Next Week...

Brave Trailer from SpineOut on Vimeo.

Okay, so I don't have any desire to watch dark, edgy superheroes or Alien prequels but I am SO excited about this movie out next week.  So. Ex. Cited.  Who else?

PreHysterical

I've actually already posted this short film before but it's so good, it doesn't hurt to watch it twice.  Not to mention that anyone reading my blog probably wasn't reading it back when I first posted the video.

Nice side note, this is Joe Pitt's student film and I saw his name in the credits of Winnie the Pooh.  Yay for success!

P.S. Spoiler alert - the boy doesn't get hurt.  There's a little moment where I worried when I first saw it.

There's something wonderful in you

Hello! This is Sally from Flying Down to Hollywood, doing a guest post tonight. I hope everyone is doing well!

Today, we note the passing of legendary songwriter, Robert Sherman. Now, rather than write a sad post about it, I wanted to concentrate on the wonderful work of Robert Sherman (together with his brother, Richard). Their songs were touching, inspiring, magical, and witty. It's possible that, years from now, some clever scholar will conduct research about how every Sherman brothers' song has a touch of sadness to it (I have heard that said), and yet it cannot be denied that every Sherman brothers' song has a definite message of hope to it. I'm quite sure that you can pick any song out of their catalog and find at least a glimmer of hope in each (there may be a couple of exceptions to the rule in their parodies). Here is an example, one of my favorites of their songs: "The Age of Not Believing" from Bedknobs and Broomsticks. The lyrics in this song move me tears practically every time I listen to it. The simple, beautiful message that your faith in the world, in magic, in the impossible rests entirely on your faith in yourself, resonates very deeply - and is just a taste of the genius of these two men.



And, since we've talked about their deeper, more moving themes, let's skip on over to their lighter, charming pieces, shall we? From the same film, here's "Substitutiary Locomotion." Enjoy!

Drop What You're Doing and Come

The film I have been quite enjoying of late (my sister used the term 'obsessed,' I think) was 2011's Winnie the Pooh (I mentioned the short from the dvd last week).  I have the original completely memorized from when I was a kid and now, I have this one pretty much memorized as well!  


Not only is it charming and adorable, the songs in it are so catchy.  Many of them are sung by Zooey Deschanel - someone I previously hadn't really listened to - and are just deeee-lightful!  Here is my very favorite from the movie!


Have a wonderful weekend!

Under Construction - Week Five Song Sketch

Pic from here

 I'm Wishing by iamemma 

This is actually not a song from the album.  It is a song I thought about putting on the album but decided that since I was doing So This is Love from Cinderella, just one Disney princess song was good.  But I thought I'd post it up anyway and give you a break from my little partial songs!


I also wrote an update about the album on a special Sunday post here.

I See the Light

So, Oscar noms yesterday... and one of my favorite movies from last year, nay, from ever, Tangled, didn't get nominated.

And that bothers me. Because, why wasn't it nominated? Because it's too happy? Not edgy enough? It (gasp) made people feel good after watching it? If someone says because it's not realistic, I beg that they read the synopsis of Black Swan or Inception and get back to me.

I have written previously about how happy movies and music are considered "guilty pleasures" so this is a bit of a repeated motif but I feel really strongly about this! Can someone explain to me why happiness isn't valued? Why Natalie Portman as charming is laughed off and as psychopathic is revered? Actors know that it is much easier to play evil, twisted, dark and tragic than funny or light; comedy and happiness are the hardest to pull off while being the least appreciated.

I don't understand.

Everybody says how hard comedy is, but, when it comes time to honor things, whether it's on a weekly critical basis or whether it's award time, at that time of the year, comedy is the poor, dumb child of dramatic work.
Ivan Reitman

P.S. I am glad Toy Story 3 was nominated. That was a good movie too.

P.P.S. Feel free to follow me! I promise only ever to lead you to bright, sunny places!

You've Got A Friend In Me

We watched Toy Story 3 this weekend and I loved it! It was funny, clever, more suspenseful than pretty much any film I've seen recently, and completely sweet. It did that thing we always want sequels to do - allowed the beloved characters (and some new ones!) to grow and express themselves under a new story.

I also loved the opening short Day and Night - I found it amazing how integral the music and the sound was to the story. So brilliant!

Did any of you see it? What did you think?

P.S. Feel free to follow me! I promise only ever to lead you to bright, sunny places!

P.P.S. I have a brand, new original album out! If you download it and looooove it, please write a lovely review on the site from which you purchased it!

A Cat's the Only Cat Who Knows Where It's At... Weekly Song Sketch

Tiger illustration from here

Last Sunday was both Valentine's Day (which I musically observed with a romantic song sketch) and Chinese New Year which I'm celebrating this week!

This is another Sherman Brothers song written for the film The Aristocats during their long, brilliant musical reign at Disney. I've always loved this sultry and quite felinetastic song and this sequence is one of my favorite parts in the movie. The above kitty photograph is of my cat - I once read I shouldn't post up photos of my cat on my blog but this is a cat-themed post so it's okay, right?

If you want this essentail :o) song for your collection, just let me know in the comments. If it's your first request, please be sure to leave your email address.

If the song isn't immediately playing for you, take a short nap, return to the page and it should have loaded up. If it still isn't playing, just leave a comment and I'll email you the song.

P.S. Feel free to follow me! I promise only ever to lead you to bright, sunny places!

There Isn't Anything I Wouldn't Do For You... Weekly Song Sketch

I haven't made it a secret that I love Disney and Pixar; one of the biggest reasons is the music. This song is one that I keep on my "Get in A Better Mood" playlist - Randy Newman is brilliant.

This also happens to be the birthday weekend of my dearest friend, someone even crazier about Disney and Pixar than I am. So, this song is for you: Happy Birthday!

If you would like a copy for yourself, please leave a comment (if it's your first request, please include your email).

Also, sometimes it's been taking a while to load up the song so if the play button doesn't work, just let it load for a couple minutes (read your daily horoscope or something) and then try again.

P.S. Feel free to follow me! I promise only ever to lead you to bright, sunny places!

Seven of a Million Things...

I hope everyone had a marvelous Thanksgiving in the States and a wonderful Thursday everywhere else!

I am very thankful for many things including (but not limited to):

1. My wonderful family

2. Being able to do what I love every day

3. Music: Sting to Cole Porter to Feist to...

4. Spice bread and tea

5. Sleeping in

6. Disney

7. And you, you wonderful readers/listeners/bloggers, for inspiring me in everything (style, music, food) and commenting and encouraging me - making being on the internet some of my favorite hours of the day.

PreHysterical

This student film came out in 2007 and I really, really loved it. So many student films (short films too) are kind of disturbing or dark and edgy but this one was refreshingly adorable. Since it's a student film and the animator (Joe Pitt) had only a limited amount of time to do it, the animation isn't complete but the characters and story still come across beautifully. Joe Pitt is now at Disney Studios and he worked on the upcoming The Princess and the Frog.

P.S. Don't worry when the dinosaur crunches - I promise it has a perfectly happy ending.

Bare Necessities

Watched Jungle Book last night. It's funny that even though it's been years and years and years since I last watched the film, I could still sing along with the trumpet riff at the end. That's how good that music is. Not only the songs, including Bare Necessities and Wanna Be Like You (one of my favorite songs to do live), but the score (George Bruns) that's both lush and mysterious while tying in the jazzy themes.

The Sherman Brothers write all the songs (except Bare Necessities) and, upon watching their films, I am amazed by how delightful and catchy their tunes are. They are also so diverse- hard to believe the same two men wrote It's A Small World, Feed the Birds, The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers and the perfect Everybody Wants to Be a Cat.

And did you know that the too-fabulous King Louie is voiced by Louis Prima? Craaazy.