Bolt
One of the trailers (which really shouldn’t be called trailers anymore, since they rarely trail the film) before Wall-E was one for a new Disney movie: Bolt. At first, I was skeptical, because first of all, John Travolta and Miley Cyrus. That doesn’t really spell to be a fantastic movie. Then, a super dog? Really? Hasn’t that already been done in some form or another?
But, as it went on, the trailer convinced me that the movie might actually be worth seeing. It’s the first trailer out of Disney-only that I have really wanted to see. Pixar films are a category all their own. Anyway, have a trailer:
Wall-E!
Johnathan and I braved late night and possible teeny-boppers to see Wall-E at the midnight release last night. Once upon a time, we would have had no problem with the midnight showing, even with work following the next day. Our schedules being what they are, though, it was a bit rough managing to stay up until the movie started.
The night was unfortunately laden with small disasters. The first was that the second the “first look” came on, it was painfully loud. We were hoping the assault on our eardrums would cease when the previews came up, but we had no luck there. It was only after Johnathan sought someone out and informed them of our dilemma that they even realized there was one. They did bring the volume down to a level that wasn’t painful, even if it was still over-loud for a movie theater.
Later on, during the middle of the film, the reel got off so that we were seeing the bottom part of the frame at the top and the top was in the middle. It was incredibly annoying and it probably took almost five minutes for someone to fix it. If it had kept up much longer, I’d have probably pitched a fit and demanded my money back - which would have been the first time I’ve ever done that at a movie theater. It was fixed before the climax of the movie, at least, and we were able to enjoy the rest of the movie in peace.
After being slapped in the face again by the trailer for Beverly Hills Chihuahua and having to see Brendan Frasier try to act again (as well as a couple of previews for some movies that look entertaining), we got to see the Pixar short! It was about a magician and a rabbit, and past that, aside from the hat that was remniscent of the Sorcerer Mickey hat, I can’t bring myself to divulge any further information about it. Pixar still has that spark and talent that I think you should see it for yourself rather than read my inadequate description of it.
Movie review continues beyond here. There will be spoilers.
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The Little Mermaid at The Tony Awards
On Sunday, June 15, the 62nd Annual Tony Awards came off at Radio City Music Hall. Various awards were doled out to the deserving few, and among those who went unrewarded was Disney’s newest baby, The Little Mermaid.
The award for best original score (music and/or lyrics) written for the theater went to Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote (and stars in) this year’s favorite, In the Heights.
Best lighting design went to Donald Holder for South Pacific.
Aside from a spotlight and exposure that the show will gain from having had a performance on the telecast (not that the show needed more - if nothing else, Disney is expert at advertising!), Mermaid gets absolutely nothing from the awards this year, even the pre-Tony recognitions. Then again, they did Part of Your World as their chosen piece - again. I’m pretty sure everyone who wanted to see that song has already seen it. (Sierra Boggess still looks like she has a tail growing out of her butt.)
It’s still a fan favorite and continues to do well at the box office week after week, so I doubt the folks at Disney are breaking their hearts too badly over the lack of recognition.
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
I’ve been a fan of the Chronicles of Narnia series since I was about twelve years old when I got the books as a Christmas present. Considering the amount of time that I have been a fan of these books (which, I know, pales in comparison to others who read the books long before I was even an egg), I was really, really looking forward to these movies.
The first one, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, looked exactly as I imagined it would be, so I was really excited to see the next one made into a movie. Keeping in mind, of course, that I haven’t read the books in a few years, so my thoughts on this next installment of Narnia is based on the movie itself, not the translation of the movie from text to screen.
(And in case you were wondering, yes, there will be spoilers.) Read the rest of the snark » »
Ex-Jack Sparrow spills on Disneyland
It’s not surprising that the experiences from working at Disneyland are pretty dichotomous in nature - either you love it or hate it. A face character working as Jack Sparrow at Disneyland pretty much reveals what went on behind the scenes, from how he got hired to how he got terminated. It’s a very interesting read.
Disney warned us we were going to have a lot of horny women coming on to us. They were also worried about girls. I heard Disneyland had an Esmeralda from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. She was very flirtatious, and they finally pulled her because men found her too sexually arousing and were acting out.
You never knew when the casting department was going to come into the park and watch you—they came out of nowhere—or something might end up on YouTube. If a character does something a parent believes is wrong, that’s the video that ends up on YouTube. I was on YouTube after I sat in a lady’s stroller. It’s something I often did, and parents would laugh and take pictures. But management came to me and said, “It looks like you’re sitting down on the job, and we can’t have that.”
I wouldn’t say it was surprising, since Disney has always had very, very strict regulations on ‘keeping the magic alive’, which pretty much told (and trains) cast members never to break the illusion that the characters are real. Also, Disney seems to be policing Youtube, so WATCH OUT FOR THOSE LADIES WITH CAMERA PHONES.
Jake Gyllenhaal confirmed as Prince of Persia
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jake Gyllenhaal and (relatively unknown) Gemma Arterton are set to star in the upcoming Prince of Persia movie.
Among other things, the nameless Prince now gets a name (”Dastan”), Farah is now “Tamina”, Jerry Bruckheimer talks about how he’s always discovering new stars (such as NICOLE KIDMAN and KEIRA KNIGHTLEY, DON’T YOU FORGET IT!) and everyone in Persia is white.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to this movie, though. I still think Gyllanhaal’s not the best choice as the Prince, I don’t understand why they decided to change Farah’s name (what, to make it more exotic-sounding?) and… I probably shouldn’t go there with racial representation. Nevertheless, the movie looks really promising, and with Bruckheimer at the helm, I’d suspect it’ll be something like Pirates of the Caribbean, except with less water and more sand.
Will the Real Wall-E Please Stand Up?
As the fervor for the newest Disney-Pixar film increases, more and more merchandise and neat little tidbits do as well.
A small promotional website is where the trail starts. The site is called Buy n Large. It appears to be a company within the canon atmosphere of the Wall-E universe which sells both space condos and robots. These robots are cute little things with names like Sall-E, Wend-E and Gar-E. This site was clearly created for promotion of the movie and is packed with cute little tidbits of non-information dealing with this fictional company. It looks very much like any well-designed corporate website might and I think the Pixar team did a good job in the creation of this as advertising. I’m a sucker for things like this, unnecessary though they may be.
The biggest piece of promotional gobbledegook (and, frankly, the best) is the totally real and functional Wall-E robot. Disney called it the Ultimate Wall-E Robot when it was debuted at Maker Faire 2008 in early May. The Wall-E robot can sense your presence and the presence of surrounding objects which enables him not to run into things, he has sound sensors on multiple sides which can allow him to go toward the voice which speaks to him (or the crash which accidentally happens too near to him, but one can’t be too picky), and he’s a generally functional (toy) version of the robot that we will see in the movie next month. (You can bet I’ll be going on opening day if I can swing it.) I think the best way to display this really awesome robot is through video taken at Maker Faire 2008. Here - don’t hurt yourself with excitement:
The Beverly Hills Chihuahua
I had the good fortune to be able to go to the movie theater last night with the intent of seeing The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Before the movie started, we were treated with the typical preview fare: a new epic action movie which promises to be woefully bad, if only for the inclusion of Brendan Fraser, an animated movie or two, the trailer for Wall-E and a little gem advertising The Beverly Hills Chihuahua. I kid you not. Disney has pumped out a piece of schlock which appears to be a movie for kids about a small breed of dog which is a popular fashion accessory for the rich and famous. I only wish I were kidding. Nothing can describe how truly horrifying this is except for the trailer itself.
I don’t know what Disney was thinking when they put their time and money into this, but I sincerely hope that they think it was worth it. I have a feeling that not many others will.
There isn’t much more that can be said about what is most certainly put into the way of the American movie-goer to make money rather than to entertain. I only hope that this movie precedes John Lasseter, because if he approved this horrifying piece of junk then I fear that Disney may not end up so well off as we had hoped.
Alan Menken on Being Nominated
Says Alan Menken in response to his Tony nomination:
“I was getting ready to leave my home in upper Weschester for rehearsal. We’re doing a workshop for Leap of Faith, which is coming in next season, and Tom Schumacher gave me a call from London, saying, ‘Well, you’re nominated!’ I was like, ‘What? Oh, OK. That beats a stick in the eye.’ [Laughs] No, it really brightened my day, and it’s wonderful to get the acknowledgement of my peers. I wasn’t even looking, to be honest. I’ve been prepared for quite a while for the idea of The Little Mermaid not to get any nominations. And to me, The Little Mermaid has already won. It’s an enormous hit at the box office. Audiences love it. Everything I wanted to achieve with it, we’ve achieved, and I’m really thrilled with the show. It’s wonderful to get the acknowledgement of my peers. I’m being inducted into the songwriter Hall of Fame next month, too. So June’ll be a very nice month for me!”
[Source: Broadway.com]
The Little Mermaid and The Tony Awards
The nominations for the 2008 Tony Awards were announced this morning. The Little Mermaid, which continues to do well in both weekly gross and capacity on Broadway, did not do so well in the hearts and esteem of the Tony voters.
Coming in at only two nominations, The Little Mermaid does not apparently live up in the eyes of over 750 theater professionals. The Little Mermaid was recognized for Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for Theater, which I assumes to mean only the new songs that have been added to the score and Best Lighting Design of a Musical.
Despite her eligibility, Sierra Boggess received no notice of her portrayal of the strong-willed, red-headed teen mermaid.
Does anyone else find it shocking that there were no nominations for things like costume design (wow, heelies!) or acting? Very shocking indeed.
I wonder if Disney yet regrets the decision to close a still profitable show to open one which has come to very little acknowledgment from theater peers.
