©Disney

Take a peek into the world of toque macaques living in abandoned temples in Sri Lanka. Monkey Kingdom is DisneyNature's the 8th film, following Bears from last year. Narrated by Tina Fey, this time, we follow Maya a lowly toque macaque on the bottom rung of the monkey troop hierarchy. This means she eats last, lives on the ground instead of up in the tree branches and gets constantly bullied by the three alpha females and their children. Since rank is inherited, she has almost no chance of bettering her status...almost. A handsome lone macaque joins the group and Maya catches his eye...leading to the birth of their super cute son, Kip.

Monkey Kingdom is full of beautiful cinematic shots and tells a story that can resonate with a lot of us - working to better ourselves and providing a better future for our children. It's amazing how human these monkeys are sometimes. I loved watching the film and was fascinated by the behaviour of the monkeys. They are amazing animals!

Monkey Kingdom swings into theatres Friday, April 17th, 2015. As part of Earth Week, see Monkey Kingdom during opening week (4/17 – 4/23) and Disney will make a donation to benefit Conservation International to protect habitat in Indonesia, Cambodia and Sri Lanka!

Jelani Remy as “Simba” and the ensemble in “He Lives in You” from THE LION KING National Tour. ©Disney. Photo Credit: Joan Marcus

More than 75 million people around the world have experienced the phenomenon of Disney’s THE LION KING, and now you can, too, when Vancouver’s best-loved musical returns to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre for an exclusive 4 -week run beginning Thursday, June 18, 2015 and playing through Sunday, July 12, 2015.

In its 18th year, THE LION KING remains ascendant as one of the most popular stage musicals in the world. Since its Broadway premiere on November 13, 1997, 22 global productions have been seen by more than 75 million people and, cumulatively, run a staggering 112 years. Produced by Disney Theatrical Productions (under the direction of Thomas Schumacher), THE LION KING is only the second show in history to generate five productions worldwide running 10 or more years.

THE LION KING won six 1998 Tony Awards®: Best Musical, Best Scenic Design (Richard Hudson), Best Costume Design (Julie Taymor), Best Lighting Design (Donald Holder), Best Choreography (Garth Fagan) and Best Direction of a Musical. THE LION KING has also earned more than 70 major arts awards including the 1998 NY Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical, the 1999 Grammy® for Best Musical Show Album, the 1999 Evening Standard Award for Theatrical Event of the Year and the 1999 Laurence Olivier Awards for Best Choreography and Best Costume Design.

Meet the Lions of THE LION KING:

©Disney. Photo Credit: Joan Marcus

Simba
Meaning: lion (Swahili)
Species: Lion
Only son of Mufasa, the King of the Pride Lands and ruler of Pride Rock, he is adventurous and mischievous and can't wait to be king!

©Disney.  Photo Credit: Joan Marcus

Nala
Meaning: gift (Swahili—dubious)
Species: Lion
Best friend of Simba and partner in crime, Nala is just as bit of adventurous and mischievous as Simba.

©Disney.  Photo Credit: Joan Marcus

Mufasa
Meaning: none
Species: Lion
The regal king of the Pride Lands and ruler of Pride Rock. He tries to teach his son Simba how to be a wise and responsible future king.

©Disney.  Photo Credit: Joan Marcus

Scar
Meaning: none
Species: Lion
Mufasa's younger brother, who resents being second. Scar secretly plots to take over the throne.

Discover your inner Lion King and win tickets to Disney's THE LION KING in Vancouver!

Broadway Across Canada is generously giving away a pair of tickets to one of my readers for the THE LION KING performance on Thursday, June 18th at 7:30pm held at Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver! Here's how you can enter:


Giveaway closes on Monday, April 27th at 5:00pm. A winner will be drawn and notified via email and have 48 hours to respond, otherwise another winner will be drawn. Good luck!

If you don't win, tickets to the THE LION KING are on sale online or by calling 1-855-985-5000. Tickets start at $35.00 (plus applicable service charges).

Pirates and Tom Hiddleton! Those were the two immediate thoughts that popped into my head when I first heard about this film. This was the first movie of the Tinklebell direct-to-DVD series that I have ever watched and it is the 6th one that Disney has made in the Fairy franchise. Haha this movie made me want to watch more of the Fairy series.

"The Pirate Fairy", like all the movies previous, is set in Neverland, before the events of "Peter Pan." Zarina (voice of Christina Hendricks), a dust keeper fairy is obsessed with figuring out how fairy dust works. When her experiments on the powerful Blue Pixie Dust land her in hot water with her supervisor, she flees Pixie Hollow. She ends up joining forces with the pirates of Skull Rock, led by a cabin boy named James (voice of Tom Hiddleston), who make her the captain of their ship. Zarina and the pirates come up a plan to steal the Blue Fairy Dust and subsequently switches the talents of Tinker Bell (voice of Mae Whitman) and her friends in the process. Tink and her friends must work together to retrieve the Blue Pixie Dust, which the fairies of Pixie Hollow is dependent upon to be able to fly.  


The movie was pretty entertaining. It delves more into the origins of the characters in "Peter Pan," centred around Captain Hook. Tom Hiddleton is delightful as always. He brings a little bit of Loki in his portrayal of James. The new fairy is pretty cool in her pirate get-up but she never consciously makes a choice to do the right thing; it is the circumstances force her to. It was great to see the origins of Captain Hook and the Crocodile. IT IS SO ADORABLE. The film is 78 min with several special features included:       

• Second Star to the Right: The Legacy of Never Land – Explore Never Land’s history and its endless ability to inspire     
• Croc-u-mentary – “Crocky” and his real-life relatives are the subject of this funny documentary     Deleted Scenes     
• Sing-Along Songs     
• The Making of “The Frigate That Flies” – Go Behind the Scenes with Tom Hiddleton for a close-up look at the recording of this song 

There are two songs in the movie: "Who I Am," sung by Natasha Bedingfield as the introduction song to Zarina, and "The Frigate That Flies, " sung by the pirates. If Tom Hiddleton singing is what you'd like to hear, "The Frigate That Flies" is the song to listen to. I personally like "Who I Am" song more. It's backed by nice strummy music and is about being yourself and showing the world who you are.

“The Pirate Fairy” is currently available in store and the soundtrack available for download on iTunes.

They're doing a sequel! They're back by popular demand! The Muppets are back again in a silly, fun filled adventure. Starting right when the previous Muppet movie ended, the Muppet cast launch into song about how they are doing a sequel and what the plot should be. The entire Muppets gang ends up going on a world tour. Along the way, Kermit gets kidnapped and switched with Constantine, the World's Number One Criminal, and Kermit-look-alike. While Kermit has it figure out how to escape jail, the gang unwittingly wind up as part of Constantine's crime scheme.

The Muppets: Most Wanted wasn't as good as the previous film (they poked fun at this in their opening song), but was still very entertaining and worth going to see in theatre. It was laugh-out-loud funny, with tonnes of cameos from famous people, and the songs are just as good.  

• They've Ordered a Sequel performed by Walter, Statler & Waldorf
• We're Doing a Sequel performed by The Muppets
• My Name First . . . Your Name performed by Constantine & Ricky Gervais
• I'm Number One performed by Constantine & Ricky Gervais
• The Casa Grande performed by Kermit, Tina Fey, Jemaine Clement, Danny Trejo, Ray Liotta
• The Big House performed by Tina Fey
• Stick With Me performed by Constantine & Miss Piggy
• I'll Get You What You Want (Cockatoo in Malibu) performed by Constantine
• The Muppet Show Theme performed by Los Muppets
• Answer Some Questions performed by Ty Burrell
• Interrogation Song performed by Ty Burrell, Sam Eagle & The Muppets
• Oh Foo Foo, It's Always Been a Fight performed by Piggy & Foo Foo
• Something So Right performed by Miss Piggy, Kermit, Celine Dion & The Muppets
• We’re Goin' Underground performed by Kermit
• Working In The Coal Mine performed by Jemaine Clement
• The Gulag Finale performed by Kermit
• Together Again performed by The Muppets
• Moves Like Jagger performed by Scooter & The Penguins
• Muppet Most Wanted Score Suite performed by Christophe Beck

Bonus:

• We're Doing A Sequel (demo) performed by Bret McKenzie
• The Big House (demo) performed by Bret McKenzie
• What You Want (outtake) performed by Bret McKenzie
• I'll Get You What You Want (Cockatoo in Malibu) (demo) performed by Bret McKenzie
• Something So Right (demo) performed by Bret McKenzie

WOOHOO! Finally, I have Disney's Frozen in my collection! Frozen came out on Blu-ray/DVD yesterday and I bought it right away. Several stores had exclusive offers if you buy it from them. Bestbuy and Futureshop offered some kind of activity book or journal, Walmart offered an Elsa or Anna Infinity figure and Target offered an exclusive DVD with special features. I chose to go with Target since it was a few dollars cheaper there ($22.99 but with 5% off by using my REDcard) and I cannot resist extra special features! 

Frozen, is Disney's 53rd animated feature very loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's The Snow Queen. It is about two sisters, Anna (Kristen Bell) and Elsa (Idina Menzel), who were once very close but were forced to separate when Elsa's ice powers almost killed her younger sister. Fast forward to Elsa's coronation as queen, where her powers were exposed to everyone. In panic, Elsa flees into the mountains but not before covering her kingdom in ice and snow. Anna goes off in search of Elsa to bring back summer, teaming up with mountain man Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), his reindeer, Sven, and a funny talking snowman, Olaf (Josh Gad), along the way.

It is an amazing movie with amazing songs. The film has amassed over $1 billion at the box office, won a several awards including two Oscars - Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song and continues to break records. It is my favourite movie!


 The combo pack contains the Blu-ray, DVD version and a digital download code of the movie.

 Special features included:

• "The Making of Frozen" - a musical starring Josh Gad, Jonathan Groff, and Kristen Bell singing about how Frozen was made - but not really.
• D'frosted Disney's Journey From Hans Christian Andersen To Frozen - this is a look at the earlier attempts at making this film. It actually took them more than 70 years to make this movie! Worth the wait because it was amazing!
• Four deleted scenes introduced by Christ Buck and Jennifer Lee - "Never Underestimate the Power of Elsa," "The Dressing Room," "Meeting Kristoff #1" and "Meeting Kristoff #2".
• Four music videos of the pop version of "Let It Go" from the end credits
• And the Mickey Mouse short "Get A Horse!" that played before the film in theatres.

I was a little disappointed with the special features. I wanted more! Where's the ACTUAL making of Frozen and there's no commentary?

Target's exclusive offer was this bonus disc that had a deleted scene, the Voices of Frozen featurette starring the filmmakers and cast members, and a Frozen Art Gallery. The deleted scene featured Anna chasing a pig through town. It was pretty funny! It was the referenced in the other deleted scene that is on the Blu-ray. 

I have a hunch that there will be a re-release of the film, like a Special Platinum Collector's Edition or something in the future because there's no 3D version in this combo pack and it was release in 3D in theatres. But for now, I'm pretty satisfied with this version. I can finally watch it over and over and over again. Multiple Frozen movie nights with friends! Yaaaaaay!

You can buy the Collector's Edition of Frozen on Amazon.ca for only $19.97 right now! And it's already the number one bestselling Blu-ray/DVD! I've heard the Collector's Edition has been selling out at some of the local stores. Good thing I bought mine first thing in the morning! It's a must for any Frozen fan!

©2013 Disney

With Frozen breaking $1 BILLION at the box office worldwide since its debut in November last year, it was no surprise that it won Best Animated Feature at the Oscars tonight. Disney is breaking all the records with their heartwarming film about two estranged sisters inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale, the Snow Queen. As my friends and coworkers can attest, I've been obsessing over the movie and it's music ever since I've watched it...to a degree that is borderline unhealthy. I don't know why but it just strikes a chord with me as I'm sure it did with many other people.

The power ballad of the film, "Let It Go", sung by Idina Menzel, also won at the Oscars for Best Original Song. I never had any doubts. The official clip of "Let It Go" on Youtube amassed over 120,000,000 views (1 million from me or so I've been told by my friends XD), and spawned countless of covers (my favourite one is the Alex Boyé (Africanized Tribal Cover) Ft. One Voice Children's Choir), while the song topped the Billboard charts and the Frozen soundtrack sold over a million copies (You can download the amazing "Let It Go" song on iTunes here). With the songwriters responsive for "Let It Go", Robert Lopez and his wife Kristen Anderson-Lopez winning the Oscar, Robert Lopez has joined of the very few people to ever win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award; the elusive EGOT!

I'm feeling so giddy right now. I really only wanted to watch the Oscars to see them win.

If you want to watch Frozen, I think it's still playing in theatres, but you can also download the HD digital version of Frozen on iTunes, which came out last Tuesday. I'm currently waiting for the film to be released on blu-ray on March 18th (not long now!) since the collector's version of the blu-ray will include the digital copy. It's only $24.99 on Amazon.ca right now, down from $29.99! 

Frozen is my new favourite movie! Disney's latest animated film blew me away with the stunning animation, beautiful heartfelt story and epic songs. Frozen is very loosely adapted from Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale, The Snow Queen. It features not one but two new princesses: Elsa, voiced by Idina Menzel and her younger sister, Anna, voiced by Kristen Bell. Elsa has the power to create ice and snow; a beautiful but also dangerous ability. After accidentally hurting Anna with her powers, Elsa is forced to hide them from her sister and the kingdom of Arendelle. However, on her coronation day, her powers that she strove all her life to conceal are revealed to everyone. She runs away in fear but not before accidentally freezes the kingdom in an eternal winter. Anna goes in search of her sister in order to bring back summer. Along the way she teams up with mountain man, Kristoff (voiced by Jonathan Groff) and his reindeer, Sven, as well as an endearing snowman, Olaf (voiced by Josh Gad).

The movie is a lot of fun, and different from other Disney princess movies. Frozen breaks a lot of the typical princess, damsel in distress tropes. They also poke fun at the love at first sight trope! It's a great movie for kids and adults who are young at heart as well. I loved it so much that I already have it on my list to buy on blu ray
 when it comes out in March!



My favourite character is Elsa. I wish the movie devoted more time to her. She's such a tragic character. Anyone who has felt like they needed to hide their true selves from the world can relate to her. I loved the scene where she let's down her hair and finally transforms into the snow queen. She has such beautiful hair.

The movie is playing 3D but except for the short "Get a Horse" that played prior to the movie, which wonderfully blended 3D and old school 2D animation together, the 3D was barely noticeable in the movie. So I'd recommend just sticking with a regular ticket. Also make sure to stay until the end of the credits! There's an cute extra scene at the end!

Here's the trailer for Frozen:


I ordered the deluxe edition of the soundtrack shortly after watching the movie and I was so excited today when it finally arrived!

 So pretty.

Needless to say, I had it on repeat for the entire day. I'm still listening to it!

 The inside cover has beautiful illustrations of Elsa and Anna in the beautiful Nordic landscape.

The first CD contains 32 tracks, 10 of which are songs, the rest is the score. The second CD contains demo tracks as well as songs that didn't make it into the final movie. They are sung by the husband & wife duo composers Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez and their children.

The soundtrack also comes with a little booklet which contains the lyrics of the 10 songs. 9 songs were in the movie, plus Demi Lavato's version of "Let It Go" from the credits. I love the super cute "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" sung by Anna while she's growing up. And "For the First Time in Forever" also sung by Kristen Bell as Anna. All the songs are pretty catchy but there is one song that stood out from the rest and that is "Let It Go" performed by Ideina Menzel as Elsa.

"Let I Go" is my favourite song out of them all. I started listening to this song on repeat even before I got the soundtrack on Disney's "For Your Consideration" site. I'm obsessed with this song! It has such an epic feel and gives me goosebumps! It's even more amazing when watching the scene in the movie where this song is in. After years of hiding her powers, Elsa can finally can "let it go" and be truly herself - and it's a beautiful transformation. Listen to the song! And go watch the movie! It is well worth the price of admission!


Frozen is currently playing in theatres and soundtrack is available on Amazon.ca as well as on iTunes. Currently the single CD is going for $18.06 while the deluxe edition is going for $21.33. Though the prices seemed to be in flux over the past few days (I bought it for $15.62). Is it worth paying a few more bucks for the additional songs on the second disc? Hmm. YES. Some of the outtakes are pretty catchy even though they don't fit into the story anymore. The composers also give an explanation on why they were cut prior to the song. Plus you get the instrumental only version of "Let It Go" so you can sing karaoke to over and over and over again (like me!). Or you can just download the album from iTunes. It's only 11.99 for the single CD and $19.99 for the deluxe version.



Frozen Soundtrack:
Frozen Soundtrack Deluxe Version:

Disney brings us back to the Hundred Acre Wood by expertly weaving together three stories inspired by A. A. Milne to produce a wonderfully delightful movie that brought me back to my own childhood days. Winnie the Pooh (voiced by Jim Cummings) is still on his never ending quest of searching for hunny to sedate his rumbly tumbly. It brings him to Eeyore (Bud Luckey) house where he discovers that his friend has lost his tail! The search is on to help Eeyore find a new tail. Later on, after Owl (Craig Ferguson) misinterprets a note from Christopher Robin (Jack Boulter), the gang try to capture the elusive beast called the "Backson" that they thought have kidnapped their friend. Hilarity ensues as Pooh's hungry tummy distracts him from the task at hand and gets everyone else in a pinch. But the stuffed bear will pull through in the end and demonstrates that friendship is always more important than hunny...even though hunny is pretty important.

It was great to see the familiar faces of Pooh and the gang animate the screen again. I mean, who can resist Pooh Bear's charm and innocence?! Every Winnie the Pooh fan - young and old - will enjoy this movie though it is probably more suited to the younger audience. I loved how the movie plays out in a similar manner as the first movie; the characters interact with the narrator (John Cleese) and the words on the page.The movie soundtrack was great. Zooey Deschanel lent her voice for the soundtrack and it was very pleasant to hear her rendition of the familiar 'Winnie the Pooh' song in the beginning. There were many other songs just like in the first movie.

The only complaint I have is that the movie was so short, it is hard to justify seeing it in theatre; however, Winnie the Pooh is a delightful addition to the first movie and a welcoming one for those who grew up with Pooh Bear and his friends.

Winnie the Pooh comes out in theatres this Friday, July 15th.