Mouse Movie Review - The Odd Life of Timothy Green

I really intended to see and review The Odd Life of Timothy Green. But the end of summer got really busy and I never saw the film. So the Between Wife and Tween went off alone to see it and both gave it ringing endorsements. So we bought the film and I recently watched it at home with seven loved ones. And I admit, I think that watching those that I care about enriched my viewing experience.

Cindy and Jim Green, played by Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton, after several attempts and growing debt discover they have no options for helping them have a child of their own. Faced with their certain infertility, they allow themselves one more night to dream of what their child would be like, placing the attributes of their unobtainable child in a box which they bury in their garden. After a freak rain storm, they discover a young boy in their home claiming to be their son Timothy, played by C.J. Adams. The Green’s struggle with becoming instant parents to a unique child, Timothy has leaves growing from his legs, and learn about love in this family focused story:

• Presented By: I started The Odd Life of Timothy Green in a grumpy mood. And it was the title cards that put me there. Instead of opening with a title card that said Walt Disney Pictures Presents, we got Disney Presents after the castle opening. I am sorry. There is no reason to mess with a brand and legacy started in 1923. The Walt Disney name has translated as family entertainment for decades. I can see not putting Walt Disney Presents in front of a movie like The Avengers. But a movie like The Odd Life of Timothy Green which I think Walt Disney would have approved of, being a wholesome family offering, should have Mr. Disney’s whole name on it. Call me old fashion but if you want to mess with the studio name, roll it back to the Disney Brothers Studio, otherwise there is no other reason in my mind to truncate the Walt Disney name.

• Man of Steel: So one of the next big non-Mousey superhero movies is the Superman Man of Steel film. In the trailer we see Pa Kent, played by Kevin Costner, struggling with a question about Clark and revealing his uniqueness. Should Clark let someone die to hide who he is? When I see this scene I see a parent reflecting on the consequences of letting the world know the uniqueness of their child. Will he be seen as a freak? Will someone take him away? Will someone try to kill him? The “him” easily could be Superman and Timothy Green. It is very odd that a young boy would be growing leaves. As a parent I feel with Cindy and Jim as they struggle with how to allow Timothy to be himself while still protecting him from a world that can be harsh.  

• Fake Kids: I have to congratulate Rosemarie DeWitt who plays Cindy’s sister Brenda Best. Brenda is the kind of person that clearly cares about looks and putting out the image of propriety before being well, kind. She makes several comments about Timothy and his at times odd behavior. The delivery of these comments set my opinion that I strongly disliked this character beginning at her first conversation with Cindy where she asks Cindy about her desire to have a “real kid!” I have to admit, there is somewhat a question in the back of the audience’s mind if Timothy is real or something magical and non-human. They are clearly establishing that for Brenda, adoption is a lesser route than typical family planning. I don’t want to spoil Cindy’s perfect reaction and one that I can hear friends with adopted children deliver. Cindy knows that Timothy is her son, even if she skipped the birthing room. Again, I have to congratulate DeWitt, she is able to portray this character that it reminded me that all kids are real ones and deserve a family to call their own!

• Keep Moving Forward: In my mind, Timothy was around the same age as the Between Tween. But Timothy unlike the Tween, was born into that age and did not have the time to pick up the skills that other children would have had in a lifetime of typical child development. So Timothy is at times awkward! But you have to love his attitude, an attitude that would make Cornelius Robinson proud. Timothy proclaims at times he can only get better! Yes Timothy, keep moving forward!

• Parental Warning: Often throughout The Odd Life of Timothy Green I assessed and struggled with my parenting choices, in a good way. Both Cindy and Jim struggle with how they want to parent especially in their instant kid scenario. They wish to avoid the mistakes they believe their own parents made. So they compensate, maybe even overcompensate to the opposite ends of what their parents did. And their opposing choices honestly have just as disastrous impact as those they are running from. I think in both cases what was missing was making parental choices that takes into consideration the unique qualities of the child. Sorry about climbing onto a soapbox there. But I think that this shows the serious content you will find in this Mousey Movie.

To be completely honest, I am not sure if The Odd Life of Timothy Green is a buyer. It has a slow pace and is far from an action adventure. No one dressed in black ever comes from a mysterious government agency to take Timothy away. At the same time it is a tearjerker in a good way. And it is a film you can watch with the family especially if you have mature children that are able to understand complex issues. I admit I did not expect a “Walt Disney” production to make me reflect on my parenting choices in the depth that The Odd Life of Timothy Green led me to. I would recommend parents and future parents spend two hours with the Greens, but action fans will likely quickly loss interest.

Between Books - The Art of Meet the Robinsons

I thought I had the perfect plan.

I had never read or reviewed an “Art of” book.  And I love Meet the Robinsons.  So I thought the fairest way for me to a review an “Art of” book was to review The Art of Meet the Robinsons by Tracey Miller-Zarneke.  The book had to be a instant delight for me, it could not fail.  Instead I discovered I may not know what to think of “Art of” books. 

The Art of Meet the Robinsons is a short book that highlights concept art from the movie.  This art ranges from story sketches, color studies, concept art, and full paintings.  There is smattering of commentary explaining artistic choices and intent in character and setting design. 

The good of the book is the art.  It is the intended highlight of the book, and it is more impressive than the text.  Honestly I would have enjoyed more art mostly due to my love of the movie.  But I really loved some of the details you do not get a good glimpse of in the movie like the Robinson Industries posters.  There are also some interesting facts that I did not know including the fact that director Steve Anderson was an orphan like Lewis and that Lewis originally was to see a monorail when Wilbur gave him a tour of Future City, Walt Disney would have been proud.  But again,  I am the guy who could have used more.

“More” may be how I would summarize how I felt in general.  I wanted more art and I definitely wanted more background.  And I wanted more pages, there are only around 60.  I wanted to spend more time in the book, but with it being so short it was a quick dive into the world of Lewis and Wilbur.  I wanted the book to appear more like an adult book.  I easily could put this volume on my shelf next to children’s storybooks and it would look like it was at home!  I wanted more discussion on the design of Todayland, actually I wanted some since there was none other than art.  Though this book is no longer in print I would really felt disappointed if I paid the original suggested retail price of $17.99 for this volume because I wanted so much more.

I feel like either I do not understand “Art of” books and their nature yet, and if this is a representative sample I am going to struggle through these.  Or maybe this book demonstrates a problem that I have felt with Disney when it comes to Meet the Robinsons, a feeling that this film has been treated as second class.  I was introduced to Lewis, Wilbur and the Man with Bowler Hat at a meet and great at Disney-MGM Studios, yeah it has been that long ago!  I had no idea what their names were!  And I had to be dragged to the movie, which I knew nothing about and was sure would be horrible.  I just do not believe Disney in the midst of a transition after purchasing Pixar put a lot of effort into promoting the movie with its original release.  I wonder if the company in transition limited the resources available to author Tracey Miller-Zarneke, limiting what The Art of Meet the Robinsons could have been.  Sure the volume has samples of great artwork, but I just wanted more.

Between Books - Walt Disney: An American Original

Bob Thomas in Walt Disney: An American Original chronicles the life and legacy of Walt Disney.  Thomas discusses briefly the Disney ancestors and then details Walt Disney’s birth in 1901 and childhood.   The book charts the moves of Walt Disney’s formative years from his birthplace in Chicago, to Disney’s idealized Marceline, Missouri, to Kansas City, back to Chicago, France and finally his return to Kansas City.  In this final relocation to Kansas City, Disney took his first steps into animation forming his own animation studio.  After setbacks and failures in the Midwest, Disney moves to California in 1923 asking his older brother Roy O. Disney to partner with him in a new animation studio.  Thomas covers the successes and failures of the Disney brothers including Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, the birth of Mickey Mouse and the production of a full length feature in Snow White released in 1937.  Thomas details Walt Disney’s steps into new endeavors including live action movies, television productions, and theme parks with the opening and growth of Disneyland.  Finally, Thomas discusses Disney’s final days and death in 1966 followed by the Walt Disney legacy with his unfinished dreams including the Walt Disney World Resort and EPCOT.  Along with chronicling the business and intellectual career of the historical figure, Thomas also discusses extensively Walt Disney the son, brother, husband and father. 

Walt Disney: An American Original is a Disney library must have.  It balances a comprehensive biography on Walt Disney with a readable narrative.  It is small enough to fit into a backpack for a Disney vacation, hint hint, while still being comprehensive enough to give the reader a good overview of Walt Disney’s life.  Thomas interviewed many individuals who knew Walt Disney personally and had the support of the Walt Disney Archives in providing content and sources.  However, I do wish as a historian that there were footnotes, as they would help guide further reading.  The text itself is highly readable and enjoyable, in fact it is more readable than most historical narratives that I have run across. 

This was one of the first Walt Disney biographies I ever read.  I found it not too short, not too long but just right!  It was a story, a true life one at that, which grabbed me and made me even more interested in Disney history.  When you read of the setbacks Walt Disney experienced one cannot help but be inspired.  You find a Walt Disney that really does embody the “Keep Moving Forward” spirit of Meet the Robinsons.  Additionally, I found myself becoming interested in expanding into other topics.  One topic that I was left wanting to know more about was Walt Disney’s vision for EPCOT, the Experimental City of Tomorrow and not the Epcot Park.  And I instantly wanted to find more information about Roy O. Disney, the older brother who stood beside Walt Disney and gave him the support needed to be the creator and innovator that he was.  Walt Disney: An American Original is a story that makes you want to know more!      

Between Books – Walt Disney: Creator of Magical Worlds

Walt Disney: Creator of Magical Worlds by Charnan Simon introduces children to the life, work and legacy of Walt Disney.  The book provides a survey of Disney’s life at a child’s reading level.  All of the significant periods of Disney’s creative career are included.  Topics addressed include Disney’s childhood, adolescence the development of the Walt Disney Brothers Studio, animated features, live action productions, television and finally theme parks.  The text is filled with pictures from throughout Walt Disney’s career.  Additionally there are information boxes that provide young readers with basic information about events like World War II.  This biography is part of a series called “Community Builders” which includes biographies on Thomas Jefferson and William Boeing.

As an adult, this book is a very straight forward biography of Walt Disney.  It is written to a reading level appropriate to children with pictures to help connect them to the text.  I was impressed with the scope of the biography including sentences about topics like the studio during World War II and Roy O. Disney’s relationship with his brother.  I was very surprised by the scope of a book that is under 50 pages.  The text is filled with pictures and an adult can read it very quickly.  The only misstep I found is a picture labeled as Walt and Roy, which the “Roy” figure seems to lack the Disney nose and appears to be younger than Walt.  But I was not able to find a copy of the picture online where I could identify if the subject was in fact not Roy O. Disney.

As an adult, I couldn’t be the final word on this book.  I slid my copy over to our junior reviewer.  Overall she enjoyed it.  It was about a fifteen minute read for our reviewer.  It can probably be handled by a young reader from third grade on up, and especially any younger reader in chapter books.  Our reviewer thought the pictures of vintage Disneyland were cool.  And she was shocked that every project that Walt Disney undertook was not a success.  She instantly connected Disney’s life to Meet the Robinsons and yelled out “Keep moving forward!”

Overall Walt Disney: Creator of Magical Worlds is a readable and fact filled biography for kids.  The text is full of pictures and historical context that help kids to better understand Walt Disney’s world.  It provides a good introduction to the historical life of Walt Disney for young readers. 

Mousey Movies - Chicken Little

Have you written off Disney’s 2005 Chicken Little?  I had, I found it okay, saw it in the theater and had bought it on DVD years later at a really discounted price.  It was crazy prized, I mean I would pay that just for the Disney Movie Reward points pricing.  Yet it simply was not a film I got excited about though I do love Scrubs’ Zach Braff.  Recently my kids pulled it out and I found myself shocked by all the Disney connections especially amongst the voice talent.

·     From the very opening Chicken Little pays tribute to other Disney movies as the narrator struggles with how to properly open his tale.  In that search that audience gets sound and visual lifts directly out of Lion King.  And he asks if he should use a book to open his story, instantly taking us to princesses and in my mind Sleeping Beauty.

·     Additional video is lifted from Raiders of the Lost Ark and shown at the Oakey Oaks movie theater in full live action glory.  The scene depicts Indiana Jones fleeing from a giant bolder and helps connect Disneyland fans to Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye.

·     Talk about a Disney flashback in this voice cast.  Joan Cusack plays Ugly Duckling, Abigail Ducktail Mallard.  I cannot but think of Jessie from the Toy Story franchise every time I heard her provide a line.  Wallace Shawn voices Principal Fetchit, who is slightly less grumpy than his Gilbert Huph from The Incredibles.  Don Knotts voices Mayor Turkey Lurkey.  Amongst his long and distinguished career, I remember his turn in Disney’s live action The Apple Dumpling Gang fondly from my childhood.  But my favorite two voices give me instant smiles.  Patrick Warburton voices an alien cop.  As someone who loves Soarin’ and Soarin’ Over California, among his other contributions, his voice instantly made me check to see if I had stowed my ear hat.  And Batman’s Adam West as the Hollywood version of Chicken Little was a complete surprise and brilliant.  I loved him in Meet the Robinsons but did not realize that he had done other voices for Disney.  Yeah, this voice cast is super Mousey. 

·     Story elements have a very Disney feel to it.  In fact one of the key themes is does Chicken Little’s father trust him, in fact at one point  he yells at him, “You can’t do this!”  Instantly my mind replaced the image of a father chicken with a father clown fish and I wandered mentally to Finding Nemo.  In fact, Chicken Little like Nemo and many Disney princesses comes from a one parent home.

I am still not in love with Chicken Little.  But I am coming to enjoy it more.  In fact I just have to say can you never go wrong with more Patrick Warburton and Steve Zahn.  As Zahn’s Runt of the Little states, “Just leave me some ammo, a little water, some chips if you have them.”  With those ingredients and a Mousey Movie, you have a night of family fun out here Between Disney.        

Mousey Movies – Meet the Robinsons

Lewis is a genius, but lives in an orphanage where prospective parents cannot see how smart and special he is.  He decides that his mother who gave him away as a baby must be the only person who could love him.  So he sets out to make a memory scanner for the school science fair that will show him his mother so they can be reunited, come on why build a volcano when you can build a memory scanner.  Sadly for Lewis a mysterious man with a bowler hat from the future steals his invention.  Along with Dor-Is, a robot bowler hat, the man attempts to claim the invention for himself.  To help Lewis reclaim the memory scanner is Wilbur a boy from the future and the son of the inventor Cornelius Robinson.  Wilbur’s dad in fact is the future’s most productive inventor and his creations have shaped the future.  Wilbur takes Lewis into the future hoping he can help him reclaim a time machine stolen by the man in the bowler hat when he left the garage door open (seriously who hasn’t this happened to).  For Lewis the most interesting discovery in the future is Wilbur’s interesting, okay weird, but supportive family.  Will Lewis be reunited with his mother?  Will Wilbur get the time machine back before his dad gets home?  Who is this man in the bowler hat?  And will Wilbur’s and Lewis’ choices lead to a very different and scary future?

I love this movie.  Seriously, this is one of my favorite Disney movies of all time and to be honest I can’t believe this movie has not been raised to Disney classic level.  To me this is a movie that Walt Disney would have loved and could have produced.  It puts a high value on family, it’s imaginative and it’s optimistic.  Wilbur teachers Lewis his dad’s biggest catch phrase, “Keep Moving Forward.”  It’s one that captures the spirit of Walt Disney, especially as one studies Disney’s story of success including his failures and predictions that his Mickey Mouse Park would fail.  To make this connection overt, the end titles include this Walt Disney quote, “Around here, however, we don't look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things, because we're curious... and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”  This movie truly has the feeling of the spirit of Walt Disney which you can find living today in a visit to a Disney park.    

Also throughout the movie are Easter eggs that return us living Between Disney to the parks and other Disney experiences.  My favorite is Todayland.  As Wilbur and Lewis fly through the future city they pass Todayland.  When I first saw this I could not help but notice the iconic profile of Space Mountain, instantly connecting Meet the Robinsons with Tommorrowland.  It led me to look closer at the shot in future views, seeing a version of the Astro Orbiter and unmistakably getting the subliminal message of “Plan a Vacation!”  In another scene the man in the bowler hat and Dor-Is scheme to defeat Cornelius in a diner.  The wall paper behind the conspirators features an image of Cinderella Castle.  Finally, in a deleted scene the Robinson family robot Carl hands Wilbur a note on Winnie the Pooh Stationary.