REVIEW: The Lone Ranger on Blu-Ray

Mitchell Stein- I love Western movies. There’s nothing like the classic Westerns, like Zorro, A Fistful of Dollars or The Good, The Bad and the Ugly and even Back to the Future: Part III. Unfortunately, The Lone Ranger is nothing like those.

I have mixed reactions towards Disney’s $300 million budget summer blockbuster. On one hand, I enjoyed it and remained on the edge of my seat, but in other scenes I was just waiting the scene to be over and they cut back to the action.

The story begins with a strange narrative by a featured character which was totally unnecessary. The narration lasts throughout the movie, and usually at specifically bad times (i.e. in middle of action sequences) and just really brings the movie down to a complete low. It should’ve cut right to the action sequence and dived right into the movie, the movie starts off boringly, bad story-telling, and some other problems, by the time they cut to the action, most people probably got to the ticket counter and asked for a refund. But once it gets rolling and on its feet, it remains steady for the most part. 

The film unites the unlikely duo of John Reid (a.k.a The Lone Ranger) with the Indian native Tonto for their ride for justice, and both seeking revenge against the film’s badguy, Butch Cavendish.

The first excitement of the film only starts about 15-20 minutes into the film, so bear with the first couple of scenes while it establishes the story and character, once past that, most of the movie is filled with action, suspense and a dash of comedy, but of course, spoiling that is the narration scenes and a really long sequence featuring the tribe smacked in middle of the movie.

The movie is also very violent. I believe this is a part of the strategy from Disney to shatter any stereotype that might be surrounding Disney, like “Disney only makes kids’ and princess movies”. The scenes are extremely bloody and sometimes very frightening. The violence felt too extreme at times, and felt like they were only one step away from the R rating for violence. 

On top of that, some things in this movie are completely uncalled for. I won't go into full detail, but there's some explicitly violent sequences, and another scene that was completley uncalled for. The movie would've been fine without those. 

The characters are very strange as well. Johnny Depp plays Tonto, where you’re never sure whether to laugh or not at him, and he creates some very strangely awkward scenes. 

As well as that, Helena Bonham Carter’s character is absolutely ridiculous. She played no important role in this film, except for using her 'superpower' when our heroes are in trouble: Showing her tattooed legs to distract the male badguys. When our heroes are in peril, Carter’s character stops and shows her legs to the bad-guys, who suddenly stop what they’re doing to look. This is not what you’d call cinematic brilliance. 

But over all of those complaints, the action sequences really left me on the edge of my seat. Some of those scenes were so intense, and so exciting that it would’ve been worth the price of admission just for those scenes.

The bonus features add some excitement to it, showing how the incredible train sequences were filmed, along with ‘Becoming A Cowboy’ showcasing some of the training the actors went through to shoot this film and a deleted scene. It also includes bloopers, which is made to look like a trailer gone wrong. I wouldn’t suggest you buy the DVD, since that seems to be the only feature on there.  

It’s unfortunate that The Lone Ranger didn't do as well at the box office, since Disney really wanted to make a franchise out of this like they did with the Pirates of the Caribbean series.

They took a big gamble with this movie’s budget, and created a whole slew of Ranger merchandise before the movie even came out. Just like John Carter, only a handful of people even knew who or what The Lone Ranger even was in the first place, and while up against Despicable Me 2 over the July 4^th weekend, the Ranger didn’t stand a chance. Plus, The Lone Ranger's budget was $250 million, so to be honest, I don't really know what Disney was expecting in total at the end of it's run.  

The Lone Ranger was really supposed to be Disney's next big 'Avengers' or 'Pirates' franchise, but it completely went the other way. I'm sure the folks at Disney are scratching their heads wondering where it went wrong. 

 If you never liked Westerns in the first place, don’t bother. But if you are a big fan of Western style films, I suggest you make sure to check out this movie. 

Rating: 2.5/5 pieces of silver

The Lone Ranger is now available on Blu-Ray and DVD. 

Disney Fan Artwork Showcase: Debbie Perry

We're really excited to share some fantastic artwork from the talented Disney fan artist Debbie writes into the blog with some of her latest Disney fan art. Thanks Debbie! Her other work can be found at http://fluffyandmervin.com/

This one was made in honor of Annette Funicello: 

Thank you to Debbie for the fabulous artwork! 

Upcoming Disney Blu-Ray Announcements: December 13th 2013

Mitchell Stein- Happy Friday the 13th everyone! I decided to take a look at a few upcoming Blu-Rays and share some very exciting upcoming announcements today, as we look ahead to home-releases in the upcoming new year of 2014 (all dates are American release dates).

The Lone Ranger- 

While The Lone Ranger flopped at the box office, it simply isn't a bad film. It has it's problems (and quite a few of them) and while it might not live up to some of Gore Verbinski's other work, it sure brings a great, fun fast-paced film with Johhny Depp as Tonto and Armie Hammer as the Lone Ranger. The bonus features reveal some really cool behind-the-scenes look at how the film was made and a hilarious blooper-reel. Look for a full review sometime next week.

Release Date: December 17th 2013








The Jungle Book- 




Forget about your worries and your strife! The famous 1967 film will be returning to the small screen, this time in high definition. Relive the animated classic over again in a stunning restored version of the film never seen before. Sounds like a load of fun for fans of the film.

Release Date: February 11th, 2014







The Jungle Book 2- 

The probably less classic film, The Jungle Book 2, will be swinging on to Blu-Ray March 18th 2014. It probably would've made more sense for Disney just to release both films in a double feature copy, which would probably sell more. But, this is an exciting time for The Jungle Book fans.

Release Date: March 18th 2014






Winnie the Pooh: Springtime With Roo- 

Another lesser-know classic film, Springtime With Roo will bounce onto Blu-Ray this March. In the film, Rabbit decides to cancel Easter and replace it with 'Spring Cleaning Day' instead. Rabbit later learns that putting others first turns every day into a precious gift.

I remember owning this movie on VHS and loving it, so I personally, am super excited for this release.

Release Date: March 11th 2014




Frozen- 

It feels like only two weeks ago that the incredible movie, Frozen was released in theaters..wait, that's because it was!
Even though the film just came out, believe it or not, there's already cover art for the release, and you can already pre-order it online. I ordered seven!

Release Date: Unknown

UPDATE: The official date for Frozen is currently March 18th 2014. Believe it or not, Saving Mr. Banks is also set to release on that day as well as The Jungle Book 2. 

That's all for now! I hope you enjoyed this, and I hope to continue to do this every couple of months or so, or whenever a lot of Blu-Rays are announced! Have a great weekend.

Disney Animation Reviews 6-7 - Saludos Amigos & The Three Caballeros

Disney Movie Review: 6-7/53 - Saludos Amigos & The Three Caballeros
Ryan Dosier - The Disney Movie Review for today will be a little different as I watch and review two films at once. This is the period in Disney animation history where they made cheap, harmless, “package films” in order to compensate for the lack of money coming into the studio before and during World War II.

The first two of these films, Saludos Amigos (1942) and The Three Caballeros (1944), were made as part of Walt Disney and the US Government’s “good neighbor” mission to South America. The two films (for the most part) highlight and showcase South American culture with glorious Disney animation via established Disney characters such as Donald Duck and Goofy.

At only 42 minutes, Saludos Amigos is the shortest Disney animated feature by quite a bit and it is also one of the weakest. It makes for an odd addition to the Disney Animated Feature canon since at least a third of the film is live action framing sequences. Of the animated sequences present, two star Donald Duck, one stars a plane named Pedro, and one stars Goofy. Surprisingly, this film is very respectful of Latin American culture, using actual South American voice actors and artists for the film. The character of Jose Carioca is the film’s smartest character, showing Donald the colorful wonders of Brazil. Donald and Jose make a fun team playing off of Donald’s misunderstandings and Jose’s snappy accent.

The undeniable highlight of Saludos Amigos is the Goofy short “Gallopin’ Gaucho” which sees Goofy hilariously become a cowboy in Mexico. It is very reminiscent of Goofy’s classic “How To” cartoon shorts in all the best ways. This is where the animation is most impressive as Goofy and his horse try to hunt an ostrich. The animation is not only beautiful, but when it is presented in slow motion it is incredibly hilarious. It allows viewers to truly appreciate the time and skill the Disney team puts into every drawing.

The Three Caballeros is incredibly disjointed compared to Saludos Amigos. While the film is fun, colorful, and lively, there is very little narrative thread holding it together. It is a true package film, with a cartoon about a penguin, an overly-long number about “Baia,” and a 25 minute tour through Mexico. There are some truly fun moments with Donald, Jose, and Panchito, the fiery Mexican chicken, especially when they perform the titular song “The Three Caballeros.” The colors are vibrant, the animation is gorgeous, and the song is sheer fun.

But once the film goes off on a trip through Mexico, where Donald flirts with girls at a beach, dances with girls at a party, and chases girls through weird, colorful musical numbers (rivaling Dumbo's Pink Elephants) the film loses its footing and narrative thread completely. The Three Caballeros becomes an outlandish, bizarre musical for the last ten minutes and it just doesn’t work. Perhaps if the focus shifted back to the character interactions between Donald, Jose, and Panchito it could have worked, but the characters are tossed aside for odd live-action mixes and forgettable music.

Walt Disney’s package films were necessary for the company to stay afloat during World War II, but unfortunately they just can’t reach the high standards previously set by Disney’s films. Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros have their moments, but on the whole they are unfortunately subpar and downright boring.

Saludos Amigos - 2/5 Baby Biplanes

The Three Caballeros - 2/5 Snappy Sarapes

The Mickey Mindset, mickeymindset@gmail.com

Review: 'Mary Poppins' 50th Anniversary Edition Blu-Ray

Mitchell Stein- Disney fan confession: I have never seen the full Mary Poppins film until this past Tuesday (shocking, huh?). 

In preparation for Saving Mr. Banks, I decided to make sure I got to see Mary Poppins before the screening. Let me say I’m glad I did. 

Since I knew all the iconic songs to the film, it was great seeing it come to life in the colorful restoration of the film on Blu-Ray, and comparing it to the included DVD, the picture quality on the Blu-Ray looks fresh and crisp. A great way to experience the film.

The film, starring Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews, brings lots of fun gags and great music to the film making it a warm, charming and wonderful picture.

As charming as the movie might be, it’s lacking one essential element: story. The movie seems to be missing any kind of continuous story and just leaves the story to be of Mary Poppins doing incredible things. That’s not saying the film isn’t enjoyable, but it did feel slow without any plot to 

follow. 

Many of the scenes tend to drag on as well, especially in the opening scenes featuring Mr. and Mrs. Banks before Mary Poppins finally arrives. Although many of the film’s original fans might think it’s flawless, but looking at it today, it tends to drag out and brings the film’s length to a hefty two full hours.

What is described as Walt Disney’s crowning achievement definitely earns its title. Some of the visuals and special effects used in this film are incredible for its day and still baffle me today and making me think, “How did they do that?” It also showcases an incredible live action/animation interaction scene; a feature that would become more advanced nearly thirty years later in ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit?’

The bonus features add a lot to the fun, especially “Becoming Mr. Sherman”, a new feature showcasing Jason Schwartzman and Richard Sherman about getting into the role of Richard Sherman in Saving Mr. Banks. Also included was Mary-Oke Sing A Longs, a Deleted Scene, and The Making of Mary Poppins. Special song collections and Mary Poppins pop up facts, as well as an Audio Commentary were included on the DVD.

Overall, this release is a great celebration of the Academy Award winning film and a great new way for old fans to re-watch the forever classic movie, and if you also (shockingly) haven’t seen the movie yet either, make sure to pick up a copy in time for Saving Mr. Banks, which hits theaters December 20^th.

Oh yeah, one more thing: Supercalifragilisticexialdocious! 

Disney Animation Reviews #5 - Bambi

Disney Animation Reviews - 5/53: Bambi

Ryan Dosier - Not only is Bambi (1942) the fifth animated feature film from Walt Disney, but it’s also the fifth classic in a row. Bambi isn’t normally my cup of tea, but I found myself enjoying the film even more this time around.

The sterling animation of the animals in the film is nothing short of perfect. Bambi moves so realistically that it’s as if Disney photocopied an actual deer’s movements. Even Thumper the rabbit and Friend Owl move with grace and comic realism. Thumper’s rapidly flopping foot is one of the highlights of the movie, a fantastic character quirk if there ever was one.

Speaking of Thumper, it is the scenes with he and Bambi that show the film’s true power. Their friendship is charming and adorable and purely innocent. Their scenes of friendship in the fall and in the winter are wonderful. The winter, especially, brings a ton of fun as Bambi and Thumper attempt ice skating. Bambi’s animation here, especially, is unreal.

Unfortunately, the story of Bambi is weak and disjointed. What starts as a simple, innocent story eventually crushes the souls of children everywhere with the shocking death of Bambi’s mother. This death comes out of nowhere and a chirpy, happy spring song immediately follows the solemn scene. This is the disjointing aspect of the story more than anything. Such a heavy, powerful scene should sit longer than it does, but there is barely time for it to sink in (and it is never mentioned again).

What Bambi lacks in a strong story it more than makes up for in gorgeous oil-painted backgrounds, a fantastic and striking musical score, and sequences of true artistry. The storm sequence (“Little April Showers”) is amazing with the water effects and the depth of the forest, thanks in large part to Disney’s new multi-plane camera. Bambi distinguishes itself from its predecessor (Dumbo) immediately with a darker color palette and a more realistic approach all-around.

My favorite scene in Bambi is the “twitterpated” scene near the end when Bambi, Thumper, and Flower the skunk fall in love in the springtime. Friend Owl’s explanation about what being “twitterpated” means is hilarious and wonderful. A magnificent scene in Disney history for sure.

In the end, Bambi is another charming, unforgettable film from Walt Disney. The weak storyline hurts the film a lot, but the impressiveness of the animation, the art, and all of the work by Disney’s animators make Bambi a truly worthwhile film.

3/5 Twitterpated Rabbits

The Mickey Mindset, mickeymindset@gmail.com

Disney Sing-A-Long Memories

 Michael Wermuth- Today I'm going to write about my memories of the Disney Sing-Along Songs video series. For those who don't know, Sing-Along Songs was a collection of videos focusing on Disney songs, with lyrics appearing on-screen. Many of these featured clips from various Disney productions, including films (both animated and live action), shorts, featurettes, The Mickey Mouse Club, Walt Disney's anthology series, and various specials. But quite a few of these were also live-action, often with the theme park walk-arounds. I haven't seen very many of those live-action ones. 

 Most of the videos spotlight a different Disney movie. The early volumes spotlighted movies that were celebrating their anniversary, but later ones spotlight recent theatrical releases. The movie that's being promoted is represented with two songs, one of which is reprised at the end (one exception is I Love to Laugh, which has three songs from Mary Poppins). The title of the first song is usually the title of the video, and the cover focuses on whichever film is being promoted. And many of the videos seem to follow a theme. For example, The Bear Necessitiesis full of songs about animals, You Can Fly has songs about flying, Friend Like Me is about friendship songs, and so on. 

 The videos have an opening sequence with Professor Owl, reusing footage from the characters two shorts. The series has rotating hosts, including Professor Owl (who introduces the other hosts when he doesn't host), Ludwig Von Drake, and Jimminy Cricket. The linking footage reuses existing footage of those characters. I must say that if not for these videos, I probably wouldn't be too familiar with Professor Owl or Ludwig. I haven't seen any that have come out since 1996, but I've read that the later ones don't have hosts or linking footage. 

 Oh, but this is about my memories of watching the videos. I can't remember which one I saw first. I remember that. around the same time period, I watched Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah in school, rented The Bare Necessities, and got copies of Under the Sea and Disneyland Fun for Christmas, but can't remember which of these came first. In 1994 I was actually a bit obsessed with the series and whenever I had enough money would typically buy the videos (or rent them when taken to the video store). The last video I saw was 1996's Pongo and Perdita, which promoted the live-action 101 Dalmatians but is all live-action and doesn't have any song clips. From what I can remember this one wasn't as good as other ones. 

 The series began at the end of a period when The Walt Disney Company was rereleasing it's animated features in theaters every few years, and as a result actually had a list of films to NEVER release on video, so for many kids, these videos included songs from many movies that were not yet released on video. It was through this collection that I first heard of The AristoCats, among other productions (of course, Son of the South remains unreleased in America). For years I was surprised that songs from The Mickey Mouse Club were presented in color, when the whole (original) series was in black and white (I later learned that Walt Disney had all of his television productions produced in color, even before it was possible to broadcast them in color). 

 Videos in this collection that I have watched are Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah, You Can Fly, The Bare Necessities, Under the Sea, Disneyland Fun, I Love to Laugh, Be Our Guest, Circle of Life, and Pongo and Perdita. It's been a long time since I last watched any of them (though I still have copies of most of the ones I have) or had a desire to see the ones that I haven't seen, but this article is making me want to see them again.