Home On The Range..

[fantasticsound]

I took Lilly to see Disney's final traditional animation feature, Home On The Range Monday night. To sum up... it was darn good!

 

The story was pretty good. The character voices, including Roseanne Barr, Cuba Gooding Jr., Randy Quaid and Meg Tilly, were fantastic and cast well. But it was the music that really stole the show, for me.

 

Alan Menken wrote songs that are lyrically and melodically very strong. And the three solo songs that stick out were performed by K.D. Lang, Bonnie Raitt and Tim McGraw. All three appear to be at their best. I can't wait to get my paws on the soundtrack. In addition, there are several silly songs I only managed to hear small parts of. They're supposed to sound like songs you'd typically hear in old westerns, but with goofier lyrics.

 

Oh... and Lilly & I enjoyed watching together. Since there was only one other family of 3 in the theater, we had plenty of room to stretch out.

 

I'd recommend this movie to children of all ages.

 

Anyone else see it yet?

[Super 8]

Originally posted by fantasticsound:

Disney's final traditional animation feature,

Final traditional??? What does that mean?

[YourMotherShouldKnow]

How old is Lilly, Neil? Glad you had fun!

[fantasticsound]

Super8 - Traditional as in hand drawn animation. They shut down the hand drawn animation department after completion of Home On The Range. From now on they'll be producing CG animation only.

 

Can you blame them? Their last few hand drawn features have met mediocre box office success while movies from their former partner, Pixar, have yielded huge profits at the box office and rave reviews by critics and audiences alike. In fact, every movie Pixar released has performed better than the last. (Not to mention they've broken record after record for ticket sales for animated features, surpassing most live features, too!)

 

LanceMo[/b] - Lilly is 5 years old.. Going on 15. We had a blast. After the other family left, we danced around the theater for 10 minutes to the credits music.

[G. Ratte]

Can you blame them? Their last few hand drawn features have met mediocre box office success while movies from their former partner, Pixar, have yielded huge profits at the box office and rave reviews by critics and audiences alike.

Eh, Lilo & Stitch was pretty dope, and that was hand-drawn. Anyways, I don't think it has anything to do with animation style. I think the issue is that Pixar's been writing good material (other than Monsters, Inc. which was mediocre) and Disney (other than L&O) has been producing crap for a long time.

[Hendmik]

Does anybody think the annimation is Disney's problem? Sorry, Pixar films would be great if they were done in crayon. Disney needs to wake up before they release a slew of shitty CGI films and wonder what went wrong.

 

I saw Home on the Range with my 4 year old daughter a month or so back. It wasn't bad, but she and I were both squirming in our chairs until the final 20 minutes of the film when the action picked up. Pixar has set the bar in terms of script quality. While Home was an alright film, she and I expect much better.

 

If you want great Disney films, watch both of the annimated 101 Dalmation films. Even the sequel, a direct to video release, was pretty good (especially the soundtrack). And the original is my favorite Disney movie of all time.

 

However, as mundane a film as I thought Home on the Range was, it was no where near as bad of a film as Looney Tunes: Back in Action. 30 minutes in, my daughter asked me if we could leave and I already had my coat in my hand.

[Hendmik]

Originally posted by fantasticsound:

After the other family left, we danced around the theater for 10 minutes to the credits music.

Now that's the sign of a f**king cool Dad. When your daughter is 30, you know she's going to remember that day.

[fantasticsound]

Thanks, Hendmik. Sometimes it's tough for people to tell that I'm the parent. I think my height gives it away. (Oh, and the beard... Yep. The beard's a dead giveaway.)

 

I agree that Disney's scripts have been weak other than Lilo & Stitch for some time. And yes, L&S and Dreamworks retelling of The Prince Of Egypt about the Exodus was very good, indeed.

 

But it seems we've come to a turning point in animation history. While us big kids still appreciate big screen, hand drawn animation, I think the bulk of young kids take for granted that a feature will look like Toy Story, Shrek, or Nemo.

 

Remember how incredible Star Wars looked when it was released? How many, of those of us old enough, remember the first time you noticed the outline of the Tie Fighter as it moved across the starry background? It's pretty easy to see a difference in black level. That was one of many great visual effects that didn't look so great six years later when Return Of The Jedi was released. (Although, IMHO, Star Wars is still the best movie. Like you said, story is key, and Star Wars was a great epic. )

 

Point is, despite the paramount importance of the story and script, digital characterizations are king in big screen animation. Look at the following numbers..

 

Lilo & Stitch

 

Box Office Total: $145,771,527

Box Office Opening: $35,260,212

 

Finding Nemo

 

Box Office Total: $339,666,356

Box Office Opening: $70,251,710

Rail against the garbage Disney released as hand drawn animation of late, but even if you compare a good Disney hand drawn feature to CG animation of Pixar and Dreamworks you find a huge discrepancy in gross income. We haven't seen really huge hand drawn animation receipts since Aladdin and The Lion King, long before Pixar made its' mark.

[Hendmik]

Sorry, I have to disagree. When photography was invented, painting did not go away. It's art and Disney is in denial if it thinks the same script rendered instead of drawn, will bring in more cash. The "Kids these days" argument that they seem to be taking is a complete externalization of responsibility for their poor film making of late.

 

Second, CGI films have not done as well as traditional animation. Sure it's still new technology, but adjusting box office receipts for inflation gives a pretty good view of how well traditional animation can do, given a good script. Look where Finding Nemo (the highest grossing CGI film ever) lands on this list, compared to The Lion King (even though I found Finding Nemo to be a superior film).

 

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted/

 

Case in point, your own daughter loved Home on the Range. Would she have loved it more had it been CGI? Ask yourself how the film could've been better. Is more computer animation on that list?

[Hendmik]

P.S. Star Wars was GREAT. I just had to get that out.

[JohnS]

Originally posted by fantasticsound:

Oh... and Lilly & I enjoyed watching together. Since there was only one other family of 3 in the theater, we had plenty of room to stretch out.

 

I'd recommend this movie to children of all ages.

 

Anyone else see it yet?

I saw Home on the Range with my girl friend and her 11 year old daughter. We all liked the film.

 

At 9:00 pm on a Friday night there were only eight people in the theater.

 

I get to see a lot of movies that I would normally never see since Chelsea goes with us most of the time, Saving Nemo and Holes being two of the stand out films we have seen. There have been a few stinkers too like Charlie's Angels " Full Throttle", man... that one blew chunks, but Chelsea loved it.

 

I think it is cool that you get to have so much fun with your daughter Neil.

[fantasticsound]

Originally posted by JohnS:

...I think it is cool that you get to have so much fun with your daughter Neil.

I have no friends.

.

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.

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.

.

 

Actually, life's too short to let all those opportunities go by. Hug your kid is a great line, but I like to go beyond that. Dance and sing like a fool with 'em, too. And remember, as my wife taught me, don't miss a chance to make a memory.

 

A few weeks ago, Lilly and I drove the half hour from our home to torah study at temple. I was fully aware the interstate was undergoing a major project as part of a MAJOR project that weekend. Sure enough, after our study group, every tributary, in addition to the interstate, was literally stopped. The Cumberland River snakes through this area and bridges are few and far between, so we were out of luck searching for a quick alternate route. Instead, I drove in the opposite direction a few minutes, found a country road to nowhere, and took a chance on finding a long, yet unobstructed way home. On the way we drove through beautiful country made even more beautiful by the Spring blooms. We saw ranches and dairy farms.. even stopped to stand at the fence by some cows. Lilly loved it.

 

(The fact that I found a way home was icing on the cake. But what I remember about that day centers far more on the journey, than our luck in finding a reasonably easy way home. )

 

Sorry to ramble... Denise and I made a conscious decision to stop whatever we were doing, several times during our wedding reception, to ensure memory of the event. We'd heard from other couples how they were so busy greeting people that they hardly remembered anything of it. It's stayed with me ever since.

 

So grab yer loved ones and make a memory!

[Tedster]

Originally posted by fantasticsound:

I have no friends.

Baloney!

 

Lilly is sure to grow up with so many happy memories of her childhood...and the cool thing is that she'll pass that down to her own kids.

 

But, beware, a storm is brewing. The teen years...that seem so far away now...will be upon you in the blink of an eye. But don't worry too much. You'll all do just fine.

 

Silliness is great. Preston used to cry like crazy when mom and dad plopped him in his car seat to take him home from "Paw paw and Nana's" house. But, paw paw started making goofy faces through the car window at him, and of course, he responded with goofy faces and smiles. I think he almost looks forward to that part now. He's coming over again Saturday, and I get to plop him in my lap and take him for a long lawn tractor ride.

[fantasticsound]

Hey! I put a after that first line.

 

Originally posted by Tedster:

...Lilly is sure to grow up with so many happy memories of her childhood...and the cool thing is that she'll pass that down to her own kids.

No doubt, Ted. I have fond memories of riding in my dad's '69 Rambler while he made up words to "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" to the protests my older brother and I made. (Along with lots of laughter. )