Favorite Films of 2022

I haven't made a year end list in a while but this year I managed to see some great films and wanted to share them with everyone.  

1. Everything Everywhere All at Once - Any movie that can make me laugh, cry, and think WTF at the time is doing something right. Who knew two rocks talking could be that emotional. It took 6 years for The Daniels to follow up Swiss Army Man but it was worth the wait. It’s pretty bizarre so might not be everyone’s cup of tea but I loved it.

2. Wakanda Forever -  Marvel Phase 4 has been pretty uneven but Wakanda Forever hit all the right notes for me. Going in I was wondering how they would deal with the death of Chadwick Boseman.  By making a movie about people grieving it felt like the characters were grieving the same death we were. Obviously there is a vacuum created by losing such talent and presence and you feel that in the movie occasionally. It also falls back on some familiar Marvel Tropes (at least no sky beam) but it had great action sequences and a fantastic score. 

3. Nope - Wasn’t sure what to expect from Jordan Peele’s third movie but it hooked me in and never let go. Loved the sci-fi elements and had some good scares. Who knew there could be more done in the alien invasion genre.  

4. Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent - It doesn’t get any better than Nicholas Cage playing Nic Cage. The movie is ridiculously over the top and a whole lot of fun. 

5. The Wonder- Wanted to include this on my list because so few people are talking about it. While Don’t Worry Darling was getting all the publicity this Florence Pugh project came out of nowhere and quietly dropped on Netflix. It has great writing and of course Pugh brings her A game. It’s a mystery that unravels slowly but it's never boring.

6. The Menu - I got invited to an early screening of this movie and couldn’t make it. But finally caught up with it when it dropped on HBOMAX and absolutely loved it.  It's a psychological thriller that keeps you waiting for things to go nuts. When it does it’s just a whole lot of fun. Not sure I will ever think of S’mores the same way.  

7. Tie: X and Pearl- watched these pretty much back to back  (one on New Year’s Eve and one on New Year's Day) so they are kind of one film for me. Ti West made two great horror movies in one year.  They are very different from each other but compliment each other nicely. Mia Goth is amazing in both. Can’t wait to see where the series leads.

9. Elvis - I came to this one late. I already had my Top 10 made and almost ready to share but then I watched this to get ready for Oscar nominations. I totally did not expect to like this movie as much as I did. I typically don't like Baz Luhrman's over the top productions but Elvis is a larger than life man and fit perfectly into Luhrman's style. I don't know how much of this movie is true but it's compelling and the acting is pretty incredible.

10. After Yang - While this movie technically had its world premiere in 2021 it did screen at Sundance in  2022.  It is a small sci-fi film about a family dealing loss. Besides for themes about death and loss, it's a pretty G rated film.  Colin Farrell anchors the film with a great performance and while it's a bit slow I still found it a great watch.

Honorable Mentions

RRR - If I saw this in theaters I probably would have loved this movie. Watching it at home with lots of distractions and having to stop and pause it a bunch of time didn’t let me get the fullest enjoyment out of it. I also had the English dub on for part of it and that was a mistake much better in its original language.  I am looking forward to watching it again with fewer distractions. 

Bones and All - Sometimes when you go into a movie expecting one thing but get another it can take you out of it a bit. That was my experience with Bones and All. I went in expecting a gory horror movie about cannibals but got a cannibal love story instead. Another one I’m looking forward to seeing again now that I know what I’m getting into. But some great performances. 

White Noise - This movie is bizarre and think will get better with future watches. Or maybe it will get worse I don't know. But the acting is great and dialog is snappy. It makes it feel like the film is trying to say something but pretty sure it's only trying to say no how matter how smart you think you are people are stupid. Lot's of things don't make sense but neither does life. This is a movie that begs you to overthink it.

Thor: Love and Thunder - While not as good as Thor: Ragnarok, it’s one of the few movies my kid wanted to see in the theaters with me, so it made the movie extra special.  He loved it and I loved watching him love it.  

Crimes of the Future - Some movies are just so weird that you will never forget it.  Crimes of the Future is that movie.  I wish the ending was a little better.  I felt like I fell asleep and woke up in a different movie.  This is a movie I am going to recommend to everyone who wants to see a weird movie.  Also has one of my favorite lines of the year “Surgery is the new Sex”.  

Disney Movie Challenge Bonus: Kronk's New Groove (2005)

Disney Movie Challenge Bonus 

Kronk's New Groove (2005)

Even though The Emperor’s New Groove(2000) was only a mild success, Disney decided to bring the entire cast back for a sequel focused around the bumbling evil sidekick Kronk. I will admit Kronk was my favorite part of the first movie so I thought maybe this could be fun.  But nope I was wrong. 

In Kronk’s New Groove we reunite with Kronk who is now a full time chef.  When he gets a letter from his dad saying that he is coming for a visit, Kronk freaks out.  Kronk desperately seeks approval from his dad and has written letters saying how well he is doing, including owning a house on a hill and having a wife and kids.  Unfortunately none of those things are true.  We see in flashbacks how Kronk ended up owning a house on a hill by defrauding some old people.  In another flashback we see how he fell in love at a summer camp but things ended badly so now he doesn’t even have a girlfriend.  At the end Kronk does learn that he has friends that mean the world to him and he wouldn’t change a thing.  Finally he gets the thumbs up from his dad he so desperately wants.  

I’ll start with the positive.  Kronk is a great character.  I love that he is a bumbling fool with a good heart, and Patrick Warburton does a great job of voicing Kronk.  Unfortunately sometimes a character only works in small doses and that may be the case with Kronk.  As the comic relief of the original film he made me laugh every time he was on screen.  But having to carry the whole movie it just didn’t work.  Or, it could be a case where the story didn’t do the character justice.  

The movie does what other Disney sequels have done and breaks the film up into vignettes.  This was done in Cinderella II and Tarzan II.  Tarzan II actually took clips from unaired episodes of the Tarzan and Jane TV show.  And that is what this felt like.  It felt like they were setting up a TV show hoping to use this as a proof of concept.  Unfortunately it just didn’t work.  The flashbacks felt kind of forced and not at all organic and it was pretty unclear how long ago these things took place.  

One of the weirdest things about this movie was the sexuel innuendo’s.  While most of them will go over kids’ heads it still feels a bit jarring while watching a Disney Direct to Video film.  The two scenes that stand out are when Kronk puts a movie in and it’s called “Stag Party” and he looks instantly embarrassed like it’s a naughty tape.  And towards the end when Kronk and his girlfriend are making bread but definitely feels like they are talking about something else.  

Overall: One of the few Disney Sequels that had all of the original cast return but that doesn’t stop it from being a mess.  The story doesn’t flow and it’s just not that funny.  Maybe it’s too much of a good things but I really think given a good story Warburton could make a great Kronk movie.  

Disney Movie Challenge: Encanto (2021)

 

 Disney Movie Challenge

Encanto (2021)

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 60 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Encanto in 2021.

My original goal was to finish this challenge before Encanto came out but took a few breaks but I think ending on number 60 works perfectly, and getting to see the last one in theatres seems like a great end to the challenge.  

Encanto is about the magical Madrigal family, who live in a magical house in the jungles of Columbia.  The matriarch Abuala Alma oversees the house and the family. She was there when a magic candle first created the house and gave special powers to each of her children (Julieta can heal people with her cooking, Pepa can control the weather, and Bruno can see the future).  As the family has expanded each grandchild has been given special gifts (super strength, super hearing, shapeshifting, talking to animals, and being perfect) except Mirabel.  Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz) loves her family but feels left out because she has no power and Abuela Alma seems to blame her for the magic candle losing some of its power.  Mirabel sets out to save the magic and prove she can contribute to the family.  Her first mission is to find Bruno who has been ostracized for his premonitions.  

As with most Disney films Encanto was made collaboratively.  When you look at the credits and you see 3 directors and 6 writers for most films that would mean it was a disaster behind the scenes.  For Disney animated films it’s par for the course.  Jared Bush and  Bryon Howard who both worked on Zootopia were credited as Directors and Charise Castro Smith was credited as co-director.  Bush and Smith were also credited as co-screenwriters with story by Bush, Jason Hand, Nancy Kruse (The Simpsons), and Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton).  With so many cooks in the kitchen it amazing that Disney can manage to get a cohesive story 

After sharing songwriting duties on Moana, Disney finally let Miranda free to write a full on musical.  Tapping into his Broadway roots Miranda wrote 8 original songs that are used to tell the story.  Broadway style storytelling was used in abundance during the renaissance and revitalized by Frozen,  but Miranda gives a his own flavor to the songs that makes it stand out from any previous Disney animated film.  The songs have a lot of energy and are pretty catchy and the performances are spot on.  Beatriz has the majority of the singing and she just absolutely shines.  My favorite is when she sings "The Family Madrigal" towards the beginning of the film.  The song is a lot of fun and an important part of introducing all the characters.  But Beatriz doesn’t get all the songs to herself, everyone gets a chance to shine.  

As with all great Disney movies this one has themes that resonates with people.  In this one it’s about feeling like an outsider in your own family and finding your own self worth.  Not having a special gift Mirabel feels very worthless, and the person she is looking for the most acceptance from, Abuela Alma, blames her for the trouble.  As Mirabel searches for the reasons for the cracks in the house she discovers there are cracks in her “perfect” family.  Everyone feels so much pressure to be what's expected of them they never get to be anything else.  Mirabel is able to get them to open up about their feelings and begin a healing process.  The story makes for an emotional journey that of course has a happy ending.  

Overall: I loved the music and the emotional journey of the film.  The animation is colorful and the performances are great.  My one question: If Mirabel’s mom’s food can heal people, why does Mirabel need glasses? 

Disney Movie Challenge: Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)

 

 Disney Movie Challenge

Raya and the Last Dragon (2021)

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 60 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Encanto in 2021.

 Raya and the Last Dragon is the first time ever my kid saw a movie before I did.  He got to see it at a friend's birthday party.  The first thing I asked him when he got home was “how was it”.  He had a one word review for this film and that was “epic”. For a kid that doesn’t like many movies that is certainly high praise and I couldn’t wait for my chance to see it.  While I was going to wait to watch it till I got to it for the challenge I couldn’t resist watching it a few times with him before then.  But finally got to it and gave it a rewatch.   

 The movie is about Raya, a princess from the Heart in the land of Kumandra. Kumandra used to be a peaceful land where humans and dragons lived side by side.  But the Dragons used the Dragon Gem and sacrificed themselves to save the humans from the Druun, a life sucking spirit that turns people into stone.  500 years later the humans are divided and have separated into 5 different tribes (Fang, Heart, Talon, Spine, and Tail).  Raya’s father tries to reunite the people but after being betrayed by Fang the Dragon Gem is split into 5 pieces and each tribe uses it to protect their land.   Afterwards Raya searches for Sisu, the last dragon. Raya thinks it is the only one that she can bring peace back to the land.  Once she finds Sisu they must work together to find the other 4 pieces of the Gem to once again defeat the Druun.  Along the way they team up with unlikely companions and the must learn to trust one another if they are going to be successful.  

Raya and the Last Dragon had an interesting road to release.  After years in development the movie was set to go into full production in 2020.  But when the pandemic hit they moved all production remotely.  The animators all worked from their homes, all the meetings were done via Zoom, and all the actors recorded their voice roles from their home (some did it in closets).   It’s a miracle that the movie got made at all and looks as good as it does.  Doing all the work at a bunch of homes didn’t hurt the quality and it looks great.  The movie’s themes feel even more relevant during the pandemic. In the beginning we are told that the Druun are a “a mindless plague that spread like wildfire”. While the movie was written before the pandemic started you can’t help making the connection.  

Raya’s goal to unite a broken world also feels very relevant to today’s world.   Raya is hoping that with the full power of the Dragon Gem that SIsu can use magic to heal the world,  But Sisu makes it clear throughout the whole movie that it will take Raya trusting someone who betrayed her to heal the world. Raya resists this, thinking it’s too difficult she continues to try to find an easy way to do it. There is a great conversation from the middle of the movie between Raya and Sisu that goes

Raya: The world is broken, you can't trust anyone.

Sisu: Maybe it's broken, because you don't trust anyone, you just have to take the first step.

I’m not sure how much of the themes were added during the pandemic but this quote feels like it could be applied to the real world where people feel more divided than ever.  

Besides the timely themes there are a lot of other things to like about this movie.   I am a sucker for movies that have motley crew team up.  This movie has a crazy bunch of characters that includes a baby, a gentle warrior, and a kid that runs a shrimp boat, so I was all in.   The action/adventure aspect was also right up my alley.  Not very often you can talk about how awesome fight scenes are in a Disney Princess movie, but here we are.  The movie had some great fight choreography that rivals live action films.  All the fight choreography was based on real fighting styles used in South East Asia. You also felt each fight on an emotional level because they always felt like there was something at stake.  And you never actually know who will win as Raya actually loses more fights than she wins.  

One of the things my kid told me when he got home was how good the music was.  Figured if he liked it that much I had to hear it so I bought the soundtrack.  And he was right, the score is pretty amazing.  This is the fourth Disney Animated Film that James Newton Howard has scored following Dinosaur, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and Treasure Planet. Here he manages to combine the action aspects with the fantastical elements flawlessly.  Take for instance our favorite track “Betrayed”.  You listen to that and you might think it’s from a Batman movie.  But then you got “Running on Raindrops” which just has this magical uplifting feeling to it.  The fact that these two are in the same movie and doesn’t feel disjointed is a testament to Howard’s and the filmmakers talent.  While I’m not sure the movie will be remembered come Oscar time I am hoping he is in the conversation for Best Score.  

I also love the voice acting in the film.  Kelly Marie Tran does great as Raya and we really get a sense of her progression throughout the film.  Daniel Dae Kim as Raya’s dad, Gemma Chan as Raya’s nemesis also do a great job.  I barely recognized Benedict Wong as Tongo but he pulled off the tough guy with a heart perfectly.  Awkwafina as Sisu for me was the stand out.  The more I see her, the more she becomes one of my favorite actresses.  As Sisu she keeps a lot of that wisecracking dialogue she is known for but also gets to show off a bit of her dramatic elements.  The filmmakers let her ad lib most of the dialogue and I think she nailed it. I can see some people who don't like her schtick might find it tiresome but it totally worked for me.

Overall:  Not sure if it is just a case of the right place at the right time but I really enjoyed this movie.  Themes felt timely, animation was top notch, action was great, and the score pulled it all together.  

Random Facts: 

During the credits there is a thank you to everyone that worked at home.  

Gemma Chan and Awkwafina both would star in a Marvel Project that also came out in 2021.  Gemma Chan was in Eternals and Awkwafina was in Shang-Chi: The Legend of the Ten Rings.  Benedict Wong has a cameo in Shang-Chi and Spider-Man: No Way Home as his character Wong from Dr. Strange.  

Despite being directed by two men (Don Hall and Carlos López Estrada) the production and technical teams were made up almost entirely of women.  

This is the first (and only) Disney Animated film to feature a Princess that isn’t a musical and doesn’t have a love interest.  Brave also did this but that was from Pixar.  

Kelly Marie Tran originally lost the role of Raya to Cassie Steele but after some story changes they decided that Kelly was a better fit for the rewritten character.

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: Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)

 Disney Movie Challenge

Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)

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. 

Ralph Breaks the Internet is only the second sequel to a Disney Animated movie to get a full theatrical release after The Rescuers Down Under (1990) (I don’t count Fantasia 2000 as a sequel).  The movie takes place 6 years after the first one which is the amount of time between films.  Most of the cast is back but besides Ralph and Vanellope they are relegated to mostly secondary characters.  

The sequel starts with Ralph and Vanellope living a good life.  They work all day in their video games then hang out all night drinking root beer and talking.  But Vanellope isn’t that happy.  She is bummed by the same old routine.  When Ralph tries to help her things go wrong and the Sugar Rush game breaks.  To prevent the game from being unplugged Ralph and Vanellope must go to the internet and buy a new part from eBay.  But things start to fall apart when Vanellope finds the car racing game Slaughter Race.  The game gives her everything she dreamed of in a racing game.  Ralph sees the game as extremely dangerous and doesn't want to lose his friend.  Vanellope must decide if she wants to stay or go home, and Ralph must learn that friendship is more than just hanging out.  

To say this is a strange movie for Disney is an understatement.  The film is about a video game character having an existential crisis, has no main villain, and openly mocks Disney Princess tropes.  So where do you even begin to talk about this movie? I'm going to begin with a few of the negatives.  First, it's really long.   At 1 hour 52 minutes it is the second longest Disney Animated Film of all time (Fantasia still holds the record at 2 hours 5 minutes).  As you get close to a certain point you think it’s going to end but it keeps going.  Then the movie started to lose me.  I just kept thinking when will this movie end.  The next issue I had was more of a question I kept thinking about after it ended, and that is are there too many product placements in the film?  I get that when you’re placing the movie in the internet it’s cool to see some recognizable brands.  And the joke about Google being where you go for goggles is kind of funny.  It all seemed like too much and in 10 years will likely make the film seem dated.  It also remind me of The Emoji Movie which got panned for some of the same things that Ralph Breaks the Internet does.  

While the internet seemed like too much pop culture references it was beautifully animated. Everything looked great and I loved the way they represented certain internet traits like the pop up ads and the intuitive search bar. I thought it was super creative the way they designed how information moves and made the internet feel like a real place.  

The movie also examines what it means to be friends and how friendships change over time.  Right from the start we see two perspectives and know that they will clash.  Vanellope states that she is tired of the same routine and Ralph responds about how he is living his best life.  When Vanellope finds Slaughter Race and realizes that this is what she wants to do, we see her grapple with the decision. We also see how badly Ralph reacts to her choice.  One of the final obstacles they face is a virus version of Ralph called Ralphzilla.  Ralphzilla is creepy as hell and the stuff of nightmaresm but the way they beat Ralphzilla feels like a bit of a cheat. Basically the real Ralph has a therapy session and “cured his insecurities”.  It kind of works for the theme of the film it doesn't work 100%.  Of course in the end they are friends again and yet everything has changed.  Here is where the movie reminds me of one of my favorite Pixar movies Inside Out.  Both movies deal with feelings and how people change.  Another similarity is that neither movie has a main protagonist.  

While not a major part of the film I feel it’s important to talk about how the Disney Princess are portrayed.  As I mentioned earlier the movie pokes fun at a lot of the Disney Princess tropes.  Like talking to animals, needing a man to fix your problems, and singing a song while staring at water.  The way it was done was pretty smart.  While it was poking fun at those tropes it was never poking fun at the Princesses themselves (except Merida from Brave, who some thing they poked fun at because Brave beat the first Wreck-It Ralph at the Oscars).  There is actually a really fun scene where the Princesses get their own Avengers style team up, and it makes me want to see more of that team up. They also give Vanellope a Princess song of her own.  To make it feel like an authentic Princess song they brought in Alan Menken (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast) to write her song.  

Overall: This is a fun movie that does feel a bit too long but kind of makes up for it with a powerful story about friendship.  

Random Facts:

They brought back most of the original voices for the princesses.  The exceptions are Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora. Mary Costa who voiced Aurora is still alive but it was determined that an 88 year old couldn’t do a convincing voice of a 16 year old princess. 

The only voice actor not to return from the original film is Mindy Kaling who voiced Taffita in the first movie. 

A bit of controversy surrounded the Princess scene prior to release. Many complained that Tiana and Pocahontas' faces were lightened and given a more European shape. This was changed prior to the film’s release. 

There is a mid credit scene featuring a scene that was in the trailer but cut from the movie. The filmmakers turned into a joke where a kid complains about the scene not being there. 

There is also a post credit scene with Ralph “Rick Rolls” the audience.  

Besides the Princesses the movie features various nods to other Disney owned products like Star Wars and Marvel. Vin Diesel reprises his role for Baby Groot and Anthony Daniels reprises his role as C3PO. Tim Allen also makes an appearance as Buzz Lightyear. There is even a Stan Lee cameo. The animators did ask Lucasfilm permission to use Kyle Ren but were denied.   

 

Screenwriter of Wreck-It Ralph Phil Johnston pulled double duty on this one getting a promotion to assistant director in addition to screenwriter. Jennifer Lee who co-wrote the first one did not work on this film as she was working on Frozen 2. Pamela Ribon did come on board as co-writer and wrote most of the princesses’ scenes. She also ended up voicing Snow White.  

Disney Movie Challenge: Moana (2016)

 Disney Movie Challenge

Moana (2016)

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 Disney animated film to be released in 2016.  Moana was released on Thanksgiving weekend and proved to be a box office phenomenon.    Ron Clements and John Musker continued their hot streak of Princess movies after directing hits like The Little Mermaid (1989), Aladdin (1992), and  The Princess and the Frog (2009). 

Moana is about a princess on a fictional Polynesian island who heads out into the ocean on an adventure.  On the island of Motunui the people live in harmony with nature but never go out far in the ocean.  When Moana is young she hears the ocean calling her and wants to go out and explore it.  Since she will be the next chief her parents force her to learn about the island and how to take care of the people, but her Grandmother shows her that things used to be different.  Their ancestors were great sailors and traveled far across the ocean.  When the food starts to become scarce on the island Moana sets out to fix things.  There is a story about how the Demigod Maui stole the Heart of Tafiti which caused the evil Te Kā to rise and send out darkness around the world.  When Te Kā attacked Maui, Maui lost the heart of Tafiti and his magical fish hook that grants him shapeshifting powers.  Moana is chosen by the ocean to be the one that returns the Heart of Tafiti.  After the ocean gives her the jewel she must brave the waters in her ancestor's ship, find Maui, convince him to go back and return the jewel, and figure out how to beat Te Kā.  

When another movie they were working on failed to materialize Clements and Musker set out to make an original film.  After doing some research they became fascinated by Polynesian history and decided to set their story in that world.  The fascinating thing is that it is partially based on truth.  The Polynesian people were great sailors but mysteriously stopped sailing and no one knows why.  Then after 1,000 years they mysteriously started sailing again.  Originally planned to be about the demigod Maui, they eventually decided that focusing on a human would make the movie more relatable.  Using a cast made of actors with Polynesian heritage helps lend it some authenticity.  The cast includes Hawaiian natives Auliʻi Cravalho as Moana and Nicole Scherzinger as Moana's mother. Dwayne Johnson who is of Samoan heritage plays Maui.  Rachel House (Moana's grandmother), Temuera Morrison (Moana's father), and Jemaine Clement (Tamatoa) are of Māori heritage.

The first thing you notice about the movie is how good it looks.  Clements and Musker had only done hand drawn animation before so how they would handle their first CG animated movie was a question.  But they made a great looking film that just sucks you into the world.  The story manages to be familiar yet different from other Disney Princess movies.  While we see the typical tropes of a stubborn daughter going out on her own, what makes this one feel different is that there is no love interest and Moana always feels fully capable despite having magic help.  When Maui refuses to help her she doesn’t back off.  She is persistent and determined and nothing will stop her from doing what she thinks is right. Even if Maui didn’t go with her you feel she still would have been able to complete the mission.  

We can’t talk about Moana without talking about the music.  When I first heard that The Rock was going to sing it really made me not interested in seeing the movie.  I had no desire to hear the Rock sing and when I heard “Your Welcome” before seeing the movie it didn’t change my mind.  He really isn’t a good singer but in the movie it somehow works.  I thought it would take me out of the movie but it didn’t and that might have to do with how great the song writing is.  The music was written by an eclectic trio. Lin-Manuel Miranda, best known on Broadway for Hamilton, wrote the majority of the songs including “How Far I’ll Go” and “You’re Welcome”.  Opetaia Foa'i is the lead singer of an Oceanic Fusion group called Te Vaka and he helped write the more pacific islander centric music including “An Innocent Warrior” and “We Know the Way”.  The last person in the trio is Mark Mancina who wrote some of the music for the songs and the entire score.  Mancina has had an interesting career. He worked with Hans Zimmer on The Lion King Score then worked on such films as Speed, Bad Boys, and Twister.  He returned to Disney and worked with Phil Collins on Tarzan and scored Brother Bear.  Together the three wrote a soundtrack that combined the broadway sensibilities of past Disney Princess movies with traditional Polynesian sound.   

Overall:  Moana is a fun movie that manages to feel like a traditional Disney Princess movie yet makes the character feel fresh and innovative.  Miranda wrote some fun songs that even the questionable singing of The Rock couldn’t ruin.  Speaking of The Rock is there anything he can’t do? Action movies, comedies, and now animated princess movies.  

Random Facts 

To do research for the film Clements and Musker went on a research trip to Fiji, Samoa, and Tahiti.  Sounds more like a vacation than a research trip  

Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok, Jojo Rabbit) wrote the initial screenplay but pretty much everything got rewritten. He is not credited as a screenwriter but he gets a special thanks in the credits.  

Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote “Shiny” based on Flight of the Conchords (Jermaine Clement’s band) performance of a David Bowie Tribute.  Miranda also said at the time he was listening to David Bowie songs after Bowie’s death. Here is a clip of Flight of the Conchords Bowie tribute https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4zV4pJ8MwM

Lost Best Animated Feature Oscar to Disney’s other 2016 movie Zootopia