Topic: Disney/Pixar Discussion

@kkslider5552000 I think you're mixing up Pixar and Disney, Disney have done two/three proper sequels in like 40 years. Pixar got into a proper groove at one point that was probably down to Lasseter heading up both Disney and Pixar animation so during the changeover they green lit a bunch of sequels to steady their output before getting back to original works.

Yeah Raya looks alright, I won't be spending the money on it unless Lockdown is lifted soon as it's gonna get added to Disney+ is a few months anyway but I'm looking forward to it.

@TheJGG Not directly aimed at you but I can't stand the "it ruined my childhood" hyperbole. It makes the person sound like a soft fragile mess from a luxurious childhood that it's easily broken. It's probably gonna be pish but sometimes these flicks are decent, at least wait for the trailer before declaring it's ruined yourself ;p

I actually know some of the people working on it so at least it's given them a work during lockdown.

@Anti-Matter I think it's going to be a cynical soulless remake with money prioritised over creativity. There's no problem that the actress for Ariel is black, Jodi Benson said it best; she has the soul of the character.

But casing Awkawafina as a bird, and Melissa Mc-frickin-Carthy as Ursula, makes it feel like a 2016 Ghostbusters kind of fake woke level.

@jump Completely understand. This hyperbole can't apply to Mulan, which I feel defiled the very themes of the original, for me, because I watched it after the remake, for comparison.

The original made the live action one look awful.

@TheJGG Melissa Mc-frickin-Carthy is perfect casting in my opinion, she looks the part and she can actually act (just not in those rubbish comedies) but a cartoon villian will need to chew the scenery and she does have the energy to do that.

Mulan was meh to okayish, I actually really liked some of the wire fu fights. I were to change things it would be to add more wire fu fights so it's even less like the orginal. For as much as people complain about it's different from the orginal cartoon the only times these live actions films work is when they do make changes so its not a lifeless carbon copy.

@jump Again, your points make sense. She has energy, even Ghostbusters proved that.

Mulan for me didn't add much on top of the original. That's my main justification as to why this movie's existence is questioned.

I didn't. That distinction just doesn't matter significantly to me, especially after Disney abandoned 2d. For that matter, most people probably don't know if the Wreck it Ralph films or the past decade of original Pixar films are from Disney or Pixar anyway.

@kkslider5552000 That's a surprising attitude from you as I've seen you make that kind of distinction with various video games, the sequel isn't made by the same studio so it doesn't matter type of thing.

If you're talking about Bioshock 2, there's a massive difference between my disinterest in differences between two 3d animation film studios under the same company, and a story driven video game being given a nearly universally agreed upon worse and unneeded follow up because the people who made the original. If Pixar did make Wreck it Ralph 2, then that'd be a comparable situation.

While there are very much differences between Disney and Pixar movies, those differences feel like they just matter less now. If I want to watch a newer Disney movie, Disney or Pixar makes no difference to my interest in it. Merely just what I've heard of the individual films.

@kkslider5552000 I disagree it's universally agreed upon worse, it's more of a forgotten middle child. It's not just Bioshock it's been a few different games too, it sticks out as you were crapping on them despite not playing them with your reasoning being the change of studio which suggested to me that the studio matter for your views but hey ho. In any case that's enough off topic-ness.

The new addition of Star to Disney+ fixes one of the problems I have with it, there wasn't enought tv shows to binge even with WandaVision and Mandalorian. Annoyingly alot of the good stuff I've seen already but I've got The Strain (I love Guillermo del Toro stuff!), Solar Opposites and Atlanta to watch now.

First of all, I can't remember other games I did this with. Any other examples I have other reasons I'm pretty sure.

I will say, my opinion very rarely dramatically differs from the consensus for games, so I find it easier to take the general opinions I hear of games seriously. I don't need to spend 15 hours of my life on a video game I won't like as much as other video games that I could play instead.

I at least honestly discuss which games I haven't played so you can take my opinion as such. Quite frankly plenty of people don't even do that cough Star Fox Zero cough, so I don't know what you want from me. If everything I've heard discourages me from a game or anything else, there's usually actual reasons.

I should probably point out as well that a different studio doesn't just magically make bad sequels, even when it seems like that could've likely happened. Everything I've heard just fits well into the category of "specific and unique thing made by a specific team where the follow up just can't recapture the same magic, and doesn't entirely get it". Which is a somewhat common issue when new people try to follow up any form of entertainment or art that was uniquely its own thing. I'm not here to pretend there is even zero chance I'd be proven wrong if I played it (Bioshock 2 does have fans), but if I'm given enough reasons to be disinterested, I'm not bothering, is the thing. I have other things to do, is the main reason, and the only one I need really.

So to put it simply and go back to where I started, over-reliance on sequels I didn't want does not generally make me want to watch Disney movies. Critically acclaimed new movies, do.

@kkslider5552000 Each to their own but the thing is a critically acclaimed and a sequel aren't mutually exclusive. The standard for the Pixar and Disney are fairly high, it's not like the live action remakes or the straight to video sequels of the 90s which we more miss than hit. Toy Story 4 is probably my favourite from all four of them and they actually moved the narrative theme on by not focusing on the past three film's of toys have a short life span so you need to enjoy and accept it whilst you can. The only real fail is Frozen 2 from the last few years.

I gave Raya a watch and it's really good.

It's feels like Disney have now got to perfecting the tropeless Princess movie art without it being so on the nose like Frozen or Mulan were.

It was surprising they have gone for an all Asian cast (almost all as Alan Tudyk gets another role as an animal that just makes noises) yet I actually knew who most of them were unlike some past celeb voice actors where I've got no idea who they were.

One complaint, why does she have a sword but at no point didn't she stab, cut or decapitate anyone to death?! I felt like a tease.

@jump I'm looking for a time to sit down and watch this. I think especially with the Princesses, making a well written, well fleshed out character's been difficult for Disney as of late. I find the duality most prominent in Frozen where one of the better Princesses (Anna) is related to one of the worst (Elsa).

@TheJGG Yeah, Frozen from a writing perspective was a bit of a mess, Kristen Bell's princess was there just to make the statement of rejecting a prince but after being desperate to fall in love she comes off as an idiot and the main one who's major arc is to just run away from her problems and then come back. Otherwise besides Frozen they have done pretty well with the likes of Moana in recent years imo but Raya has got it down as an almost perfect evolution.

The cast is incredibly good and just looking at the other shows/movies they have been in is made up of a lot of things I've watched in the last 5 years.
Sandra Oh was in the amazing Killing Eve.
Gemma Chan stole the show in Humans.
Awkwafina is a legit funny and has acting chops like in The Farwell.
Kelly Marie Tran who I only know from the Star Wars backlash but was really good in this.
Benedict Wong is great (in a quiet way) in everything.
Daniel Dae Kim and Lucille Soong who I didn't recognize their names but when I looked it up afterwards I went "Oh yeah, those guys were really good in Lost/Fresh Off the Boat and all the other bit roles I've seen them in".
And Alan Tudyk is just Alan Tudyk at this point.

I have played and finished the storyline of two really terrible Disney games that i have ever played:
Chicken Little PS2 and Bolt PS3.

Both of them are really disaster in both gameplay and storyline.
None of them are really interesting enough to replay again on same level as the game was very linear and for Chicken Little PS2, you cannot replay the previous level once you proceed into next episode. And the worst part, as the games near to final chapter, the difficulty spike increased really high like it was really (almost) impossible to finish the games.
I gave them score 4/10 for both of them.
I don't even think to replay again just for revisit the previous places.

@jump I'm in anticipation of Kelly Marie Tran, because this for me is her first major non-Star Wars project. If she does well this'll establish her as a very capable and talented actress but if the opposite happens her performance as Rose can be seen as a fluke. I heard she did a good job so... new Disney star in the making.

@TheJGG Well she co-starred with Elizabeth Olsen in Sorry for Your Loss already which was well received, there's more to watch than just blockbusters and Disney. ;p

I just watched the Cruella flick last night, it's easily one of the better live action based on a classic movie they have done. There was some stupid stuff in it like the use of dalmatians but Emma Stone is flat out great and the punk rock-60s fashion culture energy it has really made it stand out. I also noticed they actually used the real London landmarks like Liberty rather than trying to recreate them.

With the new flicks plus Rebel and Loki (which starts this week) Disney+ is earning it's keep at the moment as when it launched I was basically just waiting for new The Mandalorian episodes and occasionly rewatching one of their classics I've seen already.

@jump I too saw Cruella yesterday. It was an ok movie. I did not like the way they made her kind of a tragic hero. Cruella is evil and that is it.

But I am trying to distinguish this Cruella from the one we all know. You are spot on that it is a flick! She behaved too good with Jasper and Horace. She should have treated them way worse than that. Also I would bet that the real Cruella would gutted those 3 dogs to get the pendant instead of waiting for it to get out naturally!

Maybe they should rename the movie to Estella

Right now the best live action adaptation of the old drawn Disney classics is Aladdin. I loved that movie! Beauty and the Beast was not bad but Emma Watson was not right for that part.

And last week I saw Mulan. It was terrible. Zero charm from the original movie. They should have called it something else ... just not Mulan. Lion King was also terrible and waste of money.

An and Loki is starting! I loved WandaVision and Bucky and Cap!

the Right Stuff (Disney+) - inbetween all the Star Wars, Marvel, & general family fare on offer I found this drama focusing on the Mercury space program as NASA was trying to get a man into space before the Soviets. It was actually a pretty solid watch and hopefully not a one off for these kinds of originals on D+.