Friday, June 15, 2012

Abe Sapien hates cephalopods



One more. I'd hoped to close out the week with something more substantial, but it's just been one of those weeks. This one's by Ryan Sook, via Calvin's Canadian Cave of Cool.

Incidentally, I started watching Hellboy with David this week. In between classic Disney movies (we're prepping for a trip to Walt Disney World in the fall), I've been sneaking in movies about Nazis gathering occult artifacts. He loved Captain America and Raiders of the Lost Ark; hopefully he'll dig Hellboy too. He seems to like it so far and is really curious about Abe.

10 comments:

Erik Johnson Illustrator said...

I'd be curious to know which "classic" Disney Movies you're watching. You seem like someone who would expose your son to more of the live action adventure offerings from the 50s or 60s and might be able to make some quality recommendations since that sub genre of films probably isn't as well known to the general public as the company's animated features.

Michael May said...

The first plan was to do just the animated stuff, since those are the characters he's most likely to see at the park, but as we started going through the catalog (in chronological order, of course!) I realized that it was a good time to share some of my other childhood favorites.

The live-action ones we've seen so far are:

Treasure Island
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Both Davy Crockett movies
Swiss Family Robinson
Blackbeard's Ghost
The Love Bug

I'm having to pick and choose in order to get all the animated films in before the trip, so there are some live-action ones we'll come back to later. Some of these I might be able to sneak in before November though.

Darby O'Gill and the Little People
The Absent-Minded Professor
The Parent Trap
Son of Flubber
The Incredible Journey
That Darn Cat!
Herbie Rides Again
Escape to Witch Mountain
The Apple Dumpling Gang
One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing
No Deposit, No Return
The Shaggy D.A.
Freaky Friday
Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo
The Cat from Outer Space
Hot Lead and Cold Feet
The Black Hole
Herbie Goes Bananas

It's cool to see how many classic Hollywood actors made it into those live-action Disney films (Elsa Lanchester is in Mary Poppins and Blackbeard's Ghost, for example; David Niven is in No Deposit, No Return) and to see how Disney would latch on to a certain actor for a while (Bobby Driscoll in the late '40s and early '50s; David Tomlinson in the '60s and '70s). I can't wait to get to the later '70s and finally introduce David to Don Knotts.

Erik Johnson Illustrator said...

Well if I've learned anything from this list, its that I'm suffering a clear pirate deficiency because I have not seen their adaptation of Treasure Island or Blackbeard's Ghost, and according to imdb they also adapted "Kidnapped".

Other than that I'm pretty sure I've seen all of these at one time or another, and remember most of them in a positive light, of course I couldn't just be remembering a time in my life when I wasn't so picky in my movie choices. Who Knows?

Best wishes with your movie marathon

Michael May said...

Treasure Island is a must-see. It's truly a great adaptation of that book. Blackbeard's Ghost is probably best experienced when you're ten (or can remember being ten when you first watched it). Oh, there are also pirates in Swiss Family Robinson!

Sadly, I've never seen Kidnapped.

Erik Johnson Illustrator said...

I did see "Swiss Family" relatively recently. My mom's fifth grade class watched the movie after they finished reading the book and I borrowed the DVD when they were done.

Whoever directed the film must have had some experience working with animals because anytime there was a lull in the story they'd bring out an animal. I did get a laugh at the end when Mom and Dad Robinson are thinking about staying on the island and says "We may have to gone without a number of things", to which said to the TV "Like What? You have never been in need at any point this whole movie!" Like you said, probably a film better seen at age ten when I'm not deliberately looking for plotholes, and it was well made on a technical level.

In choosing animated films, I trust "Atlantis" will be essential viewing (assuming he hasn't seen it enough based on your affection for it). I'm sure that "Treasure Planet" will be on the list as well for its nautical adventure fair even if it won't have fanfare at the park. Any other big must sees on the animated list?

Michael May said...

Yeah, he's seen Atlantis a couple of times, but I doubt I'll pass up the opportunity to watch it again. Treasure Planet, definitely. I don't get the hate that movie got when it was released (other than backlash because Disney was flooding the market with animated films in those days and people were just tired of them).

We'll see all of the animated ones, but I'm especially looking forward to:

The Rescuers
The Little Mermaid
Beauty and the Beast
Aladdin
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Hercules
The Emperor's New Groove
Lilo and Stitch
Last year's Winnie the Pooh, which I missed, but heard good things about

Erik Johnson Illustrator said...

Ah, I wondered how recent the animated selections might be and what types of "genres" the top picks might fit into.

I think "Treasure Planet"'s downfalls were marketing and competition. The premise was likely considered eye-rolling by the general public , and going in the same month as Two Towers and Chamber of Secrets did not help at all. Its a personal favorite of mine though and was a contender for my top ten list.

Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast were big hits when I was about ten and recent reviewings shows they still have staying power. I'd like to rewatch Hunchback and Lilo to see if they hold up, as well as "The Lion King".

I enjoyed the new Winnie the Pooh, particularly the fast paced wordplay, the problem is that its just so short, barely coming it at an hour. By the time I was really invested in the film, it was over! I'd recommend either watching it side by side with the original Winnie the Pooh Disney movie, or else find another shorter film and make it a double feature.

Thanks for all the recommendations!

Michael May said...

Good to know about Winnie the Pooh. Thanks!

I shouldn't assume that it goes without saying that we'll also be re-watching all the Pixar films (except maybe Cars 2). David's seen most of them, but not all, and they're certainly worth revisiting.

Erik Johnson Illustrator said...

I imagine the park will have many Pixar related attractions, so it would sense to go back and rewatch them.

Don't get me started about "Cars 2". Despite the backlash, I gave it the benefit of the doubt, and was completely let down.

Michael May said...

Yeah. The Toy Story sequels were anomalies in that they continued to be really good, but you could argue that they started on much stronger ground, thematically.

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