2016: A Year In Disney

As 2016 is coming to a close, I'd like to look at the amazing feat Disney managed to pull off this year across the board. It was an absolutely brilliant year for the world's happiest company. The company slayed at the box office, television was on point, and the parks are improving. Things are certainly on the up and up for this wonderful organization. Before 2016 closes though, let's look at how historic this year really was.

Back in June, I posted a little piece about the 4 home runs to date in 2016. That bit was written before the Dory movie came out, before Doctor Strange, before Moana, and before the latest Star Wars film. Needless to say, it has gotten even more promising since that post. In order to not sound redundant, I will just say that those 4 home runs were amazing and I recommend them strongly. The 4 were the Lion Guard, Zootopia, Captain America: Civil War, and the Jungle Book. 

Before moving on to the second half of the year, I would like to go a bit further on how obsessed my children are with the Lion Guard. My kids love the show. This is especially true for our 4 year old son, Noland Jr. He has about 1/4 of the stuff he owns currently as Lion Guard related. The kid adores the show and the characters. Jr. is constantly trying to acquire new Lion Guard materials. It is a cool show for us too, because it is a bridge from the classic movie of our childhood, the Lion King. Just a brilliantly done show that hasn't lost any traction in our household.

Now onto the newer stuff...

Finding Dory was another smash hit for Disney and I too enjoyed the movie. I did not enjoy it as much as some people, but it was a great movie. The movie had really strong new characters and is certainly something Disney will continue to cash in on. It was not a failure by any stretch of the imagination and helped to grow the brand overall. Like I said, I enjoyed the movie and most enjoyed it even more than I did.

To me, perhaps the biggest hit and certainly the biggest surprise of the year was Moana. Now, I thought Moana would be really good, but it surpassed every expectation I had of the movie. After seeing Zootopia, I thought there was no way an animated movie could top that in the same year, but Moana was right up there. This movie was darn close to flawless and you must see it if you have not already. It will be interesting to see how the hype around this movie proceeds as time moves on.

Admittedly, I have not seen Doctor Strange or the latest Star Wars yet, but they have been hits. I have also heard terrific things from all that have seen those titles.

2016 also was the year we once again had Disney passes and there are some exciting things going on at the parks. Nothing at Disney World is as exciting as the additional hours at my favorite park, Animal Kingdom. Although I hear next year will be even bigger for this park and Disney World in general. Before we get to next year though, let's talk about one more thing for 2016.

Each year, we do a Disney countdown for characters and this year I decided to include more family. We had 11 family members each submit their top 50 solely Disney characters, and top 50 pixar characters as well. 50 points were awarded for #1 and 1 point for #50 for each list. Here are the top finishers after the vote and who the 4 in my immediate family voted for as their 5 favorites (for Eli we scattered toys and pictures and took them away after he chose somebody).

Overall Disney
#1 Simba
#2 Mickey Mouse
#3 Donald Duck
#4 Pooh
#5 Jiminy Cricket

Robinson Top 5 1-5
Me: Jiminy Cricket, Baloo, Pooh, Pumba, Donald Duck
Jenna: Pooh, Mickey Mouse, Aladdin, Rapunzel, Simba
Jr: Kion, Mickey Mouse, Bunga, Donald Duck, Nick Wilde
Eli: Mickey Mouse, Tigger, Pooh, Piglet, Kion

Overall Pixar
#1 Nemo
#2 Dory
#3 Woody
#4 Crush
#5 Squirt

Robinson Top 5 1-5
Me: Buzz, Crush, Rex, Bullseye, Marlin
Jenna: Woody, Buzz, Lightning McQueen, Marlin, Rex
Jr.: Buzz, Lightning McQueen, Mater, Woody, Rex
Eli: Buzz,Woody, Crush, Lightning McQueen, Squirt

As you can see sometimes the slam dunk winner in the house loses out overall. This was most true with Pixar as Buzz finished 1st for all 3 boys, and 2nd for Jenna. However, my brother and his kids didn't include Buzz and he finished outside the top 5. Crazy!!!!

I sure will have fun comparing the lists as they come out each year. It was a cool project that resulted in a fun coloring book for the kids.

This year in Disney was awesome! I have a feeling that next year could be even better! You will be able to follow our Disney adventures for 2017 right here.

Until next time, see you real soon!!!!

-Noland

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