Film Snark

Donald Duck, a white duck with a blue sailor suit and hat on, sits at a table sharing wine with José Carioca, a green parrot wearing a jacket, high collar, bow tie and straw hat with a black band.
C
Disney Animated Features

Saludos Amigos
Released: February 6th, 1943

This is the first of the "package films" (basically anthologies of shorts). It was.....okay.

This was an all right little film. It's apparently Disney's shortest "feature" film at only 42 minutes, and I'm kind of grateful that's as long as it was. It heavily reuses some content from the Goofy short that's in The Reluctant Dragon (both sketches are about a rider and his horse basically), but it also introduces José Carìoca, who is one of my favorites (at least from nostalgia's perspective - let's see how that holds up when I rewatch The Three Caballeros).

Notable Grossness

Ehhhh....it's a cultural study of South American societies in the 1940s.....nothing overtly racist, but there's an undertone of patronizing in some places. Otherwise, it's actually pretty okay on this front.

Jose Carioca, a green parrot with a yellow jacket and straw hat, holding a black umbrella and wearing a white shirt, dances in a circle, while his hat floats up and down in mid air above his head. The caption says, 'Dancing parrot is bae'

This is part cultural documentary, part storytelling, and while there's nothing unique about the animation, the cultural perspective is way more respectful than I would have expected from the 1940s. It's cute, and it's short, I like the cartoons, and that's about all I have to say about it. The music is great, though.

December 8th, 2020
Pete's Dragon
A movie release poster shows a group of white people, 4 men, a woman, and a young boy, surrounding a green animated dragon with pink wings and red hair. The poster says "Coming at Christmas, Walt Disney Productions' Pete's Dragon"
Bedknobs and Broomsticks
Five human actors, a woman, a man, and three children of various ages, sit on a flying brass bed with a floral blanket, with the moon and clouds behind them. Below them, illustrated animals are in various poses: two fish dance together (one in a suit); two fish and an octopus play in a band together with the words "The Briny Boys" on the front of the drum kit; an alligator, a rhino, and a gorilla run around a soccer field in yellow and green athletic outfits; a lion in a crown and red royal robe stands with one foot on the soccer ball; and a secretary bird in a suit with glasses stands watching.

Recent Snark

Bert, a chimney sweep, Jane, a young blonde child in a red dress and yellow overcoat, Michael, a young strawberry blonde child in short pants and a button coat, and Mary Poppins, a nanny in a red dress with a black hat with white flowers, stand on a rooftop, covered in soot.

Mary Poppins

Julie Andrews is a genuine delight, whether she's being fun or she's irritated. It's not just her voice, her whole presence is just delightful. George and Winifred Banks are excellent side characters, and the kids are as adorable as they need to be. Dick Van Dyke is a national treasure and I won't hear a word against him.

Structurally, there's not really a plot, but that makes sense given that it's based on a series of kind of episodic books. It's also very long. I think the length and episodic nature takes away from the character study of stuffy, cross Mr. Banks and how he learns from his children (and Mary Poppins and Bert) how to retain a sense of wonder and joy. But it's consistently fun. The music is delightful, the dancing is wonderful, and the adventures Mary Poppins and Bert and the kids go on are spectacular. I'm sure I have nostalgia for it but I think this stands up, to be honest.

The dings on the grade are for occasional bad costumes, bad makeup, the length, the imperialist nonsense. I'm honestly tempted to raise it back up because of the flawless animation/live action melding.

September 13th, 2022
Bigfoot, a giant humanoid creature with red fur, sits in front of a cardboard box with a downward pointing arrow on the side, wearing a pair of white men's briefs underwear on his head. He holds the crotch hole open with his fingers so he can look out. Goofy, a dog-like humanoid cartoon with black skin and a pale face, and long ears, watches from his yellow car several hundred feet behind Bigfoot, with his son Max in the passenger seat; Max looks similar to Goofy.

A Goofy Movie

I know this is shameful for someone my age but I've never seen this movie before. I may have caught bits of it when my brothers were younger, but the only thing I remember is Pauly Shore doing the leaning tower of cheese-a. I'm pretty much going into this one blind.

March 1st, 2022