Hopefully most of you got to see the new "Winnie the Pooh" film this weekend...
While I won't go into a review, I will say that it's a perfect example of how to pay homage to a classic and still bring it up to date for modern audiences.
And it's another sign of Disney animation reclaiming its tarnished image. From the late 80's to the early part of this century, the declining quality of the animated films and the credibility of the Disney name has given the public a bad perception of what it was capable of. With the onslaught of Cheapquels and the lowering of standards at Walt Disney Feature Animation, Disney fans were so happy to see when Pixar was bought by the Mouse. When John Lasseter was put in charge of WDAS, most people rejoiced like a group of people free from a long imprisonment. Like most fans, we thought that the change would be evident immediately. But as history shows us, change is slow and sometimes difficult to notice. Perhaps, in later years we can look back at the catalog of films that started with "Bolt" and see when the change occurred. Only then will we be able to clearly define when a Third Golden Age started, and sadly enough, how long it lasted.
Slowly over the past few years John and Ed Catmull have been rebuilding the House of Mouse brick by brick. From the small beginnings of green lighting the first hand-drawn film in more than half a decade to the restarting of the shorts program, drop by drop, the foundations for a rebirth were being put in place. And even though the first features didn't quite live up to their box office projections, they were far better than what had been coming from the Hat Building for a long time. It was clear that the new regime in power was getting it's footing slower than they expected and we wanted.
Finally with last year, the release of "Tangled" showed everyone that Disney magic hadn't died and wasn't dormant. It was just lost somewhere in the halls of the old Disney Animation Building. This updated tale of Rapunzel showed that it could keep up with its younger and more contemporary sister in Emeryville. With this year, the hand drawn release of a sequel to "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh," drew a groan of disappointment that WDAS had lost its ability to create original stories and had given in to the marketing department's desires to churn up yet another film featuring these classic characters. Those that have seen the film will tell you it's not so. It's a wonderfully refreshing walk back into your childhood that you can enjoy with your family or simply the kid deep down inside you. It, along with the "The Ballad of Nessie" short are an example of the quality that families can expect from future films with the iconic Steamboat Willie logo in front of it.
As we mentioned in "Untitled Road," the future of Disney Animation is picking up steam and the stories that will be coming out are going to be filled with tales and characters that have heart and purpose and entertaining. For the last few years the public has started getting used to going into a Disney animated film and actually coming out feeling that they got their money's worth. Something the Suits seemed to have forgot how to do for almost a decade before the Lamp was brought into the family. Come next year, "Wreck-It Ralph" will expand the narrative of what a Disney film is even more. But it'll do it in classic Disney storytelling. It will be another example to show the public that the one that started it all still knows how to tell great stories better than anyone else.
And it'll show why paying for Pixar was a steal...
