The Little Mermaid

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.

                                                                   

When it comes to Disney movies, you can’t really get much bigger than the Little Mermaid and the movies that immediately followed it – this was the movie that brought Disney back in all its colourful singing glory, the movie that kick started what was arguably Disneys’ greatest era- its impact cannot be denied, but does it live up to its reputation?

In short: absolutely. First of all, this is some of Disney’s best music – all of the Howard Ashman and Alan Menken penned tunes are of course classics and I would argue that they are the film’s greatest assets, with the musical numbers being among the most enjoyable sequences in the film.

Another stand-out aspect in this film is the villain – like many a great Disney baddie before and after, 

Ursula is just so dramatic and so revels in being evil that she is really fun to watch.

As a protagonist, Ariel is actually more than a bit controversial, but I personally really enjoy her as a character. Many argue that her entire goal revolves around Eric and that she doesn’t change or learn anything throughout the story. On that first point, Ariels’ ambition to be human is clearly established before she meets Eric, although he was the final driving factor behind her deal with Ursula later on. The second point is actually true, but really the arc that Triton goes through is enough to balance this issue out overall.

Ariel is really the first interesting Princess in the canon (it took them until 1989, but they got there eventually!). She has a far more dynamic personality than the likes of Snow White or Sleeping Beauty- she’s adventurous, she’s curious and her mistakes make her feel more real and fleshed out than them as well. The only issue with said mistakes is that, as I said, she doesn’t really learn from them, but that’s only really a minor problem with the story.

Something else notable in this movie is the step up in the animation – this is a beautiful film, with fantastic backgrounds and colours on a level not present in the canon since Sleeping Beauty.

Overall, the Little Mermaid is a wonderful film well worth its’ status as one of Disney’s greatest classics.

Ratings

Good guys: Ariel is the best Princess so far and the supporting characters are a lot of fun too, so the good guys get 8/10

Bad guys: As I said, Ursula is a fantastic villain, so the bad guys get 9/10

Animation: Visually Disney’s best film since Sleeping Beauty, the animation gets 10/10

Music: Some of Disney’s best music gets 10/10

Plot: A classic fairy-tale, but with a slightly flawed arc, the plot gets 7/10

Overall Rating: 44/50

Next Review: The Rescuers Down Under

                    

Oliver and Company

                           

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.

                                                      

In spite of some catchy songs, the flat characters, sub-standard animation and unoriginal adaptation in Oliver and Company drag it down overall.

The story is a very basic one: it’s Oliver Twist done with animals. Nothing is added to the story and, other than dog Georgette who is at least interesting to watch, none of the characters are really good enough to make the film stand out. They’re cute, but that’s all there is to any of them. Although she is only a supporting role, the most flat character in the film is Jenny, the young girl who adopts the ‘Oliver Twist’ kitten of the story and who is strikingly similar to Penny from the Rescuers. Sykes is a threatening villain, but as we learned from the Black Cauldron, a movie needs more than a good villain to function.

Oliver Twist is obviously a classic story, but nothing interesting or new is added in this version, so credit can’t really be given to the plot overall.

As for the animation isn’t terrible, but it doesn’t exactly look good, especially when compared to what Disney would produce before and after. To be fair, it does have some really good music, with the two best songs being ‘Why Should I Worry?’ and ‘Perfect Isn’t Easy’, both of which are some of the most fun songs at this point in the canon.

Ratings

Good guys: All of the leads main characters in this film are pretty flat and forgettable other than Georgette, meaning the good guys 4/10 

Bad guys: Sykes provides a credible threat to the protagonists, so the bad guys get 5/10

Animation: It’s passable, but there is nothing special here, so the animation gets 5/10 

Music: The songs of this movie are fun, so the music gets 7/10

Plot: Oliver Twist always makes for good film and television, but it’s not a particularly original adaptation, so the plot gets 5/10

Overall Rating: 26/50

Next Review: The Little Mermaid

       

Basil the Great Mouse Detective

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.

                                                            

Although the concept of ‘Sherlock Holmes with Mice’ sounds bizarre on paper, Basil the Great Mouse Detective is actually a really fun mystery with a great villain and some brilliant uses of CGI considering the time in which it was made.

Like many a Disney film before and after, its’ greatest asset is undoubtedly it’s villain, Ratigan – he is a character who just revels in being completely evil, with his swooping cape and Vincent Prices’ fantastic voice acting. Balancing him out is the very likable hero, Basil of Baker Street, who again is just a great character to watch and they play off each other brilliantly.

This sense of fun is also reflected in much of the music, in addition to the over the top story, which involves Rattigan’s plot to replace the Queen with an animatronic counterpart to declare him King.

The best sequence in the film is definitely the climax inside of Big Ben, with an aforementioned revolutionary use of CGI, thrilling music and great action.

This is one of the most underrated Disney films out there, but hopefully more people will come to appreciate it soon.

Ratings

Good guys: Basil makes for a great protagonist and there are some good supporting characters too, so the good guys get 7/10 

Bad guys: Ratigan is one of the most fun villains in the canon, so the bad guys get 9/10

Animation: The clock tower sequence was brilliant for the time in which it was made and the rest of the animation looks nice too, so overall the animation gets 7/10 

Music: There are some fun tunes, so the music gets 6/10

Plot: Although it sounds bizarre on paper, it the story works surprisingly well, so it gets 7/10

Overall Rating: 36/50

Next review: Oliver and Company

   

The Black Cauldron

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.
                                                   
                                                    

When it comes to Disney Animation, this one is a monster of a film to tackle, in spite of it's obscurity. This was the most expensive fantasy film ever made, infamously beaten in the box office by the Care Bears movie, the film that almost killed Animation at Disney, arguably their greatest shame- but is it all that bad? Sort of...

It's a frustrating one to watch, because it had the potential to be good. The dark fantasy genre could have been a great fit for animation and would have allowed Disney to go in a new and exciting direction, but in this case a paper thin plot combined with irritating and/or flat characters results in disappointment. 

It's essentially a tired retread of story done many times before- a young boy named Taran wants to be a warrior and goes on a quest to find the Black Cauldron of the title, before it can be used by the evil Horned King. The way in which the first two books of Lloyd's Alexanders' Chronicles of Prydain series were adapted results in a by the numbers fantasy film which offers no real surprises to it's viewers. 

The film also clearly suffered as a result of it's troubled production, as much of what was supposed to be impressive animation-wise was eventually scaled back and cut during Jeffery Katzenberg's infamous edits, when he became head of Animation several years into the film's production. In spite of this however, there are some nice backgrounds and the Horned King does have a pretty cool character design. 

It doesn't help, however, that none of the characters in the film are particularly interesting, or even likeable for that matter. In a 'journey' film like this, you need to like the protagonists you are spending time with. Unfortunately, in this film we're stuck with a cliche of a lead character, completely forgettable supporting characters and the most irritating 'animal' side character in the canon with...whatever Gurgi is supposed to be. 

The Horned King can be pretty menacing at points, but one decent villain is not enough to save this film. 

Ratings

Good guys: All of the leads are forgettable and Gurgi is very annoying, so the good guys get 2/10 

Bad guys: The Horned King is an ok villain, so the bad guys get 5/10

Animation: There are some nice backgrounds and a cool character design in the Horned King, meaning the animation gets 6/10 

Music: The score is nice in some places and repetitive in others, so the music gets 5/10

Plot: Like I said, it's simply a paint by numbers fantasy film, so the plot gets 4/10

Overall Rating: 22/50

The Fox and the Hound

The Fox and the Hound

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.

                                                          

This story of a doomed friendship between a Fox and a Hound was certainly a tonal shift for Disney, being far bleaker than anything that had come before it. The inevitable tragedy of the storyline gives the entire film a surprising gravitas and it is also offset by many sweeter moments earlier on in the more Disney-like beginning, meaning that these two sides generally balance each other out overall. At its core, this is a beautiful and tragic story.

In spite of this, some aspects of the plot don’t quite go as far as they need to towards the end, meaning that it doesn’t pack quite the punch it needs to for the story to function as a whole. 

On another note, there is also a bit of goofy side character filler, which doesn’t link to the plot in any way, but it’s brief enough that it doesn’t become too much of a problem.

Visually, it is also a very pretty film in places, with the animation of the climax being particularly impressive. Having said this, the animation can be a bit inconsistent, switching between harder and softer looks several times, which gets a bit distracting. The music is…tolerable for the most part- the best song by far is ‘The Best of Friends’- the rest of the music is ok, but like most of the songs of this era it’s not exactly Disney’s best work.

The Fox and the Hound is a good movie overall, even if some poor creative and story decisions let it down a little.   

Rating

Good guys: The protagonists are all likeable enough, so the good guys get 5/10

Bad guys: Amos Slade is threatening enough to be…a threat, so the bad guys get 5/10

Animation: Parts of this film are impressive, in spite of some inconsistencies, so the animation gets 7/10

Music: Best of Friends is a nice song and the rest of the music is at least tolerable, so the music gets 5/10

Plot: A beautiful and tragic story in spite of some clunky decisions, the plot gets 8/10

Overall Rating: 30/50

Next review: The Black Cauldron