LJG765

I'm not even sure how to react to this...first, Robin Hood is an underrated gem! Oo de Lally is a song that I sing often, Alan-a-Dale was cast perfectly and over all, it's one of my top 5 Disney movies. Also, while there were clunkers musically, Disney without songs would not be the same! Mulan, Little Mermaid, Lion King, Aladdin, Tangled, Beauty and the Beast, Hercules all great soundtracks. The 90s renaissance especially had great music. I will give you that more modern films haven't been quite as good, maybe one or two songs that stand out, but honestly, I love Disney music. You can sing to it, it's memorable.

BobO'Link

I like Robin Hood - just not Roger Miller so his presence makes it a bit lesser for me and hearing him takes me out of the story quite a bit.

I've never seen Mulan, Tangled, or Hercules. I own a copy of Tangled so may try to watch it over the next couple of days. I had a lumbar puncture early this afternoon so have been on my back all day on the couch for recovery and have watched several animated features. I actually watched Aladdin for the 2nd time. I like the story and music - I detest Gilbert Gottfried and don't like Robin Williams so *both* are huge annoyances for me in that one - Gottfried more than Williams. Had the film cast those two roles with different people I'd like it much better. Williams constant ad-lib stuff really detracts from an otherwise good story, At least Gottfried isn't "on screen" all that much so is fairly easy to ignore.

I didn't much care for Beauty and the Beast. and didn't lie The Lion King or its music at all (and its new version is horrible). It's been a while since I've seen Finding Nemo - it was a favorite of my oldest grandson when he was little. I really don't recall much about that one but also own a new BR of it so may work it in as well.

I also rewatched Peter Pan today - that's a top favorite Disney for me and one where I really enjoy the music. I also rewatched Despicable Me 2 - that one was a favorite of my middle granddaughter when she was little. I still get lots of laughs from it.

LJG765

I hope that the puncture wasn't too awful to deal with and that you recover well! (And that the results are what you're hoping for...)

I'll give you Gottfried-he's not my favorite either, but for me, it helps with Iago as he IS supposed to be one of the villains.

Finding Nemo doesn't really have much music other than background music, so not much to dislike there, but you didn't like Beauty and the Beast? Tale as Old as Time? Be Our Guest? None of it?

Peter Pan is fun, I enjoy that one. You might not be a huge fan, but have you seen the Mary Martin play version? I think I watched that one before I saw the cartoon version as a kid. We had a VHS copy of it (probably from TV) that I watched until it died. It's been released once or twice on DVD/BR, so I do have a decent copy now, but I remember having to fast forward through commercials. But a LOT more singing than the cartoon.

Tangled is one of my favorites too. "Frying pans, who knew?" Definitely a fair amount of singing in it. Hercules, while not one of my top favorites, I do enjoy. You probably won't like the style of singing, but I enjoy that they added in a Greek Chorus for backup singers. I didn't mention it before but The Princess and the Frog is also a good one. I appreciate Tiana not being a typical "princess" and her working for her dreams. The music is very jazzy as it's set in the '20s New Orleans, so that might be at least a different musical style you might like better.

davidh777

I really like Tangled. Mulan is good too, but Hercules is just ok for me.

BobO'Link

The Lumbar puncture was part of a process my wife and I are going through to set a "baseline" for mental acuity so if/when our mental capabilities begin to decline we'll be better positioned to get proper medical attention/treatment. Her dad and both my parents suffer/suffered from alzheimer's to varying degrees (her dad is especially bad). We decided that since it's in the family and likely genetic that it'd be a very good idea to get this done. It's a bit laborious but not painful - 4 visits with a neurologist (interview/verbal testing/discussing test results), blood work (the typical draw a vial of blood), a MRI, and a lumbar puncture (the final test) so far. That really wasn't bad at all - you barely feel it. The recovery from that is "lay on your back on a couch/bed for ~24 hours and drink caffeinated beverages until your eyes float" which is more tedious than anything. I have the final diagnosis visit left - where I'll get the results from that spinal tap. Unfortunately if they show I could benefit from starting treatment my insurance will not cover that yet and it's quite expensive. At least I'll know one way or another which is the whole point of us doing this.

And... enough of that... back to movies!!

I've seen a couple of live action versions of Beauty and the Beast I like far better than Disney's animated version. My favorite of those is the 2014 French production.

The Mary Martin version of "Peter Pan" is the first one I saw as a child. It ran every year on TV back then and I usually watched it in spite of not much caring for its "stage bound" nature, which severely limits the production. After I saw Disney's version I was converted and have only seen the Mary Martin one a couple of times over the ensuing decades (and I still don't care for its overall staginess - in general I'm not much of a fan of "the stage").

For me to enjoy a musical there *must* be memorable songs that appear organically. My problem is there are *very few* memorable songs in the vast majority of musicals, live action or animated, with many feeling forced - the "well... it's 5 minutes into the 2nd act so we have to have a song" mentality. Many Disney animated productions absolutely fall into that trap and suffer by the addition of sub-par songs as a result. The ones I really like have songs appear rather organically in logical places. The ones like Tarzan, where songs appear to be there for no other reason than to extend running time and/or hit that mark, tend to fall flat for me. That's a shame as some of those have really well told stories *if* that forced song break wasn't included. Tarzan is one of those (and I very much disliked the songs in that one - doesn't help that I don't care for Phil Collins, who supplied most of the music - apparently a deliberate choice to move away from the typical "showtune" formula - IMHO it hurt more than helped with its trite lyrics and MOR pop sound). When/if I rewatch that one I'll try skipping the songs - hopefully they end on index points making them easy to skip.

BobO'Link

I watched Tangled this afternoon. It's pretty good with my biggest gripe being that they used an anime style for faces/eyes, mostly on the female characters. I don't like the anime style of exaggerated faces/eyes. The claim is it shows emotion better. I find it incredibly distracting. The male lead was also rather generically drawn (looks very similar to just about every other Disney hero character). I enjoyed the story even though it strays considerably from the fairy tale on which it was based (not that unusual for Disney).

LJG765

I'm glad you're being proactive in your health...doing so saved my uncle's life because he knew his family history and made sure to get tested yearly. He's now the longest lived male of his family because of it. It makes a lot of sense to have a base line down to compare later.

Hmm, I think that it might not be the musicals that are the problem here...It seems more like musicals aren't really your jam. I will totally agree that not every Disney song is amazing, but I think there are more than you appreciate. Tarzan, for instance, though I do love the main song, You'll be in My Heart, does not have many memorable songs.

I can't say that that has ever bothered me. About the only animation style that bugs me, throws me out of the experience, is the type where it's always moving. Like in Loving Vincent or Dr. Katz (tv show). As long as it's consistent, though, I'm not too bothered about how something is drawn unless it's really, really distracting/odd.

BobO'Link

I'm absolutely not a fan of musicals and that makes it more difficult for me to fully enjoy most Disney animated productions.. Here's the list of those *I'll* select myself for a occasional viewing and I don't have to be in the mood for a musical. I really enjoy both the music and story in all of these - and, at least for me, there's not a single "clunker" song in any of them with the songs not interrupting the story but supporting it fully.

Mary Poppins
The Sound of Music
My Fair Lady
Singing in the Rain
Fiddler on the Roof
Paint Your Wagon

and arguably musicals (I don't consider them such though others do):
Help! (Beatles)
A Hard Days Night (Beatles)
This is Spinal Tap

For *any* other musical I have to be in the right frame of mind to even consider watching it. Animations with music are a completely different thing for me as I have to be in the mood for animation with the music being inconsequential (not a deciding factor) though it *can* impact my overall enjoyment of the film.

coyoteblue

I'm not a big fan of musicals either. I've only watched two, so far, for the Challenge, Cat's Don't Dance (1997), I like the story and the animation and mostly put up with the songs, and Muppets Most Wanted (2014), where I like everything, including the musical bits. Oh, I suppose that Earwig and the Witch (2020), might be considered a musical? Maybe not?

LJG765

I mean, at least the ones you do like are excellent? Admittedly, I haven't seen Paint Your Wagon though. I kind of feel movies like Help! are music but I wouldn't say musical in that the music is used to impart dialogue, emotions, if that makes sense.

I would consider Earwig a musical like Help!/This is Spinal Tap. Music is a foundational part of the story, though in a very different way than it would be in something like Rent or Hamilton.

BobO'Link

I've been working my way through the Despicable Me series the past few days... My favorite remains the 2nd (BeeDoh! BeeDoh! as my middle granddaughter called it). I watched Minions last night. It's "OK" but the main draw is the classic British Invasion music used. Otherwise it's pretty disposable though I *did* get a few chuckles. I plan to watch Rise of Gru sometime today - that'll be a first time viewing.

**EDIT**
And... Just finished Rise of Gru. I liked it better than Minions and Despicable Me 3. It *does* suffer from getting 3 or 4 period songs incorrect... it's based in 1976 but uses several songs from 1977-1980 in the film, with them apparently selected for the song title. A couple of others are mostly period accurate but weren't played on the radio much, if at all, by 1976 as they're top 40 hits from the early 70s. I can mostly forgive that as the movie was fairly entertaining.

LJG765

I think I've watched all but the last Minions movie. The first has been my favorite through them all, though I have enjoyed the others.

BobO'Link

I've now seen Frozen. I thought it was OK but nothing all that special. A rather typical Disney "Princess" type outing with quite predictable plot "twists." I really got annoyed by the first half hour when the two sisters were kept apart for truly no good reason other than to set up the main plot which is to eventually get them back together. It actually feels like rather cruel treatment of the younger sister. The music is rather forgettable, though my youngest granddaughter, and possibly the middle one, would likely disagree (both seem to really like this one for some reason). Olaf was a very pasted on side kick - absolutely dispensable with no real good reason to exist other than the Disney "need" for one. And it has that "big eye" computer animated look about it as well. Supposedly is based on Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen" story - from what I know of that story it's *very* loosely based on it, loosely enough for the source to be almost unrecognizable. It's another of the modern era Disney films that can't see myself watching again unless a kid comes over and asks to see it.

Sleeping Beauty is up next. I'm looking forward to a traditionally animated feature after all the rather generic looking computer animated stuff I've watched the past few days.

davidh777

Sleeping Beauty is one of my favorites. Love the animation style.

BobO'Link

I like that one, too. This time I was struck by how dissimilar it is to the source material. Yeah... I know... that's a very common thing with Disney adaptations but for some reason it really jumped out during this viewing.

When it comes to Disney animations, I tend to favor the pre-1970 films.

I also watched Snow White yesterday - another favorite. These early animations have memorable songs but aren't overloaded with them or have them used mostly to extend running times. This time with Snow White I was struck with just how simple and repetitive the "Heigh-Ho" song's lyrics are. The full on horror of Snow White's flight from the huntsman is also quite good and somewhat non-typical of later Disney films. All of the pre-70s Disney films seem to have a bit of a horror aspect that seems mostly missing from the post 70s output, even in films where it would be rather natural, The Hunchback of Notre Dame for example. While I was surprised at how much I enjoyed that one it also has too much humor injected into the story for my tastes.

shadokitty

I'm scheduled to have new internet installed this afternoon, so hopefully will be able to get back into enjoying watching things. I watched some things last week, but just didn't bother trying to open the site to update my list. Mostly I watched a few episodes of The New Adventures Of Batman. It's not a bad show, though not the one I was thinking of when I grew up. That must have been a 60s Batman, along with Superman, Superboy and Aquaman. Main reason I can tell is I remember what Catwoman looked like back then and Catwoman in this series looks different. There have been a few misses, mainly in episodes with one off villains but all in all, not bad for only paying $20.

BobO'Link

You are probably thinking of The Adventures of Batman from 1968. It had Kasey Kasum doing the voice of Robin and Larry Storch doing The Joker.

Here's a shot showing Catwoman in that 1968 series:


The New Adventures of Batman features Adam West and Burt Ward doing the voices of Batman and Robin. That series also features Bat Mite (a character I don't particularly care for - feels like one of those comic relief things added for kids).

I like both but didn't watch either growing up, "discovering" them in the past few years. Back then, most of the superhero series kind of fell flat for me. I leaned towards things like Jonny Quest, Space Ghost, and The Herculoids.

davidh777

I watched one of the newer movies with West and Ward doing the voices and didn’t really like it. I grew up with them, but they sounded too old for it now.

BobO'Link

I liked both and felt they channeled the 60s TV show very well, especially the first film as it has a bit more energy in the performances. The second, for me, is absolutely lesser feeling and just a bit "off" overall.

LJG765

Speaking of Batman...would anyone want me to add the DC Animated Universe/Original Movies/ Animated Movies Universe to the studio part of teh check list? There's quite a large amount of films that would qualify and Marvel is already listed.

davidh777

I think that would make sense. I prefer DC animation over Marvel.

BobO'Link

Same here. Sadly DC can't seem to consistently make good live action films. Even though I'm a life-long DC fan I generally prefer Marvel live action films over DC.

shadokitty

Just hit 50 with an episode of Paw Patrol on tv. Considering my internet problems for most of the month, I'm happy. Anything else I get from here on out is just gravy, since I still have the three day weekend.

LJG765

Just wanted to pop on here to remind everyone that since it's a long weekend for the US, I've extended the challenge through dawn on Sept. 3rd. Keep those watches coming (and don't forget you get double credit with the Criterion/Art House challenge for those overlapping days!)

davidh777

Been on vacation so the list is even poorer. I’ve started Blue Eye Samurai on NF. I like the animation style, and the story is interesting so far.