Post 16: Section 15 of Part One of the UDC

1. (131) Disney Movie: Aladdin (2019) I remember watching every trailer and interview with the actors before this came out. I was so excited to see it. Naomi Scott, who portrays Princess Jasmine in this live action version of Aladdin, I have been following her work for years. Ever since I saw her in the Disney Channel movie Lemonade Mouth which was a pretty good movie for Disney Channel. Naomi's voice has really blossomed since then. Speechless, her song that she soloed in is one of my all time favorite songs now. It's amazing and in my opinion the best Disney princess song and solo ever done! When I saw Will Smith's interview saying it took him so long to accept the job as the role of Genie because he said that was Robin Williams iconic role and he didn't want to mess with that. However he thought about it long and hard. He knew he had to do the role and do it right so he could honor Robin Williams. Which touched my heart knowing that's what he felt. Robin Williams was brilliant, he could make anyone laugh or smile and all together a great man. I know that many people miss him his family, friends, coworkers, and his fans. I hope he is resting in peace and somehow saw the movie Aladdin. Will Smith paid so much respect to Robin's original take on it. However he did have to modernize some of it because that is the goal of remakes. Will Smith did an amazing job as Genie. I know a lot of people did not see this film because Will Smith played Genie and they thought they were dishonoring Robin Williams, but they need to watch it and see how wrong they are. Also this is the first movie and time Will Smith ever sang in. He rapped in a lot of his filmography but never sang. He said that was only reserved for his family, until this movie came out. He actually has a pretty great singing voice and should use it in more films. I also like how they gave Genie a love interest in this film and a family. I thought that was a cool new idea. The tiger Raja really liked Aladdin (the character) in this version and the original he was too protective of Jasmine to like him and tried scaring him off. I love the version of One Jump Ahead, not only is Mena Masssoud's vocals on point, put there are so many parts of this song that they made appropriate for this generation and something that is technically supposed to be a kids movie. Like the scene where he falls into an apartment of girls, in this version it is a school that he falls into. While in the first version let us just say it was the farthest thing from a school and was completely inappropriate for a children's movie. So that is much better. But one thing that I think is absolutely incredible about this film compared to the original is how they made Jasmine's character to be. She is strong and doesn't back down. Her dream is to be Sultan and rule the kingdom that she loved. She had some huge obstacles though, there has never been a female sultan in history before so there was a lot of backlash on her for wanting this in the film. Ultimately her father appoints her Sultan after he sees her handle herself in one scene, he is crying knowing in that moment how proud he was of his daughter and she was the right person to rule his kingdom. So she becomes the first female Sultan in history which is pretty cool. Rock on Jasmine, rock on. This is an all out amazing film, I saw it 5 times in theaters, it is directed by one of my favorite film directors Guy Ritchie because he did the Sherlock Holmes movies with Robert Downey Jr. (Which in my opinion was the best Sherlock Holmes actor as he truly got into that character) anyways, he is a great film director and I also have heard that he was once married to Madonna. Not 100% sure if that's true or not so look that up on your own. I would give this movie a 20/10 rating.
   

2. (132) Disney Movie: Toy Story 4 (2019) I hated this film, I had just seen the other movies of the franchise only the day before and wasn't a fan of them, but this one... I wanted to leave the theater, but I had driven my roommate and friend there and couldn't leave them because they were really enjoying the movie. Since I am not a fan of this series, I can not give a rating on this film because I know a lot of people loved it.
   

3. (133) Disney Movie: The Lion King (2019) I've seen this movie only twice but still have many opinions on it. I feel like the lions Simba and Mufasa should still have had their red manes and Scar should of had his black mane because that made the first movie so unique as they are known for their different colored manes. I get that they wanted to make the lions look more realistic, but sometimes if all the lions were in the same scene and if you weren't paying attention for a moment or two it was hard to figure out who was who, so you would miss some of the story line while you were trying to figure that out. I like that they show more of Simba's childhood and the interaction with all the other animals in the rainforest where he grew up with Timon and Pumba. They show the scene were adult Nala runs away and she almost gets caught by Scar, but Zazu the bird came to her rescue. Those were nice to see. Also different in this film is Scar is not already in an alliance with the hyenas. Their ruler is Shenzi (which I miss hearing Whoopi Goldbergs voice because that was who voiced her in the original film) not Scar in this film. He goes to them with an offer and a promise of a better life if they helped him kill his brother Musfasa and his nephew Simba as they were the king and the next inline to be king. Then something happened that made me want to scream in the theaters out of anger and frustration that the filmmakers did this to the movie. But I did on the car ride back to my house after seeing the movie in theaters and the next time I watched it at home was at the end of that scene. In the animated movie from the 90's Scar sings the most Iconic villain song in Disney Movie history while they absolutely ruined it in this film. The "Be Prepared" scene in this version it's not even a song, they diminished it to just a couple lines of poetry. Don't get me wrong, I like poetry and I am a writer who has written several poems, but after seeing and hearing the such iconic song and scene from the original movie just a major, major disappointment. In many ways I did not like this film. Parts of it were okay, parts of it made me really mad, and it just evened itself out with all those scenes. I may watch it again one day, but I don't think I'll ever get over the Be Prepared scene.

4. (134) Disney Movie: Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019) The sequel to the movie that made Maleficent my favorite Disney Villain. They have a small scene in the beginning of the film, before Aurora is holding her meeting. The fairies are talking about a secret and wondering if Aurora is awake yet. One fairy says "She's not Sleeping Beauty anymore." The blonde fairy with a green outfit says "I see what you did there." I see what they did they too. The way Prince Phillip proposes to Aurora is absolutely beautiful. Good job Disney writers, good job. Also when Phillip returns to his kingdom to tell his parents that Aurora accepted his proposal. His friend who is apart of their army asks him if he is going to be his best man or a creature from the moores and Phillip stands up for the moore folks and asked his friend not to speak that way about his fiance's people. They flash forward to Phillip's parents, The queen has ordered new weapons and the kings says "We don't need weapons we are at peace." Very obvious that they are on completly seperate pages and that the Queen does not approve of Aurora. You also see in secret tunnels that the Queen is walking through later on the Queen has a secret army building machines and weapons. We also find out she is the one behind the missing moore people and they are being kept in her in the secret rooms of hers in her palace. Maleficent practicing her greetings when she meets the King and Queen with Diaval is very funny. Also Maleficint is having such a hard time understanding the small talk at the dinner with the king asking questions. Queen Ingris antagonizing Maleficent the entire evening shows her true colors. Then when Maleficent is truly pissed off somehow the king gets cursed. However, Maleficent claims she didn't do it. Aurora decides to stay and try to help the Queen while Maleficent flees for her life. One of Queen Ingris's minions from her army shoots her as she is flying away and Maleficent falls into the ocean. However she is rescued by a winged beast. We discover she is not the last Faye like everyone thought but there was an entire colony of them hiding out just waiting to come home. They tell her their stories and her true destiny. While Aurora is back at the palace with Phillip preparing for their wedding day. But come to find out it is actually a trap for war. The queen's true plot is unveiled and Aurora and Phillip learn that Maleficent is innocent and try their best to stop the war. In the end. The war is ended, the king wakes up, the queen gets what she deserves. Phillip and Aurora get married. However, my two favorite scenes is when Aurora declares that Maleficent is her mother, and during the wedding the three fairies are changing Aurora's dress color (like the original Sleeping Beauty film) However it was with pink and green as the blue fairy sacrficed herself earlier in the film to save the moore people. But with her last bit of energy from a flower her spirit changes the dress to blue and that is the color of the wedding dress. All star cast. Maleficent- Angelina Jolie reprised her role. Queen Aurora of the Moore- Elle Fanning reprises her role. Michelle Pfeiffer portrays Queen Ingris. They did replace the original Prince Phillip from the first movie with a new actor. Harris Dickinson is the new actor. Sam Riley protrays and reprises his role as Diaval. Imelda Staunton reprises her role as the pink fairy. The incredible actor Warwick Davis plays the scientist Nabot who we discover was/a fairy and that Queen Ingris took his wings and he is inservice to her because of that. He changes sides at the end. Well done movie and there is a hint of a possible third movie at the end.

5. (135) Disney Movie: Lady and the Tramp (2019) I saw this movie once a few weeks after it got uploaded to Disney+. Because the original means so much to my family. I was not happy with them changing pretty much everything about the I movie. I mean if I had not seen the first movie as many times as I did and loved it like I do, then maybe the live action remake could have stood a chance. Things I do like, how they used different shapes and colors of people in this film. I like how Disney is changing that aspect in most of there films, because there are more colors of people than just white. There's a lot more and I believe whole heartedly that everyone should get a chance to be celebrated and praised.
   

6. (136) Disney Movie: Frozen 2 (2019) I saw this movie about four times in the theater and several more times since. I loved this film, way more than the original to be honest. I like this storyline and how they explain what happened to Elsa and Anna's parents better in this film. Kristoff is adorable in all his very many failed attempts at proposing to Anna, but he successful in the end and she said yes. (kind of reminded me of the Rescuers Down Under movie where Bernard had his many failed attempts at proposing to Miss Bianca) Hopefully we see the wedding in the confirmed third film, I paid very close to all the symbolism with the spirts including Elsa in the film. You may notice in the "Into the Unknown" song scene where Elsa names of the spirits (this is the order she says) Air, Fire, Water, and Earth. Is the exact order of the spirts of when she calms the spirts and earns their trust. Also when Elsa is in the frozen river she is singing a song thinking she is going to find another person that the person is her 'soulmate'. It turns out to be her mother's spirit calling out to her. Her mother sings "you are the one you've been waiting for" which is her mom way of saying she doesn't need a partner to love herself. In the lyrics of the lullaby 'All is Found' that Iduna (Elsa and Anna's mother) sings to them literally says "There's a mother, full of memories..." Which I think was a beautiful way to hint at that's who's calling Elsa. The scene where they find out their mother was Northuldra when the scarf that was their mother's was immediately recognized by everyone from being one of the oldest families from that land. I feel like that was a waisted or a missed opportunity to let Elsa and Anna meet a family member, like a grandparent or a sibling of their mothers, maybe even a cousin. Elsa and Anna are the only family they have and the Disney writers could have used all of that to have them meet more of their family and have a relationship with them. It would have been super cool if Yelena the leader of the people of that land had ended up being their grandmother. Like I said a waisted opportunity that the writers could have done.

7. (137) Disney Movie: Safety (2020) This movie is based on a true story and it is a beautiful inspiring story of brothers. One brother is in college and on a football team. The other is in a bad situation at home. The older brother finds out his little brother is in trouble and heads home for the weekend. Come to find out their mother had been arrested and he was staying with the local gang. Luckily he got his little brother out of there with no issues. The older brother had to make a decision to either take his brother or send him to foster care. He decides to take him. He and his roommate hide him in their dorm room and take care of him and send him to a local school. However, he eventually has to tell his coaches of what was going on. They all help him. Some hiccups along the way, and the older brother has to decide between football and his little brother in a court hearing. He adopted his brother/got full custody of him showing the court he chose his brother and asked the court to respect his decision and allow him to still play football. Luckily they ruled in his favor. He was able to stay in school, play football, and raise his brother. This was a really good movie but it's even better that's based on a true story. At the end of the film they show the real family which I think it a great way of honoring them and showing people the true story.

8. (138) Disney Movie: Soul (2020) I saw this movie once. My dad decided to watch it with me because we had both heard great things about it and it won several awards. It was our movie night and we were trying to pick a movie and this is what we had landed on. I speak for both my father and I... we didn't understand or like that movie one bit. We were lost the entire time. We kept rewinding a few scenes thinking that we had missed something, when we hadn't. Safe to say we both hated it. I cannot give a clear rating on it because I didn't understand the movie one bit.

9. (139) Disney Movie: Cruella (2021) Cruella De Vil, Cruella De Vil. If she doesn't scare you no evil thing will. To see her is to take a sudden chill! The Iconic Emma Stone and Emma Thompson help bring this film to life. Emma Stone plays young adult Cruella (Glenn Close played the original in 101 Dalamations) We see how Cruella became Cruella, Her childhood as young Estella who had anger issues, but has a good heart and a mother that adores her. Then it shows how she grew up and became a villian. Like they did with the Maleficent movies. We see how she meets Jasper and Horace her sidekicks. Also how she knows Anita. There are so many twists and turns that you don't see coming its so cool. We also see how the dogs came into play and how they got started. Must see movie. Great fashion in this movie too, if you care about that.

10. (140) Disney Movie: Jungle Cruise (2021) Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson in another iconic role. He is the king of puns in this film, but I am not going to spoil his true full character because it is so cool and interesting that you just have to see it for yourself. Emily Blunt plays his love interest, she is a female doctor and scientist on a expidition to find a magic flower. Her brother is her sidekick who is very funny in his own right, which is fiting since the Actor who protrays him is also a comedian. This is just such a cool movie that I don't want to give to many spoilers because my readers just need to see it. If you love Disney movies (obviously if you are reading this), love adventure, comedy, and romance films. Also if you a fan of the Rock then you definitely won't be disappointed. Must see movie 10/10.
    

11. (141) Disney Movie: Encanto (2021) This movie is about a family that has a magical house and most of the family members have been given magical gifts as well. The main character Mirabel we find out is the only one other than the Abuela that did not receive a gift and her grandmother gives her such a hard time about it when they used to be super close. The music in this film is really great. The gifts this family is given are quiet interesting. Mirabel's aunt can control the weather with her emotions. Her uncle Bruno can see the future. Her mom can heal anyone with her food that she makes. Her female cousin can hear everything even up to or over a mile away. Her older male cousin can shape shift into another human being. Her sister Luisa is unbelievably strong, her sister Isabella can create beautiful flowers all the time. Her little cousin Antiono in the begining of the film gift he receives is that he can understand animals talking to him and he can talk back. The line "We don't talk about Bruno" has been come such a staple over the years its unreal. I was with my friend in the car one time and her son started talking about what he wanted to do for his tenth birthday which was the following year and she said "We don't talk about Bruno." I started laughing so hard. The humor in this film, like Bruno's crazy tower is so funny but relatable. I like how Mirabel's true gift is bringing everyone out of their shells. She saves the miracles. My favorite line of the film, "Stars don't shine, they burn." Big names in the cast. Wilmer Valderrama- he voices Mirabel's father. He is famous from that 70's show and he dated Demi Lovato for a long time. John Leguizamo- voices Bruno. This is the man the voice of gold, the genius that is Sid the Sloth from the Ice Age film series. He is also in a number of other great films, but that is probably the one that most people with know best. I am sure the other actors had been in well known films and shows too but those are the only names I really recognize. 8/10

******With that my readers, we have come to the end (finally) of Part One of the Ultimate Disney "Movie" Challenge! Hurray!! Part Two will start soon. Thank you for sticking with me through Part One. ********