A practically perfect discussion about Mary Poppins Returns! We talk about the movie with not a spoiler in sight! (We keep our mouths closed, we aren’t a codfish) Is the film a worthy follow up to the original? Is there room for improvement? Is it worth seeing twice? All these answers and more until its time to fly off with our umbrellas.
Today on the Obscure Disney Podcast, we are taking you on a special trip into Ralph Breaks the Internet in theaters now. Six years after saving the game Sugar Rush from Turbo’s revenge, Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope von Schweetz are still best friends who hang out every night after work in Litwak’s Family Fun Center and Arcade. Vanellope’s frustration over the predictability of her game prompts Ralph to create a secret bonus track for her. She enjoys the track but overrides the player controls to race on it, causing the steering wheel to get stuck. A player accidentally pulls the wheel off the console while trying to free it, and Mr. Litwak accidentally breaks it while trying to reattach it. Finding the replacement part to be prohibitively expensive, he has no choice but to unplug Sugar Rush, leaving Vanellope and its citizens homeless.
The main characters are Bambi, a mule deer; his parents (the Great Prince of the forest and his unnamed mother); his friends Thumper (a pink-nosed rabbit); and Flower (a skunk); and his childhood friend and future mate, Faline. For the movie, Disney took the liberty of changing Bambi’s species into a mule deer from his original species of roe deer, since roe deer are not native to North America, and the mule deer is more widespread in the United States. The film received three Academy Award nominations: Best Sound (Sam Slyfield), Best Song (for “Love Is a Song” sung by Donald Novis) and Original Music Score.
In June 2008, the American Film Institute presented a list of its “10 Top 10″—the best ten films in each of ten classic American film genres—after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. Bambi placed third in animation. In December 2011, the film was added to the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.
On this episode of the Obscure Disney Podcast we are chatting about Disneys 1964 Film, Mary Poppins, The Musical, Saving Mr. Banks and how that inspired the newest Patch at www.DisneyPatch.com
On this special Halloween episode of the Obscure Disney Podcast, we enjoy talking about a nostalgic classic, Hocus Pocus. We talk about the movie’s production, the music, and the lasting legacy of the Sanderson Sisters and the virgin lighting the black flame candle.
Although it was not a critical or commercial success when first released, Hocus Pocus has become a cult film,[3] largely from annual airings on Disney Channel and Freeform (formerly ABC Family).
For the month of October, we here the Obscure Disney Podcast have decided to take a look at the spookier side of Disney as we are starting with the Gorilla style short film filmed at Disneyland, Missing in the Mansion. We also talk about the follow-up film. Followed Home from the Mansion and Escape from Tomorrow.
On this episode of the Obscure Disney Podcast, we are talking about all things 1941 Dumbo. We chat about the movie itself, the goings-on in the world at the time it was released, and it’s lasting impact on society and the world of animation.
Dumbo is a 1941 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The fourth Disney animated feature film, it is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and illustrated by Harold Pearl for the prototype of a novelty toy (“Roll-a-Book”). The main character is Jumbo Jr., a semi-anthropomorphic elephant who is cruelly nicknamed “Dumbo”, as in “dumb”. He is ridiculed for his big ears, but in fact, he is capable of flying by using his ears as wings. Throughout most of the film, his only true friend, aside from his mother, is the mouse, Timothy – a relationship parodying the stereotypical animosity between mice and elephants.
Dumbo was released on October 23, 1941; made to recoup the financial losses of Fantasia, it was a deliberate pursuit of simplicity and economy for the Disney studio. At 64 minutes, it is one of Disney’s shortest animated features. The sound was recorded conventionally using the RCA System. One voice was synthesized using the Sonovox system, but it, too, was recorded using the RCA System.
In 2017, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”.
The first twenty minutes of the film are in grayscale and black-and-white, the remainder is in Technicolor. Most of the film is live-action, with four shortanimated segments inserted into the running time: a black-and-white segment featuring Casey Junior from Dumbo; and three Technicolor cartoons: Baby Weems, Goofy‘s How to Ride a Horse, and the extended-length short The Reluctant Dragon, based upon Kenneth Grahame‘s book of the same name. The total length of all animated parts is 40 minutes.
On this fun episode of the Obscure Disney Podcast, we are discussing Fantasia, Disney’s 1940 Movie.
Fantasia is a 1940 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released by Walt Disney Productions. With story direction by Joe Grant and Dick Huemer, and production supervision by Ben Sharpsteen, it is the third Disney animated feature film. The film consists of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra. Music critic and composer Deems Taylor acts as the film’s Master of Ceremonies, providing a live-action introduction to each animated segment.
Disney settled on the film’s concept as work neared completion on The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, an elaborate Silly Symphonies short designed as a comeback role for Mickey Mouse, who had declined in popularity. As production costs grew higher than what it could earn, Disney decided to include the short in a feature-length film with other segments set to classical pieces. The soundtrack was recorded using multiple audio channels and reproduced with Fantasound, a pioneering sound reproduction system that made Fantasia the first commercial film shown in stereophonic sound.
Fantasia was first released in theatrical roadshow engagements held in thirteen U.S. cities from November 13, 1940. While acclaimed by critics, it was unable to make a profit due to World War II cutting off distribution to the European market, the film’s high production costs, and the expense of leasing theatres and installing the Fantasound equipment for the roadshow presentations. The film was subsequently reissued multiple times with its original footage and audio being deleted, modified, or restored in each version. As of 2012, Fantasia has grossed $76.4 million in domestic revenue and is the 22nd highest-grossing film of all time in the U.S. when adjusted for inflation. Fantasia, as a franchise, has grown to include video games, Disneyland attractions, a live concert, and a theatrically released sequel (Fantasia 2000) co-produced by Walt’s nephew Roy E. Disney in 1999. Fantasia has grown in reputation over the years and is now widely acclaimed; in 1998 the American Film Institute ranked it as the 58th greatest American film in their 100 Years…100 Movies and the fifth greatest animated film in their 10 Top 10 list.
