'UNCLE WALT'S EARLY HAND-CRAFTED ANIMATION' FEARSOME F@URSOME! 006.- SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937, BLU-RAY). Streaming on DISNEY+.
After the abomination that was 2025's live-action "Snow White" remake, it's nice to go back to the OG animated feature from 89 years ago to re-experience the birth of an empire. While parts of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (an RKO Radio Picture! 😧) feel dated and show their age (the prince's lips, the endless trek to the bedroom where Snow White's sleeping, the woodland furry creatures racing back and forth, etc.), most of its memorable set-pieces still hold up well. The Evil Queen (a proto Maleficent) talking to the mirror, Snow White running through the scary woods, the dwarfs singing their way back home, the making of the poisoned apple, the stormy night chase toward the mountain boulder.... one 'chef's kiss' animation highlight after another. Maybe because it's from another studio most people don't make the connection, but Disney's OG "Snow White" feels like it belongs amongst the wave of Universal Horror movies from that era in its European setting and moments of pure horror atmosphere. A classic for a reason. 5 GUILT-RIDDEN HUNTSMEN (out of five).
007.- PINOCCHIO (1940, BLU-RAY). Streaming on DISNEY+
I grew up with an animated European "Pinocchio" TV series that messed me up as a child, especially the final episode where Pinocchio became a real boy after going through one hell of a sad, joyless odyssey. 🥺😢This is my first watch of the 1940 Walt Disney version (literally took the plastic off a Blu-ray set I purchased decades ago), but I must have seen the movie before because some parts before the ending felt awfully familiar. Dear Lord, is Cliff Edwards' Jiminy Cricket annoying as hell or what? Since Gepetto's animals (Figaro the cat and the fish... what's its name?) can't talk, it falls on Jiminy to be the voice narrating subtext to the cheap seats. I'm used to the idea of Disney animal sidekicks, but J.C. feels shoehorned to be around Pinocchio because the protagonist and his too-kind father (Dickie Jones and Christian Rub, respectively) are too clueless and/or innocent to survive the cynical world that Cricket (a Depression Era hobo archetype if I've ever seen one) knows too well.
The final act of "Pinocchio" is pure nightmare fuel, especially the kids transforming into donkeys at that island and the fact J. Worthington Foulfellow and Gideon (Walter Catlett and Mel Blanc, respectively) get away with messing up Pinocchio's life... twice! 😡 I completely forgot about Gepetto and his pets being caught inside the whale, which feels random until you realize Bible stories like Jonah's were still popular in the public mindshare. Unlike the "Pinocchio" TV series, though, at least this kind, grandfatherly Gepetto didn't have to wait years and suffer through agony/despair to see his wooden puppet come to life, then become a flesh-and-blood human boy. Thanks a ton, Blue Fairy (Evelyn Venable), but next time, why not skip the suffering part and go straight for the human prize? 4 LOADED PISTOLS UNDER GEPETTO'S PILLOW (out of five).
Am I the only one who forgets how much "Bambi" feels like a warm-up to "The Lion King"? Think about it: no human protagonists (only 'man' as heard through his guns and seen through the forest fire his camp creates), furry woodland creatures in the forest (versus African animals in an endless savanna), and the third act transition of the young protagonists into adulthood marked by the tragic loss of a parent (Bambi's mother dying off-screen = Mufasa dying by the paws of Scar) leading up to the birth of a new generation of royalty (better known in the 90's as 'The Circle of Life'). "Bambi" packs a lot in 69 short minutes, but whether they're sidekicks (Thumper and Flower), future companions (Fauline) and/or random acts of nature (those forest fire scenes are still impressive), the heart and love for these characters is never overshadowed by the animated spectacle. 4.75 WISE OWLS JEALOUS OF YOUNG ANIMAL LOVE (out of five).
BONUS: 009.- BAMBI: INSIDE WALT'S STORY MEETINGS (2005, DVD)
Don't know if it has a different name for its Blu-ray, 4K and/or streaming versions, but the 2005 DVD of "Bambi" has a bonus feature that rises above mere feature-length commentary (which it technically is). "Bambi: Inside Walt's Story Meetings" has professional voice-over actors narrate the archived-in-memorandums conversations between Mr. Disney and his staff of animators about their ideas/wish list for the "Bambi" movie. Work-in-progress sketches and still images complement the voice-over work, which plays over the length of the movie. Loved it then, still love it today. 4.5 PATRICK STEWART INTROS/OUTROS (out of five).
A trippy fable about war’s destruction and the leaders who seek create it. Thousands of years after a nuclear holocaust, two wizards are born, brothers who will choose different paths. Avatar, the good wizard, builds civilization while Blackwolf pursues his ruthless dreams of ruling over the world. Avatar and his sidekicks, an elf and a sexy fairy, go off on a quest to destroy his power. Along the way there are encounters with magical creatures and battles. The parallels with the The Lord of the Rings do not seem accidental. One of the more interesting techniques used by Bakshi was processing actual film footage in a way to make it look like animation. Not my favorite animated film but one that I found engaging despite the confusing narrative.
010.- SLEEPING BEAUTY (1959, BLU-RAY). Streaming on DISNEY+
A more appropriate title for this animated fairytale should be 'The Three Fairies.' Featuring a shallow/cipher character in the titular Princess Aurora (Mary Costa, who barely has any lines of Bechdel Test-failing dialogue), "Sleeping Beauty" relies on its supporting characters, fairytale premise (the last one Disney would animate until 1989's "The Little Mermaid") and impressive widescreen art style (which took eight years to bring to cinemas) to carry its narrative weight. As a fan of TV's "The Golden Girls," I applied those personality types to Flora (Verna Felton), Merryweather (Barbara Luddy) and Fauna (Barbara Jo Allen) to make the fact that these three carry the movie a little more tolerable. Seriously, while Prince Phillip (Bill Shirley) has personality and holds his own sometimes, he would have died a hundred times during the final act if the Fairies hadn't been there to carry him to the finish line. The borderline-burlesque comedy routine between Kings Stefan and Hubert (Taylor Holmes and Bill Thompson, respectively) is welcomed comic relief outside the pink/blue dress antics (stop it! 😂).
The main reason to watch "Sleeping Beauty," then or now, is Maleficent (Eleanor Audley). There's a reason she's one of the few Disney villains whose stand-alone, live-action movies were giant hits in the 2010's. With all due respect to Angelina Jolie, though, the '59 animated version blows every other version out of the water. As either a human or a giant dragon beast (one of the coolest transformations in a Disney movie, one that not even "Enchanted" could surpass), Maleficent is pure spectacle and fills the charisma vacuum left by Aurora's vanilla look/personality. 4.5 ANNOYING CROWS TURNED INTO STONE GARGOYLES (out of five).
I have picked up a bunch of Disney DVDs from the local Salvation Army store over the past couple of years. One of my intentions this year is to start watching them and other animated features that I have missed over the decades. Besides the Disney animated films I saw when I was a young kid (1980s), I have not ventured into the classic Disney catalogue.
Animated movies on DVD hold up better on HD and 4K TV's than live action movies. You can tell its 480p, but something about 2D drawings holds up better than you'd expect during the upscaling process. Give those classic Disney titles a look, they're terrific. 🤓
BONUS: 30 DAYS OF PINK PANTHER & FRIENDS, DAY 2! 011.- A SHOT IN THE DARK (1964, KINO LORBER 4K UHD). Also streaming on PRIME, TUBI, PLUTO, FAWESOME, YOUTUBE.
ANIMATED INTRO OPENING: 3 DODO BIRDS (out of five). Released just three months after the U.S. debut of "The Pink Panther" in the States, the opening animation had to be rushed and it shows. The pencil stylings and artwork look TV-level, which is decent but not up to the standards of every other animated intro in the series. What the visuals lack the music compensates for with another banger theme song by Henry Mancini, which would become the music for "The Inspector" animated movie/TV cartoons. 😎
MOVIE RATING: 3.75 POOL CUE CAROUSELS (out of five).
Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996) dir. Mike Judge
I remember when this came out and so much of the conversation around it was 'How are the going to make a full length movie from Beavis and Butt-Head' and now doing a bunch of 5 minute YouTube videos can get you a movie deal. The thing I like about this is it feels like a fleshed out movie and not just an extended tv episode like so many tv show movies do.
'UNCLE WALT'S EARLY HAND-CRAFTED ANIMATION' FEARSOME F@URSOME!
ReplyDelete006.- SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937, BLU-RAY). Streaming on DISNEY+.
After the abomination that was 2025's live-action "Snow White" remake, it's nice to go back to the OG animated feature from 89 years ago to re-experience the birth of an empire. While parts of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (an RKO Radio Picture! 😧) feel dated and show their age (the prince's lips, the endless trek to the bedroom where Snow White's sleeping, the woodland furry creatures racing back and forth, etc.), most of its memorable set-pieces still hold up well. The Evil Queen (a proto Maleficent) talking to the mirror, Snow White running through the scary woods, the dwarfs singing their way back home, the making of the poisoned apple, the stormy night chase toward the mountain boulder.... one 'chef's kiss' animation highlight after another. Maybe because it's from another studio most people don't make the connection, but Disney's OG "Snow White" feels like it belongs amongst the wave of Universal Horror movies from that era in its European setting and moments of pure horror atmosphere. A classic for a reason. 5 GUILT-RIDDEN HUNTSMEN (out of five).
007.- PINOCCHIO (1940, BLU-RAY). Streaming on DISNEY+
ReplyDeleteI grew up with an animated European "Pinocchio" TV series that messed me up as a child, especially the final episode where Pinocchio became a real boy after going through one hell of a sad, joyless odyssey. 🥺😢This is my first watch of the 1940 Walt Disney version (literally took the plastic off a Blu-ray set I purchased decades ago), but I must have seen the movie before because some parts before the ending felt awfully familiar. Dear Lord, is Cliff Edwards' Jiminy Cricket annoying as hell or what? Since Gepetto's animals (Figaro the cat and the fish... what's its name?) can't talk, it falls on Jiminy to be the voice narrating subtext to the cheap seats. I'm used to the idea of Disney animal sidekicks, but J.C. feels shoehorned to be around Pinocchio because the protagonist and his too-kind father (Dickie Jones and Christian Rub, respectively) are too clueless and/or innocent to survive the cynical world that Cricket (a Depression Era hobo archetype if I've ever seen one) knows too well.
The final act of "Pinocchio" is pure nightmare fuel, especially the kids transforming into donkeys at that island and the fact J. Worthington Foulfellow and Gideon (Walter Catlett and Mel Blanc, respectively) get away with messing up Pinocchio's life... twice! 😡 I completely forgot about Gepetto and his pets being caught inside the whale, which feels random until you realize Bible stories like Jonah's were still popular in the public mindshare. Unlike the "Pinocchio" TV series, though, at least this kind, grandfatherly Gepetto didn't have to wait years and suffer through agony/despair to see his wooden puppet come to life, then become a flesh-and-blood human boy. Thanks a ton, Blue Fairy (Evelyn Venable), but next time, why not skip the suffering part and go straight for the human prize? 4 LOADED PISTOLS UNDER GEPETTO'S PILLOW (out of five).
008.-BAMBI (1942, DVD). Streaming on DISNEY+.
ReplyDeleteAm I the only one who forgets how much "Bambi" feels like a warm-up to "The Lion King"? Think about it: no human protagonists (only 'man' as heard through his guns and seen through the forest fire his camp creates), furry woodland creatures in the forest (versus African animals in an endless savanna), and the third act transition of the young protagonists into adulthood marked by the tragic loss of a parent (Bambi's mother dying off-screen = Mufasa dying by the paws of Scar) leading up to the birth of a new generation of royalty (better known in the 90's as 'The Circle of Life'). "Bambi" packs a lot in 69 short minutes, but whether they're sidekicks (Thumper and Flower), future companions (Fauline) and/or random acts of nature (those forest fire scenes are still impressive), the heart and love for these characters is never overshadowed by the animated spectacle. 4.75 WISE OWLS JEALOUS OF YOUNG ANIMAL LOVE (out of five).
BONUS: 009.- BAMBI: INSIDE WALT'S STORY MEETINGS (2005, DVD)
Don't know if it has a different name for its Blu-ray, 4K and/or streaming versions, but the 2005 DVD of "Bambi" has a bonus feature that rises above mere feature-length commentary (which it technically is). "Bambi: Inside Walt's Story Meetings" has professional voice-over actors narrate the archived-in-memorandums conversations between Mr. Disney and his staff of animators about their ideas/wish list for the "Bambi" movie. Work-in-progress sketches and still images complement the voice-over work, which plays over the length of the movie. Loved it then, still love it today. 4.5 PATRICK STEWART INTROS/OUTROS (out of five).
WIZARDS (1977, dir. Ralph Bakshi)
ReplyDeleteA trippy fable about war’s destruction and the leaders who seek create it. Thousands of years after a nuclear holocaust, two wizards are born, brothers who will choose different paths. Avatar, the good wizard, builds civilization while Blackwolf pursues his ruthless dreams of ruling over the world. Avatar and his sidekicks, an elf and a sexy fairy, go off on a quest to destroy his power. Along the way there are encounters with magical creatures and battles. The parallels with the The Lord of the Rings do not seem accidental. One of the more interesting techniques used by Bakshi was processing actual film footage in a way to make it look like animation. Not my favorite animated film but one that I found engaging despite the confusing narrative.
010.- SLEEPING BEAUTY (1959, BLU-RAY). Streaming on DISNEY+
ReplyDeleteA more appropriate title for this animated fairytale should be 'The Three Fairies.' Featuring a shallow/cipher character in the titular Princess Aurora (Mary Costa, who barely has any lines of Bechdel Test-failing dialogue), "Sleeping Beauty" relies on its supporting characters, fairytale premise (the last one Disney would animate until 1989's "The Little Mermaid") and impressive widescreen art style (which took eight years to bring to cinemas) to carry its narrative weight. As a fan of TV's "The Golden Girls," I applied those personality types to Flora (Verna Felton), Merryweather (Barbara Luddy) and Fauna (Barbara Jo Allen) to make the fact that these three carry the movie a little more tolerable. Seriously, while Prince Phillip (Bill Shirley) has personality and holds his own sometimes, he would have died a hundred times during the final act if the Fairies hadn't been there to carry him to the finish line. The borderline-burlesque comedy routine between Kings Stefan and Hubert (Taylor Holmes and Bill Thompson, respectively) is welcomed comic relief outside the pink/blue dress antics (stop it! 😂).
The main reason to watch "Sleeping Beauty," then or now, is Maleficent (Eleanor Audley). There's a reason she's one of the few Disney villains whose stand-alone, live-action movies were giant hits in the 2010's. With all due respect to Angelina Jolie, though, the '59 animated version blows every other version out of the water. As either a human or a giant dragon beast (one of the coolest transformations in a Disney movie, one that not even "Enchanted" could surpass), Maleficent is pure spectacle and fills the charisma vacuum left by Aurora's vanilla look/personality. 4.5 ANNOYING CROWS TURNED INTO STONE GARGOYLES (out of five).
I have picked up a bunch of Disney DVDs from the local Salvation Army store over the past couple of years. One of my intentions this year is to start watching them and other animated features that I have missed over the decades. Besides the Disney animated films I saw when I was a young kid (1980s), I have not ventured into the classic Disney catalogue.
DeleteAnimated movies on DVD hold up better on HD and 4K TV's than live action movies. You can tell its 480p, but something about 2D drawings holds up better than you'd expect during the upscaling process. Give those classic Disney titles a look, they're terrific. 🤓
DeleteBONUS: 30 DAYS OF PINK PANTHER & FRIENDS, DAY 2!
ReplyDelete011.- A SHOT IN THE DARK (1964, KINO LORBER 4K UHD). Also streaming on PRIME, TUBI, PLUTO, FAWESOME, YOUTUBE.
Contractually obligated to appear in an English movie adaptation of Marcel Achard's French play "L'Idiote," Peter Sellers cried foul and wanted out. United Artists' solution to make Peter happy? Bring in writer/director Blake Edwards who, alongside William Peter Blatty (yep, "The Exorcist" writer/producer 😧), retooled the screenplay to include the Jacques Clouseau character from the just-released "Pink Panther" hit movie. And just like that, a franchise was born with "A Shot In The Dark," the only Sellers-starring entry in the series without any "PP" attachments. Completely ignoring the ending of its predecessor, Clouseau is back at Sûreté investigating the killing of a lover at the hands of Maria Gambrelli (Elke Sommer) in the posh state of millionaire Benjamin Ballon (George Sanders, who gets big laughs by being the straight man to Clouseau's lunatic behavior), whose alibi for the night of the murder falls apart the further Jacques bumbles into the investigation.
The missing pieces that made Sellers' take on Clouseau memorable happen here. Jacques' silly French accent takes shape. Commissioner Dreyfus (Herbert Lom), Kato (Burt Kwouk) and Francois (André Maranne) become the antagonist sidekicks that would stick around for the rest of the series. And the frequency/intensity of the improvised physical gags are on par with latter "PP" entries, though the closest to risqué comedy in "Shot" are the nudist colony scenes where clever camera angles hide the naked actors' naughty bits. A straight-laced murder mystery movie (the original plan for "A Shot In the Dark") had to die so the Inspector Clouseau movie series could take off, which wouldn't happen for years because of the antagonism between improvisational Sellers and pre-planning savvy Edwards... but that's a story for another review. 😇
ANIMATED INTRO OPENING: 3 DODO BIRDS (out of five). Released just three months after the U.S. debut of "The Pink Panther" in the States, the opening animation had to be rushed and it shows. The pencil stylings and artwork look TV-level, which is decent but not up to the standards of every other animated intro in the series. What the visuals lack the music compensates for with another banger theme song by Henry Mancini, which would become the music for "The Inspector" animated movie/TV cartoons. 😎
MOVIE RATING: 3.75 POOL CUE CAROUSELS (out of five).
MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (2026):
ReplyDeleteI’m counting it. Review Friday.
Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996) dir. Mike Judge
ReplyDeleteI remember when this came out and so much of the conversation around it was 'How are the going to make a full length movie from Beavis and Butt-Head' and now doing a bunch of 5 minute YouTube videos can get you a movie deal. The thing I like about this is it feels like a fleshed out movie and not just an extended tv episode like so many tv show movies do.