It’s that time again! With a year behind us in 2011, it’s time to look forward to see what Disney has planned for 2012. If you listen to the Disney Film Project Podcast, you know which one I’m looking forward to the most, but here’s the slate of films Disney will treat us to in…
Years ago, when I was in college, I liked nothing better than gathering my friends up on a weekday evening and heading off to the movies. We didn’t have much money, because we were college students, but there was one theater that featured a discount night on Tuesdays. It was with this group of people,…
I love the Muppets. No, I mean, I really love the Muppets. I have seen the original Muppet Movie more times than I care to count. The Muppet Christmas Carol is probably my favorite holiday film. My children constantly demand to watch all three seasons of the Muppet Show on DVD, despite Sandy Duncan hosting. …
When my son had a particularly hard time with his homework last weekend, I offered him a chance to celebrate when he was finished. Whatever we could do at home to make a big deal out of finishing this task, I’d do it. He chose watching a movie. I knew I loved the kid. It…
There’s just something about The Lion King, isn’t there? Disney’s re-release of the film has broken through everyone’s wildest expectations, adding to the already massive box office totals that it earned in its initial release. The Bluray is selling like crazy, and as we approach 20 years since The Lion King came out, it’s characters…
In all my time watching Disney films, I had never seen So Dear To My Heart before. For that and other reasons I sat down to watch it with great interest. After all, here was a film that was produced in 1948, the very early days of live action at the Disney studio. It had…
In 1986, Disney was still very much a company in turmoil. Their last animated feature, The Black Cauldron, had been very expensive and had not returned that expense at the box office. New management had taken over, led by Michael Eisner and Frank Wells, and they were not entirely sure that feature animation was part…
In 1941, the Walt Disney Studios were not the juggernaut they are today. With a series of troubles hitting the studio – including the box office failure of Fantasia, an animator’s strike and the European box office drying up because of World War II – Walt and his crew needed to figure out a new…
Hey guys, I know I’m usually the movie guy, but here at DDL we like Disney’s TV networks as well. I’m usually an ESPN fan, but here’s an opportunity for you to win a complete DVD set from one of ABC’s biggest new shows. Enter to Win An Ultimate Fan DVD Prize Pack: Body of…
There was trouble in the making of The Fox and the Hound almost from the beginning. It was a movie that saw Walt Disney’s Nine Old Men – a group that had been guarding the studio’s animation efforts for 40 years – phased out for newer animators. Anyone and everyone in the world of Disney…
The conceit behind The Parent Trap is so simple that it is almost crazy no one thought of it before Erich Kastner’s novel that inspired the film. Two twin sisters separated at birth? It sounds like it’s a Weekly World News headline rather than a Disney film. Instead, it turns out to be one of…
Fundamentally, much of the Walt Disney Company’s business relies on the idea of wish fulfillment. From the ideas of the princess films to the attractions at the theme parks, Disney promises if you “wish upon a star” your dreams will come true. So, I imagine it was only a matter of time until Disney applied…
There are times in my movie going experience where I go into the theater with great excitement and still others where I go in not sure what to expect and am pleasantly surprised. In the case of Cars 2, I went in with great trepidation. The first film was a uniquely American film, and celebrated…
Winnie the Pooh had to go up against Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 when it was released. This is unfair. I have to get that out of the way, because I imagine that many of you will not have seen the film by the time you read the review. Walt Disney Animation…
I love to go to the movies, almost as much as going to Disney theme parks. It’s my way to escape reality for a little while. A good movie takes you out of reality and into a separate world. Too often this summer, though, the films have been subpar. There’s too little character development or…
With the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, it’s worth revisiting the previous films. While the first installment, The Curse of the Black Pearl, is widely regarded as a fabulous film, the reception of Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End was less than stellar. I watched them again, and I have…
20 years ago, The Walt Disney Studios was a very different place than it is today. Only 7 years into the Michael Eisner and Frank Wells era, Jeffrey Katzenberg was running the studio, and they were looking for hits. Animation was going well, but Katzenberg was looking for new films that would strike a similar…
When Cars arrived in theaters back in 2006, it seemed as though it was tailor made for me. I’m a big fan of the car culture of the late 50s and early 60s, and especially Route 66. John Lasseter’s direction on the first Toy Story film and his attention to story have always captivated me. …
There are some movies that are more than just a movie, they are a phenomenon. Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl was just that. During the summer of 2003, we were all treated to a film that celebrated the freedom of the open seas, the wit and wisdom of pirates and the…
To get one thing out of the way quickly, yes, Thor is not technically a Disney movie. It is, however, produced by Marvel Studios, which is a subsidiary of Disney. After this summer’s Captain America film, all future Marvel films will be released by Disney, so I’m counting Thor as a Disney film. With…
