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aimeekittyNOTE: I found some more of my 09 sketchbooks while cleaning, so I have a few more! See this post for details
We like going to the opera, but had been trying to save money this season... we could not, however, resist seeing the LA Opera's production of Barber of Seville. (We loved the Marriage of Figaro and really,... any animation fan worth their salt is familiar with the Barber of Seville music...)
I didn't realize it until we were there, but Nathan Gunn, who was such a great Papageno in The Magic Flute was Figaro! So cool! Actually all the main cast was really excellent, I greatly enjoyed it. (Though I still think I like the Marriage of Figaro was a lil better, just because I liked the music better.)
I really liked the costume and set design, too. The mostly black and white design (until the end) was actually really cleverly handled and was never boring. A lot of the coats and pants had wonderful flow to them, and considering the cast was always twirling around, that made it extra awesome.
Loved that Rosina was a little slightly bratty firecracker.
Course almost any play where the main character comes out in a full hot pink suit at the end, is all right with me.
You can see some video clips of it here.
Opera scene photos from Dailynews
My Photos:
Here's me and Mitch outside the opera.
I'm wearing my BABY sweet check JSK and a faux fur coat from Target.
I like Mitch's zatzy tie.
the sky yesterday:
Don't you love how China Town's gas stations are even pagoda-y?
After the Opera, we went to see Disney's The Princess Frog with Crisso and Derek. I'd heard it was charming,... but you know,... I'm a bit cynical with animation at this point, so I guess I wasn't expecting much. I was expecting things to be watered down. I was really pleasantly surprised. It was CHARMING with some amazing animation! GO SEE IT.
It was WAY better than what I had anticipated. A few thoughts... (NO SPOILERS. Please don't SPOIL in the comments either, for those who haven't seen it yet.)
--- If you are a fan of traditional animation AT ALL, you need to go out and see this movie -now-, and if you can, more than once. This is a GOOD 2d animated film and deserves patronage. If it does well, the powers that be will make more. And the more that happens, the more chance we'll have to see some really interesting innovation in 2d animation. I'm serious, people.
--- I say innovation because there already was some really interesting and daring stuff going on in The Princess Frog that filled me with glee and hope for the future of the artform... Like Tiana has a dream sequence about what she wants... it was awesome (think about the Mulan brushwork sequence... but Tiana's is a totally different style.) There were also a lot of segments of animation in it that were just really fabulous.
--- Though the main characters spend a decent amount of the film as FROGS (... and I have to say I'm not a huge fan of the frog designs...) even so,... the story is so good and the acting so good, that you totally fall in love with these little green folks. There's even a toothless firefly, that when I saw him in the preview, I was like "REALLY? REALLY? *___*".... but in the context of the movie, he's adorable and endearing.
--- To further that, you really feel the romance between Tiana and Prince Naveen. That's really saying something... because a lot movies, you just don't get that. It was there, even though they were frogs half the time. You ship them.
--- Tiana is a GREAT role-model character. Man, I love that they have a hardworking serious business girl as a lead. She's working for her dream, man, and she grows and changes by the end of the movie, too. I thought she was going to be bland, she's not, she's interesting. Prince Naveen is pretty awesome, too, and both of them have some pretty fabulous animation attached to their human forms.
--- I was worried about a witch Doctor villain character... but he was actually really cool (and voiced by KEITH DAVID! WOOOO!)... but his animation was SO GREAT that I was staring at that the whole time. Great facial animation, and awesome deformations and swoopy movement on the bodies.
--- Eric Goldberg's Louis the Gator is AWESOME. Seeing the previews, I figured he was just going to be a sidekick for a while, but he's actually a pretty big character. Animation-wise, really cool to see a solid, heavy looking character... with all of those folds and teeth... but still moving with sheer exuberance like the Genie. (Not saying he -is- the Genie, just that Eric is so good getting that energy there.) Loved the darting eye movements, too.
--- I thought it was kinda brave to put some of the scary stuff they put in there with the witch Doctor guy. (and some really interesting animation ala Night on Bald Mountain resulted...!(only click if you want some visual spoilers for Princess Frog by reference of Fantasia))
--- lastly,... it was charming to see a film set in the South. Filled me with nostalgia because New Orleans has a very similar cultural heritage to where I grew up, Charleston, South Carolina. All that food and spanish moss and the old houses... and the swamps..., it's charming you guys.
you can see more stills from The Princess and the Frog here
We like going to the opera, but had been trying to save money this season... we could not, however, resist seeing the LA Opera's production of Barber of Seville. (We loved the Marriage of Figaro and really,... any animation fan worth their salt is familiar with the Barber of Seville music...)I didn't realize it until we were there, but Nathan Gunn, who was such a great Papageno in The Magic Flute was Figaro! So cool! Actually all the main cast was really excellent, I greatly enjoyed it. (Though I still think I like the Marriage of Figaro was a lil better, just because I liked the music better.)
I really liked the costume and set design, too. The mostly black and white design (until the end) was actually really cleverly handled and was never boring. A lot of the coats and pants had wonderful flow to them, and considering the cast was always twirling around, that made it extra awesome.
Loved that Rosina was a little slightly bratty firecracker.
Course almost any play where the main character comes out in a full hot pink suit at the end, is all right with me.
You can see some video clips of it here.
Opera scene photos from Dailynews
My Photos:
Here's me and Mitch outside the opera.
I'm wearing my BABY sweet check JSK and a faux fur coat from Target.
I like Mitch's zatzy tie.
the sky yesterday:
Don't you love how China Town's gas stations are even pagoda-y?
After the Opera, we went to see Disney's The Princess Frog with Crisso and Derek. I'd heard it was charming,... but you know,... I'm a bit cynical with animation at this point, so I guess I wasn't expecting much. I was expecting things to be watered down. I was really pleasantly surprised. It was CHARMING with some amazing animation! GO SEE IT.
It was WAY better than what I had anticipated. A few thoughts... (NO SPOILERS. Please don't SPOIL in the comments either, for those who haven't seen it yet.)
--- If you are a fan of traditional animation AT ALL, you need to go out and see this movie -now-, and if you can, more than once. This is a GOOD 2d animated film and deserves patronage. If it does well, the powers that be will make more. And the more that happens, the more chance we'll have to see some really interesting innovation in 2d animation. I'm serious, people.
--- I say innovation because there already was some really interesting and daring stuff going on in The Princess Frog that filled me with glee and hope for the future of the artform... Like Tiana has a dream sequence about what she wants... it was awesome (think about the Mulan brushwork sequence... but Tiana's is a totally different style.) There were also a lot of segments of animation in it that were just really fabulous.
--- Though the main characters spend a decent amount of the film as FROGS (... and I have to say I'm not a huge fan of the frog designs...) even so,... the story is so good and the acting so good, that you totally fall in love with these little green folks. There's even a toothless firefly, that when I saw him in the preview, I was like "REALLY? REALLY? *___*".... but in the context of the movie, he's adorable and endearing.
--- To further that, you really feel the romance between Tiana and Prince Naveen. That's really saying something... because a lot movies, you just don't get that. It was there, even though they were frogs half the time. You ship them.
--- Tiana is a GREAT role-model character. Man, I love that they have a hardworking serious business girl as a lead. She's working for her dream, man, and she grows and changes by the end of the movie, too. I thought she was going to be bland, she's not, she's interesting. Prince Naveen is pretty awesome, too, and both of them have some pretty fabulous animation attached to their human forms.
--- I was worried about a witch Doctor villain character... but he was actually really cool (and voiced by KEITH DAVID! WOOOO!)... but his animation was SO GREAT that I was staring at that the whole time. Great facial animation, and awesome deformations and swoopy movement on the bodies.
--- Eric Goldberg's Louis the Gator is AWESOME. Seeing the previews, I figured he was just going to be a sidekick for a while, but he's actually a pretty big character. Animation-wise, really cool to see a solid, heavy looking character... with all of those folds and teeth... but still moving with sheer exuberance like the Genie. (Not saying he -is- the Genie, just that Eric is so good getting that energy there.) Loved the darting eye movements, too.
--- I thought it was kinda brave to put some of the scary stuff they put in there with the witch Doctor guy. (and some really interesting animation ala Night on Bald Mountain resulted...!(only click if you want some visual spoilers for Princess Frog by reference of Fantasia))
--- lastly,... it was charming to see a film set in the South. Filled me with nostalgia because New Orleans has a very similar cultural heritage to where I grew up, Charleston, South Carolina. All that food and spanish moss and the old houses... and the swamps..., it's charming you guys.
you can see more stills from The Princess and the Frog here
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(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-14 05:22 pm (UTC)Also IM REALLY GLAD YOU LIKED P&TF!!! I really liked it, and esp the animation, but you know, I don't actually KNOW ANYTHING about animation, SO IT'S NICE TO BE REAFFIRMED BY YOU! haha I was hoping you'd like it, bc when you were talking about it before, you were a little cynical I guess, from a professional's standpoint, which makes sense.
ANYWAY. NAVEEN 4 EVA.
And crazy lighting bug. OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG.
Let's just say, I CRIED A SHITLOAD IN THAT MOVIE.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-14 05:23 pm (UTC)I heard the movie had a strong opening weekend, I hope it does really well.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-14 05:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-14 05:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-14 05:28 pm (UTC)And I also got all gushy feelings. It made me miss Savannah hardcore. The music was pretty alright-- I think it was a smart move to make it a jazzy musical.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-14 05:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-14 05:41 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-14 05:57 pm (UTC)YES! P&TF was awesome! Tiana's dream sequence reminded me of this simple illustration of Josephine Baker in her banana skirt. The whole look was incredible, Tiana's practical nature is such a welcome change from the usual hoo-ha, the animation, the story, it was so rad. :D
(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-14 06:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-14 07:20 pm (UTC)I think I was most shocked about actually loving Louis and Ray. I was horribly skeptical, but I would never have this movie without either of them. All of the characters were kind of surprising that way. (I'm sure there's a pun in there somewhere about Disney's first 2-D movie in ages having their most 3-D characters.)
But yeah... freaking awesome. I'll definitely be back to see that at least a few more times, and have been telling everyone I know to do the same. When it comes out on video, I will also have to sit you down and make you tell me where the awesome animation sequences are. :D
(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-14 07:31 pm (UTC)I might just be getting old but I hope they'll start producing more 2d movies, especially because the clips I've seen from The Princess and the Frog are beautiful!
(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-14 07:40 pm (UTC)-Songs weren't so overdone that they stick out. It didn't seem like the usual HEY EVERYBODY lets stop and SIIIING. I generally dislike villain songs because they're usually cheesy. They should be showing why they are scary, not telling us.
-Prince actually had a personality, other than just being a dreamy prince
-There were no annoying famous comedian sidekicks
- Voodoo lady and her strings of bottles that look like a cathedral
(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-14 07:44 pm (UTC)I'd say, we should go see it together, but I don't want to irritate the other patrons by going "LOOK AT THAT THERE, ALI!!!" haha. so yeah, after it comes out on dvd or something.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-14 07:55 pm (UTC)But I'll be pestering my sister to go with me now so we both can be charmed! =D
then listen to my sis tell me to cosplay Tiana... which I will...at some point
(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-14 08:17 pm (UTC)A+ GOLD STAR!
Date: 2009-12-14 08:33 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-14 08:37 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-14 09:11 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-14 10:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-14 10:33 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-14 10:40 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-14 10:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-15 12:21 am (UTC)I'm even more anxious to see The Princess and the Frog after reading your thoughts! I've felt very cautious and cynical about it too, so I'm both excited and hopeful to hear so many good words about it, especially coming from people like yourself who really care about these things. Sadly I don't think it opens in the UK until February, so I have a loooong wait to see it yet! gah! :X
(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-15 01:43 am (UTC)I've been hearing a lot of debate about it since I've been reading a lot of reviews, and just from what people at my school think as well. There are some people who've been saying that the animation is awful and even today I heard that one person thought Facilier's design was very Saturday morning, which really surprised me.
I thought it was really sweet and I really loved how Naveen falls for Tiana. i thought it was totally believable, and at the same time, I'm hearing so many different views on everything on the movie, like people have said they don't think it's believable. It's really weird.
But I can't help but be excited that there will be more traditional animated films at Disney, I can't wait to see more :D
(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-15 02:03 am (UTC)The Opera looks like it was amazing too.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-15 01:30 pm (UTC)I was really happy with the character progression and growth in the story, particularly with Naveen. He definitely went from a semi-despicable, spoiled playboy to a - well, a charming prince. He and Tiana worked very well together as a couple, which made me feel like there was actual chemistry there. There was love.
Goes without me saying that Dr. Facillier and Charlotte were an absolute joy to watch on the screen =D Facillier's had the most action-packed song sequence I've seen in a 2D film since 'Friend Like Me' from Aladdin. :D
There were some things in there that very blatantly screamed "Lasseter" (not a bad thing, by any means). Case in point, Ray's overall story - particularly at the end - and Tiana's stylized dream sequence song. While I really enjoyed the dream sequence, I sort of missed my Disney-patented 'Princess song'. For example, we have Ariel's 'Part of your World' and Belle's first song, 'Belle'. They featured the princesses in their original character designs, singing and interacting with their environment...in their original designs. With Tiana, I sort of missed that. I felt that the facial expressions, little nuances of her character didn't come through with the stylized version they chose to use, but I do appreciate that they took the design from her magazine clipping to tie it all together. It made sense, and it's entirely possible that I'm just nit-picking about something I recognize as nostalgic.
The movie ended up being a joyous blend of traditional Disney, new Disney and Pixar (Lasseter-ish) elements. The most interesting thing I find is that it seems Disney is starting to grow up, and it really shows with the overall theme of the movie. Instead of passively wishing on a star and automatically getting a 'happily ever after', the movie stressed hard work and determination while still keeping that dream in sight. What a great message! :)
Heh, now I want to see it again ;P
(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-15 03:49 pm (UTC)Anyway, I loved it. I'd love to see 2d animation doing more of this.
and I do really like that the leads have more realistic changes and qualities... like you said, instead of just expecting all their dreams to come true "like magic".
(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-15 07:47 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-15 09:54 pm (UTC)Brendan and the Secret of Kells. It's an international feature animated film, produced by two Irishmen and animated by teams in France, Belgium, and Ireland. It's highly stylized to look like Celtic and Viking art. Here's the trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw2_HZTuQBE
And then there was this one, Song of the Sea:
http://www.cartoonsaloon.ie/index.php/2009/06/feature-films-song-of-the-sea/
I love Up and Wall-E and 3D animation, but 2D is different in a very magical way that needs to be treasured. God, I know, preaching to the choir. SORRY! XD
(no subject)
Date: 2009-12-18 06:39 pm (UTC)I don't know why, but when I was little, I would enjoy starring that the chadeliers there at the Dorothy Chandler. And, as kids often do, I mixed up things and say we were going to the "Dorothy Chandelier"!! Hey, I was 6, okay??? :D