"Lilo & Stitch" - Disney animated film review

The Disney animated movie that I watched for the first time last week was "Lilo & Stitch".

I knew a little bit about the plot of the movie but not much, other than that Stitch was an alien creature who little Lilo adopts as her “dog”. Part of my interest in finally seeing the film is that there’s a segment in the Disneyland show “Mickey and the Magical Map” that utilizes the song “Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride”, and I really enjoy that entire sequence.

Generally, I enjoyed the film, even though I thought there were a lot of unanswered questions. I did find myself mostly uninterested in the aliens as a whole, maybe because for the most part, we never got to know them, and they were just a roll-call of different-looking creatures. I actually did like the mad scientist in the very early part of the film, but then I think his character stagnated.

I didn’t really find myself engaged in the film until Lilo shows up. She’s definitely cute, but I think there’s a lot that we don’t know about her. I would have actually liked to have known about her parents a little earlier. We obviously know something is up since she lives only with her sister Nani, and the social worker comes to check on them to make an assessment. The picture under her pillow is very sweet, but again, I would have liked to have known earlier. Also, they never come right out and say it, but it seems they were all in a car accident, and the parents were killed but Lilo and her sister survived? That would sort of explain her acting out, being late to rehearsal, not getting along with the other kids, getting overly physical with the one other girl, but the connection is never made between those events. At one point, Nani says to Lilo about the other kids, they don’t know what to say to you. Because of her parents’ death? Or because Lilo has some eccentric interests and thoughts that the other kids find weird? I don’t think it’s clear why Lilo doesn’t have any friends. Also, sometimes, she treats them like she doesn’t care about them at all, and then other times, she wants to be part of their group, and she refers to them as her “friends”, but there isn’t any instance shown when I would consider them remotely friends. I’m also wondering about the socio-economic ramifications of their interaction. At one point, the girls are playing with dolls which are obviously store-bought, and when Lilo pulls out her home-made doll, the girls recoil in horror. One thing that was funny is that at the beginning of the film, I’m watching, and then I’m startled when I notice a fish swimming by with what looks like a sandwich. Ummm, ok, weird. And then later, Lilo explains that she gives him a peanut butter sandwich every week. And my brain goes to: 1) How does the fish hold a sandwich? 2) How does the bread stay intact and not get soggy given that it’s plunged in water? 3) How did Lilo discover that the fish liked peanut butter? 4) Smooth peanut butter or chunky peanut butter? 5) Given Lilo’s affinity for Elvis Presley, wouldn’t she be giving the fish a peanut butter and banana sandwich? Or maybe fishie is allergic to banana? 5) Well, of course you can’t give him a tuna sandwich - that would be cannibalism!

I liked seeing the interaction between Nani and Lilo, and it was heartbreaking when Nani says she likes being her sister more than she likes being her mother. The accident must have happened not that long ago because Lilo doesn’t look that much different than she does in the picture under her pillow. And now, Nani, who’s not that old herself, has to figure out how to take care of Lilo as well.

I was really thrown off by the social worker. I never got comfortable with who he was, even though he’s eventually explained to be a former CIA agent. I kept waiting for something else to happen, like he’s part of some bigger secret thing, or maybe it turns out that he’s an alien as well. It was funny to discover that he’s the one who started the story that Earth is a protected planet because of the mosquitoes. I was trying to figure out who the voice was, and it had a bit of James Earl Jones quality but not exactly. Turns out it was Ving Rhames. Ahhh, makes sense then.

Quick note on the councilwoman - I was trying to figure out who was doing her voice, and it did have a Helen Mirren quality to it, but it turned out to be someone I’m not familiar with.

The best part of the film, obviously, is Stitch. He undergoes quite good character progression. He’s pretty rabid at the beginning of the film, but he does show himself to be very resourceful in his escape, and we’re told early on that he’s smart and super strong and learns very quickly, all in the service of being as destructive as possible. (Why would someone create a creature like that, whose sole purpose is to destroy? I guess because he’s a mad scientist.) You mostly see Stitch in his four-legged form, so I forgot that I’ve actually seen pictures of him in his six-legged form. When he pulled in the two legs, OUCHHHHHH, said my brain. It’s funny but appropriate that everyone else reacts to Stitch’s odd appearance, but Lilo completely accepts him as a dog, notwithstanding him doing many decidedly non-dog things. The thing that endeared me the most about Stitch is when he created San Francisco and then proceeded to Godzilla his way through it. Ahhhh, a dog ... ummm, extraterrestrial, after my own heart. And really, you can’t get more destructive than Godzilla. In addition to his character development through story, I think they did a really good job in his design. He’s definitely got the quintessential baby-like big eyes, which are very expressive, and he also uses his ears like a cat or dog to express emotion as well. Mischievous but endearing - what’s not to love? The only thing I didn’t like about Stitch was his speaking voice. I was fine with his laugh and sounds and such, but the talking voice just didn’t work for me.

I did catch the tribute to “Mulan”, a film released 4 years prior - the name of restaurant is called Mulan Wok. There is apparently also a poster of Mulan in Lilo’s bedroom, but I didn’t see that.

I absolutely *loved* the running gag with the tourist who keeps dropping his mint chocolate chip ice cream. And because mint chocolate chip is one of my favorite ice cream flavors, it kept making me want some.  [So we went grocery shopping yesterday.  And yes, I bought some mint chocolate chip ice cream.]

And I now understand why they add Elvis to Lilo and Stitch on the surfboard at it’s a small world during Christmas time.

I would definitely watch this movie again, mostly because Stitch is a lot of fun, and I liked watching Lilo too. Next time, maybe I’ll like the aliens better and maybe I won’t be as suspicious of Mr. Bubbles.

And now that I'm caught up in real time to my viewing schedule, I will post a review every Tuesday of the Disney animated film that I watched for the first time the prior week.  Thanks!

"The Rescuers" - Disney animated film review

The next Disney animated movie that I watched for the first time was "The Rescuers".


So, you know how sometimes, when I write reviews, I go off on tangents, and the review ends up being half about the film/TV show and half about random other stuff? Yeah, that.

I knew almost nothing about the movie going in. I knew there were two mice dressed in clothing, and a vague memory of seeing a snippet of them sitting inside a leaf bobbing along in the water. I think it might have also been a Walt Disney Classics piece that I’ve seen?

I always love seeing the credits on the older animated films to see what names I recognize because they’ve gone on to do other things since then.

Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston! Don Bluth and Gary Goldman! GLEN KEANE!!!!!

During the credits at the beginning of the film, when they had the beautiful painted backgrounds, the husband made a comment about making still paintings seem like you’re watching a film. I responded that it wasn’t new to me. I’ve seen the 1962 French short film called “La Jetée”, which utilizes almost entirely still photographs, and it’s the movement of the camera and composition and framing that makes the pictures seem to come to life. I was amused at the time when I heard that the then-forthcoming film “Twelve Monkeys” was inspired by that short. I’ve meant to see the film but haven’t gotten around to it. OK, sorry, film geek digression there.

I absolutely *loved* the parallel mouse contingent when the members of the United Nations gathered. A mouse in a kilt! So dang cute!!!!! So apparently, all the international mice are part of a Rescue Aid Society who help people and/or other animals - I’m not clear on their client base. The origin of their helpfulness seems to stem from a mouse pulling a thorn from a lion’s paw, which is depicted in a picture on the wall. Except that it’s actually a hybrid of two of Aesop’s fables, The Lion and the Mouse (wherein a mouse convinces a lion not to eat him and then later returns the favor of saving the life of the lion by chewing through the ropes that imprison him), and Androcles (wherein the slave Androcles escapes and then helps a lion with an infected paw by pulling a thorn out, and when Androcles is recaptured and thrown to the lions presumably to his death, it’s the same lion, who remembers him, and instead of killing him, is friendly to him).

One of the delegates arrives late to take her seat, and she’s a head turner. How perfect that Miss Bianca is from Hungary, given that she’s voiced by Eva Gabor. (I can apparently now cross “watch all the Disney animated films that Eva Gabor provided a voice for” off my list.) I enjoyed her performance in this film, though she was also a flirt, like Duchess was in “The Aristocats”. I’m sensing a pattern.

I’m not sure that I would have figured out that Bernard was voiced by Bob Newhart, but I really enjoyed his performance. I’m a fan of his anyway, but his calm, slightly uncertain but steady and endearing portrayal of Bernard was a lot of fun.

The scouts were really cute too. When they came on screen, the husband said, “Boy scouts!” I said, “No, mouse scouts.” And then, they were referred to as mouse scouts in the film. Nailed it!

And then it’s revealed why the Society has been convened. They’ve found a note written by a little girl named Penny, addressed to the orphanage where she lived, and she needs help. Miss Bianca volunteers to take on this mission and recruits Bernard to assist her.

OK, so far, we’ve had these little cute mice all dressed up in clothing of different countries, a little flirtation between Miss Bianca and Bernard, and then, we’re going to accompany them on an adventure. Swell. What’s next? How about ripping your heart out? Penny is a cute little girl (who reminded me of Pippi Longstocking in looks, with the red hair and pigtails, but definitely not in demeanor). Who lives in an orphanage. And it was adoption day. And she had the hope of being adopted, but the parents picked someone else. And she’s sitting on her bed, sad, because she wasn’t chosen, because the girl they picked was prettier, she tells Rufus the cat. WHAT??!?!??!?!?!? Oh my gosh, how sad. Poor little girl. How did we get here? (Yes, we saw a glimpse of her earlier in the film, but we didn’t know anything about her.) And then, we find out that she was kidnapped, for what nefarious reason, we do not know yet. Oh, great, this gets better. Orphan child, in peril. Seriously, I almost turned off the movie at this point.

So then, we find out the culprit is a proprietor down the street. And her name is Medusa. Oh, giant blaring warning horn there. Clearly, she’s a villain. She can’t be a loving grandmotherly type with THAT name! So Miss Bianca and Bernard poke around Medusa’s pawn shop (that’s a hint too, right, since pawn shops aren’t necessarily regarded as upstanding places of business – if it had been Medusa’s hair salon or Medusa’s house of pets, she might have been given a smidgen of the benefit of the doubt) to see what they can find out. Notice the calendar on the wall says Thursday the 12th? What comes after that? Ooooo, spooky.

We’re then introduced to Madame Medusa. Who looks a lot like Cruella DeVille from “One Hundred and One Dalmatians”, released 16 years prior. No, really, she REALLY looks like Cruella. Like Cruella 2.0. Or possibly Cruella 1.1. The hair, the face, the body shape, even the car, and she even puts on a coat that looks like Cruella’s. It’s like she was a reincarnation of Cruella.

So then Miss Bianca and Bernard overhear Cruella ... I mean, Medusa ... talk about a girl getting away and that she needs to go to Devil’s Bayou to straighten things out. Miss Bianca and Bernard then hitch a ride with her to the airport, where we see more evidence of Bernard’s superstitious nature. Earlier, when he was climbing the ladder to get to the top of the bottle to retrieve Penny’s note, he was frightened upon realizing that the ladder had 13 steps. Here, he’s also dismayed to discover that the ramp to their airport terminal also has 13 steps, and he’s not happy when he’s told that Flight 13 is the one they need to get where they need to go. I enjoyed their adventures with Captain Orville.

When we get to Devil’s Bayou, we find out that Medusa and her sidekick Mr. Snoops have imprisoned poor little Penny on a boat that looks like the Mark Twain at Disneyland, except that it has a side paddle wheel rather than a rear paddle wheel. Medusa has henchmen in the form of alligators named Nero and Brutus (ahh, more bad guy names), and they seem to have been the inspiration for Ursula’s henchmen eels named Flotsam and Jetsam in “The Little Mermaid”. Very similar depiction and characterization, though the gators don’t speak, but the look of the eyes and snouts were very reminiscent.

After Penny escapes, the gators retrieve her and her teddy and bring them back to the boat, while Miss Bianca and Bernard enlist the help of Evinrude the dragonfly to save Penny. I really liked the sequence where Miss Bianca and Bernard are trying to evade capture and ingestion by the gators, though I did find the gator playing the organ to force out the hiding mice to be a bit weird. They had been mostly doing gator-like things, with the exception of that. When it’s revealed that Medusa is afraid of mice, the husband commented that he thought it was funny that she’s perfectly fine with the ginormous scary alligators but she’s afraid of little mice. And Evinrude has not escaped danger either, as he’s feverishly chased by a huge swarm of hungry bats intent on making him a snack morsel. That was a pretty scary segment, with the bats and their fangs and the rabid look in their eyes. After Evinrude eventually evades the bats, he is tasked by Miss Bianca and Bernard to return to Ellie Mae to ask for help. In addition to other bayou mice, Ellie Mae has also gathered together other animals to help, though I had a bit of a problem with the rabbit and the turtle and the owl all seemingly the same size as the mice. Ummm, scale issues? Anyway, the gang heads off to help save Penny from Medusa.

So, speaking of Medusa, it’s not bad enough that she kidnapped an orphan girl and transported her across state lines, but it’s revealed that she’s using Penny to retrieve the Devil’s Eye, the largest diamond in the world that’s lost somewhere in a pirates treasure cove. Penny asks to be taken back to the orphanage, and Medusa, trying to act nice to her, asks her if she doesn’t like it there, with all the room on the boat to herself, and Penny says that if she doesn’t go back to the orphanage, then she’ll never be adopted. And Medusa tells her that no one would want her. Again, WHAT??!??!?!?!?!?!??! Seriously, how cruel can you be? I generally have more problems with this kind of thing than when there’s sorcery involved, like with the Evil Queen or Maleficent. In the case of Madame Tremain in Cinderella and Madame Medusa here, they’re just normal people with evil, cruel, mean dispositions. That bothers me so much more. So apparently, Medusa sought out Penny because she’s small enough to fit in a bucket and be lowered down to look for the diamond. There are other diamonds and jewels there, some of which Penny has previously retrieved, but that’s not enough for Medusa - she wants the Devil’s Eye. When Penny is reluctant to go down in the hole because it’s dark and scary, Medusa snatches teddy away from her and basically holds him hostage in exchange for her finding the diamond. Medusa, evil, through and through.

Miss Bianca and Bernard go along with Penny, and they’re the ones who eventually find the diamond, hidden inside a skull, and they help Penny get it out of the skull. But there’s some hole at the bottom of the cave from which water erupts, periodically flooding the cave. So yeah, Medusa doesn’t care that she’s sending an orphan girl into these dangerous conditions, and she’s impatient to boot that Penny isn’t finding the diamond fast enough. Once Penny obtains the diamond and is pulled back up, Medusa proves herself to be even worse by double-crossing Snoops, to whom she had promised half the loot but she’s now reneging on that deal. She also does not follow through on her promise to return teddy to Penny in exchange for the diamond (How many strikes is that against her now?), but her escape is thwarted by the arrival of Ellie Mae and her gang. We discover that Medusa didn’t want to give up teddy because she’d hidden the Devil’s Eye inside. Penny retrieves teddy, and she’s returned to safety, the diamond is put on display at the Smithsonian, and Penny gets adopted and expresses thanks to Miss Bianca, Bernard and everyone else who helped to save her. This poor girl deserves a happy life.

After their good deed, Miss Bianca and Bernard are on to their next adventure, with Orville and Evinrude along. Evinrude in the scarf and knit cap – oh my gosh, how darn cute is he?

Generally, I enjoyed the film, though I was really bothered by Penny’s plight. It seems a pretty heavy story for a “kids film”. I mean, she gets a happy ending, but not before being an orphan, being rejected, being kidnapped, being told that no one wants her, and then having her life put in danger because she’s viewed as less important than what is essentially a lump of coal. I would watch this film again, and maybe next time, because I know it turns out ok, it won’t bother me as much, but the look on little Penny’s face when Medusa tells her no one wants her – ugh, so heartbreaking. Side note that I learned reading background today – the girl who voiced Penny eventually went on to be in the movie "Airplane", and she’s the one who says she likes her coffee black.... How funny is that?

I was perplexed, though, that Bernard’s seeming preoccupation with superstition was never resolved. I figured he’d have some major obstacle to overcome, especially since they were going to the Devil’s Bayou, and eventually were tasked with helping to retrieve the Devil’s Eye, but nothing ever arose. I’m not sure why that whole side story was included.

A little note about the few songs in the movie – yeah, none of them did anything for me.

"Hercules" - Disney animated film review

This week’s Disney animated movie that I watched for the first time was "Hercules". Even though I hadn’t seen the film, I was a little familiar with some aspects of this version of the story because Disneyland had a daytime parade that I believe commenced concurrent with the release of the film. I absolutely loved that parade, even with not having seen the film. It was bright and energetic and fun. I watched that parade many times and never got tired of it. Because I’d enjoyed the parade so much, I was looking forward to seeing the film, but it wasn’t quite the journey I expected.

My initial emotion early on in the film was confusion. Yay, there’s a baby boy, and he’s so loved by his mom and his dad, Zeus, king of the gods. Wait, hold the farm. Yeah, dad Zeus was excited about the baby, but his wife? Umm, no, Hera was PISSED because Hercules was the product of an affair that Zeus had with a human. Hera HATED Hercules and regularly tried to cause him great harm and grief. The story of the film completely abandons that particular story point, but it ended up bothering me quite a bit every time there was something said or shown about how much “mom” missed, loved and worried about her baby. I’m trying to remember if Hera is named in this film or if she’s just referred to as “Zeus’ wife”. I did notice that while Zeus was drawn with very much detail, Hera was fairly bland, very deferring and timid. Yeah, soooooo not Hera.

There were aspects of the film that I thought were more frightening than I’d have expected for a film with a large target audience of young children. I thought the Fates were a bit scary, especially with the notion that they only had to cut a string to end your life, and the joy with which they seemed to do it. I did think the Hydra was pretty cool, even if a bit terrifying, especially as it continued to grow multiple heads. When Hercules first started fighting it, I couldn’t even tell if it was supposed to be a Hydra. I said something to the husband about it not having enough heads, and the husband said to wait, this was only Hydra 1.0.

When the part of the story came up about the planets lining up and how that would give Hades the power to release the Titans, it completely made me think of "Thor: Dark World", how the alignment of the Nine Realms was going to wreak havoc upon the universe. For a second, I wondered how the Dark Elves were going to show up, but, spoiler alert, they didn’t. Hercules vs. Dark Elves will have to wait for another crossover event.

Generally, I thought the film was fine, but that was it. Yeah, it was ok. Just ok. Nothing really jumped out at me. I did notice that I was losing interest in parts and had to make myself keep paying attention. I was surprised that baby Hercules was not as cute as I expected him to be. Disney has a thing about how they draw adorable babies, and Hercules was not that. Maybe cause he’s supposed to be muscular and strong? Baby Pegasus, though, was just as cute as I’d seen him as a plush toy.

One thing that really surprised me was that I was completely not into the Muses. They were one of my favorite parts of the parade. I absolutely loved them, and sometimes, if I was walking near the parade route when the parade was going, and I knew it was close to their float appearing, I’d stop and wait to see and listen to them. They were fantastic. I don’t know what it was about the film version that just didn’t hit with me.

Because of the parade and the various other uses of the songs in Disney activities, I’m of course familiar with Zero to Hero and Go the Distance. In the versions I’ve heard, both are really energetic and peppy and cheery and much more orchestrated. I didn’t find that to be the case in the film. I can sort of understand with Go the Distance (I guess that was Hercules’ “want” song?), but the delivery of the song in the film didn’t really convey what I thought the words were trying to convey. He should be confident that he can in fact go the distance or show a little bit of self-doubt that he’d be able to, or some combination of both, but it just seemed very flat, not conveying any particular emotion at all. I also thought the end title version of the song, sung by Michael Bolton, was a bit odd. Bolton’s delivery of the song was much more angsty, but not in a way that made me feel anything. I’d be curious to hear a version of the song that didn’t have a lot of musical accompaniment, a sort of inspirational pep talk that Hercules gives himself. I think that would be very powerful. Not sure who I’d want to sing that. I do know that my reactions to hearing the songs in the film is tainted by all of my exposure to them away from the film. Don’t know what my thoughts would have been hearing them for the first time as orchestrated in the film.

I think part of my disinterest in the film stems from the fact that I’m not a fan of two of the actors who voice prominent characters, Danny DeVito and James Woods, so having to listen to them so much of the time wasn’t a particularly pleasant experience. Every time Hades was on screen, I kept thinking about Rasputin from "Anastasia", which oddly enough was released the same year as "Hercules", and how I’d have much rather listen to Christopher Lloyd as Rasputin. I was surprised that I wasn’t very impressed with Susan Egan as Megara. I’m more familiar with her as Belle from Broadway’s Beauty and the Beast. I didn’t really care for her character or her characterization, or the vocal choices made for her. She had a bit of a Southern madame in her voice that I wasn’t keen on, and I didn’t think her one song showcased her voice at all.

Since there wasn’t anything in the film that really grabbed my attention, and there were some negatives to me (I really couldn’t get over the missing Hera story point), I don’t expect that I’ll ever watch the movie again. There isn’t anything that I really want to watch more closely at or for or experience again. I wouldn’t refuse to watch it, but I wouldn’t put any effort into doing so. But I’d jump at the chance to watch the parade again.

"The Hunchback of Notre Dame" - Disney animated film review

The next Disney animated movie that I watched was "The Hunchback of Notre Dame". I loved the Festival of Fools show at Disneyland and the stage musical, but I'd never seen the movie. I did know that the movie was different than the book, so I was prepared for that.

I’ve never read the book, so I don’t know the details, but I know the general jist of the story. I also wasn’t particularly interested in the animated film when it came out, so I never saw it. I was introduced to the elements of the film by way of the Festival of Fools show at Disneyland. When I started going to Disneyland regularly, the show had been going on for some time. I met some new friends, some of whom were quite enamoured of the show, so I went with them one time, and I was hooked. It was a terrific production, a lot of fun, a lot to look at, and I love musical theatre. I only saw it for a few months, I think, before the show ended.

That show only represented a small portion of what’s in the film while adding a few elements from the rest of the film so that there’s an ending to the story in the show. Because I know that version of the story and the songs so well, and because I’ve also seen the stage production a few times now, which I also love, and which also more faithfully follows the story of the original novel, I found as I was watching the film that I had a really difficult time judging the movie. Did I like elements because of how it was presented in the Disneyland show or the stage musical or was I enjoying just the film version? Would I have loved the music so much just from watching the movie without already knowing its context in the Disneyland show and the stage production? The songs are fuller and more flushed out in both of the live shows. My favorite song in the story is “God Help the Outcasts”. That song wasn’t in the Disneyland show, so I didn’t hear it until much later, but at first listen, I loved it. I’m not that impressed with the version in the film, and I don’t know that I would have been as drawn to it from that. (I think that song was included in the live show at Walt Disney World (Disney Hollywood Studios, maybe?), but I only saw the show once so don't really remember it.)

After having seen the film, I’m even more amazed that Disney even attempted it. Yes, they’ve taken other stories and modified the original story into a “nicer” version, which they’ve done in this case as well, but there are so many elements that remain that make this a much darker story than the usual Disney animated fare. Yes, villains are evil and threaten innocent people, but Frollo actually kills Quasimodo’s mother and would have killed the child as well if he hadn’t been convinced not to. The subjugation, lies and control that he exerts over Quasi is relentless and ruthless. He even wants Phoebus to burn down the home of innocent people with them trapped inside, which is the final straw that turns Phoebus against him. Frollo is lusting after Esmeralda and hell-bent on destroying her as well. All of those elements seem a bit complicated to explain to younger children, who are usually a significant portion of the intended audience.

A change in the story from the original novel also casts the church in a very different light. In the novel, Frollo is a priest, but in the animated film, he’s a politician / civil servant as Minister of Justice / Judge. I was stunned when I first learned about that particular change and found out what Frollo’s original position was. All of the things he’s doing are bad enough in and of themselves, but as a layman, he’s inherently flawed, and while he crosses way over the line, his zealous fixation on Esmeralda is creepy but at least, to a degree, understandable. I’m not sure how a Minister of Justice has the authority to damn someone to hell, though. However, when you know that Frollo was really a priest, it is so much worse. Yes, priests are still human but are supposed to try to be better, to resist temptation. But for a priest to say that he’s a pious and righteous man, but he’s being bewitched, and it’s not his fault, and it’s all the fault of the woman he’s fixated on? That is absolutely so much worse. The church comes off much better in the animated film since the archdeacon is who saves Quasi’s life and is also who tries to stop Frollo at the end. But in the novel, Frollo as the representative of the church behaves absolutely reprehensibly and is the epitome of the hypocrisy that the church is often accused of.

Which brings us to the song “Hellfire”. I’ve liked the song since I heard snippets of it included in the Disneyland show, and the instrumental version used in fireworks shows and World of Color always makes me happy, especially when it’s accompanied by some fire element. But I didn’t know the whole song, and I’d never really heard the lyrics. OK, yeah, Frollo thinks Esmeralda is evil, so he damns her to hell. No big deal, that happens a lot, right? No. Seriously, no. That’s not all it is. It’s not just, you’re evil, you’re going to hell, end of story. Instead, Frollo tells her she’s evil, but she can be redeemed if she agrees to basically be his concubine. She can either choose to give herself to him for the rest of her life, or he will damn her to hell. WHAT???? Are you kidding me? Bad enough coming from any authority figure, BUT FROM A PRIEST? How are parents explaining THIS song to their kids? I still like the song, but I definitely view it differently now that I know what it’s really about.

The ending of the story is very different from the original novel, as you’d expect the happy Disney ending. Frollo dies, though not really killed by anyone, so no one gets the blame for that. Phoebus and Esmeralda and Quasi are all alive and super happy and are apparently going to get an apartment together. In the novel, Esmeralda dies, and everything ends on a somber note. I think the change in story does a great deal to alter the last snippet of song with the lyrics “what makes a monster and what makes a man”. In the happy ending version, it still makes you think for a moment, but you get caught up in the happy ending, so I think it fades quickly. With Quasi carrying Esmeralda after her death, and knowing about all the evil that Frollo has done, I think that particular phrase takes on greater significance and makes one think more about perception based on the outward appearance.

As for the voice talent:

Tony Jay as Frollo was fantastic. His deep, resonating voice was perfect. I had seen the stage production of the show at the La Jolla Playhouse, where Frollo was remarkably played by Patrick Page. As I was watching the film, I realized how much Patrick Page sounded like Tony Jay does in the film! I didn’t recognize Kevin Kline as Phoebus, but knowing it after the fact, it made sense. I enjoyed his performance. I’m not sure I knew or at least had forgotten that Demi Moore voiced Esmeralda. I was definitely not whelmed by her performance, which was kind of flat and inconsequential. Esmeralda is a spitfire and she defies authority, but none of that comes through in the voice performance.

As far as Clopin, I don't have an independent opinion of him. Yeah, I liked him but that's because I liked Clopin in the Disneyland show. I don't know what I would have thought of him just seeing him in the movie first.

Generally, I enjoyed the film, admittedly partly because I got to listen to the songs I love so much. I’ll have to see it again to see what I think of it because I’ll already be over the surprise of it being different than the versions I’ve seen, so maybe I can focus on the actual film presentation itself.

Oh, and my favorite version of this Hunchback story so far is the production that was at the La Jolla Playhouse. Michael Arden as Quasi, Ciara Renee as Esmeralda, and Patrick Page as Frollo were all absolutely amazing. I’m really sad that version didn’t make it to Broadway.

"The Aristocats" - Disney animated film review

Some of you may know that, even though I'm now a Disney fan, I didn't grow up in a Disney household, so I haven't actually seen many of the classic Disney animated films. Well, I guess now is as good a time as any to remedy that. So it's not a bookclub or a viewing club, but a discussion-generating thread that originated on my Facebook account.

I'm going to watch one Disney animated movie a week, and then every week, I'll post my thoughts on it. Anyone who wants to participate is welcome, and if you have Disney+ or own the movie, you can refresh your memory by watching it again. Or just comment from memory because you've seen it so many times!

I started this several weeks ago, and the first film I started with was "The Aristocats".

I've never known much about this movie, but I assumed it was about ... cats. Right. But the only scenes/clips I've ever seen of it are the band of cats playing jazz, so I always thought it was about upper class musical cats. Hmmm, no.

It only took a little while into the movie for me to figure out that it's a feline version of Lady and the Tramp. I mean Lady/Duchess and Tramp/O'Malley-cat? Yeah, dead giveaway.

Overall, I enjoyed the film. I absolutely loved the backgrounds - such beautiful paintings of Paris and environs. Makes me want to go back even more.

I also really liked how they treated the characterizations of the cats. They had VERY cat-like features and moves and expressions, but when they were doing human-ish things, they still seemed believable and seemed to incorporate their catness (not Katniss) into the activity. I've been watching a lot of cat videos lately, so it was fun to see how wonderfully they recreated the little kittens in animation that long ago.

I was pretty curious about the styling of Thomas. It took me a minute to figure out why he was striking me as a bit odd. There were certain looks of his that kept reminding me of Shere Khan, from the Jungle Book. And then, I realized that they drew him not like the small cats (aka house cats, like Duchess and her kittens), but rather, like the Big Cats, like tigers. At first, I thought it was just a difference between him and the kittens, but then I remembered that Duchess was an adult cat. In one scene with just the two of them together, Duchess has the dainty nose of a house cat, and Thomas has the bigger snout of a tiger. I don't think it's just a male/female thing either, because male house cats also generally have the small nose.

I also thought it was amusing that Thomas was voiced as a suave American who sweeps the upper class French Duchess off her feet, even though she's voiced by a Hungarian. I hadn't known that and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed Eva Gabor's performance.

And to the kittens. Marie, the sweet little kitten - is an absolute flirt. Oh, wait, no, that's wrong. She's a FLIRT. Wow.

And why does Marie have a British accent?

My favorite kitten was actually Touloose. He was so cute, and I especially liked when he was trying to be puffy. It's so adorable when a little kitty is trying to be menacing by making themselves half an inch taller. And when he tried to hiss and spit, he just ended up drooling.

The third kitten - yeah, don't know his name, couldn't figure out his name no matter how many times they said it, even read his name in the credits and STILL don't and won't remember his name.

I liked the "he's marinated" line about the older male goose. At one point when the three of them were talking, I said to the husband that they were very loud. He replied that geese ARE very loud. Ah, ok.

I liked the movie but I'm not sure how much I'd watch it. Edit together the scenes of the kittens being cute, and yeah, I'd watch that all the time. No surprise there.

My only real criticism of the film - that Siamese cat in the band is pretty offensive, especially when they have him playing the piano with chopsticks. I know, it's a sign of the times, but the way the cat is drawn and the speech affectation - UGH. Thankfully, he has very little screen time.

Oh, I forgot to mention. Maybe they'll do a live action version of The Aristocats like they've been doing with other animated films. We know there's the technology to do live action people cats.

My Star Wars Story or How I Came to Have a Rental in Black Spire Outpost

Like many other Star Wars fans, I was thrilled when The Walt Disney Company announced that they would be building a new land in both Anaheim and Orlando themed to Star Wars. When more information was released that the setting would be a new planet we had previously not been acquainted with, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. They didn't want people going in with preconceived notions and pre-set expectations, as would happen if they were to build Tattooine or Bespin or Endor or Coruscant or Naboo or Mustafar or Jakku or Crait. Instead, we were going to be introduced to the planet of Batuu, which once was a busy hub but is now a quieter outer rim planet. Black Spire Outpost has a contingent of First Order troopers as well as Kylo Ren himself, but there's a resistance camp in the nearby forest that includes Rey and Chewie. They wanted us to be able to step in and create our own stories in this world.

I wasn't sure about the "create your own story" part. To me, that was aimed at the cosplayers, which hasn't ever been my thing for any of the interests I have. But ok, I'm willing to see how that works.

Galaxy's Edge (the Disney theme park term for the land) aka Black Spire Outpost on Batuu opened at Disneyland on May 31, 2019. For the first three weeks after opening, reservations to enter the land were required and would give visitors a set block of time in which to explore and enjoy the land. I am blessed with many friends who also like Star Wars, and many were kind enough to include me on their reservations into Black Spire Outpost, so for those three weeks, I got to spend quite a bit of time on Batuu.

And from the first, I loved it. Sure, I mean, everyone's WOW moment is probably seeing the Millenium Falcon in person for the first time. I could stare at that thing for hours, imagining walking up the gangway, sitting in the cockpit, wandering around the ship.

But it's not just the Falcon. I love wandering around the marketplace, looking at all the decor and the different merchandise that's available.

I like visiting the sleeping loth cat, whose snores are quite loud during quieter times. I love looking up at the sky and stars through the latticework of the ceiling.

 

I love going to the Droid Depot and visiting the pit droids and K-2SO.

I've loved my visits to Oga's Cantina with different friends and even just strolling past and when the door is open, you can get a quick glimpse of DJ R3X inside and hear the sounds of people enjoying themselves.

 

 

I've loved wandering to the resistance camp, and I've even spent an hour late in the evening, standing outside the queue for Rise of the Resistance, listening to the radio transmissions of the resistance and hearing the sounds of the roaring creature (rancor?) in the cave as well as those rustling and stomping to the left of and behind the queue area. I've loved trying out all the new dishes at Docking Bay 7, and I love listening to the sounds while I'm sitting inside. There's something very soothing about it.

I love sitting at the tables by Ronto Roasters (sometimes enjoying a tasty ronto wrap), and on one side, you can hear the radio broadcast that also plays inside the restroom near the milk stand. I enjoy Smugglers Run but I don't always ride it when I'm in Black Spire Outpost. I've spent quite a bit of time in BSO by myself, and there's just something about being there, hearing the sounds, looking at the beautiful buildings and the small details. I've spent time there just reading, I've spent time there laughing and joking around with friends, and I've spent time there having fairly serious conversations with friends. It's home.

 

And as I spent quite a bit of time in BSO during its first few weeks, and having interacted with some of the Batuuans (and learning the local phrases and terms for things), I started wondering where they lived. Some commute in to work from outside BSO. I figured that like many other cities where the businesses are on the ground level and the dwellings are on the upper levels, I figured some must live on the second floor or higher in places like the marketplace. And with as much time as I was spending there, I started thinking it would be nice for me to have somewhere local to stay. And that idea took hold. I need an apartment on BSO. So, I started looking. I looked around the marketplace and by the speeders and by Savi's and in the First Order section, noting positives and negatives about each potential location.

 

This is next to where the speeders are parked, so this might be where some of the mechanics live. I could maybe rent just a room. It's a little bit away from the main part of town so it's a little quieter. And there's even a bridge that takes you directly to the main marketplace.

There's lodging above Savi's so that might work out to rent a room as well. It looks like nicer digs though, so it might be too expensive.

These apartments could be ok but they're really close to the cantina so it could be a bit loud. And it's close to the First Order square. I had been concerned about the blaster fire, but I'm learning there's remnants of blaster fire *everywhere*.

I'd been looking at this next to the milk stand. I'm thinking it might be the dwelling for the family that runs the stand so I could maybe rent a room. But a friend says it looks more like a religious building so I need to investigate further.

After a while, I decided that I didn't need an entire apartment. Just renting a room would be fine, just somewhere I could rest and spend the night. And I came upon the perfect idea. I've been quite fascinated with the milk stand, which is run by Bubo Wamba Family Farms. I love the decor, and I do like both the blue and green milk there.

I noticed an entrance on the back side of the milk stand and decided I could rent a room in the back part. I liked the idea of the family farm and started to see what information I could find out about them to incorporate into my story but turns out, there was nothing. There are a few books due out in the next few months about BSO, which may or may not include any info about Bubo Wamba, but for the moment, it's a blank canvas that I can work with. Cool.

I decided that what made the most sense would be that I'd meet a member of the family who would facilitate my renting the room. And then I realized THAT was my Star Wars story. It wasn't about cosplay or creating another character for myself, but rather, about incorporating my time in BSO into my normal life. And, if I was going to have a Star Wars story, Robert definitely had to be part of it.

We lost Robert to lymphoma five years ago today. Robert was one of my best friends, and Disneyland and Star Wars were some of the interests that we shared. He was supposed to have gone to Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim in 2015 where they ended up announcing Star Wars land, but that didn't happen. Robert would have loved Black Spire Outpost and to be surrounded by so much Star Wars. He would have definitely built at least one droid in the Droid Depot.

So in working out the story of how I was able to rent a room at the milk stand, it made sense that I would have become friends with one of the members of the Wamba family. So Robert was the inspiration to create that character, in name and in some details and in backstory.

This is my Star Wars story:

I was sitting and reading a history book on Batuu one night, and one of the locals stopped to chat. Rojuin Wamba is the third offspring of the family that runs the milk stand in Black Spire Outpost. We've gotten to chatting a few times and have become friends. I happened to mention to Rojuin that I was looking for a place, and Rojuin said that they have a private room in the back of the milk stand. Rojuin checked with their family, and it's all set. There's an entrance into the building behind the milk stand, and my room is to the left of the door. You might see some of their employees using that door from time to time to bring supplies and such into the building. You'd think it might be a bit loud with all that machinery going, but it actually has a hypnotic rhythm and hum that's very soothing. And I might get a chance to learn about how they process the blue and green milk, so I'm excited!

I would have spent a lot of time with Robert in Black Spire Outpost, and sometimes when I'm there, I'm sad that we never got that chance. So I'll just have to create adventures with Rojuin instead.

Lamplight Lounge - dinner - June 25, 2018

While we didn't go very often, we were fans of Ariel's Grotto restaurant.  So we were intrigued when Disney announced that they were re-theming the restaurant to Pixar.  Lamplight Lounge - oh, how cute.  I'll admit I was baffled when I heard some people say they didn't understand why it was called that.  Ummm, hello, what's one of the iconic symbols of Pixar?  The lamp!

We were lucky enough to get a reservation for the downstairs dining area the Monday after opening weekend.  We know that normally, there are some growing pains when a new restaurant opens, but we were excited to try it.

The outside marquee for Lamplight Lounge, which is still unfinished.

 

This is my favorite picture, on the side of the restaurant.  Gorgeous.

This is the logo on the floor after you walk in to check in.

We checked in and then waited for our name to be called to be shown to our table.  The waiting area has beautiful concept drawings from various Pixar films.

Slinky Dog from Toy Story.

Merida from Brave.

Wall-E and Eve.

Hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the circular staircase is a gorgeous paper chandelier with lots of cool drawings.

Even the normal restaurant signs had a Pixar touch.

The exit sign includes a reference to Up.

The maximum occupancy sign is watched over by Wall-E and Eve.

After a while, we were called to our table and descended the stairs to the downstairs dining room.  It was fun to see the ball wall.  We'd seen a version of it at the D23 Expo but I don't think that version was illuminated.

After we were seated, we perused the menu.  One section had "bites", smaller items, and the other section had more entree-type selections.  There was also a separate extensive list of alcoholic beverages available.

After we ordered, we were brought coasters for our drinks.  They all had the same picture on one side, with the Lamplight Lounge name and logo, but there were different pictures on the other side.

One side of all of the coasters is the same.

One of the coasters we got happened to have Mr. Incredible on the other side.

The husband and I each ordered an entree and we also ordered a smaller plate to share.


For our shared plate, we ordered the crab and tuna roll.  We both enjoyed this, though I mostly avoided the sauce on the bottom since I don't generally care for sauce on my sushi rolls.

Crab and tuna roll.

The husband ordered the salmon plt - a salmon sandwich with pancetta, lettuce and tomato, which comes with a side of fries.  He liked the sandwich.

Salmon plt - salmon with pancetta, lettuce and tomato.

I have in recent years become a huge fan of ratatouille, so I was excited to see it on the menu, so I did not hesitate to order that.  I was a little surprised at the presentation of the dish as I had come to expect ratatouille with sliced vegetables, so clearly, I didn't read the menu well enough to see that it was a ragout, but no matter, the ingredients are the same.  I was not, however, expecting the large hunk of cheese in the dish.  I've only had ratatouille on several occasions, but it's always just been the zucchini and eggplant and tomatoes and maybe a few other vegetables/squash, and after our dinner and I was doing a search for recipes, all the ones I found only included those ingredients and not cheese.  Again, I probably didn't read the menu very closely because I knew I wanted the ratatouille, but even if I'd paid attention that the dish included warm burrata cheese, it would not have occurred to me that it would be such a large portion of it, almost as if you were getting a protein-size portion of cheese.  One of the things I particularly like about ratatouille is that it's generally a very clean and light dish, since it's all vegetables and squash.  The burrata cheese, especially in such a huge portion, made the dish incredibly heavy, and I ended up leaving much of the cheese on the plate and trying to eat the vegetables around it.  I do have to say that I was pretty disappointed with this dish.

Ratatouille ragout with warm burrata cheese,

On a completely different note, because of the Pixarfest celebration at the Disneyland Resort this summer, there were many other Pixar-related food items available around the resort.  Cafe Orleans at Disneyland was offering a three-course prix fixe that included a cheese plate, ratatouille with shrimp, and dessert, so we had the chance to try that in July.  The ratatouille was so good in that instance, and even with the added protein of shrimp, it wasn't heavy, which it might have been if they'd added some other protein instead.  I was told that after Pixarfest, the prix fixe menu would be taken off but that the ratatouille would stay on the menu.  I'm really hoping that's true.  Here's a link to my Twitter post with pictures of the ratatouille at Cafe Orleans.




So being less than satisfied with my dinner was not the only negative experience I had at Lamplight Lounge.  When we were taken to our seats, we were actually taken to the extensive bar area that was added to the downstairs dining room.  I often like to sit at the bar in restaurants, and it's not what I had in mind in this case, but ok, no problem.  Except that for the seats they took us to, one of the seats was actually behind a pillar.  Ummm, really?  I told the hostess that those seats weren't going to work for us, and she suggested that we could move over if we wanted to.  It's not like the bar was packed that night - there were plenty of seats, and yet they felt the need to take us to seats where one was behind a pillar?  And really, who designs a bar so that two of the seats are facing a pillar?  I guess I could understand if the bar was totally packed and someone really wanted to eat there and was told that the seat was in front of a pillar and they wanted to sit there anyway, kind of like a "blocked view" seat at a stage show.

They originally told us to sit in the two seats next to where the husband is sitting.  We moved over one so that I wasn't sitting in front of a pillar.  You can clearly see that no one else was seated at the bar on that side at the time.

After we had ordered and were waiting for our food, we were looking around at the restaurant, and really, all of the seating was weird.  This is the outdoor section to the right of where I was sitting.

One of the other problems with the new ginormous bar is that it's open to the outside - one side of patrons at the bar are sitting inside while the other side of patrons (like the husband and me) were sitting outside).  That also means that during a certain portion of the day, the bartender who is serving us and anyone else sitting on that side is staring directly into the blinding sun.  Who thought this was a good idea to do to the bartenders?

The sun had gone down a little at this point but was still blinding for our bartender.

This was the rest of the bar to the left of us, and you can get an idea of how huge the bar area is.  The little outcropping "table" jutting out from the bar is not nearly long enough to make seating comfortable.  Let's say a group of 3 is sitting there, with one on the end and one on each side.  That's great - until you realize that it means the next seat at the bar is unusable because you can't possibly have someone sitting there because there's not enough room.  Again, design considerations that make no sense.

The side chairs on the outcropping block anyone from sitting at the bar at that spot.

I get that with the whole Pixar Pier reboot (which will presumably remain even after the end of the official Pixarfest after Labor Day), it made sense to re-theme the restaurant.  But the concept they came up with completely does not fit the area.  Even with the bar upstairs, the restaurant downstairs has had a family feel to it.  You know what would go with the family-themed Pixar Pier concept?  A hip and trendy gastropub!  Really?  Really.  In other reviews and things I've read, Lamplight Lounge has been referred to as a gastropub, which makes the limited menu and heavy alcoholic offerings and weird seating groupings make much more sense, but it's completely out of place in that setting.  Guests with children aren't going to be able to sit at the bar area, and some adults can't manage to sit at bar seating either.  Many of the tables are set up in a way that limits the amount of seating, which again makes no sense in that environment.  And none of these are a matter of "opening weekend" bugs.  The design of the restaurant isn't going to change.  The ginormous bar isn't going to magically get smaller.  I suppose the menu can change - I haven't paid attention to whether any changes have been made since our visit (as I'm writing this in mid-August).

I can tell you that while I'm very interested in the restaurants and other food offerings at the Disneyland Resort, I was decidedly not happy with our experience at Lamplight Lounge.  It's not a place I'd recommend to my friends or anyone asking for dining advice.  The menu (and the ratatouille) could be fixed, to some degree.  The design and seating issues cannot.




That being said, while there were clearly things I was not happy about, there were some non-design decor elements that I really liked - the whimsy that I'd have expected from a Pixar-themed restaurant.  Let's end on a happy note, shall we?

In the outdoor seating area, I love that the "don't feed the birds" sign is accompanied by a seagull from Finding Nemo.

The walkway area to the restrooms had some great designs and well-known phrases.

Beautiful "chalk" drawing of the restaurant logo.

This was my favorite bit since my favorite Pixar film is Monsters, Inc.

And this was one of the funniest things from Up.

Fin.