Monthly Archives: June 2015
Modern Mouse News: Poop Snacks and Selfie Stick Contraband
Stories Discussed This Week
Inside Out Delivers at Box Office
Creature Comforts Reopens
Zuri’s Sweet Shop Sells Crappy Snacks
Wilderness Waterside Villas
Hong Kong’s New Wondrous Show
Selfie Sticks Banned from Disney Parks
Anaheim-Disney $1 Billion Proposal
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Josh Taylor
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Angie Taylor
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Modern Mouse Radio #83: ONCE Season 4 Review w/ Daniel J. Lewis
This week, Josh is joined by the host of ONCE Podcast as well as several other podcasts as part of the Noodle.mx network, Daniel J. Lewis. Daniel and Josh are here for the yearly review of Once Upon a Time (Season 1, Season 2, Season 3) and there is much to talk about for season 4.
Season 4 began where Season 3 ended and that was the introduction of Frozen characters to the Storybrooke. With Frozen being such a recent hit for Disney, would these characters resonate with the ONCE audience? It was difficult to tell at first but over the course of the Frozen story arc we saw a mix of Disney’s Frozen and Hans Christian Anderson’s Snow Queen. The original story of the Snow Queen ended up overpowering Disney’s tale of two sisters for much of the Fall. Of course there were moments of seeing Anna reuniting with Elsa and pretty great lines from Kristoff and Anna, but overall the story of Ingrid, the Snow Queen, and her need for sisters and family dominated and felt like a great story for ONCE. It started off shaky but ended so beautifully and pushed us into a riveting winter break finale.
Beyond the Frozen plotline, we saw two relationships of love come to, what we could have sworn, was their ending in Rumple/Belle and Regina/Robin Hood. Probably one of the most heartfelt moments of the Frozen story arc didn’t have anything to do with Frozen or the Snow Queen, but had to do with letting love go between these two relationships. Seeing Belle leave Rumple behind and knowing that Regina was giving up her true love had to be the hardest thing to watch in season 4 but their stories are not done and where they went in the second half of the season brought our roller coaster ride right back to the station.
The second half of Season 4 was reserved for the “Queens of Darkness”. The story seemed to jump the shark and give us a bit too much up front. The writing team for ONCE put a halt to that and after realizing they didn’t have enough time to really explore this story arc fully. Sadly, Cruella De Vil and Ursula were two great villains written out of the show quicker than we would have liked, but we had to really get to Maleficent. Returning to the show from the dust, literally, and bringing a gem of a storyline that involved her, Snow White, and Prince Charming really gave several characters without much purpose a route to take leading into Season 5. The introduction of Lilly and how she is tied so closely to our hero Emma was a nice reveal. What will happen when or if we meet Lilly’s father in Season 5? Will the Charming’s find Lilly and Maleficent’s happy ending so they don’t have to feel awful about cursing Lilly to Earth so long ago? It’s an interesting story we are dying to see come to fruition in Season 5.
What about the Author? We have been waiting 4 years to see who was writing the stories that brought everyone to Storybrooke. Who was this all knowing being? It just so happens he was a regular guy. Isaac was a polarizing character for some. He was a let down for many who had their theories on who might be the Author. The interesting twist that happens by the end of the season is that Henry becomes the Author and despite breaking the pen that can write the stories, will we see him become something more powerful in Season 5? It’s an interesting change up for his character.
Last but not least, we end season 5 with Rumple being overpowered by The Dark One and darkness consumes Emma. With Emma seemingly becoming The Dark One, what does this mean for the rest of the cast? Who will save her and how will the do it? This is proving grounds for two former villains, Hook and Regina, who are now so attached to Emma and who want so badly to find their happy endings in Storybrooke. What will be everyone’s fate going into season 5? We will just have to wait until the Fall!
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Feature: Why Pixar Hits You Right in the Feels
In 1995 I was 10 years old and I asked my parents to take me to see Toy Story twice. That was the first time I saw a film twice in the theater and still holds up as one of the few films I’ve seen multiple times in the theater. Fast forward to 2010. I was a 25 year old man and I opted to go see the third installment of Toy Story in the theater by myself. I went to a matinee on a weekday and sat in a row all by myself…wait, let me rephrase this. I was a 25 year old man that went to go see an animated film on a weekday morning and cried like a baby.
Advanced screenings of Pixar’s newest film, Inside Out, have brought it attention on social media, specifically in the, pardon the pun, emotions. It seems like Pixar’s animated storytelling has, yet again, made people weep in the theater. So why is that? Why do we get so emotional of pixels and colors put up onto a screen? The answer is simple, projection.
When I went to see Toy Story 3 when I was 25, I was out of college and I was living on my own in my first apartment. Seeing Andy giving away his toys and seeing, what I thought was “the end” to some sort of saga, brought tears to my eyes. I projected myself into the character of Andy. When that first Toy Story film came out, I was 10 and I was always changing my preferences. One year I loved basketball and the NBA. The next I was really into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Despite my changing preferences I still kept my basketball collectors cards and my Ninja Turtles action figures. They were a part of who I had been and simultaneously who I had become. So when I saw Andy giving away his toys and explaining how cool they were, it hit me. There was a point where I wasn’t going to play with my Ninja Turtles anymore, but I didn’t know them as plastic figures. I knew them as the pizza loving, Shredder fighting turtles and that’s how I would always remember them. It hit me hard and it made me aware that I was growing up and that I wasn’t the same old 10 year old with NBA Jam bedsheets any longer.
Finding Nemo came out in 2003. I was 18 and a rebel without a cause. I saw Finding Nemo and didn’t get why it had become one of Pixar’s best box office films. I still wasn’t a fan of the film until I rewatched the film about a year ago. I was engaged and had someone that I cared all about. I had friends who had several children by this point. That’s when it clicked for me. This wasn’t some silly adventure about fish. This was about parents doing whatever it takes for their children. It’s what my parents would have done for me. Some people always talk about that “Mom Strength” where they could lift a car to save their child. Finding Nemo finds that strength. Marlin is any parent out there and no matter there fear, they would overcome it because they love their children. It’s clear that everyone parents in a different way, but at the end of the day every parent deserves a round of applause for raising us and this film perfectly exemplifies that.
We continue to project these ideals of humanity onto Pixar films because they want us to. Pixar films aren’t about toys or monsters or fish. They’re about us. They are about real emotions. So what can you expect to see in Pixar’s newest film about emotions? You can probably find me tearing up in row 8 of the theater. I’m now a 29 year old man and despite that fact that I’ll be looking at pixels and colors and hearing famous comedian’s voices, I’ll probably project my own teen angst that I once had and my mixed emotions of teenage life. I’ll probably relate to this film more than I will anything all year. Pixar gets it. They always have. They understand that when you watch a movie you appreciate it from your own life stories so they strive to mix their stories with your own. It is simple projection but sometimes the simplest of tricks can also be the purest. Pixar is pure heart, pure character, and pure human storytelling.
Josh Taylor
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Modern Mouse News: Frozen Ever After and Keith’s Last Show
Stories Discussed This Week
NBA Experience to Disney Springs
Jay Rasulo Steps Down
Frozen Ever After
D23’s Silly Symphony Concert
D23’s Broadway Stars Perform
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Josh Taylor
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Keith Lapinig
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Angie Taylor
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modernmouseradio.com
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The Whole Picture: White Wilderness
There have been rare occurences of the Disney company being surrounded by controversy. It eventually happened with Song of the South. That film will never be remastered and released due to it’s controversial look at race relations. The next great example of that came with our next movie decades after it’s release, White Wilderness. The True Life Adventure series, like the Fess Parker films, defined the 1950s and like the films all starring Fess Parker, True Life Adventures would be gone by the 1960s. Not that the series was bad or expensive, but more or less because of what Disney knew about their 1958 release of White Wilderness.
Starting in 1952, 12 videographers made their way to the Arctic and filmed. Due to the extreme climate of the Arctic, these film makers would travel back and forth so that they didn’t have to live in such harsh conditions for too long. Like all of the previous True Life Adventure documentaries, Disney funded but did not overlook the filming that happened in the Arctic. This lead to uninterrupted footage of many great and not so great shots that would eventually be in the film.
After cutting and editing, the film was released on August 12th, 1958. The film met similar reviews to their previous nature documentaries. They were criticized for the narration and unnecessary comedy, but because of the Arctic’s rough climate, it was the first time anyone had seen the landscape on film and in color no less. The animals documented in the film include seals, walruses, polar bears, ducks, lemmings, and wolves, all of which had not been seen on this terrain by the mass public.
Despite critical reviews, White Wilderness was still a box office success. It was released multiple times in theaters after it’s original release due to it’s popularity. Clips of the film were shown on Walt Disney’s television shows up until the 1980s when the film came under fire.
The Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC), and one of it’s longest running news shows, The Fifth Estate, ran a new story in 1982 about White Wilderness and other animal documentaries. What came under attack was the use of footage that doesn’t actually take place in the Arctic. Journalist Bob McKeown reported that film makers used a studio in Calgary to recreate the Arctic landscape and shoot many shots there. A scene where a baby polar bear is sliding around on the ice is actually shot on the sound stage and the videographers pushed the bear around for added effect.
The most disturbing findings brought up by The Fifth Estate are scenes about lemmings. Scenes supposedly shot in the Arctic following lemmings who will live life as a group and will march together no matter the cost were said to be faked in Calgary as well. Lemmings were shown to march across the landscape and jump into the Atlantic Ocean one after the other, only to hope that they make it to the other side before drowning. The scenes were actually shot on a platform at the Bow River in Calgary where videographers forced the lemmings to walk right off the platform into the river where all of them died. Experts were asked and McKeown found that the lemmings filmed were actually not migratory and would not have followed each other no matter the situation, especially in a death march as shown in the film.
It’s unclear of Walt Disney or anyone at the Disney studios was aware of the footage they were editing being phony, but it does raise the question after knowing that White Wilderness was their second to last outing for the True Life Adventure series. It could have been that the studio was just running out of ideas for the series, but it could be somehow related to someone at the studio knowing and willingly adding fake footage to the film for dramatic effect. Regardless of anyone at the studio knowing or not, it’s an unfortunate incident tied to the Disney name.
What are your thoughts on White Wilderness? Have you seen it? Did you know what you were actually watching when you saw the film or did you believe everything was shot in the Arctic? Leave your thoughts and let me know.
Josh Taylor
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Tweets From Tuesday: Least Favorite Disney Animated Feature?
I’ve long been a fan of Disney animation and I have my favorites which include The Three Caballeros, Pinocchio, and the Jungle Book. I’ve also noticed, while writing The Whole Picture series that there have been some films I could go without seeing again and that includes some Disney Animated Classics. For example, I’m not high on Fantasia 2000. I know it’s art, but I feel like one Fantasia film was enough. Don’t even get me started on Home on the Range! So I opened it up to Twitter, asking everyone what their least favorite Disney animated film is and why? These are the answers I got.
: Black Cauldron because it is a stylistic mess, an editorial mess, a mess of a story, and not worth the cult fascination. I haven’t seen this movie in a long time and for good reason. It does seem like a stylistic mess and it’s one single movie made from several novels all pushed together. (That’s called “The Reverse Hobbit”!) I’m sure I will watch this film again someday but it’s not on my priority list at all.
2: Though I haven’t finished Chicken Little, Home on the Range. Easily. It commits the sin of being a Disney animated feature for no one other than small children. On top of that, it’s lame, mostly unfunny, even a bit dull. I however do like the art direction and a few of the character designs, and Alan Menken’s songs are ok. Overall an insulting miss. I’ve watched bits and pieces of this film and it definitely fits near the bottom of the list. In the midst of a downtime for Disney animated features, it has to be a film most either have forgotten or saw and want to forget about. I would add to your list that the casting choices were awful and that the animation style was not up to par for Disney Animation Studios.
: Is it fair to say ANY sequel? Especially the little mermaid 2. But all of the sequels kinda make me sad. Budgeting reasons? Bambi is supremely dull. Might have to pick that one. Hunchback of Notre Dame because it’s just sad. Poor guy does not get a happy ending and that jerk gets the girl. Sad times. or ANY TINKERBELL MOVIE PLEASE MAKE THEM STOP lol no but seriously, make them stop. Unfortunately you can’t say any sequel. Fantasia 2000, if you count that as a sequel, and Rescuers Down Under are the only sequels made by Disney Animation Studios and I would say the Rescuers sequel was actually very good, not successful at the box office but a good film. However, it looks like the Animation studio will be doing more sequels in the future including Frozen 2 and Wreck It Ralph 2. The Tinkerbell films fall under the same. They aren’t considered Disney Animation Studios. (They are from Disney Toons.) I can say that Hunchback and Bambi are both Disney Animated Classics and despite the sadness that these films bring to family friendly movies, I enjoy both but I understand why they would not be liked. Bambi can move slowly and Hunchback is a very sad story that is very adult in some ways, leaving the kids by the wayside.
: Fantasia. I like it but its the hardest to sit through & watch. Theres no storyline to keep me watching for a resolution. Looks like someone close to me doesn’t appreciate the high art of Fantasia which is funny because I said at the beginning that Fantasia 2000 is up there for me as well. Good thing Modern Mouse Ang and I got married and we don’t have to watch these films all of the time!
Thanks to those who got back to me on Tuesday! If you have a least favorite Disney Animated Feature and you didn’t tweet at me, leave a comment below and tell us what is your least favorite. Be sure to follow me on so you can be involved in next Tuesday’s post and until then, see ya!
Josh Taylor
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Modern Mouse Radio #82: Best Reimagined Disney Attractions
This week, Keith and Josh team up to talk their top 10 best reimagined Disney attractions as well as parades, shows, lands, and theme parks as a whole.
Over the last decade or so, Disney Imagineers have taken classic attractions at the various theme parks and reworked them. Nobody likes to see their favorite ride go, so instead these great thinkers at the Disney parks are revamping them so that no park becomes stale. There have been some bad refurbishments and good ones, but these are the 10 best “reworked” Disney attractions.
Also on a sad note, we announce that one of our long lasting hosts has to step down and away from the podcast.
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Beyond the Magic: Reliving a Disney Side Memory
If you could relive any memory, what would it be and why? Reliving one’s memory can share and pass on different stories about them. When you think about your childhood trips to Disneyland or Walt Disney World, your imagination likely soars through the sky. Disney has such a huge impact and meaningful significance when visiting old or creating new memories!
For myself, I think of a memory back in 2009, when I was still a senior in High School and joined the marching band for one particular reason; to go to Walt Disney World. I had visited the Walt Disney World Resort in my early years with my family before I took the marching band trip in 2009, so I was somewhat familiar with the parks. The Magic Kingdom is still to this day one of my top favorite parks throughout Walt Disney World, and the reason behind my love for the Magic Kingdom was a night during that trip in 2009. It was Memorial Day Weekend. An event was taking place for a summer event series that Disney put together called, “Disney Magical Music Days”. All across the United States, different marching bands and musical groups came down that weekend in Orlando, Florida to play at different venues throughout the Magic Kingdom or Downtown Disney.
I was among the few lucky ones, with my marching band squad, to be an opener for the Electrical Light Parade. Many Disney fans including myself are admirable fans of this night time parade because of its rich and amazing show effects. I never thought in a million years I would be a part of something like that, and became a meaningful event in my life. It isn’t every day that you wake up and end up playing with a marching band in front of guests at the Magic Kingdom. That night after playing as the opener for the Electrical Light Parade in the hot and humid Floridian weather made me realize something; it was the best way to graduate with my class in high school and joining a marching helped me create a new memory. Disney is about making people happy and creating magical memories that last forever.
I have walked away with that memory and since then, have expanded my Disney side and I plan to make more memories on future trips. My long term passion with Disney has made me seek opportunities beyond what I thought I could, and that magic will always live inside of me. I have shared and made memories with my family, friends, and loved ones. No matter how old I get or what I do in my life, those magical memories will always be part of me. To this day I can always reflect on my senior trip in 2009. I’m always able to share that story. Stories are what create our legacy. Creating memories, like being a part of the Electrical Light Parade, are a part of our stories that can be shared for generations and can become our legacy.
Brian Saeger
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Just Left of Main Street: In Search of Castaways
One of the topics I plan to cover periodically here in Just Left of Main Street is something I am going to call Obscure Disney Movies. In this topic, as the name would indicate, I’ll talk about Disney movies that you may have not seen in a while, seen at all or even ever heard of. Since most of the movies I’ll cover will have been released 30+ years ago, I won’t provide an in-depth review of the movie. Instead, I’ll provide some history and background information about the movie with some color commentary thrown in. The first movie I want to cover in called In Search of Castaways.
In Search of Castaways was released in 1962 and starred Hayley Mills, Maurice Chevalier, George Sanders and Wilfrid Hyde-White. It was based on a Jules Verne novel Captain Grant’s Children. The basic premise of the film is Hayley Mills’ character’s father, Captain Grant, is lost at sea and she, her brother an English Lord and his son go looking for him after they are given a message in the bottle from him. Joining them on their journey is Maurice Chevalier’s character, Jacques Paganel, who was the one who found the bottle. The movie is made up of series of adventures the group has attempting to find Captain Grant.
The movie was the third of six films for Hayley Mills with Disney following Pollyanna and The Parent Trap. Maurice Chevalier made another movie with Disney as Father Sylvain in Monkeys, Go Home!, which was released in 1967, and, seems like a good candidate for a future Obscure Disney Movie profile. In 1970, he also sang the title song to the animated film, The Aristocats, which ended up being his final contribution to any film as he passed away in 1972. Both Mills and Chevalier have been inducted as Disney Legends.
Despite the fact that the film is not very well known today, it was a commercial success when it was released, grossing over $18 million dollars domestically – good enough to make it the third highest grossing film of 1962. The film also placed fourth in Top Action Drama category in the Golden Laurel awards, a, now defunct, film buyers voting award. In addition, Chevalier placed third in the Golden Laurel Top Male Musical Performance category.
No, that’s not a mistake; the category Chevalier placed third in was for musical performance. Despite the film being billed as an incredible action adventure with mystery and intrigue around every corner, it also, strangely, contained a series of musical numbers. As I saw one reviewer humorously comment: Castaways keeps you guessing throughout, never knowing if more natural disaster or another Maurice Chevalier song is next. In fact, the four songs that are sung in the movie, Castaway, Merci Beaucoup, Let’s Climb (Grimpons), and Enjoy It, were written by the legendary Sherman Brothers. Enjoy It, sung by Chevalier, is somewhat, well known and can, sometimes, be found on Disney music compilation albums.
These songs, while enjoyable, really did take me out of the movie, it’s difficult to get sucked into the suspense of a film when every 10 minutes or so, the characters are happily singing their way through the adventure. It’s very likely that these songs were included to highlight Chevalier’s singing talent as he had a very successful singing career over the years and an attempt to jump start a singing career for Mills.
In addition to the songs being a distraction, another major distraction is the extremely pure special effects. While I am certainly no film historian, the effects used in this film appear very bad even by 1962 standards. There is a heavy reliance on the use of green screen and models in the film, generally with very poor application.
Despite these issues, the film is still a lot of fun and quite enjoyable. It’s actually pretty fast paced and while, very predictable, still rather suspenseful in some places. The completist in me drives me to watch as many Disney movies as possible, but, I do think there is reason beyond that to take the time to see this film. I would recommend getting the DVD or getting a download of the film and enjoying a little 1960’s Disney fun into your day.
Chris Nolin
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