Familiar face, film critic, and YouTuber, Rachel Wagner, returns to try her hand at the million! Does she make it? Watch to find out!
(This episode is also dedicated to the late Disney songwriter, Richard M. Sherman, who passed away around the time we recorded this.)
Rachel’s Reviews: https://www.youtube.com/@RachelsReviews
Rhode Island Movie Corner: https://rimoviecorner.blogspot.com/
Lyricist Richard M. Sherman has sadly passed away at the age of 95. Mr. Sherman (1928-2024) along with his brother, Robert, composed and wrote the songs for a plethora of Disney projects.
These included animated films (such as The Jungle Book and The Aristocats) to live-action films (such as Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and Broomsticks) to theme park attractions (such as It’s a Small World and Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress).
The prolific duo even did songs for non-Disney films such as Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Snoopy, Come Home, Tom Sawyer, Charlotte’s Web, The Slipper and the Rose, and Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland.
Our condolences go out to his family and friends. He will be sorely missed!
My review of The Parent Trap (1961) is up and can be found here.
My review of Bedknobs and Broomsticks is up and can be found here.
My review for Saving Mr. Banks is up and can be found here!
Well, as some of you may know, “Saving Mr. Banks” is not only my #1 awaited Disney film of this year, but it’s also my #1 awaited film of this year, period! Telling the true story of how Walt Disney obtained the rights for “Mary Poppins” from its extremely reluctant and obstinate author, P.L. Travers, when I heard of this film being made, I was ambivalent! I was extremely excited to see this amazing story reach the masses, yet at the same time, I was reluctant to see how Walt Disney and the other key Disney people at the time would be portrayed. Continue reading “First Trailer for “Saving Mr. Banks””
Not only did we lose ex-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (1925-2013) today,
but we also lost a Disney legend, Annette Funicello (1942-2013)!
Annette Funicello was one of the original Mouseketeers,
and continued doing work for Disney including acting in films such as “The Shaggy Dog”, “Babes in Toyland”, “The Misadventures of Merlin Jones”, and “The Monkey’s Uncle”.
She also was a singer and became the first female singer to reach a top 10 slot for a rock and roll song with the hit, “Tall Paul”, written by the not yet extremely famous, Sherman Brothers.
Her death saddens me and she’ll be greatly missed!
Well, due to the popularity of my last “Top 13” list, I decided to make another one! And today’s post takes a dive into an aspect of Disney’s animated films that is loved by everyone: its songs!
The vast majority of the Disney Canon films are musicals, or at least feature a song or two. And the magic of Disney along with the magic of many of Disney’s songwriters including the Sherman Brothers,
Alan Menken and Howard Ashman,
and many others whose names are relatively unknown to the majority of the world, make these songs enjoyable, cherished, and memorable to us all!
So the question is, “Which of the songs are my favorites?”. To find that out, I went through all the songs of the Disney Canon films and picked out the ones that I really loved…all 40 of them!
Yeah, then came the nigh impossible challenge of shortening that “shortlist” to 13! (This was soooo much harder than figuring out my top 13 favorite animated Disney canon films)! So if you don’t see your favorite Disney song on here, don’t be mad! It most likely was in my shortlist to begin with and didn’t make my top 13!
Oh, why top 13? Because I’m not superstitious!
Note: I personally believe that one’s favorites can change over time, so this is my list as of February 2013. With that said, I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Continue reading “My Top 13 Favorite Animated Disney (Canon) Songs!”
Sorry for the long delay! We are now at Disney’s 19th animated feature and the last one that he personally worked on before he died!
Released in 1967, “The Jungle Book” was both a commercial and critical success. It was so good that Gregory Peck tried his hardest to get this film to be nominated for the “Best Picture” award at the Oscars! Unfortunately, the erroneous idea that animated films are “kiddie flicks” and incomparable to live-action movies was present and his efforts were shut down.
It wouldn’t be until 1991 that an animated film would get nominated for the “Best Picture” Oscar! We’ll come to that one when we get there in our project. Continue reading “Disney Canon-Forgotten/Minor Characters #19: Akela and Rama”
The Animation Commendation 