"I was a PA on this movie. It is the only "big-time" feature movie in theaters that I have ever been staff with. I was off the production and moved away from Burbank a few months before they finished making it so I had to go to the theater on my own to see it. I was horrified. It was disgustingly horrible. So many mistakes in the animation and it was generally a horrible remake in all other aspects. It looked just like the "rough" phase I had been seeing when I was staff there, mistakes and all, except it was all colored in now. The story was boring, the characters uninteresting, and it just didn't feel right in so many other ways. However, I learned a lot about making animated movies. I cannot believe how hard people worked on this. How dedicated they were to this. When I see the final result you might think "wow, the animators are lazy. this is horrible". But you know what, because I was actually THERE when it was being made I know this is not true. I have nothing but respect for the artists. Movie making certainly had been changed in my mind from then on, people really work hard in movie making no matter what the result is. I remember the entire time I was there was nothing but rush rush rush even though a lot of the film was still very rough. I have a strong feeling they simply didn't have the time to go back and fix everything when the deadline came. Well, it wasn't a good property to try animating anyway... My personal experience doesn't make the movie better for me, though. I still think the movie stinks, as a matter of fact it is literally one of the worst movies I have EVER seen. I wish all those hard-working animators I met didn't have to be part of this stinking heap, but finding work as an animator is a tough business. If only they had a better project to work on."
"The film's worst moments come during the musical scenes. Some of Rodgers and Hammerstein's music manages to make it onto the screen but it is handled in such a way that it makes your stomach turn. For example, the movie begins with Anna singing `I Whistle a Happy Tune' while a sea monster attacks her. The King sings `A Puzzlement' while being attacked by giant statues that have suddenly come to life. Then there are the kids that sing `Getting to Know You' while being stalked by the fat midget. At the screening of this film I kept sinking deeper into my seat and saying, 'Tell me this isn't happening!'"
