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Some Solid Info On Mickey Mouse In THE THREE MUSKATEERS!!
Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
Honestly... I had no interest in this at all until Harry and I got the following review in the e-mail. Even so, I can’t help but be skeptical towards any of Disney’s DTV animation, especially when classic characters are involved. But check out how excited this guy is...
Mickey's The Three Musketeers
About two years ago it was rumored the guys at Disney were working on an animated film based on Dumas' The Three Musketeers. It was a long time in coming but the film finally got under way and I'm extremely excited to report that it's only a few weeks from being completed. But don't expect a traditional retelling. This is not The Three Musketeers as Alexandre Dumas' originally intended - this however is not a bad thing. Let's just say ol' Walt would be very, very proud and the resulting production may very well have brought a tear to his eye.
At this stage the insanely talented team behind the picture are doing the final music and effects mixing to what I consider one of the most enjoyable and well thought-out animated Disney films in recent years. Even better, it's frickin' awesome to see Mickey, Donald, and Goofy team up in this feature length adventure. Captain Pete is brewing a devious plot to take over France and it's up to Mickey's Musketeers to rescue Princess Minnie and her lady-in-waiting Daisy, from certain peril, not to mention the rest of France as well! Yes, this is 2D animation, but as a critic myself on the state and quality of two-dimensional animation, I really feel this picture deserves some major attention. With fully realized and absolutely beautiful water color mattes and charming, respectful representations that are true to the characters, Mickey-era fans aren't going to want to miss out on this gem. And hopefully, it'll renew some interest in Disney's once-heralded and ever-popular flagship character, Mickey Mouse.
*TRAGICALLY* this film is currently slated for a direct-to-DVD release. Unlike the sub-par direct-to-video sequels (ie. Cinderella 2, Hunchback 2, or Lady and the Tramp 2), Mickey's Three Musketeers is about as good as any theatrical animated film gets. I've seen it on the big screen, and believe me when I say: IT KICKS MAJOR ASS. It has amazing production value and it infuriates me to think that it very well may fall victim to the instant-home-video phenomenon. A film this good doesn't deserve to slip under the radar and miss its big chance.
There are two or three things I'd like to briefly comment on that I think substantiate my opinion: 1) The Story 2) The artwork and animation, 3) The voice acting, and last but certainly not least, 4) The music (Bruce Broughton's score + songs).
THE STORY
It's not Dumas' classic. This is a Three Musketeers tale that Mickey Mouse might very well have sat down and imagineered himself. It's Three Musketeers - 3, not 4. Put Mickey in a D'Artagnan-like role and Donald and Goofy in supporting musketeer roles, and you've got a dynamic trio that's ready for action. And boy do they give it to you. Oh, and did I forget to mention? THIS IS A DAMN HILARIOUS MOVIE! It's imbued with all kinds of humor, and not cheesy, childish gags, but really, really funny shit. This is the kind of stuff my parents would get a kick out of! In fact, I plan on sharing it with them - and all of my friends. Those in the screening room were definitely rolling on the floor with me. Don't let this fool you, though. However funny it may be, it remains a touching story about friendship, loyalty and love. To help the story along, there are 5 or 6 *very enjoyable* songs that progress the storyline (rather than get in the way of it). Read about those below.
ARTWORK AND ANIMATION
The artists behind the project have approached it in a very traditional way. As I said above, the watercolor artwork is absolutely stunning. The colors in this film are intense. The treatment of the characters and how they look on screen has been kept and held to a very high standard. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy aficionados: FEAR NOT. Deep down, whether you know it or not, this is a movie you've been waiting to see.
VOICE ACTING
All the favorites are here: Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, Pete, Pluto and a couple of other surprises. To make them a reality, an all-star voice cast was hired, including the incredible Jim Cummings as Pete, Wayne Allwine as Mickey, Tony Anselmo as the humorous and intentionally hard-to-understand Donald, and Bill Farmer as Goofy and Pluto. It's like a trip down memory lane, and these guys pull off the characters as if they were the real deal from way back when. Hell, if these characters are to live on, they're the real deal today.
MUSIC (NOT TO BE OVERLOOKED)
I can't rave enough about the music in this film. Thank God a composer like Bruce Broughton, whose musical expertise, knowledge and appreciation for the art of film music, and general sense of humor, youthfulness and admiration for writing dynamic, compelling film music, was hired to lend his talents. Wow, that was a long sentence, but in my opinion not long enough. I could stretch it for days. Hollywood needs to get a clue and put him on a pedestal. Anyway, what these guys have done is quite clever, lemme tell ya. The songs in this film are adapted versions of classical pieces, including Johann Strauss' The Blue Danube (transformed into a great, catchy love ballad), Georges Bizet's Habanera (another hysterical love song), and In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg (The Bad Guy Song - hilarious). Also expect to hear some very entertaining excerpts from Gilbert and Sullivans' masterpiece opera, The Pirates of Penzance. All of which are superbly performed by the greatest union musicians in Hollywood (between 85-90 players in the orchestra... which translates to BIG), under the direction of maestro Broughton. I'm still having a hard time shaking these tunes from my head. As for Broughton's score, it's swashbuckling, adventurous, melodically catchy and hell, just downright fun. You won't find another score out of Disney that surpasses the quality of this one.
IN SUMMARY
I just saw the trailer for this film on the new Lion King 1 1/2 DVD, and needless to say, IT SUCKS. IGNORE IT PLEASE. They've edited together something that spits in the face of what the people on the project have worked so hard to achieve. Disney doesn't tell you anything about the story, and the music they utilize has absolutely nothing to do with what's in the film. I'd dare say it clearly reflects the Disney big-wig's interest and mentality towards the project. They could care less if it succeeds. As a fan of not only the film, but Mickey as well, I find that insulting. I can't imagine how the crew feels. Because the trailer sucks, if you judge the film on the basis of the trailer, I think it'd be fair to say that YOU SUCK as well.
Mickey's The Three Musketeers, in one word, ROCKS. If Disney releases this on DVD without giving it proper theatrical exposure, I really think Comcast should go ahead and de-throne the morons currently running the show. Fans, I suggest you write letters to Eisner & Co. Beg and plead that this film be distributed theatrically. Anything less is doing the film, its cast, its crew, and simply the legacy of Mickey Mouse & Friends a grave, grave injustice.
Thanks for reading.
Thanks for sending it to us, Wade, and here’s hoping this is the real deal. Disney could certainly use a good animated film or two under their belt these days...
"Moriarty" out.
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Feb 16, 2004 8:22:37 AM CST
I love Disney Films so why is some thing as good as this straigh
by roborob
GREETINGS PROGRAMS,
I am a self confessed Disney Fan, I blame my mum as she was one too. I know Disney is going down hill and may be sold soon BUT I must ask;
Why is this being relagated to Direct to video?
Sad then perhaps this is proof that Disney is Doomed.
END OF LINE. -
-And it should have been animated by the Florida studio,by AMERICAN animators, not in some third world sweatshop, but nowadays Disney only reserves the feature treatment for prestigious films like Home on the Range or Teacher's Pet.
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This has not been a good year for Di$ney, and i'm glad their suffering big time! This is what they get for treating their animators like crap! First they shut down their animation houses in Paris, Tokyo, and just recently, Florida for no good reason what so ever. Then, Roy Disney, and Stanley Gold launch a campaign to get Ei$ner removed after kicking them out, and delaying the release of the third wave of "Treasure" DVDs. Then, Pixar walks out on then with Steve Jobs dissing them hard about their crappy video projects. Then, Comcast steps in with a $60 million deal that could swallow up the magic kingdom. And finally, Miramax decides to end their partnership! I tell you, Michael Ei$ner makes Scrooge McDuck look loke a social worker! About this new "Three Musketeers" project. These idots should release this in the theaters because that's where Mickey got his start in 1928! Not that video is bad, but it's a huge slap in the face to such a recognizable screen icon such as Mickey. (The less said about that recent birthday special on ABC, the better.) But instead, Di$ney would rather give a theatrical push to such "sure fire blockbusters" as "Teacher's Pet", (It bombed hard! Ha! Ha!!) and "Confessions Of A Teenage Skank"! Seriously, it's the Ron Miller years all over again. When Disney was churning out live action garbage on a daily basis, and animators walking out due to studio politics. All leading to a huge coorperate takeover. Talk about Dejavu. Anyway, with all the fuss that's going, i hope that Disney will rise from the ashes, and atone for the sins they have committed under the Ei$ner mafia. Breakdance with Wayne Alwine, Tony Anselmo, and Bill Farmer today!
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That is all.
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I'm not sure, but I THINK "Three Musketeers" may've been animated at Disney's Australia studio, which turns out very good work. It still doesn't excuse the fact that it's getting a D2V treatment, or that the majority of work handled by Disney's overseas studios are sequels to their classic films or ill-conceived Pooh followups, or feature-length episodes of various Disney TV series. This comes closer to being the type of "original" content they should be tackling instead. Bringing Mickey & the gang back to the forefront is great; now give Australia something new! A pitch that may've been rejected by Feature Animation for any number of reasons that didn't involve a quality story, could be perfect for Australia to tackle with their great team and modest budgets. Instead... Disney'd rather have them milk their "franchises". "Finding Nemo" is not a franchise. "Monsters, Inc" is not a franchise. Yet, no doubt partially as a "fuck you" to Pixar, Disney just announced they'd be considering sequels to all of Pixar's films. Thankfully those old rumors of "Snow White 2" never came to fruition. A regime change is needed. Comcast may not be Disney's savior, despite their publicly-proclaimed intentions regarding animation, but at this point there's not much more damage they could do than has already been done by current Disney management.
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I mean DAMN. It was bad enough that I didn't get any hobbit-bitch tittie shots.
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I love people that get on just to post "plant!" every time there's a review. This article could have read "Don't see this movie. It blows monkey cock and marmot tits," and we'd have douchebags calling it a plant.
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Hey guys... first off, not a plant. I have no affiliation with Disney, just got lucky and really enjoyed what I saw. I'm 22 years old, love animation, a big kid at heart, but have an appreciation for quality, and absolutely hate the direction Disney has been going the past few years. I really do hope that some sparks start flying and some magic is re-injected back into the company. That being said, Musketeers is a wonderful film and one I look forward to owning. But it deserves a silver screen presentation.
As for the animation, it was done in Australia and I dare say the attention to quality exceeds that of Return to Neverland and Lion King 1 1/2, which I consider to be pretty nice productions in and of themselves.
Wade -
I heard they were planning 3d versions of the classic characters (mickey, donald, goofy) ... Man would that ever look shitty. I agree that they should've let their feature guys here do it. Expensive, yeah, but worth it. The Australia studio isn't bad, but outsourcing animation to foreign countries is bogus! Keep the jobs in the states! Disney Bastards!
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Can you imagine a 3d version of mickey?! Disney has been so stupid of late to go all 3d by firing all their traditional animators. They should burn in stockholder hell for that! The australian studio isn't bad, but not feature quality, so I'm glad they didn't release this in the theaters along with that other crap jungle book 2 and return to neverland. I don't care if this is good, I'd suggest boycotting this shit until the company gets its act together. Disney is all about the mass production & sale of cheap goods now.
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Can you imagine a 3d version of mickey?! Disney has been so stupid of late to go all 3d by firing all their traditional animators. They should burn in stockholder hell for that! The australian studio isn't bad, but not feature quality, so I'm glad they didn't release this in the theaters along with that other crap jungle book 2 and return to neverland. I don't care if this is good, I'd suggest boycotting this shit until the company gets its act together. Disney is all about the mass production & sale of cheap goods now.
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At least it wasn't done in 3d! Can you imagine a 3d version of mickey?! Disney has been so stupid of late to go all 3d by firing all their traditional animators. They should burn in stockholder hell for that! The australian studio isn't bad, but not feature quality, so I'm glad they didn't release this in the theaters along with that other crap jungle book 2 and return to neverland. I don't care if this is good, I'd suggest boycotting this shit until the company gets its act together. Disney is all about the mass production & sale of cheap goods now.
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...why do they use swords?
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Feb 17, 2004 4:33:22 PM CST
I'm Sorry ,but theartwork looks just as flat and bland as that H
by timbenzedrine
and I don't care if it was animated in Australia or Timbucktu, the fact remains that it was not done in America, by American based artists.There are dozens of animators here in the states who would have killed to animate a classic character like Mickey Mouse. Forgive me for my nationalistic ferver, I mean no disrespect to Australia (been there, loved it, swell bunch of people) I just think that there is something kind of WRONG with having the great American mouse handed over to "fur'unurs".
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Come on, this was so obviously a Disney PR plant. Who talks like this, but a PR dweeb trying to be hip?
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Why do we permit these assholes to post things like "Muskateers?" Oh well...you don't need an English degree to be an AICN employee.
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So, I was at Disney World last weekend, and I caught the "Philharmagic" attraction in which a 3D Donald Duck makes off through Disney movie land via Mickey's Sorcerer's Apprentice hat (he visits Aladdin land, Beast's Castle, Ariel's underwater home, etc.). The 3D animation was pretty good, but I just have to ask: What kind of complete morons at Disney never commisioned Pixar to do a film starring the original Disney characters? I mean, how awesome would a Pixar film with Mickey, Donald, Goofy, etc. be? Then again, I suppose Eisner would probably want his little micro-managing fingers stuck deep in Pixar's territory for such an undertaking, so I suppose it's for the best. Anyway, we can dream...
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They create their own stories & content. Disney doesn't dictate what their films are about, who they star, etc. They just provide part of the money. And if Pixar had created a Disney-character film, it wouldn't be "theirs", Disney could take credit for more than just putting up the money, and I think that's a big deal for them. But come on, is everyone forgetting the god-awful CG Mickey from last year's Oscars? And in addition to Three Musketeers, which will hopefully be lots of fun, they ARE producing a CG Mickey & friends direct-to-DVD movie. At least, I hope it's direct-to-DVD... seeing that on the big screen would be frightening.
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This thing is totally a plant by the animation studio...though i do know this thing is dvd only...i'm in the vid biz
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