The Walt Disney company reimagines one of Walt’s greatest visions 60 years after the original with new music and new animation in “Fantasia 2000.” This version features eight animated shorts set to classical music. The only piece that is the same as the original “Fantasia” is “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” This time instead of being introduced […]
“Let’s get down to business.” And with that edict, Disney’s rendition of a Chinese legend gives us one of the best stories of female empowerment from the 1990s with “Mulan.” The film tells the tale of Fa Mulan, a girl who is thought to be bringing shame on her family because she doesn’t seem to […]
The son of Zeus is turned into a human and must find a way to be a hero so that he can once again become immortal and return home to Mount Olympus in “Hercules.” Hercules is raised by a couple in ancient Greece, finds Philoctetes to learn how to be a hero, fights Hades and […]
Predators and prey live in harmony, but don’t and someone is trying to drive the wedge between them even further in the 2016 Walt Disney Animation Studios film, “Zootopia.” In the outskirts of the world, prey tends to fear predators, but in Zootopia they are treated somewhat similarly. But when several predators start going “savage,” […]
“It’s the circle of life and it moves of all,” as Disney takes on the story of Hamlet while also teaching about wilds of Africa in what may be the pinnacle of Disney animation “The Lion King.” Simba is a lion cub who will one day be kind of the Pride Lands. But when his […]
Donald and Pluto are both at the beach and Donald is trying to tease Pluto but ends up getting a taste of his own medicine in the 1939 Walt Disney Animation Studios short, “Beach Picnic.” While Pluto is just trying to have fun, Donald uses an inflatable to trick him. Meanwhile, an ant colony has […]
It’s the tale as old as time. A young girl in France trades places with her father to become the prisoner of a fearsome beast in the 1991 Walt Disney Animation Studios classic, “Beauty and the Beast.” Along the way, the beauty falls in love with the beast, protects him and all of the inhabitants […]
A mother duck’s eggs are ready to hatch, but while she has several little ducklings, there is one that doesn’t look quite right in the 1939 Walt Disney Animation Studios short, “The Ugly Duckling.” The young chick doesn’t look like the other ducks and doesn’t sound like the other ducks so he’s feeling left out. […]
Donald Duck is a sea captain looking to whip his nephews; Huey, Dewey and Louie into shape in the 1939 short, “Sea Scouts.” The trio get thrown into life preservers when the anchor gets stuck, Donald gets hit by the mast, and Donald has to flee a shark. In the end, the hat Donald has […]
In this final instalment of the original franchise, Caesar (Roddy McDowall) and MacDonald (recast with Austin Stoker) maintain a fragile peace between apes and humans 10 years after societal anarchy and nuclear war. Unfortunately, a journey to find answers from the past may lead to an inevitable Armageddon in the future… In the previous review, […]
A rat dreams of becoming of world class chef and gets the chance to live that dream by controlling a helpless restaurant worker in the 2007 Pixar film, “Ratatouille.” Remy has a unique skill for a rat that leads to his father putting him in charge of sniffing out poison, but once he gets separated […]
Mickey, Donald and Goofy are building a boat to set sail in the 1930s Walt Disney Animation Studios short, “Boat Builders.” Mickey Mouse orders a boat from a kit and works Goofy and Donald to build it. But, as with any animated short featuring these three, nothing comes easy and that ends up leading to […]
Set 18 years after the events of the previous film in the “future” that is 1991, Caesar (the offspring of the late Cornelius and Zira) can no longer hide in the shadows and watch his ape brethren mistreated by humans… Regular readers of my reviews may remember that I criticised the previous film in this […]
The Walt Disney Animation Studios takes on the classic British author Charles Dickens in this unique version of the tales of “Oliver Twist” called “Oliver and Company.” Joey Lawrence plays Oliver an orphan cat who is taken in by Dodger, voiced by Billy Joel. While trying to help a thief rob a rich girl, Oliver […]
Disney gets its first ever PG rating and a film flops bad enough that it changes the creative direction of the animation division in the 1985 Walt Disney Animation Studios film, “The Black Cauldron.” It’s based on the first book in the five part series, “The Chronicles of Prydain.” While a young boy dreams of […]