Maleficent and Beauty and the Beast

Maleficent is the Disney Movie of the Month. The live-action Beauty and the Beast is out now. It was inevitable that I wrote a post about these two movies!

I’ve previously talked about my feelings on Disney’s live-action remakes. I think that if they’re done well then it’s a great idea. As I said in my initial post, I enjoyed Maleficent and as I briefly mentioned in my post about what’s been happening lately that I really liked the new Beauty and the Beast.

Beauty and the Beast represents something new for Disney’s live action remakes in that it is the first one which is a musical. However it’s interesting that – as my friends and I were saying afterwards - the way the songs were arranged and presented in Beauty and the Beast felt more like a stage musical than a traditional Disney musical. I also mentioned in my post on Maleficent that I felt the structure was quite play-like. It’s interesting how live action is bringing out such a strong element of theatricality in these stories.

Maleficent and Beauty and the Beast both have really compelling protagonists. Angelina Jolie was great as Maleficent, her performance really delivered on all the emotional notes that were needed to turn a villain into a sympathetic character. But she was also excellent at the moments of camp arch villainy. Emma Watson delivered a wonderful performance as Belle. She felt truly believable as an intelligent young woman who wants more out of life.

One thing that real stands out and impresses me about both of these movies is the quality of the CGI. Obviously because Disney is such a big company they can afford really good CGI but that doesn’t make the visual effects any less impressive. From dragons and vast fairy-tale landscapes to the Beast and the enchanted objects, realisation of the CGI elements and the blending of live-action and CGI in both films is amazing. They really do a good job of bringing the most fantastical elements of the hand drawn animations to life.

Another thing that really stands out for both these movies - and this also applies to Cinderella - is that they have a really strong look. The fairy-tale world that is being realised on screen has a distinctive aesthetic and is really engaging for the viewer to watch. I hope this trend of the live action remakes being visual treats is one that is going to continue for as long as Disney keep remaking their archive.

I feel that in doing Beauty and the Beast Disney has learnt a big lesson from Maleficent.  One of my biggest problems with Maleficent was its loyalty the source material which lead to the inclusion of Prince Phillip and the Three Good Fairies who really were not needed.  If you’re going to include things because they were there in the original then just make sure they’re needed. Beauty and the Beast certainly managed this, it didn’t feel like anyone or anything was superfluous.

Basically Beauty and the Beast and Maleficent are both very enjoyable movies and I like both of them. They’re tonally very different but that works for the different stories that they’re trying to tell. Disney are showing no signs of stopping on the remakes but if they can keep up the good work then I’m not worried.

Disney Live-Action Remakes – My Thoughts

The Disney Movie of the Month this month is Maleficent, the 2014 live-action remake of the 1959 animated Sleeping Beauty. Disney has recently had quite a thing for live action remakes of their beloved animated movies recently. The highly anticipated Beauty and the Beast is going to be released shortly, and they’re not stopping anytime soon.

I previously talked about what I’d like to see in a live-action Aladdin but this time - because Maleficent is the Disney Movie of the Month – I am just offering a few more general thoughts about live-action remakes of Disney movies. I am not completely opposed to Disney remaking their archive but I feel it needs to be done well when they do…

The aesthetic is important.

·         This is something both Maleficent and Cinderella got spot on. In Maleficent the aesthetic is a cool dark gothic style which really serves the movie well. On the other hand the live-action Cinderella was a gorgeous looking movie, the dress was stunning and the locations were beautiful. I hope subsequent live-action Disney remakes can also have strong aesthetics which really fit the movie.

If it’s going to be different then really go for it.

·         This is Maleficent’s style, it took a princess romance story and made it a villain origin story that turned the villain into an extremely sympathetic character. As I mentioned in my initial post about Maleficent, I think the movie could have been even stronger if it had pushed the differences even further (for example they should have completely left out Prince Phillip). I’d love to see a live-action remake of The Little Mermaid done in the style of Maleficent that focused on Ursula.

If the basic story is the same then fix the problems of the original in the new version.

·         This one is one of the biggest strengths of the live-action Cinderella. I really hate the 1950 animated version of Cinderella. It’s boring, it’s sexist and Cinderella is completely useless. But the live-action remake fixed that! Suddenly Cinderella and the Prince had personalities! They actually interacted before falling in love! There was a more substantial plot! I’d love to see Snow White and the Seven Dwarves undergo a similar process.

Give the live-action movies a legacy.

·         I would like to see a lasting legacy for the live-action remakes. At the moment it sort of just feels like a quick brand recognition cash grab that is then quickly forgotten by Disney, but I’d like to see them start to create a legacy for their live-action remakes if they’re going to keep doing them. For example why not merchandise the live-action version of Cinderella alongside her animated counterpart? This idea of giving the live-action remakes a legacy leads onto my next point…

A Disney Shared Cinematic Universe!

·         I don’t know if this would ever happen but wouldn’t it be fun to see characters meeting up and teaming up!

And finally, do a live-action Princess and the Frog.

·          I love Princess and the Frog, Tiana is the best Disney Princess. This movie deserves more love and attention from Disney. I just really want it to happen!

So that’s a few thoughts on Disney’s live-action remakes. I’m interested to see what they have in store for subsequent live-action remakes.

Maleficent – Disney Movie of the Month

It’s March, that means it’s time for a new Disney Movie of the Month. In January I looked at Aladdin – an Animated Classic – and in February I looked at A Bugs Life – a Pixar movie. So for the third Disney Movie of the Month it seemed like it was time to look at a live action movie and I chose 2014’s Maleficent.

Maleficent was released back in 2014 and is the live action reimagining of the 1959 animated Sleeping Beauty. Angelina Jolie plays the titular character who is given a more sympathetic backstory in this darker take on the original film. Maleficent is one of my favourite villains – more on that in a follow up post later this month. I originally saw Maleficent in the cinema about a week after it was released and yet I haven’t watched it since then. Until today.

I’d forgotten just how strong Angelina Jolie’s performance as Maleficent is. She clearly relished playing the moments when the story requires her to be a slightly camp arch villain, but she’s also faultless when required to convey some very strong emotion material. I was very pleased to rediscover just how wonderful Angelina Jolie’s performance was.

Maleficent is not a regular adaption of Sleeping Beauty, it is very much its own thing. It has moments for Disney fans to spot that reference the original – such as the forest of thorns, the speech when Maleficent curses Aurora and the dragon. But it also rejects a lot of the tropes of the Disney Princess format and I stronger because of that. However at times it also has a loyalty to the source material that can get in the way of the films full potential. For example Maleficent gives us an infuriating take on the three good fairies who are absolutely useless. As well as trying to shoehorn Prince Phillip into the story for literally no other reason than he’s supposed to be there. The movie could have been much stronger if Phillip and the three good fairies were just completely cut out of it.

I can’t really write about Maleficent without mentioning that there’s definitely some similarities with Wicked. Both movies take a green skinned villain from a popular fairy-tale and retell her story to make her a more sympathetic and feminist character. However they are both very different stories. I think Wicked may have partially been an inspiration for Maleficent, but I don’t think that Maleficent is a rip off of Wicked.

Part of the appeal of these live action remakes for me is seeing the way that Disney brings the animated original to life. I like that despite many changes elsewhere the design team chose to keep Maleficent’s look more or less the same. In the case of the original Sleeping Beauty the movie has a strong medieval aesthetic, when adapting it for live action the production team chose a cool dark gothic style that I think really suits the movie.

Another more technical thing that I love about this movie is the structure of the story. The pivotal moment in the story of Sleeping Beauty is when the dark fairy (Maleficent herself) curses the infant princess. The entire story hinges on that moment. So when it came to telling the story of Sleeping Beauty from the villain’s perspective Disney decided to restructure the narrative so that act one is building up to why  Maleficent places the curse on Aurora and how she becomes the ‘Mistress of All Evil!’ And then act two of the movie deals with redeeming her, as Maleficent faces the consequences of her actions. This structure would actually work well if Disney ever wanted to do a stage adaptation of Maleficent!

In conclusion, Maleficent is definitely worth watching. It’s not an adaptation of the 1959 Sleeping Beauty, it is an interesting alternate take on a well-known story that shifts the focus onto the villain and makes her a tragic hero. 

Dot and Atta are not Disney Princesses?

A Bugs Life is the Disney Movie of the Month, I’m following up that initial post by considering why are Dot and Atta not Disney Princesses.

To be clear by Disney Princesses I mean characters in the marketing Disney Princess franchise (there’s currently 11 official Disney Princesses) and not just characters who happen to be princesses in movies released by Disney. Dot and Atta are essential to the plot of A Bugs Life and both of them are princesses of the ant colony, with Atta becoming a queen at the end of the movie. Like most of the other Disney Princesses they both have to overcome obstacles - both internal and external - in order to save their realm.

Perhaps the first reason that they’re Disney Princesses is that A Bugs Life is a Pixar movie. Except Merida from Pixar’s Brave is one of the 11 Princesses. Another reason could be that A Bugs Life is more about Flik than Dot and Atta. But Aladdin is obviously mainly about Aladdin and yet Jasmine is in the Disney Princess franchise. An obvious reason would be that they’re ants not humans. This one is harder to argue against, but Ariel from The Little Mermaid isn’t a human, she’s a mermaid and is often depicted as being a mermaid in products. (And funnily enough Jodi Benson – the voice of Ariel – also voiced Atta for a video game)

As far as I’ve been able to tell in the early days of the franchise there wasn’t even an official set line-up of characters. Depending on the product line was Disney would add or take away characters somewhat randomly. It was only with the release of Enchanted that it seems like an official line-up was settled on. As far as I’ve been able to find out Giselle from Enchanted was intended to be marketed as a Disney Princess but (probably due to the royalties involved in using Amy Adams’ likeness) Disney decided against long term marketing and merchandising for Enchanted. In response to this Disney seemed to have decided on a fixed line-up for the Disney Princess franchise.

I personally would like to see other characters like Dot and Atta added to the line-up. It’s about time that characters like Snow White and Cinderella started to take a back seat and characters like Dot and Atta could be good candidates to take over their spaces. If Disney did have more variety in the Princess franchise it could make merchandise collections more interesting. For example they could use Mulan and Merida for an action adventure themed collection but then maybe have Dot and Atta joining someone like Rapunzel in a garden themed collection.

Sure Dot and Atta are perhaps not the most obvious characters to add to the Disney Princess franchise but it would be good to see more of a variety in the franchise and I’d just to see A Bugs Life getting more representation from Disney.

A Bug’s Life – Disney Movie of the Month

A childhood favourite of mine, but does it still stand up?

It’s February! And a new month means that it’s time for a new Disney Movie of the Month. This time I’ve chosen to look at A Bug’s Life. Probably not one of the most obvious movies to choose for this monthly series but it’s one of my favourites from when I was growing up.  It was a couple of years since I last watched A Bug’s Life and recently I’ve felt like it’s probably time for me to revisit it.

In many ways A Bug’s Life is quite a typical Disney movie. There’s the quirky outsider who people underestimated - Flik. There’s a princess who needs to learn something - Atta. There’s an arch villain for the audience to root against - Hooper. And there’s a cast of colourful side characters - like Heimlich, Slim and Francis. If you’re not the type of person who enjoys movies with any of those elements then A Bug’s Life is an earth-shatteringly different movie. However it has the charm and humour that we have come to expect from Pixar movies. A Bug’s Life is a thoroughly entertaining adventure with lots of very enjoyable moments.

A Bug’s Life was Pixar’s second ever feature length animation and one of the first few fully computer animated movies, considering that it’s 18 years old the animation still looks good. I suspect that the more stylised instead of realistic character designs were intentionally done so that the computers of the time could render them successfully. There’s a few wide shots that look primitive by today’s standards but they don’t detract from the overall look of the film. It really has aged well in that regard.

As with all of Pixar’s releases this is a movie that presents a rich and varied world on screen. Pixar really did a great job in showing on screen what the world looks like from an ant’s perspective and creating a whole insect culture. For example, the scene’s in the bug city all work to indicate that the movie exists in a larger world of bugs which expands beyond the main narrative. As a creative writer this is something that I always like when movies can allude to.

Overall A Bugs Life still stands up as a very enjoyable film, not just something I liked when I was younger. If it’s been a while since you lasted watched it I would say it’s worth watching again. If you’ve never seen it then it’s one I would recommend.

A live-action Aladdin?

Aladdin is the Disney Movie of the Month here on the blog, but other than an initial post I’ve been really bad at following through with any subsequent posts. So here’s a few thoughts on a possible live-action adaptation of Aladdin.

In recent years Disney have decided to go through their extensive back catalogue and adapt much loved movies into new live action reinterpretations. So far Alice in Wonderland, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and The Jungle Book have all had adaptations and in a few months the much anticipated live-action Beauty and the Beast is going to be released. Disney are not stopping there, a live-action Mulan is already well into development and there’s numerous other live-action adaptions on the release schedule. A live-action Aladdin has been confirmed to be happening eventually but precise details are still unclear. In this blog post I am going to be sharing a few ideas about how I think Disney could tackle a live-action Aladdin movie.

Cast Properly

• This is probably the most obvious example which is why I’ve put it first on my list. A live-action Aladdin movie must have a culturally correct cast. Disney have to cast Arabian actors.

Explore Jasmine’s character more

•  Jasmine is an interesting character, she’s clearly unwilling to follow tradition and has a rebellious side. But in terms of character development she doesn’t really get that much in the original movie. That’s something I’d like to see change in a new version of Aladdin.

Don’t try to replicate Robin Williams

• The Genie is one of the most important parts of the original movie and Robin Williams’ performance is iconic. Therefore I think that any attempt at remaking Aladdin should not try to recreate his performance. Instead of the comedic animated Genie I’d want to see a more mysterious and magical Genie who would be more based on the genies from mythology.

Be Epic!

• A live-action Aladdin (probably more so than any other Disney movie) has so much potential to look epic. From the Cave of Wonders, to the sword fights, to the city of Agrabah, to the A Whole New World sequence. Everything about a live-action Aladdin should be looking big, bold and epic.

Reference other Disney movies

• Okay this one’s a little bit of an odd one, but given how many live-action remakes Disney are producing I’d love it if Disney started to connect them up to be set in the same universe. Aladdin and Jasmine teamed up with Hercules to take on Jafar and Hades in an episode of a 1998 animated TV Series, so why not add hints that there’s more heroes and villains out there?

Aladdin – Disney Movie of the Month

Starting off a new regular feature on the blog with Aladdin.

So it’s a new year and for this year I am planning on having a Disney Movie of the Month for every month of the year on this blog. I will watch a Disney movie at the start of each month, then I will post a review/opinion/thoughts piece and then I shall aim to follow up on that with other posts about that movie later on in the month. The first Disney Movie of the Month is Aladdin.

I used to watch Aladdin a lot when I was a kid but then I lost my copy of it on DVD and until recently I hadn’t seen it for about a decade. So when I watched it for the first time in years back in December I was worried that I was going to be disappointed, however I was pleased to find that it’s actually still a really enjoyable movie.

On paper the story might not be the most original, as a Disney fan Aladdin definitely feels like it’s got a lot of familiar moments, but it’s the characters and the sense of humour that runs throughout which really makes this movie work.

Obviously everyone knows the Genie but he really is a funny and likeable character. Robin Williams’ performance is just as enjoyable in 2017 as it was when I watched the movie as a kid.

Jafar might be a villain in the typical ‘mad, bad and evil’ mould but sometimes villains like that are just fun. As people who know me can tell you I think Maleficent is awesome, partially because of the 2014 live action movie but also because all out evil villains are just fun to watch sometimes. And that is certainly the case with Jafar.

Jasmine is also interesting. She might not be as powerful as Elsa, as brave as Merida or as determined as Tiana, but Jasmine is certainly not a passive princess. She’s way more interesting than the likes of Snow White and Cinderella. Also it’s worth pointing out that the fictional kingdom of Agrabah is a Muslim country, thus meaning that Jasmine is a Muslim Disney Princess making her a more progressive character for Disney than she may initially seem.

In conclusions, sometimes I’ve found that Disney movies which everyone seems to love but I’ve not seen in ages/never seemed don’t live up to the hype – like The Little Mermaid for example. However Aladdin did not disappoint me.