Disney
theartsdesk Q&A: Choreographer Stephen MearSaturday, 11 April 2015
From Singin’ in the Rain and Anything Goes to Hello, Dolly! and Mary Poppins, Olivier Award winner Stephen Mear has done more than any other British choreographer to usher classic musicals into the modern era. But adept as he is at razzle-dazzling ’... Read more... |
CinderellaSaturday, 28 March 2015
Lushly produced to within an inch of its pictorially ripe life, the new Disney/Kenneth Branagh live-action Cinderella couples swoony imagery with a cloying message about compassion. But all its pro forma qualities fall away as and when Cate... Read more... |
Big Hero 6Tuesday, 27 January 2015
Following the critical and commercial hits Wreck-It Ralph and Frozen, Disney's latest is a film which will win you over with its charming WALL-E-esque antics, oddball coupling and simple slapstick before it – somewhat annoyingly – reveals... Read more... |
DVD: MaleficentThursday, 23 October 2014
Angelina Jolie carries this re-visited Disney classic. She is the flying buttress that supports the old story told anew, as commanding as the nuclear green energy she emits into the stratosphere and as striking as any original drawing may have been.... Read more... |
LFF 2013: Saving Mr BanksMonday, 21 October 2013
It's dueling stars when Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson go quite delightfully toe-to-toe as Walt Disney vs P L Travers, author of Mary Poppins, in Saving Mr Banks, the closing film of the London Film Festival 2013. The title suggests the Russian doll-... Read more... |
BraveMonday, 13 August 2012
Animated 11th-century Scotland is a great place to live for a girl with a bow and arrow, until your mum decides to marry you off to any young numpty who wins a clan tournament. No wonder the female audience comes predisposed to love Merida, the star... Read more... |
The Arts Desk Radio Show 5Thursday, 12 July 2012
Peter has just come back from Lagos, so the first part of the show is a brief tour d’horizon of the dynamic Nigerian pop scene, featuring Asa, Tiwa Savage, 2Face, Flavour and D’Banj, the “Koko-Master”, who has just had his first UK Top 10 hit with “... Read more... |
The MuppetsThursday, 09 February 2012
Those of a certain vintage will recall with fondness their childhood years (or those as parents of small children) gathered in front of the television on Sunday evenings between 1976-1981 to watch The Muppet Show. But The Muppets movie, their first... Read more... |
The Story of Musicals, BBC FourWednesday, 18 January 2012
As the series ended, it remained at great pains to repeatedly point out that this was the story of the British musical, its post-War success and how Oliver and Jesus Christ Superstar conquered Broadway. Yet it was hard not to sigh as episode three... Read more... |
theartsdesk MOT: The Lion King, Lyceum TheatreSunday, 04 September 2011
When The Lion King first opened in London in October 1999, there were cries from some quarters that it was merely following in a long line of stage shows that had been lifted lazily from films. Indeed its creator, Julie Taymor, didn't depart too far... Read more... |
The Lion King's West End ReignSunday, 04 September 2011
The stage musical The Lion King has been seen by nearly 10 million people in the UK - almost 60 million worldwide – and Lord only knows how many must have seen Walt Disney’s animation. I have a friend who reckons he has seen it at least 26 times and... Read more... |
Pirates of the Caribbean - On Stranger TidesWednesday, 18 May 2011
Once more unto the beach, dear friends. Pirates of the Caribbean is back for a fourth raid of the world’s wallet. This time it’s in 3D. As in Dumb, Dumberer and Depp. Film scholars may also wish to note that Pirates 4 was actually shot 6000 miles... Read more... |
