couple month’s worth of cartoons.

The main antagonist of this short is a small droopy eyed puppy that attempts to steal Pluto’s bone. This is a very common formula that’s been used with both Pluto and Donald. We just saw it with our favorite duck in Tea for Two Hundred, where he’s got food and someone attempts to steal it. Whether it’s another dog in Pluto’s case, or the nephews, Chip & Dale or ants in Donald’s case, this is a story road that Disney has trod very, very often.

Because of that, it takes something unique to make a short like this stand out. The attempt to do that here involves a circle of cactus, where the puppy runs after Pluto begins chasing him. The circle ends up being the barrier that Pluto has to overcome, first by getting into it, then by getting out of it. It’s kind of a crazy trap that the story team came up with, creating a thorny barrier for Pluto to reach his objective. While it’s interesting, it’s not all that funny.

The ending, though, is an interesting twist. While the puppy escapes, he feels bad for Pluto being stuck in the cactus circle, and ends up going back for him. Normally, we don’t see Pluto kiss and make up with his antagonist in these shorts. Sure, we’ve seen it a few times, but this is somewhat unique. It’s not enough, though, to keep Pueblo Pluto from being an average short at best.

Tea for Two Hundred

2011-11-01T14:40:00.000-04:00

The premise of Tea for Two Hundred sounds like a can’t miss hit – Donald Duck protects his picnic from some raiding ants. It’s simple, it allows for Donald to be himself and it presents opportunity for some great gags. So you can imagine my disappointment when watching this final short of 1948 when it didn’t quite live up to those expectations.

The biggest problem with the short is that it takes too long to get going. While the ants are introduced almost immediately, the funny parts of the short don’t begin until about 2/3 of the way into the proceedings. We have to take the time at the beginning to establish that Donald’s having a picnic, that the ants are invading and that the ants are persistent. I don’t know about you, but I think I could have gotten that rather quickly.

Instead, we spend time with Donald tormenting one small ant, piling more and more onto the back of this one ant and laughing as the ant attempts to carry all the extra weight. While this is true to Donald’s character, it’s really not necessary for the short. The good stuff starts when that ant returns to the colony and relays to his brethren all the great stuff that awaits them at Donald’s picnic.

This is where Tea for Two Hundred is really a great short. The ants grabbing the food and running around with it is comedy gold. My favorite bit is when the animators choose to have the food items personify the ants, and get into a football huddle ready to attack Donald. That’s just one gag, but they come fast and furious in this last 2 minutes of the short. When Donald overreacts, as he is wont to do, and blows up the ant hole with dynamite, it’s inevitable that it hurts him more than it does them.

1948 had been a great year for Disney to this point in terms of quality. The short that immediately proceeded this is Mickey and the Seal, one of the classics. So Dear To My Heart was a fantastic film, and the shorts early in the year were quite good. Tea for Two Hundred is still good, but compared to the bar set by those films, it doesn’t quite measure up. Still, if you enjoy seeing Donald get his comeuppance, you’ll like this one.

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 43 - The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad

2011-10-31T02:03:00.000-04:00

You know, you really can't reason with a headless man. This and many other things were discovered by the DFPP team as they watched the Disney animated classic The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. So get in the Halloween tradition and listen to this show as you get ready for All Hallow's Eve.

Listen, download, etc.

Show notes:

Enjoy the show!

Seal Island - Review

2011-10-27T15:42:00.000-04:00

As I said yesterday, discussing Seal Island is a bit of a minefield. You don’t want to be seen as hating on seals or nature films if you dislike it, and you get criticized by those who deride the “manufactured” nature of the film if you do. However, I want to do my best to evaluate this 30 minute feature as a film, just like any other that I’ve reviewed on the site.

And as a film, there are definitely some ups and downs to Seal Island. Start with the storytelling techniques. I think without the addition of Winston Hibler as the narrator or the deliberate decision by James Algar and crew to follow specific seals or craft a narrative around that, this would be a very bad movie. The story of these seals is not of particular interest to me, but they craft it in a way that is intriguing.

Let’s be honest, the real goings on of the seals migrating to this island every year for their mating ritual is not thrilling for audiences of today. It’s a slow moving story that doesn’t really give you much to hold on to while you watch. That’s not necessarily bad. I am a big classic film fan, and the older movies took way more time to let things breathe than modern film. In Seal Island, though, since there is no real conflict or narrative in the actual footage, the filmmakers manufacture one with narration and music.

Sometimes, that is over the top and obvious. The burlesque style music used when the female seals come to shore is slightly embarrassing. I was watching the film and cringed when that music came on, because it’s just so cliché and not at all in keeping with the theme of the rest of the film. Similarly, when the seal is in “danger” of falling between the rocks, it becomes very obvious that the seal would be fine if he fell, and that the seal that’s rescued is not the same one that was in danger.

Those are the things that kept me from really enjoying the film, even though I think it’s very interesting as a whole. There is no question that this is a beautiful piece of photography. The imagery and the vitality of what was captured by the Milottes shines through any hokey music or joking narration. Shots of the seals scattered across the beach or the waters undulating with swimming creatures are simply breathtaking. As a pleasure to look at, it’s hard to argue with Seal Island.

This is not to say that I think a straight visual approach with no storytelling would have worked for this film. I agree that some degree of craftsmanship and manipulation was necessary to create a compelling film. I went into this knowing that it was present, and expecting a high quality. What I felt happened instead was a presentation that was not on par with what Disney has produced in 1947-1948. Seal Island is an average work to me, not something all that special. It is significant for its place in Disney history, but as a film alone, it lacks the touch of magic that makes Disney films so interesting.

Seal Island - The Origins and Production

2011-10-26T16:00:00.000-04:00

Talking about the production and release of Walt Disney’s True Life Adventure films is sort of a minefield. No matter which direction you may choose to go, there will be danger ahead of you. Whether it’s film lovers, nature lovers or storytellers, everyone has their condemnations and praises of the series. In some cases, they’re the same thought, flipped on its head to suit the viewer’s argument.

The series started with a simple thought. During the production of Bambi, Walt saw the footage that photographers had gathered as reference materials for the animators. The raw beauty and power of these forest images struck him. After rattling the idea around in his brain for a while, Walt decided to venture into the field of nature films. He contracted Alfred and Elma Milotte to venture to the wilderness of Alaska to shoot some footage.

When the two returned from their voyage in 1948, they came with hours upon hours of film, and it was up to Disney to turn it into something. Walt and his team zeroed in on the footage that featured the Pribilof Islands, where large numbers of seals migrate each year. Deciding to term the film Seal Island, Walt directed his crew to apply the storytelling tools they had learned from animation to the production of this new kind of film.

This is where the problem lies for nature lovers. The film that is Seal Island is not a straight documentary, in that the pictures on screen are shown in exactly the manner they happened in the wild. Director James Algar used the talents of his musicians and narrator Winston Hibler to tell a story, much the same way that they would in animation. One seal is subbed for another, for example, to better fit into the narrative the filmmakers are crafting.

This, of course, flies in the face of what “nature films” are supposed to be. These films are supposed to capture the ongoing nature saga, and not alter it. However, Disney followed the idea that these films are supposed to be entertainment. So, they crafted a story to pull the viewer in, which rankles some. In my opinion, there’s a value to both approaches.

Disney’s approach was certainly vindicated on Seal Island when it was released to the public in 1948. RKO refused to distribute the film, since it was only 30 minutes long. Disney believed in it so much, however, that the studio booked the film in a theatre themselves, and it proceeded to win an Academy Award for Best Short Feature. From there, Seal Island went on to be a hit throughout 1949. Its success led to the future of the True Life Adventures series, a staple of the studio throughout the 1950s and early 1960s. But how was the film? Tune in tomorrow!

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 42 - Disney Halloween Movies

2011-10-24T06:00:00.000-04:00

Are you scared yet? Halloween is just around the corner, and the spooky movies are dominating the airwaves. Believe it or not Disney has made a bunch of Halloween films beyond The Nightmare Before Christmas and The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. Ever hear of Under Wraps? Or Hocus Pocus?

On this week's show, the DFPP team takes a different approach, and looks at the list of Disney Halloween films through the years and tries to point you to some that you may enjoy... and some you might not. Take a listen for some hints of films you might want to try this Halloween week.

Listen, download, etc.

Show notes:

Enjoy the show!

Tweetwatch - Monday, October 24 - 8:30p ET - Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

2011-10-21T14:10:00.001-04:00

Tweetwatching time again! Disney is releasing lots of movies this time of year, so now's our time to catch up with the summer blockbusters, including the BILLION dollar movie Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Join Jack Sparrow as he busts loose from the chains of Will & Elizabeth to go full bore looney. The Bluray and DVD is out, so pick it up and let's watch together. Here's how you join the fun:

1. Follow me and Disney Film Project on Twitter

2. Get a copy of the movie. The Bluray and DVD is available everywhere, so you shouldn't have any problem finding this one. Disney Movie Rewards has a $5 off coupon for a little while longer.

3. Subscribe to our Friendfeed room. It's been a little wonky the last few weeks, so try to sign up early and make sure you can get in.

4. On Monday night, October 24 shortly before 8:30p, jump in to the Friendfeed room and get your Bluray, DVD or digital copy cued up.

6. At the right time, I'll tweet or post that we should start the movie, and I'll update the feeds with relevant facts about the production

It's that simple! I'm a huge Pirates fan, as you all know, so join me for the latest in the franchise. And stay tuned for MORE Tweetwatches coming up as we get ready for Disney's big Thanksgiving release of The Muppets and the holiday season.

See you Monday!

Mickey and the Seal

2011-10-19T17:02:00.000-04:00

There are classic Mickey Mouse shorts that everyone has probably seen. The Band Concert and Steamboat Willie are good examples. Right behind those, though, has to be Mickey and the Seal. From the days growing up with Disney Channel to the redone version that airs on the channel today, this is a short that I have literally grown up watching.

Why does this short endure? There could be several reasons, but for me it boils down to three simple ones: Mickey, Pluto and the seal. All three are superbly designed characters that have great appeal. The designs of Mickey and Pluto are slightly different here than they’ve been in the past, but still carry forward the rounded, soft edge appeal that makes them popular. The seal follows that design aesthetic and makes for a great character.

All three characters are spectacular in this short, and fall into the natural roles you would expect if you were given the basic story. Mickey goes to the zoo, a seal follows him home and Pluto tries to warn his master about the seal interloper. It’s simple, sure, but very effective. This isn’t a short that tries to surprise you, it’s trying to delight you. That’s a perfectly acceptable way to approach things provided you can get the delightful part correct.

It works in Mickey and the Seal because the characters fit so well. Mickey at the zoo and when he discovers the seal in his house reacts the way he is supposed to – with a laugh and charm. He is obviously having fun with it, enjoying life and overcoming complications with a smile. Pluto, meanwhile, is completely put out by the newcomer in his house. He attacks the situation with loud barks and frantic gestures. That’s what Pluto is supposed to do.

The seal comes off perfectly as well. He’s a simple creature, looking to find a fun, safe spot to play around in the water. The ending extends that same ethos to the other seals, which is a nice touch. It’s the consistent characters and superb animation that makes Mickey and the Seal a classic, and I’m sure you’ll all agree it’s one of the best Mickey shorts ever.

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 41 - The Lion King

2011-10-17T00:42:00.000-04:00

As Rafiki said, "The king has returned." The Lion King is all the rage these days, with the 3D theatrical release raking in the cash at the box office and the 3D Bluray and DVD release selling out in stores. On this episode, the DFPP team takes a look back to the wild and woolly days of 1994, when The Lion King was the king of the box office the first time around. Featuring TouringPlans.com blogger Kristen Helmstetter.

Listen, download, etc.

Show notes:

IMDb
Wikipedia
Official Web Site
Unofficial Lion King web archive
One view of the Kimba the White Lion controversy
Timon and Pumbaa
Re-released and again #1 at the Box Office
Hell's Gate National Park, Kenya (scenic inspirations)
Kristen Helmstetter from TouringPlans.com

Enjoy the show!

So Dear To My Heart - Review

2011-10-14T14:25:00.000-04:00

So Dear To My Heart is likely to be a polarizing film. After watching it for the first time, I fell in love with this charming story. However, if you are one of those Disney fans/critics who does not enjoy the soft, charming and sentimental stories that Disney told in its earlier days, you will hate this movie. It is all about pulling on the heartstrings.

When that sort of thing is done well, it works greatly. For me, So Dear To My Heart worked beautifully, because it allowed me to relate to each and every character in the film. The film tells the story of Jeremiah Kincaid, a young boy living with his grandmother in the town of Fulton Corners. After a sheep in their barn gives birth to a black lamb, Jeremiah decides to raise the black lamb as a pet, to the chagrin of his Granny and most of the rest of the town.

Interspersed with this little story of Jeremiah and his lamb are animated sequences that tell moral stories about history. We get the story of Christopher Columbus, for example, as a tale to remind us to be persistent. To be honest, the animated sequences are the worst part of the movie, because they don’t quite fit in with the rest of what’s going on around them. They’re well done, but seem shoehorned into an otherwise charming live action film.

Bobby Driscoll as Jeremiah plays essentially the same kind of role he did in Song of the South, that of a young boy looking to share his heart with someone (in this case some thing) that society says he should not. Luana Patten also reprises the same kind of role, that of a supportive friend. While both are fine, the stars of this film are Burl Ives as Uncle Hiram and Beulah Bondi as Granny.

The chemistry between these two is incredible, as can be seen in the cabin scene that is the core of the film. Uncle Hiram is playing an acoustic guitar and singing to entertain Granny, with the idea to convince her to let Jeremiah take his lamb, Danny, to the County Fair. The back and forth of their jabs, songs and smiles is one of the most entertaining sequences of Disney film I have ever seen.

There is no doubt that this is a sentimental film. If you can imagine a trick that the filmmakers would use to tug at your heartstrings, they probably do. However, it works. It doesn’t feel like a trick, because the story is so charming and doesn’t pretend to be anything other than a simple morality tale.

So Dear To My Heart is not high art. It’s not Oscar bait. But it does typify everything you want from a Disney film, and more specifically a Walt Disney film. The film obviously draws from Walt’s background in Marceline, as so many of his films did. It makes no bones about being fun, safe family entertainment with a lesson to impart, and that makes it feel authentic. I loved it, and can’t recommend it highly enough for fans of Walt and the old heartwarming formula of Disney films.

So Dear To My Heart - The Production

2011-10-12T11:06:00.000-04:00

For a film that is so important to the Disney tradition, So Dear To My Heart is largely forgotten today by Disney fans. This movie was a part of a new move into live action by Disney, and closely reflects Walt’s childhood in Marceline, Missouri. It’s reach beyond the film itself was a huge piece of what created Disneyland, and its influence extends even farther than that. Yet despite all that, I wager that most of you have never seen it.

Based on a 1943 book by author Sterling North titled Midnight and Jeremiah, So Dear To My Heart combines animation and live action to tell the story of a young boy who adopts a black lamb and dreams of competing in the county fair. If it sounds slight, it is, but it also is right in line with the types of films Disney was creating at the time.

Originally, the film was conceived as Disney’s first entirely live action film, and the scripts produced in 1945 and 1946 when work began demonstrate that. There were no animated sequences in those early scripts, but as time progressed, animated sequences began to be inserted. There are debates over whether it was for story reasons or not, but truthfully, Disney’s distribution contract with RKO did not allow for films without animation. So, some animated sequences had to be in the film to ensure its distribution.

Walt recruited Harold Schuster from 20^th Century Fox to direct the live action sequences, because of his work on My Friend Flicka. Walt’s daughters loved that film, and it convinced him to get Schuster on board for this one. The film was shot in Northern California at various farms and ranches around the San Joaquin Valley. Filming completed in 1947 after some additional shooting took place to finish off the last pieces of the film.

Since Disney did not have a great deal of stages to build sets on, many of the sets were built on location, including the train depot. The depot would end up later on the property of Ward Kimball, the animator who owned a backyard railroad. Walt gave him the finished building because it was Kimball who had designed it, based on a railroad station he saw in upstate New York. As Disneyland was being constructed, however, Walt wanted the depot back for Frontierland. Instead of giving it up, though, Kimball instead helped Walt reconstruct it from the same blueprints.

To promote the film, Walt built a miniature replica of Granny’s cabin from the film. It was the beginning of his Disneylandia project, where he planned to create a series of miniatures to tour the country. Eventually, this seed of an idea became bigger than miniatures…it became Disneyland.

All of these great things come from a movie that Disney has not released widely on DVD. Unless you were a member of the Disney Movie Club, you could not get this film on DVD. It’s one that Disney has put to the side for quite some time, but we’ll take a deeper look at it in the days to come.

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 40 - The Incredibles

2011-10-10T00:29:00.000-04:00

This week, we celebrate Todd's birthday with one of his favorite films and one of his favorite people! AJ from the Disney Food Blog joins the crew as we break down the Pixar superhero film, The Incredibles. Thrill to the heights of our derring-do as we take you through the heroic twists and turns of the life of a super heroic family.

Listen, download, etc.

Show notes:

IMDb
Wikipedia
Official Disney Site
Pixar wiki on The Incredibles
List of all the Incredibles characters (movies, comics, etc.)
Iron Giant - Brad Bird's first film
Mr. Incredible and Pals
Jack-Jack Attack
Edith Head, Anna Wintour, and Linda Hunt all said to be inspirations for Edna Mode
John Ratzenberger
John Donne - "No man is an Island..."
AJ Wolfe of the Disney Food Blog

Enjoy the show!

Tweetwatch - Monday, October 10 - 8:30p ET - The Lion King

2011-10-05T12:01:00.000-04:00

I'm off to Walt Disney World later today, but wanted to announce the latest Tweetwatch! It's time to join the Circle of Life. It's your destiny. Disney's newest 3D Bluray deluxe DVD of doom is out, and it's the 1994 classic The Lion King. It's time for all of us to grab the new edition and get our Tweetwatching on. Here's how you join the fun:

1. Follow me and Disney Film Project on Twitter

2. Get a copy of The Lion King. The Bluray and DVD is available everywhere, so you shouldn't have any problem finding this one.

3. Subscribe to our Friendfeed room. It's been a little wonky the last few weeks, so try to sign up early and make sure you can get in.

4. On Monday night, October 10 shortly before 8:30p, jump in to the Friendfeed room and get your DVD or digital copy cued up.

6. At the right time, I'll tweet or post that we should start the movie, and I'll update the feeds with relevant facts about the production

It's that simple! This is a fun flick, so come on in and join us for the excitement.

See you Monday!

Three For Breakfast

2011-10-04T10:48:00.000-04:00

I’ve been very surprised at the rebound in quality of the Disney shorts during the latter half of 1948. I have been vocal about the dip that occurred with the 1947 shorts and the early 1948 shorts. With Three for Breakfast the good vibes continue, as we get an absolute classic featuring Chip and Dale at odds with Donald Duck. That is a recipe for greatness.

It’s a different Chip and Dale that we see in this short, as they are now in their final form. Recall that in previous shorts, the two were very similar to each other, without the distinguishing characteristics that you would recognize today. Here, though, we see Dale with his larger nose, colored red, and his sunken eyes. Chip, meanwhile, looks much the same, with alert eyes and little brown/black nose.

Donald, meanwhile, is less the focus of the short than the chipmunks. He is making pancakes which the two interlopers conspire to steal. Seeing Donald making pancakes just gave me a happy feeling. I can’t really explain why, but seeing that was something that appealed to the child in me. Could be my craving for pancakes, could be my affection for Donald, but that image just seemed right to me.

It’s Chip and Dale’s antics that steal the show in this one, however. They rig up an elaborate mechanism to steal the pancakes, firing a fork at the stack of pancakes then reeling them in one after the other. It takes Donald a little while to catch on, but when he does, the gags are fabulous. There’s lots of give and take between he and the chipmunks, which is exactly what you want in this kind of short.

The ultimate ending could be considered offensive, as both Donald and Dale don a Chinese hat and do a little stereotypical dance to some synthesized music. It’s not anything out of the ordinary for the time, but today seems a little out of place. It still doesn’t diminish the value of the short, though, as Three for Breakfast is one of the best examples of Donald Duck meeting Chip and Dale ever made.

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 39 - Dumbo

2011-10-03T00:08:00.003-04:00

You will believe an elephant can fly when you listen to Episode 39 of the Disney Film Project Podcast! This week, the team is joined by Scarlett from TouringPlans.com to review Dumbo! Grab your magic feathers and clown costumes for all the fun.

This continues TouringPlans.com month on the show, as a salute to our all new sponsor. TouringPlans.com is your home to the Crowd Calendar, Touring Plans and Lines - all the best tools to help you save money and time while you're in Walt Disney World.

Listen, download, etc.

Show notes:

Wikipedia
IMDb
Script
Soundtrack
Info on the 1941 Disney animator's strike (more)
All about a musical Calliope
Some info about Seeing Pink Elephants and Pink Elephants on Parade
Learn about Scat Singing
How to Fly by Douglass Adams
Michael Barrier on The Mysterious Dumbo Roll-A-Book
Video of the Disneyland Magical Fireworks
About Jumbo the elephant

Enjoy the show!

Soup's On

2011-09-29T17:46:00.000-04:00

Soup’s On seemed awfully familiar to me when I watched it this time around. The ending especially gave me an odd sense of déjà vu, but when I looked back, I couldn’t find another Donald short like it. Perhaps it stems from the fact that the short is a reliable version of the Donald and his nephews trope, and doesn’t stray too far afield. Nonetheless, it’s enjoyable.

I’ve noticed that there are several people who don’t enjoy the Donald’s nephews shorts, but I’m not one of them. I think they’re wildly entertaining and enjoy seeing the boys work Donald up to the point of distraction. In this case, it’s because they are doing what boys typically do, which is to ignore cleanliness when there’s food involved. The boys refuse to wash their hands, so Donald refuses to let them eat.

If you’ve been through this sort of thing in your house with your kids, you probably get this short a little more than most. I laughed hysterically at the ends the boys will go to in order to avoid the simple act of hand washing. The humor lies on both the surface level of the gags that they pull on Donald but also below in that they could claim their prize of a turkey dinner with a quick run of their hands in the water.

The climactic gag comes when the boys have Donald chase them through the countryside, to the point where a rock falls on his head and knocks him unconscious. The boys, sensing opportunity, make Donald believe that he’s died and turned into an angel. It’s a very funny scene that morphs into a surreal one. Donald is up on the hay bale the boys have turned into a cloud, and for what seems like an eternity is playing the harp. Why it takes so long, I have no idea.

Once it’s resolved, however, and Donald is down from his perch, we get some vintage Donald Duck anger. He’s always at his best when angry, and here Donald transforms into a raging devil to chase the boys off screen. That salvaged the short from the debacle of the harp solo and made Soup’s On a very funny short.

Pluto's Fledgling

2011-09-28T16:48:00.000-04:00

Pluto is problematic to me. I don’t necessarily enjoy his shorts as much as the others, but I do enjoy the artistry behind them. After all, a Pluto short done well features superb animation, since his emotions have to be expressed through motion and not his voice. But when that fails, it makes for some bad stuff. Where then, do I fall on Pluto’s Fledgling? Is it one or the other? Frankly…it’s a little of both.

The animation of Pluto and the young bird who falls from the nest is good most of the time. Their interactions are pretty exciting and fun, and they make for some good comedy. The storytelling in this short is strong because the actions flow naturally one to the next, without a lot of exposition needed. The set up is minimal, the action is easily understood and it is funny as well.

After the fledgling falls out of the nest, Pluto takes care of it, trying to get the young bird back up into the nest and out of his life. It doesn’t exactly work that way, however, since the bird falls out yet again, and Pluto realizes that he needs to get the bird to learn to fly in order to keep him from falling. To accomplish all of that without words is an achievement, and the interaction of the bird walking on Pluto’s nose and so on is quite fun to see.

The next part of the short, however, where Pluto attempts to teach the youngster about flying, is not quite as enjoyable. The gags work, no doubt, but the “human” touch isn’t quite there. Pluto tries getting the bird to drag along behind him like a kite on his tail and then decides to slingshot the bird into the air. Neither works out very well, but they’re amusing enough.

It seems somewhat different in tone, however, from the beginning of the short. Pluto shows a motherly and concerned nature in the beginning, and switches over to a little more annoyance while going through these actions. Then, at the end, when the little guy has learned to fly, he switches back. It’s that inconsistency that kept me from loving this short, but I still recommend it as a fun little Pluto gag reel.

Inferior Decorator

2011-09-27T14:51:00.000-04:00

The year of 1948 continues to surprise me, as the quality of Disney shorts had begun to slip until this point. 1947’s entries were not that great, and I wondered out loud if the Disney animators were more distracted with the feature film pursuits. Now, though, I see shorts like Inferior Decorator and wonder why things went South in the previous year.

This short is incredibly imaginative and fun, but it is still simple enough to be easy to follow. In it, Donald contends with a less than brilliant bee, who makes the mistake of trying to pollenate a flower on the wallpaper in Donald’s house. The bee starts off the short as a source of amusement for both Donald and the viewer, but as always, things change.

One aspect of this short that is often overlooked in others is the music. Outside of the Silly Symphonies, music isn’t always a big part of the shorts. Here, though, the music sets the mood, tells the story in certain places and drives the narrative forward. The bouncy attitude of the bee is matched by a bouncy attitude. When the bee gets stuck in some glue, the music hums and buzzes with him as he tries to escape. It’s really well done, and makes the short that much more enjoyable.

As mentioned before, though, the tone shifts midway through the short. Donald spends the first half tormenting the bee, trying to get him to embarrass himself further. As things progress, though, Donald ends up getting himself stuck in the wallpaper on the ceiling, leaving himself open to attacks from the bee. The bee ends up in a spot of trouble himself, dealing with a cork on his tail, but eventually manages to free himself to attack Donald. It’s a fun back and forth that makes for a slight racheting up of the tension.

The ending is one of the better comeuppance gags I’ve seen from a Donald Duck short. I won’t spoil it too much, but suffice to say the bee gets his revenge with a little help from his friends. It’s that kind of role reversal and comedy that makes Inferior Decorator so fun. The entire thing made me smile from start to finish, and even giggle out loud for a while. This is one you absolutely must check out.

Tweetwatch - Monday, September 26 - 8:30p ET - THOR

2011-09-26T13:36:00.000-04:00

By Odin's beard! The Marvel Studios huge release of THOR has struck Midgard, and 'tis time to join in a Tweetwatch of the newest of the Disney host of characters. Gather your mead and mace, join your kin at home and hearth and make hearty noise as we enjoy this great fun film. Here's how you join the fun:

1. Follow me and Disney Film Project on Twitter

2. Get a copy of THOR. The Bluray and DVD is available everywhere, so you shouldn't have any problem finding this one.

3. Subscribe to our Friendfeed room. It's been a little wonky the last few weeks, so try to sign up early and make sure you can get in.

4. On Monday night shortly before 8:30p, jump in to the Friendfeed room and get your DVD or digital copy cued up.

6. At the right time, I'll tweet or post that we should start the movie, and I'll update the feeds with relevant facts about the production

It's that simple! This is a fun flick, so come on in and join us for the excitement.

See you tonight!

It's that simple! Great time will be had by all. Can't wait to see you there!

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 38 - Newsies

2011-09-26T08:00:00.000-04:00

We're carrying the banner this week on the DFPP, as the crew is joined by our first of many guests from TouringPlans.com, Henry Work, as we discuss Newsies. The cult classic by Disney has many admirers and detractors, but we go through it in depth with Henry as we kick off TouringPlans Month.

We love TouringPlans.com, not only because Todd and Ryan both blog there, but because they are the official sponsor of our show! Check out TouringPlans.com for all the tools you need to save time and money at Walt Disney World or Disneyland. No matter if it's the Crowd Calendar, the Touring Plans or the Lines mobile app, TouringPlans.com has you covered.

Listen, download, etc.

Show notes:

IMDb
Wikipedia
Soundtrack
The bloopers Cheryl mentions
The real story of the strike
More about the strike
Bale's reaction to Newsies several years later
Newsies the musical
Irving Palace Theatre
New York World - Joseph Pulitzer's newspaper
Some info about Houses of Refuge
Moviola - the film editing equipment Todd mentions
Henry on Twitter
Betamouse

Enjoy the show!

Cat Nap Pluto

2011-09-22T09:48:00.000-04:00

Cat Nap Pluto is not a short that you should watch while you’re sleepy or even somewhat tired. It could easily get frustrating and irritate you more than you can possibly imagine. Pluto is interested in taking a nap, yet he gets denied by Figaro. If you have kids and have ever tried to take a nap, you can probably relate.

The first part of the short, however, seems rather aimless. It takes about a minute and a half for Pluto to even show up. Instead we get time that seems to be “Figaro’s cute antics” for no discernible reason. There’s nothing wrong with Figaro or his antics, but it just doesn’t seem necessary. He wakes up, bounds around the house and tries to wake up Pluto, who is not there. That should be a short intro, but it takes quite a while.

Pluto shows up dragging in from what seems to be a very rowdy night out. After all, we know that the milk man just showed up, and that happens in the morning. Pluto is red eyed and sleepy. It makes you wonder what the main dog was up to the night before, eh? He comes in and collapses in bed, bringing in the great running gag of the short, which is the Sandman version of Pluto showing up to throw sleep into his eyes.

This gag gets repeated in a variety of places, as Figaro keeps trying to keep Pluto awake. My personal favorite, and the only laugh out loud moment of the short, was when Pluto stuck his head underneath the couch to get away and the Sandman follows, lugging his sack behind him. It’s really funny for reasons I might not even be able to explain. I just know I loved it.

The main issue I have with this sort is that I cannot figure out why Figaro is trying to keep Pluto awake. It does not seem like a good idea for the little cat to antagonize the larger dog. If I were Figaro, I’d leave well enough alone. That doesn’t happen, however, and Figaro ends up getting knocked out by his own version of the Sandman. The problem is, there’s no reason for any of this to happen in the first place. It’s a short that has some funny gags, but the story needed a little more meat on the bones to make it truly entertaining.

The Trial of Donald Duck

2011-09-21T09:35:00.000-04:00

When you see a short titled The Trial of Donald Duck in the queue to review, you get excited. I’m going to state that as an immutable fact, because I was very intrigued about what this one would be about. After all, it’s not like Donald is one of those characters who would sit idly by and take being cross examined, right? And whatever he did has to be pretty funny?

Watching the short did not let me down. Donald gets in trouble not for some heinous act that he is framed for, but for his every day temper in a new environment – a fancy restaurant. It’s a perfect scenario for Donald, because his aggravated state plays perfectly well against the calm, accommodating demeanor of a restaurant waiter. It’s a study in contrast that makes the whole thing that much funnier.

It’s also a bit of social commentary, because the restaurant bears the brunt of the satire. Donald comes in simply wanting a cup of coffee, and gets served a miniscule drop of coffee that would barely wet his whistle, and the charge for that is obscenely high. On top of that, the unsophisticated Donald pulls out his lunch box and starts chowing down. The waiter then turns on him, writing out a bill for all the items in the lunch box.

This turn in the short, where the waiter turns from a harmless irritant to a cold-hearted and literally stone faced antagonist, is key to the entire short. It makes Donald sympathetic while still allowing him to maintain his temper and short fuse. That’s a brilliant turn that makes this short unique. It’s not something we have seen done well before, but here it works.

Donald even manages to get his revenge after he was sentenced. Despite being forced to wash dishes, Donald instead rushes through his chores, breaking as many dishes as he cleans. The tables get turned on the waiter, which gives this a satisfying ending as well as some great humor. The storytelling in this short is compact, brilliant and a great example of how to use Donald Duck well.

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 37 - The Fox and the Hound

2011-09-19T00:34:00.000-04:00

The DFPP crew are the best of friends, so we took to examining the Fox and the Hound, the recent Bluray/DVD re-release from Disney. Join us as we take a look at Tod, Copper, Chief and Vixey and their adventures through the woods. It's an interesting look at society and more, with lots of implications for Disney.

Listen, download, etc.

Show notes:

Enjoy the show!!!

Pluto's Purchase

2011-09-15T16:01:00.000-04:00

Off the high of Melody Time, we come to the next short released in 1948, which is Pluto’s Purchase, a fairly standard bit of business that is entertaining if not outstanding. Pluto is engaged by Mickey to run an errand, which is an interesting use of the main dog. I wish I could get my kids to get to be as dogged in their pursuits as Pluto is in this short.

Pluto is given money and sent to the butcher shop for a huge link sausage. The fun begins when Butch the bulldog sees what Pluto is up to and decides to intervene. Butch has clashed with Pluto before, but this time rather than Pluto initiating the fight, it’s more Butch trying to subvert Pluto’s goals than the other way around. It’s a nice change to the normal formula that has the added bonus of providing set up for a great ending joke.

The premise is fine, but the execution leaves a bit to be desired. There are not really any standout gags or sequences in this short. Nothing really measures up to the stuff we saw in the earlier shorts of 1948. It’s not that they are bad by any means, just ordinary. We see Butch try to trip Pluto, retaliation, a stolen sausage and a chase scene through the streets. It’s enjoyable to watch, but it’s nothing we haven’t seen before.

It’s the chase scene that is the part that really disappoints. As I said, Butch is the one who starts the trouble this time, not Pluto. But when Pluto sees that Butch is involved, he runs like crazy, just like he does in every other short these two are involved in. While it makes sense because Butch is larger than Pluto, it doesn’t fit with the ethos of the short.

Where Pluto’s Purchase redeems itself is the fun twist ending. I won’t spoil it, but there’s a neat reveal of why Mickey is trying to get the sausage that turns the whole short on its head. That original bit of business makes the other parts worthwhile. So it ends up that Pluto’s Purchase isn’t the best Pluto short ever, but it’s still a fun and quick moving work.

Melody Time

2011-09-14T14:16:00.000-04:00

Melody Time is a mixture of several kinds of short subjects, as we discussed yesterday. They basically break down into two types, though. On the one hand, there are shorts that tell a story and have a narrative flow and those that are designed to interpret the music and rely on imagery and visuals. The film opens with a more story based short, Once Upon a Wintertime.

As the opening song makes clear, this film will touch on romance a bit. That bit is Once Upon a Wintertime, as the opening shots make clear that this will be a short about the courtship of two young lovers as they are ice skating. This short is a throwback to the Silly Symphonies, as the characters don’t speak, and the tale is told through the music and the motions. The looser body style of the characters and the ability to bend, squash and stretch them plays very well. It allows the characters to express emotion with their movements as well as their faces, and that serves the short well.

Completely shifting gears in the second short, Bumble Boogie, Disney revisited a piece that was originally intended for Fantasia. The Flight of the Bumblebee gets updated from its classical roots and reworked as a jazz piece. This short is much more in the Fantasia mode, as the bumblebee that serves as the main character is attempting to escape the surrealist impressions of the music. It’s a fun concept and executed quite well, which I really loved.

The Legend of Johnny Appleseed follows, and it’s a complete 180 from the previous two shorts. While it’s still set to music, this piece is a story, told with a narrator and musical background. Dennis Day narrates and does the voices, except an angel voiced by Dallas McKennon of Big Thunder Mountain fame. It’s a quintessential American tale, and the animation doesn’t work too hard to be flashy or showy, but instead focuses on storytelling and emotion. That’s the right choice, because this is probably the most sincere and beautiful piece in the film.

By coming directly after Johnny Appleseed, Little Toot is ill served, in my opinion. The story of a small tugboat that overcomes the odds, very similar to The Little Engine That Could, is a much simpler story. It pales in comparison to the emotional resonance of Johnny Appleseed, but it’s not to meant to serve that purpose. This is a fable that imparts a lesson, and does so well. If it had come second, after Once Upon a Wintertime, it might have flowed better in the film and gotten more recognition.

Trees is the next piece, a recitation of the Alfred Joyce Kilmer poem set to music, with interpretations on screen. It just doesn’t click for me. While the poem and the imagery are beautiful, there’s nothing to latch onto and draw the viewer into the animation. It’s pretty to look at, but has very little to offer beyond that.

The next piece redeems the film, though, as Blame It On the Samba is inspired. Donald Duck and Jose Carioca are inspired by the aracuan bird to get out of their funk and begin dancing. It’s a simple premise, but the manic energy of the aracuan, the character involvement of Donald and Jose and the fun, frantic scene transitions make this a fast paced and enjoyable short. It makes things happy and exciting after the slow moment of Trees. This is the last vestige of the South American Goodwill Tour shorts, and it does a great job of infusing the culture but making it accessible.

The final piece of this film is Pecos Bill, a short that has served the Disney company extremely well through the years. Telling the tall tale legends of Pecos Bill, the short takes up a significant portion of the film, and it resonates not as an artistic statement or a masterpiece of animation, but an amazing tale that is very well told. It’s not the emotional or heartwarming example of Johnny Appleseed, but an exaggerated and over the top tale of amazing deeds. Pecos himself is charming and fun, his actions make the viewer laugh and smile, and his ultimate fate is sad, yet fitting. It establishes Bill as a character, and though the ending makes sure Disney could not revisit him, using him in the theme parks and other areas made a ton of sense.

As a film, Melody Time holds up extremely well. With the exception of Trees, every piece is vibrant, exciting and evokes the proper emotions. Johnny Appleseed and Pecos Bill are distinctly Disney tales that have been reused over and again. The other pieces, like Blame It On the Samba or Bumble Boogie, are in the mold of earlier films, but still manage to break free and create something new. It’s a great overall film that all Disney fans can still enjoy today.

Background of Melody Time - The Package Features

2011-09-13T16:47:00.000-04:00

As 1948 wears on, we come to the Disney animated release of that year, Melody Time. It was the 10^th animated feature film from the Disney Studio, and reflects a trend that had been building for quite some time It was the package features taken to a new extreme. This was the 6^th package feature released by Disney, and it would be 1950 before Disney released another full length feature story.

The package features began with Fantasia in 1940, which was not created for the same reasons as the others. Fantasia was meant to be an exploration of music and the visual representations of the stories that music inspired or told. It was a bold experiment in vision from Disney, although it did not inspire movie goers of the time.

However, the package films that followed were not the same thing. Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros were Disney’s attempt to take the cultural information that they had gotten from their South American tour and transforming that from a shorts program into features. It was a way for the studio to make feature films during World War II that they otherwise would not have been able to release.

It’s worth remembering how devastating World War II and the animator’s strike of 1941 were on the studio. The closure of foreign markets killed their box office overseas, and the strike dramatically cut production. It took years for them to recover, and the profits stashed overseas led the studio to invest in live action films that were somewhat cheaper to produce, such as So Dear To My Heart, which will come later in 1948.

So the features that came after the South American films were one of two things – either a combination of stories that could not support a feature film (Fun and Fancy Free & The Adventures of Ichabod & Mr Toad) or an attempt to graft popular music of the day onto the formula of Fantasia, which is where Melody Time comes in, following in the shoes of Make Mine Music.

Melody Time is a collection of disparate shorts, pulled together almost from the scrap heap of Disney’s development of the time. You have a discarded short from the South American features (Blame It on the Samba), a longer piece that at one point was considered for a feature (Pecos Bill), a collection of pieces that tell a story (The Legend of Johnny Appleseed, Little Toot) and more music based pieces (Once Upon a Wintertime, Trees & Bumble Boogie). If it sounds strange, it is. Tomorrow we’ll take a look at the film and how it works.

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 36 - Pete's Dragon

2011-09-12T00:03:00.000-04:00

Come with us to Passamaquoddy as the DFPP crew journeys to the small town where flim flam men steal people's money, sailors return from the dead and invisible dragons warm your heart. It's Pete's Dragon, the heartwarming Disney tale with Mickey Rooney, Helen Reddy and Elliot, the world's best Main Street Electrical Parade float.

Listen, download, etc.

Show notes:

IMDb
Wikipedia
Rent it on Amazon Instant Video for $1.99
Soundtrack and Lyrics
Picture of Elliot float in MSEP from Allears
Passamaquoddy film references
Most popular films of 1977
John Cawley discusses Don Bluth and Pete's Dragon
Helen Reddy on Wikipedia
Hurricane Belle and Cape Hatteras
Pushing Daisies episode The Legend of Merle McQuoddy

Enjoy the Show!!!

Great Mouse Detective Tweetwatch - Monday, September 12 - 8:30p ET

2011-09-09T16:17:00.001-04:00

Who's ready to get mousey? That's right, Monday night's Tweetwatch is the Disney film that sort of started the second Golden Age - The Great Mouse Detective. Prepare for mystery and excitement as only Musker & Clements can deliver. There's a change to the Tweetwatch format, though, because Friendfeed has been glitchy lately, so we're switching to a brand new Facebook group!

Here's the details on how to join in.

1. Follow me and Disney Film Project on Twitter, then go join our Tweetwatch - Disney Film Project Facebook group.

2. Get a copy of The Great Mouse Detective. The DVD is anywhere from $10-15 at Target, Walmart, etc. iTunes has a digital copy to buy for $9.99. The best option, though, is that Disney Movies Online offers it for rental for only $2.99. Go get it there!

5. On the appointed night, jump in to the Tweetwatch Facebook group and get your DVD or digital copy cued up. If you don't use Facebook, use #GMDetective to tweet about the movie, and I'll throw in tweets as well. If you follow that hashtag, you'll be able to play along. In Facebook, you'll just click on "Join Group Chat" to join in.

6. At the right time, I'll tweet or post that we should start the movie, and I'll update the feeds with relevant facts about the production

It's that simple! This is a fun flick, so come on in and join us for the excitement.

See you Monday night!

Donald's Dream Voice

2011-09-09T16:05:00.000-04:00

Donald’s struggles with his voice are well documented in the canon of the Disney films. He’s switched himself with a double because of it. He got hit on the head and changed his voice, leading to great fame. And now, in Donald’s Dream Voice, he finds a pill that solves the problem. It’s a new solution to an old problem, and it leads to a gag filled short that continues an improvement in the Donald cartoons of this timeframe.

First of all, I got a kick out of seeing Donald strolling the streets as a brush salesman. If you’ve ever heard stories of the Fuller Brush man who went door to door selling brushes, that’s what Donald is doing here. It’s an amusing role for someone with the temperament that Donald has, and destined to fail. That makes for good comedy.

It’s not just that turn that makes things funny, though. There are subtle things that improve the gags in this short. Take, for example, the home owner with the thick New York accent who says he can’t understand Donald. That’s some funny stuff. It all leads to Donald’s depression with Daisy that he can’t sell anything, and his desperation to try something new. That’s when he sees the voice pills on the street.

Buying and taking the voice pills leads not only to a better, clearer voice for Donald, it also leads to a massive increase in his brush sales. Women start taking him seriously, even throwing money at him. It increases Donald’s confidence and makes him eager to ask Daisy to marry him. So, of course, it has to go horribly wrong. His pills get away from him and spill into the street, leaving him only one.

Donald’s pursuit of the final pill is a hilarious bit of business, as he chases the pill through the streets and onto the hat of a particularly large gentleman. When the pill finally ends up in the mouth of a cow, who then chides Donald for his voice, things have come full circle. This short ties all of that together extremely well. It’s a well crafted piece of work that shows attention to comedic timing, detail and the types of things Disney is known for. Sadly, that is not the norm during this period of shorts, which makes this one stand out so much more.

Bone Bandit

2011-09-07T15:39:00.000-04:00

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Pluto gets into it with another animal over some kind of food. By this point all of you should have stopped me, because we’ve seen this formula quite a bit. Bone Bandit is merely the latest example of the Pluto clashing with small critters formula, with a gopher taking the antagonist role this time around.

Pluto awakens from a nap with a hankering for a bone, and in a nice little visual gag, he dreams up the “treasure map” that tells him where he has buried his supply of bones. That was a cool gag that gets around one of Pluto’s weaknesses – his inability to talk. Finding creative ways to make him interesting despite that handicap is the top challenge for Pluto’s animators. The map gag works well to accomplish that.

Sadly, when he finds the bone, a gopher has beaten him to it. The gopher is more interested in somehow swallowing the flowers above into the ground, but in the process disturbs Pluto’s bone. After getting into a bit of a kerfuffle with Pluto, the gopher’s focus switches from stealing the flowers to irritating Pluto, either by stealing his bone or other means.

After messing with the bone for a while, the gopher switches his focus to the flowers that seem to make our doggy friend sneeze. Once this discovery is made, the short is an exercise in ratcheting up the comedy as things go along. One sneeze from Pluto becomes many, an underground confrontation gets ugly, and ultimately, Pluto’s sneeze triggers the near destruction of the entire backyard of the house.

It’s the quick escalation from routine to ridiculous that really saves this short from being just another Pluto cartoon. That’s not to say that this is on the level with the Disney classics, but the fun ending that features the entirety of the backyard in chaos is reminiscent of the early Pluto shorts, when he would destroy everything. In this case, it’s the end of an otherwise enjoyable if predictable short.

Daddy Duck

2011-09-06T17:15:00.001-04:00

Many times over I’ve mentioned in this space that Donald Duck works best as a character when he is in a situation of his temper getting out of control rapidly. What makes that even more amusing is when the situation forces him to control that same temper. We’ve seen Donald be faced with job loss, medical ills, etc. if he didn’t calm down. In Duck Daddy, though, he is given the ultimate check on his temper – a child.

In this case, the child is a joey, or a baby kangaroo, but Donald is still cautioned to remain in control of his temper, or else he will not be a good parent. As things start out, that’s not so difficult to do. The joey is adorable and it seems to like Donald. Even though the kangaroo gets into a few messes, it seems like a typical parent-child relationship.

The character design of the joey is fabulous. It is so cute that you forget that its feet have just trashed a large part of Donald’s kitchen. Even when Donald goes to scold the joey, the little guy merely turns it around and clucks right back at him. The animators and story men did a great job of providing Donald with the perfect antagonist. The joey is not someone who you cannot sympathize with, and serves as a great counterpoint to Donald’s normal rigidity.

In this short, Donald branches out a little more than usual in his personality. While normally he is quite matter of fact, he seems to take much of the joey’s jabs in stride. Even when bath time becomes a problem, Donald doesn’t get that upset, compared to his normal moods. Where things really get interesting, though, is when the little kangaroo gets scared of Donald’s bearskin rug. To make him feel better, Donald jumps over and attacks the rug to show the joey that he has nothing to worry about.

Thus begins one of the funniest sequences in the late 40s of Disney animation. Donald gets a little carried away and has the bear “eat” him, which drive the joey into action. Imagine Donald in a bear suit running around his house being chased by a kangaroo that is kicking him wildly. If it sounds funny, watch this short. Duck Daddy isn’t perfect, but it does give you fun moments and some really big laughs.

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 35 - Angels in the Outfield

2011-09-05T02:01:00.000-04:00

This week the DFPP team flaps their arms like wings with their friend Tammy as they watch some pretty miraculous baseball being played all because some angels decided to help out the California Angles in the 1994 movie Angels in the Outfield.

Listen, download, etc.

Show notes:

IMDB
Wikipedia
Major League third baseman Carney Lansford (appears in film)
Big Bird actor Lionel Douglass
Article about Adrien Brody's career
Tammy on Twitter
Tammy's Tiara Talk Show Podcast
Tammy and Briana's interview with Neal McDonough

Enjoy the show!!!

Mickey Down Under

2011-09-01T17:26:00.000-04:00

Mickey’s back! Well, that’s not true, it’s not just his back it’s the entire mouse! Mickey Down Under returns our favorite mouse to the screen, in a bit of a different form from his last major appearance in Fun and Fancy Free. Along with Pluto, he takes a journey to Australia to join the land of boomerangs and kangaroos. The results are mixed at best.

Mickey Down Under opens with a new look for Mickey. He is softer edged and has a different facial structure than in the past. This is not his most popular look and consequently has not endured. The design we saw from Mickey in Fun and Fancy Free is much more like what we know Mickey as today. This different style Mickey is a bit of a distraction while watching, because it seems somewhat unfamiliar.

Pluto, meanwhile, is his same silly self he has been for years. In this short he ends up spending most of his time trying to capture the boomerang that Mickey throws. We see him throw up his pointer pose to show Mickey the way and then run after the boomerang. The remainder of his actions in the short consist of him biting the boomerang and having it stuck in his mouth. He twists, turns and contorts in order to try and get the boomerang out, but to no avail.

Mickey, meanwhile, gets entangled with a giant ostrich. Yes, you heard me, a giant ostrich. I’m unaware of the great Australian legends of the giant ostrich, but Mickey gets involved in a mess with the ostrich’s egg. This is where we get some of the great sheepish Mickey shots that are so much a part of his personality. Mickey works well when he is being shy or backing down. Remember his confrontations with Pete when he would grin and give a nervous giggle? That’s the kind of stuff you get here.

That’s a redeeming quality to a short that does not have a great deal of them. While Mickey Down Under is good because I can see Mickey again, it lacks a lot of the fun and great gags that Mickey shorts used to have. That’s sad, because Mickey used to be the most mischievous and exciting character that Disney had. This version does not compare to the old black and white version.

Drip Dippy Donald

2011-08-31T16:41:00.000-04:00

The gag of having Donald unable to fall asleep because of some external stimuli is not a new one. It’s been done a few times, in a myriad of settings. Honestly, though, it seems to work every time. In the case of Drip Dippy Donald it works beautifully, as the short encapsulates the experience perfectly with just the right amount of hyperbole mixed with realism.

This really is the exact kind of thing that Donald excels at, and the animators put him through his paces in this short. He is in bed when a light shines through the window to keep him up, but that problem is really just a set up for the real one. The dripping faucet in Donald’s kitchen is the real irritant and the source of the title.

The fun of this is seeing the various ways that the dripping faucet causes Donald to go nuts. It really is like Chinese water torture as the drips keep making noise, and the noise keeps getting magnified. From dripping into a bowl of water to dripping onto a spoon that rattles the other dishes, it’s a scenario that I imagine a large number of viewers could relate to. I know it’s happened to me before.

Where this short turned from run of the mill Donald fun to brilliance for me was when we started getting the hyperbole. The drips of the faucet go from a normal perspective to one that looks like the water is falling from miles above. The rattling dishes seem to shake the entire house. The drips turn from harmless water into huge bombs. It’s an amazing sequence that shows how these things can grow in your mind, but does so without going off the deep end of surrealism.

Even more fun comes at the end, as Donald sets up an elaborate Rube Goldberg machine to catch the water. He gives in at the end, but is literally saved by the bell in a nice twist that I will not ruin. Donald is frayed, anxious and a little out of his mind. That’s when he works the best, and it’s why this short works so well.

The Big Wash

2011-08-30T15:28:00.001-04:00

Ah, the age old gag of one of the Disney characters attempting to give an animal a bath has returned. In The Big Wash, it’s Goofy’s turn to take on this cliché, as he tries to bathe a circus elephant. It’s a deviation from the norms of Goofy’s “How To” shorts, and it comes of as a bit of a mixed bag.

After all, in situations like this, we expect to see Donald Duck. He’s the one who would be able to properly express the frustrations and anxiety of trying to bathe a giant elephant. You would expect the garbled invective to flow freely from our favorite duck. Instead, we get the contrast of a cheerful Goofy meandering his way around the elephant and getting foiled at every turn.

In a way, that’s what makes The Big Wash work. Goofy’s lack of irritation makes this humorous in a way that Donald could not. He smiles as the elephant fills his pants with water to the point of bursting, or as he ends up on his behind in the mud. Goofy is able to shrug it off and keep trying to wash Dolores the elephant. He even sings a song while he does it.

Where I felt this short did not measure up was in the gags. After all, we’ve seen Pluto try to avoid a bath before in a couple of shorts, and have seen his ways of getting out of it. By comparison, Dolores the elephant should have some very different and original things to try. Honestly, though, everything that the elephant tries is less amusing than it could be.

Goofy’s antics aside, it’s not a short that uses him to his best ability. Goofy works best when he is the foil to the narrator or is demonstrating some kind of every day idea. Goofy is the every man at this point in his career, and not many of us can relate to having to bathe an elephant. While well intentioned, The Big Wash comes off all wet. (I had to do it.)

Tweetwatch - Monday, August 29 at 8:30p ET - The Princess Diaries

2011-08-29T08:56:00.000-04:00

Hello, trolley people! Tonight is the night for an all new Tweetwatch, this time of the 10 year old hit film, The Princess Diaries, starring Julie Andrews and Anne Hathaway. It's the future Catwoman's first film role, and director Garry Marshall does a masterful job pulling things together. Never joined in the Tweetwatch fun before? Here's your game plan for tonight:

1. Follow me and Disney Film Project on Twitter

2. Get a copy of The Princess Diaries. The DVD is out of print, so you'll have to go digital if you don't have a copy. iTunes has it for $9.99 to own, no rental option, sadly. Other than that, you might have to hit the local video store to find a copy.
3. Sign up for the Tweetwatch on Plancast!

4. Subscribe to our Friendfeed room. It's been a little wonky the last few weeks, so try to sign up early and make sure you can get in.

5. On the appointed night, jump in to the Friendfeed room and get your DVD or digital copy cued up.

6. At the right time, I'll tweet or post that we should start the movie, and I'll update the feeds with relevant facts about the production

It's that simple! This is a fun flick, so come on in and join us for the excitement.

See you tonight!

It's that simple! Great time will be had by all. Can't wait to see you there!

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 34 - The Sword In the Stone

2011-08-29T00:15:00.005-04:00

This week, the entire DFPP team journeys to medieval England to attempt to pull Excalibur from the stone and become the true kings of England. Spoiler alert... none of us succeed. See what we thought of the film, however, as we tackle the 1963 Disney classic.

Listen, download, etc.

Show notes:

Enjoy the show!!!

They're Off

2011-08-24T17:00:00.000-04:00

Goofy returns to the “How To” shorts with the first short of 1948, They’re Off. It’s a short that focuses on the age old practice of horse racing, but more specifically on how to pick a winner. We’re back to the same formula of an omniscient narrator talking about the “proper” way to do things while Goofy demonstrates nearly the opposite.

The main difference in this short versus the other How To shorts is that the narrator has changed. John McLeish narrated most of the classic Goofy shorts, but he is not employed here. For someone who has watched those shorts in order, like me, it’s a jarring change, but by itself it’s not a big change. This short manages to be entertaining as a standalone entity and does not rely on the previous parts of the series.

This is another short that involves multiple Goofys portraying different roles, which was so successful in Hockey Homicide and other shorts. What I loved about this is the difference between the Goofs is told through acting, rather than physical differences. That’s a challenge for the animators, but they definitely rose to the occasion, as we see different Goofs acting bold or timid, smart or dull all in the same frame. That’s not easy to get across with the exact same character design.

The other characters that pop up in this short are the horses. Snapshot and Old Moe are the names of the two horses, and again, the animators manage to make them different each time, despite being a similar character design. Getting the horses to have a personality and individuality is really cool. When they start racing, you already know what each horse’s character is.

That’s the spark that was missing in many of the shorts from 1947: character. Disney was a studio that revealed character through animation, and they had gotten away from that in some of the other shorts in the recent past. This Goofy short brings that tradition back in a really good way. The fact that the gags are well told only adds to that. They’re Off is a welcome start to 1948’s series of shorts, and I can only hope that others will continue to share its excellence.

Pluto's Blue Note

2011-08-23T16:17:00.000-04:00

We’re wrapping up 1947 in the Disney canon with a Pluto short. I’ve said before that my feeling on Pluto is that he is a difficult character to do well. Doing Pluto correctly leads to some great gags and animation, as he is able to stretch and contort unlike many of the other characters. When this doesn’t happen, though, it’s a little more routine, and that’s the case with Pluto’s Blue Note.

There are two basic gags in the short, and they each do the work in approximately half of the short. The first one is Pluto’s desire to sing like the birdies sing, so to speak. He wakes up in the morning, hears the birds chirping and attempts to join in, much to the chagrin of the birds. The gag here is that Pluto, a dog, cannot sing as well as a bird. Do you see the funny?

The problem with this gag is that it doesn’t take advantage of one of Pluto’s best assets, which is his physicality. The movements and slapstick comedy of Pluto makes him funny, so if he’s standing still trying to sing, it takes some of the fun out of things. However, he does get some action going when he tries to imitate the bees (flapping his ears like wings) or the grasshoppers (rubbing his legs together). Those are decent pieces, but not Pluto’s full potential.

The second half of the short deals with Pluto’s revelation that he can use his tail and mouth to create a record player of sorts. After wandering into a music shop when trying to sing like the radio, our favorite dog discovers that if he places his tail on the record, then the sounds come out of his mouth. While it’s a decent gag, it again relies on Pluto being still to work.

The coda to this gag is when Pluto installs the record player into his dog house, and woos the lady dogs of the neighborhood with his crooning. I’ll be honest, I expected a gag to come out of this, like the record skipping (which it does) and a revolt among the animals. But for the most part, Pluto sings the whole song, winks at the camera, and ends the short. It’s a slow, disappointing ending to the short, and honestly not that funny. Pluto’s Blue Note serves as an example of paint by numbers style filmmaking, and it suffers in comparison to most of the earlier Pluto shorts.

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 33 - The Emperor's New Groove

2011-08-22T00:15:00.001-04:00

Boom, baby! The DFPP crew takes a groovy look at one of Disney's funniest animated movies, The Emperor's New Groove, with our special guest Amy Beth Combs. Come check out one of the Internet's funniest people tackle this hilarious film, while the rest of the team sit back and enjoy the giggles.

Listen, download, etc.

Show notes:

IMDb
Wikipedia
Soundtrack
The entire script
Disney Wiki entry
The Emperor's New Wiki (a wiki based around the movie & TV universe)
Mudka's Meat Hut
Character List from Wikipedia
Inspiration for the backgrounds came from South American art (Brak!)
Info on The Sweatbox, Trudie Styler's documentary about the making of the film
Jim Hill writes about the laughs in Emperor's New Groove
And Jim Hill also relays the story of the transformation from Kingdom of the Sun to Emperor's New Groove
Jim Hill on The Sweatbox
The maven of merriment, Amy Beth Combs

Enjoy the show!!!

Chip An' Dale

2011-08-18T15:05:00.000-04:00

The best short of 1947 is one that follows a familiar formula, but brings two little known characters to the forefront. Chip An’ Dale brings the chipmunks who have appeared in previous shorts to the front of the title card, right after Donald Duck. It’s an obvious attempt to establish the two as new characters in the Disney pantheon. As such an effort, it’s pretty darn successful.

It should be noted that the Chip and Dale in this short are not entirely the same as they will appear in later shorts. Dale does not have his trademark brownish red nose, and the voices are a little harder to understand than they will be in the future. But he basics are there, and that’s a strong foundation to start from.

Donald Duck is the antagonist in this short, which is a role that suits him very well. After all, as we all know, Donald works best when he’s getting irritated or frustrated and his anger builds. We don’t see a slow burn here, because the short focuses so much on the chipmunks, but the interaction that Donald has with them is quality every single time.

What I loved about Chip An’ Dale was the fact that both Donald and the chipmunks had a decent point of view. It was perfectly reasonable that Donald chopped down their tree, because after all, how would he know there were chipmunks living there? And of course, the chipmunks are just protecting their home, which is also very reasonable. The way that both parties go about their business, and the gags that result are really well done.

My favorite gag was the fight in the snow, where Donald peeps out of the chimney and throws the chimpunks off the roof, but there were many more. Dale’s determined efforts to kick Donald in the behind are also a highlight. It’s no wonder that this short reignited the Disney tradition of competing for Academy Awards, as it was nominated but did not win in 1948. Still, a fantastic achievement for Disney that established Chip and Dale as new characters for the company.

Mail Dog

2011-08-16T14:15:00.000-04:00

We’re back to Pluto with Mail Dog as the latest short in 1947. And as if keeping with the theme so far in this year, it’s a bit disappointing. As we’ve said here before, Pluto is a difficult character to do well, since he does not talk and does not move or act in a human way. To make him interesting, the animation and story team has to deliver top notch work.

In Mail Dog, the concept is pretty good. Pluto serves as a dog in the winters of the North, whose sole purpose is to carry mail across the frozen tundra in storms where planes could not traverse. The short takes the first minute to set up this premise, without a sight of Pluto. That’s an interesting decision to take that much time, but it does set things up well.

From there, it’s a quick sprint through two confrontations where Pluto is trying to make his appointed rounds. The first of these is with an inanimate object, which is not bad. Pluto gets his mail bags stuck with a totem pole, and seeing him struggle against the inanimate faces is pretty amusing. This is the kind of thing that works with Pluto, seeing him struggle with things that should be routine. It plays to the fact that he is a dog, and not a person.

His second encounter, with a rabbit that must have lost its way a long way away, is less amusing While the rabbit is merely interested in getting warm, and goes to great lengths to do so, while Pluto is trying to simultaneously stay warm and deliver the mail. The problem is that the conflict between the two seems forced, and not natural other than the fact that both are freezing.

I’ll give the animation team credit for an ending that is heart warming and fun, but it doesn’t make up for a short that tends to drag through the middle. Without some real fun gags, the short doesn’t measure up to the type of work that we have seen in other Disney work of the previous years. Especially when you look at Fun and Fancy Free or other feature work, the shorts like Mail Dog are not in the same league.

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 32 - Captain America: The First Avenger

2011-08-15T00:15:00.001-04:00

Avengers Assemble! It's time for the last film before The Avengers (opening May 4, 2012), as Marvel Studios (a subsidiary of Disney) releases Captain America: The First Avenger. The DFPP team joins the Howling Commandos and goes into battle with Cap for a tussle with the Red Skull. Join us for the star spangled fun.

Listen, download, etc.

Show notes:

IMDb
Wikipedia
Marvel's Captain America movie webiste, and general movie site
Captain America - the comic book superhero
The Marvel Cinematic Universe and Timeline
Alternate universes in the Marvel Universe
Comic book Nick Fury and Ultimate Nick Fury
The Red Skull's cohorts - Baron Strucker, Baron Zemo (and son), and Arnim Zola
Peggy Carter and her niece, Cap's current lover, Sharon Carter
The Cosmic Cube
Captain America's shield and Vibranium
Interview with Christoper Markus and Stephen McFeely
The original Human Torch, the Vision, and Wonder Man
Howling Commandos, Invaders, and Union Jack

Enjoy the show!

Tweetwatch - The Fox and the Hound - Monday, August 15 at 8:30p ET

2011-08-12T11:24:00.000-04:00

Time again for our bi-weekly Tweetwatch! This week, we celebrate the recent DVD release of The Fox and the Hound with a Tweetwatch of the 1980s Disney animated film.

This one is a tearjerker, folks, so if you've never seen it, you need to bring the Kleenex. We'll check this one out on Monday, August 15 at 8:30p ET (with a little fudge room, since I'm flying into town that night. Be patient and follow the Twitter feed to make sure you are ready and I'll update you if I'm running behind.)

Here's how it works:

1. Follow me and Disney Film Project on Twitter

2. Grab the movie we're watching, either through Netflix, instant video (Amazon or Disney Movies Online) or buying it.

3. Sign up for the Tweetwatch on Plancast!

4. Subscribe to our Friendfeed room.

5. On the appointed night, jump in to the Friendfeed room and get your Bluray/DVD cued up.

6. At the right time, I'll tweet or post that we should start the movie, and I'll update the feeds with relevant facts about the production

It's that simple! Great time will be had by all. Can't wait to see you there!

Foul Hunting

2011-08-11T16:00:00.000-04:00

Goofy returns to the stage in 1947’s Foul Hunting, and in a way that we really have not seen since his very early appearance in Goofy and Wilbur. No more do we have the omniscient narrator and irony of the “How To” shorts. Goofy’s not playing basketball or other sports. This is a straight forward short with Goofy as the main character and no narration. As such, it’s a little jarring.

After all, every Goofy short for some time now has featured the Goof in the role of “diagram” almost, instructing us on how to do a sport or activity while the narrator tells the viewer what’s happening. In Foul Hunting, though, Goofy takes the stage again as a real character, not a substitute for an educational diagram. Don’t get me wrong, I love those “How To” shorts, but it’s nice to see Goofy back again as a personality.

Foul Hunting does not give him much room to show off that personality, though, as it’s a fairly standard kind of short. Goofy is out hunting ducks (in a pond far away from every other hunter) and his efforts are what leads to the gags throughout the film. It starts with Goofy confusing his mechanical decoy duck with a real duck, which plays into several gags including the ending.

A big part of this short is accepting the fact that Goofy is dim-witted, which should not be hard. They really push it to the limits, though, with the ducks flying right past without Goofy noticing, for example. That’s okay because the gags, while not the funniest thing ever, are still good. Goofy works in this way because he’s able to play off the inconveniences in a light hearted way.

I love a good callback to an earlier joke, so the ending of this short really made me laugh. The confusion between the decoy and a real duck ends up having Goofy about to devour a cooked machine, with hilarious results. It’s a memorable short because it’s a return to the Goofy of his first appearance in Goofy and Wilbur. While it’s not the best short ever, it is enjoyable for that reason.

Mickey's Delayed Date

2011-08-10T16:06:00.000-04:00

For an audience in 1947, to go from Mickey in Fun and Fancy Free to Mickey in Mickey’s Delayed Date would have to be a form of whiplash. After all, the design of Mickey in the feature film is much closer to what he was before the war, and the short is not even close to that same design. It’s a jarring transition for me watching these films back to back.

Sadly, part of Mickey remains intact from the feature to the short, and that’s his bland personality. The mouse who used to be so mischievous and fun loving is now a generic bachelor, devoid of personality. It’s a trend that we’ve seen often in the post-World War II shorts. Donald and Goofy have also been cast in generic roles quite often, where you could have swapped one for the other and it would not make a difference.

The premise of Mickey’s Delayed Date is that Mickey and Pluto are napping when Minnie calls up. She is upset, because Mickey is supposed to be out with her for a hot date. The rest of the short is spent with Mickey trying to get ready and arrive to the date on time. It’s no easy task, since he was dead asleep when Minnie called, so the entire first half of the short is a mad scramble around his house to get ready.

Further taking away from Mickey, however, is the fact that Pluto does most of the work in the first half of this short. Mickey is in the shower, so we get to see Pluto struggle around the room trying to get Mickey’s hat and clothes together. It’s okay, but doesn’t really stand out in the major gags that Pluto has been involved in before.

The second half of the short is Mickey’s journey to the date, which involves a lot of stumbling through a large city, falling into things and ending up looking like a bum. That turns out not to be a problem, but it is a much needed change from the first half. Still, it’s not quite enough to salvage a short that features too little personality and originality, especially for Disney’s flagship character.

Fun and Fancy Free - Mickey and the Beanstalk

2011-08-09T14:23:00.000-04:00

The second half of Fun and Fancy Free is completely disconnected from the first, and in many ways that is a good thing. We get to see Jiminy Cricket hop houses over to a party being thrown by Edgar Bergen, the famed ventriloquist, where the only guests seem to be his puppets and the child actress Luana Patten. Seems like a strange gathering, but nonetheless, it leads to Bergen telling the story of Mickey and the Beanstalk.

It’s worth noting that this is an updated version of Mickey appearing in this short, while Donald and Goofy appear much the same as they did in Saludos Amigos. Still, it’s the first time that all three of them appear together in a feature, which makes it noteworthy. It would have appeared a little odd to moviegoers of the time, since they had not appeared in shorts together since before World War II. Remember, though, that this film was in development before the war, so Disney simply picked it up where they left off.

There are no real surprises in the story, since it is the familiar tale of Jack and the Beanstalk, but what’s more interesting is the interplay between the animated characters and the narration provided by Bergen. If you’re not familiar with Bergen, he was a great friend of Walt’s, and is most remembered for the two characters who appear in this film, Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd. In providing the narration, Bergen and his characters dominate the film.

Mickey rarely speaks. Nor does Donald and Goofy speak very much. We get little glimpses of the interplay between the three, with Donald losing his mind over the lack of food or Goofy being quite silly when singing about his desire to eat until he dies. But for the most part, the characters are flat compared to their interpretations in the shorts.

Instead of gags and interactions between Mickey and his cohorts, we instead get jokes told by Charlie McCarthy poking fun at Edgar Bergen. While that’s part of their act, so it’s not a surprise, it’s not what you would expect from a film with Mickey, Donald and Goofy. That’s not to say that the story isn’t fun, however. It is quite a good and enjoyable cartoon, just not particularly notable for the Mickey, Donald and Goofy stuff.

The animation quality is superb in this, which really helps. There is a lot of depth to the line work, and the motion and emotion of the characters is told very well. It’s a fun time to watch, with the pace much quicker than Bongo. Mickey and the Beanstalk works very well, but there is not a lot of usage of the unique traits that Mickey and friends bring to the table. That’s unfortunate, but it doesn’t stop this second half of Fun and Fancy Free from redeeming the film.

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 31 - The Princess Diaries

2011-08-08T00:05:00.002-04:00

This week, the DFPP crew learns how to wear a tiara, wave properly and generally act like Julie Andrews as we take a look at the 2001 Disney hit The Princess Diaries. This was the winner of our listener choice poll, so the person who suggested it, Ashleigh Kotrys from the Generation Mouse podcast, joins us for the show.

Listen, download, etc.

Show notes:

IMDb
Wikipedia
Official Disney Site
Meg Cabot's website (author of the books)
Books at Wikipedia
Soundtrack
Mia Thermopolis on Wikipedia
Ambrose Redmoon / James Neil Hollingsworth (dad's quote in letter)
Longford Castle (Genovian Castle)
Garry Marshall
Critic's ratings at Rotten Tomatoes
Generation Mouse Podcast
Ashleigh's Twitter

Enjoy the show!!!

Fun and Fancy Free - Bongo

2011-08-05T14:40:00.000-04:00

As previously mentioned, Fun and Fancy Free consists primarily of two featurettes that Disney was unable or unwilling to develop into full length features. Using Jiminy Cricket as the bridge device between the two, the film launches into Bongo as the first subject.

Bongo is a character in search of a story, as best I can tell. The story told in this film is that of the circus bear who escapes, only to see that life out in the open is not as easy and carefree as he might have imagined. When he meets a female bear, Lulu Belle, however, that changes. Although he has to overcome some challenges for her affection, Bongo ultimately prevails and is able to win her heart.

It’s a very slight story that could honestly have been told in a 7 minute short, so seeing it stretched over 35 minutes is a problem. It’s kind of like spreading your peanut butter too thin. While you still get some peanuty goodness, in the end it’s not enough. Bongo is that kind of effort. There’s good stuff in there, especially the animation and some of the storytelling, but the overall story is lacking.

A couple of things that seem like they were put in the film to alleviate that problem actually tend to make it worse. The first is the narrator Dinah Shore, who handles all the dialogue for the characters. That leaves every character in the film silent, trying to act to Shore’s intonations. Unlike Dumbo, where the main character doesn’t speak but the others do, it makes every character reliant on the narration, and that lessens some of the impact.

The other thing that pads out the film is a grouping of songs. From “Lazy Countryside” to songs about the bears falling in love, the musical portions are very lengthy and although they advance the story nominally, they also slow it down considerably. Add in the fact that Dinah Shore sings all the songs, and you have one voice throughout the entire film.

This is not to say that the entire thing is bad. The character designs for Bongo and Lulu Belle are completely adorable. The acting between them and the emotion that the animators embue them with is fantastic, especially considering that they had no voice acting to cue them. Also, the gags in certain places are quite funny, even though many others don’t quite hit the mark.

In the end, Bongo learns that you need motivation to change, which comes in the form of Lulu Belle. But it’s very hard to connect to either he or Lulu Belle as characters, despite the great work that the animators do. It never gets to the point of boring, but Bongo drags a great deal, and makes it hard for the viewer to remain engaged with the characters.

Development of Fun and Fancy Free

2011-08-04T13:12:00.000-04:00

1947 was a continuation of the strange post war period for the Disney studio, as Walt and his team were trying desperately to find ways to churn out new product that was commercially successful but also artistically appealing. This wasn’t an easy task. After all, the tastes of the public and the Disney artists didn’t always match up. See Fantasia if you want an example.

The development of features in this environment was a tough road. That’s why we ended up with package features taking up much of these years. Fun and Fancy Free, released in September of 1947, continued the formula of these years by taking a couple of shorter stories, combining them into one feature, and tossing in some familiar characters and live action stars to make a combined film.

The two main stories of Fun and Fancy Free, Bongo and Mickey and the Beanstalk, were developed originally as feature films before World War II. Mickey and the Beanstalk was first, as Walt took yet another stab at the Jack and the Beanstalk story. He had visited the story in 3 earlier shorts, once in Kansas City with his Laugh-O-Gram studios and in the Mickey Mouse cartoons Giantland and The Brave Little Tailor.

This time, though, the idea was to further reinvigorate Mickey by bringing a fully realized feature film look to him. Donald and Goofy were incorporated to make this a trio picture, which was very common in the shorts before the war. Work on this film began in 1940, so this was very much in keeping with the cartoons of that time.

Remember, at the time before the war, the studio was growing. Snow White was a huge windfall, and while Pinocchio and Fantasia were disappointments at the box office, they reaffirmed the fact that Disney was in the features market and made good artistic statements. So Walt was buying up stories to be adapted into films from all sorts of places.

One of those was Cosmopolitan Magazine, where a story by Sinclair Lewis caught Walt’s eye. The story was that of Bongo, a circus bear that longs for a life in the world at large. Joe Grant, one of Walt’s story men, told him that the story was not suitable for a feature, but Walt ignored him and bought it anyway. The first treatment for Bongo was turned in on December 8, 1941, one day after the attacks at Pearl Harbor.

The war years postponed both features, and when they were revived in 1946, it was as a combination. The decision was made to bring in famous stars to serve as narrators and attractions for the moviegoer, and add Jiminy Cricket as a bridging device. Dinah Shore was recruited to serve as narrator and songbird for Bongo, and Walt’s friend Edgar Bergen brought his ventriloquist skills to the narration of Mickey and the Beanstalk.

The final product became a mish mash of ideas that was very common to this era. Between the two South American films, the music packages (Make Mine Music and Melody Time) and this film, there were many films of that nature. Fun and Fancy Free was created specifically to provide a lighter, more hopeful tone to the postwar years. Tomorrow, we’ll take a look at how it does with that job.

Wide Open Spaces

2011-08-03T12:13:00.000-04:00

Another day brings another Donald Duck short in 1947, this time with Donald squarely in the spotlight. You’ll remember that recent shorts have been cast as Donald Duck shorts only to have Daisy or other characters form the core focus of the story. That’s not the case in Wide Open Spaces, as this goes back to the formula of Donald being presented with a series of challenges.

The main problem Donald faces in this one is finding a place to sleep. He attempts to find a hotel, but backtracks on booking it when he finds out that the cot outside the door is $16 for the night. It’s a really interesting bit, because the name of the hotel is the “Hold Up Motel,” with a picture of a gun on top of it - definitely a commentary by Disney that the hotel is gouging the consumer. Very intriguing in retrospect, right?

Instead of bunking down in the hotel, Donald attempts to go out and find a flat spot to lay down an air mattress, but runs into all sorts of troubles. He ends up attacking trees, falling underwater and generally doing anything but falling asleep. It’s the kind of accidental antics that you would expect from Goofy moreso than Donald. Donald seems to be stumbling into the situations instead of an active participant.

That’s the big reason why Wide Open Spaces doesn’t work for me. Donald, as mentioned before, should be an angry, bitter duck whose frustration rises throughout the short. That’s when he works best, such as in Modern Marvels, one of my favorite Donald shorts. This short does not feature that. Instead, it focuses on the gags over the characters, not showing the kind of story that makes Donald work best.

Sadly, that’s very typical of the Disney studio in 1946-1947. The entirety of the studio is in kind of a drift during this period, figuring out if they are a feature studio, a short cartoon studio or a live action studio. The answer, of course, was all three, but in the interim, product had to be produced to fulfill contracts and keep the doors open. In the process of producing the product, it seems the artists and storytellers forgot a little about their characters.

All images copyright Disney. All rights reserved.

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 30 - Winnie the Pooh

2011-08-01T00:30:00.002-04:00

This week, the DFPP team heads to the Hundred Acre Wood to see Walt Disney Animation Studios’ latest releast, Winnie the Pooh. We’ll have some honey, chase a monster and laugh hysterically. Join the fun!

Listen, download, etc.

Show notes:

IMDb
Wikipedia
Soundtrack
Disney’s Winnie the Pooh page
Rotten Tomatoes reviews
Disney Biz discusses the release date controversy
Mark Henn shows how to draw Winnie the Pooh
Website for Andreas Deja, animator of Tigger
Disney Legend Burny Mattinson
Winnie-the-Pooh (book)
The Ballad of Nessie
Toon Boom Animation
Zooey Deschanel

Enjoy the Show!

Tweetwatch - Monday, August 1 at 8:30p ET - The Parent Trap

2011-07-29T14:15:00.000-04:00

That's right, Tweetwatch is back in a big way. If you haven't seen the latest schedule, go check it out here. But in the meantime, get ready for the Parent Trap Tweetwatch on Monday, August 1 at 8:30p.

We're talking original Parent Trap here, with Hayley Mills and...Hayley Mills. So go grab a copy of the movie (DVDs are cheap at Target!) and join us for this fun film, including great music by the Sherman Brothers.

Here's how it works:

1. Follow me and Disney Film Project on Twitter

2. Grab the movie we're watching, either through Netflix, instant video (Amazon or Disney Movies Online) or buying it.

3. Sign up for the Tweetwatch on Plancast!

3. Subscribe to our Friendfeed room.

4. On the appointed night, jump in to the Friendfeed room and get your Bluray/DVD cued up.

5. At the right time, I'll tweet or post that we should start the movie, and I'll update the feeds with relevant facts about the production

It's that simple! Great time will be had by all. Can't wait to see you there!

Bootle Beetle

2011-07-28T16:12:00.000-04:00

After seeing the Donald Duck shorts so far in 1947, I think it’s safe to say that Disney was losing confidence in the duck as their leading character. Remember, Mickey was no longer en vogue, and outside of Pluto, there were not a lot of shorts coming out each year. What’s interesting is the extent to which Disney has gone to work around Donald while still putting his face on the short.

We saw Daisy as the narrator, Goofy sharing the billing and now we get an entirely new character, the Bootle Beetle. Very strange, no doubt, but it gives us a really cool new character to enjoy. The Bootle Beetle is presented as the main protagonist in this short, battling against Donald for its survival. Donald is the villain of the piece in this telling.

The Bootle Beetle is introduced by an omniscient narrator who tells us that the beetle is one of the rarest bugs around, and highly valued by collectors. What follows is an older beetle cautioning a younger one from venturing forward into the world at large and then relating the story of his encounter with a “giant monster” which was also Donald Duck.

While the story and the gags are somewhat entertaining, there isn’t a whole lot here to get excited about. The beetle’s escapes from Donald’s clutches are not thrilling or funny, just sort of routine. The interactions are notable mainly because of the beetle’s narration not recognizing Donald but continually referring to him as a monster. While that’s somewhat amusing, it’s not enough to hold up an entire short.

What’s more intriguing to me is the movement we are seeing here that minimizes Donald in his own cartoons. The shorts of this era lack the anger we saw earlier from Donald and seem to rely on gimmicks and changes to the storytelling rather than solid gags. It’s clear the attention of the staff has turned over to the features program, and it’s possible walt has also turned his attention away at this point. That leaves poor Donald fighting it out with a bug in an obscure short.

All images copyright Disney. All rights reserved.

Crazy From the Heat

2011-07-27T16:38:00.000-04:00

There have been some bizarre shorts to come out of the Disney studio in the post war era. We saw Donald’s Dilemma yesterday that featured Daisy as the focus, and the meta commentary that occurred. In Crazy From the Heat, things get even weirder as we see Goofy and Donald re-team for the first time in years.

As they are crossing the desert, Donald and Goofy have their car break down, which leads to a long trek across the sand to find water and shelter. With the heat beating down upon them, there’s ample opportunity for comedy. It’s a formula that cartoons have used for many years. So we can expect some mirages and fun ideas when the two turn on each other, right?

Strangely enough, we get the first but not the second. That makes all the difference in this short as we veer from the predictable and funny to the unpredictable and insane. Let me explain as best I can, because the results are truly bizarre. We see Goofy and Donald squabbling over water a little bit, but the true fun starts when Goofy sees a mirage of a soda fountain.

The Goof wanders over to take part in the delicious ice cream treats that the fake soda fountain has to offer, only to be denied each time he tries to take a sip. If it sounds weird, it is. The even stranger thing is that when Goofy tries to sip, the mirage disappears, but he stays suspended in air! It gets worse when he is threatened with washing dishes because he can’t pay, and the dishes appear to be real.

The line between reality and mirage is very confusing in this one, and it only gets worse. Donald sees his own mirage of an iceberg, but then gets sucked into Goofy’s delusion. Goofy drops the dishes and the mirage figure who is threatening him ends up chopping off the top of Donald’s hat and giving him a black eye. It doesn’t make sense!

Watching this short is like pulling on a loose thread of a sweater. You keep pulling, trying to figure out where the end is, but it keeps unraveling. While there were parts of this that were funny, it was so confusing overall that it was difficult to understand what was going on. What was real? What was mirage? Figuring that out in Crazy From the Heat was difficult at best, and just plain weird as well.

Donald's Dilemma

2011-07-26T15:02:00.000-04:00

Rolling on into 1947, we come to a very strange entry in the Disney shorts known as Donald’s Dilemma. I call it strange because although it is a Donald Duck cartoon and features an opening that brands it as such, Donald is not the main attraction. Instead, Daisy takes center stage for the first time in a Disney cartoon.

I’ll have to say the results are mixed. Although Daisy is established at this point in the canon of Disney as Donald’s girlfriend, she has not had much to do aside from spurn Donald. The few times we have seen Daisy have not hinted at much of a personality. This time she does have one, but I’m not sure it’s the kind of personality we want her to have.

The trouble that faces Daisy comes from a transformation in Donald’s personality. He switches from the quacking, ill-tempered duck we know to a suave singer who lights up the stage. Daisy turns from a confident girlfriend that we’ve seen in other shorts to a woman spurned who will stop at nothing to retain her man.

It’s a strange transformation, because it shows Daisy as a woman who needs a man to make herself happy. There are some very strange scenes in the montage of Daisy dealing with the fact that the “new” Donald doesn’t recognize or care for her. There’s even a shot of Daisy with a gun to her head preparing to shoot herself! This is not what we expect from a cartoon.

Layer on top of that that the song that vaults Donald to prominence is his rendition of “When You Wish Upon A Star.” It’s very confusing to see a song made famous by a Disney animated film being reused in a Disney animated short that is supposed to reflect the world at large. Very strange. We have officially entered the era of Disney self-reference, which combines with Daisy’s personality change to make this one of Disney’s strangest shorts.

All pictures copyright Disney. All rights reserved.

Disney Film Project Podcast - Episode 29 - Bedknobs and Broomsticks

2011-07-25T00:10:00.001-04:00

This week, the DFPP team taps the knob, twists it three times and head for the Isle of Naboombu and beyond with Angela Lansbury and David Tomlinson in Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Enjoy some great Sherman Brothers music, fine animation and more in this Disney classic.

Listen, download, etc.

Show notes:

IMDB
Wikipedia
Mary Norton, author of the book
Sherman Brothers Songbook CD has most of the songs from the film
Soundtrack (Import)
Substitutiary Locomotion
About the Bayeux Tapestry (another)
About the term Jerry
Academy Award for Best Visual Effects (1971)

Enjoy the show!