WARNING!! THE FOLLOWING REVIEWS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!! WARNING!! THE FOLLOWING REVIEWS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!! WARNING!! THE FOLLOWING REVIEWS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!!
I don't think I ever posted a review of this, so here it goes.
I am posting a review of the next big Disney animation classic, The Princess and the Frog. You guys might know it better as, the movie with the African-American princess. When I first heard about this project, I was skeptical, a African princess on a European tale. Since that's probably the major reason why she is the first, although we have a Middle-Eastern and a Native American and a Chinese princess, is that it's a European tale, so European=White. However, their way of handling it was well mastered. Bringing the tale centuries into the future into 1920's New Orleans. The era of Jazz and when women and Afircan-Americans were first starting to stand on their own two feet and up for themselves. One particular thing I love about this movie, is the note that were WAS INFACT racism in 1920's Louisiana. Most people like to either ignore it or try and pretend like 1920's wasn't a time period where a great amount of people were still racist. Despite his being a light hearted Disney animated film, it dose give a nod to a lot of problem in the Louisiana Bayou during the time. Not just racially, but there is also a huge class struggle there between those who have it all and those have have next to nothing, and those who have nothing at all. But in order to see it, you'd have to look at it with a creative spin. Wait for the anti-disney fans to be spending hate speech videos over the internet saying Disney is advocating this idea like it's a good thing to be racist and take everything out of context and how it is, infact, saying the opposite.
So a little bit more about the story. A twist off the original where a witch changes the prince and the princess kisses him to change him back to normal...Our "Princess" Tiana, is a waitress who works herself to death to get her fantasy resteraunt. Our Prince Naveen is a spoiled brat who is cut off from his allowance by his parents for being a leech and has a live free life style. He makes a deal with "The Shadow Man" who is a master of Voodoo and played by the immensely talented Keith David named Dr. Faciler for what he thinks is going to get him the money to continue his free lifestyle, but he's actually turning him into a frog so that Dr. Faciler and his servant can go around impersonating him to get the money of Tiana's best friend's father. Naveen mistakes Tiana for a princess at a costume party and because she is not a princess, it keeps Naveen a frog and turns Tiana into a frog herself. Twist!
Normally I don't care much for Jazz, but Disney always knows how to make you see the good in it. My personal favorite song is "Friends On The Other Side" sung by Dr. Faciler (aka Keith David) and "his friends on the other side". Other favorites are "I'm Almost There" which seems to want to be the big song of the film. "Ma Belle Evangeline" which is Ray singing about his love for the wishing star he names Evangline, which doubles as the song where Tiana and Naveen are starting to get real close to each other.
For those of you who remember what 2D Disney animation is, you're bound to love this movie.
This a wonderful heartwarming and inspiring tale which plays with the moral of balancing work and play and backing up your dram with hard work. And with a ironic end to it for Dr. Faciler. I HIGHLY recommend.
How To Train Your Dragons is well worth the $10.50 you see it on the flat movie theater screen and no doubt worth the $2-$3 more for the 3D. A heart-warming childhood adventure. With a creative look you can see a short theme of war propaganda, but you'd have to really have a creative look into it. I should, when the DVD comes out after the first initial watching, watch it while listening to Crusade by Voltaire to see if it syncs up in a significant way.
The basic storyline is that a young man (especially by Viking standards who believe that their children should be able to survive on their own at the age of 13) is a bumbling sore thumb in the Viking Society. Too weak to lift a sword or a hammer, he tries to use his blacksmithing apprenticeship to create a way that he might gain some prestige and respect from his Viking community, which, in that community, there was one sure fire thing that would do it. Kill a dragon which have been raiding and stealing their food, which we find out later it's for one HUGE FREAKING DRAGON which will eat them if they don't feed him. I warned you I might have a spoiler. Which he finally gets working to bring down the big dragon that raids them. Of course, me and my sister walk out saying, of course it's the dragon that kind of resembles a cat.
Which brings me up to one of my favorite parts of the movie. Rarely is there ever 1 kind of dragon rather then a multitude of different types. Which they frequently show about 5 different types not counting the main character's Toothless (named for his ability for retract his teeth) and then hints that there are many other types of dragons that don't go onto the island where they live.
I also like their nod to Viking lore, which is one of the richest in the world. They not only did with with Oden and Thor, but their belief of destiny. Viking lore is very big on the notion of destiny.
The training montage was cute and cheesey in the cute way. You'll most likely find yourself thinking in your mind "Awww, that's so cheesey.". In the good way.
Well, I think I should stop posting a review which for some reason takes me forever.
List for today:
Hiragana/Katakana/Vocabulary Practice
Gaia Guild Updates
Writing
Webcomic Writing
Violin For Dummies
Library Book
World of Warcraft Emblems
Viking Project Book/Website
Japanese Study
Japanese Homework
Computer Literacy Homework
Public Speaking Homework
History Homework
Job Search
LARP Reading for Character History (The LARP is April 9th)
Clean Out E-mail
Belly Dance DVD
Wish me luck.
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