Lilo & Stitch

Alright everyone, it’s now time to talk about one of the most original ideas that ever came out of Walt Disney, “Lilo and Stitch,” released in 2002. This is how Roger Ebert had started his review: “Only a week ago I deplored the wretched "Scooby-Doo" as a blight on the nation's theaters. My fellow critics agreed. Checking the Web sites that monitor reviews, I find that at RottenTomatoes.com the movie scored a 26, at Metacritic.com a 27. Passing grade is 60. The American public effortlessly shrugged off this warning cry and raced to the box office to throw away $54 million.” I only saw parts of the “Scooby-Doo” adaptation, and the Nostalgia Critic’s review of it, and I will never bother with it. I love the 80s cartoon, as does everyone, but I cannot fathom the thought of having that horrible adaptation made, with all its horrendous sequels and other adaptations.

However, this is a truly inspired animated feature. How did it do? It’s one of the most charming feature-length animated films in years – funny, lively, amazing, original and with six songs by Elvis “The King of Rock and Roll” Priestly. It doesn’t get all sickeningly sweet until the end, it has as much for adults as it does for kids, and it has a bright out of the ordinary look to it.

Ebert went on his rant about “Scooby-Doo” like this: “If "Scooby-Doo" grossed $54 million in its first weekend, then if there is justice in the world, "Lilo & Stitch" will gross $200 million. But there is not justice. There is a herd instinct. On Monday a man on an elevator asked me what I thought about "Scooby-Doo." I said it was a very bad movie. "My kids want to see it," he said. Yes, I said, because they've heard of nothing else all week. But, I said, there is a much better animated family film opening this weekend, named "Lilo & Stitch," that your kids are sure to like much more than "Scooby-Doo," and you will enjoy it, too. Take my word, I said; I do this for a living. Take the kids to "Lilo & Stitch." I could see from the man's eyes that he was rejecting my advice. How could I possibly be right when $54 million said I was wrong? How could human taste be a better barometer of movie quality than the success of a marketing campaign? Prediction: This weekend, more parents and their children will dutifully file into the idiotic wasteland of "Scooby-Doo" than will see the inspired delights of "Lilo & Stitch." That will be a shame.” “Lilo and Stitch,” made by the same company who gave us the great “Mulan,” is a cutesy fantasy about an alien monster that accidentally gets adopted as a pet by a little girl living in Hawaii. The creature, who she names Stitch, voiced by Chris Sanders, was made by an illegal genetic mutation, and is so shockingly aggressive that he gets locked up by his creators. He escapes to Earth in a space pod, is mistaken for a strange breed of dog, and adopted by Lilo, voiced by Daveigh Chase, who basically uses her innocence and the aloha spirit to confuse and even humanize the alien.

Now everything takes place in a happy background of pop-culture references, including scenes parodying “Men in Black,” “Jaws” and “Godzilla” (if you remember the part where Stitch builds a model of San Francisco, then tramples over it). The film definitely puts itself in Hawaii – both the Hawaii of tourist outlandish behavior, and the Hawaii of the aloha spirit. The plot revolves around the rule of ohana, or family, since Lilo is being taken care of by her older sister, Nani, voiced by the hot Tia Carrere, who is disorganized and not always the sister and mother combination, and is fighting with a disapproving social worker named Cobra Bubbles, voiced by Ving Rhames.

Nani is a waitress in of the “traditional” Hawaiian musical spoofs, where her boyfriend David Kawena, voiced by Jason Scott Lee, is a fire dancer. Lilo takes Stitch to show him the dance, and Stitch is very confused, as Lilo teaches him how to impersonate Elvis (which we have seen so many of nowadays, especially with people saying that they saw Elvis).

Lilo and Stitch obviously have problems communicating, since Lilo is a kid and Stitch doesn’t speak English, but the alien, who is a quick learner, learns a few words and, most importantly, some concepts that challenge his existence as a killing alien. Lilo and Nani are also learning to be a family and take care of one another, but movie doesn’t get all teary at the end and is surprisingly unsentimental for a Disney animated movie. It keeps its edge and its comic enthusiasm from beginning to end, and even though it arrives somewhat unnoticed, it’s a gem.

Do check this one out because I seriously think that if you have kids, they will absolutely fall in love with this movie. It’s very different from the typical Disney movies that we have seen, with the typical love story or damsel in distress. This is one of those movies that I seriously think people will adore. Watch out for more “Disney Month” tomorrow.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire

Disney’s “Atlantis: The Lost Empire,” released in 2001, is an animated adventure flick with a lot of enjoyment and a surprise of a climax. It’s a test for the studio. Not having any song-and-dance numbers and adorable sidekicks, Disney seems to be focusing on the visual and story style of anime – the action-packed animated Japanese movies that are on shelves in every video store, which has a huge fan base of people renting them.

The movie takes place in 1914, a favorite year for stories like this one, because technology was very advanced while people could still believe that a submerged continent or lost world or two might have been overlooked. Roger Ebert mentioned in his review, “Just as the "Jurassic Park" movies owe something (a lot, actually) to Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Lost World," so does "Atlantis" spring from the old Edgar Rice Burroughs novels about a world in the center of the earth. (There is also discussion on the Web about how it springs even more directly from a 1989 Japanese anime named "Nadia: the Secret of Blue Water.")” Every story like this need a rich, solitary billionaire to finance an expedition to the far corners of the Earth, and “Atlantis” has Preston Whitmore, voiced by John Mahoney, who lives in a Citizen Kane-like house behind huge iron gates in a strange fortress and brings together a team to go underneath the rivers.

Whitmore hires the linguist Milo Thatch, voiced by Michael J. Fox, to join this mission. Since Whitmore was friends with Milo’s grandfather, and gives an ancient notebook where Milo’s grandfather possibly wrote the secrets of Atlantis. Milo has also spent much of his time trying to persuade the Smithsonian of the possibility of Atlantis. Funny thing about this is that Milo works in the museum as a janitor.

This team, which uses the submarine Captain Nemo would have desired, is led by the gruff military man Rourke (James Garner) and includes a heterogeneous team of adventurers, including Vinny the dynamite man (Don Novello), who has a delightful liking to blowing everything up nicely, Moliere the Mole (Corey Burton), the digging expert, Rourke’s first mate Helga (Claudia Christian), a tricky temptress, Cookie the cook (the late Jim Varney) and Mrs. Packard (Florence Stanley), who chain-smokes while handling communications.

You will notice with this crew that there is no dancing chinaware, even though the movie was directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, who made one of my favorite classics, “Beauty and the Beast.” Ebert said, “Perhaps that's because of the influence of a comic book artist named Mike Mignola, previously unknown to me but described by my colleague Elvis Mitchell as the creator of an underground comic character named Hellboy; his drawing style may have something to do with the movie's clean, bright visual look, which doesn't yearn for the 3-D roundness of "Toy Story" or "Shrek" but embraces the classic energy of the comic book style. You especially see that in the movie's spectacular closing sequence--but I'm getting ahead of the story.”

Atlantis is guarded by scary robotic sea leviathans, which will destroy the entire expedition before Rourke, Milo and the gang is able to explode the place and reach the ocean floor in their sub, where Milo falls in love with Princess Kida, voiced by Cree Summer. Atlantis is ruled by her father the King, voiced by Leonard Nimoy, who wants to get rid of the outsiders, but Kida also is in love with Milo in a subplot that is just like in “The Little Mermaid.” Atlantis seems like it really needs fresh blood, but not for their population (since their people are over 1,000 years old and are still strong) but for new ideas, since the land is falling apart into lethargy and misery. Princess Kida is somewhat of a reformist, trying to get her father off of the throne and organize some public work projects.

Now I would like to talk about the last action sequence. If you remember the ballroom dance in “Beauty and the Beast,” you will remember the exciting way directors Trousdale and Wise enlightened their characters with not only giving them gravity but from the usual rules of animation, so that they lurched excitingly through the air. Ebert advises, “Multiply that several times, and you get the excitement of a final battle that brings to animated life the kind of explosive energy we sense imprisoned in the printed KA-BOOM!s, KERRR-ASSHHHH!es and THUNK!s of those full-page drawings in action comic books, where superheroes battle for control of the universe.”

The story of “Atlantis” is inspiring in an old pulverize science fiction kind of way, but the climactic scene goes beyond the rest, and stands by itself as one of the best animated action scenes. Ebert asks, “Will the movie signal a new direction from Disney animation? I doubt it.” The teamwork of animated musical comedies is too beautiful; not only for the entertainment factor but also for the way they spin out of songs and stage shows. What “Atlantis” does show is an enthusiasm to test with anime tradition – maybe to appeal to teenagers who are action fans who might try their best to avoid an animated film. It’s like “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea” let go of animation by looking the way it dreamed to look.

I don’t understand why people didn’t like this movie. I enjoyed it a lot when I saw it in the theaters, and I agree with all the points that Doug Walker made in his review of the film. Check it out, and forget about it having the usual Disney quips, because not all Disney films need to have that. Maybe that’s the reason why it was hated, but this one shouldn’t be overlooked. Do give it a watch and give it a chance. Stay tuned for more “Disney Month” tomorrow.

The Emperor's New Groove

I’m really sorry for putting this review up so late, but I had a really crazy day. Enough about that, let’s get to today’s review on “The Emperor’s New Groove,” released in 2000. In the animation realm, the word “cartoon” doesn’t seem to be used, because it makes people think the film will be six minutes long with the Looney Tunes characters, rather than a film that is 100 minutes long and made $200 million. Roger Ebert said in his review, “I've trained myself to refer to them as "animated features," but now here comes Disney's "The Emperor's New Groove," and the only word for it is "cartoon." I mean that as a compliment.” This is not an animated musical that has the usual archetypal tale about mermaids, lions or brave Chinese girls. You can call this a goofy slapstick, with the thinking of Donald Duck. The plot is a clear excuse to put together the sight gags, and the characters are put together, also, although they smartly look like the actors who voice them, so that in a way we know them already.

Look at Emperor Kuzco, who is the ruler of the mythical land that looks like somewhere in South America. He’s voiced by SNL alumni, funny man David Spade, and he’s a lot like the characters Spade always plays, a laconic, pessimistic wise guy who is also a narcissus. Ebert stated that, “A little of Spade goes a long way, but here the animation provides enough distance so that I actually found myself enjoying Kuzco, even if his name does sound like a discount store.”

Kuzco makes a mistake in the beginning of the film, when he fires an old lady named Yzma, voiced by Eartha Kitt, who swears revenge. Her sidekick is Kronk, voiced by David Puddy from “Seinfeld,” the titular character in “The Tick,” the voice of Joe Swanson from “Family Guy,” and Brock Samson from “The Venture Bros,” Patrick Warburton, a cook who would really like to be an evil partner in crime but simply cannot focus on the evil plot. He’s distracted by his first passion, cooking. One of the occurring jokes is Yzma’s attempt to beat Kronk into a rage of evil, and his own friendly disinterest in her plans.

Kuzco spends his days in abusing his power. He has recently relocated a village, and now has his eyes set on a hilltop site for his summer home “Kuzcotopia” – a hill currently being lived on by the cheerful peasant Pacha (the great John Goodman, who you might remember as Dan Connor from the sitcom “Roseanne”), his pregnant wife, Chicha (Wendie Malick), and their children (Kellyann Kelso and Eli Russell Linnetz). Kuzco orders them to move, not long before Yzma pours a potion into his drink that she thinks will kill him but, through a slipup, simply turns him into a llama.

The life of a llama doesn’t by its nature give itself to being lived by a smart-alecky emperor, something Kuzco quickly finds out. He slips away into the jungle, which is scary and frightening, even at night, and although he has always been into self-pity, he now finds real-life inspiration when he cries. Pacha comes in, who is a nice guy and helps Kuzco even after he finds out that he is the emperor who is now a llama that wanted his family to evacuate their home. Their relationship, which goes on with Spade’s long-running tradition of picking obese men as his co-stars, is strange for a Disney movie because the protagonist is a jerk and the sidekick is the hero.

That’s the plot, more or less. It would be thin if this was the usual Disney tale, but it’s not. “The Emperor’s New Groove” seems to have been created in a corner of the Disney office by animators who just wanted to laugh a lot and wear funny hats. The film was directed by Mark Dindal, who worked on the look of “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin,” but whose most important credit is the 1997 Warner Bros. animated movie “Cats Don’t Dance.” Ebert said in his review, “It didn't do much business, perhaps because audiences look for the Disney trademark on most animation, but I liked its visual aliveness and its cheeky storytelling quality.”

He brings the same excellence to “The Emperor’s New Groove” – he wants to be funny in the moment, and let the movie take care of itself. His style has been compared to the Chuck Jones and Tex Avery cartoons at Warner Bros., where corniness is avoided, and the animators sneak social and media spoof in between the jokes.

Ebert admitted, “"The Emperor's New Groove" began life, I understand, as quite a different kind of movie--a portentous, ambitious Disney feature along the lines of "Mulan" or "Pocahontas."” Apparently that layer didn’t make gold, and some of the original footage was recycled while other scenes were re-tracked and the original music was heavily shelved. Ebert also said, “I don't know what the earlier version would have been like, but this version is a zany tonic, more upbeat and funnier than the lugubrious "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas."” The movie doesn’t have the technical look of a film like “Tarzan,” but is a reminder that the classic cartoon look is a lovable style of its own. Ebert remembers, “When the Looney Tunes trademark came on the screen at the kiddie matinee of long ago, the kiddies would cheer in unison because they knew they were going to have unmitigated fun.” “The Emperor’s New Groove” uses that same kind of spirit.

If you haven’t seen this movie, you must. It’s very entertaining, and I like the idea of something like a road trip for a Disney movie, since it’s never been used before. My brother and I saw this in the theaters when it came out and I remember enjoying it a lot. Look out tomorrow for more “Disney Month.”

Mulan/Tarzan

Finally, this day has come. We are now going to look at my two absolute favorite Disney movies, but it’s hard to say which one I like more. However, let’s get started with “Mulan,” released in 1998, a movie that is full of surprises. Among those are that it’s the first Disney movie that I know of that has ever said “cross-dresser” and “drag show,” or to have scenes where you see someone picking their nose and spitting. Also it’s the first to ever have Harvey Fierstein and Danny Osmond to co-star, but that’s another thing. What’s really surprising about “Mulan” is that it’s set in ancient China, visually beautiful and has a spirited heroine.

Even though the film is based on a famous Chinese legend, directors Barry Cook and Tony Bancroft have put in plenty of the famous Disney touches. The main character is a young girl who’s kind of like an eccentric, which is keeping in the tradition of those Disney protagonists that are slightly “different” (Belle was a bookworm, Quasimodo was deformed, and Ariel wanted to be a human). Mulan, voiced by Ming-Na Wen, doesn’t seem to fit in because she spends her time talking to animals and singing ballads to herself – don’t all Disney heroines.

After the “Reflection” song, which is one of the saddest in any Disney soundtracks ever, war has now broken out with the Huns (Moira Macdonald described them as “look quite nasty and sport dangly, Fu Manchu-style mustaches”), and Mulan’s sick father, voiced by Soon-Tek Oh, joins in the war. Like any child would, Mulan is worried for her father, so she cuts her hair, steals his armor and takes off on her horse, Khan, voiced by Frank Welker, to join the army in her place, going under the name Ping. Various adventures occur, and – no surprise there – she helps win the war because of her quick thinking and brings honor to her family. She also falls in love with Captain Li Shang (BD Wong, Danny Osmond does the singing), and becomes friends with Ling (Gedde Watanabe), Yao (Harvey Fierstein) and Chien-Po (Jerry Tondo).

Mulan is a strong, engaging character who, unlike the previous Disney heroines, doesn’t need anyone to come rescue her. Another thing that’s different is that the movie doesn’t end in wedding bells. Macdonald stated in her review, “A 9-year-old who accompanied me to the screening smiled happily at the movie's conclusion. I like that it didn't have all that mushy stuff," she said.”

Mulan’s story come second to the film’s amazing look, which all credit goes to production designer Hans Bacher and a huge team of artists.

Motivated by the effortlessness of traditional Chinese art, “Mulan” shines gently with a gray-washed palette of bright blues, greens and pinks. The first scenes of the Great Wall are dark with blues and grays. The garden at Mulan’s home is cloudy with cherry blossoms, as it looks like it was sponge-painted on the screen. Near the end, there’s a great crowd scene, where lanterns being held by viewers reveal as glowing dots of orange light. Computer-enhanced effects, mainly a fight scene where a handful of horseback Huns zigzag down a snowy hill, are just as impressive.

Not everything is serious. The other Disney trademark, also known as All Heroines Must Have A Funny and Extremely Marketable Sidekick, is in this film. As the voice of Mushu (my other favorite comedic Disney character tied with Aladdin’s Genie), Mulan’s “guardian dragon” and obviously a future action figure in toy stores, Eddie Murphy brings his style of harsh but welcome humor.

There’s also a second sidekick that is there to look cute. Cri-Kee, also voiced by Welker, a small blue-and-purple cricket who’s meant to be lucky, but wins in…well, being cute.

Here’s what Macdonald said in her review, “I could quibble with "Mulan": Matthew Wilder and David Zippel's songs are at best forgettable and at worst (the thumping "I'll Make a Man Out of You") annoying. And was it really necessary to bestow Mulan with self-esteem problems? Because she seems so confident and intelligent, her sad statement that she wants to "see something worthwhile" in the mirror comes as a bit of a shock.” I actually like the soundtrack in this movie.

These aren’t major problems. In the end, this is a great film, and is one of the best Disney animated films because of taking on serious issues of war, honor, gender roles and family pride. My siblings and I saw this movie in the theaters and I remember laughing at this a lot, mainly because of Murphy and Fierstein.

Now let’s go to my other favorite Disney movie, “Tarzan,” released in 1999, another movie that I saw in the theaters with my brother and I remember liking this a lot because of the comedy and music. Felix Vazquez, Jr. started his review out by saying, “Edgar Rice Burroughs’ titular Tarzan has gone through a ton of botched adaptations over the last few decades. Speaking as a fan of the character and story arc, Disney’s “Tarzan” is probably my favorite adaptation of all time.” I know that this film does have the usual Disney quips to make it very much like a Disney movie, but it’s also heartfelt about a hero fighting for his stepfamily along with excellent performances and a great soundtrack mostly sung by the great Phil Collins. Plus, it focuses on the classic Disney themes of lost parents and having to grow up quickly.

Following the original tale closely, we go back to the 19^th Century, and see an English couple stranded on an African island after their ship burns down. While trying to adapt to the environment by making a tree house, the couple is murdered by the leopardess Sabor, leaving their newborn baby abandoned and without any chances to survive. Baby Tarzan is found by a female ape named Kala, who lost her child, and battles Sabor for her life. Deciding to raise Tarzan as her own child, she has to put together the baby in to the colony, even with the complaints of the leader Kerchak. Glenn Close and Lance Henriksen do an excellent job as the militaristic parents, both who constantly fight over Tarzan and the possibility for trouble it brings. We also get to see Tarzan, voiced by Alex D. Linz as a boy, evolve into the ape man, and how he has to prove to Kerchak, who not only hates him, but doesn’t have any respect for his abilities to survive among the apes.

Vazquez says in his review, ““Tarzan” came around during the time where two dimensional animation was on the way out, which is sad considering Chris Buck and Kevin Lima’s depiction of Tarzan’s world is fantastic.” In this film, rather than having him swing on trees, he slides and rides the tree branches like a skateboarder. Tarzan really knows his environment like the back of his hand. Paired with the beautiful animation that shows Tarzan as a kind of prehistoric human being with the physique of an ape, there are a handful of breathtaking moments of action and sweeping adventure. Tony Goldwyn voices Tarzan, passing on a sense of compassion and loss well, while also channeling the classic Tarzan cry in many areas. “Tarzan” has a lot to cover, and still feels very complete, putting in a lot of heart and humanity in to it. It even succeeds in helping you to understand the cruel arguments of Kerchak, and why he refuses to accept Tarzan, forcing Tarzan to hunt and kill Sabor, as well as learn to be cautious of outside English explorers, one who is Jane Porter.

The relationship between Jane and Tarzan is instantly the best part of the movie, as Goldwyn and co-star Minnie Driver gather some really interesting and fun romantic chemistry. They’re both extremely unknown people to one another, and their discovery of each other’s environments and personality is entertaining. Nigel Hawthorne voices Jane's father and Brian Blessed voices the other villain, Clayton. With that, Disney does put the hilarious talking characters in the movie, never satisfied with just Tarzan. Vazquez said, “While I’m fine with Tantor, Tarzan’s germaphobe elephant pal, Rosie O’Donnell is grating as Tarzan’s female ape pal Terk.” Rosie O’Donnell is a comedian who had her own talk show in the 90s, and Tantor is voiced by Newman from “Seinfeld,” Wayne Knight. In either case, even though “Tarzan” can’t escape the Disney quips, the film succeeds regardless with an excellent soundtrack by Phil Collins, great characterization, and a very graphic tone that doesn’t take away from animal or human deaths, at any point. “Tarzan” is an underrated Disney adaptation that successfully takes on a lot of elements of the Burroughs story previous film adaptations couldn’t. Vazquez ended his review by saying, “Despite the brutally boring animated series, and resulting sequels, “Tarzan” is a great treatment of the original novel, and one I revisit constantly.”

Well, hope everyone enjoyed my reviews on my two favorite Disney movies. Wait until tomorrow for more “Disney Month” where I will start doing one review per day now.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame/Hercules

Today’s entry of “Disney Month” will be a novel adaptation on a book I have never read, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame,” released in 1996, a gorgeous but dark movie, which is not the usual Disney movie.

Audiences will find a lot to like about this movie, but they probably won’t walk around humming or singing the soundtrack to this film, like they do with other classics like “Beauty and the Beast,” “The Lion King,” or “Aladdin.”

Still, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” has a similar feeling to watching a Broadway show, with songs composed by Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz.

The story is about the malformed, orphaned gypsy named Quasimodo (Tom Hulce), and his completely evil master Frollo (Tony Jay), taking place in a strange-looking medieval Paris. As I stated in the beginning of the review, the film is loosely adapted from Victor Hugo’s novel “Notre Dame de Paris.”

“The Hunchback of Notre Dame” is beautiful. This is one of Disney’s richest visual musicals. Peter Stack said in his review, “The film is given to dark, stony blues and grays set off by the sharp green eyes of Gypsy heroine Esmeralda (the gorgeous Demi Moore) and the stunning color effects of the cathedral's stained- glass windows.”

Stack goes on to say that, “An enchanting three-dimensional quality lends the illusion of live action as the physically adroit hunchback climbs columns or spires, or clings precariously to the gargoyle gutters of the great church.”

Using the cathedral as the main place, the animators casted a changeable eye on the events with Quasimodo, the evil Frollo, the vivacious Esmeralda and captain of the guard, Phoebus, voiced by Kevin Kline. In Quasimodo’s isolated bell tower, where he has a burning desire to get out and see the world, three unfinished stone gargoyles are there as comic reliefs. They are a wiseacre Hugo (comedian Jason Alexander, who you might remember as George Costanza from the hit television sitcom “Seinfeld”), a stuffy gentleman Victor (Charles Kimbrough) and a mother-like figure named Laverne (the late Mary Wickes).

The story is completely played out with considerable depth. When you look at it, it’s the basic good-versus-evil love story. However, the really good guy, Quasimodo, doesn’t get a real reward for his brave humanity and his ultimate, crush that he has on Esmeralda but knows that he cannot be with her.

I will admit I didn’t see this in a long time since I saw it in the theaters, but I saw it again, and I did like it, but if you think this is too dark for kids, I get it. Then again, I can’t say how close it follows the book, since I never read it. Check it out if you want, but if you don’t, that’s fine.

Now the next Disney movie I will look at is what I consider to be the weakest in the Disney Renaissance era, “Hercules,” released in 1997. As I stated in one of my previous reviews, I minored in Classical Mythology when I was in college, so this one I will talk about every mythological mistake they made in this movie. I did something similar to that in my English class back in 9th Grade, which was fun.

First off, since when were sunglasses invented during Ancient Greek times? Is that something that Disney made just for kids to go around looking cool? Granted, it does look cool when you see a kid wearing shades, but it doesn’t fit here. Reason why I mention this is because the Messenger God, Hermes, voiced by Late Show musical director, band leader and sidekick Paul Shaffer, is wearing sunglasses. Another flaw is that Narcissus is seen up in Mount Olympus looking in the mirror and kissing it. Ok, it’s true that Narcissus did find out who he was and fell in love with himself, but when he realized it was his own reflection, he was sad, collapsed in the forest, transfigured into a yellow flower with white petals and is sent to the underworld where he looks into his reflection in the River Styx. Also, when Rome took over Greece and made their own mythologies by changing the names, Hercules was the Roman name. His Greek name is Heracles. 

It’s true that Zeus (Rip Torn) was the father, but Hera (Samantha Eggar) wasn’t the mother, as she is portrayed in this movie. Also, Zeus and Hera look like a happily married couple, which isn’t true. Zeus and Hera always had differences since Hera was constantly jealous of Zeus cheating on her with other goddesses, nymphs or mortal women. Hades, voiced by James Woods, is seen a lot in this movie, when he never played a huge part in any of the myths. Also, why does he have fire as hair? Since when was that in any of the myths? That doesn’t make any sense. His servants in the movie are Pain and Panic, voiced by comedian Bobcat Goldthwait and Matt Frewer. Hades “never” had any flipping servants working for him! Since when did Hades have hatred towards Hercules, voiced by Josh Keaton as a teenager and Tate Donovan as an adult? That’s his nephew, what is this? It’s Hera who had hatred towards him. When Hercules was a baby, she sent two serpents to his crib to kill him, but he strangled the two serpents. In this movie, he does this in the street when Pain and Panic turn into snakes. And he wasn’t born on Mount Olympus with Pain and Panic kidnapping him. Also, since when does Hades have to go to the Fates, voiced by Amanda Plummer, Carole Shelley and Paddi Edwards, about killing Heracles? Wouldn’t he know since he rules the Underworld? Since when does he want to have world domination by overthrowing Zeus to rule Olympus? He was fine in the Underworld. Also, the Fates weren’t the ones who would exchange an eye between one another and didn’t look hideous. Those were the Grey Sisters.

His adopted parents, Amphitryon and Alcmene, voiced by Hal Holbrook and Barbara Barrie, are shown as poor farmers who find Hercules stranded in the middle of the street. They were both a king and queen of a kingdom. Alcmene is the real mother of Hercules, since Amphitryon was off on a war; Zeus came in at night and slept with Alcmene, giving birth to Heracles. Pegasus, voiced by Frank Welker, was not made from some clouds and never was ridden by Heracles. In his myth, Pegasus was never involved. Pegasus sprung from Medusa’s neck when Perseus turned her into stone by having her look into his shield because he was protecting his eyes. If you look into a Gorgon’s eyes, you turn into stone. After Perseus decapitated Medusa, Pegasus sprung out of her neck. Perseus was the archetypal Greek hero who came before Heracles, but he’s shown as a business man in this movie. Also, Heracles went with Jason on his journey to retrieve the Golden Fleece, but was left stranded and found his way back to where he needed to be.

Now Hercules is trained by Philoctetes, voiced by Danny DeVito, in this movie which never happened. Heracles had plenty of teachers, and Philoctetes didn’t train all of these heroes. Remember, Perseus was the only hero that came before Heracles, the rest came after. They also made Philoctetes into a satyr in this movie. First off, Philoctetes was a Greek hero, famously an archer, and participated in the Trojan War. The famous satyr in Greek Mythology is Pan. Also, Philoctetes says that he trained every Greek Hero, which never happened. They also show Hercules fighting the Minotaur, a Gorgon, and the Chimera. Theseus fought the Minotaur, Perseus took on a gorgon, and Bellerophon is the hero that slew the Chimera, with the help of Pegasus, who tried to fly Pegasus up to Mount Olympus, but Pegasus threw him off and died. Heracles did take on the Hydra, but the Hydra was from Lerna not Thebes, and only had 9 heads, not multiple. There was no crab that came and bit Heracles on the foot, and the Hydra had one immortal head, the rest were mortal. Whenever one of the Hydra’s heads was chopped off, two more grew in its place. Heracles had help from Iolaus to kill the Hydra since Iolaus made a torch that would burn the Hydra’s neck before the heads regenerated. Also, the movie showed Hercules blinding a Cyclops, voiced by Patrick Pinney, when Odysseus did that in Homer's The Odyssey, which is the famous part of that epic hero's tale.

Hades had a pawn named Megara, voiced by Susan Egan, which never happened since Hades never had any flipping servants or pawns. Megara was one of Heracles’ wives that he gave to Iolaus because Hera made Heracles think that his children were his enemies. Also, Heracles had to go to King Eurystheus to go on 12 labors to gain immortality, but he’s nowhere in the movie. Nessus the Centaur, voiced by Jim Cummings, tries to seduce Megara, when that actually happened to Heracles’ second wife, Deianeria. Hades makes Hercules give up his strength to free Megara, and he releases the Titans, who are elemental, to unleash an all out war on Olympus. That didn’t happen. Mother Earth, Gaea, gave birth to Cyclops that went to war on Olympus, and the Gods called Heracles for help. Hercules goes down to the Underworld to save Megara, which he never did to anyone, and drives Cerberus through a wall. Eruystheus made Heracles bring Cerberus up to the mortal world for his last labor. Finally, Hercules asked not to join the Gods but remain a mortal so that he can be with Megara forever. That didn’t happen. Like I said, Heracles was married to Megara, but gave her to Iolaus. Deianeria was next, but she hung herself after Nessus fooled her by giving her a love potion. In actuality, it was poison, which killed Heracles mortal part, and he joined the Gods, Hera accepted him as a son by giving him Hebe as his wife. One more thing: Penelope is a donkey in this movie when she was a real mortal.

Phew, that was a lot. Now that I did all that, “Hercules” does have good animation, good music, and nice voice acting, despite the fact that it’s not following the myth completely. In my opinion, this is worse than “Pocahontas.” Still, check it out if you have small kids, they won’t care for the myth since they don’t know it. They’ll love it; it’s really lighthearted for them. Check in tomorrow for more “Disney Month.”

Pocahontas/A Goofy Movie

Well everyone, now the time has come to look at “Pocahontas,” the 1995 Disney movie about the Native American girl, which isn’t historically accurate, but what little kid cares about something being historically accurate? Variety started off their review by saying, “Disney’s 33rd animated feature and its first drawn, so to speak, from an actual historic figure, Pocahontas hooks from the start, and all the studio’s signature elements – spirited animal sidekicks; wise, not necessarily human, advisers; evil, bumbling villains; natural visas breathtakingly heightened – are all in place.”

Pocahontas’ (Irene Bedard) father, Chief Powhatan (Russell Means), wants her to marry the bravest warrior, Kocoum (James Apaumut Fall), but she’s holding out for something more exciting. Then it arrives with John Smith (Mel Gibson), an adventurer with a group of rough, greedy, stupid men under the command of the rough, greedy, stupid Governor Ratcliffe (David Ogden Stiers, famous for playing Major Winchester in the hit series, MASH).

For Smith and Pocahontas, it’s like a lot of the other Disney movies where it’s love at first sight. He’s ruggedly blonde and she’s equally blessed with not only good looks but with the singing voice of Judy Kuhn.

Powhatan’s people fear these Englishmen barging into their land. Variety stated that, “Like Maria, Pocahontas has been marked for betrothal to an outstanding member of her tribe; like Tony, John Smith was his clan’s fiercest fighter until common sense – in this case, the natural beauty of the New World and the sight of Pocahontas – conspire to tame his heart.”

These Native Americans have been made with considerable care. Chief Powhatan and Kocoum are both quite grave. Variety said that, “Appropriately, there is not a tepee in sight (less appropriately, there’s hardly a wigwam, either), and the tribe is uniformly at one with nature.” Like basically all the Disney protagonist, Pocahontas’ mother has died when she was a child and she seeks the help of a talking tree, Grandmother Willow (Linda Hunt) and her animal companions include a raccoon named Meeko (John Kassir) and a Hummingbird named Flit (Frank Welker).

The Disney animators have created a colorful palette for the movie. The colors are intense and work with nature. The film’s theme song is Colors of the Wind, and the artists have taken that seriously. The Virginia air is always shining with radiance lights. The forests and mountains are colonially provided, and some effects – sunlight through the forests, the waterfalls – are amazing.

I actually went to Williamsburg, Virginia two years ago and I did hear the entire story. From what I can remember, the British people always sent the younger people to Virginia, but because they were not properly prepared, they died whenever they arrived from sickness. It wasn’t until either the third or fourth attempt that they sent the older people there, where John Smith was on. They found the Native Americans, but Pocahontas was only a child when they arrived. John Smith wasn’t the nice guy that they portrayed him as in the movie. He left because of rolling on to some gunpowder, and his skin was badly damaged. John Rolfe then came in, asked Powhatan for Pocahontas’ hand in marriage as part of a negotiating deal, and I probably do remember something about Powhatan telling someone that there was a Chesapeake tribe that I think he killed. Correct me about anything historical that I may have missed or confused. All I know is that this movie didn’t really follow anything historical about the actual event.

Next up we have one of the first Disney characters we see in his 1995 movie, “A Goofy Movie.” This movie is about Goofy, the loveable Disney dog, taking his son, Max, out on a road trip, against Max’s own wishes.

Goofy, voiced by Bill Farmer, has proved that determination can get you somewhere. While his friends Mickey and Donald have had most of the spotlight with top billing, hit features and more merchandise, Goofy satisfied himself with lesser roles and a less thrilling life.

Empire stated in their review, “True, he has sparked numerous late night discussions along the lines of "If Pluto's a dog, then what's Goofy?" but for the last 63 years that's about it. Now all is about to change as the septuagenarian is finally rewarded with his own starring role in his first feature.”

“A Goofy Movie” is a fairly low key animated feature from Disney, not having the visual quality of the company’s more generous summer epics, but still giving plenty of family entertainment. With no sign of Mrs. Goofy anywhere, Goofy is left raising Max, voiced by Jason Marsden (who was also in that horrendous sitcom “Full House” as Nelson Burkhard), as a single father. Since Max is a teenager, obviously Max doesn’t have time for his dad. He would much rather go out and imitate his favorite singer, Power Line (Tevin Campbell) or try and speak to his crush Roxanne (Kellie Martin). Goofy then decides that he wants to re-bond with Max, so he plans a cross-country road-trip.

Empire said, “The strained relationship between father and son and the need to work these emotional problems through is an increasingly dominant theme in American cinema, and A Goofy Movie fits in perfectly with that trend, lending an unexpected sensibility (plus nondescript songs) to propel things along.”

There’s just something that doesn’t seem right about a Disney movie that has so many modern references – from rap stars to stand-up comedian who was also on MTV, Pauly Shore, voicing one of Max’s friends – a feeling of detracting into areas they don’t really have a strong point in. But the strong point is the storytelling, and while this is minor, it’s still enjoyable. Especially the songs After Today and Eye-to-eye, which are so catchy they won’t get out of your head.

Well I hope everyone liked my review today, stay tuned for more reviews of “Disney Month” coming right at you.

Aladdin/The Lion King

Let’s travel all the way to Agrabah for today’s review of “Disney Month” with the 1992 classic, but racist, “Aladdin.” Stephen Hunter stated in his review that, “"Aladdin" conjures up a story Scheherazade wouldn't have thought up in 2,002 Arabian nights.” How could even the best storyteller have imagined that the late comedian who started out as the alien Mork in “Happy Days” before getting “Mork and Mindy” and later have a short-lived sitcom called “The Crazy Ones,” Robin Williams would have been?

Is this a man or a spirit or a deeply wounded human being? Well, maybe he is a genie (my all time favorite Disney character). That does explain the bottomless amount of personality that seems to purge through his appearance, on screen or off, the literally unbelievable way where he goes up and brings down new voices, rhythms and world knowledge within the boundaries of a single sentence or two.

Thus the highlight of “Aladdin” is entirely Robin Williams. He made a total of 52 characters in a few minutes during his first segment in the movie and was allowed to ad-lib his lines, and he improvised many times, which is no surprise since he was the king of improvisation. In fact, the movie might be looked at as something of an attention-grabber, a technical trick, in which the opportunity was simple and intimidating: Could the Disney animators have kept up with Williams through all the constant changing of his vocal performance?

The answer is an obvious YES. The movie has been made basically as a stage-show for Williams and the Disney animators with the pencils. It doesn’t start to compare to the deeper and more significant Disneys of the near or far past, like “Beauty and the Beast” and “Snow White.” The animation itself is lighter, wispier, and sketchier, the colors don’t show off that deeply felt shine of the older animators, and the settings lack detail. The character visualizations are all average. The music is spirited but forgettable. Hunter said that, “It's as if they've cleared out the clutter to make room for Williams, much in the way the 76ers used to pull to one side of the court to let the Doctor (Julius Erving) operate.”

The story is this: Aladdin (Scott Weinger, who also played Steve the boyfriend on the horrendous sitcom “Full House”), a harmless but spirited poor boy in the Disney city of Agrabah, meets and falls in love with Princess Jasmine (Linda Larkin), who is rebellious against her father’s (Douglas Seale) prediction of her arranged marriage. He’s then manipulated by Jafar (Jonathan Freeman) and Iago (comedian Gilbert Gottfried) to retrieve the long-lost lamp in the dangerous (but beautifully animated) Cave of Wonders (Frank Welker, who also voiced Abu the monkey and Rajah), but holds possession and frees the Williams genie.

Hunter described the Genie as, “This is a large blue apparition that originally appears in the guise of a grumpy Jewish delicatessen owner and quickly enough has pretty much run the gamut of the available: at one point he segues effortlessly into a version of Jack Nicholson and then Peter Lorre. He is truly the world -- black, white, male, female, famous, obscure, he just rifles through the known permutations of human flesh at the speed of light.”

The Disney animators stick to him all the way. Hunter says, “It's like watching a kaleidoscopic presentation of vaguely human shapes, as he permutes quicker than mercury, louder than a skyrocket. It's one of those out-of-scale performances that all but drives the movie around it into blur.”

The main problem, obviously, is their attempt in making the story “hip,” the Disney workers removed it from its roots in fiction and, sadly, its sources of unconscious meaning. It has no mythical character. Is this really a bad one? Not at all, for I think it’s still one of the good ones that people should check out, even though it may not be all that great. It’s superficial, but a lot of fun.

Alright, let’s now go to Africa with a movie that I just finished re-watching after so many years, “The Lion King,” released in 1994. Beautifully imaginative, “The Lion King” is the king of family entertainment, charming in every way. With a better story than “Aladdin,” it is famous also for an excellence in animation that surpasses both “Aladdin” and “Beauty and the Beast.” The colors are brighter and of greater range, the drawings are even cleverer.

Also, what majestic creativity, as herds of wildebeest stampedes over a trick and down into a canyon. Scenes of a misty morning with scraping animals and a romantic break in a green land with waterfalls look like paintings. This is how Disney animation used to be.

Respect for nature and the life cycle, development of courage, and faith in one’s ancestors are some of the lessons given by the story of Simba, voiced by Jonathan Taylor Thomas (who also played Randy on “Home Improvement”), an innocent lion cub. His father Mufasa, voiced by James Earl Jones, is king of Pride Rock. Eventually, Simba will be next in line.

But in Disney’s version of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, there is one who wants the throne – Mufasa’s evil, sadistic brother Scar, voiced by Jeremy Irons. If he can only rid of these two lions, he will get the throne. So he put into place a plan involving murdering Mufasa and banishing the guilt-feeling Simba to another land far away.

Supporting characters either threat or help Simba on his path to finding out the truth. The hyenas, who I think of as this film’s version of the Three Stooges, (Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin, and the brilliant Jim Cummings), chase him around in the Elephant’s Graveyard. Yet loyal majordomo Zazu, voiced by English comedian Rowan Atkinson, who is from funny sitcoms like “Blackadder” and “Mr. Bean,” a small bird with great bounce back prospective, tries to warn Simba.

Then there are the favorite characters in this film, wisecracking Timon (gay comedian Nathan Lane), a skinny little meerkat, and his friend Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella), a warthog who farts a lot. They become Simba’s friends and help him into adulthood (Matthew Broderick plays adult Simba). How Timon goes to help Simba when he does return to Pride Rock is the film’s hilarious part.

Candace Russell said in her review, “It is refreshing to note that the creatures are not so humanlike as to seem any less animalistic. With priceless facial expressions, the lions move and sit with a grace common to all cats. For a film aimed straight at the very young, it is remarkably adult of the filmmakers to include scenes that reflect global social concerns. The theme of a devastated homeland could be taken from headlines about Bosnia and Rwanda. When a lion mother (Madge Sinclair) is hit in the face by Scar, it's rough domestic violence.”

There’s no sugar-coated rejection of what really happens between animals in the circle of life. How lions stay alive, by eating antelopes, is nicely explained by Mufasa to Simba.

A spiritual journey begins. When sad Simba is heartbroken about his father’s death, Rafiki, voiced by Robert Guillaume, a wise baboon, tells him to look to the stars for his father’s face. Mufasa does appear in a cloud formation, to give out wise advice. Russell says, “We can be grateful that there's not a human in the movie - not a single poacher or a busload of camera-toting tourists on safari. It's left to warring lions and hyenas to work things out.”

There’s even a love story, something that Disney cartoons cannot be complete without. Simba reunites with Nala, voiced by Niketa Calame as a cub and Moira Kelly as an adult, a lion friend since childhood, who helps convince him to return to Pride Rock. Even though Zoe Leader says one line as Nala’s mother, she still should be mentioned.

Songs by Tim Rice and the great Elton John, especially Circle of Life and the catchy Hakuna Matata, are some of the best songs in Disney history, especially Be Prepared. What’s not to like about “The Lion King?”

Well, there you have two classic Disney films, and “The Lion King” is one of my favorites. I remember seeing that a lot in my childhood with my siblings, and I still love it watching it again today. Make sure to check both of them out when you get the chance. Look out for more “Disney Month” tomorrow.