The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea (6/10)
The Little Mermaid III: Ariel's Beginning (7/10)
Lady and the Tramp (5/10)
I know, it's lazy to rely on a YouTube clip in place of actually commenting, but a) this isn't a professional review thread, and b) what can I actually say? This film is all sugar, no spice, and not particuarly nice, nor particuarly nasty. Female dog meets male dog, male dog helps her home, cue drama, cue puppies at the end. It occurs to me while writing this that in many ways, at least within the DAC, it feels like a predecessor to 101 Dalmations or Bolt (animals, dogs or otherwise, are separated from their owners and need to get back), only those movies are better, if not great.
Apart from that...well, there's an interesting technique at the start where we see things from Lady's perspective, of only seeing the legs of her owners, but this is abandoned before the halfway mark, where we see humans in full view. It's a minor point, but noticeable. Also, why does an Italian chef make spagheti and meatballs for dogs? I mean, good for him, but considering that many restaurants operate on very thin profit margins, this seems a bit excessive. Does he serenade every human who comes through his doors, or is it dogs only?
Anyway, yeah. Nothing to say, it's just "bleh" at worst, and "meh" at best. But usual rankings are below.
Rankings
Like its predecessor, I finally (finally!) found time to do a "proper watch" for this. Unlike its predecessor, I don't really have anything to say that I didn't already say when I last reviewed the film. While the score may have gone up by a point, this is still an "okay" film, whereas its predecessor managed to swim its way into "good" territory when I was giving it my full attention. Anyway, you can read my original review for my full thoughts, and pretty much everything I said here can be applied here, so I'm just going to reiterate some select points:
-Melody is still a better character than Ariel (yes, I stand by that)
-The songs aren't great, and are absolutely terrible at worst, but they're still better than the ones in Ariel's Beginning.
-I'll stand what I said about changing the ending, but things were a bit worse this time around, because compared to the first film, the ending is sluggish in its pace. It's the same basic plot beats but without the flow (no, that isn't a pun) of the first film.
-The animation is absolutely terrible in some places, to the point where some human movements look like contortions. They don't come up much, but when they do, it's noticeable.
So, yeah. It's average. But despite being sub-standard, it's still water under the bridge, as we get to:
-Melody is still a better character than Ariel (yes, I stand by that)
-The songs aren't great, and are absolutely terrible at worst, but they're still better than the ones in Ariel's Beginning.
-I'll stand what I said about changing the ending, but things were a bit worse this time around, because compared to the first film, the ending is sluggish in its pace. It's the same basic plot beats but without the flow (no, that isn't a pun) of the first film.
-The animation is absolutely terrible in some places, to the point where some human movements look like contortions. They don't come up much, but when they do, it's noticeable.
So, yeah. It's average. But despite being sub-standard, it's still water under the bridge, as we get to:
The Little Mermaid III: Ariel's Beginning (7/10)
You might recall in the original review that I said that this was best than the original film. Having done 'proper watches' of all three, I'm taking back that statement. Of the three, this is the one film where my estimation has gone down, and while it's still "good," it's only achieving a 7 just because I don't do decimals (if I did, this would be a 6.5). As a ranking, the original trilogy now goes 1>3>2.
Now, I could leave it there, especially since again, I did do a review that you can look up, and most of what I said there still applies to at least some extent, but I'm going to go over some key points here:
-Despite being themed around music, I can't remember the lyrics of a single song, despite only watching it two days ago. Whatever ups and downs the trilogy has, the lyric quality has decreased with every installment.
-Not so the animation quality - visually, this is the best looking of the three films.
-Most importantly, there's tone and theme. I said when I originally reviewed this film is that ultimately, this is a film about depression and familial loss. Having rewatched it now, while I'd still hold that statement as true, it's a statement that's true only in the "technically" sense, because I underestimated just how much crap there is on the sides. Sometimes, the film takes its subject matter seriously, and this time around, it was noticeable how the colouring shifts (bright colours for music, greys and blues elsewhere). Other times, there's just so much crap and whacky hyjinks to deal with, mainly from Marina Del Rey. I can't find any evidence of this actually being the case, but watching this, it honestly feels like there's two different movies welded together given how much the tone clashes between scenes (scenes that, I noticed, have more fade to blacks than a movie this length would necessitate). It's a shame, because if this movie focused more on the mature side of things, then this could have easily been the best of the trilogy, but as it is, it's a flawed compromise.
Anyway, yeah. Finally got the trilogy out of the way.
Now, I could leave it there, especially since again, I did do a review that you can look up, and most of what I said there still applies to at least some extent, but I'm going to go over some key points here:
-Despite being themed around music, I can't remember the lyrics of a single song, despite only watching it two days ago. Whatever ups and downs the trilogy has, the lyric quality has decreased with every installment.
-Not so the animation quality - visually, this is the best looking of the three films.
-Most importantly, there's tone and theme. I said when I originally reviewed this film is that ultimately, this is a film about depression and familial loss. Having rewatched it now, while I'd still hold that statement as true, it's a statement that's true only in the "technically" sense, because I underestimated just how much crap there is on the sides. Sometimes, the film takes its subject matter seriously, and this time around, it was noticeable how the colouring shifts (bright colours for music, greys and blues elsewhere). Other times, there's just so much crap and whacky hyjinks to deal with, mainly from Marina Del Rey. I can't find any evidence of this actually being the case, but watching this, it honestly feels like there's two different movies welded together given how much the tone clashes between scenes (scenes that, I noticed, have more fade to blacks than a movie this length would necessitate). It's a shame, because if this movie focused more on the mature side of things, then this could have easily been the best of the trilogy, but as it is, it's a flawed compromise.
Anyway, yeah. Finally got the trilogy out of the way.
Lady and the Tramp (5/10)
I know, it's lazy to rely on a YouTube clip in place of actually commenting, but a) this isn't a professional review thread, and b) what can I actually say? This film is all sugar, no spice, and not particuarly nice, nor particuarly nasty. Female dog meets male dog, male dog helps her home, cue drama, cue puppies at the end. It occurs to me while writing this that in many ways, at least within the DAC, it feels like a predecessor to 101 Dalmations or Bolt (animals, dogs or otherwise, are separated from their owners and need to get back), only those movies are better, if not great.
Apart from that...well, there's an interesting technique at the start where we see things from Lady's perspective, of only seeing the legs of her owners, but this is abandoned before the halfway mark, where we see humans in full view. It's a minor point, but noticeable. Also, why does an Italian chef make spagheti and meatballs for dogs? I mean, good for him, but considering that many restaurants operate on very thin profit margins, this seems a bit excessive. Does he serenade every human who comes through his doors, or is it dogs only?
Anyway, yeah. Nothing to say, it's just "bleh" at worst, and "meh" at best. But usual rankings are below.
Rankings
39) The Black Cauldron
38) Dinosaur
37) Cinderella
36) Dumbo
35) Robin Hood
34) The Rescuers
33) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
32) Lady and the Tramp
31) Oliver & Company
30) The Sword in the Stone
29) Peter Pan
28) Sleeping Beauty
27) Pinocchio
26) The Fox and the Hound
25) Pocahontas
24) Bambi
23) Basil, the Great Mouse Detective
22) The Aristocats
21) Frozen II
20) Bolt
19) Wreck-it Ralph: Ralph Breaks the Internet
18) Tarzan
17) Fantasia 2000
16) 101 Dalmations
15) The Jungle Book
14) Alice in Wonderland
13) The Little Mermaid
12) The Emperor’s New Groove
11) Hercules
10) The Hunchback of Notre Dame
9) Fantasia
8) Moana
7) Big Hero 6
6) Beauty and the Beast
5) Treasure Planet
4) Frozen
3) Aladdin
2) The Lion King
1) Zootopia
38) Dinosaur
37) Cinderella
36) Dumbo
35) Robin Hood
34) The Rescuers
33) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
32) Lady and the Tramp
31) Oliver & Company
30) The Sword in the Stone
29) Peter Pan
28) Sleeping Beauty
27) Pinocchio
26) The Fox and the Hound
25) Pocahontas
24) Bambi
23) Basil, the Great Mouse Detective
22) The Aristocats
21) Frozen II
20) Bolt
19) Wreck-it Ralph: Ralph Breaks the Internet
18) Tarzan
17) Fantasia 2000
16) 101 Dalmations
15) The Jungle Book
14) Alice in Wonderland
13) The Little Mermaid
12) The Emperor’s New Groove
11) Hercules
10) The Hunchback of Notre Dame
9) Fantasia
8) Moana
7) Big Hero 6
6) Beauty and the Beast
5) Treasure Planet
4) Frozen
3) Aladdin
2) The Lion King
1) Zootopia
