Thursday, October 31, 2013

My Top 5 Disney Villain Transformations

#5 Yzma

“To the secret lab!”



Yzma is from Disney’s The Emperor’s New Groove. She may have been Kuzco’s royal advisor, but she was a malicious woman with a secret lab full of potions. Since Kuzco fired her, she decided to get revenge by killing Cuzco with hopes of being  the empress. In order to accomplish such an ambition, she wanted to use a powerful and deadly potion…to save her postage, of course. But, she ended up turning the emperor into a Llama by mistake.

Yzma’s transformation is number five on my list! Why? Her transformation wasn’t scary at all. She just suffered the fate of being turned into a ferocious little fur ball that wasn’t all that terrifying, though, she was still hilarious! Especially, when she spoke in that adorable squeaky voice and it made her sinister laugh appear more amusing! I’ll give Yzma her props for trying to obtain the potion that would turn her into a human, being that she was so small; she put a lot of effort into it.  And, like all villains, she did not succeed. But we gotta love her kitty cat transformation. That darn cat!!


#4 Evil Queen

“Magic Mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?”



            Every female competes with every other female when it comes to good looks, but the Evil Queen from Disney’s Snow White wants Snow’s heart in a box, for crying out loud! Talk about extreme! But, the Evil Queen takes even more extreme measures when she transforms into an ugly old hag as a disguise so she can get rid of Snow White since the huntsman didn’t have the guts to kill her. However, the Evil Queen brews a poison called a “sleeping death”, which she dips the apple into, and. with one bite, Snow White will fall into an everlasting sleep.



Although the The Evil Queen doesn’t really go into battle, I place her as number four because I love how she carefully created her recipe for her disguise and we watch her brew up the recipe as she explains exactly what is needed for the potion. It’s haunting and the way the artists created her transformation was perfectly detailed. We watched her black hair turn to white, her hands go from young to old, and her voice changing into a cackle. The Evil Queen was cunning and tricked Snow making her believe it was a magic wishing apple she was biting into. And just when she thought she had became the fairest in the land, that very same thunderbolt that mixed her potion well, also turned out to be her fate as it caused her to fall to her death at the edge of the cliff. Not only that, but Prince Charming awakens Snow White and she lives happily ever after. How do you like those apples?


#3 Jafar

“A snake, am I? Perhaps you’d like to see how s-ss-s-snake-like I can be!”



This tall, dark, and handsome villain, from Disney’s Aladdin does his best to have the sultan wrapped around his finger like a snake, while he seeks out the magic lamp to become sultan and rule Agrabah. But, he can’t enter the cave of wonders since he’s not “a diamond in the rough.” So, he tricks Aladdin into doing the work for him, though Jafar still doesn’t get the lamp until near the end thanks to his trusty parrot sidekick, Iago.



            Jafar, is number three! He also has somewhat of a double transformation, but he is most famous for turning into a giant cobra! I felt this transformation scared me more than Ursula’s because at the time, snakes were a bit creepy to me and seeing Jafar become a GIANT snake, my skin crawled and I actually feared for Aladdin’s life. Also, Jafar actually put up a fight, unlike Ursula, and it was more action pact. Though, due to his power hungry needs, he listens to Aladdin as he mentions that the Genie is the most powerful and could easily take his powers away. Jafar’s hunger for power blinds him and so he makes his third wish which is to become an all powerful genie, and he got it; and everything that goes with it: Phenomenal cosmic powers and itty bitty living space!


#2 King Candy/Turbo

“Have some candy!”



Ah, yes, King Candy from Disney’s Wreck -It Ralph!! Watching King Candy for the first time, I didn’t think he was too much of a threat besides the fact he was the one standing in the way of Vanellope racing because she was a “glitch”. King Candy fooled us all with humor, his love for candy, and made us believe that he truly cared about Vanellope when he told the story of what could happen to her if she raced. However, it turns out it was all a lie!

When Vanellope attended the race anyways, thanks to the help Ralph and Fix-It Felix, we saw King Candy’s true nature and his identity. He turned out to be the obsessed and monstrous Turbo, who tried to take over games in the past, and King Candy was just his disguise! As we saw him glitch to Turbo, I’ll admit that it was very haunting and disturbing and it blew my mind immediately! I will say this, though, if I was a little child, I’d probably be scared, especially when he was in his Cy-bug form! I thought it was the most twisted and scariest design, but it was brilliant. The way he moved and his large size gave me the creeps and he was absolutely horrifying! Perhaps you need to lay off the sugar, King Candy...uh, I mean Turbo. Why not try some Diet Cola?


#1 Maleficent

“Now shall you deal with me, O Prince…and all the powers of HELL!!!”



Need I explain how amazing this transformation is? As Prince Phillip is on his way to awaken Princess Aurora, Maleficent uses her magic to try to stop him, but with the help from the three good fairies, she is unsuccessful. Finally, after having enough of Prince Phillip, she zaps over in front of him, being his biggest obstacle yet, and calls upon the powers of Hell, for goodness sake, and transforms into a dragon that spits out green fire!

Maleficent is number one on my list! Not only was there an epic battle in the movie that kept me at the edge of my seat, It’s one of the major scenes in Disneyland’s Nightasmic (and Disneyworld)! It's also one of my favorite battles in Kingdom Hearts! Dragons also happen to be a favorite fantasy creature of mine and Maleficent pulled it off well! Also, I’m very excited how Disney will pull off the design of the dragon for their live-action movie, Maleficent!! But, we all know how the story ends, prince Phillip’s sword is enhanced and he tosses it as Maleficent Dragon and down she goes!! Go back to hell where you belong, Maleficent and sleep for all of eternally! I still have love for you though!


            

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

'Frozen' 2-D or CGI??


(Art work by David Kawena)

Today on my Facebook News Feed, I saw that Artist, David Kawena posted a his latest hand drawn art of Disney's Frozen. If you don't know who David Kawena is, Google him and check out his Facebook page!! He is very talented! And perhaps some of you Disney gals know of his other Disney art works known as The Disney Heroes Collection! If not, you need to check those out ASAP! 

Anyways, David had decided to draw his own concept art of what the characters may look like if they were in 2D (hand drawn), and then asked his fans if they'd preferred the movie to be in 2D or if they were okay with CGI (Computer Generated Imagery). Some of them okay with either or, but most of them prefer to see the movie in 2D. Heck, I would too! Don't get me wrong, CGI is pretty good, but I think most of us prefer hand drawn because most of us who grew up with Disney are so used to 2D animation. Yet, for some odd reason, I feel Disney movies are more...graceful and alive, if hand drawn.  And they're heads are bigger in CGI and it just looks strange to me. Though, I will say the CGI worked perfectly for Wreck It Ralph. It was necessary! 

But then we have to stop and think about the cost. Hand drawn animation is more expensive and it takes longer than CGI. Sure, there's technology to speed up the hand drawn process, but it will still cost more to make. 

However, even though it's in CGI, I'm still looking forward to see the movie for it's plot and character developments along with the special effects. It still looks like a chilling adventure either way! 

What are your thoughts? How do you feel about Disney going CGI? Are you more of a Disney 2D or a CGI type person? Should Frozen have been hand drawn? Share your thoughts!