There's a lot of hype surrounding Frozen. People are saying it's the Best Disney Movie Since The Lion King. The Best Disney Movie Ever.
There's no doubt Disney is in a Revival of sorts. They made mediocre dud after dud for about ten years, give hoặc take, toward the end hoặc after the Renaissance. (Depends on how much bạn tình yêu some of the late hoặc post-Renaissance films.)
However, I think the ridiculous hype surrounding Nữ hoàng băng giá might cause people to have such ridiculously high standards for future Disney films, that no matter how good they are, if they aren't FLAWLESS, they're going to seem disappointing bởi comparison, and the Revival will taper off.
Let me explain. When I was a little kid, I thought ALL Disney phim chiếu rạp were great and went to see every one. Opinions vary, of course, but not until adulthood did I learn that a good many people seem to consider that the wee early Disney Renaissance films were perfect hoặc amazing (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King) while the late Disney Renaissance films (Pocahontas, Hunchback, Hercules, Mulan and Tarzan) were on a sliding scale of good to "great, but not AS great as The Lion King."
THAT, hoặc most of the post-Lion King Renaissance films did okay at the box office, but never quite as great as the early Renaissance films. In fact, during that time Disney was mostly trying to play catch up. Before it, they had thought The Lion King would just tide people over until the tiếp theo "Beauty and the Beast" (Pocahontas) came out and blew people away. Ironically, The Lion King was the film that blew people away, while Pocahontas left many parents and critics a little underwhelmed. Not that people thought it was bad per se, but there was so much hype and expectations from The Lion King that no matter how good it is hoặc how much bạn tình yêu it, general audiences at the time just felt it was not their strongest after the momentum built up from the trước đó films.
I guess bạn can say it's kind of like when Công chúa tóc xù came out. Even if it's a good movie and bạn tình yêu it, after Pixar's long stream of critical, financial, and artistic darlings, it left most people thinking, "It's good, but not Pixar good."
Speaking of Pixar, they also contributed to the decline of Renaissance reception. Not only did general audiences feel kind of let-down from Pocahontas following the hype from The Lion King, but Toy Story came out that same year. A full-length 3D film, which no one had ever seen before. A very original story, which was a breather from the adaptations of stories everyone was used to. lấy trộm, đánh cắp the spotlight.
So what's my point? Disney Renaissance started strong, built up momentum that peaked with The Lion King, then expectations became so high that the film(s) after it - while still good - couldn't live up to those high expectations. So, many later Renaissance seemed disappointing bởi comparison, and many critics and audiences treated them according. (As in, they were never quite the critical hoặc financial darlings of the early Renaissance.)
Now, the point of my article: I'm wondering if Disney is repeating history with this Revival? Think about it:
The Little Mermaid: kicked off the Renaissance. A high quality, beautifully animated, fairy tale princess movie that appealed to wider audiences the way few to none had since Walt was alive. Felt like a shining light after The Dark Age of Animation. (At least to wide-spread audiences.)
The Rescuers Down Under: A solid quality, beautiful animated family film that didn't get very good advertising, fell under the radar, and has become largely forgotten.
Aladdin: Another very fun, high quality, beautifully animated, widely appealing fairy tale family film. Just drove the momentum started from The Little Mermaid stronger.
Beauty and the Beast: First animated film to ever get nominated for Best Picture. (And only one till Up 18-19 years later). That was completely unheard of at the time, as "cartoons" weren't (and still aren't) considered "real movies." That should tell bạn something.
The Lion King: Highest grossing Disney film of all time at the time, critical and financial darling, perpetrator of huge hype even to this day. (Also the first film I ever saw in theatres, btw.)
OKAY, bạn may say, That's all good and well, but what does that have to do with today?
Again, I feel like history is repeating itself. After a string of mediocre CGI Pixar knock-off duds, people started to see the light when...
The Princess and the Frog: Yes, I do believe PatF kicked off the Revival. It didn't become the success hoặc set the exact movie formula for later films like The Little Mermaid had (unless bạn count the snarky, slapstick, road trip plot where princess and guy bicker at first but fall in tình yêu bởi the end), but I think it was the first film where people got the feeling that "Disney's trying again. They're not just making cheap flop after flop, they're going back to their roots and trying to make timeless classics again. Let's pay attention and see what happens."
Tangled: Another high quality film that got the momentum going. I don't know whether to call it the Aladdin và cây đèn thần hoặc Beauty and the Beast of the Revival, but it's one hoặc a bit of both. In fact, I lean toward the latter. Like BatB to TLM, Công chúa tóc mây worked out all the kinks in PatF (including marketing it as a boy's film and being 3D *sigh*) and solidified the Disney musical movie formula we'll probably be seeing for the tiếp theo ten years. It went the extra mile set bởi the princess film that came shortly before it and went that much farther to gain wide appeal. Became a critical and financial darling.
Winnie The Pooh Like the Rescuers Down Under before it, it's become the poorly marketed, underrated, forgotten classic that fell through the cracks made bởi the Revival giants.
Wreck It Ralph I don't fully know how to classify this, as I haven't seen it hoặc really paid attention to how people received it. It did well critically and financially, though many people feel it's Disney's answer to Pixar films (please, they've been doing that since Dinosaur back in 2000), and many people feel it was robbed of its Oscar bởi Brave. (That the judges just gave it an Oscar because it's Pixar, not because the movie was really the best of that year.) I guess it continued the Revival momentum, so... Aladdin?
Frozen NEED I EXPLAIN??? Highest grossing Disney film of all time (beat out The Lion King), first film in the canon to win an Academy Award for Best Animated Picture (ironically created after Beauty and the Beast so animated films could get acknowledged as "best" without having to compete with "real movies," yet Disney has never won one until now), HUGE HYPE surrounding it, I can go on. To quote Honest Trailers Frozen: "For the first time in forever... It's as good as The Lion King."
But that's the problem. The Lion King was so good (from a wide general audience perspective, anyway) that people negatively compared every movie after to it. Even if đã đưa ý kiến phim chiếu rạp were good hoặc amazing in their own right, I feel like people furrowed their brows and said, "Yeah, it's good... but it's not The Lion King. When are bạn going to make another Lion King?" And Disney TRIED, bless them, but just couldn't get it right until Frozen, about 20 years later.
So I'm wondering if all this hype surrounding Nữ hoàng băng giá will make it so films after will be thêm critically scrutinized and unfairly compared to Frozen?
Up next, we're looking at Big Hero 6 (first Disney superhero comic adaptation), Zootopia (buddy cop film with CGI animals), Giants (quirky adaptation of Jack and the Beanstock), and Moana (first Polynesian Princess). Unless they're perfectly flawless, I'm wondering if people will start scrutinizing them and punishing them for not being as PERFECT as Frozen.
THEN AGAIN, Disney was having audiences stolen out from under them during the later Renaissance bởi Pixar. Disney kept doing the same thing (2D teenage coming-of-age romances based on pre-existing stories) while the latter kept making new CGI films with original stories. These days... yeah, the tables have turned. Pixar is now reduced to relying on sequels and franchises because they don't have many stellar ideas, while Disney has a whole slew of beautifully animated CGI films with thêm original(ish) stories. Maybe less stellar competition means this time Disney will have the upper hand and keep going as an phim hoạt hình Power House, despite the high expectations set bởi Frozen.
So, those are my thoughts. I hope bạn enjoyed đọc it.
There's no doubt Disney is in a Revival of sorts. They made mediocre dud after dud for about ten years, give hoặc take, toward the end hoặc after the Renaissance. (Depends on how much bạn tình yêu some of the late hoặc post-Renaissance films.)
However, I think the ridiculous hype surrounding Nữ hoàng băng giá might cause people to have such ridiculously high standards for future Disney films, that no matter how good they are, if they aren't FLAWLESS, they're going to seem disappointing bởi comparison, and the Revival will taper off.
Let me explain. When I was a little kid, I thought ALL Disney phim chiếu rạp were great and went to see every one. Opinions vary, of course, but not until adulthood did I learn that a good many people seem to consider that the wee early Disney Renaissance films were perfect hoặc amazing (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King) while the late Disney Renaissance films (Pocahontas, Hunchback, Hercules, Mulan and Tarzan) were on a sliding scale of good to "great, but not AS great as The Lion King."
THAT, hoặc most of the post-Lion King Renaissance films did okay at the box office, but never quite as great as the early Renaissance films. In fact, during that time Disney was mostly trying to play catch up. Before it, they had thought The Lion King would just tide people over until the tiếp theo "Beauty and the Beast" (Pocahontas) came out and blew people away. Ironically, The Lion King was the film that blew people away, while Pocahontas left many parents and critics a little underwhelmed. Not that people thought it was bad per se, but there was so much hype and expectations from The Lion King that no matter how good it is hoặc how much bạn tình yêu it, general audiences at the time just felt it was not their strongest after the momentum built up from the trước đó films.
I guess bạn can say it's kind of like when Công chúa tóc xù came out. Even if it's a good movie and bạn tình yêu it, after Pixar's long stream of critical, financial, and artistic darlings, it left most people thinking, "It's good, but not Pixar good."
Speaking of Pixar, they also contributed to the decline of Renaissance reception. Not only did general audiences feel kind of let-down from Pocahontas following the hype from The Lion King, but Toy Story came out that same year. A full-length 3D film, which no one had ever seen before. A very original story, which was a breather from the adaptations of stories everyone was used to. lấy trộm, đánh cắp the spotlight.
So what's my point? Disney Renaissance started strong, built up momentum that peaked with The Lion King, then expectations became so high that the film(s) after it - while still good - couldn't live up to those high expectations. So, many later Renaissance seemed disappointing bởi comparison, and many critics and audiences treated them according. (As in, they were never quite the critical hoặc financial darlings of the early Renaissance.)
Now, the point of my article: I'm wondering if Disney is repeating history with this Revival? Think about it:
The Little Mermaid: kicked off the Renaissance. A high quality, beautifully animated, fairy tale princess movie that appealed to wider audiences the way few to none had since Walt was alive. Felt like a shining light after The Dark Age of Animation. (At least to wide-spread audiences.)
The Rescuers Down Under: A solid quality, beautiful animated family film that didn't get very good advertising, fell under the radar, and has become largely forgotten.
Aladdin: Another very fun, high quality, beautifully animated, widely appealing fairy tale family film. Just drove the momentum started from The Little Mermaid stronger.
Beauty and the Beast: First animated film to ever get nominated for Best Picture. (And only one till Up 18-19 years later). That was completely unheard of at the time, as "cartoons" weren't (and still aren't) considered "real movies." That should tell bạn something.
The Lion King: Highest grossing Disney film of all time at the time, critical and financial darling, perpetrator of huge hype even to this day. (Also the first film I ever saw in theatres, btw.)
OKAY, bạn may say, That's all good and well, but what does that have to do with today?
Again, I feel like history is repeating itself. After a string of mediocre CGI Pixar knock-off duds, people started to see the light when...
The Princess and the Frog: Yes, I do believe PatF kicked off the Revival. It didn't become the success hoặc set the exact movie formula for later films like The Little Mermaid had (unless bạn count the snarky, slapstick, road trip plot where princess and guy bicker at first but fall in tình yêu bởi the end), but I think it was the first film where people got the feeling that "Disney's trying again. They're not just making cheap flop after flop, they're going back to their roots and trying to make timeless classics again. Let's pay attention and see what happens."
Tangled: Another high quality film that got the momentum going. I don't know whether to call it the Aladdin và cây đèn thần hoặc Beauty and the Beast of the Revival, but it's one hoặc a bit of both. In fact, I lean toward the latter. Like BatB to TLM, Công chúa tóc mây worked out all the kinks in PatF (including marketing it as a boy's film and being 3D *sigh*) and solidified the Disney musical movie formula we'll probably be seeing for the tiếp theo ten years. It went the extra mile set bởi the princess film that came shortly before it and went that much farther to gain wide appeal. Became a critical and financial darling.
Winnie The Pooh Like the Rescuers Down Under before it, it's become the poorly marketed, underrated, forgotten classic that fell through the cracks made bởi the Revival giants.
Wreck It Ralph I don't fully know how to classify this, as I haven't seen it hoặc really paid attention to how people received it. It did well critically and financially, though many people feel it's Disney's answer to Pixar films (please, they've been doing that since Dinosaur back in 2000), and many people feel it was robbed of its Oscar bởi Brave. (That the judges just gave it an Oscar because it's Pixar, not because the movie was really the best of that year.) I guess it continued the Revival momentum, so... Aladdin?
Frozen NEED I EXPLAIN??? Highest grossing Disney film of all time (beat out The Lion King), first film in the canon to win an Academy Award for Best Animated Picture (ironically created after Beauty and the Beast so animated films could get acknowledged as "best" without having to compete with "real movies," yet Disney has never won one until now), HUGE HYPE surrounding it, I can go on. To quote Honest Trailers Frozen: "For the first time in forever... It's as good as The Lion King."
But that's the problem. The Lion King was so good (from a wide general audience perspective, anyway) that people negatively compared every movie after to it. Even if đã đưa ý kiến phim chiếu rạp were good hoặc amazing in their own right, I feel like people furrowed their brows and said, "Yeah, it's good... but it's not The Lion King. When are bạn going to make another Lion King?" And Disney TRIED, bless them, but just couldn't get it right until Frozen, about 20 years later.
So I'm wondering if all this hype surrounding Nữ hoàng băng giá will make it so films after will be thêm critically scrutinized and unfairly compared to Frozen?
Up next, we're looking at Big Hero 6 (first Disney superhero comic adaptation), Zootopia (buddy cop film with CGI animals), Giants (quirky adaptation of Jack and the Beanstock), and Moana (first Polynesian Princess). Unless they're perfectly flawless, I'm wondering if people will start scrutinizing them and punishing them for not being as PERFECT as Frozen.
THEN AGAIN, Disney was having audiences stolen out from under them during the later Renaissance bởi Pixar. Disney kept doing the same thing (2D teenage coming-of-age romances based on pre-existing stories) while the latter kept making new CGI films with original stories. These days... yeah, the tables have turned. Pixar is now reduced to relying on sequels and franchises because they don't have many stellar ideas, while Disney has a whole slew of beautifully animated CGI films with thêm original(ish) stories. Maybe less stellar competition means this time Disney will have the upper hand and keep going as an phim hoạt hình Power House, despite the high expectations set bởi Frozen.
So, those are my thoughts. I hope bạn enjoyed đọc it.