So many of you have donated to Joanna and I realised that while we’ve been posting thank yous on our Facebook page most of you probably haven’t seen them. So here it is, and if by some unfortunate happenstance I forgot to credit someone, please let me know in the comments. Thanks for the support guys.
Here’s your first look at the new Joanna poster! (with thanks to Ste Murray)
FAQ now done
Thanks for all your suggestions guys. You can see the FAQ HERE.
AMA for my FAQ! ASAP!
So, I’m thinking of doing a FAQ page for the blog and I need suggestions. I’ve already got the obvious ones (What’s this blog about? When do you update? What’s with the wiseass map of Europe?) but if there’s any questions you’d like answered leave ’em in the comments.
Mouse out.
Video Reviews #6 & #7: Saludos Amigos and Three Caballeros
Happy New Year!
Hope everyone had a good one. 2013 was a pretty big year for Unshaved Mouse. I entered the final stretch of finishing my mission to review all the Disney canon classics, picked up a load of new readers and started a feud with the largest newspaper in my home country. Which I lost. But hey, I can’t say it wasn’t fun. 2014 is shaping up to be pretty fantastic though, and that is all thanks to you guys. There are now 25 days left on my Indiegogo campaign to raise funds for my play Joanna, and the response has already been phenomenal, much better than I expected. As a result, the schedule for next year is now filling up with all kinds of movies for me to review, some of them are classics, some of them are stinkers, but all of them are films that I’m really excited about getting my teeth into. So if there’s an animated movie you want me to review, click on this link, donate €1o and leave me a message here to say which movie you want me to review. Thanks guys. And now if you’ll excuse me…
“One shall stand, one shall fall…”
“Why throw your life away so recklessly, Prime?”
“That is a question you should ask…um, are you seeing this little mouse too?”
…
…
…
“Can we help you?”
“Oh hi. Unshaved Mouse. I’ve been asked to review your movie so I’m going to need you to come with me.”
“We’re actually a little busy here.”
“Sorry. Let me rephrase that.”
“AAAAARRGGH!”
“JESUS!”
“GET IN THE FUCKIN’ VAN WHITEY!”
“Okay! Okay man! Just be cool!”
“GET IN THERE WITH THE OTHERS!”
“Others? Who…?”
“Help me…”
Disney Reviews with the Unshaved Mouse #43: Treasure Planet
(DISCLAIMER: This blog is not for profit. All images and footage used below are property of their respective companies unless stated otherwise. I do not claim ownership of this material. New to the blog? Start at the start with Snow White.)
***
Occasionally, before beginning a review, I will don a simple disguise and mingle with the common folk of the Disney fandom. “Tell me good sirrah,” I might enquire of some good-hearted peasant in a small, provincial internet forum “What do the people think of Lilo and Stitch?”.
“Why sir, it is rightly lauded as a most wondrous film and much beloved.”
“And the Unshaved Mouse? I have heard that he is a reviewer of passable skill?”
“Passable skill? By thunder sir, he is a very God amongst the reviewing class, and most sorely do I wish he were here, that I might shake his hand.”
“Mayhap he is closer than you think, good pleb” I would say with a benevolent smile. I would then toss him a Bitcoin to see the light of thanks in his eyes, and be on my way.
My point is, I try to take the pulse of where we as a fandom are on a particular film and what I found with Treasure Planet made me a little worried. A cursory glance at the internet shows that this thing has a healthier fanbase than many other movies in the canon. Lots of fanart and fanfiction, plenty of people willing to fly the “Lost Classic” banner, some of the most soul scarring motherfucking Jim/Silver porn you have ever seen in your life that I can now never unsee for as long as I live…
But on the flip side…
Yeah, so there is a lot of hate for this thing out there. Robert Louis Stevenson purists, animation nerds who blame it for the death of traditional Disney animation, people who just flat out hate it as a movie, Somalis who were suckered into a life of piracy by the unrealistic portrayal in the movie…
These young men were promised robots.
This movie has made more enemies than Boba Fett. And this puts me in a tough position because when it comes to Treasure Planet I fall into the controversial camp of: ”Meh. ‘Sfine.”
Treasure Planet was actually originally pitched by Ron Clements and Jon Musker all the way back in 1985 but it was passed over in favour of Little Mermaid which…yeah, probably the right call. I was surprised to learn that this was a Clements and Musker film because it feels a lot more like something by Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, particularly Atlantis. Clements and Musker were actually happy for the delay because by the time they got a chance to make it the technology had caught up with their vision for the film. And I’ve got to say this up front; this film is gorgeous. In fact, almost all the Lost Era movies are. The quality of the movies may have gone down after the renaissance, sure, but if anything the animation just kept getting better and better. Let’s take a look.
2013 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 140,000 times in 2013. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 6 days for that many people to see it.
Video Reviews #5: Bambi
And I meant to post this earlier but Christmas got in my way.
Check this guy out!
Hi guys, a slightly belated Merry Christmas to you all. You all know Erik Copper whose dulcet readings of the Unshaved Mouse drip like honey upon the ears of the waiting internet (audio of The Three Caballeros review has gone up here). And now he’s started a blog of his own…
Terrific. Another piranha in the tank.
…called LyriCritic where he reviews awful pop music for your amusement. He does requests (like me) and he doesn’t have the temerity to ask for money (like…look, a bird!). Anwyay, you should check him out and watch him show Nicki Minaj what’s what.
unshavedmouse 