Disney Films

[Spartan Girl]

1 hour ago, starri said:

According to a few people I follow on social media who were there, the audience got to see the entirety of "Part of Your World" which was described as leaving people in tears.

I wish somebody would take pity on the rest of us and leak the whole thing. The snippet in the teaser was beautiful but I want more.

[twoods]

It really was. Just that clip got me teary eyed, but I always get weepy with Part of Your World. I am hoping it’s just as good as Aladdin was (which is my favorite live action movie). 

[JustHereForFood]

On 9/10/2022 at 1:50 AM, Spartan Girl said:

YOU GUYS

Halle sounds every bit as gorgeous as I knew she would. Do not blow this one, Disney!

I was looking forward to Disenchanted, but the trailer didn't impress me. I hope the movie is good.

And I see that trolls are already working hard on Little Mermaid, which is predictable.

[Trini]

On 9/9/2022 at 7:50 PM, Spartan Girl said:

Halle sounds every bit as gorgeous as I knew she would. Do not blow this one, Disney!

She sounds amazing! Now they just have to convince me that Melissa McCarthy wasn't miscast - because I'm still 'meh' on that.

Edited September 11, 2022 by Trini

[Mabinogia]

I wasn't interested at all in The Little Mermaid, I'm not into any of the live action versions of the animated classics, but that voice! WOW I might have to check it out just for Halle Bailey. It's not just the voice either, the expression in her face, she just nailed Ariel's longing in that clip. Can't wait to see what she does with a whole movie. 

[Spartan Girl]

Someone actually took pity on us and uploaded the audio of the whole song?

Edit: Aaaaand they took it down. Figures. 

Edited September 12, 2022 by Spartan Girl

[aradia22]

Halle has an incredible voice. But it's yet another reason to be sad that Howard Ashman is no longer with us. Imagine the performance he could have gotten out of her. I actually like it less hearing the whole audio. She's emphasizing weird words. A better director would have given her more... direction.

[Spartan Girl]

I thought she sounded beautiful. Everyone is going to bring their own style to their own song; none of the actresses for the Broadway show had Howard Ashman to coach them and they did just fine. 

19 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

It's not just the voice either, the expression in her face, she just nailed Ariel's longing in that clip.

This. Halfway through the teaser I was afraid we weren’t going to get a good look at her, that we’d just see bits and pieces. Thank goodness I was wrong. But I will add that her tail looks gorgeous.

[starri]

I’m glad I managed to give a listen before Mickey’s lawyers swooped in.  Halle Bailey sounds a lot like Whitney Houston, and that’s one of the highest compliments I can give.

[Spartan Girl]

Somebody leaked more clips of the Part of Your World footage at D23. Not gonna post it yet in case they get taken down, but all I can say is I don’t think we need to worry about Halle not being as “expressive” as cartoon Ariel. Like we saw in the teaser trailer, she puts her emotions on full display.

[GaT]

People truly suck. So many people are pissed about Ariel not being White, that YouTube stopped showing the dislikes on the official video. There were over 5million, & right now only 841K likes. All because a fantasy cartoon character has a different skin color than the actress portraying her in the live action film. What the hell is wrong with all these people?

Edited September 18, 2022 by GaT

[Mabinogia]

42 minutes ago, GaT said:

All because a fantasy cartoon character has a different skin color than the actress portraying her in the live action film. What the hell is wrong with all these people?

People, as a species, are the worst. I really just can't imagine the dog community in an uproar if the live action remake of Scooby Doo cast a Doberman in the lead instead of a Great Dane. 

I have never seen Halle Bailey before but just from that clip I can tell she is an amazing singer and an emotive actress so I'm very pleased with her casting despite my being a pasty white woman with an affinity for redheads. 

I love that Disney is making an effort towards diversity in casting. It is good, it is healthy to see more variety in entertainment. 

Also, it's not like Ariel was a real person, she's not even a real species, so she can be whatever her creators decide she is. I could understand if this was something like casting Denzel Washington to play George Washington. George was real so at least some resemblance to him would be nice. Fictional characters, unless their appearance is a major plot point, just hire the best actor. 

I just really, really hope that Halle isn't being attacked or bullied by these assholes. She's just doing her job, and appears to be doing a great job of it too. 

[Spartan Girl]

I haven’t been able to get her voice out of my head since the teaser dropped.

Hell, the second the casting was announced, the first thing I did was YouTube her because I never heard of Chloe and Halle. Literally the first clip I found was of her singing “Unforgettable.” I knew right then and there she was going to sing “Part of Your World” like no other.

Anyway, all this racist idiots don’t care about Ariel at all. She was a girl who ignored every terrible thing she was taught about the human world because she believed that there was good in everyone. She knew that just because something or someone was “different” didn’t automatically mean it was bad. They can’t claim to love the cartoon if they go against everything the character stood for.

Edited September 16, 2022 by Spartan Girl

[tv echo]

[Sarah 103]

20 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

Also, it's not like Ariel was a real person, she's not even a real species, so she can be whatever her creators decide she is.

I agree. It's a fictional character who's a mythical creature.

People are freaking out because they want to freak out over nothing. I've heard of modern Shakespeare productions where the men play women's roles and the women play men's roles. There was a production of Guys and Dolls in I think it was 1990s that was an all or mostly black cast. I'm curious to see how having a diverse cast changes the story, even if the lines are the same. 

A few years ago I saw Brandy in Chicago. Roxy is usually played by a white actress, but this production used a black actress and it added a new level. Roxy wants to be famous, and in my opinion, casting a black actress made the play a subtle comment on the limited opportunities/avenues for sucess for black women in the 1920s. Fame/celebrity was one of the few options.   

[Luckylyn]

Kids react to The Little Mermaid Trailer 

[twoods]

These are the fools that had a problem with Black Panther and Aladdin (too many brown people I guess)and both made over a billion dollars at the box office. Little Mermaid will be fine. I just hope all the cyber bullying doesn’t get to Halle because she is extremely talented.

[Katy M]

On 9/17/2022 at 10:10 PM, twoods said:

These are the fools that had a problem with Black Panther and Aladdin (too many brown people I guess)and both made over a billion dollars at the box office. Little Mermaid will be fine. I just hope all the cyber bullying doesn’t get to Halle because she is extremely talented.

The only time I care about what race is portraying a character is if the story itself has something to do with race.  otherwise, what difference does it make?  

Now, on an unrelated note, I'm over remakes and that includes remaking cartoons into live action and vice versa.  So, I'm not going to watch this. But, I couldn't care less if Ariel is white, black, Asian, or purple polka dotted.

[Trini]

A book about Disney's princesses is coming out this week; this article is an interview with the author:

Quote

As Disney’s 100th year approaches, Disney Animation Studios is celebrating its fairytale lore with some major releases. Among them is author Emily Zemler’s Disney Princess: Beyond the Tiara, a visual guide to the Disney Princesses, which will chronicle the impact Disney royalty has had on pop culture since 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Zemler sat down with io9 to share an exclusive look inside the book, chronicling the evolution of the Disney heroine, and to discuss the influence of their legacy as a big part of Disney’s history in film and the Disney Parks.

The article also has a few excerpts from the book; and briefly mentions a couple of the upcoming princess films.

Quote

Sabina Graves, io9: What inspired the idea to bring this visual and informative guide to the Disney Princesses to life?

Emily Zemler: The thought was to look at the Disney Princesses more holistically, trying to figure out both what in pop culture had inspired each of them, but then in turn what each of them had inspired in pop culture. So it’s a circular thing that’s happening where the current pop culture is impacting the art that we make but the art that we make is impacting what is happening in culture. And that’s a really interesting idea. They really wanted to see a full chapter looking at the Disney parks, which isn’t something that I necessarily had realized there was so much scope for. I was really passionate about including chapters about fashion and music. I felt that those were two of the aspects of the Disney Princesses that were really important. We came to an understanding that there needed to be a final chapter looking at the real world impact and how the Disney Princesses have inspired people in their actual lives. And how behind the scenes at Disney, there’s also this reflection of inclusivity that is important going forward.

[andromeda331]

18 hours ago, Katy M said:

The only time I care about what race is portraying a character is if the story itself has something to do with race.  otherwise, what difference does it make?  

Now, on an unrelated note, I'm over remakes and that includes remaking cartoons into live action and vice versa.  So, I'm not going to watch this. But, I couldn't care less if Ariel is white, black, Asian, or purple polka dotted.

I agree. I don't care if she's Asian, black or white I just want her to be Ariel. The Ariel that I loved from the movie or a really great version of Ariel. Don't take away any of the things that made Ariel great (looking at you Mulan).

[Hiyo]

As long as she is a redhead and has a happy ending, then they're doing the Disney version justice.

I remember watching the 70's Japanese cartoon movie as a kid in the early 80s, and since that version was more faithful to the story, it was definitely more of a downbeat ending...

Edited September 20, 2022 by Hiyo

[tv echo]

Halle Bailey on 'The Little Mermaid' | D23 2022 | Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly   Sep 20, 2022

[kiddo82]

I think this is from a 2019 release of the Little Mermaid on home media.  I've seen clips online but never the entire thing until someone posted this and I thought this would be a good timeline cleanse.  For someone my age, these voices, while not all inclusive, represent practically all the stages of my conscious lifetime from early childhood through adolescence and into adulthood.  I adore seeing these women together with their incredible talents sharing their unique perspectives.  My only gripe is I could have watched an hour of this content.  And I could listen to Lillias White simply say the words "We are the muses" on a loop.

Edited September 22, 2022 by kiddo82

[tv echo]

The Cast of 'Disenchanted' on Their Magical Roles | D23 2022 | Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly   Sep 22, 2022

[Spartan Girl]

I’m reading Jodi Benson’s memoir, Part of Your World, and it has some good stuff about the making of The Little Mermaid. She said she had to record Ariel’s final line — “I love you, Daddy” — over 50 times. Quoting her directly:

Quote

It’s a moment of reconciliation, of saying goodbye without saying goodbye, of acceptance, of Ariel realizing she’s letting go of her old life. It’s Ariel asking for forgiveness and letting her father know that no matter what they’d been through, her love for him has always been there. Her respect for him may have wavered back and forth, but her love hasn’t. So there’s great sorrow, but there’s also a sense of relief and gratefulness. She’s saying, “I’m sorry” while at the same time realizing and grieving that their restored relationship is coming to an end. (Please tell me I’m not the only one tearing up right now.) There’s just so much packed into those four little words. And I didn’t grasp all of it until the scene was fully animated.

[BetterButter]

[chitowngirl]

I hope Hocus Pocus 2 has an “amuck, amuck, amuck” from Sarah Sanderson!

[starri]

14 minutes ago, chitowngirl said:

I hope Hocus Pocus 2 has an “amuck, amuck, amuck” from Sarah Sanderson!

Didn't they show it in the trailer?

[Black Knight]

I watched Hocus Pocus 2 last night and was really pleased with it. So pleased that I then rewatched the first movie immediately. So it was a reverse doubleheader, but totally worth it.

The Roombas were my favorite gag for HP2.

[twoods]

I also enjoyed the second movie and plan on watching the first one tonight. The three looked like they were having a blast being witches again, and still have that wonderful chemistry. 

[Spartan Girl]

3 hours ago, twoods said:

I also enjoyed the second movie and plan on watching the first one tonight. The three looked like they were having a blast being witches again, and still have that wonderful chemistry. 

It was a blast. I loved their big musical entrance and the girls’ reaction to it: “I literally can’t stop  watching them.” “Who are they performing for?!” LMAO.

The Walgreens scene was comedy gold, especially how they posed for the selfie even though they barely knew what a photo was.

Props to the kids that played the younger versions in the flashback, especially the young Winifred. She had Bette NAILED.

The ending was a little hokey, with Winifred suddenly realizing that she didn’t want to lose her sisters, but it wasn’t as if she was turning over a new leaf. She still wants to kill children and take over the world, just not without her sisters…so I’ll let it pass.

Edited October 2, 2022 by Spartan Girl

[Black Knight]

Oh yes, I couldn't get over how excellent the young actresses playing the Sanderson sisters were! They had the mannerisms and line deliveries down pat.

I agree the ending was a bit hokey, but so was the original movie's sibling stuff, so I felt like it was keeping in that spirit. The opening did set it up. And for all that Winnie gets really fed up with her sisters, she chose to live with them even when they were all adults. Yes, she needed a coven, but a coven doesn't have to live together. And like you say, it's not like she's changed her villainous goals a whit.

(If anyone remembers the 2007 film Stardust with Michelle Pfeiffer, we saw a different take on it...)

BTW, if anyone didn't see, there's a stinger post-credits.

[shoregirl]

I thought it was cute. Hannah Waddington was fun. The bird followed the girls at the end so maybe she can come back if there's a sequel. Doug Jones was great as Billy. I always enjoy Sam Richardson . The girls playing the yourger versions of the Sanderson Sisters were great especially Winifred she had the mannerisms down.

[Spartan Girl]

I also l have to give the movie props for what they did with Cassie’s boyfriend Mike. Sure, he was “the village idiot” with a lot of growing up to do, but he did care about Cassie and was genuinely unaware of how his teasing made her friends feel. And when they finally spelled it  out for him, he apologized. They could have easily made him a poster child for toxic masculinity but averted it.

Also refreshing that Cassie wasn’t compelled to break up with him to rekindle her friendships. Gold star for smart writing, Disney.

[Black Knight]

29 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

Also refreshing that Cassie wasn’t compelled to break up with him to rekindle her friendships. Gold star for smart writing, Disney.

Yeah, though part of me thinks that's because they wanted to cut off any idea that the tension between Cassie and Becca was romantic. Regardless, I don't think that relationship is long for the world, considering the way the sequence after his realization played out: Cassie is kidnapped, her two best friends run off after her without even bothering to check for Mike, and Mike's just cluelessly standing around until he sees Billy's headless body, at which point he faints and vanishes from the movie. Cassie doesn't mention him, there's no reunion. He's unimportant.

Froy Gutierrez is a cutie though (he was in Cruel Summer as the boyfriend there).

[BetterButter]

[Spartan Girl]

Sigh. Farewell, Angela Lansbury, our beloved Mrs. Potts.

Hard to believe she nailed “Beauty and the Beast” in one take. Then again, no it isn’t, she was THAT good.

We could talk about Beauty and the Beast all day, but we can’t forget her playing the Nazi-fighting witch in Bedknobs and Broomsticks. I’ve never realized how much “Age of Not Believing” speaks to our current mindset in these troubled times:

Edited October 12, 2022 by Spartan Girl

[GHScorpiosRule]

27 minutes ago, Spartan Girl said:

Hard to believe she nailed “Beauty and the Beast” in one take. Then again, no it isn’t, she was THAT good.

And that her singing the title song at 90 (25th Anniversary) STILL continues to give me chills.

But I always laugh that Chip was her son instead of her grandson, considering that when the spell was broken, she was a rounded and matronly woman with white hair!

I can picture her, Jerry Orbach and David Ogden Stiers having a Beauty and the Beast reunion right about now.

[Wiendish Fitch]

19 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

And that her singing the title song at 90 (25th Anniversary) STILL continues to give me chills.

But I always laugh that Chip was her son instead of her grandson, considering that when the spell was broken, she was a rounded and matronly woman with white hair!

Actually, it's not that hard for me to believe. Some women get "matronly" figures earlier than others, and it's possible Mrs. Potts, as someone who worked in the kitchen, gained a few pounds from tasting the cooking (not judging, it happens). Plus, premature grey hair is a thing. Jamie Donnelly, who played Jan in Grease, had to dye her greying hair black in order to convincingly play a teenager onscreen (a wasted effort, but JMO).

Or, assuming Mrs. Potts really was Chip's grandma, it's not unusual at all to call grandmothers "Mama" (I did).  "Son" is something we used to call boys in general, regardless of whether or not they were our offspring.

[starri]

On 10/12/2022 at 11:31 AM, GHScorpiosRule said:

I can picture her, Jerry Orbach and David Ogden Stiers having a Beauty and the Beast reunion right about now.

Hope they invited Howard Ashman.

[GHScorpiosRule]

19 minutes ago, starri said:

Hope they invited Howard Ashman.

Yes! 

[GHScorpiosRule]

OMGEE! Rewatching Murder, She Wrote and I TOTALLY forgot that Beauty & The Beast was a reunion for Dame Angela, Jerry Orbach, and David Ogden Stiers! As the latter two appeared on her show, albeit in different episodes. My ❤️, it’s …I don’t have the words.

[Sarah 103]

On 10/14/2022 at 5:19 PM, starri said:

Hope they invited Howard Ashman.

I'll bet he's the one playing piano while they sing. 

[BetterButter]

[JustHereForFood]

2 hours ago, BetterButter said:

OK, this looks better than the teaser, I am looking forward to it. So it seems that Giselle wished for "fairytale" and because she is a stepmother, she becomes evil because that is the standard fairytale trope? That could have some interesting exploration of fairytale tropes, in a different way that the first movie did.

[Spartan Girl]

What. The. FUCK?!

Well, this just cements my belief that the Russos are hacks that just got lucky with Winter Soldier.

Edited November 3, 2022 by Spartan Girl

[Hiyo]

And got lucky with Civil War...and lucky with Infinity War...and lucky with Endgame...

But yeah, this sounds like a horrible idea.

[Dandesun]

Ummm... what?

Look, TikTok is enjoyable. It (and the pandemic) weirdly produced a new interest in sea shanties for a time. I enjoy watching foragers forage and people ripping their sister's basic home decoration.

But a musical based off of what people on TikTok expect musicals to be?

Why does this sound like a bunch of middle aged guys trying to be hip and 'speak to the youth?'

[Trini]

I take issue with "audiences trained by TikTok",  -- umm, maybe the 20-and-under crowd, but I thought these Disney Renaissance remakes were supposed to target the 90s kids who are parents now?

6 hours ago, Dandesun said:

...

Why does this sound like a bunch of middle aged guys trying to be hip and 'speak to the youth?'

Oh, it totally is.

[tv echo]

Disenchanted on Disney+ on Nov. 18...