|
|||||||||||||||
It isn't that the thought never occurred to anyone...in fact, Walt started tossing the idea around his studio in the late 1930s. This planning went so far as to actually find its way onto film as Mickey And The Beanstalk, but for some reason the idea to make it a full length film was scrapped and this timeless classic was released as a featurette instead. The guys have appeared in numerous shorts over the years, honing their skills, individual personalities on screen, and their chemistry as an ensemble cast in cartoons such as Mickey's Trailer, The Clock Cleaners, and my personal favorite (some say obsession) The Lonesome Ghosts, where the three amigos took a turn as ghost hunters in a hilariously haunted house.
These early joint projects delighted audiences to no end, but more importantly, gave each character a hundred chances to play off the others and gave the animators and story writers a huge library of inspiration for the upcoming, inescapable eventuality...these guys would HAVE to appear together someday! And now that that day is here, the filmmakers attached to The Three Musketeers appear to have paid close and loving attention to the vast history of these treasured characters, because they got it exactly right!
But when dastardly plots are set into motion by the nefarious "Bad Guys" (played here by the infamous Beagle Boys), to kidnap and dethrone the Princess Minnie Mouse and crown Captain Pete as the King of France, it will be up to our bungling trio of well meaning heroes to thwart the evildoers and save the day! But when one of your number is a complete scaredy cat, one is a little, shall we say, less than intelligent and one is just too darn sweet and naive (and "just too small"!), how exactly are they going to save Princess Minnie and her lady-in-waiting Daisy Duck from anything?
Only by banding together and learning a thing or two about teamwork, friendship and themselves, can they hope to raise themselves to the level of Musketeers and set things right in the kingdom. Lucky for us, all of this takes a little time, allowing for plenty of humorous, slapstick goof-ups, exhilarating swashbuckling swordplay, a never-ending stream of one-liners, and of course, plenty of Donald getting good and ticked off!
The most powerful result of The Three Musketeers is that the world's three all time favorite characters are just that again...characters! Mickey has, over the last decade, been reduced to a logo; a way to sell merchandise through catalogs and at the theme parks, but completely devoid of any of his original personality. The same, unfortunately, could be said of Donald Duck and Goofy as well, and anyone who is even remotely astute can see the same thing happening now with the "Princesses" line of Disney product. It is frightening to think that in a few years, the younger generations of little girls will only know the difference between Belle or Cinderella or Princess Aurora by the color of their dress! This film is just the antidote for this dreaded affliction and has reinvigorated the original Disney threesome with new life for a new generation of fans. To this I must say a personal "Thank You" to the House of Mouse, as I could not think of a much better gift to have received from Walt's studio (hmm, except maybe to have the submarine ride back at Disneyland...and no gosh darn Finding Nemo theme!!)
And speaking of the music, what a different step for Disney. A studio that has always borrowed heavily from the ideas of the past for their films (Beauty And The Beast, Cinderella, Snow White And The Seven Dwarves, etc. etc.), Disney has never been one to borrow for their music; choosing instead to write masterful works of original material that are destined for as long a life on CD as they are in the films. But for The Three Musketeers, the songs needed to match not only the action onscreen, but also the humor and historical period. In a stroke of what I consider to be luck and genius, it was decided upon to use classical musical styling; at first opera, and when that was considered to be too labor intensive for the vocal talent, the lighter style of operetta was employed.
Thus, when Peg Leg Pete sings "Petey's King Of France", when Goofy serenades Clarabelle Cow with "Chains Of Love", or when the Troubadour sings "All For One And One For All", they are done to the tunes of Ludwig Van Beethoven, Johann Strauss II, or Pytor Il'yich Tchaikovsky. Tunes from operas and theatre also make appearances as newly performed and originally written Disney songs. The vastly different music style also called for a fresh method of lyrical delivery and because of this the songs are very clever and require a few good listens to really get the full impact. Lucky for you, Disney included an extra feature entitled Disney's Song Selection so that you can sing along with the animated characters with the song lyrics displayed right on your screen.
I guess this one should be easy for all of you. Wonderful hand-drawn animation, a great story, hilarious songs, the return of your favorite characters, and a chance to see the power trio all together in one film for the first time ever...do you want me to spell it out for you? This is a wonderful Disney release which comes at a great time to reinvigorate the companies image...although they see their theme parks as a separate entity from their film studio, I can assure you that lifting the popularity of Mickey, Donald and Goofy right now is a great move for the upcoming 50th anniversary of Disneyland.
If for no other reason than to finally hear Mickey tell Donald straight up, "I can't understand a word you say", and for the fact that you know some head-honcho somewhere in the Disney company wanted this to be called The Three Mousketeers (shudder)...you must own this disc. Fan to fan...get this one for you and your family today.
-aaron-
|
|||||||||||||||
Not
the traditional Alexandre Dumas tale, although certainly inspired
and influenced by it, this time around the famous D'Artagnan, Porthos,
Athos, and Aramis play only a kickstart role. Mickey, Donald
and Goofy have grown up as street urchins in the filthy back alleyways
of Paris, France during the early 1600s, and held no hopes of the
future until a chance meeting with the aforementioned Musketeers gave
them a new hope and a lasting dream; to be Musketeers themselves!
Having managed to work their way off the street and into the company
of the Musketeers, if only as cleaners, launderers, and laborers,
they have moved one step closer to their dream! One thing stands
in their way; the leader of the Musketeers, Captain Peg Leg Pete (who
has been foiling Mickey's well laid plans for decade after decade)
doesn't quite see these fellows ever being Musketeers, and isn't afraid
to tell them as much. As he puts it, Donald is a coward, Goofy
is a dolt and Mickey is "just too small".
This
release succeeds on so many levels that I am really taken aback at
the fact that this came out of the modern day studios. With
the never-ending stream of usually sub-par sequel releases to past
audience favorites, I was a little afraid of what we would get when
the animators and story talent had to hash out a film from scratch.
However, in a wonderful twist of irony, Disney has again proven to
the audiences across the globe (and with any luck to themselves!)
that the studio is at its very best when delivering new and
original material. I hope that this is a lesson learned
in time to avoid anymore "Part 3"s...after all, there are
many of us loyal Disney fans who simply do not have an affinity for
having our favorite titles run into the ground!
Another
of the great feats of this animated feature is that it somehow managed
to combine the length of a feature film (or pretty darn close at least...running
time is 68 minutes) with the fun, excitement and frantic pace of a
featurette short! From the very first few moments of screen
time, you as a viewer will notice that this doesn't feel at all like
a "Disney Movie", but instead feels exactly like a "Disney
Cartoon". Think about the difference with me by remembering
back on Alice In Wonderland and then compare that feeling with
"The Brave Little Tailor". Two entirely different
focuses and two very different takes on storytelling. It is
a difficult thing indeed to stretch the "1-2 punch" timing
of a featurette into this kind of running time, but director Donovan
Cook, writers Spiliotopoulos and Evans, producer Margot Pipkin and
Editor Bret Marnell have done an outstanding job! Not once does
the fun slow down for even a second...even MORE remarkable when taken
into account that this is a musical! 
The
most amazing thing you'll see displayed on your screen though, is
the amazing return to...wait for it...I know it is too good to be
true but...you've been wanting this for so long...that's right, it's
ORIGINAL 2-D ANIMATION!! Holy cow! In a brilliant (or
some would say..."DUH") decision, the animation team has
decided that the best way to have a feature look like the Disney classics
of old, was to do them in the same 2-D hand animation process that
has always been employed in the past, and to take a step away from
the boring, "crisp"-looking computer graphics ("Crisp"
is a nice word for crappy, by the way). I nearly had an accident
in my pants when the DVD began spinning and I realized I was about
to watch something that tons of people collaborated on and brought
to life in an amazing group effort of love and sincerity! But,
don't worry soulless computer animation fans...I'm sure that someone
will make something else the easy way for you really soon...