Disney Movies

Didn't the Lion King VHS have "Colors of the Wind" on it as a bonus thing? My friends and I were all obsessed with Pocahontas before it came out, and I think that was why. We rewatched that clip endlessly. I remember barely anything about the movie, which I haven't seen in years, except 1. I had a huge crush on Thomas, proving I will have a crush on Christian Bale in any form and 2. "Just Around the Riverbend" was a kickass song.

Yes! I watched that clip endlessly on our VCR.

Long story short: Pocahontas would work very well as a stage show.

Hunchback has to get there first. So frustrating to see Tarzan and little Mermaid make it to Broadway before it. sigh!

ulkis wrote:

Long story short: Pocahontas would work very well as a stage show.

Hunchback has to get there first. So frustrating to see Tarzan and little Mermaid make it to Broadway before it. sigh!

My understanding is that there was a Hunchback show staged in Berlin, but that further work on it has been abandoned.

Yup, there was. They talk about reviving in the English language every once in a while, but nothing ever comes of it. But the Berlin show is sooooo good. I recommend listening to it even if you don't understand German, which I don't.

I went to see Beauty and the Beast in 3D tonight, and noticed something really cool that I'd never picked up before: in the hall where Belle's room is, one of the paintings looks quite a bit like Vreemer's Girl with a Pearl Earring!

I didn't notice that, but I will say that the 3D made me so much more aware of how many cool things are in the background and foreground of that movie. I wondered how much of it was added for the 3D release. It was pretty awesome.

MtOlivePickles, I think I noticed that when Isaw the movie on Disney Channel a few weeks ago!

I went to see Beauty and the Beast in the theaters yesterday. My sister said it was kind of a cheat because it seemed to her they could only make the background go inwards instead of making things jump out at you, since it was an older movie, if I'm explaining that right, although I thought it was okay, although I mostly went to see it on the big screen. In any case I did notice a lot more of the background animation, so pretty!

And then when I was home I watched my VHS and yes the 'Girl With the Pearl Earring' painting is there.

The Rapunzel skit: Cute, but I wanted more Rapunzel and Flynn.

ulkis wrote:Yup, there was. They talk about reviving in the English language every once in a while, but nothing ever comes of it. But the Berlin show is sooooo good. I recommend listening to it even if you don't understand German, which I don't.

Seconded. That soundtrack is outstanding. Far and away the best Disney soundtrack I've ever heard. The guy who played Clopin has the most haunting voice.

Well, The Lion King may have been disappointing when I finally got to see it, but I'm very happy to report that Beauty and the Beast was every bit as awesome as you've all led me to believe. Having watched so much "digital" animation in the last few years (I am Pixar's bitch), it took a little bit to get used to the old school hand-drawn look, but wow, once I was hooked, I fell in love.

Adding to the awesome was a little boy down near the front who as enjoying the movie so much he just couldn't contain himself. All of the big scenes earned a comment - then his mom would settle him down, and he'd be quiet until he JUST COULDN'T STAND IT ANYMORE, and he'd say something else in his outdoor voice. He only spoke a few times (any more and it might have been annoying), and at the end, he shouted "LOOK HOW HAPPY THEY ARE!" and the whole theater laughed.

When I went to see it a little girl let out a shocked "Oh NOOOOOO" when the Beast emerged from the shadows. It was great.

The little girl a few seats away from me at my showing let out a hushed, awed "Oh, WOW" when she saw Belle in her famous yellow dress. This response was second only to her outdoor-voice "WOOOOOOOW!" when she saw how long Rapunzel's train was in the Tangled short. That kid was fun.

Then there was the little boy in the first row who yelled out, "Mom, he stuck him TWO TIMES! First the arrow, then the knife!" after Gaston stabbed the Beast. I cracked up hard at that one.

I'm well aware of the irony in saying this considering the movie, but I'm always so disappointed when the Beast turns back into being human. I think he's so much better looking as the beast.

I'm not disappointed because...I over think things I shouldn't and that...just wouldn't work to keep him a Beast, but I do think the character design for him as a human could have been better.

big chicken wrote:I'm well aware of the irony in saying this considering the movie, but I'm always so disappointed when the Beast turns back into being human. I think he's so much better looking as the beast.

I feel the same way. I actually always stop the movie after the yellow dress dance, because it makes a happy ending where he's still a beast.

I think he's very hot, haha. I think his voice is hotter as the Beast though. But human Beast, I approve.

One time we were in the car and my niece asked me to tell the story of Beauty and the Beast. She is too young for the movie really (two) but has read the books, played with figurines etc., and knows the characters. She likes Philippe the horse. You know. So I told her a simplified-yet-elaborated-on story where Belle went for a walk and found a castle and met the Beast, and at first she thought he was mean because he looked scary, but he was really nice. She liked the part where they go outside in the winter and are wearing mittens, and she wanted me to describe all their winter clothes. Two-year-old stuff. So, you know, I went through the whole thing more or less, and at the end I got to the part where the Beast turns human and they get married, and it just seemed really weird. I made up some stuff about how they had children and everything. And she was kind of like, "The hell?" So the next time I told it I just said that after the townspeople came to chase the Beast because they thought he was mean, but then they found out that he was nice after all, and left, Belle and the Beast and Papa and Philippe and Lumiere and Cogsworth and Mrs. Potts and Chip all lived together in the castle, the end.

I think a lot of little kids don't really think of Belle and the Beast as like, love interests. Just characters who are friends/love each other. So for little kids at least it does seem kind of unnecessary for the Beast to turn back into a human at the end. Even though that's the whole plot, that he was able to find someone who loved him even when he was an ugly beast, but in the Disney setting it is kind of stuck on, because the character of the Beast, as a beast, is so strong, and you don't really see him as a "monster," he's the friendly old Beast, he is what he is. It's almost like if Snuffleupagus and Maria fell in love or something. You'd just be like, "...What?" I know they're based on preexisting fairy tales, but I sometimes feel Disney movies work too hard to get "falling in love" into every single movie. Who cares? They're kids' stories.

Well, with Beauty and the Beast, when I was seven I was REALLY into it and the romance aspect of it. I think its really an age thing. I mean a two year old isn't going to pick up on that, but I think an older child will. I agree Disney shoe horns the romantic aspect but not at all with that movie.

I think it is based on a pretty well known fairy tale, and I feel like there probably would have been uproar if they took that out. And I also think you nailed it when you said a two year old is too young for the story. The age group its aimed at I think gets it.

I also think that is simplifying the story too much. It was nominated for an oscar for a reason, imo. The Beast isn't the friendly old Beast, hes rather tragic. Hes angry. Hes violent, and he eventually comes around (because of his love of Belle and her making him a better person) but hes still rather melancholy. I understand what you are saying but I think by doing that they would have made a much less beloved and well recieved film.

Beauty and the Beast is a classic romance. I mean, the romance is the point of the whole thing, which is what I was into when I was a kid. Kids understand more than you're giving them credit for, I think. A two year old isn't really an accurate judge of what kids do and don't want to see in a movie.

Believe me, I'm not knocking Beauty and the Beast -- I adore it. And the essence of the source material is deeply compelling; it's no wonder there have been so many adaptations, and I definitely wouldn't have wanted them to change it (in fact I would have been pissed). I just think that in the Disney movie they did such a terrific job making the Beast such a presence that their prince guy doesn't seem as vivid in comparison, for me I guess. In the pantheon of Disney princes he doesn't stand out in my memory. I think my favorite Disney dude was Aladdin, and my friend and I when we were little used to argue about whether Cinderella's or Snow White's prince was handsomer (I was a Cinderella loyalist in general, and she was obsessed with Snow White -- also, what a crooner that guy is).

Of course I don't mean to say that how a two-year-old views it is the "right" way (Philippe and the Beast's nonexistent mittens figure WAY more prominently in her version); I was just using it as an example of how appealing a character the Beast is. She also wouldn't understand the part about the villagers storming the castle, but I wouldn't want that left out either. The transformed characters are so much fun, that's all. It's like when Pinocchio turned back into a real boy, which was the aim of the entire plot, but sort of a letdown in a way too. It's more like Disney is SO good at the fantastical stuff that the "straight" stuff sometimes pales a little in comparison.

I meant for my point to be more, "The Beast is so compelling that if you're a little enough kid that the romance part goes over your head, the movie is still awesome."

I have heard people complain about the fact that Belle ends up with the Beast at the end as if it were some sort of anti-feminist statement (no one here, but IRL) and I have never understood that. B&B is a romance- having them not get together in the end wouldn't make a lick of sense.

The ending of Beauty and the Beast always disappoints me, too, and I say this as someone who not only holds the movie as her favorite Disney film but in her top 20 films, period. The prince is too perfectly clean-cut and blonde and pretty boy for me. Even as a seven-year-old, I remember thinking that he bore no resemblance to the Beast Belle had fallen in love with.

I would've preferred an ending where the clean-cut pretty boy prince retained some Beast-like qualities even after he transformed - not enough to give any squicky bestiality feelings, but maybe a slight physical deformity or some scars or grizzled features.

Beauty and the Beast is my favourite Disney movie, and possibly one of my favourite movies of all time. I myself don't have a problem with the way the Beast looks as a human, primarily because I think they did a good job of having him look the same as the painting in his room. And I like the painting because of this scene: starting at 0:32. Man, that scene is so short, but it's one of my favourite movie moments ever. Such haunting music. Anyway, I thought he looked acceptable at the end. They got the eyes right anyway.

I also think that is simplifying the story too much. It was nominated for an oscar for a reason, imo. The Beast isn't the friendly old Beast, hes rather tragic. Hes angry. Hes violent, and he eventually comes around (because of his love of Belle and her making him a better person) but hes still rather melancholy.

I totally agree with you. I know some people think the Beast is just a jerk, but I don't think it's as simple as that. I think the movie is about what it really takes to be in a relationship. You have to get in fights, see each others' ugly sides sometimes, look past each other's faults, really work at things (and yourself). You get through the bad moments, but you also experience beautiful moments. That's why I like this movie so much more than the other Disney movies.

I just got back from seeing it earlier. I basically cried at all my favourite moments. I cried through the theme song and their dance in the ballroom (to the point where I had to take off my 3D glasses and wipe my face). It was such lovely nostalgia.

They got the eyes right anyway.

Oh man, that gets me every time - when Belle is doubtful at first, then she looks into his blue eyes and exclaims "It is you!" Sniffle