Film Land - Moana

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Is there any pop cultural institution as broad reaching or as powerful as Disney Studios?  Certainly, there are competitors, most notably with Warner Brothers who gave the world Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Batman, and the Looney Tunes, but they still rank second place compared to Disney’s cultural dominance. 

We’re currently in the midst of Disney’s most influential period in the cultural zeitgeist, marked by unparalleled critical and box office success from subsidiaries like Pixar and Marvel, their absolute dominance of the fantasy genre through live action fairy tales, and their return to the head of the table in animated family blockbusters.

I’ve taken to calling it the Disney New Wave and Moana is the latest crest of it after the severe trough that was Through the Looking Glass.  So, how does the Polynesian island adventure film from the directors of Hercules, Little Mermaid, and Treasure Planet shake out?  Okay, it’s really okay. 

Panel Vision - The Origins of Devil Dinosaur

Edited by Robert Beach 

Based on the monster success of Jurassic World, the hype for Pixar’s upcoming The Good Dinosaur, and the knee-jerk reactionary nature of geek media reporting that I so thrive in, dinosaurs are about to be the next big thing. Even if that’s not the case, Marvel comics certainly seems to think so as they’ve green lit a new comic iteration of the 1978 character Devil Dinosaur. 

This new comic will revolve around the adventures of Devil Dinosaur in modern day as he pals around with his new human friend Moon Girl, a young black girl. This is great news for me because I’ve been a fan of Devil Dinosaur since high school, but it occurs to me a lot of folks excited about this announcement don’t know much about the classic Devil Dinosaur. Allow me to enlighten you. 

 

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Poster Speculation, Rogue One Photo Implications, & New Episode IX Director

Edited by Robert Beach

D23 happened over the weekend. If you don’t know, that’s a major Disney expo where they start setting up the hype for their new crop of films. A lot of interesting news came out of D23 this year, but most of it was either in the realm of logo posters for Pixar or trailers that haven’t been released to the public from Marvel. 

The big, flashy, reveals so far have come from Star Wars as Disney and J.J. Abrams continue the slow drip of advertising leading up to this winter’s The Force Awakens. D23 saw the first official poster for Force Awakens revealed, the first set and character photos from next year’s Star Wars Anthology: Rogue One, and the announcement of who will direct Star Wars Episode IX.