In this week's episode we're returning to the wonderful world of DCOMs with AVALON HIGH. At first blush, this particular Disney Channel movie doesn't seem like anything remarkable - just another Camelot story to torture our hosts with, if anything. But it doesn't take long for it to become clear this is the most TV movie of all TV movies, boarding on parody if it wasn't so darn earnest. Not so much a wild ride as it is a slow-motion train wreck that delights to no end.
Grab your life jackets and make sure your compass is secure, D-Lovers, we're heading back onto the ocean this week...actually it's looking pretty stormy out there, maybe we should stay on land. Leave navigating this nasty nor'easter to the brave men of the coast guard, like in Disney's THE FINEST HOURS. Based on the true story of a daring and pretty miraculous rescue, most of our hosts found this story appropriately thrilling and engaging...but for one it played into some very specific and pretty intense fears about deep, dark, cold, rough water and what it can do to big boats and small bodies alike.
It's that time of year again, and since this summer feels a little bit (ok, a lotta bit) different thanks to, well... *gestures vaguely toward outside*, our hosts thought it would be appropriate if this year's monthly series had a specific air of gloominess about it. So welcome to The Summer of Sadness: The Disney Films of Tim Burton. And there's no better place to start than with the film that really feels like it cemented the modern era of Tim's filmmaking career - his kinda-sequel/kinda reboot/kinda nothing adaptation of ALICE IN WONDERLAND.
In many ways, THOSE CALLOWAYS is a subversion of your typical Disney movie. Rather than a dead mother, Lydia Calloway may be one of the best and strongest mother/wife figures we've seen. Rather than a happy family singing and dancing together, the Calloways have real issues with anger, alcohol and finances. Sadly, in other ways it's all too typical of Disney, especially when it comes to the studio's proclivity towards casual animal abuse. And there's the whole thing with Bucky Calloway turning from a sweet, if rather clueless boy into a raging, toxic male. And, craziest of all, their inexplicable love for God's worst creation. It's a mixed bag, is what we're saying.