Moana

Moana

Disney

November 23, 2016

Animation, Children's, Fantasy, Historical Drama, Historical Comedy, Musical, Action

DVD
B

This is one of those movies where I wonder why I don't give them a B+ or higher.  It might be a little of the comedown from seeing the dazzling visuals on my TV instead of in the movie theater.  It might be that I think that there are two great songs ("You're Welcome" and "Shiny"), while the others are solid but less memorable.  It might be that, having seen the movie at least twice before today, the plotting feels not quite right, from the introduction of not one but two sidekick animals (with the pig disappearing for about an hour while the chicken affects the plot) to the formulaic departure and then return of Moana's demigod frenemy, Maui.  That said, the visuals remain lovely, the mix of emotional tones works, and the incorporation of Polynesian heritage is both respectful and playful.

The four directors are (in alphabetical order) Ron Clements, Don Hall, John Musker, and Chris Williams.

Bolt

Bolt
Walt Disney
November 21, 2008
Action, Fantasy, Children's
DVD
C

I saw this at the time but didn't remember much about it today, so I actually felt let down that the surprisingly good action sequences led to some sort of canine rip-off of The Truman Show (and I liked The Truman Show).  At least in TTS there's a whole set-up for how they've fooled Truman, while here I kept thinking, Wait, so the show has been on the air for five years and they've been fooling a talking dog since he was a puppy?  I gave it twenty minutes total (rather than my usual fifteen) to see if it could bounce back, but the addition of stereotypical Hollywood types didn't help.

Chris Williams co-wrote, with Dan Fogelman, and co-directed, with Byron Howard (who'd do much better with animals in Tangled and of course Zootopia).