western animation

Film Review – The Lion King (1994)

Posted on by Remy St. Gallen

Simba the Brownish Gold Lion

When I was young and carefree, I didn’t really have strong opinions on anything like most media, video games included (and I’ve been a gamer for as long as I remember), or any other media like books, movies, and television shows. In the early 1990s, I did have a slight interest in Disney’s animated films and had seen many in the theaters then, but when The Lion King came out in 1994, refused the opportunity to see it with my family when we visited my late maternal grandparents then. Since then, I hadn’t actually seen the film in its entirety to the point I could remember it, but recently watched it in full on Disney+ to celebrate its thirtieth anniversary.

The film opens with the iconic “Circle of Life” musical number and sequence where the newborn Simba, son of King Mufasa, is presented to the animal population of the Pride Lands. When Simba grows up, his father teaches him about royal responsibilities and preserving the “circle of life,” which connects all living entities. However, Mufasa hypocritically excludes the hyenas from it, with his effeminate younger brother, Scar, conspiring with them to seize the throne for himself. Some of the character names, Scar’s included, create an Aerith and Bob situation, like the main hyenas being named Shenzi, Banzai, and…Ed. Scar’s birth name, Taka, is never mentioned within the film, and a flashback in the future series The Lion Guard shows how he got his namesake facial blemish.

“When we die, our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass. And so we are all connected in the great Circle of Life…but not the hyenas.”

Young Simba is a bit of a brat, and many musical numbers feel a bit excruciating, such as “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” (which steals a bit from Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5”), and “Be Prepared” (sharing its name with the Boy Scout motto doesn’t help). Scar ultimately tricks his nephew into going into the middle of a gorge while having the hyenas incite a stampede of wildebeests try to kill him, which results in Mufasa rescuing him but being killed himself in the process. Simba is blamed (mostly rightfully) for killing the king, with his uncle telling him to run away, which he does.

Simba eventually encounters the vagrant meerkat Timon and the warthog Pumbaa, who teach him through song “hakuna matata,” the art of not giving a damn, which he masters into adulthood. He rescues the two from his old friend Nala, with whom he falls in love, and who tells him that the Pride Lands has become drought-stricken under Scar’s reign. The film shows no logical explanation as to exactly how they did, with starvation present as well due to the lionesses refusing to hunt, so one could count them among the real villains of the movie alongside Mufasa.

The real heroes of the film.

After a celestial visit from his father, Simba returns to the Pride Lands to confront his uncle, with the rest of the film having plenty of callbacks to the first act. Overall, The Lion King definitely has many positive aspects, including the soundtrack (with exceptions such as a few of the musical numbers), strong voice performances (including James Earl Jones as Mufasa, Jeremy Irons as Scar, and Whoopi Goldberg and Cheech Marin as the hyenas Shenzi and Banzai), and parallels to William Shakespeare’s Hamlet. However, the movie does derive elements from Osamu Tezuka’s Kimba the White Lion, and there are others issues like zero in-film explanation about the climate during Scar’s kingship. Regardless, it’s easily a bucket-list animated film, but as with many others, that’s far from synonymous with “masterpiece.”

The GoodThe Bad
Hamlet, but with lions.
Great voice performances.
Beautiful animation.
Nice ethnic soundtrack.		Some unexplained plot elements.
Borrows elements from Kimba the White Lion.
A few excruciating musical numbers.
Toilet humor.
The Bottom Line
A must-see Disney classic, but not synonymous with “masterpiece.”

Song of the Day, 5/15/2024

Posted on by Remy St. Gallen

I first heard this song in the episode of The Simpsons “‘Round Springfield,” and I listened to the original playing while sitting in the break area at the local grocery store, so here’s the whole song.

Here’s the The Simpsons version.

I used to watch but became alienated due to things like child abuse (which hits home for me but at a more emotional and psychological than physical level), school violence (in repeating what I said in my previous parentheses), and topical humor (which tends to date fictitious television shows).

The Great Wolf Pack: A Call to Adventure

Posted on by Remy St. Gallen

I first heard about Great Wolf Lodge through several commercials and an episode of Undercover Boss (though I didn’t watch said episode completely), with the immediate attraction being the indoor water park chain’s lupine mascot Wiley Wolf, outfitted in an adorable boy scout/park ranger combination uniform. As such, I researched said company and discovered their anthropomorphic animal cast aimed at younger audiences. The characters would endure several aesthetic changes, the latest of which would star in a short movie, The Great Wolf Pack: Call to Adventure, released in 2022.

The film itself stars Wiley Wolf in his latest design as he joins friends like Sammy Squirrel, Oliver Raccoon, and others in an adventure that later involves a clash between two races with a claim to a territory. The characters are cute, the animation is fluid, the themes are relatable, and the voice performances are well-executed. However, there are issues like the general kiddy nature of the movie and lack of appeal to older audiences. Many “why” moments regarding dialogue and conversations also abound, and other oddities like Oliver having red panda parents come at the end. The theme songs during the ending credits are somewhat excruciating as well.

Still, it’s not a long film and is viewable on YouTube.

The Wind in the Willows (1995)

Posted on by Remy St. Gallen

I may have heard of Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows before seventh grade before I read the actual book, given its intelligent animal cast. After reading it, it remained one of my all-time favorite pieces of literature, mildly influential upon my written word. Numerous adaptations have spawned since the dawn of film and television (most on the latter), with Disney being among the earliest studios to take a crack at it by combining it with their interpretation of Washington Irving’s completely unrelated short story The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Among the more contemporary (sort of) adaptations is the 1995 British animated television film produced by the TVC (Television Cartoons) in London (likely defunct since nothing has come out of the studio since 2001). It opens with a live-action sequence where a Victorian woman begins to tell her children the tale, which quickly morphs into a full-fledged animated film. The story proper starts with Mole, disillusioned with spring cleaning, emerging from his underground home to meet and befriend Ratty (just called Rat in this adaptation), with both having a picnic with another river inhabitant, Otter, and his young pup, Portly.

Then they join the wealthy Mr. Toad, who takes them on a trip with his gypsy caravan, but the amphibian hastily develops a fascination with motor vehicles when one causes his carriage to crash. The following spring, Ratty, Mole, and their friend, Mr. Badger, attempt to dissuade their amphibian friend from his obsessions, but he steals and crashes a car, earning a score-long prison sentence. He ultimately escapes with the help of the jailer’s daughter, encountering various tribulations before reuniting with his companions and taking back Toad Hall when weasels seize it. 

Overall, I enjoyed this adaptation, though I can’t wholly attest to its faithfulness to the source material (but it seems to do so, at least in my memory). The bookends of the Victorian woman telling her children the story seem unnecessary. However, I liked the various costumes of the animal characters, Otter in particular, and the animation was pleasant. I would gladly reread the book were I to get the time and watch its other adaptations, probably excluding the live-action ones since most seem to star humans that look nothing like the animals they allegedly play. Regardless, I don’t regret watching this film and would recommend it.

Paint Your Wagon

Posted on by Remy St. Gallen

Based on the 1951 Lerner and Loewe American Western musical of the same name, the 1969 adaptation of Paint Your Wagon stars Lee Marvin as a prospector, Clint Eastwood as an amnesiac whom he recruits as his business partner, and Jean Seberg as one of a Mormon’s wives that he decides to sell to the highest bidder. I first saw this film as a rental in my town’s Blockbuster Video when that chain was still a thing, the title alone piquing my curiosity, the fact Clint Eastwood was in it being one of the sole things I knew about it. The following knowledge I would get about the film came from a brief spoof in The Simpsons episode “All Singing, All Dancing.”

Despite the title, the musical has nothing at all to do with literally painting wagons, with “paint your wagon” being a (very) dated expression meaning “to get things done.” Marvin’s character, Ben Rumson, dubs Eastwood’s “Pardner” as he recuperates, with a new tent town, “No Name City,” emerging when they discover gold. The male inhabitants become lonely from no female companionship until the mentioned Mormon husband comes and sells his wife Elizabeth to a drunken Rumson. A love triangle quickly emerges when Ben leaves his fiancé under Pardner’s care.

The latter portion of the movie involves Rumson and his men scheming to tunnel beneath No Name City to collect gold dust precipitating through the floorboards of saloons from paying customers, the only notable plot detail of which I had heard, courtesy my high school economics class, before I streamed this film. A zealous parson also comes to town in futile attempts to get its residents to abandon their sinful ways. Of course, many musical numbers abound, and while Marvin and Eastwood have never been known for their singing abilities, they did decently, with the former’s “Wand’rin’ Star” probably being the high point of the film’s songs.

While I know this film gets its share of criticism, much justified, I found it an entertaining watch, with some initial themes like Rumson putting his business partners first and his apathy towards humanity resounding well with me. Mature content like references to venereal disease and prostitution also get some spotlight. Religious themes are front and center as well, given Rumson’s indifference towards God, the references to Mormonism and polygamy, and the ultrareligious preacher. Much of the film likely didn’t fly well with 1969 moviegoers (though modern audiences would probably find it less offensive than, say, Blazing Saddles). However, I think that time has vindicated it somewhat, and don’t regret seeing it.

Home on the Range

Posted on by Remy St. Gallen

This 2004 entry to Disney’s animated film canon occurs in the Old West, with wanted cattle rustler Alameda Slim, who can lure along bovines with his hypnotic yodeling, purloining those of Dixon Ranch. The remaining cow, Maggie, is sold to a farm called Patch of Heaven. A local sheriff, Sam, informs its owner, Pearl, that she must pay back a bank in three days, or her farm will go to auction. The cows ultimately decide to pursue Slim for the reward money to save their farm, aided by their fellow farm animals and others.

I’ll admit that given the horrid titular opening theme song, Home on the Range didn’t leave a positive first impression on me. Furthermore, I don’t care for most music that features yodeling of any kind; however, a few like that during the ending credits are pleasant. The voice performances are decent, like Roseanne Barr as bovine protagonist Maggie, Cuba Gooding Jr. as Buck the horse, and Randy Quaid (aside from his singing) as Alameda Slim. Unfortunately, the writing frequently sounds awkward, and some plot beats, like Slim’s yodeling, didn’t sit well with me. Overall, this film ranks below average in my view of Disney’s animated films.

Art Dump, 2/28/2024

Posted on by Remy St. Gallen

AI Art

Today was National Pink Shirt Day in Canada, so I decided to AI-generate some pink bunny Mounties.

Digital Art

On the same theme, I depicted the Pink Panther as a Mountie as well, using elements of my anthro style.
This is for a friend’s friend who celebrated his 25th heavenly birthday today, had a wolf fursona, and was from Spain.

Hercules (1997)

Posted on by Remy St. Gallen

Disney’s original animated interpretation of the classic myth of Hercules opens with the songstress Muses narrating the film’s backstory in a musical style combining elements from the soul and gospel genres (and the studio back then was still mindful of DEI, even if in a different fashion), leading to the present where the gods Zeus and Hera have their titular son in Ancient Greece. Mythologically, the film fuses elements from Greek and Roman mythos, with Herc’s equivalent in the former being Heracles, but admittedly, that moniker doesn’t roll off the tongue, and deviations from the original myths abound.

While most of the gods of Mount Olympus celebrate Hercules’ birth, Zeus’ brother Hades, brilliantly portrayed by James Woods and the high point of the film, plots to overthrow the heavenly deities to rule himself. Thus, he sends his minions to kidnap the infant Herc and off him after having him ingest a potion that strips his immortality, although humans interrupt them and make them flee, leaving him with a drop of his godliness. Raised by mortals, Hercules faces estrangement for his excessive strength and discovers his destiny to rejoin the gods through heroism, with the satyr Philoctetes (or just Phil), just as memorable as Hades due to Danny DeVito’s performance, taking him on as his apprentice.

After proving his heroism in Thebes and boosting his popularity to being merchandized, Herc eventually confronts Hades and the Titans he seeks to revive while fighting for his eventual love interest, Megara (or Meg). In conclusion, this is probably one of my higher-regarded films in the Disney animated canon since I can easily relate to its themes of alienation and ostracization due to character and talent. Likewise, “Go the Distance” is an enjoyable central theme; despite what critics have said, I prefer Roger Bart’s in-movie rendition to Michael Bolton’s during the ending credits. As I mentioned, the film does take liberties with Greco-Roman mythology, but I nonetheless enjoyed it.

Zootopia

Posted on by Remy St. Gallen

In a world solely inhabited by anthropomorphic mammals, the country rabbit Judy Hopps accomplishes her dream of becoming the first lapine police officer in the titular urban metropolis but starts on parking duty. On her first day, the vulpine con artists Nick Wilde and Finnick hustle her, after which she abandons her post to pursue a small-time criminal, but the police chief reprimands her. As he does so, an otter wife interrupts and implores a search for her missing husband, one of fourteen lost predators in Zootopia. Judy receives forty-eight hours to solve the case, blackmailing Nick into assisting her in finding Mr. Otterton and solving the mystery of the other missing predators.

Ultimately, this is an enjoyable film, given its strictly nonhuman cast, with backstory interweaved into the narrative, along with a few good twists and commentary on the alleged black-and-white nature of specific beasts and an exemplification of Paulo Freire’s warning of oppressed populations possibly becoming oppressors themselves. However, a few unresolved plot points abound, like what the carnivores eat and the unexplored role of religion in Zootopia, since characters repeatedly mention God. Some scenes like that at the sloth-run Department of Mammal Vehicles also feel like padding. Regardless, I don’t regret rewatching this and will gladly watch Zootopia+ and the forthcoming theatrical sequel.

The Rescuers

Posted on by Remy St. Gallen

Based on a book series by Margery Sharp, The Rescuers opens with an orphan girl, a captive of Madame Medusa in a derelict riverboat in Devil’s Bayou, Louisiana, who drops a message in a bottle into the water that miraculously finds its way to the Rescue Aid Society, an international mouse-populated offshoot of the United Nations, in New York City. The organization’s Hungarian ambassador, Miss Bianca, voiced by Eva Gabor (in her second animated film role after the feline Duchess in The Aristocats), recruits janitor Bernard, voiced by Bob Newhart, to first investigate Medusa’s NYC pawn shop, afterward taking an albatross to the bayou to rescue Penny, whom her kidnapper wishes to use to find a valuable diamond called the Devil’s Eye. 

Overall, this is one of my less-favorite Disney films. Walt Disney had initially refused its production due to being “too political.” However, aside from the appearance of the United Nations and its rodent nonunion equivalent, I thought that was BS since the film doesn’t take shots at any specific individual or group or have a ham-fisted message. Most of Shelby Flint’s music, with a few exceptions, is decent, but the Rescue Aid Society’s theme comes across as campy. One could say the same of most of the voice performances, but Gabor’s performance as Miss Bianca was the capstone of the voicework. The Mouse Scouts were cute, but the animation, acting, and music date it to the 1970s, and I’ve seen better from the studio.