We're closing out the year with another Disney epic. But it's not a swashbuckling adventure or a superhero extravaganza, it's THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE. A classic (or should we say dated) comedy musical that tells the story of...well, we're not really sure. A father who keeps gators in his upscale Philadelphia home? A daughter who wants to find love unfettered by her promising boxing career? A butler with a sunny outlook thanks to a made-up word? It's gotta be something, cause this movie is almost three hours long!
We're wrapping up the winter of our discontent with a more modern, more direct-to-video installment with MICKEY'S ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS. This Disney holiday releases features a trio of stories clearly targeted towards very young children, yet still somehow featuring concepts and ideas that will prompt difficult questions for parents to answer. For our hosts' part, they've never felt sorrier for Donald, never loved Goofy more, and as for Mickey...they've got nothing against Mickey.
Finally, after many requests, and after much debate and deliberation, it's happened. We Want The D is talking Muppets. And what better way to welcome them into the fold than by shining some light onto the winter of our discontent in the form of THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL. A beloved classic no matter how you slice it, the first Disney/Muppet collab was a solid showcase for the gang and arguably the best adaptation of the Dickens novella.
Now is the winter of our discontent. And what better way to kick off this most December of seasons than with a Disney movie with a divisive lead actress, a story penned by Meg Cabot, and that awkward early 2000s teen aesthetic (and soundtrack). We could only be talking about the one and only ICE PRINCESS, a movie about blowing a promising career in academia for a few fleeting years as a middle-tier at best figure skater.
We'll give it to you straight, D-sciples: watching the final Fess Parker Disney movie is made all the more disappointing by the fact that THE GREAT LOCOMOTIVE CHASE just isn't very good. His usual calm-yet-charismatic stoicism just isn't well suited to the character he plays, and that's setting aside the fact that this movie plays the both side-ism card with the American Civil War of all things. But hey, Walt got to play train conductor for a few months, so probably worth it in his books.