I have been a big fan of Disney movies my entire life. It's the kind of thing that I thought I would have eventually grow out of, cartoons are for kids, right? But thanks to full grown men like Matt Groening and Seth MacFarlane, cartoons became acceptable, and even exclusively for adults. I still watch plenty of cartoons, and Disney is no exception to that.
You may have seen the recent release from Disney, a fantastic little movie called Encanto. What you might not know, is that Encanto has been destroying records since its release. The song "We Don't Talk About Bruno" (an earworm that burrows in deep and just won't let go) has shattered every record for a Disney song that has existed, leaving even "Let It Go" in the dust.
Actual picture of Disney execs in the green glow from all the cash they made off Encanto
The success of "We Don't Talk About Bruno" has gone beyond the cartoon. Last week, it was the #1 song on the Global Billboard charts. I probably contributed to that a little, seriously that song gets STUCK in your head. In the last week I've woken up with lines of it in my head 4-5 times.
But I am also a fan of the underrated and underappreciated Disney films out there. (Atlantis? Treasure Planet? C'mon Disney, give us the live-action adaptation we deserve!) And when it comes to music, I can tell you with no doubt at all that the best score in a Disney film isn't Encanto, or Frozen, or any of the dozens of films scored by the great Alan Menkin (Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Little Mermaid).
No, like any hardcore man-child of the 90's, I know that the Disney movie that had the best score of them all was " A Goofy Movie" (No, really!). It didn't set any records, It didn't top international charts and set the internet ablaze.(It was released in 1995. Dial-up internet was very new.) But every song is a great, feel-good, catchy tune that adds to the story rather than interrupts it. In fact, I'm still waiting for a Powerline album. I would be all over that like white on rice.
On this, Disney and myself don't see I-2-I.
I have watched A Goofy Movie probably 3 dozen times, with most of those viewing back in middle/high school. When my mom asked me once why I watched that movie so many times, I told her that I identified with Max. I remember this highly offended my dad at the time. But to set the record straight, my dad is no Goofy, and I wouldn't have dreaded taking a long road trip with him. (In fact we did at least once that I recall).
The reason I used to identify with Max was because I knew what it was like to be invisible to my classmates, and the desire to make that one girl notice me. (I don't remember who the girl was, knowing me there were surely several) As an adult however, I find that I identify with Goofy more and more. Poor guy just wants his son to love him.
So my new hobby, as an adult, is to get stoned and binge watch Disney movies. My (sometimes overly) ADD brain latches on to certain details and spins whole new meanings out of single lines, and it makes for entertaining viewing.
Let me give you an example from the great A Goofy Movie that I caught recently. At the beginning of their road trip (just before the fantastic song 'On the open road') Goofy tries to get a despondent and pouting Max to play 20 questions. Goofy's guess? Walt Disney. Walt. Disney.
That means that Goofy (and by extension all Disney characters) know of their creator. They know that they are from the mind of one man and do not really exist. (that was fairly terrifying and I had to pause the movie to calm down)
Just look at those cold, lifeless eyes.
For a less extreme example, I want to bring up Zootopia (which by the way, might just have the worst score of any Disney film). The tale is told from the perspective of Judy Hopps, but in my last higher viewing, I saw the story mostly from the perspective of Nick. Poor Nick is just a victim of society. He is a fox in a city where foxes are second-class citizens. He runs a hustle on an unsuspecting farm-girl because its the only way he can get supplies for his business.
Think about it. He just wanted to buy a popsicle, and they wouldn't sell him one just because he's a fox. (remember the elephant pulls out a sign that says 'we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone'. might as well have said 'whites only') Once he manages to get the supplies to make his popsicles, he ends up being stalked by this rookie cop, despite having committed no crimes, once again because he is a fox(profiling!).
This same cop continues to blackmail him and use him to go around procedure, even to the point of illegal search and seizure.(BTW, Midnicampum Holicithias, the night howlers from the movie, are real and super toxic to animals)
He was incredible businessman (imagine trying to make $200 a day, 365 days a year since you were twelve, just selling popsicles and popsicle sticks) that goes to extra lengths to protect the environment, (every popsicle stick gets recycled and reused) but he gets treated like a pariah by the others in his community.
I guess most of these high realizations so far have been pretty dark. Dang Disney, I thought you were supposed to be a family company. But that certainly isn't a reason to stop now. Until next week, and remember, don't talk about Bruno!
Lololol
ReplyDelete