Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney and after a 2 week hiatus, I return with my second part of my look at We Love Disney. With that out of the way, let's begin.
I Wan'na Be Like You - Fall Out Boy
Now, when I first heard this cover, it through me off as I'm not very familiar with Fall Out Boy and just the other night on the Disneyland 60 special, they performed their cover of this song. And well, it's fun and does capture the spirit and joy of the song quite well but this new take was a bit jarring for me as it is really drastically different from the original.
Colors of The Wind - Tori Kelly
I was impressed by Ms. Kelly's take on Rainbow Connection on that same special and I must say that once again, I am impressed here. Her voice really fits the song and I find myself getting wrapped up in it. It's like a nice warm blanket, this song as it's really just comforting. I think that I'll be returning to this one quite a bit in the future.
A Spoonful of Sugar - Kacey Musgraves
Yeah, I am not a fan of this cover. I'd never heard of this artist (That's the theme for this review, isn't it?) but apparently she won the show, Nashville Star and well, that explains the Country feel in the song but that's not my problem with this song. It's her delivery, I feel like I'm being talked down to with this version of the song. As though, this song is treating people like Disney as though they are still kids. Which yes, Disney does make me feel like a kid but there's a difference between feeling like a kid and being treated like one. And the latter is how this song comes across. The delivery feels very belittling.
Ev'rybody Wants To Be A Cat - Charles Perry
Oh, that's better. A cover that actually shows some respect to it's listeners. This cover is fun and I'm really enjoying this take here. There really isn't much to say here as I really think that it speaks for itself. Perry does a good job of really making this fun and enjoyable.
A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes - Jessie Ware
I like this version, granted it doesn't stray too from how Cindy sang it in her movie but it has this nice classical feel to it that almost elevates the cover above the average fare. Ms. Ware gives the song, a sound of grace and dignity. This is highly respectable cover of one of my favorite Disney songs from one of my favorite princesses.
Let It Go - Lucy Hale Ft. Rascal Flatts
I like Country music, I like Frozen, I like Let It Go, I like Rascal Flatts but.... I do not like this cover. Maybe it's the over saturation of Let It Go covers and I'm getting tired of them or maybe it's because Idina Menzel OWNED that song in Frozen but I've really yet to come across as Let It Go cover that I liked and this isn't bad but this combo really doesn't seem to work. I dunno but I'm normally okay with Country covers of Disney songs but this one really doesn't seem to work and I really do think that genre was mismatch for Let It Go. Maybe, that's not a good enough reason to dislike this song as it's not sung badly but this just doesn't sound right.
It's A Small World - Various Artists
This brings together the artists that participated in the album to cover this song and I've made my feelings known that I detest the original version of this song. So really, anything is an improvement that horrid song and this is a much better version of that song. I'll take this over that awful original version anyday of the week as it isn't as cutesy. Instead, this cover lets the artists sing the song in a way that feels natural and actually lets the song stand up on it's own and show how good of a song, this could've been.
It's Not Easy Being Green - Brenna Whitaker
Our last song was included as a bonus track on the CD and well, let's see. This is an alright cover. It's pretty good, I picture myself in a club listening to this version sipping a cup of coffee (well, if I drank coffee) and just relaxing and not having a care in the world as I let this song drift away all my worries.
So, there you have it my look at We Love Disney. Now, there was other song that was also included as a bonus track but we may come back to that one another day. All in all, I found these to be a mixed bag. The covers that were good, were really good. The ones that were bad, were really bad. On the whole, I can't see buying the whole album, I'd suggest only getting the covers that you like if you are interested as so far, the Ariana Grande Hero To Zero is the only cover that I've purchased from this album as besides maybe Can You Feel The Love Tonight by Jason Derulo, I think it's the only real standout. It was fun to go through and look at these covers. Peace!
Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney. This past Sunday as a part of The Wonderful World of Disney, ABC aired a special celebrating 60 years of Disneyland. Now, it's been a while since I've reviewed a television special celebrating the parks. The last being from the '80s celebrating the opening of EPCOT. As richb pointed out in his article about Disney Parks specials, there haven't been a lot of specials for the parks. But Disney has recently been getting back into doing television specials as before this, they did two behind the scenes specials to celebrate two beloved movies, being Toy Story at 20: To Infinity and Beyond and Behind The Magic: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. So, it has been nice to see Disney get back into these televised specials for milestone events and these past 3 have been great. Sure, I could complain that most of this special was at the Dolby Theater instead of Disneyland but I won't as there was still a lot of good stuff. And yeah, there was a lot of promotion for Disney but that's no different than the older specials or the Christmas parades. That's half the reason, I tune for the Christmas parades. With this review, I'll be looking at Host, Highlights, Signs of The Time, & My Final Thoughts.
Host
Derek Hough
Now as I mentioned up top, there was a lot of corporate synergy running rampant throughout this special and that was perhaps most evident as seen with the host as the special was hosted by Dancing with The Star's Derek Hough. Derek isn't perhaps the first person that I would have thought of to host a Disney special but he did really good and brought a lot of energy into the hosting gig. And he was pulling double duty as the special also had him use his skill set a couple of times as he did an opening dance number and then again in one of the highlights of the night.
Which also featured his Dancing co-star, Witney Carson and a special Disney 60 version of Be Our Guest as sung by Pentatonix. Overall, Derek Hough did a good job as he was likable and endearing and brought the best of his qualities from Dancing with The Stars to the hosting gig. And another thing that I appreciate that unlike a lot of television hosts for specials, Derek never overstayed his welcome. He came to present something or someone and let the segment play out and let the presenters do their job. Though their was one presenter that had a look of not wanting to be there, which made his presentation pretty funny.
Highlights
Dame Helen Mirren talking about Walt Disney and Disneyland
The special started with Dame Helen Mirren delivering a really good speech about Walt's dream and vision of Disneyland and how he brought his dream of Disneyland to life. And yes, she was wearing Mouse Ears throughout her presentation. That should give you an idea of what the tone for this special was. It was all about fun and celebrating one of the Happiest Places on Earth.
A Tribute to Disney Princesses
This is something small but in this internet age, I've seen so many complaints lauded against these group of characters for being weak characters and poor role models. And here, Disney brought together a group of women of all ages from Robin Roberts to Lupita Nyong'o to Ginnifer Goodwin and more to talk about what these characters have meant to them and how they are strong role models for young women.
Josh Gad's Behind The Scenes Tour of Disneyland
This was so fun as it actually did a great job of taking the casual viewer that may not be as familiar with Disneyland from having Josh Gad meet the announcers of Disneyland announcers, Bill Rogers and Camille Dixon. And even giving a nod to the people that help keep the park clean. Some of the big highlights for me though were Josh sitting on the same park bench that Walt sat on, where he came up with Disneyland and going into Walt's apartment and explaining how the light in his apartment was always lit to let his employees know that he was watching over the magic and that even long after Walt's passing, the light is kept lit as a reminder is to remind them that Walt is always watching over the magic.
Really, the only thing that disappointed me was that I was hoping for a Josh Gad and Olaf Meet & Greet scene. Overall, this was a great segment.
The Music
Okay, I'll admit that I was hoping for some Disneyland music but I can't be mad at Disney music being a part of a Disney special. And it was great as we had Ne-Yo singing Friend Like Me and a young up & coming artist doing a pretty good cover of Part of Your World. Kermit The Frog and Tori Kelly doing a cover of Rainbow Cover.
And Kermit had my favorite joke of the night remembering all the wild rides with Mr. Toad. That got the biggest chuckle out of me. And then you had Elton John singing Can You Feel The Love Tonight?
This had the loudest applause and this wonderful man got a standing ovation, when he came onstage. There were two moments that really hit me because of the huge Disney fan that I am. One being the story of Walt's light and this moment. This was the best moment in all of the special. Here, you had Emcee Derek Hough leading a dance troupe through a number of Step In Time and you saw that window door and you knew Dick Van Dyke was there but you were just waiting for him to appear and when he did. It was AMAZING. For one brief moment in time, he was Bert again. Even at 90 Years of age, Dick Van Dyke showed that he may not be as agile as he once was but he can still dance with the best of them. This moment sums up what it means to be a Disney fan in a nutshell.
Signs of The Time
Disney Applause App
I couldn't get this to work but the special was doing a thing, where if you downloaded the Disney Applause App, it would sync up with the musical performances and play animations that corresponded to the song on your device. That's cool and I'm kinda bummed that I couldn't get it to work but it really does show how we are living in the digital age. Ah well, even without this App, I was still able to enjoy the special.
Idina Menzel Singing Let It Go
We're almost 3 years out from when Frozen came out and we are still talking about it. And of course, they'd bring on Idina Menzel to sing Let It Go. It was a good performance. It's Idina Menzel. Though, I did make the joke on Facebook about wondering if she ever gets tired of singing this song.
Star Wars Land
The big announcement of the night was Star Wars Land and they brought on Harrison Ford to announce it. The stuff looked cool but if you've been following the development of Star Wars Land, you knew most of this stuff already. But Ford so didn't want to be there. He was just reading off the stuff that he had to say, so that he could get his portion of the special done. And this is most evident, when he presented the Star Wars music as he basically said
"I could stand here and tell you about the music or we could listen to it. How about we listen to it?"
That may not be his exact words but that is the gist of what he said. He was probably joking but it's hard to tell and considering that he doesn't like Star Wars, I wouldn't be surprised if that wasn't a joke. Honestly, BB-8 (yes, BB-8 was there) had more enthusiasm than Ford.
My Final Thoughts
I'm such a Disney Dork that while I was watching this I wearing my Disneyland 60 tee shirt, Disneyland 60 Mouse Ears and had my Disneyland 60 Mickey Mouse plush with me.
But this speaks to how big a fan of Disney I am and while this was touted as a celebration of Disneyland and it was. It celebrated all things Disney and I found myself getting into it and really enjoying the night. It was 2 hours of Disney in primetime and every moment was a blast. This knew how to be a good special and celebrate Disney. Were there some weak moments? Yeah such as Little Big Town's performance in Cars Land. A missed opportunity there as they could've sung a song from Cars or the Pete's Dragon Remake trailer but I didn't want to get into the latter here. To compare, last year Disney aired the worst special that I've ever seen them produce in my lifetime.
The problem with that special was putting all of the emphasis on one movie whereas this special knew that it was a Disney special and spread the love all around. Hitting on a little bit of everything that now makes up Disney and what draws in the fans. I won't go so far as to call this the best special or even say that it was perfect but it was an enjoyable two hours. And I highly suggest it for any Disney fan as it is a treat. If you missed it, it is on ABC's website. I'll provide a link to it, right here. I truly hope that we see more specials like this in the future as this along with the Toy Story and Snow White specials have been great celebrations of what it means to be a Disney fan. Peace!
Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney and back to Music Fridays. We Love Disney is a compilation album of Disney covers that was released last year. Though two of the covers are covers of Muppets songs that were made famous before they were bought by Disney but we'll let that slide. I briefly covered one of the numbers from this album in my Hercules Covers Music Fridays, last week and starting today, I wish to take a look at the 15 tracks included on this album. With that out of the way, let's begin.
Friend Like Me - Ne-Yo
I'll be honest and say that before seeing The Wiz Live, I didn't know much of Ne-Yo's discography and that is still true to an extent to this day but this is a truly fun take on this classic Robin Williams number that gives it a new life almost as a big band/swing number. Seriously, I could just picture people dancing to this number and getting down with it as this is really fun.
Part of Your World - Jessie J
Yeah, I have never heard of Jessie J and I don't know what to make of this cover. Jodi Benson set such a high standard with this song that I find it hard for any version to top her take. And yes, I know I should probably look at this song on it's own merits but I don't get any of the same emotion that I got from Ariel with this take. This version ultimately feels lifeless. There is no emotion to be found in this version, she's just going through the motion of singing but doing anything with it.
Can You Feel The Love Tonight/Nants Ingonyama - Jason Derulo
Again, as with Jessie J, this is the first I've heard of any of Jason Derulo's body of work. And I will admit that this was not I was expecting at all but I like it. Quite a bit, though the oh lord bit was rather corny. His voice fits the song and he is delivering a really good take that stays true to the spirit of the original but also makes this a very fun take that has a very sweet delivery to it.
Rainbow Connection - Gwen Stefani
This song had two uphill battles as not only is there the Kermit The Frog version that is a classic song of Muppet discography as Willie Nelson nailed the perfect cover of this song and it can't be topped. As for this take, not bad. I'll take it over the Jessie J Part of Your World as Gwen Stefani really does put some life into this number at first, I thought she sound whiny but I wasn't listening to the song correctly as the more it goes on, she is showing a sense of wistfulness and yes, that is something that comes across in all versions of this song but it takes a while for Ms. Stefani's song to get the listener to understand that is what she's going for.
Zero To Hero - Ariana Grande
I know I just covered this last week during Hercules Week but hey, I'm looking at all the songs here and well, I love this cover. This may be in the running for my favorite Disney cover ever. This cover is just so fun, it just puts you in such a good mood that you can't help but smile as you listen to it. Ariana Grande does such a fantastic job with this song as you can hear how much fun, she's having as she sings it. This number is such a blast.
I don't remember this song. Apparently, it's from Alice In Wonderland and well, I don't think I can fairly judge this as a cover nor as a song because that snapping is really grating on my last nerves. It is so ANNOYING!!! The singing is fine and all but the snapping took me out of the song and made me actively hate part of this cover. Once that stops, it gets better but dear lord, that snapping drove me up the wall and has made it so that I'll never listen to this cover again.
Well, there you have it, Pt. 1 of my 2 Pt. look at We Love Disney. Sorry to end on a down note, hopefully things pick back up, next week. Peace!
Hello & welcome back to Wildcats Wednesdays and today, we return to East High for one last visit. And I'll be honest and I've only ever been able to bring myself to watch this movie once before.That was back when the movie came out on DVD. And that mostly had to do with the ending. So yeah, this is the first time that I've watched the movie since it came out on DVD. Now as I made mention in my last review with the third and final film in the trilogy, High School Musical made the leap from Disney Channel to the big screen. Now, this wasn't the first film based on a Disney Channel property to be released in theaters. As there was The Lizzie McGurie Movie, which was released in 2003 and one year after this, Hannah Montana: The Movie would hit theaters. And interestingly, both Hannah Montana: The Movie and The Lizzie McGurie Movie were supposed to be send offs for those respective shows but they kept going on afterwards, dragging them down. Whereas High School Musical 3 was pretty much the end of the journey with the Wildcats.
That's a spin-off movie and Sharpay is the only returning character besides Ryan in a cameo to appear in that movie. It's not even directed by Kenny Ortega. Our journey wit the characters that we cared about ends here in High School Musical 3: Senior Year. Now, at one point, there were rumors abound of a 4th movie, where East High and their rival school, West High (yeah, the names aren't that original) would merge into one school and most of the original cast wouldn't return. Which makes sense as they did introduce new characters that did seem to be replacement characters for the original cast and they're probably my least favorite aspect of the third film as they take away from the time that I want to spend with the Wildcats that have been there since the beginning. Now, there is one last thing that I want to touch on before I get to the meat of the actual review. With this film being released in theaters, everything felt bigger. The school looked bigger, the shots looked bigger, I even think the budget was bigger. That is the word that best sums up, this film. Bigger. To quote, one of Sharpay's songs.
Sharpay: Think bigger!
Ryan: Become superstars
Sharpay: That's better
Don't you see that bigger is better
And better is bigger
That is how the film decides to go out. And does it work, well let's find out.
Trailer
This trailer does a pretty good job of getting the fans emotional and reminding people how big High School Musical had become.
The Plot
The movie opens on a basketball game between The East High Wildcats and West High Knights with the Wildcats tailing the Knights. And at the last minute, Troy brings new student, Jimmie "The Rocket" Zara and thanks to Rocket, the Wildcats win the game.
Later that night, at Troy's house, we see all of the Wildcats celebrating and our cute couple, Troy and Gabriella do not want the night to end. Later on, we see Sharpay meet new British exchange student, Tiara Gold, who will become Sharpay's assistant and during homeroom, Darbus takes notice of the fact that so few people have signed up for the spring musical. Kelsi is very alarmed by this news and quickly writes down everyone's name. None of the Wildcats are too happy about this but they decide to go along with it as Gabriella volunteers to do it and that gets everyone to go along with it and this is when Darbus informs the Wildcats that the musical titled Senior Year will be about their final days at East High. Darbus also announces that Ryan, Sharpay, and Kelsi, along with Troy are being for a scholarship for Julliard. This sets Sharpay's plot for this film in motion as she knows that Kelsi gives the best songs to Troy and Gabriella, she wants Ryan to persuade the songstress to give her and Ryan, a song as she envisions her future.
The next day, Troy and Gabriella share a dance on the rooftop, Troy's quiet place from the first movie a la Pooh's Thinking Spot.
Later, we see Troy and Chad humiliate new guys, Jimmie and Donnie as they take their clothes and chase them through the school and they end up in the theater, where Darbus recruits them as understudies along with Tiara. Chad then asks Taylor to the prom (oh right, they're a couple) but she refuses as Chad barely puts any effort into asking her but then in the cafeteria and put actual effort into asking her and she says yes. We then see the Wildcats perform a number about prom. And this is one thing that I gotta give the movie credit on. The transition between musical numbers while not seamless is pretty good as it starts out looking like it's actually them getting ready for prom, only to later reveal that it's just rehearsal for the musical. Later on, we see Ryan move in on Kelsi. That doesn't sound right. He starts his plan to persuade her to give them the best song but we see that sparks start to fly between Kelsi and Ryan. This probably upset Zeke and Kelsi shippers. Yeah, after the second movie, some HSM fans shipped these two. I have no idea as to why because they barely shared any scenes together. This leads Ryan to ask Kelsi to the prom. Meanwhile in a junkyard, where Troy and Chad look for spare parts to fix up Troy's fixer-upper of a truck, they reminisce of the old days, when they would come there and play as kids and the film even gives us a visual of young Troy and Chad.
On the hand, I get what this number was going for but I think this may be too on the nose. Yes, the rule of show, don't tell is good but did we really need to see younger versions of Troy and Chad as they think back to their childhood days. I guess it works but it kinda seems outta place. And on the whole, this number comes across as nothing more than padding. But that's at best minor as this number is pretty good on a whole. Later on, after some information fromTiara, Sharpay learns that Gabriella has a chance to get into her college of choice, Stanford early and Sharpay convinces Troy that he's the only thing holding back his girlfriend. Ooh.... Ooh... Ooh..... You....
But she'll get a taste of her own medicine served on a silver spoon but that won't happen until the third act. Troy lets Gabriella go and see the couple left in a broken state.
This is a good number but in terms of Gabriella feeling broken songs, I think Gotta Go My Own Way is a bit better. Later on, Coach Bolton wants to talk to Troy about his future and going to the University of Albuquerque. Yeah, this is something that is a constant in the film as everyone of Troy's friends and his dad want him to go to UOA but Troy doesn't know what school, he wants to go to. And he feels like he's being pushed in one direction but he doesn't know if it's the direction that he wants to go. This leads to easily one of the best numbers in all 3 High School Musical films as Troy heads back to the school and just lets out all of his anger.
The visuals are pretty neat such as basketballs falling from the sky in the basketball stadium as it's raining basketballs on Troy. Which I think that it shows how basketball is being pushed on Troy and then there is a sequence in the hallway spins.
This represents the confusion in Troy's head as he doesn't know what direction to take his life in. Darbus has secretly been watching this go on as Troy ends up on the stage and reveals that she was the one that nominated him for the Julliard scholarship. Later on, Troy gets a phone call from Gabriella saying that while she loves him, she won't be coming back to East High for Prom or graduation. Even though, she wants to. She doesn't say it outright but it is implied and Troy knows this as he heads to Stanford on the day of the prom, Troy goes to Stanford to visit Gabriella and after sharing another dance, Gabriella comes back to East High and Troy sends a text to Jimmie telling him that he'll have to cover for him onstage as he's driving back from Stanford with Gabriella. Kelsi and Ryan open the show followed by a couple other numbers leading to Sharpay playing Gabriella and Jimmie playing Troy in a number that is made annoying and obnoxious by Jimmie's uhm... acting. I feel like I'm being generous, when saying that. Thankfully, Troy and Gabriella show up and save the number. It's then revealed in Sharpay's dressing room that Tiara plans to take over as the new Sharpay and had just been manipulating the diva all this time.
Yeah, after three movies of Sharpay being the most deplorable character in all of these movies and for the longest time, the worst Disney Channel character until he came along, this was so satisfying. But Sharpay isn't going to go down like that. so she dusts herself off and goes on to perform her big number as she and Tiara fight for dominance on the stage. Then Darbus announces that Ryan and Kelsi had been accepted to Julliard and we learn that Troy has decided to go to Berkeley, so that he can be close to Gabriella and also have both basketball and theater be a part of his life. Then we get a graduation remix of We're All In This Together. And we end at the graduation being the big event ending celebration in this film and the film pans out to reveal that this was all onstage.
When I first saw this ending, I HATED it. I despised it. I loathed it because I took it to mean that everything that had happened in the past 3 movies never happened and was just all part of a story within a story. Making all of the events meaningless. This one moment ruined the third movie for me for the longest time. Looking back on it now, it makes sense in terms of what the third film was doing in it's narrative but I'm still not the biggest fan of this ending. I don't hate it as much as I did, when I first watched this movie but I'm still not a fan of how the film ends.
The ending aside, I feel that High School Musical 3: Senior Year is a good sendoff for these characters and the fans. At this point, you were either with the franchise or you weren't. This is a movie for the fans to celebrate the love that they have for High School Musical and the love that we have for these characters. There are fan service moments in the film such as Troy going back to the rooftop, an instrumental of Fabulous being used as Sharpay's introduction and that the film includes a new version of We're All In This Together. By this point, if you weren't a fan and hated the High School Musical films, this wasn't going to convert you.
Characters Main Characters
Troy played by Zac Efron
This film really did a good job of exploring the struggle that Troy was going through as he was facing an internal struggle between choosing what to do with his life. And you could see that he was scared of facing the future and that was very evident in when he thought he lost Gabriella. Now, the thought of high school sweethearts staying together may seem far-fetched to some but it has happened and the film just wanted to give the audience a happy ending. I mean, sure it may seem cheesy such as how Gabriella stood out of the crowd in Now or Never to inspire Troy to keep going. But in many ways, Gabriella is Troy's motivator and that is shown in that sequence and when she leaves, Troy has lost everything.
Gabriella played by Vanessa Hudgens
Unlike HSM2, this was more of a Troy and Gabriella story and with Gabriella, you also sense the torn feelings in her as Stanford is something that she had been working towards all her life and it's finally presented itself and she has a chance of achieving her dream early. I can totally understand why she would want to take hold of that dream but at the same time, she doesn't want to well... walk away from the things and more importantly, the person that she loves. She is faced with a difficult situation
Supporting Characters
Chad played by Corbin Bleu
Chad didn't get as much to do and that's fine but we do get a sense of how far he has come since the first movie and since then, he really has grown since then into a likable character and while the screen time, he has is minimal, you truly get a sense of who he is. And at the end, you finally get to sense the fear in him as he instead of being onstage for graduation is in the gym as that is security blanket and now he has to let it go and leave it behind him as he also has to leave behind the friends that he's cared about for so long now.
Taylor played by Monique Coleman
Just like HSM2, there isn't much Taylor but like with Chad, she is really likable in the film and this is the first time in any of the three movies that I was finally able to buy into the relationship between Chad and Taylor.
Ryan played by Lucas Garbeel
High School Musical 3 continues where 2 left off and developed Ryan even more to where he is no longer looked at as just Sharpay's brother. This film shows him as his own person and even gives him a romantic subplot as he develops feelings for Kelsi. And I actually like that relationship.
Kelsi played by Olyesa Rulin
Kelsi sadly didn't have much to do in this film and was relegated to just being Ryan's love interest. Kinda bummed that her role has diminished so much since the first film but stuff like that is bound to happen, when you have ensemble and also, when you introduce new characters.
Jimmie "The Rocket" Zara played by Matthew Prokop
There really wasn't much to Jimmie other than being the new Troy. To the point that he was a Troy fan boy and followed Troy around like a little lost puppy dog. Take that away from him and you don't have much of a character.
Donnie played by Justin Martin
Well, this character sure did exist. Honestly, there isn't much to this character than being the best friend to Jimmie and supposedly being the new Chad.
Music
Now or Never
This is a good way to start off the film as it gets you really pumped and excited for what you are about to see. You really feel the adrenaline that is put into this number. And I already went over on why I think the scene with Gabriella works. Yeah, it may seem a bit cheesy but keep in mind that you are watching a movie that has High School Musical in the title. So, it works and I find it highly enjoyable and engaging.
Right Here, Right Now
This is a good song to show how much these two truly care about one another and that they'll always love each other. And that while they know that the end is nigh, they are going to embrace this one moment that they are sharing with one another. It's as if time stood still to allow them to take in this moment.
I Want It All
This song is shallow and vapid but that's who Sharpay is. She is a shallow and vapid person that only ever thinks of herself. Well okay, she did find room for Ryan in her fantasy but it's still all about her. And man, the Oprah reference dates this song but it does make sense as Oprah was on top of the world, when this movie came out and that's where Sharpay wanted to be.
Can I Have This Dance?
This number is just so sweet and I find myself easily wrapped up in the love of Troy and Gabriella here as she teaches him how to waltz as they share their first dance and oh apparently, this video includes the reprise. Which is fine. And even beyond the dancing here, this song takes a look at how the strong, bond that these two have truly is. They'll always be there for one another, even if they are miles apart. They know that they'll face hardships and that they'll be rocky but they can face them together.
Just Wanna Be With You
This is the song that Kelsi wrote for Troy and Gabriella but here, we get to hear Kelsi and Ryan sing it. Well at least start out singing it as the other Wildcats do join in. It's a sweet song that really is nothing more than fluff. Good fluff mind you but that's all it really is.
The Boys Are Back
This song is okay but as I said up in the plot section, it's really nothing more than padding. It's fine padding but in the grand scheme of things, it really does nothing to advance the narrative. Sure, it gives us insight into what Troy and Chad are thinking about. It's not something that we needed to know about.
Walk Away
Like I said, this is a really good song but it's probably the weakest in terms of Gabriella feeling heartbroken songs. Surprised that became a thing. I think one of the problems here is that say compare it to When There Was Me and You or the vastly superior Gotta Go My Own Way, this song does have a message of Gabriella feeling heartbroken but the music is too upbeat for the lyrics. The music really hinders the song here. Again, I really like this song but it could've been handled so much better.
Scream
Now, this is how you tap into what someone is feeling and what is going on in their mind as they feel conflicted. This song does a fantastic job of capturing the confusion that Troy is going through as he is being pulled in two different directions. And not being allowed to make his own choice. You can hear the frustration rising in him, he's not angry at anyone but he hates the situation that life has put him in and he doesn't know how to handle it.
Senior Year Musical
Yeah, I don't have much to say on this as it's just a montage and medley of songs. So, I'm not sure why it was included on the soundtrack. Sure, it's fun but most of these songs are ones that we've already heard in the movie.
We're All In This Together (Graduation Mix)
This song was a moment for the fans. And I won't lie that I got a bit teary eyed, when listening to this song again and getting to hear a new take on the franchise's theme song was a nice touch as it gave the fans, the feelings that they wanted in watching this film.
High School Musical
I'm surprised it took them three movies to have song named High School Musical. And well, this song is a lot of fun and it's a great celebration of how far, these characters have come since the first movie. It's just a fun, cheery upbeat number to send everyone that loved these movies out on a high note. Now yeah, this film does include that ending I mentioned but ignoring my issues with that ending, I really enjoy this number.
Villains
Sharpay played by Ashley Tisdale
Sharpay was once again deliciously evil in her schemes here to get Troy and Gabriella torn apart and it was a lot of fun to watch but the most satisfying moment was when it was revealed that Tiara Gold had been playing her the entire time to take over her life.
Tiara Gold played by Jemma McKenzie-Brown
I really love the big reveal that she had been playing Sharpay the entire time and the film at first presents Tiara as someone that aspires to be like Sharpay but with the reveal, we learn that she doesn't just want to be like Sharpay, she wants to be Sharpay. And her true motive, this entire time has been to take over Sharpay's life. Though in the end, Sharpay gets the upper hand as we learn that she'll be returning to East High while attending college to serve as an assistant to Darbus in supervising the drama club. And she did this in part to keep an eye on Tiara. Out of the three new characters, Tiara Gold is best because she isn't just a straight carbon copy of her predecessor. The film instead subverts the audience's expectations of her being a complete Sharpay clone by revealing that she had been playing Sharpay. And that actually makes her more sinister than Sharpay and in a sense, it's weird that they subvert her being a Sharpay clone by making her end goal to take over Sharpay's life.
My Final Thoughts
As I said earlier in the review, this was a good sendoff for the franchise and it was a love letter for the fans that had been there since the first movie. And if you weren't a fan before this movie, the third film wasn't going to convert you as there is no wiggle room to jump on the bandwagon here. This is a movie for the fans, pure and simple. It was a way for the cast to show love to the fans that have supported them and at the same time, it was a great way to see the love the cast had for this franchise. So yeah, this film is for a very select audience and I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a part of that audience as I do enjoy this movie. And I do think on the whole that this film ended High School Musical on a high note. I've enjoyed my time going back and looking back at these films and I hope that you've enjoyed these reviews. While my time here at East High is done, I may return with another installment of Wildcats Wednesdays in the distant future to look at the Chinese remake of High School Musical but that'll be a long way down the road. Peace!
Hello & welcome back to Hercules Week here on A Look at Disney and we are concluding this event by looking at covers of the songs from Hercules. With that out of the way, let's begin.
Go The Distance - Michael Bolton
Yeah, I'll be straight up honest, I never got the hate for Michael Bolton. Granted, I'm not as familiar with his library of work compared to say Phil Collins or Elton John and this was the first time that I heard a Bolton song. And honestly, it's pretty good. In terms of pop stars doing versions of Disney songs, it's no Elton John "Circle of Life" but I like it more than Demi Lovato's take on "Let It Go", which itself is pretty good. And while I prefer the film version of this song, I do like how Bolton makes it sound like this really big grand epic ballad. It is very sweeping and gets in you in the spirit to make you feel good. Is it corny? I don't think so but I could see how one would choose to view it as such but I don't see it that way.
Go The Distance - Lucas Grabeel
I want to like this cover as it's not bad and I don't hate Lucas Grabeel. I mean, you guys know I like High School Musical but man, this cover isn't making it easy for me. Because it's sounds overproduced and manufactured. This song is an example as what people mean they talk of pop stars being assembled on a Disney conveyor belt. Grabeel gives a fine performance but like I said you can the manufacturing that went to making this song so generic.
Zero To Hero - Ariana Grande
I'll be honest, I've never been the biggest fan of Ariana Grande as an actress, I hated her as Cat. Well, I disliked that show to begin with and she furthered playing a ditz on Scream Queens. Shame too as she was one of the more likable characters and she was killed off in the pilot of that abysmal show. I digress, I never paid much attention to Ms. Grande's singing career as I thought it was a flash in the pan and only took notice of it, when her brother was on Big Brother. But I must admit after hearing her take on Zero To Hero, I'm impressed. I love this, she is really embodying the Muses here and making me want to tap my feet and get up and dance. And the way, she sings adds a unique flavor to this number that makes it's own while staying true to the spirit of the song. Disney should seriously consider having Ariana Grande in a future Disney movie after listening to this as I think she could nail an original piece out of the park.
Can You Feel The Love Tonight/I Won't Say/Let's Get Together/Belle - Disney's On The Record
Our last cover actually comes from a medley from one of my favorite Disney soundtracks. Disney's On The Record was a musical revue show that while I never got the chance to see it in person, I would spend countless nights listening to the music. And it gave me two of my favorite covers, their version of When She Loved Me and this version of I Won't Say (I'm In Love). It's interesting how it works in this context as the medley starts with Can You Feel The Love Tonight as though someone is admitting that there is love in the room and then it goes into our gentlemen here singing I Won't Say I'm in Love because while even though, there is love, he like Meg is scared to admit that he is in love. And then it goes into Let's Get Together from The Parent Trap as I assume the girl that the guy likes really wants to be with him but the gentlemen continues to sing I Won't Say as to keep his guard up because he doesn't think that he can handle but right in an instant, he switches to Let's Get Together as to show that he is ready to be with the girl. The only song that baffles me in this medley is Belle. According to Wikipedia, these were presented as session of four musical stars are entangled in a love rectangle and they express their feelings through Disney music. Sounds cool and I get what they were going for, I think but I wish they would explain why they chose certain songs for certain scenes. I'll just have to leave it to the imagination, I guess.
I Can't Believe My Heart - Deleted Disney
Deleted Disney is a series that does covers of deleted Disney songs and here, we have a cover of Meg's deleted song, I Can't Believe My Heart. I prefer I Won't Say as that fits more with the character of Meg. But as for this cover, it's okay. Not bad but it just reminds why I don't like this song.
There you have it, my look at covers of songs from the soundtrack of Hercules. I hopes that you've enjoyed Hercules Week. As I have enjoyed sharing my love for a Disney movie that doesn't get enough love in my opinion. Peace!
Hello & welcome back to Hercules Week on A Look at Disney and today, we venture back to the world of Disney Cruise stage adaption as we look at Hercules: The Muse-ical. The lat time that I looked at the stage adaption for a Disney Cruise, I had less than kind things to say about it. This is not the case here as I didn't think this musical was as bad and here's a YouTube copy of the musical, so that you can watch it for yourself. And as reminder, we will look at What's The Same, what they kept from the movie, what's different, what changes were made, and also New Music, which I'll have to skip altogether here as there were no new music in this number.
What's The Same
The story is mostly kept the same, albeit condensed. The main story of Hercules is kept faithful to the movie and you'd know it, if you saw it.
What's Different
I have to give this show credit as they took an interesting approach to doing the show as it was self-aware of the fact that it was a show and presented as such and there were a lot of jokes that referenced this such as at the beginning, an actor showed up auditioning because he thought the play needed a moose, when they needed a Muse. And it was in his contract that they had to use him, so this musical gave us a male muse. Or other example was during the One Last Hope number as this one was twofold as the "actor" for Phil didn't show up, so the stage manager had to take over the role. And there was also a transformation of Teen Hercules into adult Hercules. And when adult Hercules comes out, he says.
"I'm grown up now"
And they forget to push the cart that had Teen Hercules off the stage. And he had to do it himself.
Which was actually pretty funny and also as another character substitute, Pain and Panic are played by two women in this production. And they aren't as annoying as their film counterparts. And one of the interesting things is how they handle the gods in the beginning and the Temple of Zeus as they have The Muses use giant bust like puppets to play the gods.
I actually think this was a creative way around the issue of handling the gods. And the fact that the show allowed itself to break the fourth wall and call attention to the fact that it was a musical aided in the enjoyment of the show. As you knew that the musical was never taking itself too seriously. Though this style and pretending that there was a lack of a budget did lead to a rushed third act as the stage manager broke character from Phil to narrate the climax as the action happened onstage behind him. I get what they were going for and it does seem like thy ran into a wall trying to figure out how to handle the climax. And this is really the only big disappointment that I had with this production.
Now, there were some other minor changes such as the character of Pegasus being omitted but I'm totally fine with that as this musical found a way to make the story work without his character.
New Music
Yeah, like I said, there are no new songs in this production. And honestly, that's fine because while this is a musical, the music isn't the star. The jokes are. So for the songs from the movie that are here, I think they they do a good job of emulating the feeling of the musical numbers from the film. And that does make them good. They really don't do much to put a new spin on them or really make them stand out as there own but if you'd like them in the movie, you'll enjoy them here.
My Final Thoughts
I recall when I went on my Disney Cruise about ten years ago, this musical had just been closed down and replaced with Twice Charmed. The gift shop still had some left over merchandise from the show and I said to one of the castmembers that I wish that I could have seen this. She replied by saying that it wasn't very good. Well, I think taste is rather subjective because while I did enjoy Twice Charmed, I think that I would have also liked this musical as it's a loving homage that is willing to be silly and never take itself too seriously. And after the disaster that was Toy Story: The Musical, this was a step up. As Pretty Boy suggested that, should be the slogan/rating for this series, Better Than Toy Story: The Musical. And this most certainly was as nothing in this musical betrayed the characters like that one did. If you are so interested to check it out, I've provided a YouTube copy at the top of the blog, so that you can watch and check it out for yourself. Join me tomorrow as I close out Hercules Week as I look at covers of Hercules Songs.
