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As Wicked hit theaters, it's interesting to see Disney's surprisingly long history with the Oz books!

The world of Oz is about to see a new spark in popularity. After two decades as one of the biggest musical hits in the world, Wicked is about to hit the big screen in part one of a two-part epic. It's a revisionist take on the property showing how Elphaba aka the Wicked Witch of the West, wasn't that bad a person and her friendship with Glinda, the Good Witch of the North.

The movie is from Universal and seems set to become a major box office hit. Yet there was a time when it looked like Disney might get their toes into the property and the history of Disney and Oz is fascinating to see!

The early Oz foray

The early days of moviemaking were tricky, yet was always interested in adapting some beloved books.

Have you ever noticed how Tommy from Rugrats sounds just like one of the Powerpuff Girls? Or that Scooby-Doo and Astro from The Jetsons speak very similar dog languages?

Hollywood’s voice-acting community is full of really talented people who can churn out a bunch of different voices, but that doesn’t mean they don’t occasionally have characters that end up sounding exactly alike (it doesn’t help that this group of performers is relatively small).

To that end, here are 10 sets of cartoon characters whose voices are practically interchangeable…

10 Scooby-Doo and Astro

The Jetsons, which debuted as a prime-time show in 1962, is considered a classic today, but it didn’t gain that status until the 1980s when it re-debuted on Saturday mornings with new episodes. And so, when Scooby-Doo came along in 1969, six years after The Jetsons was canceled, voice actor Don Messick thought nothing of re-using Astro...

Rod Serling's anthology series "The Twilight Zone" may not have had a perfect run all the way through (you can check out our ranking of the original classic seasons right here), but it sure kicked off with a bang. Its second episode, "One For The Angels," was tonally much different than the show's unconventional pilot, and fairly quickly, audiences learned that they were going to be seeing many familiar faces pop up across the show's delightfully twisted and thought-provoking episodes. One such face belonged to Ed Wynn, who audiences would have known at that time for his many stage, film, and TV roles, including leading the Peabody- and Emmy-winning variety series "The Ed Wynn Show." Wynn carried this "Twilight Zone" episode on his shoulders, playing a pitchman who is visited by the personification of Death and trying to outsmart him, only to eventually have to give the pitch of his...

The age rating for the 1964 “Mary Poppins” has been increased in the U.K. due to “discriminatory language.”

On Friday, the British Board of Film Classification upped the Disney movie’s cinema rating from U, meaning it contained “no material likely to offend or harm,” to PG for “discriminatory language.”

In a statement to Variety, a BBFC spokesperson said that the film “includes two uses of the discriminatory term ‘hottentots’. While ‘Mary Poppins’ has a historical context, the use of discriminatory language is not condemned, and ultimately exceeds our guidelines for acceptable language at U. We therefore classified the film PG for discriminatory language.”

The word is a racially insensitive term for the Khoekhoe, an indigenous group in South Africa. The BBFC further explained that the word is used in the film by Admiral Boom (Reginald Owen), including when referring to the chimney sweeps whose faces are covered in soot.

For many film buffs, the classic Christmas film Miracle on 34th Street is their go-to holiday film. Subsequently, the movie depicts the best and worst of humanity and is essential viewing during the Christmas season. Altogether, the original film has spawned four remakes. However, they’ve all stayed true to the original script.

‘Miracle on 34th Street’ (1947)

The film’s original plot follows Doris Walker (Maureen O’Hara), a worker at Macy’s Department Store in New York City. However, Kris Kringle (Edmund Gwenn) realizes the man who will play Santa Claus is drunk. Later, he tells Doris, and she hires Kris to be the Macy’s store Santa Claus.

Her divorce disillusions Doris and her daughter Susan (Natalie Wood). However, their neighbor, lawyer Fred Gaily (John Payne), is surprised Susan doesn’t believe in Santa Claus.

When Susan meets Kris, she believes he’s Santa Claus. Fred believes Kris and clashes with Doris.

Steven Spielberg had tackled serious subjects before, but none of his previous work had the power and artistic vision of “Schindler’s List,” which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Based on the book by Thomas Keneally, “Schindler’s List” relates the true story of Nazi party member and war profiteer Oskar Schindler, who ended up saving 1,000 Jews from the Nazi death camps during World War II. Shot in black-and-white-save for a little girl wearig red coat- ‘Schindler’s List” is often a difficult watch, but it’s message of “Never Forget” is particularly relevant today with the rise of anti-Semitism and the white power movement. The epic stars Liam Neeson as Schindler, Ben Kingsley as the Jewish manager of Schindler’s factor and Ralph Fiennes, terrifying as a ruthless Nazi commandant Amon Goth.

The reviews were laudatory and despite its length — 3 hours 15 minutes — “Schindler’s List” made over $322 million worldwide. Nominated for 12 Oscars...

Milt Larsen, who wrote for the game show Truth or Consequences for nearly two decades and co-founded The Magic Castle in Hollywood, died Sunday of natural causes in Los Angeles, his family announced. He was 92.

Larsen produced TV specials for ABC, CBS and NBC and wrote songs with Richard Sherman, the Oscar winner who partnered with his late brother, Robert, to create tunes for such Disney classics as Mary Poppins, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Jungle Book.

He also was the creator and consultant for the $50 million Caesars Magic Empire at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

In 1963, Larsen and his late brother, Bill, founded The Magic Castle in a 1909 French Chateau mansion on Franklin Avenue. With its many stages, labyrinthine corridors and old-fashioned decor, the place would become a renowned private club for magicians.

Larsen wrote five joke books and three books involving The Magic Castle, penned a weekly...

Milt Larsen, the magician and TV writer who co-founded Hollywood’s famed Magic Castle night spot, died May 28 in Los Angeles. He was 92.

Larsen had deep roots in the world of magic and in Los Angeles. His father, William Larsen Sr., was a prominent local defense attorney and a performing magician. His mother, Geraldine, made early appearances on TV as “The Magic Lady.” Milt Larsen worked as a writer for TV game shows including “Truth or Consequences” during 18 years of Bob Barker’s tenure as host in the 1950s, ’60s and early ’70s.

Larsen teamed with his older brother, William Larsen Jr., and William’s wife, Irene, in the early 1960s to transform a Gothic renaissance mansion on Franklin Avenue in the heart of Hollywood into a clubhouse designed to cater to working magicians. The trio created the Academy of Magical Arts, but the venue became known as the Magic Castle.

NatGeo’s widely acclaimed new limited series “A Small Light” chronicles the heroism of Miep Gies and several other brave Amsterdam residents who hid Anne Frank and her family, as well as four other people from the Nazis in a hidden attic apartment in Otto Frank’s office building. After the eight Jewish residents were arrested and sent to concentration camps in 1944, it was Gies who saved Anne’s diary and kept it in her desk drawer. Otto Frank, who was the only member of the immediate family who survived the camps — Anne died of typhus in March 1945 at Bergen-Belson — returned to Amsterdam, Gies gave him Anne’s diary. And in 1947 “The Diary of a Young Girl” was published in Europe. Five years later, “Diary” made its way to America. It has been translated into over 67 languages.

Anne had received a red checkered autograph book for her 13th birthday on...

Since the enormous popularity surrounding Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe has never waned in the seven decades since they both rocketed to superstardom, it’s no wonder that Austin Butler and Ana de Armas sailed to Oscar nominations for portraying them in the 2022 films “Elvis” and “Blonde.” What is odd, however, is that the respective Best Actor and Best Actress hopefuls are the only ones nominated in any of this year’s acting categories for playing real people. While this 90 percent fictional character rate is far from unprecedented, it does stand in stark contrast to the preceding decade’s average of 59 percent and thus raises questions as to why academy voters chose to veer in the opposite direction.

The last instance of two or fewer portrayals of real people leading to Oscar nominations in the same year involved 2003 Best Actress champ Charlize Theron, whose “Monster” character, Aileen Wuornos, stood completely...

Click here to read the full article.

Robert Clary, the French actor, singer and Holocaust survivor who portrayed Corporal LeBeau on the World War II-set sitcom Hogan’s Heroes, has died. He was 96.

Clary, who was mentored by famed entertainer Eddie Cantor and married one of his five daughters, died Wednesday morning at his home in Los Angeles, his granddaughter Kim Wright told The Hollywood Reporter.

CBS’ Hogan’s Heroes, which aired over six seasons from September 1965 to April 1971, starred Bob Crane as Colonel Robert E. Hogan, an American who led an international group of Allied prisoners of war in a convert operation to defeat the Nazis from inside the Luft Stalag 13 camp.

As the patriotic Cpl. Louis LeBeau, the 5-foot-1 Clary hid in small spaces, dreamed about girls, got along great with the guard dogs and used his expert culinary skills to help the befuddled Nazi Colonel Wilhelm Klink (Werner Klemperer...

The television landscape was changing when the 23rd Emmy Awards took place at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood on May 9, 1971, with Johnny Carson as host. History was made in more than one way that night.

NBC’s “The Flip Wilson Show,” the first comedy-variety series hosted by an African-American, won the genre and writing awards. Wilson shared in both victories. And Mark Warren became the first black helmer to win an Emmy for his direction of NBC’s “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In.”

George C. Scott, who had declined the Oscar just 24 days earlier for “Patton,” didn’t attend the Emmys either. However he didn’t turn down this award for his leading role in NBC’s “Hallmark Hall of Fame” presentation of Arthur Miller’s “The Price.” Jack Cassidy accepted on his behalf. David Burns, who had died two months earlier of a heart attack during a stage performance of the musical “70, Girls,...

Ned Wynn, an actor and screenwriter who followed his father, Keenan Wynn, grandfather, Ed Wynn, and stepfather, Van Johnson, into show business, has died. He was 79.

Wynn died Sunday of Parkinson’s disease in a nursing facility near Healdsburg, California, his younger brother, Emmy-winning screenwriter Tracy Keenan Wynn (The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, The Longest Yard), told The Hollywood Reporter.

Ned Wynn wrote about being raised in Hollywood in his 1990 autobiography, We Will Always Live in Beverly Hills. In her review, Los Angeles Times reviewer Carolyn See wrote the book “swirls with resentments, rowdiness, self-pity, self-centeredness and an amazingly silly sense ...

Ned Wynn, an actor and screenwriter who followed his father, Keenan Wynn, grandfather, Ed Wynn, and stepfather, Van Johnson, into show business, has died. He was 79.

Wynn died Sunday of Parkinson’s disease in a nursing facility near Healdsburg, California, his younger brother, Emmy-winning screenwriter Tracy Keenan Wynn (The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, The Longest Yard), told The Hollywood Reporter.

Ned Wynn wrote about being raised in Hollywood in his 1990 autobiography, We Will Always Live in Beverly Hills. In her review, Los Angeles Times reviewer Carolyn See wrote the book “swirls with resentments, rowdiness, self-pity, self-centeredness and an amazingly silly sense ...

A group of young, scrappy and brilliant writers penned some of the most accomplished dramas presented live during the Golden Age of TV in the 1950s. Writers such as Paddy Chayefsky, J.P. Miller (“The Days of Wine and Roses”), Reginald Rose (“Twelve Angry Men”), Tad Mosel (“The Haven”), James Costigan (“Little Moon of Alban”) and Horton Foote.

But the most influential and best-known of these writers was Rod Serling, who became a superstar as not only creator and writer but host of the landmark 1959-1964 CBS sci-fi/fantasy anthology series “The Twilight Zone,” for which he won two Emmys for his writing. “The Twilight Zone” and even his less successful 1970-73 NBC anthology series “Night Gallery” has overshadowed his earlier work for which he won three Emmys for his writing.

Among his earliest work was the 1953 “Kraft Television Theatre” presentation “A Long Time Till Dawn,” which gave a 22-year-old James Dean...

“A Very Precious Natalie”

By Raymond Benson

The familiar old standard, “A Very Precious Love” (by Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster) has been covered by such crooners as the Ames Brothers, Doris Day, Jack Jones, and others, but it was Gene Kelly who introduced it in the 1958 film adaptation of Herman Wouk’s 1955 novel, Marjorie Morningstar, which was directed by Irving Rapper. The song, played incessantly in instrumental form throughout the picture (and sung twice by Kelly), certainly sticks with you—and it received an Academy Award nomination for Best Song that year.

It was the only nomination the film received, however. Despite the good intentions of the filmmakers, the solid performances by Kelly and protagonist Marjorie (played by the luminescent Natalie Wood), and an excellent supporting cast that includes Ed Wynn, Claire Trevor, Carolyn Jones, Everett Sloan, Martin Milner, Martin Balsam, Jesse White, and George Tobias, the picture...

“Avengers: Endgame” might have surpassed 2009’s “Avatar” when it comes to its domestic box-office — besting James Cameron’s sci-fi fantasy’s $750 million handily by taking in $816 million since its opening on April 26. But it is still a far cry from 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” still the champ with $937 million in domestic ticket sales.

But on social media, there has been some discussion beyond the big bucks about whether “Endgame” with its multitudes of Marvel-ous superhero actors might have the most Oscar winners and nominees ever for a cast of a feature film. I know there is an ongoing thread in the forums about just this topic with various permutations on who counts or not. But for my purposes, actors who won or were nominated in categories other than acting do not qualify. Same with honorary trophies.

By that measure, I count seven winners among the names: Brie Larson,...

Once Disney decided to make a movie called “Mary Poppins Returns,” it automatically placed the film’s creators into something of a no-win situation: A sequel to the beloved, successful 1964 musical couldn’t stray too far from the previous movie lest it alienate fans, but for it to be too similar to its predecessor would call into question the point of making such a long-delayed follow-up in the first place.

It’s possible that there’s a filmmaker out there who could have threaded that particular needle in a way that would integrate the familiar into something new — the way J.J. Abrams did with the 2009 “Star Trek” reboot, for instance — but director Rob Marshall and screenwriter David Magee (“Life of Pi”) have taken the lane of least resistance and given us a clone that’s practically “Poppins” (1964) in every way.

The original film has a song about kites, so this...

The most-read book since Gone with the Wind looked at the coming of age struggle of an ambitious, upwardly mobile Jewish girl in the 1930s. This glossy film version gives Natalie Wood an ‘adult’ role and provides Gene Kelly with the seemingly optimal character of a troubled theatrical artiste. Good intentions aside, the show lacks guidance — and may have harmed Kelly’s acting career.

Marjorie Morningstar

Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1958 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 128 min. / Street Date May 9, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95

Starring: Natalie Wood, Gene Kelly, Claire Trevor, Everett Sloane, Martin Milner, Carolyn Jones, Martin Balsam, Edd Byrnes, George Tobias, Jesse White, Paul Picerni, Ruta Lee, Shelley Fabares, Lana Wood.

Cinematography: Harry Stradling

Film Editor: Folmar Blangsted

Original Music: Max Steiner

Written by Everett Freeman from the novel by Herman Wouk

Produced by Milton Sperling

Directed by Irving Rapper

When doing interviews for West Side Story we found out that...

Abe Vigoda, the long-faced character actor best known for his turn as Salvatore Tessio in The Godfather and grumpy Detective Phil Fish on Barney Miller, died on Tuesday, The Associated Press reports. He was 94.

According to Vigoda's daughter, Carol Vigoda Fuchs, the actor died in his sleep of old age at her home in Woodland Park, New Jersey. "This man was never sick," Fuchs said.

"It was great working with Abe in The Godfather and wonderful to have him among us," said Vigoda's Godfather co-star Robert Duvall. "We...

Legendary character actor Abe Vigoda has died at the age of 94. Vigoda, famous for playing detective Phil Fish in Barney Miller, died in his sleep Tuesday morning at his daughter Carol Vigoda Fuchs' home in Woodland Park, New Jersey, she confirmed to the Associated Press. Fuchs reports the cause of death as old age, saying, "This man was never sick." In addition to his role on Barney Miller, Vigoda is best known for playing the traitorous Corleone henchman Sal Tessio in The Godfather and The Godfather Part II. Vigoda's death has been erroneously reported numerous times in the past,...

Chim chim-in-ey, chim chim cher-ee, chim cher-noooooo! That seems to be the general reaction to reports that Disney is making a new Mary Poppins movie.

Nothing riles up social media like nostalgia, and – judging by the Nsfw tweets below - it's going to take more than a spoonful of sugar to make this sequel go down:

Hey Disney, go fly a kite.

Keep telling yourself, it's only a movie, only a movie, only a movie ......Aaaaaaaargghhh!

http://t.co/bzdm46ZBCi

— Mark Kermode (@KermodeMovie) September 14, 2015

Found a piece of the new Mary Poppins script!!! pic.twitter.com/oQ02fWad8k

— Jason Gore (@sonicdork) September 14, 2015

In the next version of Mary Poppins I hope they get rid of the part where they sing and dance in blackface pic.twitter.com/MbTwkmtcWG

— NickG (@sub150run) September 14, 2015

Disney developing new original musical featuring Mary Poppins: http://t.co/KiI92HGgJl I pray...

Ron Moody as Fagin in 'Oliver!' based on Charles Dickens' 'Oliver Twist.' Ron Moody as Fagin in Dickens musical 'Oliver!': Box office and critical hit (See previous post: "Ron Moody: 'Oliver!' Actor, Academy Award Nominee Dead at 91.") Although British made, Oliver! turned out to be an elephantine release along the lines of – exclamation point or no – Gypsy, Star!, Hello Dolly!, and other Hollywood mega-musicals from the mid'-50s to the early '70s.[1] But however bloated and conventional the final result, and a cast whose best-known name was that of director Carol Reed's nephew, Oliver Reed, Oliver! found countless fans.[2] The mostly British production became a huge financial and critical success in the U.S. at a time when star-studded mega-musicals had become perilous – at times downright disastrous – ventures.[3] Upon the American release of Oliver! in Dec. 1968, frequently acerbic The...

Curious to know what movies are coming to Netflix Watch Instantly over the next few weeks? Get a head start and mark your calendars using the list below, just released to us by Netflix. Note: Listed below are just the movies, not the television shows.   Avail 11/1 Artifact (2012) First known as an actor, Jared Leto has also found success in the music industry with his band 30 Seconds to Mars. This documentary follows the band as it makes the album "This is War" while battling recording giant Emi in a pivotal lawsuit.   Babes in Toyland (1961) Ray Bolger, Tommy Sands, Annette Funicello, Ed Wynn, Tommy Kirk, Kevin Corcoran, Henry Calvin Composer Victor Herbert's operetta comes delightfully to life in this 1961 fantasy...

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Interview and photo by Michael Lizarraga.

Whether we were on Mars, in a time machine, wandering a realm, or raising the dead, Rod Serling‘s (The Twilight Zone) messages on morals and social justice maneuvered their way into our homes, our hearts, our minds, and our conscience via the vessels of sci-fi and fantasy. Yet more admirable than Serling’s artistry and convictions was his love for his family, extolling the very same warmth and compassion that many of us felt from his stories and films onto his wife and children. And for his youngest daughter, Anne Serling, a unique father/daughter bond was forged between them, as timeless as infinity.

Endowed with both her father’s passion for writing and social concerns, Anne Serling is an accomplished poet, novelist, short story writer, and author of As I Knew Him, an honest and personal biographical memoir of her mentor, “best buddy”, and dad,...

‘Gilda,’ ‘Pulp Fiction’: 2013 National Film Registry movies (photo: Rita Hayworth in ‘Gilda’) See previous post: “‘Mary Poppins’ in National Film Registry: Good Timing for Disney’s ‘Saving Mr. Banks.’” Billy Woodberry’s UCLA thesis film Bless Their Little Hearts (1984). Stanton Kaye’s Brandy in the Wilderness (1969). The Film Group’s Cicero March (1966), about a Civil Rights march in an all-white Chicago suburb. Norbert A. Myles’ Daughter of Dawn (1920), with Hunting Horse, Oscar Yellow Wolf, Esther Labarre. Bill Morrison’s Decasia (2002), featuring decomposing archival footage. Alfred E. Green’s Ella Cinders (1926), with Colleen Moore, Lloyd Hughes, Vera Lewis. Fred M. Wilcox’s Forbidden Planet (1956), with Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen, Warren Stevens, Jack Kelly, Robby the Robot. Charles Vidor’s Gilda (1946), with Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready. John and Faith Hubley’s Oscar-winning animated short The Hole (1962). Stanley Kramer’s Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), with Best Actor Oscar winner Maximilian Schell,...

Charlton Heston movies: ‘A Man for All Seasons’ remake, ‘The Greatest Story Ever Told’ (photo: Charlton Heston as Ben-Hur) (See previous post: “Charlton Heston: Moses Minus Staff Plus Chariot Equals Ben-Hur.”) I’ve yet to watch Irving Rapper’s melo Bad for Each Other (1954), co-starring the sultry Lizabeth Scott — always a good enough reason to check out any movie, regardless of plot or leading man. A major curiosity is the 1988 made-for-tv version of A Man for All Seasons, with Charlton Heston in the Oscar-winning Paul Scofield role (Sir Thomas More) and on Fred Zinnemann’s director’s chair. Vanessa Redgrave, who plays Thomas More’s wife in the TV movie (Wendy Hiller in the original) had a cameo as Anne Boleyn in the 1966 film. According to the IMDb, Robert Bolt, who wrote the Oscar-winning 1966 movie (and the original play), is credited for the 1988 version’s screenplay as well. Also of note,...

Ready to have your mind blown, children of Disney's classics?

First of all, you know how Tinkerbell and Alice and Maleficent and all those were flitting around, doing their melodic little dances of whimsy and whatnot? Yeah, well, to help the animators capture those moments in cartoon form, there were sets of real-life performers who acted the various scenes out for reference. Seriously.

For example, do you remember the Mad Hatter watch scene in "Alice In Wonderland"? Kooky as that fella was, a vaudeville star named Ed Wynn played out the scene first.

It's pretty good in human form too, no?

And as if that video mash-up of Wynn's performance wasn't enough, the net-scouring wizards of Reddit unearthed a batch of Disney stills with character and human counterparts side-by-side to really trip us all out.

Told ya you'd be baffled. Those costumes! Those expressions! The poses! It's all so familiar...

Cinelinx drops a quarter on the new Wreck It Ralph 3D Blu-ray!

This review is based on the Ultimate Collector's Edition 4-Disc Set (3D Blu-ray, 2D Blu-ray, DVD, Digital Copy)

The Set-up

Video game villain Ralph (voice of John C. Reilly) decides he no longer wants to be the bad guy, and abandons his game to become a hero. 8-bit hilarity ensues. Featuring the voices of Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch, and Sarah Silverman.

Directed by Rich Moore

The Delivery

I'll be honest, I was ready to hate Wreck It Ralph before I saw it. As someone who grew up during the video game arcade craze of the 1980s, I certainly didn't object to the idea of a Disney movie in a video game world. I'm a fan of both Tron films, so I had no doubt the movie would be able to capture the right spirit and feel (which it...

Alice in Wonderland

Directed by Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, and Hamilton Luske

Written by Winston Hibler, Ted Sears, Bill Peet, Erdman Penner, Joe Rinaldi, Milt Banta, Bill Cottrell, Dick Kelsey, Joe Grant, Dick Huemer, Del Connell, Tom Oreb, and John Waltridge

Starring Kathryn Beaumont, Ed Wynn, Verna Felton

I should not pride myself in my ability to not be bored stiff by black-and-white movies, or by a supposedly stilted style of acting present in films from before the 1960s. There is a perception in the world, though, that audiences under the age of 30—I’m nearing the precipice of being on the opposite side of that line, but not yet—are, for the most part, unable to deal with older films or engage with them properly. On one hand, I bristle at the stereotype, not just because of my love for film of any age, but because I know from writing for this website,...

Easter weekend will be a special treat for fans of beloved, classic animated Disney movies, as ABC Family will be showing Alice in Wonderland (1951), Mulan (1998), The Lion King (1994) and Beauty and the Beast (1991) Saturday, March 30, and Sunday, March 31. The Disney movies weekend kicks off with 1951′s Alice in Wonderland, March 30 at 5:30pm Et/Pt (encore March 31 at 3:30pm Et/Pt). It’s the animated adventure about young Alice, who finds herself in the strange, scary and whimsical world of Wonderland. Alice in Wonderland features the voices of Kathryn Beaumont, Ed Wynn, Richard Haydn and Sterling [...]...

By Hannah Soo Park

We've got our eye on another fairytale remake, with today's news that Cate Blanchett may be lending her signature ice-cold gaze to the part of Cinderella's evil stepmother in Disney's upcoming untitled project. According to The Wrap, the "Hobbit" star is the first in talks to join Mark Romanek's live-action rendition on the classic tale.

Before you roll your eyes at the thought of yet another take on happily ever after, consider the plot, which follows a doomed politically arranged marriage plot involving a prince and, of course, Cinderella. With Blanchett and Romanek on board, we're thinking this one won't involve pumpkin carriages and talking mice.

With that said, this won't be the first twist added to the preexisting cookie-cutter storyline—from the Muppets to gender role reversals, we break down some of the most unexpected and wacky twists we've seen in Cinderella's movie past.

Wreck-It Ralph

Directed by: Rich Moore

Cast: John C. Reilly, Jack McBrayer, Sarah Silverman, Jane Lynch, Alan Tudyk

Running Time: 2 hrs

Rating: PG

Release Date: November 2, 2012

Plot: Ralph (Reilly) is a video game villain who wants to be a hero. Unfortunately most of his attempts lead to havoc, which might destroy the whole arcade.

Who’S It For? It’s perfect for kids who have ever been made to feel like a bully outcast, and pretty good for any social outcast. Liking video games helps, but shouldn’t be a deal breaker.

Overall

I am now a father. It’s been five days. So now, I think about every movie in terms of being a dad. So with that in mind … just kidding. I’m not going to be one of those film critics who completely change the way they look at films just because I now have a son...

Wreck-It Ralph

Directed by Rich Moore

Written by Jennifer Lee and Phil Johnston

USA, 2012

If, as some theorists believe, there are alternate universes where the vast infinity of possibilities in life actually come true, there’s a world out there where The Princess and the Frog was Walt Disney Animation Studios’ biggest hit since The Lion King. (Perhaps you would like to consider the alternative universe where the Holocaust didn’t happen or the AIDS virus never came to pass. For now, let us celebrate the frivolous potential of this concept.) The Princess and the Frog, in the real world, was a charming, lovely, nostalgic look back at what kick-started Disney’s second golden age of animation, and it didn’t do poorly. However, it was also not the sterling success the company was hoping for. As such, Walt Disney Pictures has tried with its two most recent efforts to...

Plenty of imagination went into the creation of Disney's latest animated feature Wreck-It Ralph as the world of video games is brought to life in more ways than one. Digital warriors, racing games and winged alien robots exist not only in their own respective games, but as part of an entire community of digital characters. From Q-Bert to Sonic the Hedgehog, familiar game characters travel between their respective titles whether it's to get a drink at the bar tending game "Tapper" or to just relax in the digital world's interpretation of Grand Central Station, the appropriately named Game Central, a surge protector serving as the hub that ties the arcade together. Written by Jennifer Lee and Phil Johnston with director Rich Moore ("The Simpsons", "Futurama") at the helm, Wreck-It Ralph resembles the plot of a "Super Mario" game by way of "Donkey Kong". Similar to the classic simian arcade game,...

Andrew Sarris, a legendary American film critic, has died at the age of 83, ending a long career spent mostly at the Village Voice and the New York Observer — from which he was only recently (and, it must be said, prematurely) let go. Generations of Columbia University film students had the privilege of hearing Sarris ramble brilliantly on the works of our most over- and underrated directors in that beautiful baritone that broke high, like Ed Wynn at his most giggly, sometimes punctuated by showers of spittle. When he loved something, he could barely contain himself. And Sarris was a huge presence.It has been impossible to be a critic since the 1968 publication of his The American Cinema without reckoning with Sarris’s work, which, at its best, combined the French penchant for logic and categorization with a spiky American iconoclasm. His lonely (among Americans) 1960 assessment of Psycho, widely...

Writing about Emma Thompson possibly reprising her role as human rights lawyer Gareth Peirce made me remember comments I've read about the 1993 Academy Awards. In early 1994, Thompson was nominated for two Oscars: as Best Actress for James Ivory's social/psychological drama The Remains of the Day (photo) and as Best Supporting Actress for Jim Sheridan's family melodrama / political & prison drama In the Name of the Father. That same year, Holly Hunter was another double nominee — the first (and to date only) time two performers have been in the running in two acting categories in the same year. Hunter was up for the Best Actress Oscar for Jane Campion's The Piano (photo) and as Best Supporting Actress for Sydney Pollack's The Firm. She eventually won for The Piano; she and Thompson lost in the Best Supporting Actress category to The Piano's Anna Paquin. Some have claimed...

Mary Poppins

Directed by Robert Stevenson

Written by Bill Walsh and Don DaGradi

Starring Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson

I think it’s a bit dangerous to call movies classics; that title can be a heavy crown for any film to wear, whether it’s your favorite or one you’ve never heard of before. Sometimes, we consider movies classics because our parents or our siblings or our friends loved them first, and we just followed along with them. Sometimes, we consider movies classics as soon as we walk out of the theater, blown away at what we’ve just seen. And sometimes we’re told that movies are classics, not because we’ve seen them, but because film buffs and critics have deemed it that way. No matter what makes a movie a classic, I’m unable to separate that movie from its status when I watch it,...

The great Ed Wynn stars as an elderly clockmaker who is convinced that he will keep living as long as he can keep an antique timepiece from dying. The Twilight Zone, Episode #132: "Ninety Years Without Slumbering" (original air date Dec. 20, 1963) The Plot: Sam Forstmann (Ed Wynn), 76, is a retired clockmaker who lives with his pregnant granddaughter Marnie (Carolyn Kearney) and her husband Doug (James Callahan). Lately Doug has noticed that Sam is a bit too devoted to the grandfather clock that he keeps in his room, feeling that the older gentleman has become obsessed with maintaining it to an unhealthy degree. Sam insists that it isn't so, that he simply suffers from insomnia and that working on the clock relaxes him,...

Director and comedy writer known for his Elvis films and the hit TV series Julia

The director and writer Hal Kanter, who has died aged 92, was one of the great wits of Hollywood. He made his reputation as one of Bob Hope's principal writers, and for many years scripted the annual Oscar ceremonies (he shared Emmy awards in 1991 and 1992 for his work on the shows). He was also a huge influence on writers who followed him. He ended his 1999 autobiography, So Far, So Funny, with this: "If any of my work over the past 60 years has inspired, encouraged or motivated any young person to write comedy for radio, motion pictures or television, I apologise."

He wrote or co-wrote films including Once Upon a Horse ... (1958) for Rowan and Martin; The Road to Bali (1952) for Hope and Bing Crosby; Move Over, Darling (1963), starring Doris Day; and Frank Capra's Pocketful of Miracles...

The internet is a wonderful thing, and every day something new appears which proves this to be so.

Recently World of Wonder (via Boy Culture) happened upon a recent batch of videos uploaded to YouTube that are unlikely to have been seen by many in the forty six years since they were shot in and around Hollywood in the Summer of 1965.

The uploader states that these videos were given to personally by Roddy McDowall, who shot these silent films in and around Hollywood and his house on Mailbu Beach. It’s an intriguing, if a touch voyeuristic, look at the movie stars of the day just hanging out as well as the landscape of Hollywood itself.

It is certainly strange to see David O. Selznick pouring over a crossword or Ed Wynn enjoying the sunset next to the remains of a house which has fallen down the Hollywood hills but...

DVD Playhouse—April 2011

By

Allen Gardner

Hereafter (Warner Bros.) Clint Eastwood’s spiritual thriller follows a trio of characters whose seemingly disparate paths converge: Matt Damon as a blue collar Joe who tries to fight against his psychic powers that see “the other side,” Cecile de France as a journalist who somehow survives the tsunami that crushed Indonesia, and a London schoolboy (Frankie and George McLaren) who seeks answers after losing his twin brother. Like all of Eastwood’s films, the narrative construction is tight as a drum, with solid work by all involved. That said, “solid” would have to be the operative word to describe the proceedings here, as well as “unremarkable” and “uninvolving” on an emotional level. Perhaps we expect too much when we see Clint’s name on a film these days, but that’s the flip side of being one of the best. Blu-ray/DVD combo pack.

DVD Playhouse—April 2011

By

Allen Gardner

Hereafter (Warner Bros.) Clint Eastwood’s spiritual thriller follows a trio of characters whose seemingly disparate paths converge: Matt Damon as a blue collar Joe who tries to fight against his psychic powers that see “the other side,” Cecile de France as a journalist who somehow survives the tsunami that crushed Indonesia, and a London schoolboy (Frankie and George McLaren) who seeks answers after losing his twin brother. Like all of Eastwood’s films, the narrative construction is tight as a drum, with solid work by all involved. That said, “solid” would have to be the operative word to describe the proceedings here, as well as “unremarkable” and “uninvolving” on an emotional level. Perhaps we expect too much when we see Clint’s name on a film these days, but that’s the flip side of being one of the best. Blu-ray/DVD combo pack.

I’m Ken Plume, and soon you’ll be listening to “A Bit Of A Chat” with me, Ken Plume.

In this episode, I have another chat with 1/3 of the comedy troupe Derrick, writer and actor DC Pierson, about secret societies, wild speculation, and entirely too much Ed Wynn.

Be sure to visit his official site at www.DCPierson.com, and check out his weekly comedy show, Magic Bag, live at SModcastle.

Hope you enjoy…

Download “A Bit of a Chat with Ken Plume & DC Pierson 2“:

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You can also find more of my interviews at Fred by clicking Here, and my personal interview archive at Tibby’s Bowl by clicking Here.

Voices By: Kathryn Beaumont, Ed Wynn, Richard Haydn

Director: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson & Hamilton Luske

The Scoop: (1951) Last year's epic 3-D sequel version of "Alice in Wonderland" may hold the box office title, but for most people, the original animated classic from Walt Disney still holds a special place in their hearts.

Special Features: Picture-in-picture retrospective, deleted scenes, alternate music, archival footage, featurette, interactive game, trailer

Rated G, 75 min. | Watch the trailer...

Alice In Wonderland (1961)60th Anniversary Edition (Blu-Ray & DVD)Walt Disney Home Entertainment1951/Rated G/Running Time 75 minsList Price $39.99 – Now AvailableThere is not really a lot that can be said about Alice In Wonderland that most of you will not already know. Walt Disney's seventh feature-length animated film is a loose adaptation of Lewis Carroll's two novels “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking Glass”. Quite possibly the most surreal Disney film of its time, it essentially attempts to cram a vast amount of material into its 75-minute running time, with at least partial success. The film takes the form of a number of set-pieces, most of them highly farcical, each completed under the supervision of a different sequence director. While this method of filmmaking undoubtedly led to each team striving to make their own sequence the best it could possibly be, it results in a very episodic structure,...

Hitting movie theaters this weekend:

The Roommate – Minka Kelly, Leighton Meester, Cam Gigandet

Sanctum – Richard Roxburgh, Ioan Gruffudd, Allison Cratchley

Movie of the Week

Sanctum

The Stars: Richard Roxburgh, Ioan Gruffudd, Allison Cratchley

The Plot: An underwater cave diving team experiences a life-threatening crisis during an expedition to the unexplored and least accessible cave system in the world.

The Buzz: This film looks stunning. I’m excited to see it in IMAX 3D. With a cast of relative unknowns (save Richard Roxburgh of Moulin Rouge) the star of this one looks to be cinematographer Jules O’Loughlin.

This is S.O.P. as far as Hollywood marketing is concerned, but I’ve always been annoyed when production credits are used to dupe the cinematically challenged populace. This film is produced by James Cameron, not directed. Direction credits go to Alister Grierson, a relatively untested director; Sanctum being only his second feature,...

Alice in Wonderland Quick Thoughts:

Alice in Wonderland is far from the top of my list of favorite classic Disney animated features, but it is a film I enjoy, particularly for how absolutely off the wall it is. This is a film you can look at from a myriad of angles, one being that it's just another Disney animated film with crazy characters and a penchant for occasionally dark material. Another way to look at it is as a psychedelic acid trip. No matter how you view it there will always be a hookah smoking caterpillar and a queen hell bent on chopping people's heads off. Even writing that last sentence makes me want to take a second look and make sure this actually is from Walt Disney.

As for this Blu-ray, it's great. Digitally restored and enhanced with a new DTS-hd Master 5.1 audio mix. The only time I noticed...

“Deep Vote,” an Oscar winning screenwriter and a member of the Academy, will write this column — exclusively for ScottFeinberg.com — every week until the Academy Awards. He will help to peel back the curtain on the Oscar voting process by sharing his thoughts about the films he sees and, ultimately, his nomination and final ballots, as well. His identity must be protected in order to spare him from repercussions for disclosing the aforementioned information.

Last week, he assessed “Winter’s Bone” (Roadside Attractions, 6/11, R, trailer) and “Solitary Man” (Anchor Bay Films, 5/21, R, trailer). This week, he tackles “Alice in Wonderland” (Disney, 3/5, PG, trailer), “Toy Story 3” (Disney, 6/18, G, trailer), and “Mother and Child” (Sony Pictures Classics, 5/7, R, trailer)…

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Here are three movies designed to play off the unconscious feelings of childhood, and only the most grown-up of them even obliquely succeeds in doing so.

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I don’t mind “Alice in Wonderland...

After a very quiet post-Labor Day weekend for new movies, where Resident Evil: Afterlife (review) was the only major film released widely (and owned the box office), this week's new horror DVD titles aren't aplenty either.

But we do have television shows from the recent season and re-releases of older titles all trying to chase the Blu(-ray) dollar.

Fringe: The Complete Second Season

Directed by Various

While "Fringe" is not strictly horror per se, the sense of fear and suspense that greets us week after week should qualify for some mention. They have enough quality freaks of the week and bloodshed to satisfy the fiends in us. This is the acting job that Leonard Nimoy is retiring from! "Fringe" stars Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, John Noble, Lance Reddick, Blair Brown and Jasika Nicole.

Buy the Blu-ray set or the regular DVD box set.

The Twilight Zone: Season...