Holy Shit, Trons Out!

Holy Shit, Trons Out!

Two years ago at Comic Con they announced that they were going to make a sequel to the 28 year old nerdy computer graphics filled Disney's Tron. A film that no one saw. I mean, no one. You ask around and you'll get confused looks from folks who never saw it and who probably never will see it.

To say that the effects and the movie itself is a bit dated is an understatement. It really wasn't heavy on the plot to begin with. The story was as follows. Jeff Bridges is a computer engineer who creates some of the most successful games which propels a company to the main spotlight. But the only problem is that someone stole the games from him and took the credit.



So he goes to find out proof of this, gets zapped into a computer server and has to fight the MCP, Master Control Program with the help of a program named Tron. Yes, that's right. Jeff Bridges is not Tron. He's Kevin Flynn. The fact is that the film was not named after the main character of the film. How do you like them apples?

Jeff Bridges, way before his days as playing The Dude, was still being a completely awesome character. In fact, it's what makes Jeff Bridges Jeff Bridges. He has a way of carrying out a character, even if it's some adult man-child who works above an arcade... You know.. speaking of which, how could I expect you to get into the spirit of an arcade film when I haven't linked this..



There we go. Now you're in the arcade mood! You know, if you haven't seen the original, don't worry. It's really very basic. There was recently a South Park episode that made fun of Facebook as well as Tron. Watching this gives you everything you probably need to enjoy Tron Legacy.

Besides that, Disney's not making it any easier by putting the original DVD out of print. Yup. It may sound crazy, but Disney made sure that you can't get Tron on Netflix or at the local stores as the 2002 collectors edition has been long out of print. Their defense to that was that they didn't really want people to look at the clearly dated CGI and make up their mind not to see this movie. Let's be honest, the original was really lacking in terms of plot. But what it lacked in plot and story, it made up for in revolutionary computer graphics that immersed the actor in the digital world for the first time.



What's amazing here is that Disney took their internal property of Tron, a film that barely broke the 20 million budget the first one had, was given a close to 200 million budget for a sequel. Something that even I'm doubting it's going to be a success in the box office. Which is really sad since I would love to see a sequel of Tron Legacy, as it has all the makings of a franchise with a lot of potential.

Tron, in 1982, was way ahead of its time. People didn't have home computers, let alone hand held computers that I'm sure will annoy the hell out of you while you watch this film and someone is updating their facebook status. So to have actors in this digital world was something amazing. Oh yeah, Tron also had a video game tie in. Something that is common practice now, but back then was only limited to pinball machines.



The original film really kicked off the CGI era. But when you break it down, the story of Tron is much like the Wizard of Oz. Someone finds themselves in a strange new world by accident and they can only get back home by going to point B on the map. Hell, the parallels to Wizard of Oz really go pretty deep on this franchise. Even Roger Ebert enjoyed it and saw the potential.

While I'm not a big fan of the latest wave of 3D films that is flooding our market, I do acknowledge that films shot in 3D are made for that format very well. This film used the same cameras that Avatar used. Especially useful when you have the villain be a 1982 Jeff Bridges. I mean, this character really looks like the dude back when he was just that great looking actor.



Then again, you can't talk about good looking actors and not mention Olivia Wilde. You may know her as 13 on House. Yes, Olivia Wilde is the female lead in this film and well, I don't think you could ask for better eye candy in a film that is all about eye candy.

I love these two Mondo posters that were made for the film. It's a two parter that combines the old and the new. Just look at how the old film is depicted...



And then you go to the modern new look in the next poster....



You put those two together and you have something that looks so fucking amazing. In this instance, let's just show you so you can put it on your desktop..



Now if that isn't considered a thing of beauty, then you'll have to define beauty as something completely different.

I guess now after going into the wish list of things, given that the 240 prints of those poster sold out in a whole 3 minutes, that I should bring my expectations on what I could get down some. You see, maybe I should shoot for something I could get by making it myself.

So for Christmas, can anyone recommend to me somewhere or someone who can make this design get transferred and look good on a t-shirt? Any good shirt shops? Cause this is a cross of a few of my favorite things.



And with that, I go to see this film and I'm very excited. It's been a couple of years since it was announced and a couple of decades to get a sequel from this. Let alone, I've been following the Flynn Lives online Alternate Reality Game for the last year and a half or so and have been so immersed in this film. So you can't really blame me for wearing my Tron hoodie jacket and hitting up the local arcade to get even more excited about this flick.

So yeah, go and see it.

Unhappily Ever After - The End of Princess Films?

Unhappily Ever After - The End of Princess Films?

One of the Holiday films that came out this past weekend was the latest, and what will be the last Disney Princess film for the foreseeable future, according to Disney.



Though, I guess it should be noted that before The Princess and The Frog, Mulan was the last of the "Princess" films back in 1998 if you don't count sequels. Then the one before that was the poorly translated Pocahontas in 95, which ironically enough better fits the title but isn't part of the brand. Others in the bran are Jasmine from Aladdin in 92. Beauty and the Beast in 91. But then you get to a dry spell where before 1990, you have only four princess movies being made over the course of 53 years.

Anyhow, back to this film, it began as a traditional animated story from Disney about Rapunzel. However during pre-production the decision was made to turn it into a CG movie and in 3D from what looks like a really nice sketch character design..



So let's go back to the beginning. The original concept from Disney animation legend Glen Keane was to give the film a distinct look. Where every frame resembled an oil painting, directly inspired by classic Rococo art. This painting, "The Swing" by Jean-Honore Fragonard, was the chief inspiration for the look of the film:



So what you ended up with a little CG animation was something that looked, according to Keane, as "a film of astonishing beauty". If you don't believe me, here's what it would have tried to translate the above painting to in terms of backgrounds.



Here's a couple more shots of what the concept art for how the film was suppose to look was going to be like.



And you wouldn't be able to tell this story without a tower that needed long hair to climb up it.



And here is the original Keane character art for Rapunzel:





But then they took a look at the actual numbers for The Princess and The Frog and.. well...

After the less-than-fairy-tale results for its most recent animated release, "The Princess and the Frog," executives at the Burbank studio believe they know why the acclaimed movie came up short at the box office.

Brace yourself: Boys didn't want to see a movie with "princess" in the title. This time, Disney is taking measures to ensure that doesn't happen again. The studio renamed its next animated film with the girl-centric name "Rapunzel" to the less gender-specific "Tangled."

The makeover of "Rapunzel" is more than cosmetic. Disney can ill afford a moniker that alienates half the potential audience, young boys, who are needed to make an expensive family film a success.

The Princess and the Frog underperformed, which Disney execs blamed on its lack of appeal to boys -- hence the effort to butch up this film's marketing campaign as much as possible. (It's still called Rapunzel in much of the rest of the world, though.)


So thanks to panicky Disney executives for whom a $222 million dollar worldwide gross for The Princess and The Frog was simply not enough to keep the Disney Princess market alive, they pushed Keane out, dumped his project and started over going more towards a boy-appealing Shrek style film.

But I guess we really shouldn't judge a film based on the format it's presented. 3D is just a way to cash in on a new technology right now, so how about the meat and potatoes of the film.. the story. The story on this one after it's all said and done

After receiving the healing powers from a magical flower, the baby Princess Rapunzel is kidnapped from the palace in the middle of the night by Mother Gothel. Mother Gothel knows that the flower's magical powers are now growing within the golden hair of Rapunzel, and to stay young, she must lock Rapunzel in her hidden tower. Rapunzel is now a teenager and her hair has grown to a length of 70-feet.

The beautiful Rapunzel has been in the tower her entire life, and she is curious of the outside world. One day, the bandit Flynn Rider scales the tower and is taken captive by Rapunzel. Rapunzel strikes a deal with the charming thief to act as her guide to travel to the place where the floating lights come from that she has seen every year on her birthday. Rapunzel is about to have the most exciting and magnificent journey of her life.

Okay, that sounds at least interesting. I mean, I've survived through all the other Disney films that have been horribly butchered from the source material to make them cautionary tales to uplifting happily ever after stories, so this one can't be so bad, can it? I mean, I enjoyed the first Shrek, and if it's anything like that, then it should be entertaining.. minus all those stupid Top 40's pop songs.



And even though it's not done in 2D animation, it does look beautiful and I have heard many good things about it. Though not had the chance to see it as I've just caught the latest in Harry Potter films.... Okay, I'm sure that makes me sound like my interest in film is that of a 12 year old.

Disney Gets Derezzed

Disney Gets Derezzed

Greetings Program. You are in User Mainframe California Adventure

Boot sector Hollywood Backlot. Load Tron_Legacy_simulation

If you're going to visit Disney any time in the future, make sure you skip the silly fireworks and walk on past the world of color, because you got yourself a date with Disney's version of a rave!

Yes, that's right. A rave. Disney's California Adventure is bringing back Glow. Which was an adult thing they did years past where they would have DJ's spinning like crazy and drinks a flowing on Disney property. Only this time they're tying it in with the release of Tron Legacy.

First the whole festivities happen at the sun sculpture where you see a count down as the sun goes into the west..



Then you're treated to what has to be the cheesiest use of computer and tron fan pandering in the method of a show of dancers that would make you think that this franchise has something to do with High School Musical.



After getting through that you probably need a drink. No worries there, the ElecTRONica nights has you covered there.



Compared to most clubs and night life places, the prices aren't too bad. You even get a strange glowing glass to trip balls to while you drink.



But all through the event you have TRON stuff like Flynn's arcade. Home of Tron, obviously.



Where you can have fun while playing old school arcade games. Other festivities include DJ's spinning all night and the fact that you are hearing Daft Punk at a Disney theme park is pretty freaking cool, if I say so.

Then you have the muppet theater showing a good 8-9 minute long extended trailer and scenes from the movie in a truly 3D atmosphere. Over all, this is an awesome way to spend your time at California Adventure. It's a lot better than world of color or fire works.

And there you have it. a very digital blog post for this 10-10-10.. Which if you didn't know, is 42 in Binary. So hey, you folks who are hitchhikers fans - DON'T PANIC!

Tron Legacy: Flynn Lives!

Tron Legacy: Flynn Lives!

This blog post has taken a year to write. I wish I had the excuse that I was trapped in a computer world mistaken as a program as to why I didn't ever get to post this, but I don't. It was a little less than a year ago that I started writing this after coming back from Comic con and being blown away by the announcement and footage of Tron 2.



Yes, Tron 2. You know, the sequel to Tron, the 1980's awesome Disney movie that used Visual FX and introduced the world to the inside of a computer. You may know it from the recent South Park episode that parodied Facebook.

In any case, much like this blog post, the film has gone through a lot of change in that year. Back then there was basic film test footage shown. Things have grown and evolved. Just look at the new logo. If you can look past how awesome the rest of it is.



Last year at comic con Disney released a small clip that was filled with the test footage of what was at the time called TR2N. The sequel to a movie from a computer centric film of the 80's that not many people seen. I loved it. I'm a nerd so that goes without saying. Since that footage was shown the only way to see it was on a very poor quality youtube video for at least 9 months. It was worth the wait to see a much better quality of it.

I'll give you a second to go and change your under pants. You back yet? So what is this all about? Yes, it's the Dude chilling in a computer. Jeff Bridges. Award winning actor now even though he does finish most of his sentences with "Man". It's jut his thing and it may very well tie the room together, man. Jeff Bridge's character is Kevin Flynn. A computer programer that is a master at arcade games. Oh yes, this man sure plays characters I want to be.



The teaser wasn't the only treat for the fans at Con last year. In the original film, Kevin Flynn ran his own arcade. Flynn's. So in true fashion Disney actually built a replica of the arcade in the gas lamp district. In it was working arcade machines and it was completely free. After a couple of minutes.. well, let's just let the video show you.



Fake wall letting you go behind the scenes and see the new updated lightcycle. That was pretty damn amazing in itself! How could you not be drooling over all this stuff? So if you still don't know what this film is about, here's the quick sum up.

"TRON is a 3D high-tech adventure set in a digital world that's unlike anything ever captured on the big screen. Sam Flynn (GARRETT HEDLUND), the tech-savvy 27-year-old son of Kevin Flynn (JEFF BRIDGES), looks into his father's disappearance and finds himself pulled into the same world of fierce programs and gladiatorial games where his father has been living for 25 years. Along with Kevin's loyal confidant (OLIVIA WILDE), father and son embark on a life-and-death journey across a visually-stunning cyber universe that has become far more advanced and exceedingly dangerous."

The release date of December can't come soon enough in my opinion. Though around Comic con time I always say things can't come soon enough. It's just me getting really excited for all the projects that are popping up in the pipeline, is all.

How could you NOT get excited, especially when the latest trailer for this came out and it looks like this. Just listen to the end on how that sound is just popping. It really is going to blow your average movie theater sound system out to hell.



The cherry on top of all this is that Daft Punk is working on the Soundtrack. In fact, the music from both the SDCC arcade and Light Cycle reveal as well as the music in the new trailer are all done by Daft Punk. So with a new Tron film we're getting a new Daft Punk soundtrack.

If you didn't know who Daft Punk is, they're an electronic band that you most likely have heard.. in fact, even if you don't like electronic music, you heard them at least through Jay-Z remixing or adding random lyrics over their music. They're huge Tron fans and it's easy to tell from their outfits that they were inspired greatly by the film.



And as cool as those old Tron outfits may have been and what they inspired in the form of electronic music revolution, they did need an update. You wouldn't be surfing the internet on your old IBM, right? Much like the programs in the film, everything needed an update to the modern day. Fashion included.

Just compare the old and new styles of clothing and the look of the grid where all these programs reside. You have the Old and Busted



Then the New Hotness.



That shot alone is worth a thousand words. I mean, I want to lose weight so I can put on a black tight spandex neon suit for Halloween and look like that. That's just cool looking. Yeah, sure. I do have a Threadless Tron jacket that I seem to wear all the time, but it doesn't scream out "coolness" like that shot of the suits does.....

Or does it?



Okay, no it doesn't. But at least you know who I am in a crowded night club or during a power outage. But the look of the film itself looks amazing. Perhaps it's due to that enjoyment of neon lights, but it looks slick.

Besides, tell me if this shot doesn't look all sorts of kick-ass cool



In case you're wondering, yes. That's 13 from House in a very skin tight black neon lit suit. What else could you ask for in a film? I mean, she's.... so.... HOT! Maybe it's just that I'm very much enjoying the look of short hair these days. Maybe it's because it's summer. Who knows. But tell me that this wouldn't make you turn gay.. cause, 13 is a lesbian and all.




Anyhow, back to the movie promotion of this film. On Santa Monica Blvd. in West Los Angeles, Disney literally bought up the rights to a billboard for the entire year and has made it a point to put up new billboards every month till the film is released. How do you like that, a year of promotion.





E3 this year also had a lot of push for this film. I imagine that later today will show a lot of Tron on the exhibit floor at the Disney Booth. They're making Tron their main focus. In a sense, they're hoping that it spins off the potential of a trilogy. Disney's John Lasseter grew up, much like Daft Punk, loving Tron. So since he's running the company now it's easy to see that he's going to put priority and major push on this project.



Then you have Comic con where all of San Diego is going crazy with posters and banners leading up to the comic book convention. Look at the following images and tell me that the Dude would not oblige to this;



That is why I love Jeff Bridges. Now if only he'll sign the stuff I sent him.. But that's for a different blog entry.




The whole gas lamp is going crazy with this and I'm loving it. That's my main focus this con. Tron. There's a lot to an online ARG game for the build up of this film and I can't wait to see how it plays out on the streets. I mean, they're busting up why I fell in love with the news of this film again.

You see, here we are one year later and sure enough, look at what awaits the public if they look closely enough in the Gas Lamp district...



The best damn arcade that you'll probably never step into. I just have to wonder what else they're going to be giving out. Last year they did a T-shirt that was either for the arcade or pushing the online Alternate Reality Game for Flynn Lives.

As well as offering tokens for the arcade games. The trick behind this place is, as you've seen in the first video of this blog,



A piece out of the film. I love it. Did you know that Disneyland, back in 1982, actually wanted to theme two Tomorrowland attractions around the original Tron film before it was even released. They wanted a Tron ride thru attraction that was going to replace the old Mission To Mars attraction. There was even talk about a second project. A Tron-themed arcade which would have been built in an unfinished area on the second floor of Tomorrowland's Starcade

We did get the sort of first one in the section of the People movers that you entered the world of Tron. Though considering the people mover is long since dead, that shouldn't count anymore. As for the arcade.. well, that's a bit more complicated.



You see, while it's some miracle that almost 30 years after the first movie a sequel is set to be released later this year, it should now come to no surprise that Disney is going to be milking it. The proposed Starcade Tron Arcade is in the pipeline.

Back then they wanted the following, the second floor of the starcade was to have been reconfigured so that it could then feature:

• An Audio Adventure Maze (Audio Exploration)
• An Electronic Playground (Physical Participation with Electronic Games)
• Mind Games (A Showcase of Computer Intelligence)
• 3-D TRON Adventure Game (Visual Exploration)
• Laser Hologram Game (Laser Light Exploration)

Now if just a fraction of that is made, I'll be a happy camper. But looking forward to today's SDCC programing, The schedule is as follows;

11:15-12:45 Walt Disney Pictures: TRON: Legacy— Returning for an unprecedented third year to the fans and convention that started it all, Walt Disney Pictures is pleased to present a special insider look at the upcoming TRON: Legacy. Panelists include filmmakers and talent from the film: director Joe Kosinski, producers Sean Bailey and Steven Lisberger, and cast members Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Michael Sheen, and Bruce Boxleitner. The discussion, moderated by Patton Oswalt, is set to include exclusive glimpses of the film, as well as a Q&A involving all panel participants, along with special surprise guests. Hall H
Categories: Movies | Science Fiction & Fantasy

Making today the most anticipated day of comic con for the year. I'm am psyched!

See you on the other side, program

Toy Story 3

Toy Story 3

Wait.. today's the 18th? Jesus, time went by fast and I didn't even realize that today is the day that Toy Story 3 is released. Has it really been ten years? Jesus, that's a long time.

So what's going on in the world of toys? Well, it's that time when Andy is all grown up and heading off to college. Leaving one important question - What will happen to all of his toys? What will Woody and Buzz do now that their bestest friend is all grown up?



Well, I'll tell you. They end up getting accidentally donated to Sunnyside Daycare Center. There we are introduced with a lot of new friends including a bear named Lots-o'-Huggin' Bear and the introduction of the Ken Doll.

Now pixar went the full mile with trying to pimp these characters. Look at the following viral ad they put out to make you think that Lots-o'-huggin Bear has some serious history behind him.
Pixar busted out with the viral marketing for this one;



How about a wacky international ad?



And we can't forget the Ken Doll getting some major attention. I'm sure MATTEL must be pleased with this. As well as a couple sacks full of money broker.



Any how, the toys in this new place are pretty excited. Andy, probably filled with playing his Xbox and PS3 hasn't given them the playing that they once were getting when he was young. So the idea of Daycare with all the new kids playing with them must be appealing, right?

Well I guess the rough housing that the kids provide isn't all that it's cracked out to be and of course, they realize Andy is actively searching for them. The other toys, the old timers there aren't so happy to see them off and this day care becomes more like a prison. The previews showed us Buzz getting damaged during an escape attempt and needed to be reset and mistakenly changed to a delusional Spanish version of his old Space Ranger self.

The writers for this one said they were going for an epic scale for the film. Citing that they looked to Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings Trilogy for inspiration. The tag line "No Toy Get's Left Behind" shows you the direction this is going. This one really does show the passage of time. Just look at this surprising, yet a little depressing image of what Andy's dog Buster looks like 10 years later.



Yeah, it's a bit of a bummer and it's pretty clear that Pixar is shoving the "It's been over 10 years. Holy shit." Into your face. And I thought UP made me cry... I'm going to be bawling over this one. Thanks a lot, assholes!

This movie is going to be more depressing than UP. It depresses me because it reminds me of the most brutal and devastating truth of the Toy Story universe: The toys are sentient and immortal. Everything and everyone they love will die or go away and they will live on forever.

But on a positive note.. look at this most gratifying ad for the post office and who they choose to pimp it out to.



Now that's just a reminder that I'm really old and actually watched CHEERS. I really can't wait for this film. I'm just very excited! Now.. to sandwich this blog about a child's film with more talk about zombies...

Disney's Lost Film

Disney's Lost Film

I suppose I have to eat some crow right about now. Well, not a huge bite, but a slice none the less. Over the weekend I was sure that The Frog Princess would only push the typical Disney Princess standard and brand some more. It would live up to the idea that there's the fairy tale dream of every five year old girl that Prince Charming would come along and everything will be perfect.

Well, the movie came out and it was almost a return to classic Disney 2d animation except for one thing.. they modernized the concept of the "fairy tale". Disney has taken a lot of shit for promoting the "Princess" concept, which basically teaches little girls to be very materialistic and expect things to be handed to them or to have all of life's problems solved when a rich guy on a horse rides up and proposes marriage. The Princess & The Frog is almost a direct challenge to that entire concept - an antidote. Here's why:

Tiana is a hardworking, self-made woman who works 3 jobs to raise money to start up her own restaurant. Throughout the course of the film, she reluctantly falls in love with Prince Naveen, who starts out as a lovable philandering playboy whose sole interest is having a good time and playing music, but he slowly falls in love with her and starts to understand her work ethic, and thus wants to marry her specifically so he can help her open her restaurant, realize her dreams, all that.



Pointedly, Naveen is completely broke. There's no trace of "she's a princess, I'm a prince, let's get married so I can do everything for you" - it's presented as an equal partnership. Hell, the two get married at the end of the film and there's a big fairytale wedding, but then it cuts to Tiana using her savings to finally buy a place, which she fixes up together with Naveen, who performs at the restaurant. It is absolutely a progressive message about healthy, equal relationships.

There is no bullshit about waiting around for a rich guy to solve your problems for you. In fact, the film actively works against that concept and tears it down. There's a great scene that directly satirizes the old "blank-faced mute prince shows up and immediately dances with the princess and happily ever after" trope.



Thematically the film rejects the notion of marrying into money and being swept away by a rich guy on a white horse; instead, ambition supported by hard work is presented as the chief virtue. A very progressive, equal and supportive relationship between two people in love is presented as the fairytale dream come true. Which was, uh, fuckin' fantastic to see in a Disney movie, gotta say.

While you think it's taken a long time for a Black Disney Princess to come around, let alone one that is actually able to bootstrap her way to the top, there's a lot more to think about in terms of Disney films that should have been.. that are simply "What Could Have Been", I present to you, Fraidy Cat:



Basically, a Hitchcockian thriller with that Disney comedy twist, starring a cat. From the guys who brought you such classics as Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, The Great Mouse Detective, and Hercules. Oh, and Treasure Planet too, but that got Eisnered. The simple story of a housecat thrown into a wild adventure, all because he was accused of a crime he didn't commit.



Of course, there's a reason you haven't seen this movie. We have the executives at Disney Feature Animation to thank for that. They couldn't find enough commercial value in the movie, no Happy Meal toys, no DTV sequels, no large action figure line, so they told the head of DFA to can it. And he did. Asshole.

There is, of course, the chance that John Lasseter, who in my opinion is a trillion times better than Stainton (former head of DFA) and Eisner, could breath some life back into this quirky looking picture, but I wouldn't hold your breath. I had really been looking forward to it as I love all things Hitchcockian and I think Musker/Clements would have done a great job on this.



2002-2005 was really an awful time for Disney Feature Animation, with films being axed, East and West coast departments being shut down, people leaving the Disney studios, and the Disney Co. stockholders trying to oust Eisner. It was very depressing. That's what made Princess seem like such a calculated stylistic regression to me. Disney seemed to have concluded that their latest animations failed for being too un-conventional. So even though Lilo and Stitch was a financial success, it's also a very personal film and not part of the Disney "brand" that was established with the Little Mermaid and the subsequent 9-'s hits who had a very specific formula in terms of aesthetic and narrative/thematic content.

The whole existence of a "Disney Princesses" brand tells you everything you really need to know. Lilo doesn't fit into the homogeneous mass of roughly interchangeable story lines about pretty teen outsiders seeking 'freedom' by changing their identites, with the help of some jive-talking animal sidekicks.

But then again, Walt Disney got a bucket load of change last week, not only with this new movie but with the news that Walt Disney's grandson was arrested.

Patrick Disney Miller, grandson of the late Walt Disney, has been arrested on suspicion of illegal gun possession, authorities said Thursday.

Miller, 42, was taken into custody about 5:30 a.m. Wednesday at his home in Woodland Hills, said Officer Rosario Herrera of the Los Angeles Police Department's Media Relations unit.

Miller was booked for "possession of a firearm by a felon" and selling ammunition, Herrera said. Information on Miller's felony background was not immediately known.

Times must be time when Walt's grandson is hard up for cash that he's selling ammunition. So hey, it looks like Disney has some change going on.

Disney Goes Back To Basics

Disney Goes Back To Basics

Today in a theater near you, Disney returns to the stuff that made them famous.. 2D animation. While we've all enjoyed the 3D and CGI fest that they have been doing, it's nice to get back to the classic 2D fun that made Disney great. Yes, the Disney Princess magic is back!

The movie takes place in Louisiana. It is consistent with all the folklore of that state. So in saying that it's pretty clear to see why the bad guy is literally a voodoo doctor. I'm sure religious groups will give Disney a lot of shit for this in itself. When will Disney make a villain that is a rich white developer set on demolishing the local teen center to make room for a gentrified strip mall.



They've been making these Disney Princess movies for almost 100 years now and there's one about Chinese, Indians and even the fish people but it took until 2010 to include blacks.. and she turns into a frog at the end of act 1. Way to go, Disney! Yup, she'll spend a good amount of time during the film as a frog, not as a black princess. What will the ACLU say about that?

Oh, it's nothing new. Disney is a vile parasitic corporation of racist, fascists, misogynists and animal abusers which has never contributed anything of any value to the world and never will.... But god damn will I be going to see this sucker!



I think people are complaining because instead of taking this opportunity to provide a positive role model for kids (black or otherwise), disney is instead choosing to play into a number of stereotypes. and in fact transform the princess so she doesn't even get to be a person for most of the movie, hardly someone a child can identify with.

Maybe I'll continue to boycott Mulan, a children's movie, because it does not address the crushing poverty experience by most rural Chinese during the Northern Wei Dynasty. But perhaps the idea that the classical Disney Princess is completely dependent on her Prince gives the wrong ideas to children.. Let's take a look at the following ad.. Oddly enough, this message is not in your average Disney Princess themed movie.



I know a couple who won't let their five year old daughter watch Disney Princess movies because none of them have mothers or something. It's true though, they generally are motherless and depend too much on daddy to do things before the Prince picks up the tab and runs with it.

Here's hoping that Tiana can actually take care of herself and be her own person without the need of the Disney Prince by her side to define her. I mean, that's the bigger concern in this film. Let's just get past that whole racism stuff. This film probably wont be as racist as Peter Pan. Then again, nothing can really be as racist as Peter Pan.



Yeah, it's bad enough that they made Splash Mountain without even acknowledging what movie all the characters are from. Hell, there's parts of Song of the South that nobody sees because they've been locked in a vault for decades. It's only if you're outside of North America can you see the full version.

This isn't a critical take on Walt Disney's lack of Black heroes. I mean, there isn't very many Spanish/Latin heroes or Disney Princesses or anything. At least Disney has never released anything like this...



But like I said, we should just move on from the whole racism stuff. Let's get to the real meat and potatoes.. the return to awesome movie posters. Call me a sucker for either red heads or mermaids, but the one that was released for the little mermaid really was something that I considered art when I was much younger.

It didn't have much in terms of big name stars listed on it. It didn't have the critical praise for it or the situation where they have large floating heads of the characters plastered on it. It was simple. It was beautiful.



That in itself is a poster worthy of framing and hanging. It's very simple in its beauty and if you saw it outside of a movie theater, you would know everything you need to know about the film and want to see it. It's a nice take on the whole movie art.

So when I see a poster like this for it, I can't help but think it looks pretty cool.. Yeah, I realize that I held back from saying "Awesome". But hey, I'm trying to be a man here... A man talking about Disney films. So with that said, the following poster for this new Disney film is pretty damn appealing.



Since this story is set in a sort of modern time.. at least modern enough that you can actually study and view the areas within a few generations of when it is suppose to take place, I wonder how much that effected the production of this. Hell, for things like little mermaid they only had swimmers to work with.



Having been to New Orleans a couple of times. Both pre and post Katrina, and considering I really haven't been to the locations or areas that the other Disney films have taken place in, I suppose that adds a new element to it. It's actually real, or real enough in that regard. So it being on American soil is something interesting that I hope will come in handy from the artist and creators of this. It's always a problem if you don't get input of the source or, in some cases, the original artist you end up things like this...

Can't blame them for how screwed up it was. I mean, I also really hate it when the person I'm kissing's face falls off and turns into moths. It's almost as horrifying as if you were to see the Disney Princesses as zombies.. Oh wait, that's been done already... I can' say that the Disney Princess brand isn't being a bit progressive.. especially if we've gotten to the point of them being able to not only fend for themselves.. but now they fiend for themselves...