Author: Megan Williams

Mulan: Megan Williams’ Trailer Talk

Disney are currently on an unstoppable run of live action remakes; classics like Aladdin, The Lion King and Cinderella have all undergone this treatment, with more to follow. However, one film I am glad they’re remaking is ‘Mulan’.

‘Mulan’ tells the story of a woman who takes her father’s place and disguises herself as a man in order to fight in a war. 

From the looks of social media outcry, I might be in the minority by saying I’m glad we haven’t seen any songs in the new trailer or any signs of Mushu the Dragon (originally voiced by Eddie Murphy in the 1998 original). This looks like it’s not just a remake, but a retelling of the original story ‘The Ballad of Mulan’; a story that dates back to 386 AD. I’m glad that this is getting the live-action treatment because it gives Disney a chance to tell Mulan’s story properly. Without musical numbers and a cartoon dragon.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the song ‘Make a Man Out of You’, but I’d be happier to hear it appear as just an orchestral piece during their training scene. 

‘Mulan’ is in cinemas 27^th March 2020

Mulan is a 1998 American animatedmusicalactionadventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation for Walt Disney Pictures. It is based on the Chinese legend of Hua Mulan, and was Disney’s 36th animated feature and the ninth animated film produced and released during the Disney Renaissance. It was directed by Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook, with story by Robert D. San Souci and screenplay by Rita Hsiao, Philip LaZebnik, Chris Sanders, Eugenia Bostwick-Singer, and Raymond Singer. Ming-Na Wen, Eddie Murphy, Miguel Ferrer and BD Wong star in the English version, while Jackie Chan provided the voice of Captain Li Shang for the Chinese dubs of the film. The film’s plot takes place in China during the Han dynasty, where Fa Mulan, daughter of aged warrior Fa Zhou, impersonates a man to take her father’s place during a general conscription to counter a Hun invasion.

Jumanji: The Next Level – Megan Williams’ Trailer Talk

Arguably the biggest surprise film of 2017 was ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’, a sequel to the 1995 film ‘Jumanji’, about a board game that brings the reality of its strange jungle environment to life. In the 2017 film, the game was modernised to a video game, starring Dwayne Johnson, Karen Gillan, Kevin Hart and Jack Black as characters within the game.

In ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’, the lead actors are now embodying two of the main characters grandfathers (Danny DeVito, Danny Glover), and they’re given a new area to explore within the game.

What I especially loved about the 2017 film was the comedy that was brought up via various video game tropes, and I hope this is explored more in the sequel. The chemistry between the lead actors was also fantastic, but I do fear that this will be a similar scenario, just with different actors; the plot needs to move in a different direction than its predecessor.

Saying that, after the surprise that was ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’ two years ago, I am looking forward to seeing this.

‘Jumanji: The Next Level’ is in cinemas 13^th December 2019.

Jumanji: The Next Level is an upcoming American fantasy adventure comedy film directed by Jake Kasdan and written by Kasdan, Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg. It is a sequel to the 2017 film Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and the fourth installment of the Jumanji franchise. The film stars Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas, Ser’Darius Blain, Madison Iseman, Morgan Turner, and Alex Wolff, reprising their roles from the previous film, alongside newcomers Awkwafina, Danny Glover, and Danny DeVito.

Trailer Talk: The Banana Splits Movie 

I rarely use the phrase ‘childhood ruined’…however, this particular trailer would definitely fit the definition of that!

‘The Banana Splits Movie’ is loosely based on the TV characters from the 1960’s show, and is being distributed by Warner Bros and the Syfy channel. In the film, young boy Harley and his family attend a TV broadcast of The Banana Splits. However, things take an unexpected turn and the body count starts rising. In case you couldn’t tell, yes, this is a horror film.

Ruined childhood aside, this film just looks like an entertaining B-movie. While the acting is passable for a horror film of this genre, the set and props looks impressive. However, this does remind me of the horror game franchise ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’.

The costumed people has been replaced with animatronics that decide to start killing people; a plot that is extremely similar to the game series that started in 2014. Furthermore, the FNAF series is still in the works, and was originally going to be distributed by Warner Bros; is it possible that this script was intended for ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’? I don’t doubt it.

‘The Banana Splits Movie’ will premiere on the Syfy Channel later this year.

The Banana Splits Adventure Hour was an American hour-long, packaged television variety program featuring the Banana Splits, a fictional rock band composed of four funny animal characters. The costumed hosts of the show are Fleegle (guitar, vocals), Bingo (drums, vocals), Drooper (bass, vocals) and Snorky (keyboards, effects).

The series was produced by Hanna-Barbera, and ran for 31 episodes on NBC Saturday mornings, from September 7, 1968, to September 5, 1970, and in syndication from 1971 to 1982. The costumes and sets were designed by Sid and Marty Krofft, and the series’ sponsor was Kellogg’s Cereals. The show features both live action and animated segments, and was Hanna-Barbera’s first foray into mixing live action with animation. A 2019 R-rated horror adaptation has been announced, which will be released on DVD and digital in summer 2019, with an airing on the Syfy channel coming later in the year.

Last year saw the Netflix release of Aggretsuko; an anime series revolving around an anthropomorphic Red Panda named Retsuko. In the series, she dealt with working in an office building in the city, as well as desperately trying to find love (and a way of getting out of her stressful workplace!)

However, Retsuko has a secret: every night, she goes to a karaoke bar and screams out death metal music as a way of releasing all of her anger and stress from the day.

The English dubbed trailer for Aggretsuko Season 2 gives fans an insight into Retsuko’s family life, with her overbearing mother, as well as reacquainting us with her horrible boss, Director Ton, crazy co-workers, a new colleague and…an unexpected marriage?!

This was a series that I really enjoyed; even though I don’t work in an office environment, I found the main character very relatable; we’ve all been in a situation where we wish we could say what was really on our mind, but can’t for various reasons. Retsuko serves as an outlet in a way. As expected , I am really looking forward to the new series.

Fans won’t have to wait very long for the new series, because ‘Aggretsuko: Season 2’ will be on Netflix on 14^th June!

Aggretsuko, also known by its original Japanese title, Aggressive Retsuko (Japanese: アグレッシブ烈子 Hepburn: Aguresshibu Retsuko) is a Japanese animemusicalcomedy franchise based on the eponymous character created by “Yeti” for the mascot company Sanrio. The character first appeared in a series of animated shorts by Fanworks which aired on TBS Television (Tokyo Broadcasting System Television) between April 2016 and March 2018. An original net animationseries launched worldwide on Netflix in April 2018, with a second season launching in June 2019.