I’m back! That’s right, after taking an unintentional hiatus for the last couple of months, I’ve returned! Hello? Anybody there? I’m sorry for the absence. It had become increasingly difficult for me to find the time and the energy to work on the blog, but hopefully I’m back for good. I’ve got some plans to make it easier for me to just sit down and write, even if it might change the tone/style of things here a little bit. I’ve been meaning to get back to writing for a while now, and thankfully today we got some big Disney news that inspired me to return to the keyboard. But rest assured (or be afraid) that I’m not done with thelovepirate.net, nor have I run out of things to say. I hope to tackle my backlog of missed reviews, as well as get into a habit of updating more frequently by perhaps posting shorter articles. I might even make some videos, who knows? But for now let’s tackle the news at hand.
So, to no one’s surprise, Disney has announced another remake of an animated classic. This time, Jon Favreau is following up his The Jungle Book success by “reimagining” The Lion King. Now, unlike many other hardcore Disney fans, I’ve largely been a supporter of their recent trend of live-action remakes of their animated catalogue. I’ve enjoyed all of them (Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent, Cinderella, The Jungle Book, and Pete’s Dragon), though some more than others, and as a whole I see both the artistic and commercial appeal of this sort of filmmaking. I think many Disney animated films are ripe for remakes, either because the original is dated or because a filmmaker has a new or creative interpretation of the original. I may strongly disagree that animation is “just for kids” or that it is somehow a lesser form of storytelling, but there’s no denying that these remakes have reached a new and vastly different audience. And, in the end, Disney has a right to do whatever they want with their films. These new movies aren’t destroying the classics (or our childhoods), and they may in the end inspire new fans to watch the old masterpieces. I do understand the frustration and even the hatred some fans may have towards particular remakes, and the feeling that this is a frustrating trend, but I do think some of the backlash has been a little overblown.
I’ve been a hardcore Disney fan for a long time, but that doesn’t mean I automatically love everything the Mouse has produced. Specifically, I’ve never been a fan of the original Pete’s Dragon, the 1977 live-action/animation hybrid. While I appreciated the design and animation of Elliott, the film’s titular dragon, I found the whole affair too silly for my tastes topped off with forgettable songs. So of Disney’s recent spate of modern, live-action remakes (Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent, Cinderella, and The Jungle Book so far, with Beauty and the Beast due next year), I was by far most enthusiastic about Pete’s Dragon, which I felt was most in need of an update. I’ve generally enjoyed all of the films in Disney’s latest trend so I’ve come to have high expectations, and Pete’s Dragon didn’t disappoint. But what I wasn’t prepared for was its beautiful simplicity, the stillness and subtlety with which it tells its story, or just what a breath of fresh air it is.
276 days of work, usually 2-3 hours per day. I’ll post a final picture once it’s been washed and framed, but the stitching is finished! Once I’ve put it together I’m going to post a video with all of the sequential progress. Thanks for indulging all of my progress posts.
Should be finished tomorrow!
The Love Pirate 