Disney's 4 Home Runs of 2016

We just opened up our 6th month of the current year and Disney is on pace to make it their best ever. Box office numbers are through the roof for this company and another blockbuster is around the corner with Finding Dory. That movie isn't even out yet, more movies are in the works, and you can already guarantee an incredibly successful year for Disney media. Even if those movies tank, this will still be a banner year. They won't tank by the way...Here is a look at what made Disney so successful this year and why the movies/shows were such smash hits.

It all started at the box office in March with Zootopia. To date, the movie had made over a billion at the box office. That it comes off a budget of 150 million shows it was a massive hit. The success at the box office only scratches the surface though. To me, this was the best animated Disney movie since at least Wreck-It-Ralph and quite possibly the Lion King. It was absolutely phenomenal. I loved every single minute of this movie and it was not as predictable as many by this great company. It was so good that it received a 98% on rotten tomatoes. This movie was absolutely brilliant and really got Disney started off towards a great year. I can't wait for these characters to really start making their presence known at the parks. Nick and Judy can be seen in the Move It, Shake it dance party @ Magic Kingdom now!

The next month, in April, came the live-action version of The Jungle Book. This was brilliant just in the fact that it connected a new generation of fans with the original classic. Add-in that it was one of the greatest movies I have ever seen and that it was a massive hit and it just is icing on the cake. I loved every second about this and every bit of what it represented. It is just another way for my family to enjoy this classic. Another way for my kids to enjoy one of the greatest Disney characters in Baloo. Anything that makes people love this story and that character are fantastic in my opinion. Then you actually break down the movie and it gets better...

The Jungle Book has 2 outstanding villain characters that add to the movie a great deal. Shere Khan has always been my personal favorite Disney villain and he was great in the animated classic. However, this movie, takes his character to a whole different galaxy in terms of violence and cruelty. The movie adds layers to that character that make everyone see how brilliant the character truly is. Then you add in the switch with King Louie into making him more dark and scary and the movie was absolutely phenomenal with those two villains. It did a great job with Kaa as well, but I would have liked a bit more from him. Maybe in the upcoming sequel we will get more from Louie or Kaa as the villain.

Regardless of my opinions though, the box office determines if the movie is a hit. This movie has made 877.6 million so far (as of 6/4) on a 175 million budget. Another smash hit that will likely pass the billion dollar range at some point. It received a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and was not quite as loved as Zootopia. The Jungle Book was beloved by all though and was slightly better than  in my opinion.

Finally, last month, came the most anticipated movie in quite some time, Captain America: Civil War. This movie has been an incredible smash hit already smashing through the billion dollar mark at the box office. Critics and fans alike have been raving about the movie. It is hard to top this movie for me personally. I have it as the 4th best movie in the Marvel Universe and I am pretty obsessed with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In case you were wondering my top 5 are Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Iron Man 1, Civil War, and Avengers 1. The other 4 I own and we will own Civil War at some point. The layers of complexity of the story and the details of that story make this a must see. If you are a fan of the MCU and haven't seen it, go see it today. Captain America is the coolest hero and he teamed up with more awesome heroes to take on Iron Man's crew, how could you not want to go? This movie made Ant-Man look even cooler, fixed Spider-Man in movies, and introduced the thrilling Black Panther among many other things. Can I just say also that Team Cap had much cooler heroes than team Iron Man. My family is always #TeamCap

All these movies don't even mention the greatest success that Disney Media has had this year. That greatest success has been the new Disney Jr. series The Lion Guard. That show has been a smash hit and is beloved everywhere by all young kids. My 3 year old son's class absolutely adores this show. That adoration comes most obviously by our stinker who says it is his favorite show. He has also mentioned a possible Lion Guard birthday party and Lion Guard costume. Our money is being dropped into Lion Guard merchandise more than anything besides car, house, daycare, electricity, water, and church it seems. He has lion guard shoes, backpack, lunch box, deluxe kion figure, small character playset and more already. Not to mention the lion guard adventure we went on at Animal Kingdom. He loves all the characters, but Kion is definitely his favorite. My favorite is Bunga and I have been Bunga playing at home with Kion many a times already. This show is something our older son truly loves and I am happy that he does. It connects Lion King to the younger generation in a brilliant way. It expands on an already fantastic story. It is enjoyable to watch. I don't have to worry about my son getting weird messages. It is just a fantastic show.

 Doing the Lion Guard Adventure @ Animal Kingdom (Found Fuli)

And Kion (his favorite)

Expect much more success from Disney in the media realm in 2016 and moving forward. Tune in here next week for a zoo review of the Saint Augustine Alligator Farm. Have a blessed week everybody!

- Noland

Movie Monday: The Avengers

I am so excited for this Review!

The Avengers

This movie was awesome! We went on Friday around 4:30pm to beat the crowds! Well maybe you didn't grow up watching these crazy super heroes.. the way my husband did. But I bet you've heard of them: Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Hawk Eye, & Black Widow! Well here is the trailer: 

I thought it would be nice if you had a male's opinion on the movie... here's what my amazing husband had to say: 

The Avengers was a brilliant movie. It is now my favorite superhero movie and that is saying something. I convinced Jenna that we should have many superhero movies and that would probably be our number 1 movie genre besides maybe Disney movies. I guess technically marvel movies are Disney movies so they dominate our movie list.

Anyways, this movie was great and has everything we look for in a movie. It had an incredibly well developed storyline and each Avenger played very well off of each other. I thought Cap and Iron Man fit the best together and I loved some of their back and forth. Marvel could not have had a better pick for those two that I can think of. Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans are amazing as Iron Man and Captain America respectively.

 It was cool how Coulson loved Cap too. Captain America is my all-time favorite superhero so I was glad to see someone share my fandom. This movie did a fantastic job with the Hulk as well. Hulk was used perfectly in this film and it really helped bring the movie along.

 I also thought Loki was the best developed villain of the Marvel movies thus far. It seems like they might do even better with the next Avengers movie given the teaser scene during the credits. I won’t give it away, but I recommend seeing it if you are a fan of Marvel Comics and what they do.

Negatives: The only thing I didn't really like was how they used Hawkeye. I think he could have been developed a little better because he didn't have his own movie and was used the least in previous movies. Thought they could have done a better job with him.

 It would have been nice to see the Black Panther in this movie as well. He is my second favorite avenger so that would have been cool. Maybe next time. There was one other part I disliked when Loki killed somebody, but I don’t want to give it away for those that haven’t seen yet. You should see it soon though; Jenna and I will probably go again very soon...

Thanks hubs! The only things I have to add: The special effects were awesome! We saw it in 3D and I feel like if you like action movies, you will love it either way! It also had a lot of humorous parts! We really enjoyed it! I hope you will share your opinion if you saw it! 

That's all for this Movie Monday! Thanks for stoppin by!

xoxo Jen.