Tinker Bell

For the summer, I've decided to review all 6 direct to DVD Tinker Bell movies, which act as prequels to Peter Pan! The first one was released back in 2008 & is actually the very first time the Disney version of the iconic character would speak! She was supposed to be voiced by Brittany Murphy before her untimely death & was replaced by actress Mae Whitman AKA Katara from Avatar: The Last Airbender, Rose from American Dragon: Jake Long, Parenthood, most recently The D.U.F.F & so much more! Now that Tink has taken centre stage in her own movie series/franchise, will this be a success with faith, trust & pixie dust, or should Peter have stuck to being in the spotlight ? Let's find out!

Story: I consider the plot of this as more of an introduction to the world of Pixie Hollow along with the origins of Tink & how she became the fairy we know today. The mythology of Pixie Hollow is also pretty interesting due to the various talents fairies are allocated from their 'birth' & how they are used when going to the Mainland in different areas like light, water, animals and gardening. It can also easily be qualified as a 'be happy with who you are' message & that everyone is special no matter how small their job may seem. This is a good message for children, although I will say that it is pretty cliched and predictable with the way they handle it. Also, I will say that the scenes where Tink tries the other fairies' talents is pretty funny due to her continuously screwing up along with being forced to face the consequences of her selfish actions (which is yet another good message for children) after they cause catasprophe for everyone else in Pixie Hollow. Sure, it may be cliched & predictable with the plot, but at least there's some funny moments and the messages mentioned are good ones to teach.

Animation: Since this is a direct to DVD movie, the animation pretty much shows that. It's not bad at all, it's just the detail & scale isn't quite on par with theatrical CGI movies like on the skin, hair and plants (it's way better than Legends of Oz, that's a given). The designs of the characters easily go for the classical Disney look, but thankfully it does look good on computer animation as they are more stylized even if a few are more cartoony than others. But I will say that it doesn't really look that good on the design of Wendy at the very end. The look of Pixie Hollow is also nice thanks to the different areas like the Pixie Dust Tree and the sections allocated for different seasons, also making the movie look very colourful as a result. And I also love how they Victorian era London at the beginning and end. Another part I like is the use of nature integrating into the world like the clothes being made by various plants or the Tinker Fairies using the same to make things for the other fairies or animals when they go to the Mainland. And given that this is a spin-off of Peter Pan, other than Wendy's cameo, it is a nice little touch that the animators included the mountains around Neverland into the background of different scenes. The animation, while being direct to DVD and being the first CGI movie for DisneyToon after ending their mostly dreadful sequels, it's still pretty good!

 

Characters: Tinker Bell (voiced by Mae Whitman) is pretty much the same headstrong, creative and adventurous fairy we know her as, except not as bitchy as in Peter Pan and learns about the importance of her job for Pixie Hollow, making her pretty likeable. Her friends on the other hand can easily be qualified by what type of fairy they are along with their personalities. Silvermist (voiced by Lucy Liu) is an air-headed yet kind water fairy, Iridessa (voiced by Raven Symone) is a light fairy who's the only one who has doubts about Tink wanting to change her talent with good reason, Rosetta (voiced by Kristin Chenoweth) is a vain yet nice garden fairy akin to Glinda from Wicked while Fawn (voiced by America Ferrera) is an animal fairy who well, loves animals, but is pretty much the most one dimensional fairy of the group. Clank & Bobble are entertaining as they show Tink how to be a tinker fairy with their funny personalities, but they do manage to be sympathetic at times when she complains about her job. Vidia is really the closest thing to a villain who puts Tink in her place when she wants to go to the mainland & tries to get her into trouble, but she just comes across as the cliched bitch who wants things her way. Queen Clarion (voiced by Angelica Huston) is pretty much the benevolent queen of Pixie Hollow, although she can be a bit insensitive. Fairy Mary (voiced by Jane Horrocks), the overseer of the tinker fairies, can be entertaining thanks to her organized and driven personality, but also sees lots of potential in Tinker Bell. The weakest character for me would have to be Terrence (voiced by former pop star Jesse McCartney), the pixie dust fairy who can easily be qualified as the love interest despite him & Tink not sharing any chemistry & is also the one to make her realize that she should be happy with her talent regardless of how small it may seem. They may not be the most developed or complex characters I've seen from Disney, but they're fine as they are and they're all likeable in their own way!

 

Tinker Bell is a pretty decent start to the Tinker Bell movie franchise with a plot with good messages, very nice animation and likeable characters, even if it may be handled in a cliched way for the most part. I'd definitely recommend this for girls who enjoy the Disney Fairy franchise and for those who like the character Tinker Bell in general and want to know more about her story (same goes for the other Tinker Bell movies) It's not the best direct to DVD movie I've seen, but given that this came just as the Disney sequels were ending, it's already a big improvement.
Story: 7/10
Animation: 8/10
Characters: 7/10
Overall: 7/10

Animation in Obscurity: A Monster in Paris

Given how popular my Jack and the Cuckoo Clock Heart review is, I thought it best to review the animation studio's previous film A Monster In Paris! I remember when it first came out & it quickly gained a cult following, so I saw it in the cinema (only one other family was there) & I remember loving it so much! I caught it on a film channel when there was nothing else on TV, so I just decided to watch it and was inspired to review it given that it kind of has faded into obscurity. Directed by the same guy who did Shark Tale (AKA probably Dreamworks' worst movie), & starring Johnny Depp's ex Vanessa Paradis, Adam Goldberg, Jay Harrington, Danny Huston, Cathering O'Hara and Sean Lennon, is it as good as I remember watching it in the cinema, or is it a case of a second viewing changing my opinion? Let's find out!

Story: The best way to describe this movie in a nutshell is that it's a kid-friendly version of The Phantom of the Opera but with no romance between the 2 main leads & mostly centres on the antics of 2 other best friends and how the 3 of them try to save the monster from the police. It can get pretty fun & I do like that the relationship between Lucille and the monster is more platonic, and it is admittedly cute if not a tad underdeveloped partly thanks to other side plots going on (we'll get to them in a minute). The humour is mostly a mix as some of it can be funny like a little nod to Phantom of the Opera and Francoeur's cuteness in general, but others like an overrunning sequence involving Maynott on helium and a running gag with Raoul's supposedly fur coat really being made out of straw just confused me. Although I tried to be entertained by it, honestly, at times I ended up bored when watching it. I do have some issues, including the predictability partly thanks to the characters & what role they play & the pacing felt very off as it takes about 15 minutes for it to introduce the characters before it finally gets going at the halfway point & the final act only takes place in a matter of hours & takes up most of the movie. The subplot with Maude and Emile isn't interesting to watch at all nor does it really connect to the main story at all and Lucille and Raoul's 'we hate each other but we secretly like each other' plot is very cliched & isn't resolved until literally the end of the movie. The set-up with the 1910 flood however, was pretty interesting even if it doesn't really connect to the plot until the climax It's good & quirky, don't get me wrong, but the execution & side plots cramming for attention is really what makes it suffer.

 

Animation: Honestly, compared to the studio's next animated film, the animation isn't as good. I do like the quirky style it goes for compared to other animation studios like Dreamworks or Pixar with the overall look and the character designs, going for kind of realisitic while cartoony at the same time (and just wanna say Francoeur is the cutest looking monster ever), although some do look out of place like Albert and Pate where the cartoony look is overdone. With the character animation, it does feel pretty inconsistent as at times it looks fluid like whenever Lucille and Francoeur dance, while others it can look clunky, stiff or cartoony, in particular whenever characters are running (especially in one sequence at the Sacre Coeur) The backgrounds are also a big praise I must give as they capture the look of Paris in 1910s perfectly, with the attention to detail of the Eiffel Tower being pretty amazing along with the architecture in general. Even the Rare Bird club also manages to look nice with the use of lighting creating a calm atmosphere along with the Professor's greenhouse full of interesting experiments and creatures and when we see everything from Francoeur's perspective in the title musical number are also pretty impressive. I will also say that the detail on textures like hair, skin and fur can be a bit inconsistent depending on which character they animate comparing the main characters to the extras, but when it's done on characters like Lucille, it is pretty good! Probably the best moments with the animation come from the action scenes in the climax and the musical numbers, in particular during the reprise of La Seine because that's where it goes all out with the creativity and character animation. There may be problems with it, but given that it was their debut and the budget isn't as big as other popular animation studios, this really isn't a bad effort at all & I love the quirkiness it brings!

 

Characters: If I can be honest, the characters in this can be considered the weakest thing in this movie since they can easily be qualified by their stereotype. The main character, Raoul honestly annoyed me with his antics being egotistical for most of the movie and having an obvious crush on Lucille despite having a good heart when it comes to Francoeur. I found his friend Emile more likeable possibly due to his more shy & sweet personality and having a passion for film even if his subplot with Maude (who isn't interesting at all) isn't really that interesting to watch. Lucille can mostly be qualified as the Belle-esque character being a bit sassy, rejecting Maynott's advances and developing a brother-sister-like friendship with the titular monster. She is likeable & tries to prove she can be more than just a love interest, but her character is pretty predictable. Maynott is probably the worst character as he's pretty much a carbon copy of Gaston wanting to kill the monster for his personal gain & winning Lucille's heart despite her obvious disinterest in him. Carlotta (voiced by Catherine O'Hara) is Lucille's aunt who constantly tries to get her with Maynott & ends up with Pate (who was Maynott's assistant until he has an obvious change of heart) and Albert is a waiter who thinks he's talented Finally, there's the monster himself, Francoeur (voiced by Sean Lennon, son of John Lennon), who's feared by everyone in Paris who Maynott wants to kill even though he's nothing more than an innocent flea who can play the guitar very well & has a beautiful singing voice. Another thing I want to mention is that I'm honestly not a huge fan of the English actors they chose as although Vanessa Paradis did both the original French & English dubs to this movie, she retains her natural French accent in the latter while the others speak with American accents & it feels very jarring when watching it. Despite that, despite their stereotypes, not really being developed and some of them annoying me, most of the characters are still likeable in their own right.

 

Songs: Probably the best thing in this film is the musical numbers! Written by singer Mathieu Chedid, better known as M, they are all highly memorable and really quirky. The first one is a solo version of the main song La Seine sung by Lucille, which has a nice slow cabaret feel to it. The titular song is also nice and rather melancholy as Francoeur expresses his sadness over how he's seen by the denizens of Paris (I will say that I prefer the original French version even if Sean's version is good) and I love the strings used throughout. The third song is a reprise of the first song and it's much more entertaining as Francoeur shows off his guitar playing skills and it's very catchy with the animation at it's best. Papa Paris is pretty much filler as Lucille sings for Maynott at the Sacre Coeur for the opening of the Montmartre Funicular, but it's still a small catchy tune. Love is in My Soul is a pretty tragic song which I can't really explain for spoilers, but it is memorable and it's pretty calming to listen to. Just A Little Kiss, sung by Lucille and Francoeur is the final number which is also really catchy to listen to. I love all of the songs in this, although I will say that I prefer the original French version & this isn't really a full-blown musical.

A Monster in Paris may not be as good as I remember it thanks to the weak story and characters, but the nice animation and memorable musical numbers still make up for it mostly. I know there's people who absolutely love this movie, and I do recommend watching it at least once if there's nothing else on, because this isn't bad by any means. It's just that one other viewing after not watching it for a while can change my opinion & I don't regret it at all!
Story: 6/10
Animation: 7/10
Characters: 5/10
Songs: 10/10
Overall: 7/10

Strange Magic

Remember when I did my trailer review of this movie back in December? Well, given that it's been 6 months, I finally got to see this movie after it was pulled out of theaters because of how poorly it did at the box office! Considering Disney had only started to advertise it 2 months before it's release under it's Touchstone Picture's banner, it looks like they knew that this would be a plan for disaster! And given that this was made by George Lucas & his company Lucasfilms, it's rather odd how little they advertised it given that this is the guy who made Star Wars for gods sake! With actors like Evan Rachel Wood, Alan Cumming, Kristin Chenoweth & Maya Rudolph under it's belt, is this just a misunderstood gem that needs a little bit of love, or will it be another case of a gimmicky and crappy animated film looking for a quick buck? Let's find out!

Story: Well, everything I said in my trailer review is true! The story is all about love where there's 2 sides of the forest (the cliched good vs evil) where one is ruled by an evil bog king & the other by the fairies & elves with a love potion tying everything together as the main heroine has to save her sister all while learning to love again (yeah, that's how I can describe it in a nutshell cos it's pretty hard to follow surprisingly). Nothing about it even attempts to be original throughout & the plot is thinner than tissue paper because right from the get-go, you know EXACTLY what's gonna happen! Not only that, but the constant references to love throughout get absolutely irritating down to the point it made me disgusted with the notion of romance, and that's saying a lot coming from me as I'm a sucker for romance in movies. The execution doesn't really help as it has some of the most cliched dialoogue I have ever come across & it is so predictable it made me laugh with how ridiculous it all was! The only thing I can really give credit to is the fact that the main heroine & 'villain' are the ones to fall in love as it is an interesting concept (even if Beauty and the Beast and Shrek already did that with much better results), but the way it's executed along with the fact that their romance is VERY rushed (seriously, most of the movie lasts about 2 hours tops & they declare they love each other at the very end), this just drags it all down six feet under! The pacing doesn't really help either as it feels like it's taking forever thanks to the pointless musical numbers added in (believe me when I say that I have a lot to talk about in the songs section) along with the subplots for each character added in making it so confusing! As for the humour, none of it is funny, with bodily function jokes, predictable slapstick, crude humour & one part which made me want to vomit with Roland kissing an anatomically correct insect close-up in a post-credits scene.You know, for a movie all about love, I have never expressed so much hate for an animated movie since Happily N'Ever After, Legends of Oz & A Troll in Central Park! And by the way, George Lucas claimed this took 15 years to make which I don't buy for a second!

 

Animation: If there is ANYTHING good to say about this movie, it's that the animation is really good...except for the character designs looking very ugly (God, the creatures look repulsive & the fairies & elves easily fall into the uncanny valley look) & the world looking very VERY generic! The texturing is amazing from the fur of the animals to contrast of both sides of the forest & the attention to detail on everything, kind of like Blue Sky's Epic. Actually, let me correct that because this movie rips off so much from Epic like the green armour of Roland & his soldiers, both versions of the forest looking uncannily similar & the various types of animals being used as modes of transport. The backgrounds also look generic and it doesn't really help that we hardly have any time to take it all in thanks to all the stuff going on in the plot! The character animation feels pretty inconsistent as sometimes it does look nice like in the sword fighting scenes along with the diversity of the creatures in the forests, but at other times it feels like they took the cheap route with the background characters & most of the time in the songs, all the characters do is just fly or walk around. I feel really bad because it's clear that the animators put in so much effort into making this, but with atrocious character designs and a very generic world, it really just feels boring to watch!

 

Characters: Marianne, voiced by Evan Rachel Wood is just the generic 'badass' & 'tough' heroine from other movies in the past 10 years & has to learn to love again after Roland cheats on her before their wedding (I'm not going to bother hiding spoilers because I doubt anybody would even care), the Bog King, voiced by Alan Cumming, is at first the angsty villain that hates love because there's no complexity to him besides a cliched backstory who kidnaps Dawn so he can get the love potion back, but then predictably falls for Marianne. They do nothing to explain his motivation & Alan constantly has to ham it up even if ironically he sounds like he doesn't give a crap! As for Dawn, Marianne's younger sister, she's nothing more than a plot device & ends up falling in love with the Bog King under the influence of the love potion & can easily be classified as the blonde ditz stereotype who flirts with literally every fairy guy she sees. Sunny, voiced by Elijah Kelly, is the sassy black sidekick that's head over heels for Dawn & causes the chain of events by stealing the love potion, the Sugar Plum Fairy, voiced by Kristin Chenoweth, is the one who created the love potion & was trapped by the Bog King is absolutely infuriating and the Fairy King, voiced by Alfred Molina is an idiot who wants Marianne & Roland back together & doesn't learn anything by the end of the movie despite pointlessly saying the message out loud to the audience as if they weren't smart enough to figure it out already. Griselda, voiced by Maya Rudolph, is the Bog King's overbearing mother who wants to find him a wife & constantly preaches about love & the Bog King's minions are never EVER funny. But easily the absolute WORST out of all of them has to be Roland, voiced by Sam Palladio, who's pretty much a carbon copy of Prince Charming from the Shrek films being egotistical, foppish & in this case really annoying & is Marianne's initial love interest until he cheats on her (never thought you'd have adultery in a kid's film, huh?!) & becomes a very non threatening & stupid villain wanting Marianne to marry him so he can be king & gain an army! Add in the fact that it features really sub-par voice acting, the characters in this actually reminded me that the man behind this was also the same man behind Jar Jar Binks & Howard The Duck!

 

Songs: Like I mentioned in the trailer review, this movie does feature modern pop songs similar to Moulin Rouge, and boy are they out of place. I'm not saying the songs themselves are bad, in fact, the covers are actually kinda good, but the problems are they have no purpose to be in the film, drag it on making it feel like an eternity & give it a very dated feeling. Most of them don't even have any segway into them like a cover version of Heart's Straight On coming out of nowhere during a sword fighting scene, Dawn singing Sugar Pie Honey Bunch under the influence of the love potion, Roland singing Cmon Marianne somehow culminating in Marianne singing Kelly Clarkson's Stronger & so much more! Some even referenced like Beyonce's Crazy in Love, The Black Eyed Peas' I Gotta Feeling, Lady Gaga's Bad Romance & Whitney Houston's I Wanna Dance With Somebody either as cameos or the characters actually saying the lyrics in conversation, the latter of which which makes no sense whatsoever. And oddly enough, I don't think the songs show off the singing voices of the actors enough (except for Evan Rachel Wood & obviously Kristin Chenoweth), especially with Alan Cumming as his character's theme song Mistreated is just repetetive lyrics sung over & over with the same melody and Sam Palladio is pretty much wasted despite being a singer more than an actor (which clearly shows). And if I had to chose the 'best' covers of the songs completely ignoring the context or visuals that accompany them, it'd probably be Sunny's version of Three Little Birds and the title song Strange Magic sung by the two main characters in a lazily put together love montage. Despite the covers themselves not being 'bad' per se, the addition of them in the movie in the first place just makes it feel so dated along with making you feel baffled with how out of place they all are!

 

Overall, Strange Magic has to be one of the worst animated films I've ever seen period! With very nice yet very unoriginal animation, it doesn't do anything to glance over the paper thin story, one dimensional characters & songs which are so out of place & unecessary! In fact, if I had seen this in the cinema, it would've been the first movie I'd have ever walked out on! That's how angry this movie makes me & my recommendation is to just stay away from it! And given how badly it did at the box office liked I mentioned, it looks like it'll fade into obscurity pretty quickly!
Story: 1/10
Animation: 4/10
Characters: 2/10
Songs: 3/10
Overall: 2/10

6) Hercules! Yet another example of a film that the public seems to hate, but I can't help loving! It's yet another example of a Disney movie I grew up with in my childhood & I still enjoy it as much as I used to if I get the chance to watch it! Heck, I even liked the TV series which showed teenage Hercules in high school, although I don't remember much of it besides the number of celebrity guest stars that appeared in it like Will Ferrell (I'm not joking), Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow & Idina Menzel...anyway, may as well get into why I love it so much compared to others!

Sure the story is generic for the most part & almost nothing like actual Greek mythology, but I think what makes it for me is the characters along with Hercules' arc on what it means to be a true hero showing that it's more than just brawn & defeating monsters, but also having a good heart. The comedy is also noticeably different as it takes the route of making fun of pop culture & putting their own Greek twist on it, which does admittedly get a few laughs out of me despite being the type that doesn't normally like movies filled with pop culture references.

 

The animation is also surprising for me since it doesn't go for the typical Disney look by making them have more angular features compared to other Disney characters, kinda similar to designs you'd see on Greek vases or mosaics. The backgrounds in particular really impressed me thanks to the attention to detail put into places like Mount Olympus, Thebes or even just the museum at the beginning. However, I will say that the CGI on the Hydra looks really dated compared to how much it has advanced in recent years, but given that it had only recently started being used more frequently at the time of it's release, it's definitely not a bad job!

 

The characters themselves are also pretty likeable despite seemingly being cardboard cutouts of popular character tropes at the time. Hercules himself is a bit of the weak side being all wide eyed & optimistic & it feels a bit out of character when he turns into a bit of a jerk by the second act, but it's clear his heart is in the right place. Hades is also pretty different compared to other Disney villains thanks to James Woods' funny & entertaining performance along with the character being more of a smooth talker & snarky persona while still being threatening. I even enjoy Phil thanks to his more personal motivation for training Hercules & Danny DeVito's acting and while Pain and Panic may be considered annoying to others, I can't help but find them funny. But my personal favourite would have to be Megara, rather it be Susan Egan's funnily snarky performance, or her surprising backstory involving her ex boyfriend leaving her for another woman & becoming Hade's slave. The rest of the characters like the gods, the muses & Pegasus (who is one of my personal favourite Disney horses next to Maximus from Tangled) are also entertaining thanks to their distinct personalities and designs along with their funny & memorable throwaway lines.

 

As for the music, despite the rather odd choice of it being gospel, I still really enjoy it nonetheless! Thanks to Alan Menken's catchy melodies & memorable lyrics (trust me, I still remember all the lyrics to I Won't Say I'm In Love, I Can Go The Distance & Zero to Hero after several years), I actually consider this the most underrated soundtrack of the Disney Renaissance! They do show how the characters are feeling along with the action that's taking place & the visuals in each one get get pretty creative & fun! Not the greatest Disney soundtrack, but still very nice to listen to & they will get stuck in your head after a while!

Don't get me wrong, I definitely understand why people can be turned off by this film with the flaws I have mentioned throughout, but consider this one a guilty pleasure for me because I do genuinely enjoy it thanks to the characters & music while the story may be on the weak side admittedly compared to others.
PS: I am so so sorry I left this list for over 2 months! I can guarantee the next movies will be out much quicker this time & I hope you're still enjoying it!

Frozen Fever

Given that there's still massive Frozen hype (which is admittedly getting annoying & obnoxious now thanks to Disney completely exploiting it even though I love the film), it's no surprise that they'd do something resembling a sequel while taking advantage of said hype! Once again directed by Chris Buck & Jennifer Lee along with actors Idina Menzel, Kristin Bell, Jonathan Groff & Josh Gad and composers Robert & Kristen Anderson-Lopez returning, can this live up to the Frozen phenomenon, or is it as bad as getting a fever? Let's let it go & find out!

Story: The short is pretty much all about Elsa trying to give Anna a perfect birthday as she never really had a proper one growing up while Elsa has a cold & inadvertantly causes havoc for Kristoff & Sven as snowgies form every time she sneezes & they are all after Anna's birthday cake. It's pretty simple & it did entertain me, but I had a few issues. While there are some fun & heartwarming moments here & there, it really doesn't live up to the film given that it's too simple & the set-up of Elsa having a temporary cold doesn't really make it feel like there's a massive conflict. Also, it would constantly contain gags & (admittedly funny) jokes throughout which would call back to the movie which doesn't really help with the huge hype it's gotten & it makes it feel less like it's own thing (although it does contain one surprising & funny cameo). The short is almost the whole way through shown through the song Making Today a Perfect Day, which is pretty catchy & fun, but it isn't as memorable as the songs from the movie (doesn't really help Elsa sounds drunk from the halfway point making it sound annoying). It's definitely not bad at all, but it really doesn't live up to the huge obnoxious Frozen hype.

 

Animation: The animation is of course fantastic given that it's Disney & that they mastered computer animation 5 years ago. The attention to detail is still amazing from the glitter on both girls' dresses, the steam in Oaken's cameo or the backgrounds in Arendelle & the texturing is also great on food like Anna's ice cream cake, paint Kristoff uses to make the birthday sign & of course, snow again despite it's limited appearance this time round. The character animation is also well done again & is now much more creative compared to the film thanks to the snowgies as they mostly act as a group although they move well individually regardless. I also liked seeing the colourful look as it takes place in summer & I also enjoyed seeing Elsa wearing a new dress given that we've seen her wear the same blue one almost all the time. The only issue I really have is that there's nothing new in it, in particular the location as we go to the same places we know well in Arendelle including the courtyard, clock tower & castle & it doesn't have that large scale as a result. The animation is still really really well done, but is not quite on par with the grand scale or diversity with the film.

 

Characters: In this short, Elsa could qualify as the main character as she's the one trying to make everything perfect for her sister's birthday despite her cold, but that really doesn't give her (or Idina Menzel) a lot to do other than sneeze & act delirious & she is nowhere near as developed as in the movie. Anna still has her fun & goofy personality along with worrying about Elsa & her cold, but she's still really likeable throughout along with the adorable Kristoff doing his best to avoid the snowgies getting her birthday cake. Sven the reindeer is still loyal & funny with his slapstick & Olaf is also still very funny thanks to Josh Gad's funny performance once again & there are some nice cameos from minor characters from the movie like Oaken & Marshmallow the giant snowman living in Elsa's ice palace. The snowgies, while having a cute design, also feel like a marketing ploy similar to how Olaf was & reminded me a bit too much of characters of this type like the Minions from Despicable Me or the Gremlins. Although none of the characters are that developed, it's nice to see them back in something new along with their memorable personalities.

Frozen Fever may not live up to the Frozen hype, but it's not bad at all with some funny moments, great animation & the same loveable characters. And as for my thoughts on the Frozen sequel being announced...didn't Once Upon a Time do that already? All I will say is don't come in all hyped up because it's only 7 minutes long & I don't like that this is the big attention grabber instead of the main presentation as there is absolutely no point just going to watch this & leaving before the movie starts (as I've heard stories of people walking out the moment it's ended) & I find this very unfair because Cinderella is what should be the main focus & is a great movie! Anyway, Frozen fans will definitely eat this up & as for the rest, it is entertaining, but the rest annoyed by the hype i.e disgruntled parents with kids listening to the soundtrack & watching the movie over & over for the past 2 years, you'll just have to grin & bear it before the main presentation.
Story: 6/10
Animation: 8/10
Characters: 7/10
Overall: 7/10

Cinderella (2015 film)

After my rather unpleasant experience with Maleficent last year (yeah, my thoughts compared to my review have changed & I really can't stand it thanks to how much it botched the characters & the source material), it's no surprise that I was also wary & pessimistic when I heard Cinderella would also be getting the same live action reboot treatment! But when I saw the first trailer, it surprised me because it looks like they haven't taken as much liberties in the story compared to other Disney reboots besides a few changes here & there to accommodate to contemporary audiences & the live action setting while keeping the same message & heart of the original 1950 movie. And ever since then, I was admittedly excited up to the point that I went to the Swarovski exhibit in London (you can see my blog post now) Directed by Kenneth Branagh & starring Lily James, Cate Blanchett, Richard Madden & Helena Bonham Carter, can this modern retelling be faithful to the original, or is this another piece of the collection of mediocre & unecessary Disney reboots? Let's find out!

 

Story: Considering the other Disney reboots, you have no idea how worried I was about how they'd handle the source material, which in this case is the original 1950 film. However, the thing that really surprised me is that they actually respected the source material, keeping the basic elements of the plot while the changes made were to accommodate the live action setting & were only really minor. It's nice to see a proper fairytale on the big screen instead of them resorting to change things because other popular fairytale reboots are doing it & I must give credit to Kenneth Branagh with that. I also liked that they expanded the romance between Cinderella & Kit, except it reminded me a bit too much of Ever After (the historical version with Drew Barrymore) & it wasn't really as expanded as that movie, but it's better than them just meeting at the ball & him immediately deciding he wants to marry her. Another part which was interesting was seeing more of Cinderella's backstory & her mother shown in a flashback at the beginning of the film showing the main message throughout, have courage and be kind & that love conquers all. By the way, there are some very nice Easter eggs throughout from the 1950 film, and I recommend you stay durings the end credits for one in particular that will give you a very nostalgic feeling to the 1950 film. The only 'problem' I really have is that there's nothing really that makes it stand out compared to other Cinderella movies or does anything unique, but I'd rather have them stick too much to the source material like this rather instead of have them tamper with everything like what Maleficent & Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland did! Unlike those two, it definitely feels refreshing for Disney to actually show respect to the 1950 film & for the story to be kept the same along with the message & to treat it like a fairytale & is already the best Disney remake out there because of this.

Visuals: Like any Disney reboot nowadays, the visuals in this film are absolutely gorgeous! This time however, I much prefer how colourful it is compared to the dark & gritty tones of the other reboots & in Cinderella's case, it definitely works to its advantage as it helps with the fairytale setting. The costumes are absolutely stunning, especially during the ball scene as the attention to detail is incredible, including the stepsister's ballgowns, the Fairy Godmother's dress & Cinderella's gorgeous blue ballgown with the butterfly motif along with the crystal looking glass slippers. Heck, even the extra's costumes were amazing to look at & I must give credit to Sally Powell for an excellent job! The production design also helped give that fairytale/Disney feeling rather it be Cinderella's house, the palace or just the town the characters live in. The golden coach was also amazing to look at & the use of CGI is also great rather it be for the mice or the horses, but it's easily at it's best during the transformation scene when Ella's rags turn into her gorgeous blue ballgown. The only issue I really have in terms of the CGI is when they use it on the creatures turned into people, especially on the lizard as it gave him that uncanny valley creepy look along with the CGI on the outside of the palace which looked obvious, but it's not used for that long & didn't ruin anything for me! While the visuals are easily the best, it's still clear that in this movie, there was a compromise in both this & the story unlike the past Disney reboot which would solely focus on the visuals!

Characters: Ella (Cinderella is actually a cruel nickname the stepsisters gave her), played by Downton Abbey's Lily James, is essentially the same kind hearted woman we know & love, but is also more active, but not too much so she stays true to the character & James' performance helps despite not really being developed besides her relationship with her birth parents. Lady Tremaine (played by Cate Blanchett) may be totally different to her animated counterpart, but she's still a great antagonist as Blanchett gives the character a bit more subtlety in her cruelty towards Ella & has a bit more charisma compared to being strict all the time & a bit of her backstory explaining that she did genuinely love her first husband & that Cinderella's father favored his daughter over her which gave her a bit more dimensionality. Prince Kit (played by Game of Thrones' Richard Madden) is still the same handsome prince like in the animated film, and I didn't think there was much to him compared to the other characters, but he's not bad & is more active when trying to find Cinderella along with the relationship with his father. Drizella (played by James' Downton co-star Sophie McShera) & Anastasia (played by Holliday Granger) are very funny thanks to their performances along with their personalities being more dumb & eccentric. The Fairy Godmother's role is also much more active as she narrates throughout the film (thankfully, it's not like Maleficent when it was inconsistent) & has a much more witty & eccentric personality thanks to Helena Bonham Carter's perfect performance. Cinderella's parents also have their roles greatly expanded, which was also very nice to see, with her father being kind & still missing his deceased wife despite remarrying while her mother is the one to teach Cinderella about kindness & courage. The other characters like the Grand Duke, the Captain & the King don't have as much screen time & their personalities are radically different, but they're not too unrecognisable unlike what Maleficent did to it's characters & it does fit in better with the live action setting & the Captain can be funny from time to time. Oh yeah, and the mice Jaq (now a girl) & Gus appear, but they obviously don't talk yet they're still entertaining thanks to the brilliant CGI bringing them to life & for any other British fans out there like me, Rob Brydon makes a brief appearance as Phileus the painter. Thanks to some great acting thanks to the actors doing their own interpretations rather than copying their animated versions, it is nice to see the characters we know & love from the original have the same personalities & roles intact!

Cinderella is definitely the best live action remake so far & the most quinteseential telling of the tale so far with a well handled & respectful story, gorgeous visuals & great acting from everyone bringing the characters to life. This is definitely a turning point thanks to Kenneth Branagh's decisions on how to deal with treating it along with respecting the source material & I must give major kudos to him. It may not be as good as the animated version or the best adaptation of the story, but it's still a start for Disney reboots & I still really enjoyed it nonetheless! As for my thoughts on the short that was shown before the film, Frozen Fever, I'll be doing a separate review on it that'll come out soon!
Story: 8/10
Visuals: 10/10
Characters: 8/10
Overall: 8/10

Cinderella Swarovski Exhibition

As a special treat before the release of the live action Cinderella film, I went to the exhibition hosted by Swarovski in London which is showcasing the costumes & props used in it. I thought I'd go over this first for you guys since I only went to it yesterday!

The attraction is like a walk on type as everything is shown chronologically with the story & replicas of the sets used along with the real props used & costumes on mannequins, starting from Lady Tremaine's arrival with Drizella & Anastasia upstairs which featured portraits of Cinderella's parents on a dressing table.

The next part was the cellar downstairs with Cinderella's rags on display along with the mice in glass case. There wasn't a lot to it compared to the other sections, but it was pretty cool seeing the props like the kitchen utensils & the bells the stepsisters would use to call Cinderella & the lighting helped give it that dark ambiance.

My second favourite part would have to be the next bit, which was the garden featuring Ella's dress in bits after her stepmother ruins it (which is made even more sad when a guide revealed that it was her mother's wedding dress) next to the beggar woman's rags, promptly followed by the Fairy Godmother's dress gleaming on display. This also included the giant pumpkin growing inside the greenhouse next to the gorgeous coach which people could go through to the ballroom section, with illuminant lights inside of it & a photographer on standby allowing you to have photo next to it.

Of course, the biggest highlight is the ballroom filled with the magnificent costumes and it did not disappoint. With Cinderella's billowing blue ballgown & the Prince's galliant suit rotating with Lady Tremaine's, the stepsisters & dignitaries surrounding it on full display, it was truly a site to behold along with the sparkling glass slipper rotating in a glass case opposite with lights around it with guards uniforms galliantly standing beside it. The attention to detail on every single costume was incredible to see, especially on the stepsisters' dresses with every flower embroidered looking magnificent in every single stitch!

The final part was a Swarovski section with a guide going into detail about how they contributed to the film, where it was revealed 10,000 Swarovski crystals were used on Cinderella's dress alone & that one glass slipper weighed one kilogram & it took five months to only make one! They also advertised a bit of their jewellery line along with crystal figures of Cinderella & the glass slipper you could buy at the gift shop (I ended up buying a butterfly pendant). There was another bit where you could have your photo taken trying on a glass slipper which they'd digitally add on, but I decided not to do it.

But don't worry, there's still plenty out there for fans of the original 1950 film! The beginning featured a bit of history on the original film, including some concept art from the Disney archives by Mary Blair & drawings by Marc Davies where the guide also revealed that the film helped save the Disney studios as they had lost a lot of money back in World War II. It was such a delight to see including posters, figurines, an interactive book and even tie-in merchandise like toys in glass cases. Cinderella may not be my ultimate favourite Disney animated film, but it was so nice to see them pay tribute to the original classic & not completely ignore it, something which I've also heard of for the remake itself & it made me even more anticipated to see it (which I watched today & will promptly write my review on)

If anyone wants to see this exhibit, it's at Leicester Square Gardens in London (the closest stop via tube is Leicester Square & is a 5 minute walk & is right next to the Odeon) and is open until 10th April! If you want to know about ticket prices, they are all free with no charge! All you have to do is book a timeslot on Ticketmaster, but I must warn you, get them in advance cos they're selling out like hotcakes! I am so so glad that I went to this event because it is definitely something Disney fans will enjoy & for people of all ages, rather it be children for the new film or love Disney princess flicks or for those who want the nostalgia of the original 1950 film!