Category Disney

Wish is the latest animated film from Disney Pictures featuring a talking goat, a new world and a new princess-like character.

The world in Wish centers around a king who collects wishes from his people, with a goal of crafting the perfect wishes. Citizens that wish to live in the kingdom must give up their wish to the king when they turn eighteen. Monthly the king gives a wish ceremony where a lucky citizen gets their wish. Prior to her birthday and losing her wish, Asha interviews to be the king’s apprentice. The king at first appears as a kind and benevolent ruler but the trailers for the film reveal him to be the true villain and he does this himself before the interview ends.

The wishes themselves follow the same rules as those in the comic series Eight Billion Genies from Image Comics. When you turn eighteen you get to make yours but in the comic it comes in the form of a genie that is tied to you from birth. In both stories there are people that collect them in to, at least in their minds, protect their world from dangerous wishing or ideas. Ultimately it comes down to them wanting to keep the power for themselves.

The film and the world are both visually stunning with a diverse cast of characters. Disney has been steadily increasing the number of characters that fit other demographics and do so here in a way that fits perfectly with the film without making it appear that their differences were the only reason for these characters to be included in the film. The overall quality of the film was fantastic and the story was more so. This will definitely be one the family will watch again.

IT IS RARE FOR ME TO SEE A MOVIE WHEN IT’S STILL IN THEATERS BUT THANKS TO DISNEY STUDIOS I WAS ABLE TO CATCH UP ON A FEW THAT I MISSED!

Recently the fine folks at Disney Studios (their home page is here) had sent me codes to several of the movies I missed so that I could share my thoughts on them with you. With Part 1 we were taking a look at the live action version of Mulan. Part 2 discussed Soul and Raya and the Last Dragon. Part 3 looked at the live action story of Cruella. Part 4 discussed Luca and Part 5 talked about Jungle Cruise. Part 6 discussed Encanto and Part 7 talked about Turning Red. Part 8 covered Lightyear and Part 9 with Strange World. Part 10 talked about Mickey & Minnie 10 Classic Shorts – Volume 1 and Part 11 with The Little Mermaid and Elemental. Part 12 had Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and we have returned for another round with Part 13 and Haunted Mansion!

Haunted Mansion

The story begins with Gabbie and her son moving into the Haunted Mansion and realize they can never leave. Reaching out for help they hire a priest, a medium and a spectral photographer. The photographer feels like the real focus of the story, even though the everything puts the focus on the mansion and the family that moved into the house. The cast and story were fantastic and were only outshined by the quality of the effects. My only complaint was with Madame Leota’s costume. It just seemed goofy, pun not intended. The original Haunted Mansion film was a disappointment in terms of horror but was a fun film and this one was far superior in terms of story and quality in both horror and fun. This is the new bar for the brand and it is high indeed.

Have you had a chance to see this release from Disney Studios?

IT IS RARE FOR ME TO SEE A MOVIE WHEN IT’S STILL IN THEATERS BUT THANKS TO DISNEY STUDIOS I WAS ABLE TO CATCH UP ON A FEW THAT I MISSED!

Recently the fine folks at Disney Studios (their home page is here) had sent me codes to several of the movies I missed so that I could share my thoughts on them with you. With Part 1 we were taking a look at the live action version of Mulan. Part 2 discussed Soul and Raya and the Last Dragon. Part 3 looked at the live action story of Cruella. Part 4 discussed Luca and Part 5 talked about Jungle Cruise. Part 6 discussed Encanto and Part 7 talked about Turning Red. Part 8 covered Lightyear and Part 9 with Strange World. Part 10 talked about Mickey & Minnie 10 Classic Shorts – Volume 1 and Part 11 with The Little Mermaid and Elemental. We have returned for another round with Part 12 and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny!

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

The Indiana Jones franchise has been a personal favorite of mine for as long as I can remember. I even enjoyed Crystal Skull and Young Indiana Jones. I had relatively high expectations for this film considering every review I had seen compared it to Crystal Skull and rated it higher. When at his best Indy was fighting Nazis and this film brings that back. You just can’t beat the feeling of a classic Indy versus Nazi film. My childhood was filled with the first three films and this takes me right back. Ford’s acting is still great and it’s interesting to see how he’s grown as an actor and the character having grown alongside him. Overall, this film exceed my every expectation.

Have you had a chance to see this release from Disney Studios?

IT IS RARE FOR ME TO SEE A MOVIE WHEN IT’S STILL IN THEATERS BUT THANKS TO DISNEY STUDIOS I WAS ABLE TO CATCH UP ON A FEW THAT I MISSED!

Recently the fine folks at Disney Studios (their home page is here) had sent me codes to several of the movies I missed so that I could share my thoughts on them with you. With Part 1 we were taking a look at the live action version of Mulan. Part 2 discussed Soul and Raya and the Last Dragon. Part 3 looked at the live action story of Cruella. Part 4 discussed Luca and Part 5 talked about Jungle Cruise. Part 6 discussed Encanto and Part 7 talked about Turning Red. Part 8 covered Lightyear and Part 9 with Strange World. Part 10 talked about Mickey & Minnie 10 Classic Shorts – Volume 1 and we are back for Part 11 with The Little Mermaid and Elemental!

The Little Mermaid

The live action version of The Little Mermaid had more publicity over the race of the Lead Actress than anything else I saw and was absolutely ridiculous. The only thing that race affected anything in the story was that each of King Triton’s daughters represented a different see and their individual appearances resembled that. This was also the same in the original animated film and each of the daughters looked perfect, even Ariel herself. Some of the songs were updated to better fit with more modern sensitivities accounted for and other songs were removed. This is where our only complaint comes in- the song where Chef Louie is trying to cook Sebastian was removed. That is one of both mine and my wife’s favorite scenes from the original film. My wife’s expectations for this film were quite high but based on previous live action version my expectations were somewhere between low and high- medium I guess would be the best word for it. Other than our favorite song being missing, neither of us were disappointed. Visually the film was stunning and as a whole was one of, if not, the best live action adaptation we’ve had yet.

Elemental

Following the story of a family of immigrants in a world where every person are made of elements and centering around the family’s daughter, Ember. Growing up her family talked about her talking over the business but due to damage caused by her rage she starts on a quest to protect the business and undo her mistakes. The film is full of examples of racism and bigotry, focusing on rising above in most cases. I thought the way they handled racism was done in a way that kids could understand easily and do it in a way that didn’t belittle the experiences of those that had gone through them. The film was quite brilliant and visually stunning.

Have you had a chance to see either of these releases from Disney Studios?

IT IS RARE FOR ME TO SEE A MOVIE WHEN IT’S STILL IN THEATERS BUT THANKS TO Marvel Entertainment I WAS ABLE TO CATCH UP ON A FEW THAT I MISSED!

Recently the fine folks at Marvel Entertainment (their home page is here) had sent me a code to one of the movies I missed so that I could share my thoughts on it with you. This will be a regular series and Part 1 we talked about Black Widow. Part 2 discussed Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Part 3 shared our thoughts on Eternals and straight to DVD release Spidey and his Amazing Friends. Part 4 focused on Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Part 5 discussed Thor: Love and Thunder. Part 6 shared Black Panther Wakanda Forever and Part 7 talked about our thoughts on Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania. We are back with Part 8 and Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3!

Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3

This is the final installment of the franchise, at least that will be directed by James Gunn. The story centers around an attack that puts Rocket into a coma where his friends discover the fail-safes in place on his body. In order to save him these need to be removed and in order to do so they must track down the people responsible for putting them there. I have seen many of Gunn’s films and every Marvel film of the current cinematic universe and I must say that Volume 3 made me feel more than any other in either category. The writing, the direction, everything about this film was fantastic. Even Chris Pratt gave a performance light years better than I thought he was capable of. Even the twist at the end with Groot left me shocked and provided further proof that Gunn is the best director and writer that we have seen in the MCU.

IT IS RARE FOR ME TO SEE A MOVIE WHEN IT’S STILL IN THEATERS BUT THANKS TO 20TH CENTURY STUDIOS I WAS ABLE TO CATCH UP ON A FEW THAT I MISSED.

Recently the fine folks at 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios- their home page is here) had sent me codes to several of the movies I missed so that I could share my thoughts on them with you. Part 1 was all about Underwater and Part 2 focused on The New Mutants. Part 3 we talked about The Personal History of David Copperfield. Part 4 discussed The Empty Man. Part 5 talked about Nomadland and Speed 4K Ultra HD. Part 6 discussed The Night House and Free Guy. Part 7 focused on The Eyes of Tammy Faye and Part 8 had The Last Duel. Part 9 discussed Ron’s Gone Wrong and Part 10 talked about The King’s Man and Summer of Soul. Part 11 discussed Nightmare Alley and West Side Story. Part 12 highlighted Death on the Nile and Part 13 talked about The Bob’s Burgers Movie. Part 14 highlighted Barbarian and See How They Run. Part 15 discussed Amsterdam and Part 16 talked about The Banshees of Inisherin and The Menu. Part 17 shared our thoughts on Empire of Light and Part 18 with Avatar: The Way of Water. We are back for Part 19 and Avatar in 4k and Chevalier.

Avatar 4K Ultimate Collector’s Edition

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Avatar is a fantastic film and that still holds true. The acting is fantastic and despite the blatant “save the environment” messages this remains a family favorite. The visuals, while already gorgeous after all these years, look even better than before. I honestly didn’t think it was possible. If you have a 4k capable television then this is a must for you.

Chevalier

This a film that challenges that great talent can come from any race or background, despite the fact that society may not be ready to accept that talent. The cast of this film was fantastic and the costumes looked perfect for the era. The story highlights how racism and slavery resulted in not only the destruction of lives but the destruction hiding of music created by Bolagne, whom the film is about. Overall it was a great film that was full of wonderful music.

IT IS RARE FOR ME TO SEE A MOVIE WHEN IT’S STILL IN THEATERS BUT THANKS TO DISNEY STUDIOS I WAS ABLE TO CATCH UP ON A FEW THAT I MISSED!

Recently the fine folks at Disney Studios (their home page is here) had sent me codes to several of the movies I missed so that I could share my thoughts on them with you. With Part 1 we were taking a look at the live action version of Mulan. Part 2 discussed Soul and Raya and the Last Dragon. Part 3 looked at the live action story of Cruella. Part 4 discussed Luca and Part 5 talked about Jungle Cruise. Part 6 discussed Encanto and Part 7 talked about Turning Red. Part 8 covered Lightyear and Part 9 with Strange World. Part 10 is here to talk about Mickey & Minnie 10 Classic Shorts – Volume 1!

Mickey & Minnie 10 Classic Shorts – Volume 1

Presented as Mickey & Minnie reviewing images from a scrapbook that showcases ten of their classic animated shorts. Most include both characters but others include one or the other. Having watched most of these previously I wasn’t expecting much from them but it had literally been decades since I had seen them. Watching them again I realized so much has changed about what is acceptable for the animated shows we let our children watch. Specifically the use of tobacco products and some cultural insensitivity when Mickey poses as a Native American. Considering how old some of these shorts were though it was quite impressive to see what Walt had created and achieved with these and personally felt the Figaro themed shorts were not only the best but the mannerisms of the cat were captured perfectly. Despite the social issues these shorts were simply fun and plan on watching them again with my youngest.

Have you had a chance to see this release from Disney Studios?

IT IS RARE FOR ME TO SEE A MOVIE WHEN IT’S STILL IN THEATERS BUT THANKS TO DISNEY STUDIOS I WAS ABLE TO CATCH UP ON A FEW THAT I MISSED!

Recently the fine folks at Disney Studios (their home page is here) had sent me codes to several of the movies I missed so that I could share my thoughts on them with you. With Part 1 we were taking a look at the live action version of Mulan. Part 2 discussed Soul and Raya and the Last Dragon. Part 3 looked at the live action story of Cruella. Part 4 discussed Luca and Part 5 talked about Jungle Cruise. Part 6 discussed Encanto and Part 7 talked about Turning Red. Part 8 covered Lightyear and we’ve returned for Part 9 with Strange World!

Strange World

The story starts with an adventuring father and son duo as they search to reach the other side of a mountain. Jaeger (the father) wants to continue on the mission while Searcher (the son) wants to take a plant that generates electricity back to their home as an end to the adventure. Jaeger decides to continue the mission and leaves the party. Fast-forward 25 years and Searcher has become a farmer and responsible for pioneering the future. However the plants begin to lose their efficacy and Searcher must return to the place his father left him to find out why.

The animation quality is fantastic and the world the studio created is absolutely stunning. Overall the acting was great but I’m not a big fan of Gyllenhaal and think Searcher would have been better cast with someone else. There were two things I thought were handled wonderfully by the film. The first is that Searcher’s son has a male love interest and the film treats it as they would have if it were any other heterosexual love interest without making it obvious that it was what they were doing. The second is that the dog is missing a leg and there are characters with other disabilities like one being confined to a wheelchair. Sure the dog doesn’t have a speaking role but subtle character details like this mean a lot for those that don’t normally see themselves represented and they should have the ability to seem themselves in the characters they are watching just like everyone else.

I watched the film with my youngest and once finished asked her what she thought, she said it was “meh”. I should note that she has watched it multiple times since and really enjoys it. I thought the film was great both visually and in terms of story. I was shocked by how poorly the film did in theaters and suspect it had more to do with either blatant homophobia, racism or the fact that many people these days are under financial strain and waiting for the film to hit streaming services like Disney+.

Have you had a chance to see this film from Disney Studios?

IT IS RARE FOR ME TO SEE A MOVIE WHEN IT’S STILL IN THEATERS BUT THANKS TO DISNEY STUDIOS I WAS ABLE TO CATCH UP ON A FEW THAT I MISSED!

Recently the fine folks at Disney Studios (their home page is here) had sent me codes to several of the movies I missed so that I could share my thoughts on them with you. With Part 1 we were taking a look at the live action version of Mulan. Part 2 discussed Soul and Raya and the Last Dragon. Part 3 looked at the live action story of Cruella. Part 4 discussed Luca and Part 5 talked about Jungle Cruise. Part 6 discussed Encanto and Part 7 talked about Turning Red. We are back with Part 8 and Lightyear!

Lightyear

This film starts off with a slight disclaimer, specifically that this is the film that Andy loved when he got his own Buzz Lightyear figure and that the release of the film was in 1996. Visually the film is stunning and considering how much backlash there has been over a same sex couple I was expecting it to be a bit more in your face. The fact that there is a same sex couple is handled without any fanfare, it’s there and no one draws attention to it, like it was any other couple and this is EXACTLY how it should be. It does not affect the story in any fashion. Additionally the film tackles some big topics that may be a bit out there for kids like time paradoxes, worm holes and even loosely covers the theory of relativity. I found the film to be good and was surprised that the story was not what I was expecting in any way. My expectations were that we would see a film that would be an epic action film based in science fiction, I also expected some campiness because this is meant to be the 90’s. We instead got a film that is more progressive than any 90’s scifi film would have been and much more inclusive than they would have been either. As I said, the film was good but it fell short of the scifi epic it could have been had they expanded the scope of the film more.

Have you had a chance to see this film from Disney Studios?

IT IS RARE FOR ME TO SEE A MOVIE WHEN IT’S STILL IN THEATERS BUT THANKS TO DISNEY STUDIOS I WAS ABLE TO CATCH UP ON A FEW THAT I MISSED!

Recently the fine folks at Disney Studios (their home page is here) had sent me codes to several of the movies I missed so that I could share my thoughts on them with you. With Part 1 we were taking a look at the live action version of Mulan. Part 2 discussed Soul and Raya and the Last Dragon. Part 3 looked at the live action story of Cruella. Part 4 discussed Luca and Part 5 talked about Jungle Cruise. Part 6 discussed Encanto and we are back with Part 7 and Turning Red!

Turning Red

This film follows Mei Lee as she learns her family’s deepest secret- that the women can turn into a giant red panda and that most can’t control when it happens. The film focuses on how detrimental living a life where you try to hide away parts of yourself from those you love and that love you. The story itself centers around her and her friends and their wish to attend an upcoming concert with their favorite boy-band and she decides to use her ability as a means of making the money to do so. We went into this film expecting it to be cute and enjoyable and it more than exceeded our expectations, hitting us on a deep level we weren’t expecting it to do.

Have you had a chance to see this film from Disney Studios?