The Emperor's New Groove / Kronk's New Groove (2000) - 6/11/13

[zafisher94]

Originally Posted by Rambaldi47

I really liked it. The animation was gorgeous, Dr. Facilier was a cool villain, and to me it seemed right out of the Disney Renaissance era. The only issue I have with it is that the songs aren't that memorable. I was expecting the catchy songs of Little Mermaid, Beauty & The Beast, The Lion King, and Aladdin. I feel like the soundtracks for those films are just as famous as the films themselves. I was hoping for that in TPATF, but the songs were only ok.

I personally loved TPATF soundtrack. "When We're Human" is my particular favorite, and I think "Down in New Orleans", "Friends on the Other Side", and "Dig a Little Deeper" are fantastic and catchy. Only ones I didn't find memorable were "Almost There", "Take You There", and "Ma Belle Evangeline"

[celticmoon]

Originally Posted by zafisher94

I personally loved TPATF soundtrack. "When We're Human" is my particular favorite, and I think "Down in New Orleans", "Friends on the Other Side", and "Dig a Little Deeper" are fantastic and catchy. Only ones I didn't find memorable were "Almost There", "Take You There", and "Ma Belle Evangeline"

Personally, I loved the soundtrack as well. I remember there was A LOT of criticism for the soundtrack when the movie came out, and all I could think of was how much I disagree. Newman and team really went all the way with the songs in recreating the New Orleans sound to fit the setting. (I'm not an expert on the genre and I'm sure liberties were taken, but still.) I mean, they even got Dr. John to sing the opening song! I feel they went almost as far as they could go with the authenticity for a big budget, animated film like this.

The songs weren't merely pop songs that relied on the musical arrangements to fit into the setting of the film, which is what the songs for a lot of the 90s films were. (Not that that's a bad thing; I love Menken's songs and soundtracks, many of which I feel were stronger than PATF's.)

I really think the songs were one of the biggest points that PATF should have been commended for, and this was one of those cases where I truly felt that the haters "didn't get it," as much as I hate it when people say that.

[taei]

Originally Posted by yumny

I love you guys and your appreciation of Princess and the Frog. I feel this movie is becoming vastly underrated, especially with contemporary Disney fans over 20.

The Princesses and the Frog is among Disney's best films. Because it was all about what Disney was. They re-imagined a classic tale and added their own charm. Yes, the songs are mediocre and there are way to many of them.. But we got one hell of a villain (those shadow monsters were awesome!!!). I think it's so much better than Tangled.

As for my ratings:

Emperor's New Groove: 8/10
Atlantis The Lost Empire: - havent seen it yet
Lilo & Stitch: 9/10
Treasure Planet: 7.5/10
Brother Bear: 7.5/10
Home on the Range: - havent seen it yet
Chicken Little: 5/10 (It's been years since I've seen this)
Meet the Robinsons: 8/10
Bolt: 4/10
The Princess and the Frog: 9/10
Tangled: 7/10
Winnie the Pooh: 8/10
Wreck-it Ralph: 10/10

[taei]

Originally Posted by yumny

Nah, I don't think for eternity. Tangled was definitely better marketed, that's for sure, but in the end I think PatF is going to end up the more timeless one. I mean, watching Tangled right now, it already seems pretty dated - sorry. I genuinely do like Tangled, I just don't think it's as good as PatF.

Tangled is a terrible movie. I have so many reasons why i hate this movie. I initially loved it when I saw it for the first time because I went in with low-to-no expectations. When I watched it the second time.. I hated it.

As for the princess and the frog, 2 main problems with the movie.
1. The songs are not memorable and are too much. I don't think we needed 2 show stoppers.

[Show spoiler]1 Down in New Orleans (Prologue) - Loved the begining, especially when Tiana sings.
3 Down in New Orleans - It's alright.
4 Almost There - second best song in the movie.
5 Friends on the Other Side - Best song in the movie.
6 When We're Human - Good, not bad.
7 Gonna Take You There - Why did they have to have this song? It doesn't make sense.
8 Ma Belle Evangeline - Why didn't we get a balad sung by the main characters?
9 Dig a Little Deeper - We didn't need the lesson to be sung to us -_-
10 Down in New Orleans (Finale) - Good ending reprise.

2. The second big problem was that the story was way too complicated.

Now the big problem that has nothing to do with the movie, but with the audience is what caused this movie to fail (In Disney's eyes)..

It's prejudice over hand-drawn animated movies. For a while people saw Disney movies as art. Little mermaid had gorgeous animation and amazing background art. The songs had lyrics that adults understood and they didn't feel like it was just a kiddie movie. Then Pixar came out... Yes, this is the only thing I'll ever hate about pixar... People saw pixar and thought "Hey! Now here is an animated movie for adults!" and then fricken Shrek came out and completely killed Hand drawn animation.
So when this movie came out, people thought that it was a kids movie and opted not to go see it.
Will Disney ever return to Hand-drawn animation? I don't think so. Unless they have a story that they have been developing for a while.

My insight on the Princess and the frog changed after I watched the Nostalgia Critic's review of it. That's when I realized that there was a prejudice with the hand-drawn animation.


Also, shouldn't there be a general Disney discussion thread that we can talk on? I don't want to be scolded again because this is out of topic.

[akayw0718]

Originally Posted by taei

Also, shouldn't there be a general Disney discussion thread that we can talk on? I don't want to be scolded again because this is out of topic.

There's the official disney animation thread.

I know we de-railed big in a couple other of the Disney releases but it's like...the same group of people in these threads all the time.

[EricJ]

Originally Posted by taei

Tangled is a terrible movie. I have so many reasons why i hate this movie. I initially loved it when I saw it for the first time because I went in with low-to-no expectations. When I watched it the second time.. I hated it.
2. The second big problem was that the story was way too complicated.

Now the big problem that has nothing to do with the movie, but with the audience is what caused this movie to fail (In Disney's eyes)..
It's prejudice over hand-drawn animated movies.

No, fans wanted this to be the "return to traditional animation" much more than it probably deserved to be--
The problem with Princess & Frog was the movie itself: It really wasn't all that good, and nowhere near as good as it should have been.
The plot was floating around back during the Eisner regime, back when they were still "apologizing" for princesses to the Shrek crowd, so we have a heroine who mentions in almost literally every scene that she wants to open her own business with no help from anyone, a prince who's charming as a frog but a nearly unsympathetically lazy bum as a human who must be "cured" for his own good (so girls, don't go fooling yourself and looking for princes!), and a goony comedy-relief who's obsessed with princes (now, see how silly that looks, empowered girls?) who brings down the level of conversation every time she appears in a scene.
All set in New Orleans, which has zero to do with the text of the original book, and therefore can't project the "feel" of its story's atmosphere and location the way Aladdin or Mulan could, or provide songs that memorably propelled one scene to the next. (I'll be polite and not even mention the hunters. Let's keep this in good spirits and not even go there.)
Basically, we got a movie that was thrown together, and stood together shakily. By the time it even feels like it's getting its bearings and land-legs, it's half over, and you're still not convinced.

Ironically, most people looked at Tangled and said "There! Right there--THAT'S what we've been missing since Lion King!", and if you told them it was CGI, you heard, "What? No, it wasn't! "
Guess what we were missing all those years wasn't a specific style.

[taei]

Originally Posted by EricJ

[Show spoiler]No, fans wanted this to be the "return to traditional animation" much more than it probably deserved to be--
The problem with Princess & Frog was the movie itself: It really wasn't all that good, and nowhere near as good as it should have been.
The plot was floating around back during the Eisner regime, back when they were still "apologizing" for princesses to the Shrek crowd, so we have a heroine who mentions in almost literally every scene that she wants to open her own business with no help from anyone, a prince who's charming as a frog but a nearly unsympathetically lazy bum as a human who must be "cured" for his own good (so girls, don't go fooling yourself and looking for princes!), and a goony comedy-relief who's obsessed with princes (now, see how silly that looks, empowered girls?) who brings down the level of conversation every time she appears in a scene.
All set in New Orleans, which has zero to do with the text of the original book, and therefore can't project the "feel" of its story's atmosphere and location the way Aladdin or Mulan could, or provide songs that memorably propelled one scene to the next. (I'll be polite and not even mention the hunters. Let's keep this in good spirits and not even go there.)
Basically, we got a movie that was thrown together, and stood together shakily. By the time it even feels like it's getting its bearings and land-legs, it's half over, and you're still not convinced.

Ironically, most people looked at Tangled and said "There! Right there--THAT'S what we've been missing since Lion King!", and if you told them it was CGI, you heard, "What? No, it wasn't! "
Guess what we were missing all those years wasn't a specific style.

I think Tiana is Disney's best female role model since Mulan.
Charlotte La Bouff is amazing. She is the best character in that movie. and I think that she is the best comic relief character since The Genie from Aladdin. (not counting ENG). Say what you wanna say about her, but she her appearance graced the movie.

[Danchez]

It's interesting that The Princess and the Frog's "Gonna Take You There" is considered extraneous by some, since it's my three year old niece's hands-down favorite song from any Disney movie. I mean, all I have to do is start singing it by myself and she just lights up and demands to watch the scene.

[monorail91]

I like Gonna Take You There! It's a good transition song. And it doesn't go any longer than it needs to.

I love TPATF but the stakes aren't as high as in Tangled, which is why I like Tangled so much more. Here's my comparison of the two!

[RebelPrince1986]

I'm still baffled at how much love Tangled gets, especially next to PatF.
Personally, it's no comparison whatsoever, Princess and the Frog is far superior, and not only because it is traditionally animated.
The songs are better, the villain is more interesting, the characters are more enjoyable. I've tried watching Tangled on several occasions and it just doesn't click. The songs are awful in my opinion, I still (after 4 or 5 viewings) can't remember a single song other than 'Mother Knows Best', it can't decide what mood it wants to follow, is it slapstick, is it drama? Turns out, both, back and forth, randomly and often jarringly.
I think it all comes down to marketing, it was marketed much better than PatF, so initially, it had a bigger audience. I do agree though, that in time, PatF will be looked at as the better film.

[taei]

Originally Posted by monorail91

I like Gonna Take You There! It's a good transition song. And it doesn't go any longer than it needs to.

I love TPATF but the stakes aren't as high as in Tangled, which is why I like Tangled so much more. Here's my comparison of the two!

Yay! More blu-ray forum members to follow on tumblr!!

[Zak2000]

Originally Posted by RebelPrince1986

I'm still baffled at how much love Tangled gets, especially next to PatF.
Personally, it's no comparison whatsoever, Princess and the Frog is far superior, and not only because it is traditionally animated.
The songs are better, the villain is more interesting, the characters are more enjoyable. I've tried watching Tangled on several occasions and it just doesn't click. The songs are awful in my opinion, I still (after 4 or 5 viewings) can't remember a single song other than 'Mother Knows Best', it can't decide what mood it wants to follow, is it slapstick, is it drama? Turns out, both, back and forth, randomly and often jarringly.
I think it all comes down to marketing, it was marketed much better than PatF, so initially, it had a bigger audience. I do agree though, that in time, PatF will be looked at as the better film.

You shouldn't compare the movies with each other, just judge them if they can stand as its own movie.

[PaysBart]

My ratings:

Emperor's New Groove: 8/10
Atlantis The Lost Empire: 6/10
Lilo & Stitch: 10/10
Treasure Planet: 7/10
Brother Bear: 5/10
Home on the Range: 7/10
Chicken Little: 4/10
Meet the Robinsons: 6/10
Bolt: 6/10
The Princess and the Frog: 8/10
Tangled: 10/10
Winnie the Pooh: 7/10
Wreck-it Ralph: 7/10

[airborn007]

I was hoping for a flawless picture 5 star due to movie being made more recently than most Disney movies

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by Danchez

It's interesting that The Princess and the Frog's "Gonna Take You There" is considered extraneous by some, since it's my three year old niece's hands-down favorite song from any Disney movie. I mean, all I have to do is start singing it by myself and she just lights up and demands to watch the scene.

The visuals took my breath away. Certain shots look like scenes from "The Nutcracker Suite" in Fantasia.

[Ernest Rister]

Originally Posted by RebelPrince1986

I'm still baffled at how much love Tangled gets, especially next to PatF.

I admire both of them. Choosing between one or the other would be akin to splitting some hairs. I could split those hairs, just think it would be fairly close.

[Chaotic]

Originally Posted by RebelPrince1986

I'm still baffled at how much love Tangled gets, especially next to PatF.

im the opposite. I found P&TF to be really boring. The animation was of course gorgeous but the story and everything bored me,

[spidy]

Add me to the list of preferring Tangled over TPAF as well. Tangled was very well done and one of Disney's better movies as of recent IMO. I liked TPAF also but no nearly as much. "When will my life begin" and "I see the light" are memorable songs in Tangled but there really weren't any songs that stuck out to me in TPATF. The Lion King and Tarzan have the best soundtracks off the top of my head for Disney animated movies IMO. Just my 2 cents.

[PuppyJonathan]

I don't know why, I keep looking at Pocahontas' music and thinking it's spectacular

[akayw0718]

Originally Posted by PuppyJonathan

I don't know why, I keep looking at Pocahontas' music and thinking it's spectacular

That's cause it is. My all time favorite is Hunchback. As a complete musical score, not just a few songs. The whole thing is SO tight, with the consistent use of the Kyrie. Ugh, it's perfect.