Maui...Wowie!

Films: Moana
Format: Streaming video from NetFlix on rockin’ flatscreen.

It’s not often that a studio gets two films nominated for Best Animated Feature in the same year. I think that is generally because it’s hard for a studio to release two animated features in the same year. In the case of 2016 and Disney, though, both Zootopia and Moana were released and both were nominated for Best Animated Feature. I watched Zootopia months ago and enjoyed it well enough. Moana made it to NetFlix streaming, which meant I knew its time was coming.

Here’s the thing. The basic story of Zootopia is that racism is bad. Admittedly, that’s not like a staggering revelation, but the entire story is based on the idea that racism is destructive. It’s a fine message even if the movie misses a great deal of the actual problems with racism as experienced in the real world. Moana is an adventure tale about a young girl going to sea to save the island of her people and to connect with the wandering explorers of her people’s past. And Moana is a better argument against racism than Zootopia despite having not a damn thing to do with it.

Pucker Up!

Film: The Princess and the Frog
Format: DVD from Rockford Public Library on rockin’ flatscreen.

There was a time when Disney was the gold standard for animated movies. In a way, with Pixar as a part of their stable, they still are, but the titles that come out specifically under the Disney label are more hit or miss. There are great modern Disney films, of course, but there are some terrible ones, too. So with The Princess and the Frog, I really didn’t know what I was getting. I remember the release of this and the news that Disney was finally getting an African-American princess. There’s a lot of pressure in a situation like this; even an innocent misstep is going to be treated very harshly.

This is the story of the Frog Prince, of course, but since it’s a movie, that fairy tale is going to be taken in a different direction. After a short refresher on the basic story and an introduction to our main character as a child, we jump to the film’s present day of the mid-1920s in New Orleans. Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) is a hard-working young woman juggling two full-time waitressing jobs to save up for her dream of opening a restaurant. This is a dream she shared with her father (Terrence Howard), a man we see in the opening scenes of the film but who has died in the meantime, most likely a casualty of World War I.

Your Face Picks Movies (Nick): Aladdin

Film: Aladdin
Format: DVD from Reddick Library through interlibrary loan on laptop.

This is the sixth in a series of twelve films suggested by the guys at YourFace. This is Nick’s second pick.

Everyone has a couple of movies they’ve somehow missed. I’m sure there’s a blogger out there who hasn’t seen Jurassic Park or Fight Club. For me, one of those movies is Aladdin, which is a generation-defining movie. The truth is, though, that it defines the generation before mine. When this was released, I was in my mid-20s and didn’t have any kids. So you can give me grief about not having seen Aladdin until now, but was there really a reason for me to have seen it when it was new?

Since I’m probably the last person in the free world to see Aladdin I’ll be quick with the summary. Jafar (Jonathan Freeman), Grand Vizier to the Sultan of Agrabah (Douglas Seale) has been searching desperately for the fabled magical lamp that contains a magical genie capable of granting three wishes to whomever owns the lamp. Through some magic, he locates the “diamond in the rough,” the only person capable of collecting the lamp. This turns out to be the titular Aladdin (Scott Weinger), a street rat who lives by stealing food for himself and his pet monkey Abu (Frank Welker).

Treasure Planet

Film: Treasure Planet
Format: Streaming video from NetFlix on rockin’ flatscreen.

When “Best Animated Feature” turned out to be the new category, I was happy for a few reasons. First, it was the smallest category, which meant a smaller collection of films added to my already huge number. That’s a good thing. The other reason is that I often like animated movies, provided they don’t get too sappy. One of the ones I was most interested in seeing was Disney’s Treasure Planet. One reason for this is simple: I’d heard a lot of good things about it despite its tanking at the box office. The second reason is a bit more complicated.

I have a friend named Doug. Doug has several passions. Two of those passions are his enduring love of science fiction and his equally enduring love of swashbucklers and pirates. Doug loves the concept of swashbuckling in space, and I’m sure he’s not the only one. Actually, I think It’s a pretty cool concept, too. And that’s the idea behind Treasure Planet. This is a science fiction version of Treasure Island, down to the characters and the costumes, but it takes place in a bizarre future. It’s Firefly for the pirate crowd in that sense. The space ships are actually sailing ships using solar sails, but rigged and designed to look like 18th Century wooden ships. It sounds bizarre, but it’s a great combination. There’s that reckless sense of adventure combined with real exploration. How could I not want to see this? And how come Doug doesn’t wear a Treasure Planet shirt every day of his life?