... FOR "WALT DISNEY'S ANIMATED FIFTY (PART 19 - 'THE JUNGLE BOOK' EDITION)"

My continuing foray into Disney's fifty official Animated Classics. As always, don't hesitate to share your thoughts/memories/complaints in the comments section below. Links to previous entries have also been included below.

Title: The Jungle Book (1967; based on the book by Rudyard Kipling)

The Plot: An orphaned boy, raised by wolves in the jungles of India, is returned to civilization by a kindly black panther and sloth bear.

The Songs: "Colonel Hathi's March," "The Bare Necessities," "I Wan'na Be Like You," "Trust In Me," "That's What Friends Are For," "My Own Home"

... FOR "WALT DISNEY'S ANIMATED FIFTY (PART 18 - 'THE SWORD IN THE STONE' EDITION)"

My continuing foray into Disney's fifty official Animated Classics. As always, don't hesitate to share your thoughts/memories/complaints in the comments section below. Links to previous entries have also been included below.

Title: The Sword In The Stone (1963; based on the novel by T. H. White)

The Plot: In the midst of the Dark Ages, Merlin the Magician tutors a 12-year-old orphan named Arthur, who is prophesized to become the future king of England.

The Songs: "The Legend Of The Sword In The Stone," "Higitus Figitus," "That's What Makes The World Go Round," "A Most Befuddling Thing," "Mad Madame Mim"

... FOR "80'S REMAKE-A-PALOOZA!"

I'm late to the party again, I know, but they announced this last Tuesday (August 9th) and it's been festering ever since: "Lionsgate announces Dirty Dancing remake directed by original choreographer Kenny Ortega." That's right. Dirty Dancing. Patrick Swayze. Jennifer Gray. "(I've Had) The Time of My Life." "Nobody puts Baby in a corner." All that.

To which I say: Whaddup, Hollywood? Why this sudden interest in retrofitting 80's pop culture mainstays for our current attention-deficit millennium? First, there were reboots of Friday The 13th, The Karate Kid, and A Nightmare On Elm Street, and a sequel to Tron. Now we've got trailers for a Footloose remake and a prequel to John Carpenter's The Thing (itself a remake) circling the web. We've got upcoming big-screen recyclings of Conan The Barbarian, Fright Night, and Red Dawn, plus in-the- works retoolings of WarGames, Child's Play, and Sam Raimi's Evil Dead (produced, not coincidentally, by Raimi himself). And that's just as of this writing. Who knows what titles will be announced tomorrow, or next week? It's 80's remake fever!

... FOR "WALT DISNEY'S ANIMATED FIFTY (PART 17 - 'ONE HUNDRED AND ONE DALMATIANS' EDITION)"

My continuing foray into Disney's fifty official Animated Classics. As always, don't hesitate to share your thoughts/memories/complaints in the comments section below. Links to previous entries have also been included below.

Title: One Hundred And One Dalmatians (1961; based on the book The Hundred And One Dalmations by Dodie Smith)
The Plot: A wicked London heiress kidnaps a litter of dalmatian puppies for nefarious purposes, and the puppies' parents launch a rescue attempt to find them.

The Songs: "Cruella De Vil," "Kanine Krunchies Jingle," "Dalmatian Plantation"

... FOR "WALT DISNEY'S ANIMATED FIFTY (PART 16 - 'SLEEPING BEAUTY' EDITION)"

My continuing foray into Disney's fifty official Animated Classics. As always, don't hesitate to share your thoughts/memories/complaints in the comments section below. Links to previous entries have also been included below.

Title: Sleeping Beauty (1959; based on the fairy tale "La Belle au bois dormant" by Charles Perrault, and the ballet by Pyotr Tchaikovsky)

The Plot: Three fairies take a newborn princess into hiding, to prevent an evil curse that promises she will prick her finger on her sixteenth birthday and die.

The Songs: "Hail The Princess Aurora," "One Gift," "I Wonder," "Once Upon A Dream," "The Skumps Song," "Sleeping Beauty," "Sing A Smiling Song"