50 years ago: Mary Poppins, the “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious musical fantasy,” released

Mary Poppins Released: August 26, 1964 Studio: Disney Genre: musical/fantasy/comedy Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 102.27 Worldwide: -- Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: 887.80 Worldwide: 1511.80

Directing: Robert Stevenson Screenwriting: Bill Walsh, Don DaGradi Starring: Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke Review: “This supercalifragilisticexpialidocious musical fantasy” A07 “is proof of how childhood films can be a wonderful salve as you grow into an adult.” RF “There’s charm, wit, and movie magic to spare in Walt Disney’s adaptation of P.L. Travers’s book about a ‘practically perfect’ nanny who brings profound change to the Banks family of London, circa 1910.” LM The movie “introduced Andrews to film history as the magical nanny who…arrives at the home of Jane and Michael Banks via umbrella and teaches them that a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down.” A07 Dick Van Dyke “is equally good as Bert, the whimsical jack of all trades). That’s Jane Darwell, in her last screen appearance, as the bird lady.” LM Sources: A07 American Film Institute (2007). “AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies – 10th Anniversary Edition” LM Leonard Maltin “100 Must-See Films of the 20th Century” RF Refinery29.com (2/8/2023). “101 Best Movies of All Time” by Alexandra Koster

Awards/Honors/Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Box Office: Awards: Oscars: Wins: 5 – Best Actress (Andrews), Best Film Editing, Best Special Visual Effects, Best Original Song (“Chim Chim Cher-ee”), Best Substantially Original Score Nominations: 13 – including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Art/Set Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Sound, Best Scoring of Music Lists: Experts’ Picks: Genre Lists: First posted 6/11/2023.

   

Toy Story, the first fully computer-animated film, is released

Toy Story Released: November 22, 1995 Studio: Disney Genre: animation/comedy/family Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 191.80 Worldwide: 373.60 Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: 449.58 Worldwide: 744.30

Directing: John Lasseter Screenwriting: Joss Whedon, Andrew Stanton, Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow Starring: voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Annie Potts, Wallace Shawn, Jim Varney, John Ratzenberger Review: Pixar Studios were pioneers in CGI animation, creating the Oscar-nominated short Luxo Jr. in 1986 and the Oscar-winning short Tin Story in 1988. In 1995, they took another great leap forward with Toy Story, the first feature-length film completely animated by computers. The groundbreaking special effects “were surpassed only by the intelligent, thoughtful script that had adult themes that both parents and their kids could relate to.” FS “It’s a perfectly formed story, about friendship, love, fear of abandonment, workplace politics and self-identity. While its ability to make you laugh is undiminished.” EM’18 The story focuses on a boy named Andy and his toys, who come to life when no humans are around. Cowboy Woody (Hanks) is the favorite. There’s also “Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head, Wallace Shawn as Rex, a meek dinosaur, Jim Varney as Slinky Dog, John Ratzenburger as Hamm the Pig, and Annie Potts as Woody’s sweetheart, Bo Peep).” FS A rivalry ensues when Woody’s status as top toy is challenged by the “new hi-tech space and action-toy Buzz Lightyear (voice by Tim Allen)” FS which Andy gets for his birthday. The “doltish” AFI07 and “deluded Buzz believes he’s on a mission to save the planet” FS instead of a child’s toy. Woody and Buzz have to learn to work together, though, when they get “trapped in the house of Sid, a sadistic bully in the neighborhood.” FS “Groundbreaking computer animation creates the world of Woody, a toy cowboy who suddenly finds himself as the second-favorite toy. Replaced by the newer and very high tech, but doltish, Buzz Lightyear, Woody gets accused of killing Buzz by tossing him out the window. It’s a race to get him back. ‘To infinity and beyond!’” AFI07 Sources: AFI07 American Film Institute (2007). “AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies – 10th Anniversary Edition” EM’18 Empire (3/20/2018). “The 100 Greatest Movies” FS Filmsite.org “100 Greatest Films”

Awards/Honors/Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Genre Lists: Oscars: Wins: 0 Nominations: 3 – Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Musical or Comedy Score (Randy Newman), Best Song (“You’ve Got a Friend”) Other Awards: Other Lists/Honors: First posted 5/28/2023.

The Lion King released

The Lion King

The Lion King Released: June 15, 1994 Studio: Disney Genre: animation Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 422.80 Worldwide: 968.51 Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: 874.61 Worldwide: 1900.00

Directing: Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff Screenwriting: Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, Linda Woolverton Starring: voices of Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Nathan Lane, Whoopi Goldberg Review: This was Disney’s 32nd animated musical – and its highest-grossing. TV It is one of “Disney’s most beautifully rendered films” E18 and their best “among the studio’s post-1970 features.” TV “The story – a sort of Bambi meets Hamlet – can by now be recited word for word by any parent with a VCR, but the songs, lush colors and sly inside jokes make Lion worth another rewind.” TV It opens “on a grand scale with the song ‘Circle of Life’ announcing the birth of Simba, a baby lion.” A07 It features “one of the most distressing death scenes in a kids’ movie since… well…Bambi.” E18 Simba’s cruel uncle makes his nephew believe he is responsible for his father’s death. Simba eventually “returns home to reclaim his throne.” A07 Sources: A07 American Film Institute (2007). “AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies – 10th Anniversary Edition” E18 Empire (3/20/2018). “The 100 Greatest Movies” TV TV Guide (August 8-14, 1998 issue). “50 Greatest Movies on TV and Video”

Awards/Honors/Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Genre Lists: Box Office: Awards: Oscars: Wins: 2 – including Best Song (“Can You Feel the Love Tonight”), Best Score Nominations: 4 – including Best Song (“Circle of Life”), Best Song (“Hakuna Matata”) Other Lists/Honors: First posted 5/31/2023.

Beauty and the Beast, the first animated feature nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, released

Beauty and the Beast Released: November 22, 1991 Studio: Disney Genre: animation/musical/romance/fantasy Box Office (numbers in millions): Domestic: 219.00 Worldwide: 451.37 Adjusted for Inflation: Domestic: 425.06 Worldwide: 674.65

Directing: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise Screenwriting: Linda Woolverton Starring: voices of Robby Benson, Paige O’Hara, Richard White, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, Angela Lansbury Review: Beauty and the Beast was based on a classic fairy tale about “the importance of inner beauty” FS written by Jeanne-Marie Leprince deBeaumont in 1756. It wasn’t the first movie version; it made it to the big screen nearly a dozen times previously, including a 1922 silent version and La Belle et La Bête (1946), a French version by Jean Cocteau. Disney’s animated version, however, became the most successful. It “returned the Disney animation studios to their former glory” FS and became the first animated feature in history to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar. It was Disney’s second film (1990’s The Rescuers Down Under was the first) to “combine its famous hand-drawn animation with computer graphics.” FS The story is about a French peasant girl (O’Hara) “trapped in the castle of a hideous beast” (Benson) who used to be a prince. In a somewhat creepy twist on Stockholm syndrome, she “eventually falls for his unusual charm.” A07 “The beautiful artwork and colors were supplemented by a well-written song score” FS from Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman. Highlights included the Oscar-winning title song and “the show-stopping ‘Be Our Guest.’” A07 Sources: A07 American Film Institute (2007). “AFI’s 100 Years…100 Movies – 10th Anniversary Edition” FS Filmsite.org “100 Greatest Films”

Awards/Honors/Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Lists: Dave’s Movie Database Genre Lists: Box Office: Oscars: Wins: 2 – Best Song (“Beauty and the Beast”), Best Music Score Nominations: 6 – including Best Picture, Best Song (“Belle”), Best Song (“Be Our Guest”), Best Sound Other Awards: Other Lists/Honors: Critics’ Picks: Roger Ebert First posted 5/29/2023.