Ed's Review Dot Com

Conglomerate Media, Lensbern Productions,

Thomas Ian Nicholas, Jon Heder, David Henrie, Jodie Sweetin, Armando Gutierrez, Arthur L. Bernstein, Ayla Kell, Hunter Gomez, Taylor Gray, Kate Katzman, Flora Bonfanti

Based on the book of the same name, this film follows Walt Disney youthful dreams and plans through the hard years starting out as an animator and following his dreams through several huge failures before discovering a little fellow named Mickey and making the famous statement that “It all started with a mouse!”

I really enjoyed this film very much. I have always been a fan of Mr. Disney, especially since I was born at the right time when he was reaching the peak of his success. I was one that ran home from school every day to get there in time to watch the Mickey Mouse Club on TV each afternoon. During the years I worked at the studio, when I would walk through the Legends Plaza I would stop at the plaque with Annette Funicello’s name and handprints, as Annette was my first celebrity crush when I was 10 like everyone else my age. I have heard the early stories of Walt’s difficult life, and his attempts to learn the animation business that was just starting. He was taken advantage of by much wiser and more crooked corporate folks and learned the hard way that the only way to survive was to own his own content, a lesson that he never ever forgot through the rest of his too short life. Thomas Ian Nicholas did a superb job as Walt, and I was duly impressed. Jon Heder played Roy Disney, and was Jon Heder. Many people did not care for Jon’s portrayal, but Roy was not a very vibrant character in real life either, and was the much needed money man who kept Walt’s fantasy from soaring out of control and crashing and burning. Roy kept Walt under control and often held him back from being too out there by bringing it back home many times. There are so many stories and anecdotes from Walt’s life, so keep in mind that this is a very focused look at a decade from the time Walt set out on his own to be an animator until the first Mickey cartoon was finally shown. It does not cover the big animated successes, Disneyland, the Burbank studios, Disney and all those things which are very well documented in many other films, particularly Disney’s own “The Reluctant Dragon” which shows the whole process in great detail at the new studios in Burbank (at the time). This film looks at live in Marceline, and Kansas City, and Walt’s first Laugh-o-gram studios. It follows the trip to California and the final setting up of the Hyperion Ave studio. Most of the time the guys worked out of a garage. It also helps us to get to know many of the early guys who worked with Walt to build his studios, many of which were lifetime friends and companions, and some who back-stabbed him and left to work for other companies. No one was as successful in the end as Walt was, but there were many hard times along the way. This film is available for streaming now that it’s been released on DVD and is easy to find. Aside for the great historical information, the film is also a heart-warming story of how sticking to your hopes and dreams can pay off with lots of hard work and willingness to fail before you can succeed. This was an excellent film, and I highly recommend it to all who may be interested.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Fox 2000 Pictures, Regency Enterprises, Bagdasarian Productions,

Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, Jesse McCartney, Jason Lee, Bella Thorne, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Tony Hale

Alvin, Simon, and Theodore, and their potential step brother are under the impression Dave (Jason Lee) has gone to Miami with his new girlfriend to propose to her breaking up their happy home. They decide to set out for Miami to try to stop it, but after getting thrown off the plane by an angry air marshall, the guys have to hit the road to try to get there in time, falling into lots of problems while being chased by the marshall who wants to take them in.

Some of the previous sequels have been pretty poor, but this one is surprisingly good. The story is clever and the songs are current hits. There’s no Chipettes here which is a good thing I think. The locations are fun, and the story is cute. We’re very familiar with the voices and the characters now, so we can just jump in and get rolling right away. The jokes are Chipmunk jokes, so they’re pretty corny, but all in all it’s a fun ride across the countryside. I am glad that they made this one, and I really enjoyed it. I can recommend this one as the least sucky of the whole recent bunch of Chipmunk flicks and it’s really a enjoyable experience. I liked it.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Fairview Entertainment, Moving Picture Company (MPC), Walt Disney Pictures,

Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong’o, Scarlett Johansson, Giancarlo Esposito, Christopher Walken, Neel Sethi

Disney brings us the live action Jungle Book based on their animated film based on Rudyard Kipling’s books. Mowgli (Neel Sethi) is raised by a pack of wolves until he gains the unwanted attention of Shere Kahn, the fiercest Lion in the Jungle. The panther Bagheera who found him, tries to take him back to the man village, but the journey is plagued with danger and the eventual meeting with Shere Kahn.

This live action version of the classic Disney film is by far the most successful of the animated to live films that Disney has been trying lately. Mostly I suspect this is due to the quality of the writing and the original stories. There are many surprises in this film and many things that have led to it’s huge success. First is Jon Favreau who is an excellent director who has outdone himself here. Second is the intense world developed by the animators of this stunning look at the jungle created on Disney’s lot in Burbank. The lighting, shadow, and details down to every hair is absolutely breathtaking. Then there’s the tribute to the original, while still making this a grown up totally different experience for those like me who have seen the original over and over again. The characters are mostly the same, and the major story points are pretty similar, but it juts off at a couple places that really makes this experience new. Then there’s the music. How can we beat Louis Prima’s “I Wanna Be Like You” or Phil Harris’ “Bear Necessities”. Well they did use much of the same music, though not all, but in a completely new and modern style that will let you remember the tune and the gist of the story, but with many new words and different sounds that make it feel like a new song in many ways. Unlike the cartoon, the music isn’t the main feature, but a background reminder of what you’re watching in a whole new light. Then there is the really exciting and fun voices. Bill Murray as Baloo and Christopher Walken as King Louie is fabulous. But all the voice talent is top notch, that’s for sure. Finally, the performance of Neel Sethi as Mowgli. There are whole clips on YouTube about how he was selected, and this kid is as unexpected as the stars of Slumdog Millionaire when it arrived on the scene. All the buzz is about this fellow, and he was unbelievably good. This is a must see film, so don’t miss out. Catch this one right away while it’s still in the theater on the BIG screen….the BIGGER the BETTER!!

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Pictures,

Raymond Ochoa, Jeffrey Wright, Frances McDormand, Steve Zahn, Anna Paquin, Sam Elliott, A.J. Buckley, Marcus Scribner, Jack Bright

Many Pixar films start out with a concept. The concept here is simply “What if the meteor that killed the dinosaur’s missed?”. This film is the view of what Earth might be like if the dinosaurs never left and mankind was not allowed to grow to the top of the food chain. The story centers around a young family of dinosaurs, a Father and Mother, and three children who are farmers and grow crops to survive the winter. The youngest of the three kids though is Arlo and he’s a bit of a shrimp. Scared of the chickens and afraid of his shadow, Dad wants to make him grow up and make his mark on the world. Instead, he gets lost in a raging river and has to fight to survive and find his way back home in this animated Pixar film that is as cute and funny as all the rest of their gems.

Not only does Pixar start with a concept, but they also recognize that it’s all in the story, and this is a very, very well told story. The characters are extremely well voiced (and drawn) and this is a darling little film. The only problem that keeps this, in my mind, from being one of the best Pixar films is the fact that the story is rather derived from both Land Before Time and An American Tale. Granted the idea of a small one, lost and fighting to survive on his own is not all that original. Now that I think of it, isn’t that what Finding Nemo was about too? There are certainly similarities in the story, but I think most of it is fresh enough, and with enough tweaks and adjustments to make it very enjoyable. Like all Pixar films, I suspect folks of any age from 2 to 102 are going to really enjoy the story. It’s adult enough in it’s humor that grown ups will get a kick out of some of the characters, but it’s sweet and charming enough that the little ones will like it too. Note that this is PG, and though PG films are really mild nowadays, there is some violence and scary parts in this movie that might scare the little ones. Personally I think my younger grandchildren would be able to handle much worse than this without being afraid, but be alert if they are getting frightened to help them through a couple scary scenes. For example, when Arlo gets washed away in the river, it’s very intense, and there are a couple of vulture like pterodactyl like creatures that give Arlo a rough time. But there are many learning moments as well that stress things like helping, caring, needing to ask for help, and such that are very valuable gems. This is a really sweet movie, a very exciting adventure, and another Home Run for Pixar.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Twentieth Century Fox Animation, Blue Sky Studios, Feigco Entertainment,

Noah Schnapp, Hadley Belle Miller, Alexander Garfin, Mariel Sheets, Venus Schultheis, Rebecca Bloom, Noah Johnston, A.J. Tecce, Francesca Capaldi, Bill Melendez

Charlie Brown is back in this new 3D feature film with all the Peanuts gang. This goes back to the roots and the beginning of the peanuts gang and is about their adventures in school and out. A new neighbor moves in across the street from Chuck and Snoopy and it turns out to be a little red haired girl. Charlie Brown is smitten, and tries his best to impress her. but Charlie has nothing but bad luck. Snoopy, meanwhile, along with Woodstock and company and his new girlfriend set out to write the worlds greatest novel about his adventures fighting the evil Red Baron. This is a flash back to our youth that is brought to us with all the greatest new technology and techniques.

This is a stunning 3D film. All of the gang is there, and though they’re presented in a new way with 3D Pixar style computer generated characters, they never looked better. There were many adults in the audience, including me, that laughed out loud numerous times as the humor was really poignant and just really funny. We took my 7 year old grandson with us, and although he liked the movie, he told us it was a bit boring and too slow. Imagine this coming out of a 7 year old boy, but he knows what he likes. The problem for him, of course, is that it the nostalgia and the warm memories of Charlie and Snoopy that bring such pleasure to the older folks. The kiddies are aware of Snoopy and the gang, but don’t get the fuzzy warm memories that we have. When I was in college, the only comic strip our paper carried was Peanuts, and we literally ran to the newspaper stand to get our copy every morning turning to the last page first to check out what Charles Schultz had written for us. In those days the strips continued the story for weeks and weeks on end, and it was a pleasure to see them every morning. That’s why I think the adults may love this film way more than the kids. Just don’t be devastated if your kids don’t get as excited afterward as you do, as they are just too young to get it. Still, the story is very well told, and though it is slow developing, that’s the way Peanuts always was. For kids who are used to Iron Man and their doses of Saturday cartoons that are all action, they won’t get the relationship stuff that good kid friends have when there are no adults around. One elephant in the room. Prior to his death, Charles Schultz insisted that Charlie Brown die with him. Charlie Brown, after all, was Sparky Schultz, and he couldn’t bear for anyone, even his son, to create new stories without him. I don’t know what the agreement was, or how this was done, but one thing that stood out like a sore thumb was the title screen where it said, “by Schultz”. It seemed really odd, and though there wasn’t much original here, but more background of the original comic strip, I felt a little like maybe we were cheating on Charles Schultz, final wish by watching this. Then I realized that he is gone, and his estate belongs to his family, and it’s up to them how they honor his wishes. Perhaps it was only the daily comic strip that he wanted to stop, and I sure he would have loved this homage to his original characters. Whatever the case, I really loved it and was very glad to see it. This is a true G rated film, good for everyone, and very much worth seeing. If you get a chance to see it on the big screen with the reclining seats, in 3D, please do it. If you have fond memories of Peanuts at all, you’ll love this as much as I did.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog