Wow! What a ripping good, most entertaining, magnificently realised origin story. Cruella is clever, funny and sassy – a family comedy turned sophisticated adult offering. English children’s novelist and playwright “Dodie” Smith is best known for the novel The Hundred and One Dalmations (1956), which became the big screen animation 101 Dalmations in 1961. Disney…
I felt uncomfortable about reviewing WandaVision while episodes were still dropping on Disney +. The series was so, well… unexpected, that I didn’t think I could grasp it until it was finished. Now it is finished, I’m still not 100% sure I’ve “got it” fully. If you’ve spent time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (the…
Trust is in short supply in the Disney animated feature Raya and the Last Dragon. That’s because 500 years ago, sinister monsters known as the Druun turned most of the people and the dragons (who until then had lived in harmony) to stone. But the collective energies and special powers of five dragon siblings saved…
Cinema, like any art form, has boundless capacity to surprise. Disney-Pixar has struggled a little recently (see Onward, for example). But the studio reclaims its title as the benchmark in animation with the incredible Soul. I suspect the success of Soul has a lot to do with the return of Pete Docter to the director’s…
Although billed in some quarters as “Hamilton: The Movie”, the Hamilton now streaming on Disney + is more of a filmed version of the stage production. Director Thomas Kail (Fosse/Verdon) captures a 2016 performance of the groundbreaking musical at the Richard Rodgers Theater in New York. The performance features the original Broadway cast, including Lin…
In the days before the pandemic (remember them?), hype swirled around Disney’s adaptation of Artemis Fowl, the much-loved YA novel by Eoin Colfer. Originally slated for a (northern) summer release, COVID-19 torpedoed those plans and Disney moved it straight to its new streaming platform, Disney +. In hindsight, that could have been a wise move….
Frozen meets Shrek in Onward, the latest adventure from the Disney-Pixar stable. The hype around this film has been understandably muted; but even though it’s a little “off”, it still delivers exactly what most audiences will want. Like Shrek, the Onward is set in a kind of split dimension in which the world of fantasy…
An epic adventure and love story featuring the key voice talent from the original mega-success (2013), Frozen II is a strong follow-up. If Frozen ended with happily ever after, this is effectively the day after happily ever after, when life gets in the way. All appears ship-shape in the kingdom of Arendelle, with Elsa (Idina…
Disney gives The Lion King a Jungle Book treatment, turning animation into a blend of live action and computer-generated imagery. The visual effects are spectacular. If you haven’t seen the 1994 original cartoon version, I suspect you’ll be satisfied with this 2019 representation of the story of young Simba’s rise. Director of The Jungle Book,…
How’re you feeling? Winter getting you down a little? Yeah, I know the feeling. All you want is a big warm hug, right. Well, I can’t give you that, but I can suggest you seek out the cinematic equivalent, Toy Story 4. The latest installment in the wildly successful animated franchise is like pulling on…
