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Tuesday, August 19, 2014

31 Days of Film - Day 19: First film you saw in theaters

It was a double feature, and I honestly don't remember which one is first, so I'll just do both. Which shouldn't be too hard as I adore both movies. The movies were Disney's Oliver and Company and Lucas/Spielberg's The Land Before Time, and I was in love with them. I was obsessed - especially with Land Before Time.  I loved dinosaurs (still do), I dressed up as a dinosaur for several years for Halloween. My aunt made the costume, it was epic!

I loved Little Foot, Cera, Duckie, Peetry and Spike. I loved being scared by SharpTooth, and I cried for Little Foot's mommy. I was 3 or 4 years old when it came out. I had all of the toys, clothes, books. It was a huge fan. I don't know if it was the story or the fact that I saw it larger than life on the big screen, but it impacted my childhood greatly.

I was destined to be a super nerdy kid, I know. I was also very much a tomboy, so while princesses were a big deal to a lot of my friends growing up, I was more into the dinosaur movies, or the princesses male counterparts and sidekicks. They were having more fun than the girls in the frilly dresses. I think I appreciate the princesses more now as an adult than I ever did as a kid (though I did love Belle and Jasmine as a kid).

Oliver and Company was every kid's dream in a way. It was about dogs and cats (getting along). It starred a super cute kitten who just wanted a home and found one with his girl Penny a lonely girl from a rich family. You had a merry band of misfit mutts who team up with the cat to save the girl. It's still adorable, though these days I can't watch it often without tearing up with how Oliver is abandoned as an unwanted kitten.

The music is timeless - I mean it's Billy-freaking-Joel! I don't like him as a person (I think he's smarmy) but I love his music and the songs in this movie don't disappoint (as I type this I'm listening to Why Should I Worry?). Dodger is one cool cat of a dog, and Georgette is the perfect poodle stereotype. Cheech Marin as Tito offers the perfect amount of comic relief...

I had a lot of Oliver & Company swag (including this super cool sweat shirt that had Oliver on it and his eyes where holographic so they moved!) and I was on a mission later that year when I went to Disneyland to find an Oliver doll (I didn't get one, settled for Lady from Lady and the Tramp, and an Eeyore -and a dinosaur!- instead).

There's a lot of humor I didn't get as a child ( isn't that how most Disney movies go? ) but now I can sit and laugh at parts that made no sense in my first viewing.


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14 comments:

  1. Teresa DawnAugust 22, 2014 at 6:27 PM

    I know I saw Oliver and Company once as a kid, but I really don't remember it. I loved Land Before Time, but I also love dinosaurs haha! My fav show now is Primeval (British BBC show featuring dinosaurs, though I have to admit, it's a lot more Jurassic Park style than Land Before Time haha! (Though not as scary as JP... but yeah...)

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    1. Toni ReitterAugust 23, 2014 at 11:14 AM

      I've been told I need to watch that show. Haven't gotten around to searching it out though. is it on Netflix or Hulu?

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    2. Teresa DawnAugust 23, 2014 at 12:19 PM

      Well, I saw it elsewhere first (forget where, maybe the BBC site as it was aired... or some other site... but I own the dvd's now, so I didn't watch on either of those (And haven't heard of Hulu) BUT I do know for sure a few people have watched it on Netflix so I am assuming it's still on there! (I don't know too much about Netflix, do they keep shows on it once it's on there?)
      At least the first 3 seasons (there are 5 total) were on there at the time and I believe that the 4th and 5th were coming out soon... though because it's a British show, sometimes in USA/Canada the seasons are labelled diff. anyways... It has short seasons and sometimes they are combined. For example, my dvd's tell me Season 1 and 2 are Season one, Season 3 is Season 2 and Season 4 and 5 are season 3. I think that's because they are so short that ppl wouldn't buy the dvd's otherwise haha! But not sure how netflix would label it.
      Either way there's 6 eps. in s1, 7 in s2, 10 in s3, 7 in s4 and 6 in s5. (As well as 5 mini webisodes that are only available on youtube and take place between s3 and s4... which, if you watch, I really recommend watching those too at the right place since they have a lot of info in them (they tell of the death of one character and introduce 4 new main characters)
      (Just, if you look it up on Netflix, don't get it confused with the movie Primeval which isn't related at all... and there's also a spin off of the show that takes place after the 5 seasons of the British show called Primeval New World... which is one season long and... well, better than I expected it to be but I prefer the original by a long shot)

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    3. Toni ReitterAugust 23, 2014 at 1:29 PM

      thanks I'll try to remember to look it up. I need something new to stream on netflix.... especially with the season 3 of OUAT coming to Netflix. I'm going to be tempted to relive the heartbreak...

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  2. Teresa DawnAugust 22, 2014 at 6:35 PM

    Oh, and I forgot to add the first film that I saw in theatres haha. I can't remember between two of them actually, as I saw both of them around the same time as each other, when I was 2 or 3 years old. But it was either Alvin and the Chipmunks or Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. (Which makes me sound REALLY old haha! But it was re-released in theatres at the time ;) )

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    1. Toni ReitterAugust 23, 2014 at 11:16 AM

      I didn't see Snow White until I was getting ready to go into 6th grade. They re-released it to theaters for it's something anniversary and my gma took me to see it because it was her first movie she ever saw (and her favorite Disney animated film ever). Snow has never been my favorite princess... but I love the dwarfs.

      The only Snow White I actually like is Ginny Goodwin's portrayal on Once Upon A Time.

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  3. Teresa DawnAugust 23, 2014 at 12:10 PM

    Well, as I was a toddler the first time I saw it, I remembered very little at that time, but I probably preferred SnowWhite to the Dwarves at that age, because I sure did at Disneyland, I was terrified of Dopey and SnowWhite was the ONLY character I wasn't terrified of, I think because she didn't have the mask on haha.
    Re-watching it in much later years, I preferred the dwarves, but either way it's low on my list of Disney movies I like and I haven't seen it in years with no real interest in doing so. (Though I imagine I'll re-watch one day with my daughter when she's born and a bit older, just so she can say she's seen it too haha)
    I do like Snow White in OUAT as well, though I've only watched most the 1st season. I like that show but am really behind in it, mainly due to lack of time to watch shows haha! I don't recall seeing any other portrayals of Snow

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  4. Toni ReitterAugust 23, 2014 at 1:30 PM

    honestly season 1 is the best season of OUAT... season 2 was a jumbled mess of story (though my favorite characters are from season 2 mostly)... and season 3 is even worse... and my absolute favorite character died! so I'm on the fence about season 4. I'll watch to see how it goes (and they've promised flashbacks of my fave but we'll see)...

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  5. Teresa DawnAugust 23, 2014 at 2:28 PM

    Have you watched the Wonderland version? I was recommended to watch that one as well once I got to s3 (which will be awhile haha!) I really do need to catch up. How many eps are in s1? I think I watched like 11 or 12 eps? But I could be wrong, I really need to look up the episode summeries so I remember what one I'm on haha! I've been meaning to catch up again for ages.

    Some of my fav. Primeval characters die too, but somehow the show always redeems itself and the new characters, when they add them, are always great too. I always feel torn when a character is "replaced" but the did a great job of making the new characters likeable that it kept me watching and enjoying it.

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    1. Toni ReitterAugust 23, 2014 at 6:08 PM

      Yes, I LOVED Wonderland. At least it had a real beginning middle and end... something season 2 and season 3 of OUAT lacked.

      I don't mind shows killing characters off - honestly I don't know WHY this one hurt my heart as much as it has... I've NEVER had this happen to me about a TV show before! - but Season 3 was terribly rushed... and the more I think about all the missteps the more I worry it's just going to get worse. The creators have a serious case of ADOS (Attention Deficit, Ooooo Shiny!).

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    2. Teresa DawnAugust 23, 2014 at 9:45 PM

      Oh that's good! I'll try to get around to watching Wonderland too then :)

      The funny thing about Primeval is that they killed off a main character that was main enough that the French version of the show had the TV show named after him (It's not called Primeval in French)... so they had to change the name of their show halfway through season 3 lol! (Which to me was the best season of that show, so opposite of OUAT it sounds haha!!!)

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  6. Teresa DawnAugust 23, 2014 at 2:45 PM

    Also, I think Snow is my fav character from OUAT so far. Though I like Regina too, I know I'm not supposed to, but I like her as a villain I should say. She plays it well

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    1. Toni ReitterAugust 23, 2014 at 6:09 PM

      Regina is a great character. My favorite in season 1 was Mr Gold/Rumplestiltskin...

      Overall I jump between Rumple, Neal Cassidy (season 2), and Captain Hook (season 2).

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    2. Teresa DawnAugust 23, 2014 at 9:41 PM

      Oh yes, Rumple is great too :) I'll have to wait until I reach s2 to judge the others :p And I just checked and I had gotten as far as finishing ep 15 haha!

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