
Hulu tries to sell Hunchback 2 with lies
The words “Magic” and “favorite” should be nowhere near Hunchback 2
Follow thehunchblogHulu tries to sell Hunchback 2 with lies
The words “Magic” and “favorite” should be nowhere near Hunchback 2
Follow thehunchblogNumber 10
101 Dalmatians II: Patch’s London Adventure – Aside from the meanness of the puppies, I was surprised by this one. I thought it would suck but It was largely ok. It didn’t rehash and the satire on art was silly. Cruella is also a villain that I would think wouldn’t learn her lesson so her doing what she does in this one is understandable.
Number 9
Mulan II – Let’s be real here, Mulan 2 doesn’t measure up to Mulan but as a movie it doesn’t suck that much and that’s all a Disney sequel as really be.
Number 8
Pocahontas II: Journey To A New World – Pocahontas 2 did have a lot of dull annoying parts but as a story it worked. It continued the story in a logical direction and none of the characters were overly annoying and Pocahontas’ bodyguard drinking tea, classic.
Number 7
The Lion King 1 1/2 – This might have checked out higher except for the midquel chunks. I really loved the start and end of the movie but the parts that kill it just poop on the original which was the point.
Number 6
The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride – Again this one might have ranked higher if not for the fan-fiction-ness of the plot. But aside from the weirdness in the plot, which is a big factor, the other aspects of the movie are fine, the songs are good as well as the animation and the characters are fine except for Simba, who the plot makes into a tool and that Andy Dick lion but he dies.
Number 5
Brother Bear 2 – I’m a little surprised at myself for putting this at number 5 but Brother Bear 2 did approve from the first one, I mean it made that little bear more BEARable, heh, puns. It may have been contrived but it was an enjoyable little movie.
Number 4
The Return of Jafar – It was the sequel that started it all but Return Jafar did give us a different story as it looked a minor character from the first movie and gave him an interesting characterization. The movie in it of itself isn’t that bad and it did continue the story.
Number 3
Aladdin and the King of Thieves – Personally I don’t really like this movie but it is decent looking and has a semi-interesting story about Aladdin and his dad. I wish the other characters did more but it was a good way to end Aladdin, though that treasure hunting plot was dumb.
Number 2
Cinderella III: A Twist in Time – Yeah. it’s a dumb plot but it gave characters to characters who needed them. Cinderella and the Prince have to work to be together which makes us care for them. It also has good humor and looks good. I love the Prince jumping out the window when the king tells not to take another step down the stairs.
Number 1
The Rescuers Down Under – Yeah this really isn’t fair as this movie is part of the Disney Cannon but screw it, my list. This is the only sequel that is better than original. It’s bigger and grander and the animation is stunning. I would say it lacks some emotional feels that the original has but I think the scope and the characters make up for that.
Next time the worst of the Non-Disney Princess Movies…… this might be more painful than the sequels.
Follow thehunchblogWith the Non-Disney Princess Movies done I thought before jumping into the next set of movies that we would take this month to revisit the previously reviewed movies and I would give my take on the best and worst Disney Sequels and Non-Disney Princess Movies and then I will say what the next bunch of movies will be.
So let’s start with the WORST Disney Sequels. And Just a note I’m not including the Pooh movies or shorts, which there was one only but still.
So here they are the Worst of Disney’s crap!
Number 10
The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning – Sure the animation was better than most but the movie lacked focused. We were promised Ariel’s beginning and we get Sebastian’s. Other than that the movie is just clumsy but at least it’s a different story. Really this makes the list for it’s lack of focus and false title.
Number 9
Little Mermaid II; Return to the Sea – This one was just a lukewarm rehash of the original Little Mermaid and was lazy to boot but I would rather watch this than most sequels if not because I didn’t hate when I FIRST saw it and if they were just going to copy a movie I can think of worse movie to rehash than the Little Mermaid but it’s still bad.
Number 8 IT’s A TIE
The Jungle Book 2 & Peter Pan 2: Return to Neverland
– I really couldn’t decide between these two. Both have the same issues, they are dull, safe and annoying plus they were somehow deemed good enough for theaters, What? These movies both suck. At least Shere Khan is awesome.
Number 7
Lady and the Tramp II; Scamp’s Adventure – Speaking of rehashing, however unlike the Little Mermaid this movie doesn’t get the style right plus the characters are annoying as shit. Puppies couldn’t help this movie and that is just so tragic.
Number 6
Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas – What can you say about this one? Beast is a Scroogey-grinch, a Jewish Axe, for I dunno why and evil emo Tim Curry organ, this should have been AMAZING with such core story components but alas this was just weak as Zima.
Number 5
The Hunchback Of Notre Dame II – Now technically I didn’t review this for the Sequel series as I had already looked at it in length because it’s Hunchback but it’s still sucks. Quasimodo tricks a girl with low self-esteem to like him when he see nothing really beyond her looks. I suppose he liked her a bit for seeing the gargoyles but as we see in the original the gargoyles can pick and choice who they interact with like Hugo with Djali and the whole they fight against the soldiers. But coupled with the dumb plot, the songs and animation it’s just awful but I would rather watch it than the rest of the movies on the list and that how it only ranked fifth.
Number 4
The Fox and the Hound 2 – First off, Midquels are just yucky by nature, second, they joined a freaking band. So dumb, there is nothing in this of substances or entertainment. And again a puppy and a baby fox couldn’t save it. Disney what is wrong with you?
Number 3
Kronk’s New Groove – This movie, this movie made want to drink bleach to forget it. I really do believe I’m stupider for having watch it. This movie should have been fun but it was just movie reference after movie reference till you break down and weep from the lack of creativity. This one is just an over-all Disappointing.
Number 2
Belle’s Magical World – Groans, this was yet another Midquel but it wasn’t just any Midquel it was the first Midquel. As a Midquel is just took a shit on the first one since when would have the events had happened? Beast starts acting nice to Belle on first night at the castle when she thanked him from saving her life from the wolves. This movie is dumb and muddles the original.
Number 1
Atlantis: Milo’s Return – OMFG this was literally painful to watch. I hated every single second of this minus the Lava Dog thing. This one is just a lifeless turd. There is nothing interesting or memorable about this movie. My brain is hurting just having to think about it again, Oh, the pain is too much.
Next time the Best or rather Comparatively the Top Ten Best Disney Sequels.
Follow thehunchblogAll through it seem like Disney exhausted its collection of movies to make its crappy sequels, some movies were spared by some miracle. But speculation is fun and here are the sequels that could have been but never were, Thank Goodness. These lame plots are made up by me. Note they pretty much stop making these in 2008 so movies after that are not considered even though Disney made a Tangled sequel and there is talk of a Frozen is getting a sequel @@.
Snow White II – Three stories involving the dwarves and Castle etiquette.
Pinocchio II; The Curse of The Red Fairy – Pinocchio has to be come wooden again to save Geppeto from the Blue Fairy’s crazy sister, the Red Fairy. The whale gets a cameo
Dumbo II – Dumbo has to fly to save world from the Pink Elephants that have been made real by the Ringmaster and his evil new Genie friend.
Alice in Wonderland II; Return to Wonderland. I suppose they could just do Alice through the Looking Glass but here is a lamer idea. Alice’s daughter does the same thing but with more annoying characters. I do not accept the Burton version.
Sleeping Beauty II – Maleficent’s raven becomes human and kidnaps Prince Phillip and puts him sleep and Aurora has to become kick ass and save him. The Fairies can give her like a training montage.
The Sword and the Stone II – Seriously, They had all the Arthurian legends and they didn’t pick one. But let’s go with the lamest story ever, Arthur meets a girl and Merlin is bummed that Arthur doesn’t have time for him.
The Aristocats II – The Kittens form a band with Tom’s help but the dump him for a sassy manager.
Robin Hood II – Prequel about how everyone met or something.
The Black Cauldron II – Though Disney pretends this doesn’t exist it does have sequels. It’s from a series called The Chronicles of Prydain. Just do the story from the third book and ruin it because it a Disney sequel, so Taran moves in to Eilonwy’s castle and doesn’t fit in, hi-jinx encase.
The Great Mouse Detective II – Again more stories from the source material. Let just take the high road (giggle sequels and the high road) just use Mlle. Relda, the story’s Irene Adler counterpart, so Basil gets a girlfriend. Maybe he has to fight someone for her, love triangle they are cliche.
Oliver & Company II – Oliver’s son goes off into New York City to be a street cat because rules and family are super lame.
Hercules II – Again more stuff of Hercules but lame sequel story, Hercules and Meg have to save Thebes from same monster sent by Circe, maybe a lion so I can make Game of Throne jokes. I will note that Hercules was shameless abused for money as it did have a midquel TV show. It even had a crossover with Aladdin. I saw the crossover episode and no more.
Treasure Planet II – They find more treasure? Didn’t see this one
Home of the Range II – Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm more farm hi-jinx? Three short story structure because it’s lazy and easier. I didn’t see this one either.
Still nothing is lamer than Quasimodo getting a girlfriend with that Bell @@. Do you have any sequel/midquel/prequel ideas for the Disney movies that were spared the sequel treatment?
Follow thehunchblogThe Jungle Book 2 is a sequel to the 1967 The Jungle Book. I have no idea what to say about this one. I didn’t really like the original Jungle book movie for a lot of reasons and here are three. Number one, I hated Mowgli, talk about a dull character. Number two, Orangutans in India, No wrong. And Three, Colonel Hathi saying that female Elephants don’t lead herds, F.U.
But at least The Jungle Book was mildly entertaining. Mowgli could get away with being dull because he was the straight guy reacting to things. The Jungle Book 2 has Mowgli at the forefront so the movie is just all-a-round dull and Mowgli is more unlikable in this movie.
In this movie Mowgli is living in the “Man-village” with his new pals, that pretty girl from the first movie, Shanti and Ranjan, an annoying little kid.
Mowgli misses the jungle and tries to lure the children into it with a crappy song. Going into the jungle is forbidden as you know there is a man-eating Tiger in there. So Shanti gets Mowgli in trouble and he gets grounded. Baloo, who misses his singing partner goes to the village to visit Mowgli with Shere Khan following. Shanti sees Baloo and yells, Baloo then runs off with Mowgli and the villagers run after Shere Khan. Shanti is followed by Ranjan take off after Mowgli.
Mowgli confesses that he hated the rules of the village. Other stuff happens and it ends with Shere Khan chasing Mowgli and Shanti and then getting trapped surround by lava under a statue listening to the bad jokes from a vulture.Clearly Shere Khan will die a painful long death.
And in the end Mowgli goes back to the “Man-Village.” Bagheera and Elephnats are also in this movie. But King Louie and the wolves that raise Mowgli are not. Seriously what the fuck Mowgli? You miss Baloo more than the wolves that took care you for like a decade. Hate you.
Much like the Peter Pan sequel, they played it way too safe. It is exactly what you would expect from a sequel to The Jungle Book. Baloo sings Bare Nessacity, Bahgeera complains, and the Elephants act British, The vultures are the Beatles and there is a new annoying new one that should have died. Shere Khan wants to kill Mowgli. Kaa is hungry. Mowgli whines and has a killjoy girlfriend.
The only characters I liked is Shere Khan. Kaa was ok. Kaa just wants snacks and Shere Khan wants revenge. These are good motives. Plus Shere Khan is voice by Tony Jay who voiced Frollo. The little Elephant is ok too.
Mowgli on the other hand, he was dull in the first movie because he was a blank state character, here he is just annoying. He wants to return to the jungle because rules are lame. He is like Scamp from Lady and the Tramp II. Then he misses the village. So kid doesn’t know what he wants. Shanti doesn’t really have much of personality, other than she doesn’t like the Jungle.
The songs in this movie aside from the painful repeating of Bare Necessities are ass. They are pretty messy and really disharmonious. They were not pleasant to listen to.
Another issue is how can Shanti understand the animals? She has no problems talking to Baloo. This ability is never explain and I think the creators just didn’t think or care about a mechanic for Shanti to speaks to the animals. It’s treated as so whatever that one should scarily care about this plot hole.
The Jungle Book 2 is really dull and very safe. You pretty much know what’s going to happen from the start. One good thing is Tony Jay’s voice but if you liked The Jungle Book and what more of it just watch TaleSpin and throw this one under a statue surrounded by molten lava, the world will thank you for it .
Peter Pan; Return to Neverland is the 2002 sequel to Peter Pan from 1953. Peter Pan was not a favorite of mine, heck I had only seen parts of it till now. But Peter Pan for all intended purposes is a fun little adventure movie that hints at a little bit at a lesson at the end but Return to Neverland has a stupid hammered in lesson.
Story goes that Wendy is now a mother with two children that she tells Peter Pan stories to. But then no fun War World II happens and Wendy’s eldest child, Jane, become all practical and has no time for Peter Pan stories or dreams of being the first lost girl.
On the night before Jane and he little brother, Danny, are evacuated from London, Jane gets into a fight with Wendy and Danny because she doesn’t want to leave or something. That night, Jane is kidnaped by Captain Hook thinking she is Wendy. Hook is also being stalked by an Octopus, who for some reason pops in this version.
Pan comes to save Jane and them it’s snarky practical-minded Jane vs careless Peter. He takes her to the lost boys (who are a lot more annoying in this movie) and they try to teach her to fly so she can go home. The Boys then ruin her precious notepad (not sure why she had that with her). She gets mad and says she doesn’t believe in fairies and storms off.
The disbelief starts killing Tinkerbell. Hook runs into Jane and strikes up a deal where she has to find the the treasure Pan stole and get Pan to a place so Hook can capture him and in return Hook will take her home. In the process of her plot she comes to like Peter and the gang and becomes the first lost girl. But Hook finds them and Peter is all hurt that Jane betrayed him.
Jane then saves Tinkerbell and learns to fly and saves the day. Peter Pan then takes Jane home but before he leaves he says hi to Wendy. The movie ends with Jane regaining her childhood wonder and love of Peter Pan stories and her dad coming home from the war.
This is a clunky mess. I give it that it had more of a narrative than the original but narrative is full cliche “drama” and not as much fun whimsical innocence. Jane as character is pretty insufferable.
Hook and Smee were fun in the original but not so much here. Plus half the charm of Hook and Smee was with the crocodile and bless the creators’ hearts they tried and failed to capture that with the octopus. Why does it pop? The popping is so stupid. Why is it announcing itself to its prey? It was lame.
Then you have Peter Pan, Tinkerbell and the Lost boys who are all pretty annoying too.
Another insufferable aspect of the movie are the songs. The songs suck. The first one sounds very early 2000s pop. And if you watched this movie on the heels of the original like I did, the 2000’s pop next to the 50’s style is jarring to the point of madness.
They also got super lazy and used the 1967 song, Do You Believe In Magic
for the credit song. So we have a 1940’s period film mixed with fantasy adventure with 2000 pop music and sunshine pop from the 1960s, fuck cohesion and style, this is a Disney sequel.
The juxtaposition of World War II and return to childhood whimsy is moronic. Jane is running through an Air Raid and then is berated from not wanting to hear stories about Pirates, flying boys and one sassy fairy. It just seem forced and half baked as a premise to oppose Neverland’s awesomeness with World War II.
The girl was in more danger in Neverland than she was in War Torn London. Oh well Pirates and a popping Octopus are more fun than air raids anyway. But Jane is justified in being practical in a War setting which robs the point about childhood being great.
As a sequel, Peter Pan Return to Neverland is boring. They played it very safe. They tweaked the crocodile to an octopus and didn’t touch the Indians with a 40 foot pole. If you want a better sequel to Peter Pan watch Hook at least that is a return to Neverland since Jane had never been there in the first place. I get that it a we the audience return but still. Didn’t care for this one. Not sure how it got a theatrical release.
Follow thehunchblogFantasia 2000 is the sequel to the 1940 Disney movie, Fantasia. I love Fantasia, it’s so cool but Fantasia 2000 is meh. There is like one great segment, some good segments and the rest are meh. However since it’s music videos to classical music with Disney animation it very subjective, though we can all agree that the celebrity cameos were annoying and they screamed sell-out.
I’m going to take it by the parts.
Symphony No 5 in C-minor-I. Allegro con brio by Ludwig van Beethoven with abstract Butterflies.
They were trying to recreate the lines of the original’s Toccata and Fugue. I feel like they were trying way t0o hard to make this combo work. They also told a little narrative while trying to be abstract so it lowers the point of fluid shapes and movement with music. It just didn’t really work.
Pines of Rome by Ottorino Respighi with Flying Whales
I give them credit for imagination but again I felt a disconnect between the visuals and the music. I didn’t hear night or a cold climate in the music. The icy night with whales is pretty, I give it that. Also the narrative was weak. This doesn’t even need a narrative, Whales Flying is enough. Then there was storm because the music demanded it but not because of flow. There was also this lovely piano movement when the little calf was trapped behind the icy and they failed to capitalize on it. The ending scene was pretty and the Whales breaching the clouds was lovely.
Rhapsody in Blue by Geogre Geshwin with 1930’s New York
At first I liked this one. I thought the sync was fun but it worn on me. I just got bored with it. It was also a conventional choice for the music. I suppose the “risk” with this one is the animation. But you expect Disney to push animation boundaries and not narrative or visual boundaries.
Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major-I. Allegro by Dmitri Shostakovich with Tin Soldier
Apparently the creators on the original Fantasia wanted to use this story for Fantasia but couldn’t find the right music. Given that, it’s not a surprise that the visuals just tell the story of the Steadfast Tin Soldier albeit with a Disney happy ending. I would have liked this more if not for the style of the CGs. They just looked not good but they did move well. If this one was tradition drawn animation it would have been way better.
The Carnival of Animals, Finale by Camille Saint-Saëns with Flamingos and a yo-yo
Groans. I didn’t love this one. It was cute and goofy but it didn’t work for me. At least it was short. Personally with Camille Saint-Saëns I would have rather seen the Aquarium or Danse Macabre, I love Danse Macabre. The music choice isn’t the issue though this is too goofy and silly.
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Paul Dukas with Mickey Mouse
This one was shameless thrown in to pad out the movie. I will admit this one isn’t one of my favorites from the original but it’s iconic. Though having this piece in here defeats the purpose of an ever evolving series of movies which was Fantasia’s original intent.
Pomp and Circumstance -Marches 1, 2, 3 and 4 by Edward Elgar with Donald Duck and Noah’s Ark
I hate Pomp and Circumstance. I didn’t like this one but I didn’t hate it as much as I thought I would since the story is cute. But the sync is weird at time. the animals burst out and there is nothing musically. I think combo works in a way but I didn’t like that much. Disney doesn’t have enough power to change how the Graduation song is perceived by the public. They should have picked another song or something.
Firebird Suite -1919 Version by Igor Stravinky with The Spring Sprite
Hands Down this one is the best of the bunch. It’s gorgeous, the sync is not always there but of the newer bunch it’s best. Though it’s very Miyazaki, seems like it was inspired by Princess Mononoke. I also take umbrage with the Firebird from Russian folklore as a source of destruction.
None of these measure up to the original. Reading the trivia I think part of the problem is they were too concerned with the style of animation and not the synergy of the combos. They also seemed to mimic the original but didn’t capture the mood and drama.
Also there is no mood or darkness. These parts are all soft and nice. The Firebird suite is darkest this movie goes and it’s no Rite or Spring with fighting Dinosaurs, or Zeus throwing lightening for fun or Chernobog partying with the dead. It’s kinda all one note and safe.
Another issue is all these segments are stories. Stories in it of themselves are not a bad things but it made the segments limiting in scope. In the original, the segments were not devoid of stories but they had little story vignettes. The Pastoral symphony is the a great example of little story vignettes in a cohesive setting and style.
Story vignettes allowed the music and setting more a chance to mingle instead of a flowing narrative. The trouble with Fantasia 2000 is there was no spectrum to how the animators approached the visuals, they were all story driven. Because of the lack variety, the segments have interesting concepts but not so much with the sync and the visuals.
As a fan of the original I was really disappointed by Fantasia 2000. It was far too calculated and didn’t have the same power as the original.
Follow thehunchblogThe Rescuers Down Under is one of those rare sequels that is better than the original. The original movie is just cute but the sequel is action pact and just amped up. That is not to say it doesn’t have its flaws but it is the finest Disney sequel and not in the same league with the other Disney sequels. It is also one of the few sequels to be part of the Disney Cannon of Animated Films.
What’s the Plot? In the Australian Outback, a young boy named Cody, saves a rare Golden Eagle, Marahute from a trap and befriends her. He meets her eggs and she gives him one of her feathers.
Afterwards Cody saves a mouse form a trap but gets catch in a pit. The Poacher who setted the trap finds him along with his Goanna Lizard, Joanna. The Poacher, one Percival C. McLeach helps Cody out of the trap but when he finds the Golden feather he kidnaps Cody as he wants Marahute but needs the boy for info.
The Mouse then contacts the Rescue Aid Society, RAS. The RAS recruits Miss Bianca and Bernard for this mission. Bernard however is trying to propose to Miss Bianca but news of the mission interrupts him. They chartered an Albatross named Wilbur and it’s off they go. Once there they make contact with a local mouse named Jake, who takes a fancy to Miss Bianca and volunteers as their tour guide and Wilbur get some less than needed back surgery. Surgery in a Disney movie, how wonderfully decadent.
Cody in the meantime is not giving McLeach the information on Marahute’s whereabouts soMcLeach throws him in a cage along side other captive animals. Cody along side the animals try to get the key but they are thwarted by Joanna. In the end Frank, a Frilled Lizard escapes using his tail. However before Frank can save everyone Mcleach lets Cody go telling that Marahute is dead and soon the eggs will die. Mcleach lies to Cody so that Cody will go to the eggs and he will find Marahute.
Miss Bianca, Bernard and Jake at this point have reached McLeach’s lair and try to warn Cody. But they all manage to tell Cody after he reaches Marahute’s nest. Mcleach then captures her along with Cody, Jake and Miss Bianca. Bernard is left behind. After Marahute is kidnapped, Mcleach sends Joanna to eat the eggs but Bernard switches the eggs for rocks, thwarting Joanna.
Wlibur turns up and Bernard tells him to guard the eggs as Bernard leaves to help. McLeach then tries to kill Cody by feeding him to crocodiles but in the end Cody is saved and Mcleach is throw off a waterfall. As they all (except Joanna who lived) are flying off on Marahute. Bernard finally asks Miss Bianca to marry him and she says yes. The eggs then hatched under Wilbur.
I really liked this movie, it’s fun, action pact and the animation is miles better than the original. The pacing is really great too. However the story isn’t that perfect. The Rescuers and Cody have very little to do with each other and the rescuers themselves feel more like a subplot.
You also never get closure about the animals in Mcleach’s lair. I suppose you can assume Frank saved them but would have been nice to see it somehow. But they again after Cody leaves Mcleach we don’t go back so would have been a hard scene to go back to. Though those points are nitpicks.
I think this movie biggest flaw though it that it came out in 1990, one year after Mermaid and one before Beauty and the Beast. Just bad timing as the action adventures of animals got pushed aside for Disney Princesses.
The characters are also fun. McLeach and Joanna are awesome as silly yet menacing villains. Jake adds a bit conflict to Bernard and Miss Bianca but he’s not a jerk. Wilbur was fun and the surgery scenes were pretty silly. The captured animal scenes were bit long and some of the animals were a little annoying but the were too bad. Cody didn’t have much a of personality but he never bothered me. Joanna not taking should bothered me but Marahute doesn’t speak either, so I can forgive it.
If you have been following my Disney Sequel reviews you will know that I tend to get caught up in animals vs habits. The Little Mermaid sequel teamed up a Walrus and Penguin saving other Penguins from a Hammer-head shark while a sea turtle swims by in the one of the Poles. The third one had a Manatee in the deep ocean. Tarzan messed up too, Warthogs in the Jungle, just because Lion King did it doesn’t mean you can.
Anyway…The Rescuers Down Under used animals that were native to the Australia. Even Marahute is based on something native to the area albeit New Zealand, Marahute is based on the Haast’s eagle, extinct large Eagle from the South Island of New Zealand. Haast’s Eagle is also part of Maori legends. In the movie Marahute feels magical but it nice to see that she is based on something relevant to that area of the world.
Joanna is pretty awesome. She’s goofy but she is smart. In one scene she stealing eggs from Mcleach and tricking him in the process. But she calls attention to the fact that Joanna is one of the few Disney female minions.
I mean there are penalty of females villains but the only other female minions that I can think of that are minions are Shenzi and the chick from Atlantis. You could count the step-sisters from Cinderella and Si and Am from Lady and the Tramp though their gender is non-specific. If I forgot any other female minions, I’m sorry but there is a lack of them.
In all likelihood Joanna was probably a female as word play with the Goanna lizard. But I like they didn’t feminized her. I mean they could have thrown a bow on her or long lashes. It probably a political thing, they don’t want to place a female character in a role that is subservient. I can understand it but it nice to see female roles of equal playing field and Joanna proves that a female minions can work because Joanna is awesome.
Before I end, I just want to say that Miss Bianca and Bernard are adorable, I loved the proposal subplot. It was just so endearing. I could argue that there wasn’t enough of them in the plot but I think less is more with them. I just wish they had some more dialogue with Cody that’s all.
The Rescuers Down Under is a really awesome movie that deserves more love. It’s fun and has gorgeous animation, that flying scene is amazing. It way better that the first movie.
Follow thehunchblogDisney may have a notorious reputation for bad sequels that got the Direct-to-video treatment BUT they also had a few sequels that got Theatrical releases. The first one I’m going to deal with is the shortest. Released in 2012 following the re-release of Beauty and the Beast is the direct sequel to Tangled, Tangled Ever After.
Plot is simple, Rapunzel and Eugene or Flynn, whatever you which to call him, are getting married, Yays! However trouble is brewing, Maximus and Pascual lose the rings during the ceremony. The rings go rolling throughout the festive city. Maximus and Pascal get into all manner of crazy obstacles.
In the end they get the rings back to wedding just in time after all matter of damage to the city and getting themselves icky but unfortunately for them they lose the cake.
It’s a short that gives the audience a wedding and mayhem. It’s fun and I did enjoy the peaceful wedding juxtaposed against the craziness of Pascal and Maximus. I also loved Pascal’s expression when he and Maximus presented the rings. But I did think the chaos went on a bit too long and the short is only 6 minutes.
Tangled Ever After was a fun short but could have 30 seconds shorter.
Follow thehunchblogThe Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning is the 2008 prequel to The Little Mermaid. It’s also the last Disney direct-to video sequel, that is till the Tinkerbell movies came along. It’s better than Return to the Sea but it’s pretty stupid and dare I say confused in its focus.
Some ten years ago, the Mer-kingdom was awesome. Triton was super happy with his wife and daughters and music was everywhere. One day, when the royal family was chilling at surface, Triton gave his wife a music box that played their song. In that same hour however Triton’s wife dies by getting crushed by a pirate ship against a cliff or something. In his sorrow, Triton outlawed music and started enforcing icky rules.
Ten years later, Ariel hates rules, Sebastian is the chief of staff at the palace, and the Governess, Marina, is an ambitious meanie, as she wants Sebastian’s job but she needs to get some dirt on him.
One day Ariel meets a fish named Flounder. Flounder gets in trouble for making music but Ariel covers for him. Later that night, Ariels follows Flounders to a music club and sees that Sebastian is the head liner. When Ariel wakes and her sisters’ question her about where she was last night. Ariel tells them and they ask to go. That night they all go and Marina somehow finds them. She tells Triton who ruins the club and arrests Sebastian and the some of the others.
Triton puts Ariel and her sisters under house-arrest and Marina gets Sebastian’s job. Ariel decides to run away and frees the band. Sebastian takes them to a place where Ariel’s mother’s music box fell so that Triton can remember fun awesome times with music.
Marina then decides that to keep she position she will have kill Sebastian and Ariel with her electric eels. But they defeat the electric non-talking eels, Triton brings back music and gives Sebastian the job of court composer. Marina and her manatee minion land in jail.
Manatees? Really movie? You know, I’m not surprised that a Little Mermaid movie or a Disney sequel movie doesn’t know that Manatee don’t live in the deep ocean. Also why don’t Marina’s eels talk? Everything else in the ocean won’t shut-up but the evil eels don’t talk but Ursula’s eels spoke. Oh whatever. It’s futile trying to make sense of Disney sequels.
The movie gives us the impression that this movie is an Ariel story but it’s not. This movie focuses more on Triton and Sebastian. This movie is really Sebastian’s beginning.
We see how he got to be court composer, though we didn’t need a movie to explain that. Marina is focused on bringing Sebastian down. It’s a Sebastian’s origin story but an origin story that includes Ariel.
Triton is also the one who learns or rather relearns a lesson that music is awesome. Ariel helps but it was Sebastian’s idea that save the day.
For a movie called Ariel’s Beginning, Ariel does very little. She’s there, she complains, she dances and sings. The trouble is Ariel was never about the music in the first movie. Ariel was obsessed with human items and the human world.
Hey, creators of Ariel’s Beginning, remember in the original movie when Ariel missed contest to steal human stuff from a sunken ship? I do. Ariel’s Beginning should have been about Ariel discovering a love for humans. Now Ariel hates rules and likes music, that is her character now apparently.
Triton banning music in the first place was stupid. He bans music because his wife died. Her death was stupid, she got crushed against a cliff by a pirate ship because she reached for her music box. He didn’t ban going to the surface, he banned music. King Triton is a bad king.
Then we have Ariel’s sisters. Ariel’s sister have vague attempts at personalities. They have their little quirk that separate them out but they are by no means fleshed characters but then again Ariel in this movie isn’t really a character but more of a mechanic for the movie to follow Sebastian’s rise and fall and Triton rediscovering his love for music and laughter.
Then there is the villain, who is a goofy and weak. She is one the few villains who gets what she wants and is probably in the right. She did run the palace better than Sebastian but she was crazed about getting and keeping her position.
One question I have to ask, How the hell did Marina find the music club? Did the girls have tracking devices? Also, when Ariel follows Flounder, the club has all these safety knocks and codes, How did Marina pass them or know them? EXPLAIN movie! That is not a little thing, it’s how Triton finds out about evil music in his Kingdom. Was the club even in the Kingdom? This movie is stupid.
The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning suffers from false advertising. It promised us Ariel’s Beginning but failed as that is not the focus of the movie. All Ariel does is help tells Sebastian’s and Triton’s tale, ha tale because mermaids.
This kind of narrative works better in literature but not in a Disney sequel. To be fair even if this was called Sebastian’s Beginning it still would be a weak stupid movie. And how dare you movie use Jump in the line, shame, that’s Beeltlejuice’s song. Really, Sebastian singing Jump in the line was just weird.
A Blog Note- We may be done with the Direct to video Disney Sequels but now we’re going to look at the Theatrical release Disney Sequels. (sheepish yay)
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