Disney Live Action Movies

[Spark Of Spirit]

Because there are tons of these, and I'm sure there are plenty to talk about that wouldn't otherwise get their own threads.

I managed to pick up Heavyweights yesterday for $5 and had forgotten how much I enjoyed it. Strange that it seems a bit more mature than most of Apatow's later work despite clearly being aimed for younger audiences. Also, Ben Stiller is still absolutely hilarious in this.

[Avaitor]

I still say that Pollyanna is as good as, if not better than, just about anything in the DAC.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Parent Trap, The Three Lives of Thomasina, The Absent-Minded Professor, Summer Magic, Old Yeller, Swiss Family Robinson, and That Darn Cat are other classics that are worth checking out.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Yeah, I remember That Darn Cat pretty well as a kid, it's still a fun little film. I also remember being crushed by the remake being so awful.

[Avaitor]

Th thing I don't get about the remake is that Christina Ricci was playing a 16-year-old at like 35. It just really didn't make any sense.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Well, she's like 30 now but I do agree that she didn't really fit the role much at all at the time. The movie as a whole just didn't work.

Another great one is the first Homeward Bound (itself a remake of the '30s film) which has aged surprisingly well as I said in the other topic. I wonder if this is the first proper 'talking animal' film as it doesn't fall into a lot of the easy traps most such movies do, and it's still just as effective now as when it came out.

[Avaitor]

I'm still on my Disney kick, and I decided to pull out two live-action movies that I like, but don't watch too often.

One is Something Wicked This Way Comes, which I watched after reading the original novel. It's a fantastic adaptation of the story, which isn't surprising since Bradbury wrote the screenplay himself. It's easily one of the best 80's-era Disney movies, with a flawless cast and interesting effects, on top of a classic story.

And the other is Enchanted. In hindsight, the Critic is right in that the final fight scene is way too meta for its own good, but the rest of the movie is a lot of fun. Especially Susan Sarandon, who recalls Eleanor Audley in her performance. And the music really holds up.

[Avaitor]

I feel like bumping this thread.

This is Robert Sherman's personal favorite song of all the ones he and his brother wrote together. It's a sweet, sentimental song that fits in perfectly with the movie and gives all the main characters some importance. The whole movie is a fun musical that gets overlooked quite a lot, but is one I come back to fairly regularly.

[Avaitor]

Whoa.

Pollyanna's coming out on Blu-Ray. So is The Absent-Minded Professor and its sequel (along with Flubber separately, but blah) and Babes in Toyland. It's crazy to know that Disney is putting out Blus of their older live-action films, but it's amazing. Seriously, watch Pollyanna. It's not as lame and girly as the title makes it out to be. One of Walt's best.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Cool! Hopefully it floats by here.

[Avaitor]

I do also recommend the original Absent-Minded Professor. I know that Doug seemed a little lukewarm on it when he mentioned it during his Flubber review, but it a clever kid movie that doesn't talk down to its audience that much, and it contains the first song written by the Sherman Brothers for a Disney movie.

Son of Flubber is also worth a look, at least once. It does recycle the original a bit, but I think that it makes up for that by adding a decent existential crisis in it, by having the professor go broke after his previous success and try to work his way up.

Babes in Toyland, eh. I think it's pretty obnoxious, and while it contains a lot of Disney's best supporting and character actors (including a couple of Zorro regulars and the ever-lovable Ed Wynn), it's not one I plan to buy. But the sets and camerawork are really creative and totally worth a look if you have the money.

And I think I've written enough about Pollyanna over the years so I don't have to bring up why I like it so much again. But yeah, this is pretty cool news.

[Avaitor]

Oh hey, EW made a decent list for once.

A couple of the good choices are ones I don't agree with, but they picked a lot of classics and some of the stronger modern films. And no Bruckheimer!

[Spark Of Spirit]

It's so difficult to find ANY lists in relation to family films, never mind on Disney's! Will give it a read.

[Avaitor]

They also did one for their animated films, which, predictable choices aside, had some real odd picks. Great Mouse Detective and Sleeping Beauty are among their worst, but The Aristocats and Robin Hood are bona-fide classics?

Uh...

[Spark Of Spirit]

Like I said before, what some people consider terrible quality in relation to Disney films is kind of weird to me.

[Foggle]

I fucking love Great Mouse Detective.