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Month: June 2012

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Disney Pixar’s BRAVE Celtic Princess

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Disney PIXAR’s Brave is nothing like any other Disney Princess film. It’s better. Following along with Tangled and Princess and the Frog, Brave exhibits a princess with a head on her shoulders and her own dreams outside of getting married to a prince and living happily ever after. This is without a doubt the most relatable of the Disney Princess films – any mother/daughter pair that ever lived through high school years, college years, or those hormonal Tuesdays that come up every once in a while will definitely cry. The Queen, Elinor, wants her daughter, Merida, to learn to be the perfect princess so she can grow up to be the perfect queen, which of course includes marriage to one of the eldest sons of the Clans. Merida much prefers taking a slower, more natural approach to marriage and certainly has no interest in being a stereotypical princess. Obviously that doesn’t go well, Disney magic ensues, and Merida unintentionally places a beastly curse on the Queen in an attempt to change her mind, thus changing Merida’s fate. Merida and her mother must work together to mend the bond they broke out of stubbornness, pride, and anger. The damsel in distress this time is actually the Queen, and it is her daughter’s no-so-princess-like talents that keep them going.  On a more personal note, I really loved that Disney took a go at a Celtic princess for this movie. I think it plays extremely well into the attitudes of the characters and the dynamic of the family (which all reminded me very much of my own). I enjoyed every minute, spent a lot of them laughing, but I also definitely cried a good amount. The story of this princess really affected me in a way others just fell a little short, which is a huge part of what makes this such a new and exciting Disney Princess experience.

PS – look for a Hidden Mickey near the mischievous princes early on!

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B L Skamarakas
Rutgers School of Business-Camden
A politician is someone who will tell you anything you want to hear to get your vote. A leader will tell you what is best for the country, even if it hurts your feelings.

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Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted Now America’s Most Wanted!

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I sometimes have trouble with animated movies.  I’m not gonna lie.  I know it doesn’t fit with the whole “mom” thing I have going, but I have sat way too many times in crowded, kid filled movie theaters, wishing I was doing something more entertaining, like poking knitting needles into my eyes.

I saw the first Madagascar movie, and it was good.  When I say it was good, I mean it was tolerable.  When it came time to see the sequel, I left that to the husband.

Am I glad I didn’t miss this movie!  The theater was packed, and I barely remember a minute when the kids weren’t roaring with laughter.  Or was it the grown ups?  Or was it me???

Here’s a bit of the story – life in Africa isn’t nearly as appealing as life in the big apple, and our band of affable animals (most notably Alex {Ben Stiller}, Marty {Chris Rock}, and King Julien {Sacha Baron Cohen}) have decided to head to Monte Carlo to meet the penguins and high tail it back to New York.  As you might imagine, they do not roll out the carpet at the Grand Casino to welcome our happy little group.  This is where the fabulous Frances McDormand comes in.  Voicing the head of animal control, Captain Chantal DuBois, McDormand goes on a cross continent trek to snag Alex, hoping to add him to the decor of her PETA challenged home.

The chase leads our homeward bound heroes straight into the circus, and if you think it’s been fast paced fun up until now, wait until you see what they do to a circus!  The colors, the lights, the real feel of an amazing Cirque du Soleil-esque performance – absolutely amazing!

There isn’t a minute of downtime in the whole film, and the jokes the kids don’t catch, the grownups certainly will.  There’s a quick debate over the pronunciation of the word “nuclear”; King Julien (who is in love with a big, burly bear) remarks about preferring women with hairy backs; and there’s even a reference to Shock Jock Howard Stern, when a penguin randomly callsl out “Bababooey”.

June 8th is the release date for this movie, and you should be lined up at the door to see it.  Now – go wait, right now.  It is seriously that good.