31st May 202427th Jun 2024 by The Disney Purist

#38 Fantasia 2000 (1999)

BACKGROUND

Fantasia 2000 was released almost sixty years after the release of Walt Disney’s musical and artistic extravaganza, Fantasia (1940), becoming the final movie of the “Disney Renaissance Era”.

Walt’s initial vision for Fantasia was for the movie to be re-released in various forms throughout the years, adding in new sequences whilst removing others, so that the programme was always changing. However, when Fantasia didn’t return a profit and annoyed or confused some audiences, this idea was shelved.

Attempts to revive Fantasia had been in the works for years afterwards, with a 1970s version coming the closest, a new concept called Musicana, which would’ve featured stories and music from different countries. This was again not moved forward as it was felt another Fantasia-type of film would not be profitable.

In the 1990s, Roy E. Disney felt like the time was right for a sequel to finally be produced, as the Disney Studios were releasing hit after hit with their “Renaissance Era” movies. Roy wanted this to be a tribute to his uncle, Walt, and all of the work that went into his original Fantasia, which was seen to be a “passion project”.

Because I don’t like Fantasia, I did not hold out much hope that I would enjoy the long-awaited, or perhaps not-even-asked-for, sequel of Fantasia 2000.

I’m not sure if I’d ever seen Fantasia 2000 before, perhaps once, so if I did, I obviously didn’t think much of it! When I came to watching it again, I was pleased to see that Fantasia 2000 is only around 75 minutes long, so 45 minutes shorter than the epic that is Fantasia, so at least I knew the pain of enduring the film would be limited.

But I’m glad to say that I actually quite enjoyed it. Not every section – some were a bit long and a bit strange – but others I very much liked, for both the music and the animation. After the second section started, I found that I was no longer feeling like this was just a film I had to get through and that actually, it might be good!

Like Fantasia, Fantasia 2000 consists of eight sections, mixing animation and classical music pieces together. The main differences between the two films are, obviously, new choices for the short sequences, as well as the use of computer generated imagery, in amongst the traditional animation techniques, which was becoming a more prominent part of animation, and a more popular technology.

The eight sections are:

“Symphony No. 5”: Beethoven
“Pines of Rome”: Respighi
“Rhapsody in Blue”: Gershwin
“Piano Concerto No. 2, Allegro, Opus 102”: Shostakovich
“The Carnival of the Animals Finale”: Saint-Saëns
“The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”: Dukas
“Pomp and Circumstance – Marches 1-4”: Elgar
“Firebird Suite – 1919 Version”: Stravinsky

STORY #1: SYMPHONY NO. 5: BEETHOVEN

Fantasia 2000 begins on a background of outer space, with images from the original Fantasia flying across the screen. One of these is archive footage of Deems Taylor’s original introduction from Fantasia; Deems Taylor was the Master of Ceremonies in the film. In this introduction, Taylor explains that there are three types of music within Fantasia: music that tells a definite story; music that paints a picture; and music that exists for its own sake. He states that the first piece is this last kind.

We then move to the stage where the Chicago Symphony Orchestra has been tuning up and James Levine, the conductor, has been getting ready. They then launch into Symphony No. 5, using Beethoven’s music of the same name, which may not be known to the general viewer by name, but it begins with the most well-known few notes in classical music, so you’ll definitely have heard of it before.

Much like the first section of Fantasia with Toccata and Fugue, Symphony No. 5 is another abstract animated piece. It starts by following flashes of light in the sky, resembling lightning strikes which move with the musical notes, before moving on to a flurry of coloured triangles dancing over the screen like butterflies. The landscape begins to resemble a volcano, with more dark triangles erupting out of them that then chase the colourful ones, becoming a battle between the two, with the light winning out over the dark in the end.

Symphony No. 5 is computer generated, with some elements hand-drawn and scanned into the computer system, making a collaboration between the new and old technologies. It looks good, seeing all the triangles moving together like a flock of birds, but this is my least favourite of the eight sections, because it lacks a story. I do prefer it to Toccata and Fugue from Fantasia though.

STORY #2: PINES OF ROME: RESPIGHI

In a difference from Fantasia, Fantasia 2000 has celebrity guests to introduce each of the sections of the film. These introductions were directed by Don Hahn, who produced many of the movies of the “Disney Renaissance Era”.

Pines of Rome is introduced by Steve Martin, who makes a couple of jokes about Fantasia, like how we should all be glad that Fantasia was renamed from its original name of The Concert Feature, and explains how Fantasia was meant to be added to after its release, before attempting to play the violin, instead throwing the bow across the room. It then moves over to Itzhak Perlman, who actually is a violinist. Perlman introduces the piece properly, saying how Disney thought a completely different story for this music to the lush landscapes that the title of the music might bring to mind.

Pines of Rome follows a pod of humpback whales – that can fly – particularly focussing on a young whale who gets trapped in an iceberg, before being helped to safety by its mother, with the whole pod flying off together soon after. It’s a bit of a random story, but still, I like it, though the music is the standout for me here. I also thought these whales seem to resemble the “space whales” that would be seen in Disney’s Treasure Planet in 2002.

Pines of Rome is an impressive use of computer-animation, something that Disney Animation had only been using sparingly in their predominately hand-drawn 2D animated movies of the 1990s. Fantasia 2000 gave the animators more freedom to experiment with this new technology, which would help them with the movies that were to come from the Disney Studios from 2005 onwards.

STORY #3: RHAPSODY IN BLUE: GERSHWIN

Quincy Jones then explains that we’ll be heading to New York City now, with inspiration from Al Hirschfeld for the animation style, and the music of George Gershwin as a background. Jones also introduces pianist Ralph Grierson.

This third section is Rhapsody in Blue, which is potentially most people’s favourite segment from Fantasia 2000, for its artistic merits. I think the animation is clever, especially the beginning where one line draws the whole New York skyline, and I like the overall plot of the piece, following four people through their time during the Depression in the 1930s: one stuck in a boring job, wanting to be a drummer; another out of work and down on his luck; a child wantomg to spend time with her parents; and a husband struggling to find joy in his life.

Rhapsody in Blue’s animation style resembles the work of artist Al Hirschfeld, who was happy for his work to be adapted and gave notes during production on the piece. Eric Goldberg was the lead animator behind Rhapsody in Blue, and approached Hirschfeld specifically about helping with this idea, as he was a huge admirer of Hirschfeld’s work, even using some stylistic elements in his work on the character of Genie in Aladdin (1992). The colour blue was used heavily in this sequence, naturally, given the title of the musical piece, with this even being the case with the skin colours of the human characters; different shades of blue and purple hint at differences in skin tones. It was an experimental piece of animation which worked well.

Since Rhapsody in Blue is drawn in the style of Hirschfeld, it seemed right for the name “Nina” to be incorporated into this sequence. Hirschfeld inscribed this name into much of his work as a reference to his daughter. “Nina” pops up three times here: once on the toothpaste tube, then on a coat’s fur collar, and again in a woman’s hair. Also, the bespectacled character, “Flying John” was based on animation historian John Culhane, who was also the inspiration for the character of Mr. Snoops in The Rescuers (1977)[1].

Goldberg was given the opportunity to make Rhapsody in Blue as a standalone short. However, during a screening of Fantasia 2000, which had a combination of new sequences and ones from Fantasia, they found that some of them just weren’t working well together. Roy E. Disney then asked Goldberg if he thought Rhapsody in Blue would be ready in time for Fantasia 2000; Goldberg said it would be, so it made it into the film after all[2].

STORY #4: PIANO CONCERTO NO. 2, ALLEGRO, OPUS 102: SHOSTAKOVICH

Moving on to Bette Midler, she shows some concept art of pieces that were intended for Fantasia but were never made, including a bug ballet, a baby ballet, and a piece inspired by music from the Weinberger opera Schwanda the Bagpiper. Midler goes on to explain that there was finally a success; Disney animators had wanted to do a piece following the story of Hans Christian Andersen’s tale The Steadfast Tin Soldier. They couldn’t decide what music to use, but finally settled on Shostakovich’s “Piano Concerto No. 2”, thanks to a suggestion from Roy E. Disney. The Steadfast Tin Soldier piece uses CGI characters with hand-painted backgrounds. It looks like a nod to the early work of Pixar Animation to me.

This fourth segment follows a tin soldier with one leg falling in love with a ballerina doll, originally because, when he first sees her, she is balancing on one leg so he thinks she is just like him. It’s fine though, it all works out, however, the evil jack-in-the-box in the room loves her too, so a fight ensues, with the soldier falling out of the window, into a sewer, then into the sea, where he is swallowed by a fish. That fish is then caught and brought to a fishmonger, and the soldier falls out of the fish’s mouth, returning to his place in the toy room, where there is another fight but this time the jack-in-the-box falls off the table and into the fireplace, leaving the soldier and the ballerina to reunite. What a weird story…But this version at least ends happily. The Hans Christian Andersen story has the tin soldier and the ballerina burn to a crisp in the fireplace…

This section of Fantasia 2000 is without a doubt the worst segment for me, purely because I have a fear of creepy dolls, puppets, clowns, anything with a human face that isn’t alive, so I do not like this story at all. That jack-in-the-box particularly freaks me out…

STORY #5: THE CARNIVAL OF THE ANIMALS FINALE: SAINT-SAËNS

On to the fifth section, which is introduced by James Earl Jones. He states that Disney animators have always had a history of drawing animals, so it would be only natural for Fantasia 2000 to include a piece inspired by “The Carnival of the Animals Finale” by Saint-Saëns. Jones says that this piece will answer the question “what is man’s relationship to nature?”, before being corrected by animator Eric Goldberg that actually this answers the age-old question “what would happen if you gave a yo-yo to a flock of flamingos?”

I love this piece, it’s my favourite in the film, because it’s so funny and silly; I also like the music. One flamingo is playing with a yo-yo, which is irritating the rest of the flock so they try to wrestle it away from him so he can continue doing the same as them, mostly just walking around in a line. This flamingo gets the better of them though, fighting against their attempts to make him conform, and the joke really is on them at the end, because he actually ends up having loads of yo-yos! This section is only two minutes long, which is palatable for anyone, but I feel like it could’ve been longer and still been just as enjoyable.

The original idea for The Carnival of the Animals segment was to have the ostriches from Dance of the Hours in Fantasia play with a yo-yo – this idea was devised by Disney story writer Joe Grant, who had worked on the original Fantasia – but instead of using the familiar characters of the ostriches, Disney ended up using the same idea but with flamingos, partly because they are more colourful[3]. This whole sequence was created in watercolours. Disney rarely used watercolours and when they did, it was mostly just for backgrounds, like in Dumbo (1941), or Lilo & Stitch (2002). It’s also interesting to see how the background colour frequently changes; when it is focused on the main flock, the background is orange, but when the “hero” flamingo is the focus, the background is green. That must have been quite difficult to keep track of[4]!

STORY #6: THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE: DUKAS

Of all of the Fantasia sections, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is easily the most well-known to the general public, so it made sense to add this segment to the program for Fantasia 2000, with this being the only story repeated from Fantasia. It is introduced by Penn and Teller, who do a couple of magic tricks for us, telling us that stage magic is all fake, but that Mickey is the “genuine article”, and that all of his magic is real. Penn then tells Teller that he is like the little sorcerer’s apprentice, with Teller then proceeding to cut Penn’s hair as revenge.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice shows Mickey using a magical hat to bring a broom to life so that it will fetch water for him, since he is so tired of doing his chores for the sorcerer. Eventually, things get out of hand though, as Mickey falls asleep and dreams that he is controlling the whole universe and all the oceans, clearly enjoying his power. When Mickey awakens, he finds that the room is flooded with water, and that he cannot stop the broom from collecting water. Mickey decides the best way to deal with the situation is to hack the unruly broom to pieces but that doesn’t work, and the wood shards come back to life, making more brooms than ever. They go back to collecting water and almost drown Mickey in the room. Finally, the sorcerer returns and is able to magic away all that water, though he is most annoyed at his apprentice. On returning to the orchestra stage, we then see Mickey shake hands with conductor Leopold Stokowski.

This story is the one that began the whole production of Fantasia, as Walt Disney wanted to make a new short cartoon that highlighted Mickey Mouse as the star attraction he is, and to give him an opportunity to act more expressively than he did in the short humorous cartoons. Mickey is obviously “the apprentice” here, with the Sorcerer being given the named Yen Sid, which is “Disney” spelt backwards. He is a strict man and one that is easily irritated. The disapproving look that he gives Mickey at the end of the story, with that raised eyebrow, was supposedly meant to be an imitation of the same disapproving look Walt Disney had[5]!

This story started out as a poem by Johann Wolfgang van Goethe, which was written in 1797, telling the tale of a sorcerer who leaves his apprentice with chores to do, however, the apprentice, fed up with having to do everything by hand, enchants a broom to do his work for him, but since the apprentice is not fully trained in magic, when things get out of hand, he is powerless to stop it. Eventually, the sorcerer returns and breaks the spell. French composer Paul Dukas then used this poem as the basis for his classical piece “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”, which was first performed in Paris in 1897.

STORY #7: POMP AND CIRCUMSTANCE – MARCHES 1-4: ELGAR

The next section begins as Mickey goes over to conductor James Levine, asking him to stall as he can’t find Donald Duck, the star of this next sequence. Levine tells us that Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance” is normally used for graduation ceremonies these days, but here it will be a twist on the story of Noah’s Ark. Mickey tells Levine that Donald is just getting out of the shower and will be ready soon, so he can get started.

The animation begins by showing numerous animals heading off, in pairs, over to the Ark. Noah then comes to Donald, as he is Noah’s assistant, to tell him that there will be a flood and that Donald needs to help herd all the animals into the Ark, with some going more willingly than others. Daisy also arrives to get on the Ark; however, Donald can’t find her, and thinks she hasn’t made it on board. He tries to look for her, but the flood waters come, and he gets back inside, believing Daisy to be lost forever. Daisy thinks the same about Donald as she cannot find him either. Once the flood waters have receded, the animals are taken off the Ark, with Daisy leaving sadly. She then realises she has lost her locket, which contains a picture of them both together. Donald is clearing up the Ark and finds the locket – at exactly the same time that Daisy comes to retrieve it. They kiss and leave together, reunited again.

Pomp and Circumstance was an idea brought to the table by Michael Eisner as he’d just been to a graduation and felt the music would be good for Fantasia 2000 as it is familiar and universal[6]. The decision to use a biblical story alongside Elgar’s music did not sit well with everyone though, but I really like it, and think the ending of Donald and Daisy reuniting is really sweet.

Originally, George Scribner, director of Oliver & Company (1988), was tasked with taking that music and designing a Disney Princess processional to go alongside it. It would have followed the princesses, starting with Snow White and ending with Princess Jasmine, marching alongside their princes and their children, with cameos from other famous Disney characters. Donald Duck was supposed to be causing problems and ruining the stately processional at the same time. The story reel of this version of Pomp and Circumstance was shown once, apparently, on the Disney Cruise Line in 2009, but doesn’t appear to have ever been shown again[7]. Though the Disney Princess version did not work out, thanks to the idea of having Donald wreaking havoc, this led to the Noah’s Ark concept.

STORY #8: FIREBIRD SUITE – 1919 VERSION: STRAVINSKY

Angela Lansbury narrates the final sequence, Firebird using the music“Firebird Suite – 1919 Version” byStravinsky from the ballet Firebird. She says that Walt Disney once described the art of animation as “a voyage of discovery into the realms of colour, sound, and motion”, and that Stravinsky’s “Firebird” encourages such a voyage, before telling us that what we are about to see is a mythical story of life, death, and renewal.

The sequence follows a sprite, who accidentally awakens a volcano while she is turning winter into spring. This causes immense devastation to the Earth, which she then ends up rebuilding, making everywhere green and lush again, bringing life to the forest once more. I like the colour in the scene, and it had an obvious plot, which I like. I thought it was a good ending, and the music is incredibly powerful.

The “Firebird Suite” by Stravinsky had already been licensed to Disney, at the same time that another of his works, “Rite of Spring”, had been for Fantasia. Disney knew they needed an emotional ending to rival the Night on Bald Mountain/Ave Maria sequence from the original. It was based on a visit that Roy E. Disney took to Mount St. Helens post-eruption[8]. Many critics seemed to enjoy this section of Fantasia 2000, so I think it did the job of ending the movie on a high point.

PRODUCTION

Walt Disney’s Fantasia was released in November 1940, and received mixed reviews. Some liked the animation; others felt it was over long and tedious to sit through; music critics hated the orchestration and arrangement of beloved classical music pieces. It wasn’t at all what Walt Disney had hoped for, and the disappointing reviews stayed with him for a long time.

The whole idea for Fantasia was that the movie would be added to every so often, replacing some of the original sequences with new ones, making for a new experience every time. Some classical music pieces that were going to be included in later versions of Fantasia included Debussy’s “Clair de Lune” and Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries”. But after the reaction to Fantasia, this concept was never moved forward.

In the 1970s, a new version of Fantasia, to be called Musicana, was in the works for a brief time, being worked on by veteran Disney animators Mel Shaw and Woolie Reitherman, which would have used stories and musical pieces from different countries to make a completely unique new Fantasia-style film. These sections included a jazz sequence set in the Deep South, a version of The Emperor and the Nightingale featuring Mickey Mouse, and the story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, set to “Scheherazade” by Rimsky-Korsakov. Ultimately, this project was cancelled due to concerns over its profitability.

These attempts at reviving and revitalising Fantasia had not worked for decades, with the Disney Studios executives not wanting to take the risk of having a similar reception that Walt Disney received to his original film. It was actually because of a popular re-release of Fantasia in 1991 that Fantasia 2000 even came about. With the re-release, as well as the boom that The Walt Disney Company was experiencing in the 1990s both within Disney Animation and their theme parks, Disney had sufficient funds to look at making the sequel, and it boosted then-CEO Michael Eisner’s confidence in the project, though him and some other members of the Disney Company were not overly optimistic about it at times.

Fantasia 2000 had been the long-fought-for continuation of Walt’s Fantasia legacy. Walt’s nephew, Roy E. Disney, was the real champion of the project, though the original movie had never left the minds of the Disney animators. Production on the sequel was greenlit in 1992. The aim was to release the film in 1997, but it took almost a decade to complete Fantasia 2000, as work on the film was being completed between other work for the popular “Renaissance Era” movies. The original name for this sequel was going to be Fantasia Continued, but as the release date started to approach the Millennium it was decided to tie the movie in with the year 2000.

Originally, Disney had wanted to keep half of the original Fantasia programme, and only create fifty percent new footage. However, the amount of original footage being chosen became less and less the further Fantasia 2000 got into production. For a long time though, Dance of the Hours and The Nutcracker Suite were going to be included along with The Sorcerer’s Apprentice. Eventually, Dance of the Hours was dropped and then The Nutcracker Suite was replaced with Rhapsody in Blue, leaving just The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, which really did need to be included as it is such an iconic piece[9].

RECEPTION

Unfortunately, Fantasia 2000 wasn’t a box-office success, and in actual fact only just “broke even”. As Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was wrongly named “Walt Disney’s Folly”, perhaps it was more correct for Fantasia 2000 to be named “Roy Disney’s Folly”, as Michael Eisner supposedly referred to the film. Roy E. Disney had passion for the project, which was replicated by many of the animators who worked on Fantasia 2000, so that’s a harsh title. The movie is often overlooked, but I feel it has a place in Disney history.

In making a tribute to Walt Disney’s original Fantasia, given the initial response to that film in the 1940s, it was always going to be a risk to make a similar type of movie and release it in the 1990s. The 1990s were arguably Disney Animation’s best era, and potentially the best decade for The Walt Disney Company, and to have Fantasia 2000 be released at the end of the decade, it would seem a bit mediocre in comparison.

Fantasia 2000 premiered at Carnegie Hall in New York City on 17^th December 1999, playing for three nights as part of a five-city concert tour, before moving to the Royal Albert Hall in London, and then to Paris and Tokyo, finishing in Pasadena, California on 31^st December 1999. These consisted of James Levine conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra, whilst the animation was presented on a screen above the stage.

Fantasia 2000 was then released in theatres on 1^st January 2000, becoming the first animated feature film to be presented in IMAX, so it broke new ground there, although it did limit its release to solely IMAX theatres, of which there were not so many at the time. In Los Angeles, the Disney Company built a temporary IMAX theatre to show the film for its first four months of release, from January to April 2000[10]. Fantasia 2000 was released widely in regular theatres later in the year.

Reviews for the movie were fairly positive. The release of the movie in IMAX was a positive note for many critics, who felt it fully immersed the audience in the animation and in the music, though many did say that this did not help The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, which, despite being restored somewhat, looked grainy according to some viewers, especially compared to the rest of the sequences which were all new and relatively technologically advanced. Again, some sequences were popular, and others were not, with Firebird, and the artsy look of Rhapsody in Blue being two of the best sequences, and the abstractness of Symphony No. 5 being one of the least popular. Everyone has different opinions on these.

Fantasia 2000 did win four Annie Awards for its technical achievements. One of these was to Eric Goldberg for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Character Animation on The Carnival of the Animals; another was to his wife, Susan McKinsey Goldberg for Production Design on Rhapsody in Blue[11]. It lost the Annie Award for Best Animated Feature to Pixar’s Toy Story 2 (1999). The soundtrack was also nominated at the Grammy Awards for Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture.

LEGACY

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given this is the never-ending story of Fantasia, there was supposed to be a sequel to Fantasia 2000. Some sequences had already been completed, or were close to being finished at the time that this sequel, to be named Fantasia 2006, was cancelled. It did not proceed potentially due to concerns about the commercial prospects of another feature film like Fantasia. Although Fantasia itself did prove itself to be an icon of Disney movie history eventually, that has not happened for Fantasia 2000. With its mixed reviews, as well as having to follow the greats of the “Disney Renaissance Era”, it was never going to give much confidence for Disney executives to green-light a further Fantasia project. However, we did get to see some of these completed sequences as standalone short films, so all was not lost.

The Little Matchgirl made its appearance in 2006, first at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in France in June 2006, before being added as a bonus feature on The Little Mermaid Platinum Edition DVD, also released in 2006. Both The Little Matchgirl and The Little Mermaid are Disney takes on Hans Christian Andersen stories. The Little Matchgirl short film was directed by Roger Allers, who had also co-directed The Lion King (1994) by this point, and produced by Don Hahn, who produced many of the hit Disney films of the 1990s including Beauty and the Beast (1991) and The Lion King (1994).

The story follows a young homeless girl attempting to sell matchsticks to people on the streets of St. Petersburg to make some money for herself, however, no-one will buy any. Wanting to get out of the cold, the girl hides away in a snow-filled alley. To keep herself warm, the girl begins to strike her matches, each time seeing visions of happier Christmas times, with a house, a fireplace, good food, and her grandmother. But each time the match burns out, the girl is brought back to her reality of freezing alone on the streets. The next day, the girl is seemingly found in the alley by her grandmother, although, we soon see that the grandmother is a spirit and that the girl must have died in the cold… Not the happiest of tales. Apparently attempts were made to give it a happier ending, but none of these worked.

The story was first intended to be set to Debussy’s “Clair de Lune”; a piece of music that had been considered for the original Fantasia. It was not used, with Borodin’s “String Quarter No. 2” being chosen instead, and performed by the Emerson String Quartet. The Little Matchgirl was nominated for Best Animated Short at the Academy Awards, but lost to a Norwegian short titled The Danish Poet (2006)[12].

One by One was directed by Pixote Hunt, who was the Art Director for The Rescuers Down Under (1990) and created the Symphony No. 5 section for Fantasia 2000. It was released in 2004 as a bonus feature on the DVD release of The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride.

This short film takes place in a town in South Africa and sees us follow a colourful feather as it flies into this town. A young boy finds the feather and, inspired by it, calls for his friends to fly kites with him. All the children of the town find materials they can use to make their own colourful kites, and walk in procession up to the highest hill. One boy lets his kite go first and then tells everyone else to do the same, with the whole sky awash with colourful kites. One by One takes its name from the song of the same name written by Lebo M. It was originally intended to be included in The Lion King (1994). This song was cut from the final movie, but was later used in the Broadway musical of The Lion King.

Another completed sequence was Lorenzo. Work had begun on this short back in the 1940s, but was revived and completed for Fantasia 2006. After Fantasia 2006 was cancelled, Lorenzo was instead released in 2004 after premiering at the Florida Film Festival in March of that year. It was directed by Mike Gabriel, who was the co-director for The Rescuers Down Under (1990) and Pocahontas (1995).

Lorenzo is a pampered cat who comes across a stray, street cat with no tail one day, proceeding to show off how fluffy and wonderful his own is. The street cat then curses Lorenzo so that his tail will have a mind of its own, making him dance all over the streets with it. Lorenzo then finds himself in a fountain and tries to drown his tail. That doesn’t work, so he then tries to break his tail off by slamming it in a door. That also doesn’t work, so Lorenzo ties his tail down to the train tracks, but the tail is too smart for that, and manages to untie itself. Lorenzo tries to electrocute his tail, but instead only harms himself. The street cat from earlier then gives Lorenzo a knife so that he may cut his tail off. A fight then ensues, with Lorenzo ultimately succeeding in removing the tail. That’s a bit of a gruesome story…

But the music is quite good. Gabriel chose a piece of tango music for the short, which works well here, giving it some suspense and drama. The music chosen was “Bordoneo y 900”, by Osvaldo Ruggiero, performed by Juan José Mosalini and his Big Tango Orchestra. Lorenzo was nominated for Best Animated Short Film at the Academy Awards, but lost to Ryan (2004), a short animated film about Canadian animator Ryan Larkin.

Whilst working on Fantasia 2000, Roy E. Disney uncovered a project that had begun in 1945, a collaboration between his uncle, Walt Disney, and Spanish artist Salvador Dalí entitled Destino. This is the final completed sequence for what could have been Fantasia 2006. It was instead released separately in 2003 at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in France in June of that year. It was later released theatrically in 2004.

In the mid-1940s, Dalí was invited to work on this short film at the Disney Studios, completing plenty of concept art in his iconic surrealist style alongside John Hench, who went on to lead various projects as part of Walt Disney Imagineering. The story follows a young woman named Dahlia struggling to find her long-lost love, Chronos, the personification of time, as she travels across various strange landscapes, reminiscent of famous Dalí paintings. It’s not entirely clear to me what happens here, or whether the two are reunited in the final scene – let’s assume they do! The film is set to a piece of music called “Destino”, written by Armando Dominguez, performed by Dora Luz, who performed the song “You Belong to My Heart” for Disney’s The Three Caballeros (1944).

Destino was nominated for Best Animated Short Film at the Academy Awards, losing out to the claymation short film Harvie Krumpet. Of these four completed sequences meant for Fantasia 2006, Destino seems to be the most remembered and praised, having been shown as part of numerous Dalí exhibitions around the world ever since its release in 2003.

At the Coronado Springs Resort at Walt Disney World, Destino plays in the main lobby of its building Gran Destino Tower, which opened in July 2019. Its Dahlia Lounge area was named after the heroine of the film, and photos of Walt Disney and Salvador Dalí appear on the walls of the lounge[13].

At the All-Star Movies Resort also at Walt Disney World, two buildings of the hotel are themed to the two Fantasia movies: one features the brooms from The Sorcerer’s Apprentice sequence which appears in both films, and the second building is themed to The Steadfast Tin Soldier section of Fantasia 2000, complete with giant statues of the creepy jack-in-the-box, the ballerina doll, and of course, the one-legged soldier. Since Fantasia 2000 wasn’t released until a year after the All-Star Movies Resort opened in January 1999, Roy E. Disney, Chairman of Feature Animation at the time and producer of Fantasia 2000, had to give special permission for the movie to be referenced[14].

There are few references at the Disney Parks that specifically relate to Fantasia 2000. Apart from those two hotels, one other is that the Spring Sprite from the Firebird sequence has featured in a couple of shows and parades. One of these was Tokyo Disneyland’s 25^th anniversary parade, Jubilation!, where the Spring Sprite was added to the top of one of the parade floats; this parade ran from 2008 to 2013. The Sprite also appeared during the original World of Color show at Disney California Adventure. The music “Pines of Rome” has also been used in a few nighttime shows, including Epcot’s New Year’s Eve Fireworks, and World of Color. The whales from Pines of Rome also appear briefly in the finale section of the Wonderful World of Animation show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

There are no character meet-and-greets here for specific Fantasia 2000 characters, although at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World, you can meet Sorcerer Mickey at Meet Disney Stars at Red Carpet Dreams, located just outside of the ABC Commissary quick-service location, and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice scene appears in the Mickey’s PhilarMagic show which currently operates at all of the Disney Parks except for Shanghai Disneyland. Sorcerer Mickey merchandise is also likely to be the easiest to find, with anything specific to Fantasia 2000 most likely to be made for a milestone anniversary.

In recent years, Disney have gone back to their idea of making Fantasia into a concert experience. This is the touring concert Disney Fantasia: Live in Concert, where a live orchestra plays the classical pieces of music, whilst a screen shows the animated segments. The program contains a mixture of sequences from both Fantasia and Fantasia 2000, although the program seems to change. It is unclear to me when Disney Fantasia: Live in Concert first began showing, with the earliest date I can find going back to 2012. It is currently still touring in 2024.

FINAL THOUGHTS

It’s great that Disney agreed to make Fantasia 2000, and I think I’ve found a new Disney animated film that I like. There are pieces of music I will certainly be listening to now, so Disney have succeeded in winning me over there. I surprisingly found myself getting teary at times: at the ending with the sprite, Donald and Daisy reuniting, the whales flying off into space, so that shows how much I enjoyed the film. I’m still thinking about it a few days later.

This film was much funnier, much less stuffy, and less serious than Fantasia, and it felt generally more familiar, with the music choices and animation stylings. I hope others join me in giving this one another go, even if Fantasia is too much for them!

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Fantasia 2000 (1999)’, pp. 112-114.

[2] Credit: D23, ‘The Fantasia Legacy: A Conversation with Eric Goldberg’, Disney D23 YouTube Channel, 16^th November 2020.

[3] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Fantasia 2000 (1999)’, pp. 112-114.

[4] Credit: D23, ‘The Fantasia Legacy: A Conversation with Eric Goldberg’, Disney D23 YouTube Channel, 16^th November 2020.

[5] Credit: Disney, The Fantasia Legacy: The Concert Feature (2000).

[6] Credit: Disney, The Fantasia Legacy: Fantasia Continued (2000).

[7] Credit: Jim Hill, ‘Why For: The Disney Princess royal processional that you almost got to see’, JimHillMedia.com, 29^th April 2011.

[8] Credit: Disney, The Fantasia Legacy: Fantasia Continued (2000).

[9] Credit: Disney, The Fantasia Legacy: Fantasia Continued (2000).

[10] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Fantasia 2000 (1999)’, pp. 113.

[11] Credit: D23, ‘The Fantasia Legacy: A Conversation with Eric Goldberg’, Disney D23 YouTube Channel, 16^th November 2020.

[12] Credit: Disney, “The Little Matchgirl (2006)”, from The Little Mermaid (1989) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2006).

[13] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: Gran Destino Tower’, YourFirstVisit.net, date unknown.

[14] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: All-Star Movies’, YourFirstVisit.net, date unknown.

8th Mar 202427th Jun 2024 by The Disney Purist

#29 The Rescuers Down Under (1990)

BACKGROUND

Thirteen years after the surprise success of The Rescuers in 1977 came Disney’s first theatrically-released animated full-length sequel, The Rescuers Down Under.

In that time, there had been only five other animated movies made and released by Disney Animation. The Rescuers Down Under was “lucky enough” to be sandwiched between two major successes within Disney’s “Renaissance Era”: The Little Mermaid (1989) and Beauty and the Beast (1991).

The late 1980s and 1990s were an exciting time for the Disney company. Their theme park division was going strong, the new management that came in to the company in the mid-1980s were settling in, and after The Little Mermaid, it seemed like the Disney animation department was finally back on track.

Or was it?

The Rescuers Down Under didn’t end up being a huge success and sadly it was seen as a bit of a zit on the face of the Disney “Renaissance Era”. And one that couldn’t be covered up easily and forgotten, because it was a hugely expensive movie to make, because it was the first Disney feature film to be made entirely using CAPS – Computer Animation Production System – which was quite a feat, because not only was the technology in its infancy at this time, but that no more than a few short sequences had been made using CAPS before, nothing even close to a full-length film.

Despite pushing boundaries in this way, the risk ultimately did not pay off. The movie did not make money at the time of its release. Just because it was a sequel to The Rescuers, its success should never have been guaranteed. Although many enjoyed some of the sequences within the film, which are indeed very impressive, for multiple reasons, it did not make the impact that was hoped for.

I didn’t think I liked The Rescuers Down Under. I hadn’t watched it in years, but as a child I must have preferred The Rescuers Down Under to the original, because on re-watching it, the scenes all felt very familiar, so we must have watched the video many times! I am pleased to say that, actually, I do still like The Rescuers Down Under, though not as much as The Rescuers. Having said that, it’s not fair to compare them as the films are very different and The Rescuers Down Under could almost stand-alone without its predecessor.

PLOT

Much like The Rescuers, The Rescuers Down Under follows the same idea: that the Rescue Aid Society receives a call for help about a child, and their mice agents are sent to rescue them from whatever danger they are in. This, however, doesn’t happen until about fifteen minutes in to the movie, unlike The Rescuers where we are introduced to the society almost right away. Instead, The Rescuers Down Under starts with an impressive opening sequence, following a boy called Cody, living in the Australian Outback with his mother. Cody spends much of his time outside with the wildlife. He is told by a kangaroo – he can communicate with animals, just go with it – that a golden eagle is trapped up on a mountain, caught in a poacher’s net.

Cody climbs the mountain ridge and frees the eagle, who then takes Cody on a glorious flight through the clouds, over rivers, and through the forest, before showing him her nest of three eggs. Cody understands the importance of keeping the eagle, called Marahute, safe from poachers. On his way home, Cody goes to save a mouse from another trap – Disney theme park fans might recognise this mouse’s voice; it is Billy Barty, voice of Figment in the Journey into Imagination attraction – but ends up falling into a hidden pit, dug by a poacher. The poacher, Percival C. McLeach, comes to retrieve his find, only to find a boy. He helps the boy out, who threatens to tell the rangers about his poaching activities, but he is about to let Cody go, when his sidekick, Joanna, a goanna, finds an eagle feather in Cody’s backpack. McLeach, having already killed the mate, wants to find this eagle, and kidnaps Cody, because he refuses to tell McLeach of her location, throwing his backpack into the nearby crocodile pit, so that the rangers will think he fell in and was presumably eaten alive.

Only now, thanks to the mouse that Cody saved, do we get to see the Rescue Aid Society again. An SOS signal is relayed across multiple countries until it finds its way to New York City, where an emergency meeting is held by the Rescue Aid Society. The two agents the Chairman wants to send, Bernard and Bianca, are out at dinner, at a fancy restaurant, where Bernard is trying to propose to Bianca. But before he can, the two are summoned to the society headquarters and immediately sent to Australia. They find that Wilbur has taken over Albatross Air from his brother Orville, who took them to Devil’s Bayou in the previous film, and convinces him to fly them to Australia, despite there being a snow storm in New York. Eventually, they get to the Australian Outback. All three have to transfer to a “bigger bird” at one point, actually a commercial jet where they hide in the cargo hold, only to dive out of it at Sydney and continue their flight to Mugwomp Flats. There, they meet Jake, a hopping mouse and a regional agent for the Rescue Aid Society who volunteers to be their guide and to help on their mission. Meanwhile, Wilbur is taken to a dodgy-looking mouse hospital, with an overzealous surgeon, after he hurts his back during landing.

From this point on, Bernard, Bianca and Jake traverse the Australian landscape, riding on snakes, and fireflies, on their way to find Cody. Jake flirts with Bianca right in front of Bernard, halting all of his attempts at proposing. Cody’s mother is told by rangers that he is presumed dead, but in reality, McLeach has locked Cody in a cage with his other animal finds, waiting for Cody to reveal the location of the eagle. Instead, Cody tries to free the animals but after a few attempts are thwarted by Joanna, McLeach has his own plan and “releases” Cody, telling him that the eagle has been killed by another poacher, so he has no use for Cody anymore. This is a trick by McLeach, as he knows Cody will go straight to the nest, as he believes the eggs have no mother now, so McLeach can follow him to the location. Bernard, Bianca, and Jake manage to find Cody at McLeach’s hideout just in time to hitch a ride on McLeach’s truck as he follows Cody to the eagle. The mice try to warn Cody, but it’s too late, and they are captured, including Marahute – except Bernard, who ends up separated from the group.

Wilbur manages to escape his medical team and finds Bernard, who instructs Wilbur to sit on the eagle eggs to keep them warm. The eggs were about to be eaten by Joanna, however, Bernard’s quick thinking meant he swapped the real eggs out for rocks. Bernard goes after McLeach, riding on a pig to get there quickly. Cody is being dangled over the crocodile pit, about to be dropped into the water, when Bernard cuts the power to the crane Cody is dangling from. McLeach resorts to shooting through the rope with his gun. Luckily, Bernard tricks Joanna into pushing McLeach into the water, and they both fall in, McLeach fighting off the crocodiles but ultimately falling to his death down the waterfall. Joanna swims to a rock and is unharmed.

Cody, at this point, has also fallen in as the rope has snapped, so Bernard goes in after him. Fortunately, Jake and Bianca have managed to free Marahute, and the eagle catches the two of them on her back as they cascade down the waterfall, saving them, and reuniting the whole team for a night-time flight over Australia, with Bernard finally proposing to Bianca to top off the happy ending. A final scene shows Wilbur still left on the nest, and the eggs hatch just as he is about to fly off.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Although Cody’s rescue is the central point of The Rescuers Down Under, surprisingly, Cody doesn’t need all that much help from Bianca and Bernard. He’s independent, and clearly knows his way around the Australian Outback. He’s not scared of anyone, so compared to Penny from the first film, he is much less likely to need, or want, help from Bernard and Bianca like she did. He is also a few years older than Penny. Cody is very brave, and clearly cares a lot about animals and conservation, judging by the number of times he risks his life to save others. Originally, the team working on the film were inspired by the aboriginal culture in Australia and wanted Cody to be an aboriginal. Jeffrey Katzenberg did not agree to this idea, as he was concerned it would decrease their chances at the box office. There was meant to be a dream sequence themed around aboriginal cave paintings too, but this idea was also abandoned. Funny thing about the cave painting idea is that the DreamWorks film worked on by Jeffrey Katzenberg, The Prince of Egypt (1998), uses a similar concept but with hieroglyphics instead. Pure coincidence, perhaps? Cody is voiced by child actor Adam Ryen here. It’s worth mentioning that Cody doesn’t sound remotely Australian, despite supposedly being from there. Nor does McLeach come to think of it…

Percival C. McLeach is an incredibly evil villain, much worse than Madame Medusa, as he is quite capable of killing anything he wants, whether that be a golden eagle, or a young boy. He keeps animals captive, he throws knives at Cody to try and scare him into giving away the eagle’s location, locks him in a cage. He’s just nasty, but like all Disney villains, he gets his comeuppance in the end, joining the club of those who fell to their deaths. Though it may’ve been more satisfying for us if McLeach had been arrested and thrown in prison for the rest of his life for his illegal poaching… McLeach is voiced by American actor George C. Scott, best known for being in movies such as Dr. Strangelove (1964), Patton (1970), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor but declined it, and A Christmas Carol (1984). Scott also received three other Oscar nominations throughout his career, for his roles in Anatomy of a Murder (1959), The Hustler (1961), and The Hospital (1971). He later won two Primetime Emmy Awards for some of his television work, in 12 Angry Men (1997), and Hallmark Hall of Fame, Episode: “The Price” (1997).

Some of Scott’s recording sessions for The Rescuers Down Under did not go particularly well. He was reluctant to give the big performances necessary to deliver voice-over lines, and in one case did not want to come in for a session as he’d been injured working on another film. Disney convinced him to anyway, and, unsurprisingly, he read every line once, and once only, before leaving the studio – oops! But there were other times when Scott went above and beyond for the role. During McLeach’s death scene, where he is in the river about to go over a waterfall, Scott got a bucket filled with water and dunked his head into it between lines to give the true feeling that McLeach was sort of drowning! Scott drew the line at singing though, so those scenes of McLeach singing a weird poacher version of “Home on the Range” were actually sung by Frank Welker, who also “voiced” Marahute the eagle, and McLeach’s sidekick, Joanna[1].

Speaking of Joanna, she is a goanna, who is very obedient to McLeach, despite the fact he doesn’t care much about her, if at all, and frequently scolds her. Joanna is like the security guard, making sure every one of McLeach’s captives stays in line, alerting McLeach to any trouble-makers. She actually reminds me a lot of the lizard in Toy Story of Terror (2013) that collects all the toys from the motel so the manager can sell them online, in both look and behaviour. Goannas are Australian monitor lizards that can grow to huge sizes. The Disney artists studied these animals at the San Diego Zoo, as well as other Australian creatures, like koalas and kangaroos, and some were brought to the studio for further study.

Those are the new main characters that appear in The Rescuers Down Under. But obviously, Bernard and Bianca make a comeback, though Bianca isn’t as strong and independent as she was in The Rescuers, potentially due to the fact that she doesn’t know Australia or its wildlife well, so is happy to let Jake, their guide, lead the way. The CAPS technology did allow Bianca to look as glamorous as she did in the first film though, even being able to apply her perfect make-up, with details like eyeshadow and rouge that would’ve been difficult to achieve perfectly in every frame with hand-drawn animation[2]. Bernard becomes more heroic in this film, more-or-less single-handedly saving Cody from his grisly almost-death at the crocodile pits, protecting Marahute’s eggs, and tricking Joanna into pushing McLeach off the cliff into the crocodile pits. He has the majority of the action scenes, plus, we spend the whole movie rooting for him to finally propose to Bianca, which he finally succeeds in doing at the very end.

Bernard is voiced by American actor and comedian Bob Newhart, reprising his role from The Rescuers. Newhart starred in his own comedy variety show The Bob Newhart Show (1961-62), for which he won a Golden Globe for Best Male TV Star, and went on to star in the sitcom The Bob Newhart Show (1972-78), a huge hit at the time. He won three Grammy awards in 1961 for his comedy albums. Modern audiences may remember him as Papa Elf in Elf (2003) and as Professor Proton, a recurring guest role, in The Big Bang Theory (2007-19) for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, and its spin-off show Young Sheldon (2017-24). Bianca is voiced by Hungarian-American actress Eva Gabor, also reprising her role from the first film. Gabor appeared in stage productions, television series, and films throughout her career from the 1940s until her death in 1995. Some of her credits include portraying Liane d’Exelmans in Gigi (1958), which won all nine of its Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, at the Oscars ceremony in 1959, and Lisa Douglas in the sitcom Green Acres (1965-71). She had previously voiced the also glamourous and beautiful Duchess in The Aristocats (1970) for Disney before The Rescuers.

The other important mouse in The Rescuers Down Under is Aussie hopping mouse, Jake, who instantly falls for Bianca and spends most of the movie either flirting with her, or trying to impress her with his skills at navigation and neutralising animal threats. He makes Bernard immediately jealous, and though Jake isn’t openly trying to steal Bianca away, or being rude or mean to Bernard, you have to feel for Bernard at this point, and you just want Jake to leave the two of them alone. Jake doesn’t seem to be too well-developed as a character because we don’t get to see much of him, which is a shame. There could’ve been a lot more made of that love triangle dynamic, I think, but he gives another comedic element to the movie. Jake is voiced by Australian-American actor, Tristan Rogers, potentially best known for his recurring role as Robert Scorpio since 1980 in the ABC soap opera General Hospital (1963-present).

Then there is Wilbur, who flies Bernard and Bianca to Australia after they look for his brother, Orville, who flew them in the first film, however, Jim Jordan, voice of Orville in The Rescuers, passed away in April 1988, so the new character of Wilbur was created. These two albatrosses are named after the aviation pioneers, the Wright Brothers. Wilbur is voiced by John Candy and you can tell he had a lot of fun working on this film! He improvised many of the vocals for Wilbur. Candy provides much of the comical side of The Rescuers Down Under, something that was lacking in the original The Rescuers. I love John Candy, so I love Wilbur as a character, even though I don’t think many of his plot points were necessary, like his strange, held-against-his-will back surgery…But he’s a fun character nonetheless. Candy rose to fame in the Canadian sketch comedy show Second City Television (SCTV) in the 1970s, alongside many other famous Canadian comedians such as Catherine O’Hara, Eugene Levy, and Martin Short. He then began to appear in various comedy films, specifically in the 1980s, like The Blue Brothers (1980), Splash (1984), Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987), and Uncle Buck (1989). For Disney, he also starred in Cool Runnings (1993). John Candy sadly passed away in March 1994 at the age of 43. Gone much too soon…

There is also a collection of supporting characters of animals, such as Krebbs the Koala, a prisoner of McLeach who is incredibly pessimistic and a bit of a downer really, voiced by Douglas Seale, who went on to voice the Sultan in Aladdin (1992), and highly-strung, neurotic frill-necked lizard, Frank, another prisoner of McLeach, voiced by Wayne Robson. Their subplot is a bit thin too, so we don’t get to see too much of them, other than them trying to escape with Cody’s help, and then having no idea what happens to them in the end! Do they get released, or do they stay there forever?

Another supporting but very important animal character in this film is Marahute. Cody has a special connection with the golden eagle throughout the movie, after he rescues her from a trap at the start. The whole introductory sequence of Cody helping Marahute, and then him seeing her nest was always planned, however, originally, Marahute was going to speak, like the majority of the other animals in The Rescuers Down Under – Joanna is the only other one who doesn’t, which is a bit strange. Surely, they should all talk, or they all shouldn’t? Why are some more special? Anyway, that’s beside the point! The original scene included dialogue from Marahute, but it was then changed to see how it would look being wordless instead, and the animators found that the scene worked much better without the eagle talking, and I definitely agree[3]. How weird would that have been if Marahute had talked? Glen Keane was the animator for Marahute, who had animated Ariel in The Little Mermaid (1989) before this film, and went on to animate The Beast afterwards.

MUSIC

Luckily, the team working on The Rescuers Down Under decided to let the music do the talking in that scene. Like The Black Cauldron (1985), The Rescuers Down Under does not include any songs, making this only the second Disney animated film to do so. Instead, it relies heavily on its score, composed by Bruce Broughton. This was Broughton’s first score for an animated film, but he went on to compose other scores for Disney movies such as Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993) and its 1996 sequel, and Bambi II (2006). He also composed music for other well-known movies such as Miracle on 34^th Street (1994) and Silverado (1985); the score for Silverado was nominated at the Academy Awards. Broughton has also won Emmy Awards for his musical compositions for television, such as those for Dallas (1978-91), winning two in 1983 and 1984.

I have a few favourite pieces within the score that I’d like to mention. The first is the “Main Title”, which features as the camera is rushing forward towards Ayers Rock, or Uluru, and Cody’s home. When I was younger it felt like this scene went on for so long, but it actually only takes about a minute. Another is “Message Montage”, which plays as the call for help is being relayed all over the world to get from Australia to New York City, and we get to follow the map as the message travels across the Earth.

But probably the most well-known instrumental within the score is “Cody’s Flight”. It is played during the most popular and iconic scene in The Rescuers Down Under. It’s a visually stunning scene, thanks to the computer animation, as the landscapes look so lifelike. You can see the wind blowing through Cody’s hair, and the eagle has such fine details, down to the feathers and the eyes, that couldn’t have been sustained if it had been hand-drawn. So many of the landscapes look so real, and the animals so life-like, it is breath-taking in places. Wilbur flying over the sights of Australia, like the Sydney Opera House, is another highlight. The music here is called “Bianca’s Kiss/Arrival Down Under”.

PRODUCTION

The latest advances in technology helped Disney create a majestic Australian setting, like the sequences above, where you can feel how big the area is both generally, and for the mice detectives. As I’ve already mentioned, The Rescuers Down Under was not hand-drawn. It was made with the most important development to be used by Disney at the time: the use of CAPS. Not only did CAPS keep costs down, but it meant that shots that were not possible before could be made now[4]. Disney had only used this technology occasionally in the 1980s, but that all changed with The Rescuers Down Under. CAPS allowed the digitalisation of inking and colouring animated cels, eliminating the need for this process to be done by hand. It also allowed for zoom effects, tracking shots, and multiplane camera shots. CAPS had been developed by Pixar who had spent much of the 1980s doing small but interesting pieces with it, such as the Luxo Jr. and Tin Toy shorts, which are remembered to this day. Pixar had originally been a part of Lucasfilm computer division only to become its own corporation in 1986, with financial backing from Steve Jobs. This would be Pixar and Disney collaborating to make a full-length feature film using the technology, something that hadn’t been done before, and that Pixar would not achieve on their own until 1995 with Toy Story. There was immense pressure to make a full film using this very new system, but Disney wanted to explore what CAPS could do for their animation business[5].

Off the back of the disaster that was The Black Cauldron in 1985, Disney Animation President Peter Schneider was approached with an opportunity: to use CAPS to benefit the Animation Department. He was told that it would be able to capture more complicated shots, and could give as much depth and fluidity of movement as a live-action film. Schneider discussed the possibility of using CAPS with Roy E. Disney around 1985, who championed the idea and pushed it forward. However, the cost of implementing it would be around $10 million, so Disney had to try to sell it to the executives of Michael Eisner, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and, most especially, the Chief Financial Officer Frank Wells. Eventually, Wells agreed to sign the cheque to use the technology, although there is some debate around whether it was Eisner or Roy E. Disney who managed to convince Wells to do this!

One of the first examples of Disney using CAPS was in the opening sequence of an episode of The Magical World of Disney, which aired in September 1988. This sequence involved Tinker Bell flying towards Florida, with the camera then swooping around Spaceship Earth. Animated Sorcerer Mickey was on top of Spaceship Earth at Epcot, where he then shot magic out of his fingertips which materialised mouse ears on top of the water tower, dubbed the “Earffel Tower”, which was the original icon of the soon-to-be-opened Disney-MGM Studios theme park. The Disney Feature Animation Florida Studio that resided within the grounds of Disney-MGM Studios contributed around ten minutes of footage to The Rescuers Down Under, as well as ten minutes of the Mickey Mouse featurette that was released alongside it in theatres, The Prince and the Pauper (1990)[6].

After a few other small uses, it was boldly decided that CAPS should be used to make a full-feature. Peter Schneider brought in Thomas Schumacher, a theatrical producer who had worked on the 1984 Olympics, as a producer and asked Mike Gabriel and Hendel Butoy, who had just finished working on Oliver & Company (1988), to direct it. Gabriel was initially reluctant to accept. Though he was a fan of the original The Rescuers, he couldn’t understand why it would get a sequel and didn’t really believe it would work. Schneider simply said it was chosen because The Rescuers was Disney’s highest grossing film of the past ten years, bringing in around $200 million against a $7.5 million budget. Despite his concerns, Gabriel did eventually agree to direct The Rescuers Down Under. After some discussion, a research trip was greenlit for production to go to Australia for two weeks, where Gabriel and Butoy were joined by story artist Joe Ranft and animator Pixote Hunt. Research trips were not a common part of the production process at the time, so it was quite a big deal, especially to go to the other side of the world! Five members of production took a research trip to the Australian Outback, going on a 4,000-mile expedition to look at the landscapes and natural environments, such as Ayers Rock, to study them for use in the film.

The CAPS system was being built alongside the film being made, so there were a lot of setbacks and problems, like work having to start again, bigger computers being needed. It was a lot of stress and pressure to get it finished on time. In the end, it cost Disney more like $30 million instead of the $10 million that Wells had agreed to. This wouldn’t have been a concern had Disney known that the making of The Rescuers Down Under would lead to CAPS being used for bigger movies like The Lion King (1994), but they didn’t, so naturally, the executives were nervous.

RECEPTION

To offset any potential loss, The Rescuers Down Under was released with the 25-minute Mickey Mouse featurette, The Prince and the Pauper, which was the final Disney piece to use the traditional ink-and-paint process, as well as being the first animated short to be produced by Disney to accompany a feature film release. The twin-feature was released in November 1990 in the US, being warmly but not rapturously received[7].

The animation was praised, particularly the flight scenes, and some of the comedic scenes were enjoyed, but there are many more reasons why The Rescuers Down Under may not have done as well as hoped. Australia was believed to be the choice of location for the sequel to The Rescuers as there had been an increase in interest in Australian culture in the United States in the 1980s, perhaps in part due to the film Crocodile Dundee (1986) which was hugely popular in America, becoming the second-highest-grossing film of the year there. Paul Hogan, who played the titular character, won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, and the movie was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. As well as Crocodile Dundee, the 1980s also saw the rise of Australian actors like Mel Gibson and Nicole Kidman, and the start of the Mad Max franchise. However, the interest in “Aussie culture” was not sustained into the 1990s, so The Rescuers Down Under may have just missed its mark[8].

Another reason was that The Rescuers Down Under was released at the same time as smash Christmas hit Home Alone (1990). This is incredibly unfortunate and cannot be predicted, much like The Princess and the Frog (2009) being overshadowed by Avatar (2009) at the box office. There were also comments over the lack of songs, as The Little Mermaid (1989) had just revitalised the Disney standard for making Broadway-style animated fairy-tale movies. The Rescuers Down Under was only the second Disney film at the time, after The Black Cauldron (1985), to not include any songs; a “mistake” Disney would not make again for many years! The Rescuers Down Under is also quite dark, with a particularly evil, real, villain. There are many threats to life in this movie, which I was surprised about when re-watching, though I didn’t notice it much when I was younger.

For whatever reason, The Rescuers Down Under did not do well at the box office. Mike Gabriel received a call from Jeffrey Katzenberg during its opening weekend. The results were not good. Gabriel was told it made $5 million, but that it was ok, and they would move on to a new idea. That weekend, all advertising was pulled for the movie. Gabriel was devastated[9]. Bob Newhart, voice of Bernard, apparently wrote a note to Mike Gabriel saying not to worry about the box office result and that he was proud of the film regardless. Not long after this disappointment, Gabriel did have a new idea – to base a new animated feature on the historical figure Pocahontas[10].

LEGACY

There is very little reference to The Rescuers Down Under in the Disney theme parks, and in the media. Bernard and Bianca were available as walkaround characters in the Disney theme parks in the 1970s after the release of The Rescuers in 1977 and the two reappeared in promotional events for The Rescuers Down Under, but they are much rarer to see now. For example, Bernard and Bianca have only been spotted at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland within the last few years; Bernard and Bianca appeared at the Disneyland after Dark: Sweethearts’ Nite in both 2022 and 2023, but did not return in 2024. No new characters from The Rescuers Down Under ever appeared. In 2020, The Rescuers Down Under celebrated its 30^th anniversary so new merchandise lines, such as pins and ornaments were released then.

There were plans for a third movie, but after John Candy’s death in 1994 and Eva Gabor’s in 1995, it was cancelled. Given the financial failure of The Rescuers Down Under, and the fact that this put off many Disney executives from ever releasing a sequel theatrically, this would probably have been a direct-to-video sequel[11].

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Rescuers Down Under is more action-packed, with more peril and life-threatening moments than The Rescuers. But it is also much more comical than the oftentimes depressing The Rescuers. I do like both plots; they are just incredibly different. There are a few unanswered questions by the end of The Rescuers Down Under though. One being does Wilbur get back to Bernard and Bianca, getting them all home to New York, or is he forever stuck on Marahute’s nest? Another being, does Marahute get back to her nest? As her eggs have just hatched, she really ought to be there! What happened to the animals that were being held captive at McLeach’s hideout? I can only assume Cody told the rangers that there were animals there, and the rangers released them. We also don’t get to see the reunion between Cody and his mother, which I think would’ve been a nice ending to really tie up some of the loose ends.

Despite the critiques of The Rescuers Down Under, I quite enjoyed watching it, especially for the beautiful landscapes, and daring scenes. Disney didn’t want to detract from the story or the imagery by making it a musical, and I still think The Rescuers Down Under has a place in the hearts of many children who grew up in the 1990s, many who would not have seen The Rescuers initially, showing it could stand-alone.

The strangest thing about The Rescuers Down Under is that it sits right in the middle of two major Disney successes: The Little Mermaid in 1989 and Beauty and the Beast in 1991. The Rescuers Down Under may not feel like it should be a part of the Disney “Renaissance Era” to some, but to me, it does. This wasn’t meant to be a time when Disney used a tried-and-tested formula and just repeated that. Find a book, stick in a song here and there, and you’ve got a hit Disney animated feature film? That’s not how it works.

They had to try new ideas, they had to try new technologies to fit in with the times, and that’s exactly what The Rescuers Down Under did. It was the very first digital film to be produced in Hollywood. If it weren’t for The Rescuers Down Under, half of the sequences that people love in the later movies of The Lion King (1994) and Beauty and the Beast (1991) may not have existed, because they tried something new; they took risks. Without that, no company can ever progress. They pushed the boundaries of computer animation with this movie – the first company to really do so.

And Disney should get plenty of credit for that.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Drew Taylor, ‘’The Rescuers Down Under’: The Untold Story of How the Sequel Changed Disney Forever’, Collider (online), 16^th December 2020.

[2] Credit: Disney, The Making of The Rescuers Down Under (2003).

[3] Credit: Drew Taylor, ‘’The Rescuers Down Under’: The Untold Story of How the Sequel Changed Disney Forever’, Collider (online), 16^th December 2020.

[4] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘The Rescuers Down Under (1990)’, pp. 85-87.

[5] Credit: Don Hahn, Waking Sleeping Beauty (2009).

[6] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: When Disney’s Hollywood Studios was a Studio’, YourFirstVisit.net, date unknown.

[7] Credit: Drew Taylor, ‘’The Rescuers Down Under’: The Untold Story of How the Sequel Changed Disney Forever’, Collider (online), 16^th December 2020.

[8] Credit: Josh Spiegel, ‘’The Rescuers Down Under’ Remains The Weird Speed Bump Between Two Disney Masterpieces’, SlashFilm (online), 18^th June 2019.

[9] Credit: Don Hahn, Waking Sleeping Beauty (2009).

[10] Credit: Drew Taylor, ‘’The Rescuers Down Under’: The Untold Story of How the Sequel Changed Disney Forever’, Collider (online), 16^th December 2020.

[11] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘The Rescuers Down Under (1990)’, pp. 85-87.

2nd Feb 202427th Jun 2024 by The Disney Purist

#30 Beauty and the Beast (1991)

BACKGROUND

Ask anyone the question: “what is the best animated Disney film?” and I’m sure many people will say The Lion King (1994) …. The amount of people who love that film is unreal…

But if you asked them again and told them to choose another one, I bet a large number of answers would be Beauty and the Beast. That’s not to say I mean that it is everyone’s favourite Disney film, because it’s not mine, though it definitely makes my Top 5, but nobody would argue with the fact that Beauty and the Beast is one of the greatest animated films of all time.

After Disney’s success with The Little Mermaid (1989), the company felt that just maybe they’d found the perfect formula for their movies: taking a fairy-tale, injecting it with some humour and a touch of Disney magic, and set it to a Broadway musical-style soundtrack. It had worked for Ariel, so let’s see if it worked for Belle.

But in the middle of the two films, Disney Animation actually released another movie: The Rescuers Down Under (1990). This film had very disappointing box-office results and because it was created digitally, its budget was incredibly high as well. This was not a fairy-tale, nor did it have a musical soundtrack though, so it just proved that perhaps they needed to replicate what they’d managed with The Little Mermaid.

And wow, did they succeed! Beauty and the Beast was even nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, the first time an animated film had ever received approval like this, and it became a huge hit, with children and adults alike. At the time, Disney had not received attention like this for one of their animated movies before, which then set off a wild decade for the Disney company.

I personally think Beauty and the Beast is close to perfection. The animation is stunning; the music is typical of a Broadway musical style; the characters are comical and lovable, as well as complex and flawed; the story is romantic and full of meaning – it’s just overall a brilliant movie, and is one of my favourite Disney films. There’s not much else to say on it; Beauty and the Beast was a total phenomenon.

PLOT

I doubt many people in the world have not seen Disney’s Beauty and the Beast but here’s the plot anyway. As told in the prologue, a selfish prince refuses shelter to an old beggar woman one winter’s night. She turns out to be an enchantress who curses the prince, his castle, and all who live there for his cruelty. She leaves a red rose that will bloom until his 21^st year and will then start to wilt; if he can find someone to love him, and earn their love in return, before the last petal falls, then the spell will be broken; but if not, then he will forever remain a beast.

The film then jumps to a small French village, where Belle is dreaming of greater things for herself, as she doesn’t fit in with the others and wants something more than “this provincial life”. At the same time, she’s having to defend her inventor father, Maurice, from the others who think he’s crazy, and trying to avoid Gaston, the village hunk, who’s determined to marry her. Her chance comes when her father is captured by a beast on his way to the fair to show his latest invention, and she goes to the castle to save him. As the Beast will not let him leave, Belle offers to take his place. The Beast accepts and Maurice is taken back to the village. Maurice enters the village tavern, trying to find help to free Belle; instead, they all laugh at him and he decides to find her himself. Gaston uses Maurice’s outburst to his advantage by using him as leverage: Maurice will be sent to the asylum if Belle refuses to marry him. Now, he just has to wait for her to return…

In the meantime, Belle and the Beast constantly clash, though she does make friends with his “staff”, who have been turned into enchanted objects, such as Butler Cogsworth becoming a clock, Mrs. Potts the cook becoming a teapot, and Lumière the maître d’ becoming a candelabra. They want to help Belle settle in as they believe she could break the spell and turn them human again, however, things come to a head when she enters the forbidden West Wing, the Beast’s living quarters in the castle, and he scares her away. Belle rushes out of the castle, only to find herself in the middle of the forest with a pack of wolves hunting her. Luckily, the Beast comes to her rescue, and from this point, we see the two, slowly but surely, start to fall in love.

One night, after a lovely dinner and a magical dance in the Grand Ballroom, the Beast gifts Belle his magic mirror, so she can see the outside world and check on her father. Through the mirror, Belle sees her father is ill, lost in the woods; the Beast frees her from the castle so she can be with him – he doesn’t expect her to ever return to him. Belle and Maurice return home, where Gaston is waiting for her. Despite Maurice being forced into the back of a van to be sent to the asylum, instead of agreeing to marry Gaston, Belle just proves the Beast’s existence with the mirror, sending Gaston into a jealous tirade, as he believes she loves the Beast. Belle and Maurice are locked in their cellar, whilst him and a mob of villagers storm the castle to kill the Beast.

The Beast, heartbroken at losing Belle and his only chance to be human again, doesn’t fight back and allows them to enter his castle. Soon, Gaston finds the Beast and tries to goad him into a fight, but the Beast does not want to fight back – until he sees that Belle has returned to help him. Beast and Gaston fight on the castle roof. Beast has hold of Gaston, ready to throw him to his death, but decides against this, providing he leaves the castle. Beast climbs up the castle to be reunited with Belle, but Gaston, still jealous and enraged, stabs Beast in his side. Belle holds onto Beast and pulls him to safety; Gaston falls to his death. As the Beast lays dying, Belle finally realises her love for him, saying the words out loud just as the last petal falls. All looks lost for Beast and the servants, but suddenly, magic seems to fall from the sky, and the Beast is transformed back into his prince form. The curse is broken and the two stay together forever, living happily ever after. Aww.

CHARACTERS & CAST

The characters in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast are particularly likeable and memorable. Belle, along with Ariel, is one of the first modern princesses that Disney created, making her proactive in her story, instead of just waiting for something to happen to her as some of the earlier Disney fairy tales had done. Unlike Ariel, Belle is looking for adventure, not love, which makes her even more progressive, however, just like Ariel, Belle doesn’t feel like she fits in in her community; Belle prefers to read and dream, instead of just marrying and becoming a wife. Mark Henn and James Baxter were the main animators who worked on Belle, making sure she had heart and soul, and not focusing on making her the most beautiful character ever. I like Belle because she doesn’t follow the crowd; she was inspiring to me for not just doing what everyone else was doing, and not caring what people think.

Belle is voiced by actress Paige O’Hara, who started out her career on Broadway, playing the role of Ellie in Show Boat in 1983 and Ado Annie in Oklahoma! in 1986. After the success of Beauty and the Beast, O’Hara returned to the stage to portray Fantine in Les Misérables in 1995. Since 1991, she has returned to voice Belle for Disney. It makes such a difference to the movie by having a Broadway actress, instead of a “big name” like movies tend to do these days, in the voice cast. You really feel that this film is like a Broadway show, with the people involved knowing exactly how they should convey that atmosphere.

Beast was animated by Glen Keane, who successfully made him articulate without needing any words, as he managed to show signs of love and feelings of guilt and emotion purely through his eyes. Keane used inspiration from many animals he’d seen at London Zoo, while production was based there, and made Beast a combination of multiple animals, including wolf, bear, buffalo, and lion. The Beast, although having to seem menacing and terrifying at the start, goes through the most development in the story, gradually becoming kinder and less angry. It’s a clear journey that we see throughout the film, and he had to be the complete opposite to Gaston. Beast is voiced by actor Robby Benson, who began his career as a “teen idol” in movies such as the sports films One on One (1977) and Ice Castles (1978). I have only seen him as Sabrina’s father in Series 1 of Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996-97). I was so surprised to find he was the voice of the Beast; he’s so soft-spoken in real-life! Like O’Hara, Benson has also returned to Disney to voice Beast.

Andreas Deja worked on Gaston, and he said it took a while to find his look, as Gaston needed to look like a prince, but have this evil quality within him. Gaston is a good villain; he’s not particularly scary or menacing, but he becomes the way he does purely through jealousy at having lost Belle to the Beast. At the same time, he’s also completely clueless that he’s even the villain of this piece, because how could someone as handsome as him possibly be the bad guy? As much as I like him as a character, he definitely deserved to die for stabbing the poor Beast in the side. Gaston is voiced by another theatrical star, Richard White. White appeared as a performer in regional performances of musicals like Show Boat and Carousel in 1985, and Oklahoma! in 1992. On Broadway, in 2013, he appeared as Sir Danvers Carew in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. White has also returned to Disney to voice Gaston. I think White’s singing voice is particularly impressive in this movie, and I’m glad that, again, Disney avoided hiring a famous actor, because it makes Beauty and the Beast seem much more like a Broadway production.

The magical objects were the most fun to animate, as the animators got to figure out how each character would walk and talk without human limbs, as well as matching their personality, and job title, to the type of object they are. For example, Cogsworth, voiced by David Ogden Stiers, is the Head Butler, so naturally, he’d be a nervous, anxious clock, always wanting things done precisely and correctly. David Ogden Stiers had a long history with Disney, having voiced not only Cogsworth, but Governor Ratcliffe and Wiggins in Pocahontas (1995); the Archdeacon in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996); and Dr. Jumba Jookiba in Lilo & Stitch (2002) amongst others. He also starred as Major Charles Emerson Winchester III in the series M*A*S*H from 1977 to 1983. He died in 2018. I like Cogsworth, and I think him and Lumière are a great duo together, bouncing off each other constantly with their differing, often conflicting, personalities.

Speaking of Lumière, he is maître d’ of the castle, so he’s quite personable and eager to please the guests, even if that means going against the Beast’s orders. He gets a great song to show off his talents with “Be Our Guest”, and is entirely at odds with Cogsworth over both the song and giving the dinner to Belle, as the Beast has forbidden it. Jerry Orbach voices Lumière, perhaps best known amongst younger audiences as being Baby’s father in Dirty Dancing (1987) but he was also well-known for being a Broadway and stage actor before starring in movies, having appeared as Billy Flynn in Chicago from 1975 to 1977 and as Julian Marsh in 42^nd Street from 1980 to 1985. I don’t think any other iteration of Lumière has ever, or will ever, come close to Orbach’s brilliant accent. Orbach returned to voice the character up until his death in 2004.

Then there’s Chip and Mrs. Potts, the mother-son duo, who are a cup and teapot, respectively, as Mrs. Potts is the cook and housekeeper. She’s the motherly, kind figure of the movie, making sure Belle gives Beast a chance and that Beast controls his temper. She is voiced by Angela Lansbury, who brings typical British vibes to her role. Well, she is a teapot after all! Lansbury has appeared on both stage and screen, winning numerous Tony awards for her roles in musicals and plays, such as Gypsy (1975), Sweeney Tood (1979), and Blithe Spirit (2009). On screen, she is well-known for her performance as Jessica Fletcher in the long-running crime drama series Murder, She Wrote (1984-96). Lansbury later voiced the character of the Dowager Empress in 20^th Century Fox’s Anastasia (1997), but returned to Disney to introduce a segment in Fantasia 2000 (1999) and made a cameo in Mary Poppins Returns (2018). Lansbury sadly passed away in October 2022.

A final note on the voice cast, not for any particular reason, is that Tony Jay voiced the character Monsieur D’Arque, the warden of the Asylum. Jay would go on to voice Judge Claude Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996).

PRODUCTION

The idea for a Disney version of Beauty and the Beast actually goes back to Walt Disney’s era. Beauty and the Beast had been attempted by Disney animation in both the 1930s and the 1950s, however, they hadn’t managed to do much with it, as it was a challenging story to adapt, so it never went any further – until it was found again in the 1980s, during a time when Roy E. Disney, Walt’s nephew, wanted animation to be reinvented and revitalised with fairy tales like The Little Mermaid. They kept going back to Beauty and the Beast to fit this new direction, even though it was daunting for this team of animators who thought: if Walt’s team couldn’t do it justice, then how could they?[1]

Disney’s version of Beauty and the Beast is very different to the source material, La Belle et la Bête, a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, published in 1756. This story follows a merchant and his daughters, the youngest and most beautiful being called “Beauty”. The merchant, struggling with debts from his cargo ships, becomes lost on his return from a voyage and seeks shelter in a castle. When trying to get a rose for Beauty as a present, the Beast threatens to kill him for stealing from his garden. The Beast allows him to take the rose if he returns with one of his daughters to take his place at the castle. Beauty agrees to do this, and the Beast caters for her every whim for months, giving her good food, fine clothing, and other luxuries. Every evening, he’d ask her to marry him, only for her to refuse. She dreams of falling in love with a handsome prince, and even when a fairy appears to tell her “not to be deceived by appearances”, she doesn’t change her mind. After months of this, Beauty asks to return home to see her family. The Beast allows this, providing she returns in two months. Beauty does not, only to have visions of the Beast dying alone in the castle, so she returns to him to find the visions were true. At this point, Beauty realises she does love him, and agrees to marry him that night. The next day, she finds the Beast has transformed into the prince of her dreams. Disney were very right when they said they had to make the story more interesting and exciting because it is mostly just about someone going to dinner and being asked to marry each time! We also find that the prince was turned into a beast in this version of the story because he refused the advances of an evil fairy…Um, ok…

Disney’s original version of the story, in the 1980s, was to be quite true to the original source, set in 18^th Century France, quite dark, and a non-musical. This was being worked on with Don Hahn as producer, and Richard Purdum as director in London. The first twenty minutes of the film was shown to Jeffrey Katzenberg and Peter Schneider, the heads of Disney animation at the time, who told them to scrap it and start again. Don Hahn relayed this back to the team, with the news that they were to go to France for a research trip to soften the blow! The production was moved back to Burbank from London, and the leadership was changed up, with Purdum leaving the project and Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise coming on as directors, after their latest work on the pre-show of the now-defunct Epcot attraction, Cranium Command. Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, off the back of their musical success on The Little Mermaid (1989) were also persuaded to join the team to take over the music. It was good to be given a fresh start, however, one year of the three-year production deadline had already been taken up with the first attempt, so they only had two years to complete it. Katzenberg brought in these release schedules, which hadn’t really existed before, as motivation.

A scriptwriter, Linda Woolverton, was brought in by Katzenberg with the animators being told just to animate Woolverton’s script. The animators had never worked that way before; Walt Disney had always gone off storyboards, not scripts, so it took a while for the two sides to mesh, with Woolverton becoming annoyed at her scenes being constantly changed from one day to the next, and the animators not informing her of changes. In the end, Woolverton knew she had to work more closely with the animators, and from then on, the process was much more harmonious[2].

In terms of the actual animation, Beauty and the Beast was technically ahead of its time as it was only the second Disney film to use the Computer Animation Production System (CAPS). It had first been used for Rescuers Down Under (1990), however, the investment in this technology had not proved itself with that movie. CAPS was designed by Pixar and allowed digital inking of hand-drawn cells and automation of a depth effect without the need for a multi-plane camera. The ballroom scene is the most obvious example of this technology use in Beauty and the Beast. The success of the scene gave Disney the motivation to continue to try out this new animation technology in their later films[3].

The look of the movie is beautiful. The prologue starts with charming animation of a forest before telling us the Beast’s backstory through colourful stained glass. I think this gives the scene more of a story-telling quality, and more historical feel, to show that this event happened away from Belle and her village, and a few years previous. The backgrounds are impressionistic, resembling paintings, which I like, whether they are dawn, dusk, night, or day scenes. The use of colour was important too, with the ballroom scene using a lot of gold and blue to create the right emotion for the romance of the scene. Belle is also dressed generally in blue for the very specific reason of making her stand-out against the townspeople in her opening scenes, to show that she doesn’t fit in. “Be Our Guest” was an opportunity to show more colour and fun, even though it is set within quite a cold, dark castle[4]. It’s in complete contrast to the scene that follows of Belle within the West Wing, with its blackness, and torn and broken furnishings. The final scene of Belle and the prince – who I thought was called Adam, but apparently not officially – is also lovely, with the two dancing in the ballroom with many people watching, though I did think it looked very familiar. It is actually the exact same sequence that ends Sleeping Beauty (1959) with Princess Aurora and Prince Philip dancing together. This was apparently done to save time as the film was nearing the end of its production deadline.

MUSIC

Ashman and Menken proved to be a vital component of the film-making process here. Ashman was key to the idea that Beast could be a kind of “anti-hero” with flaws, and that as he goes through the most development in the movie, it has to be his story[5]. The duo was able to comment on the story and characters being created, as well as write terrific music, because they understood how the music had to be, and brought their love for both animation and Broadway musicals into it. The music ties the whole story together in Beauty and the Beast. The songs are catchy, and very Broadway-esque.

“Belle” was the first song to be written and not only does it encapsulate some background to the story, but it introduces both Gaston and Belle to the audience, as well as their wants and dreams. It is an ensemble number, with solo moments for Paige O’Hara and Richard White as Belle and Gaston. Belle’s particular hopes and dreams are expressed by herself through the reprise of “Belle” just a few minutes later. Ashman and Menken were originally concerned that Disney would not be happy with the length of “Belle”, especially as an opening number, as it is around six minutes long. I really like it, and I feel it gets the viewer involved in the story right away.

On the opposite side, we have the song “Gaston”, another ensemble piece with solo moments for Gaston, which, although about the villain of the piece, is not the villain’s song, in my opinion. “Gaston” is really just a love letter to him from all of his sycophantic hangers-on. I do like “Gaston”, mostly for its ridiculous lyrics – “and every last inch of me is covered with hair” being one of them. Menken apparently laughed-out-loud at some of these lyrics when he first heard them. “Gaston” also shows that the villain doesn’t have a clue he’s evil, because he looks like a prince. This was a first for Disney. “Gaston”, like “Belle”, was also reprised just a few minutes later by the song’s title character, with his own “want” song; the reprise details Gaston’s devious plan to have Maurice imprisoned at the asylum so that Belle will have to marry Gaston to ensure Maurice’s release.

The actual villain’s song in my opinion is “The Mob Song”, where Gaston rallies all the villagers to go and attack the Beast. To the villagers, this seems to be a song of strength and bravery, but in reality, Gaston just wants to have the Beast killed so that the object of Belle’s affection can be eradicated; it’s all about jealousy, and also works as an ego boost for Gaston, as it proves that people will do whatever he tells them to without question. Well, everyone, except Belle and Maurice. I do like it a lot; it’s one of the better Disney villain songs, because it’s so dark and dramatic. There is even a reference to Shakespeare buried in the lyrics, a line from Macbeth: “Screw your courage to the sticking place”.

Now to the love songs. The most well-known and celebrated song is “Beauty and the Beast”, though I don’t like it all that much, probably because it’s been overused by Disney in so many shows and productions! I like the ballroom scene that goes along with it though, as well as the scene just after when Beast and Belle are talking on the balcony, because the scene is so romantic and elegant, with the night’s sky full of stars. Plus, no real-life version of Belle’s gold dress has ever come close to looking as lovely as the animated one. “Beauty and the Beast” is sung by Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Potts. It was recorded in New York, and on the way there, Lansbury’s plane had been forced to make an emergency landing for a bomb threat, but she arrived later that day for the recording after some delay! Lansbury recorded the whole song in one take, which she was pleased with, as she had not expected the first take to have been accepted[6]. But before this, we have another love song, “Something There”, which isn’t openly romantic, but talks of Belle and Beast’s developing feelings for each other. This is the best of the two love songs for me, because it clearly expresses the awkwardness and uncertainty of the early stages of a relationship. It’s also funny to see the two at this point having snowball fights and slurping on porridge together!

The final song to mention is the fun “song-and-dance” number “Be Our Guest”. As well as enjoying all the images of different dishes, I like how Lumière transforms into a proper showman, with everyone else, apart from Cogsworth, being there to back him up. Again, Disney do use this song a lot in their shows, but I still enjoy it, particularly when it builds to the big finale at the end. It feels like a whole Broadway show in just a few minutes.

But as well as the songs, Beauty and the Beast has a particular good score. “Transformation” is my favourite instrumental within the score, and one of my favourite Disney instrumentals in general, as well as the scene that accompanies it. When we think the Beast is dead, the music seems so hopeless, but then, all of a sudden, something magical happens and the Beast is lifted into the air and transformed into a prince. And then there’s the necessary happy ending back in the ballroom with everyone back to their human forms just to top it off. The prologue is great too, wonderfully narrated by David Ogden Stiers. It sounds so mysterious and almost haunting. Menken based the prologue on a riff of sorts on “The Carnival of the Animals” by Saint-Saëns[7].

The soundtrack was well-received and won numerous accolades, including Best Original Song for “Beauty and the Beast” and Best Original Score at the 64th Academy Awards; “Be Our Guest” and “Belle” were also nominated in the Best Original Song category. The score and “Beauty and the Beast” also won at the Golden Globes. The soundtrack received eight Grammy nominations, and won five awards, including Best Album for Children, Best Instrumental Composition, and Best Song Written for Motion Picture.

RECEPTION

The marketing was a big help to Beauty and the Beast being such a big success. A press event was help in New York to show some clips and play some songs from the movie. It was such a high for the Disney team working on the movie, however, after the event, some of the team rushed to see Howard Ashman in the hospital. He had been ill during the whole production of Beauty and the Beast, and would unfortunately die from complications related to HIV in March 1991, never having seen the full finished movie. He was wearing a Beauty and the Beast sweatshirt in the hospital and said he’d always known the movie was going to be a success[8]. The movie was dedicated to him.

To cement Beauty and the Beast’s future, an unfinished version of the film was screened at the New York Film Festival on 29^th September 1991. This was an incredibly risky move, not only because the film was only about 70% finished, and included some coloured footage, some black-and-white scenes, unfinished drawings, and storyboard sketches, but also because this was a prestigious showcase of movies, with a highbrow film enthusiast crowd to match, who would not have expected to see a “children’s cartoon” within the programme. The directors of the festival got a lot of flak for agreeing to do this, but it was to be the big test for Disney to see if the resurgence that had started with The Little Mermaid in 1989, and had slumped with The Rescuers Down Under in 1990, could really stick. Surprisingly, the response was overwhelming, and showing the inner workings of animation was a good move for this film-literate audience. The audience applauded multiple times, like they were watching a Broadway performance, and even gave the film a full ten-minute standing ovation at the end. This was such an iconic event to happen in the New York Film Festival’s history[9].

As well as grossing almost $430 million worldwide, Beauty and the Beast was met with critical acclaim, receiving some of the best praise for a Disney animated film since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). The film was awarded multiple awards, including the Annie Award for Best Animated Feature, where Glen Keane also received an award for his animation, and the Golden Globe for Best Picture, the first full-length animated film to win this accolade. It was even nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, which made Beauty and the Beast the first animated feature film to be nominated in the category – only Up (2009) and Toy Story 3 (2010) have equalled that since. It showed that Disney films were no longer considered just children’s cartoons, but could be enjoyed by adults without kids in tow. Unfortunately, Beauty and the Beast lost the Best Picture Oscar to The Silence of the Lambs (1991), a very different sort of film.

LEGACY

Beauty and the Beast has become a huge part of Disney history, and created its own legacy. This includes three direct-to-video sequels: Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997), Beauty and the Beast: Belle’s Magical World (1998), and Belle’s Tales of Friendship (1999), all of which take place within the timeline of the original film. The best of all of these is The Enchanted Christmas which I make sure I watch every year. I love the songs “Stories” and “As Long As There’s Christmas”. Many of the voice actors, including Robby Benson, Paige O’Hara, Jerry Orbach and David Ogden Stiers returned to voice their characters; Angela Lansbury only returned for The Enchanted Christmas. There was also a live-action television series called Sing Me a Story with Belle, which ran from September 1995 to March 1997. Disney animated shorts were inserted into each episode.

Then, there was the live-action, heavily CGI-reliant, remake of Beauty and the Beast in 2017, which starred Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens, and Harry Potter’s Emma Watson, as Beast and Belle respectively. I didn’t like this much at all, and didn’t like some of the casting. I also did not like the CGI look of the Beast, but it did very well at the box-office.

Beauty and the Beast celebrated its 30^th anniversary in 2021, and a special was aired on ABC in December 2022 called Beauty and the Beast: A 30^th Celebration. The show itself was a bit confused, with a mixture of storyboard images and scenes from the animated movie, as well as some scenes with a real-life cast. A particular highlight for me was Josh Groban singing “Evermore”, which, yes, was a song written for the live-action film, but I don’t even remember it in there, and Martin Short singing “Be Our Guest” as Lumière. As well as these two, the special starred H.E.R. as Belle and Shania Twain as Mrs. Potts. In 2018, a live concert celebration of the film took place at the Hollywood Bowl, with some of the cast including Zooey Deschanel as Belle, Rebel Wilson as LeFou, Taye Diggs as Gaston, and Kelsey Grammer as Lumière.

Beauty and the Beast has also been re-released multiple times, including being re-released in theatres in 2002 with a song cut from the original film, “Human Again”, where the enchanted objects sing about how they can’t wait to be human again; I’m not a fan of this song. The movie was also re-mastered in 3D in 2012, with another theatrical release.

Beauty and the Beast was adapted to a Broadway musical in 1994, with its premiere taking place at the El Capitan Theater. The musical included six new original songs, as well as the favourites from the original film; “Human Again” was revised and put in the Broadway show. The Beast in particular was given more struggle and sensitivity with his own songs, including “If I Can’t Love Her”. Susan Egan, who would later go onto voice Megara in Disney’s Hercules (1997), played the original Belle. Beauty and the Beast ran on Broadway from 1994 until 2007, but has also toured and been revived in many other countries, like the UK, where I had the pleasure of seeing it twice as two separate productions, Spain, Australia, Japan, and Canada, as well as many others[10].

Then, there are the number of references to Beauty and the Beast in the Disney theme parks. At Disneyland, there are two quick-service restaurants named for Beauty and the Beast. The first is Red Rose Taverne which resides in Fantasyland. This food location features murals of the characters from the film on the walls, as well as some props from the live-action movie, and the area has a vaguely French feel. The food is mostly just standard theme park fare, nothing very special, other than it sells “the grey stuff”. The other is a snack cart called Maurice’s Treats, named after Belle’s father, which sells pretzels and pastries.

Surprisingly, that it is for the Beauty and the Beast-themed areas of Disneyland. However, at Disneyland Paris, as part of Le Pays des Contes de Fées attraction, their version of the Storybook Land Canal Boats, you do go past miniature recreations of Belle’s village and Beast’s castle, something that is missing from Disneyland’s version. There is also a fine dining restaurant at Disneyland Paris named after Lumière, La Table de Lumière, which is at the Disneyland Hotel. The interior is inspired by The Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles but also includes some touches that reference Beauty and the Beast. This is also a character dining experience, where you can see royal couples including Belle and her Prince, who may or may not be called Adam, it’s never been confirmed… Regardless, it is rare to see him as a human and not as the Beast. It seems strange to me to have a fine dining restaurant with character meet-and-greets, the two probably shouldn’t co-exist, but there you go.

At Shanghai Disneyland, at the Shanghai Disneyland Hotel, Lumière gets another restaurant, this time it is a character dining buffet named Lumière’s Kitchen. There is also Be Our Guest Boutique, a shop in Fantasyland which seems to sell mostly clothing and accessories. At Hong Kong Disneyland, there is only a Beauty and the Beast section within their Fairy Tale Forest walkthrough attraction, which shows the Beast’s castle in amongst some perfectly manicured gardens, with a couple of moving displays.

At Tokyo Disneyland, there is the only Beauty and the Beast-themed dark ride, housed within the Beast’s castle in Fantasyland, which opened in September 2020. Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast is a trackless dark ride, which takes guests through the story of the movie as they sit within huge teacups. It features some very impressive animatronics, with the dancing Belle and Prince at the end of the ride and the transformation scene being particular highlights. It does look like an incredible ride. Around this attraction, there is also a whole area themed to Belle’s village from the film and includes La Taverne de Gaston, a quick-service restaurant, and shops, with one even being themed to Belle’s favourite bookshop.

But the Disney theme park with the most references to Beauty and the Beast is Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, with Disney’s Animal Kingdom being the only one of the four parks to not have anything themed to the film or its characters. So, at Magic Kingdom, as part of the New Fantasyland expansion which took over the area that used to be Mickey’s Toontown Fair, a whole Beauty and the Beast area opened in December 2012. This area includes the shop Bonjour! Village Gifts and Gaston’s Tavern, a quick-service location which sells the iconic warm cinnamon roll, with a fountain of himself outside, much like at Tokyo Disneyland. More excitingly, the restaurant Be Our Guest allows guests “inside” Beast’s castle to dine on a quick-service breakfast or lunch, or a table-service dinner. The Beast even makes an appearance, parading into each of the three dining areas to welcome guests to his castle. These three dining areas are themed to different areas of the castle, with the main area being The Grand Ballroom, then The West Wing on one side, which houses the Enchanted Rose, and finally The Rose Gallery, which has artwork of Belle and Beast on the walls and a dancing figure of the two in the middle of the room. It is a great restaurant that everyone who visits Disney World should eat in at least once.

Also at Magic Kingdom, within Belle and Maurice’s cottage, you can take part in your own retelling of Belle and Beast’s love story in Enchanted Tales with Belle. As guests arrive in the cottage, they are soon taken into Beast’s castle via a magical mirror; it’s an impressive effect. Then they meet the Enchanted Wardrobe, who assigns certain guests different roles in the story. Then inside the library, Lumière directs everyone to reenact the tale with Belle appearing at the end to meet everyone. This experience is definitely more for children, but again, even adults should see it at least once, even if only for the magic mirror effect. Beast and Belle also appear during the Festival of Fantasy parade.

At Epcot, Belle has a dedicated meet-and-greet location at the France pavilion in World Showcase. During the holiday season, you may even see her in her dress from Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997). You can also sing-along to a slight retelling of the Beauty and the Beast story within the cinema at the France pavilion. This used to house Impressions de France throughout the day, however, Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along now runs here for the majority of the day.

At Disney’s Hollywood Studios, since 22^nd November 1991, the general release date of Beauty and the Beast in the US, there has been a live Broadway-style show called Beauty and the Beast – Live on Stage. Since 1994, it has been housed within The Theater of the Stars down the Sunset Boulevard area of the park. The show has changed slightly throughout the years, with the reopening of the show in 2021 after its closure from the COVID-19 pandemic being the biggest one, however, the show continues to be popular with guests. There was a version of this show at Disneyland and Disneyland Paris, running from April 1992 to April 1995 at Disneyland, and from 1993 to 1996 in Paris.

Finally, at Walt Disney World’s Grand Floridian Resort hotel, you can further be immersed in Beauty and the Beast theming at The Enchanted Rose Lounge, as you enjoy vaguely French-themed snacks and drink fancy signature drinks.

Generally, during Mickey’s PhilarMagic, a 3D show showcasing some of Disney’s biggest hits as Donald tries to return Mickey’s sorcerer’s hat, the song “Be Our Guest” is played. Mickey’s PhilarMagic exists at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, Hong Kong Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, and Disney California Adventure. At the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique locations, one of which exists in some form at each of the six Disney theme parks, children can choose to be made up to look like Belle, amongst other princesses. Belle and Beast are likely to be featured in shows and parades outside of the ones I have mentioned. Gaston is likely to appear in any show or parade featuring villains.

In terms of character meet-and-greets, apart from the ones already mentioned, Belle, Beast, and Gaston have been seen at Special Events and randomly in the parks. Belle is most easy to find, as she is one of the Disney Princesses, so has been spotted at each park recently, but Beast may also appear with her on occasion. For Gaston, him and Belle have been known to be seen together at times, at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland, for example, and Gaston also meets guests by his tavern at Magic Kingdom. He is also likely to be part of the Disney Villains line-up at Halloween events. Human Prince “Adam” seems to only have ever been seen at Disneyland Paris.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Beauty and the Beast touched a generation and cemented itself within movie history as not just a “good” Disney film, a “good” animated film, but as a genuinely brilliant movie for everyone to enjoy. Not too many Disney Animated Classics can claim to be a part of that history. I believe those that can include The Lion King (1994), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), The Little Mermaid (1989) and Frozen (2013).

Along with these films, Beauty and the Beast is an incredibly special film to many, for the huge impact it had on its audience and the legacy it has built.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Disney, Tale As Old As Time: The Making of Beauty and the Beast (2002).

[2] Credit: Disney, Beyond Beauty: The Untold Stories Behind the Making of Beauty and the Beast (2010).

[3] Credit: Stephanie Shuster, ‘Disney History: Beauty and the Beast’, WDW Magazine (online), 10^th March 2017.

[4] Credit: Katie Strobel, ‘Beauty and the Beast at 30: From Production to Classic’, D23 (online), 22^nd November 2021.

[5] Credit: Disney, Tale As Old As Time: The Making of Beauty and the Beast (2002).

[6] Credit: Skyler Caruso, ‘Fun Facts You Didn’t Know About ‘Beauty and the Beast’ In Honor of the 30^th Anniversary’, People (online), 22^nd November 2021.

[7] Credit: Disney, Menken & Friends: 25 Years of Musical Inspiration (2016).

[8] Credit: Don Hahn, Waking Sleeping Beauty (2009).

[9] Credit: Bilge Ebiri, ‘The Story of the 1991 Beauty and the Beast Screening That Changed Everything’, Vulture (online), 14^th November 2019.

[10] Credit: Stephanie Shuster, ‘Disney History: Beauty and the Beast’, WDW Magazine (online), 10^th March 2017.

12th Jan 202427th Jun 2024 by The Disney Purist

#31 Aladdin (1992)

BACKGROUND

After struggling through the troubling times of the 1980s, Disney animators were having a much better time in the 1990s because this was the so-named Disney Renaissance Era, a time when animation as a medium was not just being seen as silly cartoons, but an artform in and of itself – and the Disney Studios were the catalyst for this change in public perception.

Aladdin was the third animated movie to be released during this era. It followed The Little Mermaid (1989), which had entertained people with its fairy-tale format and Broadway musical style, and Beauty and the Beast (1991), which went one step further and entranced viewers with its magically romantic story. Beauty and the Beast set new ground as it became the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

It was quite a time for the artists and the company as a whole, as they set higher and higher standards for themselves in terms of the animation, the music, and the story of each of their full-length feature animated releases.

Luckily, Aladdin did not disappoint, although it was not nominated for Best Picture. Instead, Aladdin surpassed Beauty and the Beast with its box-office takings, becoming the highest-grossing film of 1992, and setting opening records in some countries. It beat out such 1992 films as A Few Good Men, Batman Returns, and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.

Aladdin and its characters continue to be popular to this day, with Princess Jasmine becoming one of the official Disney Princesses, and Jafar being a much-loved villain. Genie has always been a fan-favourite character, and “A Whole New World” is constantly being performed both in and outside of the Walt Disney Company. It has stood the test of time.

I have seen Aladdin so many times throughout my life. It’s one of those films that I revisit often just because I’ve liked it since I was little. It’s a typical Broadway-style Disney tale and those are the animated films I like the best. Disney’s version of Aladdin is likely to be most children’s introduction to the tale, although the story has been adapted for pantomimes and small theatre productions as well.

PLOT

The plot of the Disney movie begins with a small peddler trying to sell random products to the viewer, all of which either break or are not as he describes. Eventually, the man shows us a rusty old lamp, and tells us that this lamp once changed the course of a young man’s life and that others have sought to take it for themselves, taking us into the story. Some time ago, one night, a tall, evil-looking man finds the entrance to the Cave of Wonders, the area which houses the magic lamp. He orders a thief named Gazeem to go in after it, but the Cave, which has the face of a tiger, tells them that only one can enter the cave: a diamond in the rough. Gazeem is not this person and the Cave swallows him whole. The man is determined to find this one person so he can get his hands on the lamp.

We then meet Aladdin, an orphaned street urchin who is constantly dodging the city of Agrabah’s guards as he steals food for himself and his pet monkey, Abu. He dreams of living in the palace, with no worries, finally becoming someone worthy, but is constantly disrespected and ignored by society. On the other side of the city, we see Princess Jasmine, who lives in the palace with her father, the Sultan. He wishes that she marries a prince by her next birthday, but she wants to marry for love so is stubbornly rejecting every suitor her father presents to her. She hates life in the palace, feeling trapped and not in control.

One day, she decides to go into the marketplace dressed as a commoner to see what life is like – though Jasmine is still wearing her big gold earrings and a sapphire headband, so how she expected to blend in, I don’t know! Here, she meets Aladdin, and tells him part of her life story: that her father is forcing her to get married, but leaves out the part about being the princess. Aladdin tells Jasmine that his life is difficult but he tries to make the most of it. The two realise they have a lot in common and there is a spark between them.

As they about to kiss, Aladdin is captured by the guards and taken to the palace dungeon, under the illusion that he is being arrested for kidnapping Princess Jasmine. In actual fact, the Grand Vizier, Jafar, needs him to retrieve the lamp from inside the Cave of Wonders, as Aladdin is “the diamond in the rough”; he has worked this out by using magic and the Sultan’s diamond ring. The Sultan is regularly hypnotised by Jafar, using his cobra-shaped staff, to do things for Jafar. Aladdin agrees to go into the Cave of Wonders as Jafar, disguised as an old beggar, asks him to do. The deal is Aladdin gets the lamp for the beggar and then he will get a reward. The only rule, given by the Cave of Wonders himself, is to touch nothing but the lamp. Aladdin gets to the lamp, having made friends with a magic carpet on the way, but as he picks up the lamp, Abu, not having much self-control, being a monkey and all, picks up a large ruby. Though Abu replaces it when he is scolded by the Cave of Wonders, everything in the cave melts, and Aladdin and Abu must escape quickly; Magic Carpet helps them fly through the cave, but at the last moment, Carpet is hit by a rock and pinned to the ground. Aladdin and Abu are thrown at the entrance steps, but cannot get up. Jafar asks for the lamp; Aladdin hands it over, but instead of helping them out, Jafar attempts to stab Aladdin, to give him his “eternal reward”. Abu bites Jafar, who lets go of Aladdin. As he falls to the ground, Carpet wriggles free of the rock and catches him before he hits the ground. Jafar is about to leave, believing Aladdin to be dead and that everything has turned out great for him, but as he looks for the lamp in his cloak, he finds it’s gone!

In the dark cave, trapped underground, Aladdin tries to work out how they get out. Luckily, it turns out Abu stole the lamp. Aladdin takes it from him and rubs it to try and read the inscription written on it. A cloud of smoke starts to come out of the lamp. An all-powerful genie appears, telling Aladdin that he has been trapped in there for 10,000 years, but now works for him, and grants Aladdin three wishes. Again, there are more rules here, with those being the Genie can’t kill anyone, can’t make anyone fall in love, and can’t bring people back from the dead. Aladdin uses this to his advantage and tries to get a freebie; he says to the Genie that he can’t have much power if he’s limited by those three things and says he doubts the Genie can even get them out of the cave. Angry at Aladdin’s lack of trust, Genie takes Abu, Aladdin, and the Carpet out of the cave and to some random island.

Here, the Genie realises he was tricked. Annoyed for a minute, he soon calms down and asks Aladdin to make his first real wish. As Aladdin can’t ask the Genie to get Jasmine to fall in love with him, he decides to become a prince. After parading through the city on his way to the Sultan’s palace, showing off his riches and wealth, Aladdin, now Prince Ali, meets with the Sultan and asks to be introduced to his daughter, Jasmine. At the same time, Jafar has tried to convince the Sultan that the Grand Vizier is supposed to marry the princess if a suitable husband is not found within the correct timeframe. The Sultan would much rather have Jasmine marry Prince Ali so says he shall meet with Jasmine – except Jasmine hears all of this and angrily tells all three men that she is “not a prize to be won”.

The Genie says to Aladdin that he should just tell Jasmine the truth; he doesn’t but he does try to win her over. They go on a magic carpet ride all over the world, and Jasmine starts to like him. But she is suspicious and accuses him of being the boy she met in the marketplace. He says that he was, but that he is still a prince who sometimes dresses as a commoner to be normal, something he knows Jasmine will understand. Jasmine and Aladdin fall in love that night, but on Aladdin’s return, he is tied up and thrown into the sea by the guards to stop him interfering in Jafar’s plans. Luckily, the Genie’s lamp is in Aladdin’s hat and the Genie is called. He sees Aladdin drowning and saves him as the second wish.

Back at the palace, Jafar hypnotises the Sultan to tell Jasmine that Jafar will marry her. She is furious, saying she wants to marry Prince Ali. As Jafar is about to say Ali left Agrabah, Aladdin arrives to save the day. He smashes Jafar’s cobra staff, breaking the spell on the Sultan. The Sultan orders Jafar be arrested but he vanishes in a puff of smoke, but not before he sees that Ali has the lamp, now realising Ali must be that street rat, Aladdin.

As Aladdin wrestles with his conscience over the fact he is going to marry Jasmine because of a lie, he tells the Genie who cannot wish him free with his third wish as was agreed since he might need his help again. Understandably, the Genie is upset and retreats back into his lamp. Iago, Jafar’s sidekick parrot, throws his voice and pretends to be Jasmine to lure Aladdin away from his room so he can steal the lamp. Iago passes it to Jafar, the two hiding within their secret lair. The Genie is now under Jafar’s control.

Aladdin meets Jasmine as the Sultan is about to announce their impending marriage to the crowd, however, as Jafar’s first wish he wants to be sultan so the crowd scatters as the Sultan’s clothes are taken off him and the Genie moves the palace to higher ground. For his second wish, Jafar chooses to be the most powerful sorcerer in the world as he is not being accepted as Sultan. Now, Jafar makes the others bow to him and sends Aladdin to the ends of the world. Thankfully, the Magic Carpet was sent along with Aladdin and Abu so simply flies them back to Agrabah, away from that snowy, cold place.

At the palace, Jafar is making full use of his power and orders the Genie to make Jasmine fall in love with him, so she can be his “trophy wife”. The Genie is about to say that is something he cannot do, when Jasmine spots Aladdin in the palace. She pretends to be in love with Jafar as a distraction, but the kiss is a step too far and Aladdin is seen in the reflection of Jasmine’s crown. Jafar puts Jasmine in a full-size hourglass and uses his powers to battle Aladdin, at one point becoming a huge snake. Aladdin is caught but comes up with a new plan; he convinces Jafar that the Genie is more powerful than him, which makes Jafar consider things. Jafar decides to become a genie for his third and final wish, forgetting that that means being trapped in a lamp forever. Jafar grabs Iago as he is sucked into the lamp and the two are thrown into the Cave of Wonders by the Genie.

The Genie offers to make Aladdin a prince again, as he was revealed to be the street rat by Jafar and now is not allowed to marry Jasmine, but he refuses, instead doing as he promised and setting the Genie free. Genie gets ready to go off travelling and says goodbye to Aladdin, saying that he’ll always be a prince to him. This makes the Sultan realise that Aladdin is a worthy husband to Jasmine, prince or not, and that he’ll simply change the law, allowing Jasmine and Aladdin to marry. They are married shortly after and speed away on their magic carpet, as the Genie pops up from the bottom of the screen: “made you look”.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Aladdin is the hero of the story, but unlike previous fairy-tale Disney films, he is not a prince – and that’s the whole point. He’s meant to be an underdog figure in the movie. He spends most of the movie thinking that he needs wealth to be happy, and that he is not good enough or worthy of anything, which is one of the reasons he makes himself a prince, because then he thinks he’ll feel better about himself. Of course, he doesn’t, and when everything has gone wrong, and he has no-one to help him, Aladdin has to rely on himself to fix things, and he succeeds, proving he doesn’t need to be anyone but himself. That’s an important realisation that I think society has lost in today’s “social media age”.

Glen Keane was the key animator for Aladdin. Aladdin was redesigned a number of times, as they couldn’t figure out how tough, how tall, how handsome, how normal he should be. Disney didn’t want him to be the boring hero, or fall into the stereotypical look of a hero. Originally, he was meant to be quite small but Jeffrey Katzenberg, the chairman of Disney animation at the time, didn’t believe Jasmine would be with Aladdin if he looked like that. He was “too Michael J. Fox”, and “not enough Tom Cruise”, apparently. They figured out the right look for him in the end though, with Glen Keane saying that MC Hammer was even an inspiration for the design of Aladdin, especially with Aladdin’s trousers and his energetic movements during his scenes where he is running away from the guards.

Scott Weinger voices Aladdin. Weinger saw himself in the character at times, as he had recently moved to L.A. and felt like he was the underdog in a big, tough town, like Aladdin. He is good at communicating the vulnerability of the character. At the time, Weinger was appearing as Steve Hale in the sitcom Full House, which he did from 1991 to 1995. Since then, Weinger has continued to return to voice Aladdin in other Disney projects, and also returned as Dr. Steve Hale in the revival of Full House, named Fuller House (2016-20).

As for Jasmine, Disney wanted something new and fresh for the character, so she would stand apart from the other Disney princesses, who, at least back in the earlier days of the animation studio, had been relatively passive and just generally “sweet”. Animator Mark Henn actually used an old photo of his sister, Beth, as inspiration for the design of Jasmine. Linda Larkin, who voiced the character, wanted to make sure she brought something strong to Jasmine, to show that she is spirited and powerful, not a victim. I think Jasmine is a good character, and despite the recent critique she has had for “not having control of her future”, I think she does. Jasmine is not one to stand by and watch others decide her life for her. This is evident when she overhears Jafar, Aladdin, and the Sultan discussing her and she responds: “I am not a prize to be won.” Linda Larkin is most known for her continued commitment to the character of Jasmine, returning to voice her for Disney multiple times.

For the sidekicks, Abu, the monkey, was voiced by Frank Welker. Frank Welker has a long history of voice acting for Disney and non-Disney projects, with him voicing many animal characters. For Abu, Welker initially started by just making “monkey noises”, but then added in human emotion to the noises to make Abu seem more like he was aware of the action and emotion going on with the characters, unlike a regular monkey. In Aladdin, Welker also voices the deeply mysterious Cave of Wonders, as well as Jasmine’s docile pet tiger, Rajah, who is her only friend in the palace.

Another sidekick, the Magic Carpet was going to be completely computer-animated. Previously, Disney had just used the computer for backgrounds, like in The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast – or big action scenes, such as the escape from the Cave of Wonders in Aladdin – so a whole computer-animated character would’ve been ground-breaking. However, they tried this and it made the carpet look too “computer-like”, so they drew the carpet by hand, including human-like movements to make it seem playful and emotive. Then, they decided to layer a texture to the carpet via the computer to give it an authentic feel. The design of the carpet includes elements of the film’s storyline, instead of being a truly authentic Middle Eastern-style rug.

Now for the “sidekick” who became the central focus of Aladdin for many. The Genie was voiced by legendary actor and comedian Robin Williams, who died tragically in 2014, gone from the world much too soon. Genie is perhaps his most iconic and popular movie role; it certainly widened his audience anyway. Contrary to belief, Genie was not Williams’ first animated voice role as he had voiced the character of Batty Koda for FernGully: The Last Rainforest, released in April 1992, seven months before the release of Aladdin.

Robin Williams was always the person Disney had in mind to play Genie, as he was not only known in the 80s and 90s for his comedy, but also for his dramatic roles. These included the hugely successful sitcom Mork & Mindy (1978-82), where Williams played the alien Mork, and then the more serious Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) and Dead Poets Society (1989), where on both occasions he was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar. Jeffrey Katzenberg did not believe Williams would agree, as most famous actors would not go near animated films at the time, however, Eric Goldberg, the animator for Genie, went to one of Robin Williams’ stand-up shows and sketched some visualisations of his jokes to show Williams to convince him to voice Genie. He was impressed and agreed.

Robin Williams gave so much to his role that Disney had extensive amounts of footage, impressions, and improvisation to cut down. From watching the film, you can see how much fun he had with the character. Scott Weinger got to record some of his lines with Genie, including the scene on Jasmine’s balcony where Genie is a bee, and spent most of his time trying very hard not to laugh. Disney loved Williams’ comedic moments, but they were also pleased with his sincere emotional scenes. The artistic style of Al Hirschfeld was used as inspiration for the design of Genie, as his style captured dynamic energy well. One shape would lead into another, which worked perfectly for Genie and his shape-shifting, getting the pose to fit the essence of the personality being impersonated.

Jafar is the villain of the piece, and he is my third-favourite Disney villain. I particularly like his voice, which sounds both menacing and eloquent. Disney wanted Jafar to sound refined, as though he had spent his childhood in boarding schools, ignored by his parents so he ended up “misunderstood”. This general idea was put into a deleted song for Jafar called “Why Me?”, which would’ve taken place during his actual song “Prince Ali (Reprise)”. I listened to “Why Me?” and didn’t like it. It sounded too much like he was whining about his life. I prefer villains’ backgrounds not be specifically stated to the audience; it’s much better to think they are just evil for no reason than to make them too normal and relatable. Jafar was designed by animator Andreas Deja, who took a while to come up with the final design, as some of his initial sketches made Jafar look too silly or cartoon-y. He ended up combining the best parts of a few of those, like the idea for his wide mouth, and his pointy shoulders and cloak. In contrast to the swirly, free lines of Genie, Jafar is drawn with straight, deliberate lines to match his strict character. Jonathan Freeman, who voices Jafar, put on an oily, sneery voice for Jafar. Freeman is another one of this voice cast who has returned to Disney to voice Jafar, and for the Aladdin musical, he even played the role of Jafar in the original Broadway production, not departing the cast until January 2022.

Jafar’s sidekick Iago, the fast-talking, manic parrot, was voiced by Gilbert Gottfried, with his easily distinguishable voice! Iago was originally going to be a stuffy butler-type sidekick, but the character was changed when Gottfried came on to the project. Gottfried spent much of his recording time improvising and ad-libbing[1]. The look of Iago was inspired by animator Will Finn’s pet cockatoo, who alternated between moments of quiet and then loudness. Gottfried began his career as a stand-up comedian, before moving into film roles. Some of these earlier credits include Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) as Sidney Bernstein, and the 1990 film Problem Child and its 1991 sequel as Mr. Peabody; these also starred John Ritter. Gottfried continued to voice Iago for Disney, and voiced Berkeley Beetle in the Don Bluth film Thumbelina (1994). In 1994, he also had a small role as Burt Banner in Saved by the Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas. Gilbert Gottfried continued to appear in television and film projects throughout his life. Gilbert Gottfried passed away in April 2022. Also, very sad and gone too soon, like Robin Williams.

PRODUCTION

The original story for Aladdin comes from one of the tales included in One Thousand and One Nights, or Arabian Nights as it is generally known in English, a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales. The text was first translated from Arabic in the 1700s by Frenchman Antoine Galland, increasing its popularity and bringing further translations to the West. It has been said in recent years that Galland added “Aladdin and the Magic Lamp” to the collection, as it was not an original Middle Eastern tale, after hearing the story from a Syrian man called Diyab. He told Galland this story as well as others such as “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves” which was also not an original story. These stories made it into Galland’s translation of the One Thousand and One Nights, which was completed in 1717. It is unclear where Diyab first heard the story, and it is debated whether it is based on a real person or not[2].

There are a few differences between the original tale and the Disney film, as there normally are. Mostly notably, Aladdin was not an orphan; his father had died, but his mother was still alive, and played a big role in the story as she gave Aladdin the motivation to make something of himself. The Grand Vizier is not the villain of the story either; he wants the princess to marry his son, but a sorcerer is the real villain, who tricks Aladdin into retrieving a lamp but traps him in the cave instead – as Jafar does, so I guess Jafar is a combination of the two characters. There were also two genies – one from a ring that Aladdin has who frees him from the cave, and the other from the lamp. There were also no magic carpets, and no desire for Genie to be free at the end. That was an American value put onto the character by Disney, to give him more of an emotional arc, I suppose. Disney added the three-wish limit[3].

It wasn’t until 1924 that Hollywood first adapted the story for screen. This was the silent film The Thief of Baghdad, which was then remade several times, including in the Technicolor 1940 film of the same name. Even Disney took some inspiration from this story as they made the short film Mickey in Arabia, which starred Mickey Mouse, voiced by Walt Disney, and Minnie Mouse. It was released in 1932. Then, in 1992, we got an animated film[4].

Aladdin was in production at a time when the Disney Studios were booming, with the surprise success of Beauty and the Beast, which was up for the Academy Award for Best Picture during production on Aladdin, being a huge milestone. It was a time when Disney were commissioning lots of new projects, including the Beauty and the Beast Broadway musical production, which began in 1994, A Goofy Movie (1995), and Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), and their theme parks were pushing for more. The animators were working flat out and struggling with their workloads and deadlines.

Ron Clements and John Musker, directors of The Great Mouse Detective (1986) and The Little Mermaid (1989), joined production on Aladdin, writing a draft of the screenplay and screening an early version of the film for Jeffrey Katzenberg in April 1991. They were concerned as nobody liked it, including Katzenberg, and thought the movie would be cancelled. Instead, on a day to be known as “Black Friday”, Katzenberg demanded that the whole film be reworked and rewritten but still needed to be kept to the schedule date of November 1992. There was incredible pressure. They had eight days to restructure the film, and basically work out an entire new story. Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio were brought in as writers. Changes were made, such as Aladdin’s mother being removed from the film. It came together quickly, and the new outline was pitched to Katzenberg who said to go with that[5].

To authentically represent the location and time period of Aladdin, this being a movie set in the Middle East around the 15^th century, some of the Disney team visited ancient sites in countries like Iran to find architectural and cultural details that could be used in the animation of the film. Some of these included the onion-domed buildings, which we see as the Sultan’s palace in the film, as well as the recurring designs that resemble calligraphy brush strokes. They also looked at colour palettes carefully for the film, finding that blue matches the colour of water, a life-source especially in desert areas, so the heroes of Aladdin are depicted in blue, or similar “cool” colours, whereas the villains are “hot” colours like red and black[6]. Another example of this is the Sultan’s palace, which is quite open and airy, full of egg-shaped columns, however, when it becomes Sultan Jafar’s palace, it turns into this dark place with straight columns, almost resembling a dungeon, like his secret lair.

MUSIC

Since Disney had now become known for their Broadway-style musical soundtracks after the successes of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, there was pressure on the songwriting team of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman to deliver for Aladdin. Sadly, Howard Ashman died in March 1991 so was not able to complete his work with Menken on this film as he had with their two previous films. Lyricist Tim Rice, who had collaborated with Andrew Lloyd Webber on various stage musicals, was brought in to finish the music with Menken. Rice would go on to work with Elton John on the music for The Lion King (1994) and work on additional music for the Broadway musical of Beauty and the Beast in 1994. Some of Ashman’s original songs were cut from the film when the story changed.

The three songs that Ashman and Menken wrote for Aladdin and made it into the film are “Arabian Nights”, performed by Bruce Adler as the peddler, and “Friend Like Me” and “Prince Ali” performed by Robin Williams as the Genie. “Arabian Nights” is a good song to set the scene of the film. The song was extended and, for me, much improved as the opening song of the Aladdin musical, where it is performed by the Genie, but it’s ok here.

The two show-stopping numbers “Friend Like Me” and “Prince Ali” are fan-favourite songs from Aladdin, though I believe it is Robin Williams’ performance that actually makes these songs so popular with viewers! He has a lot of fun with his comedic impressions here. Of the two, I prefer “Prince Ali” but that’s probably because “Friend Like Me” is always being used by Disney in compilation albums and theme park shows so I think I’ve overheard it!

Tim Rice came in and wrote the lyrics for the songs “One Jump Ahead” and its reprise, “Prince Ali (Reprise)”, and “A Whole New World”. “One Jump Ahead” is performed by Brad Kane, singing as Aladdin instead of voice actor Scott Weinger. Kane continued to provide the singing voice for Aladdin in the two Aladdin sequels that followed the 1992 film. Though “One Jump Ahead” has some funny moments as Aladdin is running from the guards in the marketplace, such as his random and contrasting interactions with the women in the area, it’s not the best song for me. I do quite like the reprise though, as Aladdin wishes people wouldn’t just seem hims as a “street rat”. It’s a quiet, reflective song, which brings us closer to Aladdin as we find out just what he’s looking for in life.

“A Whole New World” is the big love ballad of Aladdin, performed by Brad Kane as Aladdin, and Lea Salonga as Jasmine, not Linda Larkin, her voice actor. Lea Salonga originated the role of Kim in the debut production of Miss Saigon in London in 1989, for which she won the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical. Salonga then went on to star as Kim in the Broadway production of the show in 1991. She also returned to Disney to sing for the character of Mulan in their 1998 film. I like the song in the movie, however, this is the only version I like. Many singers and celebrities have since sung this song, with some being better than others. Again, this has led to me “overhearing” the song and not liking it so much anymore. Singers Peabo Bryson and Regina Belle recorded a pop version of the song for Aladdin’s end credits. This version topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in March 1993 for one week, replacing Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”, and was the first song from a Disney animated film to top the US Billboard Hot 100.

“Prince Ali (Reprise)” is my favourite song in the soundtrack as it is Jafar’s villain’s song, performed by Jonathan Freeman. It shows Jafar using his power to destroy all of Aladdin’s dreams and he begins to go mad with power. It’s a short song, just over a minute, but it fully demonstrates just what lengths Jafar is willing to go to to get what he wants.

For Menken’s score, “Happy End in Agrabah” is a highlight for me, and is another one of Menken’s brilliant finale pieces. It moves you through so many emotions: triumph that Jafar has been bested; sadness that Aladdin and Jasmine can’t be together; happiness that Aladdin finally freed the Genie; and then more happiness when the Sultan allows Aladdin and Jasmine to marry. It’s a real rollercoaster and all in about four minutes!

The Aladdin soundtrack won numerous awards, including Best Original Score and Best Original Song for “A Whole New World” at the Academy Awards, where “Friend Like Me” was also nominated, and then two Golden Globes in the same categories. “Friend Like Me” and “Prince Ali” were also nominated for Best Original Song at the Golden Globes that year. “A Whole New World” won three Grammy Awards: one for Song of the Year, making it the first and only Disney song to win in this category so far; Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals; and Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television. The soundtrack also won two Grammy Awards: Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media and Best Musical Album for Children.

RECEPTION

Aladdin did incredibly well on its release in November 1992, partly thanks to a good promotional campaign. After eight weeks, Aladdin became the most successful animated Disney film at the US box office, overtaking Beauty and the Beast. The Lion King (1994) would overtake Aladdin on its release two years later though. Worldwide, Aladdin grossed over $500 million and was the most successful film of 1992. Aladdin also won the Annie Award for Best Animated Feature, and Best Fantasy Film at the Saturn Awards. Scott Weinger and Robin Williams also won awards at the Saturn Awards for their performances as Aladdin and Genie. Robin Williams received the award for Best Comedic Performance at the MTV Movie Awards.

Though many reviews were positive, some were mixed, especially when comparing Aladdin to Disney’s previous two releases. Despite the soundtrack’s huge success, some did not find the music as good as the two previous films, and I would have to agree with this. Others said that the story was exciting, but that the Genie was really the highlight of the film. Many reviewers also criticised Disney’s Aladdin for their perpetuation of Middle Eastern and Asian stereotypes. This was further highlighted by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, who said that Aladdin and Jasmine have Anglicised features, basically “whitewashing” them, whereas the villains of the piece, like Jafar and the street merchants have hugely exaggerated “Arabic” features. The merchants are the only characters to have Arabic accents, whereas the main characters all have American accents. None of the voice actors were from the Middle East either. Disney defended their choices as it was rare for a film to feature an Arab hero and heroine, and to tell an Arabic story[7].

Another big problem was with one of the lyrics in “Arabian Nights”, which Disney did agree to alter after its initial theatrical release, for the 1993 video release: “Where they cut off your ear if they don’t like your face/it’s barbaric, but hey, it’s home.”[8] I have never heard this lyric but it is truly awful and has no business being in any film, especially as it was meant for comedic effect. Disney did change it, admitting their mistake.

Because of the harmful depictions that appeared in the 1992 animated version of Aladdin, it was all the more important that these issues were highlighted and resolved for the 2019 live-action remake of the film, which was directed by Guy Ritchie, and starred Will Smith as the Genie. Although some casting choices were not considered “perfect”, such as Naomi Scott, who is a British Indian actress and not of Middle Eastern heritage, being chosen for the part of Jasmine, and a story breaking that white extras were being given make-up to change their skin tones, the diversity of the casting was much better than that of the 1992 film, with Egyptian-Canadian actor Mena Massoud taking up the main role. The Aladdin story as a whole is seen to be rooted in racism, given its unknown beginnings, and the difficult global political arena did not help the release of the 2019 film. Because of Aladdin’s standings as a quintessential Disney Renaissance Era movie, Aladdin (2019) did do very well at the box-office, though the film received mixed reviews, which is unsurprising due to the controversy surrounding the whole story. Many did like the greater characters arcs that were written for the characters of Jasmine and Genie in this film though[9].

I do think Disney are trying to be more progressive these days, though it can be difficult to be as forward-thinking when they have a mix of audiences, and a reputation for “wholesome family entertainment”. It’s not easy to please everyone, and it’s impossible to make a film that matches everyone’s views.

However, there was another controversy around the release of the original 1992 film, this time around the Genie. Supposedly, Robin Williams, after filming Spielberg’s Hook (1991) was tired and did not want to be the Genie in Aladdin, but as Jeffrey Katzenberg had asked him to take the role, and Katzenberg had cast Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society (1989), Williams felt he “owed” him. The part of the Genie was written specifically for him, with Clements and Musker desperately wanting him in the film. Williams also had some previous dealings with Disney Animation having been cast in Back to Neverland (1989), a featurette made for The Magic of Disney Animation pavilion at Disney-MGM Studios. As a tribute to this featurette, the yellow Hawaiian shirt that the Genie wears at the end of Aladdin is the same one that Robin Williams wore in that featurette.

After some persuasion, Robin Williams agreed to voice the Genie – but with some conditions. One of these was that neither Williams nor the Genie, who at the time was only a small supporting role in the film, could be used on any promotional materials for the film, so as not to conflict with Robin Williams other film of 1992, the live-action film Toys, which was being directed by Barry Levinson. Levinson had directed Williams in Good Morning, Vietnam (1987) and had spent fifteen years trying to make Toys, so Williams knew how important it was to him. Katzenberg agreed to Williams’ condition.

When the Genie turned out to be a big hit with test audiences, this condition was re-negotiated and Williams allowed for Genie to take up around 25% of promotional materials, but could not present the character as the “star of the film”. This turned out not to be the case and Williams was furious, demanding that posters showing solely the Genie be removed. Some were removed, around 300 in total from the Los Angeles area, but others remained across the country.

Toys did not do well at the box-office that year when it was released in December 1992, and Robin Williams partially blamed Disney for this, having heavily promoted him as the star role in Aladdin. Robin Williams was quite vocal in his distrust of the Walt Disney Company after the release of Aladdin, and despite Katzenberg trying to make amends, Williams stated that he would never work for Disney again, refusing to read any scripts sent.

Robin Williams was true to his word and did not return to voice Genie in the first direct-to-video sequel for Aladdin, the 1994 film The Return of Jafar. Instead, Dan Castellaneta, voice of Homer Simpson in The Simpsons franchise, came on to voice the Genie, and continued to voice the Genie in the subsequent animated television series, Aladdin: The Series (1994-95), despite many of the original voice actors returning.

In October 1994, Jeffrey Katzenberg left Disney and went to DreamWorks. He was replaced with Joe Roth, who had been in charge of film production at 20^th Century Fox. Roth had green-lit Robin Williams’ film Mrs. Doubtfire (1993). In 1996, to try to convince Robin Williams to take the role in the Disney-linked comedy Jack (1996), which I actually really like, Joe Roth apologised to Williams in a press conference, and then offered a public apology. Robin Williams agreed to star in Jack, and then agreed to voice the Genie again in the second direct-to-video sequel, Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996). Williams continued to appear in movies for Disney after that, including Good Will Hunting (1997), produced for subsidiary Miramax Pictures, for which he won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. This only went on until 2000, when Joe Roth left the company and another controversy, this time around the film The Bicentennial Man (1999), arose[10].

LEGACY

Alongside the direct-to-video sequels, the animated television series, and the 2019 live-action remake, Aladdin also became a Broadway musical. The stage musical premiered in July 2011 in Seattle, and was tested in other US cities, before making its Broadway debut in February 2014 at the New Amsterdam Theatre. Some changes were made, such as adding in the characters of Babkak, Omar, and Kassim, Aladdin’s friends who were originally meant to be in the 1992 film but were replaced with Abu, and Iago is a human, not a parrot. Rajah was also replaced with human handmaidens, Jasmine’s friends. Other changes to the plot and characters were also made. Additional music was of course written for the musical, but other deleted songs by Ashman and Menken were re-introduced in the musical. These included the songs “Babkak, Omar, Aladdin, Kassim”, a very fun song, “High Adventure” and “Proud of Your Boy”. Since its 2014 Broadway debut, the musical Aladdin has been staged all over the world, in countries such as the UK, Japan and Germany.

Aladdin was the first animated movie to gross over $200 million in the US and Canada, and it led to a lot of synergy in the Disney theme parks, with the parades and eventual attractions that would come from the film. To promote the film, a short parade named Aladdin’s Royal Caravan debuted at Disney-MGM Studios in 1992 and ran until 1995, consisting of dancers, characters from the movie, and even a 32-foot-tall Genie float. It was then replaced with a parade for Toy Story (1995). These parades were quite standard for Disney theme parks, especially in the US in the 1990s, in order to market upcoming movies, and were normally very similar park-to-park. Aladdin’s Royal Caravan debuted at Disneyland in 1993 and ran until 1994 when it was replaced with a new promotional parade for The Lion King (1994). Disneyland Paris seemed to run Aladdin’s Royal Caravan as well, debuting around 1993, but when it ended is unclear.

Going park-to-park, because there are quite a few Aladdin references at the Disney theme parks, let’s start with Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. At the Magic Kingdom, in the Adventureland area, there is a ride called The Magic Carpets of Aladdin, which opened in 2001. It is a similar concept to the Dumbo ride, whereby guests sit in magic carpets and can control how high or low they go. One difference at The Magic Carpets of Aladdin is that guests sat in the back row, as the carpets can sit four people, can tip the carpet back and forth, whereas only those in the front row control the height. Also at Adventureland, there is a permanent meet-and-greet location for Aladdin and Jasmine near their ride. Also at Magic Kingdom, as part of the Mickey’s PhilarMagic 3D show, there is a scene showing Aladdin and Jasmine singing “A Whole New World”. At Epcot, you can meet Jasmine at the Morocco pavilion in World Showcase, and at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Jafar and Aladdin both feature in the nighttime show Fantasmic! A now-closed attraction that referenced Aladdin at Walt Disney World was DisneyQuest, which began with invisible host Genie taking guests into the building via the magical elevator. Inside were five levels of interactive games, with one of these being the virtual reality game Aladdin’s Magic Carpet Ride. I remember trying this once but I was terrible at it! At Magic Kingdom, between 1998 and 2011, The Enchanted Tiki Room – Under New Management show ran, which was hosted by Zazu from The Lion King and Iago from Aladdin. A fire in 2011 caused the show to be closed and has now been replaced with Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room.

At Disneyland, there are two figures of Aladdin and Jasmine that appear in the it’s a small world attraction, and Agrabah and the Cave of Wonders feature as miniature lands on the Storybook Land Canal Boats and are also visible from the Casey Jr. Circus Train route. During Disneyland’s version of Fantasmic!, Aladdin and Jasmine sing “A Whole New World” whilst on a mechanical carpet, as locations from around the globe appear on water behind them. Also, from 2003 until 2016, Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular ran at the Hyperion Theater in Disney’s California Adventure. This was replaced by Frozen – Live at the Hyperion, however a version of this Aladdin show still exists on the Disney Cruise Line. Let’s also not forget that the two US parks’ Fastpass service is named after Genie.

At Disneyland Paris, there is a walkthrough attraction showing miniature scenes from the movie called Le Passage Enchanté d’Aladdin. There is also a buffet-style restaurant named Restaurant Agrabah Café in Adventureland. The Magic Carpets of Aladdin ride also exists here but under the name Les Tapis Volants, opening in 2002, as does the Mickey’s PhilarMagic show and scene. Paris’ version of the Storybook Land Canal Boats, Le Pays des Contes de Fées, takes guests through the open mouth of the Cave of Wonders and into the cave. The character of Genie appears in the Mickey and the Magician stage show.

At Shanghai Disneyland, guests go past an impressive fountain display of Aladdin, Abu, and Genie, the scene representing Aladdin in the Voyage to the Crystal Grotto boat ride. At Hong Kong Disneyland, characters from Aladdin appear in the Mickey and the Wondrous Book show, and the figures for Aladdin and Jasmine are in their it’s a small world attraction. The scene in Mickey’s PhilarMagic also exist here. At the permanent meet-and-greet location, Meet Disney Friends at Karibuni Marketplace, you may get to meet Jasmine and Genie, though they may not always be present there.

At Tokyo Disneyland, there is an Aladdin section in their nighttime parade, Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade: Dreamlights. This is basically an updated version of the much-loved Main Street Electrical Parade. There is also a whole area of Tokyo DisneySea dedicated to Aladdin and other stories from the Arabian Nights: the Arabian Coast area. This area includes the rides Jasmine’s Flying Carpets and the Caravan Carousel, as well as restaurants and shops themed to Aladdin, such as Sultan’s Oasis and Abu’s Bazaar. There is also a 3D magic show which involves the Genie at The Magic Lamp Theater.

Though some Disney Parks have dedicated Aladdin character meet-and-greet locations, others do not, however, many Aladdin characters have been spotted in recent years. For example, at Tokyo Disneyland, it seems Jasmine and Aladdin are most likely to be seen either at the Arabian Coast or in Fantasyland. At Hong Kong Disneyland, Jasmine and Jafar have been the most recently spotted characters, and at Shanghai Disneyland, it is possible that Jasmine will meet guests around the castle along with the other princesses. At Disneyland Paris, all five characters – Jafar, Aladdin, Jasmine, Abu, and Genie – have been seen before, and at Disneyland, Genie, Aladdin, and Jasmine were all seen together in 2023, and Jafar was a part of the Oogie Boogie Bash Halloween event and featured in the Frightfully Fun Parade. At Walt Disney World, Jafar is a regular in the Boo-to-You Halloween parade, and Genie and Abu have been seen at Special Events, alongside the permanent Aladdin and Jasmine meet-and-greets. Jafar is most likely to be at any park around Halloween, and Jasmine may be present at any Disney Princess character restaurants.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Though Aladdin wasn’t reviewed as well as Beauty and the Beast, it did still do very well. Some critics claimed that the film did well because of the Genie, and that he was the only character who was memorable; I would debate that. Despite the struggle in the initial production, Aladdin continues to be one of the most remembered animated Disney films for its exciting story and compelling characters, all of which have merit and are routinely highlighted at the Disney theme parks and within merchandising.

Aladdin is just as popular as ever with both children and adults today. It is still one of my favourites that I will always go back to and rewatch without tiring of.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Disney, Diamond in the Rough: The Making of Aladdin (2004).

[2] Credit: Olivia B. Waxman, ‘Was Aladdin Based on a Real Person? Here’s Why Scholars Are Starting to Think So’, Time (online), 23^rd May 2019.

[3] Credit: Caryn Robbins, ‘From Fable to Stage to Film – A Magic Carpet Ride Through the History of ALADDIN’, BroadwayWorld.com, 26^th August 2017.

[4] Credit: Disney, The Making of Aladdin: A Whole New World (1992).

[5] Credit: Josh Spiegel, ‘1992’s ‘Aladdin’ Barely Got Made – And It Only Proved How Unstoppable Disney Animation Had Become’, SlashFilm.com, 16^th July 2019.

[6] Credit: Jim Fanning, The Disney Book: A Celebration of the World of Disney (2016), ‘A Whole New World’, pp. 82-83.

[7] Credit: Sophia Smith Galer, ‘The Aladdin controversy Disney can’t escape’, BBC News (online), 14^th July 2017.

[8] Credit: Josh Spiegel, ‘1992’s ‘Aladdin’ Barely Got Made – And It Only Proved How Unstoppable Disney Animation Had Become’, SlashFilm.com, 16^th July 2019.

[9] Credit: Aja Romano, ‘The fraught cultural politics of Disney’s new Aladdin remake’, Vox.com, 28^th May 2019.

[10] Credit: Jim Korkis, The Vault of Walt 10: Final Edition (2021), ‘Robin Williams at Disney’, pp. 83-99.

5th Jan 202427th Jun 2024 by The Disney Purist

#34 The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)

BACKGROUND

Probably the most forgotten and most under-appreciated animated musical film to be released within the Disney Renaissance Era is The Hunchback of Notre Dame, released in 1996, towards the end of this era when the hype of The Lion King (1994) had failed to materialise for any other animated release to come afterwards.

In the 2020s, thanks to the release of most of Disney’s film catalogue on Disney+, many Disney fans are now finding or re-discovering some of those movies from their childhood, with The Hunchback of Notre Dame being one of those that is now discussed more than it ever used to be. Today, it’s everyone’s long-lost favourite, which is fair enough, but I am one of those few people that has loved this film for years, and never had anyone to talk about it with for a very long time, as none of my school friends had seen it since they were little and had no desire to watch it ever again. Although whilst at university, I somehow managed to convince my friendship groups to watch The Hunchback of Notre Dame, sometimes its sequel as well, though what they thought of it, I am not sure.

I’m a huge fan of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I have watched this film over a hundred times in my life; I can practically recite it. I’m sure many people are thinking “that must be an over-exaggeration”, but I have confirmed with family and friends that this is actually true, though I have no idea of the exact number of times I’ve watched it. I remember I was probably eight years old when I started to obsessively watch our VHS tape; my sister would be at some after-school club, so I would just sit and watch this film. This may have had something to do with having seen The Hunchback of Notre Dame show at Disney-MGM Studios, but I can’t remember exactly why I chose this film out of all others. Granted, I haven’t liked the movie since its release date, but give me a break, I was only three years old then. It wasn’t too long afterwards though. I don’t know how long I did this for, but it was a weekly thing for quite a while. I also have made sure that I watch it every year on 6^th January, “Topsy Turvy Day”, ever since then. I have never pretended to be “too cool” for Disney, despite the teasing from some people I’ve met, and I have made no secret of my love for this film, my favourite film of all time, not just my favourite Disney film.

PLOT

But enough about me. Let’s get to the film. The Hunchback of Notre Dame begins with a dark screen, where only the sound of choristers and bells can be heard. Suddenly, the bells chime louder and we move into the clouds, seeing the upper portion of Notre-Dame Cathedral, before descending through the clouds and down to the streets of Paris. In one of the city’s squares, Clopin, a jester and puppeteer, tells a group of children all about the mysterious bellringer of Notre-Dame. But don’t get too attached to this scene, because we never come back it. Instead, Clopin takes us back in time to see Quasimodo’s mother and two Romani men trying to escape from Paris. Quasimodo’s mother has her baby in her arms, when Judge Claude Frollo, a well-known enemy of the Romani people, halts their journey and arrests them. He orders that the baby be forcibly taken, falsely believing it to be a bundle of stolen goods, but the mother runs. She finally ends up outside Notre-Dame Cathedral, but despite claiming “sanctuary”, is unable to enter, and Frollo catches up with her, pulling the baby from her arms and pushing her down the cathedral steps, killing her instantly. Frollo sees that the “stolen goods” are in fact a baby, but a deformed one and goes to throw him down the well. He is stopped by the Archdeacon, who tells Frollo that the “eyes of Notre-Dame” have witnessed these events and that Frollo, a holy man, has sinned in his actions that evening. Frollo asks the Archdeacon how he can repent. He is told to care for and raise the child as his own. Frollo agrees, believing the child may be useful to him at a later date, and asks that the child reside in the bell tower of Notre-Dame Cathedral. We then reunite with Clopin who speaks directly to us, saying that as we watch the story unfold, we should consider this question: who is the monster, and who is the man?

Back in “present day”, I guess, Quasimodo is now 20 years old and has been the bellringer for the cathedral all his life, living in the bell tower. Quasimodo is a very sensitive, caring person, who encourages a small bird who has been nesting in a gargoyle’s mouth to fly and join his flock, because he doesn’t want to see anyone or anything cooped up in the cathedral like he has been. Although alone in the bell tower, Quasimodo has three “friends”, gargoyles named Hugo, Victor, and Laverne; they come to life occasionally to speak to Quasi and give him advice. On this particular day, they try to convince him to go and see the city’s festival, the Festival of Fools, in person for the first time, rather than just watching from above with them like he normally does. Quasi is scared that everyone will think he is a monster because of his unusual appearance, this being something that his master, Frollo, has convinced him of. Eventually, Quasi believes he can do it, until Frollo arrives, to deliver his next lesson and some food. Quasimodo lets slip that he is planning to go to the festival today, at which point, Frollo is horrified, telling Quasimodo that he is his only friend and confidante, the only one who can stand to look at him. Quasimodo apologises, but still wishes that just for one day he could be like everyone else, and decides he’ll go anyway.

In the city, a man, Phoebus, arrives in Paris. He sees a beautiful young woman dancing in the streets for coins with her goat. He is curious and interested in her, but soon sees two guards come over to the woman, accusing her of stealing. She manages to get away, in part thanks to Phoebus who blocks the guards’ way with his horse, Achilles. The guards quickly realise Phoebus is the new Captain of the Guard and take him to the Palace of Justice to meet with Frollo. Frollo tells Phoebus, who was summoned from the war for this position, that his job is going to involve helping to eradicate the Romani people and other “undesirables” from Paris, this being Frollo’s ultimate goal. Phoebus does not agree with this plan, but their conversation is halted by the start of the Feast of Fools, something Frollo must attend, though he hates having to mix with the commoners of Paris.

At the festival, Quasimodo has indeed attended, albeit wearing a large cape to disguise himself. The festival is full of colour, dancing, and singing, with a huge crowd, but Quasimodo is careful to make sure Frollo does not see him, and that nobody else is terrified by his “monstrous appearance”. Unfortunately, Quasi stumbles into a tent, which turns out to be that young woman, Esmeralda’s dressing room, and he walks in on her. She is surprised, but concerned for Quasi’s welfare, checking he is ok. As she tells him to be a little bit more careful, she tells him “great mask”. Quasi, not understanding this comment but thinking it to be a compliment, is thrilled; he thinks Esmeralda is wonderful. Later in the festivities, Esmeralda dances for the crowd, even going so far as to sit on Frollo’s lap, to mock him as she knows his stance on her and her people. Then, the competition to crown the King of Fools begins, where the winner is the ugliest person in Paris. Men wearing masks are pulled up on stage and reveal their true faces one-by-one. They just aren’t ugly enough, but then Esmeralda pulls Quasimodo up on stage and tries to pull his mask off – except it isn’t a mask at all. The crowd are horrified, but Clopin informs the crowd they shouldn’t panic as they were looking for the ugliest face in all of Paris and here he is! Quasimodo is crowned the King of Fools and paraded through the streets, in front of his new adoring fans.

This all looks to be going well, however, for one thing, Frollo has now noticed that Quasimodo disobeyed his orders by coming here, and secondly, guards start to pelt Quasimodo with tomatoes, leading to the crowd joining in, and throwing ropes over him, like he’s some kind of animal, tying him to the breaking wheel, a medieval torture device. They spin it madly, whilst eggs and more fruit are thrown in his face. Phoebus asks Frollo to give him permission to stop it, but Frollo tells Phoebus “a lesson needs to be learnt here”. Luckily, Esmeralda isn’t afraid to take a stand and simply walks up to the platform and over to Quasimodo. She wipes his face gently and apologises for the crowd’s behaviour. Frollo orders Esmeralda to get down but she refuses, telling him he shouldn’t allow people to be treated this way and throws Quasimodo’s crown at him, telling him he’s the only fool around here. Naturally, Frollo orders his guards to arrest her, but Esmeralda is too quick and smart for that and manages to outrun them, disappearing without a trace. Frollo assumes she must be a witch, giving him even more reason to track her down. Frollo then watches with disdain as Quasimodo makes his way back to the cathedral, clearly humiliated and saddened.

Esmeralda makes her way to the cathedral as well with her goat, Djali. Phoebus follows her inside, thinking her disguise of an old beggar is suspicious. He doesn’t intend to harm her or hand her over; he just likes her. The two flirt a bit and engage in hand-to-hand combat, because the two can totally co-exist, right? Phoebus asks Esmeralda for her name, and Phoebus tells her his to show he is not a threat. Frollo then enters the cathedral and tells Phoebus to arrest her. Esmeralda thinks this was all a trick, but Phoebus tells Frollo she claimed sanctuary and he can do nothing. Just as Frollo is about to drag Esmeralda outside so they can arrest her, the Archdeacon arrives and escorts Frollo, Phoebus and the guards out – except Frollo has hidden behind a pillar, and holds Esmeralda’s arm behind her back, so he can warn her that he will win, no matter how long he has to wait. He then strangely sniffs her hair, which Esmeralda rightly interprets as perversion and pushes him off her. Frollo tells her she is a witch, twisting everything to be seen as unholy. He then leaves.

A guard is posted at every door of the cathedral so Esmeralda is trapped inside. The Archdeacon tells Esmeralda that she “cannot right all the wrongs of this world by herself”. She laments how badly minorities are treated by others, her people included, despite everyone being human and more similar than different. Quasimodo comes down to see her, as he is appreciative of her actions that afternoon, but he is soon spotted by others and runs away in fear. Esmeralda follows him to the bell tower, and sees his crafted miniature version of Paris and its residents, who he has spent his whole life watching. Esmeralda is amazed by his talents and tells him he is a surprising person. Quasimodo shows Esmeralda all the bells and takes her to the roof to see an impressive view of Paris. The two bond over how they have been misunderstood by others; Quasimodo as a monster and Esmeralda as an evil witch. Quasimodo sees how scared and alone Esmeralda is, being trapped in the cathedral and offers to help her, by climbing down the side of it to the streets. After a few missteps that scare Djali the goat half to death, they make it down. Esmeralda gives Quasimodo a map that will lead him to sanctuary if he ever wants to leave the cathedral, but he is unsure by the outside world after the day he’s had so returns to his home.

Once back in the bell tower, Quasimodo is surprised to find Phoebus there. Phoebus asks Quasimodo where Esmeralda is. He believes Phoebus wants to arrest her and tells Phoebus, quite aggressively, to leave. He does so, and is pleased to see that Esmeralda has a friend like Quasimodo, willing to protect her at any cost. The gargoyles tell Quasimodo that Esmeralda must like him, but Quasi shuts them down, never believing he will ever find love, although he holds out a small bit of hope as she did kiss him. Over the other side of the city, at the Palace of Justice, Frollo is struggling with his conscience as he has also fallen for Esmeralda, but he despises this feeling, believing it to be unholy and that this must have been brought on by her witchcraft. He plans to either marry her or have her killed, so either way he will win. The next day, Frollo tells Phoebus and the guards that their only objective for the day is to find Esmeralda, whatever it takes. He tries to bribe and torment other Romani people in to giving away her whereabouts but they all stand firm. Soon, they arrive at the mill where Frollo interrogates the miller and his family, as he found a talisman on the property. The miller says he knows nothing about it, but he is placed under house arrest and are trapped inside. Frollo then orders Phoebus to burn the house down. Phoebus refuses, so Frollo does it himself, setting fire to the windmill first, which then spreads quickly to the house. Phoebus is horrified and rescues the family. This makes him an enemy of Frollo and he is ordered to be beheaded. Esmeralda has witnessed all of this in disguise and tosses a stone at Frollo’s horse, so that it bucks and throws Frollo off, distracting the other guards. Phoebus jumps onto Frollo’s horse and tries to ride away but he is shot by archers and tumbles into the river. Esmeralda rescues Phoebus and takes him away to get help.

Later that day, Frollo still has not found Esmeralda and has set most of Paris on fire trying to find. He figures that Quasimodo must have helped her out of the cathedral that day. In the cathedral, Quasimodo is scared for Esmeralda’s safety, but the gargoyles tell him that she’ll be back, because she likes him, and that she is too smart to have been caught. Sure enough, Esmeralda arrives at the cathedral and asks Quasimodo to hide Phoebus. This isn’t exactly what he expected but he agrees anyway. Esmeralda stitches Phoebus’ wound up, which was dangerously close to piercing his heart. Phoebus tells her he’s not so sure it didn’t and they kiss, right in front of Quasimodo who is devastated. Djali bleats to warn them all that Frollo is coming. Quasimodo tells Esmeralda to leave and he hides Phoebus under a table. As Frollo arrives, he questions Quasimodo about Esmeralda and tells him he knows he helped her escape. Frollo destroys Quasi’s miniature city and burns his new Esmeralda figure, informing Quasimodo that he knows where Esmeralda’s hideout is and that tomorrow at dawn, he’ll attack with a thousand men.

Phoebus tells Quasimodo they have to find the Court of Miracles first, before Frollo does. Quasi believes it’s too late and does not want to disobey Frollo again. Phoebus goes alone. After some thought, Quasimodo decides he must help and catches up to Phoebus. He shows Phoebus the necklace Esmeralda gave him that will apparently lead them to her. After some arguing, they decide it is a map and follow it to a graveyard. Quasi moves a stone off one area which reveals some steps, leading to the old catacombs. They walk through the ankle-deep water, before being ambushed by the Romani people, who think they are spies for Frollo and sentence them to be hanged. Esmeralda tells them to stop, that these two are actually their friends. Phoebus warns everyone that they must leave because Frollo is coming. However, it turns out Frollo was bluffing and followed Quasimodo to the Court of Miracles; he’s here with his thousand men, who imprison all the Romani. Frollo announces that there will be a bonfire in the square tomorrow and that they are all invited to attend. Quasimodo is chained up in the bell tower.

In the square, Esmeralda has been tied to a stake, with firewood around her feet. Frollo recounts Esmeralda’s crimes and gives her a chance to recant, telling her to choose him or the fire. Esmeralda spits in Frollo’s face, which gives Frollo all the answers he needs; he sets the wood alight. Quasimodo again thinks he cannot help, telling the gargoyles to leave him alone, but as soon as he sees the fire, he is so angry that he breaks the pillars he is chained to and swings down to the platform. He rescues Esmeralda and carries her up the cathedral, proclaiming “sanctuary” to ensure her safety. Frollo orders a siege on Notre-Dame. Him and his guards try to break the door down with a plank of wood. Meanwhile, Phoebus frees himself from his cage and rallies the crowd to take back their city from the tyranny of Frollo. A mob begins to attack the soldiers, and Quasimodo and the gargoyles attack from above, with birds, a poorly used catapult and, finally, a cauldron of molten lead, poured onto the streets. This deters Frollo’s guards, but not Frollo who manages to enter the cathedral. He throws the Archdeacon down a flight of stairs, tells him not to interfere, and runs up to the bell tower.

Quasimodo tells Esmeralda she is safe now, but she doesn’t stir. Quasimodo believes she is dead and cries over her body. Frollo arrives and tells Quasimodo it was his duty to kill her. Frollo then attempts to stab Quasimodo but Quasi sees Frollo’s shadow and turns on him, throwing Frollo against the wall and taking the dagger. He tells Frollo what he was taught was wrong, that the world isn’t dark and cruel; it’s only people like him who are. Esmeralda then wakes up, at which point Frollo pulls out a sword to finish them both. Quasimodo grabs Esmeralda and tries to hide by dangling from the cathedral, but Frollo spots them and chases them down one side of the cathedral, slashing at the stone gargoyles they are swinging on them. Quasimodo then throws Esmeralda to the safety and faces Frollo atop a gargoyle. Frollo says that Quasimodo is willing to die for a Romani, just as Quasimodo’s mother did for him, revealing that Quasi was not abandoned and was not saved by Frollo. Frollo pulls his cape over Quasi and tries to throw him off the cathedral, doing “what he should have done twenty years ago”, but Quasimodo grabs on to the side of the cathedral, and Frollo is pulled down with him, clinging on to the cape. Quasimodo can’t bear to let the cape drop, which would drop Frollo with it, and he passes out from exhaustion. Frollo swings and clambers onto a gargoyle, holding his sword aloft. He proclaims to Esmeralda that “He will smite the wicked, and plunge them into the fiery pit”, at which point the gargoyle Frollo is standing on begins to crumble; it comes alive briefly as Frollo holds on to it, seeming to be an act of God, doing exactly what Frollo said.

Esmeralda is unable to hold onto Quasimodo for long, and he falls down the cathedral. Thankfully, Phoebus is below and manages to catch Quasimodo and pull him to safety. Esmeralda runs down to meet them. The three celebrate their victory, and Quasimodo accepts Esmeralda and Phoebus’ love for each other, joining their hands together in a very touching moment. The next morning, Paris is strangely clean and free of the previous night’s debris, and a huge crowd is waiting. Phoebus and Esmeralda come out of Notre-Dame together, but Quasimodo is reluctant to join them. Esmeralda offers her hand and coaxes him outside, where Phoebus and Esmeralda stand with him, showing he is not a monster but a hero to all of them. The crowd are unsure, until a little girl walks up to Quasimodo. She is uncertain but touches his face, to show he is no monster. Clopin also returns at this point, now asking the viewer “what makes a monster, and what makes a man?”, showing that Frollo was in fact the monster, not Quasimodo. The film ends with the crowd rejoicing and warmly accepting Quasimodo, carrying him away on their shoulders.

There is a very brief post-credits scene which shows Hugo the gargoyle waving to the camera and saying “goodnight, everybody”. I didn’t know about it before this week, but it wasn’t really worth waiting for when watching it on DVD, let alone if you’d seen it in a cinema, but it is apparently the first Disney animated film to have a post-credits scene.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Quasimodo is the main protagonist of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He is brought up to believe that nobody in the outside world will ever accept him because of his appearance, that Frollo saved him after his mother abandoned him as a baby, and that Frollo is the only person he can trust. This is emotional abuse that Frollo has inflicted on Quasimodo for twenty years, giving him a distorted view of the world and of society in general. Sadly, his only friends at this point are Victor, Hugo, and Laverne, the gargoyles, who try to advise him and encourage him to not just sit inside as Frollo orders him to. Though Quasimodo is loyal to Frollo, the gargoyles do not share this loyalty and are aware of Frollo’s cruelty and evil soul. When Quasimodo does go outside for the first time, to the Festival of Fools, it’s quite a rollercoaster of emotions for him, because he falls in love with Esmeralda first, is revealed to be “ugly” in front of the crowd, which is embarrassing, but then seems to be accepted by them, only for that to all fall apart because of a couple of sadistic guards. This only cements the lies that Frollo has told him, that the majority of people could never like him and he will never belong in the real world. Thanks to Esmeralda’s kindness, he learns that actually, maybe Frollo was wrong about him and the world. He is incredibly brave to stand up to the man who raised him, and it was all worth it in the end because it turns out that Quasimodo was right; Frollo had been lying to him.

Quasimodo is a sensitive, caring person, who wants nothing more than to help people and be accepted as a person. He is even kind to those who don’t deserve it. Finding an actor who could meet these requirements with their voice was a necessity. Meat Loaf auditioned for the role and was apparently very good, but contractually, this didn’t line up. Mandy Patinkin, who played Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride (1987) and starred as Che in the original Broadway production of Evita in 1979, also auditioned for the role, but this time, his portrayal of the character differed from what the directors wanted. Tom Hulce then auditioned for Quasimodo, despite Disney originally wanting him to have an older-sounding voice, with a speech impediment, similar to how Quasimodo had been portrayed in previous live-action film adaptations. However, they agreed on Hulce’s young-sounding voice, since Quasimodo in this film and in Victor Hugo’s novel is only twenty years old. They also felt that Hulce brought in the much-needed emotion and heart to the character[1]. Tom Hulce had been nominated for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Actor for his portrayal of Mozart in the 1984 film Amadeus. Sadly, he lost out to his co-star F. Murray Abraham on both occasions, who himself felt that the awards should have been shared between him and Hulce. I watched Amadeus recently, because I wanted to see Hulce’s performance in the film; he was great and the film was very good. Hulce also appeared in the films Animal House (1978) and Parenthood (1989) before The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In recent years, Hulce has worked as a theatre producer, having produced, and won a Tony Award in 2007 for, the musical Spring Awakening, which starred Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff.

Esmeralda is the feisty and independent love interest of Phoebus, but also the object of desire for Quasimodo and Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. She is stunningly beautiful but also caring, not wanting there to be any more racism against her people or anyone else, wishing that everyone could be accepted in this world. Unfortunately, that is not the case for the majority of the film, and, although Frollo is the main antagonist of the Romani in this film, there is prejudice from the other Parisians. For example, when Esmeralda is dancing on the streets, a woman tells her daughter to be careful because “they’re gypsies, they’ll steal us blind”, which is a ridiculous thing to say, but it shows the open distain for the Romani people. Because of this, the Court of Miracles is a “sanctuary” for Esmeralda and her people, where they can live in peace, away from those who seek to destroy them, even though it basically means they spend a lot of time in hiding. Esmeralda’s strong opinions around peace and equality lead her to develop a strong bond with Quasimodo, because they are both “outcasts”. She stands up to Frollo on numerous occasions to show that she won’t be persuaded to do anything that is against her moral compass. Oh yeah, and let’s not forget her sidekick, Djali, a goat, who is sometimes even more opinionated than Esmeralda is!

Demi Moore was chosen as the voice of Esmeralda. Moore was an original member of the so-called “Brat Pack”, actors all in their early twenties who had appeared in coming-of-age films in the 1980s. In Moore’s case, this was the movie St. Elmo’s Fire (1985). She also appeared as Jackie Templeton in General Hospital from 1982 to 1984. In the 1990s, Demi Moore was well-known for her performances in Ghost (1990) and A Few Good Men (1992). She appears in the 2024 series Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans as American socialite Ann Woodward.

Phoebus is the charming Captain of the Guard, who always has a joke ready for every occasion. He gets attacked by pretty much every main character: Esmeralda, Quasimodo, Djali, Clopin, Frollo, and yet, he still has a smile on his face and a comeback line every time. He’s not the main hero of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, even though he might look like it, but he does get the girl at the end. It’s not very often in Disney films that the hero or main protagonist doesn’t end up with the girl at the end of the film, but The Hunchback of Notre Dame is one such case. Curse you, Phoebus! No, not really. I like Phoebus; he’s funny, despite the fact his character doesn’t have all that much purpose. Sure, he fights on the bad guy’s side and then goes against him at the end of it, but this film is really about Quasimodo, Esmeralda and Frollo, let’s be honest! Phoebus does have one claim to fame though: he was the first Disney hero to have facial hair[2].

Kevin Kline was cast as the voice actor for Phoebus. He had starred alongside Meryl Streep in the drama Sophie’s Choice (1982) and John Cleese and Jamie Lee Curtis in the comedy A Fish Called Wanda (1988), for which Kline won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Kevin Kline had also performed as The Pirate King in the opera The Pirates of Penzance (1980-81), for which he won a Tony Award, and in the subsequent 1983 film. After The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Kline went back to voice work to record the voice of Tulio in DreamWorks’ The Road to El Dorado (2000), and more recently has voiced Calvin Fischoeder in Bob’s Burgers (2011-present). Kline also appeared as Maurice, Belle’s father, in the live-action remake Beauty and the Beast (2017).

The gargoyles are the comic relief of the film, but are also there to encourage Quasimodo to be more than just a recluse and to live his life without fear. Originally, the three gargoyles were going to be called Chaney, Laughton, and Quinn, the surnames of three actors who had played Quasimodo in other film adaptations of the novel, of which there are many[3]. Since gargoyles adorn the whole of the outside of Notre-Dame Cathedral, it was decided that three of these would be good characters to include and that of course they should talk. Charles Kimbrough voices the strong and wise Victor, who is also prone to panicking at times. Kimbrough had a long-running role as Jim Dial in the sitcom Murphy Brown (1988-99, 2018) for which he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in 1990. He also appeared in The Wedding Planner (2001) and did some voice acting roles. Charles Kimbrough passed away in January 2023. The goofy, silly, frat boy gargoyle (as described by the directors) is Hugo and he is voiced by Jason Alexander. At the time, Alexander was best known for his role as George Costanza in Seinfeld (1989-98) for which he was nominated for seven consecutive Primetime Emmys and four Golden Globes. Outside of this, Alexander also appeared in the romantic comedies Pretty Woman (1990) and Shallow Hal (2001), and has done further voice work for both Disney and non-Disney projects. He has performed on stage in various productions and won a Tony Award for Best Actor in the musical Jerome Robbins’ Broadway (1989). The wise and tough Laverne is voiced by Mary Wickes in her final performance. Wickes appeared in the musical White Christmas (1954) as Emma Allen, the housekeeper of the inn, and The Music Man (1962) as Mrs. Squires. She was also Sister Mary Lazarus in Sister Act (1992) and its 1993 sequel, and was a live model for the character of Cruella de Vil. As Wickes died during production on the film, Jane Withers was brought in to finish Laverne’s final lines[4].

Now on to the final main character of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the evil Judge Claude Frollo. Supervising Animator Kathy Zielinski worked on the design for Frollo and she said she loved working on this super evil villain. In many lists ranking all of the Disney villains, Frollo frequently comes out on top. This is because Frollo is just a normal human, with no magical powers or access to sorcery. What he does have is status and power, and this film clearly shows just how dangerous that is in the wrong hands, and how it can be used to commit atrocious acts against humanity. Frollo makes Quasimodo believe that the world is cruel, when actually Frollo is one of the people that makes the world cruel. He has no sympathy for the orphaned, at Frollo’s own hand, Quasimodo, nor does he care about the Romani people, or any of the other citizens of Paris who are different to him. A very religious man, Frollo believes that it is his duty to God to rid the world of the people he deems to be unholy and unworthy. Frollo is a very dark character, and unlike many of the other villains of the Disney Renaissance Era, there is nothing remotely funny or silly about him. He is just pure evil – and that’s why people like him, oddly enough.

I’m in awe of his voice more than anything. It’s deep and smooth, charming one minute, terrifying the next, like all the best villain voices. It’s similar in a way to Jeremy Irons’ and Alan Rickman’s voices, which is why they also made great villains. Tony Jay voices Judge Claude Frollo. Jay appeared as the Narrator and as Professor Werner in the Arnold Schwarzenegger-Danny DeVito film Twins (1988) and was the Narrator in the second Austin Powers film… Jay also provided other voices for Disney including Monsieur D’Arque in Beauty and the Beast (1991), Dr. Rosenthal in Recess: School’s Out (2001), alongside James Woods, voice of Hades; the Narrator of Treasure Planet (2002); and Shere Khan in The Jungle Book 2 (2002), replacing George Saunders. He was also the voice of Dr. Lipschitz in the Rugrats franchise. Sadly, Tony Jay passed away in August 2006 at the age of 73. Just think what more he could’ve done for Disney….

On a final note, Clopin Trouillefou, the “leader” of the Romani, as well as being a brilliant puppeteer and jester, was voiced by Paul Kandel. Though Clopin is his most notable role, Kandel has also performed on Broadway numerous times, including playing King Herod in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar. David Ogden Stiers voiced the Archdeacon here. David Ogden Stiers had a long history with Disney, having voiced Cogsworth in Beauty and the Beast (1991); Governor Ratcliffe and Wiggins in Pocahontas (1995); and Dr. Jumba Jookiba in Lilo & Stitch (2002) amongst others. He also starred as Major Charles Emerson Winchester III in the series M*A*S*H from 1977 to 1983. He died in 2018.

PRODUCTION

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is based on the novel Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo. It was published in 1831 from a 200,000-word manuscript that was written in around six months. It was an instant success. In 1833 for the second English translation, the title was changed from Notre-Dame de Paris to The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It was written as a way of championing the Gothic architecture of the cathedral which was at the time being considered vulgar. The cathedral was also in a state of disrepair and there were even calls to demolish it. Hugo wanted to save the cathedral so that it could continue to be a symbol of Paris – and his plan worked! The cathedral was restored between 1844 and 1864, where many of the original Gothic elements were reinstated. In the novel, there are numerous lengthy descriptions of the cathedral’s architecture and design[5].

Whether you have read Victor Hugo’s original novel or not, it is clear that this was not the easiest of source material for Disney to adapt for a family-friendly animated feature. Disney were known for adapting well-known fairy tales or folklore and legends, not classic novels, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame is particularly grim.

In the novel, set in 1482, during the reign of Louis XI, Frollo is actually an Archdeacon, not a judge. Disney likely changed Frollo’s occupation so the religious aspect was not called in to question. In the novel, Frollo does not kill Quasimodo’s mother, nor does he name him that because it means “half-formed”. Though Frollo does use Quasimodo to his own advantage and is not particularly caring towards him, Frollo adopts the infant on Quasimodo Sunday, the first Sunday after Easter, hence the name, after his mother abandoned him. Frollo falls in love with Esmeralda and orders Quasimodo to kidnap her. Instead, Quasimodo is arrested and put in the stocks. Esmeralda is actually in love with Captain Phoebus, who is engaged to a beautiful woman from a rich family, but Esmeralda marries the poet Gringoire, who is not a character in the Disney film, after he wanders into the Court of Miracles accidentally, so that Gringoire is not hanged by Clopin. She only does this to be kind and does not love him. One day, Esmeralda meets with Phoebus and asks if he’ll marry her. He lies and says he will just to seduce her. Frollo has hidden himself in the room next door and witnesses the two kiss. Out of jealousy, he stabs Phoebus and kisses Esmeralda as she faints.

When she wakes up, Esmeralda is arrested for the wounding of Phoebus, who survives and returns to his fiancée, not even attempting to clear Esmeralda’s name. Nice guy, right? Under torture, Esmeralda admits to the attack and is sentenced to death. Quasimodo, who is also in love with Esmeralda, saves her from the gallows and takes her to the cathedral where she can claim sanctuary. The Romani are informed that Esmeralda’s right to sanctuary is to be revoked and they storm the cathedral to save her. The authorities come for her as well, but Frollo and Gringoire have helped her escape. Frollo becomes more obsessive and continually says that if Esmeralda stays with him, he can save her. She continually refuses. Eventually, Frollo gets fed up with this and passes her to the authorities, trapping her with Sister Gudule, a recluse who went mad after her daughter, Agnes, was stolen by Romani. However, in a twist, it turns out Esmeralda is Agnes and the two reconcile, albeit briefly. Esmeralda is led away to be hanged, with Gudule being forcefully pushed down a flight of steps as she tries to stop this; she dies on impact. Frollo watches Esmeralda hang from Notre-Dame Cathedral and laughs, causing Quasimodo to throw him from the tower. Many years later, two skeletons are found embracing. It turns out Quasimodo stayed next to Esmeralda’s dead body, letting himself die as he held her. As the two skeletons are about to be separated, Quasimodo’s skeleton “crumbles to dust”. What a cheery story!

Obviously, Disney could not make this story into an animated film for children, so they had to make some changes, which is completely fair enough. I’ve read the book as I asked for it for my birthday when I was at university. It was interesting to see where Disney got some of their ideas from, like Quasimodo’s mother dying on the steps in the same way Esmeralda’s mother does in the novel.

In 1993, David Stainton read a comic strip adaptation of the original novel and felt that Disney could adapt the story themselves. Writer Tab Murphy was assigned to write the script, quite a challenge seeing as the material was a classic novel and a dark one at that. Directors Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, who had co-directed Beauty and the Beast (1991), were asked to direct The Hunchback of Notre Dame. They were working on other projects at the time, however, those were not progressing well, so they were happy to direct this film[6]. In fact, many of the same people who worked on Beauty and the Beast were involved in the making of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, such as producer Don Hahn, and animators Glen Keane, supervising animator for Beast, and James Baxter, supervising animator for Belle.

As is quite standard for Disney animation projects, some of the creative and production staff got to go on a research trip, to France in this case. The group went to Notre-Dame Cathedral several times around the autumn of 1993. Because of the importance of studying the cathedral in detail, both the interior and exterior of the building, Disney were given unprecedented access to the cathedral, being able to tour passages, hidden rooms, and the towers. Animator Glen Keane used to go to Notre-Dame Cathedral to sit in the bell tower as the sun rose, drawing and thinking[7]. They also visited the Palace of Justice, Frollo’s main place of work in the film, and the Court of Miracles, which was a real area of Paris, but instead of it being a safe haven for the Romani people as it is in the Disney film, the Court of Miracles was the term used to describe the slum areas of the city, where the poor and homeless resided. The architecture and buildings of Paris are vitally important to the setting of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, for providing background areas as well as atmosphere. Notre-Dame Cathedral itself is a unique character in the film, as its statues and gargoyles are seen to be watching everything and even involve themselves in the events of the film[8]. Notre-Dame Cathedral shockingly caught fire in April 2019 where it was very close to being destroyed. Thanks to many brave firefighters, it was saved and is in the process of being restored.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame required the artistic talents of animators in all three of Disney animation’s studios, those being Florida, which only contributed a few minutes of animation, Paris, and of course, California. In fact, after years of using those lacklustre Glendale “offices”, the new Animation Building was opened in December 1994 in Burbank, making The Hunchback of Notre Dame the first animated feature film to be produced at this new building. At the Paris studio, around one hundred artists contributed ten minutes of final animation to the film, with many saying that the use of French artists who were accustomed to the city of Paris and the French culture, not to mention Hugo’s novel, gave the film authenticity[9]!

The animation medium used to create The Hunchback of Notre Dame was predominately traditional hand-drawn animation, however, with the increasing evolution of technology, the Disney team were able to use computer-animation for several elements of the film. This included some of the effects, like confetti, rain, and lighting, such as that beam of light that shines through one of Notre-Dame Cathedral’s famous rose windows during “God Help the Outcasts”. But one of the more impressive, for the time, usages of CGI in this movie is the crowd scenes. Huge crowds were needed to fill Paris and thanks to similar technology that had been used for the wildebeest stampede in The Lion King (1994), the effects team made a character model which could move, then multiplied it, changing some of the character’s accessories to make them unique, and then choreographed their movements. For today’s audiences, the CGI crowd may look a bit simplistic and basic, and, as a warning, if you go looking for it, you’ll never be able to ignore it again, but the technology hadn’t been used in this way before The Hunchback of Notre Dame, so it was quite ground-breaking for Disney animation.

MUSIC

The Hunchback of Notre Dame’s soundtrack is one of the more sophisticated Disney soundtracks, in my opinion. The score uses elements like bells, Latin chants, and choral sounds, which are specifically related to the religious aspects of the story; something that cannot be said for any other Disney animated feature. It gives the music so much depth, intensity, and emotion. Then there are the songs themselves, which are quite bold and daring for Disney, as well as including a few more light-hearted numbers, for a total of eight songs. The soundtrack for the movie reunited Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz, who had both worked together on the soundtrack for Pocahontas (1995).

Let’s start at the beginning. Clopin actually gets the most songs of any character here, having four in total, though one is just a reprise of his first song, “The Bells of Notre Dame”. Straight away, the movie launches us into this song, which is basically a way of giving us backstory into Quasimodo’s life and his complicated relationship with Frollo. We see how unfeeling and heartless Frollo is, to kill Quasimodo’s mother and almost drown Quasimodo, but we also see how God-fearing Frollo is, thinking his every move is being judged. The Gregorian chant, “Dies Irae”, which was used in part in Frozen II (2019) as well as in The Shining (1980), can be heard when Frollo kills Quasimodo’s mother[10]. “The Bells of Notre Dame” is good for giving us information, and for informing us that we need to pay attention to Quasimodo and Frollo’s actions to judge what makes someone a man and what makes someone a monster, but it is more of a narrative device than a fun number. Still, it’s never boring and gets a lot done. The reprise at the very end of the film of “The Bells of Notre Dame” is much more celebratory and brings the film to an emotional close, as we see that Quasimodo has been accepted and we learn not to judge anyone on their appearance because this can mask someone’s true intentions.

Another of Clopin’s songs, “Topsy Turvy”, is a real carnival song, full of party atmosphere. Though, during the scene, it is a bit strange to find Clopin following Quasimodo around and not allowing him to hide. I don’t understand why Clopin wants Quasimodo to get caught or noticed; maybe to give Quasimodo the chance to let his guard down for once and relax? The fun is paused when Quasimodo’s face is revealed and the crowd are repulsed, but it soon picks back up again to celebrate Quasimodo’s new title of King of Fools. Shame it doesn’t last…Clopin’s final song is “The Court of Miracles”, where he is telling Phoebus and Quasimodo that they should not have trespassed to their lair, thinking they are two of Frollo’s spies, so plans to have them hanged. Luckily, Djali sees this and alerts Esmeralda, so she comes in and puts things right, but it does look troubling for the two heroes for a moment or two. It’s not the best song of the film, but it’s a bit of silliness before Frollo arrives.

Esmeralda gets her own song, “God Help the Outcasts”, which she sings shortly after the turn of events at the Feast of Fools in Notre-Dame Cathedral, as she is saddened by how poorly the human race treat each other, even those in need. It’s a very heartfelt song, and I particularly like how the music builds as the other churchgoers pray to God for what they feel they most need from Him. Demi Moore did not provide the singing voice for Esmeralda so Heidi Mollenhauer was brought in to sing “God Help the Outcasts”. Though this was the original song written for this scene, at one point, the directors thought they wanted a more energising song here, so “Someday” was written. It was recorded by Heidi Mollenhauer again, and still involved Esmeralda walking through the cathedral, hoping that the world would become a better place “someday”. It was later decided that “Someday” was too big a number, so “God Help the Outcasts” was put back in to the film[11]. I personally feel this was the right choice, though “Someday” is still a good song. “Someday” is included on the movie soundtrack, in some parts of the score, and in the closing credits, where the full song was recorded by R&B group All-4-One. In the UK, female R&B trio Eternal recorded their own version. “Someday” is also used in the stage musical version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and, in a surprise-but-appreciated move, was used as the finale song of Epcot’s now-closed fireworks show Harmonious at Walt Disney World Resort.

Let’s not forget the hero of the film, Quasimodo, who has two very heart-breaking musical numbers in the film. The first of which is “Out There”, which begins with a short duet between Frollo and Quasimodo as Frollo tells Quasimodo that he should not attend the Festival of Fools because he’ll be “reviled as a monster”, before moving into Quasi’s powerful solo, where he says that all he wants is to leave the bell tower for one day and live a normal life with everyone else. During this sequence, you can also see brief cameos of Belle, Aladdin’s Magic Carpet, and Pumbaa if you look closely enough. Tom Hulce is amazing in this song because we can feel how much Quasimodo wants this wish and just how isolated he has been throughout his life. This song is one of the movie’s most well-known having been used in some of Disney’s nighttime shows, such as Harmonious, Happily Ever After at Magic Kingdom, and Disney Dreams! at Disneyland Paris, and Wondrous Journeys at Disneyland, which have both ended but may return in the future. It’s a fan-favourite song, so I’m glad it keeps cropping up.

Quasimodo’s second song is called “Heaven’s Light”. This is a tragic song because it talks about how Quasi never thinks he’ll find love because of how he looks, but holds a bit of hope that perhaps Esmeralda will love him. It doesn’t turn out to be true, which makes it even more sad. I used to relate to this song when I was a teenager, because like Quasimodo, I was unlucky in love for many years and always felt it was because I was ugly.

This song then moves directly to Frollo’s song “Hellfire”, as a contrast to “Heaven’s Light”, with a few seconds of Latin chanting by the Archdeacon within the cathedral as we move from Notre-Dame Cathedral to the Palace of Justice. “Hellfire” is Frollo’s turn to sing about his love for Esmeralda, but this song is not a sweet ballad. It is an aggressive song which gets progressively worse as Frollo gets angrier about the “spell” that Esmeralda has put on him, and more scared about how God will judge him for his feelings, despite it not being his “fault”. It takes place in front of a fireplace, in a large hall, which at one point fills with red-hooded figures who chant “mea culpa” at him, meaning “my fault”. The figures then turn to flames, trying to take Frollo into the fire, signifying him being dragged to Hell. Frollo is then told that Esmeralda has escaped, and proclaims that he’ll find her even if it means burning down the city. He asserts that she will be his or she will burn, before collapsing in a heap on the floor… Dark stuff considering Disney is meant to make child-friendly films, not that I remember being bothered by it when I was younger, because I didn’t understand it back then. The Motion Picture Association of America got involved with this scene, though, insisting that the image of Esmeralda that appears in the fireplace was made to have more clearly defined clothes as she looked naked[12]. Disney were probably happy to make this adjustment as they may have been expecting this scene to be cut entirely from the film! “Hellfire” has become one of the most well-known Disney villains’ songs for its dark tone.

On a brighter note, the gargoyles get a song called “A Guy Like You” as they tell Quasimodo that Esmeralda does like him, and the fact that he is unique makes him all the more interesting. Some, even those at Disney, did not rate this song, and felt that it should not have made the final cut, however, I disagree. Though it is quite random, I think it was wholly necessary to keep the children watching entertained and also to break up the bleakness of the film’s events, because we’ve just had the burning of the miller’s house and most of Paris, and then we’re going to get to the big climatic battle scene where Esmeralda is burnt at the stake, so to have “A Guy Like You” brings some much-needed frivolity to the film before we go back to feeling scared and traumatised. It’s my least favourite song on the soundtrack, but I still find it funny in places. I like how they say that Quasimodo being shaped like a croissant is one of the reasons that Esmeralda likes him, because what person doesn’t rate their romantic interests on how much they resemble baked goods? It’s also interesting that a very small reference to Hulce’s role as Mozart in Amadeus (1984) is found in this song: when the gargoyles give Quasimodo a makeover, he ends up in a tall, white wig, which is what Mozart predominantly wears throughout that film.

There were a couple of deleted songs that didn’t make the final cut, both of which were meant to take place during “The Court of Miracles” sequence as a love song for Phoebus and Esmeralda. The first, “As Long As There’s a Moon” would’ve seen the two getting married in the Court of Miracles, with Quasimodo being asked to put their hands together. He does this at the end of the film instead. This story idea was perhaps inspired by the novel when the sixteen-year-old Esmeralda volunteers to marry playwright Gringoire to save him from being hanged by Clopin for trespassing. The other love song was called “In A Place of Miracles” and took place at the same point in the film. It was decided that these songs were placing too much focus on Phoebus and Esmeralda, when Quasimodo should be at the heart of the movie, so it became a song for Clopin and the others instead[13].

The score is where The Hunchback of Notre Dame really shines with its hauntingly beautiful use of choristers singing in Latin. This is used throughout the entirety of the score. Though I said my favourite Disney score is probably Pocahontas (1995) because of how quietly romantic it is, I find the score of The Hunchback of Notre Dame the most compelling and emotion-provoking. The whole movie is very intense, so the score had to have that same quality to it, and it certainly does. “Humiliation”, when Quasimodo is being tormented by the crowd at the Festival of Fools, is my favourite of the instrumentals, though the score through the whole battle sequence is amazing, especially when Quasimodo swings in to save Esmeralda and proclaims “Sanctuary!” at the top of his lungs. “Into the Sunlight” is also very sweet for showing Quasimodo being welcomed by the citizens of Paris at last.

RECEPTION

The Hunchback of Notre Dame was released to theatres in the US on 21^st June 1996 with a surprise G, or U, rating. Many felt, and still feel to this day, that The Hunchback of Notre Dame should have certainly had a PG rating, due to its dark content and intense scenes. How many Disney films can say that they managed to have a G rating despite a scene of someone being burnt at the stake, another being tied up like an animal, an old man openly lusting after a young woman, and a family home being burnt down with them inside? Not to mention the racism, plans for genocide, and the emotional abuse of a disabled person. It doesn’t sound great when you put it altogether like that, but I was never affected by the movie as a child. I’m sure if it had been released now, or even after the 2000s, it would have most certainly had that PG rating. Pre-2000 in Disney Animation, only The Black Cauldron had been given a PG rating, quite rightly too. Apparently, Roy E. Disney said The Hunchback of Notre Dame was too dark, as did the voice of Hugo, Jason Alexander, who said he would not let his young son watch the movie, despite Alexander being proud of the film.

In terms of reviews, some felt the film was too dark, with some groups even planning to boycott the film for its mature content, and that the stereotyping of the Romani people was hurtful. Others also felt that Disney had simplified the original novel too much. If Disney had adapted the novel as it was written, it would not even have managed a PG rating. However, some were very positive about The Hunchback of Notre Dame, including well-known film reviewer Roger Ebert, who called it the best Disney feature since Beauty and the Beast. Ebert said it was uplifting and thrilling, with a touching message about accepting everyone. I’m glad someone understood it.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame was nominated at the Academy Awards in 1997 for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score, but it lost out to Rachel Portman’s score for Emma (1996). It was also nominated for a Golden Globe for its score, but this time lost to Gabriel Yared’s score for The English Patient (1996). The Hunchback of Notre Dame was also nominated for many Annie Awards, including Best Feature, where it lost to Pixar’s Toy Story (1995). It did, however, win the Satellite Award for Best Motion Picture – Animated or Mixed Media, the first year that the award was given out. On the other side though, it was nominated for a Golden Razzie for Worst Written Film Grossing Over $100 Million, but this time luckily it lost to Twister (1996), though I like that film too, so ouch…

Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame was by no means a box-office failure, despite its mixed reviews and general lack of recognition for many years. It made over $300 million worldwide at the box-office, however, after the dazzling success of The Lion King in 1994, this was not deemed “good enough” by Disney executives.

LEGACY

Though it has never reached Broadway in the US or the West End in the UK, The Hunchback of Notre Dame was made into a musical, based on both the original novel and Disney’s 1996 film, including its songs and some of the film’s deleted songs such as “Someday” and “A Place of Miracles”, which is beautiful, as well as new numbers. The original musical premiered in 1999 in Berlin as Der Glöckner von Notre Dame: Das Musical. It was produced by Disney Theatrical Productions, with this being their first musical to premiere outside the US. It ran in Berlin for three years at the Berlin Theatre, now named Theater am Potsdamer Platz. I believe I stood outside it with my mum when we went to Berlin because I wanted to see the theatre where The Hunchback of Notre Dame musical had been many years before. In 2014, an American version of the musical was staged in San Diego from October to December 2014, before opening at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey in 2015, closing in April of that year. It did not move to Broadway, though it did receive positive reviews. It did finally debut in New York in December 2017, but not on Broadway. Other versions around the world have been performed in recent years, including in the UK, Japan, and Australia. The musical version of the story is darker than the Disney movie, including more details from the novel that were omitted or changed for the Disney film, such as Frollo being the Archdeacon of Notre-Dame, Quasimodo being deaf from the constant bell ringing, and Esmeralda and Frollo’s deaths matching the novel. Though thankfully, Phoebus is portrayed as he is in the Disney film, and not the novel.

In March 2002, fittingly of the time, a direct-to-video sequel was released, The Hunchback of Notre Dame II. Many of the voice cast returned, including Demi Moore and Tom Hulce, with child actor Haley Joel Osment, actress and singer Jennifer Love Hewitt, and comedic actor Michael McKean joining the cast as Zephyr, Phoebus and Esmeralda’s son, Madellaine, Quasimodo’s love interest, and Sarousch, the villain of the film, respectively. It received mostly negative reviews as many of these direct-to-video sequels do, but I love it. The animation is not good, I can accept that, but the story of Quasimodo finally finding love is very sweet and it gave me hope when I was younger that I would also find love. The songs are more simplistic than the soundtrack of the original soundtrack, with all of them being quite jokey numbers, but “I’m Gonna Love You”, the love ballad, that features in the credits is a highlight. I remember seeing the trailer for this at one of the shops in the Contemporary Resort at Walt Disney World, and being really excited about it.

Around 2019, a live-action remake of The Hunchback of Notre Dame was announced by Disney. Not surprising, really, as they did this with so many others. But as of 2023, it is thought that CEO Bob Iger has shut the project down, possibly due to the current social climate. I never thought I’d say this, but thank you, Bob Iger; you’ve done something I agree with! I dislike all Disney live-action remakes, but I was furious when the initial news came out about this for a couple of reasons. The first was that it is not necessary at all and I didn’t want them messing with “my film”. Secondly, I think if it had been, or is made, it’s opening Disney up to criticism, because they would have to either rewrite their animated movie to a point where it no longer resembles the 1996 film or the 1831 novel, or they would have to accept the tirade of comments that would come from making a movie in this day and age about someone persecuting entire groups of people, and someone being physically and emotionally abused for their disability. Sure, it all comes right in the end, but to get to that point, you’d have to show mistreatment and use unacceptable language, and I don’t think it’s worth it. There are already plenty of faithful live-action adaptations of the novel, so I think we should all just leave it there.

At the Disney theme parks, the heyday for The Hunchback of Notre Dame was definitely in the 1990s, shortly after its release. At Disneyland, the Big Thunder Ranch area was rethemed as The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Festival of Fools in 1996. The cabin there became Esmeralda’s Cabin and the Festival Arena staged a live-show between 21^st June 1996 to 19^th April 1998. This area became a corporate event space after that until 2004 when it was rethemed to Disney’s Home on the Range (2004) for a brief time[14]. Also at Disneyland, as well as at Disneyland Paris, there was a mini parade that ran as promotion for the movie between 1996 and 1997. The two parades at the two parks were different, as Paris’ one was also to celebrate the park’s 5^th anniversary so had quite a few more floats and was called the Carnival of Fools Parade. Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland Paris was also decorated in confetti and jester hats from 1997 to the beginning of 1998 to celebrate this milestone anniversary.

At Walt Disney World’s Disney-MGM Studios, as it was known then, The Hunchback of Notre Dame: A Musical Adventure ran from 21^st June 1996 to 28^th September 2002. It was held at the Backlot Theater, and was an abridged 30-minute version of the film, that even had a pre-show juggler. It used many of the film’s original songs, although “Hellfire” was cut for obvious reasons. It was a very popular show and I’m sure many people are sad that it is not still going; I remember seeing it many times on my earlier visits.

So those are the experiences that no longer exist, but there are a few current references to The Hunchback of Notre Dame to mention. One is at Fantasy Faire at Disneyland where this is a small window called Clopin’s Music Box. It plays the song “Topsy Turvy” as Clopin and the festival crowd move from side-to-side. At Hong Kong Disneyland, there is a restaurant location in Fantasyland called Clopin’s Festival of Foods, which is themed to the Festival of Fools, with tents, banners, and bright colours. At Walt Disney World, at Disney’s Hollywood Studios nighttime spectacular show Fantasmic!, Frollo still appears during the villains’ sections. I am so glad he was not removed during their redesign of the show, because I feared he may be. A figure of Quasimodo can be seen in one of the windows at the Disney’s Days of Christmas shop in Disney Springs.

Finally, for character appearances, though Esmeralda, Phoebus, Clopin, Quasimodo, and Frollo have all been spotted at times across the Disney Parks, they are rare characters to meet and do not have designated appearance times. Recently, at Disneyland, Frollo was part of the Halloween parade at the Oogie Boogie Bash in 2023. During the Disneyland After Dark: 90s Nite, Phoebus, Clopin, and Esmeralda were in attendance. At Disneyland Paris in 2019, all five characters were available for meet-and-greets at their Annual Passholder Night; I have also seen Frollo at Disneyland Paris during Halloween events. In 2021 at Hong Kong Disneyland and in 2023 at Tokyo Disneyland, Esmeralda was spotted. At Walt Disney World, the characters are much rarer to see and I have never met any of them there before, but they have all been at Special Events in previous years. It is unclear whether any of The Hunchback of Notre Dame characters have been spotted at Shanghai Disneyland.

There has been more merchandise around The Hunchback of Notre Dame in recent years. In the 2000s, it was rarely referenced and I used to get anything that had the smallest reference to The Hunchback of Notre Dame or one of its characters. For example, I bought the Disney Villains Monopoly game at Walt Disney World one year just because Frollo’s face was on the box, though I did find that one of the playing pieces is his hat, so that made it seem more of a worthy purchase! But recently, there have been a few Christmas ornaments that you can buy featuring Quasimodo and Esmeralda; a statue of Esmeralda and a doll were also found on the Disney Store recently. A MagicBand with Quasimodo and Esmeralda must have been released at one point because I randomly found it at the Beach Club Resort shop at Walt Disney World, and it was the last one. Paintings and prints of scenes from the film may also be available to purchase these days.

FINAL THOUGHTS

In recent years, I don’t watch the film as much as I used to, but I probably watch it at least three times a year still, and I still like to hunt for merchandise. It’s just such a great film, and I do appreciate the further discussion around it in recent years, but I am very protective of it and hate when things that are “trendy” for a couple of years then get passed over for something else, which will naturally happen here when another lesser-known animated film hits a milestone anniversary.

Some would say that Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) is Disney’s masterpiece. Others, especially 90s kids, might say the same about Beauty and the Beast (1991) or The Lion King (1994), but for me, the greatest masterpiece from Disney animation has been, is, and will always be The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

It’s hard to express exactly why or how much I love this film, but I guess I can try with these simple statements:

Frollo will always be my villain.

Esmeralda will always be my princess.

And Quasimodo will always be my hero.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Natasha Lavender, ‘The Untold Truth Of Disney’s The Hunchback Of Notre Dame’, Looper.com, 25^th October 2023.

[2] Credit: Disney, “The Making of The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)”, from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) Blu-Ray (2013).

[3] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)’, pp. 100-102.

[4] Credit: Disney, “The Making of The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)”, from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) Blu-Ray (2013).

[5] Credit: Disney, “History and Background of Notre Dame de Paris”, from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) DVD (2002).

[6] Credit: Disney, “History of the Production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame”, from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) DVD (2002).

[7] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)’, pp. 100-102.

[8] Credit: Disney, “History and Background of Notre Dame de Paris”, from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) DVD (2002).

[9] Credit: Disney, “The Making of The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)”, from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) Blu-Ray (2013).

[10] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)’, pp. 100-102.

[11] Credit: Disney, “Deleted Sequence: Esmeralda’s Prayer”, from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) DVD (2002).

[12] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)’, pp. 100-102.

[13] Credit: Disney, “Deleted Songs”, from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) LaserDisc Deluxe Edition (1997).

[14] Credit: Author Unknown, ‘Little Patch of Heaven at Big Thunder Ranch’, Yesterland.com, 17^th February 2023.

17th Nov 202327th Jun 2024 by The Disney Purist

#28 The Little Mermaid (1989)

BACKGROUND

Finally, after a decade of turmoil, and years of underachievement, Disney Animation actually produced a movie that was both financially and critically successful. Not only that, but the artform was beautiful, the characters were believable, and the music was amazing.

It might not sound true, but after the disappointment of Sleeping Beauty in 1959, the Disney Animation department had shied away from adapting fairy tales. The Little Mermaid was the first fairy tale to be adapted into a Disney animated film for 30 years and it signalled the start of a series of Broadway-style musical films.

This was it. After all the effort the animators had put in, being moved away from the main Burbank studio, trying to find their feet without the direction of artists from Walt Disney’s era, and the more aggressive move to change from the new management, The Little Mermaid began something new. 1989 meant the start of the Disney Renaissance, where the movies produced were released to critical acclaim and big box office numbers for a whole decade, for the most part, with some hitting higher heights than others.

To find someone who doesn’t like or can’t appreciate the importance of The Little Mermaid is difficult. It really was a major blockbuster, both at the time and in present day, as can be seen from the push to make the live-action version, released in May 2023. It’s a movie from one of Disney’s arguably most popular eras, so continues to be referenced and remembered by audiences and the Disney company.

I’ve always liked The Little Mermaid, but for some reason, I don’t choose to watch it very often and would rather watch other films from the Disney Renaissance Era instead. I’m not sure why that is, although it’s probably got something to do with the fact none of the characters are favourites of mine. I’d never wanted to be a mermaid, so Ariel doesn’t resonate with me; I find Eric a bit of a pointless prince, not having to do anything particularly brave until right at the end, when I think Ariel could’ve taken Ursula on her own; and Ursula isn’t my favourite villain, though I do like how flamboyant she is. But I still like the story and the music, with the ending always able to make a couple of tears spring to my eyes.

PLOT

Disney’s story begins with a ship sailing the open sea. Its sailors are telling their captain about the myth and legend of King Triton, ruler of the sea and the merpeople. Some on board do not believe these stories, but others believe them wholeheartedly to be true. As one of the sailor’s is making this point, a fish that they had just caught leaps out of his hands and dives back into the ocean. We then follow this fish deeper under the water, seeing lots of marine animals, and then finally, some merpeople who we follow into a royal castle. At the castle, an audience is assembling for a concert – eagled-eyed viewers might even be able to spot Mickey, Donald, and Goofy in the crowd here, though what they are doing under the sea at this point, we don’t know. King Triton and his court composer, Sebastian, are very excited for this concert which will feature all seven of Triton’s daughters, with his youngest, Ariel, being named the most talented singer of all. Sebastian does say quietly, though, that Ariel does not always show up to rehearsal, so clearly is not as bothered by her musical gift as her father is. The concert begins, and everything seems to be going swimmingly – until we find that Ariel, the soloist, is not there!

Ariel is in fact looking at shipwrecks with her fish friend, Flounder. The two are searching for treasures from the “human world” that Ariel can add to her collection. Their fun day out is rudely interrupted by a shark at one point, but Ariel outwits him and goes up to the surface to see their friend, Scuttle the seagull. He is supposedly an expert on all things humans, but the audience soon finds that Scuttle has no idea what he’s talking about, as he thinks that a fork is called a Dinglehopper, used for combing hair, and that a pipe is called a Snarfblatt and is actually a musical instrument! Speaking of music, Ariel then realises that she has missed her father’s very important concert and rushes home. King Triton is not happy, especially when Flounder lets slip that they actually went to the surface. He warns Ariel not to go to the surface again, reiterating that humans are barbarians. Ariel is upset since she is sixteen and capable of independent thought and swims away to be alone. Sebastian is told by Triton to keep an eye on her. Sebastian follows Ariel to her grotto, which is full of things from the human world. He overhears her talking about how she wants to live above the sea with those humans, and is furious. As Sebastian proceeds to give Ariel the same spiel about humans as her father just gave her, Ariel is distracted by a shadow passing over the surface of the water. She swims up there; Flounder and Sebastian follow.

On the surface, she sees a boat, with fireworks flashing high into the sky. She swims closer and sits by the side of the boat, watching as music plays, men dance, and a dog even comes up to lick her face. Ariel is fascinated by this world, but then she sees a man – Prince Eric – and she is instantly smitten with him. It is a celebration for Eric’s birthday, with his butler, Grimsby, presenting him with a statue of himself as a present. Eric hates it! It was meant to be a wedding present, however, Eric did not like his would-be bride and wants to wait for his true love. Suddenly, a hurricane starts bubbling up nearby. It soon impacts the crew with wind, rain, thunder and lightning. The ship struggles against the high winds, tossing some of the crew overboard, who then swim towards their life boats. Things take a real turn when a lightning bolt sets alight one of their sails, spreading fire to the rest of the ship. Everyone is safely on board a boat, apart from Max, Eric’s dog, who is stuck in the middle of the flames. Eric gets back on to the ship to save him, tossing him to the lifeboat below as his leg gets caught in a hole in the floor. The fire reaches the explosives onboard before Eric can free himself, and the ship explodes. Ariel sees Eric unconscious and about to drown in the ocean. She pulls him to shore, and waits for him to wake up. As she does, Flounder, Sebastian, and Scuttle discuss whether the man is dead or not. Scuttle believes he is, but Ariel can see that he’s breathing. Eric begins to wake up and just catches a glimpse of Ariel’s face and hears her singing briefly, before she is spooked by Grimsby and the others looking for him and rushes back into the water.

Ariel is now falling in love with Eric and very much wants to be human. Her sisters see that Ariel is hopelessly in love, not realising who with, and tell their father, King Triton. Sebastian tries to tell Ariel to stay under the sea, where it’s best for her, but she doesn’t listen, and Flounder takes her off to her grotto, to find that Eric’s statue just so happens to have floated down into it. King Triton summons Sebastian, wanting to know who Ariel is in love, expecting it to be one of the kingdom’s mermen. Sebastian thinks Triton already knows about the human and tells Triton he tried to stop her. Triton is furious and goes to Ariel’s grotto. She tells her father she is in love with Eric, to which Triton responds by destroying pretty much every artifact in her collection, including the statue of Eric. She tells Sebastian and Flounder to leave her alone, and sobs her heart out.

At the same time as all of this has been playing out, Ursula, the sea witch, and her two eel henchmen, Flotsam and Jetsam, have been watching Ariel. Very creepy. Ursula thinks she can use Ariel to bring down King Triton once and for all, after he banished Ursula from the kingdom so many years ago. Now that Ariel is in love with a human, it’ll make things all the easier for her plan to succeed. The eels tell Ariel that Ursula can help make all her dreams come true. After some persuasion, she eventually follows them to Ursula’s lair. Sebastian and Flounder follow, knowing this will be trouble. Ursula tells Ariel that she can make her human and that she’ll be able to live on land with her man forever. Ariel is not sure, but eventually, Ursula manages to convince her, telling her about all the other “good work” she’s done for other people, and the reason she has a garden full of shrunken merpeople – or emaciated shrimp as Olaf likes to call them in his comedic retelling of the movie – is because they never paid her for her spells. Ariel agrees to Ursula’s deal, which has these conditions: to make her human permanently, she has to get true love’s kiss from Eric within three days; and the price she must pay is to give up her voice. Despite Flounder and Sebastian’s protestations, Ariel signs the contract and the deal is enacted; Ariel is given legs, in what seems to be quite a painful procedure, and is left to drown in the sea, as humans cannot breathe underwater! Luckily, Sebastian and Flounder swim her up to the surface.

At the surface, Ariel learns to walk on her legs, and is dressed up in a tatty sail, as advised by Scuttle and his all-knowing expertise. Max the dog is drawn to the smell of Ariel, leading Eric straight to her. She looks familiar to him, and Eric believes she is his dream girl, the one who saved him that day, but as she can’t talk, it can’t have been her. Err, Eric, have you never heard of laryngitis? Maybe she’s just lost her voice through illness, it doesn’t mean she’s been mute all her life! Anyway, Eric takes her inside the palace. There, she is cleaned up and dressed to have dinner with Eric and Grimsby. Despite Ariel blowing tobacco smoke all over Grimsby through his pipe, and combing her hair with a fork and looking a bit crazy, Grimsby thinks Ariel would be a great match for Eric, but Eric is still holding out for this “mystery girl”, though he does invite Ariel to go sightseeing the next day. In the palace, Sebastian has his own problems – the French chef, Louis. After going through the laundry, Sebastian finds himself in the kitchen, where stuffed crab is being prepared. Louis sees little Sebastian and thinks he’s missed one and tries to cook him! But Sebastian is too smart for that and grabs Louis’ nose, starting a whole war between them. Louis destroys the entire kitchen looking for him but cannot find him. Carlotta, Eric’s housekeeper, shouts at Louis for all the noise and mess, and takes the plates in for dinner. It turns out Sebastian hid on Grimsby’s plate and Ariel signals for him to crawl over to hers. Ariel clearly doesn’t eat anything, and must sneak Sebastian into her pocket or something, as he’s fine in the next scene, where Ariel is watching Eric as he plays her song on the flute. She goes to bed, as Sebastian tries to coach her about how to get this kiss from Eric the next day.

On this day out, Eric and Ariel look at the sights, dance, shop, even encounter a near-death experience when Ariel gets their horse and carriage to jump a massive ravine! They end the day on a moonlit boat ride, where Eric tries to guess Ariel’s name, going through random girls’ names, like Rachel, Diana, even Mildred, which Ariel really dislikes – sorry to all the Mildreds out there. During a song meant to encourage Eric to kiss Ariel, conducted by Sebastian, of course, Sebastian whispers her actual name to Eric. He thinks it’s “kind of pretty”. As the two are about to kiss, their boat is tipped over by none other than Flotsam and Jetsam; that was too close for Ursula, and she must be mad because she even goes so far as to call Ariel “a tramp”. Harsh. Ursula realises she needs a new plan now…

That night, again, Grimsby tells Eric that Ariel would be a good match for him and this time, he actually listens. He tosses the flute into the ocean, but just as he is about to talk to Ariel, a woman singing that song walks along the beach in front of him. It’s her, the dream girl. Except it’s actually Ursula, disguised as a woman called Vanessa, and using Ariel’s voice which she kept in a shell locket. This locket also just so happens to be able to entrance Eric so he is under her spell. The next morning, Scuttle wakes Ariel up as he hears wedding preparations are going on and assumes it must be for her. Ariel runs downstairs to Eric, but stops dead as she sees him cuddled up to someone else. Those two are actually going to be married by sunset that day, the same time that Ariel’s spell runs out. She watches as the wedding ship departs, feeling completely hopeless. Scuttle flies by the ship and sees that Vanessa is actually Ursula, as her real reflection is revealed in a mirror. He races back to the others, and they devise a plan: Flounder will swim Ariel over to the ship, while Scuttle gets all the animals to stall the wedding. Seals, birds, lobsters, and even Max, all get in on the action. Though this distracts Vanessa, the officiant for some reason doesn’t seem to notice and continues with the ceremony, which is really strange! Ariel arrives just as Scuttle and Max manage to break the locket, returning Ariel’s voice and breaking the spell on Eric. He realises she was the one all along and goes to kiss her, but it’s too late; it’s sunset.

Ursula reveals herself to be Vanessa and takes Ariel back underwater, as she has transformed back into a mermaid. Triton comes to rescue her, trying to break the contract with the trident but it’s legal and cannot be broken. Instead, Ursula offers Triton a deal: to take Ariel’s place, which he does, becoming an emaciated shrimp and leaving Ursula to take his crown and trident and become the new ruler, exactly what she’s always wanted. Meanwhile, Eric swims down to rescue Ariel, striking Ursula with a harpoon in the process. The eels try to keep Eric underwater, but Sebastian and Flounder help free him. As Ursula is about to fire a spell at Eric, Ariel grabs her head, making her shoot too high, destroying her beloved eels instead. Ursula is mad now and makes herself huge, big enough to go above the surface. She manipulates the waves and summons a storm, trapping Ariel in a funnel so she can finally kill her. Eric gets on a wrecked ship and drives it into Ursula, jabbing her with a broken piece of wood, defeating and killing her. Eric swims to shore and passes out.

Under the sea, Ursula’s spells are broken and all the emaciated shrimp come back to life, including Triton. Ariel sits on a rock by the shore and looks sadly at Eric, knowing they can’t be together. Triton and Sebastian discuss how much she clearly loves at Eric, and Triton decides to grant her wish to become human permanently. She looks over at her father, grateful, before reuniting with Eric. The two marry at the earliest opportunity, on a ship again, so that the humans and merpeople can celebrate together. Flounder is flown up by Scuttle to kiss Ariel; Ariel and Eric finally kiss; and Sebastian gets away from Chef Louis once again! Triton fashions a wave to bring him to Ariel’s level, where Ariel tells him she loves him. Triton magics a rainbow to appear in the sky, and Ariel and Eric end the film with another kiss. Aw.

Disney’s The Little Mermaid is based on the 1837 story by Hans Christian Andersen, which was published under the name Den Lille Hayfrue. In Andersen’s much darker story, when a mermaid turns fifteen, she is allowed to swim up to the surface to take a glimpse at the human world for the first time. On the little mermaid’s first visit, she falls in love with a human who she sees celebrating his birthday on a ship and then saves him from drowning. The mermaid waits for a human woman to find him before returning home. Back under the sea, the little mermaid asks for more information about humans from her grandmother. She tells the mermaid that humans have an eternal soul that lives on after their death, whereas mermaids turn to sea form. The little mermaid goes to the sea witch who says that she can make her human, but that her tongue will have to be cut out and that the creation of her legs will be painful and that every step she takes from then on will feel like she’s being pierced by knives. She is also warned that she can never return to the sea, and that should the prince marry someone else, the mermaid will die of a broken heart at dawn the day after his marriage. The little mermaid does the deal anyway and is found by the prince, who grows close to her, but does not fall in love with her as he believes another woman saved his life; he has no idea it was ever the mermaid who did. He finds this woman and marries her, with the little mermaid realising that she will now die. Her sisters tell her that she could break the curse if she kills prince, and that she can then become a mermaid again. The little mermaid goes to kill the prince, but cannot do it and awaits her death. Her body becomes sea form but she then becomes “a daughter of the air”, due to her selflessness. She will now complete good deeds for humans for the next 300 years in order to finally obtain an immortal soul[1].

The Disney Studios were first going to adapt Andersen’s story in the 1940s, as was evidenced by the discovery of multiple concept artwork. The1940s version was similar to the 1989 film in some ways, as both versions decided to focus on the prince instead of the immortal soul, and wanted the prince to at least get a glimpse of the mermaid so he did not believe someone else had in fact saved him. The 1940s version would have had the mermaid rush off, not realising she’d lost her voice until she got to the surface, but the 1989 directors wanted her to know she was losing her voice, but to not make the process so graphic. They also didn’t want her to find having legs painful. The ending of both Disney versions was also different. In the 1940s version, the prince would have got married, but not to anyone specific, and the mermaid would have died and turned to sea form. The 1989 team wanted a happy ending instead, and gave Ariel everything she wanted[2].

Though I feel like the edits to the 1989 film version of Andersen’s The Little Mermaid were very much necessary to create family-friendly entertainment, with it seeming like the planned 1940s version was even going to be too dark and depressing, children’s author Maurice Sendak was quick to critique Disney for deviating from Hans Christian Andersen’s story in the ways that they did. As the story is about the risks of sacrifice and ultimately ends with the mermaid getting no reward, it was felt that Disney avoided having their mermaid learn this hard lesson, which is a fact of life sometimes[3]. The 1989 film does give a nod to Hans Christian Andersen’s story in many ways though, despite some changes to make it slightly happier and more suitable for a Disney feature film. They did also reference the original statue of the Little Mermaid which sits by Copenhagen harbour and was created by Edvard Eriksen; Ariel’s pose of her sitting on a rock watching Eric from afar at the end of the film is reminiscent of the statue’s same pose. There are thirteen replicas of the Little Mermaid bronze statue all over the world, including in Madrid, Seoul, and even California[4].

CHARACTERS & CAST

It might sound surprising to hear that Ariel is actually only the fourth Disney Princess; it sounds like there should have been more by 1989, but there was only Snow White, Cinderella, and Aurora before her. This is because Sleeping Beauty (1959) did not do as well as expected, so the fairy tale adaptations were put on hold, until The Little Mermaid was greenlit thirty years later. A lot had changed societally in those three decades, so Ariel is a very different princess to her predecessors in terms of her personality. Ariel is a feisty, rebellious teenager who goes out of her way to change her life completely, to try to live it as she wants to, despite her controlling father trying to stop her. This is in complete contrast to the quiet, gentle, sweet temperaments of Snow, Cinderella, and Aurora. Ariel’s character led to different princesses being created by Disney, giving them more personality and more end goals for their life, so that they aren’t just trying to find love with a handsome prince. Glen Keane spoke to Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas, two of Disney’s famous “Nine Old Men”, as well as Keane’s mentors, on the opening night of The Little Mermaid. Johnston and Thomas told Keane that they felt some of Ariel’s expressions were ugly at times, like when she screws her face up, and that their princesses were always pretty. Instead of being saddened by the criticism, Keane felt proud that they’d made Ariel real, and this showed that a new generation of animators with new ideas were coming in, signalling the new era.

Ariel’s hair colour was a point of discussion inside Disney at the time of her creation. Many animators felt that giving Ariel red hair would reflect her personality well, however, thanks to the live-action romantic comedy Splash (1984), one of the first Disney-produced films to be released during the time of the new management, the higher-ups felt that Ariel should have blonde hair, like Daryl Hannah did in Splash. As mermaids don’t exist, Keane said that they couldn’t just tell him that mermaids have blonde hair, so they went all in on making her a red-head[5]! The original Ariel dolls, manufactured by Tyco, later Mattel, were actually more strawberry blonde in their first production run as the company felt redheaded dolls would not sell well. Consumers later complained that the doll did not resemble Ariel sufficiently, so they were remade with her hair colour matching what is seen in the movie[6].

Ariel’s supervising animators were Glen Keane and Mark Henn. Keane said that his wife was one inspiration for Ariel’s physique but that he also looked at classical artwork like the 1901 painting A Mermaid by John William Waterhouse, as well as the statue of the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen. It has also been said that Henn and Keane used images of Alyssa Milano, who was starring in the programme Who’s the Boss? (1984-92) at the time, to get the look of an adolescent teenage girl. Milano was not aware of this fact for many years. Not only that but they took inspiration from Ariel’s voice artist, Jodi Benson.

Jodi Benson had worked with Howard Ashman on the musical Smile in 1986, which flopped on Broadway and closed after only 87 performances. Ashman invited many women from the show to audition for Ariel, with Benson being one of them and being the one who got the role. The directors needed someone who could sing as well as act, especially as Ariel’s songs in particular feel like an extension of her dialogue. Benson loved performing as Ariel, a role she has reprised for the spin-off films, television series and theme park attractions for many years. She also regularly sings “Part of Your World” during her concerts[7]. Not only that but Benson became a Disney Legend in 2011 for her role as Ariel. She has also voiced Helen of Troy in the television series spin-off Hercules (1998-99), voiced Barbie in Pixar’s Toy Story 2 (1999) and Toy Story 3 (2010), and starred in the live-action/animation hybrid Disney film Enchanted (2007), which was also a parody of Disney’s princess films, as Edward’s assistant, Sam. Benson also “went over to the dark side” and voiced the title role for Don Bluth’s 1994 film Thumbelina, which I personally really like.

The character also benefitted from live-action reference modelling, as many Disney animated movies had done before. Writer and performer Sherri Stoner, who was performing as part of an LA-based improv group called The Groundlings at the time, was brought in to model for the character of Ariel. She was asked to audition by co-directors Ron Clements and John Musker, who noticed she had a similar petite frame to how Ariel had been envisioned after Stoner came to teach improvisation to the animators with some other performers. As much of Ariel’s scenes are underwater, and her hair in particular was causing the animators some bother, Stoner spent three days performing Ariel’s underwater scenes, with two of those days taking place at Glendale’s YMCA swimming pool and the other being held in an 8-foot-deep clear tank at Walt Disney Imagineering. From this modelling, they were able to figure out how Ariel’s hair might look – the animators had also used footage of astronaut Sally Ride in space for this purpose – and added some facial expressions and personality traits from Stoner’s performances. The animators liked her big eyes and expressive hands, and she embodied the character of Ariel fully to make her believable. Her biting her lip was also included in the movie[8]!

Ariel’s prince, Eric, was supposedly named after the creator of the bronze sculpture of the Little Mermaid, Edvard Eriksen. Eric doesn’t get much character progression in this film to be honest, so I don’t care all that much about him. I’m glad Ariel finally gets her prince, and that just happens to be him, but I don’t find him very interesting, and think that Prince Phillip from Sleeping Beauty (1959) and some of the princes who come after Eric are much more engaging. Eric wants to marry his true love, fair enough, but when Ariel saves him, he is so obsessed with her that he constantly replays the song that he briefly heard her sing, yet when he sees Ariel, he is put off by the fact she can’t talk so she can’t possibly be the girl who saved him, despite the fact she looks just like her! It takes quite a lot of time to convince him that Ariel is good for him, because he’s too busy stubbornly chasing dreams to realise that, even if she isn’t his “perfect girl”. This really annoys me; I just find him frustrating! Still, he comes to Ariel’s rescue at the end, but I think she would’ve managed to defeat Ursula on her own if she’d been given the opportunity to do it. I’m sure lots of people like Prince Eric, and I guess he’s not THAT bad really. Christopher Daniel Barnes provides the voice of Prince Eric and continues to reprise his voice, as Benson does, in Disney projects. Though curiously, Barnes did not return to voice Eric in the sequel to The Little Mermaid, yet he did become the official voice of Cinderella’s Prince Charming for those two spin-off films and for other Disney projects. Barnes also voiced the role of Spider-Man in the animated series from 1994 to 1998.

Now, back to the important female roles. Ursula is an incredibly powerful Disney villainess, yet she is also hilarious and very flamboyant. She knows what she wants, and can persuade anyone to do exactly that. Ursula is devious and clever, with her thwarting all of Ariel’s attempts at getting Eric to kiss her, until the very last moment, but then she becomes Ruler of the Ocean so who cares about that? Ursula also managed to have two henchmen, her moray eels Flotsam and Jetsam, who are actually useful and do what they are asked to do without getting it wrong, unlike many other villains who just can’t seem to get good help. She has quite a painful death, similar to Maleficent in that the princes stab them both, which can’t be nice. I didn’t think I was that big a fan of Ursula, but when I rewatched the film this week, I thought she was amazing, right up there with Maleficent as one of the best Disney villainesses, who I tend to think pale in comparison to their male counterparts. Ursula is meant to be King Triton’s sister as mentioned in deleted scenes. This fact would not be made public until the original Broadway production of The Little Mermaid, though it was included in the extended version of “Poor Unfortunate Souls”, with this verse later cut out.

Ursula went through many designs, with Ruben Aquino, the Supervising Animator, stating that they originally made her a lionfish or a scorpionfish with spines, but one of the story men said that she’d probably work well as an octopus. It is debated whether or not Ursula is a squid or octopus, as she only has six tentacles, yet an octopus should have eight – this is supposedly because drawing two less tentacles was easier for the animators – but as Ursula also has two human arms, she is classed as just being “part octopus”[9]. Aquino tried varying sizes for Ursula, bigger and skinnier but decided that bigger was better. The performances of drag queen Divine was another inspiration for Ursula’s look, movements and personality. Divine had featured in many movies by filmmaker John Waters, of which Howard Ashman was a fan and suggested Divine as a vision for the character.

Pat Carroll was very excited to have been given the role to voice Ursula as she had always wanted to work on a Disney film. Carroll discussed her character’s performance with Howard Ashman at times especially for her song “Poor Unfortunate Souls”. Carroll said that she asked Howard to sing the song for her, and instead of just singing it, Ashman performed it full out, giving Carroll lots of ideas to play with her; she even admitted that she stole “innit” and some other ad libs from him[10]! Carroll continued to reprise her role as Ursula, and voiced Morgana, Ursula’s sister for the sequel, for Disney projects until her death in 2022. Carroll also starred in various television and stage productions, and voiced Granny in the English dub by Disney of My Neighbor Totoro (2005).

Then, there’s King Triton, the controlling father of Ariel. It’s plain to see how much he loves all seven of his daughters, but feels he has to be stricter with Ariel because she has her head in the clouds and doesn’t tend to listen to anyone’s advice. It is particularly harsh of Triton to just go and blow up most of Ariel’s things from the human world, a moment of actual nastiness from a Disney parent, but you can tell that Triton does regret having done that as soon as he has – though he does not apologise for it. Triton is out of his mind with worry when Ariel goes missing, blaming himself for it, and makes the ultimate sacrifice for her when he finds that she has done a deal with Ursula, trading his life for his daughter’s. He also comes good at the end when he decides to make Ariel human, without her even asking and knowing that he’ll miss seeing his daughter every day. Triton probably has the most interesting character development of anyone else in the movie.

Triton is voiced by Kenneth Mars, who appeared in two of Mel Brooks’ most famous films: as Franz Liebkind in The Producers (1967) and as Police Inspector Kemp in Young Frankenstein (1974). Mars also chose to do a lot of voice acting in his later years, not only reprising his role as Triton for Disney, but also in Don Bluth’s Thumbelina (1994), as King Colbert, and as Grandpa Longneck in the series of The Land Before Time direct-to-video sequels, from 1994 to 2006. Mars passed away in 2011.

Before I move on to the animal sidekicks, there are a few other human characters to mention, specifically related to their voice artists. Firstly, Grimsby, Eric’s strait-laced butler, is voiced by Ben Wright. Wright voiced Rama, Mowgli’s wolf father in The Jungle Book (1967) as well as Roger Ratcliffe in One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), a fact that was apparently unknown to the team working on The Little Mermaid at the time! Wright also appeared as Herr Zeller in The Sound of Music (1965). Grimsby was Ben Wright’s final role; he died four months before the movie’s release[11]. Carlotta, Eric’s maid, is voiced by Edie McClurg, who went on to voice many characters for Disney and Pixar, including Dr. Flora in A Bug’s Life (1998), Minny in Cars (2006) and Mary, a Nicelander, in Wreck-It Ralph (2012).

For Sebastian, it was Howard Ashman’s idea to give him a Caribbean accent, as I believe originally, he was going to have a stuffy English accent. However, though many say Sebastian is Jamaican, he actually has a Trinidadian accent. Ashman was looking for this specific accent as he had spent some time in Trinidad during his childhood. Samuel E. Wright auditioned for the part and Ashman was surprised to find that the accent was exactly what he had been looking for. Menken said that this choice opened up new musical styles to them, such as calypso and reggae, which are used in Sebastian’s songs[12]. Though Sebastian seems quite uptight at the start and has no desire to babysit Ariel as ordered by the King, he does realise that Ariel has her own life to lead and he wants to help her achieve it. As mentioned, Samuel E. Wright voices Sebastian, King Triton’s court composer and advisor. Wright would also reprise his role as Sebastian in other Disney projects, and also voiced Kron the Iguanodon in Disney’s Dinosaur (2000). He played the part of Mufusa in the original Broadway cast of The Lion King in 1997. Wright passed away in May 2021.

Flounder is Ariel’s best friend, who is kind and loyal. He is named after the flat fish flounder but looks more like a tropical reef fish. He’s a sweet friend, trying to help Ariel as best he can, but you can tell he is quite young and scared of the dangers of the sea, so he isn’t overly helpful at times, but he tries! Flounder is voiced by Jason Marin. Scuttle is the dippy seagull, who thinks he knows what he’s talking about and is generally just clumsy and very in-your-face, especially with Sebastian! He’s a bit much at times and his singing is truly awful, but it’s hard to not like Scuttle, because his heart is in the right place. Scuttle is voiced Buddy Hackett, who reprised this role for The Little Mermaid sequel. Hackett also appeared in such films as The Music Man (1967), as Marcellus Washburn, and The Love Bug (1969), as Tennessee Steinmetz. He passed away in 2003.

PRODUCTION

The Little Mermaid was the last Disney film to use the traditional hand-completed ink and paint method, with the movies that came after moving on to use the CAPS system in full, which used a digital ink and paint method. CAPS was used for The Little Mermaid’s final scene, specifically for the rainbow. This film also contained more effects animation than any Disney animated movie since Fantasia (1940) with nearly 80% of the film requiring effects. Over a million bubbles were drawn with two thirds of the film taking place underwater[13].

Eric’s shipwreck was another area where special effects were vital. The effects team wanted this sequence to be similar in size, scale and consequence as that of Monstro the Whale in Pinocchio (1940). The lightning flashes were important to create the mood of the scene and to light up specific areas of the ship. They also used concept art and reference material from the Animation Research Library for help. From here, they found materials from Pinocchio (1940), and also Bambi (1942), where the rain and blowing snow was useful to recreate weather. They also discovered concept art from Kay Nielsen that had been drawn in the 1940s when the Disney Studios looked to adapt Hans Christian Andersen’s tale. They found his art of a shipwreck to be useful. All the effects in The Little Mermaid had to be drawn, be they water, fire, weather, or even magic[14].

When production began on The Little Mermaid, it was in the mid-1980s, when the new management had come in and the animators were now working from that rundown warehouse in Glendale. When “The Gong Show” was brought in by Eisner, a place for animators to pitch new ideas, Ron Clements put forward the idea of adapting The Little Mermaid at their first meeting in January 1985. He had just read the story and wrote a two-page treatment of it, coming up with a happier ending. However, the idea was “gonged” i.e., rejected, because of a planned sequel to the live-action film Splash (1984), which was about a mermaid. Two weeks later, Jeffrey Katzenberg, then Chairman of Walt Disney Studios, read the full treatment and did decide to greenlight the project. Katzenberg started to look outside for screenwriters, when Ron Clements and John Musker asked if they could give it a try; Katzenberg loved their screenplay and they moved forward with the film.

In early 1988, a work-in-progress screening was assembled for Katzenberg to view, containing sketches and voice recordings. Katzenberg liked the script and the songs but didn’t love the movie as a whole, admitting that he wasn’t able to see how it would look on screen, whereas the animators did know what would and wouldn’t work. They joked that management was not patient enough, but this was the first time the team felt they were in trouble. Howard Ashman helped rewrite a few scenes when they struggled with the story. with some of those being Sebastian coaching Ariel on how to get Eric to kiss her, and the ending of Triton deciding to give Ariel legs, where it was more of a visual element originally.

Then an audience of children was invited to view the movie, with a half-animated “Part of Your World” included. Katzenberg could see that the children were restless and uninterested, so said that the song should be removed. Everyone was horrified at this idea so the directors, the songwriters and the animators all tried to convince him to keep it. Katzenberg gave them a chance to finish animating it and then decided to keep the song in the movie. It would’ve been a mistake to cut the song, as Katzenberg has admitted, as it tells the audience exactly why Ariel wants to be human and ties us to her emotionally. At an official audience preview at the AMC Theatre in Burbank, the unfinished movie was a hit, with both children and adults alike. A marketing campaign for the movie then began, with this movie being marketed in all areas of the company, including at the theme parks. Katzenberg thought that The Little Mermaid wouldn’t surpass Oliver & Company (1988), the previous animated release, as he felt Oliver was a boys’ movie and The Little Mermaid for girls, with boys’ movies doing better at the box office, though the animators felt it would appeal to all.

MUSIC

As The Little Mermaid was Disney’s first return to their fairytale format for three decades, the new generation of animators knew they needed a fresh approach to the traditional style in all aspects, including the music; The Little Mermaid began Disney’s Broadway-style of animated musical. This was thanks to the duo of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken. Ashman had written the hugely successful musical Little Shop of Horrors, the horror-comedy rock musical about a human-eating Venus fly trap, in the 1980s alongside Alan Menken. Ashman then went on to write the musical Smile which premiered in 1986 but was not well-received. Because of this disappointment, Ashman wanted a new project away from Broadway. Howard Ashman felt that musical theatre and Disney animation had always worked well together, so he was interested in working on a Disney animated feature film. Ashman had already written a song for the previous animated Disney release Oliver & Company (1988) and was invited by Jeffrey Katzenberg to work on The Little Mermaid. Naturally, Ashman asked Menken to collaborate with him on the music, with Ashman writing lyrics and Menken composing the music, despite neither of them having any experience in writing music for films.

The film has a mixture of short songs and also bigger star numbers, but I’ll start with the shorter ones. The Little Mermaid begins with the song “Fathoms Below”, sung by Prince Eric’s crew as they talk about the legends of merfolk and King Triton. It’s a good opening number for building some backstory into the characters we are about to see, and also gives the film some atmosphere, with the ship moving through a misty screen. This song was meant to be extended, and would have included information about Ursula being Triton’s sister, however, the number was cut for the movie’s pacing. The next song follows on from “Fathoms Below” quite quickly and is performed by Ariel’s sisters under the sea, in the concert that Sebastian has arranged for their father. It introduced each of Ariel’s six sisters, giving us their names, which are: Aquata, Andrina, Arista, Attina, Adella, and Alana. Even though this song is unceremoniously cut short, I actually really like it and would’ve liked to have heard more should Ariel have bothered to appear for her solo! The third shorter song is “Les Poissons” performed by René Auberjonois as Chef Louis. It’s very funny, though obviously stereotypically French! I quite like it, and it can quite easily get stuck in your head!

Moving on, we have Ariel’s big showstopping number “Part of Your World”. This was written to be the typical “I Want” song that the leading lady would sing in a Broadway musical, talking about her hopes and dreams for her life. In this case, we hear how much Ariel wants to be a human and live above the surface. It’s one of the most memorable songs from The Little Mermaid. I believe “Part of Your World” was written quite soon after Ashman and Menken received the story treatment, with the directors first hearing it in Ashman’s New York apartment. From this song, the Disney directors could tell how much the duo understood story and character. Unfortunately, I have heard too many renditions of “Part of Your World” through the years and they never match Jodi Benson’s original version. I sometimes feel like this song has been “overused” at times and I therefore don’t love it. “Part of Your World” features twice more in the film, as reprises: once when Ariel realises she is in love with Eric after saving him, where we can hear how desperate she is to be with him; and then again for the finale, sung by the chorus of guests at their wedding, which ends the film well. One other interesting fact about this song is that on the soundtrack, there is some dialogue heard before the song; this dialogue does not feature in the movie.

Sebastian the crab also gets two songs in The Little Mermaid: “Under the Sea” and “Kiss the Girl”. Thanks to the choice to use a Trinidadian accent for Sebastian, Menken and Ashman were then able to incorporate the musical styles of calypso and reggae in these two songs[15]. “Under the Sea” is all about trying to convince Ariel that being under the sea is the best place for her, via a big party number with all the marine life, and “Kiss the Girl” is building a romantic atmosphere to get Eric to finally kiss Ariel. They are both fantastic, although I didn’t always like “Under the Sea”; again, I felt like Disney used it too much in their parades and shows, so I’d just heard it too much, but in recent years, I’ve found I really like it, especially when the song builds towards its finale. I’ve always liked the romance of “Kiss the Girl” and like seeing how Sebastian and all the animals are trying to help Ariel realise her dream of being human forever, even if it is a bit forcefully done!

The final song to cover is “Poor Unfortunate Souls”, the longest of all of them at almost five minutes, but hey, Ursula needs her big moment! It really makes a show-woman of Ursula and I think Pat Carroll performs it so well. It follows Ursula trying to convince Ariel to take her deal to become a human, and then ends with the spell actually being enacted. It goes through specific examples of her magic working for others, and warns Ariel of the price she will have to pay, or else she will belong to her. The song is a perfect example of devious, pushy sales tactics, really! I particularly like Ursula’s verse on body language and how men don’t like women to talk – it was quite a contemporary attitude to put into a Disney animated film, as this is something that we still discuss today in the overarching feminist debate – and also the point where the spell is complete, with Ariel singing those few notes that recur at multiple other moments in the film. It’s beautiful singing, even if Ursula is taking her voice!

For the score, though I do not have any specific instrumental pieces that I really like, it is obvious to hear how Menken’s music is able to impact the mood of the viewer to match what they are seeing on screen. I do like the finale music the best of the music within the score, but Menken continued to do great scores for other Disney animated films, many of which I do prefer to The Little Mermaid’s.

Menken and Ashman had a lot to be proud of with their soundtrack as they received three Academy Award nominations: “Under the Sea” and “Kiss the Girl” for Best Original Song and then the award for Best Score. They won both Best Score and Best Original Song for “Under the Sea”. “Under the Sea” also won a Grammy and a Golden Globe. Menken’s score also won a Golden Globe for Best Score and the soundtrack as a whole won the Grammy for Best Recording for Children. A few days after the Oscar ceremony in 1990, Ashman told Menken that he was unwell, and had been diagnosed as HIV positive. They continued to work on songs for Beauty and the Beast (1991) and for Aladdin (1992) whilst Ashman was ill. Sadly, he did not live to see either movie to completion, passing away in March 1991, eight months before the release of Beauty and the Beast[16].

RECEPTION

The Little Mermaid was released in theatres on 17^th November 1989, and despite Katzenberg not foreseeing the movie doing as well as Oliver & Company (1988) had one year previously, the team were pleased to see that the movie continued to do well over the weeks that followed, earning over $84 million during its initial run in North America. The reviews were also dazzling, with many stating that the Disney Animation department had managed to reclaim the enchantment and the charm of their medium and had restored the public’s faith in animation. Many of the characters were praised, including Ariel and Ursula, with the songs being another major factor in the movie’s popularity. It would ultimately gross over $200 million worldwide, thanks to theatrical re-releases, both in 2D and in 3D. The Little Mermaid has also been released on VHS, DVD and Blu-Ray multiple times over the years.

LEGACY

As far as The Little Mermaid continuing outside of the original movie, on screen, the story was continued with the direct-to-video sequel The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea (2000), which happens to be one of my favourite Disney direct-to-video sequels. Many of the vocal cast returned with the addition of Tara Strong as Melody, Ariel’s daughter. The sequel sees Melody wanting desperately to be a mermaid, not a human, and goes to Morgana, Ursula’s sister to become one, in a complete reversal of Ariel’s story. Tara Strong has had a long history of voice acting, including as Timmy Turner in the long-running series The Fairly OddParents (2001-17), and in person appeared as Gwen in the two Sabrina the Teenage Witch movies, Sabrina Goes to Rome (1998) and Sabrina Down Under (1999). The Little Mermaid also spanned a prequel, titled The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning (2008), which details King Triton banning music in his kingdom after his wife’s death with Ariel fighting to change that in her youth. I have only seen the prequel once and I didn’t think too much of it, to be honest. An animated series based on the film, which looked at Ariel’s life before the film, called simply The Little Mermaid, aired for three seasons from 1992 to 1994.

Following on from that, in 2019 Disney aired a television special called The Little Mermaid Live! This was to celebrate the original movie’s 30^th anniversary, with additional live musical performances from the film and the Broadway stage show, which first went to Broadway in 2008. Auli’I Cravalho, voice of Moana, performed as Ariel, with other big names such as Shaggy as Sebastian and Queen Latifah as Ursula, joining her. I will admit I did not watch this, and I’m not sure whether I will; I have seen other television versions of musical films in recent years, such as Hairspray Live! and don’t think they have been worth it.

Finally, a 2023 live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid was also released. I have not watched this live-action film either. It did very well financially, as all of these Disney live-action adaptations seem to, but received mixed reviews, though it is supposedly one of Disney’s better attempts at modernising the original. It made such changes as adding new songs, written by Alan Menken and Lin-Manuel Miranda, such as “Wild Uncharted Waters” for Prince Eric, and “For the First Time” for Ariel, which apparently added to their character development. There was also some strange song called “The Scuttlebutt”, which was not popular with many viewers…They added more backstory to Prince Eric and his family, and made it so Ariel doesn’t know she needs Eric’s kiss to remain human, causing their relationship to develop more organically. Some of these story changes do not sound too bad, but I don’t think much of the casting, with Awkwafina being a particularly odd choice for Scuttle, though Halle Bailey seems to do a good job as Ariel from the few clips I’ve seen[17].

Generally, at the Disney theme parks, Ariel and The Little Mermaid are prominently featured at all the parks across the world, be that through parades, shows, nighttime fireworks performances or meet-and-greets, with Ariel and Ursula being the two most easily spotted, though Ursula may only be available for the Halloween season in some areas. Ariel is also likely to be at any location where the Disney Princesses can be found, including character dining such as Cinderella’s Royal Table at Walt Disney World or Auberge de Cendrillon in Disneyland Paris. Sometimes Ariel meets with Eric, but this is not common. Many children also choose to be made over to look like Ariel at Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boutiques.

Some of the specific high points of The Little Mermaid references include the ride of the movie. The attraction is named The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Undersea Adventure at its home in Disney California Adventure Park, opening in June 2011, with a copy of the ride opening at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, as part of the New Fantasyland area, in December 2012 under the name Under the Sea – Journey of the Little Mermaid. This is an Omnimover dark ride that takes guests through highlights of the movie, such as the “Under the Sea” scene, Ursula’s lair, her defeat, and “Kiss the Girl”. The interesting thing about this ride is that it was originally in development in the early 1990s, however, the ride was put on hold and was not built. A computer-generated ride-through of this original attraction was added as a bonus feature to the 2006 Special Edition DVD release of the movie. Whether because of feedback from this ride-through or not, an attraction was then developed by Disney in the mid-to-late 2000s and opened as the ride we have today. The original ride would have had guests going through some different scenes such as a more intense battle with Ursula and an opening scene of Eric’s ship on the ocean in the mist, with the shell-shaped vehicles also being attached to a track on the ceiling, similar to Peter Pan’s Flight[18]. I remember seeing this ride on the bonus features before the actual attraction was built and was so annoyed it wasn’t real, so when it did open in some form, I was very happy, although I do find some of the animatronics of Ariel in the actual ride kind of creepy…

Also at Walt Disney World Resort, there is a whole section of the Art of Animation Resort dedicated to The Little Mermaid, as well as the area within New Fantasyland with the ride that includes an exterior building to look like Prince Eric’s castle, something that California’s version does not have. Sebastian’s Bistro is also a vaguely The Little Mermaid-themed restaurant at the Caribbean Beach Resort. There used to be a whole stage show for The Little Mermaid titled Voyage of the Little Mermaid at Disney’s Hollywood Studios. This was a fifteen-minute re-telling of the movie which incorporated live performers, puppets, including a 12-foot-tall Ursula, water effects and a huge projection screen showing moments from the movie. It was only meant to be a temporary show however it ran from January 1992 until March 2020, when it closed with the parks for the COVID-19 pandemic, but never reopened. It has now been confirmed that this show will not be returning, and will be replaced by a new, albeit fairly similar, show titled The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure. It is due to open in late 2024, and will feature songs from the film, as well as puppets, live characters, and digital characters, created via motion capture.

At Tokyo DisneySea Park, a whole area called Mermaid Lagoon is themed to The Little Mermaid. The façade of the building looks like King Triton’s palace and takes you into an indoor area, making guests feel like they are under the sea. This is where guests can meet Ariel, shop, play in the play area, and ride some more basic fairground-type attractions, such as the Jumping Jellyfish, a child-friendly drop tower-style ride, and The Whirlpool, similar to the Tea Cups. Outside, there are also two outdoor attractions: Flounder’s Flying Fish Coaster, a child-friendly rollercoaster, and Scuttle’s Scooters, a non-spinning version of the traditional Waltzers. This area looks great and I would’ve loved an area like this at Walt Disney World for when I was younger – though I’d probably still like it now!

These were the most interesting attractions themed to The Little Mermaid, however, each of the six Disney theme parks does have attractions, restaurants, hotel areas, or shops themed to The Little Mermaid or its characters, but recounting them all would take too long! But that’s not all because when the live-action The Little Mermaid was released, a whole new Ariel could be celebrated. At Disneyland Paris, an outdoor musical show, featuring performances of songs from the live-action film, took place at Walt Disney Studios Park from 26^th May 2023 to 23^rd June 2023. Also to promote the release of the film, new snacks, drinks and merchandise were also available to buy at the Disney Parks. You can still meet live-action Ariel at Walt Disney World, at the end of the Walt Disney Presents attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, but I’m unsure if you can still meet her at Disneyland by the it’s a small world attraction; the meet-and-greet is not listed on the website.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Little Mermaid continues to have a hold on the hearts of many, whether they were adults or children at the time of the movie’s release, or born five, ten, twenty years afterwards. It’s one of those Disney animated films that has remained popular with young and old alike, as Beauty and the Beast (1991) and The Lion King (1994) would do just a few short years later. The Little Mermaid sparked a whole new era for Disney Animation, lovingly titled the Disney Renaissance Era, and although Ariel would later be joined by multiple other Disney princesses and heroines, some more contemporary than herself, she was the one who started the new age of Disney Princess.

It is difficult to express how important The Little Mermaid was for Disney Animation, the Disney movie-goers and the Walt Disney Company as a whole but it was vital. It is thanks to The Little Mermaid that a nervous animation workforce managed to find their passion for their work again and thankfully, the viewers saw that and were happy to join them on the crazy ride that followed.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Charline Bouzon, ‘The Little Mermaid: The incredible true story of Andersen’s tale’, En-Vols.com, 16^th February 2023.

[2] Credit: Disney, “The Little Mermaid: The Story Behind the Story”, from The Little Mermaid (1989) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2006).

[3] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Ariel’s Tale’, MousePlanet.com, 28^th July 2021.

[4] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘The Little Mermaid (1989)’, pp. 82-84.

[5] Credit: Mackenzie Nichols, ‘’The Little Mermaid’ Turns 30: Inside the Disney Classic’s Rocky Journey’, Variety (online), 13^th November 2019.

[6] Credit: Mackenzie Nichols, ‘’The Little Mermaid’ Turns 30: Inside the Disney Classic’s Rocky Journey’, Variety (online), 13^th November 2019.

[7] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Ariel’s Tale’, MousePlanet.com, 28^th July 2021.

[8] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘How Sherri Stoner Became “The Little Mermaid”’, CartoonResearch.com, 19^th November 2021.

[9] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘The Little Mermaid (1989)’, pp. 82-84.

[10] Credit: Disney, “Treasures Untold: The Making of The Little Mermaid”, from The Little Mermaid (1989) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2006).

[11] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘The Little Mermaid (1989)’, pp. 82-84.

[12] Credit: Mackenzie Nichols, ‘’The Little Mermaid’ Turns 30: Inside the Disney Classic’s Rocky Journey’, Variety (online), 13^th November 2019.

[13] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘The Little Mermaid (1989)’, pp. 82-84.

[14] Credit: Disney, “Storm Warning: The Little Mermaid Special Effects Unit”, from The Little Mermaid (1989) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2006).

[15] Credit: Disney, “Treasures Untold: The Making of The Little Mermaid”, from The Little Mermaid (1989) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2006).

[16] Credit: Don Hahn, Waking Sleeping Beauty (2009).

[17] Credit: Alex Abad-Santos, ‘What Disney changed (and didn’t) in The Little Mermaid remake’, Vox.com, 25^th May 2023.

[18] Credit: Disney, “The Little Mermaid Under the Sea Adventure: The Virtual Ride”, from The Little Mermaid (1989) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2006).

22nd Sep 202327th Jun 2024 by The Disney Purist

#35 Hercules (1997)

BACKGROUND

With Hercules being released within the famed Disney Renaissance Era, it was automatically going to become popular, mostly with those viewers who were children at the time, who see all films within the Disney Renaissance time period as bringing them a feeling of nostalgia. That would make it seem like Hercules was always a big hit.

But that wasn’t really the case. Though the children of the day may have loved it, in actual fact, Hercules was the Disney Renaissance film that did the worst at the box-office, and was not considered to be particularly original or exciting.

I am firmly within the pack of kids that loved it as children, and I believe my family and I watched it at the cinema when it was first released. I love Hercules and I rewatch it often, being able to quote many lines and scenes from it. Hercules sits comfortably within my Top 5 Disney films, mostly because the film involves my second favourite Disney villain, a very close second, I might add, but not quite enough to top my list.

Hercules does not have the universal appeal of other Disney movies, such as Beauty and the Beast (1991) or The Lion King (1994). Disney executives had hoped that Hercules would be as well-received as Aladdin (1992), however, it was not. Still, Hercules remains a firm favourite especially with “90s kids”, who continue to speak fondly of the movie as adults.

PLOT

Hercules begins with an invisible narrator who starts telling the story of Hercules. Five women on a nearby vase suddenly come alive, and ask the narrator if they can take over, to make the story more interesting. These women are the Muses, and they state that many eons ago, the Titans ruled over Earth, creating chaos everywhere. That is until the mighty Zeus trapped the Titans underground, becoming the ruler of Earth instead. We then go to “present day” and head up to Mount Olympus, home of the gods, where we see that Zeus and his wife, Hera, have a son, called Hercules, with all the gods assembling for a party to celebrate the birth. Zeus fashions a flying horse out of clouds as a gift to his son, the horse being called Pegasus. Everything is going well – until Hades, Zeus’ brother and ruler of the Underworld arrives, clearly not wanting to be there, and not willing to marvel at the kid. Hades leaves soon after arriving, having been jeered at and/or ignored by the crowd.

Hades is annoyed at being forced to rule the Underworld, a job that leaves him constantly busy and mostly alone, with only his two minions, Pain and Panic, for company, though those two are completely useless and infuriate Hades most of the time. Hades is told that The Fates are here, the three who control the lives of mortals, cutting their threads at the end of their lives and sending them to the Underworld. Hades convinces the Fates to tell him how his plan to take over Olympus may or may not happen. They eventually tell Hades that in eighteen years, the planets will align and that the time will come to release the Titans and overthrow Zeus. Hades is thrilled, until they tell him the bad news – that if Hercules fights, he will fail. Hades comes up with a plan to bring Hercules to Earth and turn him mortal. Pain and Panic are sent to kidnap the baby and force-feed him a potion to turn him mortal, with him having to drink every last drop. Pain and Panic are disturbed by two mortals, and hide, leaving a crying Hercules and the bottle of potion, which breaks. Unbeknownst to Pain and Panic, there was one last drop in that bottle…Pain and Panic turn into snakes and go to attack Hercules, but as he didn’t drink the whole potion, he retained his god-like strength and easily defeats them. He is taken in by the mortals, Amphitryon and Alcmene.

Some years later, Hercules, now a teenager, finds that he doesn’t fit in with others, with his super-strength generally causing problems for everyone else. This is clear when Hercules tries to join in a game of discus with a group of boys, but as he catches the disc, he bumps into a column, sending the whole marketplace into chaos, with every building destroyed. Amphitryon tries to calm Hercules, but he doesn’t listen, thinking he doesn’t belong here and annoyed that he doesn’t know where he would. Later that day, his adopted parents give him a crest with the symbol of the gods on it, telling Hercules it was around his neck when he was found. Hercules decides to travel to the Temple of Zeus for answers. At the temple, the great statue of Zeus comes alive, and grabs Hercules, announcing that he is Hercules’ father. Hercules is shocked. Zeus tells him how Hercules ended up on Earth, and says that if he wants to rejoin them, he needs to become a “true hero”. Zeus asks Hercules to seek out Philoctetes, the trainer of heroes. He is also reunited with Pegasus.

On a misty island, Hercules finds a goat stuck in bushes and pulls him free. Except, it’s not a goat, but a satyr, half-man, half-goat, and that satyr is Philoctetes, or Phil, who is most annoyed that Hercules has now scared the nymphs away that he was ogling at. Good thing, really, because that’s kind of creepy, Phil! Anyway, Phil tells Hercules that he once trained heroes, including Perseus and Achilles, but that they never achieved greatness so he has retired and will not help Hercules. With some “persuading” from Zeus, Phil reluctantly agrees and they begin training. Some years later, Hercules is ready and Phil tells him they are going to Thebes, as that town is full of troubles and needs a hero. On the way, though, Hercules is distracted by the cry of a “damsel in distress”. They find a woman being harassed by a centaur, the River Guardian, Nessus. Hercules asks Nessus to release the woman, but he refuses, easily pushing Hercules away. Hercules battles Nessus and wins, with the woman free to go, despite her claims that she was handling it. The woman introduces herself as Megara, also known as Meg, and goes on her way, but Hercules is entranced by her. Phil scolds him for being distracted by a “pair of big goo-goo eyes” and they head to Thebes.

Meg walks through the nearby forest and comes across Pain and Panic, in disguise, along with Hades. It turns out Meg sold her soul to Hades and must work for him, helping him in his long-awaited uprising. She was meant to persuade the River Guardian to join Hades’ side, and did not, angering him. Meg tells Hades it wasn’t her fault, that some guy called Hercules disrupted the plan. Hades is furious, questioning Pain and Panic, as they never told Hades that their initial plan to kill Hercules had failed.

In Thebes, Hercules is laughed off quickly by the residents, who don’t believe him to be a hero. Meg suddenly rushes in, saying two boys are trapped in a gorge and they need saving. This is perfect for Hercules, who lifts the rock trapping the boys, freeing them. Then, there’s a noise; a monster comes out from the gorge and attacks. Hercules, caught off-guard, is eaten by the large snake-like Hydra. When all looks lost, Hercules cuts himself free from the Hydra’s throat. But then, the head grows back, along with two more. After a bad tactic of constantly cutting off the heads, only for more to grow back, Hercules is pinned to the rocky mountain-side. He hits the rock face hard, causing a landslide, which crushes the Hydra. We find that this was all part of Hades’ new plan to kill Hercules. Hercules is seemingly crushed in the hand of the Hydra, but frees himself. Hercules is proclaimed a hero by everyone, soon becoming one of the most famous people in Greece, with his own range of merchandise, huge villa and thousands of fans, defeating even more monsters that Hades throws in his way. He thinks he’s now proven himself a hero and goes back to Zeus at the temple, who tells him he’s on the right track, but not quite there yet.

Hades can’t believe Hercules has beaten everything he’s sent out to him. Hades decides he needs to send Meg to him, to find his weakness, and that if she can do this, then he’ll grant her freedom. Meg convinces Hercules one day to “play hooky” with her, and go out for the day, instead of doing his boring celebrity stuff. He tells Meg he has no weakness. Hercules is soon found by Phil, who orders Hercules to the gym as punishment. On the way there, Phil is hit by a branch and falls off Pegasus. When he awakens, he overhears Meg talking with Hades about Hercules. He realises she’s working for him. Phil goes to the gym to tell Hercules, but he doesn’t believe him, instead getting angry at Phil. Devastated that Hercules is not the hero he thought he was, Phil leaves. Shortly after, Hades arrives. He asks Hercules to give up his strength for 24 hours so he can enact his plan. Hercules refuses, until he sees Meg tied up, Hades using her as leverage. Hercules agrees on one condition: that Meg will be safe from harm. The two shake on it and Hercules’ strength is taken from him. Hades then reveals that it is true that Meg was working for him, crushing Hercules, as predicted. Hades goes off to release the Titans, who then attack Olympus; the Cyclops is sent to Thebes to deal with Hercules, but as Hercules hasn’t his strength anymore, he is overpowered quickly. Meg finds Pegasus, and they look for Phil together. Meg convinces Phil to come back with her to help or else Hercules will die.

Phil gives Hercules a pep talk, which encourages Hercules. He ties rope around the Cyclops feet, putting him off balance and he tumbles off the cliff. With the force of this action, though, a nearby pillar begins to fall. Meg rushes to push Hercules out of the way but is crushed instead. Hercules lifts the pillar off her, having gotten his strength back as the Hades’ deal is broken. Meg is alive, barely, and tells Hercules to stop Hades. He flies over to Olympus, and frees his father from the frozen lava he’d been encased in by the Titans. Hercules trapped all of the Titans within each other, throwing them into the sky, where they explode. Hades is defeated, but as his parting shot, he tells Herc that he got “one swell consolation prize”, and that is Meg’s death. Hercules flies to her side, but is too late; she’s gone. Phil and Hercules are devastated, with Phil telling Hercules there are some things you just can’t change, but Hercules thinks he can. He finds his way into the Underworld and orders Hades to let Meg’s soul go. He can’t do that and leads Hercules to the River of Death, where her soul resides with every other one. Hercules makes a deal with Hades, to take Meg’s place. Hades agrees, and as Hercules goes into the river to retrieve her soul, he shouts that Hercules will be dead before he gets to her. Sure enough, the Fates are ready with his “thread of life” but as they cut, the thread turns golden and cannot be cut through. Hercules comes up out of the river, holding Meg’s soul. Hades is shocked to find that Hercules is now a god, and tries to apologise for his actions, but Hercules doesn’t care and punches him with such force that he ends up in the River of Death.

Hercules returns Meg’s soul to her body and she is revived. A cloud appears to take them up to Olympus, where Hercules is given a hero’s welcome by Zeus, Hera, and all the gods, stating that as he risked his life to save another, he proved himself a true hero and now can come home. Meg is proud of Hercules but knows she must let him go now, and starts to walk away. Hercules sees this and realises that he doesn’t want to be without her. He tells Zeus that he wants to go back to Earth to be with her. Zeus agrees. The two return with Phil and Pegasus, and watch as the gods make a picture of Hercules in the stars, with everyone knowing that’s “Phil’s boy”, thus fulfilling a dream Phil had always had. And they all live happily ever after – though this is Greek mythology, so they probably don’t for long!

CHARACTERS & CAST

Hercules goes on a real “hero’s journey” throughout this movie. He begins the film as the newborn child of Zeus, the most powerful god on Olympus. Despite only just being born, it’s quite clear he was going to be a very spoilt child, praised and fawned over by everyone. But as he is then taken to Earth and becomes a mortal, he gets a more normal upbringing, though because Hercules isn’t “normal”, he ends up being bullied and berated by everyone he comes into contact with, as he is quite clumsy. He just wants to fit in though; it’s not his fault he’s super-strong. Then, as he becomes a hero, Hercules gets taken in by the fame and fortune that comes with his celebrity status, and must figure out for himself how to be a “true hero”, not just a star. Hercules goes through a lot to get that stage, not only physically with monster battles and evil villains, but emotionally and mentally as he has to figure out what he wants from life and how exactly he can go there. He hits many low points, before hitting the highs of finding Meg and finally being reunited with his family.

The team at Disney knew that although Hercules needed to be this strong superhero character, with all the charisma and brawn that goes with it, he also had to have a softer, emotional side to come full circle with his journey. They knew the best way to show this would be in his scenes with Meg, who he instantly falls for her and still forgives despite her ultimate betrayal of having seemingly used him to help Hades achieve global domination…Andreas Deja, the animator known for animating Disney villains such as Scar and Gaston, got to have the opportunity to be the Supervising Animator for a hero this time with his work on Hercules. Deja found Tate Donovan’s lively energy and strong vocal performance a big help in designing this naïve, innocent, yet charming, brave character[1]. Tate Donovan voices adult Hercules. Donovan has appeared on both television and film, with roles such as Rob Anders in Argo (2012) and Jimmy Cooper in The O.C (2003-07). Donovan has continued to voice Hercules for other Disney projects throughout his career. Josh Keaton voices young Hercules. Keaton has since had numerous voice-acting roles in film, television and video games.

To help Hercules on his journey to becoming a hero, he relies heavily on the trainer of heroes, Phil. Phil is impatient, difficult to get along with, blunt and grumpy at times. At least that’s how he appears when he first meets Hercules. But as the movie goes on, we see a friendship form between Phil and Hercules, with Phil telling Hercules that he’s got something special that he hasn’t seen before in any of the other men he’d trained, thinking that he can actually be great and “go the distance”. It’s especially touching when Phil returns to help Hercules defeat the Cyclops, as he tells Hercules he’s not going to give up on him, despite them having just had an argument over Meg. Phil gets Hercules to believe in himself again, giving him the boost he needed at that point. Phil is also the most comedic character, with many of his lines being the funniest, and most quotable, in the movie.

Supervising Animator for Phil was Eric Goldberg, known for his work on the Genie in Aladdin (1992). Goldberg was inspired by Danny DeVito’s own features when designing Phil. Danny DeVito was one of the first choices that Disney had for the character; I couldn’t imagine anyone else being a better fit for Phil. DeVito has had an incredible acting career spanning multiple decades. Some of DeVito’s best roles are: Louie De Palma in Taxi (1978-83), for which he won a Golden Globe and an Emmy; Mr. Wormwood in Matilda (1996); the Lorax in The Lorax (2012); and most recently, as Eddie in Jumanji: The Next Level (2019) and the Ringmaster in Dumbo (2019). Plus, DeVito has starred in the series It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005-present) since 2006. If you’re not sure what that show is because you’re British and it hasn’t aired over here, it’s that show created by Rob McElhenney, the “other guy” who co-owns Wrexham F.C. with Ryan Reynolds.

Meg, or Megara, is Hercules’ love interest, but she’s not the average cute, sweet, devoted romantic interest. Meg is incredibly strong-minded, brave and quite sarcastic. She is not bothered by Hercules at all when she first meets him, saying she may be a damsel in distress but that she can handle it – and I believe she could’ve done. Meg is sassy and feisty, and a fan-favourite amongst Disney film-watchers. The other added complexity to Meg is that this is the first time in a Disney movie that we’ve had the love interest actually working for the villain, which makes her even more fascinating to watch, as she fights against what she wants to do and what she has to do. I don’t think Meg wants to be deceptive and it’s clear when her betrayal is revealed by Hades that she feels incredibly guilty and wants to help resolve the mess she helped make. When Meg throws herself in front of the pillar to protect Hercules, that shows Meg’s love for Hercules and symbolises the end of her working relationship with Hades, no matter what that means for her.

Supervising Animator for Meg, Ken Duncan stated that, to fit in with the overall style of the movie and the Greek art that features heavily within scenes, Meg was designed to look like a column, in terms of her body shape and the vertical stripes of her purple dress, with her head made to be a vase shape, with a flowing, curled look to her hair[2]. It’s also impossible not to notice that Meg has a very small waist and quite a sexy walk; I’m not sure those are character features that Disney would be able to use nowadays! Susan Egan voices Megara. Egan originated the role of Belle in the Broadway musical of Beauty and the Beast in 1994, having also starred in other stage productions such as The Sound of Music in 1996 as Maria, and as Sally Bowles in productions of Cabaret from the late-1990s to mid-2000s. Egan also continued to do voice acting, such as various voices in the Cartoon Network series Steven Universe (2014-19), and Lin in the English dub of Spirited Away (2002). Susan Egan also frequently reprises her role of Megara for Disney.

Arguably, there are only really four main characters, those that the plot revolves around, so that leaves the best one until last: Hades, one of the most popular villains in the Disney Villains franchise. This is likely due to the fact that Hades is a completely unique take on any other Disney villain, because he sounds like a fast-talking car salesman, a total schmoozer, which makes him charismatic and charming, yet he is also menacing and evil in the movie. As Nik Ranieri, the Supervising Animator for Hades, stated, Hades has an appealing evil which draws people in, making him more dangerous, but also more attractive to those he interacts with. In the first few minutes of the movie, we see Hades charming the Fates into telling him how to enact his great plan to overthrow Zeus, and he also has a way with Meg, because, although she doesn’t want to work with him and only sold her soul to save her boyfriend’s life, you can see that she gets taken in by Hades easily. Hades is also incredibly funny at times, with James Woods, the voice actor for Hades, wanting to make the Disney team laugh at his performances, saying the funnier, the better. Hades’ mood shifts frequently in the movie, where his face and hair are generally blue, for when he’s cool and calm, but changes rapidly to be red hot whenever he’s angry, which isn’t too infrequently, especially if Pain and Panic are around[3]!

John Lithgow was originally cast for the role of Hades, even recording lines for a period of around nine months, before being replaced by James Woods, who changed the whole demeanour of Hades with his fast ad-libbing. Apparently, Jack Nicholson was also approached for the role[4]. But it went to James Woods, who has starred in movies such as Once Upon a Time in America (1984) as Max Bercovicz, alongside Robert De Niro; and as D.J. in the made-for-television film Promise (1986), for which Woods won an Emmy. Woods has also voiced other characters, like the Falcon in Stuart Little 2 (2002), who is the only good part of that film in my opinion, and Dr. Benedict in Recess: School’s Out (2001). Woods also has reprised his role of Hades for Disney numerous times as he loves the character.

For the minor characters, let’s start with Hades’ sidekicks: Pain and Panic. Both are small creatures who look a bit like devils, with Pain being the stouter pink one, always getting himself into scrapes with his clumsiness, and Panic, being the thin, green, anxious one, hence their names. They are the worst henchmen of any Disney villain, not having a clue what they are doing most of the time, and so scared of their boss that they’d rather keep their failures a secret from him and hope he never finds out. Except Hades always does find out so all they end up doing is delaying his wrath! At times, you feel a bit sorry for them as they are abused by Hades frequently, and only get a small bit of praise here and there; they try, but they’re just not good enough for him! Bobcat Goldthwait and Matt Frewer voice Pain and Panic respectively. Goldthwait was a stand-up comedian at the beginning of his career, before moving into acting with roles such as Zed in Police Academy 2, 3 and 4 (1985-87). Frewer became his career in films, such as Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) as Russell Thompson, Sr. and went into further voice acting.

For the gods on Olympus, there are too many to mention here, but it’s worth mentioning that the animators made the effort to represent many of them, introducing a few to the audience who may not be familiar with Greek mythology. Hermes, the messenger to the gods, is the most prominent of the “background” gods. He is voiced by Paul Schaffer, who is probably most remembered as the band leader and sidekick on the entire runs of Late Night with David Letterman (1982-93) and Late Show with David Letterman (1993-2015). The design for Hermes included Shaffer’s rounded sunglasses, and even had the character play the piano for the final musical number in the film.

The most important of the gods are Zeus and Hera. Hera is the goddess of marriage and mother to Hercules. She is calm and gentle, with a voice to match. Apart from the beginning of the movie, and a brief glimpse at the end, Hera is not a major character in Hercules, with Zeus taking much of the parental spotlight, as would only be fitting for Zeus! Hera is voiced by actress Samantha Eggar, who starred in movies such as Doctor Dolittle (1967) as Emma Fairfax, alongside Rex Harrison, and The Collector (1965) as Miranda Grey where she was nominated for Best Actress at the Academy Awards, winning the award at the Golden Globes in 1966 and at the Cannes Film Festival in 1965. Eggar reprised her role of Hera in some of the Hercules spin-offs.

Rip Torn voices the loud, cocky ruler of the gods, Zeus. His booming voice fits the god well, and manages to make the character likeable, despite Zeus’ arrogance and clear disrespect for Hades at the start of the film. Rip Torn sadly passed away in July 2019 at the age of 88, but starred in numerous movies over a career of more than 60 years. Such roles included Marsh Turner in Cross Creek (1983) where he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor; Zed in Men in Black (1997) and Men in Black II (2002); and as Patches O’Houlihan in DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story (2004).

Finally, a few other interesting voice actors in Hercules are Frank Welker, who “voiced” Abu and Rajah in Aladdin (1992), as Pegasus; Jim Cummings, the current Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, as Nessus, the River Guardian; and Wayne Knight, Tantor in Tarzan (1999) and Al in Toy Story 2 (1999), as well as Dennis Nedry in Jurassic Park (1993), as Demetrius, the man struggling with his pottery in the marketplace.

PRODUCTION

Though Hercules is loosely based on Greek mythology, much of the story for the Disney animated movie came from taking pieces of the Hercules myths and putting them together. This is because much of Greek mythology is not child-friendly, and is quite violent and inappropriate in places. The name, Hercules, is not even the Greek name for the mythological figure; it is the Roman name. The Greek name is Heracles, however, Hercules has been more popularly used in Western culture for the same figure for centuries, so that is likely why Disney chose to use the name Hercules for their movie title.

Other changes between myth and screen are that Alcmene is Hercules’ adopted mother, but in the myth, she is actually Hercules’ real mother as Zeus seduced the mortal whilst disguised as Amphitryon, her husband. Another is that Nessus would have had a larger role in the film as he did in the myth. In the mythology, Hercules shot Nessus with a poisoned arrow, as the creature was harassing his wife. Nessus then tricked Hercules’ wife into getting Hercules to put on a poisoned tunic, which killed him. Zeus made Hercules a god to save his life. Another darker side to the myth is that Meg, along with their children, was killed by Hercules after being driven mad by Hera, who taunted him for years as she was jealous of Zeus’ affair with a mortal which resulted in the birth of Hercules and wanted him dead. He was then sent out on his labours to make amends for the murder of his wife and children. If he succeeded, he’d become a god. Greek mythology is dark. I think it’s plain to see why Disney amended some of these storylines for their family-friendly film!

Though the labours do not exactly feature in Hercules, many of the monsters that Hercules had to battle in the myth do appear in the montage of battles during the song “Zero to Hero”, including the Nemean Lion, which should’ve been his first challenge, with the Hydra being his second. In the movie, the Hydra is the first one. Some other lighter differences between the myth and the movie include the fact that Pegasus was not Hercules’ horse, but actually belonged to Bellerophon, and a centaur named Chiron was the trainer of heroes in Greek myth and unlike Phil as a trainer, Chiron was wise, patient and caring[5].

Another thing to mention is that Hades is the villain in Disney’s Hercules, as he is portrayed in many other screen adaptations of Greek myths. This is likely due to the fact that Hades is depicted as the embodiment of the devil, since in a Christian context, the Underworld is perceived as Hell, with Hades, therefore being the devil, an evil that we do not want to encounter. Another issue is that the most well-known myth featuring Hades is the one where he kidnaps Persephone and takes her to the Underworld, but even in that myth, it has been interpreted incorrectly in places as Hades asked Zeus’ permission, Persephone’s father, and just did not ask for the mother’s permission, Demeter. Persephone also voluntarily ate the pomegranate that confined her to the Underworld. Seeing Demeter’s distress at being separated from her daughter, Hades even allowed Persephone to return to Earth for half the year. Generally, in Greek mythology, Hades is not the villain, with Hera being the actual one who causes the most problems to Hercules. Hades even helps Hercules with his twelfth labour, where he must retrieve Cerberus from the Underworld[6].

The Disney version of Hercules stemmed from an original pitch to make an animated feature based on Homer’s The Odyssey, however, soon it was considered that it was too long a story to adapt, so an idea based around Hercules was pitched. Ron Clements and John Musker, who had already directed The Little Mermaid (1989) and Aladdin (1992), were approached to direct Hercules by then-Chairman of Walt Disney Studios Jeffrey Katzenberg. Clements and Musker were reluctant to direct Hercules, until Katzenberg agreed that he would greenlight their “passion project” of a space version of Treasure Island, which would become Treasure Planet (2002), if they directed Hercules first, so they said they would. Since Clements and Musker liked working on comedy, they decided to make Hercules into a funny superhero story, wanting to infuse a contemporary feel to the myth. Hercules was the first Disney animated feature to be based on mythology instead of a folk story or fairy tale[7].

For the artistic look of Hercules, Clements and Musker approached British cartoonist and illustrator Gerald Scarfe, who they had been longtime fans of, to be the Production Designer for the movie. Scarfe had produced graphics for the rock band Pink Floyd previously, as well as creating the opening titles for the British sitcoms Yes Minister (1980-84) and Yes, Prime Minister (1986-88). The directors felt that Scarfe’s style would work well in conjunction with the Grecian art style that would be needed to match the time and geographical setting of the story. The team, including Scarfe, went to Greece and Turkey to research classic Greek mythology, architecture and art to incorporate within the art style of Hercules. The movie includes many references to Greek art in the movie, such as murals, mosaics, vases, and sculptures, even the famous Venus de Milo, which Hercules breaks the arms off by skimming a stone across the pond it sits in front of.

At this point in Disney Animation history, computer-generated imagery was being used for scenes that would be difficult to animate by hand. In the case of Hercules, the key CGI scene in the movie is the battle sequence with Hercules and the Hydra. The Hydra was designed to look like a snake with two huge forearms. As the Hydra continues to grow extra heads throughout this sequence, it would’ve been difficult to achieve this with hand-drawn animation and would’ve been a continuity nightmare. Using the computer software meant that the Hydra could be animated correctly and then be controlled to achieve the necessary threat that was required in the scene.

There are a few “Easter eggs” in Hercules that are fun to spot, which include both Disney and pop culture references. Some of these include: the “Air Herc” shoes, which are an obvious reference to the Nike Air footwear; the Scar skin that Hercules wears as he is posing for his vase portrait – this is not only a reference to The Lion King, but also to animator Andreas Deja, who animated Scar as well as Hercules, and it refers to the first labour of Hercules which was to slay the Nemean Lion; and the two directors, Clements and Musker like to make a brief animated cameo in all of their movies; in this case, the two appear as the two Grecians stoneworkers building a gateway, as teenage Hercules barrels on through to the marketplace with the cart.

MUSIC

The soundtrack for Hercules is not the best of those within the Disney Renaissance period, despite legendary Disney composer Alan Menken being involved. Menken had written music for pretty much every other Disney movie within the Disney Renaissance era up until this point, except for The Lion King (1994) and The Rescuers Down Under (1990). After Hercules, Alan Menken would not work on another Disney picture until 2004’s Home on the Range. Lyricist David Zippel joined Menken to work on the soundtrack. Zippel had contributed lyrics to the soundtrack of The Swan Princess (1994) before working on Hercules, and would then go on to work on the soundtrack for Mulan (1998) afterwards. The styles of music used for the Hercules soundtrack were very different for Disney, as it was not a typical Broadway style, and also unexpected for a Greek story. The soundtrack combines gospel and R&B alongside the classical, heroic themes that are expected from Disney music. It was said that gospel would be a good choice for its storytelling qualities, songs about hope, and for its entertainment factor[8].

The soundtrack goes straight in with the gospel singing, as after a brief, dull introduction by Charlton Heston, known for his roles in epic movies such as The Ten Commandments (1956) and Ben-Hur (1958) amongst plenty others, the Muses interrupt and give the audience some backstory into what we are about to see, with the group continuing to return throughout the story. It’s been pointed out numerous times that in Greek mythology, there were actually nine Muses, but in Hercules, there are only five. This could be because too many characters, and singers, would’ve made the movie busy and complicated, potentially becoming a distraction, but could also be because British pop group The Spice Girls, which had five members, were initially approached to be the Muses, bur declined due to scheduling conflicts[9]. Now that would’ve made Hercules very different! So instead, a group consisting of singers Lillias White, LaChanze, Roz Ryan, Cheryl Freeman and Vanéese Y. Thomas became the Muses.

The Muses begin the movie with three separate songs that appear in quick succession, being called “The Gospel Truth I, II and III”. The first details the backstory to the gods and Zeus; the second describes Hades; and the third explains why Hercules is stuck on Earth after being turned mortal. Though these songs are good for narrative purposes, they don’t exactly standout and are not particularly interesting. The Muses really get their chance to perform with the songs “Zero to Hero”, which is performed once Hercules has defeated the Hydra and becomes a celebrity, and “A Star Is Born”, which plays for the ending of the movie and goes into the End Credits. These are big numbers with soaring high notes, and feature amazing vocal performances and harmonisation; these are the points where the singers really get to show what they’re made of, and I really like these songs, with “Zero to Hero” being a particular favourite of many Hercules fans. Singer Tawatha Agee is also featured on “Zero to Hero”.

For Hercules himself, he gets a hero song called “Go the Distance”, as Hercules tries to figure out where he belongs, plus its reprise which features just a few minutes later after he has spoken to Zeus. These two songs are actually sung by Roger Bart, who was not the voice actor for teenage Hercules. Roger Bart is both an actor and singer, who performed the role of Carmen Ghia in the original stage production of The Producers as well as its 2005 movie adaptation. Bart was also cast as Hades for the musical version of Hercules. On screen, Roger Bart has featured in various films and television series such as The Stepford Wives (2004), Trumbo (2015) and most recently, Good Trouble (2019-present) as Judge Wilson. “Go the Distance” was nominated for both the Academy Award and the Golden Globe for Best Original Song, but lost to “My Heart Will Go On” from Titanic (1997). Still, the song is frequently used within Disney projects, such as within fireworks shows like Happily Ever After and the now-cancelled Harmonious show at Walt Disney World. Michael Bolton also recorded a pop version of “Go the Distance” for the End Credits, and it was released as a single. Ricky Martin recorded a Spanish-language version called “No Importa La Distancia” for the Spanish version of Hercules.

One of the last two songs in the soundtrack is “One Last Hope”, half-sung, half-spoken by Danny DeVito as Phil. This is played during the training montage where Hercules is preparing to become a hero with the help of Phil. It’s a funny song, and the sequence features a lot of physical comedy, mostly at Phil’s expense! The final song to mention is the regular Disney love ballad “I Won’t Say (I’m in Love)” performed by Susan Egan as Meg, with backing vocals provided by the Muses. This is not a typical love ballad for Disney as instead of this being sung between the two main characters, like “A Whole New World”, “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?” or “If I Never Knew You”, Meg sings alone, as she debates whether or not she should be falling for Hercules, so that means you too can sing it alone and not feel awkward waiting around for some other character to sing their lines! The style of the song is also different as it mixes doo-wop music with a pop/R&B ballad. Belinda Carlisle, singer of “Heaven Is a Place on Earth”, performs a pop-rock version of the song for the film’s soundtrack. Her version has also featured on other Disney compilation albums.

That’s all the songs covered, but there are a few tracks within Alan Menken’s score that are worth a mention. One of those is called “Meg’s Garden” and plays just before “I Won’t Say (I’m in Love)” as Meg and Hercules walk around a garden and talk. It’s a nice, romantic piece that feels calming to listen to. Then, there is “Cutting the Thread”, which includes most of the sequence where Hercules frees Zeus, they defeat the Titans, and Meg’s “thread” is cut. The first part of the piece is heroic and fitting for a final battle, but then becomes sombre and tense as Hercules races back to see Meg before she dies. But my favourite piece within the score is “A True Hero”, which is pieced together alongside “A Star Is Born”. This track follows Hercules as he swims through the River of Death to get to Meg’s soul; we think he’s going to die but then his thread won’t cut as he has proved himself a hero. It’s a fitting end to Hercules’ whole journey to becoming a “true hero”; it’s triumphant. Though I enjoy most tracks on the Hercules soundtrack, it is not my favourite of the music from the Disney Renaissance Era, as it doesn’t hit me emotionally like many others do. I wonder if that is because I’m such a big fan of Broadway musicals that perhaps the styles used in Hercules’ soundtrack just don’t suit my tastes as well.

RECEPTION

As well as the usual marketing tie-ins, such as Happy Meal toys for McDonald’s, Hercules was also marketed with a five-month promotional travelling tour of the USA, a tool used for other movies such as Pocahontas (1995), where guests were introduced to some of the characters and story of the film. The tour began in February 1997, with the movie first being released on 13^th June 1997, with a wider general release from 27^th June. Hercules had its premiere over the weekend of 13^th-15^th June 1997 at Times Square in New York City, where the Disneyland Main Street Electrical Parade even made an appearance alongside Hercules-themed floats, to celebrate the 25^th anniversary of the original parade.

Sadly, Hercules only made $250 million worldwide during its initial release, becoming the lowest-grossing film of any Disney Renaissance film and making much less at the box-office than had been expected. Competition at the box-office was blamed for Hercules’ lacklustre performance, with other family-friendly movies such as Men in Black (1997) and Batman & Robin (1997) being released at a similar time. It was also thought Hercules did not have as wide an appeal as other Disney movies such as Beauty and the Beast (1991), which had appealed to adults without children. The general consensus was that the film was fun and entertaining enough, with James Woods’ performance as Hades being highlighted by critics, but that it did not live up to the reputations of other Disney films that had come before it. Hercules was not considered to be visually exciting or appealing, with Scarfe’s animation style being criticised, as well as their use of CG. I will admit that the Hydra does not fit seamlessly with the 2D animation, and it is glaringly obvious that two different animation styles have been used in that scene. The music was not generally liked either, with the soundtrack doing little to impress. Hercules was meant to have an open-air premiere at the Pnyx in Athens, but the Greek government declined as the film was panned by the Greek public and media, who said that this was yet another example of their history and culture being distorted for entertainment.

Hercules was nominated for Best Animation Film at the Annie Awards, but lost to Warner Bros Cat’s Don’t Dance (1997), which I had never heard of before, but it was directed by Mark Dindal, who would later direct Disney’s The Emperor’s New Groove (2000) and Chicken Little (2005) and had worked as an Effects Animator at Disney in the 1980s. Space Jam (1997) was also nominated in that same category. But Hercules did win Annie Awards for Directing, the Character Animation of Hades, and the Effects Animation. Hercules also won the Best Animation award at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards and Best Sound Editing – Animated Feature at the Golden Reel Awards.

The movie would make more money for the Disney Company during its subsequent re-releases. For any fans of the original iteration of the British children’s programme Art Attack (1990-2007), hosted by Neil Buchanan, you’ll be pleased to know that he can teach you how to make a Greek Urn on the 2002 UK DVD Release of Hercules; I learnt that this week! I also found that Hades has a small End Credits appearance, just a voice-over where he says that everyone got something except him, but that nobody is listening to him; I had never heard that before this week. I don’t know why it was put in, unless it was to let everyone know that Hades didn’t die in the River of Death after being punched him into it…

LEGACY

After Hercules was released, an animated television series was created, which follows Hercules through his training to be a hero, called Disney’s Hercules: The Animation Series (1998-1999); it ran for two seasons. Many of the voice actors returned, except Danny DeVito so Phil’s voice was provided by Robert Costanzo, who reprised this role on many occasions after the series. Zeus was also voiced by Disney voice actor, Corey Burton. James Woods even won a Daytime Emmy award in 2000 for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program for his vocal performance of Hades; see, people really love Hades! A direct-to-video film was released in 1999, which featured three episodes of the television series with some linking narrative. The majority of the voice cast was involved again, as well as other names such as Brad Garrett, Eric Idle and Jodi Benson. Another direct-to-video sequel, titled Hercules II: The Trojan War, looking at the story of Helen of Troy, was cancelled when John Lasseter came in to Disney as the Chief Creative Officer in 2006; many other direct-to-video sequels were cancelled at the same time. Helen of Troy actually appeared in the animated TV series, being voiced by Jodi Benson.

Another potential screen appearance is the upcoming live-action adaptation of Hercules, which has been in discussion for years but has not progressed much further than that since! Guy Ritchie, director of the live-action Aladdin (2019), is attached to the project, along with producers such as the Russo Brothers, who have worked on the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In December 2022, Ritchie said that he was planning for Hercules to be finished within the year of 2023, but nothing has been filmed yet, with no cast even announced, with only rumours that Ariana Grande and Taron Egerton are in talks to be cast as Meg and Hercules respectively being discussed recently. Danny DeVito is expected to reprise his role of Phil. The Russo Brothers also recently said that they wanted the film to be “inspired by TikTok” and what TikTok audiences want from a modern musical, saying they want Hercules to be “experimental”[10]. I’m not sure what any of that means, but I’m hoping this live-action film never happens, personally.

A new adaptation of Hercules, this time a musical, did actually occur, having its premiere at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park from 31^st August to 8^th September 2019 during the Public Theater’s Free Shakespeare In the Park event. Additional music for the musical was provided by Alan Menken and David Zippel. Not only was the singing voice of Hercules, Roger Bart, cast as Hades, but James Monroe Iglehart, the originating performer of the Genie in the musical production of Aladdin, was cast as Phil[11]. A revised version of the musical was performed at the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey, with Iglehart returning as Phil, from 16^th February to 12^th March 2023.

At the Disney Parks, when Hercules was first released in 1997, they had their own wave of promotional activities. My family went to Walt Disney World Resort in Florida for the first time altogether in 1997 and I was told that there was lots of merchandise for Hercules at the hotel we stayed in, the All-Star Sports Resort, and that it was where my sister got a Megara Barbie doll. We also saw the Hercules Victory Parade at Disney’s MGM-Studios, now Disney’s Hollywood Studios, that same year, in October 1997. The Victory Parade ran from June 1997 to 1998, when it was replaced by the Mulan Parade. It featured a Zeus float with the Muses, a Phil animatronic on another, the Cyclops on a bike, Hades on his own float, with Pain and Panic around it, a Hydra float and a final float with Meg and Hercules on top, with Grecian-style cheerleaders in front. Every other park that was open at this time had its own version of this parade. At Disneyland, the Hercules’ Victory Parade began in June 1997 and ended in 1998, being replaced by the Mulan Parade just like Walt Disney World, however, its floats were slightly bigger, and more impressive, including a couple of Titans floats, a huge mosaic Zeus, and a Pegasus puppet. At Tokyo Disneyland, the parade was called Hercules the Hero and only ran from July to October 1997, and again, the float formation and order was slightly different. At Disneyland Paris, it was called Hercules Happening and ran from Summer 1997 to 1998. It was only a five-minute performance, with just two floats, though Hercules and Meg were sat atop a Pegasus statue. Specific end dates for all these parades are unclear.

Hercules and Megara did used to meet guests at the Disney Parks, however, are much rarer finds these days, with them being most prominent around the late-1990s to early 2000s. I definitely remember meeting Meg at MGM Studios once around the 2000s, but I’m not sure about Hercules. It seems that Hercules was spotted at Disney’s Hollywood Studios randomly in 2020, and that Megara was meeting guests alongside Hades, Pain and Panic, at the Rock Your Disney Side 24-Hour Event in May 2014. At the Disneyland After Dark: Sweethearts Nite in February 2020, Meg and Hercules were available to meet, with Hercules also having been seen at the Opa! A Celebration of Greece event in May 2013. Phil has also been available for meet-and-greets at the US Disney Parks but not for many years. It is unclear when or if these characters were spotted at Disneyland Paris, Tokyo Disneyland, Hong Kong Disneyland, or Shanghai Disneyland. These rare characters are more likely to be spotted at Special Events these days, or perhaps just randomly. Sometimes, Meg and Hercules may appear on the end of show riverboat alongside other Disney characters at the end of showings of Fantasmic!

The one character from Hercules that you are most likely to see, or even meet, is Hades, as he is a real fan-favourite Disney villain, for obvious reasons. Hades is frequently seen, with and without his sidekicks Pain and Panic, at the Disney Parks’ Halloween events, most likely within the parades or stage shows and at the US Disney Parks, however Hades did recently feature within the Halloween parades at Shanghai Disneyland and Hong Kong Disneyland. In 2014, at the Villains Unleashed event, Hades even got his own stage show to host at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, alongside Meg, Pain, and Panic! Hades can be heard, or seen, during many of the Disney Parks’ nighttime shows, usually whenever there is a scene featuring villains. The most obvious one of these is his frequent appearances during Walt Disney World’s version of Fantasmic! Hades also used to have an interactive game at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom, called Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. Using cards and interactive screens, guests could defeat Hades and the other Disney villains by doing quests around different lands of the Magic Kingdom. I liked watching that game – I’d never play because I can’t fight villains, especially not Hades; I love them too much – so I’m sad it’s gone now; it also gave you something else to do in the park if it was a busy day and queues were too long…It debuted in February 2012 and officially closed in January 2021, though I think once COVID-19 shut the parks, it didn’t reopen with them. There is one book featuring Hades and Megara, following on from the events of the movie, that I did enjoy and would like to mention. It’s called “Go the Distance”, written by Jen Calonita. It’s part of the “A Twisted Tale” series of books based on Disney characters and villains, but can be read as a standalone novel. Some of the other books like this I have read and really did not like, as it changed the characters’ backstories too much and didn’t make sense with the film, in my opinion, but this one was actually really good, probably because it takes place after the film.

Something that would’ve been cool at Walt Disney World that would’ve featured Hades was the discussed attraction Bald Mountain, another addition to the Disney mountains, and log flume attraction considered to take over the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea attraction within that area of Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland, with plans for a whole Disney Villains area as well. Ride vehicles would have been modelled after the boats that travel down the River Styx, the entrance to the Underworld, in the Hercules film. During this boat ride, guests would interrupt a meeting of the most notorious Disney villains deciding who will lead their take-over of the Magic Kingdom. Once discovered, it would be a race to escape the villains, ending with a massive drop down the side of the mountain. This attraction was never built as Disney Imagineering had plans to build a whole Villains Park as another Walt Disney World theme park[12]. Spoiler alert: that never happened either. *Sigh*.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This just shows that the movie did become more popular after its official release, particularly with those who grew up in the 1990s. It is also thanks to Hercules that one of the most popular Disney Villains, potentially the most popular male Disney Villain, Hades, came to be, and he continues to be a main figure within Disney’s Halloween celebrations. I’d be much sadder about the lack of representation of Disney’s Hercules if it weren’t for the huge following that Hades has gained and the number of appearances he makes at the Disney Parks and within Disney merchandise!

Though Hercules didn’t live up to the success of some of the other Disney Renaissance Era films, the movie has still amassed many fans, with the 25^th anniversary of the film being celebrated with various items of merchandise – I bought a statue of Hades and Meg, which sits proudly in my office, as well as a Christmas ornament of Hades towering over baby Hercules’ crib – along with special screenings of the movie, organised by the Official Disney Fan Club D23 in 2022. It’s one of my favourite Disney films, and I will continue to rewatch it and love it for many years to come.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Disney, “The Making of Hercules”, from Hercules (1997), 1-Disc DVD (2002).

[2] Credit: Disney, “Hercules Video Art Gallery”, from Hercules (1997), 1-Disc DVD (2002).

[3] Credit: Disney, Movie Surfers: Go Inside Hercules (1997).

[4] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Hercules’, pp. 103-105.

[5] Credit: Emily Whittingham, ‘Disney’s Hercules: 10 Things That Would Be Different If The Movie Was Mythologically Accurate’, ScreenRant.com, 16^th July 2021.

[6] Credit: Carys Lloyd, ‘Disney’s Hercules and the false vilification of Hades’, TheBristorian.co.uk, 13^th February (year unknown).

[7] Credit: Disney, “The Making of Hercules”, from Hercules (1997), 1-Disc DVD (2002).

[8] Credit: Disney, “The Making of Hercules”, from Hercules (1997), 1-Disc DVD (2002).

[9] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Hercules’, pp. 103-105.

[10] Credit: Rachel Sofaer, ‘Disney’s ‘Hercules’ Live-Action Remake: Director, Plot Details, and Everything We Know So Far’, Collider.com, 7^th July 2023.

[11] Credit: Greg Evans, ‘’Hercules’ Musical Based On Disney Film Set For Shakespeare In The Park Staging’, Deadline.com, 6^th February 2019.

[12] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: The Missing Mountains of Walt Disney World’, YourFirstVisit.net, date unknown.

1st Sep 202327th Jun 2024 by The Disney Purist

#36 Mulan (1998)

BACKGROUND

After a couple of mediocre Disney animated releases following the incredible success of The Lion King (1994), Disney found their way back to their best with Mulan, released in 1998 towards the end of Disney’s “Renaissance Era”.

Mulan was the first Disney animated feature to have been produced primarily by Walt Disney Feature Animation Florida, within the grounds of the Walt Disney World Resort. Though this studio would be short-lived, Mulan was a big success for them, and led to the Florida department also animating Lilo & Stitch (2002) and Brother Bear (2003).

Quite unlike the “princess stories” that came before it, such as The Little Mermaid (1989) and Beauty and the Beast (1991), Disney’s Mulan is not focused on romance, but on finding your true self and choosing your fate, which, in Mulan’s case, means fighting in a bloody and violent war against some of the strongest and most brutal opposition. This is not something that the average Disney Princess would’ve been able to cope with. Mulan was the first Disney animated feature to be set in China, with a historic Chinese legend as its basis. Mulan was the first Asian Disney Princess as well.

Because of its release in the 1990s, arguably the most successful period of Disney Animation, Mulan is still talked about and remembered fondly by many. I’ve watched Mulan numerous times throughout my life, and, although I can’t count it as a “favourite” as there are many other Disney movies I would prefer to watch at any given time, it is still one I go back to for its touching moments, great music, and its powerful battle sequences.

PLOT

Mulan begins with an ink drawing of China and its landscapes, before inking in the Great Wall of China and its surrounding mountains. We then go straight into the animated story. A patrolling soldier on the Great Wall suddenly finds that the landmark is under attack by Hun soldiers. He lights a signal to alert the others on the wall, telling the Hun leader, Shan Yu, that all of China now knows he’s here. The Emperor is informed and asks that conscription forms be sent to all eligible men in China to fight against these intruders.

After that, we see Mulan for the first time. She is eating rice and inking notes on to her arm, something to do with proper values. Mulan soon realises she is running late, rushing to complete her chores on the family farm. Luckily, her dog, Little Brother, can help with some of them. Her father is praying to the ancestors that Mulan has a good meeting with the Matchmaker today, this being the meeting that Mulan is already running late for. She rushes off to her beauty appointments, where her mother has been going crazy waiting for her, with Mulan’s grandmother saying not to worry as they have a lucky cricket. Mulan finally arrives and is forcibly taken to get her hair done, her make-up done, and be dressed appropriately. It’s clear that Mulan is not too happy with all this fuss, and would rather not have to see the Matchmaker today. When she does meet the Matchmaker, the Matchmaker tells Mulan that she is too skinny and is “marked down” for speaking without permission. A list of other disasters happen, starting with the lucky cricket, who Mulan’s grandmother insisted she take with her, ending up in the Matchmaker’s tea, and culminating in the Matchmaker’s skirt catching on fire! Mulan is told that she may look like a bride, but that she will never bring her family honour.

Mulan returns home, saddened and unsure where this leaves her, as finding a good husband is the only real way that a woman of her age can bring honour to her family. Her father tries to comfort her, telling her that the last flower to bloom will be the most beautiful of all. Their conversation is interrupted by the Emperor’s Council, who start giving out army conscription scrolls to all families, stating that an eligible man from each family must attend army training so that they can fight the Huns who have invaded China. As Mulan is an only child, she knows her elderly, and injured, father will have to fight. Mulan pleads with the Emperor’s Council that her father not be forced to fight, thus speaking in a man’s presence, something women are not supposed to do here. Mulan is taken back inside. The atmosphere within the family is frosty at dinner, where Mulan tells her father that if he goes to the army, he will die. Her father responds that it is his honour to go and that at least he knows his place, whereas Mulan does not know hers. She walks away, devastated. After seeing her father fall using his sword for the first time in years, and her parents seemingly argue as she sits in the garden, Mulan knows what she must do. She takes her father’s armour, cuts her hair, takes the conscription papers and rides off. Mulan’s grandmother alerts her parents that Mulan has gone. Her mother says that they must go after her, but her father says that she’ll be killed if they reveal her. They know they must wait and hope she returns home safely.

The ancestors awaken after hearing Mulan’s grandmother’s prayer, that Mulan be watched over. The First Ancestor orders the Great Stone Dragon be awakened, that he will be Mulan’s guardian during this time. Mushu, a dragon who was a guardian but now just rings the gong to awaken the ancestors, is told to wake up the Great Stone Dragon. Mushu reluctantly goes, but the Great Stone Dragon is just a stone statue, and as Mushu hits the dragon with the gong, the statue crumbles to pieces. Mushu then decides that if he can go and make Mulan a war hero, then he’ll likely be made a guardian again. The lucky cricket from earlier, named Cri-Kee, goes with him. Mulan is found just outside the training camp, trying to figure out how to pass herself off as a man. Mushu comes to her, silhouetted as this great, all-powerful being, only to reveal himself to be a tiny red dragon, who Mulan mistakenly thinks is a little lizard. After some disagreements, Mulan agrees to trust Mushu.

They walk into the army camp, but Mushu’s advice makes matters worse, with her starting an all-out brawl with the other recruits. Captain Li Shang, the General’s son and designated trainer of the recruiters, orders the fighting be stopped, with him demanding that Mulan, now using the name Ping, explain what happened. They are all told to clean up the mess they’ve caused, and that tomorrow the real work will begin. The next day, Mulan is late again, but shows up in time to see their first task: to climb up a huge pole and retrieve an arrow, with two huge medallions, representing discipline and strength, in their hands. Nobody succeeds, and it does not get much better for Shang as they learn to shoot cannons, fish, run, dodge obstacles, and fight. Mulan is unfortunately the worst of all the recruits, with Shang not seeing any improvement and ordering her to leave the camp. Mulan knows that this will once more bring shame and dishonour to her family, so spends all night trying to get up the pole to retrieve the arrow. She succeeds just as the sun is coming up, where the other recruits have gathered to watch. She is allowed to stay and her, and the rest of the recruits, all start to do much better in all the tasks. Meanwhile, Shan Yu and the Huns continue to make gains in China on their way to the Imperial City. They plan to go through a village in the Tung Shao Pass, the quickest route to the city, and also where the Imperial Army is waiting for them. Shan Yu wants to attack them directly.

Mushu and Mulan, after an incident at the pond where Mulan is almost discovered to be a woman by recruits Yao, Chien-Po and Ling as she washes, overhear Chi-Fu, the Emperor’s Advisor, saying that Shang’s recruits will never see battle as they are not fit for war. Mushu takes matters into his own hands, and him and Cri-Kee forge a letter from the General, stating that Shang and the new recruits meet them at the Pass to help fight. They immediately head off to war, where they keep their spirits up by doing, what else, but discussing the women they hope will be waiting for them on their heroic return home. The camaraderie is cut short by the discovery of a burnt-out village, where hundreds of soldiers have been killed. This is where the “General” asked Shang to meet them; it turns out the Huns got there first. It is confirmed that the General, Shang’s father, is dead. Mulan seems disturbed by the horrors of war. Shang orders the army to move out again.

Whilst in the mountains, Mushu accidentally sets off one of their cannons, giving away the troops position. The Huns swiftly attack, firing flaming arrows in all directions. They are ordered by Shang to save the cannons and retreat to a safe place. They begin to fire cannons at the Huns, when all goes quiet. The Huns assemble themselves on top of the snowy mountain and charge at Shang’s troops. There is one cannon remaining. Yao is told to fire it at Shan Yu. Mulan sees the reflection of a snow-capped mountain in her sword and has an idea. She grabs the cannon and heads towards the incoming Huns. She struggles to light the cannon, but does so just as Shan Yu approaches her. The cannon hits the mountain and begins an avalanche, which engulfs the Huns. Shan Yu has just enough time to hit out at Mulan before he is overcome by snow. Mulan runs to safety, but sees Shang unconscious and about to head over the edge of the mountain. She goes to save him with her horse, Khan. The troops shoot an arrow over to them with a rope attached, managing to pull them to safety. Shang thanks Mulan for saving his life, when she sees she is bleeding and faints.

Mulan is seen by a doctor, where, naturally, he discovers she is a woman. Chi-Fu reveals her to all the other troops and orders Shang to kill her, as per the law. Shang doesn’t; a life for a life, his debt is repaid. Mulan is left alone in the mountains, with just Khan, Mushu and Cri-Kee for company. Mulan is unsure how she’ll be received back home, but they get ready to leave. Suddenly, Mulan sees the Hun Army alive, pulling themselves out of the snow. They are heading for the city, where Shang and the recruits have gone to proclaim victory in front of the Emperor. Mulan rushes over to warn them, but nobody will listen. Sure enough, Shan Yu and the Huns are already there, and forcefully take the Emperor, barricading themselves in the palace. Shang’s army plan to break down the doors to the palace, but Mulan has another idea. Yao, Chien-Po and Ling go with her, with Shang joining shortly after. Mulan has dressed the three men up as concubines, to distract the guards. Once distracted, Shang runs up to the balcony to fight Shan Yu and save the Emperor. Shan Yu and Shang fight, with Shang quickly overpowered. Chien-Po, Yao, and Ling, along with the Emperor, slide down one of the garlands of lanterns to safety, but Shang is unconscious. Mulan cuts down the garland and shows Shan Yu that she was actually the soldier from the mountains who “took away his victory”. He pursues her.

Mulan gets Shan Yu to follow her onto the roof. Mushu obtains a huge firework and straps it to himself. Mulan tricks Shan Yu and pushes him to the ground, where she uses his sword to pin him to the roof. Mushu lights the firework, which sets off, heading right for Shan Yu, where he is blasted into the fireworks station and presumably blows up. Mulan and Mushu jump onto a lantern and slide down a garland, falling onto Shang, and the stairs below to avoid the blast. Chi-Fu tells Mulan she’s a disgrace after the chaos she’s caused. The Emperor takes over, telling Mulan that, despite the mess, she has saved them all and that China is indebted to her. The huge crowd, who surround the Emperor’s Palace, bow to her. She is offered a position in the Emperor’s Council, but decides to head home instead.

Back home, Mulan presents her father with Shan Yu’s sword and the Crest of the Emperor as gifts to honour the Fa family. Her father doesn’t even care, pushing them to the floor and hugging her tightly, just pleased to have her home. Soon after, Shang arrives to return Mulan’s army helmet and is asked to stay for dinner. Mushu gets to be a guardian again, and all is right with everyone.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Mulan goes on a real journey of self-discovery throughout the movie. She begins by trying hard to be the “perfect bride”, so that she can bring her family honour by being matched to a worthy husband, despite not finding it easy to be elegant or graceful – or silent, almost subservient. Mulan is not at all like that. She is clumsy at times, outspoken, makes rash decisions, and is generally the opposite of how she’s supposed to be. When she chooses to protect her father by going to war, Mulan finds that not only did she make a brave decision by doing this, but that actually, being in the army seems to be exactly where she belongs and she feels this is the right path for her, even though it is not “right” for her to be there, and goes against Chinese law, apparently. Mulan is quite unlike any other Disney Princess; despite not actually being linked to royalty, she is part of the official list. Though some of the other Disney Princesses show moments of bravery, Mulan was the first to be a proper fighter and warrior, so the bravest of them all, in my opinion. It wouldn’t be until Raya from Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) that another official Disney Princess would be at all like her. I guess you could say Merida from Pixar’s Brave (2012) is similar to Mulan, but I like to treat Pixar and Disney as two separate entities. Mulan was the first modern feminist characters in any Disney film, but she is also likeable and funny, so has universal appeal.

Familial relationships are incredibly important to Mulan. Mulan has a particularly close relationship with her father, Fa Zhou, despite being constantly scared to let him down. Fa Zhou loves Mulan regardless of what she does or doesn’t do, as is clear at the end of the movie when he throws the gifts from the Emperor on the ground and hugs her instead. Mulan’s grandmother, Grandmother Fa, is quite feisty, like her, so they get on well, with Grandmother Fa not seeming to care that Mulan isn’t a quiet, gentle woman. She is also very funny, especially at the end when she says that Mulan should’ve brought home a man; when Shang arrives, she shouts: “Sign me up for the next war!”.

Mulan had to be portrayed with great honour and dignity, given her story. Mark Henn was the Supervising Animator for Mulan. Henn had a history of designing other Disney female protagonists, such as Jasmine in Aladdin (1992) and Belle in Beauty and the Beast (1991). Mulan is voiced by Ming-Na Wen, who used her natural voice for Mulan, and for Ping obviously had to lower the register so she’d come across as a man! Ming-Na Wen was very happy to portray the character of Mulan on screen as she had grown up with the story of Mulan and wanted to be just like her as a child. Recently, Wen has starred as Fennec Shand in some of the Star Wars Disney+ series (2019-2022) and as Melinda May in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D (2013-2020). She has also reprised the role of Mulan numerous times.

For Mulan’s comic sidekick, Mushu, he thinks he knows best a lot of the time, but ends up getting Mulan into trouble more often than not. His suggestion of Mulan punching and slapping Yao to show that she wants to be friends, as well as her ridiculous walk into camp, are just two examples of his misguided advice. He begins by being quite selfish, as he only wants to help Mulan so that he can be a guardian again, but once she is discovered to be a woman, Mushu admits that he was only risking her life to help himself and that his intentions were not good, feeling somewhat repentant. From that point on, he does start to be more helpful, proving himself invaluable in her plan to defeat Shan Yu. Because of the need for comedic relief in and amongst all the serious moments in the movie, Disney knew they needed someone funny to record the voice. In the end, Disney approached Eddie Murphy, who decided to take the role, with Supervising Animator Tom Bancroft getting lots of inspiration for the character from sketching Murphy’s facial expressions and gestures in his recording sessions[1]. I think Mushu is the funniest of all Disney “sidekicks”; he has the some of the best one-liners, and you’d still be entertained by this movie even if it was cut so that only Mushu’s lines remained. Eddie Murphy began his career as a stand-up comedian, before moving into a cast member position on Saturday Night Live in the early 1980s. Murphy went on to star in numerous movies, predominantly comedies, including the Beverly Hills Cops series (1984-present) and Dreamgirls (2007). Murphy went on to provide the voice for Donkey in the Shrek franchise (2001-2010) for DreamWorks after voicing Mushu.

Mushu was originally going to be a very different character as can be seen from the deleted song “Keep ‘Em Guessing”. It was a song that introduced Mushu to Mulan in the form of quite a jazzy, Broadway-esque number. It almost reminded me of Billy Flynn’s song “Razzle Dazzle” in the musical Chicago. With Eddie Murphy’s humour, it was decided that this was no longer necessary and that Murphy could sell the character in just a few words instead. That may have been disappointing for Murphy as he can sing well.

Another character that was designed quite differently at the start of production was the evil villain Shan Yu. It was planned that Shan Yu would’ve had a spiritual connection, whereby Shan Yu could be connected to his falcon’s sight, seeing whatever the bird saw even if he was not around. It was decided that this storyline moved the focus away from Mulan, so it was cut. I think it was the right choice because Shan Yu is still just a menacing without this idea. Shan Yu is incredibly terrifying. He is huge, has a scary, deep voice, and is so sure of his abilities that he wins every battle he faces. Well, until the end. And that end battle with Mulan is one of the best battle scenes in any Disney movie. Shan Yu is voiced by Miguel Ferrer, who appeared in multiple television shows and movies, including voice-over roles throughout his career. He starred as Owen Granger in NCIS: Los Angeles from 2012 to 2017, and his breakthrough role was as Bob Morton in RoboCop (1987). Ferrer sadly died in 2017 at the age of 61. Ferrer was brilliant as Shan Yu in this movie; his voice completely makes the character.

Captain Li Shang is Mulan’s commanding officer in the army. He has a strong army legacy to protect as we learn early on that his father is the General of the Imperial Army, and because of this, Shang seems quite cold and serious at the start of their training camp. Once the new recruits start to prove themselves more, Shang becomes kinder and warmer to them all. When Mulan rescues Shang, we see that Shang has a lot of respect for Mulan, or Ping as he knows her. After Ping is revealed to be Mulan, you can see how conflicted Shang is by the fact that he is now supposed to kill her because he saw Ping as a respected comrade. Once Mulan defeats Shan Yu, Shang is clearly in awe of her, but can’t describe how he feels. It looks like all is lost for the two of them, who are interested in each other, as Mulan heads home and Shang acts awkwardly. Luckily, he shows up at her home, though, and is invited to dinner, beginning their romance. I like it when Shang is awkward with Mulan at the end; it makes him seem much more human when he starts babbling and the only thing he can think to say to her is: “you fight good”!

Shang is voiced by BD Wong, who played Howard Weinstein in the Father of the Bride movies (1991-1993), and Dr. Henry Wu in the Jurassic Park franchise (1993-2022). More recently, Wong has been performing in television series such as in Mr. Robot as Whiterose (2015-19) and as Wally in Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens (2020-present).

Mushu may be the designated comic relief in Mulan but I can think of a trio that do just as much for that in the film: Yao, Chien-Po and Ling. They are three recruits that Mulan meets at army training. Their friendship gets off to a difficult start as a fight between Mulan and Yao ripples throughout the camp, but once they see that Mulan is a worthy soldier, they start to warm to her, and the three become a group of four, which is nice to see. They are also the only three recruits who stand by and trust Mulan to defeat Shan Yu at the end. Yao is perhaps the leader of the three; he certainly speaks his mind more and has the fists to back up his words! Yao is small, but fierce, and can take, as well as give out, the punches. Chien-Po is the calm, gentle one of the group, despite being huge; he is the stereotypical “gentle giant”. He doesn’t get violent at all, and likes to meditate to calm down others, like Yao, when they get angry. Chien-Po also likes to talk about food a lot. Ling is the lanky, skinny one, who likes to laugh and tell jokes; he’s always been my favourite of the three.

Yao is voiced by Harvey Fierstein, known for his distinctive gravelly voice. He is not only an actor, both on screen and stage, but also a playwright. He wrote and starred in the play Torch Song Trilogy which was also adapted into a film in 1988. Fierstein played Edna Turnblad in the musical Hairspray on stage in 2002-04 and again 2008-09, and Teyve in the musical Fiddler on the Roof in 2004-06 and again 2009-10. My favourite role of his, though, is as Robin Williams’ brother in Mrs. Doubtfire (1993). Fierstein may not be in the film for long but he definitely makes an impression! Gedde Watanabe voices Ling. Watanabe has had roles in both film and television, including voice roles. He played the role of Nurse Yosh Takata in ER from 1997 to 2003. Chien-Po is voiced by Jerry Tondo, with Mulan being his most well-known screen role.

The Emperor is an authoritative, but kind figure. He certainly has leadership qualities, but does not abuse his power. He doesn’t even flinch when he finds that his kingdom has been saved by a woman, and instead thanks her for her service to all, leading everyone in bowing to her. He is a gentle, caring person. The Emperor is voiced by Pat Morita, Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid series of films (1984-1994). Morita died in 2005, but worked right up until then. Mr. Miyagi is frequently referenced in the Netflix series Cobra Kai (2018-present). The Emperor’s self-important assistant, Chi-Fu, is voiced by James Hong, who went on to voice Mr. Ping, Po’s adoptive father, in the Kung Fu Panda series of films (2008-present). Most recently, Hong played Gong Gong in Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022), which won the Oscar for Best Film in 2023.

Some other voice artists that appear in Mulan are Miriam Margolyes and George Takei, who voice the Matchmaker and the First Ancestor respectively. Margolyes has had a prolific career, on screen and stage, including numerous voice performances. She played Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter film series. Margolyes has also begun to make various travel-related documentary series. As well as watching her incredible acting, you can also see Margolyes generally being funny, and rude at times, on various television chat shows! Takei voices the stressed and constantly harassed First Ancestor. Takei played Commander Sulu in the Star Trek franchise (1966-present), and has recently performed on stage in the musical Allegiance, which is inspired by his own personal experiences.

The dubbing for Mulan was an important part of the process for Disney, especially for this movie, as it is set in the very real country of China, so wanted to represent the languages with the best actors for the job. Actor and martial artist Jackie Chan was chosen to dub the voice of Shang for all three Chinese dubs; Chan had voiced the role of Beast in the Mandarin dub of Beauty and the Beast (1991). Singer and actress Coco Lee was chosen to dub the voice of Mulan in the Mandarin version. The part of Mushu was particularly difficult to find as they needed a comic figure to voice the role in the foreign versions of Mulan, so naturally, they looked to comedians to fill the position. Taiwanese television host and actor Jacky Wu was chosen to dub Mushu in the Mandarin version of Mulan[2]. Coco Lee and Jackie Chan also recorded music videos singing their characters’ respective songs: “Reflection” and “I’ll Make a Man Out of You”.

PRODUCTION

The original story for Mulan is based on the story, The Ballad of Hua Mulan, which became well-known during the Tang dynasty, in 618-906 AD. The tale tells of Mulan finding that her father has been drafted into the army, but knows that he will not survive the war. She joins instead, leaving her family home before anyone can notice she’s left. Mulan journeys everywhere with the army for twelve years. On her return, she is summoned to see the Emperor, where she receives the highest honour, being promoted to the top rank of the army. Except Mulan only wishes to go home, where she goes back to being “a normal woman” again, but does reveal to her army comrades that the man they fought beside was actually her. This story was then adapted into a play in the 16^th Century by playwright Xu Wei, titled “The Heroine Mulan Goes to War in Her Father’s Place”. A book was later published by Chu Renhuo in the 17^th Century, titled “Romance of Sui and Tang”. It was a new interpretation of the story, with Mulan being captured on the battlefield, and returning home to find her father had died and her mother had remarried. Mulan is ordered to become a concubine but instead takes her own life[3]… I have no idea why Disney wouldn’t choose that story to base their movie on, instead of choosing the original legend!

Though it is debated whether Mulan was in fact a real person, as it cannot be verified, it is also certain that, though Shan Yu is not a real historical figure, that the Huns did invade China during the specific time and place that the movie, and story, is set. It was also correct of Disney to state that crickets are a symbol of luck in Chinese culture, though the cage that Cri-Kee is placed in would not have been around during the time period of Disney’s Mulan. Tea-drinking is something else not from the correct dynasty. Also, Chinese dragons do not breathe fire as Mushu does, but if Mushu had not been able to breathe fire, it would’ve been difficult for Mulan to have gotten out of some situations she finds herself in in the movie! There is also evidence that women warriors did actually exist during this period of Chinese history, meaning that if Mulan had been a real person, she would not have needed to disguise herself. However, the original story states that she did, so Disney have stuck true to the legend with this plot point[4]. Some artistic and dramatic licence will always be taken in any movie or television series that is based on a story, real or otherwise.

But initially, Disney were not planning to stick to the well-known, celebrated Chinese legend. The first idea was for Mulan to be a romantic comedy of sorts, with Mulan being betrothed to Li Shang. In one of the deleted scenes, titled “The Betrothal”, Mulan would’ve been preparing to meet her future in-laws, and whilst the fathers were organising the “terms” of the betrothal, i.e., how many farm animals she is worth, Mulan was getting a sneaky peek at her husband-to-be, Shang – only for him to say to Mulan that she is worth at least five pigs, in a jokey way, which annoys her and she storms off. So, the awkwardness of Shang was always going to be a character quirk, apparently! Mulan would also have been presented with Ying and Yang necklaces for her and Shang; this idea later reappeared in the sequel to Mulan. Later, Mulan would’ve run away from home to take control of her own life. When Story Supervisor, Chris Sanders, who went on to direct Lilo & Stitch (2002), came on to the project, he wanted to scrap this idea and go back to the original story, though some of the romantic tension still remained between Mulan and Shang. It was felt that Mulan deciding to go to war for her father, instead of herself, was a more important plot point[5].

Another sticking point for the story team on Mulan was how the opening should be. The first thought was for traditional shadow puppets to be used, in order to ease the audience into this time and place, with shadow puppets being a historical method of story-telling. It would’ve told the story of why the Great Wall of China was built, to give some backstory to the history of war within China. It was cut as it did not move the story forward and was not entertaining enough. So, a new idea was conceived: to have Mulan daydreaming about her perfect life. Mulan would’ve been dreaming of a carefree life, where she could ride horses, be brave, defeat Shan Yu when he tries to break through the Great Wall, bringing peace to the Middle Kingdom; men would love her for her unique personality. After Mulan narrated her perfect life, where she didn’t have to fit into the societal role of women in China, she would’ve been interrupted by her mother asking her to get tea for her father, bringing us in to how women actually fit in society. Finally, the Emperor receiving a spiritual vision of Shan Yu taking over China, and being told that only the most loyal and devoted subject could save them, was another opening idea[6]. I’m happy with the opening idea they chose, with the ink painting, as it sets the correct atmosphere of the movie being set in Ancient China, and it gets straight into the action of Shan Yu invading China.

As this was the first Disney animated movie to be based in China, the team at Disney knew the importance of doing good research into the area, its art, geography, architecture, and its culture. Ten of them went to China for a three-week research trip, where they saw icons of China, with a big focus on the Great Wall of China. They found that when they walked the Wall it was so quiet that all they could hear were the sound of flags blowing in the wind, as there were so many around, so the number of flags in the film was inspired by that moment. They were also inspired by the headstones of their ancestors, making the ancestors are key part of the story. The team looked at the architecture of China, with their roof edges that curl upwards, designed to lift the onlooker’s eye up to the Heavens, as well as family homes that have rooms that are unconnected and in completely separate buildings, as we see in Mulan’s family home. They took hundreds of pictures of the landscape, to ensure accuracy in the geographical locations in Mulan, and knew how important this story is to the Chinese people, wanting to do right by them and their culture[7].

For the artistic design of the film, Disney did struggle at first to find the right art style to base the film on, as not only were they making a film about China, but it was to be set in Ancient China. They started out with watercolours for the backgrounds, but found that it was too difficult to train all the artists up to do it the same and to do it well. In the end, they chose to work with Hans Bacher, the Production Designer. He studied Chinese art styles and knew Chinese art to be quite flat, with an intense focus on the beautiful landscapes and less about the characters; the art is supposed to be about where you are, not what is there. It meant choosing a graphic and simple approach, without too many details. Their design choice was summed up neatly into this mantra: poetic simplicity. The artists also were able to use the China pavilion at Epcot’s World Showcase at the Walt Disney World Resort for inspiration for some of the Chinese architecture and landscaping; it would’ve been right on the doorstep of Disney Feature Animation in Florida, so a very useful resource for the animators and artists!

As there are multiple scenes of fights and martial arts, they brought in B.H. Barry, who became their martial arts advisor, taking them through the correct movement and positioning of action sequences. This was particularly useful for the training sequences in “I’ll Make a Man Out of You”, as well as the climactic battle scene with Mulan and Shan Yu[8].

During the 1990s, Disney had started to take small steps into the world of computer-animation, but had yet to do anything particularly ground-breaking, unlike studios such as Pixar. However, Mulan includes numerous CG elements, more so than in any other Disney animated movie that came before it. Just a few small details that used computer-animation were the swaying bamboo, the flaming arrows, the almost-7000 lanterns that appear in the scene around the Emperor’s palace, as well as many banners and flags blowing in the wind. Some of the bigger, more obvious uses of computer-animation come from the larger crowd scenes. For the Huns charging down the snowy mountain, the production team were inspired by the wildebeest stampede scene within The Lion King (1994). The CGI team began this scene by creating horses running, before putting Huns on top of them. Each Hun had different options in terms of their weapons, clothing, and even hairstyle. The terrain was then built up based on a sketch of the background, and a simulation of the Huns riding downhill on the horses was run. This sequence was tweaked until the mood was correct, that it looked like absolute chaos, and terrifying to see play out in front of you[9].

MUSIC

The music of any Disney movie is vital to the mood and atmosphere of the movie, as well as the story. But the Disney “Renaissance Era” movies were well-known for having some of the best and most iconic songs. Composer Stephen Schwartz, who had worked on the music for Pocahontas (1995) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) alongside longtime Disney collaborator Alan Menken, originally wrote three songs for Mulan but left to work on The Prince of Egypt (1998) for DreamWorks, the studio that former Chairman of Walt Disney Studios Jeffrey Katzenberg had gone to co-found in 1994. This led to Disney threatening to remove Schwartz’ name from the publicity for the two Disney movies he had worked on[10]. Luckily for Schwartz, though, The Prince of Egypt (1998) did very well financially and critically, with Schwartz winning the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1999 with “When You Believe”.

But back to Mulan. Lyricist David Zippel, who had contributed lyrics to the soundtrack of The Swan Princess (1994) as well as Disney’s Hercules (1997), which included the Academy Award-nominated song “Go the Distance”, and singer-songwriter Matthew Wilder were asked to write the songs for the movie. Five of their songs made it into the movie, with the Mushu song, “Keep ‘Em Guessing”, being cut during story development. Zippel and Wilder stated that they were able to collaborate well together, with “Reflection” being the first song written for the movie. “Reflection” describes Mulan’s inner thoughts as she returns from her disastrous meeting with the Matchmaker and fears she will always dishonour her family. It’s a beautiful scene and a lovely song, but for me, I feel I have heard it too many times in my life, so it is not one of my favourite Disney songs, though I know that it is to many others. I do like the movie version, sung by Broadway superstar Lea Salonga, who originated the role of Kim in the musical Miss Saigon, and also provided the singing voice for Princess Jasmine in Aladdin (1992). I very much dislike Christina Aguilera’s pop version of “Reflection”, which can be heard as the second song in the End Credits; it was also released as a single and is seen as the song that launched her singing career. Lea Salonga was very enthusiastic about providing the singing voice for another Disney princess, but did learn early on that Mulan is a very different character to Jasmine, with “Reflection” being quite a sad song, and not the love ballad that Jasmine’s “A Whole New World” is.

Another very popular song is “I’ll Make a Man Out of You”, which is sung by Shang during the army training montage. I very much like this song, and the sequence that accompanies it, especially when Mulan starts to become a good recruit and it becomes incredibly powerful and hopeful. Donny Osmond provides the singing voice for Shang. Osmond very much enjoyed singing this song for the movie[11]. “A Girl Worth Fighting For” is not the most beautifully sung song, but it is very funny, and a good comedic song to have, especially as the movie turns quite dark shortly afterwards as the army come across a burnt-out village and hundreds of killed soldiers. The men are all singing about what women they are hoping are waiting for them when they return home as war heroes, with Mulan finding this incredibly awkward to have to listen to, and its made even worse when she’s asked to tell the guys what her ideal woman would be!

The other song that is actually played within the movie is “Honor To Us All”, and this is my favourite of all of them. It is used for the montage of Mulan being dressed up for her Matchmaker appointment, and as I like that scene, I think it’s made me like the song! It details the requirements that “perfect brides” be, with the song being quiet, sweet, and graceful to match the attitudes of the women that are heading to the Matchmaker – well, all except Mulan. “True To Your Heart” is the final song in the movie which is heard right at the end of the film, mostly during the End Credits. It’s ok to listen to, but I’m not going to sit through the whole credits just to hear it, as I have done with other movies’ End Credits song! “True To Your Heart” is performed by Stevie Wonder and pop and R&B group 98°. The message of the song is quite nice though, and matches Mulan’s journey.

For me, the score is where the movie really shines. Composer Jerry Goldsmith composed the score for Mulan. Goldsmith also composed the original score to the Disneyland attraction Soarin’ Over California, an iconic piece of music from the Disney Parks. Goldsmith composed scores for numerous blockbuster-hit movies such as five films in the Star Trek franchise (1979-2002) and three in the Rambo franchise (1982-1988). The score uses a full orchestra, as well as synthesizers in certain songs, such as “Haircut”, when Mulan is disguising herself as a man and leaving home, my personal favourite instrumental in the movie, with my sister and I rewinding our VHS tape so many times just to hear it over and over again! Goldsmith’s score includes a mixture of gentler, more calming music, along with action-packed pieces, where we can feel the tension and fear of the characters in their encounters with Shan Yu. The tracks that play during Mulan’s final battle with Shan Yu, “Boo”, and his eventual defeat, “A Lucky Bug”, are also very good, and makes the battle scene one of the best Disney battles for me. The music that follows when the Emperor is praising Mulan, “Gratitude”, and her reuniting with her father, “The Pendant”, are very moving too. The soundtrack was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score, but lost to Stephen Warbeck’s score for Shakespeare in Love (1998).

RECEPTION

Mulan was released in June 1998, and grossed $120 million in the US and Canada combined during its initial release. It made $304 million worldwide, making it the second-highest grossing family film of the year, after Pixar’s A Bug’s Life (1998)[12]. Unfortunately, but perhaps not unsurprisingly, Mulan received a lukewarm reception in China, making only $1.3 million at the box-office, a sixth of what Disney had hoped the revenue would be. The Chinese people deemed Disney’s Mulan “too Westernised”, though some did appreciate Disney’s attempts at trying to understand and portray Chinese culture accurately[13].

But overall, the movie did well and received mostly positive reviews, with many enjoying the artistic quality of the film, as well as the feminist icon of Mulan. Mulan received some of the best reviews for a Disney animated film since The Lion King (1994), with some critics even saying that Mulan matched Beauty and the Beast (1991) and The Lion King (1994) in regards to its story-telling. Mulan also dominated at the 26^th Annie Awards in 1998, winning ten of the twelve categories it was nominated for, including Outstanding Animated Technical Feature, Outstanding Achievement in Voice Acting for Ming-Na Wen, and Outstanding Achievement in Music.

However, a movie that is based in China but developed by an American company is never going to escape controversy, though there was more discussion over Disney’s portrayal of the story of Mulan when the live-action movie was released in 2020, rather than when the 1998 film was first released. This is because Mulan (2020) goes further in terms of its feminist storytelling, retelling the story in a new way, to match the expectations of today’s society. For example, the romantic subplot between Mulan and Shang, which I don’t think is overly relevant in the 1998 film, was entirely removed, along with the character of Shang. This was also partly to do with the implications of the #MeToo movement, and how a recruit being in a relationship with her Army General would not be appropriate. A new character Commander Tung, based on Shang, was introduced instead, however the removal of Shang, and therefore the LGBTQ implications of his relationship with “Ping”, was disappointing for some. The 2020 live-action remake also cut the character of Mushu, who was deemed to be both culturally inaccurate and offensive. Shan Yu’s character was also replaced with a new character, leader of the Rourans, Böri Khan, who is intent on avenging his father’s death, giving him more of a human quality and less of a typically villainous side. Böri Khan was portrayed by Jason Scott Lee, who voiced David in Lilo & Stitch (2002) and most recently starred as Benny Kameāloha in the Disney+ series, Doogie Kameāloha (2021-23).

In some ways the 2020 live-action movie received more criticisms than the 1998 version. The actress who played Mulan, Yifei Liu, was accused of supporting police brutality in Hong Kong after quotes from her were circulated online. There were then calls for the Mulan film to be boycotted. Yifei Liu did not appear at the D23 promotional event in 2019, where a five-minute clip of the movie was shown to fans. Also, though the film features an all-Asian cast, something that the 1998 film had tried to do and succeeded partially in doing so, like the 1998 film, the 2020 film was criticised for its lack of diversity in the production team which included not hiring an Asian director; New Zealand director Niki Caro was chosen instead. There were also comments when the trailer was released stating that the architecture and costuming did not match the time period or geography of the original story. Mulan (2020) did receive mostly positive reviews though, with many stating that it is one of the better Disney live-action remakes. It was released on Disney+, for a fee, on 4^th September 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is now free to watch on Disney+[14].

LEGACY

As well as the live-action adaptation, Mulan also received the “direct-to-video sequel” treatment with Mulan II being released in 2004. Mulan II follows on from the events of Mulan, with Shang and Mulan engaged to be married. They must navigate their relationship whilst on a mission to take the Emperor’s three daughters to a neighbouring kingdom, Qui Gong, to be wed to princes there. Mulan is against the idea of arranged marriage, whereas Shang just wants to fulfil his duties. Mushu’s status as guardian is at risk as if Shang and Mulan marry, his ancestors will become hers, so Mushu will lose his job, leading Mushu to try and break the two of them up. Many of the original actors returned to reprise their roles, though voice actress April Winchell, voice of Clarabelle Cow, and daughter of Paul Winchell, original voice of Tigger, voices the Matchmaker instead of Miriam Margolyes, and voice double Mark Moseley voices Mushu instead of Eddie Murphy. Some other interesting names to voice characters in Mulan II are Sandra Oh, of Grey’s Anatomy (2005-14) and Killing Eve (2018-22) fame, as Princess Ting-Ting, and Charlie’s Angels’ (2000-03) Lucy Liu performing the role of Princess Mei. I like this sequel a lot, with the song “Like Other Girls” being a highlight.

At the Disney Parks, Mulan has been featured many times over the years. At Disney’s MGM-Studios at Walt Disney World, now Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris, the Mulan Parade ran from June 1998 as a marketing and promotional tool for the movie. It replaced the Hercules Victory Parade, and was the last of the movie tie-in parades at the Disney Parks. The parade was different across the three parks, with Walt Disney World’s running for around 3 years, the Disneyland one only going for about a year and mostly being seen at night, and Disneyland Paris’ being just one float.

At Disneyland Paris, there was a stage show titled Mulan, La Légende, that took place in the Videopolis Theater. It featured a brief retelling of the movie, alongside acrobatic and juggling displays. It was a roughly 30-minute show that ran about five times a day, opening in April 1999 and closing sometime in 2002. I remember seeing this show on my first visit to Disneyland Paris sometime in December in the early 2000s, though I don’t recall much of it, only that we were eating chips inside the theatre, trying to find somewhere warm to sit as it was so cold outside!

Another defunct attraction related Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Mulan is The Magic of Disney Animation pavilion, as the movie was animated in Florida at The Disney Feature Animation Florida Studio, which was first set up in 1989, and was considered an annex to the official Disney studio in Burbank. It was originally based in trailers roughly where Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster is today, with just 40 artists. In 1998, the studio was moved into its own $70 million building, located just behind The Magic of Disney Animation pavilion. The number of artists was expanded to around 400. The Florida Studio was responsible for primarily making Mulan, Lilo & Stitch (2002), and Brother Bear (2003), though the artists did do pieces for many of the other Disney features released during the Florida studio’s lifetime. The Florida studio itself closed in January 2004 but The Magic of Disney Animation, which opened with the park in 1989, outran the lifetime of the Florida Studio, therefore, the chance to actually see artists at work was not as prominent or marketed after 2004, when an opening film was played that heavily featured Mushu telling the history of Disney Animation alongside a Cast Member or Animator, before guests were led into an exhibition-type space with some original artwork available to be seen. The Magic of Disney Animation pavilion closed in July 2015, where it became Star Wars Launch Bay, which still exists today, mostly as an exhibition area and meet-and-greet location for characters like BB-8, Chewbacca and Darth Vader[15].

Nowadays, Mulan continues to be a prominent meet-and-greet character at all the Disney Parks, seeing as she is part of the official Disney Princess line-up. At Walt Disney World, as well as the movie being featured within the Fantasmic! nighttime show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios with its own section, you can also meet Mulan at the China pavilion in Epcot’s World Showcase. At Disneyland, Mulan is predominately available for meet-and-greets alongside Mushu during their annual Lunar New Year events, which includes the Lunar New Year Procession. Mulan seems to be available for meet-and-greets occasionally at Disneyland Paris. It is unclear how often Mulan is available for meet-and-greets at Hong Kong Disneyland, Shanghai Disneyland or Tokyo Disneyland, but she seems to have been spotted in Shanghai and Hong Kong Disneyland in the last year or two.

In terms of the other Mulan characters, Mushu, Shang and Shan Yu are much rarer to spot in the Disney Parks, and are more likely to be brought out for Special Events. I remember seeing Shan Yu at the Epcot China Pavilion many years ago and I was too scared to go over to him; my sister ended up taking my autograph book over to him and getting it for me! I also remember meeting Mushu a few times, but never Shang.

At Shanghai Disneyland, as part of their daily parade, Mickey’s Storybook Express Parade, there is a section dedicated to Mulan, with the front of the float showing Mulan sitting atop her horse, Khan, and drummers, stone lions, and a temple featuring at the back. There are also soldiers and flag-bearers walking in front. Finally, also at Shanghai Disneyland, in their equivalent of the Storybook Land Canal Boats, the Voyage of the Crystal Grotto has a scene of Mulan, on the lefthand side about halfway in, just after the Tangled scene; it depicts Mulan standing in a pagoda, with Khan on a bridge just behind her.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Mulan was an important part of the Disney “Renaissance Era” as it was the first time that they had featured an Asian princess and an Asian story in one of their animated movies, meaning that a whole community were now represented, and not just as a beautiful, elegant princess, but as a strong, brave female warrior.

Mulan may not be one of my favourite Disney films, but I do still enjoy it, and feel that it has an important message to be yourself, and not feel trapped or confined to other people’s expectations of what you “should” be. It’s your life, and you should choose how to live it, no matter what anyone else thinks.

Disney did receive some criticism for their portrayal of Mulan both in their animated and live-action films, but this is not uncommon, especially these days when everything seems to be under constant scrutiny. Disney did their best, and the live-action film does appear to have gone some way to correcting misrepresentations in the story and culture.

Despite this, Mulan continues to be an incredibly popular Disney animated movie, and it celebrated its 25^th anniversary in 2023, with a new range of merchandise being released to mark the occasion. This, and its constant representation in Disney media and its theme parks, show the relevance of Mulan and her story, even by today’s standards.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Disney, The Movie Surfers Go Inside Mulan (1998).

[2] Credit: Disney, “International Mulan”, from Mulan (1998) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[3] Credit: Sabrina Barr, ‘Mulan: The real story behind the legendary Chinese warrior’, The Independent (online), 4^th September 2020.

[4] Credit: Rebecca O’Neill, ‘Disney’s Mulan: 5 Things In the Movie That Were Historically Accurate (& 5 That Were Not)’, ScreenRant.com, 16^th June 2022.

[5] Credit: Izak Bulten, ‘Mulan (1998): 10 Behind-The-Scenes Facts About The Disney Classic’, ScreenRant.com, 13^th September 2020.

[6] Credit: Disney, “Deleted Scenes”, from Mulan (1998) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[7] Credit: Disney, “The Journey Begins”, from Mulan (1998) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[8] Credit: Disney, The Movie Surfers Go Inside Mulan (1998).

[9] Credit: Disney, “Production”, from Mulan (1998) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[10] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Remembering “Mulan”’, CartoonResearch.com, 26^th August 2022.

[11] Credit: Disney, “Music”, from Mulan (1998) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[12] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Remembering “Mulan”’, CartoonResearch.com, 26^th August 2022.

[13] Credit: Constance Grady, ‘The history of Mulan, from a 6^th-century ballad to the live-action Disney movie’, Vox.com, 4^th September 2020.

[14] Credit: Suyin Haynes, ‘The Controversial Origins of the Story Behind Mulan’, Time (online), 11^th September 2020.

[15] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Disney Films Done at Disney Feature Animation Florida’, YourFirstVisit.net, date unknown.

30th Jun 202327th Jun 2024 by The Disney Purist

#33 Pocahontas (1995)

BACKGROUND

Pocahontas was supposed to be the big blockbuster hit to follow the smashing success of Disney’s 1992 release, Aladdin.

This did not end up being the case because of that “little-known” film, The Lion King (1994), which not only dwarfed the achievement of the film that would follow it, Pocahontas, but the rest of the Disney “Renaissance Era” releases as well.

The two movies were in production at the same time, and everyone at Disney, including then-Chairman of Walt Disney Studios Animation, Jeffrey Katzenberg, thought Pocahontas would be the one to do well, because it told a romantic love story, like that of Romeo and Juliet or West Side Story, whereas The Lion King was more experimental and different to what Disney Animation had been doing. Nobody even really wanted to be working on the “B” movie of The Lion King, instead of the “A” movie of Pocahontas[1]. So, it was a surprise to everyone when The Lion King was released in 1994 and was so successful that its Disney Animation box-office record would not be beaten for almost two decades, by Frozen in 2013. Still, Pocahontas did not do badly at the box-office, despite receiving mixed reviews, and it has its fans of which I am one.

I have always liked Pocahontas because I like the romance of it. It looks stunning and has the best score of any Disney animated movie in my opinion. Pocahontas sits comfortably within my Top 5 of Disney animated features so it was not a chore whatsoever to re-watch it this week, and I generally watch it at least once a year.

PLOT

Disney’s Pocahontas begins with a group of voyagers, those of “The Virginia Company” sailing off from London in 1607 to conquer the New World. These voyagers are looking for their fortune, with the prospect of gold a key factor in their mission, with their leader, Governor Ratcliffe, hoping to come back from this journey a hero, so he can climb the social standings at His Majesty’s Court. Their journey is rocked by a storm partway through, where their youngest sailor, Thomas, falls overboard. He is rescued by John Smith, a celebrated explorer who has been selected for this mission to deal with “the Indians”. The voyage continues, with the sailors hoping that the New World will meet all their expectations.

We then move over to the original Virginia which is inhabited by the Powhatan tribe, who live in harmony with the land. Many of the men of the village, including Chief Powhatan, have just returned from defeating the Massawomecks, with Kocoum being celebrated for his bravery. Pocahontas, the Chief’s daughter, is late to greet her father, having just been found by her best friend, Nakoma, standing on a cliff, with her raccoon friend, Meeko, and hummingbird, Flit! Her father tells her that Kocoum has asked to marry her. Pocahontas is not sure that is the path for her life, but her father tells her she must be “steady like the river” and settle down. He gives Pocahontas her mother’s necklace as an engagement present, ready to wear on her wedding day. Pocahontas goes to visit Grandmother Willow, a talking willow tree who acts as her guide, and tells her about a dream she’s been having, involving a spinning arrow. She is told to “listen with her heart”, at which point Pocahontas sees “strange clouds” and follows them. These are actually the sails of the Susan Constant, the ship that the English have arrived to Virginia on. Most are uncertain of this new land, but John Smith is fascinated and goes out to explore, and to look for the Natives, as instructed by Governor Ratcliffe. Ratcliffe officially names this settlement “Jamestown”, after King James I and tells the others to start digging for gold and building their camp.

Pocahontas, curious by these strange visitors, follows John Smith. At one point, Meeko rushes up to John, curious about food he has in his bag. John is about to spot Pocahontas, when Flit flies out at John at speed, and scares him off. But John seems to know he is being followed by someone and eventually spots who, holding a gun up to them. It’s Pocahontas and he is immediately entranced. She runs away, but John quickly follows her. He persuades her to stay and the two talk about their different lands. Meanwhile, the English have not found any gold, despite digging for hours, and spot some of the Natives watching them. A fight ensues, with one of the Powhatans being shot; he is taken back to the village, where Chief Powhatan warns everyone to stay away from them, as they do not understand their weapons or their intentions here, but hope they do not intend to stay.

Pocahontas and John Smith, unaware of this latest development, continue talking, with John telling Pocahontas all about the buildings in London, before telling her that they’ll be building those things here, so the Natives can “use the land properly”. This upsets Pocahontas, and she tries to leave again, but John stops her. She climbs up a tree instead, and he follows, continuing to dig himself into a hole, by calling her people “savages” and “uncivilised”. John loses his footing and falls down to the ground. Pocahontas comes down from the tree and tells him that even though her people may be different, the English could learn a lot from them, and how they live alongside nature.

John returns to his camp, where many of the English are already unhappy with their time in the New World. Ratcliffe believes that the Natives must have the gold and sets about a plan to take it from them, with two of the settlers, Ben and Lon, being sent to find it. John Smith has snuck out to see Pocahontas again, where she asks Nakoma to keep their friendship a secret. The two go to Grandmother Willow, where Pocahontas tells John there is no gold around here, and introduces him to Grandmother Willow. Though he is freaked out at first, he comes to like her, after she says he’s handsome! Ben and Lon come by the tree, where Grandmother Willow lifts her roots and snaps her vines against them to scare them off. John returns to camp.

Chief Powhatan has asked for warriors from the neighbouring villages to help with the invasion of the settlers. Pocahontas is disturbed by this development, and asks her father to consider speaking with one of them; he says he would but does not seem convinced. Back at the English camp, John tells the others there is no gold here, which Ratcliffe rebuffs as a lie from his “little Indian friend”. He goes out again to meet with Pocahontas, but is seen by Thomas, who has been ordered by Ratcliffe to follow him and given a gun to shoot any Indian he sees. Nakoma has also informed Kocoum of Pocahontas’ secret meetings and he goes to follow her. Pocahontas and John Smith meet by Grandmother Willow’s tree again, where they make a plan for him to talk with Chief Powhatan, so they can be together. They kiss, and are seen by both Thomas and Kocoum, with Thomas being shocked and Kocoum flying into a jealous rage, rushing to attack John. Thomas then shoots Kocoum in defence of John, but Kocoum is killed, breaking Pocahontas’ mother’s necklace in the process. John orders Thomas to leave, and John is captured. Chief Powhatan sentences him to death the next morning, and he is tied up in a tent. Pocahontas is allowed to speak to him for a few short moments, where she apologies for what’s happened to him, all because of her, though John tells her “he’d rather die tomorrow than live a hundred years without knowing [her]”.

Thomas tells the camp the news of John’s capture, with Ratcliffe using this as the perfect excuse to finally attack the Indians. They prepare for battle, with the Powhatans doing the same. Pocahontas runs to Grandmother Willow, feeling lost about what to do. Meeko retrieves a compass he stole from John Smith and gives it to Pocahontas; it is the spinning arrow from her dream. The wind pushes the arrow, until it stops, pointing her in the direction of where John’s execution is taking place.

Pocahontas runs to him, and arrives just in time, throwing herself on top of John Smith, preventing her father from carrying out the death sentence. She tells her father this is where “the path of hatred” has brought them, that she loves John Smith, and that if he wants to kill John, he’ll have to kill her too. Chief Powhatan is shocked by this turn of events, but understands what his daughter is saying, convincing him not to fight the English. The English have witnessed this scene too, and they stand down as well. John is released, but this is not enough for Ratcliffe, who order his men to shoot. They refuse, so Ratcliffe takes a gun for himself and aims it at Chief Powhatan. John Smith notices just in time and jumps in front of the gunshot, saving the Chief but injuring himself. The English rise up and detain Ratcliffe, tying him up and sending him back to London.

John must also return as well, to get medical treatment back in London for his wound. Pocahontas and the villagers arrive with food for their journey back. John wants Pocahontas to go with him, but she says she is needed here with her tribe, to keep the peace between the two sides. John says he’ll stay with her, but she tells him he must return and that she’ll always be with him, no matter where they are. The Chief is grateful for John’s sacrifice for him, and tells him he will always be welcomed back. John is rowed back to the ship, where it departs. Pocahontas runs up to the top of the cliff and watches as the ship departs, waving goodbye to John Smith as he leaves Virginia.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Disney’s character of Pocahontas was created to be more sincere, wiser, stronger, independent, and with more depth of thoughts and feelings than some of Disney’s previous female protagonists, such as Belle or Ariel. Because Disney did make Pocahontas older than the real person actually was, they could give their Pocahontas these attributes. Pocahontas is also a spiritual person, connected to nature, but with a playful side, as we see at the start of the movie when she tips over Nakoma’s canoe when she comes to find her to bring her back to the village. The design of Pocahontas was created by animator Glen Kleane, who knew she needed to be beautiful, strong, and athletic. Because there was a real girl behind this character, it made the animation process more difficult, partly as one of the actual drawings of Pocahontas as a person did not fit into the Disney aesthetic, and because Disney knew that their version of the character would become the established version in society. Keane did go against the rather unflattering drawing of Pocahontas, admitting it was not a historically accurate representation of the person, but that he had spent much time ensuring that the design of Pocahontas matched her Native American ethnicity, especially as Keane had primarily only animated Caucasian characters before[2].

Pocahontas’ speaking voice was provided by American actress Irene Bedard, who is of Native American descent. She loved her role as Pocahontas, and the beautiful love story that the movie created. Bedard noticed how some of her facial expressions and hand movements had been incorporated into the character, based on the filmed recording sessions. This included her pushing her hair behind her ear, which is something Pocahontas does multiple times in the movie[3]. Bedard continues to reprise her voice role for other Disney projects. American singer Judy Kuhn provides Pocahontas’ singing voice.

John Smith is one of the English explorers; he has been brought on this voyage mostly for his experience in “dealing with the Natives” from past expeditions to other New Worlds. He is more of an adventurer than a conqueror, not really caring about claiming the land, but wanting to explore these new areas. John Smith is relatively kind-hearted in Disney’s Pocahontas, wanting peace between the English and the native tribe, and he seems to want to learn about Pocahontas’ culture and customs. John Smith’s character, as in the real person’s, is still being debated by historians; it is unsure how much he believed in peace, and how much of a good person he really was, so Disney’s character is likely a kind interpretation of the real human! I like John Smith and Pocahontas together; I think they are a couple genuinely in love but torn between their two different worlds. Their decisions to go back to their respective homelands did seem to be the best choice for both of them though.

John Smith was primarily animated by John Pomeroy who was influenced by John Smith’s own personal diaries, along with the actor Errol Flynn and his movie performances. He was, of course, also inspired by John Smith’s voice actor, who also sang in the movie: actor Mel Gibson. Mel Gibson is most known for his performances in the Mad Max franchise (1979-85), playing the title role of Max Rockatansky, as well as William Wallace in Braveheart (1995), which came out in the same year as Pocahontas. Gibson would later go back into voice work for the role as Rocky in Aardman’s movie, Chicken Run (2000).

The villain of Pocahontas is Governor Ratcliffe, who is, more or less, a social climber, wanting to be more known to King James I back in England, and to raise his status at court. This is his primary motivation for going on the voyage to the New World, because, by doing this and bringing back untold riches to England, Ratcliffe hopes that he might be seen as such a hero that he’ll be given a title, like a lordship. He is greedy and arrogant, unfeeling towards those whose land he has claimed in the name of the King of England. Ratcliffe is also openly racist, calling the native tribe “savages” and wanting to shoot any that might get in his way. Ratcliffe is evil, corrupt, and nasty; he is one of the worst Disney villains, because he is human, with no magic or powers, yet has power and uses that power for himself, instead of trying to better the world for others. And because of this, I think Ratcliffe is one of Disney’s best villains, although underappreciated by many.

Ratcliffe was animated by Duncan Marjoribanks, who was originally going to make the character pear-shaped, but when the character became nastier, the weight was moved from his waist up to his chest to make him larger and therefore more menacing. Governor Ratcliffe is voiced by David Ogden Stiers, who performed many other roles for Disney, such as Cogsworth in Beauty and the Beast (1991), the Archdeacon in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) and Dr. Jumba in Lilo & Stitch (2002). Outside of Disney, he played Major Charles Emerson Winchester III, M.D. on the television series M*A*S*H (1977-83), where he was nominated for two Emmy Awards. David Ogden Stiers passed away in March 2018.

Ratcliffe also has a manservant, called Wiggins, who is overly optimistic and carries on as though nothing has happened, like angering the Natives of the area and not being able to find gold. Wiggins’ primary duty seems to be caring for Ratcliffe’s pampered pug, Percy, and very little else. Ratcliffe is unamused by Wiggins, especially as he was “highly recommended”. I like Wiggins a lot though, and he has some of the funniest lines, such as when Ratcliffe says they’ll be sure to give the Natives a proper English greeting, with Wiggins replying: “Oh, gift baskets!”. That single line sums up Wiggins as a character perfectly, though Wiggins was going to be quite snotty and pompous originally. Wiggins is also voiced by David Ogden Stiers, which is a surprise as Wiggins’ high-pitched posh voice is a complete contrast to the deep, menacing tone of Ratcliffe!

Then there is Pocahontas’ spiritual guide, Grandmother Willow, a literal willow tree who can talk! Although Grandmother Willow had to be serious and wise, leading Pocahontas to the right decisions and teaching her to listen to what her heart is telling her, Disney knew she had to have some humour to her character, like a real grandmother. This was captured perfectly by Academy Award-winning actress Linda Hunt. Disney couldn’t think of anyone else to play this 400-year-old tree and they said Hunt was dead on with the personality of Grandmother Willow every time! Hunt won her Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in the movie The Year of Living Dangerously (1982). More recently, she voiced Lady Proxima in Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018). Grandmother Willow was animated by Chris Buck; her face was traditionally hand-drawn and then layered on top of the CGI tree[4].

Within the Powhatan tribe, we have Chief Powhatan. He is clearly a well-respected leader, beloved by the villagers, although as a father to Pocahontas, he is quite strict, sometimes becoming annoyed by Pocahontas’ free-spirited nature, which ultimately gets them all into trouble when Kocoum is killed. Chief Powhatan wants to defeat these trespassers to his land to protect his people and that is completely understandable. Despite this, Chief Powhatan does eventually listen to Pocahontas, telling him that destroying each other is not the path that either side should be wanting to go down, and he is the one to set down weapons first and try to find peace. Native American activist Russell Means was chosen to voice the role of Chief Powhatan, a role he stated he was proud to play. He looked at Powhatan as one of his own ancestors, so was able to identify with the character, bringing the power and depth to the Chief[5]. I think he did a brilliant job with the character. Means unfortunately passed away in 2012.

Then we have Pocahontas’ best friend, Nakoma. She doesn’t get enough screen time, in my opinion, because the two of them are so funny together at the start of the film. Nakoma is not free-spirited like Pocahontas, so although she tries to keep Pocahontas’ friendship with John Smith a secret at the beginning, she begins to worry about her friend’s safety and has to tell Kocoum about it, something that she clearly feels guilty about when she tells Pocahontas of this. Kocoum is the brave warrior of the village; he’s the dependable, strong one who is a hero to the other villagers. He wants to marry Pocahontas, and gets permission from Chief Powhatan, but Pocahontas does not want to be married to him because he is quite serious. I can understand that, but he would have been a steady figure for her. Again, he doesn’t receive much screen time and I would’ve liked his relationship with Pocahontas to be explored further, but in the interests of time and pacing, I guess it wasn’t possible. Nakoma and Kocoum are voiced by Michelle St. John and James Apaumut Fall, respectively, both of which are also of Native American descent. Kekata, the medicine man of the Powhatan tribe, is voiced by Gordon Tootoosis, another actor of Native American descent, who died in 2011.

For the English settlers, there are only really three main ones. Ben, the cynical, grumpy one, who quickly grows to dislike his time in Jamestown, as well as the amount of time they had to be on that “stinking boat”. He is voiced by the much-loved Scottish comedian and actor Billy Connolly. Then, there is Thomas, who is probably the youngest of the settlers. He is new to being a sailor and a soldier, and therefore is not particularly skilled, as we see when he gets thrown overboard at the start and almost shoots Ratcliffe at one point… Thomas is one of the first to stand up to Ratcliffe at the end though, when they are told to fight. Thomas is voiced by Christian Bale in one of his earlier film roles. Bale would obviously go on to star as Batman in Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises (2012), amongst other things. The third main English settler is Lon, who is friends with Ben. They both seem to have known John Smith previously as well. Lon is more positive than Ben, trying to make the best of things. Lon is voiced by Joe Baker.

Finally, we have the animal sidekicks. Percy is the pug of Governor Ratcliffe, who is very spoilt and doesn’t like this strange, muddy area he’s been brought to, where raccoons steal all your food. Yes, him and Meeko have an ongoing battle throughout the movie, before deciding to be friends at the end, and Percy ends up staying in Jamestown. Danny Mann “voiced” Percy. The two characters are clearly the comic relief in Pocahontas, because otherwise, there wouldn’t be much to laugh about or to keep the kids entertained! Meeko is Pocahontas’ mischievous raccoon, who is always hungry and therefore stealing food from others. But he doesn’t mean any harm by it! It was decided that a raccoon was a good sidekick to Pocahontas as they have dexterity, so he would be able to keep up with Pocahontas and be able to handle objects, such as food and John Smith’s compass. Meeko is “voiced” by John Kassir, who has had many roles within animation, providing additional voices to movies such as Planes (2013) and the Minions movies (2015-22). Flit is the last sidekick, a hummingbird, who is quite stubborn and easily panicked. This was to match the nervous, staccato movement of hummingbirds. Flit is “voiced” by Frank Welker, known for providing many noises for animal characters in film, such as Abu in Aladdin (1992).

One final character to mention, who was cut from the movie, was Redfeather, a funny turkey sidekick for Pocahontas, who would’ve been voiced by John Candy. With Candy’s death in 1994, the whole character was cut, and the other animals, including Percy, who were meant to have voices, were then silenced[6]. It was probably for the best, but it would’ve been interesting to hear John Candy as a turkey in Pocahontas.

PRODUCTION

The first mention of Disney making a movie based on Pocahontas, came from co-director Mike Gabriel, who, as part of his pitch, used one small illustration: a drawing of Tiger Lily from Peter Pan (1953), with some forest creatures around her. He stated that he wanted this to be a film about the Chief’s daughter being caught between her love of her people and her love for one of their “enemies”. This was enough for the idea to be greenlit, and for the movie to be put into production[7]. Eric Goldberg was added as co-director.

From this point, the team at Disney looked into the real history of Pocahontas and the Powhatan tribe. They went to the original settlement of Jamestown and its museum for inspiration, where a replica of the Susan Constant ship exists, which I’m sure was useful for the scenes that included that ship! They learned about Native American culture, and the legends and folklore that surround Pocahontas and her experiences with the Virginia Company settlers. Though Disney’s story is based in real history, such as the arrival of the Virginia Company in 1607, and them looking for riches in the area, and the Powhatan tribe and its customs, some parts of the story were embellished, or were altered completely.

As a large proportion of the negative comments around Pocahontas come from the lack of historical accuracy, it’s important to note that Pocahontas was the first Disney animated movie to be based on the life of a real person, not just characters in a fairy-tale, a novel or a children’s book, so it was difficult territory to navigate.

Pocahontas, also called Amonute or Matoaka, with Pocahontas being a nickname, meaning “playful one”, was actually somewhere between the ages of 10 and 12 when she first met John Smith and the English colonisers settled in Virginia. This was stated in two different personal accounts by John Smith, where he stated that they met around 1608 and she seemed to be about 10 years old, though in a letter about eight years later, he would say she was 12 or 13, so that is why there is some debate, but it is clear she was younger than Disney’s Pocahontas. Due to this age difference, there was no romantic relationship between Pocahontas and John Smith, though, as per his own personal accounts, Smith was taken prisoner and Pocahontas did save his life by throwing herself over his body. This event has been debated by historians, but Disney felt they could use this scene in their movie, as there is some evidence to suggest it did happen.

Pocahontas was actually married to Kocoum and had a son with him, however, the English colonisers killed Kocoum and forced her to give up her child, before capturing her and eventually marrying her off to John Rolfe. She was forced to convert to Christianity, with her name being changed to Rebecca. It is not clear whether she was forced to marry John Rolfe, or not. Pocahontas also went to England, where she was shown to be a product of the peaceful unity between the Native Americans and the English settlers. We now know this was not a harmonious relationship between the two sides. Pocahontas died at the age of 21 on the voyage back to Virginia, of potentially smallpox, tuberculosis, or something similar[8].

It should come as no surprise to anyone that Disney did not want to adapt Pocahontas’ history in full, because who wants children to see the violence and abuse that came with colonialism in America? It’s not a nice life story to be presented on screen, so why would Disney make their Pocahontas historically accurate, given this information? Disney have always made loose adaptations of whatever story they’ve chosen. Just look at The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996). That movie is absolutely nothing like the book; trust me, I’ve read it a few times, yet I still love both. Beauty and the Beast (1991) and The Little Mermaid (1989) are also not close to their original stories, because some of those retellings are quite gruesome in places.

But the problem is that Pocahontas is based on a real person, so people were upset. The fact is some of her history is still being largely debated by historians, so Disney felt they had some degree of artistic license with their adaptation. I personally love the story they came up with, and although I may have seemed incredibly naïve at school, thinking I knew everything about Pocahontas from the Disney film, I did eventually learn the true history, once I was able to understand it. Some of Pocahontas’ history with John Rolfe would be explored in the direct-to-video sequel, Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World (1998).

Disney openly admit that they took liberties with Pocahontas’ real-life story, but by aging Pocahontas and giving them a focal point of a complicated love story, it makes the characters’ choices and decisions more important, with more being at stake. Let’s be honest: if Disney had made Pocahontas 10 years old and taken out the love story, but included all the elements of the story where she is fighting injustice and trying to bring peace, the audience may not have found it believable. She would have been a child and we would’ve just found her naïve, not understanding what’s actually going on. It clearly was not the case in the 1600s, Pocahontas was taken seriously, but if you think about it in terms of modern culture, a child standing up for what is wrong in the world is not something we are used to seeing. At least, it wasn’t in the 1990s.

Disney did consult with historians and Native American leaders when making this film, and that included Russell Means, the voice actor for Chief Powhatan. He made suggestions on how the Native American culture should be portrayed in Pocahontas, with two examples of this being the fact that all the dwellings face in one direction, and that the characters refer to each other generally by their relationship to each other, rather than by their first name: Chief Powhatan refers to Pocahontas as “my daughter” for much of the movie. Means stated that he was pleased and proud to have been a part of Pocahontas, with the opening scene of the tribe being a particular highlight of the film for him. Means also said that it was the finest work on Native Americans by Hollywood ever[9].

However, others who were consulted did not approve of the changes that Disney made to the movie, and would not participate further in the project. One such person was Shirley “Little Dove” Custalow McGowan, a descent of Powhatan Indians. She felt that the production was getting further away from historical accuracy, and would not consult with Disney from this point. She asked for her name to be removed from the film, but it was not[10].

Elements of the movie that were changed that would’ve been closer to the true history include a whole scene of the village preparing for Pocahontas’ upcoming wedding to Kocoum, with a song titled “Dancing to the Wedding Drum”, an early version of “Steady as the Beating Drum”. There was much research into the specifics of what a Native American wedding would’ve looked like, but it was removed as it felt burdensome to the plot.

Another scene that was almost included in the film was a love song between John Smith and Pocahontas called “In the Middle of the River”, which would’ve included them declaring their love for each other, as well as hope that their two cultures could come together. At least three songs of this type, as in a big production number involving the whole forest, similar to “Under the Sea” in The Little Mermaid (1989), were written but this was the favoured one. It was supposed to take place at the point of Pocahontas and John Smith’s kiss in the released version of the film, as the war is brewing between the two groups. It was even based on a Native American saying, but it was rejected, due to the fact it felt like there were already so many songs by this point in the movie, that it would’ve felt overcrowded and like the action had to keep moving[11].

After this song was rejected, a new love ballad was written, called “If I Never Knew You”, to be sung the night before John Smith is to be executed. The whole scene was completed and put into the movie, however, during a preview of the film, they noticed that the audience was restlessness during this song. It was decided that the song should be cut, since the film worked without it, and the theme of the song was still prominent within the score, so it’s not like it had been cut completely, though it was still a disappointment to both the songwriting team and to the animators. It was a huge love scene, a big declaration of love and emotion between the two main characters. It was something that Disney had not done before in any of their movies, and the team felt it was a shame to lose it, especially as it gave even more depth and reason to the scene of Pocahontas throwing herself over John Smith to protect him at the end.

And that is why, for the 10^th anniversary of the release of Pocahontas, the scene was put back into the movie on the newest DVD release, with Mel Gibson and Judy Kuhn singing[12]. I personally love this “deleted” song, and I think it fits very well, unlike some other “deleted” songs that Disney put into new releases, such as “Human Again” in Beauty and the Beast (1991) and “The Morning Report” in The Lion King (1994). If you go back and watch the original cut of the movie, it seems such a waste of a scene; the two don’t say all that much and it’s so short. With this song, it makes their relationship feel so much more believable and it’s very heartfelt. A couple of lines from “If I Never Knew You” also appear right at the end of the movie on this release, as John Smith and Pocahontas say goodbye.

MUSIC

The music on Pocahontas is one of my favourites from Disney and I actually like every single song, and even prefer some of the instrumentals from the score to the songs! The soundtrack consists of fourteen songs, which includes four reprises, plus two songs being performed by other artists for the End Credits. “If I Never Knew You” is one of those, being performed by Jon Secada and Shanice in the credits. The music was written by longtime Disney collaborator Alan Menken, with lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, writer of big musical hits such as Godspell (1971) and Wicked (2003), as well as other Disney films, such as Enchanted (2007) and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), also with Menken.

“Colors of the Wind” was the first song to be written for the movie, and is the one Menken and Schwartz were most proud of, as it defined the overall message of the story and helped the team move forward with the plot of the film at the start of production. This song was the biggest hit of the soundtrack, where it won the Academy Award, the Golden Globe and the Grammy for Best Song, with many labelling this song and its scene as one of the highlights of the film. It is sung by Judy Kuhn, who sang all of Pocahontas’ songs. Menken and Schwartz called Kuhn a great talent, as she had great instinct and got the meaning of the lyrics across to the listener just as they wanted. This song also features on the End Credits sung by Vanessa Williams.

Pocahontas begins with the song “The Virginia Company”, which gives the audience some historical context to the movie and where these sailors are going, whilst also sounding like a sea shanty. There is a reprise to this song, just a few minutes later. After this, “Steady as the Beating Drum” plays during the introduction to Powhatan tribe. This style of music is in complete contrast to “The Virginia Company”, showing the differences between the two groups who are about to meet in Virginia. There is a reprise to this song too, sung by Chief Powhatan, as he is telling Pocahontas to settle down her high-spirited nature.

This is soon followed by “Just Around the Riverbend”, a high-energy song, sung by Pocahontas, as she is literally going down the river on a canoe, showing that rivers are not steady and that it depends which path you choose, referencing the fact that she doesn’t want to marry Kocoum and just wants adventure. I really like this song; it’s good fun, and is the typical princess “want” song, telling us how Pocahontas feels about her life.

Then, we have Grandmother Willow’s song, “Listen With Your Heart”, which also has a reprise fairly soon after. She tells Pocahontas that she needs to listen to herself and what’s around her to get the answers to the questions she has, and that by following your heart, you can’t go wrong. These are quite sweet songs, but not particularly long or memorable.

We also get a traditional villain song, sung by Ratcliffe, called “Mine, Mine, Mine”, which takes place as the English are digging up Virginia looking for gold, whilst Ratcliffe talks about how popular he’ll be at court when he returns a hero, dripping in riches. Obviously, this is not the fate he will ultimately have, but it’s good to dream! This is a great villain’s song, and one of my favourites across Disney Animation. I also like how John Smith gets some lines during this song too, and how they contrast with Ratcliffe’s overall feelings.

Lastly, there are “Savages (Part 1)” and “Savages (Part 2)”. Some of the lyrics of “Savages (Part 1)” are actually different in the movie to the soundtrack. The soundtrack lyrics are quite harsh, talking about killing the savages and being incredibly racist, more so than the characters are in the movie, so I can only assume that is why. I was a bit surprised when I first heard the soundtrack version to be honest… I like both Part 1 and Part 2 of “Savages” because you can feel the tension and hatred between the two groups, and when Pocahontas comes in as the peace-bringing third voice in “Savages (Part 2)”, it brings the whole thing full circle and leads in very nicely to the big moment of her saving John Smith and stopping this war.

As much as I like the songs, of which there are many and they come thick and fast during the film, I love some specific instrumentals within the score even more; three in particular. They are “Execution”, pretty obvious where that one features; “Skirmish”, which plays at the point that John Smith and Pocahontas kiss; and “Farewell”, which is the very end scene. I play these often; I love the softness of the music and how melodic it is, with instruments like flutes and strings being more prominent to create that romantic atmosphere. It’s a beautiful score, and my absolute favourite from any Disney animated movie. The soundtrack won the Academy Award for Best Musical or Comedy Score, and reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

RECEPTION

Although the movie was not released until June 1995, Pocahontas was being promoted heavily from the start of 1995. In some ways, it was a bigger marketing push than that of The Lion King (1994) a year earlier. A 24-city mall display began in San Diego on 3^rd February 1995, which included a kiosk allowing guests to electronically colour a scene from the movie, as well as recreations of set pieces. There were also tie-ins with brands such as Mattel and Burger King. Sneak peeks were being added to video releases of other Disney movies, and there was a whole press presentation to build excitement for the movie on 31^st January in New York’s Central Park. Despite this, there were still concerns that Pocahontas would not be able to outdo The Lion King, as it was a movie based in real history, with much controversy expected to come from it[13].

A special premiere was held on 10^th June 1995, two weeks before the regular theatre release, on the Great Lawn in Central Park – that was announced in the press event on 31^st January 1995. It took nine months to plan, and included enough audio wattage to power five rock concerts, eight-storey tall screens, and a sound system specifically engineered to transmit across the 13-acre area. A random lottery draw was run across the US to distribute the 100,000 tickets to be there. Fireworks were set off at the end to close the event[14].

Pocahontas was released in select theatres on 16^th June 1995, to coincide with Pocahontas’ 400^th birthday, before being released to the general public in the US on 23^rd June 1995. Though the box-office results were decent, they were nowhere close to those of The Lion King, which was disappointing for Disney. It was, however, the fourth-highest grossing movie of the year. On 20^th June 1995, a thirty-minute ABC television special was aired titled Disney’s Pocahontas: The Musical Tradition Continues, exploring the music of some of the latest Disney animated features with Alan Menken. Seemingly, this would have been to promote the upcoming general release of Pocahontas as well.

Bad things were to come when the reviews came in, as they were mixed. Some were upset by the lack of historical accuracy, finding that the characters were too simplistic and that the love story was too forced. Others liked the animation and music of the film, but felt it was lacking in humour and comedy, whilst some did appreciate the message of environmentalism and the progressive stance Disney took by showing how colonialisation should not be widely celebrated. Disney had made it clear, though, that Pocahontas was meant to be entertainment and never a documentary.

In terms of how the movie looked, it was universally accepted that Pocahontas was a beautiful movie to watch. Art Director Michael Giaimo said that although they took influence from the real area of Virginia, they did heighten the experience of being there, by making the trees even taller and the horizons even larger. They allowed for the characters to be bright and vivid against calm backgrounds, with cooler, more muted colours being chosen. The scene of John Smith seeing Pocahontas for the first time is a great example of this, as the background of the waterfall is blue, with mist being included to add to the romance of the sequence. There is no dialogue, so the music and the faces can speak for themselves[15].

LEGACY

Despite this backlash, Pocahontas did receive a direct-to-video sequel, titled Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World, released in 1998. In a way, this movie ties up some of the historical inaccuracies from the first movie, as it introduces John Rolfe, with Pocahontas going to England to try and broker peace between her people and the King. Things get sticky when Ratcliffe and John Smith arrive, but it works out for the best, with Pocahontas choosing to be with John Rolfe instead of Smith. The movie ends with the two sailing back to Virginia. Although it doesn’t suggest that Pocahontas died on the way back to her home, if it makes people feel better to believe that Disney followed Pocahontas’ correct history, then you can always pretend she did!

Within the Disney theme parks, Pocahontas has been featured in many ways. Currently, there is a “Colors of the Earth” segment within Disneyland’s nighttime show World of Color, which features the iconic song, “Colors of the Wind”. In terms of character meet-and-greets, Pocahontas is the most common character to be found at the Disney Parks, but seems to be more easily spotted at the US Disney Parks. Meeko used to be easily found at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, but is now less frequently spotted. The same can be said for Governor Ratcliffe, who is more likely to be seen at the Halloween events. John Smith is quite a rare character too, but may be seen at special events, or just appear randomly!

Pocahontas used to be featured prominently at both Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort. There was a whole section within the nighttime show, Fantasmic! from 1998 until 2020. It featured an onstage battle between the Powhatans and the English settlers, with John Smith and Pocahontas appearing on either side to stop the fighting. It was a good scene, at least for me; I loved Fantasmic! as it was, and am less enamoured with the change to this scene, which now features a “heroes’ montage” with characters such as Moana and Elsa singing their iconic songs from their respective movies.

At Animal Kingdom, between 1998 and 2008, Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends stage show existed at Camp Minnie-Mickey. It was a 12-minute show that opened with the park on 22^nd April 1998 and was performed in the 350-seat Grandmother Willow’s Grove Theater. It featured trainers bringing out animals, with Pocahontas explaining their natural behaviours and their purpose within the environment, as Pocahontas tried to work out which creature has a special gift to protect the forest – it turns out we as humans are those special creatures! It was a very popular show, and was only meant to be a placeholder until the Beastly Kingdom land was built. Spoiler alert: it never was! It featured a live character performer as Pocahontas and two puppeteers to operate the character of Sprig, a talking tree sapling, and Grandmother Willow, who came from Disneyland’s Spirit of Pocahontas show[16]. I saw Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends many times during my visits to Walt Disney World when I was younger. I thought it was great, and my animal-loving family loved it even more! The show and the Camp Minnie-Mickey area closed to make way for Pandora: World of Avatar.

The Spirit of Pocahontas was a shortened version of the film, roughly half an hour, which featured at Disneyland’s Fantasyland Theater from 1995 to 1997, and at the Backlot Theater at Disney’s Hollywood Studios from 1995 to 1996. Disneyland Paris also had a special parade to celebrate the release of the film in 1996, which had a very cool float of the ship, and a stage show titled Pocahontas le Spectacle from 1996 to 1999[17].

This shows how much the film was heavily promoted around the time of its release, but also that the characters were clearly quite popular. Music from Pocahontas as well as some clips of the movies can be seen within various fireworks shows and parades. Let’s also not forget that Pocahontas is the seventh official Disney Princess, and the first princess to be based on an actual person. She is also the first Disney protagonist to be of Native American descent. She is a good role model for young girls, and was the catalyst to Disney creating stronger, independent, free-thinking women such as like Mulan or Tiana.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I think Disney’s Pocahontas did plenty of things right, and those seem to have been forgotten. On doing research into the movie and the discussions around it, I was disappointed to see a lot of talk about what is “wrong” with the movie, and very little about what is “right” with the movie, such as the environmental message and the fact that, for once, colonialism was not portrayed as something that was great and wonderful when in fact, it was all to do with greed and selfishness, and a decision that one way of living was the “right way” and that every other way should be disregarded and changed, with land primarily being taken by force from the Native Americans who already lived there.

Plenty of Native American voices were involved in the production process of Disney’s Pocahontas, and although not all of them were happy with the final result, some actually were, and were proud to see their heritage finally being represented more truthfully on screen. Pocahontas will not get a live-action remake due to its troubled nature; I’m pleased about that for many reasons, mostly that I don’t want the animated movie to be tainted.

It was hard for me to read some of the criticism around Pocahontas, a movie that I have always loved, because I was not aware of this negative backlash until now, despite the fact it has existed ever since the movie was release. Although I understand the lack of historical accuracy within the movie may be disappointing for some, I just don’t know how anyone could have expected Disney to have follow Pocahontas’ true story; Disney make family-friendly films that children want to see, not historical films, full of the violence and horrors of the real world. Other film production companies could have decided to make a film about Pocahontas as she really was, but frankly, it’s a difficult, complicated story to adapt, so in a way, you have to applaud Disney for their bravery here.

Yes, they got some things wrong, but no project is ever perfect; they could only do their best, and I think Disney did just that.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Don Hahn, Waking Sleeping Beauty (2009).

[2] Credit: Disney, “Creating the Characters”, from Pocahontas (1995) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[3] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘The Problem with Pocahontas’, MousePlanet.com, 27^th July 2022.

[4] Credit: Disney, “Creating the Characters”, from Pocahontas (1995) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[5] Credit: Disney, “The Making of Pocahontas”, from Pocahontas (1995) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[6] Credit: Disney, “Creating the Characters”, from Pocahontas (1995) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[7] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘The Problem with Pocahontas’, MousePlanet.com, 27^th July 2022.

[8] Credit: Katy Rath, ‘The True Story Of Pocahontas That Disney Doesn’t Tell’, ScreenRant.com, 19^th June 2023.

[9] Credit: Disney, “The Making of Pocahontas”, from Pocahontas (1995) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[10] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘The Problem with Pocahontas’, MousePlanet.com, 27^th July 2022.

[11] Credit: Disney, “Abandoned Concepts”, from Pocahontas (1995) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[12] Credit: Disney, “The Making of If I Never Knew You”, from Pocahontas (1995) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[13] Credit: Pat H. Broeske, ‘”Pocohantas” massive marketing scheme’, Entertainment Weekly (online), 3^rd February 1995.

[14] Credit: Disney, “Premiere in Central Park”, from Pocahontas (1995) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[15] Credit: Disney, “Creating Art Design, Layout & Backgrounds”, from Pocahontas (1995) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2005).

[16] Credit: Dave Shute & Jim Korkis, ‘A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: Pocahontas and Her Forest Friends’, YourFirstVisit.net, date unknown.

[17] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘The Problem with Pocahontas’, MousePlanet.com, 27^th July 2022.

14th Apr 202327th Jun 2024 by The Disney Purist

#32 The Lion King (1994)

BACKGROUND

Does anyone not like The Lion King?

Come on, raise your hands. No, nobody? Maybe a few?

That response doesn’t surprise me. I have heard so many people, at least those of a similar age to me, who state, without hesitation, that The Lion King is their favourite Disney animated movie. But, as with any movie, there will be ardent fans, and there will be “haters”.

Now, don’t be concerned. I don’t hate The Lion King, but it took me a while to grow to like it. I always preferred the romantic princess films – I still do – and anything that wasn’t in that category, as a child, I mostly ignored. As I’ve gotten older and rewatched these animated films, I’ve found that I like the stories and the messages more, because I now actually understand them! But it is not my favourite, and just misses out on my Top 10.

At one time, Disney executives thought The Lion King wouldn’t amount to much; it was the “B movie”, something experimental that hadn’t been done before, compared with the “A movie” of Pocahontas (1995), which was to be a typical love story. Of the two films, I would choose Pocahontas every time, but the majority would choose The Lion King. And that’s fine, because I have to admit that The Lion King is a phenomenon. It is one of the best movies that Disney has ever made, if not the best, and its legacy speaks for itself. So where do I start with potentially the most popular, most loved, most iconic Disney animated feature?

PLOT

I doubt there are many people who haven’t seen The Lion King at least once in their lives, so the plot is pretty well-known. It starts with the presentation of Simba, a new born lion cub, who is the heir to the kingdom of Pride Rock. He is the son of King Mufasa, and Sarabi. We see that Mufasa’s brother, Scar, is annoyed at having been pushed down the line of succession, and that generally he is ignored and forgotten about, leaving him with plenty of time to brood and plot his revenge.

The movie jumps forward a few years to find Simba very curious about his kingdom, wanting to explore and to be brave like his dad, who has tried to tell him about being part of the “Circle of Life”, but this message falls a bit flat! He convinces his friend, fellow cub Nala, to join him on an exploration of the Elephant Graveyard, beyond the borders of the kingdom, something that Simba’s uncle Scar told him about. They manage to ditch their guard, the king’s major-domo, Zazu, and find themselves in the Elephant Graveyard, where there are three hyenas waiting for them: Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed. Zazu comes back to help the cubs, but he is caught and thrown in the “birdie boiler” which sends him flying up into the air, and back towards Pride Rock. The cubs are chased by the hyenas, and trapped. As the hyenas are about to attack, Mufasa arrives, and fights them. They are much too scared of Mufasa to fight back, and run off, leaving Mufasa angry with Simba, and leading to a very awkward walk home.

Mufasa tells Simba that he shouldn’t go looking for trouble, and that he was scared he might lose Simba today, showing Simba that everyone gets scared at times. He also tells Simba that the stars above are the kings of the past looking down on them, and that when Mufasa is no longer there, he will be right up there, watching over him. Again, this is all a bit lost on Simba! Then we find Scar, talking to the hyenas, as they have formed a coalition of sorts. He plans to kill Mufasa and Simba, leaving him the sole heir to the throne. The next day, Scar takes Simba to a gorge, and sits him on a rock, telling him to wait there for a surprise. Unsurprisingly, Simba doesn’t do what he’s told and starts following a lizard, trying to scare it off with his roar. Suddenly, a stampede of wildebeest appears over the hill, coming right towards Simba; they’ve been startled by Scar’s hyena pals. Simba is soon outrun. Scar has gone back to get Mufasa to help – all part of the plan. Mufasa dives in to save Simba, managing to place him on a rock, before he is taken by the wildebeest. Mufasa leaps out of the stampede and climbs the rockface, but Scar is waiting for him, and throws him to his death; something Simba does not see. Simba finds his father lying motionless on the ground, and thinks his death is all his fault. Scar then tells him to run away, with the hyenas told to kill him. They don’t succeed but don’t believe Simba will ever return.

On a strip of desert, Simba has passed out from exhaustion and dehydration. A group of vultures are about to get him, when a meerkat, Timon, and warthog, Pumbaa, come by and scare them off. They find Simba, and, despite being concerned about being so close to a predator that will likely eat them, they decide to “keep him”, offering a home with them. Simba is reluctant, too depressed to want to talk to them, but they teach him to forget about his past, and just relax – “Hakuna Matata”; it means “no worries”. Simba learns to eat bugs, swim and just generally chill with Timon and Pumbaa. Soon, Simba’s past catches up with him, as his old pal Nala arrives at the trio’s haven one day, looking to find food and finding Pumbaa! Nala is confused as Scar told the pride that Mufasa and Simba were both dead, because of the stampede, but is relieved to find Simba alive, and tries to convince him to return. He won’t, and angered by her persistence, he walks off into the night. Thankfully, Rafiki, the High Priest of the savannah, who knows Simba from birth, comes by and tells Simba that he has forgotten who he is. Rafiki also tells Simba that he has seen his father, with Simba chasing him through the savannah to get a glimpse of his dad. Rafiki tells him to look into the water, saying that his father lives in him. Simba is disappointed by this, but then sees his father within a storm cloud. Mufasa tells Simba that he has forgotten who he is, and has therefore forgotten him. He urges him not to shirk his responsibilities. The encounter is over too soon, and Simba still hasn’t gotten the answers he wanted. Rafiki tells him he can either run from his past or learn from it, giving Simba the last bit of motivation he needs to get back to Pride Rock and challenge Scar.

Rafiki goes to tell Nala, Timon, and Pumbaa of Simba’s plan, and they go to help. Timon and Pumbaa are used as live bait to distract the hyenas, and Nala is sent to rally the lionesses. Simba goes over to Pride Rock, and sees that many animal herds have moved on, there is no food or water, and it is in the middle of a drought, looking completely barren. He finds Scar striking his mother, Sarabi, for comparing him to Mufasa. Scar is surprised to see Simba alive, and baits him into owning up to the murder of Mufasa; he moves toward Simba until Simba loses his footing, and falls over the rock edge, digging into the front of it, to stop himself falling. Scar holds his paws down, telling Simba this is just how his father looked before he died, and whispers that he killed Mufasa. Simba leaps up and pins Scar down, telling him to admit that he is in fact the murderer, not Simba. He does, so the lionesses strike, only for the hyenas to do the same. They pounce on Simba, with the lionesses, Timon, Pumbaa and Rafiki, throwing them off so Simba can deal with Scar.

In one final encounter, where Scar tells Simba it was the hyenas’ idea, not his, and that he isn’t to blame, a fight ensues and Simba accidentally throws Scar over the rocks. He falls, but survives. The hyenas approach him. Scar, unaware that they have overheard him betraying them, encourages his friends to help him. They are angry, and instead attack him. A rainstorm begins, nourishing the Pride Lands again, as Simba is encouraged to finally take his place on Pride Rock. He walks up to the top and roars, with the lionesses roaring in response, cementing him as their new king. We skip forward again, to find a similar scene to the opening sequence; this time Nala and Simba’s cub is being celebrated and presented to the animal herds, all of whom have returned, with Pride Rock restored to its former glory.

Although The Lion King was not based on a historical figure, or a fairy-tale, or a novel, unlike many other Disney animated features, the story was influenced by certain other tales, such as those of the Old Testament, with those involving Joseph and Moses having been mentioned specifically as inspiration by Disney. There are also similarities to Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, with the family betrayals and fights for position. At one point, Disney leant in quite heavily to the Hamlet angle, even including specific dialogue from the play, but felt this would be too much, and too heavy. At one time, Scar was going to be an evil lion outside of the pride, however, the team felt that Scar’s revenge would be more threatening and interesting if it came from within the family, as it does in Hamlet. In essence, it is a story about community, belonging, family, betrayal, and redemption; themes that appear in many stories and works of literature. Disney also used their own movie, Bambi (1942), as inspiration with the initial pitch even being titled “Bambi in Africa”[1].

However, there has been controversy around this “original” story idea from Disney, as there is a competing version of events from Japan, with this question being asked: did Disney rip-off Kimba the White Lion? Kimba the White Lion was a Japanese anime series illustrated by Osamu Tezuka, known as Japan’s Walt Disney. The series aired in the USA in the 1960s. Controversy around this has bubbled up time and again. The TV series is about Kimba, a white lion cub, whose father, the king, is murdered. Kimba is captured by humans but escapes and tries to find his way back to the jungle, where he encounters an evil lion named Claw, with a scar under his eye, and his hyena henchmen, who have taken over the kingdom. The death of the lion cub’s father, the apparition of his father after he has died, and an evil lion trying to kill Kimba are very similar to scene in Disney’s The Lion King, however, it is difficult to say whether or not these ideas were “borrowed” from Tezuka’s series as Disney have continued to deny it, stating that they had not heard of the show, and that they had their own inspirations and influences for the film. There have been no formal claims of copyright brought against Disney, but in general, people are annoyed that Disney either denied using the work as inspiration or are angered by Disney not knowing about other animators’ work. Disney will stick to their story on this one, I believe, that they have not heard of Kimba. Matthew Broderick stated in an interview that when he was hired to voice adult Simba, he believed his character was called “Kimba” as he had seen the cartoon as a child, and thought it was for a remake of that[2].

CHARACTERS & CAST

But we’re talking about Simba now, not Kimba. Simba literally means “lion” in Swahili – not the most creative name for a Disney character but it works! We see Simba grow up throughout the movie, both physically and emotionally. I love seeing baby Simba right at the start because he looks so confused, with all the animals just looking at him, and the sneeze he does is so cute! Then, we get young Simba, who is very curious, which gets him into trouble often. He’s looking to be exactly like his dad, wanting to be brave, and tough, and strong. He soon learns, thanks to Mufasa, that just putting yourself in danger is no way to become, or prove you are, any of those things. Simba is a bit naïve about what he thinks being a king is, as we see during his song “I Just Can’t Wait to be King”; he’s looking forward to being king just because it means he’ll be able to do whatever he wants, and that the likes of Zazu won’t be able to tell him what to do anymore! He is just a kid, so it’s not a big surprise that’s his way of thinking! After the tragic death of Mufasa, which Simba blames himself entirely for, he runs away, only to be found by Timon and Pumbaa, who teach him how to be carefree, and that “when the world turns its back on you, you turn your back on the world”. It helps Simba for a time, but it’s quite clear that eventually adult Simba realises he can’t keep running from his past and his responsibilities; he has to confront them, which is why he returns to Pride Rock to challenge Scar for his kingdom again. Adult Simba is clearly still full of guilt and uncertainty about how his life should be, thinking the others won’t understand what he’s gone through. Simba does see that he has true friends by the end of it, as they help him in the final battle, and even finds love with his childhood friend, Nala. Young Simba is voiced by Jonathan Taylor Thomas, who starred in the TV series Home Improvement (1991-99). Matthew Broderick, whose acting credits speak for themselves, voices Adult Simba, although rock singer Joseph Williams provides his singing voice, which is incredibly strange as Matthew Broderick would later sing on Broadway in The Producers!

On the opposite side, there is Scar, the evil brooding villain of the movie. He is Mufasa’s brother, and therefore also Simba’s uncle. He has been plotting revenge all his life, ever since Mufasa became king and wants nothing more than to take his place. When Simba comes along, since he was first in line “before the little hairball was born”, it makes Scar’s task more difficult but also more necessary, as it motivates him to take action sooner rather than later. Scar needs to get the hyenas on side to help carry out his plans, but he also does the same with Simba. Though Scar is never kind to Simba, Simba still believes them to be friends and thinks that Scar’s sarcasm is just his way of being funny. Scar doesn’t care about Simba at all. Scar is one of the best Disney villains, in my opinion, and I think a lot of that has to do with his voice. British actor Jeremy Irons voices Scar, and he delivers his lines with such dryness and sarcasm that he is potentially the most quotable of all the Disney villains, with “I’m surrounded by idiots” being my favourite quote. Irons felt he could be very free with his vocals, twisting the words and injecting menace into them, whilst also staying very smooth, calm, and almost elegant. This gave Andreas Deja, supervising animator for Scar, as well as other villains such as Jafar and Gaston, lots of information to work with, so he could catch both the humour and the wickedness in his animation. Scar gets one of the best Disney villains’ songs with “Be Prepared”. Irons blew out his voice whilst recording the song. It was finished by Disney voice actor, the current voice of Winnie the Pooh, Jim Cummings[3].

Mufasa, Swahili for “king”, though a short-lived character within the movie, is the voice of reason. He keeps Simba on the right path throughout his life, even after his death. Mufasa is a strong figure in the movie, and is very protective of his family and the entire Pride. He is a respected king, and his presence is sorely missed by the Pride when they hear of his death. The scene of him saving Simba and trying to free himself from the stampede is incredibly emotional; the way Mufasa leaps out of there and tries desperately to claw himself up the rockface to get out is amazing. If only Scar hadn’t been at the top to throw him off… Mufasa is voiced by James Earl Jones, the man behind the iconic voice of Darth Vader in the Star Wars franchise. His voice is so distinctive and commanding that it makes everyone sit up and take notice. Apparently, Sean Connery was Disney’s first choice for Mufasa, but I can’t imagine anyone else voicing the character, which is why he was the only returning actor to the live-action film[4]. Sarabi, Simba’s mother, which is Swahili for “mirage”, is a caring mother, though unfortunately she is not seen too much in this movie. She is voiced by Madge Sinclair, who appeared in Coming to America (1988) as the Queen of Zamunda, alongside James Earl Jones as the King of Zamunda!

Nala is Simba’s love interest in the movie, with her name meaning “gift” in Swahili. She is kind and compassionate but also strong and straight-talking. The dynamic between her and Simba is powerful throughout their time together; even as cubs. They initially can’t imagine ever being together romantically, as we see when Zazu tells the cubs that they are “engaged”, but then we see them fall in love over the “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” scene. They are a great couple, and balance each other out perfectly. Moira Kelly voices Nala. Kelly would later have regular roles in The West Wing (1999-2000) and One Tree Hill (2003-09). Matthew Broderick said that he had no idea Kelly was the voice of Nala until the premiere of the movie, as he had recorded lines with a completely different voice actor[5]!

Rafiki is the High Priest of the Kingdom, another voice of reason, but he is more philosophical, wanting those around him to figure out the meaning of what he’s saying, instead of being frank about it, which particularly irritates Simba when he’s trying to work out if Rafiki is telling him his father is alive, or whether he more exists as a spirit – turns out it was the latter! Rafiki is fun, and well-meaning, imparting wisdom along with some humour. He cares about the future of the kingdom and for Simba’s well-being, wanting him to find himself again after he becomes lost with the grief of his father’s death. Robert Guillaume voices Rafiki, who had acted in many television series before The Lion King.

Then, there is Zazu, the king’s major-domo, as he likes to tell everyone! Zazu is a bit of a know-it-all, and he feels superior to everyone, except Mufasa! When Scar takes over the kingdom, Zazu is kept in a cage and no longer feels like he’s better than everyone else. He despises Scar but is easily scared by him and the hyenas so keeps quiet, and complies with the new order of things. He is almost bullied in places, even by the lion cubs, as Simba and Nala go to elaborate lengths to ditch him, settling for a rhino sitting on him to stop him following them to the Elephant Graveyard. I feel bad for Zazu a lot of the time, but he does redeem himself in the final battle, and does keep his position as the second-in-command. Zazu is brilliantly voiced by Rowan Atkinson, known for his roles as Edmund Blackadder and Mr. Bean, particularly in the UK.

The trio of hyenas were animated by Alex Kupershmidt, who would later go on to animate Stitch. He wanted the hyenas to be like mad clowns, one minute being evil, then funny, then back to being evil, which describes them pretty well! Around Mufasa and Scar, they are quite scared, but around anyone else, they can be quite menacing and evil, even going so far as trying to kill a young lion cub. But together they are comedic, bouncing off each other, Shenzi and Banzai in particular. Ed is the mute hyena of the group, and the most dim-witted, not seeming to know what’s going on most of the time! Shenzi and Banzai are voiced by comedic actors Whoopi Goldberg and Cheech Marin. Marin had previously voiced Tito in Disney’s Oliver & Company (1988). Ed’s “vocals” were provided by Jim Cummings.

Now for the best characters in the whole movie, Timon and Pumbaa, who are most definitely the comic relief in The Lion King. They mean well, even though they like to take the easy way out and just relax through life with no cares, no responsibilities – and no worries, as we hear through their song “Hakuna Matata”. The two lean heavily into the fart jokes at times, which aren’t as funny now as they were when I was younger, but sometimes you need to speak directly to the children watching! Timon and Pumbaa are voiced by Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella. I love Nathan Lane thanks to this movie; I think he’s hilarious and like to watch anything he is acting in. I was very pleased to find he had a recurring role in Only Murders in the Building (2021-present), alongside Steve Martin and Martin Short. It’s also fun to watch him and Matthew Broderick together in The Producers (2005), the film of the Broadway musical, which they performed together in also. Broderick and Lane had not met before when working on The Lion King. Fun fact: there is a deleted scene in The Producers where Timon, Simba, and Pumbaa are reunited, in a pub during the opening performance of “Springtime for Hitler”. Nathan Lane had originally auditioned for the part of Zazu, but then came in to audition for the hyenas, with Ernie Sabella. The team found them so funny that they were then hired as Timon and Pumbaa instead[6].

PRODUCTION

In terms of animation and new technology being used in The Lion King, one of the most impressive is the use of CAPS. The team tried to hand-draw the wildebeest stampede but found it was impossible to make it look realistic, and just couldn’t make it work. Animator Ruben Aquino made a few sketches of wildebeest running. Those sketches were then put into CAPS, to create a full cycle of a wildebeest running, before being multiplied to make the herd. The background was then added and the sequence was run; it worked. It is a very impressive scene, though I struggle to watch it, at least without crying, because it’s so tense and horrible. I can’t stand moments of peril, especially with young cubs! CAPS also allowed for small details to be added, such as layers of dust, dirt and fog, as well as raindrops, to increase the atmosphere of the backgrounds.

For the animals, it was very important that the animators observed them in real-life. Animal expert Jim Fowler brought adult lions and cubs into the studio so they could be sketched. He explained their natural behaviours and the movements they were making, and the reasoning behind them to increase the animators’ knowledge of these animals. They also went to zoos, and wildlife parks, where supervising animator for Timon, Mike Surrey, noticed that meerkats are agile and quick, and Tony Bancroft, animator for Pumbaa, found that, though robust, warthogs are quite light on their feet and have a bouncy kind of walk[7].

During the team’s research trip to Africa in November 1991, they found African art designs of patterns and textiles in bold colours. They wanted to use them for the backgrounds but felt they would be too abstract for the movie, instead choosing natural landscapes that would show the grandeur of Africa and the mystical atmosphere that they encountered, choosing not to just focus on the savannah and the plains, but to also include the mountains and plant life, as well as the rainstorms that they experienced. They did still want colour and tribal art stylisations, so this was included, thanks to Chris Sanders, future director of Lilo & Stitch (2002), in the abstract backgrounds of the “I Just Can’t Wait to be King” scene[8]. As well as this, Andy Gaskill Art Director wanted to bring in as many natural sounds and effects into the atmosphere, wanting to see the wind in the grass and hear it, and hear the sound of animals moving and leaping. This culminates in the epic ending with the rainstorm, where we can see and hear, and almost feel, the strength of the storm.

The first idea for The Lion King came from a conversation between some of the Disney executives, including Roy E. Disney, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Chairman of the Walt Disney Studios, and Peter Schneider, Head of Walt Disney Animation, at the time, where the topic of Africa came up in conversation and Katzenberg said they should do a movie in Africa. It was called “King of the Jungle” at the start, and Roger Allers was brought on as director, along with George Scribner. Allers had done story work for Beauty and the Beast (1991) and Scribner had directed Oliver & Company (1988). Right after Beauty and the Beast was released, the Disney team went straight to Africa for their research trip in 1991, where they were overcome by the intensity of the African savannah. They were taught Swahili phrases from their guides, including “Hakuna Matata” and “Asante Sana Squash Banana”, which were added into the movie.

A few months later, Scribner was taken off the movie and replaced with Rob Minkoff, who had worked as animator on previous Disney movies such as Oliver & Company and The Little Mermaid (1989). Then came the infamous breakfast meeting with Katzenberg, where he sang the praises of Pocahontas, and aired his concerns about The Lion King. After that meeting, many animators wanted to work on Pocahontas, leaving mostly younger animators and some, like Andreas Deja, who wanted to work on an “animal movie” instead. The fact that Katzenberg didn’t believe in the movie did mean that the team felt they could be more experimental and have more freedom with this “B movie”. A new story started coming together, with everyone pitching in, working long hours. The title of the movie was changed to The Lion King around this time.

Problems struck in 1994, with the Northridge earthquake hitting Los Angeles on 17^th January, just after the team had returned from the “disastrous” preview of the movie in Atlanta with Elton John, and only six months before The Lion King was due to be released. Bridges were destroyed, and highways were shut, meaning that people were either working on the movie from home, or having to sleep in the office in Burbank to ensure work was completed[9]. Another major tragedy struck in April 1994 – the death of Frank Wells, Chief Operating Officer of The Walt Disney Company. Wells died in a helicopter crash in Nevada. This was the first fatality in the company’s history, hitting everyone hard, including the CEO at the time Michael Eisner. An almost parallel tale of leadership to that within The Lion King started to happen with The Walt Disney Company, as Wells kept the other executives steady, but now there were three headstrong men, competing with each other for position within the company: Eisner, Roy E. Disney, and Jeffrey Katzenberg. Katzenberg made no secret of the fact he wanted Wells’ job, and started gunning for it much too soon after Wells’ death. Eisner did not like this. A news article proclaiming Katzenberg as the saviour of Disney animation would be the final straw, with rumours surfacing of Katzenberg’s imminent departure from the company. At the red-carpet premiere of The Lion King in June 1994, Katzenberg refused all interviews, knowing his position was on unsteady ground. He was forced to resign from the company in October 1994[10].

MUSIC

Tim Rice was approached to work on the music for The Lion King. He first wanted ABBA to work with him, but as they declined, he went to British rock ‘n’ roll artist Elton John. The team at Disney appreciated Elton had a gift for telling stories through music, but he had nothing to do with African music! Hans Zimmer was brought in to compose the score, and added plenty of African influence, bringing in his friend South African producer and composer Lebo M to form and conduct the African choir. It was a collaborative experience[11].

Let’s start with the opening sequence, “Circle of Life”. The original song was written by Elton John and Tim Rice, but the opening sequence including African inspiration added to by Hans Zimmer and Lebo M, to create the full all-encompassing opening that it became. The opening scene was meant to include dialogue but when Allers and Minkoff heard the final version of the song, they felt that the song and beautiful animation spoke for itself[12].

“Can You Feel the Love Tonight” was the first song that Elton John wrote, as he had always wanted to write a Disney love ballad, written for Simba and Nala. However, during a preview of the movie in Atlanta, he saw that the song was now being sung by Timon and Pumbaa. Elton had no idea and was furious with Disney for ruining his ballad. He even called Jeffrey Katzenberg to air his annoyance. Obviously, the scene was changed back to be a love song sung by Simba and Nala, though Timon and Pumbaa do still sing the opening and the ending! I like the movie version of this song, but not John’s single version[13].

“Hakuna Matata” was inspired by the Swahili saying, meaning “no worries”. This was going to be called “Warthog Rhapsody” but this song was cut. It would later be recorded for the 1995 album “Rhythm of the Pride Lands”, and would also be included in The Lion King 3 (2004), with Rice writing new lyrics to the melody and it becoming Timon’s song. I like “Hakuna Matata”, as it’s catchy and a fun song, as some of the others are quite serious and deeply expressive. I also like “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King” for this same reason. “Be Prepared” was going to be a song called “Thanks to Me”, which would’ve been Scar singing about all the good things he’d done during his new reign as king, however, the team felt it would make more sense for him to sing about his plan. I love this song, and it’s definitely one of the best Disney villains’ songs. Finally, the little hula number with Timon singing was almost going to be him singing “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees, as Katzenberg requested. Luckily, there was no time to change the scene before the next test screening and the audience loved it! I love it too; it’s hilarious, even if it’s only about thirty seconds long[14]!.

The brilliant score, though, is my favourite thing about The Lion King. Hans Zimmer and Lebo M do a fabulous job of putting in the African influences, as well as making the music celebratory, pensive, perilous and sometimes threatening. It’s a crazy ride of emotions but they do it so well. My favourite piece is “King of Pride Rock”, which plays at the end of the movie when Simba fights Scar, and takes his place on Pride Rock. It journeys from the threat of Scar, and moves to the culmination of Simba’s whole journey, of finally finding where he belongs, and accepting his responsibility as King of Pride Rock. It’s so moving, with the soaring violins and choir, before moving into a triumphant ending where all of Pride Rock is back to how it should be, with accepting your place in the “Circle of Life” being the final message to the audience. It gets me every time. The Lion King has one of the best scores of any movie, Disney or otherwise.

RECEPTION

The Lion King was released in June 1994 and generated $312 million in the US, and $545 million worldwide. It was a huge success both financially and critically, with the film being lauded as one of Disney’s best animated films, for story, characters, animation and music. The Lion King won two Academy Awards, one for Best Original Score by Hans Zimmer, and one for Best Original Song for “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” by Elton John and Tim Rice, with “Hakuna Matata” and “Circle of Life” also being nominated in the same category – so there wasn’t much chance of them losing. The Lion King was the most successful film of 1994[15].

LEGACY

The movie would be re-released in theatres and on home media, such as VHS and later DVD and Blu-Ray, but biggest thing to have come out of The Lion King is the stage show, with Michael Eisner pushing for it the most, despite others not being sure about it. Julie Taymor was approached to direct the musical, and was sent the movie soundtrack, the album “Rhythm of the Pride Lands”, which was released as a “sequel” to the original soundtrack, and a video. Taymor had had no previous commercial hit, but was happy to accept the challenge. She loved African masks and wanted those for the characters, but wanted the actors faces on show at all times, meaning the masks would sit on their heads. She figured out how to mechanise the stampede, as that was a huge challenge to replicate on stage[16].The Lion King stage show opened in 1997 at the New Amsterdam Theatre before moving to the Minskoff Theatre in 2006, where it continues to delight audiences today, even after a break due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The show has been played on every continent except Antarctica, in over 100 cities in 21 different countries. The show won six Tony awards in 1998, including Best Musical, Best Scenic Design, Best Lighting Design, Best Choreography, Best Costume Design, and Best Direction of a Musical for Julie Taymor, which made her the first woman to win a Tony for Best Director[17].

As well as this, The Lion King also got two direct-to-video sequels, one being The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride (1998), which follows Simba and Nala’s daughter, Kiara, as she learns to become a princess, and falls in love with Kovu, Scar’s adopted son, in a retelling of Romeo and Juliet. I love this film, and its music. The second is The Lion King 3 (2004), or The Lion King 1 ½ in some territories, which details Timon and Pumbaa’s backstories and how they came to be friends. I’ve only seen that movie once and I didn’t think much of it, I don’t think! Many of the film’s original actors returned to voice their characters in the sequels.

It also spanned two television series, Timon & Pumbaa (1995-99), which focuses on the lives of Timon and Pumbaa, mostly after the events of the first movie, and their misadventures in other countries. Ernie Sabella returned to voice Pumbaa, whereas Nathan Lane only reprised Timon in early episodes I vaguely remember watching this series as a child – I think I liked it. The other TV series is more recent, The Lion Guard, beginning as a TV movie, before becoming a TV series (2015-19). The Lion Guard focuses on Kion, Simba and Nala’s second cub, and him becoming the leader of the Lion Guard, protecting the Pride Lands. The series takes place during the time jump in The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride, which is confusing for the audience that have seen that movie as Kion is not mentioned at all!

Then there is the live-action remake, The Lion King (2019), and its future sequel, Mufasa: The Lion King (2024), which will be a prequel with James Earl Jones returning as Mufasa, not a remake of The Lion King II movie. The Lion King (2019) did well at the box office, with many rushing to see the movie – I was not one of them – mostly thanks to the nostalgia that revolves around the original movie. The film was not considered better than the animated movie, though it did fill in some “plot holes”, such as why Nala leaves the Pride Lands, with the heart and the magic of the original being lost in the photo-realistic almost shot-by-shot remake. Elton John was disappointed that the music was “messed up”.

Within the Disney theme parks, first, there was The Lion King Celebration parade at Disneyland from 1994 to 1996. Four of the six floats were moved to Walt Disney World to be included in Festival of the Lion King, a show celebrating the story and music of The Lion King, though not a re-telling, which has been running at Disney’s Animal Kingdom since 1998, moving theatres in 2014. There is a variation of the show at Hong Kong Disneyland 2005, though this is a retelling of the story narrated by Rafiki. Disneyland Paris had The Legend of the Lion King show from 2004 until 2007, and debuted The Lion King: Rhythms of the Pride Lands in 2019. At Disneyland, Tale of the Lion King is another version of the show, which began in May 2022.

An extinct attraction called The Legend of the Lion King also existed at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom from 1994 to 2002, which I remember seeing. It used huge puppets to retell an abridged version of the story with the same music. There were ten puppeteers, trained by Jim Henson, doing three shows an hour. This was replaced with Mickey’s PhilarMagic in 2003, a 3D attraction showcasing popular Disney musical scenes, including “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King”[18]. There was also the show Circle of Life: An Environmental Fable (1995-2018) at Disney World’s Epcot, where Simba told Timon and Pumbaa the dangers of taking the environment for granted, and not respecting it properly. Along with this, there are also meet-and-greets with characters from the movie, like Timon and Rafiki, and a whole section dedicated to The Lion King sits within the Art of Animation hotel in Florida, with outdoor scenes of the characters, Pride Rock and the Elephant Graveyard being available for photo-ops.

The Lion King celebrated its 30th anniversary in June 2024, with new merchandise lines, specialty treats, and character meet-and-greets, which included Timon and Rafiki being spotted at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Walt Disney World.

FINAL THOUGHTS

It’s crazy how much of a franchise The Lion King has become, but, like I said, many people consider The Lion King to be their all-time favourite Disney movie. There are multiple reasons why The Lion King continues to remain popular today. It is relatable as a coming-of-age story, as well as a fable, detailing the importance of responsibility and remembering where you come from. It also describes how everyone, no matter how big or small, has a place within the “Circle of Life”.

Nobody working on the movie knew how it would be received, and had no idea of the impact it would have, even so many years later. It’s a movie that speaks to people for whatever reason, but I find it most touching for its story of loss and grief, of losing a family member. It will have helped so many people, especially children, get through the pain of losing a loved one[19].The Lion King is special to so many people, and will likely be treasured forever.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Disney, “Story Origins”, from The Lion King (1994) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2003).

[2] Credit: Hannah Denham, ‘’Lion King’ has been clouded by intellectual property controversy for 25 years. Here’s the story behind it.’, The Washington Post (online), 26^th July 2019.

[3] Credit: Dan Boothe, The Making of the Lion King (1994).

[4] Credit: Blake Taylor, ‘The Untold Truth Of The Lion King (1994)’, Looper.com, 20^th May 2022.

[5] Credit: Disney, Pride of the Lion King (2011).

[6] Credit: Don Hahn, The Lion King – A Memoir – Don Hahn (2011).

[7] Credit: Dan Boothe, The Making of the Lion King (1994).

[8] Credit: Disney, “Art: African Influence”, The Lion King (1994) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2003).

[9] Credit: Don Hahn, The Lion King – A Memoir – Don Hahn (2011).

[10] Credit: Don Hahn, Waking Sleeping Beauty (2009).

[11] Credit: Disney, Pride of the Lion King (2011).

[12] Credit: Jim Fanning, The Disney Book: A Celebration of the World of Disney (2016), ‘Animals Rule’, pp. 88-91.

[13] Credit: Credit: Don Hahn, The Lion King – A Memoir – Don Hahn (2011).

[14] Credit: Blake Taylor, ‘The Untold Truth Of The Lion King (1994)’, Looper.com, 20^th May 2022.

[15] Credit: Jim Fanning, The Disney Book: A Celebration of the World of Disney (2016), ‘Animals Rule’, pp. 88-91.

[16] Credit: Disney, Pride of the Lion King (2011).

[17] Credit: Disney, ‘Celebrating ‘The Lion King’ on Broadway’s 25-Year Legacy’, The Walt Disney Company (online), 14^th November 2022.

[18] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘A Friday Visit with Jim Korkis: The Legend of the Lion King’, YourFirstVisit.net, 7^th February 2020.

[19] Credit: Disney, “Reflections”, from The Lion King (1994) 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2003).