I'm glad we areLol, I never forget either so we are clearly a kindred spirit.
It must have been released, it just hasn't been put on YouTube.I forgot that since you aren't American, you wouldn't have gotten Movie Surfers. I didn't realize they had an unreleased episode for Simba's Pride. Any reason why it was never released?
Really? Hahaha. Who knows, the world is a huge place, there could've been several theaters where the audiences roared with laughter by the jokes of The Lion King and not from those from Pocahontas (heck, even the last bit with Percy and Meeko having switched clothes made the audience laugh).I've actually heard several times now stories about how people didn't laugh at the jokes in The Lion King, but loved the comedy in Pocahontas during theaters. Unless, I've just seen your posts on the subject and assumed that multiple people have said something similar.
I also liked that Pocahontas had a (realistic) human friend around her age and I wished that Disney could've made more of those. I know Ariel had her sisters, but they weren't major characters (nor were the Bimbettes from BATB, but they were more on Gaston's side). It's really in my adult years that I've grown to dislike Nakoma, due to her prissy and no-nonsence nature. However, according to The Three Commentears, Nakoma had a lot of haters, but I haven't found them. Though what's contradicting is how that despite this, I actually defend Nakoma's decision for actually not lying to Pocahontas when she gets to meet John Smith (for obvious reasons).I liked Nakoma because it was nice to see Pocahontas have a friend her age. I've read on the Disney Wiki that Nakoma is actually a really popular character with a strong fanbase. I've never heard of this before and it surprises me a little but if it's true, I'm glad to hear it. For the most part, I don't think people hold Nakoma telling Kococum where Pocahontas is against her, because her heart was in the right place. I'm glad Disney didn't go with a plot of a jealous friend who is really after Kocoum herself.
And yes, I'm glad they didn't made Nakoma the jealous friend, though she easily could've been. After all, she cites her attraction to Kocoum at the beginning of her film. But obviously the film never surrounds around it afterwards It's a pity that Disney didn't gave their female protagonists more friends until Tiana (while Nakoma was at least more realistic, at least Charlotte was charicatured and made for comic relief).
Oh yes, the press and marketing made a huge deal about it.I didn't realize that there was such a big deal about Pocahontas having non-speaking animals parts. That's odd since so many Disney movies (including the very first one) were like that.
Fair enough. I used to like him when I was a kid and he reminded me of Jafar as a beggar. Even my mom and aunt (who I saw the movie with) liked him.I can see your point about the soldiers in Hunchback. Personally the convict who keeps getting himself trapped bothered me more. Not really him per say but the fact that he says "dang it." Dang instead of damn really takes me out of the film and reminds me that I'm a 21st century spectator watching.
I won't say that Pascal was the best Disney sidekick ever, but I liked him for what he was. Despite that he never had a real closure with Flynn. Which really was a problem in Aladdin. where none of the lovebirds had closures with the pets from their love interests (with the exception of Carpet, who was polite to Jasmine).I find Pascal so annoying but I know popular consensus is that he's one of the best Disney sidekicks ever. He's loyal, I'll give him that, and I can see the appeal, but he just irritates me. I think if I liked Rapunzel more, I'd be able to see why Pascal is so loyal to her and I'd probably like him a lot then. His relationship with Flynn didn't help since I wasn't a fan of Flynn either.
I know. I remember being some rumors about Tangled being hand drawn or at least look like hand drawn after The Princess and the Frog was released. At least something more innovative would've been nice. Did you see the test clip that exists in YouTube about Rapunzel with a squirrel saying that she doesn't believe in magic?The original Glen Keane version of Rapunzel was meant to be more painterly but it ended up being too expensive and time-consuming so they went back to the regular CGI. I would have loved to have seen the painterly CGI though. Not surprised that it's been 8 years since Tangled came out and under Lasseter's regime, Disney has made no strides whatsoever in exploring new forms of CGI. The graphics are better and the visuals are more photorealistic, true, but to the eye of the average person, Tangled and Moana don't really look any different.
According to The Art of Walt Disney: From Mickey Mouse to the Magic Kingdoms and Beyond, Glen Keane was asked to switch back to hand drawn, but he wanted to explore the possibilites with adapting this tale in CGI. So he's to blame, hahaha
That's true. I remember the concept art of the shedding tear was the one that made the naysayers gain hope in the movie. Don't forget how everyone were freaking off from the trailer and saying that Disney had gone full DreamWorks mode.When Tangled came out, I remember a lot of people were going on about the ending and how it ripped off Beauty and the Beast. It didn't bother me then because this was one of the few things that hearkened back to the original fairy tale.
Really? I know people where whining about I See The Light being structured and having the same chords as Menken's earlier ballads. But at least we got to have an actual love duet between a love couple, which has been the only one in this Revival era (unless you'll count Love is an Open Door from Frozen). However, I See The Light is the best song from Tangled and therefore my favorite.Meanwhile I See the Light gets compared to A Whole New World as well, along with the Jasmine/Rapunzel and Aladdin/Flynn parallels.
Yeah, I know about the feud between Roy and Michael.From what I remember, Tam Lin was Roy Disney's pet project, and Michael Eisner canned it to spite him. I don't think it got far enough in development for any concept art to materialize, or at least, I haven't seen ansy.
OK. Disney could still do it, despite how they've given the Norwegian location to Frozen (which was at least a welcome, due to me being Norwegian, though a little contrived, despite how the original tale of The Snow Queen never took place in Norway)Oh, that's cool that Disney was interested in Norse myths. The German epic I mentioned earlier (The Ring Cycle by Wagner) was basically just the Norse myths with some variations so I would have loved to have seen Disney's versions of Thor and Loki. A red-headed Loki who is actually Thor's blood brother and not adopted one.
Fair enough. There were so much buzz about how daring The Prince of Egypt was, yet Hunchback was more controversial, if you think about it.I suppose The Prince of Egypt was daring but not as daring as Hunchback since Jewish/Christian/Muslim families have likely exposed their children to the tale of Moses so they're already familiar with all the dark and bleak elements. Whereas, Hunchback is more new material and on top of that, parents likely don't really teach their kids about sex at such a young age so Hunchback explored those mature themes as well.
Haha, funny that you ask about that! When I saw A Bug's Life theatrically for the first time, I loved it and thought it was inferior. Later viewings has made me less fond of it. It's not bad, it's just that it's not as good as it initially was. Yet I still have a certain fondness for A Bug's Life. But now I consider Antz to be the better picture of the two. I saw Antz first.I'll have to find Antz one day and give it a watch. I always took it as another Disney rip-off. Do you prefer it over A Bug's Life? I know a lot of people hate on A Bug's Life, but I really quite like it. It's very underrated imo.
Not only The Black Cauldron, The Rescuers Down Under too!I actually own David Koenig's "Mouse Under Glass" and it's one of my favorite Disney books. I especially love how The Black Cauldron is just entirely skipped lol.
It's one of my favorite books, due to it's sheer honesty. It certainly has more valuable information about Hunchback where you don't find elsewhere! Despite that it doesn't have all the facts right and does nitpick a little about certain plot holes, it is a valuable book for any Disnerd! It's been ten years since I bought it online.
Thanks. I personally wished that I was a kid in the late nineties, so I could enjoy the bliss of being a child with the Disney merchandise in the last years of the millenium.You know my age now and I know yours lol. Like I said before, I'm sorta jealous of you because I would have loved to have grown up in the 90s so I could experience the height of Disney's promotion. I still believe the merchandise was better back then.
Nope. I remember seeing the direct-to-video sequels a long time ago and finding them just meh. I haven't seen the new CGI movies.Richard Rich seems quite content with The Swan Princess franchise right now so I doubt he's interested in selling. I forgot what company owns the rights to The Swan Princess now, but they found that the old DVDs were consistent sellers, even as home video has been dying out, which is why the franchise was brought back, for better or for worse. I personally haven't seen any of the CGI films yet although I always plan to, just to see if I'm missing out on anything. Have you seen any of the new films?
New Line Cinema were the ones who released The Swan Princess. It's remarkable despite that the brand has become a franchise, The Swan Princess is still leagues behind the legacy and recognition of the Princess franchise.
I miss the days when Disney weren't the only ones who were associated with Princess related franchises. It's still an overlooked movie and haven't really gotten as much attention as Anastasia, per say, which I personally think that has a huge fanbase.
The former.Do you mean Esmeralda and Mulan resembled Jasmine physically or personality-wise?
Fair enough. But there are still children who wants to open their own restaurant.Because generally the princesses all have very broad dreams of adventure and romance which is mostly associated with young girls, particularly teenagers, not that adult women don't have the same dreams. However, characters like Tiana and Nani were part of the labor force and their biggest aspirations were professional; Nani making enough to take care of Lilo like a guardian and Tiana opening up her own restaurant. I feel like most little kids really can't connect very much to Tiana's dream. There's a reason that one day they want to be an astronaut and the next day they want to be a firefighter, because it's all a game of pretend for them, and very few children actually realize then what a profession will really entail.
Exactly. It's remarkable how none of those three has their hair down and the two sisters always has their hair braided. With the exception of Cinderella and Pocahontas, you barely saw a hand drawn Princess with braids. I think I've read somewhere that it was easier to animate a braid in CGI.Tiana was the first princess whose hair never came down until Anna (unless you count her messy bedhair) and Elsa.
You're welcome. I remember that people were whining about not having a Princess of color since Tiana.I actually didn't realize that the only POC princesses were both made by Musker and Clements. Thanks for pointing that out.
Yeah, I liked her more in the concept art, especially in those early ones where she had wings and was slimmer (like a African American version of Tinker Bell). Though I stand by my statement that I did like her final design. The naysayers have even whined about her not looking dark enough in Ralph Breaks the InternetYeah, I've seen the concept art of Tiana and I got some Audrey vibes as well. I think Tiana had a more youthful look in those, so it must have been back when she was Maddie or when her design hadn't been completely settled yet.
I liked David. He was a good character and someone who actually helped the family. Though I guess his purpose was to be the love interest for Nani, I thought that he was a fairly nice addition.I actually like Nani a lot. She has a sense of humor when she isn't weighed down by her situation and I liked how she and David could rely on each other. He genuinely cared for her and tried to help her get a job and never complained when she had to blow him off.
What do you think otherwise about Lilo & Stitch?
I agree that Mulan is more comedic when she impersonates as a man, but she also has her comedic moments when she's dressed as a bride as well and meets the Matchmaker.I suppose Mulan was comical, but more when she's masquerading as a man. It's interesting that you point out that Tiana was funny, but only as a frog. That goes with my point that generally attractive leading ladies aren't usually suited for humor. Mulan is mainly funny when she's disguised as a man and Tiana has to be an animal to be comical.
That's true.Similarly enough, if you look at past Disney examples, you'll see that the traditionally feminine Maid Marian is like the other princesses, but Lady Cluck, the short and round character is the comic relief. Meanwhile, Charlotte who is more exagerrated in her features and more buxom is more comical than Tiana. It seems as though if a heroine is depicted as traditionally beautiful, she can't play the comic relief role.
True, I know many people are shocked by Terk being a guy. At first I thought that Terk was going to be guy, despite being voiced by Rosie O'Donell. And initially she was going to be it, when the gender swap was suggested. Even the The Legend of Tarzan pokes fun at this issue.Even Terk ends up playing the typical comical sidekick and most people think she's a guy.
Yeah, it's remarkable that Jane is a rare Disney heroine of the nineties who doesn't even get to sing (which gets to my aforementioned rant about the non-Broadway policy in Tarzan). The same applies to Kida. But personally I think the Disney Princess franchise could've included all the actual Princesses. I've always found Mulan's inclusion to be contrived. Call me a puristI remember when Esmeralda was a DP and I wish she still was. She really deserved to be in the lineup and I'm sure Hunchback would be better remembered then. I wish Jane stayed too even if she was really only on the covers for two DP magazines. My main complaint with Jane as a DP is that she doesn't sing. That always bothered me and I was not pleased when Merida bypassed that rule.
I remember there was some complaints about the swap of love interest when the official synopsis of Tangled was announced.Yeah, that is interesting how Tiana and Rapunzel switched their stations in life. Although Rapunzel has precedent since the Barbie version also made her a princess by birth (although her love interest is still a prince, unlike Disney's).
True, but it's a synergy, nonetheless. Had Anastasia been a Disney property, purists would've screamed foul.I'd say the "Pegasus" in Anastasia owes more to the Pont Alexandre III bridge in Paris than it does to Disney's Hercules lol.
Yeah, the designs in Hercules is a mixed bag for me. I do like some of the designs, while the others are just jarring and off.As for the rest of the CGI in Hercules, I do like the depiction of Mount Olympus. Wish I felt the same way about the Olympians. Hera's design in particular is terrible.
Hahaha, nice catch! It's a shallow comparsion, but still legit. But I still have to disagree, since I found them different. I felt the CGI in Fantasia 2000 was off, but at least we saw a variety of designs, so I find it legit. What are your thoughts about Fantasia 2000, btw?The whales in Treasure Planet seemed directly ported from Fantasia 2000 which doesn't surprise me since that was very early CGI work and it was criticized for Fantasia 2000 as well.
Agreed. The Carpet doesn't look off.They do a great job with Grandmother Willow and even Carpet in Aladdin, implementing CGI with hand-drawn animation.
Fair enough. I've always thought the same. I know Kiara's name was changed more than once.I think Kiara's name changed more than once, besides the name you listed. I also remember reading that she was meant to be a twin at one point. Which would really have paralleled with Bambi since Bambi also fathers twins.
True, but at least Simba's trauma is more overt; His father was killed as a child. I'm not trying to neglect Quasi's trauma, but at least it's more easier to handle such a overt trauma as Simba's than Quasi's, despite that Quasi would've logically also been traumatized. Now that I know how to live with such a trauma, I know.Yeah, I like how Scar's presence is still felt in Simba's Pride and how Simba is still clearly struggling with that trauma. It's not what one would expect in a cheapquel. Hunchback II certainly didn't go that route with Quasi or even Esmeralda. You'd think both of them would have some issues after the lives they lived, Quasi in particular
Well said. TPATF had a lot going for it, yet it wasn't great. It was cozy, harmless and fun, yet it didn't work well as a whole. I liked the songs and most of the score. I'm not a fan of Randy Newman, but I thought he was great in it. The movie drags at some points and especially in the bayou scenes. I feared that the comedy would've feel out of place when I saw the trailers and while it wasn't so, I still was never endeared by the comic characters, as Louis, Ray nor Mama Odie.When I watched TPATF, I liked it but wasn't blown away. It didn't make me love Disney again and this was the time that I wasn't really into Disney. The songs really aren't memorable and the characters are so-so. I love Charlotte and Dr. Facilier is a great villain. I actually liked Louis even though most people hated him. Ray I couldn't stand though, and I wasn't a fan of Naveen at all. As I said before, Lawrence felt like a retread of Nathaniel, without any of the depth, and I've told you my thoughts on Tiana and her family. The human scenes are compelling but I lose interest by the time the film goes to the bayou, which is unfortunately most of the film. Mama Odie felt really wasted as well. She accomplishes nothing which is a pity since I read that originally she was supposed to have an epic duel with Dr. Facilier at the end. I'm not sure why they changed it but it's possible that they wanted Tiana to be more involved in the climax so this meant getting rid of Mama Odie's role. Also maybe the criticism by Christian families for portraying voodoo in a positive manner meant that Disney limited themselves to only Dr. Facilier's evil magic and all traces of good voodoo had to be erased, hence why Mama Odie ends up really just existing in the film but not having anything to do.
Charlotte was surprisingly tolerable and not grating, despite that she was the rich girl archetype (despite that her final arc was too rushed). Otherwise I thought the film was okay, just not great. At least Enchanted was more memorable with it's animated scenes, portraying the old-schoold Disney feel more authentically. It's a pity that the Revival era never truly improved afterwards, with the exception of Wreck-it-Ralph. I know many fans consider Tangled and Frozen to be superior, but I don't.