D52 Week 4: Dumbo!

Last week, we covered Disney's first real financial failure; this week, I get to take a look at the outcome. After neither Pinocchio or Fantasia were an immediate success (thanks a lot, Hitler), Dumbo was thrown together as a quick way to recoup some of those losses. Not only is it really short (64 minutes, which is still slightly longer than 2011's Winnie the Pooh, I think), but the animation is noticeably a lot simpler than the lavish detail and, sometimes, outright beauty of the previous three Disney films. Given that, at times, the only thing those films had going for them was gorgeous visual craftsmanship, this might not bode well for Dumbo, which shows a similar disinterest in any sort of significant plotting. To compensate for this lack of visual endowment, though, Disney has clearly opted to stuff the metaphorical trousers of this film with the metaphorical sock of increased gag output. Did it work? Well, most critics seem to regard Dumbo as a charmingly crafted little movie in its own right, so...maybe?

D52 Week 3: Fantasia!

A Word From The Future: If you're reading through this blog in chronological order (and if you are, congratulations for being one of a very elite group of people, "elite" in this case meaning "small and insignificant" - and don't know what this is all about, let my acquaintances Kevin and Amanda, explain the what and the why and perhaps some other W word you're seeking. Basically, for each week of 2012, we watch one of Disney's 52 canonical theatrically released animated features, and post our thoughts. For the first two weeks, I just limited my thoughts to comments on their blog posts, which were so long and unwieldy that everyone involved thought I should just do it on my own. Those two movies will probably receive retroactive "official" write-ups, eventually, before the year is through - but, for now, here's the first piece I wrote for the project. (Oh, and also, my super-cool girlfriend also takes part in this. Give her a read too.)

Here I am, only three weeks into this silly thing, and already I've reached a film that I haven't seen before. It's hardly surprising, of course. Children rarely go out of their way to listen to classical music, and I suppose I was no exception. But, with age comes a more open mind, and perhaps it's for the best that I waited to experience Fantasia until I was ready for it (i.e. not a terrible child). Seeing the high esteem in which this odd highbrow experiment seems to be held, I found myself wondering whether this could truly hold up, or if it would just end up being a glorified Melody Time. (The question of whether or not my memories of Melody Time as being sort of terrible are still accurate will have to wait several weeks.)

Okay, maybe THIS will be the year where everything bets betterish!

A Word From The Future: I'll surely recap my New Years Resolution progress at some point later in the year, but......Jesus, if only I had known...

As always, the start of a new year means that people everywhere make promises to themselves, usually involving weight loss, that they probably have no real intention of actually keeping, to be perfectly honest. It's almost as grand a tradition as making films about how not believing in fictional characters is just plain wrong around Christmas, or having the President pardon a turkey that has been wrongly convicted of the heinous crime of being a turkey around Thanksgiving!