Return to the Hundred Acre Wood

[Green Gibbon!]

I liked it, but not as much as I'd hoped to. The characters don't really gel except the villain (his musical number is the best part of the movie). Not bad, but definitely not Pixar quality or even Aladdin/Lion King quality.

Jim Cummings' cajun accent is awesome, though. It was hilarious because I know people who actually talk like that. I'm related to people who actually talk like that. The only thing I noticed was a little too much emphasis on the "yeah" that inevitably follows any affirmative statement. Real cajuns kind of let their voice drop as they say it like they're finishing their last bit of their breath. But maybe I'm picking nits or something.

[Tsuyoshi-kun]

Jim Cummings was definitely the highlight of the film. I liked the villain somewhat too, even if he did look more than a little like Jafar.

The Lion King really did set a bar no animated feature from Disney has been able to touch since then, huh? Also, did you ever try to see/stomach Chicken Little, Meet the Robinsons, or Bolt, Green Gibbon? Or have you avoided them like all the Dreamworks Animation films in the past nine years?

[cjmcray]

The Lion King really did set a bar no animated feature from Disney has been able to touch since then, huh?

Eh.. I think The Lion King is a bit overrated. It's a good movie yes, but I enjoyed Aladdin & Beauty and the Beast so much more. (Aladdin has IMHO, the best music in a Disney movie ever)

[Tsuyoshi-kun]

Yeah, I could've worded that better. What I really meant to say was that ever animated feature Disney made after The Lion King wasn't as good as that or their earlier films. (I prefer Beauty and the Beast myself, too.) I think the two possible exceptions for me would be A Goofy Movie and Tarzan.

I never saw Home on the Range. Has anyone here ever? I think that and Peter Pan are the only 2-D Disney animated films I've never seen in their entirety.

[Green Gibbon!]

The only CG films I've ever watched all the way through are the Pixar movies, Shrek 1, and I think Antz. None of the others looked interesting. Is How to Train Your Dragon any good? It looked okay. I also saw a preview for some chameleon film that looked pretty slick.

[Dr. BUGMAN]

The best (probably only good) part of Shrek 2 is the climax -- Jennifer Saunders singing Holding Out for a Hero during an action montage.

[Radrappy]

Yeah, I could've worded that better. What I really meant to say was that ever animated feature Disney made after The Lion King wasn't as good as that or their earlier films. (I prefer Beauty and the Beast myself, too.) I think the two possible exceptions for me would be A Goofy Movie and Tarzan.

Lion king is important because of the vast sums of money it made. At a time when animation was considered a semi profitable business, Lion King proved that millions could be made. Enter some hundred odd producers looking to profit from this revelation and you have the state of animation today.

How to train your dragon is okay. The more I watch it the worse it gets. Bolt is pretty cute actually. And the Cars 2 trailer is online. Does that interest anyone? It may actually be the first Pixar flick I skip.

[G.Silver]

I'm interested in seeing it, though I'm not expecting Cars 2 to be my best friend or anything. I know the first movie gets a lot of flack for being a completely by-the-book feel-good movie where everyone is a car, but it was still pretty enjoyable. I might not watch it in theater, but I'm still interested.

I'm still fascinated by the Cars setting. What is inside the cars? If you got in there, would you be able to see the backside of their eyes on the windshield? What kind of currency do they use? We know they have money, but how to they exchange it? No one has any hands! What kind of erosion causes all the mountains to be shaped like the back ends of giant Cadillacs?

[Radrappy]

[Yami CJMErl]

And the Cars 2 trailer is online. Does that interest anyone? It may actually be the first Pixar flick I skip.

I'm sorry to admit that this looks WAY more interesting than I thought it might.

[cjmcray]

Back on the subject of Pooh, I just realized this movie is coming out the same weekend as Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 2.

That's box-office suicide. Does Disney WANT to lose money on this?

[Green Gibbon!]

I'm looking forward to it. Cars is not a bad movie by any stretch - weak by Pixar standards, but even Pixar's bad days are better than most other studios at the top of their game. Plus the sequel looks like it mainly focuses on Mater, who was the best character in the first one (actually one of the only two with any memorable personality, and the other one's dead I think).

[Segaholic2]

Cars 2 leaves a strange impression on me. It seems like they're upping the goofiness and fantasy (spy plots and explosions and chases), which is kind of a stark contrast to the relatively grounded, down-to-earth original. Not that I'm a huge fan of the original (I consider it Pixar's weakest film by a long shot), but I love Pixar enough to give anything they make a fair chance.

[Esrever]

I just can't believe they are actually doing the "now they're secret agents" plot. I heartily look forward to Cars 3, where Mater and Lightning switch bodies, and Cars 4, where Lightning has to shrink and go inside Mater's body.

[Green Gibbon!]

Those can be new Cars Toons! (I actually really like those.)

I am concerned that they're getting a little sequel happy - 3 of their latest 4 movies will have been sequels, which I guess isn't really a problem if they're all as awesome as Toy Story 3, but y'know.

[K2J]

Maybe it's just my nostalgia and the overall melancholy of it, but I didn't think Toy Story 3 was a very satisfying film. It certainly wasn't bad, but I feel Pixar should stay away from sequels for the most part, especially from something like Cars.

[Zeta]

I am concerned that they're getting a little sequel happy - 3 of their latest 4 movies will have been sequels, which I guess isn't really a problem if they're all as awesome as Toy Story 3, but y'know.

They've canceled a lot of original material in the process. Considering one of the scrapped films was about amphibians forced to have sex, I can't really say if that's good or bad.

[Green Gibbon!]

Did they cancel anything other than Newt? Which sounded awful anyway.

[Delphine]

Considering one of the scrapped films was about amphibians forced to have sex, I can't really say if that's good or bad.

How exactly would they have made that kid-friendly? It's barely adult-friendly.

[Opa-Opa]

I didn't get to see Princess and the Frog, but the last 2D Disney movie I really enjoyed was the direct-to-video Lion King 3 (or 1/2, dunno how you guys call it).

[Dr. BUGMAN]

I can't get the Lion King straight anymore, not that i've tried. Apparently there's one that focuses on Timon & Pumbaa's side of the story (which is OK since they were the best part of the original anyway), and one that shoe-horns new songs were there were none before (which is not OK since those were the worst part of the original).

Not to mention the direct-to-video sequel has Simba falling in love with Scar's daughter. Scar is Simba's uncle!

I'd rather just watch Hamlet; less disturbing furry bullshit.

[Brazillian Cara]

Aaaaactually that was Simba's daugther getting in love with Scar's son(?). But yeah, it was kind of forgettable.

As for Pooh, I can't say I care that much about the series, though the animated show was pretty ok.

[Dr. BUGMAN]

So they're second cousins, then. I don't think the word your searching for is "forgettable".

[Crisis]

To be fair, royalty and inbreeding have historically gone hand in hand.

[Delphine]

Y'all realize that Mufasa and Scar were the ONLY males available, which means that Simba and Nala were either cousins -- and it's highly doubtful that Nala's father was Scar -- or siblings, yes?

And to make the obvious point:
The Lion King = Hamlet
Lion King 2 = Romeo & Juliet
Lion King 1 1/2 = Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead