Not a recommended date selection, though since it is a school trip, there are reasons.
Never seen the plaza in front of “Pirates of the Caribbean” full before.
Spring Break at Walt Disney World
Category: Disney/Pixar
All things Disney (except Marvel).
Padding through Pandora
We’re off this week on a school band/orchestra trip that took us today to Walt Disney World and Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
DAK has always been the red-headed stepchild of WDW. Built at a time when Disney was strapped for cash, the original plans were scaled way back (including putting off one of the areas of the park, the “Beastly Kingdom” of Fantasy). As it result, it’s often felt like 2/3 of a park, difficult to stretch into a full day’s entertainment.
When I read a few years back Disney’s plan to partner with James Cameron to create a land at DAK based on the world of Pandora in Cameron’s film Avatar, I thought it was the silliest idea ever — the movie was a decade old, nobody much cared about it, nobody was sure whether any of Cameron’s planned sequels would ever occur, it wasn’t a Disney property — in short, it sounded like a recipe for disaster.
For the record, I am still uncertain about Avatar as a movie franchise, but Disney has done one hell of a job in creating the Pandora area of DAK. The whole area is thoroughly and richly themed, with the foliage heavily laden with both exotic plants that look alien, and actual crafted artifacts that look even more alien. (This all looks great during the day; at night, a ton of the plant artifact glow with apparent bioluminescence. It’s gorgeous.)
This is overlaid with artifacts both of Na’vi native decor and Earth military/industrial notes.
The centerpiece of the area is a series of floating islands, as in the movie. The illusion isn’t perfect, but the results are still pretty cool, and the remarkable cantilevering gorgeous.
There are two rides in the zone. The premiere — and the draw for very large crowds at DAK — is Avatar Flight of Passage, which had lines of over two hours even before the park opened for general admission, and which increased at times to four hour wait times on stand-by (no FastPass could be had for love or money, ever since it was opened for pre-registration up to a month in advance).
We went ahead and queued up in the late morning when the estimate was showing three hours. That time didn’t include the queue outside the ride queue (occupying the entire path to Africa), so it took us more like 3.5 hours.
That said, it was actually worth it. AFoP is sort of a cross between Soarin’ (simulated flight before a big screen) and Star Tours (physical action to augment the projected reality), with 3D thrown in. In story, it’s about telepathically hooking up to an Avatar that is flying a Na’vi “Flight of Passage” ritual, while riding a small motorcycle-like seat that “enables” the hook-up and provides further physical feedback to enhance the illusion.
Though there are 8 folk lined up on these seats per run, the sense of personal flight — physical movement, 3D, etc. — was very well done, and, even for a 4-5 minute ride, it felt worth the 3.5 hours we’d waited, especially with the excellent (as expected) theming Disney’s done in the various parts of the queue.
It was definitely a high point of the day, and while I’m still not sure that Pandora won’t feel like some oddity in 5-10 years, the overall zone (including the very nice restaurant there) is worth the visit now, even with the crowds.
Pixar’s most complex character
A fascinating look about how having a (literally) unstructured character like Hank the Octopus presented such a challenge to Pixar when making Finding Dory.
[h/t +Kay Hill]
And a few odd thoughts about the Disney/Fox Merger Thing
Mostly having to do with Fox properties that will now suddenly be owned by Disney.
First off: we have the prospect of More Disney Princesses, per the EW article below. That includes folk like Anastasia, Neytiri, and (not pictured below) … Ellen Ripley [1]?
And since The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was done by Fox, that means Susan and Lucy Pevensie could be Disney Princesses, too. And the Tilda Swinton’s White Witch can hang out with Maleficent over on the Disney Villain side of things.
Speaking of Neytiri … okay, this transaction certainly puts an interesting new spin on the new Avatar Land at Walt Disney World Animal Kingdom — financially, if not creatively.
Looking at movie properties and franchises a bit more in-depth, Chris Evans is already floating the idea of a Captain America / Human Torch buddy movie, with him playing / reprising both roles.
I am very much hoping that this doesn’t mean Alvin and the Chipmunks coming to Disneyland.
Also noted: the idea that maybe Dr. Frank N Furter could become a Disney Princess, too.
All of this depends on the Justice Dept. giving the okay to the merger. That could be an interesting set of discussions, too, esp. given the Murdoch family’s involvement, and part of the company they’re not selling off: Fox News.
——
[1] The argument being that if Mulan can be a princess, so can another kickass female warrior. Ripley didn’t get an Emperor to bow down before he, but she did kill a Queen.
11 characters who are now technically Disney princesses
Disney’s over-$52 billion purchase of 20th Century Fox assets means a brand new pantheon of characters have entered the House…
The “A Wrinkle in Time” trailer
Translating a childhood written classic to the screen, esp. with an eye to contemporary cinematic expectations (or assumed expectations) is tricky. After this trailer for Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, I still have no idea if they are going to pull it off.
What is clear looking at the comments (trust me, you probably don’t want to) is that Haters Gonna Hate (OMG! Racial diversity in the cast! My childhood is ruined!) and Disney Skeptics Gonna Skep (OMG! Disney! It must be evil!).
The only thing I can say is that they have the ball-bouncing sequence, and I’m willing to go see the film just for that alone.
Woot! The “Incredibles 2” teaser-trailer is here!
One of my favorite movies ever will have its sequel released 15 June 2018. I’ve marked my calendar.
It is very much a teaser trailer. It’s not even clear that what we see is what the movie is actually about. I don’t care. I’m ready for this, 14 years later (but apparently not in Metroville).
We might finally get an “Avengers vs X-Men’ (etc.) movie
That is, if the current negotiations to sell 21st Century Fox’s studio/media properties to Disney comes to pass.
I’m not usually big into major media consolidation, but I’m willing to do it so that Marvel Studios could get the X-stuff back and the Fantastic Four. Wowzers.
21st Century Fox has been holding talks to sell to Disney: Sources
21st Century Fox has been holding talks to sell most of the company to Walt Disney Co., sources say.
The Five Movies Meme
What five films would you tell a potential Significant Other to watch to know what kind of person you are?
- The Princess Bride
- Undercover Blues
- Judgment at Nuremberg
- The Incredibles
- Dogma
What does your list look like?
Though not required as part of the meme, here are my reasons, what it is that I want to convey with each film:
- I’m a romantic. I believe in true love, and the hard work and being of service to succeed at it. I believe in happy endings. I believe in beating evil, with a wry quip and a steady eye. I believe in riding off into the sunset with my true love (and my pals). I believe in wordplay.
- As with the first, but I also believe in competence and intelligence, in family, in raising kids well, in shared memories, and in having fun with life. Also, I enjoy cheesy entertainment.
- I believe in the triumph of good over evil, and justice over injustice, even if it take time to make happen. I believe in jurisprudence and the rule of law. I believe in studying history and drawing lessons from it. I am aware of the dangers of “going along” with evil. I believe people can be good people and do bad things — and that even if they are good people there are still consequences. I believe that national self-righteousness and myth-making have a dark side. Also, that I don’t run away from the classics, enjoy a good black-and-white flick, and can be serious when need be.
- Along with 1 and 2, I’m a family guy, I like to think I’m a hero, but I can also have feet of clay. That said, I want to do the right thing, and I’m stronger doing it with my loved ones. Also some stuff about valuing achievement, the dangers of hubris (for everyone), and striking a balance between being ones own self and living in society.
- It’s important to be both reverent and irreverent, to not let outrage and anger override one’s principles, to stick together with friends, to value what one is, and to take time to stop and boop someone’s nose. Also that I’m a theist, but not a stodgy or vengeful or orthodox or commercially slick one.
Also, as an overall set of films, I would hope they conveyed a sense of fun, a sense of values and morality, and a desire to balance dedication to society, family, and self, all the while having a good time.
Not sure if that would send a hypothetical SO screaming out the door, especially if I overexplained it all that way, and since I just pulled that list from one video shelf there are possibly others that would work, too, but … there it is.
[h/t +Harold Chester]
Father-Daughter Movie Week
Margie was off on business all last week, which should have meant it was a perfect time for Katherine and I to binge on movies at night until our eyes bled. Alas, her band camps were running until 8pm, school started on Thursday, Tuesday we had a (quite pleasurable) time conflict, so … our movie-watching was perforce constrained.
Still, we managed to sneak a few in.
Under Siege (1992)
★★☆☆☆ (♥)
Actually I watched this solo. It’s a sort of guilty pleasure video, the equivalent of slightly stale Cracker-Jack you just can’t quite stop nibbling on. Steven Seagal does what he does best on this “hijacked US battleship carrying nuclear cruise missiles” thriller, slightly smothered by huge slabs of patriotism, pro-Navy propaganda, and period disdain for the intelligence community. But, hey, Tommy Lee Jones, too. Full Review
Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
★★★★☆ (♥)
Remember when the Pirates movies were fresh, fun, and didn’t just focus on how hi-lariously goofy Johnny Depp could play Cap’n Jack? This one still holds up very well, in FX and music, but most of all because all the characters are (as writing school puts it) heroes in their own story. I wish this one didn’t turn into the franchise that it became. Full Review
Kong: Skull Island (2017)
★★★☆☆ (♥)
A sad waste of some potentially interesting characters in a nonsensical plot, it’s still got visually some of the best kaiju fights out there to date, both monster-on-monster and monster-on-people. Worth watching (and maybe even rewatching, if you’re not able to pay attention except during those periodic fights). Full Review
Pulp Fiction (1994)
★★★★☆
A great film full of good actors that established some new storytelling tropes and spawned a ton of quotable lines. I admire the repeated Tarantino conceit of lengthy mundane conversation punctuated by moments of screaming violence, and (slightly less) the seeming gritty realism punctuated by bizarre coincidence. I still find the unresolved nature of the film’s storylines to be personally irksome. Full review
Overall verdict for the week?: good (if violent) times. But always more enjoyable in good company.
Movie Review: "Moana" (2016)
Visually stunning, musically delicious, and full of amazing feels, I liked this movie oodles and oodles. It made me happy.
4.5 stars out of 5, with a heart.
Full (but not much longer) review: http://letterboxd.com/three_star_dave/film/moana-2016/
(We watched it in 3D. Worth the extra bucks, and my wife, who has mixed results with 3D movies had no problem with this one.)
Speaking of fun shirts
Some clever Classic Disneyland Ride / Star Wars mash-up posters. I particular like the Grim Grinning Ghosts …
Star Wars / Disneyland Attraction Poster mashups are everything | The Disney Blog
These wonderful mashup attraction poster and star wars t-shirts have a retro-vibe that have them flying off the shelves.
"The Jungle Book" has a new trailer
Though we only saw a very cut-down version of it during the Super Bowl yesterday. The whole thing is worth a look.
I remain unconvinced that the movie needed a live-actionish remake, but if it did, this looks like a pretty good one. Though Bill Murray, honestly, doesn't have the pipes that a bear of Balloo's size should, even if he's a great pick otherwise.
RIP, Daniel Gerson
Daniel Gerson, who wrote or co-wrote a significant number of Pixar screenplays — including Monsters, Inc. and Big Hero 6 — has died of brain cancer at 49.
http://www.themarysue.com/rip-daniel-gerson/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0314870/
Thank you, sir, for many, many hours of entertainment.
How "Frozen" should have ended (Non-HISHE Edition)
Movie Review: "The Incredibles" (2004)
One of my favorite movies, really-truly. Every time I watch it, I get more out of it. (Maybe because, every time I watch it, I'm a bit older).
Rich plot, great action, faboo music, and animation that still holds up surprisingly well. 4.5 stars out of 5 (and a "favorite" heart to boot).
Full review: http://letterboxd.com/three_star_dave/film/the-incredibles/
Oh, noes! "Avatar 2" will be delayed (again)!
The original Avatar was in 2009. It was visually stunning (if narratively derivative). And it ended in fairly satisfactory way.
But it made a ton of money, so we have had regular promises from James Cameron that multiple sequels are coming. And this is apparently such an Incredibly Cool Thing that no less a media giant than Disney is investing gazillions of dollars in an Avatar-land at Walt Disney World's Animal Kingdom.
But at this point, the next one apparently won't make the most recently mentioned Christmas 2017 window — over 8 years beyond the original film. And I have to ask, has there ever been a sequel to a single film with that great of a time lag that has amounted to much of anything?
I have to confess, I'm just totally confused by why this is seen as such a hotly-anticipated property, still. I mean, really, why? Was the spectacle of Pandora that spectacular to engender such apparent industry enthusiasm?
Avatar 2 Delayed Again, Won’t Meet Christmas 2017 Window
Bad news for anyone anxious to head back to Pandora. News of Avatar 2 delayed yet again has just surfaced and there’s no hint of when we’ll actually see it.
Where's Rey? (and other Murky Merchandising Mysteries)
If this "anonymous source" at Lucasfilm is correct, and the dearth of Rey-oriented toys, games, clothing, etc. was driven from Lucasfilm/Disney itself, that would be deeply irritating. Of course, the Disney merchandising execs have a mindset of Boy Stuff (Pirates!) vs Girl Stuff (Princesses!), but it's still gobsmacking that a movie that so prominently featured a female protagonist would be so fumbled.
Or is it?
'Corroborating the Lucasfilm insider’s assertions is John Marcotte, founder of the non-profit Heroic Girls. “I’ve spoken with Disney people, and they were completely blindsided by the reaction to the new Star Wars characters,” he tells Boehm. “They put a huge investment into marketing and merchandizing the Kylo Ren character. They presumed he would be the big breakout role from the film. They were completely surprised when it was Rey everyone identified with and wanted to see more of. Now they’re stuck with vast amounts of Kylo Ren product that is not moving, and a tidal wave of complaints about a lack of Rey items.”'
Kylo Ren? Emo Vader-wannabe? He was meant to be the breakout character? He is the true protagonist-of-focus in the movie?
Well … that's not beyond reason. Certainly a number of the emotional heartbeats in the story as it showed up on the screen focus on KR. And if the original two trilogies were about the Fall and Rise of Anakin Skywalker / Darth Vader, someone might have intentionally designed things such that Kylo Ren would be the core character in the third trilogy.
Worth some discussion over a few beers, at least.
If this whole thing is accurate, let's hope that the rumors about why the next movie is seeing some rewriting is in reaction to how Rey (and Finn) have taken off as characters, and (once again) hope that, come Star Wars VIII, we don't have to ask "Where's Rey" again.
Report: ‘Star Wars’ toymakers were ‘specifically directed’ to exclude Rey
The Old Manufacturer Changeth (Disney Princess Edition)
As of 1 January, all Disney Princess figures, backpacks, costumes, and other swag will be made by Hasbro, rather than Mattel. The business is estimated to be worth up to $500MM in retail sales.
It's a really interesting article (written as the dad of a daughter who was never too Princess-crazy, but did have her moments of Aurora-worship), both in terms of how the business has evolved, and in terms of the changes that Disney and Hasbro (who also manages their Marvel and Star Wars stuff) have in mind:
– Promoting all the Princesses, including a number that Mattel had neglected (Pocahontes, Tiana, Mulan, etc.).
– Smaller and a bit more cartoony but more distinct characters (less just "Barbies with different colored hair and color coded dresses).
– Less emphasis on "happily ever after," more on "empowered heroines."
It's all very meta, but it's fascinating nonetheless.
The $500 Million Battle Over Disney’s Princesses
How Hasbro grabbed the lucrative Disney doll business from Mattel.
Critics of gays seem obsessed about gay sex even when there isn't any (Disney Edition)
References to the shenanigans of Kevin Swanson, the Religious Right figure who's currently being schmoozed with by GOP hopefuls Huckabee, Cruz, and Jindal (http://goo.gl/sCxTtM), led me to a rumor I'd managed to not hear before: that Disney's movie Frozen is all about coming out as a Lesbian.
To which some of you are saying, "Wha–?" and others of you are saying "Well, of course" (approvingly or disapprovingly).
The article linked to below seems to be one of the more prominent writings to have taken that theory and pounced on it as a proof that Disney is out to corrupt our kids. I poured through it looking for some actual concrete indications of why this was seen as a thing. Had I missed something watching the film? A hidden song, a coy reference, a rainbow flag over the ice palace, a guest appearance by Ellen, something concrete?
Nope.
Bottom line, Elsa is being accused of being a Lesbian because she:
1. Is rebellious
2. Is desperately hiding a secret that she fears will turn others against her
3. Has no boyfriend
This last one seems to be the most important. If Elsa doesn't have a boyfriend, then obviously she's gay.
Wha–?
So here's a cool thing about a good story: you can map your own feelings and experiences and meaning into it.
He o’er the words of Shakespeare
A hundred hours spent;
And found a million meanings
That Shakespeare never meant.
— Tom Pease
So some people watch Gone with the Wind and empathize with Ashley. Others picture themselves as Rhett Buttler. Still others follow along with Scarlett O'Hara — maybe about their own pursuit of love, maybe about times when they were hungry, maybe about a setback their family had when growing up, or maybe about that crazy ex-girlfriend they once had.
No, neither the book nor the movie was written about them. But the human experience is many-splendored, and there are ways to relate to each of the characters as aspects of one's own life, even if those aspects are different from those of the person in the next seat.
Could Elsa be a Lesbian? No particular reason why not. Can her experiences be taken as a metaphor in some fashion for the gay experience? I guess so. Apparently so, in fact, since both gay critics and actual gay people have read that meaning into it.
Is Frozen some sort of not-so-cryptic advancing of the "Gay Agenda" by Disney? Um … seems sort of unlikely.
I mean, turn it around. Is the theme of keeping a secret about yourself from others applicable in more than just a homosexual way? Is feeling rejected by your family and friends an experience only gay people go through? Do straight teens ever feel constrained by expectations and disapproval, and then break through into a moment of rebellion and independence where they blossom into who they were meant to be?
A look at the movies of the last, oh, six or seven decades argues otherwise.
Heck, I can look at Frozen and think of how I was unpopular as a teen, involved in goofy, geeky stuff, but how I eventually decided, "To heck with the high school social conventions as to what is acceptable stuff to be involved in: I'm a Trekkie and I'm proud of it! Let it go!"
#IAmElsa in modern terms.
I suspect a lot of people can relate to that story arc in their own lives without it touching on their sexual orientation.
But Elsa doesn't have a boyfriend!
That's the clincher argument. Read it again. Elsa must be gay because she doesn't have a boyfriend.
Not that she has a girlfriend. Or any hint of a girlfriend. Or any hint that she's ogling any girls. But she doesn't have a boyfriend, so something must be wrong.
Never mind that there's plenty of heterosexual relationship shenanigans going on with her sister. It's not like there's a lack of boys in the movie (good, bad, and indifferent), or that the only hints of romance we see are hot girl-on-girl action. There's none of that.
No, Elsa — who is busy dealing with a whole mess of problems and conflicts and difficulties in her one-half of the movie — doesn't have a boyfriend. What's wrong with her?
Yeah, that sounds more like several dozen other movies over the last several decades. "Honey, look at you, why are you so obsessed with your career / music / vocation — you want to grow up an old maid? Find a boy!"
Because it seems the only place a woman can find true fulfillment in her life, career, and super-powers is by being swept off her feet by a man. And if she isn't — well, she must be waiting to be swept off her feet by a woman. QED!
Except, of course, that's absurd.
Could Elsa be gay? Sure. There's no reason to think she isn't (and no reason to think she is). But the movie is not about Elsa's romantic life, any more than Finding Nemo is about finding Nemo a girlfriend.
If some Lesbians find Elsa a role model or inspiration, more power to them — again, that's the power of storytelling. But I really don't think that means it was the specific goal of Disney in producing the movie, whether you think such a goal is a laudable aspiration or a nefarious plot. It seems to me that interpreting a non-romance-driven female protagonist as some sort of conspiracy to promote the "Gay Agenda" says more about one's obsession with sex than about the character in question.
Frozen: Not Gonna “Let It Go” When Movie Advocates Gay Agenda
The live(ish) action "Jungle Book" has a teaser-trailer
And here it is.
1. They certainly have some damned good voice talent for it.
2. The CG animal stuff … remains to be seen. There's a fine line (or uncanny valley) between believable animals and the talking characters Kipling (and, later, Disney) described. Some of that didn't seem to quite gel yet. But, then, I'm not sure I've seen something like this before.
3. In case you're wondering the extent to which this will harken back to the animated version … there are some lines and just a bit of music that answer that question.
4. That said, the teaser-trailer is awfully dark and suspenseful. It will be interesting to see what sort of humor they allow to creep in.
For the moment — this is on the to-watch list.