Yesterday, a trailer for the 2014 Disney movie Maleficent turned up online. Angelina Jolie seems to make a very icy Maleficent, which seems more Wicked Queen than Maleficent. However, as this is only a teaser trailer, we’ll have to wait a little while to see Jolie’s Maleficent. I have a good feeling about this!
Filed under Other Disney Movie Stuff
Everyone is talking about it, and here it is!
First impressions are that it looks promising. There are a few people who aren’t crazy on the idea of Tom Hanks being Walt Disney, but we’ll have to wait and see the full movie before we pass judgement.
Christmas is too far away!
Filed under Other Disney Movie Stuff
Here at MMR, we love obscure Disney films. Well, maybe the less heard of ones at least. Melody Time is one of these. This would be the 10th animated feature to pop out of the Disney cannon, in 1948. It is essentially a mini Fantasia, made up of a series of shorts which are set to music. Several films of its kind were produced by Disney, with this being the fifth; the others were Saludos Amigos, Make Mine Music, The Three Caballeros and Fun and Fancy Free. There are seven short segments knitted together to make Melody Time, but they are all very different.
The first, Once Upon a Wintertime, was styled by Disney artist Mary Blair. Her style was very graphic and modern compared to a lot of the other Disney artists, who achieved a more traditional look to their work. 
Her work was beautiful, and she did a lot of concept art for Disney films; in the future she would go on to contribute to many features, including Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland, as well as being key in the designing of It’s a Small World in Disneyland. Unfortunately, in Once Upon a Wintertime, you can see that her characters do not translate as well as her still environments do, as their simplicity limits a lot of their personality through movement and facial expressions. It also seems to lack festive spirit a bit, considering that it is set in winter. It is about a young couple whose fun on the ice swiftly turns into peril; a nice little story, including quite a few animals. I really wanted to like it, but I can’t help but think that it would look better static as a print on a wall rather than an animation. It was later released as a standalone short though, so it must have been loved!
Bumble Boogie is the second segment, which is set to the jazzed-up tune of Flight of the Bumblebee. The style is such that would fit perfectly into Fantasia, with a bumblebee trying to fight off a frenzy of music and musical instruments. In fact, the music was originally considered to be in Fantasia several years earlier. This piece is much more fun and a lot less ‘grown-up’ than Once Upon a Wintertime, which makes you think that maybe Mary Blair’s style would have been more suited to Bumble Boogie! The bee is cute, which helps the audience to feel his frustration in this crazy little number.
The third short, Johnny Appleseed, was also styled by Mary Blair. It is about American legend, John Chapman, who roamed Mid-Western America planting apple trees (hence his nickname). In comparison to Once Upon a Wintertime, the characters seems to flow much better, and the colours of the backgrounds are rather beautiful, with bright green trees and rosy red apples. Considering the subject matter, however, maybe a more traditional style could have been used to tell the story. 
Johnny is visited early in the short by an angel, who sends him on a mission to plant lots of apple trees. Johnny does so all of his life, wandering fields and meeting animals, and planting hundreds of trees. The characters, particularly the angel, are quite humorous; the angel is a no-nonsense type with a pushy attitude, but also has a streak of kindness in him. The story is quite educational in its own way, and probably one of the best stories in Melody Time.
Little Toot, in my opinion, is the first segment in Melody Time that has a style to match its subject. Little Toot is a tugboat, who wants to be just like Big Toot (presumably his father), but ends up causing chaos instead of helping. It is based on the story by Hardie Gramatky of the same name, and the music is provided by the Andrews Sisters. This one is probably aimed more towards children, as it is a story about proving yourself, and putting right your wrongs.
Trees. Trees, trees and more trees. This one is based on a poem by Alfred Joyce Kilmer, and kind of reminds the audience of Bambi, with the forests and whatnot. Essentially, it is a very slow paced piece, which also looks like it could have fitted nicely into Fantasia.
Things are taken up a notch in this next segment, Blame it on the Samba, which looks like it escaped from The Three Caballeros. Donald Duck and José Carioca are woken by the Aracuan bird, who introduces them to the joys of samba music. Ethel Smith plays the organ while Donald and José dance on top of it, so live action and animation is twinned in this piece. Definitely uplifting compared to Trees, and generally more fun!
Now we come to the last short on Melody Time, Pecos Bill. This also includes live action and animation, but not simultaneously. Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers tell/sing the story to Bobby Driscoll and Luana Patten, who some of you may remember from Song of the South. Bill fell off a wagon as a baby, and his parents didn’t notice, so he ended up being raised by wolves, almost like Mowgli in The Jungle Book! The turned out to be the best cowboy that ever lived along with his horse, Widowmaker. We are told of all his tall tales, but one day he meets a girl named Slue-Foot Sue, who he intends to marry, essentially taming his wild lifestyle…slightly. She decides that she wants to ride Widowmaker on her wedding day, but Widowmaker does not like Sue, as he is jealous of her relationship with Bill. It just so happens that on this day, Sue is wearing a mighty big bustle, so when she gets on Widowmaker and he starts trying to buck her off, she goes flying up into the air. Nobody, not even Bill, can stop her bouncing, and eventually she bounces all the way onto the Moon. In his depressed state, Bill goes back to live with the wolves, and howls at the moon for his beloved.
The song in Pecos Bill is pretty good, I recommend that everyone goes and listens to it! Apparently, all scenes of Bill’s cigarette were digitally removed on the NTSC versions of the film, and one scene cut entirely, where Bill rolls a cigarette and smokes it. The PAL version still includes these scenes. Also, if anyone has visited Walt Disney World, they will be familiar with the burger restaurant: Pecos Bill Tall Tale Inn and Cafe. Definitely visit if you can, they do out-of-this-world food, and even have ‘props’ on the wall from the film, including Sue’s white gloves. This is without a doubt, the best short on Melody Time, so they saved the best until last!
Overall view? Pretty good. It is hard to give a rating to something with such a diverse selection of segments. I think you can judge how much I liked each one by how much I’ve written about it. Definitely check it out of you get the chance, it is worth it for Pecos Bill alone.
Out of the seven shorts, I really liked 3 of them, and the rest I could leave alone. So for that reason, I give this movie 3 Tinks.
Filed under M-R Movies
‘Bake them cookies, Lucille!’ – Grandpa Bud.
Close your eyes, and think of Disney. What comes to mind? Maybe Mickey Mouse, possibly princesses and castles, or maybe Uncle Walt! What you probably don’t think of are space ships, dinosaurs and singing frogs. Another of Disney’s less-mentioned movies comes in the form of Meet the Robinsons, which popped up in 2007 after 4 years in production.
Lewis: ‘Why is your dog wearing glasses?’
Grandpa: ‘Because his insurance won’t pay for contacts.’
Next Lewis meets Uncles Spike and Dimitri, and a large purple octopus called Lefty. Then we meet the mother of the family, Franny, who is conducting an orchestra of frogs; the singing voice of Frankie the frog is voiced by Jamie Cullum. Lewis does not meet Wilbur’s Dad, but Wilbur tells him that he looks like Tom Selleck (cue photo of Tom Selleck). The introduction to this massive and wacky family is probably one of the best sequences in the whole movie.
Are you starting to see what I mean when I said that this is not the traditional Disney film?
I don’t want to spoil the rest of the story, but it does get weirder!
The story is based on the book by William Joyce called ‘A Day with Wilbur Robinson’. Some of the characters are based upon real relatives that Joyce had, such as his grandpa who had so many artificial bits and pieces such as false teeth and a glass eye (Grandpa Bud), or his uncle who was 7ft tall and claimed that he was from outer space (Uncle Art).
There seems to be more characters in this movie than you would expect there to be in your average film, however, most of them do not play a big part at all, and are there simply to aid some of the many fabulous one-liners that make this film unique. The whole Robinson family represent freedom, and they do whatever makes them happy; they even celebrate failure, as it means that you will learn from your mistake and move forward! The main characters such as Lewis and Wilbur are easy to identify with, especially for young children. Design-wise, the characters are rather similar to the ones that are found in the original book.
The version of the future that we see here is rather similar in many ways to what you would see in Tomorrowland in a Disney theme park. In fact, you see Lewis and Wilbur fly past ‘Todayland’ in their spaceship, with almost an exact replica of Space Mountain in the background, and the original Rocket Jets. 
As far as music goes, this isn’t one of Disney’s more musical efforts, but the story doesn’t really call for that anyway. The wonderful Danny Elfman wrote the score, with artists such as Rufus Wainwright, The All-American Rejects and Jamie Cullum contributing to the soundtrack. On the whole, the music is upbeat and futuristic in a very Disney-esque and charming way, although whenever Lewis’ family is mentioned or we are meant to feel his sense of loneliness, the music does take on much more of an emotional feel.
There is a theme running through this film which comes from the saying ‘keep moving forward’. Anyone familiar with Walt Disney will recognise this from one of his famous quotes, which is actually tagged onto to the end of the movie. A nice touch! In fact, the whole film does share the same values that Walt had about the future and moving forward. Lewis is actually very similar to Walt, wanting to make the world a better place through technology. There are a few nods to Walt and the Disney theme parks throughout this film, as the director is also quite a fan of Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
Meet the Robinsons was released in 2007, two years after Chicken Little, which, if you have read my review on that, you will know I’m not a fan of. That is an understatement. Most folks tend to think of Pixar when they see a CGI Disney film, though neither of these films had Pixar involved. This film is actually the first film to be released under the new Walt Disney Animation Studios label, after the Disney/Pixar agreement expired. In the case of Chicken Little, I actually wish that Pixar had been on hand to…well…to scrap that movie and make a better one. Where Meet the Robinsons is concerned, Disney did an amazing job all on their own. Meet the Robinsons was the fourth highest grossing film that year, behind Ratatouille, Shrek the Third, and The Simpsons Movie. (it is streets ahead of Shrek the Third). 
This is definitely an odd film. In this case though, odd is good. If you are a fan of the values of Walt Disney, a fan of the theme parks, or a fan of sci-fi in general, this is the Disney film for you! It is definitely one of the less talked about Disney movies, and it deserves a lot more recognition than it gets. I would say that teenagers and young adults would probably be the target audience for Meet the Robinsons, as its random and bizarre characters and comical scriptwriting are fantastic, and a lot of the jokes will probably be lost on a very young audience.
I am reviewing from the DVD edition of the film, which isn’t exactly loaded with special features, but there is the expected ‘Backstage Disney’ section which is the best bit. It includes interviews with the director, some of the voice artists, William Joyce, Danny Elfman and some of the other artists that are included on the soundtrack. There is an audio commentary which is always fun to listen to, as well as deleted scenes, music videos (sigh) and a game. This is probably worth picking up on Blu-Ray if you have the option to do so!
I give this movie 4 Tinks.
Filed under M-R Movies
“Butch-a he say he wants-a two spaghetti speciale, heavy on the meats-a ball” -Tony
One month before the opening of Disneyland in July 1955, Walt Disney’s 15th animated feature was released: Lady and the Tramp. The story first came into being when Disney artist and writer Joe Grant approached Walt with an idea inspired by the frolics of his pet Spaniel named Lady. Walt liked the sketches that Grant had shown him, and gave him the go-ahead to start developing the idea further. Through the 1930’s and into the 1940’s, Grant and some other artists at the studio worked on a number of ideas for the story, however, Walt was displeased by all of them, as there wasn’t enough action to be drawn from the stories he had been shown. Also in the 1940’s, Walt read a story called ‘Happy Dan, the Whistling Dog’, which encouraged him to continue developing the original story by having the main character, Lady, fall in love with another dog. By 1943, a treatment had been completed for the film, but unfortunately production had to stop, as at that time the studio was working on their WWII propaganda cartoons.
At the beginning of the film, the camera passes over a small turn-of-the-century town in America at Christmas. We are then introduced to ‘Jim Dear’ and ‘Darling’, who are exchanging presents. ‘Darling’ is given a pink hat box wrapped in a ribbon by ‘Jim Dear’, and inside she finds a Spaniel puppy; our heroine, Lady (voiced by Barbara Luddy, who has also played many other Disney characters). Apparently, this scene was inspired by a present that Walt gave to his wife Lily, a Chow puppy in a hat box. We are shown some of the challenges that Lady faces as a puppy, such as climbing the stairs and getting through doors. When she is allowed to sleep on her owners’ bed for one night, there is a dissolve to adult Lady, sleeping on the same spot on the bed years later, because now she is fully grown.
We are then introduced to Lady’s neighbours, Jock and Trusty. Jock is a Scottish terrier who is chipper and quick-witted. His friend Trusty is a Bloodhound, a slow thinking old-timer; the complete opposite of Jock. We are also introduced to Tramp, a stray dog who is very street-wise and likes to live life in the now.
After Lady notices a negative change in the way her owners are treating her, she discusses the problem with Jock and Trusty. They put two and two together, and realise that Darling is expecting a baby. Tramp overhears the conversation and begins to tell Lady how life will change once the baby arrives:
“When the baby moves in, the dog moves out”
When the baby arrives, Lady does not get kicked out, however when Jim Dear and Darling take a trip together and leave Aunt Sarah in charge, things take a turn for the worse for Lady. She clashes with Aunt Sarah’s two Siamese cats, Si and Am. Aunt Sarah decides that Lady is not safe to be around the baby, and takes her to the pet shop to be fitted with a muzzle. Lady manages to run away, but is chased by some stray dogs, which Tramp manages to save her from. He takes her to the zoo and tricks a beaver into removing her muzzle, so that she is now free, just like him.
Cue famous meatball scene…
Tramp takes Lady for an Italian candlelit dinner at Tony’s Restaurant. The comedic characters of Tony and Joe, two Italian chefs, lighten the tone of the film, even though they aren’t on screen for too long. It is Tony who sings the song ‘Bella Notte’ as the two dogs eat their spaghetti and meatballs. The next day, Tramp stirs up a coop of chickens, but unfortunately, Lady is caught for his crime, and taken to the dog pound. Here, she meets a handful of weird and wonderful characters, including Peg (voiced by singer Peggy Lee), who tells Lady through the song ‘He’s a Tramp’ about Tramp’s reputation with the ladies. When Lady is finally taken home from the pound, Aunt Sarah ties her up to the dog house in the garden, where she is visited by Tramp. She confronts him about his exploits and gets angry at him for leaving her to be taken to the pound, at which point Tramp leaves.
Lady then sees a rat entering the house and fears for the baby, she barks hysterically, and Tramp comes back to help. Tramp enters the house and goes into the nursery to confront the rat, beginning a battle which ends badly for the rat. Aunt Sarah hears all the noise, and sees Tramp standing next to the crib which had fallen over as a result of the fight; she then calls the dog pound to come and pick Tramp up from the house. Jim Dear and Darling are returning from their trip as Tramp is being taken away by the dog catcher, and they rush into the house. Jock and Trusty realize what has happened after overhearing everything, and run after the dog catcher’s wagon to try and help Tramp. Although they manage to stop the wagon, it tips over, falling on Trusty; it is at this point that Jock and the audience believe him to be dead.
Writing this review was quite difficult. If it was a bad film there would be plenty to talk about, but it isn’t a bad film. In fact, since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, it was the highest grossing Disney cartoon of that time. The story was actually the first since Dumbo to be penned by the studio, and was the first feature-length cartoon to be produced in Cinemascope. As, at the time, many cinemas were not equipped to show Cinemascope films, Walt had to film two versions of the movie, one regular version, and one widescreen version. The regular version would often cut characters out of a scene, and provide a limited view of the environments, whereas the widescreen version shows the film in all its beauty. The fact that it was shown in Cinemascope had to be a major draw for audiences in the 1950’s. The backgrounds were particularly enhanced by this feature, as you could become more drawn in to the environments and the time period in which the film takes place. The backgrounds are very intricate, particularly the houses, which ooze 1900’s charm and elegance. This could have something to do with the fact that the artist, Claude Coats, was trained in architecture. Originally, Mary Blair had done many concept paintings for this movie; however she left the studio whilst the film was still in production, which is when Coats was put in charge. It is hard to imagine how different the film may have looked if she had continued with the project, as her style was very unique and distinctive.
The town where the story takes place is very much inspired by Walt Disney’s boyhood home of Marceline, Missouri, and in turn, also bears resemblance to Main Street U.S.A in the Disney parks. It took 150 artists to draw 2 million drawings, resulting in 110,000 Technicolor frames of film, to complete this movie. That’s a lot of drawings! This would explain why the movement of the dogs is so fluid. Anyone who has ever owned a dog or spent time with a dog can see, when watching Lady and the Tramp, how much observation and research of the canine-kind has gone in to making the film. Stretches, scratches, licks and jumps all seem to be perfectly drawn by the artists to give the genuine feeling that these dogs are real. So as to give the audience a feel for what life is like for a dog, it was decided that you would see humans as minimally as possible. Sort of like the ‘feet’ in Tom and Jerry, you never see the face, you only hear the voice. Although you do see a few humans throughout the film, it only happens when needed to, to move the story along. The rest of the time it is solely feet, hands and legs.
Jazz singer Peggy Lee co-wrote most of the songs in the film, as well as voicing 4 characters, Darling, Peg, Si and Am. The character of Peg was named after her, and also had the same walk as her. Possibly the most famous scene in the entire movie, the spaghetti and meatballs scene, was almost not included in the story at all. Walt didn’t like it, but was eventually swayed after seeing a full animation test of it. You made a good choice, Walt!
I am reviewing this movie from the Diamond Edition Blu-Ray. It has to be said, that this is another Disney classic which seems to have been given a new lease of life thanks to the wonder of HD. The backgrounds especially are crystal clear, and the characters seem more lifelike than ever. As has come to be expected from Diamond Editions of this kind, there are a ton of special features. All of the features from the original DVD release are present, including of a ‘Making Of’ featurette, a puppypedia, a music video, deleted scenes, and storyboard versions of the film. The Blu-Ray features consist of more deleted scenes, and a very nice interview with Diane Disney Miller called ‘Remembering Dad’. She talks about Walt’s apartment in Disneyland, and also about the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco. This is a really nice feature, probably the best on the Blu-Ray, particularly for any Walt fans!
If you have never seen Lady and the Tramp, there is no better time to do so. It looks beautiful; it has a simple, romantic storyline, with plenty of laughs along the way, as well as many memorable songs and characters.
I give this movie 5 Tinks.
Filed under G-L Movies
If someone asked you what the first Mickey Mouse cartoon was, what would you say?
Well, unless you have delved deep into cartoon history, you could be forgiven for thinking that it was Steamboat Willie. In fact, Gallopin’ Gaucho and Plane Crazy were Mickey Mouse’s first two cartoons to be produced; however, Steamboat Willie was the first to be distributed.
This 1928 short is most famous for being the first cartoon to feature synchronized sound; although a couple of other studios had already produced shorts with ‘synchronized sound’, though failed to keep their sound fully synchronized, losing the desired effect. Disney got around this problem by using a click track to keep the sound in time with the cartoon.
Walt initially decided that he wanted to make a ‘talkie’ after watching The Jazz Singer (1927) starring Al Jolson, as it was the first feature-length motion picture with synchronized dialogue. The two cartoons which preceded Steamboat Willie were not given a warm reception by audiences, and Walt believed that by adding sound, the appeal of his cartoons would increase. Production on Steamboat Willie began in July 1928 and ended in September of the same year, with a budget of almost $5,000. The cartoon was a play on the Buster Keaton comedy Steamboat Bill. Ub Iwerks, who had previously worked with Walt on the Alice Comedies and had animated Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, also animated Steamboat Willie almost single-handedly, often churning out up to 700 drawings per day, with the final cartoon consisting of 8,500 drawings.
Before the soundtrack was produced, to ensure that the cartoon would be believable enough with sound, Walt held a test screening of the then only partly finished Steamboat Willie, for a test audience made up of his employees and their wives. Ub Iwerks banged on pots and pans, Wilfred Jackson played the mouth organ, Walt provided the dialogue (of which there was little) and Johnny Cannon provided various other sound effects, all from behind a bed sheet which was placed behind the movie screen. Fortunately for Walt, the audience gave positive feedback, which encouraged him to go ahead with producing the rest of the cartoon.
Right, that is the history lesson over! After all, this is a review…
Well, to judge a cartoon which is over 80 years old by today’s standards would be wrong of course, however, comparing Steamboat Willie to the black and white Mickey Mouse shorts which were released in the 1920s and 1930s, it isn’t hard to see why this little gem is as popular as it is. At the time of release, its popularity was no doubt reliant on the novelty factor of it being a sound cartoon, however, at its premiere in New York on November 18th 1928 where it was shown before Gang Wars; it was more talked about amongst the audience than the main feature. Watching it today, you may expect it the comedy to be dated, however it is still amusing in a charming sort of way, and even a little bit bizarre in places. For instance, in some versions of the short, 30 seconds were removed where we see Mickey swinging a cat round by its tail, and playing a duck like a set of bagpipes, as it was considered as animal cruelty.
The story is simple; Mickey Mouse is ‘captaining’ a steamboat, whistling away, when the real captain shows up, (Pete) and orders him to leave. The steamboat stops to pick up livestock, and is it leaves the dock we can see Minnie Mouse running along to try to catch up with the boat. When Minnie lands on deck after Mickey picks her up with the cargo crane, she drops her sheet music, which is then eaten by a goat. Minnie then uses the goat as a gramophone by turning its tail, as music plays out of its mouth. It is here that Mickey starts to ‘play’ various other animals, as mentioned above. A grouchy Captain Pete then puts Mickey to work peeling potatoes, where he throws a potato at a mocking parrot, knocking it into the water.
All in all, a slightly odd cartoon, but not as strange as some of the other cartoon shorts of the same era. Maybe the story could have been a bit more interesting, but there is nothing else I would change about it! 
I am reviewing this cartoon from the Walt Disney Treasures: Mickey Mouse in Black and White DVD. The quality is as good as can be expected from such old cartoons, with the usual flickering and odd bits of dust on the film, though this does not make for a difficult watch. I would love to say that this cartoon could be enjoyed by all ages, however, this cartoon and the DVD that it came on are intended more for Disney geeks and cartoon collectors, and though it may be watched by children, they would most likely be drawn to newer and more colourful Disney movies. Another point to make would be that these DVDs are now hard to get hold of, unless you are willing to pay whatever someone on eBay is asking for them. For instance, the DVD I am using came from Italy, so the box is in Italian, and this set was released way back in 2002.
I give this movie 4 Tinks.
Filed under S-Z Movies
Happy New Year from Magical Movie Reviews! Check back in 2012 for more reviews. In the mean time, please share us with your friends on Facebook and Twitter.
Stay safe, and have a happy 2012!
Filed under *Announcements*
Merry Christmas from Magical Movie Reviews! Please stick with us into 2012 for many more reviews!
Here is a Christmas video I took earlier in the month at Walt Disney World, to add to your festivities!
Happy Holidays!
Filed under *Announcements*
There will be no new Magical Movie Reviews for a little while, so I thought I would share with you a very festive/sickening/sweet video I took of It’s a Small World at Christmastime. We will be back in a couple of weeks, until then please keep sharing us and ‘liking’ us on Facebook and on StumbleUpon. 🙂
Filed under *Announcements*
Twas a long time ago, longer now than it seems
In a place that perhaps you’ve seen in your dreams
For the story that you are about to be told
Began with the holiday worlds of old…
Originally I was planning on reviewing this film for Halloween, however with the film being a crossover of Halloween and Christmas, I decided to aim more for Thanksgiving.
I went to see The Nightmare Before Christmas when it was released in 1993, and although I was about 4 at the time, I still enjoyed it, and have loved watching it ever since. It was originally released under the Touchstone Pictures banner, since it was thought that it was too dark to be released as a Walt Disney Picture. The movie is entirely stop motion animated, and took 3 years to complete. It is based on a poem by Tim Burton.
The title sequence introduces us to an assortment of bizarre and wacky supporting characters who reside in Halloween Town. The song ‘This is Halloween’ sets the tone for the rest of the film with its upbeat tune and dark lyrics. We are then introduced to the hero of the story, Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town. The people of the town seem to adore him, and he plays up to their cheers, however, we soon see that Jack is bored with his role of Pumpkin King when he wanders off forlornly into the woods. Another great song here as Jack sings about his boredom with the ‘same routine’ every year, and how he longs for something different. Jack walks through the night until he is in a part of the woods he’s never been to before. It is here that Jack discovers the ‘Holiday Doors’. There are several trees standing in a circle, and on each tree there is an image representing a different holiday, including; a four-leaf clover for St. Patrick’s Day, a heart for Valentine’s Day, and a turkey for Thanksgiving. Out of all these doors, Jack is drawn towards the one which has a Christmas tree painted on it. He opens the door and falls into the tree, which transports him to Christmas Town.
Meanwhile, Jack’s love interest, a rag doll named Sally, is being held against her will by her creator, Dr. Finkelstein, though she often manages to outsmart him so that she can escape his lab. Sally is concerned for Jack, who has seemed distant and lonely recently. The love story between Jack and Sally runs very loosely (almost not at all) throughout the whole film.
Christmas Town is in massive contrast to Halloween Town, adorned with lights, awash with brilliantly bright colours, and inhabited by cheery and joyful people. Another rousing song by Jack at this point illustrates his disbelief at such a different place to what he is used to, as he asks ‘What’s This?’ The lyrics are quite amusing too:
‘There’s children throwing snowballs, instead of throwing heads/they’re busy building toys and absolutely no-one’s dead.’
It is here that Jack gets a glimpse of Santa Claus, though he mistakes him for ‘Sandy Claws’. He is so taken with the idea of Christmas that he heads back to Halloween Town to tell his fellow townspeople about it. While Jack was away, the town seems to have descended into a state of chaos, even the Mayor of the town declaring that:
‘I’m only an elected official here; I can’t make decisions by myself!
Jack becomes obsessive over Christmas, trying to learn all he can about it, and this causes him to decide that he will take over Christmas for the year; all with the best intentions of course. He sets all the people in the town to work making Christmas toys, including a hat made out of a rat and a duck with bleeding gunshot wounds. At this point it becomes obvious that the people of Halloween Town have not understood the meaning of Christmas. Jack also goes to the extreme of sending his enemy’s henchmen, Lock, Shock and Barrel to kidnap Sandy Claws. After making the mistake of trawling back with the Easter Bunny, they return later with Santa in a big sack, and are told by Jack to take care of him while he ‘does’ Christmas. Sally starts to get more and more concerned for Jack, having visions of his idea going terribly wrong, though he doesn’t listen when she tries to tell him.
Up until this point in the film, we have not been introduced to the villain of the story, though he does make a brief appearance in the opening sequence, only as a shadow. Oogie Boogie has Santa given to him by Lock, Shock and Barrel, and sets to work torturing the poor soul. One of the most visually exciting parts of the whole film, Oogie Boogie sings ‘Oogie Boogie’s Song’, which tells of the ways he likes to inflict pain and suffering upon his ‘guests’. The whole scene is set in Oogie’s dark lair, though all the objects like his roulette wheel and dice are fluorescent colours; even Oogie himself, who is usually a brown colour, is bright green under UV lights.
Meanwhile, Jack has set out to create his own Christmas, with his sidekick ghost dog Zero lighting the way for the sleigh in the fog with his glowing nose. Nice play on Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer. Since Jack never really got the idea of Christmas straight in his skull, he starts delivering presents such as severed heads and snakes to several children in the ‘real world’. After the police are alerted to someone posing as Santa, Jack is unfortunately shot out of the sky, landing in a snow-covered graveyard. It is at this stage that Jack realises he has made a mess of everything, and vows to put it right by rescuing Santa from Oogie Boogie and getting Christmas back on track.
The styling of the film, especially Halloween Town, reminds me a lot of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, with its sharp silhouettes and weird perspectives. Christmas Town has more of a Dr. Seuss feeling about it, and is rather similar to the town in The Grinch. One of the most iconic images from the film is Spiral Hill, which can be seen on the original movie poster, as well as in the Kingdom Hearts series of games, where the whole of the Nightmare world can be explored.
The voice cast are pretty amazing on this film, though by now we shouldn’t expect anything less from Disney. Jack is voiced by Chris Sarandon and his singing parts are performed by Danny Elfman. Catherine O’Hara voices Sally and Shock, and Ken Page voices Oogie Boogie.
The music, as I have mentioned above, is amazing, and possibly one of the best film soundtracks I have ever heard. The songs were written by Danny Elfman, as well as him lending his singing voice to Jack Skellington. It is hard to choose a favourite song out of the whole bunch, as the lyrics on each track are fantastic and are performed beautifully by the cast.
The Nightmare Before Christmas saw a revival in 2006 when it was released in Disney Digital 3D. I was lucky enough to catch it on its 3D release and it looked better than it ever did! Although I am reviewing from the DVD, I have heard that this film gains a lot by being viewed on Blu-ray. The special features on the 2 disc DVD are pretty good, though in fact, disc number one holds all of the ‘Making Of’ features, which in my opinion are the best features to watch. There is also a big section on the Disneyland Haunted Mansion’s Nightmare Before Christmas overlay which is really interesting. On disc 2 is Tim Burton’s short live-action film Frankenweenie, which is a nice watch, along with his animated short Vincent.
As a side note, Disneyland overlay their Haunted Mansion each year to make it look like Jack Skellington just landed down the chimney and decorated the place. There is a Spiral Hill in there as well as Oogie Boogie and Jack Skellington with Zero floating by his side. If you ever get a chance to visit over Christmas time, you really should!
You could be forgiven for thinking that this film has rather a morbid aura about it, however it more than makes up for the gloom with plenty of jokes and quirky characters throughout. The music also lifts the viewer’s spirits even when the subject matter is a little bit gruesome. Tim Burton’s direction is as interesting as ever and really does not disappoint. Hopefully if you have never seen this film before you will give it a fair chance, as it isn’t just for the tween Goths and Emos, it is for anyone who loves Christmas, Halloween and simply being entertained.
I give this movie 5 Tinks.
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Magical Movie Reviews 