My Top 10 Favourite Disney Films!

Hello everyone!

Okay I've been going a little but Disney crazy lately, so I thought why not let that pass over into a blog post. You all know (if you're a regular reader) that my favourite film, not just Disney but of all time is Beauty and The Beast so I thought why not share with you my top 10 list of Disney films.

Honestly, all the films on this list are going to be animated films, oh and before we get started yes Pixar films do count, since Disney owns Pixar.

One Tiny Lie vs Ten Tiny Breaths by K A Tucker : A Review!

Hi, everyone.

First apologies, I know I usually get my posts done and uploaded for 10am everyday so going by that this post is a little bit later than usual. However, like I said last week I have been busy but I am determined to keep to my schedule. Besides it is still Wednesday so at least I didn't miss a day!
We're still on track to keep up with the posting schedule I started in July, which quite frankly amazes me, I'm not the best at following through on my plans!

Any-who today's post is a review of sorts. And I just realised I have been posting a lot more about books recently, I hope you don't mind that. Any way, so today I thought I would do a comparison/ review of One Tiny Lie and Ten Tiny Breaths, both by K A Tucker, One Tiny Lie is Livie Cleary's story, whilst Ten Tiny Breaths is Kacey Cleary's story (but you knew this right because you know I love this book).

Ten Tiny Breaths & One Tiny Lie  

by

K A Tucker

I enjoyed both of these books let's just get that out there right now. This is by no means a bad review, however there is one that I like considerably more than the other, but that doesn't mean that the other isn't any good. So if you want to find out what the hell I'm harping on about or if you are considering reading these books and want to know a little more carry on reading!

The Lion King - A Musical Phenomenon! - A Review

Hello my friends, long time no talk. My fault! I'm sorry!

Anyway this post is a long time coming (I saw the show on March 10th I know I know I'm a slacker please don't judge me I'm working on it!)

Without further ado a review of The Lion King the Musical

The Lion King arrived in cold and rainy Manchester in November 2012 before opening in December.  Even before performing a single show its stay in Manchester was extended due to record breaking ticket sales, as it makes its first long anticipated journey out of London. Manchester marks the second stop on the tour following an 11 week stint at The Bristol Hippodrome. It is a show that has a company of 52 performers, and it mixes puppets and actors to tell the classic Disney tale.

Now however the Lion King is coming to the end of its stay in Manchester as it plays its last show on the 20th of April, before heading over to Dublin for the third stop on a tour that is scheduled to visit 10 cities over a two and half year period. Having never previously seen the show I have always wondered exactly what it was that made this musical become the international phenomenon that it undeniably is. After all it can't solely be coming from the popularity of its source material in Walt Disney Animations classic 1994 film.

What I can tell you us that though I was excited to finally have the opportunity to see the show I was also a bit sceptical. I wasn't sure if I would be able to get past seeing someone with a lion mask on his head as just that or whether I would be pulled in to the point where I didn't notice. I hoped that the latter would be the case obviously. It's strange you'd a favourite character would be the obvious choice of Simba, but no the outstanding performance of the night for me came from the character Rafiki who was brilliantly portrayed by Gugwanan Dlamini. She provided a lot of the laughs in the show, alongside Timon and Pumba of course, who could forget about them.

Forget about the whole idea I had that I would only be able to see a human in a lion mask, my worries were quickly proved to be unnecessary. From the minute that the show began I was simply astounded by the sheer size of the production that was put on display. I don't think I will ever get the image of what was probably a life size elephant walking down on of the aisles of the theatre right past me during Circle of Life out of my head. It is a show that simply captures its audience and refuses to let you go. If there is anyone out there who is a fan of the film but isn't sure about seeing the musical [side note: I am told that the touring production actually uses a lot more dialogue etc from the film that the show in London does] go and see it. Please, I promise you won't regret it. The costume design alone was enough to just take my breath away and I would be lying if I was to tell you I didn't shed a tear at Mufasa's death like always.

(What can I say I'm an emotional wreck, my friends and family can vouch for that!)

For 14 years the Lion King has been wowing audiences at the Lyceum Theatre in London and when the show scheduled to close this Autumn is safe to say that this tour could well be your last chance to see it in the UK so don't miss out if it's something you want to see!

It gets a thumbs up and giant 4/5 stars from me!

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Oz The Great And Powerful - A review

Today was one of those days where I couldn't stand staying in the house for one more second. So I looked at Odeon's website and saw that Oz The Great And Powerful was showing. I remembered seeing the trailer for this film a while back and I decided I would go and watch it.

As most of you already know it stars James Franco as Oscar Diggs/ The Wizard of Oz. He is a con man magician making a living in a travelling circus, performing magic tricks, when a tornado hits and he finds himself in the magical land of Oz. Here he meets the Theodora played by Mila Kunis, who believes that he the prophecy come true and that he will rescue Oz from the Wicked Witch Glinda, thus taking is place as king. On his way to the Emerald City with Theodora, she falls in love with him and believes she will rule Oz by his side as Queen. They meet Finley the talking flying monkey who Oz rescues from a lion causing Theodora to believe whole heartedly that he is the Wizard.

Upon arrival at the Emerald City he meets Theodora's sister Evanora, who tells him that in order to become king he must kill the Wicked Witch by stealing and breaking her wand which is the source of her power, and that he can find her in the Dark Forest.

When they do eventually find Glinda it is revealed that Glinda is the good witch and in reality it is Evanora who is the Wicked Witch.

I will tell you no more than that because I don't want to spoil the rest of the film.

Personally I'm not a huge fan of the original Wizard of Oz film, I find it to be a bit tedious and boring however because I enjoyed the musical Wicked, another tale about the witches of Oz I thought I would enjoy this film more. Which I did.

I went to watch the film in 3D which normally I try to avoid because it costs more but this showing time fit in with when I would be near the cinema. Having said that I'm actually really glad I went to see this film in 3D it had its moments were things jumped out of the screen (and a couple of those moments had me jumping in my seat) but mostly the 3D was used in the same way that it was used in say Avatar, to give the landscape more depth. In that respect the 3D was top notch as were the special effects, I was presently surprised.

There were a couple of funny one liners in the film that gave it an added bit of light-heartedness the story was good. The acting was good also. A few people I know have said they were sceptical about the casting of James Franco as the Wizard but I can tell you that he plays the part extremely well. As do Michelle Williams who pretty much epitomises my idea of how Glinda should appear. So obviously the casting directors did a wonderful job.

With all that in mind I give this film 4 stars. It is enjoyable viewing for anyone; it's just one of those films that let you escape the really world for two hours. Be warned that there maybe a couple of parts that some children may find scary; this is after all a PG film.

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Tag! 7 Deadly Sins of Reading!

Wow two posts, in one day this is not like me, however I found myself scouring YouTube again today and came across this tag in the book community and felt the need to do my own, so I hope you enjoy it!

Questions:

1. GREED what is your most expensive book? What is your least expensive book?

I sat here for quite a few minutes trying to think of what my most expensive book is. I found it really hard because I am a cheap skate, honest to god I will see a book I want to read, but I won’t buy it on the spot I'll do some research and find the cheapest place I can get it (I'm a student okay don't judge I'm broke!) It’s probably going to have to be the Egyptology book I got years ago that I’m pretty sure it was over at least £10 at the time.

The least expensive book does one that you get as gift count? Technically they are free. Otherwise I'm not sure books are generally around the same price of £3/4/5. Wait no I know! There was a book that I really wanted to read but you couldn't get in any form other than in an eBook It was Ceaseless by Abbi Glines I bought it for Kindle (I don't have a Kindle I downloaded the app for my laptop) and it cost just £2.53, I'm pretty positive I don't have a cheaper book than that.

2. WRATH—what author do you have a love/hate relationship with?

Maggie Stiefvater. Easy one this. I absolutely loved the Wolves of Mercy Fall's Trilogy, however I went on to read Lament and Ballad and I found them to be rather boring. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed Lament well enough I just couldn't get into Ballad. I haven't read any of her others yet, The Scorpio Races and The Raven Boys. I do plan to read them because I enjoy her style of writing, I just wasn't a fan of Lament and Ballad compared the Wolves of Mercy Falls.

3. GLUTTONY—what book have you deliciously devoured over and over with no shame whatsoever?

Hmm I think a number of books would fall in to this category, the newest of these would be Gabriel's Inferno by Sylvain Reynard. I must've read that at least four times since I got it, and that was late December, I would put Twilight on this list but I'm ashamed of the amount of times I read it so it doesn't count!

4. SLOTH—what book have you neglected reading due to laziness?

Easy one I got Bram Stokers Dracula a while back, I picked it up to read got two chapters in went to bed and then never picked it up again. I will read it one day, perhaps this year will be the year I do.

5. PRIDE—what book do you most talk about in order to sound like a very intellectual reader?

That would most definitely be Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. Before you ask no. It has nothing to do with Fifty Shades of Grey. You can find out more about this book here, and I hope it's not too much to ask that you do because I feel that this is a book everyone should read, bearing in mind that my dad doesn't like the kind of books I read except for this one. He really enjoyed this one so if you get the chance to read it, please do.

6. LUST—what attributes do you find most attractive in male or female characters?

I like a female character to be tough and pretty kickass like Katniss from Hunger Games, Lina from Between Shades of Gray and Tris from Divergent.

It's the same with the guys really, kickass pretty tough, but with a sweet side like Four in Divergent.

But then I'm also the girl that reads the generic romance stories, with the sweet innocent girl, and closed off troubled leading man.

7. ENVY—what books would you most like to receive as a gift?

Any books. People ask me on birthdays and Christmas what do I want and it's literally, books, I just send them my Amazon wish list and tell them pick one. At this point in time there isn't one book that I absolutely want to read more than any others.

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Some-things you may not know about Walt Disney Animation!

"If you can dream it, you can do it. Always remember that this whole thing was started with a dream and a mouse." - Walter Elias Disney

Mickey Mouse was born on a train ride from New York back to Hollywood. Walt Disney had just lost the rights to Oswald Lucky Rabbit to Universal. Had Mickey Mouse not appeared then the huge Disney Conglomerate you see today would not exist. It's also true that when Walt needed funding and distribution help for his Mickey Mouse cartoons Universal attempted to get Mickey Mouse from him too, but Walt wouldn't back down quite so easily this time. Mickey Mouse was the saving grace of Disney that started it all.

It turned out to be third time lucky for Mickey. Steam boat Willie wasn’t the first Mickey Mouse cartoon. It was the third but it was the first to become a success. The short films weren’t picking up the pace the way that Walt had hoped, so he began experimenting with sound on cartoons. After many failed attempts he met Pat Powers. Powers had developed a technology named Cinephone the only sound system that could produce what Walt Disney wanted for his beloved Mickey Mouse. With the help of Powers Steamboat Willie became the first animated cartoon to feature a fully synchronised soundtrack.

However, things took a turn for the worse when Roy Disney (Walt’s older brother) discovered Powers had been keeping money the Disney’s and when the contract with Powers was terminated, Powers went on to threaten to sue any studio who distributed a Walt Disney creation. And in addition he prised away Walt Disney’s friend, helping hand/ Chief animator, Ub Iwerks - who was known to have spent tireless hours drawing frame after frame of Mickey Mouse cartoons so that Walt could meet his deadlines - thinking that without Ub, Walt Disney Animation would soon crumble. But that never happened, because Harry Cohn head of Columbia Pictures was a ruthless man who wasn’t even frightened away by Powers, he told the Columbia legal team to fight any attempt from Powers to prevent Columbia distributing Walt Disney’s work and once again Walt Disney Studios were saved.

Eventually the time came when Walt was no longer satisfied by the success of his animated shorts (Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies) he wanted more, he wanted to create something bigger.  This was when he decided it was time to make his first animated feature that was Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.

Towards the end of 1937 after nearly three years of trial, experimentation and artistic and financial crises production of Snow White seemed to be finally nearing completion. In December of 1937 Disney held a preview screening for Snow White. And from its opening night Snow White drew capacity crowds and raves from the critics The New York Times called it one of the ten best films of the year. By the end of its first week Snow White had become one of the must see films of the year, and in the 1939 at the Academy Awards ceremony Walt Disney was given a second Special Award a full size Oscar and seven small ones, for the films ‘significant screen innovation which has charmed and pioneered a great new entertainment field for the motion picture cartoon”

Snow White Oscar

After Walt passed it's easy to forget that Disney animation went through a tough time. Everyone remembers the success of the likes of the Lion King and Beauty and the Beast, but those success didn't come without trials, and bitter disappointments. Perhaps seen as the pinnacle of the 'dark days' of Disney Animation is the Black Cauldron, Not only did it take much long to make than first thought, but it came in millions over budget and to make matters worse was beat out at the box office by the Care Bears Movie it failed to make back the money that the studio had spent on it.

The animation department was slowly crashing and burning whilst live action was thriving and eventually the Animators were evicted for the old Ink and Paint studio to make more room for the live action department.

But the administration of Michael Eisner would see a shift in quality and style in Disney feature animation. Disney features soon became bombastic animated musicals, using music as well as high-quality animation to attract audiences. This coincided with the introduction of computer-aided animation techniques, the first of which was CAPS in the late 1980s. Also playing a role was Who Framed Roger Rabbit, a non-canon Disney-produced film with both live action and animated element that helped re-spark interest in Disney animation.

Beginning in 1988 with Oliver & Company, Disney released a string of profitable and enduring blockbusters. The next five films including 1989's The Little Mermaid (the first Disney animated film as a fairy-tale for 30 years), 1991's Beauty and the Beast, 1994's The Lion King would each win the Academy Award for Best Original Score. The Lion King still stands as the highest-grossing traditionally-animated feature ever made, being the top money-maker among all films in North America in 1994. The last Disney feature to be made using traditional techniques was Home on the Range in 2004 after Disney sold off all their traditional equipment in order to keep up with the likes of DreamWorks and Blue Sky Studios. The first 3D animation film was Chicken Little in 2005 and followed by Meet the Robinsons and Bolt.

The transition to CGI was not enough to renew interest in Disney animation as Disney's features were routinely outperformed by those of corporate partner Pixar, whom Disney had contracted to create CGI films originally. In response to this, Disney purchased Pixar in 2006.

On November 24, 2010, Disney's 50th animated motion picture, Tangled, Disney's first 3D-animated fairy-tale, was released. Tangled spent six years in production at a cost that has been estimated at $260 million which, if accurate, would make it the most expensive animated film ever made and second most expensive movie of all time.

  

Over the years Disney animation has been at the heart of many people’s younger years as they grew up with the films.  But this isn’t the end for Disney Animation as Disney have now released their 51st animated feature in the form of Winnie the Pooh and the 52nd was released on November 2nd 2012 under the title Wreck It Ralph.

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