Disney Movie Challenge: Home on the Range (2004)

 Disney Movie Challenge

Home on the Range (2004)

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. 

 I always hope when watching a movie that has a bad reputation it will prove it’s reputation wrong.  Unfortunately for this one it didn’t do that. Home on the Range is truly a bizarre film and not in a good way.  The production of this film is one I would love to know more about.  I really want to know who at Disney decided that what was missing in the world was a movie with Dame Judi Dench and Rosanne Barr playing cows.  And for added effect lets throw in Jennifer Tilly and Randy Quaid as a yodeling cowboy.  

The movie is about three cows Mrs. Calloway, Maggie, and Grace (Dench, Barr, and Tilly) who in an attempt to save their farm set out to capture the notorious outlaw Alameda Slim (Randy Quaid) to earn the reward.  Also trying to capture Slim is the bounty hunter Rico (Charles Dennis) and the horse Buck (Cuba Gooding Jr.).  When they catch up to Slim the cows witness how he is able to steal so many cows at once.  When Slim starts to yodel he hypnotizes the cows and gets them to do anything he wants.  Both Mrs. Calloway and Maggie get hypnotized but for some unexplained reason Grace does not and she must stop her friends from being herded up. The next morning a jack rabbit tells them that Slim is in an abandoned mine and that he can lead them to it.  They follow the rabbit and have a big standoff with Slim that involves a train heist.  

One of the good things you can say about this movie is it’s short and moves pretty briskly.  Other than that there isn’t much good to say about this movie.  I can see kids maybe liking this movie because it is very silly. As an adult it just left me agaped especially the scene when we see Slim yodeling and rounding up the cattle, that is like some psychedelic fever dream.  I can’t say enough about how odd the voice casting was in this film.  Judi Dench as a cow in the Old West is just bizarre.  Why would a cow in the Old West have a British Accent?  On paper I can see how pairing Barr with Dench would really highlight how opposite the two cows are,  but in the film it just doesn’t work. Maybe it’s because I find Barr’s voice pretty annoying.  While Jennifer Tilly might also seem like strange casting it actually works.   

Overall: The film definitely deserves the reputation it has as one of the worst films in Disney Canon. Sometimes a movie is made for kids and maybe it’s too much to expect more from it.  

Random Facts:

The last traditionally animated movie until 2009’s The Princess and the Frog. The movie was such a financial disappointment that Disney decided it wasn't worth the cost to make hand drawn animated films.

Director Will Finn wouldn’t direct another animated feature till 2013 when he directed Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return which was also a huge box office flop. 

When /Film did there ranking of all 58 Disney films at the time this was 57 and this is what they had to say  "The cast is, whatever else is true, unexpected: Dame Judi Dench, Roseanne Barr, Jennifer Tilly, Cuba Gooding, Jr., and Randy Quaid all play some of the main characters, making for a…uh…unique aural experience." https://www.slashfilm.com/disney-animated-movies-ranked/ 

.  

Disney Movie Challenge: Pocahontas (1995)

Disney Movie Challenge

Pocahontas (1995)

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 58 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Frozen II in 2020. 

In 1995 you had two choices for historical inaccurate Mel Gibson films. You could go with the violent and bloody Braveheart or the family friendly Pocahontas.  Neither tell a story that is close to what actually happened, but both were big hits.  

When Jeffrey Katzenberg greenlit Pocahontas he saw it as an opportunity for an animated film to score another Best Picture nomination.  He felt The Lion King was some experimental film that wouldn’t be a big hit.  To duplicate Beauty and the Beast’s success at the Oscars Katzenberg decided to try to duplicate the story and wanted a love story.   He also encouraged all his top animators to work on this film instead of The Lion King.  While some of the creators tried to keep the story accurate it became a give and take with what the studio wanted.  

In this retelling of the story of Pocahontas we follow the English as they sail to the New World to find gold and glory.  Meanwhile, in the New World we have Pocahontas and her tribe living in harmony with nature.  Pocahontas is having dreams that make her feel she is called to do more than just marry the strongest guy in the tribe.  She consults a wise willow tree that helps guide her.  When the English finally arrive there is automatic tension in the air.  They begin digging for gold right away.  But John Smith, who is there for the adventure not gold, begins exploring the area.  There he meets Pocahontas and they instantly have a connection.  Pocahontas magically learns English and begins to show Smith that there is more to nature than just conquering it, and just because people don’t act like you doesn’t mean they are savages.  They then go about trying to convince both sides that peace is better than war.  

I don't usually read reviews before I write my own but this movie had me stumped and wanted to see what others thought of it.  It’s a movie that I never really liked but couldn’t really put into words why.    But reading reviews didn't help much since the reviews are mostly about how completely inaccurate the movie is from real history.  Since it’s not a story I know really well the inaccuracies are not what put me off.  For me I think the biggest problem was trying to mix realism with the fantastical. For example a talking tree and the fact that Pocahontas learned English through magic detracts from any realism we were supposed to feel from the love story.   

Since the love story is what is supposed to be the main story if that not doesn’t work then the rest of the movie kind of falls apart.  If we are not invested in the main characters why should we care about anyone else?  The crazy thing is that  Disney films nowadays seem too long; this one probably could have used another 10 - 20 minutes to tell a more engaging story.  

The themes in the movie is what still makes this movie feel different from other Disney animated films.  While Disney’s portrayal of Native Americans in Peter Pan were very stereotypical and derogatory, they really tried to portray Native Americans in Pocahontas as well rounded people.  It also has a pro-environment theme that asks the audience to reflect on nature and what happens if we destroy it.  There is also a controversial song at the end called “Savages”. To me the song is about how people fear other people that are different from them.   It shows how easy it is for one person to lead a group of people to Racism and Xenophobia.  Although some find the song promoting xenophobia with lyrics like “Here's what you get when races are diverse

Their skin's a hellish red, They're only good when dead”.  

Overall:  This is a middle of the road movie.  Not a very compelling story.  The songs are mostly forgettable besides the Oscar winning “Colors of the Wind”.  While the animation received high praise from the critics I didn’t notice it much because I was just bored watching it.  I did think it had some good environmental themes, but I’m sure some find it a bit much.  It also touched on racism which is a lofty goal for a Disney Animated Film aimed at kids.  

Random Facts:

Some random personal facts: 

• My girlfriend at the time loved The Lion King so much that she dragged me to see this opening weekend. 

• This was the last Disney Animated film I saw in theatres till Big Hero Six in 2014

•  Last Disney Animated Film I saw until after my first kid was born and bought Frozen.  

• The only Disney Animated Movies I have seen that came out between Pocahontas (1995) and Frozen (2013) are Lilo and Stitch (2002) and Bolt (2008) I saw both after 2011.  So almost 20 years of film that I have never seen.  

In one of his earliest roles a young Christian Bale villagers.

Jeffrey Katzenberg thought they could get another Best Picture Oscar nomination for Pocahontas but was met with pretty mediocre reviews and only ended up with two nominations and wins.  Won Best Song for “Colors of the Wind” and Best Comedy or Musical Score.  

This was the first year the Oscars had a category for Best Comedy or Musical Score.  It was created because Disney won 4 out of the previous 6 years. (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King).  3 out of the 4 were won by Alan Menken.  He was so dominant they pretty much created a separate category for him. But Pocahontas would be the last time a Disney Animated film would win for Best Score and after a few years they got rid of the Best Comedy or Musical Score and just became Best Score.

There is a scene where one of the villagers kills one of the Native Americans.  It made me think this was the first time a human character died on screen in a Disney Animated Movie. I’m pretty sure it’s at least the first time a non bad guy human character died.  

During test screenings for the film people found a few of the song lyrics in “Savages” racist so Disney went and changed the lyrics for the film.  Oddly the soundtrack that was released had the original lyrics in it.  In the film you hear the settlers sing "Here's what you get when races are diverse!" and  "Dirty, shrieking devils".  On the soundtrack, they say "Their whole disgusting race is like a curse" and "Dirty redskin devils".

Disney Movie Challenge Bonus: Howard (2020)

 Disney Movie Challenge Bonus

Howard (2020)

I hate to say it that I had no idea who Howard Ashman was before I watched this documentary.  The fact that he was so integral to the Disney Renaissance and yet was only a part of it for such a small amount of time says a lot about how important he was.  When Disney first announced that the film was coming to Disney+ and I saw it was about a songwriter for The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast I figured it would be a good Bonus post but didn’t think it would be that interesting.  Turns out it was very interesting and I learned a lot.  It also makes me sad that he is gone as I would have loved to see what else he would have written.  

So who was Howard Ashman? He was an up and coming songwriter in New York.  Before joining Disney he mostly worked on off Broadway plays.  He became Artistic Director of the WPA theatre in New York where a number of his plays were performed.  It was there he met up with composer Alan Menken who would become his most famous collaborator.  Ashman and Menken would go on to write the off Broadway play Little Shop of Horrors which would later become a movie.  It was after the success (and first Oscar nomination) of Little Shop of Horrors that Jeffrey Katzenberg contacted him to write a song for Oliver and Company.  Katzenberg then asked him to join the production of The Little Mermaid.  It was there that Ashman and Menken would go on to change Disney’s future.  After winning a couple of Oscars for The Little Mermaid they returned to Disney and helped turn Beauty and the Beast into one of the most beloved movie musicals and started working on songs for Aladdin.  

The movie delves into Ashman’s personal stories also.  From his time growing up telling stories with his siblings, to his early career in New York City, to his sometimes tumultuous relationships.  The story takes a tragic turn when he is diagnosed with AIDS.   As a gay man in New York City he had already lost friends to the disease and it was a devastating diagnoses to get as his career was starting to take off.  The disease proceeded quickly while he was working on The Little Mermaid. Fearful that Disney would not want word to get out that they had a gay man writing songs for their animated films aimed a children he tried to keep it a secret.  It wasn’t till after they had won Oscars that he told Alan Menken. When Jeffrey Katzenberg asked him to do Beauty and the Beast he was honest with him and told him he didn’t have the stamina to come to California. Katzenberg then had the animation team bring storyboards and animations to New York for him to review.  No one on the animation team knew the true reason that Ashman wouldn’t fly to California.  Also during this time Ashman and Menken were working on music for Aladdin which was Ashman’s passion project.  Ashman died shortly before the release of Beauty and the Beast.  He won a posthumous Oscar for the title song from the film.  The award was accepted by his long time partner.    

The movie is told in an interesting way.  It uses family, friends, colleagues telling his story but none of them are featured on screen.  Everything on screen is archive footage.  We get to see Ashman and those around him in action.  It’s a story told out of love and appreciation.  It’s not trying to uncover any dark secrets. There are no giant reveals that are meant to show him in a negative light.  At times it can be a bit surface level but it’s really all we need. It’s a story about how people remember him. It has his successes and his faults and that just leaves you feeling sad that we never got to hear all the stories he had to tell.  

Overall: The movie is an insightful look at a person I knew very little about.  I’m glad to have learned about him and how much influence he had on the Disney Renaissance.  Having the people talking over archived footage can seem disjointed at times but for the most part it works. While it’s not a very hard hitting film and I probably would have been underwhelmed if I saw it in the theatre I think it’s worth checking out on Disney+

Random Facts

After launching his career with Howard Ashman Alan Menken would go on to win a total of 8 Oscars over the years and currently holds the record for most wins by a living person. He also achieved EGOT status by also winning an Emmy, Grammy, and Tony.  

Director Don Hahn also directed a film about the beginning of the Disney Renaissance called Waking Sleeping Beauty.  I have not seen it but is now on my must watch list.  

Disney Movie Challenge: The Fox and the Hound (1981)

Disney Movie Challenge

The Fox and the Hound (1981)

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 58 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Frozen II in 2020. 

The 80’s are a strange time for Disney Animated films.  After the death of Walt Disney the company continued with the “Old Nine Men” still mostly in charge of the direction of the animated films.  But by the time the 80’s started rolling around most had retired and the company seemed to be lost.  While some consider the 80’s the dark ages for Disney Animation it’s really more of  transition.  The younger animators wanted to delve more into the deeper and darker themes but the older guys wanted to keep the more traditional light family friendly films (side note. John Lasseter was one of the uncredited animators on The Fox and the Hound.  He would go to do the seemingly impossible and merge the two and tell family friendly stories with depth when he helped start PIXAR). Long story short The Fox and the Hound feels like a tug of war between the old school and new school, and the behind the scenes story is more interesting than the actual movie. 

The movie itself is about a young fox, Tod, who loses his mother but is adopted by an old lady and raised as her pet.  He meets a puppy named Copper and they become best friends.  Unfortunately Copper is a hunting dog.  Copper’s owner takes him away for hunting season and with the help of an older dog named Chief teaches Copper how to become a great hunter.  When they return and Tod wants to play with Copper again but Chief sees Tod and begins to chase him. After Chief is hurt, Copper blames Tod and they become enemies.  Due to the big hullabaloo the old lady decided to release Tod into a wooded preserve.  There Tod trys to fit in but can’t seem to do anything right, but he does meet a female fox called Vixey.  But the hunter and Copper can’t let it go.  They head out to the preserve to find Tod.  There ends up being a showdown  that involves a bear that almost kills Copper.  Tod comes to Copper’s aid and helps save him from the bear.  When the hunter goes to shoot Tod it’s Copper who returns the favor and saves Tod’s life.  Copper returns home with the hunter and Tod returns to the woods to live with his new girlfriend.  

The film has received some praise for showing how societal pressure can affect those who try to break from what is considered the norm. Some see the film as an allegory for LGBTQ relationships.  While I see how you can read that from the film unfortunately the film is a bit of a mess and it gets lost.  The film skirts around the bigger issues and instead has slapstick stuff with birds and very unmemorable songs that doesn’t really add to the story.  We see the story and we understand what is happening but it doesn’t get much deeper or explore those issues.   I think this is where the tug of war between animators really hurt the film. I think if they had picked a direction either way the film would have been better for it.  Personally I would have liked to see them delve more into the darker material but I can see a light hearted version being good also.  But by kind of bringing up the issues but then switching to a bird chasing a worm it ends up not feeling sincere.  

The one scene that caused the most division in the animation department was the scene where Chief the older dog gets injured.  In the book Chief actually dies. And the younger animators wanted him to die in the film also.  They felt that it would make Copper’s hatred of Tod feel more authentic.  The higher ups at Disney wanted nothing to do with Chief dying.  Their stance was Disney had never killed a main character before and they weren’t starting now.  So Chief was given a broken leg and nothing else.  But the arguments over this scene cause a big riff with major repercussions.  

Even though it doesn’t explore the deeper psychological stuff the movie is still a bit sad and depressing.  Tod not only loses his mother in the beginning but then loses his best friend and his home.  At the end the film wants to leave us on a happy note but it’s not really a happy ending.  Tod and Copper saved each other's lives but you get the feeling they will never be friends again and that they never will see each other again.  I never got the feeling that the friendship was restored.  But a caterpillar turned into a butterfly and the old lady and old man became friends so I guess all is right in the world.  

Overall: I know in some circles this is considered a classic but just didn’t work for me.  A story about friends having a falling out and one trying to kill the other should be a powerful emotional story but it just isn’t.  The songs and music were forgettable. The voice acting was fine but nothing that really stands out. It’s not one I feel I need to revisit.  

Random Fact

First Animated Disney Film released after I was born.  

Uncredited Animators include John Lasseter, Brad Bird, Don Bluth, and Tim Burton.  All would go on to make a name for themselves in the years to come. 

Was released the same weekend as Escape from New York which featured a different side of Kurt Russell. 

Production was stalled a year when Don Bluth left with a group of other animators  

Most expensive animated movie at the time.  

Disney Movie Challenge: Robin Hood (1973)

Disney Movie Challenge

Robin Hood (1973) 

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 58 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Frozen II in 2020. 

Robin Hood is the first animated film made that Walt Disney himself had nothing to do with.  Not wanting to stray far from other Disney films the team looked to the familiar story of Robin Hood and made it into a musical.  They decided it would be more interesting if they turned all the characters into different animals.  The idea was a big hit at the company and the movie went into production.  

The story is the familiar Robin Hood tale.   Robin steals from the rich and gives to the poor, he is the best archer, and he loves Maid Marian.  Both Robin and Marian are foxes.  You also have the usual cast of characters. Little John (a bear), Friar Tuck (a badger), The Sheriff of Nottingham (a wolf), and Prince John (a lion).  There are a few other characters like Sir Hiss (a snake) who is Prince John’s sidekick and Lady Kluck (a chicken) who is Maid Marian's lady in waiting, and Allan-a-Dale (a Rooster) acts as our narrator.  

The movie is an odd one.  I still can’t figure out how I feel about it.  While I have seen other Robin Hood films I have never seen this one.  Maybe having a vague familiarity with the story made something feel off for me.  But I think it is just the way the story is told.  In the beginning we go on a side story with some kids that doesn’t include Robin and just feels unnecessary.  Also the whole love story just feels strange for a kids movie.  There is a scene where Robin and Marian take a romantic walk with a love song playing (Here is the full scene.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aM85ygxYbI ). The song is actually called “Love” and it was nominated for Best Song at the Oscars that year. The scene reminded me of the “Can You Read My Mind” scene in Superman when Superman and Lois have a romantic flight.  Maybe it just seemed too sappy for an animated film about anthropomorphic animals.  

Saying all that there are some good times to be had in the film.  The voice actors are impressive and the character interactions are fun.  It's weird having Phil Harris as Little John in this one because this is the third movie in a row he has voiced a major character.  Having him back as a bear (he was Baloo in The Jungle Book) just felt right as him as a cat in The Aristocats  didn’t quite work for me.  There are also lots of fun scenes.  The archery competition and the castle robbery at the end are both great.  

The songs are also a mixed bag.  “Love” is a sappy song but the songs by Roger Miller like “Oo-de-lally” and “Not in Nottingham” are pretty good.   I will be honest I didn’t know who Roger Miller was before watching this movie but looking into it he was a pretty prolific country singer.  While I’m not usually a fan of country music I do think he was perfect for the role and his songs work really well.  

Overall: A mixed bag of a movie.  As the song “Not in Nottingham” says “sometimes ups outnumber the downs” and that sums up this movie for me.  It doesn’t hit it out of the park but the hits are more than the misses.  

Random Facts

The film originally was planned to take place in the old west. That is why some classic western stars like Any Devine, Ken Curtus, and George Lindsey were cast.  Also why country singer Roger Miller was probably asked to voice the Rooster and write songs for the film.  

The last Disney animated film scored by George Bruns. He scored the previous 5 Disney animated films and always created something unique.

During the chase at the end of the archery scene you can hear a snippet of “On Wisconsin”

Known for reusing scenes from earlier Disney Movies.  Here is a comparison of one of the scenes and the other films that were reused. https://youtu.be/Uf9PMbpH_j8 also here is brief overview about how it was a common practice for Disney to do that not just in Robin Hood. https://youtu.be/JU21shbaVBo

First Disney film since Bambi not to have any human characters on screen.  

A favorite film of Director Byron Howard who would go on to co-direct Zootopia. 

Disney Movie Challenge: The Aristocats (1970)

 Disney Movie Challenge

The Aristocats (1970)

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 58 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Frozen II in 2020. 

I once read that Disney disliked cats and that is why most of the cats in his early films were villains (Lucifer in Cinderella, the Siamese cats in Lady and the Tramp, and the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland).  So, after he died the first film they made was a movie all about cats. I can’t find any information if that is true and since he did personally approve the film and it was in the works since 1962 I assume it is false but I still think it’s a fun conspiracy theory.   After Walt died some say Disney entered the “Disney Dark Ages”. These so-called dark ages would go til The Little Mermaid came out in 1989 and the “Disney Renaissance” started. But the first film of the dark ages was The Aristocats. Just knowing this really puts the film at a disadvantage since you are going in with a negative impression before you ever see it.  

The film takes place in 1910 in Paris France.  A wealthy older woman, Madame Bonfamille lives alone with her four cats and her butler Edgar.  The cats include the mother Duchess and her three kittens Berlioz, Marie, and Toulouse.  When Edgar overhears Madame Bonfamille making her will and that all the money would go to her cats first then to him he decides he needs to take the cats out of the picture.  He drugs them with sleeping pills and drives them out into the country to leave them for dead.  But they escape and meet up with Thomas O'Malley, an alley cat who says he knows how to get back to London.  Along the way they have an adventure that includes meeting two English geese and a jazz band where they sing “Everybody Wants to be a Cat”. Duchess and Thomas end up falling in love but Duchess is loyal to Madame Bonfamille and says she must return to her home.  When the cats do return home Edgar finds them and tries to have them shipped to Timbuktu.  But the mouse Roquefort manages to warn O’Malley and he gets other alley cats to come help him rescue Duchess and her kittens.  In the end Edgar gets shipped to Timbuktu and O’Malley gets adopted by Madame Bonfamille and they all live happily ever after. 

This is one of those movies where there isn’t much to say about it.  It’s a fine movie but not very memorable and kind of boring.  Similar to The Sword and the Stone the film is mostly forgettable.  The big exception is the song “Everybody Wants to Be a Cat”.  The song feels random and doesn’t fit the tone of the rest of the film.  It’s also shot completely differently and definitely feels like something out of the psychedelic 70’s.  The plot seems to be cobbled together as part adventure rescue story of 101 Dalmatians and part love story of animals from the wrong side of the tracks of Lady and the Tramp.  But it wasn’t as fun as the former nor as romantic as the later. 

While the story doesn’t quite work the voice talent is pretty good for the most part.  Phil Harris as O’Malley works well unfortunately I had recently watched The Jungle Book so as soon as he started talking all I could think of was Baloo, which is a much more memorable character.  Another The Jungle Book alum is Sterling Holloway who was the voice of Kaa.  He is the voice of Roquefort the mouse in this one, and would go on to be famous as the voice Winnie the Pooh later in the 70's.  The biggest star at the time was Eva Gabor who brought a regal and calming voice to Duchess.  She always seemed in control and never got flustered.  Eva was perfect for the voice.  At the time she was popular for being on the show Green Acres., and would go on to be a voice in The Rescuers. You also have Scatman Crothers appropriately enough as the voice of Scat Cat, the leader of the Alley Cat band that sings “Everybody Wants to be Cat”.  Originally Louis Armstrong was supposed to voice Scat Cat but he had to drop out due to illness.  

There is a subplot about these two dogs (Napoleon and Lafayette) who live in the country and harass Edgar.  These are the funniest parts of the movie and kind of steal the show.  It’s very cartoony with Edgar and the dogs getting picked up by a windmill and running upside down under a bridge. So while it is funny it  feels very different from the main part of the story.   

OVERALL: A fine movie but not memorable.  It’s perfect for smaller children since it doesn’t have many scary parts and has a few cartoony parts with the dogs (although there is an odd scene with a drunk Goose that kids probably won’t get).   The movie lacks the  fun of  101 Dalmatians and romance of Lady and the Tramp.    

RANDOM FACTS

It was the last film approved by Walt Disney directly and therefore the last to end with A Walt Disney Production”

The song “Everybody Wants to be a Cat” has to be edited due to some lyrics by the Chinese Cat Shun Gon being insensitive.  

The Sherman Brothers convinced Maurice Chevalier to come out of retirement to record the title song. 

It was the last animated film the Sherman Brothers would work on until 2000’s The Tigger Movie.  After Walt’s death they had a lot of problems at the studio and had a number of their songs cut from this movie.  The songs that did make it in are not very good.  

The film was originally planned as a two part live action segment for Disney’s TV show The Magical World of Disney in the early 60’s.  Disney himself suggested it should be animated and production on the animated film officially began after The Jungle Book was finished.  

A sequel had been planned to be made by DisneyToons (the same part of Disney that did the sequels to Cinderella and Bambi).  It was supposed to feature a grown up Marie on a cruise boat trying to capture a jewel thief.  The film was ultimately scrapped.  

Disney Movie Challenge Bonus: The Jungle Book (2016)

 Disney Movie Challenge Bonus

The Jungle Book (2016)

Every time I watch a Disney Live Action remake I say the same thing "It's not fair to compare it to the original" but it's always hard when you watch them close together. Of course I made it that much more difficult on myself because I watched this one the same day as I watched the original.  So expect some unfair comparisons.  

I feel like this movie set the bar for the live action remakes.  It was a huge hit and got some great reviews so went in with some high hopes.  Maybe it was because I watched the original on the same day that I left feeling disappointed but this movie just didn't have the same magic the original had.  The story unfolds a bit differently then the animated version. Since I haven't read any of the books I can't say if it follows the original Kipling story more closely.  In this one Mowgli is still found by Bagheera but this time we learn that it was Shere Khan that killed Mowgli's father and the Mowgli's dad the one that burned Khan. Bagheera then takes Mowgli to the wolves where he is raised as one of their own.  Shere Khan the tiger returns to the jungle during a water truce that allows anyone to drink from the water hole without fear from predators.  When Khan finds that there is a Man Cub there he vows that he will kill it one day but will not do anything during the water truce.  The wolves know that once the truce is over they will have to do something about Khan so they decide the best thing to do is have Mowgli leave with Bagheera and return to the man village.  Once on their journey they meet a cast of characters including Ka the snake, King Louie a gigantopithecus (a change from orangutan from the original) and of course Baloo the bear.  Khan on the other hand is waiting with the wolves and keeping the wolves in constant fear knowing that Mowgli will eventually return.  When Mowgli finds out that the wolf pack is in danger he goes and gets fire from the man village and returns to the wolves to scare off Khan.  But while he is running through the jungle he accidentally sets a big forest fire.  He does have a confrontation with Khan and must outwit him to win.

The movie has an amazing cast of voice talent including Ben Kingsley as Bagheera, Idreis Elba as Shere Khan, Scarlett Johansson as Kaa, Bill Murray as Baloo, and Christopher Walken as King Louie, Unfortunately their talents don't do much to elevate the characters.  Kingsley and Elba are the ones that stand out.  I think Johansson is actually a better Kaa than Sterling Holloway but she isn't given much to do.  As much as I like Bill Murray I just feel he was kind of miscast as Baloo.  While he seems like he would be a great person to play the aloof bear it just didn't work.  And you never get that feeling that he has a great friendship with Mowgli.  

The movie did have some great cinematography and visual effects.  The jungle really looked amazing and the animals fighting each other looked realistic.  I do wish we got more of Shere Khan vs. Bagheera as the two cats were fun to watch fight.  While some of the fast moving shots felt off overall it was a great looking film.  

Again maybe watching it back to back with the original gives it unfair standards to live up to, but it just felt the story wasn't as compelling.  Did we need a backstory about why Khan hates man? Or that Khan killed Mowgli's father? Also one of the highlights of the original is the fun banter between Baloo and Bagheera and that was sorely missing in this one.  Being more realistic made the songs feel out of place.  Christopher Walken singing "I Wan'na Be Like You" was pretty disappointing. Then all we got was Baloo humming "The Bare Necessities".  Either commit to the music or ignore it.  That just sets you up for comparison that you know isn't going to end well for the film.  

Overall:  There is  amazing cinematography and great visual effects but the story just feels like something is missing.  As far as the music goes I wish they would make up their minds, either keep the songs or get rid of them all.  

Random Facts

Not the first live action remake of the Jungle Book there was one in 1994. The film starred Jason Scott Lee, Cary Elwes, Sam Neill, Lena Headey, and John Cleese.  

Garry Shandling voiced a porcupine.  It was his last role before passing away from a pulmonary embolism prior to the film being released.  

Disney Movie Challenge: The Jungle Book (1967)

 

DISNEY MOVIE CHALLENGE

The Jungle BOok

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 58 films. Starting with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937 going to Frozen II in 2020. 

First I want to say this review has taken me a while to write as there has been a lot going on and it is also the longest time from watching a film to writing a review luckily the movie is pretty memorable so it wasn't that hard to write.

After a number of Eurocentric films Disney took a trip to the Indian Jungle’s (although it is based on a book by an Englishman) to tell the story of Mowgli, a boy abandoned in the jungle and raised by wolves.  After being mostly hands off with 101 Dalmatians and The Sword in the Stone Disney was fully invested in this film.  Insisting on so many script changes that the original writer Bill Peet eventually left the Disney Company all together.  Peet was also the one who suggested The Jungle Book be the next Disney Film.  Peet’s original story was more faithful to the books but Disney wanted it to be more family friendly and straightforward as the books were darker and more episodic.   

The movie follows Mogwli who is found abandoned in the woods by Baghreera, a Panther.   Baghreera decides to save the boy and brings him to a pack of wolves who raise him as one of their own.  But as the Mogwli grows his existence threatens the wolves when Shere Khan the Tiger returns to the jungle.  Khan hates humans and would not hesitate to kill everyone to get to the boy.  It is decided that the best thing to do is have Baghreera bring the boy back to the man village (and that's just in the first 10 minutes). Mogwli doesn’t want to leave the jungle and give Bughera trouble the whole time.  Along the way they meet a series of characters, some good like Baloo the bear who wants to adopt Mowgli, and some bad like King Louie the orangutan who just wants Mowgli to teach him how to make fire.  Eventually there is a confrontation with Shere Khan and Mowgli must decide what he wants.  

The Jungle Book is one of those classics that I have never seen and wasn’t sure if it would live up to the classic status it has, but it actually does.  The biggest thing the film has going for it is the voice cast.  Everyone in the cast is excellent and really brought the characters to life.  The second thing the film has going for it is the music.  While the Sherman Brothers songs were lackluster in The Sword in the Stone in The Jungle Book they were all fun and catchy.  Oddly enough one of the best known songs from The Jungle Book “The Bare Necessities” was written by Terry Gilkyson. One of the things that makes the music work is the songs tell a story and move the plot along.  We learn everything about King Louis’s plot from the song “I Wanna Be Like You”.  

The most surprising thing I enjoyed about the film was the friendship that develops between Baloo and Baghreera.  They hate each other in the beginning but slowly become friends as they both try to take care and protect Mowgli.  It’s truly an odd couple scenario.  Baghreera is the neat and straightforward one and Baloo is the laid back aloof character.  Their banter throughout the film gives the film fun and heart (On a side note, this is what is missing from the 2016 live action version of the film).  At the end of the film I expected them to turn to each other and say “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship”.  

 

Overall: A fun filled film. Great music and great cast.  It's a step up in animation from The Sword in the Stone and shows the true genius of Disney because wanting to make a “family friendly straightforward film” really worked. The movie also movies quickly. We learn all the exposition in the first 10 minutes and then get on with the adventure.  The relationship between Baghreera and Baloo give the film it's heart. The ending felt a little abrupt but still works.  

Random Facts:

Walt Disney died during productions of this film and is considered the last film in the “Silver Age” of Disney animations.  The next film The Aristocats  is considered the first film in the “Dark Age” of Disney Animation.