From Bruce Lee to Jackie Chan to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, people have had a love affair with martial arts adventure for nearly a half-century. Recently, another high-kicking champion burst out of the shopping mall and into the public imagination-Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior.
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The tagline for The Aristocats was, fittingly, “Meet the cats who know where it’s atfor fun, music and adventure!” The Aristocats was the twentieth animated movie in the Disney canon. It was purportedly the last film to receive Walt Disney’s personal approval and was the first animated feature released after his death. It was originally intended to be screened in two installments on television, but was quickly promoted to feature status. It should be mentioned that the basic premise of the film, an animated comedy about cats in France, had been realized by UPA with the 1962 release of Gay Purr-ee, starring the voice of Judy Garland.
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The movie HOLES follows the trials of Stanley Yelnats, played by the amiable Shia Leboeuf. He is a teenager convicted of a crime he did not commit and is soon sent to Camp Greenlake for punishment. Despite its suggestive name, Camp Greenlake is located far from any lakes, deep in the desert. Here, Stanley and other interred kids work by digging holes — hence the name of the story. That is all Stanley and his friends do: dig holes for hours on end. What they did not know is why.
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If you have a preteen in your life, you probably have been assaulted with a flow of chatter about a movie called High School Musical. Even if you do not know a preteen, you cannot have escaped the unprecedented popularity of this film. Seldom has a made-for-television movie made such a splash, but Disney knew it had a mega hit on its hands from the day of its premier, January 20, 2006.
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Most fans agree that The Emperor’s New Groove lived up to its tagline: “nuttier than a holiday fruitcake!” It was a highly regarded, if not ultimately successful, animated feature, and the first Disney animated film to ever feature a pregnant woman. Released in December 2000, The Emperor’s New Groove mixes a careful balance of humor designed to appeal both to adults and children. It marked the 39th film in Disney’s canon and was initially slated to be a traditional musical along the lines of The Lion King. Though the title refers to the Danish fairytale, The Emperor’s New Clothes, by Hans Christen Andersen, the original story was based on Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper. The initial incarnation of the project was titled Kingdom of the Sun, with the creative team behind The Lion King, director Roger Allers and producer Randy Fullmer, at the helm. So prestigious was the production that Allers and Fullmer contracted Sting to write the music for the film.
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The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl takes viewers on an unpredictable ride in the grand tradition of creative films such as Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, which is set in a bizarre world, and films such as The Never-ending Story, in which mistreatment by bullies sends the victim into a dream world where he can be a hero. The juxtaposition of fantasy and reality in the film is demands your full attention.
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When Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom opened in 1971, it featured a great audio-animatronic show called The Country Bear Jamboree. As the name suggests, the show featured bears playing country music. The show was such a hit that capacity was expanded, Disneyland got its own Jamboree, and an additional theatre was built to satisfy the demand.
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In 1995, Walt Disney Pictures released the first Disney movie where, as the tagline states, “an American legend comes to life.” Pocahontas, the first Disney film based on an actual historic figure, was the 33rd animated film ever released by Disney Studios and marked the climax for the Disney Renaissance which had begun in 1989 with The Little Mermaid. This film was one of the few Disney films to ever portray an interracial romance (between Pocahontas and John Smith).
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Oliver & Company was, as its tagline trumpeted, “the first Disney movie with attitude!” Inspired by Charles Dickens’s novel, Oliver Twist, the feature marked a new direction and a new resurgence for Walt Disney Studios. It was arguably the most successful Disney film of the 1980’s and would pave the way for the Disney Renaissance of the 1990’s, begun by The Little Mermaid. It was so successful that then-Vice President of Animation, Peter Schneier announced the company would release an animated feature annually.
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You can tell when you have made it to the top when you receive a reference on The Simpsons. Miley Cyrus, aka Hannah Montana, broke that popularity pinnacle in December, 2007 when Bart had to write on the blackboard “The capital of Montana is not Hannah.” In the same month, Wheel of Fortune featured the celebrity in one of its puzzles.
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