Munir's Disney Retrospective - Animated Classic #37: Tarzan (1999)

Last Week's: Munir's Disney Retrospective - Animated Classic #36: Mulan (1998).

The last film from this very productive era is not often as well remembered as some of the Renaissance's biggest films, but when you look back, you can see that Tarzan ended this period with a palpable bang. Based on Edgar Rice Burroughs's famous novels, Tarzan tells the origin story of the popular hero. As usual with the films from this period, Tarzan excels, with stellar animation, compelling characters and a heartfelt story. Moreover, this was the last Disney film I was interested and excited about, before I became indifferent with their filmography and turned myself completely over to Pixar. That's why Tarzan remains a bright spot, as it comes before a very dark age began at the studio.

Munir's Disney Retrospective - The Renaissance, Part 2 (1995-1999) Introduction

Last Week's: Munir's Disney Retrospective - Animated Classic #32: The Lion King (1994)

After the roaring success of The Lion King, its successor had the uphill battle of surpassing or at least matching its unprecedented acclaim. Of course, that didn't happen and in the following years the films that were released were met with a more lukewarm response and decreasing revenue. That, however didn't mean that Disney Animation was going 'downhill' or that they had lost the magic but, as with any studio that's reached its peak, the only place to go was down. Another factor for this decline was the fact that, in this period of time, Pixar came into existence, forever changing the animation industry. Nonetheless, the second part of the Renaissance is filled with beautiful movies that, while not as good as its four big predecessors, still offer plenty of charm, superb animation, endearing characters and wonderful stories. The last part of the Renaissance may not have been as brilliant as its beginning, but it still remains a high point in the studio's history.

Tomorrow: Animated Classic #33 Review: Pocahontas (1995)

Interview: Robb Pratt, Disney Storyboard Artist and Bizarro Classic Director

A while back, I shared with you a wonderful little short film called Superman Classic from Disney animator and storyboard artist, Robb Pratt. I fell in love with the tone and animation of the films and the, well, classic visual style of it; as well as a very witty and classically Superman-esque script. So, I was very excited two weeks ago when Robb released his follow up, Bizarro Classic. Longer, funnier, wonderful music, and, in my eyes, even better than Superman Classic, I was completely enamoured with Bizarro too!

In fact, I was so enamoured with Bizarro Classic that I sent Robb an email, telling him how much I'd enjoyed his Classic shorts, and asking if he'd mind doing an interview for the blog. Robb, a very kind and modest person, thankfully said yes.

You can read our extensive interview after the jump break, in which we talk about his work at Disney, on films like Tarzan and Hercules, his work at Disney Channel, his current work at DisneyToon Studios on Planes, how direct-to-DVD productions compare to normal features, and his Superman short films. Enjoy!

Kevin Lima On Board to Direct Monkeys of Mumbai

News broke over the last couple of days that Kevin Lima, who formerly worked at Disney, directing Tarzan and Enchanted and acting as a Story Editor on Aladdin, is set to direct Monkeys of Mumbai for DreamWorks Animation. The film, which was billed as "the studio's first-ever Bollywood-style animated musical adventure" in a press release on Wednesday, has no announced release date yet but sounds, just going off the working title, pretty fun.

Lima, who is married to former Brave director, Brenda Chapman, is surely going to be a great addition to the DreamWorks team, as only the latest of a long string of Disney staff to flock over to the company behind Shrek.

Are We in The Third Golden Age?

Disney. The word that embodies animation. When you think animation you think Disney and vice versa. Yet, Disney hardly has the best track record when it comes to animated films, sure when you think of Disney animated films, you'll think of the classics; The Lion King, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Jungle Book, Dumbo, Beauty and the Beast etc..., but since the end of the second Golden Age (or Renaissance) Disney has been a bit down in the dumps. Particularly in the majority of the 2000s we've had a lot of flunks (in terms of critical consensus and box office revenue), with Chicken Little, Brother Bear, Home on the Range and Atlantis (among others) with some exceptions i.e. Lilo and Stitch.

Through all of the turbulence, there's been so much speculation about when - if ever - the third Golden Age of Disney will begin.

A Collection of Things 3

I've once again decided to compile some of the best pictures, videos and articles that I've found in recent weeks, enjoy:

Firstly, we have (below) and in a similar vein to the Pixar Wars characters that we saw a few weeks ago, but a whole lot more detailed, Buzz Lightyear as Boba Fett. Courtesy of James Kennison from You'remockingmearen'tyou.com (awesome Toy Story themed name by the way) who uploads a new buzz drawing every day. Very original and very interesting.

We have 2 brilliant short films this week, we have (directly below) a DC Comic themed fan-boy short film, Superman Classic. It's a very entertaining and detailed short film and is brilliantly devoted to the source material. The film comes from Robert Pratt, a Disney animator who worked on Pocahontas and Tarzan. I love it and it's good to see lots of different types of short films. Robert is also currently working on Cars spin-off , Planes.



On the above note, we have another animated short film, from Pixar animator Cat Hicks, Wild Dogs (below). The films was created while she was studying at Ringling College of Art and Design, it is great, funny and not to mention brilliantly animated for a college film. Cat tweeted this past week that the short will soon air on  BBC, so keep your eyes peeled.



We also have a career montage and (hilarious scripted) acceptance speech from Brad Bird (below) upon recieving the Winsor McCay award alongside Matt Groening and Eric Goldberg. Worryingly, there may be some truth in this faux acceptance speech.