Here's All The News Announced At The Walt Disney Studios Panel At D23 2019

Well, the Disney+ panel at D23 certainly got the job done in terms of generating excitement for Disney's new streaming platform. Showing off an impressive trailer for The Mandalorian as well as announcing new Marvel Studios (Kamala Khan!!!) and Lizzie McGuire TV shows got a lot of positive publicity for Disney+. Next up in terms of high-profile D23 panels is the one for Walt Disney Studios, which will show off upcoming films from Disney's big theatrical studios that provide family-friendly content (so no 20th Century Fox or Fox Searchlight), Walt Disney Studios, PIXAR, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm.

Ralph Breaks The Internet Is An Episodic But Frequently Fun Voyage Into The World Wide Web

As Vanellope Von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman) notes early on in Ralph Breaks The Internet, the internet is a vast place. This sprawling domain is rife with possibilities for comedy and it's easy to imagine that writing up potential internet-based plot points or gags for Ralph Breaks The Internet would be an incredibly fun exercise. Unfortunately, the excess of potential in its central concept seems to have thrown Ralph Breaks The Internet off-kilter to a degree in terms of storytelling. Frequently, the films feels like a collection of stand-alone short films chronicling the exploits of the Wreck-It Ralph protagonists exploring the wide world of the internet rather than a cohesive feature-length movie.

Consider Giving Olaf's Frozen Adventure The Cold Shoulder

The reaction my audience at my screening of Coco had to the pre-movie holiday special Olaf's Frozen Adventure, a 21-ish minute long short originally intended for release solely on ABC, was intriguing to me, as quiet confusion slowly morphed into people, who were realizing this thing was going on much longer than the typical five-minute PIXAR or Disney Animation short, leaving in hordes to go to the concession stand. Those who left the auditorium didn't miss much as Olaf's Frozen Adventure is a middling creation and I say that as someone who actually enjoyed both the original Frozen and the character of Olaf The Snowman.

THAR BE GOLD IN THEM STARS: Treasure Planet (Lovefest Entry #2)

Lovefest is an annual tradition done by the Dissolve community wherein people do extensive reviews and defenses of movies they love that have garnered a more negative public reception. This year, Douglas Laman decided to take a look at the 2002 Ron Clement and John Musker movie Treasure Planet.

At this point, the canon of films made by Walt Disney Animation Studios is so dense (it contain 56 films as of this writing) that you’ve got all kinds of different types of movies in regards to how much success they had. You’ve got your out-and-out hits (Frozen, The Lion King, The Jungle Book), you’ve got your bombs that got reappraised as classics (Fantasia and Sleeping Beauty) and then you’ve got your features that bombed but developed a cult following over the years. Hercules and The Emperor’s New Groove most certainly belong in this category as does (to a far lesser degree) the subject of this Lovefest review, Treasure Planet.

Here's All The News Announced At The Walt Disney Animation Studios/PIXAR Panel At D23 2017

The bi-annual Disney centered convention D23 is going on this weekend and today they held their panel centered exclusively on their two animation studios, PIXAR and Walt Disney Animation Studios. Expect some news on the next two PIXAR movies, Coco and The Incredibles 2 and also the 2018 Disney Animation movie Wreck-It Raph 2. What else will be there? Expect some news from the single features each studio expects to put out in 2019; Toy Story 4 for PIXAR (I guess we'll find out if that film is even still happening given how much it's been delayed since it was announced four years ago) and Frozen 2 for Disney Animation. I'm personally hoping to get some plot details on the two completely original movies PIXAR has planned for 2020.

A Seafaring Quest For Identity Drives The Thoughtful And Fun Moana

Looks like Walt Disney Animation Studios recent hot streak continues unabated with their newest motion picture, Moana, which also manages to be the movie that brings back Disney Animation legends Ron Clements and John Musker to the directors chair for the first time since the 2009 feature The Princess And The Frog. This duo's been responsible for a couple of movies you may have heard of like The Little Mermaid and Aladdin and now, with Moana, they've probably made their best movie yet, mainly because its plot is better structured than the likes of The Little Mermaid and its also got a lead character who's actually as interesting as the sidekicks and world they inhabit unlike their 1997 effort Hercules.

Wreck-It Ralph 2 Has An Official Release Date!

Well, the release slate for Walt Disney Animation Studios got an update today, as director Rich Moore and actor John C. Reily announced that Wreck-It Ralph 2 is arriving March 9, 2018! An image released to commemorate the occasion, showing Ralph and Vanellope looming over buildings with names obviously parodying the likes of Amazon and Google suggest that the forthcoming follow-up will take Ralph and his pals to the internet and perhaps even modern day gaming. I personally loved Wreck-It Ralph, it's got a great script, a terrific vocal performance from Reily and its world seems perfectly suited for new adventures. So yeah, I'm jacked for more Wreck-It Ralph movies!

The First Trailer For The Next Walt Disney Animation Studios Movie, Moana, Has Hit The Shores!

Ron Clements And John Musker are two of the most prolific figures in the history of Disney Animation thanks to their directorial credits on (deep breath) The Great Mouse Detective, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Hercules, Treasure Planet and The Princess And The Frog. Yeah, this duo has one helluva track record and their newest directorial effort, Moana, arrives this Thanksgiving. The first trailer for Moana has hit the interwebs and you can watch it below!

Five Underrated Disney Songs

It's hard to resist the various musical numbers found in a number of the 55 films in the Disney Animation canon, but in my book there's a couple of these tunes that could definitely stand to be more well-known. Thus, I've compiled a piece to examine five songs from classic Disney features that really do deserve more recognition for their accomplishments in numerous areas. For full disclosure, the only criteria to be eligible for this list is that the song had to be from the Disney Animation canon (which excludes films like Enchanted) and could not be nominated for a Best Original Song Oscar.

Now, let's get this started, shall we?

Zootopia Review

Some of the most loved rhetoric to describe gestating projects by Hollywood producers is "grounded" or "realistic", mainly as a way to give prospective moviegoers the idea that the film in question will be akin to box office hits like The Dark Knight. Typically though, the movies in question end up just diluting the color grading and making everything super gloomy in terms of tone instead of going for the rich characters and thrilling action that made The Dark Knight and other successful "grounded" and "realistic" motion pictures so unique.

Over A Decade Before Zootopia, Disney Animation Tried To A Create A World Of Animals In Chicken Little

Ah, Chicken Little. As a proud Disney Animation aficionado, I can honestly say that, in the spectrum of the studios 54 (soon to be 55 with the release of this Friday's motion picture Zootopia) movies, Chicken Little easily ranks near the bottom in terms of quality. Since it's November 2005 release, the movie has basically vanished from the face of the Earth, scrubbed from Disney merchandising and swept under the rug. You won't find the likes of Runt Of The Litter as a Disney Infinity figure, and even its online fanbase is basically nonexistent. While the likes of far less financially successful films like Treasure Planet and The Emperor's New Groove continue to find fans, Chicken Little has been sent out to pasture, so to speak.

Here's All The News Announced At The Walt Disney Animation Studios/PIXAR Panel At D23

The bi-annual Disney centered convention D23 is going on this weekend and today they held one of two major panels centered on upcoming Disney motion pictures. Tomorrow they'll hold a panel centering on live-action films (which does include future Marvel and Star Wars movies), but today they're holding a panel solely focused on the upcoming features from Walt Disney Animation Studios and PIXAR.

Brother Bear Is Straightforward, Flawed But Not Without Its Charms (Classic Write-Up)

Those early years of the 21st century of Walt Disney Animation Studios will likely be looked upon in the same manner as the studios work of the 70's and 80's, with both eras trying to overcome expectations of the past while attempting to blaze new storytelling trails. The films of the 70's and 80's have mostly fallen into obscurity (though this time period did give me one of my favorite films of all-time, The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh), but hopefully the films that greeted audiences in this new century don't share the same fate, as there are some gems to be found in that era.

The Five Best Disney Villains

Writing about Treasure Planet last week got me to thinking about those wonderful animated Disney films that left such an impression on me on as a person After thinking about the topic over the course of the past few days, as well as reading Entertainment Weekly's ranking of 20 Disney villains songs, which insanely undervalued Hellfire), I thought I'd write about a crucial part of the movies from Walt Disney Animation Studios; the villains.

Frozen Fever Review

Frozen Fever is a short film playing only on Cinderella in it's theatrical release. I originally was just going to write a paragraph about this short, but decided I had more than enough thoughts over it to warrant a separate review.

Disney's two animation studios (Walt Disney Animation Studios and PIXAR) have been using short films as a way to continue the adventures of some of their most beloved films, like Tangled and Toy Story, for a while now, but Frozen Fever may be the most hyped of these shorts. It's been prominently pumped up in ads for Cinderella, and why not? Frozen is the fifth biggest movie of all-time, it's not exactly a shocker that Disney thinks audiences might have an appetite for more adventures with Elsa and Anna.

Frozen 2 Confirms That Disney Won't Let It Go

You know what? Frozen's awesome. I know the backlash on the film (which gets really vicious, sexist and nonsensical) has overtaken it's reputation and reduced the feature to be known as "the flick with that one song" in it, but a revisit of the film last fall confirmed to me that the 2013 feature is actually extremely well made and engaging. The songs are well-written, Olaf is excellent comic relief (it's smart how his gags never derive from being loud or obnoxious, but rather from his sincere optimism) and the emotional moments of the film are excellently executed.

Editorial: The Modern Disney Animation Resurgence Is Nothing Short Of Fantastic

An awesome image Wired made for their magazine to celebrate recent features
from Walt Disney Animation Studios. Hooray for Bolt and Winnie The Pooh
getting some recognition! 

With Big Hero 6 on the horizon, many have shifted their attention to Walt Disney Animation Studios, and specifically their numerous recent achievements. Seriously, the studio has been on fire lately, churning out one entertaining feature after the other. As this awesome and in-depth Wired article notes, the last few years have restored luster to the company, with the phenomenally successful Frozen just clinching that the company has reformed itself.

New Disney Animation Film, Moana, Revealed!!

 As a Disney Animation fanatic, nothing makes me happier than the announcement of new projects from the studio. A level of secrecy hangs over the studios future films; the only film beyond Big Hero 6 that's been officially revealed is Zootopia. But today, Walt Disney Animation Studios finally unveiled their other 2016 project, Moana, the newest movie from Ron Clements and John Musker!

Big Hero 6 Gets New Action And Fall Out Boy Packed Trailer From New York Comic Con

Less than a month separates the American moviegoing population and the newest feature from Walt Disney Animation Studios. Over the weekend at New York Comic Con, a new trailer for the feature (dubbed a sizzle reel) was unveiled, giving us more of a look at the action elements of the feature, as well as more of a look at the other members of the titular team. Check it out below!

Final Trailer For Big Hero 6 Is Full of Laughs, Actions And Emotion

One thing that I think is a major factor in Walt Disney Animation Studios resurgence is the much more effective marketing used for their features starting with Tangled. Starting with that 2010 film, trailers for the studios films were extremely memorable and also very well-made. The short trailer for Frozen last summer that simply showed Sven and Olaf engaging in shenanigans was despised by many on the interwebs, but I myself found it more than amusing and any time it played at a movie theater, that thing just went over like gangbusters.