The foundling raised by animals in the wilderness is an immemorial idea. A couple weeks ago I reviewed a movie about one of the most famous of these foundlings: Mowgli, raised by wolves in the jungle. Today I will review another movie, this one about another foundling of almost equal fame: Tarzan. Disney released its…
Tag: disney
Movie Review: The Jungle Book (2016)
Somewhere, at some point, someone at Disney said, “Do you know what we should do, instead of making endless sequels to classic Disney films, as if no one in the company has had an original thoughts since 1997? Remakes. Remakes of classic Disney films. In live-action.” This was a bad idea. It should not have…
Review: Cinderella
I’m tempted to begin this review the way they used to introduce famous people on TV: “My guest tonight needs no introduction …” This line has received its share of ribbing, being an introduction that declares itself pointless, but in fairness, you always need an introduction. Even for people everybody already knows about. Like Cinderella….
Review: Big Hero 6
If you really want to get the bad guy, it’s logical to conclude you need a hero. You might further conclude, especially if you’re fourteen, that you need a superhero. But to go from there to creating a superhero? For that, you need adolescent logic combined with genius-level skill. So enter, stage-right, Hiro Hamada, the…
Movie Review: Peter Pan
All children grow up, except one. And Peter Pan, eternally young in Never Land, has another sort of immortality in the real world. Everyone knows who Peter Pan is. Of all the re-tellings of Peter Pan over the years, Disney’s 1953 film may well be the most famous. A skilled artistry underlies the whole movie….
CSFF Blog Tour: Cleansing Legends
These past few days, as the blog tour has been reviewing and debating Merlin’s Blade, I have been reminded of Walt Disney’s Sword in the Stone. I don’t know what that tells you about my frame of reference, but there you have it. Merlin’s Blade and Sword in the Stone are vastly dissimilar; any exhaustive…
Review: The Fox and the Hound
The world has its natural enemies, creatures it pits against each other. Wolves and sheep. Farmer and locust. Hunter and deer. The fox and the hound. Disney’s The Fox and the Hound is called a story of friendship. It’s as much a story of enmity, and most of all a story of a confusion of…
The Evolution of Cruella de Vil
Last week, while searching for a picture of Cruella de Vil, I saw some of Disney’s early concept art for the character. I decided to take a look at it this week; pictures are fun, and so is the evolution of an idea. All these drawings are by Marc Davis. I don’t know that these…
Review: Tangled
Tangled was celebrated at its release as the fiftieth animated movie made by Disney. It’s appropriate that it should be a princess movie. Also appropriate is that it is based on a classic European fairy tale. Carrying yet another Disney torch, the writers took happy license with the fairy tale until only a few basic…