Review: "Encanto"

Walt Disney premiered his first-ever cartoon movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) on December 21st, 1937, at the Carthay Circle Theater in Hollywood, California. The film broke ground as the very first hour-and-a-half long cartoon produced on hand drawn animation with color and sound. In the 84 years since then the Walt Disney Animation Studios have released 60 feature-length cartoons. Number 60 is the new film Encanto (2021), which premiered this past Wednesday, November 24th. Here’s my “Encanto,” review:

Mirabel Madrigal lives with her family at the magical Casa de Madrigal (House of Madrigals) in Columbia. Mirabel loves her large family dearly, from her sisters Isabela and Luisa, to her parents Augustin and Julieta, to her good-hearted but slightly overbearing Abuela, and they love her too. However, Mirabel constantly deals with loneliness because everyone in her family possesses magical powers…except her. It is a mystery to everyone why she doesn’t have any powers, and Mirabel herself wants to discover what her gift truly is. When the magical house begins to fall apart and Mirabel’s family also begins to lose their magical powers, a future-predicting uncle named Bruno helps Mirabel learn what she can do to save her house and family…her gift.

This movie tells a wonderful story about what makes each of us unique. The film was co-written and co-directed by Byron Howard and Jared Bush, who also wrote and directed Disney’s Zootopia (2016), winning the Best Animated Feature Oscar. While “Zootopia,” told a different story, both films emphasized how deep human bonds, rather than judgment helps us all accept each others’ unique contributions.

Bush and Howard shared writing and directing credit with Charise Castro Smith who made her directorial debut with “Encanto.” The film features an Original Score by Germaine Franco as well as Original Songs by Tony-Award-Winner Lin-Manuel Miranda. Miranda is also credited as a story writer with Bush, Howard, and Smith. The film’s head producer is Clark Spencer who shared the “Zootopia,” Oscar win with Howard and Rich Moore, and it’s Executive Producer is current Head of Disney Animation, Jennifer Lee, who won the Best Animated Feature Oscar for Disney’s mega-hit phenomenon Frozen in 2013. Natalie Nourigat, who also worked as a story artist for “Encanto," wrote and directed an entertaining hand-drawn animated short film, Far From the Tree, that plays in front of the movie. 

The film’s voice cast includes Stephanie Beatriz as the voice of Mirabel Madrigal. Beatriz previously played Carla in this year’s film adaptation of In the Heights, a musical that originated on Broadway and was also written by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Angie Cepeda and Wilmer Valderrama voiced Augustin and Julieta Madrigal respectively and while Cepeda makes her Disney debut, Valderrama is also known for voicing Gaxton in Disney/Pixar’s Onward (2020). John Leguizamo voices Uncle Bruno Madrigal and Alan Tudyk voices the family’s pet toucan, Pico. (Both Stephanie Beatriz and John Leguizamo lent their voices to the Ice Age (2002-2016) franchise as well. Leguizamo voiced Sid the Sloth in all five movies and Beatriz voiced Gertie the Dinosaur in Ice Age: Collision Course (2016), the fifth film in the series.)

Overall, “Encanto,” is a beautiful film in which audiences can identify with each of the characters in some way and there is really no villain. With a talented voice cast, visuals by the creators of “Zootopia,” and songs by musical-writing magician, Lin-Manuel Miranda, there’s really nothing not to like. In comparing “Encanto,” to Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon (2021), released earlier this year, I would say I liked “Encanto,” better because I’m a huge fan of musicals and I was thrilled to see Disney return to that format. Even if you don’t like musicals, you’ll still feel inspired by the film’s positive message on family and friendship.

    

     

Review: "Ghostbusters: Afterlife"

“When there’s something strange in your neighborhood, who you gonna call? GHOSTBUSTERS!” Ray Parker Jr. wrote these lyrics for the Oscar-nominated song “Ghostbusters,” the theme song of the film which which was released on June 8th, 1984 and was directed by Ivan Reitman. 35 years later, Reitman’s son, Jason Reitman teamed up with his father and Gil Kenan to reboot the story. In this new version, a modern-day family relocates to a country town and together discover their connection to the original Ghostbusters and their role in the continuing saga. While Ivan produced, Jason Reitman directed and co-wrote the script with Kenan. Jason literally “grew up” on the set of the original “Ghostbusters” watching his father direct the original. This is my review of Ghostbusters: Afterlife:

Callie is a single mom with two young children, Trevor and Phoebe, and they have been evicted from their home, relocating to a farmhouse they inherited from Callie’s father in Summerville, Oklahoma. Neither Callie nor the children have ever known anything about him, or how died or what he was up to before he died. They just feel the pain of being abandoned by him. When they relocate, they learn that their father/grandfather was, in fact, Egon Spengler, a former Ghostbuster who played a significant role in the “ghost attack” in New York in 1984. As they continue to find out more and more information about Egon, they ultimately find themselves in trouble with the town sheriff and ultimately with new ghosts.

This movie is unbelievably well-written. It is as funny as it is touching, as it pays a loving tribute to the late-great Harold Ramis, who not only played Egon Spengler, but also co-wrote both of the original “Ghostbusters” films with Dan Aykroyd. Ramis passed away at the age of 69, in 2014, and besides the “Ghostbusters,” series he was also known for co-writing and directing: Caddyshack (1980), Groundhog Day (1993), Analyze This (1999), and Year One (2009). The original “Ghostbusters,” was the highest-grossing comedy of all-time, succeeded by Home Alone (1990), six years later. That would not have happened had it not been for Harold Ramis, and “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” in my view nicely continues the legacy, helping Ramis’ “spirit” to live on in the world of movies.

The film’s main casts consists of Carrie Coon as Callie, McKenna Grace and Finn Wolfhard as Phoebe and Trevor, respectively, along with Paul Rudd as the summer schoolteacher Mr. Grooberson. Logan Kim plays the kids’ new friend, Podcast. The new characters are entertaining, and the child actors are exceptional in their roles. Spoiler Alert: It is equally entertaining when we finally see Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and Ernie Hudson return as Dr. Peter Venkman, Dr. Ray Stantz, and Winston Zeddermore along with Annie Potts as Janine Melnitz. While it is disappointing that Rick Moranis does not appear in this movie, the return of the rest of the gang, including a surprise post-script all bring clever humor to the film.

In addition to having an exceptional script by Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan, the film includes music composed by Rob Simonsen, though the music does include references to Elmer Bernstein’s score from the original. The film was co-edited by Nathan Orloff and Dana E. Glauberman. (Glauberman previously edited Jason Reitman’s Juno (2007)). Costumes were designed by Danny Glicker who received an Oscar Nomination for the costumes he designed for Milk (2008) and Production Design was done by Francois Audoy who did the production designing for Ford v. Ferrari (2019).

On the whole, Jason Reitman did an incredible job making a film based on his special childhood memory. You could say he made us all wish we all could have grown up on the set of the original “Ghostbusters.” If you weren’t a fan of the lady-Ghostbusters reboot, released in 2016, you will rest at ease when you go to the see this movie. Personally, I would rank it as one of the best reboots ever of an ‘80s film series.       

 

Annie Blog

Stories about underdogs are always inspiring. The underdogs seem to always have optimistic attitudes, and they never let huge obstacles keep them from pursuing exactly what they want to achieve. Annie the Musical, tells the heartwarming story of a child underdog who never gives up hope in finding her long lost parents, but ultimately is adopted by the richest man in the universe. A new rendition is on its way to television, so we’ll look at the various versions of this famous story.

Origins of the “Annie,” story date back as early as 1885, when James Whitcomb Riley wrote a poem originally called “The Elf Child.” Riley learned the story of a young girl named Mary Alice “Allie” Smith who lost both her parents when she was nine years old, but was taken under the wing of Captain Reuben Riley and his wife Elizabeth to help with their housework and children, ultimately becoming part of their family. Riley changed the name of the poem to “Little Orphan Allie” in the poem’s third printing, but a typesetting error caused the poem to be renamed to “Little Orphan Annie.”

Flash forward to the early 1920s, and cartoonist Harold Gray, at the time employed by the Chicago Tribune, got the idea for a comic strip called Little Orphan Otto. It was changed to Little Orphan Annie by Chicago Tribune editor Joseph Medill Patterson and was published on August 5th, 1924. Gray created the comic strip in the hopes that it could one day be adapted into film and/or radio. Not only would that happen a few years later, but the comic strip continued appearing as a regular in the “Tribune,” for the next 76 years, until May 13th, 2010.

NBC Radio adapted the comic strip in 1931 and hired Pierre Andre to narrate the program solo with Alan Wallace directing. The radio program continued to air until 1942, and Little Orphan Annie was adapted for film the next year. Released by RKO Radio Pictures, it starred Mitzi Green as the main character. Paramount Pictures released their own version of Little Orphan Annie six years later, in 1938, with Ann Gillis in the title role.

Nearly 40 later, Broadway composer Charles Strouse and lyricist Martin Charnin decided to adapt “Little Orphan Annie” for the stage. The show opened at the Alvin Theatre (now the Neil Simon Theatre) on April 21st, 1977 and starred Andrea McArdle. While movie audiences were falling deeply in love with Star Wars (1977) at the time, Broadway fell for “Annie,” and the show won seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. It ran for six years, and closed on January 2nd, 1983, playing a record 2,377 performances and making it the longest running show at the Alvin Theatre at the time. (It was surpassed in 2009 by Hairspray with 2,642 performances.)

Before long the musical caught the attention of Hollywood, and in May of 1982, the original film version of the musical was released by Columbia Pictures. Directed by veteran Director John Huston and starring Aileen Quinn as Annie, Carol Burnett as Miss Hannigan, and Albert Finney as “Daddy” Warbucks, the movie-musical flopped at the box office, but has gained a cult status today. Strouse and Charnin also produced sequel musicals: Annie 2: Miss Hannigan’s Revenge in 1989 and Annie Warbucks in 1992, though neither eclipsed the success of the original Broadway hit. A sequel to the 1982 film, Annie: A Royal Adventure! was produced in 1996, but it wasn’t particularly well-received either. Broadway revived the musical for the first time in 1997, though it only played 239 performances.  

In 1999, however, the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) Network adapted the musical to air as part of The Wonderful World of Disney (1991-present). This film starred Alicia Morton as Annie, Victor Garber as “Daddy” Warbucks, Kathy Bates as Miss Hannigan, and Audra McDonald as Grace Farrell. It even featured a cameo by Andrea McArdle. Directed and choreographed by Broadway veteran Rob Marshall, the film was so well-received that it wound up being a bigger hit for ABC than the original 1982 film was for Columbia. The film aired on ABC on November 7th (22 years ago today!) and it was thanks to this film’s success that Rob Marshall would continue to work with Disney: directing and choreographing Chicago (2002), which earned him a Best Director Oscar Nomination, as well as directing Into the Woods (2014), Mary Poppins Returns (2018), and the upcoming live-action remake of The Little Mermaid (2023). (When directing “Into the Woods,” Marshall directed Lilla Crawford in the role of Little Red Riding Hood, who coincidentally had originated Annie in Broadway’s 2012 revival of the show!)

A documentary about the perspectives of those who have played Annie or any of the orphans on Broadway called Life After Tomorrow was produced in 2006. “Annie,” was then re-produced in 2014 by Columbia, though distributed by Sony. This version featured a modern/contemporary version of the plot and took place in “present day” New York rather than “Great Depression,” New York and featured Oscar-Nominee Quvenzhane Wallis as Annie, Cameron Diaz as Miss Hannigan, Rose Byrne as Grace Farrell, and Jamie Foxx as Benjamin Stacks (a modernized name for Oliver Warbucks.) On December 2nd, 2021, NBC will air an all-new live broadcast of Annie that will star Celina Smith as Annie, Taraji P. Henson as Miss Hannigan, Harry Connick Jr. as “Daddy Warbucks, and Nicole Sherzinger as Grace Farrell.

“Annie,” is a special musical because in addition to being about optimism, it’s about how sometimes life doesn’t always turn out the way you had hoped, but what happens instead can still be pretty good. As they sing in the show “the sun will come out tomorrow.” The show has a unique place in the history of musical theatre, and it will continue to be loved.