Half Assed Review For A Half Assed Movie - Brother Bear

44 – Brother Bear

The 44^th Disney Classic I'll be reviewing is 2003's Brother Bear. The story is about a bratty kis named Kenai who basically ends up getting his older brother, Sitka, killed. Kenai decides to take revenge against a bear that vaguely had to do with those events instead of reflecting that this whole mess was his fault to begin with. His other older brother, Denahi, warns him that doing so would just upset the spirits. Kenai ignores him and goes to kill the bear anyway which, lo and behold, makes the spirits turn him into a bear to teach him a lesson. Denahi finds bear-Kenai and thinks he killed him so he decides to chase him down and get revenge, just like how he told Kenai not to earlier. Kenai meets a young bear cub named Koda and they have to escape Denahi and find a way to turn back into a human.

Kenai, our annoying main character, spends more than half the movie being a stubborn and unlikeable douche. He hates bears and is basically every other cock Disney hero but with absolutely none of the redeeming qualities. He finally learns his lesson after a touching, no wait, really forced montage. I really didn't but it. His older brother Sitka was very wise and kind and basically the standard wise older character we've seen before. I did like that he was willing to sacrifice his life for his brothers but he isn't around long enough for us to get to know him. Dehani is just there for plot and gives Kenai a ton of crap. When he finally shows that he's wise too, he immediately forgets that wisdom and goes after bear-Kenai.

Koda is a young cub who is separated from his mother early on. He wants to get to the Salmon Run which happens to be right by the mountain that Kenai needs to get to. They bond and he, eventually, helps Kenai learn the error of his ways. Also, the bear Kenai killed earlier was his mother but it's ok, he gets over it. Rutt and Tuke are just two really annoying moose comic relief characters. Tanana is a shaman that is basically there just to tell Kenai that Act 3 is gonna be at some mountain and serves no other purpose.

So it's pretty clear already that I did not like this movie, but there were some good things. The animation is great as usual. They had a cool idea in switching aspect ratios and color style from realistic to colorful when Kenai becomes a bear. The idea isn't really that well done but at least it was a good idea. The score of the movie is perfectly serviceable and Phil Collins music was ok, if misplaced.

As for things I didn't like, I'll try to keep this short. This movie feels so absurdly manufactured it's crazy. Every scene is so blatantly obvious about what they're trying to say that it doesn't tell the story in an interesting way. It's downright condescending when they think they have to spell out every single message they're trying to make because they think their audience won't understand. “Funny” scenes are scattered methodically to make sure the kids don't get bored. There are some downright horrendous music with equally idiotic montages. The relationship between Kenai and Koda is central to the movie but Kenai is so absurdly unlikeable that his transformation just feels forced and unrealistic. This all adds up to a movie that feels fake and heartless.

So I really didn't like this one. It sucks too because Disney has dealt with themes like seeing life from another perspective already and they've done it more gracefully and with more heart. They really half assed this movie, plain and simple. It just feels like a desperate attempt to recapture what they had during the renaissance.

44 down. 9 to go.

Didn't Your Pap Ever Teach You To Pick Your Fights A Bit More Carefully? - Treasure Planet

43 – Treasure Planet

Today's story is yet another story based off a famous novel. 2002's Treasure Planet, based on “Treasure Island” by Robert Louis Stevenson, is a story about a young rebellious boy named Jim Hawkins who finds a treasure map that leads to the fabled Treasure Planet. This planet contains all the treasures plundered by the famous Captain Flint. He decides to make up to his mother for his rebellious actions by venturing off to find the treasure so he can rebuild their Inn that was destroyed by pirates trying to find the treasure map. The journey is funded by Dr. Delbert Doppler, their friend. On the ship they meet Captain Amelia and her first mate Mr. Arrow. Also on the ship are the rest of the crew and John Silver, the cook, who may have some hidden intentions. Silver is actually planning a mutiny and wants the treasure for himself. He gets close to Jim to find the map but finds himself actually starting to care about him. Jim has to find the treasure while Silver struggles with his lifelong goal of finding the treasure and his new found friendship with Jim.

Jim comes off as a bit of a brat at first. He is very adventurous and rebellious and gets in trouble a lot. This all stems from when his father left their family when he was young. I really didn't like him at all at first. His mother tries very hard to raise him correctly but can't seem to control him or figure out how to help him. When Jim gets the opportunity to set things right, he decides to take it. He really goes through a ton of change on the journey. He learns to be more willing to take orders from people and follow directions. This all comes from his complex relationship with Silver, who he really sees as a father type figure. He starts off very hopeless about his future but Silver helps him change his mind and see that he can make his own future.

Delbert is a dog like alien who is very geeky and clumsy. He starts off as basic comic relief but gets better as the story moves on. He clearly cares about Jim and Sarah but wants to go on the adventure too. Captain Amelia is very serious and brave. She is a good leader and has a good relationship with her first mate, Mr. Arrow. Mr. Arrow is very good at his job but is sabotages partway through and ends up dying. Arrow and Amelia don't really get much development and they end up being kind of boring. They also shoehorn a stupid romance between Amelia and Delbert which just doesn't work at all.

Silver is a very complex villain. His lifelong goal is to find Flint's treasure. He gets close to Jim but finds that he is actually starting to care about him, which really worries him because he knows it might interfere with his goals. They really become a bit like father and son and he teaches and supports Jim. Their relationship is tested many times when Silver has to choose between his own motivations and Jim. The crew that follows him are more of the standard minion type characters we've seen in Disney movies. None of them are of real note except possibly Scroop, an insect like alien, who is more prominent and cuts Arrows lifeline, sending him into space. Silver's character design could have been better. He just looks a bit too much like a standard Disney Villain.

Morph is a gelatinous character who serves as Silver's pet. He can morph, hence his name, into almost anything and provides mostly comic relief. I thought he was kind of dumb at first but he has some funny moments and he grew on me. B.E.N. On the other hand is a robot that they find at Treasure Planet halfway through the movie. He was there when Flint left the treasure so he knows some information about it. Otherwise he is just a really awful, dumb character. All he does are stupid things that get the other characters into trouble and is just loud and annoying. He comes from that awful breed of bad comic relief characters that fall close to Jar Jar territory.

He animation in this movie is good, as usual, but the CGI didn't mesh as well with the traditional animation as it usually does. The Sci-Fi- elements are pretty hit or miss with some just feeling totally unnecessary, like a locket that holds a hologram instead of a picture. A lot of it was just too gimmicky, though some was pretty cool like the treasure map opening up and showing projections of all the planets. The humor is similarly hit or miss, though it leans towards miss more often. There's a fart alien. I don't think I need to say any more. The score worked fine but the songs just didn't really mesh for me. John Rzeznik's rock songs just didn't fit with the world they were trying to create. It also bugs me that they fast forwarded through Jim and Silver bonding with a montage. The action scenes are really good, however, especially the final action scene. It has all the makings of a great, tense action scene with a timer ticking down, explosions all around them, and the heroes making a last ditch escape.

The themes in this movie aren't handled as well as Lilo & Stitch but some of it was pretty good. Jim and Silver's relationship was really handed well. Jim starts off feeling very hopeless about his future but Silver helps him realize that he needs to keep fighting for it. Meanwhile, Silver is struggling because he's starting to think that the goal he's been fighting for his whole like might not be what he really needs. I really like the scenes where Silver has to wrestle with his desire for fulfilling his dream and his relationship with Jim. Jim also goes through a great change and you really feel like he has learned something. There is a bit of a loose thread with Jim's father and I wish they had done something with that. The only thing that really didn't work for me was Amelia and Delbert's relationship.

The movie definitely wasn't terrible. It made sense, had great action scenes and had a really interesting and complex villain. The relationship between Jim and Silver was definitely the highlight. Seeing them change and grow was really well done. There were, however, also a ton of unneeded things. Some of the Sci-Fi elements were a bit forced. B.E.N. Was just awful. The Shoehorned romance really didn't work at all. Overall, it merged the classic ideas of “Treasure Island” and classic pirates really well with the futuristic stuff and would be a good way to introduce people to a great story

43 down. 10 to go.

Flyin By On The Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride - Lilo & Stitch

42 – Lilo & Stitch

It's really interesting to see Disney go back to themes they've tried before. It could definitely get annoying if they try to do those themes the same way each time but it's fine as long as they try to do them different ways. 2002's Lilo & Stitch explores themes we've seen before in Tarzan and Dinosaur but present them in a different way. The story is about a lonely young Hawaiian girl, Lilo, who meets an escaped alien, Stitch. Stitch almost destroys her and her sister's life but learns about the idea of family along the way. Meanwhile, Stitch's creator, Dr. Jumba Jookiba, tries to hunt him down and capture him while a watchful social worker, Cobra Bubbles, scrutinizes Lilo and her sister's life to make sure Lilo is being raised in a good environment.

Lilo is a very strange little girl which alienates her from other girls her age. On top of that, her mother and father have recently passed away and she feels distant from her sister, Nani. She has a very deep loneliness that she covers up by acting out. Nani is her much older sister who is struggling to step into a more motherly role to raise Lilo. They still fight like sisters and Nani has to find a way to control Lilo while helping her overcome her loneliness. They have a much more complex relationship than many characters I've seen before in a Disney feature. They really feel unique and you see that they really care about each other. You also feel really bad for Lilo as they've never handled the idea of being an outcast and being lonely in such a realistic way before. Similarly, Nani has to overcome the very real problem of trying to relate to her sister and help her with her problems while juggling her own life.

Lilo connects immediately to the dog-like creature she names Stitch. In reality, he is a new species of alien created by Dr. Jumba Jookiba and is made to basically be a destructive weapon. His only motivation in life is to seek things out to destroy and is drawn to large cities to wreak havoc. He is very powerful and intelligent and escapes when Jumba is put in jail for his creation. When he lands on Earth, Jumba has been hired to hunt down and capture him so Stitch gets adopted by Lilo to escape Jumba. He quickly finds that he can't escape the island and there are no large cities for him to destroy. He almost ruins Lilo and Nani's life by causing trouble, which leads Cobra Bubbles to threaten to take Lilo from Nani. Slowly and gradually he starts to want more than just destruction and finds that he wants a family after he learns of the idea from Lilo. As they bond, he slowly realizes that Lilo and Nani could be the family he wants. I really loved the changes this character goes through. He starts as something truly horrible and slowly morphs into one of the most likeable characters I've seen so far.

Cobra Bubbles is a really interesting character that feels a bit like a villain at first but definitely isn't quite what he seems. He has a very mysterious past and really pushes Nani to try to find stability in her life for Lilo's sake. Despite threatening to take Lilo away from Nani, he is definitely not a villain. He is introduced as very cold and serious but you see that he really does care about Lilo and only wants what's best for her. I'm really glad they decided to go this way, instead of the obvious which would be to make him another generic villain. David is another character that pops up from time to time. He likes Nani and wants to date her but she has trouble managing her life so she can't commit. He's otherwise a really great guy that stands by Nani and Lilo and would clearly do anything for them. He helps show Stitch that his actions aren't really helping Nani and Lilo.

There are quite a few characters, other than Cobra Bubbles, that could be considered villains in this story but they really aren't at all like past villains. Jumba is a standard evil scientist that creates Stitch for destruction. He doesn't seem to have any real evil motivation, however, and just seems to get enjoyment from creating dangerous things. Agent Pleakley is an “expert” on Earth that is sent to help and keep an eye on Jumba after Jumba is forced to go capture Stitch in exchange for his freedom. He is much more timid than Jumba and tries to keep him from needlessly destroying Earth. There's a really funny subplot that involves Pleakley starting off loving the Earth and then slowly gowing to hate it more and more as he stays on the planet. Captain Gantu is the most obvious of “villains” in this story but his motivations are not evil at all. He is sent in after Jumba and Pleakley fail and is kind of a space cop kind of character. He is ruthless and would do whatever it takes to capture the dangerous Stitch. While he doesn't care that Lilo also gets captured, he has no real reason to care about what he considers an unintelligent species. Despite that, he isn't really a villain. In fact, none of the characters here are real villains. They all have reasons to capture Stitch and none of them are doing it for selfish or nefarious purposes. Jumba wants freedom, of course, but he is so quick to change his mind about it that he can't possibly be considered a bad guy. I really like that about this movie. It never feels any less tense because the characters still have clear motivations and they really emphasize how this little girl can change people.

Just like with most other Disney features, this movie has fantastic animation. There are some really great designs for the sci-fi elements like the aliens and spaceships. This creates a cool contrast when they switch to the tropical Hawaii. The music also fits the tone of the movie really well. There are a bunch of references to Elvis and his music which really work too. The biggest thing I noticed about this movie was their attention to detail. Little things I kept noticing which really added emotion to the scenes they were showing. In one scene, Nani is scolding Lilo where we can see tears starting to well up in Lilo's eyes. She tries to hide it and acts rebellious but we can see that she is really hurt by the situation.

The biggest theme in this movie is family and boy do they say it a lot. Despite seeing a similar theme in other Disney movies, they really go about it in a different way. We see family through how Lilo and Nani act as sisters. We see how Lilo and Stitch become friends and how Stitch learns about the idea of family. They really handled this theme the most realistically I've seen, despite the strange creatures and sci-fi story. You feel an actual sympathy for the lonely Lilo and desperate Nani. Even Stitch, who begins as such a terrible character, learns and changes through the power of family. You really understand how he realizes that he is lonely too and you're happy when he finally changes.

This movie was really great. I feel like it doesn't really get talked about enough. There are some really great heart breaking and equally heart warming moments that elevate the movie to more than just a story about an alien. Even with the heavy themes, there are some really funny moments with a great style that follows through the whole movie. On top of that, it's not nearly as overcomplicated as Atlantis. When Disney hits the right themes and finds the right pacing, they can really tell some fantastic stories.

42 down. 11 to go.

Two For Flinching - Atlantis: The Lost Empire

41 – Atlantis: The Lost Empire

Today's movie is the 41^st feature in the Disney Classics series, 2001's Atlantis: The Lost Empire. The story is about a young man, Milo Thatch, that wants to find the lost city of Atlantis. He ends up meeting a man named Whitmore who funds Milo's tripe because of a promise he made to Milo's grandfather. Milo, along with a crew led by Commander Rourke, all get on a very crazy futuristic submarine to find the lost city. When they do find it, after some trouble, they discover that there are still people that live there. It seems they use a special power to stay alive. The commander then reveals that their goal is really to find treasure and wants to take this power source from the people of Atlantis. Milo then has to stop him with help from one of the Atlantis inhabitants, Kida.

Milo is introduced as a pretty geeky and clumsy guy with a big obsession with Atlantis. He is poor and tries to convince the museum that he works at to fund his adventure. He looks up to his grandfather who was also an adventurer obsessed with Atlantis. He isn't taken seriously by the museum and almost gives up hope when Whitmore meets him. He becomes the Atlantis expert on the trip and uses his linguist and cartographer skills to decipher the “Shepherd’s Journal” which has a ton of information about Atlantis. He cares deeply about knowledge and opposes Rourke's goal of finding treasure at the expense of Atlantis and it's people. It's really admirable that he is so determined to go on the journey and that he values knowledge. Michael J. Fox did a good job with him and I think the filmmakers really focused on making his growth from geeky to a hero feel natural.

Whitmore was friends with Milo's grandfather and made a bet with him that if Milo's grandfather found proof of Atlantis, Whitmore would fund the whole trip. Milo's grandfather sadly died before he got a chance so Whitmore finds Milo to go in his stead. Whitmore is really eccentric and interesting but they didn't really use him very much. The filmmakers did do something I thought was cool. The characters constantly bring up Milo's grandfather and talk about him which really makes it feel like he was incredibly important. I wish they had done a bit more with that but I'm also glad they didn't take the obvious route of having him show up at Atlantis later on.

Milo is helped, and eventually betrayed, by a pretty big crew. Doctor Joshua Strongbear Sweet is a part African American, part Native American, doctor who is very kind but a bit overzealous. Vinny Sontorini is their demolitions expert who really loves blowing things up but has a very laid back attitude. Audrey Ramirez is their young teenage engineer who is very feisty and doesn't really act her age. Wilhelmina Berta Packard is their radio operator who is very lax and moves at her own pace. Cookie is their old cook, though he's not a very good one. Finally, there's Mole, a crazy french guy with an obsession with dirt and digging. Some of these guys actually get some pretty nice back stories that make you really feel like they're actual good characters. Some of them, however, don't and don't really get any development whatsoever. Mole is really only there for humor and, while he does have some funny moments, I feel like he was unnecessary when you have Wilhelmina and Cookie that serve similar roles. The characters all get some legitimately funny moments and it's really great when they decide to defy Rourke and join Milo.

Kida is a girl who meets Milo in Atlantis. She is the daughter of the King of Atlantis and was alive when Atlantis fell. Her mother was taken by a strange power as Atlantis fell into the ocean. She is very forceful and inquisitive and hopes that the people from the surface can help their people. The king, on the other hand, is very wary of the surface dwellers and is very protective of her. He doesn't want her taken like her mother was. While Kida has an interesting back story, she really doesn't get a ton of screen time. She only shows up halfway through the movie and then gets taken by the power shortly after that. I don't think we got a real clear idea of who she is. Most of the time she's there they focus on her bonding with Milo. I don't think they had fantastic chemistry but the romance didn't feel too forced either.

Commander Rourke actually comes off as a good guy before. It seemed he cared about the crew and respected Milo's grandfather but he later reveals that he just did it all for the money. He really just ended up being a standard villain when they could have done something more interesting. He had better reasons for wanting to take everything. They started with 200 people and almost all of them died, it would make sense that he would want to finish the mission for those people. Instead, they made him another generic villain with an obsession with money. His lieutenant Helga was even worse. They made a point to have her bring up that they didn't know people would be down there, but she doesn't do anything about it. She got no character development at all.

This movie really went back to the kind of epic scenery and gorgeous visuals of other Disney movies. The whole thing has a kind of Star Wars vibe, not with it's story but just it's tone. It feels like a big adventure, they use the iconic Star Wars wipes to transition between scenes and even Rourke's soldiers have a Storm Trooper idea to them. On top of that, Milo even goes through a Luke Sywalker-esque transformation from geeky linguist to Atlantian warrior. The score really worked for this movie as well and the choice to avoid the musical style again worked for this movie. They really could have kept the big submarine they leave on the adventure from, instead of having it get destroyed almost immediately. That scene could have been really great if they had had some more adventures with it. The world they created is really interesting but they fill it with so much complication that it just gets bogged down. Things just seem to happen because it's pretty but you rarely actually know what's happening.

The big struggle in this movie is when Milo wants to study Atlantis but Rourke is only interested in money. Milo brings up the question to the crew earlier and sees that he seems to be the only one that is on the adventure for the adventure and knowledge. It's a really great moment when the crew changes their minds and decide to help Milo. Unfortunately, this immediately gets ruined by the people of Atlantis giving them the riches they wanted. It just ruins the message. They also spend too much time setting up red herrings that Rourke isn't a bad guy. It doesn't make sense when Milo is so shocked by Rourke revealing his plan since that was the plan from the beginning. Some of the opening lines are spoken b Milo saying he wants to find the power source and bring it to the surface. They had no reason to think there would be people in Atlantis but Milo should have realized Rourke's plan and tried to convince him not to go through with it.

So this movie wasn't horrible. I liked the characters and how some of them changed but the cast was just way too big. The story itself was just a mess. There is way too much going on and it gets super overcomplicated. Way too much happens without a clear idea of what's going on just because it would make for a pretty scene. They also take too long to get to the actual story with the discovery of Atlantis happening when the movie is halfway over. It just sucks because this movie did have so much potential. They created a really cool world with some interesting characters but they got way too wrapped up in the details and made a story that is way too complicated.

41 down. 12 to go.

I'm sorry, but you've thrown off the Emperor's groove - The Emperor's New Groove

40 – The Emperor's New Groove

Originally titled Kingdom of the Sun, 2000's The Emperor's New Groove went through a very troubled development process. It ended up being very different than any of the other Disney Classics I've reviewed so far. The story is about a very self centered and spoiled Emperor named Kuzco who wants to destroy a village to build a big summer home. He is then turned into a Llama by his, recently fired, advisor Yzma. Yzma's partner, Kronk, fails to dispose of Kuzco properly and ends up being found by Pacha, the leader of the village Kuzco wants to build his summer home on. With Pacha's reluctant help, Kuzco has to return to the kingdom and let everyone know he is still alive and turn back into a human.

Kuzco gets turned into a llama early on in the story but we get a really good idea of who he is before that. We see that he is incredibly self centered and spoiled. He has a pretty big mean side too as he punishes an old man by throwing him out the palace window because the old man ruined his “groove.” On top of that, he has absolutely no problem destroying a whole village just for his summer home. He calls Pacha in just to ask him what angle the hilltop village gets the best light in. As a llama, he really needs Pacha's help to get back to the palace. He does anything he can to try to get Pacha to help him and resists changing his self centered ways. Despite that, he bonds a lot with Pacha during the story and does, in fact, change but I'll talk more about that later.

Pacha is very kind and the direct opposite of Kuzco. They use a really clever storytelling device to show that by having him help the old man that Kuzco throws out the palace window. He is quite poor but very satisfied with his life. As he is leaving the palace, Kuzco ends up on his cart when Kronk loses him. When he finds him at the village, Kuzco asks for his help. Pacha sees the opportunity to make a deal with Kuzco so he doesn't destroy his village. Even though Kuzco refuses, Pacha can't help how kind he is and goes to save Kuzco from a bunch of panthers. He really believes everyone has good in them and tries to see that in Kuzco, though Kuzco makes it very difficult for him at times. He bonds with Kuzco on the journey and teaches Kuzco a lot about being a good person.

Yzma and Kronk are just a fantastic duo who chase Kuzco and Pacha trying to kill Kuzco before he reveals that he is still alive. Yzma is shown to be quite power hungry in the beginning, getting caught by Kuzco sitting in his chair doing his job. She gets fired for this and swears vengeance. With Kronk, she invites Kuzco to dinner and tries to poison him. Kronk accidentally slips him a potion that doesn't kill Kuzco but turns him into a llama. The two characters are really funny together. Yzma is very silly and plays up her evil scientist role and it's great. Kronk is a total idiot but he's super lovable and has some of the funniest scenes in the movie. He isn't really a villain and keeps getting stopped by his conscience which literally appear as an angel and demon on his shoulder. Despite being constantly berated by Yzma, he stands by her and does her bidding, even though he can't quite bring himself to kill the defenseless Kuzco when he has the chance. Kronk is a real stand out character with some really funny moments and an array of ridiculous hobbies (like cooking, bird watching and talking to squirrels) that really elevate him to be more interesting than most of the comic relief characters of the past.

Pacha's family also plays a part in the movie. Chicha is Pacha's kind and strong wife. She is a really great character and has no problem handling Yzma when Pacha needs help. She is a great mother to Chaca and Tipo, her daughter and son, who are very cute and inquisitive. They have some really great scenes when they play with Kronk while Yzma is pretending to be a distant relative of Pacha's. These characters really serve to show how nice Pacha's life is and how it would suck if Kuzco took that away from them. It also helps you like Pacha more, not that that was very necessary since they do such a good job setting up his character. I really like that they took the effort to make these characters great, even though they only appear for such a little amount of time.

This movie is definitely the funniest Disney movie I've seen so far. It's very fast paced and the jokes never let up. Despite that, it still has some legitimately emotional moments. The movie definitely has heart. You care about Pacha and the trouble he's facing with Kuzco and you even come to care about Kuzco when he starts getting his act together. Even the villains are fun. I definitely never felt bored watching this one. The animation isn't quite as ambitious as past movies but it's still really great and the characters move really well. The music fits the mood of this movie perfectly too.

A really interesting thing about this movie is that it doesn't really feel very much like a Disney movie. It actively rejects a lot of Disney tropes and movie tropes in general. There isn't a shoehorned romance, it's just a story about two guys who grow to become great friends. They make fun of some things like map scenes leaving dotted lines and when the heroes go down a massive waterfall and live. The biggest theme in this movie is definitely the idea of friendship. Kuzco is super self centered at first but changes gradually as he starts to care more about Pacha. Pacha doesn't give up on Kuzco and his friendship really changes Kuzco. The way they bond throughout the movie is really fantastic too when they are forced to work together and triumph together. The end is really great when they call back to those moments.

This movie really benefits from the small cast. It feels so much more focused and dense than a lot of other Disney movies. There's a lot going on. It's funny from beginning to end and the style is just great. With all the style, it still remembers to give you characters you can care about and still has a ton of heart. I love myself a traditionally animated Disney Classic but I'm so glad this movie ended up so different than the standard Disney movie. It's a great change of pace and it worked so well.

40 down. 13 to go.

Dinobore (I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself) - Dinosaur

39 – Dinosaur

So here we are at the first Disney movie of the 21^st century, 2000s Dinosaur. I had never actually heard of this one until I started this little project so I had no idea what to expect when I went in. The story is about an Iguanodon named Aladar who grows up with a bunch of lemurs after his egg gets separated from his family. Later on, a big asteroid crashes and destroys their island. While they wander to try to find somewhere to live, they meet a herd of dinosaurs being led by another Iguanodon named Kron. Aladar finally gets to meet dinosaurs of his own kind, including Kron's sister Neera. Kron pushes the herd too quick for some older dinosaurs to keep up so Aladar stays behind to help them. Aladar has to contend with the strict Kron and escape the deadly Carnataurus while protecting his new friends and lemur family.

The main character, Aladar, is raised by lemurs and never met one of his own kind in the beginning of the movie. He is very compassionate and kind but feels lonely because there's no one like him around. This isn't as big an issue as they make it in the movie, however, since he just meets with the herd later anyway. He really likes to stand up for those who can't stand up for themselves, like the elderly dinosaurs he decides to stay with. His greatest quality is that he never gives up, or at least that's what one of his lemur friends says. He promptly gives up right after that only for another character to remind him that he never gives up. It's all just a bit stupid. He's one of the better characters in the movie but he's a bit boring, unfortunately like many of the other characters in this movie.

His lemur family consists of Yar, Plio, Zini and Suri. Yar is an older male lemur who is very scared of dinosaurs but comes around later. He is the “grandfather” of the group and father to Plio and Zini. Plio is the female lemur that finds Aladar and decides to raise him. She is very kind and doesn't let her father convince her not to keep Aladar. She is the mother of Suri and sister of Zini. Zini is Aladar's best friend. He's a bit silly and overconfident and has a little subplot about him meeting a lemur mate. Suri is Plio's daughter and shares her compassion, but otherwise doesn't really do anything.

Aladar volunteers to take care of some weak and old dinosaurs that are falling behind the herd despite Kron's warnings. Baylene is a Brachiosaurus who is wise and old and reminds Aladar that he never gives up so she won't either. Eema is a Styracosaurus who is old and rough but represents a kind of character that drives me nuts. She is really hypocritical when a character later becomes injured by a Carnataurus and she refuses to help because he refused to help her before. She should, as a wise character, be above that. Especially because Aladar would, and does, help him. Finally, there's Url, an Ankylosaurus, who is a really stupid dog like creature who does nothing.

Kron is the leader of the herd and believes in survival of the fittest. Other than that, I really don't get this character. He clearly doesn't actually care about the herd but insists on having them stay with him and fights Aladar for them. He is the first to get water and scares others away. He just wants to have power, it seems, but I don't know why. He doesn't get a redemption in the movie, which is good because I hate him, but bad because he's Neera's brother so you want to at least feel a little bit bad about it. The big threats of the movie are two Carnataurus who stalk the group. They provide most of the action and are pretty scary but they don't have personalities so I can't consider them real villains or anything.

Bruton is Kron's second in command and the one who was attacked by a Carnataurus. He is kind of a jerk at first and believes in Kron's survival of the fittest rule. He gets left behind after he is injured and reluctantly joins Aladar. After getting a nice speech by Plio about how Aladar never gives up, he sacrifices himself to kill one of the Carnataurus. He's really just there so Plio could give that speech to someone and make Aladar look good. It would have been much more powerful for him to survive and confront Kron with Aladar. Neera is Aladar's love interest. She falls for Aladar cause he's a nice guy. She stands up to her brother at the end. Otherwise, she doesn't get a real personality.

The visuals in this movie are really great. The dinosaurs are all CGI placed on top of real footage with some practical effects. It's a really interest result though some scenes definitely look better than others. They also didn't utilize it really well since we spend more than half the movie with the dinosaurs walking through a boring desert. The music is pretty good, with no music sequences to annoy me. They definitely would not have worked here so I'm glad they resisted that urge.

This movie was kind of boring. It's real pretty to look at but it has no real substance. There aren't any great themes and the ones that are there have been done way better before. The real draw is definitely the visuals with a very thin story and even thinner characters. It also definitely would have been better if they didn't talk so much.

39 down. 14 to go.

Congratulations to you, Mickey - Fantasia 2000

38 – Fantasia 2000

Fantasia was a bit of an experiment. Walt Disney wanted it to be more than just a normal movie experience. He wanted it to be something that people could go to multiple times and see new features rotated in and out so that they never saw the same movie twice. For 60 years, nothing really came of that idea until 1999's Fantasia 2000. This movie builds on the original idea and presents a whole new movie of brand new sequences and music, with one exception. Instead of being presented by Deems Taylor, the pieces are presented by a slew of celebrities. The new music is performed by the Chicago Symphony. I didn't love the original Fantasia. I thought it was a bit of a failed experiment to make classical music more accessible. This Fantasia is a whole different beast.

Symphony No. 5 in C minor – Ludwig van Beethoven

The first feature doesn't really rely on a heavy story. Using Beethoven's famous symphony, the animators show a world of abstract shapes and colors that appear in sync with the music. There is a battle between light and dark and they use a really cool motif of flying shapes that look like butterflies. They really interpreted the music in a unique way.

Pines of Rome – Ottorino Respighi

There is a bit more of a story with this piece, albeit a very strange one. It's basically about a humpback whale family that discovers they are able to fly. The child of the family gets separated and ends up in an iceberg. The music is really fantastic and fit the visuals surprisingly well. The visuals are also really gorgeous, despite the strange subject matter. It's definitely not what Respighi intended when he wrote the piece and I would definitely not think of flying whales while listening to this music, but it works.

Rhapsody in Blue – George Gershwin

This short tells the story of four people who want different things in life. There's a man who is stuck at work but wants to go play drums. Another is jobless and poor and dreams of getting a job. A little girl is shuttled around by her nanny to different lessons but just wants to be with her parents. Another man is controlled by his wife but just wants to go out and have fun. The narratives of the story are really interwoven well, especially in such a short amount of time. This jazz influenced piece by Gershwin really fits the story well. The art style they chose was also perfect, being based on the art of Al Hirschfeld. The style is very simple but captures the motion and moods of the piece really well. It is definitely one of the standouts in the feature.

Piano Concerto No 2 in F Major – Dmitri Shostakovich – Based on “The Steadfast Tin Soldier” by Hans Christian Andersen

The story of this one is about a tin soldier with one leg who falls in love with a porcelain ballerina and has to protect her from a creepy Jack in the Box. The music they chose was just perfect for the story despite having nothing to do with the original piece. The story is really well told for the short amount of time with really great animation. The music really brings this story to life.

The Carnival of the Animals, Finale – Camille Saint-Saens

The idea of this short is really simple, “what would happen if you gave a yo-yo to a flock of flamingos?” From this really silly and simple idea, they create a short that fits the music and is really fun and entertaining. I especially appreciated how they tied in the recurring theme in the music with the yo-yo flamingo present for the second time. It's one of the shortest segments in the movie but its really fun.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice – Paul Dukas, Performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra, led by Leopold Stokowski

This segment is the same one from the first Fantasia and carries the original idea of swapping out certain segments but keeping some fan favorites. It's still as amazing and wonderfully done as it originally was. I was thinking that it would have been really cool if they could re-record the piece, not that the Philadelphia Orchestra didn't do a fantastic job. There is just a clear difference in the quality of the recordings. It's definitely not a problem though. After the segment, they have a really great callback to when Mickey goes to Stokowski to congratulate him from the original film.

Pomp and Circumstance – Edward Elgar

This story was based on Noah's Arc but features Donald and Daisy Duck. Donald has to help Noah get all the animals onto the Arc. After he does so, Donald and Daisy both believe that the other hasn't made it onto the Arc. After being sad for a bit, they discover that they both made it. The music in this one was the real stand out to me. It's really cool to hear more of this awesome piece because you usually only hear the one part at graduation ceremonies. The piece fits the mood of the animation really well though it doesn't fit as well as the other shorts. The two pieces of the whole are so good, however, that they don't take away from each other.

Firebird Suite – Igor Stravinsky

This short presented a story of life, death and rebirth. A spirit goes around giving life to plants but accidentally awakens the Firebird that goes and destroys everything. The spirit is sad but her elk companion helps her bring everything back to life. The animation in this short is really gorgeous and fits the music perfectly. They made already beautiful music even more powerful through the imagery and it's just a fantastic finale to the movie.

Overall, this version is way more effective than the original. It's more accessible and the stories work much better. It still feels artistic but not so much that it becomes difficult to follow. All the sequences have clear motifs and ideas. The music they chose was way better and much more interesting. Even the non segment parts in between are beautiful and nostalgic. The announcers, including Steve Martin, Penn and Teller, Bette Midler, James Earl Jones and more, really did a great job and gave some great insight into how these shorts came into being. This movie really makes me hope that they, someday, continue with Fantasia and hopefully expand to different kinds of “classical” music. Perhaps a full chorus or wind ensemble? Maybe a modern composer like Eric Whitacre? In any case, this movie is a great example of what Disney animators can do with some fantastic music and some great ideas.

38 down. 15 to go.