Welcome to the fourth instalment of The Watchers' Feelgood Films, where the three of us discuss films that might help cheer you in these times. Today's instalment are our favourite films from Walt Disney Studios.
Matt recommends...
Beauty And The Beast (1991)
Dir: Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise
Voice cast: Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson, Richard White, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, and Angela Lansbury
Everyone has their favourite Disney film, for me it is the original Beauty and the Beast. The House of Mouse has given us numerous classics for nearly a century, but Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise’s film was the first that felt like it could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Hollywood’s golden age: Casablanca, Gone With The Wind, or The Wizard of Oz (Beauty and the Beast was the first full-length animated feature film to be nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Picture).
1989’s The Little Mermaid saw Disney Studios return to its former glory after losing its way during the eighties, struggling to catch children’s imagination while Spielberg, Lucas, and Zemeckis were churning out blockbusters, but Ariel cannot hold a candle to Belle. Unlike previous Disney leading ladies, Belle does everything right here. Belle is fierce, she questions and stands up to those around her, and refuses to be labelled or put in a box – she is Disney’s first flesh-and-blood protagonist thanks to Linda Woolverton’s first-class writing.
The songs in Beauty and the Beast are all killer and no filler. Every one of composer Alan Menken and lyricist Howard Ashman’s musical numbers will stay in your head for the rest of your life. However, the standouts are "Beauty and the Beast" and "Be Our Guest". "Beauty and the Beast" is a masterwork in character development. Neither Belle nor the Beast say a word or sing a single lyric, but that scene pushes their bond, their characterisation further. Accompanied by Dame Angela Lansbury’s voice, the song – those two-and-a-half minutes on screen – are tender and heartfelt. For Beauty and the Beast’s 25th anniversary screening, Lansbury surprised the audience by singing the title song. The video is available here and you will struggle not to well up whilst watching it.
"Be Our Guest", I would argue, is Disney Studios’ first music video. It is a melting pot of 80’s MTV (Peter Cristopherson, Derek Burbidge, and Steve Barron to name three directors), the Moulin Rouge, and Broadway musicals, all given a good stir. Every frame grabs hold of your eyes; it is beautiful, wondrous stuff. Whenever I put on Beauty and the Beast, I cannot go past "Be Our Guest" without watching it again.
Hand-drawn animation probably looks weird to today’s children, when compared to something that was conjured up on a computer, but Beauty and the Beast’s animation and background design still stands the test of time and deserves to be watched on the biggest, most high-tech TV you can find.
Disney has many classic films, but Beauty and the Beast is a masterpiece that can be watched over-and-over and its magic never diminishes.
* * *
Rhys recommends...
Aladdin (1992)
Dir: Ron Clements & John Musker
Voice cast: Scott Weinger, Linda Larkin, Jonathan Freeman, Gilbert Gottfried, and Robin Williams
Back in 1992, I was a teenager and not interested in musicals and definitely done with cartoon films from Disney! On a day out with family, we ended up at the cinema and they chose Aladdin. I was not happy and went in to watch it in a right grump!
The film began and my eyes were opened to how Disney in the early 90s had changed things! Aladdin reintroduced me to enjoying animated films and, if I'm honest, musicals too!
This film is one of my favourite films of all time, it is definitely one of my go-to feel good films of choice. It will whisk you off to a whole new world on a magic carpet ride! The film is pitch perfect; fun, uplifting and- for a child- it has one of the all time scariest villains in Jafar! It is massive in scope, from the "Friend Like Me" number to the ending with a giant gene looming overhead. This film is just plain brilliant! And, of course, the late, great Robin Williams' voice performance of the Genie made big name actors suddenly all want to be a voice in a cartoon!
Just watch it if you haven’t already - and if you have, well time to watch it!
Oh, and a final bit of fun trivia, Frank Welker- who is the voice of the Cave of Wonders- played Megatron in all the Transformers cartoons and films!
* * *
Tez recommends...
Lilo & Stitch (2002)
Dir: Dean DeBlois & Chris Sanders
Voice cast: Daveigh Chase, Christopher Michael Sanders, Tia Carrere, David Ogden Stiers, Jason Scott Lee, and Ving Rhames
From an enchanted French chateau via the desert lands of Agrabah to the sun-kissed shores of Hawaii for our final feelgood choice. Lilo & Stitch might seem like a bit of an odd choice, but for me it's second only to Beauty And The Beast for a Disney film that can make me feel good.
Lilo is a bit of a misfit, being looked after by her older sister Nani after the death of their parents. As they try and rebuild the family unit, into their life comes Experiment 626, a genetically-modified alien bent on destruction which crashlands on Earth after going on the run. When he's found (after being hit by a fuel tanker), 626 ends up at a dog pound where he is adopted by Lilo and renamed Stitch. With threats both extraterrestrial and all too real, this dysfunctional little family must band together, demonstrating the true meaning of ohana.
Much like with Galaxy Quest and several of my other feelgood choices, what makes them feelgood to me is the philosophy behind them. In Lilo & Stitch, it's all to do with the Hawaiian concept of ohana. Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten. When the chips are down and it's all looking grim, your family- whether by blood or the family you create- are there for you. It's that sentiment, borne out by the events at the end of the film, that give me the warm fuzzies.
Also, there's a great deal of humour from the odd-couple antics of Dr. Jumba Jookiba (a superb voice performance by the late, great David Ogden Stiers) and Agent Pleakley (a similarly strong turn by Kevin McDonald) who are sent to Earth to find Stitch and bring him back and some truly inspired visual gags- such as Stitch and Jumba passing a soon-to-explode plasma gun back and forth like a demented game of pass-the-parcel, or a running gag involving a tourist and his ice-cream.
When advertising Lilo & Stitch, Disney took an unconventional but inspired approach (which neatly links into the idea of ohana and a slightly dysfunctional family) where Stitch was inserted into several iconic Disney moments and causes mischief- including two scenes from the films mentioned above. These can be seen here, and are definitely worth a watch.
There's also a cracking soundtrack which takes in everything from traditional Hawaiian music through to several of Elvis Presley's most iconic songs.
Lilo & Stitch is well worth a try if you've not seen it before.
No comments:
Post a Comment