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Tag Archives: disney song

November Review: Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971)

20 Saturday Nov 2021

Posted by UpOnTheShelf in 1970's, Action-Adventure, Comedy, Disney, Fantasy, Movie Reviews, Musicals

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70s disney, a step in the right direction, adventure, angela lansbury, animal football, animal soccer, animated, animated movie, animated movie review, animation, anthropomorphic animals, beautiful briny sea, bed, bedknob, bedknobs and broomsticks, black cat, broomstick, cat, classic, classic disney, classic Disney animation, classic disney characters, cult classic, david tomlinson, director's cut, Disney, disney animated, disney animated feature, disney animated movie, disney animation, Disney Plus, disney review, disney song, eglantine, emelius browne, film review, football, king leonidas, London, london blitz, magic, Mary Poppins, movie, movie review, Movie Reviews, musical, musical review, naboombu, portobello road, rawlins, review, richard and robert sherman, soccer, substitutiary locomotion, suit of armor, travelling spell, treguna mekoides trecorum satis de, Walt Disney, witch, with a flair, world war 2

I’m kind of surprised that I’m reviewing Bedknobs and Broomsticks before the film that was responsible for it in the first place, the one everyone knows and loves – a little movie called Mary Poppins. Everything about Bedknobs and Broomsticks from its conception to creation is inextricably tied to its more popular predecessor. When Walt Disney was still tussling with P.L. Travers over the film rights for Mary Poppins, he sought out the rights to two other books as an alternative. Those stories were Mary Norton’s “The Magical Bedknob” and “Bonfires and Broomsticks” which, by an astounding coincidence, feature a magical woman taking in some children and setting off with them on fantastical adventures. Walt eventually succeeded in getting Mary Poppins on the big screen, and it goes without saying that it was his final crowning achievement, the culmination of every artistic endeavor he undertook over his forty-year career, a joyous musical extravaganza that deserved every award and accolade, and is pretty darn good too. And then he died, leaving behind a directionless studio and some Sideshow Bob-sized shoes to fill.

During that time where the world mourned and the company coasted on the last bit of Walt’s legacy, his brother, Roy O. Disney, remembered they still had the rights to Mary Norton’s books and thought, “Well we had one big hit turning a fantasy story into a big-budget partly-animated musical, why not do it again?” It’s not all that surprising that the studio would try to reproduce Mary Poppins’ success, especially now that they forced to recreate Walt’s brand of magic without him. In fact, they not only brought back a few actors from Mary Poppins and even the same songwriters, The Sherman Brothers, but Julie Andrews was the studio’s first choice to play Eglantine Price! As is often the case, the final product doesn’t fully measure up to the original, and yet…Bedknobs and Broomsticks is still an utterly fantastic film. Much like its heroine, it’s a plucky little feature up against insurmountable odds and its own overwhelming insecurities, but overcomes them both through sheer conviction. Whether its an apprentice witch trying to save her country from war, or a studio rebuilding itself after losing its beloved founder, you gotta love an underdog story. The film boasts a great cast, some memorable songs, phenomenal special effects, and even works as an interesting companion piece to Mary Poppins. Why is that? Well, just in time for its 50th anniversary (give or take a couple of weeks), let’s find out shall we?

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March Review: Sleeping Beauty (1959)

28 Tuesday Apr 2020

Posted by UpOnTheShelf in 1950's, Action-Adventure, Comedy, Disney, Fantasy, Movie Reviews, Musicals, Romance

≈ 14 Comments

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2D animation, angelina jolie, animated, animated feature, animated movie, animated movie review, animated musical, animation, animator, animators, anthropomorphic animal, aurora, ballet, barbara luddy, battle, battle to end all battles, battle with the forces of evil, bill shirley, bill thompson, blue, briar rose, cake, charles perrault, classic disney, curse, diablo, Disney, disney animated, disney animated feature, disney animated movie, disney animation, disney golden age, disney love, disney review, disney song, dragon, dragon battle, dress, drunk minstrel, eleanor audley, evil fairy, eyvind earle, fairies, fairy, fairy tale, fairytale, fauna, flora, forbidden mountain, forest, forest fairy, forest of thorns, goblins, hail to the princess aurora, hand drawn animation, horse, hubert, i wonder, king hubert, king stefan, Maleficent, maleficent battle, maleficent dragon battle, marc davis, mary costa, medieval, medieval art, merriweather, minions, minstrel, nature, once upon a dream, orcs, owl, philip, pink, prince philip, queen leah, raven, samson, shield of virtue, skumps, sleep, sleeping, sleeping beauty, sleeping beauty waltz, spinning wheel, stefan, sword of truth, Tchaikovsky, the brothers grimm, the sleeping beauty, thorns, three good fairies, traditional animation, verna felton, Walt Disney

sleeping beauty poster dvd cover

Whenever I discuss Sleeping Beauty with someone who doesn’t share my enthusiasm for Disney, they have an irksome tendency to get it muddled with Snow White; their excuse being “it has the same plot”. I’ll admit, there are some surface similarities that even the most casual viewer can pick up on: a fairytale where a princess is forced into unconsciousness and wakes up with some necking, the comic relief and villain being the most beloved characters, a little frolic in the forest with animals, the antagonist plunging off a cliff, you get the idea. In fact, Sleeping Beauty even reuses some discarded story beats from Snow White, mainly our couple dancing on a cloud and the villain capturing the prince to prevent him from waking his princess. Yet despite that, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty are two wholly different movies shaped by the era and talents of the time.

I’ve discussed how Walt Disney was never one to stick to a repeated formula, no matter how successful it was. He must have noticed the parallels between his first movie and this one, but decided to make one crucial change for Sleeping Beauty that would forever differentiate the two: the look. We all know the traditional Disney house style: round, soft shapes, big eyes; charming as it was and still is, Walt was sick of it after several decades. Meanwhile, artists like Mary Blair and Eyvind Earle were producing gorgeous concept art that rarely made a perfect translation into the Disney house style.

Favourite Artists: Mary Blair & Eyvind Earle | Topical Musings

Walt wanted to make a feature that took the pop artistry of their designs and made the animation work for it instead of the other way around – which brings us to another animation studio that was doing well at the time, United Pictures Animation, or UPA.

UPA didn’t have the kind of budget Disney normally had for their animated projects, but what they lacked in fluidity they made up for in style. Watch The Tell-Tale Heart, Gerald McBoing-Boing and Rooty-Toot-Toot to see what I mean. UPA were pioneers of limited animation, taking their scant resources and creating some striking visuals with bold geometric designs. Through this, they defined the look of 50’s animation. Though perhaps unintentional, Sleeping Beauty comes across as Disney’s response to UPA, or what would happen if UPA had the funds they deserved. The characters’ contours are angular but effortlessly graceful, defining their inherent dignity and royalty. And the colors, ohhh the colors…

Because of the immense amount of work required to animate in this difficult new style (and in the Cinemascope ratio, no less) as well as story troubles and Walt barely supervising the animation studio now that he had his hands full with live-action films, television, and a theme park, Sleeping Beauty had a turbulent production that lasted the entirety of the 1950s. For a time, Chuck Jones of Looney Tunes fame was set to direct. Director Wilfred Jackson suffered a heart attack partway through production and Eric Larson, one of the Nine Old Men, took the mantle from there before Walt Disney replaced him Clyde Geronimi. And even after that, Wolfgang Reitherman teamed up with Geronimi as co-director to get the film finished after no less than three delays. Also, Don Bluth got his foot in the door as an assistant animator for this feature, beginning his short-lived but impactful tenure at Disney. Did all this hamper the movie, or did they succeed in what they set out to accomplish?

Well, one of the reasons why this review took so long was because I had a hard time not repeating “MOVIE PRETTY” and “MALEFICENT AWESOME” over and over. Make what you will of that.

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By The Cover: Pinocchio

22 Saturday Feb 2020

Posted by UpOnTheShelf in 1940's, Action-Adventure, By The Cover, Comedy, Disney, Fantasy, Horror, Movie Reviews, Musicals

≈ 7 Comments

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80th anniversary, academy awards, anniversary, bibbidi bobbidi bach, bill frisell, billy joel, By The Cover, Christmas star, classic disney, close encounters of the third kind, desolation theme, Disney, disney animated, disney animated feature, disney animated movie, disney animation, disney golden age, disney muppets, disney song, foulfellow, gene simmons, Gepetto, gideon, gipsy kings, Give A Little Whistle, gypsy kings, herb alpert, hi diddle dee dee, honest john, i got no strings, I've Got No Strings, jazz cover, jazz loves disney, jiminy cricket, john williams, julietta novis, ken nordine, Little Wooden Head, mannheim steamroller, michael crawford, Muppets, music, Neverland Orchestra, oscars, Pinocchio, pleasure island, pokemon, ringo starr, sega genesis, Simply Mad About The Mouse, snes, song, song cover, song covers, songs of the stage and screen, Stay Awake, Stay Awake Various Interpretations of Music From Vintage Disney Films, stromboli, the king's men, the muppet show, Walt Disney, wayne horvitz, When You Wish Upon a Star

Yes folks, after a lengthy absence on this blog, we’re returning to the semi-popular recurring series By The Cover, wherein I discuss my favorite covers of songs entirely from movies. This is a particularly special entry as we’re marking the 80th anniversary of the timeless Disney animated feature, Pinocchio!

When people hear the words “animated musical”, movies like Beauty and the Beast or Snow White come to mind quicker than Pinocchio does. It’s a movie where the characters and story come first and the music comes a close second. That’s not a knock on the soundtrack, far from it. The music is the icing on what’s already a perfectly baked dark and delectable dessert. Leigh Harline and Ned Washington gave us some iconic songs ranging from the fun to the inspirational, and artists have stepped up to the overwhelming task of interpreting them time and again for the past fourscore. Let’s pay them some homage.

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By the Cover: Beauty and the Beast

06 Monday May 2019

Posted by UpOnTheShelf in 1990's, Action-Adventure, By The Cover, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Musicals, Romance

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AHmusic, akioboy, alan menken, anthony evans, be our guest, beast, beauty and the beast, belle, broadway, brows held high, By The Cover, caleb hayes, chip, cogsworth, concert, cover, darren criss, descendants, Disney, disney fairy tale weddings, disney jazz, disney song, disney song cover, evermore, everybody wants to be a cat disney jazz, Fred Mollin, gaston, gilad hekselmen, heavy metal, heigh ho mozart, hollywood bowl, hollywood bowl concert, honorable mention, howard ashman, if i can't love her, jane krakowski, jazz, jazz cover, johnathan young, josh groban, kelsey grammer, kill the beast, kyle kallgren, live in concert, lullaby, lumiere, maurice, metal, metal cover, mrs. potts, music, parody, parody song, rock cover, rose, something there, song, song cover, tale as old as time, teacup, the mob song, tony goldmark

Ah, Beauty and the Beast, could I ever stop singing your praises? Of course not! It’s one of the greatest musicals of all time. Finding good covers of these songs was harder than it seemed, however. The original cast was so perfect to begin with that discovering reimaginings that measure up was a daunting cast. In fact, finding covers of certain songs at all was the real challenge. But since Beauty and the Beast is one of the most popular Disney movies ever created, there’s no shortage of fans who have made their love for it known, and we’re going to highlight some of them today.

And for the record, I’m not counting reprises, or the versions of the original’s songs from the Broadway musical or 2017 remake.

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By the Cover: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

28 Thursday Feb 2019

Posted by UpOnTheShelf in 1930's, By The Cover, Disney, Movie Reviews, Musicals, Romance

≈ 8 Comments

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adriana casselotti, Anarchy on 45, By The Cover, classic disney, Comedian Harmonists, Dave Brubeck, Disney, disney animated, disney animated feature, disney animated movie, disney animation, disney review, disney song, disney songs, En Vogue, Evelyn Knight, Fred Mollin, Gail Reese, heigh ho, i'm wishing, jazz cover, jazz music, Los Lobos, Mary Martin, Neverland Orchestra, NRBQ, one song, oscars, plunderphonics, Pogo, pop music, Rob Lowe, seven dwarfs, Simply Mad About The Mouse, Snow White, snow white and the seven dwarfs, someday my prince will come, song cover, song covers, Stay Awake, Stay Awake Various Interpretations of Music From Vintage Disney Films, swing music, The Comedian Harmonists, The Enid, the silly song, The Vandals, the washing song, Tom Waits, Walt Disney, Wishery, with a smile and a song

Welcome to the premiere of By The Cover, a series where I highlight the best (and some of the worst) covers of songs from musicals I’ve reviewed before.

For our first installment, I thought I’d revisit the one that started it all and gave me the inspiration to create this, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Snow White, in addition to being the first full-length American animated feature, was the first movie to release its soundtrack to the public for their listening pleasure. If that wasn’t enough, the popularity of its songs saw many renditions by many well-known artists of the day. As time went on and Snow White was viewed as just another cartoon for the kids, the music found its way to many records aimed at young children. But it found new life in the 60s as jazz musicians took turns sampling the time-honored tunes and made them part of their repertoire. And it hasn’t stopped since. Snow White’s status as a Disney classic means there will always be some new iteration of its iconic melodies.

Let’s listen to a few of them, shall we?

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