'Tramp' Trumps 'Bambi II,' Pop Tops in Music Again
Burbank, California—Disney's 50th anniversary restoration premiere of Lady and the Tramp (on DVD Feb. 28) at Disney's El Capitan Theatre was better than expected. At next door Disney's Soda Fountain and Studio Store, they served spaghetti and stocked the shelves with a plush cocker spaniel Lady and mutt Tramp linked by a thin strand of pasta, like the famous scene in the movie. Nobody integrates like Disney.
The theme continued at El Cap, where an accordionist and mandolin musician played for arriving guests, who included lovely Kathryn Beaumont, voice of Wendy in Peter Pan and Alice in Alice in Wonderland. Before the movie (more on that later), Mickey and Minnie Mouse danced a Valentine's routine on stage. Other treats included a showing of the 1933 short Puppy Love starring Minnie, Mickey—with Pluto causing a lot of trouble between the mice.
It was an ambitious kickoff to the picture's short two-week engagement, which makes way today for Eight Below. The highlight was an informative panel discussion moderated by John Canemaker, author of Walt Disney's Nine Old Men & The Art Of Animation. The panel featured the voice of the beaver, Stan Freberg, who was kind enough to recreate the character using a plastic whistle, Disney songwriter Richard Sherman, who composed Mary Poppins, restorer Theo Gluck and Disney animator Andreas Deja, who provided a visual tutorial using rare drawings.
Deja, clearly reverent of classic Disney animation, also serves as guide for Disney's straight-to-video sequel, Bambi II, which is well done for what it is. But what it is—a knockoff of a classic that needs no sequel—falls short of the company's historically high standards and practices.
It's not that Bambi II is awful—a positive theme depicts Bambi's father, voiced by Patrick Stewart, teaching Bambi how to think for himself—and the DVD contains decent songs, features and extras. Not being atrocious isn't saying much, and one can't help wondering why Disney didn't invest this money in something new and original instead.
Everything about it is mixed. Digital animation is good, yet not as good as hand-painted animation, and modern garbage seeps in, as when Thumper speaks in a sing-songy street talk. Mixed media may make money—Bambi II decisively debuted at the top of the DVD sales chart, according to VideoScan—but, with Mr. Iger apparently refocusing the company on quality content, mixed is mixed.
Bambi II wasn't the only chart surprise. Barry Manilow bounced rappers off the top of the music charts last week and that has to be good news. This week, Jack Johnson's collection of Curious George songs replaces Mr. Manilow's covers of 1950s tunes, but here's one fan who's cheering anyone making melodic music.
That would include Andrea Bocelli, returning to the genre that launched his career with "Con Te Partiro" in an outstanding album of songs, Amore, produced by David Foster and Humberto Gatica. The 14-song (plus a bonus track co-written by Julio Iglesias) CD features Stevie Wonder, Kenny G, a duet with Christina Aguilera—it's good—and a surprisingly successful cover of Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love." Bocelli's back and better than ever.
The best pop news this month is Roberta Flack's hits disc, The Very Best of Roberta Flack, with a printed booklet to match 17 of her finest songs. The soft, jazzy tunes are remastered, uncorrupted by other recording artists, including "Killing Me Softly with His Song", "The Closer I Get to You" and "Where Is the Love".
Twenty-three years before Willie Nelson and company recorded songs on Brokeback Mountain, Miss Flack stepped out and took a career risk by recording the title song to the gay movie Making Love, written by Carole Bayer Sager, Burt Bacharach and Bruce Roberts. "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" from Clint Eastwood's stalker movie Play Misty for Me is here, too, and its 45's flipside, a song later recorded by master showman Lou Rawls called "Trade Winds."
Writer David Nathan's liner notes are a long, thoughtfully written tribute to an underrated singer who started by playing piano and singing in clubs like Georgetown's Tivoli Opera to a growing fan base that included Bill Cosby, Woody Allen and Duke Ellington.
The Very Best of Roberta Flack is jammed with talent: Miss Flack's frequent partner Donny Hathaway, arrangements by Luther Vandross, Lee Ritenour on guitar, David Sanborn on sax and her longtime producer, Atlantic Records' Joel Dorn.
At center, in each song, is the star herself. As Nathan writes: "Her approach to her career in many ways reflects the music she makes—sometimes understated but always heartfelt, subdued, and yet simmering with feeling. She's not one to overpower an audience with bombastic vocal gymnastics." Maybe that's why we remember her songs.
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RELATED ARTICLES
• 12/29/05 - Hollywood Boulevard Rebounds
• 2/24/05 - 'Bambi' Banks on a New Generation
• 2/24/05 - From 'Bambi' to 'Rugrats'
• Review - 'Lady and the Tramp' on DVD
• Review - 'Bambi' on DVD
RELATED LINKS
• Lady and the Tramp DVD
• Bambi II DVD• Roberta Flack - The Very Best of Roberta Flack
• Roberta Flack E-Card
• Andrea Bocelli - Amore
• Jack Johnson - Sing-A-Longs & Lullabies for the Film Curious George
• Barry Manilow - The Greatest Songs of the Fifties
The theme continued at El Cap, where an accordionist and mandolin musician played for arriving guests, who included lovely Kathryn Beaumont, voice of Wendy in Peter Pan and Alice in Alice in Wonderland. Before the movie (more on that later), Mickey and Minnie Mouse danced a Valentine's routine on stage. Other treats included a showing of the 1933 short Puppy Love starring Minnie, Mickey—with Pluto causing a lot of trouble between the mice.
It was an ambitious kickoff to the picture's short two-week engagement, which makes way today for Eight Below. The highlight was an informative panel discussion moderated by John Canemaker, author of Walt Disney's Nine Old Men & The Art Of Animation. The panel featured the voice of the beaver, Stan Freberg, who was kind enough to recreate the character using a plastic whistle, Disney songwriter Richard Sherman, who composed Mary Poppins, restorer Theo Gluck and Disney animator Andreas Deja, who provided a visual tutorial using rare drawings.
Deja, clearly reverent of classic Disney animation, also serves as guide for Disney's straight-to-video sequel, Bambi II, which is well done for what it is. But what it is—a knockoff of a classic that needs no sequel—falls short of the company's historically high standards and practices.
It's not that Bambi II is awful—a positive theme depicts Bambi's father, voiced by Patrick Stewart, teaching Bambi how to think for himself—and the DVD contains decent songs, features and extras. Not being atrocious isn't saying much, and one can't help wondering why Disney didn't invest this money in something new and original instead.
Everything about it is mixed. Digital animation is good, yet not as good as hand-painted animation, and modern garbage seeps in, as when Thumper speaks in a sing-songy street talk. Mixed media may make money—Bambi II decisively debuted at the top of the DVD sales chart, according to VideoScan—but, with Mr. Iger apparently refocusing the company on quality content, mixed is mixed.
Bambi II wasn't the only chart surprise. Barry Manilow bounced rappers off the top of the music charts last week and that has to be good news. This week, Jack Johnson's collection of Curious George songs replaces Mr. Manilow's covers of 1950s tunes, but here's one fan who's cheering anyone making melodic music.
That would include Andrea Bocelli, returning to the genre that launched his career with "Con Te Partiro" in an outstanding album of songs, Amore, produced by David Foster and Humberto Gatica. The 14-song (plus a bonus track co-written by Julio Iglesias) CD features Stevie Wonder, Kenny G, a duet with Christina Aguilera—it's good—and a surprisingly successful cover of Elvis Presley's "Can't Help Falling in Love." Bocelli's back and better than ever.
The best pop news this month is Roberta Flack's hits disc, The Very Best of Roberta Flack, with a printed booklet to match 17 of her finest songs. The soft, jazzy tunes are remastered, uncorrupted by other recording artists, including "Killing Me Softly with His Song", "The Closer I Get to You" and "Where Is the Love".
Twenty-three years before Willie Nelson and company recorded songs on Brokeback Mountain, Miss Flack stepped out and took a career risk by recording the title song to the gay movie Making Love, written by Carole Bayer Sager, Burt Bacharach and Bruce Roberts. "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" from Clint Eastwood's stalker movie Play Misty for Me is here, too, and its 45's flipside, a song later recorded by master showman Lou Rawls called "Trade Winds."
Writer David Nathan's liner notes are a long, thoughtfully written tribute to an underrated singer who started by playing piano and singing in clubs like Georgetown's Tivoli Opera to a growing fan base that included Bill Cosby, Woody Allen and Duke Ellington.
The Very Best of Roberta Flack is jammed with talent: Miss Flack's frequent partner Donny Hathaway, arrangements by Luther Vandross, Lee Ritenour on guitar, David Sanborn on sax and her longtime producer, Atlantic Records' Joel Dorn.
At center, in each song, is the star herself. As Nathan writes: "Her approach to her career in many ways reflects the music she makes—sometimes understated but always heartfelt, subdued, and yet simmering with feeling. She's not one to overpower an audience with bombastic vocal gymnastics." Maybe that's why we remember her songs.
$
RELATED ARTICLES
• 12/29/05 - Hollywood Boulevard Rebounds
• 2/24/05 - 'Bambi' Banks on a New Generation
• 2/24/05 - From 'Bambi' to 'Rugrats'
• Review - 'Lady and the Tramp' on DVD
• Review - 'Bambi' on DVD
RELATED LINKS
• Lady and the Tramp DVD
• Bambi II DVD• Roberta Flack - The Very Best of Roberta Flack
• Roberta Flack E-Card
• Andrea Bocelli - Amore
• Jack Johnson - Sing-A-Longs & Lullabies for the Film Curious George
• Barry Manilow - The Greatest Songs of the Fifties
