Watchin' Disney #03: Fantasia

It has been too long since I've last Watched Disney, and for that I am sorry. I've actually had Fantasia rented for weeks but, as I said in the last post, I kind of thought it blew, so I was putting off watching it as much as I could. But Watchin' Disney isn't about whether or not I feel like Watchin' Disney, it's about Watchin' Disney. So Disney I watched.

Previous relationship with movie: Well, I kind of thought it blew.

So I watched it: I do not think it blows anymore. First of all I haven't seen this movie since I was a kid and no duh a kid is going to think a movie about shapes dancing along to classical music blows. Second of all my most recent memory of Fantasia is seeing Fantasia 2000, which best I can remember really did kind of blow. But that is dozens of Watchin' Disneys away. So as I've said, I don't think Fantasia blows anymore, in fact I like it now.

I mean this movie just starts out so bizarrely. The title doesn't even come up at the beginning. Just some guy walks up to the screen, and explains that they're going to play some classical music with animated visuals set to it. Like, he just says it like it's the most normal thing in the world. Now I can't claim to know what was going on in 1940, but the DVD is restored so well that it looks like it was shot today, and it's not like the fashions of the classical music scene have changed a lot since 1200 or whatever A.D., so I couldn't help watch this guy explain the concept of Fantasia as though it was made today, and it was almost like a Tim and Eric sketch come to life. So insane. Maybe that's why Fantasia 2000 kind of blew, because they had Penn and Teller do tricks and other comedians come out and crack jokes rather than just say it like it is that they're going to play some classical music with animations and you are going to watch.

And even then they just show the orchestra playing for like six minutes before there's actually any animation, and even then it's just a bunch of lines bouncing around. Frankly the actual animated parts of Fantasia aren't THAT good. They're extremely well-animated no doubt but they're not really all that entertaining to watch. The Sorcerer's Apprentice (the part with the wizard Mickey) is very obviously the best part, there's a reason that's the only part of Fantasia most people care about. However there is by a 20-minute segment where they just spit in Sarah Palin's bespectacled face by animating billions of years of evolution, complete with fish walking on land and dinosaurs non-coexisting with humans, set to classical music and marketed to children. Maybe 1940 was a lot cooler than I give it credit for.

Up next: Dumbo. That one should be soon, no more long waits, I swear.

A p. great page out of my notebook

We had to come up with 3 ideas for art projects we could do. I did that... AND some drawings. (a glimpse into my mind ^_~ )



Some of the more illegible texts:

fat bald guy: "pukin' up @'s"
one sad turtle: "stop putting graffiti and hats on me"
ghost w/ hat: "I'm terrible"

Watchin' Disney #02: Pinocchio

Hey, already up to Pinocchio! With any luck I'll have all these movies done in time to see Bolt in theaters! (I won't have any luck)

Previous relationship with movie: Owned it on VHS and watched it a bunch. Bought the DVD for Spanish class because the teacher gave extra credit for bringing in movies to watch and he liked Disney movies. We never watched it in class, but it doesn't even have a Spanish language track, so if we did I wouldn't have gotten the extra credit! Whoops! I failed the class anyway. This might be the first time I've ever watched the DVD.

So I watched it: It starts out pretty awesome. The first scene is almost a third of the whole movie. Rad, and admirable. But then after that, after the fox takes Pinocchio to the circus, it gets kinda insane. Then you have Donkey Island and then somehow Gepetto has been eaten by a whale? There are cool parts in each sequence though. The movie is a treat to look at, with so much great animation, but so far I have to say not as good as Snow White. Not bad though! I enjoyed it, I did!

Up next: Fantasia. Don't expect the wait for that one to be as short as this though; I don't own a copy of Fantasia on DVD or VHS, and I kind of think Fantasia blows, so I'm not in a huge rush to go rent a copy. Eventually, though. Maybe re-watching it will change my mind, that's what this whole thing is about isn't it! (?)

Watchin' Disney #01: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

TO ALL WHO COME TO THIS HAPPY BLOG, WELCOME.

Welcome to Unclephilsmovie's latest and greatest feature, Watchin' Disney! I'm going to be watching all of the Walt Disney Animated Classics in order and blogging about it. I'm not really sure what this "feature" is going to be. I don't want to review the movies because I'd probably give all of them A's regardless of how much I liked them because of their "historical value" and whatnot, well at least until I get up to the ones that stink and have no historical value, like Dinosaur. I really just want to watch all of the Disney animated classics, to reacquaint myself with the ones I haven't seen since I was little and finally see the ones I haven't seen, and I think if I don't blog about it I won't do it.

So, let's get right into The Blog Post That Started It All: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs!

Previous relationship with movie: Owned it on VHS growing up. Bought a used copy of the Platinum Edition DVD after it had gone out of print when I decided I should start collecting the Disney Platinum Edition DVDs (a trend I start every once in a while and give up on, hopefully this feature will get me to catch 'em all).

So I watched it: It's a nice movie, you know? Sure a lot of stuff is cheesy but it also has a lot of beautiful animation, some inventive stuff, and it holds up well. There, there's a "review" of every Disney animated movie through 1970. No for real, I enjoyed this movie. What, am I supposed to sit here and be snarky about a movie everyone loves? The internet is in no short supply of snark, THIS MOVIE IS A CLASSIC FOR A REASON, FOLKS. I genuinely laughed a couple times, and the scene when Snow White runs through the woods and the tree bark turns into alligators is cool! Ok hopefully after a few more movies I'll get the hang of what I'm gonna do with Watchin' Disney.

Up Next: Pinocchio! Should be fun!

Uh oh

Last night I dreamed I started a rap duo with Taylor Momsen, am I going to jail?

Kardashians, Carey and Rose

I dreamed that myself, the Kardashian sisters, and Drew Carey were all in an episode of the Drew Carey Show. It started out with the Kardashians trying to steal a bag of Double Stuf Oreos; I don't remember this part so well but it's not important. What is important is what comes next: Axl Rose showed up at Drew's house with a long red mullet playing a bill collector trying to get Drew to pay a bill. I wasn't sure if that was Axl so I snuck off and checked his IMDb, sure enough it was him in this Drew Carey Show episode. I hate Axl so I got a cup of water and threw it in his face, Andy Kaufman-style. He threw a tennis ball at me, so I called him a cuss and ran off. I woke up immediately and in that sleepy daze was afraid to go back to sleep because I thought Axl would beat me up in my next dream. I don't know why though, Axl's a wuss.

I made some stuff

I made these things.

A website:

http://www.public.asu.edu/~kstamadi/

An animated short I made:



Exclusive behind the scenes photo of that short: