We continue reviewing all the Disney feature-length animations in chronological order. We are now in the years of the Disney Renaissance, when the original skill and genius of the company was revived by the Broadway musical inspiration of Howard Ashman. By this time, he had passed away, and his loss is noticeable.
ALADDIN (1992) is one of Disney’s finest accomplishments, equal to the best animation ever put to film.
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We are reviewing all the feature-length Disney animated films in order. We have now reached the pinnacle, the best film of the Disney Renaissance, the best film of Disney’s portfolio, the best animated film of any animator, the best film ever filmed whether live action or animated.
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1991) was produced by Howard Ashman, and received lauds and awards it would be tedious to recite, but which were well deserved.
Naturally, I can make no pretense of objectivity when reviewing my favorite film: I can only hope to list the virtues that I imagine even those not infatuated by this film in fairness must admit exist.
For I saw this film in the theater when I was a young newlywed, and had no money for tickets, because I myself was a hulky hairy beast who had just been turned into a handsome prince by the first kiss of my beloved beauty, and every element of this film spoke to some part of my life or another. So it would be an understatement to say I recommend it.
We are reviewing the Disney animated features in chronological order.
RESCUERS DOWN UNDER (1990) was released the year after LITTLE MERMAID (1989), but usually is not considered part of the Disney Renaissance: if it is classified as part of the Renaissance films, it has the sad distinction of being the worst box office performer among them.
In theme and style, and poor craftsmanship, RESCUERS DOWN UNDER is more aptly categorized with OLIVER AND COMPANY or THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE, as one of the films of Disney’s lingering the Dry Spell.
RED ONE (2024) directed by Jake Kasdan, stars Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans, is an urban fantasy Christmas action-thriller, fitting neatly into no known genre, which will perhaps be enjoyable to anyone willing to grant the somewhat silly premise, and perhaps not to anyone unwilling.
This film enjoys a remarkably high audience score but a remarkably low score from the establishment film critics. This is usually a sign that the film is normal and enjoyable, not perverse nor woke.
But the film did not seem normal to me, by which I mean, I can think of no other urban fantasy Christmas action-thriller. As such, this film runs the risk of falling between the stools. Action film fans might well pan it for its fantastical elements, whereas fans of Christmas family films might well pan it for its untraditional, even disrespectful, handling of common elements of the Santa Claus fairy tale.
As for Christians, we have long ago ceased to expect any mention of Christ or Christmas in a Christmas movie, aside from Linus quoting scripture in a Charlie Brown telly special from two generations ago.
Regardless, this filmgoer found the film perfectly enjoyable: nor were any elements visible which might provoke the establishment film critics. I cannot explain the high audience score nor the low critic score.
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My “Last Straw” column on the platform formerly known as Twitter is up:
https://x.com/johncwright2001/status/1856377864083349871
The Last Straw is an ongoing autopsy of The Last Jedi — a failure that demanded Starquest: Space Pirates of Andromeda:
https://a.co/d/cNGCf7R
to revive pulp-era space opera in all its grandeur, wonder and fun.
A reprint of a Radio Play review from ten years past, presented again for any readers who may have missed it. Links and some text updated.
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It was listening to a radio play series that convinced me that Marvel Comics is science fiction and DC is fantasy.
It also convinced me to become a great fan of the Green Hornet, a relatively minor character as far as the pantheon of popular superheroes go, to whom I previously never paid much heed.
Erenow, I knew only three things about the Green Hornet. The first was that the Green Hornet television show was when the famed martial arts action star Bruce Lee was introduced to American audiences. Bruce Lee was given the role of Kato, the ju-jitsu using chauffeur of the masked vigilante — and that he was absurdly overqualified for the role.
The second thing I knew was that the same producer who made the 1966 – 68 BATMAN television show such a popular success, William Dozier, was put in charge of the GREEN HORNET television show, and it was a great failure as much as BATMAN was a great success. I have heard many people speculating about why the first was a success and the second was a failure over the years.
Indeed, I remember it being mentioned once as a bit of realistic background detail in a novel I read in my youth, whose title and author I have since forgotten, concerning a comic book artist haunted by his memories of the Hitlerian War.
But I can state that I have found an answer that satisfies me, at least. The answer was the radio play was really quite good, and suited the kind of story the Green Hornet character was created to fit. More on this below.
The third and final thing I knew about the 2011 Green Hornet was that the movie starring Seth Rogan was an abomination. More on this below as well.
So this review has three points to cover: to describe the radio play and the origins of the character; to explain the failure of the modern television version; to condemn the postmodern ultra-failure of the movie version.
And, incidentally, to explain why, by and large, Marvel Comics characters like Spider-Man are actually Science Fiction, whereas DC characters like Superman are Fantasy. Read the remainder of this entry »
A reader with the fuliguline-beaked but abbreviated name of Bill L writes:
In my house we’ve abandoned American TV for Korean. No ripping from the headlines, no forcing agendas down your throat, some good story lines. Good guys win, bad guys lose. All in (usually) 16 episodes. I recommend a series called “The Uncanny Counter” as an intro.
The show he recommends is available on Netflix, and can be found here: https://www.netflix.com/title/81323551
In my house, we also turn to the Far East for our entertainment. The Wrights are sickened by modern shows meant for modern audiences, and bored by (start Critical Drinker Reverb Voice) THE MESSAGE (end voice)
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For the record, here is a summary of the Hans Christian Andersen story. It differs from the Disney version in all but surface features, and has very nearly the opposite theme.
I would ask those wishing to discuss this version the tale to leave their remarks here. The Disney Story is a separate story, to be judged on its own terms.
Note that the only way for the Little Mermaid to break the painful spell keeping her painfully on land is to stab the prince, which she refuses to do. That is the central act of divine love which leads to her being granted an immortal soul.
Andersen objected, for artistic if not theological reasons, to the traditional idea that a mermaid could gain a soul if she married a Christian man, on the grounds that this makes immortality depend on the will of a human, of another being, not on heaven’s grace toward her to reword her saintly self sacrifice.
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We are reviewing the Disney animated features in chronological order.
After a long, weary period of films from the Dry Spell, when the Disney Corporation lost their creative genius, two films GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE and OLIVER AND COMPANY showed a trifle of creative effort, but nothing able to reach the iconic and immortal status of Disney’s original golden age.
Finally, like a bomb burst or flash of lightning, came several films in a row equaling or exceeding the classics of the golden age.
THE LITTLE MERMAID (1989) is the first of this period, aptly called the Disney Renaissance, for it was like the rediscovery of classical forms and models after a long dark age.
I have been watching or rewatching all the Disney full-length animated features in chronological order, which provides the prospective of seeing each work in the context of its film history. In this case, we have reached what is widely regarded either as the last film of the Dry Spell (a long period of uncreative and inferior works following Walt Disney’s passing) or the first of the Disney Renaissance (a welcome return to their old strengths and new inspirations.)
As with all Disney films, no criticism can touch a childhood favorite, regardless of merit, but, contrariwise, the mission of the critic is to review even beloved works by standards as dispassionate as the passionate nature of the subject matter admits.
For myself, this film came too late in my life to be a childhood favorite, for it premiered during my college years. I was unimpressed with it then, largely forgot it, and am unimpressed now, and found it largely forgettable, but not flawed.
OLIVER AND COMPANY (1988) is very loosely based on Charles Dickens’ OLIVER TWIST, but taking place in modern New York, and with cats and dogs instead of orphans.
Watching or rewatching all the Disney full length animated features in order is fascinating, as it puts each work in historical perspective.
With Disney’s THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE (1986), we near the end of the Disney’s Dry Spell of inferior offerings and see hints of the renaissance to come. As with all Disney films, childhood memories make objectivity nigh impossible, but, in my particular case, I had never seen this film before, no heard any review of it, so my first viewing is as a graybeard of many winters.
And yet I was delighted.
Rewatching the feature length Disney animated films in chronological order gives one a sense of the changes wrought by the changing years.
With THE BLACK CAULDRON (1985) we are still in the Dry Spell of lower quality films suffering from the lack of Walt Disney’s own genius, but we are nearing the end; for perhaps some hints of the Disney Renaissance to come are in the offing.
As with any Disney film, for some, this will be a favorite of treasured memory lodged in the heart, because it was encountered during the golden years of childhood. Alas, I am not in their number, having seen it during my grad school years.
Others regard this film with a jaundiced eye, calling it the worst fumble of Disney to date. I am not willing to be so harsh, merely because the technical accomplishments of the film are striking.
I have been watching the Disney animated full length features in chronological order. For most films, this is a revisit to childhood memories, but for two or three of them, which came out in the years between boyhood and fatherhood, this is a first viewing.
As with all Disney films, even the worst of them is someone’s favorite film of all time, for he saw it on that golden afternoon in golden childhood when only the most precious memories are formed. Those who encounter the film only with the cold eyes of adulthood cannot see it as it was meant to be seen, alas.
THE FOX AND THE HOUND (1981) is one such film previously unviewed. I have no young memory of it, and had never heard it discussed by any reviewer. As much as any Disney classic can be, it is obscure. But since it fell in the Dry Spell after Walt Disney’s passing and before the advent of the Disney Renaissance inspired by Howard Ashman, I had a low expectation.
Frankly, I feared, like ARISTOCATS (1970) and ROBIN HOOD (1973) and RESCUERS (1977), the film would be plagued by lax plotting, flat characters, poor animation, dull music, and dumb slapstick which plague the Dry Spell of Disney.
I am very pleased to say that THE FOX AND THE HOUND (1981) that such fear was misplaced. The film does not disappoint, and merits being ranked among the better of Disney offerings. The ending is powerful if sad, and brought a tear to the eye of this cynical old reviewer.
This is perhaps the best film in the Dry Spell.
PAST MASTER (1968) is the first published science fiction novel by R.A. Lafferty, nominated for the Nebula and the Hugo, back when those awards were honest and meant well.
R.A. Lafferty is a mad genius.
As with Cordwainer Smith or Gene Wolfe, Lafferty’s work is eccentric in scope and approach, and will not suit conventional tastes. He is, however, quite Catholic, hence his vision is likely to be unappreciated by those who do not share his worldview: it would be easy enough to admire the psychedelic pyrotechnics of his work, while missing the sacred heart.
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THE EXPANSE is a 2015-2021 television program based on the novels by James S. A. Corey, currently available on several streaming services. The first three seasons appeared on the SyFy Network, and the second three produced by Amazon.
Finally, after everyone and his brother recommended this show to me, I have taken the time to watch it. Woe is me that I waited so long.
This is simply one of the best written, most well produced and well acted hardcore science fiction series it has been my pleasure to see in half a century of being an SF fan. Each tiny realistic detail of real science shows the craftsmanship and even genius of S.A. Corey, and the faithfulness of the adaptation.
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