I saw The Lion King!
Kevin Graham
preshow was fantastic in itself with pyrotechnics and scenes from some of the
movies. There were some questions about the pre-show entertainment that I
hope someone can answer, perhaps someone who sees a different show. During
the show there were tiny reenactments of some of the disney movies, however
at the end Alice and the Queen of Hearts were on stage as well as captain hook
and smee, however that's all they were there for(the curtain call). It was
ikind of wierd. Othere than that, it was truly amazing. One technique I did
like was the little mermaid scene had the mermaid sitting on a rock singing
part of your world(very similar to the voyage of the little mermaid from MGM
studios). However after she was done singing she swam away(similar to how
tinkerbell flies). It was a really neat effect that I think they should add
to the voyage show. Now on to the movie...
The animation was incredible. The plot was in Michael Eisner's words, "Bambi
in Africa". It was vsomewhat similar in undertone to Bambi especially in
watching the development of Simba. My main complaint, however, was that the
movie was too short! I wish they would have spent more time on Simbas growing
up stage. Another problem was that I ddin't leave the theatre singing any of
the songs. They all had a great catchy beat, however I don't know about you
but it's easier to remember the words to Its a small world than hakuna matata!
The voice overs were well done, especially by James Earl Jones. I think he
deserves an oscar for his voice of Mafusa(sp?). I don't know why more people
don't use this very talented individual. Another surprise with the movie was
that it was funnier than I had anticipated. Going to the 8 pm showing at
Radio City, I was with whom I had expected, alot of adults, and they were
laughing like crazy. This movie may have more puns than Aladdin(If thats
possible!)). One interesting tidbit, when Scar asks the bird(Please forgive
me, I've only seen the movie once and haven't memorized all of the names yet)
to sing a song for him to make him happy. The "bird" sings it's a small world.
It was hillarrious. Scar then puts his paw over his eys and says,"no, no,
anything but that!". We were in the first mezenene and 4 rows in front of us
was none other than Gene Shalit(on crutches nevertheless). I asked him what
he thought and he said he liked it. I guess we'll hear a more opinionated
opinion in the next couple days. One additional note, add it to your collectio
ns, yes! Another hidden mickey. After the stage show was done the spot lights
left the stage to both sides in a 3 circle shape. It proceeded all the way
back in the theatre, a definate intentional Mickey.
I wish I had tickets to another Radio City show, but I guess I'll be like the
rest of you now and hold out and wait for the world premiere.
PS. If anyone went to this show, can you let me know why the first four rows
in the theatre were empty? Were the obstructed view? Or reserved for people
who didn't show up?(I'm sure they were sold out.)
Farul Ghazali
Kevin Graham <KWG...@psuvm.psu.edu> wrote:
>PS. If anyone went to this show, can you let me know why the first four rows
>in the theatre were empty? Were the obstructed view? Or reserved for people
>who didn't show up?(I'm sure they were sold out.)
I didn't notice that but from about 20 rows back in the orchestra, it
was still somewhat hard to see the stage, so I guess it had something
to do with the view.
Did anyone notice that this is the first Disney feature in a long time
to have a single mother instead of a single father? :)
Tigger
> movie was too short! I wish they would have spent more time on Simbas growing
> up stage.
This was one of my two negative thoughts, too. Simba's personality
undergoes
several drastic changes during the course of the movie. And while we see
the tragic events that cause the changes, we're not given time to really
understand, sympathize, or even get used to them. I don't know how the
character could have been better developed (thank God I'm not a film maker,
eh?), but if there could have been more I think it would have made for a
better movie.
> Another problem was that I ddin't leave the theatre singing any of
> the songs. They all had a great catchy beat, however I don't know about you
> but it's easier to remember the words to Its a small world than hakuna matata!
I like the soundtrack a lot. And I *do* remember the words, though that's
more likely the result of having listened to the soundtrack numerous times
in the last couple of weeks.
A note to those who care: I strongly recommend waiting until after you
see the movie to purchase the soundtrack. The visuals in the song
sequences
are so strong that they add an unbelievable amount to the experience. I
think that gets diluted a bit if you know the songs in advance. I tried
buying the soundtrack beforehand this time so that I would know the songs
when they came up, and I was not especially happy with the results. Just
a suggestion...
> This movie may have more puns than Aladdin(If thats
> possible!)). One interesting tidbit, when Scar asks the bird(Please forgive
> me, I've only seen the movie once and haven't memorized all of the names yet)
> to sing a song for him to make him happy. The "bird" sings it's a small world.
> It was hillarrious. Scar then puts his paw over his eys and says,"no, no,
> anything but that!".
I don't know that I would say it has more puns than Aladdin. And while
the one you quote and several others were funny, I was very unhappy with
them. This is not an Aladdin-type movie in any way, shape or form, and
these sorts of jokes were completely out of place. I found them very
jarring. They broke the spell that was being woven by the movie. In
Aladdin, they were part of the spell. Here they simply sucked.
Note that you quoted the worst. The other one that bothered me somewhat
was Pumbaa's thoughts on what stars were. The real problem with these
jokes
was that the referrenced the world outside of the movie. The puns and
jokes
about Pumbaa's little "problem", on the other hand, were funny and fit in
just fine. Unfortunately I suspect that these things were added because of
the success of Aladdin, and were probably added at Jeffrey Katzenburg's
insistance. I really hate the idea of Disney injecting their apples with
even a little bit of orange juice to make more money because they found out
recently that oranges sell real well. The over-marketing of
animation-related
paraphenalia has bothered me for some time, and I am deeply saddened to see
that same mentality get a foothold in the artistic side of the house. As
a lifelong Disney fan and shareholder for nearly as long, you can rest
assured
that Jeffrey, Michael and Roy will all be getting letters from me. Not
that
they probably care, but it'll maybe make me feel better.
God, I hate writing posts like this! Going back it sounds so negative.
I saw TLK yesterday at the El Capitan in Hollywood. I called in to get
my tickets when they went on sale two months ago. I paid $12 apiece for
the tickets. I showed up nearly three hours early to insure a good spot
in line, and thus a good seat (and I ended up being the first person in
line :-) ). All this was more than worth it. I enjoyed the movie. I
don't think it quite hits "classic" status like BatB did, but it's very
good and is a more than worthy addition to the Disney library. And
because I had built up my expectations so high, I'm sure my opinion will
do nothing but go up with subsequent viewings (which I do plan on once
it goes into general release). Visually the movie is stunning, and I'm
very happy that the artists and animators were able to pull off such a
different setting from the last few films. As I mentioned, the song
sequences are wonderful. Jeremy Irons and Andreas Deja deserve to share
a great deal of recognition and perhaps an Oscar for their amazing creation
and portrayal of one of the best villians I've ever seen. All in all it's
a very good movie. Which is perhaps why those couple of problems seem to
stand out...
--
| Greg Orman gr...@pomona.claremont.edu |
| A man's best friends: a Harley, a Beretta and a Gund. |
Aladdin
> Note that you quoted the worst. The other one that bothered me somewhat
> was Pumbaa's thoughts on what stars were. The real problem with these
> jokes
> was that the referrenced the world outside of the movie. The puns and
> jokes
> about Pumbaa's little "problem", on the other hand, were funny and fit in
> just fine.
Part of the whole joke about Pumbaa's view of the stars was that it was
closely related to his own 'little' problem as you put it and Timon
points that out. I was thoroughly amused. :)
Actually, the references as a whole didn't bother me in this movie as much
as they did in _Aladdin_, perhaps because they didn't seem so
distinctly current (though I did enjoy many of them of course from Aladdin)
Also, there are only a few in the film (plus one that is current but
could easily be a part of normal dialogue anyway regarding Jeremy Irons).
--Alan