New Disney titles for 2012 (Rescuers Aristocats Pocahontas etc.) !

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by anthonyb

I always did like the animation of McLeach myself; the use of shadows, and the fact they're able to make him look so huge...although maybe that's because all the other characters are so small...

I did, too, but Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, in their book "The Disney Villains", suggested he lacked warmth and was too complicated in terms of design. I get where Thoomas and Johnston are coming from, but animation isn't a genre, and Disney animation shouldn't be, either. There's room for different looks and different approaches. When the medium stops experimenting, the medium starts dying.

[disneyfreak]

Originally Posted by cornbetts

Does anyone know if Disney will be offering coupons for Home on the Range or Treasure Planet?

It looks to be a no sadly, normally it would come out the Thursday beforehand to the release, and the upcoming ads seem to not mention it.

[anthonyb]

Originally Posted by disneyfreak

It looks to be a no sadly, normally it would come out the Thursday beforehand to the release, and the upcoming ads seem to not mention it.

I'd assume for the ones they're pricing $10 below their animated norm ($29.99 as opposed to $39.99), they'll be no DMR coupons.

[romac]

Mine came in today! Will be watching both tonight.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by zoodermin

I don't know why but the "Meet Penny" and "Someone's Waiting for You" clips seem kind of soft compared with the rest. What do you think?

It's hard for me to watch the "Someone's Waiting for You" seqeuence...Penny said faith is a Bluebird, Penny thinks the reason she can't find a home is because she's ugly, or not as pretty as other girls, and then Medusa drops that bomb on her ("What makes you think anyone would want a homely little girl like you?") and Penny's just wrecked. She makes her way to the back of the boat and stares over the water, and she's supposed to see a Bluebird, comforting her, at just the exact same time as Bernard and Bianca arrive...and instead, she sees recycled animation from the death of Bambi's mother, and mother bird footage from Bambi. Really, Disney? No wonder Kahl was upset.

Those kinds of shortcuts at such a crucial moment are like artillery fire right through the negative of this movie. I once was as angry at the animators as Milt Kahl, but a close friend of mine, who is himself responsible for a creative team, reminded and challenged me that production teams are given a budget and only so much time, and you shouldn't blame the employees, the fault lies with management. Even Walt used some recycled footage here and there.

Still, this moment of the movie is the heart of the matter, when Penny is at her lowest, help arrives, and this moment deserved more attention and more expression, and apparently, more money. Bambi animation is iconic and unforgettable, and seeing it shoe-horned into such a crucial scene is, well, disappointing.

Another shortcut - those Mel Shaw pastel drawings that play underneath the opening titles. Those were concept sketches, that entire scene was supposed to be animated. It was an easy choice to cut it to save money, and there's a certain respect one can give for going with that choice, but Walt would have animated that sequence, he would have been thrilled by the challenge. Instead, they just shot the concept pastels by Mel Shaw.

Boy, talk about one movie trying to redeem the other - the opening titles for Rescuers Down Under are anything but a low-budget shortcut. RDU opens with a bold statement of ability, an answer not only to The Rescuers, but to two decades of falling standards.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by romac

Mine came in today! Will be watching both tonight.

Jealous jealous jealous! Well, of owning one of those movies...have fun! We want reports ASAP.

[femogan]

[Show spoiler]

Originally Posted by romac

Originally Posted by romac

Mine came in today! Will be watching both tonight.

Awesome! If possible, tell us if they have any new previews! Thanks!

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

Boy, talk about one movie trying to redeem the other - the opening titles for Rescuers Down Under are anything but a low-budget shortcut. RDU opens with a bold statement of ability, an answer not only to The Rescuers, but to two decades of falling standards.

(Ernie, please: Talk about at least one other RDU scene besides the credits or the eagle. Go ahead. We DARE you.)

I did, too, but Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston, in their book "The Disney Villains", suggested he lacked warmth and was too complicated in terms of design. I get where Thoomas and Johnston are coming from, but animation isn't a genre, and Disney animation shouldn't be, either.

There is such a thing as "A villain you love to hate"--Captain Hook would probably be the first synonymous example that leaps to mind, with Maleficent tied for second ahead of Hades (or even Dr. Facilier). Shan Yu from Mulan got our respect on probably the least amount of villain screentime ever, there's enough funny and scary about Stromboli from Pinocchio, Alameda Slim got the show-stopper scene from "Home on the Range", and heck, even Silver got our sympathy by the end of Treasure Planet. You have to sympathize with a good baddie at least once, and enjoy the style and effort he puts into ruining the hero's day...They are the plot, after all.

A villain who's just mean and annoying--and with a bit too much sarcasm--just comes as someone you want to push offscreen, or off a cliff, whatever works, and do it pretty early on. Clayton in Tarzan springs to mind, as does the complete lack of any appeal for Ratcliffe in Pocahontas...I remember I was trying to put my finger on what was wrong with Atlantis by the final reel, and singled out the James Garner villain: "Remember George C. Scott from RDU? Yeah--That kind of thing. If the villain's just obnoxious, the whole story feels like a waste of time."

[PuppyJonathan]

Originally Posted by romac

Mine came in today! Will be watching both tonight.

Awesome! Can't wait to hear how this is

[strider]

Just seen this on Amazon france its got a December 3rd release date

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by EricJ

(Ernie, please: Talk about at least one other RDU scene besides the credits or the eagle. Go ahead. We DARE you.)

What's this "we" business? Are you a group of people posting under the name "Eric J"? Do all of you known as EricJ come to this forum in a shared bad mood? If so, the collective known as Eric J should have a cookie and a bite of chocolate and maybe some lemonade or a bit of ice cream before all of you post. The Eric collective's thoughts might be better received if all of you weren't so hostile and so fond of caps, large fonts, and angry emoticons.

Anyway, since all of you EricJ's are asking, RDU is full of inventive sequences:

* Message around the world -- marvelous, funny, inventive, thirlling, charming.
* John Candy -- such an endearing voice for animation, and actually, his death was a great loss to the art form, as he had a bright future ahead of him as an animation vocal talent. All of his scenes are winsome and appealing. I especially love the two "flight drops", from the snowstorm take-off in New York, to the wheel-well cannonball drop over the Sydney opera house, and his hospital scene remains a hoot (especially the cheerfully evil nurse mice...almost a scene out of Monty Python).
* Already mentioned Joanna. In college, I hauled friends over to see RDU when it came to home video, and in both cases, she brought the house down. From the eggs and ant-hills scene, to biting into that rock and pulling a Chuck Jones and losing a tooth during a frozen take, she's a joy.
* Much commentary was made of MacLeach's terrifying tractor, mostly because of the technology, but it was also a striking visual tool, and much invention was made of it, particularly a Spielberg-inspired action sequence with the three mice trying to find safe harbor without being squashed or blended by the thing.
* Romantic and surprising use of pastel colors, particularly in Bernard's aborted proposal sequence in the outback. Can't wait to see these colors on Blu. Probably the best sequence with the mice in the film.
* Wonderful, thrilling cliff-hanging climax -- easily besting the somewhat bizarre alligator-skiing conclusion of the orginal. Great use of dramatic angles, and for once in an animated film, you actually feel that one of the principals could die. "Bernard the Hero" is an unexpected and dramatic sequence, that still finds room for light comic touches.

If the villain's just obnoxious, the whole story feels like a waste of time."

There are more than a few Disney villains suffering from Obnoxio the Clown syndrome. In fact, most of them do.

[zoodermin]

Originally Posted by strider

Just seen this on Amazon france its got a December 3rd release date

Then, I think in the US it will get the same release date of Finding Nemo: December 4.

[zoodermin]

Originally Posted by romac

Mine came in today! Will be watching both tonight.

I want Treasure Planet very much!! Please let us know how good the PQ/AQ are and if new previews for new titles are included. Thanks!!

[anthonyb]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

* John Candy -- such an endearing voice for animation, and actually, his death was a great loss to the art form, as he had a bright future ahead of him as an animation vocal talent. All of his scenes are winsome and appealing. I especially love the two "flight drops", from the snowstorm take-off in New York, to the wheel-well cannonball drop over the Sydney opera house, and his hospital scene remains a hoot (especially the cheerfully evil nurse mice...almost a scene out of Monty Python).

YES. That scene has one of my favorite little visual gags in Disney.



"I wouldn't dream of using such a tool...Bring me the epidermal tissue disruptor!"

[Pixelfox]

Originally Posted by Ernest Rister

But you know you're watching Bluth when Bernard starts sticking out his tongue.

HA. What is it with Bluth and tongues? In Anastasia it got distracting.

[PuppyJonathan]

Originally Posted by Pixelfox

HA. What is it with Bluth and tongues? In Anastasia it got distracting.

Not this again

[romac]

Watching Home on the Range now, well, just started it. As far as previews nothing shocking - Cinderella (which looked great), and The Odd Life of Timothy Green (meh).

Will report back on the movie!

[disneyfreak]

Originally Posted by romac

Watching Home on the Range now, well, just started it. As far as previews nothing shocking - Cinderella (which looked great), and The Odd Life of Timothy Green (meh).

Will report back on the movie!

Did you make sure to check the sneak peaks from the menu, or are you looking at the previews that play automatically?

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by romac

Watching Home on the Range now, well, just started it. As far as previews nothing shocking - Cinderella (which looked great), and The Odd Life of Timothy Green (meh).

Will report back on the movie!

Treasure Planet!

[Cliff]

Not sure is this has been mentioned or not, but on the new Phenomenon Blu-ray, there is a high def trailer for Who Framed Roger Rabbit- 25th Anniversary edition. No date or real details other than that the 3 additional shorts had been digitally remastered and will be included. The clips from WFRR looked quite superb.