Disney: The Art of Being (un)Original

Disney. The studio that's responsible for all your childhood memories. The studio that brought some of the most beautiful animations brought to the big screen and made us all fall in love with so many different characters and stories. At one point in time, Disney was releasing hit after hit and seemed unstoppable. That was in the late 80s and most of the 90s. Then came a slump in the later 90s and 2000s, which was before they officially bought Pixar, who was making massive hit after hit in the 2000s. Instead, Disney was making the beloved films Dinosaur, Brother Bear, Treasure Planet, and... Home on the Range? Okay, so maybe beloved is too strong a word. It might be more fun to just put a list of some of the Disney movies from this era and you can see if any of them are ones you like or even remember at all. I'll also try to put in the budget and how much it made. 

         Movie                        Budget                 Gross

- Home on the Range |   110 Million      |   104 Million

- Treasure Planet        |   140 Million      |   109 Million

- Country Bears          |   38 Million       |    18 Million

- Mars Needs Moms   |   150 Million     |    39 Million (Jesus)

- Dinosaur                   |   128 Million     |    350 Million (wasn't expecting that)

- Brother Bear             |   46 Million       |    250 Million

- Lilo & Stitch            |   80 Million        |    273 Million

- Atlantis Lost Emp.   |   120 Million      |    186 Million

Some of those aren't too bad, but when compared to the Disney Renaissance period, it's a lot weaker. Here's a look at the original animated movies of that period. 

        Movie                        Budget                 Gross

- Beauty and the Beast  |   25 Million    |      440 Million

- Aladdin                       |   28 Million    |      504 Million

- Lion King                   |   45 Million    |      Pretty much a Billion

- Pocahontas                 |   55 Million     |     350 Million

- The Hunchback          |   100 Million   |    326 Million

- Mulan                         |   90 Million     |    305 Million

Lion King alone pretty much gave Disney enough money to make terrible movies for a decade and not be too worried. But you can see the huge difference not only in the quality of the movies but the amount of money coming in from them. There were more flops in the 2000s and not a lot of big hits to make up for those flops. And that's not including a lot of the live-action flops around that time like "Around the world in 90 Days" and "John Carter". Although they did have the massive Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Also around this time were a couple of other failed launches in their entertainment/parks side with the disappointing launch of California Adventure next to Disneyland and the closure of Club Disney. But that was just a bump on the road to becoming the biggest studio in the entire world that would make billions and billions of dollars every year in the parks, merchandise, and movie business. 

With the acquisition of Lucasfilm, Marvel Studios, Fox, Pixar, and every child's soul, Disney has now become a juggernaut in the industry. It's an unstoppable force of money so strong that no one can dare to even try to stop it, lest they be swallowed by the black hole that is every franchise they ever loved. Because that's exactly what they're using to draw you in, your nostalgia. The past few years Disney has been chugging out sequel after sequel and remake after remake of all your beloved childhood favorites. Seriously, looking through the list of movies they've released the past few years, it's mostly been either a remake or a sequel of a big franchise. Here's another list of theatrical movies released the past few years (not including Lucasfilm and Marvel, those are all part of one franchise anyway):

2020:

Artemis Fowl (original), though was moved to Disney+ for COVID reasons

Onward (original) Also moved to Disney+ for COVID

2019:

Frozen II (Sequel)

Maleficent II (sequel)

Lion King (Remake)

Toy Story 4 (Sequel)

Aladdin (Remake)

Dumbo (Remake)

2018:

Mary Poppins Returns (Sequel / Reboot)

Ralph Breaks the Internet (sequel)

Nutcracker and the Four Realms (original?)

Christopher Robin (Sequel/reboot)

Incredibles 2 (sequel)

Wrinkle in Time (Remake/Reboot)

2017:

Coco (original)

Cars 3 (sequel)

Pirates of the Caribbean 5 (sequel)

Beauty and the Beast (remake)

14/18 movies there are either sequels or remakes of some kind. And the few originals made there were not very good movies. Really the only good original in the past few years has been Coco. 

Most of the remakes being made aren't better than the originals anyway, but they sure make as much money as they did back then (usually more). That combined with the massive amounts of money from the Marvel and Star Wars movies allowed them to buy one of the other largest studios in the world in Fox. Pretty much giving Disney a stranglehold in Hollywood and also giving them majority share in the big streaming service Hulu along with their own Disney+ service they released recently. You think with all this money they could try more new things not only in the film world but in their own theme parks and treat their employees better. In 2019, Disney held around 38% of the market share of all the leading film studios, the closest competitor was Warner Bros at around 14%. That is insane. What's even more insane is that they only released 13 movies in 2019 to get that number while Warner Bros released 43 movies to get their 14%. 

"No one man should have all that power". But I guess it's pretty easy when all you're really doing in re-releasing everyone's childhood memories knowing they'll go and watch it with their kids now. Because it seems that whenever they try something a little different and new it doesn't go so well. Which for Disney means not making a billion dollars at the box office. And even though I love the Marvel movies, I think it would be nice for them to take a little break, let me get excited to see more of them later on. But that's not about to stop anytime soon, especially with all the new characters they acquired with the Fox deal. Here's hoping they don't also get Spider-Man from Sony (probably not the majority opinion). It's bad enough they got the other biggest selling movie in the world James Cameron's Avatar and it's 50 upcoming sequels.  

I'm honestly not sure what I'm even trying to say here. I guess it's that I see this company and all the power it has and it kind of worries me a little. Now that they own even more beloved franchises from the Fox deal, are they gonna start remaking and rebooting all of those as well? Are they gonna keep supporting the smaller filmmakers with the Fox Searchlight projects? Will they use their massive amounts of money to actually try to make big original ideas from great filmmakers young and old? Or will they keep hiring the big up and comers for their remakes and big franchise sequels? I just hope they stop relying so much on the past and actually start to invest in new ideas from great creators. And please don't let them buy another major studio. PLEASE. 

Read More

Alternative music in the Age of Corona

I figure these days it's hard to really stand out in the music world. With the rise of streaming comes the rise of the indie artist and the millions of songs you can browse through on Spotify or Apple Music and much like Netflix leaves us with so many choices that it ends up being difficult trying to find something new to enjoy. At least that's kind of a problem for me anyway. As someone who enjoys albums more than just singles, it can be hard to find an album that feels worthy of investing in with multiple listens if not one listen at all. So my taste in music is kind of all over the place, but it kind of started with rock and alternative music back in the mid-2000s. Of course, that meant something entirely different in the mid-2000s than it does now in 2020 and even a lot of the 2010s. Alternative music has just chilled out a lot over the last decade+ and it's a trend that has continued into this 2020 year, probably going to last a lot longer too. So I'll be looking at the most popular songs in the genre and seeing if there's anything interesting or at least pretty good. Just looking at the list I can confirm I've never heard of most of these artists. 

Powfu / beabadoobee: "Death Bed"

So I actually have heard of beabadoobee before, kind of hard not too since she's one of the most popular artists in the world I guess? But I do actually like her music, she's a fantastic singer-songwriter with a lot of great songs in her catalog. Actually, this song is by far her biggest hit and also Powfu's as well. Two solo acts coming together to make a giant mega-hit is pretty interesting, too bad the song itself isn't really. It's not a bad song but it's pretty boring and Powfu's style of rap/singing doesn't really keep my attention for too long. It's the kind of song you might put on in the background while you do other things, which is fine, there's definitely a need for this type of song and there's plenty of them that I do like. Still, it's not something I'll be putting on anytime soon again. I do actually like the music video though, it does fit perfectly with the song and actually made me like the song more. I'd at least recommend checking out beabadoobee's other songs because she actually has songs that are a lot better than this. 

Overall grade: 3 out of 5 song rating score things. 

Billie Eilish: "everything i wanted"

I have talked about this one before, and in my previous statements, I talked about liking this song a lot. Even after months I still feel the same, though it's not a song I often find myself coming back too. It's got a very specific mood to it, making it hard for me to put it on at any time, but that can probably be said about all her music. I just really like it when songs can capture a specific feeling through the music and lyrics, and this song does just that. 

Overall grade: 4.5 out of 5

BENEE / Gus Dapperton: "Supalonely"

Another artist I had never heard of until this very moment. A lot of the artists on this list actually seem to be bigger in other countries more than the USA. It's also possible that this list might not be going off of just USA streams, but I'm not entirely sure. The song though starts off like any other alternative song from the past few years at first. I thought maybe this was going to be another slow/melancholy one until thankfully it kicks in with the upbeat funky beat and music. As the song goes on past the first verse though, it starts to lose some momentum and adds some little things that take away from my enjoyment. There's some autotune that isn't something I've ever been too into. The chorus isn't that great with some lalala's, but the funky upbeat music at least keeps it interesting. Also, Gues Dapperton does something, but it's not interesting enough to go into. 

I will say that BENEE does have some good music outside of this big single. I did listen to her EP "FIRE ON MARZZ" from last year, and it's actually quite good. So if you find this song interesting definitely check that one out. 

overall grade: 3 out of 5

Tones and I: "Dance Monkey"

N O P E. This has to be one of the worst things I've heard in a long time. The music is pretty average for the genre, nothing bad there. BUT oh my god the vocals. Some of the most frustratingly annoying vocals. I don't know who told her this was a good idea, or that this sounded good, because it is not anything close to good. It's like the entire world is playing a joke on her, telling her that her vocals are amazing and ground-breaking. But then the joke went too far and she got a huge following and now everyone is too afraid to tell her the truth and hurt her feelings so they just keep playing along. 

At this moment this song has over ONE BILLION streams on Spotify alone, and she's in the top 40 most popular artists in the WORLD. I don't get it. Maybe I'm just wrong, maybe this is amazing? I feel so lost. Don't do drugs kids. Unless it makes this song any good, then do all of the drugs.*

Oh man, even the video sucks. 

overall grade: 5 out of 100

*nothing can make this song good. So don't do drugs. 

Twenty One Pilots: "Level of Concern"

The quarantine inspired hit by Twenty One Pilots. Twenty One Pilot's rise to fame is an interesting one, mostly because I never expected this band to become as big as they have. I guess maybe they filled a void that was left when bands like My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy went away or got too old. Seems for younger people they kind of fit into that same category even though their music isn't exactly the same. The "Hot Topic" band maybe shifted into a more hip-hop sound since that's were a lot of music seemed to be headed anyway. Here we are 5 years after their big rise and they seem to still be going strong. This song pretty much confirms that not only because of it's popularity, but because it's a good song as well. I love the great use of bass in this song along with the small details like synth and guitar. It all comes together so well like, which is something that Twenty One Pilots have always been really good at. While they don't always hit it out of the park, I think this one is at the very least a triple. I don't know enough about baseball to know if that's the correct analogy, but basically, this is a very good song.

I forgot to mention how much I love the beat. Also, the video is a lot of fun. 

overall grade: 4.5 out of 5

AJR: "Bang!"

If there was ever a band that was the perfect embodiment of mediocrity it's AJR. Honestly, those words are probably way too nice for this band. AJR is a band that has always had terrible production that never fails at producing mild headaches to its sane listeners. But hey, if the production doesn't scare you off, the terrible lyrics and vocals are sure to finish the job. It all just feels like a bunch of random sounds thrown together, the final product being something that kinda resembles music? Like there's a checklist they have to go through with annoying production choices. 

- Autotune [x]

- Random horns to make the song seem bigger than it actually is [x]

- Random vocals thrown in at random to be funny or surprising [x]

- Anything else to make the song sound louder and "epic" [x]

This song does seem to tease a farewell of sorts, "Go out with a bang!" as if it were their last hurrah. Not that it matters too much, cause I will continue to avoid this "band" for the foreseeable future. 

Wouldn't even let me put the video on my post here, such failures ; )

overall grade: doesn't even deserve one

Machine Gun Kelly: "Bloody Valentine"

MGK is here with his Blink-182 style rock song, featuring Travis Barker from... Blink-182. Never thought I would hear MGK doing something like this in my life. Musically, it's not too bad, especially with Travis doing his thing on the drums. It does sound VERY similar to the music that Blink-182 has been putting out lately in the post-Tom era. I'd say this song is okay, really the only thing holding it back is MGK himself with his weak vocals. They just don't sound that great in this style of music, because he's lacking a certain something I can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe he lacks certain energy in the chorus where it feels like he should be going all-out. He does sound a bit monotone throughout not really changing things up at all for the verses, pre-chorus and chorus. Really all this song ends up doing is making me want to listen to the actual Blink-182 and not this.

Overall grade: 2.5 out of 5

jxdn: "Angels & Demons"

Speaking of Travis Barker, here's an artist he signed to his label recently for some reason. Actually, that reason was because of his already established fanbase from Tik Tok. That and he already had a successful single with the song "Comatose", which is... pretty mediocre. But that's all it really takes to be an artist these days as long as you already have an established fanbase that will follow your work in whatever you choose to dabble in next. So here comes his newest single "Angels & Demons" where he has a chance to set himself apart and really shine with his new label. He does that by releasing a really generic song about how crazy his "rockstar" life is because artists talking about their rockstar lifestyles has not been done to death already.  There was definitely some potential here, and there still is. It has an interesting vibe to it musically, you can hear the Travis Barker influence there for sure. But the lyrics aren't interesting enough to make this worth coming back to and the vocals are just fine. jxdn himself doesn't seem to be that different than any other YouTube or Tik Tok personality that's trying to do this. He has a decent voice, but his presentation and style is not as original as he thinks it is. I mean his Spotify profile just talk about how groundbreaking and genre-bending his music is when he only has two mediocre songs. 

overall grade: 2.5 out of 5

Read More