Treasure Planet (2002) - Science Fiction Take on Treasure Island

Treasure Planet: Stunning Visuals Can't Save This Classic Tale

Walt Disney Feature Animation adapted the 1883 Robert Louis Stevenson classic novel "Treasure Island" in "Treasure Planet" (2002), another attempt by Walt Disney Pictures to broaden its viewing audience. The directors, John Musker and Ron Clements, had ignited the Disney Renaissance with their "The Little Mermaid," expanded it with "Aladdin," and extended it with the comic "Hercules." "Treasure Island" was one of their pet projects which they had been planning since the mid-1980s. It has the distinction of being the first feature-length film to be released simultaneously to both regular and IMAX theaters. While people tended to like this Disney movie when they actually saw it, "Treasure Planet" bombed at the box office, the first real clunker of an animated Disney movie since "The Black Cauldron." The plan to draw in male viewers by foregoing the princesses and the witches didn't work, and therein lies a tale, a pirate's tale, aaaarrrrggggghhhh.

Solar Sailing looks like fun

As a child, Jim Hawkins (Austin Majors as a child, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as an adult) is interested in the space pirate Captain Flint. As a teenager, he helps his mother Sarah (Laurie Metcalf) out at the family inn and likes to go solar surfing in his spare time. One day, a rocket crashes nearby and the pilot, Billy Bones (Patrick McGoohan), gives Jim a map and the single caution to "beware the Cyborg." The map turns out to show the location of Captain Flint's Treasure Planet. After Bones dies, a gang shows up and burns the inn down, with Jim, his mother and Jim's friend Dr. Delbert Doppler (David Hyde Pierce) barely escaping.

Jim solar sailing high above town

Doppler, who looks like a dog, obtains a ship for them to use to get to Treasure Planet. Captain Amelia (Emma Thompson), a feline creature, commands the "Legacy" along with her first mate Mr. Arrow (Roscoe Lee Brown). Among the crew is the cook, father-like John Silver (Brian Murray). Jim works with Silver and forms a thin friendship with him as a paternal figure. Silver falls overboard at one point but is saved by Jim, though Arrow is lost during the same incident. Jim blames himself for failing to secure the lifelines and allowing Arrow to drift away, but sabotage by crew member Scroop (Michael Wincott), an insect-shaped being, actually is to blame.

And now, ladies and gentlemen, the star of our show - the ship!

The Legacy reaches Treasure Planet, but Silver leads a mutiny because he wants the gold, aaarrrgghhhh. Jim, Amelia and Doppler abandon ship, but Jim forgets to take the map. Silver, though, assumes that Jim took the map with him. Silver shows that he truly does like Jim by not harming him as he escapes. The lifeboat that Jim and the others use, though, is shot down by another of the mutineers, injuring Amelia.

The visuals really are quite stunning

Once on Treasure Planet, Jim and the others meet B.E.N. (Martin Short), a comic robot who has been abandoned on the forested planet. Silver and his gang soon turn up, but Jim and B.E.N. evade them and return to the Legacy to get the map. Scroop, though, is guarding the ship and is about to capture Jim when B.E.N. turns off the artificial gravity, sending Scroop helplessly off into space while Jim manages to hang on to the mast. When Jim and B.E.N. get back to B.E.N.'s house, they find that Silver has captured Doppler and the injured Amelia, and Jim must give Silver the map.

Jim seems to enjoy playing sailor

The map leads them to a space portal which transports people to anywhere in the universe, with Flint's treasure deep beneath the planet's surface (one can think of a lot better uses for the portal than getting treasure). In fact, Treasure Planet isn't even a planet, but instead a giant spaceship. The group goes down to the treasure, and they find the skeleton of Flint holding a missing part of B.E.N.'s memory. When Jim inserts the memory back into B.E.N., the robot warns that the planet will explode once the treasure is disturbed - which they have just done. The planet in fact does erupt into spasms, lava killing two of the pirates. Silver sacrifices a fortune in treasure to save Jim from certain death, and everyone escapes to the Legacy. The ship, unfortunately, has been damaged, and things look bleak. However, Jim and Doppler figure out a way to send the ship through the space portal, transporting everyone back to the spaceport on Jim's own planet as Treasure Planet disintegrates.

Captain Amelia is actually kind of sexy for a bug

Amelia detains the pirates and recommends Jim for the Interstellar Academy. Jim, meanwhile, catches Silver trying to escape, but decides to let him go. Silver leaves behind his pet Morph (Dane A. Davis), a shape-shifting creature. As he leaves, Silver throws Jim enough booty that he picked up on Treasure Planet to rebuild the family inn.

Aaarghhhh, then we swing left at that star, aaaarrghhhh

"Treasure Planet" may be set in space with goofy animal-like creatures, but it is surprisingly faithful to "Treasure Island." The relationship between Silver and Jim is the key to the original Robert Louis Stevenson story, and that bond transfers intact to the Disney movie. "Treasure Planet' is all about the story, and Jim still is a resourceful, capable kid and Silver still a loveable old rogue (classically played by Robert Newton in live-action films - he's the guy that came up with "aaaaarrgggghhhh matey!"). The key difference is that the father-son relationship between Jim and Silver is only really implied in the book, whereas "Treasure Planet" hammers at it time and time again. Subtlety is the better route in this case.

Jim is kind of dwarfed by the ship at times, which is a touch too precise

The animation of "Treasure Planet" is somewhat unique. Traditionally hand-drawn characters were used along with cutting edge animation technology that enabled the characters to be placed in a virtual 3D environment. While not quite true 3D, the illusion of depth is apparent, just as it was in "Tarzan." The concept of "virtual sets" was introduced using further refinement of the animation technique known as "Deep Canvas." The overall look of "Treasure Planet" was derived from traditional illustrations of books like "Treasure Island," but there is still a sharp science fiction edge. Sound effects also were traditional, with old toys and other mechanisms used to simulate ship sounds. "Treasure Planet" had a traditional orchestral soundtrack by Disney veteran James Newton Howard, with just a couple of pop songs thrown in by John Rzeznik.

Silver and Jim looking at the map of Treasure Planet

Everybody seemed to like the film, there were many nods to the antecedents of the Disney film, and the animation was as good as any ever produced - so what happened? First off, the script is a bit fuzzy - the one thing that Bones says is, "Beware the Cyborg," but it's never really made clear that Silver actually is this dreaded Cyborg - and, if he is, he really isn't that terrifying, certainly not worth a man's dying words. The notorious Flint also is built up early - couldn't they at least have had him alive at some point during the search? Another problem was that the story, fascinating in a 19th Century seafaring setting, simply wasn't that interesting in a culture infatuated with death stars and gleaming white spaceships with elements of fantasy and sorcery mixed in with traditional science fiction. The plot has a slightly gimmicky feel, and not much happens - Jim gets the map, they explore the planet, find the treasure, and escape without it. In that sense, it is like the similar failure from around that time of the simplistic "The Emperor's New Groove." There isn't a sense of wonder, no real danger, and the film pulls its punches when it makes Silver a bit too loveable and removes the edge that comes from wondering what the old buzzard will actually do when Jim it in danger. Making Jim a full-fledged teenager probably also hurt - in the classic live-action films, Jim is a young boy ("Aye, there be young Jim 'awkins"), which gives his heroics and successes a bit more bite and makes Silver's ultimately paternal protectiveness instinctively understandable. It simply isn't as engaging to see a 17-year-old figure things out and skirt danger as it is a seven-year-old. As it is, there is a bit too much of the warm, fuzzy feeling floating through Treasure Planet for it to be engaging for any but the smallest of children.

Robert Newton was the classic Long John Silver in "Treasure Island" (1950)

It is easy to make fun of any film that fails (what's next, "Gone with the Asteroids"? "Splendor in the Anti-matter Warp Core"?), but "Treasure Planet" doesn't deserve that. The best answer to "Treasure Planet's abject failure is probably two-fold. First, with "Treasure Planet," Disney movies were trying awkwardly to reach out to boys and the studio just didn't know how to do it yet. Apparently, studio executives thought that simply having male characters that bond would do it, when it takes a lot more than that. Secondly, the Disney Renaissance which ended with "Tarzan" had set the bar too high for simple, straightforward tales like this. Pixar and DreamWorks were coming up with completely new concepts of fantasy and wonder, whereas "Treasure Planet" simply re-told a story that seemed a little too familiar. The Disney movie animation and overall execution were stellar as usual, but Pixar and the others were doing that plus creating imaginary new worlds in films like "Shrek" and "Toy Story" which made a simple space trip for booty seem very old hat by comparison. It takes more than a few aliens that look like bugs to attract boys these days.

Jim, Morph and B.E.N.

Musker and Clements would bounce back from this fiasco, but Disney movies in general were mired in a very tough decade. In fact, no animated Disney movie would turn a profit on its initial run until Musker and Clements returned with "The Princess and the Frog" some years later, so clearly it wasn't their fault. Something a lot deeper than mere choice of scripts was affecting all animated Disney movies. Fortunately, Musker and Clements were just the team to right the ship the next time around. All in all, "Treasure Planet" is extremely under-rated, not quite a gem or "hidden classic" or anything like that, but a fun film with intense animation that many younger children especially would enjoy. It certainly is more entertaining than anything you will see in a weekly television series and a great way for a kid to learn a classic tale. A two-disc Blu ray/regular DVD package (the "Tenth Anniversary edition") that came out in 2012 is the best choice.

Below is the trailer for "Treasure Planet."




2013

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Hercules (1997) - Disney Movie About this Really Strong Guy....

Disney Movies Jump the Rails in "Hercules"

Walt Disney Feature Animation had decided in the late 1980s, at the dawn of the Disney Renaissance, to release at least one animated Disney movie per year. Since quality animated Disney movies take, on average, about five years to put together, that required a bunch of different work groups all working simultaneously on different - but equally important - projects. "Hercules" (1997) was being put together by one of the studio's top directing duos, Ron Clements and John Musker. Their previous three films, "The Great Mouse Detective," "The Little Mermaid," and "Aladdin," were phenomenally successful Disney movies. So, omens were good for a sure-fire project about the one Greek God that everyone knows - or, were they?

Hercules, Pegasus, Phil

Zeus and his wife Hera, rulers of all the gods on Mount Olympus, celebrate their defeat of the Titans by having a son they name Hercules. Zeus' brother Hades is not happy for Zeus because Hades intends to overthrow his brother Zeus and rule in his place. Hades consults the Fates and learns that a rare planetary alignment is coming that will enable him to achieve his goal. The only problem, the Fates tell Hades, is that Hercules might interfere and screw everything up. Hades decides not to take any chances and sends his assassins Pain and Panic to take care of the little guy. They kidnap Hercules and turn him into a mortal, but forget to remove his god-like strength before Hercules is found by farmers Amphitryon and Alcmene.

Zeus, Hera, little Hercules

Hercules grows up strong, but nobody likes him because he is different and he wants to know why. His parents don't have any answers except a necklace Hercules was wearing when they found him, so he decides to see if the temple of Zeus has any answers. Indeed it does, for when Hercules enters, the giant statue of Zeus tells him that he can regain his status as a god by doing good deeds and becoming a hero. Zeus guides him with Pegasus to Philoctetes ("Phil"), a satyr who is known for developing heroes.

Hi, there!

Phil wants nothing to do with Hercules at first, having tired of the "hero-training" business, but Hercules convinces him to give it one more go. After extensive training, Pegasus takes them to Thebes, and Hercules saves Megara ("Meg") from the centaur Nessus. Meg, though, turns out to be a follower of Hades. In Thebes, Meg finds Hercules again and tasks him with saving two "boys" trapped in a hole. The two in fact are Pain and Panic, and they summon the Hydra to do battle with Hercules. After much fighting, Hercules defeats the Hydra, but Zeus tells Hercules that he has more to do before he can earn his god status back. Hades bargains with Hercules to give up his superhuman strength for 24 hours in exchange for Hades leaving Meg alone, and Hercules agrees, only to be stunned when Meg reveals her identity as Hades' minion.

Well, you see, I'm not really a god, not yet at least....

Hades uses the 24 hours to unleash the Titans, who climb Mount Olympus and imprison the gods. He also sends a Cyclops to Thebes to take care of Hercules. Meg, who has developed feelings for Hercules, is crushed by a falling pillar while trying to save Hercules, which gives him back his strength. After defeating the Cyclops, Hercules flies up to Mount Olympus on Pegasus and frees the other gods, throwing the Titans into space. Returning to Thebes, Hercules finds that Meg has died and her soul has become Hades'. Hercules invades the Underworld realm of Hades and bargains his own life for that of Meg. This self-sacrifice on Hercules' part restores his status as a god and makes Hercules immortal. Rescuing Meg, Hercules punches Hades into the River Styx. Zeus and Hera then invite Hercules to come and live with them, and Hercules must choose whether he wants to live with the gods on Mount Olympus, or on earth with Meg.

DVD's often have the best artwork

"Hercules" veers very close to being a parody of the Greek myths. Innocent, naive-sounding Tate Donovan voices him as a classic rube who only wants to find himself. The rest of the cast largely plays it for laughs, as Danny DeVito hams it up as Phil, and James Woods plays Hades as a fast-talking con man. Susan Egan as Meg also goes for the laughs, and comedians Bobcat Goldthwait and Matt Frewer serve up Pain and Panic as humorous henchmen. Wayne Knight from "Seinfeld" has a small role as Demetrius, and a serious opening narration by Charlton Heston sets everything up to be quickly undercut by the hammy supporting players.

I love rescuing damsels from the Underworld

Despite all the comedians, though, perhaps the funniest thing about the film isn't anything in it, but rather what happened when Disney released this film. Disney had the sheer effrontery to ask the Greek government if they could premiere the film at one of Greece's most sacred spots, the Pnyx Hill where Athenian democracy took root. The Greeks took one look at the film and turned them down flat, claiming that it was just "another case of foreigners distorting our history and culture just to suit their commercial interests." That had to be one of the sharpest and most cutting rebukes the mouse company has received in its nearly a century of operation. Ouch!

Hades thinking hard

Disney, though, couldn't alter the film to suit the Greeks, as they had an entire marketing campaign already in progress, including books, toys, and even a parade down Times Square. Not only that, there was a hit television series called "Hercules: The New Adventures" on the air, and Disney set up a "Disney on Ice" spectacle even before the film hit theaters. A licensed video game, "Hercules Action Game," also was ready to go. It was all such a sure thing, with so many good omens, that much of the promotional activity and merchandising was put in place before anyone had even seen the film. When "Hercules" was released in the summer of 1997, it didn't flop spectacularly, but it didn't do very well, either. "Hercules" underperformed at the box office, taking in less than $100 million domestically, even less than the previous year's underwhelming "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," and much, much less than that film worldwide.

Kind of a good resemblance

So what happened? Why did such a sure thing as "Hercules" have such problems? The animation is good, and some of the songs are quite memorable. "Go the Distance" by Alan Menken and David Zippel was nominated for an Academy Award, and "Hercules" received several nominations from other awards shows. Woods is smooth as silk as Hades, and there are more pure comedians in the cast than in your average sitcom. Disney blamed "the competition," but it was more than that.

Panic and Pain are good for comic relief

The answer is, Disney got a little too full of itself. While Hercules may seem so accepted as a textbook Greek myth that he seems ripe for parody and comic interpretations, not everybody sees it that way, and certainly not the Greeks. To them, he is a real entity who deserves to be treated with respect, especially by non-Greeks. Making fun of Hercules, many of them no doubt feel, is akin to making fun of them. And nobody really likes a foreign company making fun of them as it also tries to make a buck off them.

Phil is also very funny

"Hercules" was a serious miscalculation. If they had stuck with the tone set by Charlton Heston's opening narration and done a straight-forward explanation of Hercules and his deeds, people might have respected the film as a serious work and paid it respect. Playing Hercules as an uncool hick who is duped by everyone around him, regardless of the outcome, was the absolute worst tack to take. The fault, interestingly arose not from any purposeful intent, but because the film's producers had no clear plan in mind for the film. James Woods came in for a reading and played the character of Hades as a joke rather than as the ponderous, serious heavy in the script, and the producers meekly decided to go with that. Then, they let him create his own dialogue, which comes out ultra-smooth and not the least bit respectful of the material.

Titans on the loose!

It was a complete fiasco, and nobody ever really owned up to it. "Hercules" still did moderately good business based on the existing momentum of the Disney Renaissance, but the wheels were starting to come off of that revival because Disney, quite simply was over-stretched. A little more thought and oversight might have led somebody to step in and tell the directors that Hercules might seem ridiculous to them, but he sure doesn't to a lot of people around the world - people who buy movie tickets. With all those projects underway at once, and their best team on the job, who was going to minutely examine every decision made on such a sure thing as "Hercules"? Nobody, apparently. To show how far off track "Hercules" got, at one point they were considering Gregory Peck for the role of Zeus. The thought of him voicing a character in a film of juvenile nonsense is, well, unthinkable. And yet that's what "Hercules" became.

Look! I have my own action figure!

"Hercules" by no means is all bad. It is a fast-paced romp which takes gleeful fun in mocking everything in its path. If you are looking for a jokey take on the Greek legends, "Hercules" is a good place to start. James Woods is funny, and so are some of the supporting characters. Saying that he is as good as Robin Williams in "Aladdin" is a stretch, though, and that is the type of performance it would have taken to pull this off. Disney has pretty much buried "Hercules" in the vault, with the last DVD release coming in 2000 and none currently scheduled. Pick "Hercules" up for a few quick laughs, but it really doesn't add much to what you can see about Hercules elsewhere.

Below is the trailer.


2013

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The Great Mouse Detective (1986) - Vincent Price Drives this Disney Movie

"The Great Mouse Detective" Battles Vincent Price, an Unbeatable Combination

After their visit to the edge of insanity (and dissolution) that was "The Black Cauldron," Disney movies stepped back to slightly firmer ground with "The Great Mouse Detective" (1986), starring Vincent Price and directed by Burny Battinson, David Michener and Ron Clements and John Musker (the team of Clements and Musker going on to do "The Little Mermaid" and "Aladdin," stand-outs of the Disney Renaissance which one arguably could say began here). There were 12 writers credited with this tale (which derived from Eve Titus' children's book series), showing how carefully Walt Disney Pictures was taking this animated feature. Since the concept of cute talking mice had worked so well in "The Rescuers," the idea of more talking mice Disney movies seemed a natural for a recovery project like this. This Disney movie worked, and "The Great Mouse Detective" is one of the truly underrated gems in the Disney movie catalog, along with the unique distinction of having saved the animation department.

Basil examining a document

It is London around the turn of the 19th Century, and Olivia Flaversham's father Hiram, a toymaker, is throwing her a birthday party. Peg-legged bat Fidget barges in and carries off Hiram to Professor Ratigan, who wants Hiram to create a mechanical copy of the Queen of the Mice so that he can rule Mousedom. Ratigan intends to put the toy in the Queen's place so that he can rule England. When Hiram refuses, Ratigan sends Fidget out to kidnap Olivia. He coerces Hiram into doing his bidding by threatening to feed her to Ratigan's pet cat Felicia.

Dawson

Worried about her father, Olivia is guided by Dr. Dave Q. Dawson to Basil of Baker Street, renowned mouse detective. Basil is very familiar with Ratigan. The mention of Ratigan's henchman Fidget convinces Basil that this may be his big chance finally to capture Ratigan. Basil and Dawson track Fidget using pet dog Toby (owned by Basil's neighbor Sherlock Holmes) and find him in the act of stealing clockwork mechanisms and other items for the planned mechanical mouse. Realizing he has been spotteed, Fidget grabs Olivia and runs, leaving Basil and Dawson behind. Using a checklist dropped by Fidget, Basil tracks him down to a waterfront tavern (the "Rat Trap") and thence to Ratigan's hideout.

Hiram and Olivia

Ratigan, however, is prepared and captures Basil and Dawson, tieing them to a spring-loaded trap while he and Fidget go to Buckingham Palace to kidnap the Queen. Hiram sets the mechanical mouse queen into operation, who immediately proclaims Ratigan the ruler of Mousedom. Basil, meanwhile, manages with Dawson to escape from the mousetrap and track Ratigan down, saving the Queen and arresting Fidget and his minions. Basil re-programs the mechanical mouse queen to make it announce to a crowd that Ratigan is a fraud and an imposter before the contraption self-destructs.

Fidget and the imprisoned Olivia

Fleeing from the enraged citizenry, Ratigan escapes in a dirigible with Fidget and his hostage Olivia. Basil and the others follow in a craft that Basil manufactures, forcing Ratigan to throw Fidget into the Thames to lighten the load. Basil catches up and forces Ratigan to crash into Big Ben, where they have a huge fight. Basil rescues Olivia, and Ratigan, his cape stuck on the hands of the giant clock, is in for a big surprise when the clock bell tolls the hour.

Olivia

While Barrie Ingham voices titular star Basil, the undisputed star of this production is Vincent Price as Ratigan. His character is based on Professor Moriarty of the Arthur Conan Doyle saga about the great detective Sherlock Holmes, and "The Great Mouse Detective" closely follows the plot of Doyle's final confrontation between Moriarty and Holmes. As usual with hammy villains, it is difficult not to root for Ratigan and hope that somehow he can escape despite all of his perfidy. Alan Young is engaging as Hiram, while Val Bettin as Dawson, Candy Candido as Dawson, Susanne Pollatschek as Olivia, Frank Welker as Toby and Eve Brenner as the Queen round out the leads.

Ratigan

Disney movies were moving into the computer age during the genesis of "The Great Mouse Detective," and there is some CGI animation during a chase scene inside Big Ben. While "The Black Cauldron" was the first Disney movie to use any sort of CGI, "The Great Mouse Detective" advanced the art and used it in a popular Disney movie. Video cameras were used to replace some pencil testing as the digital age of animation started to pick up. The animation for the most part, though, is hand drawn in classical style using the xerographic process, with sharp colors and nice stylistic flourishes.

"It's good to be King"

Henry Mancini and Melissa Manchester worked on the soundtrack, with Vincent Price singing "The World's Greatest Criminal Mind." Students of Holmes films will spot numerous references and homages to actors who played characters in those films down through the years as well as other stalwarts of British cinema, including Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce and Leslie Howard. "The Great Mouse Detective" is a respectful homage, extending the Holmes franchise into a new realm and not satirizing or mocking it.

The balloon approaching Big Ben

"The Great Mouse Detective" was popular upon release, earning Disney some good coin and admiring reviews, and has resulted in several re-releases and home video products over the years. The "Mystery of the Mist" edition came out in 2010, and the Blu-ray version appeared in 2012. Unlike earlier home video releases, these two most recent versions are in widescreen format, making them the ones to find. "The Great Mouse Detective," like "The Rescuers," is one of the forgotten gems of animation and is very enjoyable. Kids will love the cute animal characters, while adults can focus on the quite amusing plot and hammy characterizations.

Basil, hard at work

A Disney movie with cute, adorable talking mice is unbeatable. Throw in the always-hammy Vincent Price in one of his last acting appearances and "The Great Mouse Detective" is a Disney movie that just about anyone can enjoy.

Below is the trailer from the 1992 re-release:

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Aladdin (1992) - Robin Williams is the King of Genies

Aladdin: Robin Williams as the Genie Sets the Gold Standard for Hyperactive Supporting Roles

"Aladdin" (1992) was another smash hit for Disney Animation, coming right after classics "The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast" to cement the Disney Renaissance. "Aladdin" won Oscars for Best Music, Original Score and Best Music, Original Song ("A Whole New World") and won many other awards. As the first animated film to gross over $200 million, "Aladdin" gained from the deliberate stunt casting of a major movie star, Robin Williams, in the key supporting role of the Genie. After "Aladdin," almost every successful Disney movie with an eye for comedy would have a supporting player go over the top with manic bluster (James Woods as Hades in "Hercules" and Jason Alexander as one of the gargoyles in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" being two prominent examples). Williams' sheer star power also was seen as making "Aladdin" an event for theatergoers. "Aladdin," thus, accelerated the sea change in Hollywood in which purely voice actors were pushed aside in animated features in favor of celebrities who could help sell the film.

Robin Williams even looks like a Genie!

Jafar (Jonathan Freeman), Grand Vizier to the Sultan (Douglas Seale), learns about a magical oil lamp which houses a genie. It is located in the Cave of Wonders, but nobody can enter it without being in great danger. Not wanting to risk his own life, Jafar casts about for a likely helper who has less to lose than he does.

The magic lamp!

Jasmine (Linda Larkin), the Sultan's pretty young daughter, meanwhile, becomes frustrated with her life of luxury and seclusion. Since girls just wanna have fun, she runs away to the marketplace, where she meets Aladdin (Scott Weinger, better known as Steve on "Full House") and his kleptomaniac monkey, Abu (Frank Welker). Jasmine and Aladdin become friends, and when Aladdin is arrested, she orders Jafar to release Aladdin immediately. Jafar, though, tells her Aladdin was executed because he has other plans for Aladdin, namely, the Cave of Wonders project.

We're going to be best buddies.  Right?  Right?

Disguising himself, Jafar takes Aladdin and his monkey to the Cave of Wonders. Aladdin and Abu manage to get inside safely, and a magic carpet appears to take them to the lamp. Abu plays with a ruby, causing the cave to collapse. The magic carpet barely gets Aladdin and Abu back to the entrance with the lamp, which Aladdin, not knowing its power, gives to Jafar as agreed. Jafar, slimey snake that he is, double crosses Aladdin and tries to kill Aladdin to keep him quiet. Abu, though, saves Aladdin by biting Jafar in the arm, which causes Jafar to drop the lamp, which Aladdin and Abu retrieve. The cave then closes as Aladdin and Abut fall back into it, imprisoning Aladdin, Abu. the carpet and the lamp, but at least separating them from Jafar.

I am powerful. I am!

Aladdin rubs the lamp, and the genie appears. He promises to grant Aladdin three wishes - with the exception of anything involving murder, romance or revival of the dead. The Genie says he himself would wish for freedom, which Aladdin promises to grant him with his final wish. Aladdin first wishes to become a prince so he can date and marry Jasmine. They all then return to the palace, where they interrupt Jafar in the process of trying to get the sultan to arrange a marriage between Jafar and Jasmine. Disguised as "Prince Ali," Aladdin takes Jasmine on a carpet ride around the world, and a romance develops despite Jasmine figuring out that "Prince Ali" really is a commoner.

I'm the sultan, and you're not!

Jafar captures Aladdin and throws him into the ocean, so Aladdin has to use up his second wish to save himself. Aladdin returns to the palace, frightening Jafar, but Jafar's pet parrot Iago (Gilbert Gottfried) steals the lamp and Jafar in turn is granted three wishes. He uses two of them to become Sultan and the most powerful Sorcerer in the world. He then exiles Aladdin and Abu to a frozen wasteland, but Aladdin still has the magic carpet. He uses it to try to steal back the lamp and then confronts Jafar. They then have a final showdown, with Jafar turning into a giant Cobra and boasting that he is the most powerful entity in the world - but is he really?

Those darn kids!

The directors of "Aladding" were the same two who had directed the seminal "The Little Mermaid," Ron Clements and John Musker. They truly were Disney's movie "A Team" at the time, and they wrote "Aladdin," too. The essential elements for a top-notch Disney film - humor, an effective villain and a humorous, helpful sidekick - were put in place with "Aladdin" and worked gloriously. Brilliant songs composed by Howard Ashman (who came up with the idea for "Aladdin"), Alan Menken and Tim Rice brought this to the next level. A pop version of "A Whole New Life" went to No. 1 for Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle in early 1993, the only time that has happened for a song from a Disney animated feature. The perfect casting of Robin Williams to deliver the jokes and sing funny songs sealed the deal. The result with "Aladdin" was a film that many consider one of Disney's true classics, up there with "Beauty and the Beast" and "Sleeping Beauty" (Jafar's character being partly based on Maleficent).

"I dream of Genie with the light brown hair...."

"Aladdin," like "Beauty and the Beast," was so successful that it turned into a cottage industry, what with sequels and everything else that accompanies a smash hit animation film. The animation itself is superior, combining traditionally animated character animation with fully rendered and textured 3D CGI moving backgrounds. Thus, for those calling for a 3D version of this film, it already exists partially in 3D in the primitive CAPS process also used for parts of "Beauty and the Beast" and other Disney movies through the end of the Disney Renaissance and beyond.

I wonder what happens if I rub it?

The music and animation are superb, but the real draw of this film is Robin Williams. He was at the peak of his talents during the making of this film, giving the animators 16 hours of tapes of random ad libs with which to work. He goes through a sequence of celebrity impersonations at one point that ranges from Arnold Schwarzenegger to Jack Nicholson to Carol Channing to Groucho Marx. It's not everyone that can get away with that kind of schtick, but Williams carries the role off with aplomb. Whether or not your generally find Williams' frenetic standup routine fresh or tiresome, he hits just the right notes in his role as the genie to sell this film.

Grease is the word, is the word, that you heard....

"Aladdin" was the most successful film of 1992, earning over $217 million domestically and $500 million worldwide - which were almost unheard of amounts of money back then. When released on VHS, "Aladdin" sold 25 million copies. There were two fine sequels, "Return of Jafar" (the first animated Disney movie that went straight to video) and "Aladdin and the King of Thieves," as well as an animated television series, toys, merchandise, video games - you name it, Disney sold it. "Aladdin," many would say, was the peak of the Disney Renaissance, in tandem with "Beauty and the Beast," and perhaps throw "The Lion King" in there for the Trifecta of Best Animated Films of Recent Times. Recommended for all fans of Disney animation, especially those who want to see sheer talent explode off the screen.

Below, Aladdin takes Jasmine on a magic carpet ride and sings "A Whole New World":





2013

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The Little Mermaid (1989) - Disney Returns to Form

The Little Mermaid: Ariel The Little Mermaid Headlines a Top Disney Movie

Walt Disney invented feature film animation, and one of his pet projects in the 1930s was an animated feature film featuring Ariel the little mermaid. Just before and then more-so after Walt died, the company turned more in the direction of cute live-action Disney movies for kids such as "The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975)."  This strategy worked brilliantly for the studio at times ("Mary Poppins" (1964) and "The Love Bug" (1968)), and didn't at other times ("The Black Hole" (1979)). The inescapable bottom line was that live-action comedies and dramas weren't setting the studio apart from the pack. Disney movies suffered as a result.  Even shifting Disney movies with more mature themes, such as "Dragonslayer" (1981), didn't help. Only Disney movie animation, done the Disney way, could turn things around.  This Disney movie, "The Little Mermaid" (1989), directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, features fan favorite Ariel the little mermaid, who flaps her flipper hard to help set Disney movies back onto the right track.

This edition was only available December 2008-January 2009

Disney went back to its roots with "The Little Mermaid" It really was Disney's first pure classic fairy tale since 1959's near-disastrous "Sleeping Beauty." The studio almost made a version of this in the 1930s, but the studio had too many projects going on in the "Snow White" days and "The Little Mermaid" never happened. This Disney movie only happened when the studio refocused on the classic fairy tale by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen fifty years after the first plans for it were laid, when classic, Disney-style animation was experiencing the first, faint stirrings of a revival with "The Land Before Time" and "The Secret of NIMH" and a few other new titles in the '80s. Original treatments that had been made back in the 1930s - the studio's true glory days - inspired and in some cases guided the animators doing "The Little Mermaid," so it really was a continuation of the true Disney legacy.

Ariel's father, King Triton

"The Little Mermaid" doesn't follow the original fairy tale too closely. Hans Christian Anderson wasn't all sweetness and joy, so certain things had to be changed to appeal to a modern audience. Having a heroine like Ariel the little mermaid die at the end may have worked when the fairy tale was written, but it sure wouldn't work today in this "The Little Mermaid."

She must need to get her hair done a lot down there

In this "The Little Mermaid," Ariel the little mermaid (Jodi Benson, who since has gone on to roles in the "Toy Story" franchise besides the two sequels to this film), is the youngest daughter of King Triton (Kenneth Mars). She is dissatisfied with her life in the sea. In a classic case of "the grass is always greener," she longs to live with the humans who walk on land.

Reminds me of a tuna can

As a result, Ariel the little mermaid often argues with her father King Triton over her desires to be with humans.  He calls them "barbaric fish-eaters," which actually isn't too far from the truth. One day, Ariel the little mermaid goes to meet Ursula, the Sea Witch (Pat Carroll). They strike a deal, but her part of the bargain may not be what Ariel the little mermaid thought it was. Animation characters always have to be careful about the terms of bargains they strike with their pals, because the results often don't turn out the way they thought. Just ask Shrek in "Shrek Forever After."

Ursula

Ursula's deal with Ariel the little mermaid turns Ariel into a human for three days in return for Ariel giving Ursula her voice for that time. Ursula carefully puts the voice in a nautilus shell for safe-keeping. If Ariel receives the "kiss of true love" in that time (see Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and "Shrek Forever After"), then she may stay on land; otherwise, she reverts to being a little mermaid and becomes Ursula's slave. Ariel the little mermaid hurries to the surface and quickly finds her man, Eric, walking on the beach.

Ariel the little mermaid, Scuttle and Flounder

Ariel the little mermaid makes terrific progress with Eric, but Ursula doesn't want to lose this bet. She gets her minions to disrupt things, and she turns herself into a beautiful young girl complete with Ariel's voice. Eric, befuddled, believes that Ursula is the little mermaid who saved him, and so he drops Ariel the true little mermaid for the imposter Ursula. Ariel the true little mermaid disrupts the wedding of Ursula and Eric and in the process recovers her voice, showing Eric that it indeed she, Ariel the little mermaid, who saved him.

The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen harbor

Unfortunately, the sun sets before Eric and Ariel the little mermaid can kiss and thus help Ariel win the bet with Ursula. Accordingly, Ariel the little mermaid turns back into her true form and becomes Ursula's slave. King Triton can't allow this, so he places himself in Ariel the little mermaid's place so that she may go free. This makes Ursula the new ruler of Atlantica, and she immediately uses her new-found power to destroy Arield the little mermaid and claim Eric for herself. A tremendous battle ensues, and everyone's fate hangs in the balance as Ursula, Eric and Ariel the little mermaid battle for control of the oceans.

Buddy Hackett playing a seagull is just weird, but he is very funny

To give you some idea of the quality involved in "The Little Mermaid," every one of the two million bubbles was individually hand-drawn. Two million bubbles. Drawn. By hand. Individually. By someone. That's commitment!  This is a quality production, and a joy to watch.

All the creatures love me - who do I remind you of?

If you've ever been to Copenhagen or seen it in pictures, you are probably familiar with the famous statue in the harbor there of The Little Mermaid.  As an homage, the illustrators for "The Little Mermaid" copied that pose for Ariel the little mermaid repeatedly in this film.

Lovely red hair

There is talk of a "The Little Mermaid" remake which will be "dark."  I don't know how you make a sweet tale about a lovelorn mermaid dark, but then again, old Hans Christian himself managed it (don't ask). Perhaps Ariel is caught in a net and broiled for a restaurant meal?  I mean, enough is enough, this is a fairy tale for kids, nobody needs a "dark" Ariel the little mermaid love story.

Now, don't play hard to get!

This is a classic fairy tale that every little kid should see, but too few do. "The Little Mermaid" was so spectactularly good that it originated what is known as "The Disney Renaissance," which lasted for a decade and completely revived the studio. The trail of "The Little Mermaid" leads directly to 1991's "Beauty and the Beast," which some would call the top animated film of all time. If the kids liked "Finding Nemo" they certainly should enjoy "The Little Mermaid." Ariel's story is next set for its Diamond Edition DVD release in Fall 2013, complete with 3D Blu-ray which should provide awesome underwater effects. If you want more of Ariel the little mermaid before then, you can always turn to the 2008 prequel, "The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginnings," or the 2000 sequel, "The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea."

Below is the original film trailer.

2012

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