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Kyôryû sentai Jûrenjâ (1992)
Zyurangers: The original versions of the MMPRS1 Power Rangers
"Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger" is one of the Super Sentai shows that is known to us Americans as the original version of "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers" Season 1 with no Angel Grove, no Angel Grove Youth Center, no Bulk and Skull, no Command Center, and no Zordon and Alpha 5. You see, "Zyuranger" takes place in the city of Tokyo, Japan, which is getting under attack by the witch Bandora (aka MMPR's Rita Repulsa), who recently sold her soul to Dai Satan (aka MMPR's Lokar) to avenge her son Kai, right after she and her henchmen, Grifforzer (aka MMPR's Goldar), Tottpatt (aka MMPR's Baboo), Bookback (aka MMPR's Squatt), and Pleprechuan (aka MMPR's Finster) from imprisonment by two astronauts.
Bandora's nemesis, the Mysterious Wizard Barza, who wields a scepter that is similar to Bandora's, can disguise himself as an apartment manager working at the Sakura Mansion above his resting place (much like Superman/Clark Kent), and he also serves as an ally to the Zyurangers consisting of Geki/TyrannoRanger (aka MMPR's Red Ranger), Goushi/MammothRanger (aka MMPR's Black Ranger), Dan/TriceraRanger (aka MMPR's Blue Ranger), Boi/TigerRanger (aka MMPR's Yellow Ranger), and Mei/PteraRanger (aka MMPR's Pink Ranger). Grifforzer's wife Lamie/Lamie-Scorpion (aka MMPR's Scorpina) appears later in the show, and so is Geki's brother, Burai/DragonRanger (aka MMPR's Green Ranger).
In each episode, the Zyurangers battle Grifforzer, Lamie, and an army of clay foot soldiers known as the Golems (aka MMPR's Putty Patrollers), and later the Dokiita Golems (aka MMPR's Super Putty Patrollers), as well as the Dora Monsters, and the Zyurangers also battle them with the Guardian Beasts Tyrannosaurus (aka MMPR's Tyrannosaurus Dinozord), ZyuMammoth (aka MMPR's Mastodon Dinozord), Triceratops (aka MMPR's Triceratops Dinozord), SaberTiger (aka MMPR's Saber Toothed Tiger Dinozord), Pteranodon (aka MMPR's Pterodactyl Dinozord), Dragon Caesar (aka MMPR's Dragonzord), and King Brachion (aka MMPR's Titanus) when Grifforzer, Lamie, and each Dora Monster grows to giant size.
These Dora Monsters are not only based on World History, World Folklore (Greek Mythology and such, Fairy Tales we know, etc.), Plant and Animal Life, and such, but they are also classified into three groups: the Regular Dora Monsters, the Dokiita Dora Monsters, and the Zyu2 Dora Monsters. Here's what I remember from them.
REGULAR DORA MONSTERS=Dora Titan (aka MMPR's Giant), Dora Skeleton (aka MMPR's Bones), Dora Minotauros (aka MMPR's Minotaur), Dora Sphinx (aka MMPR's King Sphinx), Dora Goblin (aka MMPR's Gnarly Gnome), Dora Circe (aka MMPR's Pudgy Pig), Dora Cockatrice (aka MMPR's Chunky Chicken), Dora Cockatrice II (aka MMPR's Chunky Chicken), Jin/Dora Jin (aka MMPR's Genie), Dora Argus (aka MMPR's Eye Guy), Dora Ladon (aka MMPR's Snizard), Fairy DonDon (aka MMPR's Mr. Ticklesneezer), Dora Knight (aka MMPR's Knasty Knight), Dora Endos (aka MMPR's Pineoctopus), Dora Pixie (aka MMPR's Babe Ruthless), Dora Tortoise (aka MMPR's Shellshock), Dora Tarantula (aka MMPR's Spidertron), Dora Boogaranan (aka MMPR's Terror Toad), Dora Guzzler (aka MMPR's Spit Flower)
DOKIITA DORA MONSTERS=Dora Franke (aka MMPR's Frankenstein), Zombie Franke (aka MMPR's Mutitus), Satan Franke (aka MMPR's Mutitus), Dora Narcissus (aka MMPR's Octoplant), Dora Reiger (aka MMPR's Madame Woe), Magic Spinning Wheel (aka MMPR's Wheel of Misfortune), Dora Ninja (aka MMPR's Dark Warrior), Dora Ganrock (aka MMPR's Rockstar), Dora Goldhorn (aka MMPR's Samurai Fanman), Dora Silkis (aka MMPR's Weaveworm), Monster Goda (aka MMPR's Fang), Dora Fake (aka MMPR's Cyclops), Dora Antaeus (aka MMPR's Hatchasaurus/Cardiatron), Dora Chimaera (aka MMPR's Goatan), Dora Unicorn (aka MMPR's Polluticorn), Dora Mirage (aka MMPR's Twinman), Dora Talos (aka MMPR's Cyclopsis)
ZYU2 DORA MONSTERS=Goofish (aka MMPR's Goofish), Fleamonster (aka MMPR's Fighting Flea), Jellyfishmonster (aka MMPR's Jellyfish), Mantismonster (aka MMPR's Mantis), Dramole (aka MMPR's Dramole), Bee Monster (aka MMPR's Grumble Bee), Parrot Monster (aka MMPR's Two-Headed Parrot), Peckster (aka MMPR's Peckster), Lysinator (aka MMPR's Lizzinator), Pumpkin Rapper (aka MMPR's Pumpkin Rapper), Speed Shark (aka MMPR's Slippery Shark), Soccadillo (aka MMPR's Soccadillo), Rhinoblaster (aka MMPR's Rhinoblaster), Crayfishmonster (aka MMPR's Commander Crayfish), Oystermonster (aka MMPR's Oysterizer), Piranha Head (aka MMPR's Pirantishead), Pre-Gorilla (aka MMPR's Primator), Galamander (aka MMPR's Salaguana), Flowerbaster (aka MMPR's Bloom of Doom), Octophantom (aka MMPR's Octophantom), HoeSoilBeetle (aka MMPR's Stag Beetle), Venueleon (aka MMPR's Invenusable Flytrap), Robogoat (aka MMPR's Robogoat), MinGuitar (aka MMPR's Guitardo), Turban Shell (aka MMPR's Turban Shell), Pythor (aka MMPR's Pythor)
Overall, "Zyuranger" is the best of the best among other Super Sentai shows being adapted into such Power Rangers shows such as "Zeo", "Turbo", "Wild Force", "Ninja Storm", "Dino Thunder", and such.
Bee Movie (2007)
Bee Movie: One of PDI's best
Produced by Pacific Data Images, "Bee Movie" is one of the most funniest movies ever released in 2007. At the start of the movie, right after the Dreamworks Animation logo, the PDI logo from "Antz" shows up (you know, it's the PDI logo we all know with a picture of a figure with his hands in the air whilst holding a movie camera), followed by the main titles for this movie.
We are introduced to the main hero of this movie's story, a bee named Barry B. Benson (voiced by Jerry Seinfeld), who had experiences with his mom (voiced by Kathy Bates) and dad (voiced by Barry Levinson), and he recently graduated from college with his best friend, Adam Flayman (voiced by Matthew Broderick of Disney's "The Lion King"), a bee with a toy sword sticking out of his butt.
One day, while making honey with the Pollen Jocks, Barry ran into a nice young woman named Vanessa Bloome (voiced by Renee Zellweger of PDI's "Shark Tale"), who is that much of a florist. Barry and Vanessa became good friends. Barry soon found out that humans stole the honey from the bees ever since many years ago.
Along the way, Barry had several run-ins with various characters, such as Vanessa's partner at tennis, Ken (voiced by Patrick Warburton of Disney's "The Emperor's New Groove"), Mooseblood the Mosquito (voiced by Chris Rock of PDI's "Madagascar"), and a main defense lawyer named Layton T. Montgomery (voiced by John Goodman of Pixar's "Monsters, Inc.") when Barry and Vanessa are in a local Court House.
Afterwards, New York City became desolated. To undo this chaos, Barry and Vanessa must go to Pasadena, California to find a last batch of flowers somewhere in a local parade. Finally, Barry and all of the Pollen Jocks pollinate New York City back to the way it was before whilst the song "Here Comes The Sun" (performed by The Beatles) plays in the background. At one point, a kid shouts, "Mom! The bees are back!" Towards the end of the movie, Vanessa's floral shop, "Vanessa's Flowers", has changed the sign's name to "Vanessa and Barry: Flowers; Honey; Legal Advice".
Vanessa sells and pays her customers not only bouquets of flowers (and some flowers in flowerpots), but also several jars of honey, as Barry runs a law firm inside the same building, and behind Barry's office door marked "Insects at Law", Mooseblood works alongside with Barry in his office when Barry interviews a giraffe (voiced by Wayne Knight of Disney's "Tarzan"). I laughed at the funny lines involving some Toys-R-Us in-jokes and some "Sesame Street" in-jokes that the giraffe is saying to Barry like, "Action figures, dolls, video games. It's all me. And they put my picture on every toy store!" (Barry says "Uh-huh. Uh-huh.") "Everybody thinks my kind are plant eaters, but I'd rather live on ants!" (Barry says "I have no idea.")
There was clearly a hint that being a client that Barry is interviewing him, even when he brought along toys with him, the giraffe was clearly a relative of Melman the Giraffe from PDI's "Madagascar". Now, where was I? Oh, yes! During the end credits, there is a catchy song called "Thinkin' Bee" performed by Jerry Seinfeld and Matthew Broderick. And after the end credits, the Paramount Pictures logo flashes on and off, followed by the PDI logo that flashes on and off with the help of the animated end credit bee.
The scenes in "Bee Movie" are very funny (Adam stinging Layton in the butt for example), as well as the exquisite cameo appearances by Larry King as a Larry King caricatured bee and such, and not to mention the superb dialog as well (Giraffe: You're not another lawyer too, are you? Mooseblood: Sir, I was already a bloodsucking parasite. All I needed was a briefcase.). Also, attached in front of "Bee Movie" in theaters, and as a bonus feature on the "Bee Movie" 2-Disc DVD was the PDI short "Sleepy Guy". For those of you PDI fans out everywhere, be sure to love several PDI cartoons much like "Bee Movie" again and again everyday.
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
The Muppets version of the Charles Dickens classic ever!
Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Fozzie, Rizzo, Bean Bunny, Sam the Eagle, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, Statler, Waldorf, and a host of other Muppets starred in the 1992 movie based on Charles Dickens's "A Christmas Carol", which is called "The Muppet Christmas Carol". Academy Award winner Michael Caine stars as Ebenezer Scrooge, a selfish miser who hates Christmas, and he is also a boss to Bob Cratchit (played by Kermit the Frog), who tells him tomorrow is Christmas morning. At one point, when Scrooge gets angry and shouts something funny, the rats (that are working for Scrooge along with Bob) begin to sing the "The Island in the Sun" song.
One night, Scrooge gets haunted by the spirits of his partners, Jacob (played by Statler) and Robert (played by Waldorf) Marley, who both tell Scrooge that he will be haunted by three spirits. When Gonzo shouts "EXPECT THE FIRST GHOST WHEN THE BELL TOLLS ONE!", Scrooge is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past (played by Waldo C. Graphic from "The Jim Henson Hour" and "Muppet*vision 3-D", AND PLEASE NOTE: this movie marks Waldo's very first big break into movie business just like all the other Muppets did). Scrooge is later visited by the Ghost of Christmas Present, who sings the song "It Feels Like Christmas". When the clock strikes twelve, Scrooge is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Future, or Yet to Come, and even both Gonzo and Rizzo can be unseen when the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is around. At Christmas Morning, Scrooge asks Bob to be his partner, Bean Bunny has brought in the turkey, and Tiny Tim (played by Robin the Frog) says, "God bless us everyone."
The Songs in this Muppet Movie are catchy. Also the gags and scenes are very funny and hilarious to me throughout this movie. For example, Rizzo shouts at Gonzo, "Light the lamp, not the rat! Light the lamp, not the rat!" Overall, I gave "The Muppet Christmas Carol" a two thumbs up, when I laugh during watching this movie at the same time. Everybody loves Muppets doing various roles as various fictional characters just like I did.
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Beauty and the Beast: A Disney cartoon as old as time
I always thought that of all the Disney cartoons, "Beauty and the Beast" took the cake for being one of the greatest Disney cartoons ever released in 1991. You see, I got a copy of this Disney cartoon on DVD as part of the Walt Disney 2-Disc Platinum Edition DVD series that showcases some of Disney's greatest animated films as it was said in some DVD booklets that came with the Disney DVDs themselves. You see, "Beauty and the Beast" is the very first Disney cartoon to use computer animation techniques, notably the backgrounds.
Directed by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, and based on the well known fairy tale, it all begins in a peaceful village, and a young girl named Belle (voiced by Paige O'Hara) takes a stroll around, and at one point when she reads a book by a fountain, one of the sheep tears off a page and eats it. Later on, Belle's father, Maurice (voiced by Rex Everhart), shows her his latest invention that he will take it to a local fair. When he gets lost in the middle of the woods, Maurice escapes from a pack of wolves and ran into a castle complete with gargoyle statues and everything else.
When Maurice says "Hello? Hello? Is someone there?", he gets welcomed by a candelabrum named Lumiere (voiced by Jerry Orbach), a clock named Cogsworth (voiced by David Ogden Stiers), a teapot named Mrs. Potts (voiced by Angela Lansbury), and a teacup named Chip (voiced by Bradley Pierce). But just as Maurice was about to settle down for a cup of tea, he gets imprisoned by a hideous Beast (voiced by Hal Smith), who happens to be a handsome Prince (voiced by Robby Benson) under a magical curse, and a spoiled, selfish, and unkind one too. The result: many years ago of a winter's night, an old woman came to the castle's entrance and offers Prince a rose, but Prince refuses and tells her to go away. The old woman then changed herself into a fairy, tells Prince that he had no love in his heart, and turns him into the monster of the same name. It's up to Belle to make Beast learn the true meaning of love just by angering him at a couple points, and such.
Meanwhile, back at the village, Belle's macho fiancé, Gaston (voiced by Richard White), who is that much of a game hunter, makes several attempts to make Belle his wife, and thinks Maurice is a "crazy old man" when Maurice shouts, "He's got her locked in a dungeon! A Beast! A horrible monstrous Beast!" And that's not all. In just a couple moments later, towards the end of this Disney cartoon, Gaston wants to kill Beast, and have his head mounted on his wall...
The supporting characters in there also include Philippe the Horse (also voiced by Hal Smith), Gaston's goofy looking sidekick, Lefou (voiced by Jesse Corti), a Wardrobe (voiced by Jo Anne Worley), and Monsieur D'Arque (voiced by Tony Jay). In "Beauty and the Beast", the characters can be distinguishing just by judging by their personalities as well as their habits. For instance, Beast is a powerful character much like Stromboli from another Disney cartoon, "Pinocchio", and Monsieur D'Arque is much like Coachman from "Pinocchio" as well.
The songs wrote by composer Alan Menken are very catchy, including "Be Our Guest", "Gaston", "The Mob Song", "Human Again", and the most memorable, "Beauty and the Beast". Everybody loves this Disney cartoon's humorous moments (Wardrobe landing on a villager for example, and a couple others to name a few), as well as touching scenes (at one point, for instance, before turning back into Prince's old self, Beast dies in Belle's arms before the last petal of the enchanted rose falls off) for many years to come just like the other Disney cartoons did.
By the way. In the Disney cartoon/video game "Kingdom Hearts" series, Belle, Beast (now voiced by Robby Benson since "Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas" and "Belle's Magical World", even with a little help of some equipment and devices that they used in the 1996 film "Ransom" which starred Mel Gibson), Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, Chip, Wardrobe, and Prince (appearing at the "Kingdom Hearts II" end credits) cope with Sora, Donald Duck, and Goofy as Sora, Donald, and Goofy battle the Heartless, Nobodies, and the Orginization 13.
The Brothers Grimm (2005)
The Brothers Grimm: A Very Weird and Surreal Movie
Directed by Terry Gilliam, "The Brothers Grimm" starred Matt Damon and the Right-Now-Deceased Heath Ledger as they lead an all star cast, and brief cameo appearances by the Muppets Statler and Waldorf as themselves, and "The Brothers Grimm" is also released in 2005 as the world's most humorous musical movie ever yet.
In this movie, Wilhelm (played by Matt Damon) and Jacob (played by Heath Ledger) Grimm, who are not only creators of the Fairy Tales we know, but they are also exorcists, who happened upon the village of Marbaden, where all the young girls are disappearing one by one. All of this happens to be the work of the evil (and humorously scheming) Mirror Queen (played by Monica Bellucci). It's up to Wilhelm and Jacob, with the help of Angelika (played by Lena Heady), to stop her before it's too late.
Some of these scenes are very funny. For instance, Angelika is playing an acoustic guitar whilst singing a song called "I Know A Demon Horse Who Swallowed A Butterfly" (a retooling version of the song "I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly") as a spiderweb unfurling horse swallows a butterfly, an octopus, a blue haired bird, a fox, a lion (after saying "Come here, Simba!" to the lion), a deer (after saying "Come here, Bambi!" to the deer), and an elephant, and when Angelika sings the line "I Know A Demon Horse Who Swallowed An Elephant,", the horse lets out an ear deafening scream of demise and explodes, releasing all of the animals that the horse swallowed, and Angelika sings the last line, "He's dead, of course." Right after that, Statler shouts, "Wonderful!" Waldorf then says, "Yes, but I swallowed my gum." Statler then said to Waldorf, "How very dumb to swallow your gum?" And even throughout that scene, when Angelika sings the first half of the refrain was "But I don't know why he swallowed a butterfly.", the animal swallowing horse sings the last half for her was "I guess I'll die."
In another scene, a shape shifting mud creature swallows a girl named Sasha whole, then turns into the Gingerbread Man, takes a bite of himself, and said, "Mmmmm! That tastes good!" He then shouts at the villagers, "Run, run, run as fast as you can! You can't catch me! I'm the Gingerbread Man!", and takes a dive into a wishing well. AND PLEASE NOTE: The mud creature is voiced by Laura Greenwood, who also played Sasha in this movie.
If you want to see the "The Brothers Grimm" movie, see for yourself.
Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
Mrs. Doubtfire: One of Mr. Williams's Best
When Robin Williams is that much of an actor, he gave us all many good deeds including doing the voice of the Genie in the Disney cartoon "Aladdin" and such. Recently, he was playing the lead in the movie "Mrs. Doubtfire", which was released in 1993. You see, "Mrs. Doubtfire" is about an actor who lived in San Francisco, California, and can disguise himself as a female nanny named Mrs. Doubtfire throughout the film.
The movie opens with a four minute cartoon directed by Chuck Jones (of the "Looney Tunes" and "Merrie Melodies" cartoons, and not to mention "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!") called "Pudgy Parakeet" featuring the Chuck Jones versions of the "Looney Tunes" characters Sylvester, Tweety, and Granny known as Grunge the Cat, Pudgy the Parakeet, and an old lady doing the knitting, all voiced by Robin Williams.
Somewhere in the movie, William's character goes to a TV Studio, where one of the sets featuring Prehistoric Life, and at that, he plays with some toy dinosaurs. Toward the end of the movie, William's character as Mrs. Doubtfire talks to a monkey Muppet named Kovacs (voiced by Chris Pray).
The catchy songs they used in this movie soundtrack are interesting, including the song "Stormy Monday Blues" performed by B. B. King (of "Yakety Yak, Take it Back") and Albert Collins.
Overall, I gave this movie two, or 2, thumbs up to this movie, and a hats off to Mr. Williams himself. Let's hear it for Robin Williams!
Ice Age (2002)
Ice Age: The only 2002 film that is not Sylvialess
"Ice Age" is one of the cartoon movies ever produced by Blue Sky Studios and released in 2002 as the company's first. We are introduced to the main characters: a squirrel named Scrat (voiced by Chris Wedge, AND PLEASE NOTE: the sound of Scrat's screams is the sound of Tom's screams from the "Tom and Jerry" cartoons), a woolly mammoth named Manny (voiced by Ray Romano of "Everybody Loves Raymond"), a sloth named Sid (voiced by John Leguizamo of "Titan A. E."), and a saber toothed tiger named Diego (voiced by Denis Leary of Pixar's "A Bug's Life").
The movie opens with Scrat trying to bury an acorn and right after that, he caused an avalanche. We then see a herd going south for the coming Ice Age (except for Manny, who is going the other way looking for other mammoths that looked like him). Sid comes out of his cave yawning, and saw that his family abandoned him. He then pays toll with some aardvarks. Unfortunately, he gets pursued by Sylvia (voiced by Kirsten Johnston of "3rd Rock from the Sun"), a female orange sloth, who wants Sid to go migrating with her. Sid eventually teams up with Manny, and they became friends.
Meanwhile, nearby a human tribe, Soto (voiced by Goran Visnjic), an evil saber toothed tiger, wants revenge against the tribe's leader for wiping out half of his pack just by stealing his infant son, Roshan, away from him. In the morning, he, Diego, and Soto's henchmen, Lenny (voiced by Alan Tudyk), Oscar (voiced by Diedrich Bader), and Zeke (voiced by Jack Black) attacked the tribe, but the leader's wife escaped with Roshan and gave him to Manny and Sid to look after. Eventually, Diego joins them, and went on a journey to return Roshan back to his tribe, who are also looking for him as well. Relax and watch the rest of the movie and find out, okay? Besides Manny, Sid, Diego, Scrat, Sylvia, and Roshan, the supporting characters in there including a pack of wolves that Roshan's tribe are using, and not to mention a fat female purple sloth named Jennifer (voiced by Jane Krakowski), and a skinny female yellow sloth named Rachel (voiced by Lorri Bagley), to whom Sid shows them Roshan as they relax in a tar pit. Incidentally, the two rhinos, Carl (voiced by Cedric The Entertainer of PDI's "Madagascar"), and Frank (voiced by Stephen Root of Pixar's "Finding Nemo"), who go after Sid for ruining their meal and confront Manny on a cliff, are simple minor characters. Same went for the dodos, who are using melons as their food supply.
The gags in this movie are very funny. For instance, Manny talks through his trunk saying, "I'M NOT GOING!" When Jennifer and Rachel are out of the tar pit, Sid asks Jennifer "What do you say if we jump into the gene pool and see what happens?" Jennifer then responds to him, "What do you say if you go jump into the TAR PIT!?" Rachel also then kicks Sid in the waist. Sylvia sees Diego holding Sid by the neck with his teeth, then she asks Sid if he's holding his breath, tells Diego to eat him, and promptly walks off.
Since "Ice Age" is not only a success, but it has 2 sequels: the first one was "Ice Age: The Meltdown", which was released in 2006, and the other was "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs", which is going to be releasing next year. I can hardly die waiting to see what "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs" will be like.
The Worm Turns (1937)
One revenger at a time
"The Worm Turns" is one of the best Disney cartoons I ever loved. It all begins with Mickey Mouse, dressed up as a mad scientist, puts the few finishing touches to the Weak Made Strong Courage Builder, a super strength potion that makes a smaller animal turn the tables on a larger animal. Now for a test, as Mickey says, he squirts the super strength potion on a fly, and the fly beats up on a sneaky spider for trapping him in his web. Mickey then squirts the super strength potion on a Jerry-like mouse, and after that the mouse chases a Tom-like cat and wrestles him (just like in a similar scene from a "Tom and Jerry" cartoon called, "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Mouse") for chasing him, and throws him out of the house, where Pluto is standing out there. Pluto then chases the cat into the tool shed. The cat gets scared of Pluto's digging, and his 8 lives went for cover in the roof. Mickey squirts the super strength potion on the cat's ninth life, then all of the cat's other lives went back into the cat's body, and the cat chases (and scares) Pluto out into the street after giving him quite a scare, where Pluto calms himself. But before he makes another move, Pluto gets caught by Kron (from the Disney movie "Dinosaur"), who, in Pete's role (!), is seen here as a dog catcher. After disposing of the dinosaur dog catcher, even with the help of Mickey's super strength potion, Pluto gets sprayed by a fire hydrant that Mickey squirts the super strength potion at it when he sniffs at the fire hydrant. This Mickey Mouse cartoon is available on the Walt Disney Treasures 2-Disc DVD, "Mickey Mouse in Living Color", along with the other Mickey Mouse cartoons from 1935 to 1938 including "The Band Concert", "The Brave Little Talior", and such.
Cats Don't Dance (1997)
Cats Don't Dance: One of the most successful Warner Bros movies of all time
Of all the movies they saw, "Cats Don't Dance" is one of my favorite movies of all time. If you want to compare this to my other cartoon favorites done by various studios such as Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean", Pixar's "Toy Story", PDI's "Antz", and such, then you can count on this movie because ever since not only it hit theaters in 1997, but it also hit the box office's jackpot. As we all know, "Cats Don't Dance" was produced by the section of the Warner Bros Studio Lot, Warner Bros Animation Studios, you know, the company that did the "Looney Tunes" and "Merrie Melodies" cartoons, "Tiny Toon Adventures", "Taz-Mania", "Batman: The Animated Series", "Animaniacs", and some M. C. Skat Kat cartoons such as "Opposites Attract" and "Skat Strut", which both co-starred Paula Abdul as a live actor. Same went for "Space Jam", and "Yakety Yak, Take it Back".
Directed by Mark Dindal (of Disney's "Chicken Little"), "Cats Don't Dance" tells the story of an orange tabby cat named Danny (voiced by Rob Paulsen of "Pinky and the Brain"), who lived in Kokomo, Indiana in the '30s/'40s. You can call him Daniel, if you want to. Being a native of Kokomo, Danny had a talent for singing and dancing (ever since when he was a little kitten, his daddy taught him how to sing and dance), and he had only one dream: to go to Hollywood to become a genuine movie star.
So Danny heads off to Hollywood, and when Danny gets in a local building with a room saying "Farley Wink Animal Actors Agency", he gets welcomed and introduced by a hippopotamus named Tillie (voiced by Kathy Najimy of "King of the Hill"), an old goat of an old goat named Cranston (voiced by Jeff Bennett), a turtle named T. W. (voiced by Don Knotts of "The Incredible Mr. Limpet" and "Chicken Little"), and a fish named Frances (voiced by Betty Lou Gerson of "101 Dalmatians"). Danny then went into Farley Wink's office, and Farley Wink (voiced by Frank Welker) asks him if he can be in the next Darla Dimple movie, which is a Noah's Ark movie called "Lil' Ark Angel", and starred Darla Dimple (voiced by Ashley Peldon), a America's sweetheart lover of children and animals. Farley Wink's secretary and Danny's girlfriend, Sawyer (voiced by Paula Jai Parker, best known for the voice of Penny Proud's mother, Trudy Proud in "The Proud Family"), a white cat, was being asked by Farley Wink to be in the movie with Danny, and to be nice around him. She agreed with Mr. Wink, and Danny and Sawyer went and entered Mammoth Pictures, a studio lot that parodies the MGM Studios, where "Lil' Ark Angel" is being filmed. I will tell you the rest of this movie's story, but you will find out.
The backgrounds are done in live action (a la "Who Framed Roger Rabbit") and cartoon sequences, including scenes involving Darla's Manor, Farley Wink's office, Woolie's trailer, L. B. Mammoth's office, etc. The costumes and gags they used in this movie are interesting to me even when something comes along, including Egyptian outfits that Danny and Sawyer are in, and they will be used in the "Dance of the Hours" sequence in the version/variation of the Disney cartoon "Fantasia" with Bugs Bunny as The Sorceror's Apprentice (and it's going to be distributed by Warner Bros!) that I'm working on in the future, even when they are in those clothes.
There were also characters besides the aforementioned ones I'm talking about, including live actors, and other characters that are cartoon, including the supporting characters of the comical and humorous film director, Flanigan (voiced by Rene Auberjonois), elephant Woolie (voiced by Jim Cummings), and the founder of Mammoth Pictures, L. B. Mammoth (voiced by George Kennedy). There are also minor characters in there, including a gorilla that sounds a lot like Daffy Duck. Oh! And be sure to spot caricatures of celebrities throughout the movie including Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Clark Gable, W. C. Fields, and such.
Although the characters sang some of the the songs in the movie, Randy Newman (of "Yakety Yak, Take it Back") composed the music for those songs, as well as wrote the lyrics and produced them, notably "Little Boat On The Sea", "Animal Jam Session", and such. Natalie Cole (of "Yakety Yak, Take it Back") can be heard as the singing voice of Sawyer as she sings two songs for the movie, "Tell Me Lies" and "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now".
Even when "Cats Don't Dance" won several Awards, Emmys, and Nominees, it deserves various treatments, including a couple sequels, spin-offs, and TV series to follow this one.
See you in the movies!
What a Girl Wants (2003)
What a Girl Wants is a great movie
I saw this movie from Warner Bros and Gaylord Films called "What a Girl Wants". As you can see, the movie, "What a Girl Wants", released in 2003, is about a talking camel (voiced by James Earl Jones), who dons the voice of Thurl Ravenscroft, and he likes to sing, romp, and frolic throughout the deserts of Morocco. Accompanying the talking camel is a talking snake (voiced by Gilbert Gottfried), who follows the talking camel around. The people of Morocco got terrified of the talking camel, just by taking one good look at him, and spread the news from village to village, thinking the camel is possessed by a demon. The king of Morocco (played by Omar Sharif) wants the beast to die, and sends his hunters to search everywhere, and track down the talking camel. At one point, the talking camel sings "Poor poor Joseph, Whatcha gonna do? Things are bad for you. Hey, Whatcha gonna do?" and he spits. The talking snake then sings, "Poor poor Joseph, Sold to be a slave. Situation's grave. Hey, Sold to be a slave." At this very end of this movie, the talking camel got killed, and the people of Morocco are safe and sound, so is the country, and they had a big celebration in honor. This movie's story is somewhat like a reminiscent of that of the Disney cartoon, "The Whale who Wanted to Sing at the Met", as part of "Make Mine Music", and this movie is directed by Dennis Nolan (of "Big Pig", "Monster Bubbles", "Alphabrutes", "Wizard McBean and his Flying Machine", "Witch Bazooza", "Llama Beans", and "The Joy of Chickens"). I recommended this movie, so to speak, a fantastical 100% A+.