Disney released two new clips from the new Winnie the Pooh movie and you can watch them below. It'll show you how they use the "pages and letters" of the book.
I remind you that you can read my full review on this new Disney animated in my previous article HERE.
Winnie the Pooh will be released July 15th in the U.S but in France the movie will be in theatres...April 13th! It's the first time that i see a Disney animated movie released in France three months before the U.S and i'm certainly not going to complain about that! A press screening happened on March 23 but there was an embargo on all reviews until today April 1st. It's now April 1st in Paris, so i can post my review and it's not an April Fools!
So, did i liked Winnie the Pooh? Well, yes and no. First, i have to say that the animation is extremely good. It's great to see the different characters alive again, drawn the same way as they were in 1968. Whether it is Winnie, Piglet, Owl, Eeyore, Tigger, Christopher or all the others there is no difference with the original animation. Disney animators did a great job and also used the principle of a children book with characters walking through the pages, just like in the original movie. And i don't want to spoil anything but you'll see how the "letters" of the book are playing an important part in the story.
But - as there is a "but" - the story itself, in my opinion, is not as good as it was in the first animated film. In the original movie there was three different chapters, each one with a different story. It's not the case here. Warning: Spoilers from now! The beginning is a bit weak and looks too much as it was in the first movie - with Winnie desperately looking for a Honey pot - but after a few minutes the real story begins. Christopher has disappeared and a message deciphered by Owl seems to indicate that he is the prisonner of a kind of monster. Winnie and his friends are decided to capture the monster and to set free Christopher...but everything is not gonna work as they've imagined.
Basically the whole movie is the story of a misunderstanding. Disney animators are playing with the (voluntary) absurdity of the situation and sometime it works and it's fun, sometime you think that it would have been better with more "madness", if they had pushed the "absurdity" of the situation to the end. But we must not forget that Winnie the Pooh is a movie for very young children which probably mean some limits in the storyline for a perfect understanding by 3-4 years old kids.
Talking about the story, the other problem is the length - not of the movie which is quite short as it last 62 minutes only but of the story itself. As i've said, in the original movie you had three different stories of approximately 20 - 25 minutes each, and in my opinion it worked better. Here, it's not that the story is bad, it's just that the story is not strong enough to last one hour or 55 minutes if we except the beginning of the movie.
So, is Winnie the Pooh as good as the first and beloved original film? In terms of animation, definitely yes. In terms of storyline, the original movie was i think better. And from what i've heard from the others journalists who were at the press screening i'm not the only one to have this opinion. However, if you're a Winnie the Pooh fan don't miss this new animated as you'll find back a big part of the charm of the original film. Also, when you will watch it in theatres, definitely stay until the end of the credits as there is a not-to-be missed scene at the very end! In the meantime, have a look below to a clip that Disney just released!
And here is a different clip, with Eeyore, this time from the french version.
We also had the good surprise to see the short animated "Ballad of Nessie" which will play in theatres in front of Winnie the Pooh.
The Ballad of Nessie is a great short in the grand Disney tradition of short animated films - it looks like a Disney short who could have been done 40 or 50 years ago. Here, not only the animation is perfect - excellent animators like Andreas Deja worked on it - but the story is very good. There is a genius idea in the storyline and don't worry, i'm not going to spoil it. The Ballad of Nessie has a lot of charm and although it's not totally fair to compare it with Winnie the Pooh as they don't have the same length, "Nessie" is probably more "perfect". Personally i enjoyed more "Nessie" than "Winnie" but it's only my opinion and you will tell me what you think of both when they will be released in theatres.
Finally, a little gift for you and specially for those of you who have children with this children "activity kit" which should be given in theatres to young kids. But if you wish, you can download it right now here: http://www.disney-television.com/cinema/winnie/winnie_kitactivites.zip
The artwork article of the week is thanks to Walt Disney Animation Studios. "The Ballad of Nessie" is the new short animated movie which will be released with the new Winnie the Pooh movie to be released soon.
Here is the synopsis: "A story set in the bonny blue highlands of Scotland, and centered on Nessie, the friendly Loch Ness monster, her best friend MacQuack the rubber duck, and how the duo came to live in the moor they call home. Problems arrive in the form of a land developer named MacFroogle, who wants to build a mini-golf empire on top of Nessie's home".
This short animated is directed by Emmy Awards winners Stevie Wermers-Skelton et Kevin Deters, in 2D traditional animation i.e in Walt Disney Animation Studios grand tradition. Nessie's animation was supervised by five of WDAS greatest artists: Andreas Deja, Mark Henn, Randy Haycock, Dale Baer et Ruben A. Aquino and Michael Giacchino wrote the music score. All of this sounds good, and i'm sure it's going to be good!
This week Tangled was released in the U.S, and apparently most of film critics loved it, some even saying it deserves an Academy Award... If you've seen it you probably have been fascinated by the magical "lanterns" sequence with hundreds of lanterns flying in the sky.
I thought you would be interested to know where Disney animators found their inspiration for this sequence, but first, for those of you who haven't seen Tangled yet, have a look at the "lantern" scene in the Tangled trailer.
In the trailer you've seen just a few seconds of the lanterns scene but in the movie it is a longer and fascinating sequence. And if i tell you that the sight of hundreds of paper lanterns flying in the sky is truly magical and memorable it's because i've seen it myself! And in real.
And where did I saw it, you ask? In South-East Asia. In Thailand, more precisely. You see, on New Year's Eve it's thousand of lanterns who fly high in the sky over the Andaman Sea. Thaïs people are there to help tourists to light the lanterns (and to sell them too, for a small amount of 3$) and if one day you come to Phuket for Christmas holidays it's something you must not miss.
Above two pictures shot in Phuket on Patong beach - you don't see well the people because it's nighttime but there was literally thousands of people on the beach, both flying lanterns and waiting for the New Year's Eve fireworks. And below, two short videos filmed by me which will show you these hundred of lanterns flying in the sky - in the video, all the white spots in the night are lanterns! On the second video, a big part of the New Year's Eve firework WITH the lanterns flying in the middle of it! These two videos are in HD and the firework itself, launched from almost everywhere all around Patong Bay is spectacular, so don't hesitate to watch the videos in full screen mode!
As you understood these lanterns-flying-in-the-sky is a typical Asian tradition and, although you won't see this in Europe, it didn't stopped Disney animators to use the idea for this Tangled sequence, even if the story don't happen in Asia. After all, why not, and i'm sure this sequence will be magical in the movie. But at least you will know where the idea is coming from.
I saw today in a press screening Tangled and i liked it. I mean, more than i expected. I didn't had a lot of expectations but, honestly, it's good, even very good. Good story and characters - including the horse who is very funny. Top 3D animation, too. A little bit too many songs, though - some are good, others not exceptionnal - and although they were written by Alan Menken there is not as many memorable songs than, let's say, in Beauty and the Beast.
However, I think this new animated movie is going to be successful, not as much as Toy Story 3 but certainly more than Princess and the Frog - which personally i liked a lot. There is a review embargo until Nov 7 so i can't tell you more right now but all i can say is that it should be a good surprise for all of you when it will be released Nov 24 in the U.S and next month in France and all over Europe!
Two days ago Disney released new Tangled trailers, one of them is the "international" trailer. If you didn't watched them yet you'll find them below. Also, you may have heard that Walt Disney Animation Studios showed last week an almost finished "Tangled" to the press. And apparently most of the guests loved it, some even saying it deserves an Academy Award which is may be a bit exagerated... However, it seems that everyone was fascinated by one magical sequence, i.e the "lanterns" sequence with hundreds of lanterns flying in the sky.
I thought you would be interested to know where Disney animators found their inspiration for this sequence, but first i let you have a look to the scene in the Tangled trailers.
In the trailers you've seen just a few seconds of this lanterns scene but in the movie it'll be for sure a longer and fascinating sequence. And if i tell you that the sight of hundreds of paper lanterns flying in the sky is truly magical and memorable it's because i've seen it myself! And in real.
And where did I saw it, you ask? In South-East Asia. In Thailand, more precisely. You see, on New Year's Eve it's thousand of lanterns who fly high in the sky over the Andaman Sea. Thaïs people are there to help tourists to light the lanterns (and to sell them too, for a small amount of 3$) and if one day you come to Phuket for Christmas holidays it's something you must not miss.
Above two pictures shot in Phuket on Patong beach - you don't see well the people because it's nighttime but there was literally thousands of people on the beach, both flying lanterns and waiting for the New Year's Eve fireworks. And below, two short videos filmed by me which will show you these hundred of lanterns flying in the sky - in the video, all the white spots in the night are lanterns! On the second video, a big part of the New Year's Eve firework WITH the lanterns flying in the middle of it! These two videos are in HD and the firework itself, launched from almost everywhere all around Patong Bay is spectacular, so don't hesitate to watch the videos in full screen mode!
As you've probably understood by now these lanterns-flying-in-the-sky is a typical Asian tradition and, although you won't see this in Europe, it didn't stopped Disney animators to use the idea for this Tangled sequence, even if the story don't happen in Asia. After all, why not, and i'm sure this sequence will be magical in the movie. But at least you will know where the idea is coming from.
I finally had a chance to see last night Princess and the Frog and here is my review. The movie was released in France last week only and unfortunately the press screenings happened when i was on holiday last month and i've missed all of them, so this is the reason why i couldn't write before this review.
So, i saw Princess and the Frog in perfect condition yesterday evening and i liked it a lot! I think it's a wonderful Disney animated movie and i strongly encourage each of you to go out as soon as you can and see it!
First, the animation is first class animation, just like in the old time of Disney animated movies, and Disney animators did a fantastic job, really. The characters are perfect - everything is perfectly done, in fact - and some of them are really funny like the crocodile or the rich daughter character. Backgrounds are sumptuous and Randy Newman's music is as great as you can expect from such a talented composer.
Though, it took Princess and the Frog more than six weeks to make $100 M at the U.S box-office and the movie is not as successful as the latest Pixar movies. So, where is the problem - if there is one? If we except the huge success of Avatar who took a lot of spectators, some may say that if Princess and the Frog was not extremely successful it's because it's a 2D animated movie. Let's think about this one minute : personally what i liked in Princess and the Frog was precisely that it has the class of Disney animated features in the grand Disney tradition (as John Lasseter would say). And it's true that when you see it you have the feeling it could have been done anytime between the 1950's to the 1990's as the animation style and the "Princess" storyline could have been one they choose to adapt in these old days. But that's a big part of the movie charm, precisely! It is this quaint charm which makes it enjoyable.
However i can see two reasons which could explain its so-so success at the box-office. First it's a "Princess" movie and although i don't doubt that young girls can still believe to these poor-girl-who-finally-meet-the charming-Prince stories i think that it's not anymore the same with parents. Let me be clear: even forty years ago adults didn't believe that this kind of fairy tale was true. But, in our 21st Century age, the cynism of the society reached such a point that it has almost destroyed any form of innocence in people's mind. Life is harder and harder - and it's going to get worse - and it's more and more difficult for adults to keep (even hidden) a childhood spirit.
I know that when we go to Disneyland it's precisely to find back this "childhood spirit", but we know that it's not the real life. Back in the 1950's - 70's when the future was bright it was different. Innocence was not yet replaced by cynism and even adults could be sensitive to these "Princess" stories. But not anymore. And that's probably one of the reason why "Princess" didn't had the success it deserves.
One other reason could be that in the times we're living people like what is "shiny". And i have to admit that CGI animated movies have a look more "shiny". It's absurd because it is the animation quality and the storyline which should be more important, but the look of CGI animated movies is more "charming" for the eye. And, by the way, we can see this love for shiny everywhere if it's not in any product. As you know i'm a big fan of Apple computers but i'm furious that all Mac computers have now - and only - a glossy screen. The reason why Apple is doing this is not only an economic reason but also because, precisely, glossy-shiny screens are as i've just said more charming for the eye.
All of this to say that the high quality of Princess and the Frog is not into question. It's probably more difficult now to have huge hits at the B.O with a 2D animated movie but that's not a reason to stop 2D animation. Right now the international box-office of the movie is $149 M but if we except Germany and Italy where the movie was released last December - and France since last week - the movie has yet to open in theatres of many major countries like the U.K or Japan. So, in the meantime, please go out to watch Princess and the Frog, it's a wonderful movie with great characters and, as i've said, top class animation. I'm sure you will love it!
/Film did recently a great behind the scenes Princess and the Frog documentary called "Frogumentary" and filmed at Walt Disney Animation Studios. It's now released in four parts on Youtube and i've embedded it below. Great document, don't miss it!
