The Disney Movie that eked out my 17th position might not be everyone’s cup of tea but it just holds a curious little place in my heart.
Read More →Coming in at #20 on this weird list is a movie that’s not considered an unrated gem but rather the opposite. It’s an Icy Blue Crown Jewel in Disney’s lofty Princess Tiara…
Read More →Recently I watched the majority of Disney’s Featured Animated movies to get a better sense of which ones are my personal favorites because I didn’t really know the answer to that question. Many of the Disney movies I haven’t actually seen and a few I’ve watched only once or twice.
I watched 52 movies excluding anthology films – sorry Fantasia – and Winnie the Pooh movies, not sure why I just did that. I wasn’t going to include sequels but they got added to the list except for Moana 2. Also I watched these movies in a random order.
There will 20 posts for each movie on separate days. The movies are not so much ranked but movies closer to the one position are closer to S tier. Remember this list will be super subjective.
So what are my top 20 Disney Featured Animated Movies? Will Hunchback be included? What about Chicken Little? Will nostalgia color my perception?
To answer the last question, my rose-colored nostalgia goggles are securely fasten!
Read More →
post contains affiliate links
It’s Christmas Time and Notre Dame is set to re-open on December 8th so I thought for this post why not do a list of Notre Dame/France themed games that you can get for yourself or gift to someone for your next game night.
This is the classic Rio Grande Games Notre Dame. I haven’t played this one myself but it’s not based on the book/movie. Instead “players take on the roles of the heads of influential families in Paris at the end of the 14th century. ” boardgamegeek.com
It does sound like fun, if not challenging.
Now this one I have played and I’m quite bad at it but it’s fun. Wizards of the Coast Guillotine has players picking which nobles get sent to lose their heads. There is a strategy as players can change the order of the line to collect more points and mess with other players which is part of the fun.
Kronologic Paris 1920 is a “who-dun-it” much like Clue but with smoother game play. And while there are lots of board games that are murder mysteries this one is set in Paris at the Opera house in 1920, so it has a great aesthetic.
I’ve played another version of this game which has players building and connecting train lines.
Ticket to Ride Europe takes the concept and sets it in Europe, so you know Paris gets a lot attention in this game. There are dozens of versions of Ticket to Ride though because who doesn’t love a good train?
Ravensburger Castles of Burgundy Board Game looks tough to me but it does look like fun especially paired with a bottle of burgundy wine to complete the vibe. “The game is set in the Burgundy region of High Medieval France. Each player takes on the role of an aristocrat, originally controlling a small princedom. While playing they aim to build settlements and powerful castles, practice trade along the river, exploit silver mines, and use the knowledge of travelers.” – from boardgamegeek.com. Remember in the book Phoebus had Burgundy look because it was the style at the time
Now I’m a BIG fan of the original version of Dixit so imagine my delight to learn that there was Disney Dixit Edition. Players have a hand of cards with dream-like images on them. Each turn one player is the storyteller, they pick a card and say a sentence about it without showing the card. The other players pick a card from their own hands that best suits the sentence. Each player has to guess which card is the storyteller’s. Points are awarded based how the players guessed.
It’s a lot of fun. And Hunchback does a card as each of their animated movies has one up to Encanto plus Pixar. It did take me a minute to find Hunchback’s card in the card list picture BUT I found it and it’s Esmeralda surrounded by candles, vert pretty.
Worthington Games: Levee En Masse Deluxe: The Wars of The French Revolution, 1789-1802 2022 Board Game might be out-of-print given how much it goes for online. “This solitaire game, suitable for group and classroom cooperative game play, tells the story of the French Revolution through its key events and decision points. You must stop the advances of foreign armies and the counter-revolutionary forces within France itself to defend the virtues of Republicanism.” – boardgamegeek
There are also Notre Dame Adult Jigsaw Puzzles and of course the impressive and imposing Notre Dame de Paris Lego set. That would be something to attempt. I have no lego game but it’s mighty tempting.
Have you played any of these games? Which one would you want to play?
Happy Christmas Shopping!
Dreamworks has now entered the Live-action Remake game with their version of 2010’s How to Train your Dragon.
Let’s start with what is “good” about this teaser, Toothless looks great and Toothless was a highlight of the original. Toothless looking the same however points to choice that was made by the studio, that this live-action remake is near shot-for shot remake of the original version. Doing a carbon-copy in a new medium is a choice. A choice that suggests that the studio just a wants to make money. The studio knows that this franchise makes money but they exhausted it so they need to do again. So they took a page from the Mouse and did the same this with actors. Gerald Butler is even reprising his role.
In addition to shedding light on the creative bankruptcy of the movie industry, live-action remakes under-cut the art of animation by implying that the better and improved work is the live-action version. After all live-action movies win more accolades ergo are more valuable to the industry. An animated movie will only win a few tech categories and never the top awards. In Hollywood, only three have ever been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture and no wins. However the oscars are seldom the best metric for “best” movies and there is a long history of politics with the academy award wins. Also the academy sequesters animated movies to their own category so they don’t have to recognize animated movies on level with the “prestige pictures.”
It’s hard to really tell from a teaser trailer if this version is just a cash-grab from corporation that wants people to go their theme parks that just so happens to have a lot of How to Train your Train IP with lots of merchandise to buy or if there is a legit good reimagining here that can only be achieved with live actors. Personally I think it’s the former, the original movie is still great.
In honor of the 30th anniversary of Disney Theatrical Productions, you can listen to the Disney’s 30 Years On Broadway” special right now via the SiriusXM app. There are also interviews. Hunchback is also included as it is part of the Theatricals even through it didn’t make the move to Broadway but it has a great existence in Regionals as well as international productions. Read more about the Special here.
Also Notre Dame has its bells ringing again and it’s ready for its December opening. So that’s at least some good news.
Also now on bluesky. Handle is same name.
If you look up Quasimodo on mycast.io one actor who comes up again and again is Taron Egerton. Egerton is a welsh actor who rose to prominence with his role as Elton John is the biopic Rocketman. He was praised for the role and some critics said he carried the film but most of them just praised his overall performance. He even learned to sing for the movie and has sung in other roles. However the question is…
Would Taron Egerton be good choice for Quasimodo?
Seeing how most of the fan casts are for “Disney’s Quasimodo,” sing skills are a moot point unless somehow, something happens and we either get a live action Disney version or different movie musical based on the Hunchback happens. Anything this could happen. But putting that aside does the popular consensus have this casting option correct?
Looking through his filmography, Egerton varies in his roles and project types. The only thing I’ve watched prior to this post that he was cast in was Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. In that show he voiced, Rian one of the main characters and he was great. That show was a treasure trove of talent, it’s a crime that is was canceled, A CRIME I say!
It’s fairly safe to suggest that Egerton would have little to no issue effectively play the role as he is a very nuanced actor and has great sense of physicality both of which are very much necessary for playing Quasimodo.
Egerton as has a very approachable warm look without any dramatic angles to his face which makes him a good fit to play Quasimodo. Based on his role as Elton John it’s easy to envision Egerton as Quasimodo because the characters share similar coloring.
Egerton has the acting skills to brilliantly play Quasimodo and he has a good look that would be a good basis for all the transformative details that is need to portrays the iconic hunchback.
It’s Halloween!
So this years let’s rank which of the main Hunchback movies has the “scariest” movie poster. None of these are actually scary or even remotely spooky but some skews more towards a “scary look.” Scary looking can mean a lot different things like grotesque, dread, moodiness, use of dark colors and shadows, or having a sense of mystery. Heck even that “monster movie” look would work towards looking scary.
Posters were based on which one IMDB uses because some of these versions have a few posters. This also meant to be fun and the ranking isn’t about how good the poster is.
#8. The Disney Version
This bright and very cheerful poster depicts all the characters and their personality. Nothing scary about this one. Frollo does look ominous but more like he ready to make a high stake deal rather than what he actually does in the movie.
#7. Quasimodo d’el Paris (1999)
Defiantly a poster for a comedy movie. It does have a bit of mystery with Quasimodo facing away but that does add much to the “scary gothic factor.”
#6. The 1977 Version
A little odd that Esmeralda is cast in shadows and Quasimodo’s face is highlighted. While the muted tones help, this poster is for a drama.
#5. The Hunchback (1997)
Nice moody colors but otherwise not scary. At least Quasimodo is not super illuminated even though he is a focal point even though his pose doesn’t add any scariness.
#4. The 1982 Version
This defiantly has a moodiness. It MIGHT have ranked a little higher if Quasimodo had been in shadows.
#3. The 1923 Version
Notice how Quasimodo is in shadows which adds a mystique? Again it doesn’t really read “scary” or monster movie but there is a nice tension with Esmeralda being unaware of the on-lookers behind her.
#2. The 1956 Version
Finally a “monster movie” vibe. Quasimodo and Esmeralda’s pose is quintessential 1950’s monster movie poster. Though the vibe is soften with the other aspects of the poster but it very much trying to invoke “monster movie.”
#1. The 1939 Version
Quasimodo draped in shadows looming over Esmeralda is the “scariest” these posters get. It’s at least gives Quasimodo a menacing mystique to draw an audience into the movie. It has that 1930s era monster vibe similar to the King Kong’s poster.
Happy Halloween