Disney+Hollens

Awhile back I did a post of only Disney covers by YouTubers, but lets narrow that down even further, with Disney covers by YouTubers named Hollens. Peter and his wife Evynne of course. :) They have been releasing a LOT of Disney music recently, so I decided to compile a bunch of it all into one big post.

Disney's Tarzan has been one of my favorite soundtracks to listen to independently from the movie since it was released, Leave it to Peter Hollens to do such an amazing cover to one of the best songs.

The movie Brave didn't really have much by way of music with lyrics, at least, not when compared to most other Disney movies, but of course Evynne, in her quest to be every Disney Princess, was all over what it did have. :)



And speaking of that quest: Here she is as Pocahontas. :)



Peter is not to be outdone of course. :)



Here's Evynne as Mulan, as Peter mentioned in that last video.



I liked this song before Peter and Evynne did it, but once they did it, I loved it. They seem to have had that effect on me with other songs before...



Evynne doesn't just do the well known princesses, she also does the obscure ones. :p



Peter doesn't always get into the cosplay for his Disney videos like Evynne does, but they are still amazing.



This is all for now. It's not all that they have done, but it'll be enough for one post. I'll have a (not exactly) regular post up soon. :)

A "Brave" Trip

Last month Joel and I went with our cousins Shaina and Sasha, and a group of our friends to Omaha to see the movie Brave. This post is not about the movie, but about our adventures on the way to the movie. If you want to read about the movie, you can read my review HERE.

We started out the trip at Robert and Rachel's house. Alex was working until 5, so while we waited for her, we played one of our favorite games, Apples to Apples. If you've never played the game before, you really need to. It is so fun, and absolutely hilarious when played with a big group of friends.

At five we left for the city, but on the way we stopped at school. Joel and my art gallery was hanging in the art studio there, and we wanted our friends to see it. If you haven't yet seen the gallery pictures I posted, you can find them HERE.

When we got there, the studio was locked, and neither of our cards would open the door. Joel's card was supposed to have been activated so we could get in, but apparently it hadn't been. While Joel tried to get campus security on the phone to see if someone could let us in, the rest of us walked around and visited, and Rachel took some pictures of us.

Ultimately Joel was unable to contact anyone. We actually started to leave, but as we headed for the door, two housekeepers walked in, and I could see that they had key cards. I'm not really sure they knew a lot of English, but we managed to communicate to them that we needed into the studio, and they let us in. I believe in divine intervention, and I'm sure that God sent them there at that exact moment to help us. :)

Our teacher had known we were coming, and had set up the display lights so that we could illuminate our artwork better than just turning on the overhead lights. It looked so amazing. :)

Robert found my humor to be a little disturbing. :p

After our tour of the gallery, it was a little later than we had planned. It had taken quite awhile to actually get into the room, and we were already later than we had wanted to be. We were in two vehicles and Robert and Rachel knew the way to the theater, so we followed them. What we hadn't expected was the HUGE amount of people in the city and the numerous detours that we'd have to take because, as it turned out, the College World Series was taking place at the exact same time. I'm so glad I wasn't the one driving. Poor Joel. Eventually we realized that there was no way we were going to make it to the movie in time, so we decided to go eat supper and then try to find a theater with a later showing.

We had been planning to eat at a restaurant called Spaghetti Works. Finding that in all the mayhem was another chore. After a lengthy episode of losing sight of Robert, getting lost, and going completely in the wrong direction, we finally found a place to park in a parking garage. Thank goodness for cell phones, because we'd probably still be driving around Omaha lost if we didn't have a way to contact Robert.

It took us so long to find our way back, that Rachel and the girls went ahead and got us a table in the restaurant, while Robert waited for us to find him. By the time we got there everyone was starving, but the food was so good it made it worth all the trouble. :) Italian food is my favorite kind of food. If someone serves pretty much any kind of pasta, I'm in heaven. :)

It was so nice to relax after the stress-filled night. We had a lot of fun just visiting and eating.

Robert can be such a clown sometimes. :)

Eventually we decided that it was getting late enough that we should head for the theater. But after we left it became apparent that it was not going to be that easy. We ran into the same problems as before. The routs that Robert and Rachel knew were blocked off, and the longer we drove, the later it got. I began to wonder if we were even going to get to see the movie that night.

Thankfully, Alex had a cell phone with internet and was able to look up theaters and showtimes. We eventually got to one of the last showings of the night at a theater called "Rave" at about 10 o'clock.

The movie was so good. It made the whole stressful night worth it. Even though it was not so fun driving around lost, I wouldn't go back and do it any other way. Sure, it would be nice if life was always easy, and nothing ever went wrong, but such a life would eventually get boring. And if you're going to get lost in a big city, it's best if you get lost with your friends. Even a completely stressful night can be made better when you have people you care about to share the experience with. :)

That being said, I never want to go to Omaha during the College World Series again! :p

Epic Bravery

 Last night I finally saw Brave. After hours of getting lost in Omaha, we finally came to a theater with a late showing, and got there just as the previews were starting. It was worth the wait. :)

Brave was epic. I would have loved it even if it was just the music and the scenes of Scotland. It was so incredibly detailed, that it didn't even need the story to be a work of art all on its own. But it had the story, and it had the humor. Pixar has done it again, and it was amazing.

After Cars 2 came out, Pixar got a lot of flack. They were accused of hitting their high point with Toy Story 3, and that they were pretty much through. Some just flat out called it an awful movie. Where all that hate came from I don't know, I loved Cars 2. It was hilarious and exciting. I found it to be even better than the first Cars. Not every movie has to be a huge roller coaster of emotions to be a good movie. It wasn't supposed to be that kind of a movie. It was just plain fun, so to all those critics: Go soak your heads.

Hopefully with Brave, those critics will be appeased. It had the emotion, it had the drama, it had the humor. It had pretty much everything, and it was great. There are plenty of plot twists if you haven't over-analyzed the trailers and figured them out like I did, but even though I was pretty sure I knew what was going to happen, there was still plenty of suspense, because it's impossible to figure everything out from a few two minute clips. My friends were very surprised by a few of the twists that I had already suspected were coming, so if you haven't been "Spoiled" you'll be pretty surprised by more than one turn of events.

Most people who know what I like in a sci-fi or fantasy movie, know that it's the creatures, and in this case the creatures were of the real variety, rather than the fantasy variety. Horses and bears being the two main animals featured. Merida's horse is a Clydesdale, Angus, and he is just gorgeous. I love horses to begin with, but I really love giant horses like that. :) The other creatures were the bears, and the design on the "Demon" bear was pretty horrific. I expected it to be ugly, but man did its face look hideous. All the better for it to be the "Bad Guy" of the film.
One last thing on creatures, I love a good creature brawl, and the bear fight near the end was just epic. :)

The character of the witch turned out to be an unexpected gem for me. Her role in the film was so small, probably 5 minutes max, but aside from Merida's 3 brothers, she was one of the funniest characters of all. When the witch put on her welding mask, I about died laughing, and her "Answering Machine" cauldron was a hilarious bit of genius. :D

I also loved how they crafted the tension between Merida and her mother. Too often a story will be geared towards one audience, and the stupid adult is proved to be wrong in the end, and the headstrong child is the hero for defying them. Or the disobedient child is completely in the wrong, and if they'd listened to their wise, all-knowing parents in the first place, nothing bad would have happened, proving that parents know everything and you should never question them. Neither one is a realistic scenario, and neither one was the case here.

Instead of making a film to empower rebellious children, or a film to preach to kids to always listen to their parents, the film told a much more realistic story, geared toward both kids and adults, where the parents try their best, but aren't perfect, and the child's disobedience is not praised, but causes multiple terrible things to happen. The trailer seemed to glorify how "Headstrong" Merida is, but by the end of the film, she realized that she had been in the wrong and her tearful apology was heart-wrenching, especially when you consider that it seemed that her actions had cost her her mother's life.

One of the key "Morals" to the story was the importance of communication. You can shout at each other all you want, but that is not communication. It takes listening on the count of BOTH parties involved, with BOTH parties willing to concede that they don't know everything. "Because I said so," arguments are pretty much the height of arrogance, and that never gets anyone anywhere. A response like that only fuels the flames of rebellion. In my opinion that's one reason our country is in such a mess. It's not just a problem with parents acting like they know everything and children are expected to unquestioningly obey, but it's also the government. Politicians act like they know everything and the people are supposed to unquestioningly obey. Neither situation ever ends very well.

Okay, well, that took a very strange political detour that I really didn't intend to make, but I guess it just goes to show that you can get a lot of things out of a good story, even if that wasn't what the author intended. :)

In conclusion, go see Brave. It hilarious, it's exciting, it's gorgeous. In short, it's Pixar. :)

A Monstrous Movie

Friday night will finally be the night I've been waiting years for! Well, it's not really all that dramatic, it's just going to see Brave, but I have been waiting for this movie for literally years. I first heard about it when I was still going to ITT Tech, which was at least 5 years ago now. Back then it was called "The Bear and the Bow" and they announced it with another film called Newt, about the last two Blue footed Newts in the world. Sadly Dreamworks decided that that plot was too good so they stole it and made it about Macaws, Called it Rio, and released it before Pixar could finish Newt. Newt was then cancelled. I'm still quite sore about that one...

ANYway, as with the release of any new Pixar movie, there will also be the release of the newest short film, La Luna. So far I don't know too much about it except that it has critics raving about how good it is. Pixar has yet to disappoint me, so I am excited to see it.

Also debuting alongside Brave, is the teaser for the next Pixar movie, "Monsters University." It is Pixar's first prequel, telling the story of Mike and Sully from Monsters Inc. during their college years.

Today on Facebook, they are giving a sneak peek at 4 versions of the trailer, giving fans a chance to vote on the best one. The trailers are all hosted by different sites, and at least one I won't be able to embed here, so I'll just post the YouTube version, and tell you the differences. The versions are all exactly the same except for one line.

The line from this trailer was "My pony made the Dean's list."



The alternate versions from the other trailers are:

"Class president?! Hee, hee, hee!"

"I can't go to class. I'm not wearing any clothes."

And my favorite

"My homework ate my dog!"

This looks like it's going to be a laugh riot! :D Monsters Inc. was one of the very first movies my family ever went to see in the theater, so I am quite excited for this follow up film. :)

May 30th

On May 30th I turned 26. A quarter century is in the rear-view, and half a century is just ahead... I'd better start my hunching exercises so I can hold on to my walker properly.

Anyway, enough of the pity party. The week of my birthday some extended family members from Illinois were visiting and we had a barbeque. It wasn't for my birthday, but somewhere in the middle it became one for a few minutes when Sarah produced a cheesecake she had made for me, and Shaina and Joel each gave me a present.

Shaina's present was wrapped by Sasha, who had given me a gift a few days before, but I didn't even think to photograph it. Sasha's wrapping jobs are a works of art in themselves. You hate to rip the paper off them.

But in the end, that's the only way to get to the contents, so the ripping has to happen.

Shaina's gift to me was a notebook with a cool zebra print on it. The pages are blank with no lines. It's really nice.

Sasha's gift had been a DVD of the movie Candleshoe.

We have been in a classic Disney mood recently and watching a lot of 50's, 60's, and 70's era live action Disney films and this one of our favorites.

Joel's gift was not quite as expertly wrapped. But at least it was funny. :p

The inside was much better than the outside.

As you know, I can't wait for this movie! :D I decided to NOT look at this book until after I've seen the movie, as it is quite likely that I will spoil a lot of the plot for myself if I do. So until the 23rd. The book will sit untouched, where I won't see it and have it tempting me to look at it. :)

I wish I'd taken a few more pictures that day, but I didn't, so this one will have to do. :)

Countdown to Brave

Brave debuts in just a few more weeks, and Pixar is promoting it in a whole bunch of ways. They've been releasing clips, pictures, and even a featurette that explains the story in a bit more detail without giving anything important away. I've collected a few of my favorites here, but there are more if you care to go looking for them.

I love this horse. Seriously. If they release some kind of a good quality replica, there is a very good chance I will get one, and I don't buy movie memorabilia.

 These three kids crack me up. I know they are going to be a riot. :)

Have I mentioned how much I love Merida's hair? Because I LOVE Merida's hair!
And that crow looks like a great character too. :)

This first clip gives a glimpse into the characters of the three Lords and their sons. They are all hilarious. :D



This next clip is a look at the parents. I love the King's impression of his daughter. :D



This last video is a featurette about the story and a look at the people behind the voices in the film. They've got some great talent doing the voices.



I can not wait for this film! As of right now I am planning to go see it on opening night with some friends. I almost never do that, since there seem to be so few movies that I deem worthy of seeing in the theater, so you know that I am excited! :D

Final Brave Trailer

The final Brave trailer was released today. I think perhaps I may have to go hyperventilate. :D




I watched it twice in a row, and I may have to watch it a third time. The king's impersonation of his daughter was hilarious! :D I can not wait for this movie! :D

Brave Scene

As most of you know I don't get too excited about very many movies. There are a few that I want to see, but I only go to the theater if it works out. Rarely do I MAKE time to go to see a film. However anything by Pixar automatically is a "Make Time" film, and this summer they are releasing what people are calling their first "Princess" film. Brave is no ordinary "Princess film" however, as it is set in ancient Scotland. From what I've seen, the film looks amazing. The thing that strikes me every time is Merida's hair. It has got to be the most amazing hair in any film ever.

Pixar just released their latest trailer for Brave, and it's not so much a trailer as it is an entire scene from the movie. Watching this makes me want to see it even more.

 I've gotten so excited for this film that I did something I haven't done since Tim Burton released his version of Alice In Wonderland - Used a promotional image as my desktop background!

Second only to her hair, I LOVE her horse!

June 22 can't get here soon enough!

Cars 2 and a “Brave” Debut

Last night I went to see Cars 2. I can say for certain that it was 10 times better than the first one, and I really liked the first one. The movie focused mainly on Mater and two new characters, Finn McMissile, and Holly Shiftwell. Mater is caught up in an espionage plot that eventually threatens the life of his best friend Lightning McQueen. It was like a James Bond film if James Bond were a car. All the other characters from the first film were there as well, but Mater was the star.

It was hilarious and exciting. I highly recommend this movie, and if my cousin is able to go with me, I will be seeing it a second time. I almost never see a movie twice in the theater, so you know it was good. :)

Also, now that it has debuted in theaters, the teaser trailer for Pixar’s next film, “Brave” is now out. It is very short, but it looks like it will be a beautiful movie. It appears that it will be Pixar’s most mature film to date. Pixar has always made mature films, they just do them in such a way that the entire family will be engaged. What I mean by most mature, is that it appears that this will be more of a drama than a comedy, as Pixar’s other films were more comedy than drama. Either way, I can’t wait! It looks amazing!

As an aside, the new short, Toy Story: Hawaiian Vacation was a laugh riot! All the Characters from Toy Story 3 were back. The plot focus was on Ken and Barbie, who wanted to go to Hawaii with Bonnie. When they are left behind, the other Toys do their best to bring Hawaii to them. Make sure that if you go to see Cars 2, you get there early enough to See the Brave Trailer, and Toy Story: Hawaiian Vacation!

A “Brave” New World

As anyone who knows me knows, I am a HUGE Pixar fan. Pixar is hands down the best film company in the world, and there is no way that anyone will ever be able to convince me otherwise. The last original movie that Pixar released was “Up”, and that was over two years ago. Last year they released Toy Story 3 and this year they release Cars 2. As great as Toy Story 3 was and Cars 2 is sure to be, I am really anxious for an original story and I can’t help but be wildly excited for their next film, the first original story since Up.

The film is called “Brave”, and it is set in ancient Scotland. It is a first for Pixar in many areas. It is the first Pixar film to feature a female character in a lead role, It is Pixar’s first attempt at a “Princess” film, and it is Pixar’s first Fairy Tale. In the last few days, There have been a few glimpses as to the nature of the film
The biggest one was the release of the very first poster for the film.

This makes me want to see it so bad! :D

Today they released the very first official image from the film, A picture of the heroine, Princess Merida.

I love her hair!
They have also released concept art for four of the main characters.

Princess Merida

Queen Elinor

Lord Macintosh

The Wise Woman

If you ask me, the wise woman looks like she could be related to Carl Fredrickson from Up. Maybe a very distant Ancestor? :)

The very first teaser trailer for the film is set to debut tomorrow with the release of Cars 2. As if I needed another reason to go see Cars 2! :D I won’t be able to see it on opening day, but I hope to be able to see it within the week, and you can bet I will be blogging about the film as soon as I see it! I will also let you know my thoughts about the Brave teaser, and the new Pixar short film, and the first in a series of Toy Story Toons, “Toy Story: Hawaiian Vacation”. It looks great as well! :)