Ev'rybody wants to be a cat...- The Aristocats

20 – The Aristocats

I definitely remember seeing 1970s The Aristocats when I was a kid. I remember liking it a lot. I have to wonder then, does it still hold up? Well I can tell you I definitely don't have the same taste that I did as a kid. I found myself being bored way more often than usual. I can't say the movie is absolutely terrible, but it's definitely not even close to good.

The first character introduced is Madame Adelaide. She is the owner of a cat and her three kittens. She cares very much for her cats and really doesn't have anyone else she cares about in the world. She is also very rich and decides to write a will giving her fortune to her cats. When her cats die, her fortune will transfer over to her butler, Edgar. Madame Adelaide isn't a terrible character. She clearly cares about her cats and shows that a few times throughout the movie. She really doesn't do anything else though.

Duchess, her cat, is very sophisticated for a cat. She raises her kittens to be “aristocats” and teaches them different ways to be cultured such as painting and music. She doesn't really have too much of a personality otherwise. Her kittens, Toulouse, Marie and Berlioz also kind of suffer from a lack of personality. They each have a little quirk about them that differentiates themselves from each other but they otherwise don't do anything notable in the story. Things just sort of happen to these characters and they get bailed out of trouble by the other characters. I guess you feel a bit bad for them because they want a father figure in their life but they're so underdeveloped that it's hard to care.

Their main source of trouble is the butler, Edgar Balthazar. He is the two faced butler of Madame Adelaide who overhears that he is to receive the inheritance after the cats die. Of course, this causes him to go and kidnap the cats and try to get rid of them. This guy has got to be one of the worst villains I've ever seen in a movie. He is way too silly and stupid to be taken seriously. All of his scenes are just excuses for some slapstick humor and it really gets annoying. He reminds me a bit of Captain Hook but even he had some anger issues. Edgar is really just an idiot. Even his reasoning for doing the things he does is stupid. He knows that he is guaranteed the inheritance once the cats die but what does he think the cats are going to do with it? He would obviously have control over it and his stupid idea that the cats would outlive him is ridiculous.

The character that actually finds and helps Duchess and her kittens after they've been left out in the country is the alley cat Thomas O'Malley. He's probably the first character in this story that actually has a clear personality. Unfortunately, it's also a really annoying one, but at this point I'll take it. He's very suave and charismatic and immediately tries to hit on Duchess when he sees her. He never really crosses over into sleazy but he gets dangerously close. He gets along very well with Duchess and her family and that is actually pretty terrible. Part of why I was so bored with this movie was because there was absolutely no conflict. These are two cats from different worlds, they need to have a bit of friction before we can believe that they belong together. It's nice that he likes the kittens and they look up to him but there is just no chemistry between him and Duchess. The one little conflict comes at the end when Duchess has to choose between him and her home but he just sort of lets her go without a fight. At least he does stuff.

On top of all these boring characters they decided to fill time with even more. There are the two hound dogs, Napoleon and Lafayette, who give Edgar some grief. They don't do anything. The mouse Roquefort who is a friend to the cats and goes to get help for them when Edgar gets a hold of them, but ultimately doesn't really do anything. The two geese Amelia and Abigail who kind of help the cats get back to Paris but really weren't needed and don't do anything. And who can forget the Scat Cat and his friends who are friends with Thomas who sing a song and then proceed to not do anything.

So this movie basically doesn't have style or interesting characters like The Jungle Book. It doesn't have the compelling plot or great action like One Hundred One Dalmatians. I'm glad they had a plot at all but it was so thinly constructed and easily solved that it didn't benefit the story. There were no stakes at all. In Dalmatians you could really feel the tension in all the action scenes. This movie was just all fluff. It was kind of cute seeing the cats do things they normally wouldn't like paint or play instruments but it just seems weird in a story like this. It definitely didn't make me like the characters more. They really just kept making situations for musical sequences like The Jungle Book, except that that story had interesting characters. Not to mention the musical sequences in this movie are garbage compared to The Jungle Book. The movie just didn't feel like it really had heart. You don't care about the characters cause they haven't really gone through anything. It feels like they were trying to repeat their success with Dalmatians but with cats and ended up just making it feel like a cheap knock off. Worse yet, it's boring.

Tomorrow. More Animals.

20 down. 33 to go.

Look for the bare necessities. The simple bare necessities. - The Jungle Book

19 – The Jungle Book

From medieval Europe to the Jungle. You can't say that Disney only makes one kind of movie. In a weird way, though, 1967's The Jungle Book has a lot more in common with The Sword in the Stone that I would have thought before watching it.

The story is about a young boy named Mowgli. He was found in the jungle as a baby and was taken to a pack of wolves to be raised. Ten years later, he is forced out of the pack when it's discovered that the Bengal Tiger Shere Khan has returned to the jungle and Mowgli's presence puts them all in danger. Mowgli's character is established pretty early on. He loves the jungle he lives in and is very brave. Almost to a fault. He is constantly getting himself into trouble and his bravery doesn't help him get out of much of it. This is mostly because he is constantly trying to prove himself throughout the whole movie. I really like Mowgli. His personality is a bit different for a main character than we've seen before. He's a young kid and I think a lot of people can identify with that feeling of wanting to prove yourself when you're little and ignored.

The one who brings Mowgli to the wolves and generally looks out for him is the Black Panther Bagheera. It's clear from the beginning that he cares a great deal about Mowgli. When Mowgli is kicked out of the pack he tries to convince Mowgli to go live in the nearby human village to keep him safe. Mowgli, of course, hates the idea. Out of all the characters, Bagheera seems to be the most level headed and mature. He is always thinking practically about Mowgli and only seems to lose his cool when Mowgli is ignoring him or when Mowgli gets into trouble. He can be a bit of a stick in the mud, especially in Mowgli's opinion, but he is only thinking about what's best for him. I really liked their relationship.

Later on, Mowgli meets the Sloth Bear Baloo. Baloo shows Mowgli a new way to live life, to live without worries and just take things as they go. This, of course, is very different than Bagheera's way of thinking. Baloo and Mowgli quickly become friends and Baloo decides that he wants Mowgli to be his cub. Bagheera really doesn't want this to happen because he knows Baloo is incredibly immature. I really liked Baloo's relationship with Mowgli too. It was interesting to see the differences in how Bagheera and Baloo handled Mowgli. They both care deeply for Mowgli but have different ideas on how to do so. Baloo thinks that Mowgli doesn't need to go to the village and that he can protect him. Ultimately, Baloo would do anything to protect Mowgli, even if it's not in his own best interest.

One thing that Mowgli definitely needs protection from is the Snake Kaa. Kaa is definitely a bit of a creepy character. He has the power to hypnotize anyone who looks into his eyes. His power is really cool and seems to work on (almost) anyone. Despite that, he isn't really utilized very much. He only appears in a few scenes and tries to eat Mowgli. He is definitely an antagonist but, thankfully, not the only one. I would have liked to see him used a bit more, though.

The main antagonist of this movie is definitely Shere Khan. I really liked that we hear a lot about him before actually seeing him. Any time someone mentions his name everyone gets very scared and nervous. It really gives us a good idea of how dangerous he is before we actually see him. Unfortunately, his first scene isn't really that great. He suddenly shows up and is just eavesdropping on elephants where he overhears that Mowgli has run away. This wouldn't be such a big problem, except that Khan hates humans and immediately wants to make Mowgli his target. Again, I really wish they would have used Shere Khan more. I wanted to know why he hated humans so much. I wanted to see him get into a crazy fight with Baloo and Bagheera. None of that really happens. There's a little scrap at the end but they introduce a weakness for Shere Khan very suddenly that ends the fight a bit anti-climatically.

That really seems to be a big problem with this movie. They do so well to have great awesome characters but then they don't end up doing anything with any of them. In addition to all those characters there were even more that pop up. There are the Elephants that show up a bit. When they're introduced they help illustrate how Mowgli is being rejected by most groups in the jungle. Later on, they help by trying to send a search group after Mowgli but they don't actually show up after that. After he meets the elephants, Mowgli ends up getting kidnapped by a bunch of monkeys and ends up meeting King Louie. The scene is pretty fun with a big rescue scene but it doesn't really do much except give them an excuse for a music number. This happens again later on when we meet the Vultures whose appearance was based off The Beatles. Again, they don't do very much but give the movie another opportunity for a musical sequence.

This movie really ended up reminding me of The Sword in the Stone. Just like that movie, this one didn't really have an overarching plot to keep us invested in all the events. Mowgli basically just keeps getting himself into danger with Baloo and Bagheera saving him. On top of that, I don't think the action scenes were as exciting as One Hundred and One Dalmatians. That's a real shame to me too because I think the characters they introduced all had so much potential. If they could have focused on the relationship between Mowgli, Baloo and Bagheera and really played up the danger that Shere Khan presented them and tried to give the movie some momentum toward a goal, it really could have benefited from it. Most of the movie was just excuses for music sequences. To be fair, this movie did have some of the best music I've heard in a Disney movie. When all is said and done, however, I think this movie is at least a step above The Sword in the Stone. The characters are all interesting and unique and I think the movie just has this awesome style that I think is really cool.

Tomorrow, we step foot into the 70s.

19 down. 34 to go.

Now, look here, Wart! That's three more demerits! - The Sword in the Stone

18 – The Sword in the Stone

Disney has had a tendency so far to make a not so great movie after making a really great one. Alice in Wonderland was followed by the unfocused Peter Pan. The awesome Lady and the Tramp was followed by the absolutely awful Sleeping Beauty. So the question I had after watching One Hundred and One Dalmatians was “would Disney be able to top it next time?” The answer to that question is a resounding “not really, but it's not so bad, I guess.”

The story of the Sword in the Stone is incredibly famous. We all know about King Arthur so I was curious to see how they'd adapt that story. The first character we are introduced to is the Wizard Merlin. You get the feeling that he's a bit clumsy and he looks very old and strange. One of this movie's big themes is that looks can be deceiving. Throughout the movie you get hints at his brilliance which all culminate in a really cool Wizard's Duel. You see that he's awesome from his visions of the future and the incredible spells he can conjure up. He thinks that wisdom and education are more important than strength, another big theme in the movie.

When he meets Arthur, he decides to teach him how to use his mind to solve problems, something that Arthur has never really done before. He does this with various lessons, many of which involve turning Arthur into some kind of animal. These situations always end up getting dangerous but I really liked that Merlin let Arthur figure out how to get out of those situations himself. If he just turned Arthur back or got them out of the situation, then Arthur wouldn't learn anything and those lessons would be meaningless. The only problem I have with Merlin isn't even really a problem with Merlin. He has a talking owl called Archimedes that just steps into annoying territory a bit too often. He's very snarky and I just didn't really see much of a point in his inclusion. He only helps when Merlin turns Arthur into a bird but even then Merlin could have taught Arthur himself.

When we meet Arthur he's out hunting with Kay, his foster brother. Even without him speaking you get a good idea of who he is. He's very scrawny and looks quite weak. He's also very clumsy and definitely doesn't seem like someone who could become a hero. Again, looks can be deceiving, although we don't really get to see him really step into that hero role in this movie. We also don't get a very good idea of his own dreams or wishes since he just tends to do what his foster father and Merlin tell him to do. I really wish he would show that he was more independent near the end of the movie. He does start showing some personality as he gets smarter from Merlin's lessons but it's really only for one scene.

I think the closest things to villains in this story are Arthur's step father and brother, Sir Ector and Sir Kay. This is an interesting case because they don't mean to be trying to stop Arthur from doing great things but think they're actually looking out for him by pushing him to be stronger. They definitely don't do it because they're evil like Cinderella's step family. They're just representative of people who are ignorant about things they don't understand. Ignorance often leads to fear of things they don't understand.

The more traditional antagonist is Madam Mim. She gets introduced very late in the story, however, and only really gets a few scenes. She has a pretty creepy look and it's very clear that she hates Merlin for some reason. She tries to kill Arthur for being Merlin's student but fails when Merlin comes to the rescue. I thought that this was a bit of a missed opportunity. I would have liked for that scene to have been longer and give Arthur a chance, as a bird, to outsmart Mim a bit and show what he's learned. They do that a bit but Merlin comes to the rescue way too quickly.After this Mim challenged Merlin to a Wizard's Duel which I think was one of the most interesting scenes in the movie. We really get to see what Merlin can do against the cheating Mim. Mim sets up the rules and then proceeds to break each one while Merlin sticks to the rules and outsmarts Mim at every turn.

So I have to make a special note about the animation quality of this movie. I really liked the style they've developed since Sleeping Beauty. The facial expressions of this movie, in particular, were really great. This movie definitely leans on more humor than One Hundred and One Dalmatians. That's fine, of course, some movies need more humor. The action that was there, however, didn't really feel as tense as Dalmatians. The end was also a bit of a disappointment for me. It was a nice moment when Arthur pulls the sword from the stone but it doesn't really feel like a culmination of all the knowledge he gained. He just sort of lucks into pulling it out. Overall, The Sword in the Stone is a fun movie if a little less deep or gripping as some of the others.

From medieval Europe to deep in the jungle...

18 down. 35 to go.

If she doesn't scare you, no evil thing will - One Hundred and One Dalmatians

17 – One Hundred and One Dalmatians

With Sleeping Beauty almost killing Disney Animation Studios, I was curious to see the work that apparently saved the whole company. I definitely saw this one as a kid and I know I liked it then. As always, I was curious how it stood up now and if I would feel the same way about it. The story begins with a dalmatian and his “pet” tired of life as bachelors but it turns into so much more by the end.

The dalmatian, Pongo, starts the story with some narration. With it, we learn that Pongo lives with his “pet” Roger Radcliffe and that he is bored with their life as bachelors. He decides that he is going to find Roger a mate. This scene is really great. We get a good idea of who Roger is and really get to know Pongo. We know that they have a bit of an unorganized life with how messy the room looks. We also know that Pongo cares a lot about Roger and wants to find a way to make him feel happier. Roger is trying to become a songwriter but he writes about love which Pongo thinks he can't if he's not. There's a really funny scene where Pongo tries to spot a good mate for Roger and keeps seeing unfit ladies who look a lot like their pets. He finally sees a beautiful woman and her own dalmatian and knows immediately that she's the right one.

Pongo then makes Roger take him to the park to try to get Roger and Anita, the woman, to meet. He also meets Perdita, Anita's dalmatian. This scene was just really cute. You get the sense that Anita and Perdita are a bit more serious than Roger and Pongo. I appreciated the little looks of curiosity that Perdita gives to Pongo. Pongo knows Roger won't do anything so he forces Anita and Roger to meet which ends up with them falling in a pond. Every scene makes us understand the characters a little more. Anita is initially very angry but warms up to Roger and they share a laugh. They have a really great chemistry here. Something you could definitely not say about Aurora and Prince Phillip in Sleeping Beauty.

The story jumps to Roger and Anita's marriage. Even with this jump in time, I don't think we missed much. I don't need any details on how the two get along because the brilliant scene before perfectly spelled it out. A good scene can tell you everything you need to know sometimes. They move in together and get a nanny. The nanny was an interesting case. She didn't get a lot of screen time but she was really well done. You can tell she really cares about Roger, Anita, Pongo, Perdita and later, the puppies. We also get to see how Roger and Anita act when they're together. They're very playful and still have that great chemistry from before.

Pongo and Perdita are perfect reflections of Roger and Anita. They have a really similar relationship in the movie. Perdita is much more serious than Pongo but they still get along really well. Perdita is also going to have puppies so the story is moving along really quickly. I really liked the scene where Roger and Pongo wait for the puppies. It runs every emotion from tense, to happy, to surprised, to sad and then back to hopeful. After the puppies are born, Perdita finally gets to show some more personality. You can tell she's a really great mother. Incredibly protective and a definitely more serious than Pongo.

The puppies themselves get really great personalities as well. I was really surprised by this because I didn't expect it. Only a few of them actually get personalities but the movie is only so long to focus on 15 puppies. Their personalities aren't just for show either. Their little quirks and behaviors end up playing roles in the story later on. It's also really sweet to see how much they love and look up to their dad when they compare Pongo to the action hero dog on the TV. It seems like all would be well, if it wasn't for Cruella De Vil.

Before she actually appears, there's a great scene where Roger puts words to a song he's been writing about her. You get a good idea of what Anita and Roger think of her before she even appears. When she does appear, you immediately know that she's bad news. Visually, she is probably the craziest looking villain Disney has had. Everything she does just oozes creepiness. She trails a gross green smoke around her while she smokes and drives a really evil looking car. She seems to have a crazy obsession with the puppies that hadn't even been born yet and that's just immediately off putting. Perdita even has a bad feeling about her, wishing that she wasn't going to have puppies because of how scared she was Cruella would do something. After the puppies are born she tries to buy them but Roger and Anita refuse. She swears she's going to get them back for rejecting her offer.

Part of that revenge is hiring Horace and Jasper Badun, the other two villains of the movie. Cruella hires them to kidnap the puppies from their home. They are definitely less scary than Cruella. They have more slapstick and funny moments. They have to genuinely scary moments, however, when they barge into the house to kidnap the puppies and later when they're discussing how they're going to kill them. They are definitely effective villains. I don't feel like they're too incompetent. They are definitely a real danger.

With no way of finding the puppies, Pongo and Perdita decide to use the twilight bark, a method to convey messages over long distances to try to find their puppies. Here, we get to meet a bunch of really great characters. They're all pretty funny but the really great thing is that they all genuinely want to help Pongo and Perdita and go out of their way to keep the message going. I can't mention them all but some really stood out to me. First off, there was the team of the Captain, a horse, Sergeant Tibbs, a cat, and Colonel, a sheepdog. They were the ones who discover the location of the missing puppies, which they discover has grown from 15 to 99 adding all the other puppies that Horace and Jasper kidnapped. Sergeant Tibbs is especially awesome. He's the one who sneaks into the house and finds the puppies and later helps them escape. It's refreshing to see a cat in a purely good role in a Disney movie.

Later, Pongo and Perdita meet a Collie who gives them, and their now 99 puppies, shelter from a snow storm and milk from cows. Later on, there's a great Labrador who helps them find a ride home and helps them execute a plan to safely get them past Cruella, Horace and Jasper. Even though these characters didn't get a great deal of screen time, I felt like they were really used well. You could really tell they wanted to help Pongo, Perdita and the puppies. I think it also helps that we know how difficult the journey was for the characters so any character that is willing to help is automatically a character we can like.

And there are definitely really hard times for the characters. It's crazy to see Pongo and Perdita running through the country in a snowstorm to try to find their puppies. You really want them to succeed but you wonder how exactly they're going to get back, especially now that you know there are 99 of them. When they finally get there, Sergeant Tibbs is helping the puppies escape and it's actually really tense. There's a great change in color when Pongo and Perdita come in to save their puppies from Horace and Jasper. The scene where they try to sneak onto the van that the Labrador has shown them is really tense. You have them trying to sneak by three villains all while their ride is getting dangerously close to moving on without them. This is immediately followed by an awesome chase scene that caps it all up nicely.

So I can't say this movie really surprised me. I knew I 'd liked it as a kid. It's just really great to see Disney making a story about characters again. This story really nails the action part as well though. With each movie, I feel like every good step is a step toward the modern movies I'm more familiar with. Overall, the movie really impressed me. I feel like we're back to the quality they had ten years before.

17 down. 36 to go.

Oh, they're hopeless. A disgrace to the forces of evil - Sleeping Beauty

16 – Sleeping Beauty

I don't get it. How did Disney do it? How did they take something like this and do what they did to it? How could 1959's Sleeping Beauty just end up so bad? This was only four years after the awesome Lady and the Tramp. They had 9 years to improve on the similar but great Cinderella. I didn't expect too much out of this movie, but wow was it not up to par with what they've done.

The story begins just like Snow White and Cinderella before it, with a storybook opening up and some narration. The beginning of the movie basically sets up the story. They talk about the world and the princess being born. They show you the celebration they have for the princess and introduce the three fairies, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather. They bestow the gifts of beauty and song to the young princess Aurora but before Merryweather is able to give her blessing, Maleficent, the evil fairy, appears. She makes a really great entrance too. You can tell everyone is scared of her. She is then told that she is unwanted there and curses Aurora to prick her finger on a spinning wheel before the end of her sixteenth birthday that will cause her to die. After Maleficent leaves, Merryweather uses her gift to reduce the curse so she only falls into a coma. They then get the idea to take Aurora away and hide from Maleficent until she is sixteen.

Maleficent herself is a really great villain. She would be pretty scary for kids, I'd imagine. Every time she's on screen you can see how everyone and everything is scared of her and how menacing and creepy she is. She always surrounds herself with dark creatures in dark places. The only complaint I'd have is that she doesn't seem to have as solid a reason for being so evil as some of the other villains in past movies. The evil queen in Snow White wanted to be the most beautiful. Captain Hook wanted to kill Peter Pan for taking his hand and giving it to a crocodile. Maleficent doesn't seem to have a clear reason. I don't think not being invited to a party is enough for her to want to kill Aurora.

The fairies who volunteer to protect Aurora are a different story. They get by far the most screen time in the whole movie. Despite that, I don't really get a good sense of who they are. We see that they have different personalities and bicker but I don't know why they want to protect Aurora so much. They're mostly used for humor or to advance the plot. They really should have given them some actual personality by giving them reasons for wanting to help so much. Later, it would make sense since they've spent so much time raising Aurora, but they don't give any reason in the beginning.

After the fairies take Aurora there's a time jump to sixteen years later. The fairies have somehow spent sixteen years without using magic that would tip Maleficent off to their location. It's kind of unbelievable to me that they could considering they have a huge problem making a dress and baking a cake for Aurora's birthday. In any case, I'll let that slide considering that it's really just meant to be funny. This leads to the fairies deciding to use magic to finish making the dress and cake. This was so stupid to me. They're so close to being home free from Maleficent's prophecy and they go and do that. What happens next is even worse. Flora and Merryweather get into an argument about what color the dress should be and start shooting magic at each other. This, of course, gets noticed by Maleficent's Raven who informs Maleficent. While all of this is going on, Aurora is finally shown grown up and she barely gets any characterization. She meets the prince, they fall in love and agree to meet at the cottage later that night. I'd expand on that but that is literally all that really happens.

Aurora is just a really boring princess. She gets so little screen time that she does not feel like the main character. All we know about her is that she wants to meet a guy. When she finally does she immediately gets way too attached for two people that just met. This is different than Cinderella, though. With Cinderella, I didn't mind that she fell for the prince so quickly. We knew that she had a hard life we were able to spend time getting to know and like her. We want Cinderella to win so it doesn't matter that she just met the prince. Aurora has no personality though. We don't get to like her. If anything, you might dislike her for spending all of her screen time wishing she could meet someone.

As for the person she meets, Prince Phillip, he barely gets any more personality than her. He shows a tiny bit of one when he decides to go into the woods looking for the beautiful singing voice he hears. He really is just a cookie cutter handsome prince with no unique qualities. It's a bit nice that he would pick a peasant girl over a princess but it really isn't enough to like him or be interested in him.

Once Aurora gets home, the fairies tell her who she is. This is around when I went from being disappointed in the movie to downright annoyed. Aurora is immediately heartbroken that she can't meet the guy she met in the woods at the cottage later that night because they're leaving for the castle that day. You know, a perfectly natural reaction for being told that you're a princess and the three old ladies that have been taking care of you all your life are actually fairies. At this point, I'm just in disbelief that they could make Aurora such a terrible character.

After this Prince Phillip tells his father that he met a peasant girl he's going to marry. This, of course, gets the king quite worried. Finally we're getting some real conflict out of this story. Or at least we would if it wasn't so poorly done. Any tension this situation would have is completely gone. We know that the Prince and Aurora are the ones who are supposed to get married. We know that the King is worrying for no reason. There was an actual fear in Cinderella that she might not end up with the prince. Her evil step family kept her locked in a room to avoid giving her a chance to try on the glass slipper. That scene was tense because there's the possibility that she misses her chance. Sleeping Beauty just uses this to fill in some time.

We, thankfully, get another scene with Maleficent where she leads Aurora to a spinning wheel and pricks her finger. This scene is actually really well done. Maleficent is definitely creepy and it's tense while Aurora gets slowly closer and closer to the spinning wheel all while the three fairies are frantically flying up to find her. Of course, after this we get another stupid scene from the fairies. They decide to put the whole kingdom to sleep, I guess to avoid there being a riot that the newly returned princess is in a coma.

The fairies then figure out that Aurora is the peasant girl that the Prince fell in love with. All I have to say to this is, who cares?? They know they need someone to kiss Aurora. They shouldn't care who does it. They should be thinking that there's a guy that Aurora fell in love with back at the cottage that same night. It doesn't matter that it's the Prince at all. Maleficent doesn't miss a beat and goes to find him at the cottage and locks him away. The fairies finally get to the cottage and realize that he was captured and go out to save him.

When they do rescue him they give him the absolutely ridiculous “Shield of Virtue” and “Sword of Truth.” I'd like to mention that these random weapons were never mentioned once before. They then give him the ominous warning that he will have many more trials and he'll have to face them alone. Except he won't because the fairies will protect anything the enemies throw at him with their magic. I really don't get the sense that Prince Phillip would stand any chance if he didn't have the fairies fighting his fight for him. After getting through all his “trials” way too easily, he finally fights Maleficent herself in dragon form. This scene is actually pretty cool. The fairies can't really help and Maleficent actually seems dangerous to them. He finally throws the magic sword at Maleficent and defeats her. Happy ending. But do you really care?

So what the hell happened? There really is no excuse for Disney to make such a thoughtless piece of garbage after they did Cinderella a thousand times better. Maybe it was the source material? Maybe Sleeping Beauty just isn't as interesting as Cinderella? That could be the case but I don't buy it. Disney are no stranger to deviating from source material. They could have easily made Aurora and the Prince more likeable characters. After reading some reactions to the movie in it's time, it's clear I'm not alone in my opinion of it.

This movie nearly killed Disney's animation department. Luckily, the next one (hundred and one) saved it.

16 down. 37 to go.

Hooray for widescreen - Lady and The Tramp

15 – Lady and the Tramp

Disney really got their act together with this one. While Peter Pan was a bit of an unfocussed mess for me, Lady and the Tramp really used the time it had well. Peter Pan had trouble focusing on any specific theme or character but this story really knows what it's trying to say. It's a simple story of two very different dogs that meet, bond and learn from each other. Also there's romantic spaghetti.

The key to any love story is how much you like the characters. If you don't like them, or even one of them, you really don't care if they end up together or not. You also don't want two characters that are so alike that they won't have any conflict. That's just boring. You want two characters that are different so they can learn from each other and find out things that they didn't know before. If this movie did anything right, it was making sure that Lady and the Tramp were both well developed and very different from each other.

The first chunk of the movie is actually dedicated to Lady. We get to see her as a puppy and we immediately know what kind of character she is. We know she hates to be alone when she cries after being locked away in the laundry room. Later, we see how protective she is when she chases a rat away. A bit later, we see how protective she is of the new baby her owners have. We get to see the environment that she grows up in. I think that's really important for a story like this. Since we know where she came from and how she was raised, with loving owners in a beautiful house, it's a good contrast to when we meet the Tramp living out in a train yard alone.

The first scene with the Tramp is really great too. We get a great contrast from Lady sleeping by a fire to the Tramp waking up in his train yard. We know immediately that they live in completely different worlds. They spend another little chunk letting us get to know him as well. We see that he's a kind when he sees puppies in a pet store window. When he saves his friends from the dog catcher we know that he's brave and adventurous. We see how resourceful he is when he goes to get food from the Italian restaurant. Immediately, I like these two characters. I want them to overcome the obstacles they face. That would have been all they really needed to do but they really impressed me with the side characters as well.

Lady's friends, Jock and Trusty, were way more developed than I anticipated. They popped up quite a bit more than I expected. You really get a sense that they care about Lady throughout the movie. You really see how protective they are and I like that Disney did that. They tend to get main characters right most of the time but side characters are usually relegated to being pure comedic relief. These two were funny but they were also used to simply emphasize how great Lady was.

Tramp's friends on the other hand were a bit less developed. They didn't show up nearly as much, which is fine because there's only so much time they have in a movie. They were really only used twice. Once to show that Tramp is brave and wants to look out for his fellow dog. That's the scene I mentioned before. Later they show up at the pound and tell Lady that Tramp is a bit of a ladies man. They're important scenes and I can't fault them too much when they did so well on the other characters. They were exactly what they needed to be.

I also have to mention Lady's owners. I really liked the beginning of the movie when Lady wins Jim Dear over. At first, he wants her to sleep alone in the laundry room but her continuous attempts to let her sleep with them finally breaks him down. This really showed me how kind they both were as owners and just how persistent Lady could be. It's also great to me that they were called Jim Dear and Darling. That's just a great little nod to what a dog might think a human's name might be by what they call each other.

This movie didn't really have a villain but the closest it had to one was definitely Aunt Sarah and her cats. Aunt Sarah was just horrible. Being a villain, I suppose that's a good thing. It was really great contrast when Lady's awesome owners leave and we're left with this devil woman. She really treats Lady poorly and is a catalyst for a lot of the events in the movie. Her cats, on the other hand, don't really do too much. They show up and act creepy for a bit, sing a song and cause a bit of a ruckus but they ultimately don't do too much. They're also vaguely racist against Asians but it's not nearly as bad as the Indians in Peter Pan. Out of all the things in this movie, I think they were kind of unnecessary and a bit of a waste of time.

The story itself didn't really have any crazy themes or set pieces but the story was simple and very focused on it's characters. I think that was the right choice for this kind of movie. The beginning of the movie sets up the story really well. We meet Lady and the Tramp separately and see how they live their normal lives. The beginning also sets things up for later. We see how important a collar and license is to a dog. We see the fear the dogs have for the pound. After Jim Dear and Darling have a baby, we see that Lady feels a specific desire to protect him. We also see this creepy looking rat that ends up being a bit more important than I thought.

What I would consider Act 2 goes into how Lady and the Tramp interact together. The movie honestly wasn't as overly sappy or romantic as I thought it would be. That's definitely a good thing. I felt like their relationship was handled surprisingly realistically. Lady ends up having a muzzle put on her by the awful Aunt Sarah. This leads to her running away and meeting the Tramp. They had met before but this is where they really get to know each other. Tramp gets to show off a bit, showing how resourceful and smart he is by sneaking themselves in a zoo and getting a beaver to take get her muzzle off. The scenes slowly get more romantic and this is where we get the famous spaghetti scene. Overall, it was really well done. I feel like they had a chance to bond. I also really liked the crazy Italian restaurant owner and cook. Finally, Tramp gets them into a bit of trouble that ends up getting Lady sent to the pound. Here, she learns that the Tramp has a bit of a reputation and that there have been many girls like Lady in his life before.

The end of the movie deals with the Tramp having to prove himself a bit. Lady is clearly angry with him. The Tramp can't seem to say anything to convince her to change her mind. A bit later, the rat from before appears. Since Lady is tied to the dog house she can't scare it off and it gets inside the house to the baby's room. Tramp shows up and goes in to protect the baby for her and gets in a big fight with the rat. He manages to kill the rat but the crazy aunt thinks he and Lady went in to hurt the baby. She calls the pound to get him sent away. Luckily, Lady's owners appear and realize that Lady would never try to hurt their baby. They see the dead rat and immediately go to save the Tramp. Lady's awesome friends also realize this and go to chase down the dog catcher. The whole ending sequence is really great. It's not the most exciting sequence in Disney but it was well thought out. I really liked that the Tramp didn't hesitate to go in to protect the baby.

Overall, I thought the movie was really great. It was way better thought out than Peter Pan. The side characters were more developed than I expected. They spent the perfect amount of time on the two leads. If I have any complaints, It would be that maybe those cats weren't needed. They also could have spent a bit more time building their relationship. I understood why Lady loved the Tramp. He was brave and exciting. I just didn't know why the Tramp liked Lady. She never really showed why she was different than all the other girls to the Tramp. That's not to say she wasn't a great character. She just didn't seem to have any defining scenes while in the presence of the Tramp. The story itself isn't the most ambitious either, but I think the quality of the characters made up for it. It was a simple idea, executed really well. All that really matters is that we like the characters. And I definitely liked them.

Now, I'm off to sleep...

15 down. 38 to go.

You can fly! x10 - Peter Pan

14 – Peter Pan

Just like that, I'm two weeks in. Today is the 1953 classic Peter Pan. Before this, I'd say I was pretty familiar with Peter Pan and the concept of his story. I don't know if I saw the movie when I was a kid but it seems like something I would have enjoyed. Today, it's a bit more complicated than that.

Starting with what I liked, I think the concept of the story is fantastic. The idea that there are kids who never want to grow up and look to this hero is really great. The animation was spot on. The music was good, though not as good as I think some of the other Disney movies I've reviewed. The thing I think this movie really nailed, though, was it's “magical” feeling. I'll admit that Alice in Wonderland seemed to lack a bit of that classic Disney magic. I think this story really captures that idea that doing relatively ordinary things can really take you to wonderful places. In Cinderella and a bunch of other Disney movies, that involved having a dream and never giving it up. This movie had the simple idea of having happy thoughts and a bit of pixie dust letting you fly. I really like those simple ideas.

As for the characters, I think that was a bit hit or miss. Wendy was a really good character. I really feel like the story is about her, despite it being called Peter Pan. She gets, by far, the most development and personality in the story. I really liked that they used her to explore the messages the movie was trying to convey. She really goes through many changes in the movie, much like Alice did in the last movie. The only problem I had was that she didn't get the focus that Alice did. The story switches between the crazy amount of characters instead of focusing on her story.

One of these characters was Peter himself. Now, that's not to say that I didn't like Peter. I think he's a fantastic character and really entertaining but he doesn't get nearly the same care as Wendy did. I had a hard time understanding his reasoning for things. I got that he didn't want to grow up but they barely talked at all about why he thought that. I don't think they used his time on screen terribly though. All of his scenes show how brave and charismatic he is. If there's one thing that was clear, it was that I knew why so many of the characters look up to him and want to be around him.

As for a character that I think didn't use his screen time very well, I'd say that was Captain Hook. The movie spent way too much time with him. He seems very incompetent from the moment we meet him. This kind of makes it clear that Peter won't lose to him. It's fine to make him a bit of a funny character but if there's no feeling that he could win against Peter, then his final confrontation won't really have any weight. Unfortunately, that's exactly what happened. They really should have tried to make him a bit more menacing and dangerous. He just seemed like an idiot with a bad temper. I suppose this makes Peter look good compared to him but I think Peter would have looked even better making a fool of someone who is actually a threat.

The story itself was ok. Aside from the absurdly racist (by today's standards) Indian scenes, I think the story would stand up pretty well today. It did not have the focus of the last two movies. The pacing was alright but I can't really say that all the scenes helped make the world more interesting or make the characters more interesting. I really did like the message though. It really explored the idea of kids having to grow up or stay kids. Wendy is at the age where kids have to start thinking about being an adult and I think that's something most people can relate to. I also don't think the movie clearly states what they think is right which I think is also good. The answer isn't quite as simple as having a dream and sticking to it.

Despite all the complaints, I definitely didn't hate this movie. I think I'm just a bit disappointed that they couldn't really find a focus for it and stick to it. If it was me, I would have focused much more on Wendy, making sure Peter has a real personality and making sure that Captain Hook is actually dangerous. I really liked the message they were trying to explore but I really think it could have been explored more. This may be a kid's movie but I think messages like this have been explored much more deeply before. Just take a look at Pinocchio that went into those kinds of issues much more.

14 down. 39 to go.