Almost There! Only 5 More Movies to Go!

Guess what everybody?? As of yesterday I have officially watched every canonized Disney animated feature film from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to Frozen. I feel like I've accomplished something grand. Now, I could talk about all of these movies in one post but I'm not going to do that. I actually have copious amounts of things to say about these last 5 movies and it doesn't feel right to cram that all into one post. I'm going to break it down into three posts over the next two weeks.

So, here it goes, the beginning of the last 5 Disney movies:

The Princess and the Frog



I recall that this movie came out in the winter of 2009. I remember because I was on my mission and I went a little crazy because I couldn't go see it in theaters. As a result it was one of the first things I watched when I came home and I think at the time I liked it a lot because I was so starved for animation (like a heroine addict). However, the more I watch it the more I dislike it and here's why:

This movie feels like it was made because the People were demanding a traditionally animated movie and Disney, who is always looking to please the People, made one to satiate their needs. They threw every Disney movie cliche into a pot and made some mediocre princess movie out of it. The music is great, the animation it top notch (I especially love the art deco sequence during the "Almost There" musical number), but the characters are one dimensional and their motivations are cursory at best. The only thing Tiana has going for her is that she's a "hard worker" and that's the sum of her existence. Prince Naveen is TERRIBLE! He is one character that does not deserve his happy ending and his supposed "reformation" is unbelievable at best.

Let's recap his story arc:

Spoiled prince gets cut off from his family's wealth because he's a womanizing leach. Prince then goes to America so he can marry an heiress, cheat on her and spend her fortune. Prince makes a deal with the devil (essentially) and gets turned into a frog as a consequence. Prince tricks a desperate girl into breaking his spell by making promises to her he can't keep and in the process gets her turned into a frog as well. Prince and girl run around a swamp for a day, he whines because his parents didn't teach him any life skills. Girl makes him dinner. Prince then falls for girl because she's a "hard worker" and decides to reform his ways. The end.

Does this sound a little far fetched to anyone else out there?

I'm thinking that a few years down the road we won't see much of a happily ever after with Tiana and Naveen.

Also, does anyone else think that Tiana's choice of restaurant location is a pretty poor one? Think about it. She wants to make a ritzy, stylish restaurant and she feels the best place for it is in a dilapidated sugar mill surrounded by what looks like dilapidated warehouses. Does she have vision for the potential of the area or is she just narrow sighted?

Oh, and apparently Timmon was right: the stars are made of fireflies that got stuck up in that big bluish black thing.

Tangled



Speaking of my mission; this is the first movie I saw when I came home from it. I went and saw it by myself because I didn't want to wait for someone to be able to see it with me. It was totally worth it.

I used to have the same issues with Flynn Rider (Eugene) as I do with Naveen but as of my last watching I've changed my mind. I felt like Flynn (Eugene) didn't deserve to have his dreams realized (if you'll recall: he dreams of being on an island that he owns surrounded by enormous piles of money. Isn't it interesting what happens when you get married to the heir of an island kingdom?) but I have since realized he's not so bad of a guy. He comes from a rough background. He's an orphan and the one person he aspires to be like is a fictional hero in a children's book. He's a thief more from circumstance than from choice (ish). Not to mention the idea that Rapunzel gets him to reform is a little more believable than it is with Tiana and Naveen. Rapunzel is smart, witty, determined, brave, kind, understanding, not to mention she saves his life on a few occasions.....basically, she's a developed character so it makes sense that someone would want to be a better person when they're around her. Good people have a tendency to make the people around them want to be good as well. So Flynn (Eugene) is pretty alright in my book. He's no Aladdin, but he can hold his own.

Rapunzel isn't so bad herself. I just have one issue with her (and I recognize it comes from over analyzing): for a girl who has been locked in a tower for 18 years with no contact with the outside world and with only three books to read (the subjects of which are: botany, geology, and cooking) she is unbelievably well adjusted. I have met many a person who was home schooled or otherwise cut off from other regular social interactions and they were noticeably strange. And those people still had more interaction with people than Rapunzel ever had. It's a little thing but it still bugs me.

One thing I love about this movie is that it explains how Rapunzel's tears can heal a person. The fairy tale from which this story is derived is one of the oddest I've ever read. At the end of the story Rapunzel is reunited with her prince whom she finds wandering about the desert and whose eyes have been viciously gouged out by the witch. Upon finding him Rapunzel weeps uncontrollably and her tears fall into the prince's eye sockets and miraculously he can see again! Oh, and inexplicably Rapunzel has twins.

I'm also glad this movie explains why the poor girl won't cut her hair. My whole life I wondered why Rapunzel doesn't just cut her own hair and use it to climb down the tower and ditch the witch herself. So thank you Disney for giving her a reason to keep it unimaginably long.

Some final notes: Rapunzel's pet chameleon is among one of the more obnoxious and useless princess animal sidekicks that Disney has come up with. I'd put him on par with the ones Pocahontas totes around with her.

Congratulations Disney! You just made your 50th animated feature!

Also, I wonder what Rapunzel would have been like if it was traditionally animated.