Poody wrote:oh man, I'm trying NOT to listen to the songs before I see the movie this time.... but it's hard. I guess I can listen to clips of the songs I've already heard... like Almost There and Friends on the Other Side.
PatrickvD wrote:
come on now, you know you want to
Umm... yes! that is the point!
Ok I went ahead and listened to Down in New Orleans (all 3 versions), Almost There, and Friends on the Other Side.... because I've already heard all 3 of them in full. I'll listen to the Ne-Yo song later... it's not all that important so.... Couldn't they have added a "pop" song by a singer who fit more with the movie's theme though? Patti LaBelle please?
I think the point of Ne-Yo was to pull in an additional aduience. He speaks more to young people. I'm glad they picked him and not some has-been, like in the 90s. Michael Bolton.... really?
PatrickvD wrote:I think the point of Ne-Yo was to pull in an additional aduience. He speaks more to young people. I'm glad they picked him and not some has-been, like in the 90s. Michael Bolton.... really?
That's true. I see your point, but they could have had more than one song and performer added.
and I agree that Michael Bolton is really dated and a has-been... But will Ne-Yo be anywhere as remembered as him? I doubt that.....
Man, I have been waiting forever to listen to the songs from this film!!
First off, if people didnt bother to listen to the score tracks, "Ray Laid Low" is actually Tiana singing.
I gotta say im not too impressed with the music. Im pleasantly surprised by When We Are Human...sounds catchy, and Bruno Campos is a darn good singer! Who knew!?
Other than that....the songs dont sound too memorable, and they do have a very Randy-Newman tone to them...some of them even reminded me of songs from Toy Story...and that ISNT GOOD.
Now that I;ve heard the songs...and having watched all the segments I have...and knowing what the story is about...im wondering if (to quote Alan Menken):
"WILL THIS MOVIE SIT COMFORTABLY ON A SHELF ALONG THE OTHER CLASSICS?" and I dont mean the lame ones from the 2000's. I keep thinking of the tone and look of this film...and then images from Sleeping Beauty pop into my head. They dont match at all.
From the Tiana footage I have seen so far...I wonder if she will be graceful at all. So far, she just looks cartoony and over-acted... if you want to know what i mean....watch a Tiana scene...and then picture Aurora doing the very same acting. Doesnt look right, does it?
Oh dear...
Oh, and Disney should learn from its own track record: they can take a song from a film and make a pop-version of it. But if you create a random song to have a pop song to sell...IT DOESNT.
It didnt work with "someday", it didnt work with "If I never knew you", or with "true to your heart" or God knows what bad pop songs they attached to their post 2000 films...
In defense of "Some Day" and "If I Never Knew You", they were originally songs sung by the characters in their respective films. Weren't both of them even fully animated. Heck, with "Some Day", they simply changed the song to "God Help the Outcasts" for the scene in Hunchback.
Poody wrote:^Yap, and "If I Never Knew You" was somewhat of a hit and people do still know it.
Ok I listened to the Ne-Yo song.... um, why? It's all good, gotta have something to skip.
"If I Never Knew You" also had one of the coolest music videos; Shanice and Jon Secada singing whilst clips from the movie are projected onto New York apartment buildings...
Marce82 wrote:First off, if people didnt bother to listen to the score tracks, "Ray Laid Low" is actually Tiana singing.
I am one of those people. I thought about listening to the scores. Thanks for the heads-up! I wonder why that song is considered a score then, unless she's only singing for 10 seconds or whatever...
All the time you try to compare TPatF to "Sleeping Beauty"
I don't think that makes much sense! The only Disney movie that comes quite close to SB in style is "Pocahontas". I would rather compare TPatF to "The little mermaid". So I would not imagine Aurora doing the same thing as Tiana, but I could see Ariel in her place.
After all, there is a world of difference between "Jazzy new Orleans in the 20's" and "Classic fairy tale to classic ballet music by Tschakovski taking place in the middle ages".
Randy Newman after all cannot help he's not Tschakovski
As for "if I never knew you", "someday" and such....there were reasons why those songs were cut. Not necessarily cause they were bad songs...but clearly not the strongest. God help the outcasts is a pretty bland song...which would mean Someday was even weaker...
I do think that the 10th anniversary edition of pocahontas actually works better WITH the song. But let's face it: Colors of the wind is a much more memorable song, and definitely the signature of that film.
But this is all very subjective, i mean, whether one likes or dislikes a song. But if one looks at the track record, the pop-versions of songs IN the film were much more successful than the ones that had no real connection to them.
As for picturing Aurora in Tiana;s shoes. Im not talking about the visual style of the film. Im talking about the animation style....how cartoony the performances are. And though Ariel might look a little more fitting acting like Tiana does, she still moved in a much more graceful and sincere way than Tiana does (in what we've seen so far).
C'mon...when Tiana is a little girl and sees the frog and screams...and pig tails shoot up...can anyone describe a similar reaction to that in any Disney film pre-1967 (walt era)
I dont know why my mind chooses to go to Sleeping Beauty, but if one puts the Princess and the frog next to any of the films from the golden age and the 50s rebirth...visually, it doesnt feel like it belongs.
Hey, i still have my hopes up for this film, and i cant wait to see it.
As for "if I never knew you", "someday" and such....there were reasons why those songs were cut. Not necessarily cause they were bad songs...but clearly not the strongest. God help the outcasts is a pretty bland song...which would mean Someday was even weaker...
I do think that the 10th anniversary edition of pocahontas actually works better WITH the song. But let's face it: Colors of the wind is a much more memorable song, and definitely the signature of that film.
But this is all very subjective, i mean, whether one likes or dislikes a song. But if one looks at the track record, the pop-versions of songs IN the film were much more successful than the ones that had no real connection to them.
As for picturing Aurora in Tiana;s shoes. Im not talking about the visual style of the film. Im talking about the animation style....how cartoony the performances are. And though Ariel might look a little more fitting acting like Tiana does, she still moved in a much more graceful and sincere way than Tiana does (in what we've seen so far).
C'mon...when Tiana is a little girl and sees the frog and screams...and pig tails shoot up...can anyone describe a similar reaction to that in any Disney film pre-1967 (walt era)
I dont know why my mind chooses to go to Sleeping Beauty, but if one puts the Princess and the frog next to any of the films from the golden age and the 50s rebirth...visually, it doesnt feel like it belongs.
Hey, i still have my hopes up for this film, and i cant wait to see it.
Why are you comparing a film that is 50 years old to a film that is just coming out. Of course it's not going to look the same.
Walt Disney always belived in quality, bring the quality back.
Marce82 wrote:
I dont know why my mind chooses to go to Sleeping Beauty, but if one puts the Princess and the frog next to any of the films from the golden age and the 50s rebirth...visually, it doesnt feel like it belongs.
Hey, i still have my hopes up for this film, and i cant wait to see it.
I agree. We don't know how differently Tiana is going to carry herself in the adult years of "Princess and the Frog" until we see it. I thought the opening segment on the "Snow White" BD was quite charming and sweet; it had me wanting to see the whole film.
Marce82 wrote:
As for "if I never knew you", "someday" and such....there were reasons why those songs were cut. Not necessarily cause they were bad songs...but clearly not the strongest. God help the outcasts is a pretty bland song...which would mean Someday was even weaker...
LOL WHAT? 'Someday' actually feels like a really strong song. I have you even heard the one sung in the German play?
No, i am not saying I expect a film made today to look the same as a 50 yr old film. But its about "fitting in with".
Somehow...the movies disney made in the 90s do share a certain stylistic quality that the older ones have. They "fit in the same shelf". I just wonder whether this coming film will...
I do think the first 5 mins are sweet, and there is great character development in them. My question about Tiana's grace goes to HER MOVEMENTS AND ACTING....HER ANIMATION. Not the story or design.
And Im not saying that Someday is a bad song (i didnt see the german play), or that any of the other pop songs that werent in their respective films were bad songs. Or weak songs per se (this is very subjective), but I do think they didnt represent the films as strongly.
If someone hears A whole new World, or Beauty and the Beast, or Can you feel the love tonight....one links it automatically tro their corresponding film.
With songs like "someday", "If I never knew you" and others that were not featured IN the film...i doubt that any non-disney-fan will know what film they belong to.
Plus, if you have a film with 5 to 7 songs in it....is there really NOT ONE in it that can be turned into a pop tune? Cmon....
I don't think Disney is trying to be like they were in the 50s and such. If they were, then the style would be like Snow White and Sleeping Beauty. Disney style has ALWAYS changed through the years. If you found a person who never saw a Disney movie in their life and first showed them Snow White and then showed them Sleeping Beauty...they wouldn't likely think they came from the same company.
I think its a bit unfair to compare styles and such. Compare Snow White, to Sleeping Beauty, to Jungle Book, to Little Mermaid, to Hercules, to Home on the Range, to Chicken Little...Disney has been constantly changing their animation styles...much because of new generations. You could tell when the 9 Old Men were having a lot of influence, same with Don Bluth and Glenn Keanne. Princess and the Frog is a mix of Little Mermaid/Beauty and the Beast and Brother Bear animation.
And of course Princess and the Frog doesn't belong next to Sleeping Beauty in style...but neither does Lion King, Jungle Book, Bambi, Snow White, etc. Disney has never made another movie with Beauty's style and that is a shame as it was fantastic style. But many of their other styles also have high marks, from me at least.
Siren wrote:I don't think Disney is trying to be like they were in the 50s and such.
Lasseter did say they were heavily influenced by Lady and the Tramp, though I see that more in the backgrounds rather than the characters, who give off more of a Little Mermaid vibe to them.
Marce82 wrote:
As for "if I never knew you", "someday" and such....there were reasons why those songs were cut. Not necessarily cause they were bad songs...but clearly not the strongest. God help the outcasts is a pretty bland song...which would mean Someday was even weaker...
LOL WHAT? 'Someday' actually feels like a really strong song. I have you even heard the one sung in the German play?
I don't agree that "God help the outcast" is a bland song. I think it's quite passionate actually. But maybe this feeling also depends a bit on how the singer delivers the song. There is some more passion in the Bette Mittler version than in the one sung by Heidi Mollenmauer.
The reason why the song "If I never knew you" was cut from Pocahontas, was because the test audience seemed to become a bit impatient when watching the scene featuring this song, not because the song is weak (I think it isn't, by the way).
(And as for the general comment that Mel Gibson sang it badly: give the man a break, he was only an untrained amateur and he had to reach a real high note! )
I am one of those people. I thought about listening to the scores. 
)
