Disappointed to hear this one guys. But surprised? No. AVATAR 2, once slated for December next year has been pushed back another year to December 17th, 2021.
Disney has also announced that AVATAR 3 is now pegged at December 22nd, 2023 and AVATAR 4 is December 29th, 2025. If there is an AVATAR 5 it won't see projector light until 2027.
I haven't heard the reasoning behind the decision to delay but I would add it up to be post-production needs and internal influences within Disney.
I avoided Wreck-It Ralph for years because I thought it would be a dumb movie for kids. When I finally watched it, I was amazed by how entertaining and enjoyable it was. That said, I still didn't care much for Ralph Breaks the Internet, and I checked it out just now because of the Oscar nomination.
Set six years after the events of the first film, the story follows Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly) and Vanellope (voiced by Sarah Silverman) as they travel to the internet to search for a replacement part for Vanellope's arcade game, Sugar Rush, which was broken because of Ralph and left the game's characters homeless.
The biggest issue with Ralph Breaks the Internet is that it seems like the writers forgot they were writing a movie, and instead wrote the "Internet for Dummies" book —the movie does go through the dangers of the internet such as online gaming, viruses, spam and such, which is good for kids, but it keeps portraying the internet has a dark place and the message is constantly shoved down our throats— and plenty of ads to show off Disney's empire —Star Wars, Disney Princesses, Marvel, even Stan Lee makes an appearance. There's simply not enough plot to fill the 110-minute running time —while the first part is quite solid and engaging, the second part is dragged garbage with a horrible ending. Not to mention the friendship message the film tries to deliver but gets completely lost.
The characters aren't that good either. The once-cute and adorable Vanellope is nothing but annoying in here, Ralph is no longer the misfit you root for as he's just the idiot who makes a mess after another, and the relationship between them isn't that fleshed out. They are not as bad as the new characters, forgettable being more than a compliment for them. The only redeeming character? Shank, a badass racer voiced by Gal Gadot. The character is bad but Gadot makes you remember her —I think I have a crush on her voice.
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
As for the comedy, it is a bit too dark for kids at times, the internet puns fall flat as they are too dumb for adult and kids will probably not understand them, and the references the film is filled with aren't always that funny. Don't get me wrong, there still are some funny moments —only in the first part though as the second is pretty dark— but there's not enough of them for Ralph Breaks the Internet to be enjoyable.
The animation is probably the only really good aspect of the film, the only one without a negative side. It's very beautiful, the way the internet is portrayed is very creative and interesting, and overall it's very rich in texture and colours.
When I was a kid, I hated my mother because she never let me watch the sequels to Disney classic movies. She always said that sequels are usually terrible and it's not worth wasting money on them. Now that I've seen The Return of Jafar, I totally get her.
After the events of the first film, Aladdin (voiced by Scott Weinger) and Abu (voiced by Frank Welker) have settled in the palace with Princess Jasmine (voiced by Linda Larkin) and her father, the Sultan (Val Bettin). But he still goes around stealing, his victim this time being a thief named Abis Mal (voiced by Jason Alexander) who eventually retreats to the desert and accidentally releases genie Jafar (voiced by Jonathan Freeman), who seeks revenge on Aladdin and, with the help of the thief, plots his revenge.
And there's also some more stuff going on, like Iago (voiced by Gilbert Gottfried), Jafar's parrot, wanting to befriend Aladdin, and the Sultan trying to make of Aladdin the perfect heir to the throne.
In spite of all the stuff going on, The Return of Jafar barely has a plot. It's just a lot of storylines put in the same movie. It isn't even nearly as interesting, fun and entertaining as Aladdin was.
On top of that, the characters are terrible too. They all are way less appealing than they were in the original film, they kind of lost their personalities, and, I don't know why since most of the characters are voiced by the same actors, they all sound so weird and different. I stopped the movie and checked on Wikipedia the cast because of how different the voices were, I kid you not. The Genie is no longer voiced by Robin Williams, which doesn't really surprise me considering the mess this film is, and he is no longer fun. Don Castellaneta is great as Homer Simpson but he barely decent as the Genie. Iago gets way too much screen time and becomes such an annoying character. Worst of all though is the thief/new villain, Abis Mal. He is beyond annoying not to mention how little interesting he is.
Walt Disney Home Video
The songs are pretty bad too. While the first film had so many catchy and memorable songs, this one has none. They aren't dreadful, but they are probably the worst of all the Disney movies I've seen. And I saw a lot of them.
The animation, on the other hand, isn't terrible. It's pretty good, actually, but it's a bit blander that it was in Aladdin and, at times, it really looks cheap.
Brad Bird's INCREDIBLES 2 looks to give FINDING DOREY (sorry DORY) a superhero punch to the box office chops. FINDING DORY has held the animated box office crown since 2016 with a take of $135m in its opening weekend, and now I2 is looking to land with an estimated $180m!
In fact, I2 more than doubled FINDING DORY's record Thursday night previews ($9.2m) with a staggering $18.5m.
With its A+ Cinema Score and a current 94% fresh on RottenTomatoes(audiences have it pegged at 90%), there really is nothing holding the sequel back from many, many more records. If you haven't seen it yet - it's definitely something to add to your things to see.
Wow. So the big question is who dies in this thing. There are a few hints dropped in this trailer but actually I'm not convinced that anyone dies in the first of these two Infinity Wars movies. I think that will certainly happen in the second though. We'll see.
Loving the interaction between the Guardians and Tony Stark! That's perfect Peter Quill if you ask me. With all these characters butting heads in this thing, who are you most looking forward to seeing interacting?
So check out this trailer! After all these years it all comes down to this. Seriously, Marvel already has an amazing stable of outstanding movies - well written and played out. They have had all this time to nail down exactly what needs to happen and to add the meat to the bones - this is all the marbles. These movies are going to blow us away I'm sure!
Marvel's AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR opens on April 27.
I remember watching The Princess and the Frog many, many years ago and really enjoying it. It was so lovely, it had charming characters and a nice romance. That last bit is the reason I decided to rewatch it, doing this crusade of mine of watching all these movies with romances. Unfortunately, it wasn't as good as the first time.
1920s New Orleans. Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) is a young, hardworking waitress who dreams of owning her own restaurant. Naveen (Bruno Campos) is an arrogant, carefree prince who's been cut off by his parents. Their paths cross when Naveen is turned into a frog by the Shadow Man (Keith David), a voodoo magician, and kisses Tiana who he believed was a princess so to become human again. But she's no princess and she too is transformed into a frog, and they must find a way to turn back into humans before it's too late.
In other words, this is Disney's take on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale The Frog Prince, and it's different enough to be interesting and to keep the story a little unpredictable --it's still pretty obvious how the story is going to end, especially the romance.
There are a few problems with the plot though. First, there's a lot going on, probably/definitely too much for a kid's flick; second, it kind of gets lost and drags at some point and instead of being engaging the story is quite boring. Also, at points, the plot relies too much (more like only) on action and songs to move forward and several important plot points relies entirely on coincidences. There are also some problems with the prince's advisor impersonating the prince subplot.
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
The characters, on the other hand, are as charming as I remembered them. I particularly love Tiana because she isn't your typical, helpless princess/damsel in distress, but she is a hard-working woman trying to make her dream come true, and I'm sure many little girls will find her inspiring. The prince, Naveen, is cooky and spoiled but also human. The animal sidekicks pretty good too, especially the Jazz loving alligator. As for the villain, the Shadow Man is a complete disaster. He resembles a lot of Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Damn and Jafar from Alladin, but he is not nearly as good. He is paper-thin, not so threatening and his motives are not that clear.
The songs are a bit of an up and down. Some are great, fun and catchy --Almost There and Friends on the Other Side--, some don't work that well --My Belle Angeline.
The animation is simple and yet beautiful: the filmmakers' decision to go back to Disney's traditional 2D animation works here because of the setting of the story.
John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch, Alan Tudyk, Mindy Kaling, Joe Lo Truglio, Ed O'Neill, Dennis Haysbert, Adam Carolla, Horatio Sanz, Rich Moore
Storyline
Tired of being the guy everyone hates, video game villain Wreck-It Ralph (John C. Reilly) sets out to fulfil his dream to become a hero. But it's not that simple and his quest brings havoc to the whole arcade world.
Opinion
A dumb movie. That's what I thought Wreck-It Ralph was going to be and that's why I never bothered watching it. But then I read the storyline, which I never do, and it did intrigue me a bit so I gave it a chance. And it was a pretty good surprise.
Although pretty simple and quite predictable, the story is engaging and very enjoyable from start to finish and it does have a few surprising twists and turns that makes it a little bit more interesting. What's really interesting about the film though it's the lesson it teaches. Unlike I thought, it does not show how a villain can become a good guy, but it shows that's the most important thing is being yourself and starting to appreciate you for who you are. Then, and only then, people will respect you.
It also delivers a beautiful message of friendship with the beautiful relationship between Ralph and Vanellope, a cute and adorable character who is an outcast, just like Ralph. And it did really surprise me how mature she sounded at times. And how developed the characters were overall. And the video game fans will love spotting the characters and references. And the voice cast is also quite impressive.
At last but not least, Wreck-It Ralph is also beautifully animated which does not come as a surprise since it's from the Walt Disney Studios. The animation is indeed amazing, filled with cute and colourful characters and very detailed background.
Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, Donna Murphy, Brad Garrett, Ron Perlman, Jeffrey Tambor, Richard Kiel, M. C. Gainey, Paul F. Thompkins, Delaney Rose Stein
Storyline
Kidnapped as a child by Mother Gother (Donna Murphy), Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) has spent her entire life in a tower, but now that a thief (Zachary Levi) has stumbled upon her, she is about to discover the world.
Opinion
I've been avoiding Tangled for years for a very simple reason, I was pretty sure it was just another Disney princess movie. And also because when I was a kid I loved the Rapunzel fairy tale and I was afraid this film was going to ruin it for me. But I was twice wrong.
Tangled's biggest strenght is easily the characters. They are very likable and well developed - although Rapunzel is the typical Disney princess - and each of them serve the purpose, especially the lovable chameleon Pascal and horse Maximus who both provide laughs throghout the entire film.
The characters aren't just lovable but they are also wonderfully animated. It's incredible all the details they all have, from the main characters to the minor ones. The settings and scenery are beautiful as well.
And the voice cast also does a great job. With some great musical numbers/songs, they bring the story to life and they make the film more enjoybale.
Irene Bedard, Judy Kuhn, Billy Zane, Donald Gibson, David Odgen Stiers, John Kassir, Russell Means, Frank Welker, Linda Hunt, Danny Mann, Jim Cummings, Finola Hudges, Jean Stapleton, Brad Garrett
Storyline
After hearing of John Smith's death, Pocahontas (Irene Bedard) sets off to London with John Rolfe (Billy Zane) to prevent war and battles between the two lands.
Opinion
The fact that Disney decided to go straight-to-video with this film was a pretty good warning, but of course I didn't listen to it. And it made me regret the boringness of Pocahontas because Journey to a New World is like a journey to hell. I really struggle to find any good in this one.
Easily the worst aspect of the film, the plot is terrible, pretty pointless and uninteresting on so many levels it's hard to explain. And for some reason I'm yet to understand the filmmakers felt the need to make it historically accurate. As if someone said, I know the story is a mess but if we make it accurate on a historical level, well, in that case, people won't be able to complain as much.
Although the worst part, the plot sure isn't the only problem here. It's the writing in general that is terrible. The dialogue is unbearable, so silly that makes you wish to be deaf, and the characters are so one-dimensional it hurts. Not to mention that they didn't even bother fully brining back Pocahontas's personality. And her new romance with John Rolfe, terrible.
And everything else is just as bad. The animation is so much poorer and the characters look so bad it's hard to recognise them. The songs are equally dreadful and they do nothing but make the film longer. And possibly even more tedious than when they talk.
Guys - here's some news sent to me that you might want to take advantage of - AND - get some cool collectibles. Enjoy GOTG2 - I know I'll be first in line!
REALD CREATES EXCLUSIVE 3D DOUBLE FEATURE FAN EVENT ALLOWING MOVIEGOERS A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME CHANCE TO SEE MARVEL STUDIOS’ GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 ALONG WITH THE ORIGINAL GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY AT SELECT THEATERS ON THURSDAY, MAY 4 NATIONWIDE
Los Angeles, CA – May 2, 2017- RealD, the world’s biggest 3D company has joined forces with some of the nation’s largest theater chains to offer a once-in-a-lifetime 3D double feature of Marvel Studios’ original Guardians of the Galaxy as well as the brand-new Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, exclusively at RealD 3D-equipped theaters. The special double feature screenings will be offered on Thursday afternoon May 4 nationwide at more than 550 locations only in RealD, it was announced today by Travis Reid, President of Worldwide Cinema and Chief Operating Officer for RealD.
Guests who participate in the special fan event will receive an exclusive mini poster and a set of souvenir collectible buttons while supplies last. Participating exhibitors include some of the nation’s largest theater circuits, among them AMC Theatres, Cinemark, Cineplex, National Amusements, and Regal Cinemas. For a list of theaters playing the 3D double feature, visit http://reald.com/#/movies/gotgdoublefeature
“The visuals in the Guardians of the Galaxy universe are stunning and the movies are even more spectacular in RealD 3D. We wanted to create a fan experience as epic as the movies and we can’t think of a better way to get fans excited for the new film than to offer an exclusive double feature event and a chance to experience both Guardians of the Galaxy films back-to-back in 3D,” said Reid.
As the world’s leading 3D cinema system, no company has been more instrumental in perfecting, promoting or providing premium quality 3D experiences to audiences worldwide than RealD.
ABOUT REALD INC. Globally recognized as the world’s visual technology leader, RealD pioneered digital 3D cinema and today has the world's largest 3D cinema platform. RealD’s dominant market share is comprised of a network of theatres that include more than 29,000 installed screens with a backlog of 3,000 additional contracted installations in 72 countries with over 1,200 exhibition partners. RealD is the world’s preeminent 3D brand, with well over 2 billion people having experienced a movie in RealD 3D.
ABOUT MARVEL STUDIOS’ GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 Set to the all-new sonic backdrop of Awesome Mixtape #2, Marvel Studios’ “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” continues the team’s adventures as they traverse the outer reaches of the cosmos. The Guardians must fight to keep their newfound family together as they unravel the mystery of Peter Quill’s true parentage. Old foes become new allies and fan-favorite characters from the classic comics will come to our heroes’ aid as the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to expand.
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” is written and directed by James Gunn and stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, featuring Vin Diesel as Baby Groot, Bradley Cooper as Rocket, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Elizabeth Debicki, Chris Sullivan, Sean Gunn, Tommy Flanagan, Laura Haddock, with Sylvester Stallone, and Kurt Russell. Kevin Feige is producing, and Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Jonathan Schwartz, Nikolas Korda and Stan Lee are the executive producers. Marvel Studios’
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” blasts into theaters on May 5, 2017.
LOL! Josh Gad is growing on me and this clip he posted to his Instagram account is another feather in his cap.
We are all looking for as much detail as possible for the upcoming STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI and sometimes a few of us might take it a bit too far. Enter Josh Gad. No, Gad is not involved with the STAR WARS mega movie - he is filming Kenneth Branagh's MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS with a certain Daisy Ridley though.
Gad invites Ridley into his trailer for some (I assume playful) interrogation to obtain some details for the movie. He wants to know (and rightly so) if the title is speaking of Rey's character being a Jedi, or if it is solely just Mark Hamill's Luke Skywalker, or both. A great question.
Ridley deals with the confrontation with suitable poise. Will she respond? Have a look:
Recently I've become interested in the movies of Dorothy McGuire. It started last month with my post on The Spiral Staircase (1945) for the Barrymore Trilogy Blogathon. Then, after seeing it listed many times on the TCM schedule but never watching or recording it, I watched The Enchanted Cottage (1945) last week. The next day I watched McGuire's first film Claudia (1943) on YouTube and yesterday I watched Mister 880 (1950). I enjoyed all of them, especially McGuire's performance in them.
Of course I have seen her in films before. Like most people I've seen The Swiss Family Robinson (Disney - 1960), although my eye was mainly on Fritz at the time, and I've seen Summer Magic (Disney - 1963)a couple times, and probably a little of Old Yeller (1957 - I have never watched the whole thing though and don't intend to), but in all of them she's just the kind yet concerned mother (plus I was a teen). I also watched Three Coins in the Fountain (1954) last year. Her performance was very good but she was too young for the role - in which she is interested in Clifton Webb whom she is the secretary of.
Trailer
The Enchanted Cottage (1945) was, as the title suggests, enchanting. McGuire is a plain girl who marries a man (Robert Young) who's face was badly disfigured in a plane accident as a matter of convenience - this is WWII. In the enchanted cottage however, they see each other as beautiful and fall in love. My only complaint is that McGuire wasn't "plain" enough for the role. Her character truly thinks she is ugly and I've definitely seen worse! All she needs to do is style her hair, do a little eyebrow trimming, and put on some makeup and a stylish dress! Another thing that bothered me is that it is implied that one cannot be happy unless they and their spouse is attractive. Also starring in the film are Mildred Natwick, who owns the cottage, and Herbert Marshall in a superb performance as a blind musician.
Trailer
Claudia (1943) is a more unusual film. McGuire and Young (in their first of four films together), are newlyweds living out in the country. McGuire - "Claudia" - is always running around, going through windows instead of doors, letting another man kiss her to see how she liked it, and admits to being attached to her mother (luckily Mother and Young get along well, no "in-law" animosity). Halfway through the film we discover the mother is ill (I'm guessing cancer but they never say what she has) and is going to die soon. She tries to hide it from Claudia but she overhears - one of Claudia's faults is eavesdropping on the phone extension. The movie basically ends with everyone accepting Mother's impending death and going on as if everything is okay. The movie was a hit, however, and McGuire and Young reprised their roles in the sequel Claudia and David was made in 1946. Unfortunately it's not on YouTube (their last film together was the 1978 TV mini-series Little Woman).
Mister 880 (1950) is a wonderful gem of a film, and I fear little known except to fans of McGuire and Burt Lancaster, who co-stars. Lancaster works for the Secret Service. He is called in to work on a counterfeiting case that has been baffling the Service for 10 years. When McGuire passes a fake bill, Lancaster begins trailing her. He then manages to get a date with her to investigate further. She finds out who he is and plays with him a little, leaving suspicious materials around her apartment. He's not too mad at her - they're going pretty steady by now. It helps that he's got some good leads on "880" (the file number of the counterfeiter). Edmund Gwenn is McGuire's delightful neighbor. This is a must-watch.
I am definitely going to be watching more of McGuire's films in the near future. I've been wanting to watch Gentlemen's Agreement (1947) for John Garfield for some time now and I want to get A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945) from my library and any other films of hers they have.
Walt Disney has always been a leader in the animation world. From the first flickering images of his Laugh-o-Grams in the early 1920s to the creation of Micky Mouse in 1928 to the first full length animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Disney has been a pioneer in this unique form of entertainment (Visit this site to read a fascinating article on "The Building of the Disney Studio" from a 1939 publication of Valley Progress).
Hurter working on Pinocchio
The first Concept Artist hired by Disney was Albert Hurter. He joined the team in 1931, at the age of 48. His job was as Disney's first inspirational sketch artist, where he would design characters for the animators to then bring to life, since his talent lay in his "ability lay in humorous exaggeration and the humanizing of inanimate objects." He was the "spark that kept others inspired" (They Drew as They Pleased: The Hidden Art of Disney's Golden Age - The 1930s. Didier Ghez). Other "inspirational artists" were hired to work with Hurter, including Bill Peet who stayed on for several decades, but Hurter had the final say and was the one Walt Disney went to to draw and approve the concept art for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). During his decade working at Disney, until his death in 1942, Hurter worked on many of the Silly Symphonies as well as the feature-length Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, and The Reluctant Dragon. Some of his sketches would be used many years later in Peter Pan and Lady and the Tramp. To learn more about Hurter, there is an excellent post here. The book mentioned above is also a great source (linked below).
Sketch by Hurter
Mary Blair joined Disney in 1940, along with her husband, Lee Blair. Born Mary Browne Robinson in Oklahoma on the twenty-first of October, 1911, Mary and her family moved to San Jose. As they were poor, Mary had to work very hard to realize her dream as an artist. She earned a scholarship to the Chouinard School of Art (later the California School of Watercolor). It was there she met and married Lee Blair.
After graduation in 1933, the Depression was in full swing, meaning that a job as a fine art watercolorist was out of the question. She worked for a time as a barmaid and later got a job at Ub Iwerks Studio as a cell painter.
1940 found her working as a concept artist at the famous Walt Disney Studios, working on such films as Saludos Amigos (1942) and The Three Caballeros (1944), both part of the U.S. "Good Neighbor" policy with South America (click here to see tons of photos from Disney's trip to South America with his artists, including Blair). It was on this trip that Blair's art took on it's distinctive look that had previously been lacking and launched her as an artist worth having at Walt Disney Studios. Before she went, Blair’s style had been "sturdy, fluid, and earthy"—lots of browns and blues and grays, but...
...the artwork that she produced on the trip–stunning, colorful, occasionally geometric, graphic, and modern–speaks for itself. She observed everyday South American life (a woman with a baby on her back, carrying a small basket of chickens; the way huts and homes made fascinating jagged patterns when aligned next to each other) and turned it into something dynamic and evocative. She didn’t emphasize the culture’s otherness or try to glamorize its exoticism. Instead, she found the inner beauty present in each passing moment. “She went inside herself to find how it felt, more than how it looked, and brilliantly communicated her emotions through imagery,” Canemaker notes. Even if you’ve never been to South America, you can look at Blair’s illustrations from the period and get a real sense of what it is like (source).
World War II was raging at the time and like all of the movie studios in Hollywood, Disney too did it's part, releasing an extremely diverse range of films that otherwise might never have been made. It was during this time that Blair was able to experiment and hone in on her unique style and flair for colors.
She was the first artist I knew to have different shades of red next to each other.
~ Frank Thomas
In 1950, Cinderella was released. Blair's concept drawings for the film are "jaw-dropping without being showy" and had a "delicate, almost greeting card fashion." And while the angular characters that appeared in her sketches didn't make it into the final film, the overall feel and colors remain.
Blair's style is definitely apparent in Alice in Wonderland (1951), Lewis Carroll's whimsical tale of a little girl that dreams up a "world of her own."
Blair’s brand of colorful whimsy, upside-down conceptualizations, and angular sense of geography was not only essential to the film’s lengthy pre-production phase but much of it (in a modified sense) actually wound up in the finished movie. In a way, it was a movie made up entirely of the abandoned dream sequences she had devised for Cinderella (source).
Peter Pan (1953), Blair's last feature-length film at Disney, also ended up looking different than the artists original sketches. However, her mark can still be seen:
... her style took on an almost collage-like aesthetic; bold, chunky, with deep shadows and high contrast. While less of her work made it into the finished film, it certainly informed the way the movie looked, particularly in its color schemes and use of lighting. Mermaid Lagoon, Skull Rock, the mischievous pixie that is Tinker Bell, these are all 100% Mary Blair (source).
In 1953, Blair left Disney Studios to pursue her own career. In the following years, she illustrated Golden Books as well as "scarves and dresses for Lord & Taylor, designs for Radio City Music Hall holiday spectaculars, paper sculptures for the Bonwit Teller strorefront windows on New York's 5th Avenue, television commercials for toothpaste and ice cream, illustrations for greeting cards, and advertisements for Nabisco, Johnson & Johnson and Maxwell House Coffee" (source).
Walt greatly missed Blair and made a promise to himself when it came to his next concept artist:
“For years I have been hiring artists like Mary Blair to design the styling of a feature, and by the time the picture is finished, there is hardly a trace of the original styling left,” Walt said. So he made a steadfast commitment: Sleeping Beauty, the studio’s first attempt at an animated fairy tale since Cinderella (this time utilizing 70mm film projection and an exaggerated widescreen frame), would really stick to Earle’s style. And it did.
Blair wasn't through at Disney though. In 1963, Walt called her back to have her design the famous It's a Small World display for the United Nations Children’s Fund pavilion, part of the 1964 World's Fair.
Sadly, after Walt's death in 1966, art opportunities for Blair also ended. She was told that her art, once cutting edge, was no longer modern enough. She died of a cerebral hemorrhage on July 26, 1978, at the age of 66.
My favorite Blair sketches: Cinderella & Peter Pan
Mary Blair may be gone, but her artwork lives on, in the films she helped design, in her books, and in her artistic contributions to Disneyland. I could spend hours looking at her sketches which, thanks to the internet, are available by just typing her name. There are also books celebrating her contribution to the animation world.
Disney isn't at a loss for acting talent in this live-action retelling of the animated Disney classic PETE'S DRAGON. Robert Redford, Bryce Dallas Howard, Karl Urban and young Oakes Fegley star in what seems to be a gorgeous live-action version of the family favorite film.
Disney continues to bring over classic animations to live-action and while I was skeptical at first, I enjoyed CINDERELLA and this looks great.
Here's the storyline: A reimagining of Disney’s cherished family film, PETE'S DRAGON is the adventure of an orphaned boy named Pete and his best friend Elliott, who just so happens to be a dragon. PETE'S DRAGON stars Bryce Dallas Howard, Oakes Fegley, Wes Bentley, Karl Urban, Oona Laurence and Oscar® winner Robert Redford. The film, which is directed by David Lower, is written by Lowery & Toby Halbrooks based on a story by Seton I. Miller and S.S. Field and produced by Jim Whitaker, p.g.a., with Barrie M. Osborne serving as executive producer. For years, old wood carver Mr. Meacham (Robert Redford) has delighted local children with his tales of the fierce dragon that resides deep in the woods of the Pacific Northwest. To his daughter, Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard), who works as a forest ranger, these stories are little more than tall tales…until she meets Pete (Oakes Fegley). Pete is a mysterious 10-year-old with no family and no home who claims to live in the woods with a giant, green dragon named Elliott. And from Pete’s descriptions, Elliott seems remarkably similar to the dragon from Mr. Meacham’s stories. With the help of Natalie (Oona Laurence), an 11-year-old girl whose father Jack (Wes Bentley) owns the local lumber mill, Grace sets out to determine where Pete came from, where he belongs, and the truth about this dragon. Disney’s PETE'S DRAGON opens in U.S. theaters on August 12, 2016. Here's the trailer:
Tangled's biggest strenght is easily the characters. They are very likable and well developed - although Rapunzel is the typical Disney princess - and each of them serve the purpose, especially the lovable chameleon Pascal and horse Maximus who both provide laughs throghout the entire film.
