Alas there are no Hunchback of Notre Dame ugly Christmas sweater just yet but since this blog has a Disney leaning here are some Disney Ugly Christmas Sweaters that you can get right now via amazon.
Also I had wanted to showcase a Notre Dame Fighting Irish sweater just to be funny but I couldn’t find one. But there are a TON of Disney Ugly Christmas Sweaters, because of course there is, it’s Disney and Christmas.
If I ever do make a Quasimodo/Hunchback Ugly Christmas sweater I will post here because where else would I put it? And it will be very ugly because I suck at art. Of course you can always get my Quasimodo Ornament at Zazzle for your Christmas tress.
Mickey’s Twice Upon A Christmas isn’t a sequel to Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas but it follows the same short story with lessons about giving and shit. Some of the stories are ok and some are teeth-grinding abysmal but what makes this video in-terminal are the CGs, they reek of sour poo.
Pluto, Mickey, Minnie, Scrooge, Daisy, and Donald
The first story is about Minnie and Daisy having a contrived feud for attention on ice with the Hippos and the Alligators from Fantasia. It was ok, I just wished it was not a story but purely about the visuals and the music. I’m not even sure why they were mad at each other either.
The second story is Huey, Dewy and Louie break in to Santa’s workshop to put their names on the good list being they are hellions apparently. They then ruin Christmas, then fix it and they put Uncle Scrooge’s name on the list since that is the only this he were wanted that he couldn’t buy with money. In doing so the boys get on the list. This story is the worst one as the duck boys are just really insincere and I don’t recall them being such selfish jerks in DuckTales. I mean they are still selfish twits in the end.
The third story is Max is brings a girl home for Christmas and fears being embarrassed by Goofy. I thought I was going to HATE this one since that is pretty much a rehash of the Goofy movies, Max being embarrassed by Goofy, but it was all told in like a music video. The song was stupid but it wasn’t that bad as a whole.
The fourth story was Donald just wants to spend some quiet time at home with hot cocoa but fuck that, that is selfish behavior so Donald has to go to a mall with Daisy and the boys. Donald is tormented by the song We wish you a Merry Christmas, so he goes a little crazy and Daisy and boys get mad at him. So he gets their forgiveness by having a sing-song of the song. This one was dumb, I side with grumpy Donald. I really hate it when people tell me how I should feel about Christmas, it just makes me want to act grumpy.
The fifth and final story is Mickey getting mad at Pluto for accidentally wrecking his decorations. Pluto runs away and hangs out with Santa’s reindeer. Mickey I guess learns some lesson about decorations don’t mean anything when to comes to friends. It was just sort of tacted on, not a bad story though.
Donald, Daisy, Minnie and Mickey
The thing that struck me about this video from the on-set was that this wished it was a Fantasia. All the stories had a musical component and I have to say wouldn’t a Holiday Fantasia movie be awesome? They should make that for some Christmas.
Daisy, Huey, Dewy, Louie and Donald
This video should be harmless but the very plastic ugly CG made it hard to watch. Of course it begs the question which is worst, Bad seemingly hand-drawn animation or ugly competent CG stuff? It’s a tough question. Call me old but there is a heart that even in the bad hand drawn stuff has that is harder to get in CG animation, CG animation often looks cold. It’s getting better but this video is just cold and artificial feeling.
Also the jokes are so dull and predictable especially in the second story with Huey, Dewy and Louie.
Mickey with Santa
In all the Disney Christmas videos I have watched this month this one was the hardest to watch. I think if Disney had just loose up with the lessons and had more fun stories it would have been fine but the trite lessons and those CGs just make for a cringe-induceing viewing experience
Also in the Huey, Dewy and Louie story did anyone else think it was ironic that Srooge would say there is more to life than money? It’s a direct-to -video Disney movie, making money is its reason for existing.
Fantasia 2000 is the sequel to the 1940 Disney movie, Fantasia. I love Fantasia, it’s so cool but Fantasia 2000 is meh. There is like one great segment, some good segments and the rest are meh. However since it’s music videos to classical music with Disney animation it very subjective, though we can all agree that the celebrity cameos were annoying and they screamed sell-out.
I’m going to take it by the parts.
Symphony No 5 Butterflies
Symphony No 5 in C-minor-I. Allegro con brio by Ludwig van Beethoven with abstract Butterflies. They were trying to recreate the lines of the original’s “Toccata and Fugue.” I feel like they were trying way too hard to make this combo work. They also told a little narrative while trying to be abstract so it lowers the point of fluid shapes and movement with music. It just didn’t really work.
Pines of Rome Flying Whales
Pines of Rome by Ottorino Respighi with Flying Whales I give them credit for imagination but again I felt a disconnect between the visuals and the music. I didn’t hear night or a cold climate in the music. The icy night with whales is pretty, I give it that. Also the narrative was weak. This doesn’t even need a narrative, Whales Flying is enough. Then there was storm because the music demanded it but not because of flow. There was also this lovely piano movement when the little calf was trapped behind the icy and they failed to capitalize on it. The ending scene was pretty and the Whales breaching the clouds was lovely.
Drummer from Rhapsody in Blue
Rhapsody in Blue by Geogre Geshwin with 1930’s New York At first I liked this one. I thought the sync was fun but it worn on me. I just got bored with it. It was also a conventional choice for the music. I suppose the “risk” with this one is the animation. But you expect Disney to push animation boundaries and not narrative or visual boundaries.
Tin Soldier and Ballerina
Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Major-I. Allegro by Dmitri Shostakovich with Tin Soldier Apparently the creators on the original Fantasia wanted to use this story for Fantasia but couldn’t find the right music. Given that, it’s not a surprise that the visuals just tell the story of the Steadfast Tin Soldier albeit with a Disney happy ending. I would have liked this more if not for the style of the CGs. They just looked not good but they did move well. If this one was tradition drawn animation it would have been way better.
Flamingos and a yo-yo
The Carnival of Animals, Finale by Camille Saint-Saëns with Flamingos and a yo-yo Groans. I didn’t love this one. It was cute and goofy but it didn’t work for me. At least it was short. Personally with Camille Saint-Saëns I would have rather seen the “Aquarium” or “Danse Macabre.” The music choice isn’t the issue though this is too goofy and silly.
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Paul Dukas with Mickey Mouse This one was shameless thrown in to pad out the movie. I will admit this one isn’t one of my favorites from the original but it’s iconic. Though having this piece in here defeats the purpose of an ever evolving series of movies which was Fantasia’s original intent.
Noah’s Ark with Pomp and Circumstance
Pomp and Circumstance -Marches 1, 2, 3 and 4 by Edward Elgar with Donald Duck and Noah’s Ark I hate Pomp and Circumstance. I didn’t like this one but I didn’t hate it as much as I thought I would since the story is cute. But the sync is weird at time. the animals burst out and there is nothing musically. I think combo works in a way but I didn’t like that much. Disney doesn’t have enough power to change how the Graduation song is perceived by the public. They should have picked another song or something.
The Spring Sprite in The Firebird Suite
Firebird Suite -1919 Version by Igor Stravinky with The Spring Sprite Hands Down this one is the best of the bunch. It’s gorgeous, the sync is not always there but of the newer bunch it’s best. Though it’s very Miyazaki, seems like it was inspired by Princess Mononoke. I also take umbrage with the Firebird from Russian folklore as a source of destruction.
Flying Whale Calf
None of these measure up to the original. Reading the trivia I think part of the problem is they were too concerned with the style of animation and not the synergy of the combos. They also seemed to mimic the original but didn’t capture the mood and drama.
The Firebird getting its flame on
Also there is no mood or darkness. These parts are all soft and nice. The Firebird suite is darkest this movie goes and it’s no Rite or Spring with fighting Dinosaurs, or Zeus throwing lightening for fun or Chernobog partying with the dead. It’s kinda all one note and safe.
The Little Girl from Rhapsody in Blue
Another issue is all these segments are stories. Stories in it of themselves are not a bad things but it made the segments limiting in scope. In the original, the segments were not devoid of stories but they had little story vignettes. The Pastoral symphony is the a great example of little story vignettes in a cohesive setting and style.
Story vignettes allowed the music and setting more a chance to mingle instead of a flowing narrative. The trouble with Fantasia 2000 is there was no spectrum to how the animators approached the visuals, they were all story driven. Because of the lack variety, the segments have interesting concepts but not so much with the sync and the visuals.
Donald Duck and Daisy Duck
As a fan of the original I was really disappointed by Fantasia 2000. It was far too calculated and didn’t have the same power as the original.
isn’t a sequel to 
but it follows the same short story with lessons about giving and shit. Some of the stories are ok and some are teeth-grinding abysmal but what makes this video in-terminal are the CGs, they reek of sour poo.
. It was ok, I just wished it was not a story but purely about the visuals and the music. I’m not even sure why they were mad at each other either.
. I mean they are still selfish twits in the end.
is the sequel to the 1940 Disney movie, Fantasia. I love Fantasia, it’s so cool but Fantasia 2000 is meh. There is like one great segment, some good segments and the rest are meh. However since it’s music videos to classical music with Disney animation it very subjective, though we can all agree that the celebrity cameos were annoying and they screamed sell-out.
