Sunday, March 23, 2008
Disney
A funny thing happened between "Beauty and the Beast" (BB) and "Aladdin". I remember walking out of BB and thinking that this was a classic. And I still feel that way. When I walked out of Aladdin, I knew I had seen something rich with talent, but the word classic didn't enter into it.
I have mostly stayed away from Disney movies since then, with only occasional visitations. The Pixar films (usually associated with Disney, though the company was not actually owned by Disney until 2006) are the hallmarks of the same thing today. They are films of enormous technical prowess, yet the simple storytelling of BB and Pinocchio seem to be lost in the shuffle.
Enter "Enchanted", which we watched last night. This movie attempts to pay homage and poke fun at the Disney tradition. I was only slightly surprised to see how much the critics loved it. Critics have loved the new Disney films and the Pixar films, and those films have pretty much been lost on me. The Pixar flms at least have the technical wizardry and razor sharp dialogue. "Enchanted" was a mess. It had a clever premise, but in the rush to be too cool for school, Disney emerges with a mess, as they have for so long now.
Give me simple storytelling...I say it over and over. "Enchanted" wants it both ways: a simple fairy tale with the sharp edge of Manhattan. But in the process, it lost both.
I have mostly stayed away from Disney movies since then, with only occasional visitations. The Pixar films (usually associated with Disney, though the company was not actually owned by Disney until 2006) are the hallmarks of the same thing today. They are films of enormous technical prowess, yet the simple storytelling of BB and Pinocchio seem to be lost in the shuffle.
Enter "Enchanted", which we watched last night. This movie attempts to pay homage and poke fun at the Disney tradition. I was only slightly surprised to see how much the critics loved it. Critics have loved the new Disney films and the Pixar films, and those films have pretty much been lost on me. The Pixar flms at least have the technical wizardry and razor sharp dialogue. "Enchanted" was a mess. It had a clever premise, but in the rush to be too cool for school, Disney emerges with a mess, as they have for so long now.
Give me simple storytelling...I say it over and over. "Enchanted" wants it both ways: a simple fairy tale with the sharp edge of Manhattan. But in the process, it lost both.
# posted by Unknown @ 5:24 PM 
Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home
<< Home
