Dumb Disney

Over the years, Walt Disney Pictures has created a variety of classic cartoon movies. It all started in 1937, by Disney’s first release of a full-length cartoon feature titled Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Disney continued producing instant classics with Fantasia and Pinocchio in 1940, Dumbo in 1941, Bambi in 1942, Make Mine Music and Song of the South in 1946, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad in 1949, Cinderella in 1950, Alice in Wonderland in 1951, Peter Pan in 1953, and the list goes on up until Disney’s most recent release Bolt in 2008. However, as time progressed, Walt Disney Pictures has been producing less and less instant classic films and more and more childish, forgettable cartoons. True, the main audiences for these films are children, but children and adults alike still enjoy the earlier films like The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast, but not so much can be said for Disney’s later films like the recent 2006 Cars. So taking in all of the above as consideration, after 70 years of full-length animated films, is Walt Disney Pictures running out of ideas?



Coming up with ideas for movies used to be easy for Disney. Simply take an already well known fairy tale and create a child-friendly movie. And then, when all the fairy tales were used up, take a book or a play and turn it into a movie. This was the case for classics like Peter Pan, The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, Beauty and the Beast, and so on. And then, when all the fairy tales and stories were used up, Disney started to get creative. There were successful films along with failing attempts. Disney’s 1994 The Lion King, even though based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet, is an original Disney idea as it incorporates the kingdom of animals in Africa without the help from any fairy tale. Toy Story also became a huge success for Walt Disney Pictures in 1995 along with Monsters Inc. and Finding Nemo in later years.

However, if you look at the big picture, and not the individual successes, Walt Disney Pictures has gone downhill over the decades. Now, instead of producing an instant classic each year, it’s producing a successful film every five years. Recently, Disney has been producing many sequels to the classics that go straight to DVD, having no time on the silver screen. And movies that do make it to the screen, like Cars and The Emperor’s New Groove, never get as nearly as much praise as say, Beauty and the Beast or Cinderella. No worries though as Walt Disney Pictures is nowhere close to running out of money, but hopefully soon, Disney will put the money to good use in creating yet again, more instant Disney classics.

Paul Newman

It has been nearly two months since Paul Newman’s death, and so this is my late tribute to the Academy Award winning actor who astonished multiple generations with his works.



Paul Newman was born on January 26, 1925 in Shaker Heights, Ohio. Early in his life, Paul Newman expressed interests in theater and acting, and with his mother’s encouragement, he starred in multiple school plays; Newman made his debut at the age of seven as the court jester in his school’s production of Robin Hood. Later in life, Newman served in the Navy in World War II, but after the war, he completed his degree at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio in 1949. He then studied drama at Yale University and graduated in 1954.

Paul Newman made his Broadway theater debut in 1953 with William Inge’s play Picnic, and later he appeared in the Broadway Productions The Desperate Hours in 1955 and Sweet Bird of Youth in 1959. In the film industry, Newman first made his mark in 1954 with The Silver Chalice, and continued with some of his most acclaimed roles including Somebody Up There Likes Me in 1956and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 1958. Once Paul Newman was on the scene, he, unlike most actors and actresses, successfully made the transition from 1950s cinema to that of the 1960s and 1970s. He starred in the biggest movies of all decades leading up to his death including Exodus, The Hustler, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, Slap Shot, The Drowning Pool, The Verdict, Harry & Son, Mr. and Mrs. Bridge, and many more. One of Paul Newman’s most acclaimed roles is his academy award winning (Best Actor) part as “Fast” Eddie Felson in Martin Scorsese’s directed The Color of Money in 1986. But throughout the decades, Paul Newman amazed many from the years 1952 to his retirement in 2007.

In June 2008, Paul Newman announced that he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He continued chemotherapy until August 2008 and soon after told his family he wished to die at home. On September 26, 2008, Paul Newman died at his longtime home in Westport, Connecticut surrounded by his family and close friends. When the news reached the public, people were devastated as the actor who had impressed over 50 years of generations was now gone forever. However, he is still around through all of his famous works, and I will never forget him or his talent as I watch my favorites of his including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
 

Pixar vs. DreamWorks

Remember when computer-generated cartoon movies first came out? Between DreamWorks and Pixar, a new movie would come out at least every year. In the very beginning in the year of 1995, when this technology was so new, DreamWorks and Pixar competed for who could make the best of the best computer-generated cartoons; this is only typical for the aggressive movie business. However, what made the competition really intriguing was the similarity of the movies being released by the different companies around the same time.

Pixar made the first move in 1995 after teaming up with Disney to create the Academy Award winning movie Toy Story. DreamWorks realized they too had to become a part of the computer-generated movies era, and so created the movie Antz, which released in October 1998. Antz follows the life of a whiny, outcast ant named Z who goes through life-changing conflicts while living in his ant colony along with those he faced in the outside world after leaving the colony. Long story short, the movie ends with a happily ever after, boy ant marries royal princess ant, and is followed by the credits of a star-studded cast.

Soon after the release of Antz, just over a month later in fact, Disney and Pixar teamed up yet again to release A Bug’s Life. This movie follows the life of yet another outcast ant who leaves his home getting involved in life-changing conflicts in and out of the ant colony. The movie, yet again, ends with a happily ever after, boy ant marries royal princess ant yet again, and a star studded credit cast list.


Continuing on with the competition, Pixar released the famous fish film Finding Nemo in 2003 followed a year later by the release of DreamWorks fish tale Shark Tale in 2004. Every year, there would be two new computer-generated movies out with similar story lines and characters. Pixar’s Ratatouille and DreamWorks’ Over the Hedge came out within a year of each other showing how cute little animals interact with dangerous, killing humans. DreamWorks’ Shrek and Pixar’s Monsters Inc. taught audiences not to judge by outward appearances in the same year.

And so goes the continuous competition between DreamWorks and Pixar’s computer-animated films. But no matter how similar the movies may be, they keep the audiences coming back, making millions of dollars, and getting some of the best reviews in cartoon history.

Superheroes!

For the past 10 years or so, a new genre of movies has been taking over the nation, making hundreds of millions of dollars each and creating a just as large fan base. They are movies filled with wicked villains, amazing effects, brave, young protagonists that must save the world along with their damsel in distress, and of course, on-the-edge-of–your-seat actions scenes. These movies are none other than superhero movies.



True, there have always been superhero movies around including the original Superman movies made in the late 70s/early 80s with Christopher Reeve as well as the classic Batman movies from the 60s and the not so popular Batman movies from the early 90s. However, these older movies cannot compare with what is being done today, in the new millennium, to bring the classic Marvel and DC comics to life on screen. With improved computer effects, bigger budgets, enhanced makeup techniques, and better costumes designers, it’s easy to tell why these new superhero movies are such a success and continue to grow in popularity as each new one is released.

The recent superhero movie phenomenon first started when X-Men first released into theaters in the summer of 2000 making gross revenue of roughly $296.25 million. After the sudden outburst of popularity from this one film with high ticket and DVD sales, X-Men sequels followed as well as new superhero movies followed by even more sequels. Superhero films such as Spider-Man, Hulk, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, and The Dark Knight all followed the X-Men release in 2000 making gross profits ranging from just over $200 million to about $825 million. And to continue on with the recent success, several films are currently in development including a prequel to X-Men, a fourth and fifth Spider-Man, and new original movies with new superheroes like Captain America and the superhero league known as The Avengers.

With all these recent superhero movies and all of the new ones soon to be released, it is clear superhero films are taking the nation by storm! And how could they not because who doesn’t want to know the extreme lives of superheroes?