Disney Movie Challenge: Frozen II (2019)

 

 Disney Movie Challenge

Frozen 2 (2019)

WHAT IS THE DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE: With Disney+ making available almost all of their films from the vault I thought it was a good time to watch all the theatrically released feature length Disney Studio Animated films. That’s a lot of qualifications so what does it all mean? It must be a film developed and released under the Walt Disney Animation Studios (so no PIXAR or Tim Burton stop motion films). Must have been released in theaters (no direct to video releases). And feature length (no shorts that played prior to the features). Currently there are 59 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Raya and the Last Dragon in 2021. 

The second sequel in a row for Disney, and with lots of remakes of their classic films it made me wonder if Disney ran out of ideas.  This movie came out at the end of 2019 and was one of the biggest films of the year.  When the pandemic hit in 2020 Disney surprised everyone by releasing it months early on Disney+.  That’s when I first watched but honestly didn't remember much about it.  

Frozen II picks up 3 years after Frozen and everyone is living happily ever after.  That is until Elsa hears a voice.  She sets out on another adventure but Anna isn’t going to let her go alone this time.  And if Anna is going then so is Kristof, Sven, and Olaf.  The 5 of them head into the enchanted forest to try to figure out how to reverse the curse and find out whose voice Elsa keeps hearing.  Along the way they meet the 4 spirits, Wind, Fire, Water, and Earth.  Elsa and Anna learn secrets about their past and how Elsa got her magic powers.

After denying they would make a sequel to Frozen for a couple of years Disney finally officially announced the film in 2015.  After making the short film Frozen Fever the creative team of Jennifer Lee (writer-director), Christopher Buck (director), and Peter Del Vecho (producer) decided they wanted to spend more time with those characters and decided to have it focus on Anna and Elsa’s history.  The most interesting thing about the production is that they went to Norway, Sweden, and Finland and worked with the indigenous population there to try to get the culture right.  A partnership formed between Disney and the representative’s of the Sámi people.  Here is an interesting article about the agreement from Arctic Today https://www.arctictoday.com/how-a-collaboration-with-disney-shaped-the-way-sami-cultural-details-were-portrayed-in-frozen-2/ . 

The years between the first and second film saw some technological advancement in animation and Disney wanted Frozen II to show that off. The big advancements came from the way they animated items moving in the wind, especially hair, and how the water spirit looks.  They wanted to have the water look more realistic than in Moana.  They managed to do it so well that the photorealistic water looked out of place from the rest of the movie and had to be toned down.  

Despite the advancement in technology the movie felt kind of boring.  I have been having trouble figuring out what it is that didn’t work.  The most obvious thing is that the songs just aren’t as good.  While “Into the Unknown” feels like a good follow up to “Let it Go” the rest of the songs aren’t memorable or fun.  The harder thing to figure out was why the story didn’t work.  I think the film tried to take the Frozen story into a darker more emotional place but it might have gone too far (both Elsa and Olaf die at one point).  The documentary Into the Unknown: Making Frozen II reveals that this was indeed the case.  After a surprise test screening in San Diego it was made clear that people didn’t understand what was going on and kids were generally bored.  Based on that feedback they added more jokes by Olaf to entertain the kids, and added more of the fire spirit since he was a big hit.  The additional jokey material gave the film a disjointed tone.   Olaf just seemed to be more annoying in this film and overused as the comic relief. 

Similar to Ralph Breaks the Internet this movie has no main villain.  The movie is more of a mystery and trying to find out what is going on.  There are a lot of “false villains” like the fire spirit.  It's interesting because I always felt that the first Frozen would have been better if they didn’t have a villain as that villain seemed tacked on.  Now they don’t have a villain and this movie doesn’t work.  It just doesn’t hit the emotional beats that it should. I’m not sure if it was just me but when Olaf died it should have affected me more, but maybe because it’s a Disney movie I kind of knew he would be back. Another aspect that the film has in common with Ralph Breaks the Internet is that they both have a character going through an existential crisis. In this one we see Olaf asking lots of questions about growing up and how to deal with things constantly changing. While we really got to see Vanellope deal with her questions in this one Olaf questions is just played for jokes. I wish they delved more into that and see him get some resolution. Looking back at it know it could have been prescient with the amount of changes coming with the pandemic.

Overall: The movie just doesn’t work for me.  It’s kind of boring and it’s unfortunate that a lot of the fun of Frozen is missing in the sequel.  It could also be that when I first watched it at the beginning of the pandemic and wasn’t quite in the right headspace for this movie.  I believe that how you are feeling going into a movie can have an effect on how you enjoy the film.  But even watching it again it still didn’t do anything and really isn’t that many memorable scenes.   I also forgot how similar to The Fifth Element  certain plot points are.  

Random Facts

Since Frozen won Best Animated Feature at the Oscars it was surprising that Frozen II wasn’t even nominated.  Although “Into the Unknown” was nominated for Best Song.  Toy Story 4 won Best Animated Feature and “(I’m Gonna) Love Me Again” from Rocketman won Best Original Song.   

When I started the Disney Movie Challenge Frozen II was the last movie on the list  But Raya and the Last Dragon and Encanto both were released prior to finishing.  

During production Jennifer Lee became head of the Walt Disney Animation Studio following the controversial exit of John Lasseter.  Lasseter had been the head since Disney purchased Pixar in 2006.  Lee is the first female to hold that job.    

Highest grosing animated film of all times. 

Disney Movie Challenge Bonus: The Lion King (2019)

 Disney Movie Challenge Bonus

The Lion King (2019)

As I watch another Disney remake of an animated classic I have to ask myself “What’s the purpose of remakes?”.   The obvious cynical answer is they are cash grabs.  Studios (not just Disney) know people will go back to visit a story they love.  The question then is why would a filmmaker attempt to do a remake?  The answer to that question is not as easy. Maybe they want to tell the story differently, maybe there is a different perspective they want to do, or for most Disney remakes they want to take an animated movie and turn it into a live action movie.  The weird thing about The Lion King is that none of those are true.  Unlike other Disney remakes they remade an animated movie into a differently animated movie. The only reason I can see (besides money) for Disney to remake The Lion King is to show off their new photorealistic animation technology.  Disney pushed so hard to make people believe that this wasn’t an animated film they didn’t even submit it for consideration for Best Feature Animated Film at the Oscars.  Another hard question to answer is why do some remakes work and some don’t?  Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast didn’t fully work for me, but  oddly The Lion King did.  Maybe it’s because I didn’t really like the original animated version so it didn’t have high expectations for this one.  

Let’s start with the things that I did enjoy about this movie.  Obviously the animation is amazing.  Everything really does look photorealistic and it is truly mind blowing.  While most of the voices were just alright, I really loved John Oliver as Zazu.  He added an extra comedic element to that role.  Also, based on trailers and bits and parts that I saw it seemed that the movie was a shot for shot remake (but somehow 30 minutes longer), which I’m glad is not the case. The one major difference was the “Be Prepared” number.  Originally they weren’t going to include it at all but the did a much shorter version without the Nazi imagery.  

On the flip side, while not truly a shot for shot remake it is a very, very faithful adaptation.  That being said I pretty much had the same feelings about this one as I had about the original.  The story still doesn’t work for me. Simba is still a bratty kid.  The voice actors don’t bring a whole lot new to the characters, and some of the songs sounded worse.

Overall: If the only reason Disney made this movie is to show off their photorealistic technology then they succeeded.  If the only reason they made this movie was to make money then they succeeded at that too.  The movie doesn’t add anything or change a whole lot about the original so doesn’t feel like a necessary movie.  If you liked the original you will probably like this version as they are basically the same.  If you are like me and didn’t particularly care for the original then this version isn’t going to make you think any differently.  But you cannot deny that  those visuals are stunning. 

Disney Movie Challenge Bonus: Aladdin (2019)

 Disney Movie Challenge Bonus

Aladdin (2019)

This is a tough one to write about.  I saw the live action remake when it was first released on Disney+.  I was only going to watch a little bit before bed but ended up staying up till 1 am watching the whole thing, mostly because it felt like a train wreck you couldn’t turn away from.  On this viewing it didn’t seem as bad.  Also I feel the reviews of the remakes are getting kind of repetitive.  Mostly it doesn't live up to the animated, it's too long, and why the unnecessary backstory. I still haven’t seen The Lion King or Mulan remakes but guessing they will have similar issues.

The good thing about Aladdin 2019 is that it’s not a shot for shot remake.  While it follows the story pretty closely it adds a few aspects.  First thing it does is give Jasmine even bigger aspirations.  In the animated film she just wanted to be able to marry whoever she wanted, in the live action version she wants to be Sultan.  She is fighting for her right to be heard and respected as an intelligent human. I think this is a reflection of the times and a good addition to the story.    Another aspect added to the remake that doesn’t quite work as well is a Genie side story.  For some reason in this one we get a secondary love story between the Genie and Jasmine’s handmaiden.  Feels like it was put in there so Will Smith had more scenes to act charming, but it doesn’t really add much to the story.  

The biggest problems for this movie are the lack of chemistry between the characters and that the songs sounded bad.  The movie was controversial right from the start of production when it came to casting.  Disney said they wanted to cast actors and actresses that represent the region, but then said it was taking so long to cast someone because they couldn’t find anyone that could sing, dance, and act.  Eventually we got a cast that included mostly unknowns and Will Smith.  The standout performance  is Naomi Scott as Jasmine, but she had very little chemistry with Mena Massoud who played Aladdin.  You never really felt that had any kind of connection.  The same goes for Genie and Aladdin.  They are supposed to be best friends but they just never really click.  

The songs are so iconic maybe it’s just hearing someone else singing them that throws me off.  But I really feel that they don’t sound as good.  It’s weird that Robin Williams would sound better than a singer like Will Smith.  My theory is that the songs were written in a Broadway style and that is not a style Will Smith is comfortable singing in.  There is a very bizarre remake of the song “Friend Like Me” in the end credits which sounds much more his style and you can tell Smith is having fun.  Maybe they should have tried to tweak the songs a bit to make it work for him.  But as it is it just hurts my brain.  Massoud just doesn’t seem to have the singing chops to make the songs work.  On the other hand Naomi Scott belts the songs out like she was born to play the role.  There is a new song that Jasmine sings and Scott does a great job at singing it.  The biggest problem with the new song is it sound more modern than the other songs and kind of stands out.  It feels like they really wanted to write a song that sounded like "Let it Go" from Frozen.

A few positives before I wrap up.  I loved the score.  They brought Alan Menken back from the original film and I feel he really improved on it.  Also the action was good, although I expected it to be better with Guy Ritchie directing. I really wanted more Aladdin doing Parkour, but that may just be me. 

Overall: Maybe for those that never seen the original this would work.  I like that it isn’t a shot for shot remake but feel they made some questionable decisions on what they did change.  And not sure why the remakes need to be over 2 hours.  Could have been better if just kept it shorter.  

Disney Movie Challenge Bonus: Lady and the Tramp (2019)

LADY AND THE TRAMP (2019)

2019 was a big year for Disney adaptations.  First there was Dumbo, then we had Aladdin and The Lion King, and finally Lady and the Tramp.  The biggest difference was Lady and the Tramp was released on the newly formed Disney+ instead of in theaters.  Disney had really built up anticipation for Disney+ which was going to have  classic Disney Animated films, Marvel Films, Star Wars films, and Pixar films.  In addition they were trying to promote brand new original films and shows that were premiering on the platform.  One of the biggest original movies they were promoting was the live action adaptation of Lady and the Tramp. The biggest obstacle it was facing was trying not to feel like a lesser direct to video film.  

The plot of the film is basically the same. It’s still a classy girl who meets a boy from the wrong side of town. The update moved the location to Savannah, Georgia from London. It also expanded Tramp’s back story, expanded the role of the dog catcher, and switched up the type of cats from Siamese Cats to Devon Rexes.  The most noticeable difference is that Lady’s owners are a mixed race couple which based on IMDB reviews is the worst thing ever. 

It’s not really fair to compare this to the original but when you watch them pretty much back to back it’s hard not to do.  So let's just get it out of the way.  The two things I think they did better in this adaptation are the expansion of Tramps backstory and the introduction of the rat early in the film.  One of the things we never got from the animated film is really what happened to Tramp.  We can guess what happened but this film really gets into it and helps us better understand him and also makes the romantic relationship more believable.  Introducing the rat early on makes sense from a storytelling perspective.  In the animated film it just pops up out of nowhere. Here there is at least foreshadowing. On the flip side there is something about this film that doesn’t quite capture the magic of the animated version.  When the photorealistic The Lion King came out one of the big complaints is that the lions didn’t really show emotion.  And maybe that's the problem with this film.  The voice acting is fine but it just doesn’t match with the emotions you are seeing on screen.  It’s kind of that uncanny valley when what you are hearing and what you are seeing doesn’t match up.   I will say the CGI work did a pretty good job. There were a few scenes where it was obvious it wasn’t a real dog but the big scene of them eating spaghetti looked fantastic.  

Overall: The movie was fine.  It didn’t capture the fun or magic of the animated film, but it wasn’t awful.  I was hoping for something more from the first big Disney+ feature film but we got what looked like a straight to video adaptation.  Obviously the modern sensibilities will trigger some that feel Disney is just promoting SJW values and if you read the IMDB comments you will see what I mean.  

Disney Movie Challenge Bonus: Dumbo (2019)

Originally this project was only going to focus on the Disney Animated films, but after watching Dumbo (1941) I decided to watch the new live action remake from 2019.  I figured since I watched it I might as well do a short review.

The movie starts off very similarly to the original Dumbo. An elephant gives birth to a baby with big ears.  Dumbo goes on to star in a circus routine that ends up getting ruined because he trips over his big ears.  Because he gets big laughs he is sent to be part of the clown routine.  It is during the clown routine that he shows he can fly.  The biggest difference is that the updated film also introduces us to a host of human characters that were mostly absent in the original film.  Colin Farrell plays a veteran who lost an arm in the war. He returns to the circus and finds that his cowboy act has been eliminated from the show. Danny Devito plays the ringmaster who is trying to keep the circus alive and thriving during difficult times.  He tells Farrell’s character that the only position he has available is as the elephant handler.  Farrell’s kids take a liking to Dumbo and are the ones that teach Dumbo to fly.  Similar to the first movie they convince him that to fly he needs to have a feather.  This is where the original movie ends but this one takes the story further.  Once news gets out that the circus has a flying elephant a big city promoter (Michael Keaton) takes a keen eye on Dumbo and wants to make him the centerpiece to his show.  

Since the original movie was so short it is easy to see where a lot can be done to expand the film.  I think they took the idea of the main parts of the original and built an interesting story around it. Since I was kind of expecting a more direct adaptation it was a bit shocking when the film moved to the city.  I usually love Michael Keaton but just didn’t think he worked for the character he was playing.  On the flip side Danny Devito was awesome and loved every minute he was on screen.  I think Colin Farrell did fine but I think his character could have been written better.  

It was great to see a lot of nods to the original film in the adaptation. There are storks flying away after Dumbo is born, and while the train doesn’t sing we get Danny Devito humming the tune. While Timothy the mouse was a big part of the original film there is a mouse character in this film but it doesn’t play a very big role.  They did eliminate all of the outdated racist stereotypes that were in the original which was a good decision.  

OVERALL: Takes the original story and expands it in a way I didn’t expect but once I got over the initial shock I was able to go with it.  It also keeps the same themes about bullying and believing in yourself that the original had, but also added an anti animal cruelty theme to it.  

A fun adaptation of the original, nothing earth shattering but great to see Danny Devito having a fun time.