Sacrificing cinema integrity for sidekicks

Been a while!
Having students learning about architecture and stained glass(rose windows) watch The Hunchback of Notre Dame.  Repeated viewing of this movie brings about the contradiction this movie has to live by.  In it's soul it is a sweet story about finding your place.  It tackles themes of struggling with ones inner self, sex, murder, corruption, emotional abuse, and morality.  Not things that come to mind when people say Disney but honestly it's because of the other side of the story elements.  Comic relief...sidekicks....in and of themselves these elements are not bad.  A drama with no humor is too heavy.  And movies aimed at all ages need this to hold the interest of children.  This movie was brave and acknowledged that animation does not have to be flowers, buttercups, and low brow humor(though it has some pretty low brow humor). 
But WHY did the sidekicks have to be gargoyles?

WHY!

It is one of the few Disney movies without real "magic" occurrences and the only way to rationalize(and I use the term loosely) them is that Quasi is in truth quite mad....I mean you can't blame him...and the voice actors do a marvelous job but they really take me out of the film.
It is said in literature the audience needs a willing suspension of disbelief. Of course this is true for film, theater...all things of this type really. 
But this really tests my suspension.  Why are they there? Disney formula? But this movie isn't high on formula. 
Really they're there to lighten things, to appeal to the part of the audience that the dark themes would alienate.  I just wish they'd handled it better.

But this also brings about the factor of the latest useless Disney sidekick.  Louis the trumpet playing alligator.  Being from Louisiana I see what they wanted to do...I know why he's there.  But while watching the film and more so while listening to the commentary you just get the feeling that the story would have been fine...maybe even better, without him.

Originally he was also a human turned animal.  They threw that out in the intrest of streamlining the plot the and the speed of the film.  They mention that alot, speeding up the film...maybe I'll talk about that in another post.
Then they comment about how originally you met Ray, then Louis and it caused Louis's presence to be kind of...unimportant.  I think that should have been an indicator to them right there...He was unimportant.  He serves no REAL purpose in the movie, he's not even really comic relief, he's just kind of annoying.  By the end of the film he's seriously testing my suspension.
The inclusion of a useless character takes time away from ones who could have used more screen-time.  Mama Odie and Dr. Facilier were both built up significantly in promotional material and interviews and yet we know nothing about them.. I give the Shadow Man the benefit of the doubt but honestly I seem to be the only person I've talked to who saw him as a worthwhile villain....again something to expand upon later.  Maybe this week I'll write a review of the movie/DVD release.
These characters are essential to the plot but get little to no coverage, while Louis gets significant screen coverage and a song(they too get songs but Louis' song is just as useless as he is)
Once again a movie sacrifices substance for sidekicks.  Anyone else have an example? These are just two.

Well...just something to think about...


See ya Real soon!

Happy Post Easter Post

Here's hoping everyone had a lovely Easter Holiday!  Over at Disney World they did things up as they always do.  Man I wish I was ages 3-9 and able to go on an egg hunt in EPCOT.  At least no age restriction on Trick-or-Treating at Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween Party.  Nothing like a Disney holiday right?

Well, to be perfectly honest it really all depends.  Steven and I have been blessed enough to be able to be in Disney World for Christmas once and for the Not so Scary Halloween Party twice. 
Now honestly for the Halloween Party it wasn't actually Halloween but as I mentioned before there was Trick or Treating! Non age restrictive Trick or Treating!  For Christmas we really were there for Christmas.  And it was nice enough being surrounded by Disney's idea of Christmas.  I don't know what it was, maybe it was the unseasonable warmth, even for Florida, but really being from Louisiana unseasonable warmth doesn't really mean much (Anyone from Louisiana can tell you there is no such thing as seasons in Louisiana).   It was beautiful, don't get me wrong, but with something like Christmas...what bleeds tradition more than Christmas?  So while Disney is great I don't think we'll be doing something like Christmas there again, the crowds were huge, the resorts were packed and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party wasn't even on anymore, and I was very much hoping it would have been.  Considering the Christmas decorations go up in November and the Christmas Party is usually earlier in December anyway(Steven and I have birthdays and our anniversary in early December).  I honestly think it'd be just as well to plan and go in a less busy time, you get all the benefits and you get to spend your normal holiday time the way that you normally would. That was the best thing about going during the Halloween Party was we had Halloween fun in the parks, later nights and light crowds, all the events, and then you can go home and have your normal holiday to dos.  In the case of something like Easter, there are day specific things things you can only do on these days.  I certainly would like to go to a Disney Park at some point on these kind of days.  As it is it isn't in the cards at the moment but hey holidays are about family, right? So I hope everyone had a great Easter holiday, no matter your religious standing, just enjoy a day of candy munchin' and big food eatin'.

See ya real soon!

I just realised something!

So I have...tons-I mean TONS- of Disney CDs.  Park music, movie music, compilations, just oodles.  And I love It's a Small World.  It really is one of my favorites, it's cheesy and just infinitely made fun of but I do I just love that ride.  So I thought, as I have found, most of the CDs I have with the Small World theme on it the song is the same one, sometimes shorter but obviously the same track.
Well a couple of months ago I was at a city wide garage sale at the local Civic Center and stumbled across this:

I had no idea really what it was but it was old, and it was Disney.  The date was roman numeral and I'll admit my roman numeral memory was a bit rusty. It couldn't have cost more than $10, I don't really remember off the top of my head, but I knew I had to buy it-I mean look at it! It's so old!  So I called Steven and read the roman numbers to him and he (at work at the time) guessed '98.  Yay my first Disney World trip was in 99! So that made it special, this was the music in the park when I went on the only trip with my family(all trips since have been with Steven and his family), and since my brother passed away a year ago it made it more of a special thing.  Well come to find we were off a decade, it's actually '88.  Not special in the way I originally thought but still special, it has music from rides that are no longer there, some of which were in '98 so it's still kinda the same.  But really at the end of the day it's Disney, it's park music, it's worth it.

The point to all that is, of course, I bought it-along with the cutest Classic Pooh paperweight.

What does this have to do with It's a Small World? Well the CD has a version that I didn't have, most of the CDs I have have the same song, albeit different lengths, with the exception of one Disney DDR dance mix version that I have.  But the version on the CD-it's different! And that makes me SO EXCITED!...Silly thing to be excited about I know but...well...not if you know me, not if you love Disney like I do.  Better yet it's a version I've been looking for!  Of course it has been months until I've discovered this because as I have many copies of the song I never sat down and listened to the one off this CD.  I usually just listened to the tracks I didn't have others of and went on my way.  Today while working on a teaching portfolio for my upcoming graduation I just kinda hit play on the album in Zune and went to work (I was in the mood for Minnie's Yoo Hoo and Maple Leaf Rag to be specific).

When It's a Small World came on my ears perked up.  Normally the singing voice sounds kid like-like on the ride-but this was different, this sounded more blatantly like adults, the music was arranged a bit differently, sure it was basically the same song but it had a different flavor and then it came on, my favorite verse, the one you never hear. You know the one...or maybe you don't.  The line about the moon and the sun and the oceans and mountains.  This version has a deep richness to it, it has those voices, you know those voices, the ones you feel you hear in every old Disney song, that light female voice, that one deep male voice.  I'm not going to try and falsely impress you by throwing out names of singers that I honestly don't know but I bet Wikipedia would probably tell you.  I lie...I will be nerdy...The deep male voice, Thurl Ravenscroft, you know, Tony the Tiger? Famous Grinch song? Anyone? Anyway that one is kind of obvious, he did tons of stuff for Disney (the man was inducted as a Disney Legend in 1995).  This version didn't have other languages singing, and though the Four Parks One World CD set does have my favorite verse it has the kiddy voices, sounds of Small World "people" having fun, other languages, the whole shebang.  But this...this is classic Disney. 

This CD provided the name for this blog.  Steven and I were just stuck on a name, I was really leaning toward WEDway and that was the best I could think of.  I was sitting there and looked over and saw the CD case.  I picked it up and there it was Laughin' Place Splash Mountain. There it was.

So with all of these revelations I finally looked up the CD on the web and found this info on an Amazon comment:

This CD is catalog #CD-007 as originally released in 1988 on the "Disneyland" label. At the time this was only available for retail sale at Disney theme parks. BUT, it was re-released under a different title in it's entirety as the 1991 CD "Official Album of Disneyland and Walt Disney World", catalog #60820.

So  that means this CD, because it definitely is the original release, this CD was bought in the parks.  It's from a time when I was only 4 years old, when CD's were relatively still a new format for the mainstream.  This was bought in a Disney park by someone who was captivated by at least one of these songs enough to want to take it with them when the trip was over.  Many of the rides featured either have new music now, or do not exist anymore.  One Little Spark for the Journey into Imagination...completely different now!  Same basic song but completely different.

In closing it was such a great find, you never know what you'll find out there...for under 10 dollars no less.  I found a new again old version of one of my favorite Disney songs (it's my ring tone even! Can you imaging the stares I get!)  I've been able to become a fan of songs for attractions that are now only memories for people.

Always keep your eye out for something special!
See ya real soon!

Welcome to the Laughin' Place!

Hey there, Hi there, Ho there!

Welcome to the Laughin' Place, a Disney blog about all things Disney by two Disney fans.  Husband and Wife team Steven and Mary are both big Disney fans-the movies, the animation, the parks, the history-just everything Disney!  We spend a fair chunk of time discussing Disney things, taking Disney trips, and for everything thing we share we also have areas that we enjoy individually.  I, for example, am a huge animation fan.  Before I decided to become an art teacher I had Disney dreams of being an animator.  Steven can tell you more about the areas in which his fandom excels.
We've decided to start this blog where we can expand our discussions and knowledge out into the "blog-o-sphere".  We'll share reviews, thoughts, photos, and more.  Here's hoping for a bang up blog!
See ya real soon!