As I've said a couple of times in the past, there isn't a lot to choose from when it comes to animated Christmas/holiday movies. The limited choice isn't the only reason I watched The Star though as the film has a stellar cast and I was intrigued in seeing how they would present the nativity story to kids.
As I just said, the film is yet another retelling of the first Christmas, but it's different than your typical story as it follows Bo (voiced by Steven Yeun), a small but brave donkey who finds the courage to break free and go on the adventure of his dreams. When Mary (voiced by Gina Rodriguez) gets pregnant with God's baby, word spreads out, and the king's henchman hunts them down, Bo, with the help of a sheep (voiced by Aidy Bryant) and a dove (voiced by Keegan-Michael Key), tries to save them.
While it's not biblically accurate —acutally, it's mostly fantasy. I mean even more fantasy than the Bible—, the story has quite creative, inventive twists, them being telling the story from the animals' point of view and changing things a little bit in order to make a more suspenceful and compelling story for everyone to enjoy while also learning something about Christ. Unfortunately, the idea is poorly executed and the story isn't particularly engaging nor entertaining. It's pretty dull, to be honest. I have to give the filmmakers credits for not making the film too much of a religious thing though.
The characters, on the other hand, are quite lovely and fun. The problem here is that there are too many of them so not only it's hard to remember their names —I'm not even sure they all had names— but most of them don't get the screen time they deserve, especially the camels, which are fun but sadly so underused. Also, some characters are just there and add absolutely nothing to the story, which is a huge shame because there was so much potential with the evil king.
Sony Pictures Releasing
The voice work is easily the aspect that stands out the most about The Star as each actor do a good job at bringing on the screen sympathetic and likeable characters. Steven Yeun carries the film quite well as Bo, the donkey, and Keegan-Michael Key's comedic timing and delivery are the only things that save the dove.
At last, the visual aspect. While it looks good from a distance, whenever there's a close up of a character, whether it's an animal or a human, the film looks old, almost like a film from a decade ago. The movements aren't that great either. They did a pretty good job with the animals but the humans are stiff.
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.
As if Gnomeo & Juliet wasn't terrible enough, and the trailer wasn't enough of a warning to the horrible movie this would be, I decided to entertain myself with Sherlock Gnomes, the sequel of the above-mentioned.
The formerly star-crossed lover Gnomeo (James McAvoy) and Juliet (Emily Blunt) are now married and live in London. But it's not all roses so when their gnome friends start disappearing from homes all over London, they team up with Sherlock Gnomes (Johnny Depp) and his partner Watson (Chiwetel Ejiofor) as Moriarty is believed to be behind the disappearings to save their friends.
Just like its predecessor, Sherlock Gnomes manages to disgrace another legend of English literature, Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, with an absolutely ridiculous and predictable plot that is a million light years away from being interesting. And that is also filled with utterly pointless, unappealing and cringy subplots.
Unfortunately, the terrible writing isn't limited to the plot. The characters are indeed just as bad. Not a single one of them is likeable, on the other hand, they are quite irritating, and they do absolutely nothing to make you care about them. Oh, and the voice work is pretty bad too. Johnny Depp, however, gives a surprisingly good performance as Sherlock Gnomes.
The jokes too are horrible. They are stupid and all fall flat and there are some adult jokes thrown in there that make you wonder who is the target of the film, kids or adults with very low IQ because there's no way someone with a functioning brain would laugh to those jokes.
Paramount Pictures
What's even more infuriating is that Sherlock Gnomes tries to make you think it's clever by using 2D animation to make its audience understand how Sherlock's brain works. It's a nice idea but definitely not enough to save the film.
Ultimately, the problem with Sherlock Gnomes is that it is the unwanted and pointless sequel to a movie people ignored in the first place so the filmmakers didn't give a crap about making a decent film.
While Cocogot the apparently obnoxious (I haven't seen it yet) Olaf's Frozen Adventure, the apparently obnoxious Cars 3 (yes, you guessed it right, I haven't seen this one either. And I'll probably never watch it) got Lou. Now, I don't usually watch shorts but I made an exception for this one because of the Oscar nomination (I watched this while I was waiting for the ceremony to start).
Lou is a "monster" made from the unclaimed items in the lost-and-found box in a kindergarten playground. Every day, Lou picks up the toys the kids left behind and sets them out on the playground for their owners to find. Then one day a bully starts taking other kids' toys and puts them in his backpack so Lou peacefully battles him to return the stolen toys.
As you can see, it's a pretty simple story but in its 6 minutes it's sweet and heartwarming and delivers an important message about bullying in a way that all audiences can understand it, especially kids. So given the message it totally makes sense that this was shown before Cars 3. Maybe it resolves the bullying in an overly simplistic way, it makes it look so/too easy (I know something about it since I've been a victim of bullying myself), but it's a start.
Lou doesn't only teach a lesson about bullies, but about responsibilities as well. How many times have we lost things? Forgot where we put them? Well, this short makes us reflect on that as well.
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
In terms of animation, Lou isn't Pixar's best but it's still visually beautiful, cute and colourful. If you get the chance, watch this sweet and charming little film.
I saw the trailer for Ferdinand (too) many times and I wasn't particularly excited or interested in seeing it. Actually, I couldn't care less. But then someone thought it deserved an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Picture so I checked it out. Now I wonder whether those people have seen or not the movies they nominate, especially this year. Between The Boss Baby --which I enjoyed, but come on! An Oscar nomination?!-- and this, I'm speechless.
In a ranch that trains bulls for bullfighting, Ferdinand (Colin H. Murphy) is a sweet and gentle calf with a tendency to smell and protect flowers for which he is ridiculed by his fellow calves. When his father (Jeremy Sisto) is killed, he runs away. Juan (Juanes) and his daughter Nina (Lily Day) finds him and they bring him home. Needless to say, Ferdinand (John Cena) grows into a huge but harmless bull. Eventually, he's mistaken for a dangerous beast, he is captured, taken away from his family and brought back to the ranch.
The plot is very simple and predictable and it's nothing more than the typical misfit story most animated films have. It's very bland and slow in the first part and even in the second part, when the story finally gets going and it gets a little bit more exciting and entertaining, it feels like there's something missing here.
The themes too are nothing new --it's once again the don't-kill-animals message, neither for sport nor for eating them-- and have been addressed in so much better ways in other movies, last year's Okja to mention one.
20th Century Fox
Then there are the character. While Ferdinand is very likeable and relatable and John Cena did a surprisingly good job voicing him, most of the others are forgettable, to say the least. That's not, of course, the case for Kate McKinnon's Lupe, a bizarre, silly, crazy goat that is the worst thing happened to this film. That damn animal is so annoying, irritating, you end up wishing they would bring her to the slaughterhouse.
That being said, Ferdinand has some ups as well. The animation is one of them. Though it does not reach Coco's levels, the animation is impressive, the characters look great and there are some pretty beautiful landscapes.
Also, the film is occasionally funny and somehow it manages to make you feel sad and happy throughout its running time. There is a pointless music number though and the song Macarena just doesn't belong in here.
Bottom line, this is not a movie that deserves an Oscar nomination.
I grew up playing with LEGO (and I probably still would if I wasn't busy all the time and their stuff wasn't so expensive -- a thing is having your parents paying it, a thing is paying it yourself) and, on my teen years, I occasionally stumbled upon the series Ninjago on TV. I didn't love it but it was okay when there wasn't anything else interesting on TV. I guess I watched The LEGO Ninjago Movie for the same reason, I didn't have anything better to watch and although I had very little expectations, the film managed to disappoint me.
It's a hard knock life for Lloyd (Dave Franco), the 16-year-old estranged son of Garmadon (Justin Theroux), the evil warlord who keeps trying to take control of Ninjago City and keeps failing because of a secret gang of ninjas. Turns out Lloyd is the leader of those ninjas but this time the battle against his father will be much harder as the ultimate weapon is unleashed.
The plot is like a ninja, so thin you don't even notice it. It has no complexity, which the previous instalments of the LEGO franchise had, no real twists (Lloyd being Garmadon's father is revealed within the first 5 minutes) and it's not engaging. Actually, it's quite boring.
I admit the plot wasn't great in the other movies either, but at least those have great characters. The LEGO Ninjago Movie hasn't got any of those. There's very little characterization, even less development, but most of all, they are not very funny. They are just meh. Also, the villain is pretty stupid. I did, however, like Dave Franco's performance. He really captures the kid's exasperation.
Warner Bros. Pictures
The characters aren't the only unfunny element in the film, the whole thing is unfunny. That happened because first, many funny gags and jokes were given away in the trailer; second, the humour isn't sharp or wit or clever. It's just bland. I did chuckle a couple of times while watching this, but that's not what you expect when watching a comedy, is it?
The father-and-son relationship does have heart though. It doesn't break any new ground, and it really felt like watching The Empire Strikes Back at some points, but it was nice having it.
The animation is still very enjoyable. The colours are vibrant, the settings are very beautiful and the characters look good too. The songs are nice too but it's a bit all over the place and they get a little distracting at times.
Happy Feet was an okay film but enjoyable enough for me to watch it whenever it was on TV. I never cared for Happy Feet Two because what could it possibly have that the original movie didn't? Nothing, that's what.
Mumbo (Elijah Wood), the dancing penguin, has a new problem: his tiny reluctant-to-dance son Erik (Ava Acres) runs away because he doesn't seem to be able to find his talent and encounters The Mighty Sven (Hank Azaria), a penguin who can fly. As if having to compete with this charismatic role model wasn't enough, the world is shaken by powerful forces and Mumbo must save the penguin nation.
Or at least that's what I understood because the plot is an absolute mess. Part of it is exactly the same as the first film, the rest is just a weird collection of short stories. There are indeed way too many subplots in this film that have no relevance whatsoever to the main plot. It's as if the writers didn't how what they wanted the film to be about so they put together a bunch of boring stories and call it a day.
But I'm not quite sure that's the worst thing about Happy Feet Two. The characters are just as bad, if not even worse. Way too many characters are introduced without being given a proper characterization or development, and since most of them are penguins, and they all look alike! It's not like the other characters are any better though. Also, they aren't that likeable -- some are very annoying and creepy to be honest, like those shrimps -- and I couldn't care less about any of them.
Warner Bros. Pictures, Roadshow Entertainment
Another problem with this is the musical numbers. They are all over the place! Whatever happens, they sing and dance and it's annoying because not a single one of them is good. They all are mediocre to say the least. Most of the songs are amazing though, but the musical numbers still were unbearable.
The only improvement over its predecessor is the animation. With a seven-year gap, it was nearly impossible though. Anyway, other than the fact that there isn't much creativity with the penguin designs, overall the animation is beautiful.
Remeber when I told you there aren't many animated Christmas movies around? Turns out it's true and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is pretty much all there's left for me to watch and since it looks like quite charming, I decided to give it a try.
Through Sam the Snowman (Burl Ives), the film tells the story of Rudolph (Billy Richards) before he became Santa Clause's (Stan Francis) most iconic reindeer. Born with a shining red nose, Rudolph was actually ostracized by the other reindeer and looked down upon by his own father (Paul Kligman). So he runs away and that's when he meets another misfit, Hermey (Paul Soles), the elf who wants to be a dentist, and together they leave the North Pole. On their journey, they meet up with Yukon Cornelius (Larry Mann), a prospector obsessed with silver and gold. Together they discover the island of Misfit toys and they must face the Abominable Snowman.
I didn't know the story (yeah, I know, shame on me), but it was very simple and predictable and yet it's very engaging. It's your typical outcast story that tells its audience to never let others pick on you about your differences and to be yourself instead of trying to fit in. But it's got so much heart and warmth, you'll forget about the clichés and all the rest.
Universal Television
Also very sweet and likeable are the characters. Rudolph is so adorable, I wonder what kind of person would not enjoy seeing him overcome his fears and achieve his dreams. Hermey the elf is very charming (and frankly my dear, I don't give a damn if he's gay) and Yukon Cornelius is so funny, especially when he licks his ax to detect minerals. The guy is tough and ambitious but also quite indecisive as he can't always decide what he wants (one time he wants gold, the other silver) which makes him the easiest to emphasize with. The other characters are nice too. And the voice work is quite impressive.
I wasn't crazy about the songs but I gotta admit they were kinda catchy and full of energy, and they are nicely performed. I did like two tough, Why Am I Such a Misfit and especially There's Always Tomorrow. The latter is quite touching.
The greatest aspect of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeeris the animation. Although at times it's a little bit clunky and bizarre and it looks dated, it's still very charming.
While searching for Christmas movies to feel the Christmas spirit, I stumbled upon Tokyo Godfathers(東京ゴッドファーザーズ Tōkyō goddofāzāzu) and, after reading the plot (yes, I did such thing), I decided to give it a chance. I didn't know what to expect because I haven't seen anything from Satoshi Kon, but now I know what to expect if I ever watch one of his movies again, a charming film.
Tokyo, Christmas Eve. Three homeless friends, Hana (Yoshiaki Umegaki), a transvestite, Gin (Tōru Emori), a middle-aged bum, and Miyuki (Aya Okamoto), a young girl, find an abandoned newborn in the trash. Since Hana grew up without a family and refuses to bring the child to the authorities, they set on a journey to find the baby's parents, starting with a key they found with the baby. I have to admit that I wasn't very happy with the plot at first. It just seemed a lot like the typical, clichéd, heartwarming Christmas miracle story. And it was, to be honest. But it's way more than that. It's a simple and yet complex story about friendship, family and love. It's got a slow pace but it's still very exciting and, despite the fact that it relies a lot on absurd coincidences, it feels realistic.
That's because of the harsh reality portrayed by Kon's film. It shows how not only homeless, but immigrants and homosexuals as well are treated, unfortunately not only in Japan but everywhere in the world. It deals with subjects and issues that are not normally seen in animated films, and Kon made it work.
Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan, Destination Films
That is mainly because of the characters. The three homeless people are well-constructed characters, each with their own complex personality and background (I was very impressed with it). They are not your typical heroes, actually, they are pretty flawed human beings but that's what makes them realistic.
The animation also played a part in that. It adds so much complexity to the expressiveness of the characters and it allows them to convey their emotions wonderfully, especially Hana, the golden-hearted transvestite who will make you both laugh and cry.
It's Sunday and the last day of Girl Week 2017 which means I could only write about an animated film with a strong female character, and I picked Studio Ghibli's Princess Mononoke.
While protecting his village, a young warrior, Ashitaka (Yoji Matsuda in Japanese, Billy Crudup in English), is stricken by a deadly curse and his only hope is to travel to the far east. He eventually finds himself in the middle of a battle between Iron Town, led by the ambitious Lady Eboshi (Yuko Tanaka in Japanese, Minnie Driver in English), and the animal inhabitants of the forest, led by a Princess Mononoke (Yuriko Ishida in Japanese, Claire Danes in English), a human raised by wolves.
Although it seems pretty straightforward, the story is far from being simple. It's actually quite complex, mainly because of its many elements of Japanese myths. Those elements, however, are what make the story so imaginative, interesting and engaging. I have no idea how a kid would feel about it, but I, as an adult, was more than satisfied with it. If only all animated movies had such deep stories.
Toho
It's a story of love and hate, war and peace, and they are combined beautifully. Most of all though, Princess Mononoke portrays the conflict between man and nature and delivers its ecological message very well. Although it's clear that the film sympathies with nature, I liked that there are neither good guys nor bad guys, just people.
The characters play the most important role in this "war" and it's impossible not to fall in love with them. On the one hand, there are humans, not all but most of them, who take/destroy everything they can from the earth. On the other hand, there's Princess Mononoke who actively sides with the animals. The tenacity and determination of this young woman are to be admired. She is determined to destroy all humans or die trying, to save the earth. In the middle, there's Ashitaka, a young man who fights to bring peace between these opposing forces.
However, I'm yet to mention my favourite part of Princess Mononoke, the visuals. This film is a visual feast. The drawings are simply gorgeous. The characters' expressions convey their feelings to perfection. And they make them feel real. And the settings, they are jaw-dropping beautiful.
Charlie Tahan, Martin Short, Catherine O'Hara, Martin Landau, Winona Ryder, Frank Welker, Dee Bradley Baker, Atticus Shaffer, Robert Capron, Conchata Ferrell, James Hiroyuki, Tom Kenny, Christopher Lee
Storyline
Young Victor (Charlie Tahan) conducts a science experiment to bring his beloved dog Sparky back to life, only to face unintended, sometimes monstrous, consequences.
Opinion
I am a Tim Burton fan, I really am, but I fail to see why others claim this to be one of his best - if not the best - works. Actually I don't really see anything special about it. Why is that? Because "Frankenweenie" essentially is just an average Tim Burton movie that doesn't have that something to stand out from the others.
Even if you haven't seen Burton's 1984 short on which the film is based on, I'm positive the story will sound familiar to anyone because it is an adaptation of Mary Shelley's classic "Frankenstein", only having a boy resurrecting his dog instead of a scientist resurrecting a dead body. And it's a great way to go if you want to introduce a classic to kids. But then Disney stepped in, and ruined everything.
I am not saying Disney can't make good films, but I just don't think Disney and horror make a great pair. They are more family comedy oriented that horror oriented, and the story - especially the ending - suffered from that. Who is to be blamed? Tim Burton, of course. He should have never signed with Disney in the first place.
The film also suffers from the lack of character development, not to mention that it is supposed to be a comedy but there is little to laugh at as the humour is quite mild.
However, despite everything, I have to admit that the story is quite well paced and has some genuine suspense that keeps you watching the film. Some other positive notes are the use of black and white instead of colours, the stop-motion animation, obviously, and the voice cast who overall does a good job.
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.
