Tag Archives: Movie Analysis

Analysis: Saving Mr. Banks and Disney Ideology

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Saving Mr. Banks is an interesting film, and one that’s deeper than it may appear at first glance.  The story of P. L. Travers and Walt Disney and the making of the 1964 film Mary Poppins is used as a way to examine how we deal with the harsh realities of the world in which we live and also what responsibilities we have towards preparing children for those realities.  It examines how the events of our youth shape our lives as adults and presents some of the choices we can make about how to live our lives.  It offers a critique of the pre-judgments that people have a tendency to make, particularly as it pertains to Disney as a man, a company, a brand and an ideology.  It defends that ideology specifically, without invalidating other methods of thought.  And it has done all of this while facing some surprisingly harsh criticism and claims that the film is nothing but propaganda.  I feel like that makes it ripe for some analysis.  (Spoilers Below!)

*Disclaimer:  For those who regularly read this blog, it’s fairly obvious that I’m a Disney fanatic.  I’m a stock-owning, fanclub-card-carrying, happy-to-take-every-vacation-to-the-parks obsessive.  I seek out every Disney experience I can find, but more than that I buy into the ideology.  Whether that makes me a mindless drone or a corporate stooge (I promise I’m not getting paid by Disney, though I’d love to be) is for someone else to decide.  The short of it is that I am in no way unbiased when it comes to Disney, and I’ve defended the company before.  And while it hurts whenever something we love is criticized, my goal here is not for this to simply be one more “Disney is awesome and how dare you say otherwise!” post, but instead an examination of the film and what it has to say about varying worldviews and the Disney ideology in particular.  Take from it what you will.  You can read my review of the film here.

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What if there was a Best Voice Performance Oscar? – 2004

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(Note: This is a fictional creative thinking exercise, inspired by hours of contemplation of which animated performances have been most worthy of attention over the years.  This feature imagines that a Best Voice Performance category was added to the Oscars following Beauty and the Beast’s nomination for Best Picture at the 64th Academy Awards.  Each week I’ll cover the hypothetical nominees and winner from one year of animated performances.)

Following the nomination for Andy Serkis at the 76th Academy Awards, audiences looked ahead to 2004 for any other motion capture performances that might also earn a slot among the Best Voice Performance nominees.  However, the only potential candidate turned out to be The Polar Express, which most insiders felt did not produce performances worthy of nomination.  Instead, discussion focused on a potential Disney/Dreamworks rematch, with a sequel to the film that put Dreamworks on the map and another new film from them on one side and a new traditionally animated film from Disney and the latest Pixar film on the other.

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What if there was a Best Voice Performance Oscar? – 2003

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(Note: This is a fictional creative writing exercise, inspired by hours of contemplation of which animated performances have been most worthy of attention over the years.  This feature imagines that a Best Voice Performance category was added to the Oscars following Beauty and the Beast’s nomination for Best Picture at the 64th Academy Awards.  Each week I’ll cover the hypothetical nominees and winner from one year of animated performances.)

After the controversy at the 75th Academy Awards, it seemed all anyone could talk about was Andy Serkis and the eligibility of his portrayal of Gollum in the Lord of the Rings films.  His motion capture performance wasn’t nominated either for Best Supporting Actor or Best Voice Performance, and there was considerable debate over whether the acting or the animation branch (or both) would bend and give him the nomination.  What the speculators didn’t count on was the arrival of Pixar’s latest film, one which would go on to be regarded as a game-changer in the industry on account of its depth and storytelling.

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What if there was a Best Voice Performance Oscar? – 2002

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(Note: This is a fictional creative writing exercise, inspired by hours of contemplation of which animated performances have been most worthy of attention over the years.  This feature imagines that a Best Voice Performance category was added to the Oscars following Beauty and the Beast’s nomination for Best Picture at the 64th Academy Awards.  Each week I’ll cover the hypothetical nominees and winner from one year of animated performances.)

The arrival of Dreamworks Animation on the scene with the success of Shrek, which won both the inaugural Best Animated Feature award and the Best Voice Performance award at the 74th Oscars, was a turning point for the animated industry.  No longer was animation the solely linked to Disney, and the result was an expansion of animation and a greater variety of voice roles for famous actors.  However, all of that would be overshadowed in 2002 by one single performance.  Andy Serkis’s portrayal of Gollum in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was energizing for the industry and immediately led to calls for a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his work in the film, in spite of the fact that the performance used a combination of animation and motion capture instead of the actor actually appearing in the film.  It was a foregone conclusion for many that he would automatically receive a nomination in the Best Voice Performance category.

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Favorite Moment – Star Trek: First Contact

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Welcome to “Friday Favorites” which highlight some of my favorite movie-related things.

Star Trek: First Contact is without a doubt my favorite Star Trek film, even over Wrath of Khan.  I’m well aware that I have a bias towards the Next Generation crew, but there is so much in First Contact that makes me pick it over the other 10 films.  It has a great screenplay by longtime Trek writers Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore, which gives all of the characters moments to shine and shows an intimate familiarity with the universe.  The same goes for Jonathan Frakes, who directs the film with a light touch that can only come from years of working with the same cast and crew.  It has some of the best action of the series and a great villain in the Borg.  The non-TNG cast are great, especially James Cromwell and Alfre Woodard.  The effects are a huge step up from previous efforts and the new Enterprise-E is gorgeous.  Beyond all that, the film has some interesting ideas both about our past and our future.

There’s one moment that really cements the film in my mind, but it requires a bit of plot background.  Continue reading →

What if there was a Best Voice Performance Oscar? – 2001

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(Note: This is a fictional creative writing exercise, inspired by hours of contemplation of which animated performances have been most worthy of attention over the years.  This feature imagines that a Best Voice Performance category was added to the Oscars following Beauty and the Beast’s nomination for Best Picture at the 64th Academy Awards.  Each week I’ll cover the hypothetical nominees and winner from one year of animated performances.)

At the 73rd Academy Awards, for the third time in the Best Voice Performance category’s short lifespan, four of the nominees were from the same film.  This recurring issue caused considerable frustration among Oscar fans, and there was even some talk about doing away with the category in the months after the ceremony.  However, 2001 was shaping up to be a more promising year for animation, so much so that a new category was announced for the Oscars, that of Best Animated Feature.  This was thought to be an acknowledgement of the progress made by animation, which consistently ranked among the top grossing films of the year and was now attracting some of the top talent in the industry.  The question was how this would affect the Best Voice Performance category and whether a winner in one category meant that the film would also win the other.

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What if there was a Best Voice Performance Oscar? – 2000

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(Note: This is a fictional creative writing exercise, inspired by hours of contemplation of which animated performances have been most worthy of attention over the years.  This feature imagines that a Best Voice Performance category was added to the Oscars following Beauty and the Beast’s nomination for Best Picture at the 64th Academy Awards.  Each week I’ll cover the hypothetical nominees and winner from one year of animated performances.)

Following what many considered to be a huge upset at the 72nd Academy Awards, at which Vin Diesel beat out Tom Hanks for the Best Voice Performance Oscar, the category gained a reputation for being one of the most unpredictable of the Academy Awards.  Since its inception the award occasionally went to the obvious frontrunner, but just as often to a different, more unusual performance, making for interesting viewing but frustrating the odds-makers.  The slate of animated films for 2000 offered up no clear smash hits, making prediction even murkier. Continue reading →

What if there was a Best Voice Performance Oscar? – 1999

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(Note: This is a fictional creative writing exercise, inspired by hours of contemplation of which animated performances have been most worthy of attention over the years.  This feature imagines that a Best Voice Performance category was added to the Oscars following Beauty and the Beast’s nomination for Best Picture at the 64th Academy Awards.  Each week I’ll cover the hypothetical nominees and winner from one year of animated performances.)

After the return of Pixar turned out to be a bit of a disappointment at the 71st Academy Awards, eyes turned to 1999, and the hotly anticipated Toy Story 2.  When it was announced that the original cast would be returning for the sequel, people immediately began speculating that the Oscars might see a rematch of the most exciting duel that the category saw.  No one could forget the competition between Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, and the possibility that both might score nominations drove all other predictions to the sidelines. Continue reading →

What if there was a Best Voice Performance Oscar? – 1998

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(Note: This is a fictional creative writing exercise, inspired by hours of contemplation of which animated performances have been most worthy of attention over the years.  This feature imagines that a Best Voice Performance category was added to the Oscars following Beauty and the Beast’s nomination for Best Picture at the 64th Academy Awards.  Each week I’ll cover the hypothetical nominees and winner from one year of animated performances.)

Fresh off another controversy at the 70th Academy Awards regarding original vs dubbed voice performances, movie fans looked to the films of 1998 to bring some stability back to the category.  1998 would turn out to be a solid year for animation, including the return of Pixar to the big screen, a solid entry from Disney, a wider variety of studios producing animated films and some strong competition between two movies with similar settings.

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What if there was a Best Voice Performance Oscar? – 1997

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(Note: This is a fictional creative writing exercise, inspired by hours of contemplation of which animated performances have been most worthy of attention over the years.  This feature imagines that a Best Voice Performance category was added to the Oscars following Beauty and the Beast’s nomination for Best Picture at the 64th Academy Awards.  Each week I’ll cover the hypothetical nominees and winner from one year of animated performances.)

Following the general confusion of the 69th Academy Awards, no one knew what to expect for 1997.  Pixar had yet to reassert itself following the success of Toy Story, but the slate of feature length animation for the year was considered to be much stronger than that of 1996.  What was not anticipated was the new controversy that was about to crop up.
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