My Favorite Fantasy Movies Page II

#15

The Golden Child

• Released in 1986, The Golden Child, was directed by Michael Ritchie (who also directed The Candidate, The Island, Wildcats, Fletch, & The Couch Trip) & stars Eddie Murphy, Charles Dance, & Charlotte Lewis.
• Although The Golden Child grossed nearly $80 million domestically, & was, in fact, the eighth-highest domestically-grossing film of 1986, Paramount considered it a disappointment as this was less than half of the gross of Beverly Hills Cop.

• The Golden Child was written by Dennis Feldman, who also wrote Species & Just One of the Guys.

• The mythology of the The Golden Child is interesting—the demon Sardo Numspa, the otherwordly Ajanti Dagger—brought into this world to destroy the second Golden Child, the bearer of justice—the 300-year-old, part-dragon Kala, & the Golden Child (born every thousand generations) who is the bringer of compassion.

#17

Toy Story Series

Toy Story 2

• Released in 1999, Toy Story 2 was the third full-length Disney-Pixar CGI film. The voice cast of the original film—including Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, Annie Potts, & John Ratzenberger—reunited for Toy Story 2, which introduced the voice talents of Jodi Benson, Joan Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, & Estelle Harris to the growing ensemble cast. Toy Story 2 received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song (“When She Loved Me”) losing to Disney’s Tarzan (“You’ll Be in My Heart”). Toy Story 2 was the third-highest grossing film of 1999, &, indeed, the third-highest grossing animated film at the time of its release (and the highest-grossing CGI film).
• Toy Story 2 effectively & wonderfully juxtaposes several of the themes, situations, & attitudes of the characters from those in the original Toy Story. For instance, one of the main conflicts of Toy Story is Woody’s attempt to convince Buzz that he is not a real Space Ranger but in fact a toy. Toy Story 2 reverses this in Woody’s discovery that he is a toy based on a character who used to be famous & who had a popular TV show & that Woody is in fact a valuable collector’s item. Buzz now finds himself in Woody’s previous position of disabusing Woody’s new impression of himself & restoring his belief of himself as a toy. Furthermore, when another, newer, naïve Buzz Lightyear action figure joins the group of toys, Buzz sees the old version of himself that the other toys saw in the original film.

• In introducing the character of Emperor Zurg, Toy Story 2 contains several obvious references to Star Wars. First, Zurg strongly resembles Darth Vader. Second, Zurg falls down an elevator shaft in a visual reference to the death of Emperor Palpatine in Return of the Jedi. Finally, Toy Story 2 features a scene in which Zurg reveals that he is Buzz Lightyear’s father. Everything in the sequence, from the dialogue to the blocking to the camera angles, parodies the corresponding scene from The Empire Strikes Back.
• The finale rendition of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” was sung by Robert Goulet, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Lancelot in the 1960 Broadway production of Camelot.

• In 1998, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin—an attraction based on the video game seen at the outset of Toy Story 2—opened at the Magic Kingdom at WDW. An innovative combination of high-tech shooting gallery, Omnimover dark ride, & audio-animatronics, this attraction has remained one of the park’s three most popular rides since its introduction. Furthermore, newer versions of the ride (variously called Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters or Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast) have opened at each of the Disneyland-style parks throughout the world—the latest opening at Disneyland Paris in 2006.
• In 2008, Toy Story Midway Mania! opened at Disney’s Hollywood Studios & at Disney’s California Adventure less than 30 days apart. Toy Story Midway Mania! is a 4-D, interactive attraction in which guests ride spinning vehicles through virtual environments containing five shooting contests resembling old-fashioned carnival midway games.
• Woody, Buzz, & Jessie are commonly encountered meet-&-greet characters at the parks. Bullseye & Green Army Man are often present in parades. Other Toy Story characters are much rarer in the theme parks.

Toy Story

Toy Story 3

#18

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

• Released in 2010 & directed by Tim Burton, Alice in Wonderland stars Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Alan Rickman, & Crispin Glover. Alice in Wonderland was the second-highest-grossing film of 2010 & the sixth-highest-grossing film of all time worldwide. Alice in Wonderland was nominated for three academy Awards—Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, & Best Visual Effects.

• Alice in Wonderland appears to be a sequel to the Lewis Carroll novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland; however, the film’s plot is completely unlike Carroll’s actual sequel, Through the Looking-Glass, & What Alice Found There.

• Three features of Burton’s Alice in Wonderland make it difficult to reconcile with the original works by Carroll:
  1. the characters of the film refer to it as “Underland” rather than “Wonderland” (so why is it “Wonderland” in the title?)
  2. “Jabberwocky” is the title of a poem in Through the Looking-Glass, & What Alice Found There, not a creature
  3. the Jabberwock, the Bandersnatch, & the Jubjub Bird are characters in a poem (much like the Walrus & the Carpenter)—not characters in either of the narratives

#25

King David

• Released in 1985 & directed by Bruce Beresford, King David, which follows the life of the biblical monarch, stars Richard Gere in the title role. King David has, evidently, received a lot of negative press, because it does not adhere to the Bible in every particular. Nevertheless, the film is well-acted & visually appealing.

• Michal, the daughter of Saul & David’s first wife, is portrayed by Cherie Lunghi, who also played Guinevere in Excalibur . Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite &, later, David’s final wife, is portrayed by Alice Krige, who also played the Borg Queen in Star Trek: First Contact & Lady Jessica in the 2003 Sci-Fi Channel mini-series Children of Dune. Finally, Edward Woodward, perhaps best known as the star of the televsion series The Equalizer, plays King Saul.

#41

Hook

• Released in 1991 & directed by Steven Spielberg, Hook stars Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, & Julia Roberts. Hook grossed $300 million worldwide on a budget of $70 million. Nevertheless, Hook was just the sixth-highest-grossing film of 1991 in North America, considerably underperforming its expectations. Hook was nominated for five Academy Awards: Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup, & Best Original Song for “When You’re Alone,” but failed to win any.

• With a budget of $70 million, Robin Williams & Dustin Hoffman in the lead roles, & Steven Spielberg at the helm, Hook could hardly help but provide a few moments of wonder, spectacle, & marvel, but the fact is Hook is too long & drags more often than it does anything else. Every scene is at least 30% longer than it should be, with the climactic battle more than double its appropriate length. The plot lingers, meanders, & never really goes anywhere. More happens in the 76 minutes of the 1953 Disney animated feature Peter Pan than in Hook’s unwieldy 144. Additionally, the swordfight choreography is disgraceful.
• Early in the film, Tinker Bell’s quick & nearly effortless dispatching of six or seven pirate thugs causes Peter to remark, “Are you related to Mighty Mouse?” & causing some of the audience to wonder why she does not simply bring Peter’s kids back to London herself, rather than going through the much longer process seen in the film.

• A young Gwyneth Paltrow plays the small part of young Wendy Darling, & Glenn Close cameos as a disloyal (male) pirate.

#56

Scooby-Doo

• Released in 2002 & directed by Raja Gosnell, Scooby-Doo stars Freddie Prinze Jr, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Linda Cardellini, & Matthew Lillard. Scooby-Doo grossed $275 million worldwide & was the 15th-highest-grossing film of 2002.

• Scooby-Doo is arguably the greatest & certainly among the most durable of Hanna-Barbera’s Saturday-morning animated franchises. In one form or another, Scooby-Doo aired from 1969 to 1991 (taking a brief hiatus in 1987).
• A few features of the 2002 film prevent it from being a truly great tribute to the beloved show: Fred’s characterization & the film’s use of body-function humor. On the former issue, the film depicts Fred as not too bright & vain. Fred Jones of the animated series was not conceited & was almost as smart as Velma. On the latter, I suppose this is an indicator that the film was intended for children (and children with IQs below 110, at that).

• One good point in Scooby-Doo is the nod to fans of the 1970s version of the show implicit in the villainization of Scrappy-Doo. Most older fans consider the introduction (or, rather, the overuse) of Scrappy to be the point at which Scooby-Doo “jumped the shark” (or succumbed to the “Cousin Oliver Syndrome”).
• Ironically, while Freddie Prinze Jr & Sarah Michelle Gellar may have legitimately believed Scooby-Doo to be “their” film, Velma (Cardellini) & Shaggy (Lillard) stole the show.