Fantasia

DISCLAIMER: This blog is not for profit . I do not claim ownership of this material- all images and footage used are property of their respective companies unless stated otherwise.

I’ll admit I had been dreading this one a bit. It’s just so unique, that it is actually quite challenging to review- it doesn’t play by regular movie rules. But there are still some things to be said about both the good (and not so good) parts of Fantasia.

First of all, it should be praised for taking such a different concept and actually pulling it off. Overall, it is able to balance both its more abstract and narrative based scenes and it pulls both off very well.  

Obviously, the music is spectacular, with the soundtrack being made up of various iconic composers. 

The music and the animation also correlate nicely. The scenes depicted in each segment match the mood of each piece extraordinarily well. Certain specific moments also match up perfectly to the music, which is very satisfying to watch. The best way to put it is ‘well-choreographed’.

Now for the animation. Much of the film looks beautiful, particularly the Nutcracker, Night on Bald Mountain and Ave Maria segments. They all look wonderful, but there is nothing spectacular is done with the animation in any of the other segments-they look nice, but that is about it.

In terms of characters, there isn’t really much to say- many of the segments don’t really have defined characters, as there is more of a focus on the animation and the music. The only two characters who really stand out are Chernabog in Night on Bald Mountain, who manages to be one of the best Disney villains in the canon through his character design alone and obviously Mickey Mouse in the Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

Overall, Fantasia should be admired simply for the fact that is able to pull off such a bold idea and as a film it does work pretty well.

Rating

Good Guys: Obviously, Mickey Mouse is an iconic and very likeable character, but there are no other interesting good guys thrown into the mix, resulting in a score of 7/10

Bad Guys: Chernabog has a really cool design and is very intimidating despite not really doing much, giving the villain score an 8/10

Animation: Whilst the three segments I mentioned are wonderful in terms of animation, there is not really much to the rest of it, putting the animation score at a 6/10

Music: The music is obviously amazing and matches up to the animation very well, meaning that it gets a 10/10

Plot: Whilst there isn’t really a plot to the film, there are some interesting narratives within each segment and overall the structure works very well, giving the plot an 8/10

Overall Score: 39/50

Next up: Dumbo

Pinocchio

DISCLAIMER: This blog is not for profit.I do not claim ownership of this material- 
- all images and footage used are property of their respective companies unless stated otherwise.

Much like my current opinion on Snow White, my view on Pinocchio had previously been mixed. When I had watched it in the past, I had somewhat enjoyed the film, but had found the story too episodic in its structure. To be fair, this is mostly due to the fact that the original story of Pinocchio was told in a serial form. Generally, I am still personally not a big fan of that type of storytelling. But I feel as if  I have gained a greater appreciation for Pinocchio over the years, for several reasons.

First of all, the animation looks beautiful, especially when compared to Snow White, which came out just a few years earlier. In addition to the much of it looking lovely and moving wonderfully, there are incredible advances in animation present here. Examples of this include the types of shots used and effects during the underwater scenes, so it should be respected for that. 

The music is also great- obviously, When You Wish Upon a Star is iconic and with good reason. Give a Little Whistle and I’ve Got No Strings are also a lot of fun and An Actor’s Life for Me has a pretty catchy tune.

The movie also deserves props for daring to be one of the darkest films in the canon. Seriously, that whole thing with the Donkeys is messed up. This is also made worse by the fact that none of the villains get their comeuppance, but that just reflects reality. In real life, the bad guys are not always caught and this film is simply a rare example that demonstrates that. In addition, the Villains are all in equal parts enjoyable and terrifying, just as they should be.

In terms of the main characters, I enjoy Jiminy Cricket’s character immensely, even if he does feel a bit dated. As for the protagonist, on the one hand Pinocchio is quite a frustrating to watch at times. He is naïve enough to make the same mistakes over and over and over again, which can began to feel quite repetitive. In fact, it is quite funny towards the end of the film when Gepetto speaks of the (missing) puppet saying : “He was such a good boy”. No he wasn’t- he literally spent the entire running time doing the exact opposite of what he should be doing, which is how you got in this mess in the first place!. ‘This mess’ being the whole ‘swallowed by a whale’ thing.

On the other hand, he is also naïve enough to remain very likable throughout all of this, as he comes across as well meaning, even if he does continuously mess up.  

Overall, Pinocchio is an entertaining film with brilliant animation, iconic songs and fairly likable characters, even if the story structure may not be for everybody.

Rating

Good Guys: Pinocchio is well meaning but frustrating to watch and Jiminy is a great sidekick, even if his personality does feel a little too Forties. I also like the side characters of Cleo, Figaro and Geppetto, so the characters get a 7/10

Bad Guys: As I previously said, the film’s various Villains have perfect amounts of entertainment value and scare factor, so they get a 9/10

Animation: As beautiful as it is technically impressive, the animation gets this blog’s first 10/10

Music: Some iconic songs put together with some catchy tunes give the music a 8/10

Plot: The plot can be a little too episodic at times, but the individual segments are still entertaining, so the plot gets a 6/10

Overall Rating: 40/50

Next up: Fantasia

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

DISCLAIMER: This blog is not for profit.I do not claim ownership of this material- 
- all images and footage used are property of their respective companies unless stated otherwise.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. On the one hand, it should be respected as a seminal piece of cinema history. Many elements of it are fantastic, especially considering how old it is and the fact that this was Disney’s first animated film. On the other hand, some aspects of it are pretty blah, especially considering what Disney was able to do in the following decades. 

Both the lead characters are as flat as the paper they were drawn on by modern standards. When it comes to Disney Princesses, Snow White is the blandest of them all and the Prince started a long tradition of Disney Princes who have no personality whatsoever.

On the other hand, the other characters in the film are wonderfully done. In fact, the Evil Queen is one of the most menacing villains in the canon. The Dwarves are also a lot of fun, as they have great character designs and very entertaining personalities.

Something else commendable about the film is the sheer artistry behind it. As most of you will know, this was the first fully animated feature length film made in colour, so it must have seemed incredible at the time. It also looks great nowadays, as the colours are very pretty and many of the backgrounds look beautiful.

As for the music, the film has some timeless classics (Someday My Prince Will Come, Heigh Ho, Whistle While You Work), some songs that are ok and slightly remembered (I’m Wishing) and some that are very dated (The Washing Song). In addition, as not much new is added to the story, a lot of scenes are simply filler- sometimes it works. But sometimes scenes such as the aforementioned Washing Song just feel like a waste of time.  

Overall, Snow White is a fairly entertaining film even outside of its significance to cinema history and even if it is a little dated. 

Rating

Good Guys: As I said, Snow White and the Prince are very bland, but the Dwarves bring this up to an 6/10

Bad Guys: I love the Evil Queen’s character design in both her forms and overall she is very menacing, so I am giving her an 8/10

Animation: It would have seemed incredible at the time and still looks nice today, so the animation gets an 7/10

Music: Most of the songs are classics, with a few very dated exceptions, so the music gets an 7/10

Plot: It’s the classic fairy tale we all know and love, but with some filler thrown in there too- it gets 7/10

Overall Rating: 35/50

Next up: Pinocchio

Introduction: A whole new blog...

DISCLAIMER: This blog is not for profit.I do not claim ownership of this material- 
- all images and footage used are property of their respective companies unless stated otherwise.

Hi. In the highly likely event that you have no idea who I am (or why I am saying hello to you right now), this is the start of my brand new blogging project. I bet you didn't even know I had blogs other than this one- well now you do.

On my other two blogs (http://booksandstuffreviews.blogspot.co.uk/  and http://carathemovienerd.blogspot.co.uk/) , I review movies and books respectivley. I especially enjoy reviewing films, but I don't actually get the opportunity to go to the cinema that often. I do however, have a rather large collection of  Disney DVDs, as I am a massive Disney fan. I was planning on watching all of them over the next few months. Might as well get something productive out of it, right?

So I will be using this blog to review all of the films in the Disney Animated Canon (that I actually  own). If you are interested in knowing my opinions on Disney Animated Classics from Snow White to Zootopia/Zootropolis (you're probably not), then this is the blog for you!

And yes, I am aware that this type of blog/general thing has been undertaken by a lot of other people, from the Nostalgia Critic to the Unshaved Mouse, but I wanted to put my own opinions out there. I will also be ranking the films in a similar manner to the Unshaved Mouse, as it just feels better to have an end result to all of this.

If you choose to stay from this point, I hope you enjoy the reviews ahead!