Hi folks! Welcome to my My Own Personal Nerdy Disney and Animation Scrutinizing Analysis blog. A blog where I'm analyzing several Disney films, Disney or Animation in general! These entries are just meant to be my analyses. Not reviews or statements. Just fun analyses! Though I'll make some personal remarks now and then, the content of these entries are meant to be depicted objectively. They're made for entertainment purpose only and the pictures/clips are copyright Disney or other companies.
Make sure to leave a comment if you like this site! And if there's something you think could be improved, please let me know. But in a constructive way, please. And just a note; I'm not a Native English writer, so my incorrect grammar may be notable.
And finally; If you haven't seen the films, beware of spoilers! And the funny lines aren't meant to be nothing than funny. So I hope you won't find them offensive. If so, I apologize
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| I`m the sailor version of Tarzan ;) |
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| This logo is my stamp of approval :) |
When DreamWorks first started in the animation field, they arrived at a time when Full-Length Animation was beginning to change. However, while DreamWorks did manage to take a couple of risks with their Hand Drawn features, most of them didn`t made a big impact financially. The only one to actually cross the barrier was the religious The Prince of Egypt. Their other entries failed to make an impact. However, in terms of quality, despite how all of them were good movies, they`ve still (in my opinion) somewhat flawed in their own way. Egypt was sumptous and epic, but perhaps trying a little too hard to be self-important and po-faced. The Road to El Dorado was fun and breezy, but suffered from a weak script with various plot holes.  |
| This is the Junior Version of Excalibur :) |
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Spirit Stallion of the Cimarron was cute and captivating, but perhaps a little too syrupy at the end. And then there was Joseph The King of Dreams. Which was a direct-to-video production, but suffered from being a little too brief. And just as Spirit, was a little too sappy at the end. But frankly, if we`re going to look at the consensus of all of DreamWorks` output, only Egypt was the movie that happened to the critical darling as well. The following movies failed to make an impact on many critics, despite how El Dorado and Spirit have managed to find it`s audience and fanbase eventually.The Fate and Consensus of Sinbad
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| Frollo would`ve loved me, cause I`m using witchcraft :) |
And last, but not least there was Sinbad Legend of the Seven Seas (another DreamWorks` feature to arrive with a long subtitle). Arriving in a time when Hand Drawn Animation made it`s exit, Sinbad was the last hand drawn feature from DreamWorks to date. Ironically, Sinbad came right after when a certain Disney movie proved that Pirate-movies, a genre that was conceived as dead for a long time, revived the genre again (Pirates of the Caribbean). In fact, Sinbad is instantly comparable to another hand drawn entry that also shared a similar genre, Disney`s Treasure Planet. Who unfortunately also turned out to be a Box Office bomb (which worried the folks at DreamWorks, which is why Sinbad was called Planet without the flying ships).  |
| Don`t get used to it, you`ll only get to steer the ship for five minutes :) |
General Information About Sinbad
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| We`re the avatars of the stars :) But not those from Pandora :) |
Released in July 2th, 2003, Sinbad was essentially DreamWorks` Animation second Summer Release after Spirit (at least Hand Drawn, as Shrek was technically also a Summer Release) and is turning 20 years old this Summer,. Directed by Tim Johnson (Antz) and Patrick Gilmore and had (just like DreamWorks other movies) an All Star Cast: Brad Pitt as Sinbad, Catherine Zeta-Jones as Marina, Michelle Pfeiffer as Eris (her second DreamWorks job after Tzipporah in Egypt), Joseph Fiennes as Proteus, Dennis Haybert as Kale and yes, even animations good luck charm, Jim Cummings. John Logan (Gladiator, The Last Samurai, The Aviator, Spectre) was the screenwriter. James Baxter (Belle, Rafiki, Quasimodo) animated Sinbad, while William Salazar (Moses, Tulio in El Dorado, Rain in Spirit) animated Marina.  |
| Spike is my guardian, so watch out :) |
Yoshimischi Tamura (Helga in Atlantis The Lost Empire) was one of the animators on Eris. Roldophe Guenoden (Tzipporah, Chel in El Dorado) animated Proteus. Fabio Lignini (Aaron in Egypt, Cortes and Altivo in El Dorado and the Colonel in Spirit) animated King Dymas. Pres Romanillos (The Emperor in Mulan, Little Creek in Spirit) animated Sinbad`s crew. Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio (Aladdin, Shrek, Pirates of the Caribbean) were among the screenwriters. Eric "Bibo" Bergeron (El Dorado), Lorna Cook (Spirit), Ronnie Del Carmen (Inside Out) and Randy Cartwright (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King) was one of the storyguys. Tom Finan (The Lion King) was the editor. Harry Gregson-Williams was the composer (making Sinbad the first of DreamWorks` features to not have Hans Zimmer as the composer, despite how Gregson-Williams had already scored Shrek). Behind the Scenes Information
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| I`m a blend of Santa and a Giant :) Don`t ask me why :) |
The idea for Sinbad actually came from Elliott and Rossio. Shortly
after writing Aladdin for Disney, they came up with the idea of adapting the story of Damon
and Pythias before settling on a love triangle. They wrote a treatment inspired by screwball comedy films with Sinbad as a reserved apprentice cartographer who joins Peri, a free spirited smuggler, on a adventure and falls in love. Based on the Simbad comic book by Elena Poirier. In July 1992, Disney announced they were adapting the story into an animated
feature. But was cancelled in 1993. When Jeffrey Katzenberg founded DreamWorks, he revived some ideas that Disney cancelled, like El Dorado or Sinbad. Shortly after writing Gladiator, Logan was approached by Katzenberg. His first draft was "very complex, the relationships were very adult. And too intense in terms of the drama for the audience that this movie was aimed at." However, at last it was re-written to be more serious, instead of making
it just a comedy. |
| I`m a White Knight in a White Armor :) |
Russell Crowe was originally going to voice Sinbad, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.
Katzenberg dreamed for 10 years to
get Pitt to play a action-adventure
lead. Pitt had already tried to narrate Spirit, but "it didn't work". There`s never been more effects on any other DreamWorks feature than Sinbad. Cetus (the seamonster at the beginning) originally looked like Elmo from Sesame Street, but was difficult to make. The gag of Spike vomiting was the favorite scene of the audience. Originally there was going to be another dog named Akita. But it was too pretty-looking and the crew needed a dog who was less perfect, so that`s why Spike was created. And yes, the Sirens were actually nude, but they were designed to not look too revealing. There was 9 dogs who did the recording for Spike. The Demographic for Sinbad
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| I`m not showing off my sword. I`m showing up my triceps :) |
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| This is Sinbad`s property only. Copyright Sinbad :) |
Cause yes, Sinbad has all the elements and ingredients (pirates, monsters and swashbuckling action, despite how Sinbad is violent with the latter scenes without being too graphic). But in the end, it was most likely a reason for why Sinbad eventually flopped, causing DreamWorks to suffer a $125 million loss, which nearly bankrupted them. And yes, there are of course other theories for why Sinbad flopped (the wrong release date, as it was against Terminator 3 and Legally Blonde 2 and how its promotion relied too much on big name voice actors that the audience didn`t care about). But yeah, since other male-centered movies like Atlantis and Planet flopped at the Box Office (unfortunately), it was most likely the main reason for Sinbad`s underperformance. |
| I know that I look sexy with my naughty look :) Guys loves it :) |
Sinbad does at least something different: To introduce a female villain for once in a DreamWorks movie (Eris). Which was at the time rare (and probably the best villain the studio ever made). Despite how of course Sinbad follows the mold of DreamWorks` other Hand Drawn Pictures of not actually killing the villain and having the villain remaining alive (originally Eris was going to be burned by the Book of Peace at the end, but it was more satisfying to have her admit defeat). Originally Eris was going to have another god to work with, Janus. Pfeiffer had a scarf as a prop when she recorded. Eris` face was drawn by hand, while her body was in CGI.The Plot and the Love Triangle in Sinbad
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| I wanted to show that I can do the hawk lip :) I`m good at it, huh? :) |
To summarize the plot of Sinbad, it would be easy to label it for two things: For being episodic and inconsistent. It has a pretty scattered story that feels overloaded. It introduces a pretty random and overfilled story about a rogue who`s both shallow and unsympathetic at the beginning. Of course the unlikable rogue does turn out somewhat good at the end, as there normally wouldn`t be an animated movie without an arc for the arrogant lead. However, just like DreamWorks` other Hand Drawn Features, it has a bromance between two males: Between Sinbad and Proteus who were childhood friends (a shallow comparison would`ve been Tulio and Miguel`s friendship in El Dorado, but it`s just a shallow comparison). Which is essentially front and center in the movie. While it is essentially not the heart of the picture, it`s still taps (slightly) to the poignancy of how friends grows apart.  |
| Welcome to the Pirate Boys club :) But since you`re hot, you`ll blend in as a member :) |
But even more important is the peculiar love triangle between the two former friends and the love interest of the piece, Marina. While there`s no need to even spoil who`s going to get the girl at the end, it`s fair to state that Sinbad and Marina`s dynamic is a traditional one: Starting out fighting and sparring at each other and falling in love afterwards. While it would be tempting to frown by Marina falling for the guy who`s treated her like crap (at first), at least she follows Sinbad for have him save Proteus. And just like Sinbad, Marina loves the ocean and wants to be a part of it. Despite how the solution of having Proteus accepting Marina`s love for Sinbad at the end feels a little rushed and contrived, it`s still practical to have Proteus and Marina being bethroted for duty and not for love.  |
| We came here long before Elsa`s time :) |
Originally the love interest (Roxanne) was in love in both
Proteus and Sinbad, but chose Proteus. But the studio wrote that
Roxanne should end up with Sinbad instead, after having worked together
(which in fact the screenwriters disliked). But due to how the love
triangle was a hurdle for the screenwriters, it was simply decided that
there would be no real love between Proteus and Marina (who was named for her love of the sea). And yes, since Marina is a female of our time, she`s headstrong, assertive and feminist. But also sensitive and vulnerable, making her a truly fully rounded character. Originally
Marina was having longer hair, but she looked too derivative and
thus looked stronger with shorter hair. The Racial Scrutiny of Sinbad
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| I made it myself :) |
In many ways, Sinbad essentially shares a setting and premise with Aladdin, adapting a story from One Thousand and One Nights. However, surprisingly enough Sinbad doesn`t seem to be particularly steeped in anything Arabic (despite how unsurprisingly, Sinbad have many mandatory anacronisms). In fact, the setting seems more Greek/Mediterranean, as it was rather based onother versions of the tale. The crew brought different elements of the mythology they felt worked. But the main inspirasion is the tale based on the Greek fable of
Damon and Pythius, of a friend who`s sacrificing his life
for the other.
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| You were captured because you were dressed in red :) Cause red is a toxic color :) |
Epilogue
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| I`m holding a book within a book :) Don`t ask me why :) |
At the end, it`s hard to conclude something like Sinbad Legend of the Seven Seas: A movie that is not especially hated, but considered to be overall mediocre as a whole. And it would be tempting to say that it`s deservedly so. For aforementioned reasons. However, despite it`s staple, it`s not as Sinbad is a complete and total miss, cause it`s not. It has some redeeming qualities, as it`s visually splendid, has some exiting moments, good animation (despite how
the CGI and hand drawn elements haven`t blended well. Which
certainly was an issue in both Spirit and Sinbad) and a fine score. 
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| I`ll never eat Snow White`s soup again :) |
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| We`re having a contest of which sword is the coolest and shiniest :) |
References:
Sinbad Legend of the Seven Seas DVD
