This movie is so dang adorable. Not the best thing ever, but fun and silly.

I love the characters in this movie. Merlin is a joy. "What's all this noise about London? They can't wait for the London Times, first edition isn't due for :looks at his watch: 1200 years." He is such an agent of chaos - in one breath he says "You can't use magic to solve your problems" and in the next breath he's washing the dishes for Wart with magic, saying, "No one will know the difference" when Wart protests that he's supposed to do it himself. Hahahaha, when he gets in the fight with the lady squirrel, hilarious; but Wart breaking the other lady squirrel's heart makes me so sad every time. "Blow me to Bermuda!"

Notable Grossness

None! Hooray!

I love every single minute Wart and Merlin are animals. They definitely used the part where Wart traps the pike in a chainlink as inspiration for Ariel catching the shark in The Little Mermaid, and I love it as a callback.

Archimedes is the best curmudgeon. Ector! What a complete doofus. I love him until he's mean to Wart. Pellinor is also one of my favorite string-bean-y lookin' dudes. I hate Kay - he's a complete dick.

Could we please just take a minute to talk about how Madam Mim is my goddamn Patronus. "Sounds like someone's sick. How lovely. I do hope it's serious. Something dreadful." She's one of my cosplay goals, and I have decision paralysis on what fabric to use. "Want to fight?! :slap slap slap: Want to have a Wizard's Duel?!?!?!?!" OH GAWD THE WIZARDS DUEL! It's so great. "I HATE SUNSHINE" Omg I love her.

The animation in this one is just as shady as 101 Dalmatians. Some parts are great, others are not great. I looked it up for a minute and it looks like this new method of animation from 101 Dalmatians saved a lot of money by copying the animator sketches to animation cels directly, eliminating inking. Apparently Sleeping Beauty didn't make enough money to recoup costs, so they tried this method in 101 Dalmatians and it saved tons of money. They used the same method in Sword in the Stone (and most of the films up through the 80s, refining along the way). You can tell it's a little better in Sword in the Stone than it was in Dalmatians, but it's still got a long way to go. That article can be found here: https://ohmy.disney.com/insider/2016/01/11/why-does-101-dalmatians-look-like-that I also think that there are some experiments with moving the camera over animation cels (like the car crash in Dalmatians) that don't pay off and just make the screen jittery.

Arthur, nickname 'Wart,' a white boy with blond hair around the age of 12, wearing a brown tunic with a high neck and holding a blue teacup, shakes his head, his eyes wide. The caption says, 'Do not want.'

Complete side note: The wolf being caught in the log feels very Wile E Coyote to me.

March 23rd, 2021

More Disney Animated Features

A movie release poster shows a group of white people, 4 men, a woman, and a young boy, surrounding a green animated dragon with pink wings and red hair. The poster says "Coming at Christmas, Walt Disney Productions' Pete's Dragon"
Pete's Dragon
Five human actors, a woman, a man, and three children of various ages, sit on a flying brass bed with a floral blanket, with the moon and clouds behind them. Below them, illustrated animals are in various poses: two fish dance together (one in a suit); two fish and an octopus play in a band together with the words "The Briny Boys" on the front of the drum kit; an alligator, a rhino, and a gorilla run around a soccer field in yellow and green athletic outfits; a lion in a crown and red royal robe stands with one foot on the soccer ball; and a secretary bird in a suit with glasses stands watching.
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Bert, a chimney sweep, Jane, a young blonde child in a red dress and yellow overcoat, Michael, a young strawberry blonde child in short pants and a button coat, and Mary Poppins, a nanny in a red dress with a black hat with white flowers, stand on a rooftop, covered in soot.
Mary Poppins
Bigfoot, a giant humanoid creature with red fur, sits in front of a cardboard box with a downward pointing arrow on the side, wearing a pair of white men's briefs underwear on his head. He holds the crotch hole open with his fingers so he can look out. Goofy, a dog-like humanoid cartoon with black skin and a pale face, and long ears, watches from his yellow car several hundred feet behind Bigfoot, with his son Max in the passenger seat; Max looks similar to Goofy.
A Goofy Movie

Recent Snark

The Lion King

February 22nd, 2022

This is a really epic movie, but it's less of my favorite than I remember. It still has some great moments and songs I like but basically, the half of the movie where Simba's away from Pride Rock is more boring than I remember, and I care a lot less about Simba when he's not a tiny baby.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

July 13th, 2021

Do I honestly even have to review this movie? I have a matching tattoo with my brothers where we each got Lock, Shock, or Barrel. I think it's safe to say I love the hell out of this movie. I've also seen it so many times, and so many times recently, that I ranked it before I even started it. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Aladdin

July 6th, 2021

This is really just such a joyful piece of art, not ONLY because of Robin Williams but definitely a lot because of Robin Williams.

Beauty and the Beast

June 29th, 2021

I love Belle and the animated furniture is charming. I liked this a lot more when I was a kid.

The Rescuers Down Under

June 22nd, 2021

This is legit one of my favorite movies.

DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp

June 15th, 2021

What in the actual hell is this movie? Is this the trial run on Aladdin? But like.............a bad one? Also the literal best part of this movie is when they play the DuckTales theme. At the end. :sigh: