Disney Movies - Day 43
Well, I am FINALLY finishing up last weekend's viewing with Sunday. I'm going to try really hard not to get this far behind again, work troubles or not, but because it was Sunday, the day before I had to return to work, I had a mood going and my movie viewing for the day reflected it.
I started with Tower Of Terror. I come from a generation where Steve Guttenberg was actually cool once and I actually kind of like him. I also remember when they were building Tower of Terror, the ride, at Disney World, so I do like this made for TV movie, despite the cheesiness of it. I actually kind of wish the ride was more like the movie than the Twilight Zone theme. I'm really curious to see how different the Tower of Terror at Disneyland is different to Florida's version (well, other than being shorter). Since a lot of the exterior shots of the hotel were filmed at Disney World, I love to watch this movie and look for scenery I recognize.
I watched The Haunted Mansion next. I have seen this movie many times, but it is the epitome of the love/hate relationship. Let's the get trailer out of the way first before I start in:
There are parts of this movie that the weakest of Disney geeks will get plain giddy over, especially the graveyard scene, because the attention to detail and loyalty to the ride are very apparent. The visuals are not only stunning, but so true to the ride that you almost feel like you're there. But they had to screw the whole thing up by casting Eddie Murphy. Don't get me wrong, I do actually like Eddie Murphy, but just not in a movie about my favorite Disney ride. I have been known to watch this movie by fast-forwarding through the Eddie and family scenes and just watching the ride-tribute scenes, but I did stick it out and watch the entire film this time (although that urge to push the button was there the whole time).
The score is also quite good as well, something I never noticed before, and I plan on adding it to my iTunes wishlist as soon as the whole Apple Music month is over with and it's safe to go to iTunes.
There are some great behind the scenes features on the discs about how they created aspects of the movie while still trying to be true to the ride, and I watched them all, a couple of them twice. There is also a virtual Haunted Mansion "ride", but it's not what you expect and I didn't mess with it this time after being completely frustrated with it last time I tried to play with it. Games don't belong on movie discs.
If Guillermo del Toro does ever make a new Haunted Mansion movie like he's supposed to, then it HAS to be better simply because Eddie probably won't be in it, although they have announced Ryan Gosling and I'm not sure how I feel about him in it either, ex-Mousekeeter or not.
Staying in the same vein, Hocus Pocus was next. To say I adore this movie is the understatement of the century, I LOVE it! My beloved Zachary was named for the cat in this movie (even though it was actually Thackery Binx, when I named Zach, I didn't remember the Thackery part and so he was Zachary Binx). I haven't watched this movie since Zach's passing and it was hard to hear little Emily go, "Thackery...Thackary Binx" to her finally deceased brother, because it reminded me of my precious baby. But there are good memories of that movie too. I'm not a Sarah Jessica Parker fan, but that is my favorite role of hers and I think she was honestly brilliant in it. I wish I had a dime for everytime I, still to this day, bust out into "amuck, amuck, amuck!". When Am and I go to Disney World, Sisters Amuck is our theme thanks to this movie (that, and the old Ducks Amuck Donald Duck cartoon collection).
This was the first time I noticed that the movie is getting a bit dated, not only because even little Dani is now a grown adult and the others are getting on up there in age, but again, because of the death of another cast member, Charles Rocket. I still love this movie though and I'm a bit upset I'm going to miss the addition of the Sanderson sisters to the Villains Mix and Mingle show at Disney World's Halloween Party. Here's hoping it goes over well and is still there in 2016!
There are also no special features on the disc, and considering it's a collector's edition Blu-Ray version of the movie, it should have them.
I went a bit old school, but still in the same theme, next with The Ghosts of Buxley Hall. This is another one of my favorite childhood movies, although I haven't seen it in many years. I bought it when the DVD came out (because that's what I do), but I hadn't watched it until Sunday and I wish I hadn't waited so long because it was as good as I remembered. I couldn't find a trailer, but I did find a clip and you might notice a couple of old-school Disney faces:
Blackbeard's Ghost was next and I don't know a single Disney person of "a certain age" that doesn't love Dean Jones and I'm no exception. This movie is fun and has that typical Disney 1960's humor.
Watching Blackbeard got me out of the supernatural mood and put me in a pirate mood, so that meant one thing, Treasure Island, the 1950's Bobby Driscoll version. This was the first classic book I ever remember reading as a kid and I absolutely loved it, although my tastes quickly changed after Dracula and Frankenstein.
Lastly for the night, I watched In Search Of The Castaways, the other part of the Treasure Island two DVD set. I have never actually seen this movie. Truth be told, I'm not a Hayley Mills fan and I never understood Walt's love for her. She wasn't a good singer or actress and I never really thought she was all that pretty...I always thought her sister Juliet was way prettier. As far as I know, I even think this is the only Disney movie I own with her in it. But despite that, I did actually like this movie and would probably watch it again (although I might fast-forward through her song, I still think my ears are numb).
The totals are coming along now! I'm still only halfway through the animated features and, as I pulled out the live actions, I've got a lot more of them to go as well. Then there is my abnormally large collection of Disney Channel Original Movies that I will have to get to at some point, especially since my Teen Beach 2 copy just came in last week. There are also the TV series, so I might have to cut myself off at some point. I think this could go on forever if I include all the Lucasfilm movies (which Disney now owns), the Touchstone Picture movies (which Disney did own), etc. Then there are the ones I recorded from television and put on disc. Do I count those as well? I'm not sick of the challenge yet, so I guess we'll see how far I can take it. At least I'm not missing having regular TV anymore, that's for sure (although I do miss the Disney Channel a whole heck of a lot and all this Disney movie watching might be making it worse). So far, the only restriction I've put on myself is that I'm not to watch any of the movies from streaming services. If I don't have the disc, be it bought or recorded, then I'm not going to go there.
MOVIE TOTALS:
Live Action: 37
Full-Length Animation: 76
Mixed-Medium: 5
Animated Shorts: 252
Live Action Shorts: 1
Mixed-Medium Shorts: 2
Animated Series: 77
Mixed-Medium Series: 2
Documentaries: 8
I started with Tower Of Terror. I come from a generation where Steve Guttenberg was actually cool once and I actually kind of like him. I also remember when they were building Tower of Terror, the ride, at Disney World, so I do like this made for TV movie, despite the cheesiness of it. I actually kind of wish the ride was more like the movie than the Twilight Zone theme. I'm really curious to see how different the Tower of Terror at Disneyland is different to Florida's version (well, other than being shorter). Since a lot of the exterior shots of the hotel were filmed at Disney World, I love to watch this movie and look for scenery I recognize.
I watched The Haunted Mansion next. I have seen this movie many times, but it is the epitome of the love/hate relationship. Let's the get trailer out of the way first before I start in:
There are parts of this movie that the weakest of Disney geeks will get plain giddy over, especially the graveyard scene, because the attention to detail and loyalty to the ride are very apparent. The visuals are not only stunning, but so true to the ride that you almost feel like you're there. But they had to screw the whole thing up by casting Eddie Murphy. Don't get me wrong, I do actually like Eddie Murphy, but just not in a movie about my favorite Disney ride. I have been known to watch this movie by fast-forwarding through the Eddie and family scenes and just watching the ride-tribute scenes, but I did stick it out and watch the entire film this time (although that urge to push the button was there the whole time).
The score is also quite good as well, something I never noticed before, and I plan on adding it to my iTunes wishlist as soon as the whole Apple Music month is over with and it's safe to go to iTunes.
There are some great behind the scenes features on the discs about how they created aspects of the movie while still trying to be true to the ride, and I watched them all, a couple of them twice. There is also a virtual Haunted Mansion "ride", but it's not what you expect and I didn't mess with it this time after being completely frustrated with it last time I tried to play with it. Games don't belong on movie discs.
If Guillermo del Toro does ever make a new Haunted Mansion movie like he's supposed to, then it HAS to be better simply because Eddie probably won't be in it, although they have announced Ryan Gosling and I'm not sure how I feel about him in it either, ex-Mousekeeter or not.
Staying in the same vein, Hocus Pocus was next. To say I adore this movie is the understatement of the century, I LOVE it! My beloved Zachary was named for the cat in this movie (even though it was actually Thackery Binx, when I named Zach, I didn't remember the Thackery part and so he was Zachary Binx). I haven't watched this movie since Zach's passing and it was hard to hear little Emily go, "Thackery...Thackary Binx" to her finally deceased brother, because it reminded me of my precious baby. But there are good memories of that movie too. I'm not a Sarah Jessica Parker fan, but that is my favorite role of hers and I think she was honestly brilliant in it. I wish I had a dime for everytime I, still to this day, bust out into "amuck, amuck, amuck!". When Am and I go to Disney World, Sisters Amuck is our theme thanks to this movie (that, and the old Ducks Amuck Donald Duck cartoon collection).
This was the first time I noticed that the movie is getting a bit dated, not only because even little Dani is now a grown adult and the others are getting on up there in age, but again, because of the death of another cast member, Charles Rocket. I still love this movie though and I'm a bit upset I'm going to miss the addition of the Sanderson sisters to the Villains Mix and Mingle show at Disney World's Halloween Party. Here's hoping it goes over well and is still there in 2016!
There are also no special features on the disc, and considering it's a collector's edition Blu-Ray version of the movie, it should have them.
I went a bit old school, but still in the same theme, next with The Ghosts of Buxley Hall. This is another one of my favorite childhood movies, although I haven't seen it in many years. I bought it when the DVD came out (because that's what I do), but I hadn't watched it until Sunday and I wish I hadn't waited so long because it was as good as I remembered. I couldn't find a trailer, but I did find a clip and you might notice a couple of old-school Disney faces:
Blackbeard's Ghost was next and I don't know a single Disney person of "a certain age" that doesn't love Dean Jones and I'm no exception. This movie is fun and has that typical Disney 1960's humor.
Watching Blackbeard got me out of the supernatural mood and put me in a pirate mood, so that meant one thing, Treasure Island, the 1950's Bobby Driscoll version. This was the first classic book I ever remember reading as a kid and I absolutely loved it, although my tastes quickly changed after Dracula and Frankenstein.
Lastly for the night, I watched In Search Of The Castaways, the other part of the Treasure Island two DVD set. I have never actually seen this movie. Truth be told, I'm not a Hayley Mills fan and I never understood Walt's love for her. She wasn't a good singer or actress and I never really thought she was all that pretty...I always thought her sister Juliet was way prettier. As far as I know, I even think this is the only Disney movie I own with her in it. But despite that, I did actually like this movie and would probably watch it again (although I might fast-forward through her song, I still think my ears are numb).
The totals are coming along now! I'm still only halfway through the animated features and, as I pulled out the live actions, I've got a lot more of them to go as well. Then there is my abnormally large collection of Disney Channel Original Movies that I will have to get to at some point, especially since my Teen Beach 2 copy just came in last week. There are also the TV series, so I might have to cut myself off at some point. I think this could go on forever if I include all the Lucasfilm movies (which Disney now owns), the Touchstone Picture movies (which Disney did own), etc. Then there are the ones I recorded from television and put on disc. Do I count those as well? I'm not sick of the challenge yet, so I guess we'll see how far I can take it. At least I'm not missing having regular TV anymore, that's for sure (although I do miss the Disney Channel a whole heck of a lot and all this Disney movie watching might be making it worse). So far, the only restriction I've put on myself is that I'm not to watch any of the movies from streaming services. If I don't have the disc, be it bought or recorded, then I'm not going to go there.
MOVIE TOTALS:
Live Action: 37
Full-Length Animation: 76
Mixed-Medium: 5
Animated Shorts: 252
Live Action Shorts: 1
Mixed-Medium Shorts: 2
Animated Series: 77
Mixed-Medium Series: 2
Documentaries: 8
Comments