We Want The D

It's the penultimate entry of the Summer of Sequels, so it felt appropriate to return to Agrabah for one last magic carpet ride with Aladdin and the gang. Including a returning Robin Williams voicing Genie, who they really let off the leash for this one. But for all those obscure impressions and an actually halfway decent story, ALADDIN AND THE KING OF THIEVES is still a Disney direct-to-video sequel, so its not without its shortcomings. The animation is, shall we say, janky. Jasmine is done dirty in pretty much every imaginable way. The songs are, well, tolerable, but mostly because they are rip-offs of the songs from the first movie. Basically, saying its better than Return of Jafar is a textbook case of being damned with faint praise.

Weird to think that Disney went a little Mark Twain crazy in the 90s, isn't it? But they went whole-hog on film adaptations of quite a few of his novels, and this week on We Want The D we tackle TOM AND HUCK, their take on The Adventures of Tom Sawyer starring a couple Tiger Beat cover regulars. Yup, JayTayToe is back and he's brought tragic victim of how Hollywood treats child actors Brad Renfro with him for all sorts of 1840s era adventures. You know, classic old timey stuff like almost drowning, psychologically torturing your cousin, and witnessing a vicious graveyard murder that nearly results in an innocent man being lynched. But somehow between subject matter and the innate sadness of a movie featuring Brad Renfro and Charles Rocket, we still manage to have some fun with this one.

This deep into the Summer of Sequels, our hosts have learned to be on the lookout for some common pitfalls. Cheaper animation, inverted plot points and lazier songwriting are just a few examples of the trappings Disney likes to adorn their sequels with. Luckily for our Mary Poppins-loving hosts, MARY POPPINS RETURNS avoids many of these elements and is altogether a pretty decent follow-up to the beloved classic. Which isn't to say it's practically perfect in every way, by any means. For every solid performance given or amazingly choreographed number or well-dressed set, there's also heavy-handed villains or depressing songs about a dead wife and mother or a (hotly contested) use of BMX bike stunts.

It's been a busy summer of remakes for Disney, but it's finally over (at least for now) with the release of their updated version of THE LION KING. That's right all the words, notes and even some voices that you loved from the beloved animated classic, now with 100% more photorealistic looking animals. It's so similar, you'll gasp in wonder, exclaiming "what's the point?" as Timon and Pumbaa slurp down some very real looking creepy crawlies. You'll wince when you hear a line delivery that just doesn't sound quite right. But it's still The Lion King, so you'll probably enjoy it anyway.

No Summer of Sequels would be complete without a visit to the absolute depths of the Eisner-instigated era of sequels. While sequels to Disney's animated classics were generally relegated to direct-to-video releases, the odd time they decided to go the theatrical route, and Peter Pan sequel RETURN TO NEVERLAND is one such case. These movies also tended to be, well, more or less identical to their original installments, maybe with a few plot inversions. As you may suspect, that doesn't leave our hosts with a whole lot to talk about, which is always a recipe for things to go just a titch off the rails. Which is fine. It's totally fine. Don't worry. By no means do our hosts come up with absolutely insane proposals for alternate plots for this movie. Or at least only a little. Don't worry about it.

Our hosts' journey through the complete Disney filmography has always been one of discovery. Old favourites seen in new lights, modern classics being scrutinized, and yellow-face skeletons found in closets. But Vicky, Nolan and Jill often have the best time when they discover a diamond in the rough. On paper, THE BISCUIT EATER sounds like pretty standard 70s Disney fare, subcategory "boy and his dog" movie. In reality, it surprised and delighted with its good-natured characters, lack of having any people or pets die unexpectedly, and what may be one of the best scenes we've seen yet.

This week is a very special installment of the Summer of Sequels with a movie we're sure you've all heard of and have been looking forward to - RETURN TO SNOWY RIVER! ...What's that? Never heard of it? That's strange. How could you not have heard of this sequel to one of the 1983 Golden Globe Best Foreign Film nominees? Sure, Disney had nothing to do with THAT movie, so we have not and will not ever watch it for this podcast (or likely otherwise)...ok come to think of it that is pretty bizarre. Almost as bizarre as Disney's choice to make a sequel to a movie they had nothing to do with, let alone one that is about 75% adult romance and conversations about animal husbandry and 25% insane horse stunts.

During We Want The D Minnie Mouse-isodes, the listeners are represented by two separate yet equally important groups. The host who diligently researches and presents stories from Disney's colourful history, and the hosts who get to listen and crack jokes. These are their stories.

DUN DUN.

Winter, 2018. The geodesic dome known as Epcot. A weary Disney World employee makes his way into the abandoned pavilion. She gives the empty hall a casual once-over - nobody cares about this place aside from a few hardcore nerds online who take the time to "break in" to the largely unsecured space and film videos in portrait mode on their smartphones. She's about to move on when her brain catches up to her eyes, which casually drifted past a spotlight-lit space moments before. The boy...where is the boy? Her eyes dart from the vacant chair to the dangling, hoses. A brackish, oily fluid drips from roughly severed black tubes. She scrambles for her walkie-talkie. "H-Hello, we have a situation at Epcot! Someone has stolen Buzzy!"

While it shouldn't really be a surprise to see how many unnecessary sequels Disney churned out over the years, they still manage to throw us a curve ball every once in awhile. Because who could have imagined that they'd make a direct, made-for-tv sequel to the Hayley Mills' version of The Parent Trap, appropriately titled THE PARENT TRAP II? Let alone that they'd make it 25 years later when the twins played by Mills are 40 years old. So while there are twin hijinks, they're pretty low-rent...sort of like the meddling plots of Nikki and Mary, the two selfish and bad stars, or Tom Skerritt's parenting skills. The Summer of Sequels continues to chug along, here on We Want The D!

The 90s were generally a pretty good decade for Disney, what with the renaissance of their animated features and some beloved sports movies and such. As we've seen before, however, there were some real clunkers in the mix as well. But perhaps none that land with such a dull thud as A KID IN KING ARTHUR'S COURT - a movie so bad it almost makes you wish it had been made in 60s/70s era Disney. At least that way maybe it would be about a baby goat running around a castle instead of some pubescent dud named Calvin zipping around the halls of Camelot on his in-line skates, trying to trick twenty-year-olds into kissing him, and hanging out with an old man in a t-shirt.