Tuesday, June 3, 2014

"Kids'll Blow Dandelion Fuzz..."

My friend Arwen (of a private but epic blog) began a new blog award: the Olaf Award! She describes it as a blog award dedicated to the glories of Disney animation. Thank you so much for nominating me, Arwen!



Rules:
1.  Answer the award questions.
2.  Pass the award on to however many bloggers you choose, using the same or your own questions.

Arwen's Questions (applying to animated Disney movies):
1.  What is your favorite Disney movie of all time?
Ooh... tough question. Since we're talking animated movies, it'd be either Tangled, Frozen, or Beauty and the Beast

2.  Of the three newest Disney films (Tangled, Brave, and Frozen), which is your favorite?
Probably TangledFrozen is epic, but I've always been partial to long blonde hair. Brave... ugh... let's not even go there.

And this movie is entirely quotable... what's not to like?

3.  Do you tend to prefer Disney films made prior to the 2000s or those made more recently?
Usually, as a general rule, I like the older films. There are a few recent exceptions, but I find older, better. 

4.  Who is your favorite character in Frozen?
Hands down, Olaf. Sidekicks are epic, but Olaf tops every sidekick of all time.

5.  Everyone loves Disney music.  Any movie whose soundtrack you particularly enjoy?  Limit yourself to three.
Hmm... only three?? *le sigh* Let's see... The Little Mermaid, Tangled, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Alan Menken did the scores for all three, and I absolutely love them. I enjoy Tangled and HoND films as well, but I cannot endorse the story and characters of LM... for obvious reasons.

"Out There" - one of my absolute favorite songs.

6.  In your opinion (similar to Question #3), has the quality of Disney's film-making decreased as time has gone on, or has it only improved? 
They've bettered their ability to tell a good story, but the themes and music has degraded, IMHO. For example, I love the music of Sleeping Beauty. One of my all-time favorite Disney songs is Once Upon a Dream. Yet, the storyline of the film is... well, to put it kindly - dull and dumb. The prince and princess meet once and fall in love. They have hardly any lines whatsoever in the film. The princess only has 15 minutes of screen time. It's the three fairies that steal the show. Cinderella is also a cute film; beautiful music, gorgeous animation, memorable characters, etc. But the prince is a horrid store-window-dummy. He speaks, what... once?? To contrast with that, The Princess and the Frog is an atrocious film. While the story makes complete sense and has a believable plot, it's full of witchcraft and pop songs that I can't even listen to. Brave is a cool story about a girl with wild hair and a horse and a bow. Patrick Doyle did an awesome job on the soundtrack, and I love the Scottish themes. But it also is full of witchcraft and there's an unfortunate amount of... *cough* shall we say people losing their clothes or not having clothes in the right spot? 

7.  Favorite Disney couple? 
Hmm... probably Eugene and Rapunzel. Even though they only know each other for a couple days, their relationship is sweet and believable. Eugene embodies the true meaning of love when he sacrifices himself for Rapunzel. And she's got a quirky personality and awesome hair. What's not to like?

8.  Favorite Disney sidekick?
Olaf. Second only to Pascal. And then Maximus. And Lumiere. And Sven. And Mushu. And Jaq Jaq. And Cogsworth.

"I'm gonna tell him."

9.  What is the worst Disney film you've ever seen?
I've seen plenty of worst, but one particularly awful one was The Black Cauldron. I really enjoyed reading Lloyd Alexander's novel, but the film was a horrible adaption. It had the potential for an epic story, but Disney did so many things wrong. The Little Mermaid is downright bad, too.

10.  Lastly, what is one lesser-known Disney film you'd recommend?
Well... probably The Great Mouse Detective. It's a fun Sherlock parody. 



Okey dokey... ready for my nominees? I'm only going to do a few so we don't get an epic outbreak of Olafs on the internet (however, that wouldn't totally be a bad thing).

Jessa Bri
Melody
Lauriloth
Eva

Questions for you:
1.  What is your favorite Disney movie of all time?
2.  Of the three newest Disney films (Tangled, Brave, and Frozen), which is your favorite?
3.  Do you tend to prefer Disney films made prior to the 2000s or those made more recently?
4.  Who is your favorite character in Frozen?
5.  Everyone loves Disney music.  Any movie whose soundtrack you particularly enjoy?  Limit yourself to three.
6.  In your opinion (similar to Question #3), has the quality of Disney's film-making decreased as time has gone on, or has it only improved? 
7.  Favorite Disney couple? 
8.  Favorite Disney sidekick?
9.  What is the worst Disney film you've ever seen?
10.  Lastly, what is one lesser-known Disney film you'd recommend?

God bless!

8 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for awarding me! I don't actually do awards on my blog anymore, but I'll answer the questions right here in this comment, if you don't mind. They look really fun :)

    1. What is your favorite Disney movie of all time? TANGLED. It's a gorgeous, fun, sweet, heartbreaking (in places) film, and it was one of the first ones I watched. If I need a happiness boost, it's my go-to movie.
    2. Of the three newest Disney films (Tangled, Brave, and Frozen), which is your favorite? See above ;) I haven't watched Brave, but I love Frozen almost as much as Tangled.
    3. Do you tend to prefer Disney films made prior to the 2000s or those made more recently? Most of the Disney films I've seen have been made more recently, so I'd go with those. I'd really like to watch Beauty and the Beast sometime (can't believe I haven't seen it...how do I call myself a Disney fan???), but most of the older Disney films don't interest me.
    4. Who is your favorite character in Frozen? Elsa, all the way. I identify with her on several levels, and listening to or singing 'Let It Go' always makes me feel better.
    5. Everyone loves Disney music. Any movie whose soundtrack you particularly enjoy? Limit yourself to three. Okayyy...music is a really big passion of mine, so I tend to notice the soundtracks as well as the songs. My top three favorites are Frozen (songs are great, score not so much), Tangled (score is fabulous, but Frozen's songs are better), and The Great Mouse Detective (both the score AND the songs are outstanding).
    6. In your opinion (similar to Question #3), has the quality of Disney's film-making decreased as time has gone on, or has it only improved? I would say it's improved. I haven't watched many Disney films, but I've read a lot about most of them, and while a lot of the older movies were great, Disney is doing an awesome job with Pixar, Frozen, and Tangled.
    7. Favorite Disney couple? Rapunzel and Eugene <3 Was there ever any doubt?
    8. Favorite Disney sidekick? Dawson from The Great Mouse Detective :) He's pretty awesome.
    9. What is the worst Disney film you've ever seen? Pinnochio (didn't spell that right, did I?). Ick. It's the only movie I've ever literally fallen asleep while watching because I was so bored.
    10. Lastly, what is one lesser-known Disney film you'd recommend? Well, The Great Mouse Detective would be my first choice, but since you took that (kudos to you!), I'll pick the animated Robin Hood. It's amazing too. I love it.

    ~Eva

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    1. No problem, Eva! I don't mind at all! Thanks for doing the questions! I knew that with your love for Tangled and Frozen, I couldn't leave you out of this. *winks*

      I forgot about Pinocchio!! That one is awful! The only good thing about it is Jiminey Cricket, and even then, that's stretching it.

      ROBIN HOOD! Epic. *nods* 'Nuff said. I haven't seen that in ages. Or TGMD. I need to watch both again. So, TGMD soundtrack is one of your favorites? I'll have to check it out. I don't think I'm familiar with that one. Do you know who the composer is?

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    2. *looks up composer* It's a guy named Henry Mancini :) And you should TOTALLY check it out. The main theme is so much fun!

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  2. Aah! You did it! *cue Kuzco's voice* I'm SOO happy!:D Thanks so much!

    Practically nobody I know likes "Brave." :( I understand people's reservations about the amount of magic in it, and I personally would have liked the movie better if the will-o'-the-wisps hadn't been included and if the witch wasn't portrayed as so "harmless" and "funny." But on the other hand, Merida has to spend basically the whole movie UNDOING the havoc she created by going to magic for help, which sort of implies that magic is a bad thing…ah, well.

    As you know, I don't like TLM myself, but I was wondering what your moral objections to it are…unless, of course, they're the immodesty (which, unfortunately, is a bit of an issue with most Disney films…), and Ariel's spoiled-rotten, bratty, rebellious attitude…Hmm. Those might be the objections;)

    YAY SOMEONE ELSE HAS SEEN THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME AND APPRECIATES IT FOR ITS TOTAL EPICNESS!!!!:D "Out There" is such a great sequence…and Quasimodo is one of the best Disney heroes EVER!:)

    Haha your answer to the sidekick question;)

    I've heard of "The Great Mouse Detective"…I suppose I'll have to watch it now!;)

    Again, so happy you did the award!! God bless!!!

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    1. Arwen -- OF COURSE I DID IT! Who could say "no" to Olaf? *grins*

      Haha... yep. Those are my objections to TLM.

      YES! THoND is epic!!! I've only seen it twice, but I've already got most of the soundtrack memorized, and I LOVE IT!! HE IS! It's so not typical of the usual "fairy tale" and I think that's why I like it so much. You've got a girl on the run, a despicable villain, a hero that's totally not normal, and the captain love interest who is fun and not in the image of most Disney princes. And then Alan Menken did the score. What's not to love?

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  3. I'm glad that you like Frozen. I've yet to see it though. Perhaps sometime this summer that will happen.

    And, yes, The Great Mouse Detective is an amazing movie!

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  4. Oh my goodness, this looks like SUCH a fun tag!!! Thank you so much for passing it on to me, I can't wait to do it! :D

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  5. Great post! I'm new here! My name's Ireland and I like Olaf too :)

    http://irelandrhea.blogspot.com/

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