Folks can’t get enough from the Mouse House. Whether it’s streaming a wham-bam proliferation of Marvel superhero shows like Wandavision and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, or swooping into cinemas to see the origin story of menacing dalmatian fur-wearing supervillain Cruella, they’re basically omnipotent.
But sometimes you just want to go back to basics. Disney’s bread and butter will always be gorgeous, fairy-tale and mythology-driven animation, whether hand-drawn the old-fashioned way or whipped up with staggering computer graphics. Dendy Newton knows that wishing upon a cartoon star never gets old, and that’s why they’re rolling out the Disney Classics Festival just in time for school holidays.
Lighting up the big screen from June 26 until July 11, the glowing line-up includes the vocal magnificence of the sadly departed Robin Williams as the genie in Aladdin, a leap down the rabbit hole with the surreal hijinks of now 70-year-old (!!) Alice in Wonderland, and the mighty roar of The Lion King (thankfully not the atrocious wildlife doco gone wrong re-do). As well as showcasing sweet classics from way back – like Sleeping Beauty and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs – you’ll also be able to catch up with the rather more riotous murder mystery Who Framed Roger Rabbit, led by a brilliantly hard-boiled and bemused turn by Bob Hoskins alongside the (uncredited) silken vocals of Romancing the Stone and Serial Mom lead Kathleen Turner as Jessica Rabbit. The latter is probably the least family friendly, as gloriously madcap as it is, but it’s also prob our fave in the program.
Whatever your age range requirements, there’s something for everyone to watch together as these colder days make family movie dates a dream. Tickets are only $10 a pop, or $8 for Dendy members. Now that does make us happy ever after.
