Disney Animation Trifecta (Wall-E, Tangled, Frozen) [Movie Review]

Okay so my title image is not working out quite right. I probably need to
resize my site. That however is an issue for another day.

I said, last week, during my review of Wreck-it Ralph, that I was going to be doing a large animated movie review. I could have simply said I'd be reviewing a block of Disney films. I probably have not seen an animated Disney movie in theaters since... Pocahontas? Huzzah Amazon.

2008. I can't believe it has been that long since Wall-e came out...

I know it's trite... but this really is a better love story than Twilight.

This movie is an amazing piece of animation. The first hour or so has almost no dialogue at all, and yet the story is so powerful you do not need words.

5 out of 5 stars

Dire warning #1. We have one planet, we need to take
care of it and stop treating it like we have another.

The film contains a great deal of moral lessons. I should not feel bad about spoiling the details of a film that is seven years old, and yet I do. It took me that long to watch the movie... there are probably others like me out there. Suffice to say there is a massive environmental message in the movie. There is a message about blind consumption, a message about unfettered capitalism, and a message about waste.

Dire Warning #2. I do not think a thing needs to be said.

Oh, another cube, this time with colors.

Like all Disney movies there is a romantic story as well. Love between bots, it's cute. What else would you expect.

As an aside, while I was watching I had to go and look up when Portal first came out. It was 2007. There are a few bots that do seem Portal inspired. I'm not saying this is bad, just recognizable. (Of course with writing time, production time, and all of that, Wall-E was likely in production when Portal first came out).

I have to say... this too is a movie I regret not seeing earlier. I distinctly remember hearing a few friends talk about how good it was, but I never really had the urge to see it until recently. I'm kinda glad. Now I have a BD copy, and if I had bought it 8 years ago, it might have been simply a DVD. 

Yes, I know buying it is me engaging in consumption... but it is a damn good movie, one I'd love to share with other people. So I'm sharing my opinion on it here... almost a decade after it came out.  

2010. I'll admit, that this movie did not exactly grab me
when it first appeared in theaters.

Ah yes, running gags. There are several in Tangled.

Seriously, when this movie first came out, I really did not care. I kind of made it clear in my opening statement that I've not been into Disney films for a while. Probably a bit of adult male ego... posturing or some such nonsense. However on the advice of a friend I watched it.

5 out of 5 stars

Interrogation and aggressive negotiations with a frying pan.

Holy shit. I missed another excellent film. I really have to accept that Disney produces quality. This gives me great hope for Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens. Take a look at how well they've done with the MCU. I know they do good work... it has just taken me a long time to accept it.   

I too see the light... lots of 'the light.'

Tangled is a very wonderful romance and coming of age story. I'll not lie, there is a boat load of comedy as well. Oh, and songs. This is a more traditional Disney animated movie, lots of songs. Some of them are very fun, specifically the "I've got a Dream" song, and "When will My Life Begin." "I See the Light" is a wonderful light romantic song.

The story is very strong, very easily followed, and very good. I have no freaking idea how much of it is even closely related to the original tale of Rapunzel. Heck the Brothers Grimm adapted their version from an older version, one by Friedrich Schulz. He adapted it from a French version... you see where this is going. So, I'm setting that aside. Maybe someday I'll worry about how accurate a Disney film is to its source material. Not now... it is not like I've actually read many of the tales of the Brothers Grimm.

I'm not going to bandy about the bush, this was an excellent movie. Gonna have to set aside that posturing more often. Oh, wait... I probably already have shelved it for a good long while. Watch this movie, if for some reason you were like me and missed it originally. Then you can watch this little clip called Tangled Ever After (it does not seem to be on my BD copy). By the way, this is the movie I'm watching while writing this review.

2013... ah, now we're getting closer to the present.

The promotional material for this movie confused the heck
out of me. The main character is not who I thought it was.

Again, I had been avoiding Disney movies like the plague... for what now appears to be foolish reasons. Really pretty stupid consider that Disney probably has move movies achieving my venerated 5 star rating than anything else so far... And most of those have come in the last week. However Frozen had another stigma attached to it. It was too popular out of the gate... it almost felt like there was a Twilight level craze about this movie.

4.5 out of 5 stars

Why is he reminding me so much of a character (nation) in
Scandinavia and the World... oh, cause he looks so...
Scandinavian.

Now before you yell at me for rating Frozen, the biggest blockbuster animated film ever, the highest grossing animated film ever, the academy award winning movie... let me explain myself. 

That is an impressive bit of CGI. The shine, the sparkle,
the transparencies, the glow... impressive.

I felt the story was a little weaker. It felt like it needed just a few more scenes to fill in some of the gaps. There is one point where a somewhat heroically portrayed character does a complete and total one-eighty, and yes, there are a few clues in retrospect (and I even accidentally commented on one during the viewing, something like "Why would he know anything about ruling a nation?"), they are not exactly explicit... 


It felt a tiny bit rushed... like a little bit more build up would have done an amazing job smoothing it over. And then there is Olaf. Not really a favorite of mine, he reminded me too closely of a silly anime mascot character... and even as an anime otaku mascot characters can get on my nerves.

Now that being said it is a very good movie. And yes, the song "Let it Go" is a wonderful song, very catchy and very strong. A few of the other songs were not quite as good as those in Tangled, but they were not bad. Now the animation, the animation is stunning... amazingly so. The ice castle alone is just incredibly fantastic, and the detail on Elsa's dress is insane. I also absolutely loved her character. It truly is a great movie, and it has produced work on a feature length sequel, one that will be in theaters. Yes, there is a Frozen 2 in the works with an estimated release in 2018. That seems like a long time in the future... however not too long ago, in March, there was a short film called Frozen Fever attached to Disney's live action Cinderella... a box office success despite mediocre reviews. It make me wonder how much of that success was people just wanting to see the short.

I've been thinking... are Disney movies the Opera of the modern day? So much of their story is told in song, they give me an operatic feel. I could just be nuts, but that is the feeling I get. And... that is probably enough rambling from me today.

Anyways... I've had a lot of fun watching Disney animated films recently. I invite you to do the same.