Project Disney: Spots

I can't believe I have never seen this before. One Hundred And One Dalmations is truly remarkable and is definitely one of the best non CGI animated movies I have ever seen. As animated movies go it is perfect. It has a great storyline bringing about a full spectrum of emotions. On top of this, it is a perfect example of the use of animation to bring animals to life with humans also included.

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Project Disney: Having A Long Lie

The last film of the 50's for the Walt Disney Classics range was Sleeping Beauty. Although, widely considered to be one of the best animated movies of all times, I personally couldn't see why. It was generic. There was nothing 'special' to it. Of the Disney 'Princesses', Aurora has to be the worst. On top of this, the production budget used was double the previous efforts. This combined with a a poor year in general saw Disney post it's first annual loss. And to be honest, the output was not worth the staff cuts that ensued.

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Project Disney: He's A Tramp

Lady And The Trampis quite significant to me. It was the first Disney home release (VHS) that I recall having in the house when we were growing up. The story follows Lady, a cocker spaniel who is purchased by a youngish, quite well to do married couple and Tramp, a mongrel stray. Lady becomes a significant part of the couple's life and as time goes on, the family expands with the introduction of a baby. The couple decide to take a break and leave the baby and the dog with her aunt. The Aunt takes an immediate dislike to Lady and gets her a muzzle. At this point, she runs away and encounters Tramp, a local stray.

What follows is a brief friendship and serious of events that have resulted in Lady and the Tramp being only one of two animated films to feature on the AFI's 100 years...100 Passions list as one of the greatest love stories made.

I really enjoyed this one. If I decide to do a top 10 at the end of this, I am fairly positive this will be in it. It had all the classic elements I would associate with the Walt Disney Classics brands.

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Millport

Since October, I have pretty much not done any exercise or walking out with normal day to day activities. With time going by, this was playing on my mind and for the last 6 weekends or so, I've been planning some kind of walk to get back into it. Between the snow, ice, other crap weather and having stuff on, my plans always ended up scuppered.

This weekend, I had nothing planned and the forecast was looking favourable so I decided a wee trip to Millport was on the cards with the 12 mile trek of Great Cumbrae the objective. As good as the plan was, I had reason to be a bit weary. I have had mild sunstroke like symptoms twice in my life and both involved Largs. The first was a few years ago, after I cycled round Cumbrae and the second was the aftermath of my walk up the back of Largs last June.

The plan was set and nothing was going to stop me. This was definitely enforced by the weather on Saturday morning. Spring had definitely arrived. One of the appeals of walking from Largs is that the bus stop is literally 2 minutes from my house. However, the bus station is not there at the moment, so my day began with a brisk jog to the temporary replacement stop a few blocks away.

Half an hour later, I was in Largs and buying my ticket at the ticket office on the pier. The ferry that runs between Largs and Cumbrae Slip is quite frequent with a departure every half hour and the total trip only taking about 12 minutes.



I arrived on Cumbrae and was ready to set off just after 11:00. My route started by turning right off the ferry and following the road north.



That is the main road on the island but as it mainly caters for walkers and cyclists, there is next to no traffic on it. An advantage to this is that the conditions underfoot are ideal as the road follows the circumference of the island. Just shy of a couple of hours later, I was walking along Millport's main street having completed about half of the intended 12 miles.



A few minutes for a rest and a couple of photos of Little Cumbrae, and it was time to set off back to the ferry. The original plan was to follow the full outline of the island, but at this point I decided to cut out the south-east section which would put my total hike around about the 8 mile mark. Thus meaning, the final trek up Ferry Rd should see me land at the ferry in about 2 miles time.



Of the whole day, this was [mentally] the longest section. My feet were starting to get a bit of a strain, and the scenery was rubbish and the road never seemed to end. Eventually, Largs and the Clyde came into view again and eventually the pier and ferry. The final slog around the corner and I was back in the queue waiting for the outbound ferry to return.



The route taken covered 14.1 km (or 8.7 miles if that's your unit of measurement). It was a good day out. I'm glad I done it and it was a good kick start into some exercise for 2011 especially with the lighter nights and good weather starting. The day was rounded off with a visit to Uncle Stewart's for a bite to eat and the England - Wales Game.

2011-03-26 - Cumbrae

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Project Disney: Never Smile At A Crocodile

Prior to tonight, my only cinematic instances of the boy who never grew up was in Steven Spielberg's Hook. Add to this, Marc Foster's Finding Neverland and I pretty much know nothing of the original J.M. Barrie novel.

After the disappointment of last night's Alice In Wonderland, this was the complete opposite. Walt's version of Peter Pan is brilliant. Ultimately it is a tale of friendship and child escapism and the animators appear to have carried those themes from the play to the screen perfectly. One thing that has piqued my interest though is how Disney took the option to make changes to the original story and omit certain darker themes. I would like to read Barrie's original play and see if the inclusion of the darker elements changes the story.

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Project Disney: Down The Rabbit Hole

The next film in the sequence was Alice In Wonderland. Prior to watching this, the extent of my knowledge on the original Lewis Carroll work was that a girl called Alice goes down a rabbit hole and the Mad Hatter has a tea party. I started watching the recent Tim Burton adaptation when it received it's premiere on Sky Movies not long ago, but it lasted all of 10 minutes before getting switched off. I lasted the full duration of the film, but my enjoyment didn't fare much better than the remake.

I thought that as I was going into this with no expectations then it should impress but it done the exact opposite. It only had a runtime of 73 minutes but it was long. Recently I tried watching Duck Soup and 10 minutes felt like an hour. This was exactly what this was like. For me personally, it was not an enjoyable experience and is so far the worst Disney film I have seen in the Project. Even the Package movies provided more entertainment.

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Project Disney: If The Shoe Fits

Prior to WWII, Disney were enjoying their Golden Age with the likes of Snow White, Pinocchio, Bambi and Dumbo. The war hit and with low box office takings and reduced staff numbers, we seen the package movies of the 40s as the main output from the animation department. By 1950, the World was starting to rebuild and Disney were no different. Back to a full compliment they decided to return to feature length animated output in what would be, retrospectively, their most pivotal decade from a marketing point of view. If you ask anyone what the lasting imagery of Disney is, they are bound to say fairy tales and the 'Princesses'. This is exactly what the 50s brought - the heavy focus on enchantment and fairy tales and the lasting image which would be the centre piece of the parks.

This new era kicked off with 1950's Cinderella. As is going to be the case with most of this list, I knew the basics of the story from another source but had never previously seen the animated version the full way through. I did enjoy it. My previous experience of the story was the local pantomime with the obligatory shouting from the crowd and comedic moments so it was good to see it in an uninterrupted setting.

The story was a true fairy tale. You had good versus evil and the intervention of Disney's unique blend of sidekicks (The mice and the Fairy Godmother) which allowed Cinderella to triumph over the evil doings of her family.

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Project Disney: Wind In The Willows

I've not hidden the fact that the package movies have been quite tough to get through but they are finally over. It ended with The Adventures of Ichebod and Mr Toad. Similar to Fun and Fancy Free, this one only comprised the two stories. The first of which was the Disney take on the English classic, The Wind In The Willows with the second being their take on Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Both were thoroughly enjoyable with the extended running time allowing the stories and characters to develop. An interesting observation on this one was the Weasels who moved into Toad Hall. They were the basis for the Toon Patrol in Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

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Project Disney: Johnny Appleseed

Next up was no. 10 - Melody Time. I was expecting this one to be a long 73 minutes and not long into it I was set to be proven correct. However, as I have come to expect with the package movies, there are some gems hidden inside. The highlight of this one was the 'Little Toot' segment which follows a young tugboat who aspires to be like his father. Another highlight was the reunion of The Three Caballeros in a Samba inspired segment.

With 20% of the Disney Classics canon done, I am going to try and start to be a bit more regular with this. I aim to finish off the package movies with 'The Adventures of Ichabod & Mr Toad' tomorrow morning and then resume onto the features hopefully maintaining a rate of at least one every other night.

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Project Disney: Bongo And The Beanstalk

Well, this one was a pleasant surprise. Fun and Fancy Free is the first of the package movies I have fully enjoyed. It only brings together two stories, allowing a proper narrative to exist and be developed in each one.

• Bongo - as the narration begins, we are told this is the story of three bears, but not the one we all know. Bongo is a circus bear who escapes to sample freedom. On the outside he falls for a female bear but realises that he must prove himself in the wild. This brings about an encounter with the current alpha male of the pack who he must overcome.


• Mickey & The Beanstalk - as the title suggests, this is a retelling of the classic beanstalk tale incorporating Mickey in the lead role accompanied by Donald and Goofy.The absolute highlight of this was Donald during the opening exchanges where his hunger was driving him demented.

Only two to go until we are back with the feature lengths.

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Project Disney: Operatic Whale

I can't wait to get back to the single narratives as the wall that is the 40's package movies is really putting me off. I managed to get through another one, Make Mine Music. The first half of this was a struggle but it picked up with the Peter and the Wolf segment and then ended on a high with The Whale Who Wanted To Sing At The Met. Of the three that are remaining, I am holding out some hope. Only one is made up of multiple segments to music with the other two having two single stories each.

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Project Disney: Aye Carumba

I have definitely hit a lull with this. I knew this would be an early stumbling block and it has proven to be the case. The Three Caballeros was the second of the 40's package movies and it was hugely uninspiring. It was good to see Donald Duck getting full billing but it dragged on a bit. I'm not a great fan of short movies bundled together and these are testing me. Only a few to go till we are back with feature stories.

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