THE CIRCLE OF LIFE, AGAIN. THE LION KING 2: SIMBA’S PRIDE

Who would have thought that The Lion King could have a follow up. It is difficult to follow amazing but they followed it.

Simba is all grown up now and with the love of his life Nala. Simba is the king of Pride Rock as he was destined to do after his father, Mufassa. This film starts the same way the first one did. It begins with Rafici holding up a a cub to the whole kingdom as the king and queen follow from behind. The difference in the beginning is the cub. It is not Simba this time but his daughter, Kiara. Kiara is exactly like her dad when it comes to their personalities and behaviour.

Kiara cannot wait to go and explore the kingdom, but Simba is anxious about letting his cub out. He remembers the dangers he got himself into when he was small and fears that his daughter will following his paw prints. She convinces Simba to let her go, however Simba has her followed by his faithful friends Timon and Pumba. Kiara goes and gets caught in a fire that is deliberately set to trap her. Kiara escapes the fire and a crocodile infested river with the help of Kovu, who is Scar’s hand chosen successor. The fire was started by Kovu’s family so that they could trick Simba into going to save his daughter and then they could rule the kingdom instead.

Years later, Kiara goes out hunting for the first time. Simba still worries for his daughter’s safety so sends his spies, Timon and Pumba, again. While on the prowl, she comes across another hunter, it’s Kovu. Her childhood hero. She thinks that it is great to see her childhood friend again and wants to go and explore together. Only she does not know that Kovu has a hidden agenda. He has been raised and trained to go and kill Simba to follow out Scar’s plans.

Kovu begs for Simba to take him after declaring that he has left his mother’s pride and looks to join his. Simba accepts him into their pride but remains vigilant. Kovu and Kiara grow close which was not in Kovu’s plans so he is torn between his new love and his family. Once Kovu’s mother Zira learns that her son is not fulfilling his duty, she steps in and decides to take matters into her own paws. Simba sees the love that Kiara has for Kovu and takes him for a walk to talk about what Scar was really like. Out of nowhere, Zira and her pride emerge from the shadows and surround Simba. Simba thinks that Kovu was behind it. They attack Simba but Kovu jumps to his aid. Simba manages to escape and get back to his pride where he then sentences Kovu to banishment.

Sick of waiting, Zira leads her followers towards to Pride Rock to take down Simba and Simba and his lionesses are ready. The battle begins and just as the fight gets under way, Kiara and Kovu jump in between Simba and Zira to stop this battle. They show the two sides that there is no difference between the two, that they are all the equal. Zira’s followers see the truth and go to Simba’s side, however Zira does not listen to reason plunges at Simba. Kiara intervenes and Zira falls off the cliff. All the lions then go back to Pride Rock as one. Kovu is accepted back after seeing that he has good intensions. They all work together and (as clichay as this is) they all lived happily ever after.

This film is brilliant. I never thought that the Lion King could be made better but really has been. With great voices in this addition such as, Neve Campbell doing the voice of Kiara, Jason Marsden doing the voice of Kovu and Suzanne Pleshette doing the voice of Zira. 10 out of 10 for this film. This is a musical that even the boys will like.

THIRD TIME IS A CHARM!!!!!!!! THE SANTA CLAUSE 3: THE ESCAPE CLAUSE

This is the third of our Santa Clause trilogy. It is the new and modernised Santa Clause movie. There are a few new characters this time round to add to the fun. We now have Jack Frost and Carol’s parents, Bud and Sylvia Newman.

In this film Santa is very busy this year so close to Christmas and is getting dragged under with all his work to do. Mrs Clause is pregnant and having very emotional moments. She misses her parents and everyone back home. Santa decides to make his wife have an easier time, he is going to bring her parents up to the North Pole to visit. One catch, Carol’s parents think that Santa, aka Scott, is a toy maker in Canada. Only one thing must be used, magic.

While Santa has to worry about his work load and now his wife’s parents, he also has to worry about Jack Frost. The Council of Legendary Figures has a meeting at the North Pole on how to deal with Jack Frost trying to up stage Santa. He wants to have his own holiday such as Frostmas, Frost-Giving and Frost of July. When Frost does not get his way on this subject, he is sentenced to be punished for trying to take Christmas away from Santa. He is told that he must stay up at the North Pole to help Santa. Frost takes this as an opportunity to sabotage  things for Santa to cause more work and worry.

Once Bud and Sylvia arrive at the North Pole with Laure, Neill and Lucy, after being put into a long nap by Sandy, aka The Sand Man, Frost gains their trust by making Santa looking bad and uncaring. Things being to escalate out of control when Frost learns of the escape clause. This is when Santa holds his snow globe in his hands and says, ‘I wish I had never been made Santa at all.’ Frost looks at this as his chance to turn back time and become Santa himself.

Santa takes Lucy to see his snow globe collection and Frost follows them to steal Santa’s personal snow globe to try and trick him. After Santa gets into a fight with Mrs Clause, Frost takes him and gives him a present which is really his snow globe and tricks him into saying the words for the escape clause. They go back in time and Frost puts on Santa’s coat and become Santa instead of Scott. Scott then sees what his life would be like if he had never become Santa and he very quickly realises that he had made the right decision in becoming Santa. The problem now is that he must get Frost to do the escape clause. Scott manages to get up to the North Pole where Frost has merchandised Santa’s workshop and has parents paying money to have their kids put on the nice list. He sees Lucy and convinces her to help him get Frost’s snow globe. The pair succeed and tricked Frost into using the escape clause. Santa gets back and manages to get the coat on and return to being Santa and the life he loves. Santa realises that it is his family that is most important and not work which mends things at home.

Overall, I found this film to be a great addition to the Santa Clause films. It has been made more modern which is why some will not be mad about it but I loved it. The new additions to the cast are, Jack Frost played by Martin Short, Bud Newman played by Alan Arkin and Sylvia Newman played by Ann-Margret Ollson. I would give it 9 out of 10.

HO! HO! HO! THE SECOND TIME. THE SANTA CLAUSE 2

This is the second film of The Santa Clause trilogy. If you seen the first one, which you should have, then you will understand who everyone is and their background. However you haven’t seen the first one then first of all, shame on you, and second of all, I will give you a quick explanation of who everyone is in the film.

The main character is of course Santa Clause who was Scott Calvin. He seen Santa on his roof and frightened him so Santa fell off the roof and died so Scott put on Santa coat and became Santa instead. He didn’t believe it at first but after an entire year of weird things happening to him such as reindeer following him, him putting on a lot of weight and growing white hair and a beard in seconds, he finally came to the realisation that he was the new Santa. His son Charlie believed all along that he was Santa since he and his dad went to the North Pole after Santa fell off the roof. Charlie never had a good relationship with his dad until this event occurred as Scott was a workaholic. Charlie lived with his mam, Laura and step dad Neill who both believed that Scott was a bad role model for Charlie when it came to the Santa business but on Christmas Eve after Scott accepted that he was Santa, they seen that he was the genuine article and then they all grew this new a profound bond.

This is where the story begins for the new installment. Santa is living up at the North Pole and working hard at being the best Santa there ever was. Just a meeting with council of magical figures, Santa finds out that he has to get married by Christmas or else he will be ‘de-santafied’ or in other words he will no longer be Santa anymore. While there is panic up at the North Pole, there is trouble back home as Charlie, who is now a teenager, is caught spray painting the school gym. Scott doesn’t know what to do because he has to be there for his son but he also has a responsibility to ensure all the toys are ready for Christmas Eve. That is when his Elf Number 2, Curtis comes in with a plan. Santa is going to replicate himself into a toy that will remain at the North Pole to take of things.

By the time that Scott gets back down to attend the meeting for Charlie he has already began to change back to his Scott Calvin self. Charlie’s half-sister Lucy, is thrilled to see her uncle Scott. Scott convinced Principal Newman that Charlie should not be suspended but to take part in community service as his punishment.

Scott soon realises that finding a wife was not as easy as he thought that it would be. He finally asks Carol Newman on a date and uses some magic along the way to help him. The date goes very well for him which then blooms into a relationship, when time is getting close for Scott he comes clean about his real identity and Carol takes it as a joke at her expense. When Scott runs out of magic he comes up with the cunning plan to trap the Toothfairy to get hm back to the North Pole to save Christmas.

It is when Scott returns that his toy Santa is taking things too far up there and had decided that the whole world would be getting coal in their stockings for Christmas. A toy vs elf was erupts and………… I won’t tell you what happened next because that would ruin the ending.

All the films primary actors from the first film returned to the screen to grace us with their talents once again. The new arrivals are Lucy played by Liliana Mumy and Elizabeth Mitchell who plays Carol Newman. I would give this film 10 out of 10. Absolutely love it!!

HO! HO! HO! HO! THE SANTA CLAUSE MOVIE

This is one of those movies that everyone loves to watch at this time of year. It is clear form the title of the film that it is about Santa Clause. It is funny and charming. It is a film that all age groups would enjoy. Thank you for having it part of a trilogy.

Scott Calvin, is a work-a-holic and even on Christmas Eve he is late getting back on time to spend the holiday with his son, Charlie. Ever since Scott and his ex wife Laura got divorced. Laura’s new husband Neill plays a fatherly role in Charlie’s life. During the night, Charlie is woken from a loud noise coming from the roof. He goes ion to wake his dad and they go outside to inspect what it was. It was non other than the man in red himself, Santa Clause. Scott calls him and Santa becomes startled and falls off the roof and then disappears. They climbed onto the roof using the ladder that just appeared. Scott put the coat on and they get in the sleigh and then the reindeer take off where Scott must deliver the presents to all the children. They then get brought to the North Pole where Scott learns that he is now the new Santa Clause. The father and son fall asleep and wake up Christmas morning back in their house.

Charlie spends months on end telling people that they had gone to the North Pole and that his dad is now the new Santa, only no one will believe him. Scott believes it to be a dream and nothing more. He soon begins to experience some changes in his appearance. He gains a huge amount of weight in very little time and his hair turns white and he grows a beard. As much as he tries to fight it, he cannot go back to the way he was.

Laura and Neill become highly concerned by Scott’s change in appearance and also Charlie’s belief in his dad being Santa so they request full custody of Charlie and win. With just days before Christmas,Scott goes to visit his son and Charlie manages to convince him that he is Santa. When Laura and Neill let them have a goodbye, the Head Elf, Bernard appears and the three of them go back to the North Pole. They begin doing all the last minute work to get ready to take flight on Christmas Eve to deliver to all the children of the world. Charlie is put on the missing persons list and the police get involved. They go dleivering the presents and do it full heartily this time round. When they go to Charlie’s home, Scott is arrested and some of the elves and go and help Charlie and they all go in pursuit to rescue Scott from jail. When they get back to Charlie’s home, Laura and Neill are so thankful to have Charlie and they are shownt hat Scott is Santa. It is a happy time for them all. Scott flies away to finish the night’s work and Charlie gained a new and fantastic relationship with his dad.

This film is starring Tim Allen as Scott, Eric Lloyd plays Charlie, Wendy Crewson is Laura and Judge Reinhold plays Neill. This fim is direscted by John Pasquin who has worked many times with Tim Allen on Home Improvement and Jungle 2 Jungle. This film was made in 1994 and is still a brilliant film that many still love. I would give this film 10 out of 10 and would recommend to all age groups.

SEASON FOR A CUPA TEA!!!! A MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL

So everyone knows the story of ‘A Christmas Carol.’ We all grew up with it as our bedtime story at this time of year, if we hadn’t we wouldn’t know who Charles Dickens was. This week is going to be December and officially Christmas season and mayhem in the shops, so instead of fighting for parking and a bargain why not sit in front of your fire with a cup of tea and a Christmas move?

This film is about Ebenezer Scrooge, who is a wealthy yet lonely man in the 19th century. He is a very cruel and bitter old man who hates the jolly season of Christmas. This film is even better again because there is only one non muppet in this adaptation of this classic. We see our favourite friends, Kermit the Frog as loyal Bob Cratchet and of course his wife Miss Piggy. The film also needs its narrators which are the legendary Gonzo the Great and Rizzo the Rat.

This classic tale is about Scrooge who hates the season of Christmas and lets everyone know about it. Instead of spreading his wealth to the less fortunate, he keeps to himself and not even his doting nephew can bring out the festive feeling in him. On Christmas Eve, while sitting me his pajama’s, he is suddenly frightened by noises. He then discovers, floating up the stairs are the ghosts of his old business partners, the Marley brothers. They tell him on that night that he will be visited by three ghosts, Ghost of Christmas Past, Ghost of Christmas Present and the Ghost of Christmas’s Yet to Come.

He has his first visit and is shown his past, which we see that he very much so regrets. He sees how he gave up the love of his life for his job and wealth. He also witnesses his childhood years where he had no friends. He then is brought back to his house where he waits for the next ghost to appear. The Ghost of Christmas Present, brings to all those that are closest to him and how they cherish the little they have. Like Bob Cratchet, who has little in material things but is the wealthiest man when it comes to his family. Scrooge sees how ill Tiny Tim is so ill and wonders if he will be with them for the next Christmas. Lastly after waiting a long time, Scrooge is visited by the Ghost he feared the most, the Ghost of Christmas’ Yet to Come. He is brought to the grave yard where he sees his own head stone. It is there that he learns that no matter how wealthy you are that your money cannot attend your funeral instead of people.

Once he gets sent back to his home and realises that he has not missed Christmas, he goes off round the streets delivering gifts to everyone he has ever been cruel to. They all join in the Cratchet household for a sing-song and turkey. From that day on Scrooge changed his ways and brought the spirit of Christmas to everyone he came in contact with all year round.

This is a very up lifting film that I adore. There is singing but not too much that you would get annoyed. It is directed by Brian Henson who is the son of the well-known Jim Henson, who created the muppets. It was made in 1992 and starring the magnificent Michael Caine as Scrooge. I would give this film 10 out of 10. No matter how old I get, I still love the muppets.