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With #15, let’s go back to the very beginning, I hear it’s a very good place to start.
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With #15, let’s go back to the very beginning, I hear it’s a very good place to start.
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The truth is the 16th movie on my list is a lot like Alice in Wonderland as its less than sum of its parts coupled with some weird decisions to the narrative and YET it still a fun watch.
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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.
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Now we have highly remembered classic that is still somewhat under-rated
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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!
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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, it’s very pretty.
*except for oddly Tarzan, Fantasia 2000 and the anthologies
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. Update- I actually did the lego Poinsettia kit so now I have a little lego game now I want the Notre Dame set even more.
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.