3rd May 202427th Jun 2024 by The Disney Purist

#2 Pinocchio (1940)

BACKGROUND

Becoming just the second Disney animated classic to ever hit the movie screens, Pinocchio had a lot to live up to after the huge success that the Disney Studios had with their first ever full-length animated feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937).

Snow White was great, with its traditional fairy-tale format and plenty of additions of that magical storytelling, strong characters, and bright music that we all associate with Disney Animation today. It’s hard to imagine that acclaim being replicated so easily.

In actual fact, it really was that easy.

Pinocchio wasn’t just as good as Snow White had been; it was even better.

Pinocchio was released in 1940 to very positive reviews from critics, saying that Pinocchio surpassed Snow White in almost every way – the music was apparently not as great, but that is debated nowadays.

But the animation is where Pinocchio really shines, as the Disney animators knew they had made mistakes in Snow White, and found that they needed ways of improving those shortcomings for future movies. So, with the profits from Snow White firmly in Walt Disney’s pocket, he set about using those funds to make Pinocchio the most artistic and innovation film that those at the Disney Studios could make. It certainly shows off the quality of animation and proves that animation is just as impressive as any live-action movie, more so in some cases.

Now, that’s what the critics all say – back in the 1940s and even in retrospective reviews from the current decade. But that’s not me, because I have to admit something.

I have a big fear of dolls, anything with a human face that isn’t alive really. Therefore, unsurprisingly, I have an incredibly negative bias towards Pinocchio, and I really do not enjoy watching it. I have multiple theories of how I came to have this “strange” fear: maybe it was that episode of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch with the “Molly Dolly”; perhaps it was my sister moving my toys when I left the room and hiding under the bed so I’d think they moved by themselves; maybe it was seeing the adverts for the Goosebumps on old Disney VHS tapes; or perhaps it was from watching Toy Story.

I have no idea. It could’ve been from watching Pinocchio when I was younger for all I know, though I don’t remember seeing it, but I’ve been informed I did watch it back then.

Anyway, my point is I have major personal issues with Pinocchio. I appreciate that Pinocchio was a momentous moment in both the history of the Disney Studios and generally in the history of animation, but I really don’t like this film, and never will, no matter how many times I force myself to see it.

PLOT

For anyone that does not know the story, and I don’t blame you if you don’t or can’t remember it because you had to wipe any memory of it from your mind so as not to be scarred for life, Pinocchio revolves around a wooden puppet, carved by the wood carver Geppetto. Geppetto wishes on a star for this puppet to be a “real boy”, as he never had a child of his own, though he does have two pets, a cute cat named Figaro and a sassy goldfish called Cleo. As Geppetto sleeps, his wish partially comes true. Pinocchio is alive, but not a boy yet; he’s still a wooden puppet. As the Blue Fairy states, Pinocchio must prove himself to be “brave, truthful, and unselfish” for that to happen. Geppetto wakes up to find Pinocchio alive and is overjoyed. Jiminy Cricket, who basically broke into Geppetto’s home to warm himself by the fire, reveals himself to the Blue Fairy. She says that Jiminy should help Pinocchio on his way to becoming a real boy, to be his conscience and show him right from wrong. Jiminy readily agrees and he is given a smart, snappy suit to wear to match this new important position.

The next morning, Geppetto sends Pinocchio off to school, with a book, an apple, and of course, Jiminy Cricket. But on the way to school, “Honest” John the fox and Gideon the cat delay Pinocchio and tell him all about the wonders of becoming an actor. Jiminy tries to warn Pinocchio away from these two creeps, but it does not work, and Pinocchio is instead sold to puppeteer Stromboli to become a cabaret slave in his travelling show. To be fair to Pinocchio, Geppetto had not given him the whole “stranger danger” warning so no wonder he was led astray; that’s just bad parenting on Geppetto’s part. “Bad Dad” award.

Although everything seems great at Pinocchio’s debut show, as he is the star attraction and the crowd love him, it soon becomes clear to Pinocchio that Stromboli is not a good guy. Stromboli has made tons of money from Pinocchio’s show today and plans to take him on tour, so when Pinocchio asks to go home, Stromboli angrily locks him in a birdcage, saying he can never go home. Jiminy arrives and tries to free Pinocchio from his prison, but to no avail. Luckily, the Blue Fairy appears. Pinocchio, embarrassed by the predicament he’s got himself in, begins to lie to the Blue Fairy about what happened, causing his nose to grow and grow. The Blue Fairy tells Pinocchio she can free him and return his nose to normal size if he promises to return to his original mission: of being brave, truthful, and unselfish. Pinocchio agrees to this and is free to go home.

But once again, “Honest” John and Gideon intercept Pinocchio, as they have been ordered by the Coachman to round up young boys to go to a shady, mysterious place called Pleasure Island – in exchange for money, of course, not out of the “goodness” of their hearts. After some convincing and ignoring the advice of Jiminy yet again, Pinocchio agrees to go. He befriends a boy called Lampwick and the two experience the wonders of Pleasure Island together, where they can drink alcohol, smoke cigars, play pool, get into fights, and do all sorts of bad things. Jiminy eventually finds Pinocchio again, and tries to convince Pinocchio to leave this place, but he refuses as he’s having so much fun there. Jiminy is about to leave the island when he learns that the boys on this island end up cursed, becoming donkeys and are then used by the Coachman as slave labour. Jiminy rushes back to save Pinocchio. At the same time, Pinocchio sees his friend Lampwick turn into a donkey right in front of him. Pinocchio is horrified – and it gets worse, because Pinocchio soon sprouts donkey ears and a tail! Pinocchio manages to escape the island before the curse can fully transform him.

Jiminy and Pinocchio finally return home, but find the house empty. Outside, they receive a note from the Blue Fairy, saying that Geppetto, Figaro and Cleo all went looking for him on a raft but they were swallowed by a huge whale called Monstro, where he currently remains. Pinocchio and Jiminy jump into the sea and swim until they find the whale. Monstro swallows Pinocchio and Jiminy, where they are reunited with Geppetto. Pinocchio comes up with a plan to make Monstro sneeze, by starting a fire inside the belly of the whale, so that they can escape. As they are sneezed out of the whale – eww – Monstro chases after their raft and smashes it to pieces, leaving them flailing in the water. Pinocchio saves his father by pulling him into a cove. Monstro then crashes into the rock face, and Geppetto washes up on the beach, alive, with Figaro and Cleo. Jiminy then washes up on the shore too. Sadly, Pinocchio is found face-down in the water; he has drowned and died.

Back home, Geppetto, Jiminy, Figaro, and Cleo all mourn the loss of Pinocchio. However, as through this act, Pinocchio proved himself to be brave, truthful, and unselfish, the Blue Fairy turns Pinocchio into a real boy – minus the donkey ears and tail – at last. The group celebrates. Jiminy thanks the Wishing Star, which is also the Blue Fairy, and is rewarded with a badge for all of his good work, which certifies him as an official conscience.

After all that, you can hardly say Pinocchio is a feel-good children’s film, can you? It’s much more of a morality play than anything else. If you’re looking for family-friendly entertainment to escape from how terrible the world can be, this is not the Disney film to choose! I suppose, providing it doesn’t traumatise the children first, some of the messages about being a good, honest person might be absorbed, at least for a little bit, though.

Disney did their very best to tame their movie compared with the original source material, the book The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. The name Pinocchio comes from the two Italian words “pino” and “occhio”, which mean “pine” and “eye”, an appropriate name for a wooden puppet. The Adventures of Pinocchio was originally published as a serial as part an Italian children’s magazine. Disney used some of the same plot points, for example, the boys turning into donkeys on Pleasure Island, though it is named the Land of Toys in the original story; Monstro swallowing Geppetto; the Fox and the Cat tricking Pinocchio, but other than, it is so much more terrifying! Pinocchio is incredibly badly-behaved too: kicking Geppetto as soon as his feet are carved; running away from home, where the police arrest Geppetto as they assume Pinocchio has been mistreated by him; having his feet burnt off by the fireplace; squishing the Talking Cricket with a hammer; being hung from a tree by the Fox and the Cat[1]. It just gets worse and worse! Although, Disney’s Pinocchio is already quite terrifying to watch, imagine if they hadn’t strayed from the original source. How awful would that have been….

CHARACTERS & CAST

Collodi’s version of the puppet Pinocchio was actually very unlikeable and cocky, nothing at all like Disney’s character because Walt Disney knew they had to make Pinocchio like an innocent little boy, so that the audience would want him to succeed in his journey to becoming a real boy, and that they should be concerned about the distressing situations Pinocchio ends up in. I don’t think I would’ve cared about Collodi’s Pinocchio at all if I’d read the book, but I certainly care about Disney’s little Pinocchio who is so naïve and easily persuaded that you have to feel sorry for him when all these terrible things happen. It is also clear that Pinocchio genuinely cares about his father and doesn’t want to disappoint him. Pinocchio becomes a real hero at the end of the film, sacrificing his own life to save Geppetto’s, for which he is given the ultimate reward: to finally be a real boy.

Originally, the character was designed to be very geometrically-shaped, like a real wooden puppet, but Walt Disney didn’t like that, so he asked for the character to be redesigned. Pinocchio had to look like a sweet little boy, so that is what the animators did; he became more boy than puppet. Child actor Dick Jones provided the voice for Pinocchio, but he had already been cast in numerous minor screen roles before then. In 1939, he appeared in the movies Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and Destry Rides Again. During voice recordings for Pinocchio, at one point the Disney team were struggling to figure out how to make it sound like Pinocchio was underwater searching for Geppetto, so they had the bright idea of having Jones lie down on a table and have he read his lines out as water was poured into his mouth! As he almost drowned from this, they soon worked out that putting a filter on the microphone would be a sufficient alternative to make the character sound like he was underwater[2]! After Pinocchio, Jones appeared in a few episodes of the series Annie Oakley (1954-57). In 1955, Jones starred as the title character in the Western television series Buffalo Bill, Jr. (1955-56). His final film role was in 1965 in the Western film Requiem for a Gunfighter. Jones passed away in 2014 at the age of 87.

Of all the characters in Pinocchio that have dialogue, Jiminy Cricket is my favourite. I also really like the suit he wears. I’d completely forgotten that he doesn’t start the movie wearing it; he actually shows up looking bedraggled and homeless, and the Blue Fairy gives him a new suit, the proper uniform to be a “conscience”, apparently. Jiminy isn’t overly helpful to Pinocchio throughout the film, though that is made worse by the fact that Pinocchio ignores him a lot…He tries his best but if someone just won’t listen to you, what more can you do! Jiminy also says what the viewers are likely all thinking, which makes me laugh. For instance, whilst in Geppetto’s workshop at the start of the film, he gets frustrated by the sound of the cuckoo clocks, which I agree are so annoying, and he has some great lines, like “Conscience is that still small voice that people won’t listen to.” That’s quite true!

The Talking Cricket as the character is known in the original book is a very minor character, who only shows up a couple of times in the story: once when he gets killed by Pinocchio after attempting to give him advice, and again when he comes back as a ghost. The team at Disney decided that having the cricket as a main character would give Pinocchio a sidekick, and bring some friendship and humour to the otherwise dark story. In the end, Jiminy’s wise-cracking ways dominate the screen, and as such Jiminy Cricket has become one of Disney’s most memorable characters. Being an official conscience will do that for you. Ward Kimball was assigned the task of designing Jiminy Cricket, which was quite difficult as crickets are not the cutest insects and Walt Disney wanted something cute. So, Kimball drew multiple designs of this walking-talking cricket, until eventually they got the design that we now know as Jiminy Cricket – who looks very little like an actual cricket.

Cliff Edwards, who was also known by the name “Ukulele Ike”, due to his performances playing the ukulele, voiced the character. Edwards first popularised the song “Singin’ in the Rain” after performing it in The Hollywood Revue of 1929 musical film, alongside The Brox Sisters. Edwards had a few movie roles, with one being in the comedy film His Girl Friday (1940). Edwards voiced one of the crows in Dumbo (1941) and reprised his role as Jiminy Cricket often for other Disney projects up until his death in 1971.

Geppetto is Pinocchio’s kindly father. He wants nothing more than to have a child of his own, and so Pinocchio coming into his life is a great gift. Geppetto doesn’t feature all that much in the film, just at the beginning and at the end, because this film is all about Pinocchio, but you can see how devoted he is to Pinocchio by the fact he goes out to sea to find him and ends up being swallowed by a whale… Although Pinocchio is an Italian story, Geppetto speaks with an Austrian accent. That is because Christian Rub was an Austrian-born actor. He made Geppetto soft-spoken and calm, even in the face of adversity, which is a nice contrast to all the evil villainous men in this film. Rub had appeared in numerous movies, with his film debut being in The Belle of New York (1919) and his final film role being in Something for the Birds (1952). Also in 1940, Rub was cast as Thoren in RKO’s Swiss Family Robinson, not to be confused with Disney’s 1960 live-action film. Apparently, Christian Rub was a Nazi sympathiser, which made working with him quite difficult, given the time of Pinocchio’s development.

Whilst on the subject of Geppetto, I also have to say that I absolutely love Figaro, Geppetto’s black and white cat. He’s so cute! Disney really got the temperament of the cat spot on because Figaro has two emotions: moody and needy. He’s the best character in this film, no question. Because Figaro was so popular, and supposedly Walt Disney’s favourite character in the film, Figaro became Minnie Mouse’s cat after this. Clarence Nash, famous for voicing the character of Donald Duck, “voices” Figaro here. Cleo, Geppetto’s goldfish, is also quite cute, but is no Figaro. I did see one of the deleted scenes though, which would have seen Figaro trying to eat Cleo whilst stuck in the stomach of Monstro; that wasn’t nice to watch. Bad Figaro.

Now let’s get to the despicable villains. I like Disney Villains, but I draw the line at these four. They are just awful and horrible to watch. “Honest” John, or John Worthington Foulfellow to give him his full name, which just sounds incredibly pretentious, and his mute sidekick Gideon are the two con artists who use Pinocchio to make themselves richer. They bother Pinocchio twice, and sell him to Stromboli and then to the Coachman, basically. You’d think Pinocchio would have learnt to stay away from them after the first incident, but nope! John is quite persuasive and charming, which is how he is able to convince Pinocchio to do bad things, but generally, the two of them are quite bumbling and relatively comedic. Apparently, “Honest” John was partly inspired by Walt Disney’s brother, Ray, who sold insurance. He wanted animator Ward Kimball as a client, but whenever Ray came to the Studios, Kimball always tried to hide from him, even hiding in an armoire at one point[3].

Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny for the Looney Tunes, was originally going to be the voice of Gideon, but Disney decided that Gideon should be mute, so the only “line” that Blanc managed to voice here was Gideon’s hiccup[4]. Walter Catlett voiced “Honest” John. Catlett had appeared on stage in musicals like the 1920 production of the Jerome Kern musical Sally, and Lady, Be Good by George and Ira Gershwin in 1924. Catlett also appeared in various movies, including Bringing Up Baby (1938) as Constable Slocum, and Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936) as Morrow, the Poet.

Finally, the last two villains are Stromboli and the Coachman. Both of them are greedy and abusive, with the Coachman happily sending boys to an island to be cursed so that he can get some cheap donkey labour, and Stromboli planning to use Pinocchio like some dancing slave. I really don’t like either of them and find them the scariest and most repulsive characters in the film. Charles Judels voiced both characters.

MUSIC

Let’s move on to something brighter, like Pinocchio’s soundtrack. The songs were composed by Leigh Harline, who also co-scored the movie, with Ned Washington contributing the lyrics. After Pinocchio, Washington went on to write the lyrics to the songs in Disney’s Dumbo (1941), earning an Academy Award nomination for “Baby Mine”, and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for “High Noon” from the 1952 film High Noon. There are five original songs in Pinocchio, though more were written for the movie and ultimately not used. One of these is Jiminy Cricket’s song “I’m A Happy Go Lucky Fellow” which instead was used in the animated film Fun and Fancy Free (1947).

To be honest, I’m not a fan of any of the songs from Pinocchio, although if I had to pick a favourite it would either be “Give A Little Whistle” or “Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee”. I remember hearing a variation on “Give A Little Whistle” in the former Walt Disney World parade Celebrate a Dream Come True so that’s probably why I don’t mind that song. It is performed by Cliff Edwards and Dickie Jones as Jiminy teaches Pinocchio how to whistle so that he can call for help, and reminds him to “always let your conscience be your guide”. “Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee” is performed by Walter Catlett as “Honest” John as he tries and succeeds in convincing Pinocchio to be an “actor” in Stromboli’s puppet show. For a villainous tune, it’s quite catchy and bouncy. It is briefly reprised as John speaks to the Coachman in the inn.

There is also a short song called “Little Wooden Head” sung by Christian Rub as Geppetto, as he tries out his new wooden puppet Pinocchio and walks him around the room. I already find the scene creepy – because, puppets – and the repetitive mechanical sound to the music is a little bit irritating to me, so I don’t like this song. It’s also sad how little Figaro is being tormented by Geppetto as he moves Pinocchio towards him. Poor kitty. I also don’t like “I’ve Got No Strings” because there are even more puppets here! Pinocchio’s singing isn’t great either, but I can appreciate the different variations of the song that were written to match the nationality of the puppets that join Pinocchio on stage.

But the most remembered song is obviously “When You Wish Upon a Star”, which is performed by Jiminy Cricket at the very start of the film, during the opening credits and then the opening scene of Jiminy sat atop the Pinocchio storybook. There is also a reprise of it at the end of the film. It is a sweet song and it basically became the Walt Disney Company’s theme song from this moment on, as it sums up their message about wishes and dreams being able to come true. Sadly, I don’t love this song either, maybe because I’ve heard it too many times – or maybe because I just don’t like the film – but it is iconically Disney.

Leigh Harline had previously co-scored Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), alongside Paul J. Smith, with the two scoring Pinocchio together. Harline had also scored many of the Silly Symphonies cartoon shorts in the 1930s. Smith contributed to the scores of many of Disney animated feature films from this point on, including Saludos Amigos (1942), The Three Caballeros (1944), and Cinderella (1950), as well as some of the True-Life Adventures nature documentaries in the 1950s.

Within the score, I think “Clock Sequence” is quite clever, as it is a symphony of all the cuckoo clocks going off at once, but making them chime in harmony with each other. It is a bit annoying after a while though! “Coach to Pleasure Island” has quite a jazzy feel to it, which is in complete contrast to what we now know happens over there; it sounds fun and exciting, not like somewhere where these boys are ultimately going to meet their doom. It’s not my favourite score, but it adds tension, hope, and happiness when it needs to.

Pinocchio was the first Disney feature to win an Academy Award, actually winning two awards: one for Best Original Score and the other for Best Original Song with “When You Wish Upon a Star”. It wouldn’t be until Mary Poppins (1964) that these honours were received again, and then another thirty-odd years until The Little Mermaid (1989) would do so once more, from which point four other “Disney Renaissance” films also would[5].

PRODUCTION

After Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), the Disney Studios had to make another picture just as good, if not better. Initially, it was decided that the animators would set to work on Bambi (1942), and that that would become their second full-length animated feature. However, Walt Disney was unsure how to go about making that movie, as he wanted the animation to look as realistic to nature as possible, so Bambi was set aside.

Luckily, during production on Snow White, animator Norman Ferguson had brought in Collodi’s book, The Adventures of Pinocchio, and gave it to Walt to read. The book had become very popular since its publishing in 1883 and had been translated into numerous languages. Because of the story’s episodic nature, since it had been published in a magazine first and not as a full story, there were ample choices for their movie. They could choose to avoid the darker, crueller elements of the story, and focus on the moral message of the story, of how to become a better person, and recognising right from wrong, which would be especially good for the children who would be watching the movie.

This structure to the plot, giving Pinocchio many adventures and interactions with different characters, meant that the animators had even more opportunity to develop their character animation, giving each character a distinct personality. This was also the opportunity where many of those who came to be known as the “Nine Old Men” really got to shine. Frank Thomas, for example, animated the sequence of Pinocchio as a marionette at the start of the film, after being carved by Geppetto; Ollie Johnston worked on the sequence of Pinocchio’s nose growing as he is trying to explain his predicament to the Blue Fairy. As mentioned, Ward Kimball designed Jiminy Cricket after having his work on Snow White cut from the final edit; and Eric Larson animated Figaro. John Lounsbery did some animation of “Honest” John, whose animation was being supervised by Norm Ferguson. From this point on, the “Nine Old Men” became a huge influence in the animated movies that came afterwards. But older animators, like Bill Tytla, Art Babbitt, and Fred Moore also contributed to Pinocchio’s characters, animating Stromboli, Geppetto, and Lampwick respectively.

Snow White had given the world an animated fairy tale that looked magical. The team wanted to have the same artistic approach that had been used in that film for Pinocchio, to make the film reminiscent of Old-World storybook illustrations, many of which had been created by German artists. Gustaf Tenggren was the concept artist responsible for Pinocchio’s setting of an Alpine village. Tenggren had made many drawings of Bavarian town Rothenberg ob der Tauber as inspiration, with Geppetto’s house in particular closely matching the Hotel Altfrankische Weinstrube there. Tenggren was also influenced by Germanic architecture for the interior locations, such as Geppetto’s workshop with its numerous cuckoo clocks and music boxes. Too many if you ask me. How many does one man need? Has Geppetto struggled to sell them? This is why, despite Pinocchio being an Italian story, the backgrounds seem to replicate Bavarian and German areas[6].

However, despite taking some ideas from the making of Snow White, Walt Disney and the rest of the Studios’ staff knew that they had made mistakes, and knew how they wanted to improve the artform and cinematography. Using the profits from Snow White, Walt could now invest in new technology and more complex animation. One of their biggest technological advancements was their creation of the multiplane camera, designed by Disney Studio technician Bill Garity. At over twelve feet tall, the camera used multiple layers of back, middle, and foregrounds placed at different heights to add depth and space to the animated sequences. For example, one particular sequence known for its use of the multiplane camera is the sequence of Pinocchio going off to school, where the camera sweeps over the village, gradually getting closer and closer to the streets, before settling on Geppetto’s house. This was actually done using a horizontal plane instead of vertical, and replicates the action that a dolly track camera would do nowadays. This sole sequence cost $45,000 back then to make, which is almost $1.8 million today. Another good example of this type of shot is when the camera pushes through wisps of mist and moves closer and closer into the Red Lobster Inn, where John and Gideon are meeting the Coachman[7].

For character animation, maquettes, making 3D models of character designs, really became standard for the Disney Studios during the making of Pinocchio. They had been used a bit for Snow White, but the models were predominately first used on Pinocchio. These maquettes were useful for the animators to be able to accurately capture all angles of their characters. There were also other models made of things like Stromboli’s wagon and the coach to Pleasure Island, as well as Geppetto’s cuckoo clocks, with these models being useful to animate realistic movement of the objects[8]. Live-action reference material was also taken, of actors like Evelyn Venable as the Blue Fairy, who was also the voice of the character. Venable was also the original model for the “Torch Lady” logo that appears at the start of Columbia Pictures films. Disney’s live-action reference footage could be used as a guide for the animators, again, to capture realistic movement. A Pinocchio puppet was also built as an animation model, but was lost for fifty years. It was eventually discovered in one of the studio cabinets[9].

The Effects Department were able to push forward with more impressive techniques as well. The water effects are a particular focus during discussions around Pinocchio’s animation, as they were able to replicate the waves of the sea, splashes, bubbles, and foam, with all of these being used in the sequence with Monstro the whale. It was very complex work as it was all hand-drawn. The magic effects of the Blue Fairy were also hand-drawn.

All of these additional animation techniques pushed the artform forward, and now Pinocchio is famed for its innovations.

RECEPTION

Pinocchio premiered in New York City on 7^th February 1940 at the Center Theatre. According to Hollywood legend, as part of promotional activities for the premiere, eleven men were hired and dressed up as Pinocchio. They were placed on top of the theatre marquee for the day and were told to interact with the crowd. At lunchtime, they were given refreshments, including beer. A few hours later, the men were all naked, burping, shouting obscenities at the crowd, and generally behaving very “un-Pinocchio-like”. They refused to put their costumes back on and come down, so the police were called. They brought the men down using pillow cases to cover up their modesty[10]. I have no idea how true this story actually is or not, the veracity of this story is debated, but I have seen screenshots of people dressed as Pinocchio on top of the theatre, so at least that part was true. Actor David Niven wrote this story in his memoir Bring on the Empty Horses (1975), where it has taken on a life of its own. It sounds like a very funny publicity stunt gone wrong, but news articles from the time don’t go quite as far as Niven, instead simply saying that the men had just got bored, and started smoking and playing dice on top of the theatre.

After that possible disaster of a premiere, Pinocchio was released in theatres in the US on 23^rd February 1940, where it received outstanding reviews from critics, with many stating that Pinocchio was technically better than Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, as well as having a more powerful story. Although more contemporary critics have said that the story may be too heavy for a children’s film, they all agree that Pinocchio is one of the best animated movies of all time, with memorable songs and characters.

Randomly, after Pinocchio’s release, the nephew of Carlo Collodi, the author of the original book, Paolo Lorenzini apparently begged the Italian Ministry of Popular Culture to sue Walt Disney for libel for portraying Pinocchio in such a way that the character could be mistaken for American instead of his authentic Italian heritage[11].

Pinocchio cost $2.6 million to make, which, adjusted for inflation, would be over $50 million today. This means Pinocchio cost almost twice as much as Snow White did. Unfortunately, due to the start of World War II and a lack of access to European markets as well as those in Asia, Pinocchio did not do well financially on its original release, bringing in somewhere around $1.5 million. This would have been very disappointing at the time for Walt Disney. As Walt Disney put it in a 1956 archive interview, Pinocchio was released “at a time when the world was kind of collapsing”, which is unfortunate[12]. The Disney Studios then lost staff members when the US joined World War II in 1941, and were required to make propaganda films for the US government, so they had to slow down progress on their full-length feature films. Only three more feature-length films were released by the Disney Studios, between 1940 and 1942, and after that, the “package feature” films came to be.

Luckily, when Pinocchio was re-released in theatres for the first time after the war in 1945, and then many times after that including in 1954, 1962, 1971, and 1978, the movie was able to make the money it deserved to. It was also then released on VHS, followed by DVD and Blu-Ray re-releases on its milestone anniversary dates[13].

LEGACY

Considering Pinocchio was released over eighty years ago, the movie and its characters continue to have relevance at all the Disney Parks across the world. For example, the characters have featured in parades and as walkaround characters for years. Jiminy Cricket hosted the nighttime shows Wishes and the SpectroMagic parade at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World in the 1990s and 2000s. Jiminy also appears in the Festival of Fantasy parade here, as does Pinocchio who is riding on the float that looks like Monstro the whale covered in the fabric of Aladdin’s magic carpet. Pinocchio has also been seen around the Walt Disney World Resort with Geppetto recently, and Jiminy Cricket has been known to meet guests at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Park occasionally. Gideon and Honest John have also been spotted at special events before, like at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. Lampwick and Stromboli have been meet-and-greet characters at times here as well.

Let’s also not forget Pinocchio Village Haus quick-service restaurant in Fantasyland at Magic Kingdom. It was meant to look as accurate to the film as possible, and the Imagineers got the detail down so precisely that the view from above resembles the overhead opening scene of the village in Pinocchio. This would’ve been visible to guests riding on the Skyway from 1971 to 1999, when it closed. The dining location, serving Italian food such as pizzas and pastas, is themed to Pinocchio’s village both in its interior, where it looks like an outdoor village courtyard, and its exterior, which resembles multiple houses clustered together. There are many dining rooms themed to characters from the movie, and one even overlooks the it’s a small world attraction[14]. Similar dining locations can be found at Shanghai Disneyland, under the name Pinocchio Village Kitchen, and at Disneyland Paris as Au Chalet de la Marionette. There are slight differences in theming, but more obvious differences in food selection. At Shanghai Disneyland, alongside pizza and pasta, rice and noodle dishes are also available, whereas at Disneyland Paris, the food is vaguely German-themed, not Italian, strangely, serving hot dogs, pretzels sandwiches, and roast chicken.

Disneyland Paris doesn’t stop there with its Pinocchio theming, as they have La Bottega di Geppetto, a merchandise location made to look like Geppetto’s house and workshop, as well as the dark ride Les Voyages de Pinocchio, which opened with the park on 12^th April 1992, which takes guests through a shortened version of the movie’s story. In terms of character experiences, Geppetto and Pinocchio have been seen most recently in the park, as well as in the Disney Stars on Parade, with Pinocchio also being a possible character at the Plaza Gardens Restaurant character dining experience. Jiminy Cricket has been seen at this park before, as well as Gideon and Honest John.

At Disneyland, a miniature Alpine village scene from Pinocchio can be found on the Storybook Land Canal Boats, and on the Casey Jr. Circus Train. Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket dolls were also added to the it’s a small world attraction here. The Blue Fairy and Pinocchio feature during the Magic Happens Parade, and the Blue Fairy even got to fly across the castle during the original run of the Wondrous Journeys nighttime show. For walkaround characters, Blue Fairy, Pinocchio, Geppetto and Jiminy Cricket were all seen together as part of Throwback Nite in 2023. Disneyland also has a dark ride based on Pinocchio, called Pinocchio’s Daring Journey, which opened in May 1983. It is extremely similar to the one at Disneyland Paris, and the one at Tokyo Disneyland. Tokyo Disneyland’s ride, which has the same name, first opened with the park on 15^th April 1983. The ride was designed to first be installed at Disneyland, however, the project was put on hold and not revived until designs for Tokyo Disneyland were being decided. Disneyland then received their ride a month and a half later as part of their “New Fantasyland” refurbishment.

Tokyo Disneyland also includes some small themed areas, such as the Pleasure Island Candies shop, Stromboli’s Wagon store, and Cleo’s food stand, named after the goldfish, but don’t worry; it doesn’t serve fish…I don’t think… The Blue Fairy has a featured float within the Tokyo Disneyland Electrical Parade Dreamlights, and Pinocchio, Geppeto, Jiminy Cricket, and Honest John have also been seen here in recent years.

At Hong Kong Disneyland, and similarly in Shanghai Disneyland, it is unclear how frequently, if ever, characters from Pinocchio appear to meet and greet guests. There was in 2017 during a Halloween event a walkthrough attraction called Maze of Madness: The Nightmare Experiment Continues at Hong Kong Disneyland which featured a “face character” Pinocchio, which looks even creepier than his costumed look…

In general, Pinocchio’s characters and music from the film are likely to appear during current or future parades or shows at the Disney Parks, as well as on the Disney Cruise Line, since this was such a big movie for the company that continues to be popular.

On screen, Jiminy Cricket reappeared in the Disney animated “package feature” Fun and Fancy Free (1947) and he also hosted a series of educational short films for the Mickey Mouse Club television series from the 1950s through to the 1970s. He also hosted the Disney Sing-Along Songs VHS tapes, and played the part of the Ghost of Christmas Past in Mickey’s Christmas Carol (1983). Jiminy is a popular choice of Disney character to host anything, since he is an official “conscience”.

There was also a live-action made-for-television movie which aired on ABC in 2000 called Geppetto, which told the story of Pinocchio from Geppetto’s perspective, with Drew Carey playing Geppetto, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus as The Blue Fairy. More recently, Disney made a live-action remake of Pinocchio, which was released straight to Disney+ on Disney+ Day on 8^th September 2022. It starred Tom Hanks as Geppetto, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Jiminy Cricket, and Keegan-Michael Key as Honest John, and was directed by Robert Zemeckis. It received mostly negative reviews. It should also not be confused with another Pinocchio adaptation released in 2022, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, which is a stop-motion animated film, and a darker version of the story, though it received much better reviews than Disney’s live-action remake, even winning the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Outside of traditional Disney work, Pinocchio, Geppetto, Jiminy Cricket, and The Blue Fairy all appear as supporting characters in the ABC television series Once Upon a Time (2011-18), with their characters being used most in the first couple of seasons.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Pinocchio really showcased the artform of animation, and proved the high-quality of the artists at the Disney Studios. Although Pinocchio struggled on its release due to the outbreak of World War II, over the decades, it has been re-released numerous times both for home release and in theatres and has more than made up for that initial box-office floundering. Families have been watching the film together for over eighty years.

Although Pinocchio is not one of the Disney Animated Classics I treasure, or will ever like, I can appreciate just how well it was made and how much work went into it. Perhaps this movie would speak to me more if I was part of an older generation that had not been spoilt by the so-called “Disney Renaissance” era and their musical-theatre style, which I prefer. Everybody has a favourite Disney film, and we’re all different.

Pinocchio remains a favourite of many – just not with those with a fear of puppets, like me.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Tom Chapman, ‘Pinocchio is a lot darker than the story you think you know’, DigitalSpy.com, 10^th December 2022.

[2] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Disney Animation Anecdotes’, MousePlanet.com, 14^th December 2022.

[3] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Disney Animation Anecdotes’, MousePlanet.com, 14^th December 2022.

[4] Credit: Disney, The Making of Pinocchio: No Strings Attached (2009).

[5] Credit: Disney, The Making of Pinocchio: No Strings Attached (2009).

[6] Credit: Jim Korkis, Other Secret Stories of Walt Disney World (2017), ‘Pinocchio Village Haus’, pp. 7-8.

[7] Credit: Lucas O. Seastrom, ‘A Machine for the Imagination: Walt Disney’s Pinocchio and the Multiplane Camera’, The Walt Disney Family Museum Blog, 18^th September 2016.

[8] Credit: Disney, The Making of Pinocchio: No Strings Attached (2009).

[9] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Pinocchio’, pp. 4-6.

[10] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Animation Anecdotes #270’, CartoonResearch.com, 8^th July 2016.

[11] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Pinocchio’, pp. 4-6.

[12] Credit: In Walt’s Words: Pinocchio, Disney+, date unknown.

[13] Credit: Author Unknown, ‘Pinocchio Premiered’, D23.com, date unknown.

[14] Credit: Jim Korkis, Other Secret Stories of Walt Disney World (2017), ‘Pinocchio Village Haus’, pp. 7-8.

26th Apr 202427th Jun 2024 by The Disney Purist

#50 Tangled (2010)

BACKGROUND

After the disappointing box-office results of The Princess and the Frog, hailed as the Disney Studios’ return to traditional hand-drawn animation, Disney Animation did a complete turnaround, discarding 2D animation, and decided to only make computer-generated movies from that point on – with one minor exception being Winnie the Pooh (2011).

Luckily, they didn’t do a complete 180 and go off the rails with their story format. Instead, we got another fairy-tale musical, the kind we all know and love, something that the audience would have been expecting.

Tangled is generally considered to be the start of a whole new era for Disney, the “Disney Revival” era. Not only did 2010 begin Disney’s primary use of only CG for their movies, but this was also the point where Disney Animation made some very popular movies, with Tangled starting this all off, and giving people a reason to watch Disney animated movies again.

Tangled was a huge hit with a wide audience, and has made its way into the hearts of many. However, I’m not exactly one of those.

At the time the movie was released in theatres, I loved it. I thought it was amazing, and romantic, and exciting. I particularly liked the soundtrack and the dashing character of Flynn Rider. But that was then, back in 2010.

Sadly, a few years later, I’d fallen out of love with Tangled. I blame myself though, not the film, for just simply over-watching it. For some reason, British television decided to air this movie every festive period for at least five years and I just had enough of it!

Having re-watched it, I discovered that I have never disliked Tangled; it just doesn’t hold up to some of my other favourites. I think I find the journey that Flynn and Rapunzel take on their way to see “the floating lights” is just a bit too long for me and overly action-packed. I’m guessing Disney wanted to show off the capabilities of CGI over hand-drawn animation, by demonstrating how Rapunzel’s extremely strong hair is seemingly able to pull levers, carry people of varying sizes, and act as a rope swing, as well as heal injuries and glow on demand! Once they get to the Kingdom of Corona, I enjoy it more from that point on.

That’s just my opinion though, and I am well aware that Rapunzel and the story of Tangled continue to be very popular and relevant in the wonderful world of Disney today.

PLOT

The plot of Tangled follows the fairy tale of Rapunzel, but Disney’s version of the story. In this film, we start with a full prologue, narrated by Flynn Rider. He tells us that “this is the story of how I died”, quickly adding that actually it’s quite a fun story. Well, that’s alright then.

The prologue starts saying that the Queen of the Kingdom of Corona fell ill while pregnant. The King and the guards went in search of a legendary flower, formed from a drop of sunlight, that could heal any illness. They did not know that an old woman, Mother Gothel, had been hoarding the flower’s power for her own, to make herself young whenever she sang to it. She had hidden the flower to protect it from being taken by others, but one day the King’s guards found it, brought it to the Queen and it healed her. Their daughter Rapunzel was born, with beautiful golden hair. Mother Gothel found the child, and believed that the hair still held the magic powers of the flower. Mother Gothel cut some of the child’s hair, thinking she could take it away with her so that her “anti-aging” spell could be enacted again. However, the cut hair turned brown and lost its magic power. Mother Gothel instead stole the girl from the palace, isolating her in a tower in the middle of the forest so no-one could find her. Despite years of searching, she is not found, and continues to be raised by Mother Gothel, who shields her from the outside world, never letting her leave the tower. To keep hope of finding their daughter again, the King and Queen decided to release lanterns up into the sky every year on her birthday.

The movie skips forward to eighteen years later, when Rapunzel is bored of being isolated in this tower, having to constantly sing for Mother Gothel and pull her up the tower by her incredibly long hair, because obviously it can’t be cut or it would have no powers. The only friend she has is a chameleon called Pascal. Despite years of isolation, Rapunzel has one wish – to see the floating lanterns in person, the ones she always sees every year, only on her birthday out of the tower’s only window. Mother Gothel refuses to take her, telling her that she should do as she’s told and stay inside, as the world is a horrible place, full of cruel, selfish people. Rapunzel realises if she wants to go, she’ll have to find a way herself.

Luckily, a thief called Flynn Rider makes his way into the tower, believing it to be empty as he is escaping the king’s guards after stealing the crown of the lost princess. Boy, did he choose the wrong tower to hide in, because Rapunzel hits the intruder with a frying pan, knocking him out. She ties him up and hides him in a closet. Mother Gothel returns to the tower and announces that she has brought back parsnips to make Rapunzel’s favourite: hazelnut soup. So, hazelnuts aren’t the primary ingredient of this meal? Weird. Rapunzel tries to explain that she has a thief tied up in the closet, but Mother Gothel won’t listen to her, and instead screams that she will never leave this tower – ever. Rapunzel is devastated by her mother’s outburst, so instead asks for a different birthday present, paints made from white shells her mother once brought her. Mother Gothel agrees to go on the three days’ journey to get them for her.

With Mother Gothel gone, this gives Rapunzel an idea. Once Flynn wakes up to find himself tied up – in hair – Rapunzel interrogates Flynn. She hides the crown he has stolen from the palace, and makes a deal that if he takes her to see the lanterns, he can have it back. So, they set off on a mission to fulfil her dream. Initially, Rapunzel is scared about leaving the tower, but she soon finds herself enjoying her new life – and then feels guilty, then is happy again, then guilty; you get the idea. Eventually, Flynn, tired of these mood swings and just wanting his crown, decides to try and get Rapunzel to quit and go home, as she is scared of every strange sound around her.

Flynn takes her to the Snuggly Duckling, a nice-sounding pub. Inside though, Rapunzel finds the pub full of ruffians and thugs. They aren’t interested in her, they want Flynn Rider, because there are “Wanted” posters littered all over the area saying anyone who gives him over to the guards gets a cash reward. As the ruffians fight over him and call for the guards, Rapunzel hits one of them and orders them to give back her guide, asking them to consider the importance of her dream. This causes some emotional shift in the men, and all the ruffians and thugs start to talk about their hopes and dreams and their hobbies, like baking, piano-playing, mime, interior design, and even collecting ceramic unicorns. They agree to leave Flynn alone and let Rapunzel go live her dream.

Except the guards are already here. Using a secret tunnel out of the pub, Flynn and Rapunzel flee the Snuggly Duckling and come to a ravine. Still being pursued, the two head for a small cave, but a dam bursts and the cave becomes flooded. As the two are about to drown, not being able to find a way out of the dark cave, Rapunzel remembers something – her hair can glow when she sings to it; that’s handy! With the light from her hair, Rapunzel and Flynn find some loose rocks and scramble out of the cave. They reach solid ground.

Meanwhile, Mother Gothel encounters a palace horse without its rider and is concerned for Rapunzel’s safety. She discovers Rapunzel has escaped the tower, and finds the stolen crown along with one of Flynn’s “Wanted” posters. She makes her way to the Snuggly Duckling and sees the guards pursuing someone. Mother Gothel makes a deal with two thugs, the Stabbington Brothers, who were double-crossed by Flynn at the start of the story, that she will give them a way to enact revenge on Flynn Rider if they help her.

Back with Flynn and Rapunzel, Rapunzel sees that Flynn’s hand is injured and uses her hair to heal him. Flynn then tells Rapunzel about his childhood, that Eugene Fitzherbert is his real name, but wanting to be worthy of something, he took the name and persona of an action hero from a storybook and began to live the life of a thief. Rapunzel says she much prefers Eugene to Flynn Rider, and that he should just be himself. Mother Gothel then appears when Rapunzel is alone and tries to convince her to come home, saying that all Flynn wants is the crown and once he has it, he’ll leave her in a heartbeat. Rapunzel doesn’t believe that’s true and says she’ll return it to prove Mother Gothel wrong.

The next day, the palace horse that Mother Gothel saw, Maximus, who is dead-set on bringing Flynn back to the palace for punishment, finds Rapunzel and Flynn – or is it Eugene now? I don’t know what to call him, I prefer Flynn and it’s quicker to type so let’s go with that! Rapunzel begs Maximus to leave Flynn just for today, as it is her 18^th birthday. Maximus begrudgingly agrees and goes with them to the Kingdom of Corona for the day, as they await the lantern ceremony that will take place that evening. They have a fun day celebrating this festival within the town and slowly, Flynn and Rapunzel begin to fall in love.

That evening, Flynn takes Rapunzel out on a boat so that she can experience the floating lights. She’s concerned that it won’t be everything she hoped for, and that she’ll then have to find a new dream. But she doesn’t have long to dwell on that as the ceremony begins and the sky fills with amazing lights. Rapunzel is overjoyed that she’s finally got to see them in person. As this is the end of their trip, Rapunzel hands over the crown to Flynn. but he doesn’t care about that anymore, saying that Rapunzel is much more important to him. As they row ashore, Flynn sees the Stabbington Brothers. He goes to give them the crown and offer an apology, not wanting to be in the thieving business anymore.

Rapunzel waits for Flynn but he doesn’t come back. She sees someone approaching her, but it turns out to be the Stabbington Brothers. They tell her that Flynn told them about the girl with the magic hair, and that he has run off with the crown. Rapunzel is crushed by Flynn’s supposed betrayal and flees the two brothers. Luckily, Mother Gothel is there to knock them out and she takes Rapunzel home, telling her they can forget all about this and go back to the way things were. Flynn is arrested, after being knocked out and put on a boat sailing to the palace, and is sentenced to death. However, Maximus and the ruffians, clearly having had a change of heart, rescue Flynn. Flynn goes to find Rapunzel.

Back at the tower, Rapunzel looks over the walls of the tower, sad about being stuck in the tower again. She then looks at the emblem of the Kingdom of Corona on a flag she took home. She sees this sun, and then notices that she has subconsciously incorporated it into all her paintings. The sun, the lanterns on her birthday, it all makes sense; Rapunzel realises she is “the lost princess”. Rapunzel is angry at having been forced to live a lie her whole life and confronts Mother Gothel. Mother Gothel isn’t scared of Rapunzel though and ties her up, not wanting to lose the magic hair, saying they’ll go somewhere else, somewhere far away, where no-one will ever find her.

Flynn makes it to the tower and is brought inside by Rapunzel’s hair. On entering the tower, he is instantly stabbed in the side by Mother Gothel. He sees Rapunzel tied up but is too weak to help her. Rapunzel is dragged away by Mother Gothel but she begs to heal Flynn, and then says she’ll go anywhere with her. Mother Gothel agrees to this, so Rapunzel is allowed to help Flynn. As she begins to wrap her hair around Flynn’s wound, he reaches for a shard of glass and cuts Rapunzel’s hair. It instantly turns brown and loses all of its magical qualities. Mother Gothel ages quickly, as the years she’s forced away with the magic hair come back to haunt her. She trips over Rapunzel’s hair – or I should say, is tripped by Pascal with Rapunzel’s hair – and falls from the tower, turning into dust.

As Flynn slowly dies, having not allowed Rapunzel to heal him first and then quickly cut her hair like he perhaps should have done, they both say how they were going to be each other’s new dream. Rapunzel mourns the loss of Flynn with one of her tears falling on to his body. The tear travels down to the wound, and, still containing the flower’s magic, revives Flynn. The two then travel to Corona to reunite Rapunzel with her parents in a tearful moment. The whole kingdom celebrates, with the ruffians also now becoming good citizens and living out their dreams. The movie ends by saying how Rapunzel and Flynn are engaged to be married and will live happily ever after.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Disney’s Rapunzel is one of the few strong-minded, independent female characters that existed in Disney movies before 2010. Within the 1990s, there were the occasional ones like Mulan and Pocahontas, however, Rapunzel and Tiana from The Princess and the Frog, really set the standard for this new kind of “princess”, and now, Disney are much more current with their characters and their personalities, to fit in with today’s society. A complaint among many was that the previous Disney princesses were meek and timid, with no dreams other than finding love, a complaint I don’t agree with, however, it is good that these characters have more opportunities for adventure than the “traditional princess”. Tiana, for example, has dreams of owning her own business, and Rapunzel’s dream is to go out and see the world, not to stay inside and not live her life.

Although Rapunzel does in fact find love, Disney are clever in how they show this: unlike Ariel in The Little Mermaid (1989) for example, who makes it obvious that she is in love with Eric, and we don’t know how he feels about her for a while into the movie, Tangled instead clearly shows Flynn (or Eugene, as he’s later known) falling in love with Rapunzel, in scenes such as when Rapunzel heals the cut on his hand, and they have a heart-to-heart about their lives before they met, and during the floating lanterns/”I See The Light” scene, where he refuses the crown from Rapunzel and wants to enjoy the evening, seeing her live her dream[1]. Although Rapunzel needed to be naïve, they had to show that she was brave enough to leave her tower, and to find her parents, and her true love. She is self-sufficient, and clever to find ways of entertaining herself whilst isolated in the tower: by baking, reading, and painting, which she is especially talented at. She didn’t spend her time sitting around waiting to be saved, or feeling sorry for herself. Disney certainly created the role model with girl power that they were looking for[2].

Rapunzel was made to feel like the “girl-next-door” and to be very down-to-earth. Other actresses like Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Reese Witherspoon, and Natalie Portman also auditioned for the part, but Mandy Moore was selected[3]. Moore had appeared in movies like The Princess Diaries (2001) as Lana Thomas; Chasing Liberty (2004) as Anna Foster; and in License to Wed (2007) as Milly Wilder before being cast in Tangled. Also for Disney, Moore voiced the character of Nita in Brother Bear 2 (2006). After Tangled, Moore went on to voice the character of Mara in the television series Tron: Uprising (2012-13). More recently, Moore starred in the critically acclaimed drama series This Is Us (2016-22), where she received a Critics’ Choice Television Award nomination for Best Actress in a Drama Series in 2013, a Primetime Emmy Award nomination in 2019, and a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Series in 2017, as well as being frequently nominated for this role at the People’s Choice Awards. She also continues to reprise the voice role of Rapunzel for Disney projects.

As for Flynn Rider, he is certainly more memorable, and funny, than other prince-types, which was the whole point, and though he comes off at the start as quite arrogant and full of himself, obsessed with using his “smoulder”, which never fails – except on Rapunzel – you can’t help but like him. He’s a lovable rogue. Then as the two spend more time together, you see that Flynn Rider is actually quite vulnerable and uncertain of himself. We find he is an orphan, whose real name is Eugene Fitzherbert. He grew up not thinking he could ever amount to anything, so came up with the persona of Flynn Rider to make himself feel like someone else, someone more worthy. Rapunzel tells him that she much prefers Eugene to Flynn, and calls him by his real name for the rest of the movie – though I don’t because Flynn is a much nicer name to go by, I think. From that point on, you have to root for the two of them to be together and to be happy.

Animator Glen Keane said that there was actually a struggle in designing the rugged, handsome Flynn. The designs came out as either too macho or too “pretty boy”, and he didn’t seem to have anything else about him. In the end, they organised a “Hot Man” meeting with some of the female workers at the Studios so they could review some of the character designs and have their inputs into what Flynn Rider should really look like[4]!

Originally, Disney only wanted British actors for Flynn, or at least actors able to put on a good British accent. Zachary Levi auditioned for the role using an English accent, and got the role. He was later told to just use his natural accent instead when the character background was changed[5]. Levi was nominated for Choice Animated Movie Voice at the 2011 Teen Choice Awards for Flynn Rider, but lost to Johnny Depp for his voice role in Rango (2011). Levi has most recently starred as the title character in Shazam! (2019) and its 2023 sequel, and voiced the character of Rocky, taking over from Mel Gibson, in Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (2023). He also had a recurring role in Seasons 2 and 3 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017-23). Levi also appeared as Fandral in Thor: The Dark World (2013) and Thor: Ragnarok (2017), as well as being cast as Toby Seville in Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009), his proudest acting achievement, I’m sure. On television, he starred as the lead role of Chuck Bartowski in the action-comedy series Chuck (2007-12), and he won a Teen Choice Award for Choice TV Actor: Action in 2010 for this role. Levi also continues to reprise his voice role as Flynn for Disney.

Mother Gothel is a great Disney villain. She’s evil for her own purposes, not because of some sad backstory. She is selfish and vain, wanting Rapunzel only for her hair and the qualities it possesses and how they can help her. At times, at the start of the movie, you can almost believe that Mother Gothel has grown to care for Rapunzel after eighteen years of raising her, but then you realise that Rapunzel has been left alone while Mother Gothel goes about her day-to-day business, and that she makes mean remarks about Rapunzel, like comments on her weight, telling her she’s too weak to cope with the “real world”. In reality, Mother Gothel is just a narcissist, who’s jealous of Rapunzel’s youth and scared of what will happen if Rapunzel finds out who she really is.

It’s quite obvious that the relationship between Mother Gothel and Rapunzel is similar to that of Frollo and Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996). Mother Gothel spends most of her time trying to convince Rapunzel that life outside in the real world would be horrible and too much for her to handle so to just listen to her and stay inside, as Frollo does, under the illusion that they are trying to protect them, when actually they just want to keep them trapped and helpless. Mother Gothel is particularly evil at the end of the movie, as she has Rapunzel tied up in chains, prepared to drag her somewhere else to hide her away again, and stabs Flynn in the side – no wonder this film is a PG, setting a trend for future Disney films. That’s one of the most open acts of violence within a Disney film, similar to Gaston stabbing the Beast in Beauty and the Beast (1991). She’s a good villain anyway, and gets her “just desserts” by falling out of the tower to her death, joining the exclusive club of Disney villains who meet their fate that way – like Gaston.

Donna Murphy voices Mother Gothel. Murphy has starred in numerous musical theatre productions, and won two Tony Awards for her roles as Fosca in Passion from 1994 to 1995, and Anna Leonowens in The King and I from 1996 to 1997. After this, she played The Witch in Into the Woods in 2012, and was cast Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly! from 2017 to 2018, alternating with Bette Midler. In film, Murphy played Scarlett Johansson’s mother in The Nanny Diaries (2007); Rosie Octavius, Doctor Octopus’ wife, in Spider-Man 2 (2004), and appeared as Dita Mandy in The Bourne Legacy (2012). On television, Murphy appeared in the comedy series What About Joan? (2001) with Joan Cusack, and most recently, as Caroline Schermerhorn Astor in The Gilded Age (2022-present). Murphy has also returned to Disney to voice Mother Gothel when required.

Outside of the three main characters, we can mention some of the thugs and thieves. Firstly, the Stabbington Brothers, who are betrayed by Flynn after they help him steal the crown from the palace. He simply leaves them to get captured by the palace guards, so naturally the two brothers want to get back at him. In the end, they just end up working for Mother Gothel though, and don’t come across as particularly scary or evil; they don’t get much screen time really. Only one of the Stabbington Brothers actually speaks, and that voice is provided by Ron Perlman, who has had a long history of voice acting. He is the narrator of the video game Fallout (1997-present), as well as Lord Hood in Halo 2 (2004) and Halo 3 (2007). Perlman has also voiced Optimus Primal for the series Transformers: Power of the Primes (2018) and the film Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (2023). In 2004, Perlman was cast as Hellboy in the film of the same name and its 2008 sequel. In 2022, he also appeared as Podestà in Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022). He has reprised the voice role of the Stabbington Brothers for Disney when needed.

For the thugs at the Snuggly Duckling, Brad Garrett’s voice is probably the most recognisable as Hook Hand, the one who dreams of being a concert pianist. Garrett starred as Robert Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond (1996-2005), alongside Ray Romano, for which he won three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor. Known for his distinctive, deep voice, Garrett has voiced many characters for Disney and Pixar, including Dim in A Bug’s Life (1998), Bloat in Finding Nemo (2003), Gusteau in Ratatouille (2007), and Eeyore in Christopher Robin (2018). He also appeared in the movies The Pacifier (2005) with Vin Diesel, as Vice Principal Murney, and Music and Lyrics (2007), with Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore, as Chris, Hugh Grant’s character’s agent.

Finally, another big-name casting to mention is Jeffrey Tambor, as Big Nose Thug – nice name for a character – whose dream is to find true love. Tambor has had film roles such as Mayor Maywho in How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000); Tom Manning in Hellboy (2004) and its 2008 sequel; and Sid Garner in The Hangover trilogy (2009-13). On television, he appeared in the television series Arrested Development (2003-19) in the recurring role of George Bluth Sr. Tambor has also voiced characters for other animated movies, such as King Neptune in The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004), Carl Murphy in Monsters vs. Aliens (2009), and King Peppy in Trolls (2016).

Other than that, many other characters do not have any dialogue, with some of the thugs like Ulf, who likes mime and obviously can’t talk, not have any lines at all. Only Vlad, voiced by Richard Kiel, and Paul F. Tompkins as Short Thug, have lines out of the rest. There are also the animal sidekicks of palace horse Maximus, who acts more like a dog, sniffing out trails and relentlessly pursuing criminals, and Rapunzel’s little pet chameleon Pascal who isn’t much of a talker! One of the Disney animation artists, Kelly Lewis, had actually bought a chameleon around the time that this new Disney sidekick was being named, and named it Pascal, so Disney did the same. I’m glad Disney decided not to have the animal sidekicks talk for a change, but it might have been nice for Rapunzel’s parents, the King and Queen of Corona. to have had at least some dialogue. Even Aurora’s mother, Queen Leah, got a couple of lines in Sleeping Beauty (1959)!

MUSIC

After The Princess and the Frog (2009), a much-welcomed return to the Disney fairy-tale musical format, Disney Animation continued with this idea, developing Tangled as another Broadway-inspired musical. Once more, Alan Menken was brought in to write the music for this new feature. Menken had huge success composing for the majority of the “Disney Renaissance” films, such as The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), alongside Howard Ashman, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) with Stephen Schwartz, with the two also writing the music for Enchanted (2007).

For Home on the Range (2004), Disney’s final traditionally hand-drawn animation movie, Menken worked alongside lyricist Glenn Slater. Slater later wrote the lyrics for multiple stage productions, such as Sister Act the Musical, and the Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals School of Rock and Love Never Dies. For Disney, Slater had also written additional lyrics for the stage adaptation of The Little Mermaid (2008). Menken and Slater were asked to work together again for Disney’s Tangled. The two would also collaborate again on the Tangled spin-off series, Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure (2017-20).

The first song we hear is performed by Mandy Moore as Rapunzel, and it appears straight after the prologue, so we get straight into the music, which is something I like to see in movies. It is called “When Will My Life Begin?”, and it details Rapunzel’s life stuck in her tower, trying to find things to do to fill her days. We learn that Rapunzel has a dream to see “floating lights” that appear in the sky every year on her birthday, wanting to get out and see the world, but concerned her mother won’t let her. This song also has two reprises, with the first not appearing in the movie, only on the soundtrack. It sounds very hopeless, with Rapunzel almost accepting her isolation. The second reprise is much more fun, with Rapunzel finally being out of her tower, and feeling very proud of herself. I love how it builds towards the end, as she lists off all the things she can now go and do.

We also get a villain’s song in Tangled, performed by Donna Murphy as Mother Gothel. Perhaps a bit disappointingly, it does not sound scary or threatening, because it’s very theatrical, like Mother Gothel, and quite upbeat, even as she details all the horrible, awful things Rapunzel will experience in the world if she leaves the tower, and lists off Rapunzel’s flaws and weaknesses to her. It’s a funny villain’s song, at least, so I don’t mind it so much. I like the reprise more though, because that is actually more cruel, as Mother Gothel begins to show her true colours to Rapunzel. She tells Rapunzel she has “invented” her romance with Flynn, and that nobody could ever like her. When Rapunzel refuses to go home with her, Mother Gothel gets more and more angry, before storming off.

On a brighter note, there is also “I’ve Got a Dream”, performed by the thugs at the Snuggly Duckling. When you first watch it, it’s hilarious to see these “tough guys” singing about their hopes and dreams in such a sincere, innocent sort of way. But this is now my least favourite song in the movie, I think because the novelty wore off quite quickly; it’s clearly just supposed to be a comic relief moment for the kids, so it’s a bit one-dimensional.

For many, their favourite song in the film is the typical love song “I See the Light”. The scene is beautiful, with all the colourful lanterns. It is a very sweet song, and I did really love it when I first saw the film. Now, I realise that there are other Disney love songs that I personally prefer, but it’s obvious that this is one of the most popular ones that Disney has ever created for one of their animated movies. As more and more of Disney’s films have begun to veer away from romance, I feel like there will be less and less of these. If you think about it, other than the ones in Frozen (2013) and Frozen II (2019), i.e., “Love is an Open Door” and “Lost in the Woods”, there haven’t been any other love songs since Tangled.

“I See the Light” was nominated for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards in 2011, but lost to “We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3. I remember really wanting “I See the Light” to win the Oscar and it still irks me to this day that it didn’t. Toy Story 3 was an excellent film, but in my mind, there is no way “We Belong Together” is better than “I See the Light”. The song was also nominated for Best Original Song at the Golden Globes in 2011, but this time it lost to Burlesque’s “You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me”. Don’t worry, though; “I See the Light” did get some of the recognition it deserved by winning the Grammy for Best Song Written For Visual Media in 2012.

The last song in the film is the usual End Credits song. This time it’s a soft rock song called “Something That I Want”, written and performed by Grace Potter from the rock band Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. It’s not a bad song by any means, and it does match the happy note that the movie ends on, but I’m not a big fan of this song.

Of the score, I have a few instrumental pieces that I particularly like, as is typical for me with an Alan Menken score. I particularly like “Kingdom Dance”, as it has a folk music feel to it, to match the fact it is being performed by the townspeople within the Kingdom of Corona. At this point in the film, Flynn and Rapunzel are looking around the kingdom and are then basically forced to join in with a group dance in the town square! This then leads in to “Waiting for the Lights”, which I really like as well, especially when the lanterns are released by the King and Queen, and the piece becomes hopeful and powerful, like all of the kingdom are praying for the return of their lost princess. Finally, I like the party atmosphere of “Kingdom Celebration”, which plays as we learn that everyone is now happy together in the Kingdom of Corona, finally achieving their dreams. Again, it’s quite folk-like in sound.

PRODUCTION

The idea to make Tangled first came from Disney animator Glen Keane. After a few years of developing the idea, Keane pitched the idea to Disney CEO at the time, Michael Eisner, in 2001, where the project was approved, but only on the agreement that it be computer-animated instead of hand-drawn. In 2003, an announcement came from Disney stating that the movie would be released in 2007 under the title Rapunzel Unbraided. The movie was going to be more like DreamWorks’ 2001 hit Shrek than the traditional Disney fairy-tale. But in 2006, the project was shut down.

Not for long though. When Disney and Pixar merged, John Lasseter took over as Chief Creative Officer of the Disney Studios and insisted that Rapunzel Unbraided go back into production. Unfortunately, in 2009, Glen Keane stepped down as director due to ill health, so Bryon Howard and Nathan Greno took charge instead, with the project now being known as simply Rapunzel, with the final film being very different to Keane’s original idea[6]. Greno had worked as Head of Story on Bolt (2008), with Howard directing the movie.

At some point around 2009 or early 2010, Disney decided to change the name of the movie from Rapunzel to Tangled. This led people to speculate that the title had been changed to give the movie a wider appeal, as one of the reasons that The Princess and the Frog (2009) potentially struggled at the box-office was because having the word “princess” in the movie title may have been off-putting to boys, cutting off half of the market. The directors stated that it was actually because they decided that the film was no longer just about Rapunzel anymore. Their reasoning was that the film had been created for a duo, the movie following both Rapunzel and Flynn Rider, so they needed a title that represented that. Others claim that as the trailer pushed Flynn Rider front and centre that this was further evidence that Disney were trying to market Tangled as a movie for boys as well as girls. Greno and Howard said that the film did not change at all from the first screening, and the idea was always going to follow both Flynn and Rapunzel together[7]. It is quite clear that Disney moved quite far away from the original tale of Rapunzel, so to me, it seems fair to change the name to something snappier and to distance themselves from from the typical fairy-tale format.

The basic idea of Tangled is based on the Brothers Grimm version of Rapunzel, who were in turn inspired by an 11^th century tale from Persia, and a French fairy tale of the 1600s. Other than the general idea of a girl with long hair being locked in a tower and meeting a prince, Disney’s story varies significantly. In the original tale, Rapunzel is not royalty, but the daughter of peasants who give up their daughter to a sorceress in exchange for a healing plant, known as rapunzel. After many years, a prince is drawn to the tower by her singing and climbs up to meet her. The two make a plan to run away together after discovering Rapunzel is pregnant, however, Gothel finds out before they can get away, cuts off Rapunzel’s hair, and banishes her into the wilderness. Gothel then tells the prince when he arrives to take Rapunzel away that he will never see her again. Devasted by this news, he falls from the tower, and though he survives, he falls into a thorn bush and is blinded. Eventually the two find each other in the woods, and her tears cure his blindness. The Sondheim musical Into the Woods more or less uses this original story for their own Rapunzel character, with Disney’s Into the Woods (2014) only making minor changes to it.

Originally, Disney wanted to do a traditional illustrated storybook opening, like they had done for many of their other fairy-tale films, with an invisible female narrator. Much of the information from the prologue was the same as the final film, of the healing flower and Rapunzel being stolen by Mother Gothel, but in the end, it was decided they wanted something different and original for this contemporary take on a fairy tale[8]. Certainly, having someone start a film by saying “This is the story of how I died” gets people’s attention!

Having Tangled be completely computer-generated was an excellent opportunity to experiment with the technology which had been tested on various Disney movies throughout the years, mixing CG with 2D traditional animation. With improvements to the technology when Tangled was in production, it was much easier for the animators to work together with the software, and to be able to move the characters in more realistic ways, and be more daring with the imagery. For example, when Flynn and Rapunzel are being chased by guards through that rocky canyon, this whole sequence looks almost like a computer game, showing just how adventurous Disney could now be with their ideas.

Another important aspect to Tangled was Rapunzel’s hair, a particularly tricky feature. Rapunzel was the first computer-generated Disney princess, but her hair alone is 70ft, or 21m, long. It took three years and a whole new software program to animate it. Glen Keane had done multiple rough model sheets to show how Rapunzel might play with her hair to express her emotions[9]. The animators knew that the hair had to always look beautiful, that it had to swoop and twist as natural hair does, not just sitting in one position. The final image ended up having over 100,000 individual strands of hair! Glen Keane had been no stranger to designing and drawing characters with hair problems. He was determined to draw Ariel for The Little Mermaid (1989) her hair always being like a cloud of red; the Beast had all this fur; and Pocahontas’ hair was being moved by the wind. Even with these characters, the hair helped communicate their personality and their desires. With Ariel’s hair always floating around, it shows her dreamy side, and how she wants to be somewhere else; Pocahontas’ hair with the wind shows her spiritual side. Rapunzel’s hair had to communicate how self-sufficient and strong she is, and that she has a destiny, literally tied to her hair.

For the scenery and backgrounds, they are full of colour for the most part. Rapunzel’s tower is even beautifully decorated and there are many scenes of lush landscaping. Within the Kingdom of Corona, lots of purples, golds, and blues are used to make the town look visually appealing. One of my favourite scenes in Tangled is the montage we see of Flynn and Rapunzel enjoying their day at the kingdom on her birthday, because it’s so bright, and it’s interesting to see all the different styles of architecture within the kingdom’s buildings. The sun setting also shows the buildings in new lights as the day turns to evening. I also especially like the scene when Rapunzel finds out she is the lost princess, and she is looking at all the paintings around her room. She suddenly realises that the sun shape, the crest of Corona, is hidden within all of her paintings, and that’s when she knows that is where she belongs, and her whole life has been a lie. It looks brilliant.

The floating lanterns are particularly impressive too. In that one sequence there are 45,000 lanterns. The Disney team used inspiration from similar ceremonies that are held in the Far East and in Indonesia, where thousands and thousands are released at once. The directors knew something like that would look great in CGI[10].

RECEPTION

Tangled was released in November 2010, just in time for Thanksgiving and the festive period. Disney fans in other countries had to wait a little bit longer, with Tangled not being released in certain countries until 2011. In the UK, it was not released until 28^th January 2011, so it missed out on the Christmas and New Year crowds in some areas. There were 3D showings for Tangled at the theatres as well. I believe I watched Tangled in 3D at the cinema and the floating lanterns did look pretty good in that format.

It turns out 2010 potentially was not the best time for Disney Animation to release a movie as there was huge amounts of competition. In animation, DreamWorks had released How to Train Your Dragon in March 2010, which would become just one movie in a major franchise for the studio, and Despicable Me was released in July 2010, with this also being the first film of a huge franchise. Shrek Forever After was also released by DreamWorks in May 2010, and Tangled received internal competition from Pixar’s Toy Story 3, which hit theatres in June 2010. Outside of animation, and with a more direct threat, we can’t forget that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 was released roughly a week before Tangled. It was a big year for cinema, especially for families and children.

But have no fear, because Tangled, with an estimated budget of $260 million, made just over $200 million domestically, so perhaps a bit disappointing, but ended its run on a worldwide total of around $590 million, becoming the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2010 at the worldwide box office; Toy Story 3 was top of the list.

Tangled did receive many positive reviews, with critics praising the visual look of the movie in particular, with one even calling Tangled the best-looking Disney animated feature film since Sleeping Beauty (1959) [11]. The story and script contained a good mix of humour and adventure and many also stated that they liked the new direction Disney had taken in creating a more powerful, driven female character, instead of the typical princess. The supporting characters were also praised, and most were a fan of Disney’s newest villainess. There was the odd negative comment, such as the film potentially not being “good enough” to stand up as Disney’s 50^th animated classic, but those were few and far between.

When Tangled was released, the public were quick to compare it to the previous Disney animated release, The Princess and the Frog (2009). These comparisons were more favourable to Tangled in general, showing it had wider appeal. However, of the two, I personally prefer The Princess and the Frog, because the return to traditional 2D animation, after a number of CGI flops, and the “Broadway musical style” was welcomed by myself. It also made people sit up and pay attention to Disney Animation again. But that’s just my opinion, and I can see that Tangled perhaps did more to confirm that Disney Animation did in fact have the attentions of the public again.

However, despite this positive reception, Tangled was not nominated in the Best Animated Film category at the Academy Awards, surprisingly, with there only being three nominees in total in this category. Those were How to Train Your Dragon, The Illusionist, and Toy Story 3, which won the award. At the Annie Awards and the Golden Globes, Tangled did receive nominations in this category, but lost out to How to Train Your Dragon at the Annies, and to Toy Story 3 at the Golden Globes, missing out on any major awards for the movie.

LEGACY

But Tangled kept its status as one of Disney’s most popular contemporary hits, especially at the time, and successfully spanned a huge franchise. On screen, we were first treated to Tangled Ever After, a short focusing on Flynn and Rapunzel’s wedding where Pascal and Maximus have to hunt for the wedding rings over the kingdom. This was released in 2012 with the 3D theatrical re-release of Beauty and the Beast (1991). It tied up the events of the movie nicely, giving Rapunzel her own “fairy-tale wedding” fit for a princess.

This short then led to a made-for-television Disney Channel Original Movie in 2017 called Tangled: Before Ever After which is set between Tangled and Tangled Ever After, specifically six months after the events of the first film, as Rapunzel is set to be coronated as Princess of Corona. From this, there was then a spin-off television series called Tangled: The Series, renamed after Season 1 to Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure, continuing on from the television film story. There were three seasons of the series, running from 2017 to 2020. The series won five Daytime Emmy Awards, for its animation, its writing, its main title, and its music. and one Annie Award for character design.

So, if you wanted to watch all the Tangled projects in chronological order, you’d need to watch Tangled, then Tangled: Before Ever After, then Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure and finally Tangled Ever After. Given all the interruptions and difficulties that Rapunzel and Flynn face during the television series, it’s probably not too much of a surprise to find that Tangled Ever After, their wedding, apparently takes place three years after the events of Tangled – despite being released only two years later than the film, and five years before any other spin-off. No theatrical sequel to Tangled itself has ever been announced.

Despite many fans of Tangled calling for Disney to make a live-action version of the film, a Tangled remake has not yet been confirmed. As Disney basically announced that they were going to remake practically every animated feature they have ever made at one point, this has led many to speculate it is just a matter of time, with some fans enjoying posting their choice castings on social media.

In early April 2024, a social media post, which was soon deleted, stated that Milo Manheim, who plays Zed in Disney’s ZOMBIES (2018-present) franchise, was screen testing for the part of Flynn Rider. Manheim had previously expressed interested in playing the part of Flynn in an interview promoting ZOMBIES 3 (2022), potentially alongside his ZOMBIES co-star Meg Donnelly as Rapunzel. However, this post stated that Avantika Vandanapu, who recently starred as Karen in Mean Girls (2024), was actually screen testing for the part of Rapunzel alongside Manheim. Despite the post reportedly being purely fan-led, and Disney never confirming that a live-action Tangled is even in the works, this led to many stating their views on the casting choice, with a handful expressing anger at Avantika Vandanapu for “not looking anything like Rapunzel”[12]. The exact same thing happened when Halle Bailey was cast as Ariel for the 2023 live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, and frankly, it’s ridiculous. I really wish people would stop doing this. If you don’t like the casting choice for any film, for whatever reason, then just don’t watch it. You don’t need to vent your feelings on social media, because it is insensitive, disrespectful, and offensive to the actors that you are talking about. Just don’t do it. It’s hard enough being in the public eye without being attacked for stupid reasons like this.

At the Disney Parks, there are a few references to Tangled with more coming in the next couple of years. At Walt Disney World, in Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland, strangely enough, there is an area dedicated to Tangled – it just happens to be restrooms! In this heavily-themed area, opened in 2013, Rapunzel’s Tower can be seen high above the area, with the actual restrooms being themed to houses from the Kingdom of Corona, complete with bunting. You can also spot the various Pascals that have been hidden around there. It’s a very popular area to sit down and charge your phone too, as the benches have charging points. This area was a much-needed redesign of the old Skyway station that had ceased operation in 1999. Aside from toilets, Rapunzel, Flynn, and the ruffians appear during the Mickey’s Magical Friendship Faire stage show to perform “I Have a Dream”. Rapunzel and Flynn did meet guests regularly in the years after Tangled’s release, either at Epcot or Magic Kingdom, but they are harder to see together now. They used to be at the Bon Voyage Adventure character breakfast at Trattoria al Forno at Boardwalk, but this has not returned since the COVID-19 pandemic. Rapunzel has been known to still appear by herself at Fairytale Hall at Fantasyland in Magic Kingdom though. There is also a very pretty Tangled mosaic mural at Disney’s Riviera Resort.

At Disneyland, as part of Storytelling at Royal Theatre in Fantasyland, you can watch a retelling of the Tangled story. Rapunzel and Flynn are also regularly spotted meeting guests at Disneyland, and Rapunzel may be one of the visiting princesses at the Disney Princess Breakfast Adventure character breakfast at Disney’s Grand Californian Resort. Mother Gothel has even been seen at the Oogie Boogie Bash at Disney California Adventure for the Halloween season in 2022 and 2023.

At Disneyland Paris, as part of their rebranding of the Walt Disney Studios Park to Disney Adventure World, it was announced that they are looking to add a new Tangled attraction. To be called Raiponce Tangled Spin, it will be a typical teacups attraction, but with guests sitting in gondolas, like the one Rapunzel and Flynn ride in to see the “floating lights”. A miniature scene of Rapunzel’s Tower, complete with her hair braid coming out of the top window, can also be seen on Les Pays des Contes de Fées, the Paris version of the Storybook Land Canal Boats. For meet-and-greets, Rapunzel and Flynn were seen at the Passholder Party in March 2023, but are not regularly seen in the parks.

At Shanghai Disneyland, there is a whole scene of Rapunzel and Flynn with the floating lanterns within the Voyage to the Crystal Grotto ride. Within the show Mickey’s Storybook Adventure, Rapunzel also sings “I See the Light” as part of the Princess Trio section, with Mulan and Moana. Though this overall show is generally the same as the one in Hong Kong Disneyland, Mickey and the Wondrous Book, in this case, Hong Kong’s version actually shows Rapunzel singing “When Will My Life Begin?” alongside Ariel and Merida. Also at Hong Kong Disneyland, a section of the walkthrough attraction Fairy Tale Forest is dedicated to Tangled. In terms of meet-and-greets, Rapunzel and Flynn have been seen in the park recently, with Mother Gothel appearing in 2021 for Halloween.

But the most exciting Tangled addition arrived in June 2024 at Tokyo Disneyland. As part of their Fantasy Springs expansion for Tokyo DisneySea, an area dedicated to Frozen, another to Peter Pan, and a final one especially for Tangled were added to the park. In the area themed to Tangled, there is a quick-service restaurant called the Snuggly Duckling, named for the tavern in the film, as well as a dark ride called Rapunzel’s Lantern Festival. The boat ride does not follow events from the movie exactly, but focuses on Flynn and Rapunzel’s romance instead. The animatronics look great and the lantern scene in particular looks amazing. Since the Germany pavilion at Walt Disney World’s Epcot was supposed to have a boat ride when it first opened, and because Rapunzel is a German fairy tale, I think Rapunzel’s Lantern Festival would fit nicely there… The Fantasy Springs Hotel with also see some Tangled theming, as well as some from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Sleeping Beauty (1959). Rapunzel and Flynn have been seen at Tokyo Disneyland previously, but are less frequently seen now. They should be more available here now that Fantasy Springs has opened.

Generally, due to the popularity of the film, songs and clips from Tangled have appeared in nighttime shows including Disney Dreams! in Disneyland Paris, Disneyland’s Fantasmic!, and Happily Ever After at Walt Disney World. The characters also appear in parades, such as Festival of Fantasy at Walt Disney World, which includes many of the ruffians and Ulf the mime, and Harmony in Color at Tokyo Disneyland, where Rapunzel is even swinging by her hair! Not her actual hair, obviously. That would be a health and safety issue. Any children that want to dress up as Rapunzel can also do that at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique locations that exist in the Disney Parks around the world.

FINAL THOUGHTS

All this shows just how popular Tangled is, not only as a film but an entire franchise. I do like Tangled, and I like the majority of the characters: Mother Gothel is a great Disney villain, there are lots of fun moments between Maximus and Flynn, and Rapunzel and Pascal, plus the gang of ruffians. The film also looks visually amazing.

The best thing though is that it certainly continued to spark a new direction for Disney Animation which has gone on to make many more brilliant movies and push the boundaries of more contemporary stories, and technological advancements since 2010.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Kaitlyn Nickol, ‘Celebrating 10 Years of Tangled: How Rapunzel Modernized The Disney Princess’, Atom (online), 24^th November 2020.

[2] Credit: Jim Fanning, The Disney Book: A Celebration of the World of Disney (2016).

[3] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Tangled’, pp. 148-150.

[4] Credit: Disney, “Untangled: The Making of a Fairy Tale”, from Tangled (2010) Blu-Ray (2011).

[5] Credit; Chris Morgan, ’20 facts you might not know about ‘Tangled’’, Yard Barker (online), 4^th November 2022.

[6] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Tangled’, pp. 148-150.

[7] Credit: Adam Markovitz, ‘How did Rapunzel become ‘Tangled?’ Directors Nathan Greno and Bryon Howard set the record straight’, Entertainment Weekly (online), updated 24^th November 2010.

[8] Credit: Disney, “Storybook Openings”, from Tangled (2010) Blu-Ray (2011).

[9] Credit: Jim Fanning, The Disney Book: A Celebration of the World of Disney (2016).

[10] Credit: Disney, “Untangled: The Making of a Fairy Tale”, from Tangled (2010) Blu-Ray (2011).

[11] Credit: Helen O’Hara, ‘Tangled Review’, Empire (online), 2^nd January 2011.

[12] Credit: Edward Segarra, ‘Avantika Vandanapu receives backlash for rumored casting as Rapunzel in ‘Tangled’ remake’, USAToday.com, date unknown.

15th Mar 202428th Jun 2024 by The Disney Purist

#43 Treasure Planet (2002)

BACKGROUND

Ah, Treasure Planet. A futuristic coming-of-age story, complete with space pirates, space whales, hidden treasure, and a new cool sport: solar surfing – all the teens are doing it.

It was a project two decades in the making with two directors who had proven their worth throughout the Disney “Renaissance Era”. Plus, it combined all the magic of Disney’s traditional 2D animation style with all the amazement of technological advancements. It had all the ingredients to be the next big hit. And yet, Treasure Planet became one of Disney’s worst ever financial flops…So, what went wrong?

Well, in my mind, Treasure Planet is actually a very enjoyable film, with lots of heart and plenty of great art. I think it was a victim of bad timing and changing audience tastes.

After a whole decade of amazing movies that shaped an entire generation of children, with many of those still enjoying watching them as adults, Disney began to struggle in the 2000s. They were competing with the likes of Pixar, Blue Sky Studios, who released their first Ice Age movie in 2002, and DreamWorks, who were making full-length computer-animated films that weren’t just funny, but hilarious for children and adults alike. Disney, on the other hand, weren’t entirely sure what they were doing, and in changing their tried-and-tested formula of the musical fairy tale, they took some big risks that mostly didn’t work out.

However, in 2002, there was Lilo & Stitch, released in June, just five months before Treasure Planet. It was an original story and a non-musical, and it did exceptionally well, so that must’ve given the team working on Treasure Planet hope that their film would do well also. Yet it did not and Treasure Planet was left to struggle at the box-office. It was then forgotten for many years afterwards.

I remember when I first watched Treasure Planet. Not in the cinema, but once it had been released on DVD. Though we had watched a lot of the “Renaissance Era” films at the cinema, this must have been around the time where we weren’t that determined to watch Disney films as soon as they came out – because they were not as good as they used to be. I didn’t like Treasure Planet when I first watched it. My sister did, but I thought it was boring – and where were the princesses, and the songs? So, I never wanted to watch it again. It’s a science-fiction film, an action film, and a fantasy film all at once, and none of those genres used to appeal to me. It wasn’t until years later that I decided to re-watch and see what I thought of it. And you know what? I actually really liked it – I’ll happily admit that I was wrong and when I was younger, I’d completely missed the whole emotional grip of the film. If you re-watch Treasure Planet as an adult, you’ll also see that the film is full of brilliant quotes, and hilarious one-liners.

PLOT

For anyone not familiar with the plot of this or Treasure Island, as it sticks fairly closely to the original story, just with the obvious change of it being set in space, the film starts off with a young Jim Hawkins listening to his holographic, pop-up, audio storybook that tells the story of Captain Nathaniel Flint, a notorious space pirate who has been storing all of his treasure in a mysterious place called “Treasure Planet” that nobody else has found. The film then jumps to Jim as a wayward teenager, getting in trouble with the police, generally not having a plan in life, and spending a lot of time “solar surfing”, which is like a mix of hoverboarding and skateboarding. His mother runs an inn called the Benbow Inn, and is at her wit’s end trying to figure out what to do about Jim. Later, a pirate called Billy Bones crash-lands outside the inn and gives Jim a small golden sphere to keep hold of just as he dies. The inn is then broken into by a cyborg and his crew who Bones had warned was following him. Jim, his mother, and their family friend, Dr. Delbert Doppler, manage to escape; however, the inn is set on fire and completely destroyed.

At Dr. Doppler’s home, Jim discovers that this sphere is actually a map to Treasure Planet. Jim and Dr. Doppler decide to set off on a voyage to find this planet, with Dr. Doppler financing the trip. They board the RLS Legacy with feline Captain Amelia, her first mate Mr. Arrow, and a crew of ruffians. Jim is put to work on the ship, which I think is really unfair, because he was given the map and figured out what it was after all, why should he have to work when this is all happening because of him? Anyway, Jim is ordered to work under the supervision of John Silver, the cyborg cook, who Jim is suspicious of right from the start as Billy Bones had told him in his dying breath: “beware the cyborg”. Jim does, however, like Silver’s shape-shifting pink glob pet, Morph.

The RLS Legacy sets sail, though Captain Amelia remains concerned about some of the crew on board, not liking this crew that Dr. Doppler hired. The voyage is not without struggles, like the ship almost being sucked into a supernova and black hole which threatens to consume all of them. Jim and Silver have become close during their time working together after their initial dislike for one another, but in the chaos of the black hole, Jim is blamed for the death of Mr. Arrow. Jim is devastated, believing he checked all of the crew’s ropes that kept them attached to the ship, their “lifelines”. Little does Jim know that indeed some of this crew is dodgy, because the spider-like Scroop deliberately cut Mr. Arrow’s lifeline rope and sent him spiralling into deep space.

The dodgy crew becomes more dodgy shortly after the RLS Legacy begins to approach Treasure Planet. It soon becomes clear that Silver is actually running this crew and he is after the treasure. Him and the crew commandeer the ship, leaving Amelia, Doppler and Jim to escape quickly, grabbing the spherical map to ensure Silver can’t get it, and they crash onto a strange planet. Amelia is injured in the escape. Jim meets a crazy robot called B.E.N. who helps him figure out that this planet is actually Treasure Planet. Jim then works out that the map is actually Morph, who shape-shifted into the map during the chaotic escape. Jim realises that the real map is still on the ship. Jim, Morph and B.E.N. watch as Silver and his crew land on Treasure Planet and they steal a small boat to get back onto the RLS Legacy to look for the map. Jim is attacked by Scroop as he does so, but through some quick-thinking and some mis-steps by B.E.N. that cause him to disable the artificial gravity, Jim manages to push Scroop out into deep space.

On returning to Amelia and Dr. Doppler, Jim, B.E.N. and Morph see that the two have been captured by Silver and his crew, and Jim is forced to give up the map. They discover that the map is actually full of portals, with one of the portals allowing them to get to the centre of Treasure Planet. In the centre, they find the whole area covered in treasure and Silver’s crew begin to collect it up. For some reason, B.E.N. is reminded of something but as he does not have his memory, he can’t recall what is troubling him. Jim discovers the skeleton of Captain Flint, the hoarder of the treasure, holding B.E.N.’s memory circuit. Jim reinstalls it, which allows B.E.N. to remember everything. He tells the others that Captain Flint rigged the planet to explode if ever his treasure was discovered, and that his memory was pulled out of him so that this secret would never be revealed.

Everyone quickly tries to escape the centre of the planet as it begins to explode. Silver abandons his treasure to help Jim, who almost falls to his death, and they get everyone back on board the RLS Legacy again to leave the planet. However, the ship has been damaged and will not be able to outrun the explosion. Jim figures out that they can use the map’s portals to simply exit to a different location. He quickly builds a mini solar surfing board and makes his way to the map to change portal destinations as Dr. Doppler steers the RLS Legacy towards it. They succeed, returning to Montressor, as the whole planet explodes behind them. Later on, Jim sees Silver trying to leave without being seen. Despite Silver holding him hostage on Treasure Planet and tricking him into believing he was one of the good guys, Jim allows him to go, although it is clear that he will miss his newfound friend. Silver offers for Jim to go along with him, but Jim doesn’t want to, realising that Silver taught him to “chart his own course”. Silver heads away, but leaves Jim with Morph and half of the treasure he managed to steal, so that Jim’s mother can rebuild the Benbow Inn – that Silver just so happened to destroy… Silver also tells Jim that he is something special.

Back home in Montressor, the Benbow Inn has been rebuilt and B.E.N. is now a waiter; Dr. Doppler and Amelia have four children; and Jim has become a cadet at the Interstellar Academy. As the party at the Benbow goes on, Jim looks up to the sky and sees an image of Silver in the clouds, showing that Silver will always be watching over him.

CHARACTERS & CAST

In my opinion, all the characters in Treasure Planet are well-developed and all of them serve a purpose to the overall story. Jim is a typical teenager at the start of the film, albeit not one you really want to root for. He’s a trouble-maker, who gives his mother constant reason for worry, even though it’s clear Jim doesn’t mean to be a problem; he just doesn’t know what he wants to be or how to be himself. He represents a lot of teenagers, not knowing what to do or how to feel, struggling to deal with past trauma, and generally feeling quite confused and lost. Jim Hawkins was made to be slightly older in Treasure Planet than he seems to be in the book Treasure Island, and that was to widen the appeal of the movie to teenagers, as Disney is predominantly known for making “kids’ movies”, something that instantly uninterests most teens. Jim goes on an emotional “coming-of-age” journey throughout the film, with his relationship with Silver having much to do with that. Despite initial friction between the two, Silver ends up being a mentor and father-figure to Jim, something that he very much needs after his own father ran out on him and his mother.

Silver and Jim have some very touching moments during Treasure Planet, such as when they say goodbye at the end of the film and when Jim is blamed for Mr. Arrow’s death; he feels hopeless again after having gained some confidence, until Silver comes over and tells him that the incident wasn’t his fault, and “you’ve got the makings of greatness in you”. It’s a sweet and heart-warming scene – especially when you realise that Silver is actually the bad guy here! John Silver is a great “villain” in Treasure Planet, because he has hidden depths to his character. He’s torn between carrying out his mission, and obsession of finally getting his hands on the treasure, but he also ends up caring about Jim and doesn’t want him to get hurt, or get caught up in the middle of his scheme. Silver is also very funny at times, with his crazy cyborg mechanics and some great lines of dialogue.

Jim Hawkins is voiced Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Gordon-Levitt began his career as a child actor, starring in movies such as A River Runs Through It (1992) and Angels in the Outfield (1994), and in the television series 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996-2001) as Tommy. He later appeared in 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), before working on Treasure Planet. In more recent years, he has starred in movies such as 500 Days of Summer (2009), Lincoln (2012), Snowden (2016), in the title role, and The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020).

John Silver is voiced by Brian Murray, a South African actor, who had roles on stage, screen, and in radio throughout his career. He received three Tony Award nominations for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performances in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead in 1968, The Little Foxes in 1997, and The Crucible in 2002. Murray directed stage productions as well, such as Blithe Spirit in 1987. On screen, Murray appeared in The League of Gentleman (1960). Murray was also nominated for an Annie Award for his voice acting as Silver in Treasure Planet in 2002. He passed away in August 2018.

Let’s not forget Silver’s little sidekick, the lovable Morph. Morph is the shape-shifting blob who doesn’t talk but fills the screen with such cheeky personality it’s impossible not to like him and laugh at the silly things he does to annoy or entertain Jim and Silver. Morph is so adorable and even though he doesn’t say anything, he really lights up the screen. Morph is meant to be like Silver’s pet parrot in the original Treasure Island novel. Morph ended up being a completely hand-drawn character, by animator Mike Show, as it was too difficult to transform Morph into all the objects and people he turns into using CGI. The character’s design was inspired by how water moves in zero-gravity. Morph is voiced Sound Editor Dane Davis, who won the Academy Award for Best Sound Editing in 2000 for The Matrix (1999).

Then, there is the odd couple of Captain Amelia and Dr. Doppler, who have a funny dynamic, but they are very likeable as a couple and as characters here. They start off hating each other, and end up falling in love. They both have some of the best lines, like Amelia saying “Cup of tea, and I’ll be right as rain” after she gets shot, which is so typically British, and “You can’t help people with a doctorate, you just sit there, and you’re useless.” Dr. Doppler is a bit square and awkward, a dog-like astronomer, so kind of nerdy as well, whereas Captain Amelia is the stoic and straight-talking feline captain of the RLS Legacy. She doesn’t suffer fools gladly – and one of those fools just happens to be Dr. Doppler at the start – and she is not afraid to use her authority to get things done right. If there had to be a love story within Treasure Planet, I’m glad it was between these two completely different personalities. It just shows that opposites do attract! Supposedly, there was actually a line cut from the final edit of the film that would’ve stated that Doppler had actually given birth to their four children; it was decided this was probably too much information for the kids!

Captain Amelia is voiced by Dame Emma Thompson, who made Amelia such a great character by voicing her lines with so much dry humour and sarcasm. Again, very British. She was very enthusiastic about voicing the character. Thompson was made a Dame in 2018 by Queen Elizabeth II, many years after her very successful career in acting began. Thompson has had numerous roles on stage and screen, both serious, dramatic and comedic roles. She was actually a member of the Cambridge Footlights, a comedy troupe, whilst at Cambridge University so began her on-screen career as a comedian. She was part of the comedy group at the same time as other well-known actors and comedians, such as Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. Following on from this, she starred in numerous adaptations of Shakespeare plays, and period dramas, such as Howards End (1992), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress, and The Remains of the Day (1993). Just a couple of years later, she wrote the screenplay for and starred as Elinor Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility (1995), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. From then on, Dame Emma Thompson has continued to light up our screens, with roles like Professor Trelawny in the Harry Potter film series; Nanny McPhee in Nanny McPhee (2005) and its 2010 sequel; and as one of the ensemble cast in Richard Curtis’ Love Actually (2003). For Disney and Pixar, Thompson voiced the character of Queen Elinor in Brave (2012), gave a heart-wrenching performance as P.L. Travers in Saving Mr. Banks (2013), and became the snobby, and “cruel”, Baroness von Hellman for Cruella (2021).

David Hyde Pierce voiced Dr. Doppler. He continues to be most well-known for his role as Dr. Niles Crane on the sitcom Frasier (1993-2004), for which he won four Primetime Emmy Awards for Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, along with two Screen Actors Guild Awards, one for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series, and one as part of the Ensemble Cast award. In a way, Dr. Doppler is a bit like Niles! David Hyde Pierce was asked to voice Dr. Doppler whilst he was working on Pixar’s A Bug’s Life (1998), in which he voiced the stick insect, Slim. He loved the character of Doppler and was very happy to voice him. He has continued to work on screen and stage, in productions such as Spamalot from 2004 to 2006, where he played Sir Robin, and as Horace Vandergelder in Hello, Dolly! on Broadway from 2017 to 2018. Most recently, he appeared in the series Julia (2022-23) as Julia Child’s husband, Paul, and on stage is set to play the role of Major General in The Pirates of Penzance on Broadway in 2025.

The final main character to mention is B.E.N., the nervy, crazy robot. His name stands for Bio Electronic Navigator, but it’s just easier to call him B.E.N. He’s absolutely hilarious because he has no idea how to talk to anyone, having been isolated on Treasure Planet for so long, so he has no concept of how to behave in a social setting, and ends up talking super-loudly, even when Jim tries to shut him up, and is desperate for Jim to like him and be his friend. B.E.N. is an entirely CGI character.

B.E.N. is voiced by comedic actor Martin Short, who got his big break appearing alongside Steve Martin and Chevy Chase in the comedy film ¡Three Amigos! (1986), after starring in sketch comedy shows such as SCTV (Second City Television) from 1982 to 1983, and then in Saturday Night Live from 1984 to 1985. In the 1990s, he teamed up with Steve Martin again to be a complete scene-sealer as Franck Eggelhoffer in Father of the Bride (1991) and its 1995 sequel, and its 2020 short film. Short has also portrayed roles in numerous Disney projects, like for theme park attractions such as CinéMagique for Disneyland Paris, which ran from 2002 to 2017; The Making of Me for the Wonders of Life pavilion in Epcot – the less said about that, the better – which lasted from 1989 to 2007; and O Canada!, running from 2007 to 2019 for the Canada pavilion in Epcot; and in Disney’s films, like a voice part in 101 Dalmatians II: Patch’s London Adventure, as Jack Frost in The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (2006), and as Lumière in Beauty and the Beast: A 30^th Celebration (2022). Short also continues to voice characters for animated children’s films that aren’t Disney, such as Stefano in Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (2012) for DreamWorks and Father Willoughby in The Willoughbys (2020) for Netflix. Currently, Martin Short continues to perform shows with his long-time friend and comedy sparring partner Steve Martin, as well as act with him and Selena Gomez in the popular comedy-mystery series Only Murders in the Building (2021-present). Can you tell I’m a big fan of his?

There are a few other supporting characters to mention as well. One of these is Scroop, the “spider psycho” as Jim and Morph like to call him! He is a very scary character, with his deep, gravelly voice having a lot to do with that, as well as his spider-like characteristics, like huge eyes, fangs and claws. Michael Wincott voices the character, and some of his credits include Guy of Gisbourne in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991); Ed Gein in Hitchcock (2012); and hacker Adrian Cross on the TV miniseries 24: Live Another Day (2014). The secretive, dying pirate Billy Bones, who Jim Hawkins meets at the start of the movie and receives the map from, was voiced by Patrick McGoohan in his final film role. McGoohan had appeared in the British television series Danger Man (1960-68), for which he won a BAFTA award for Best Actor; Escape from Alcatraz (1979) as Warden Arthur Dollison; and as King Edward Longshanks in Braveheart (1995). Supposedly, McGoohan had a cold when it came time for him to record lines for Billy Bones. The animators weren’t concerned as Bones had to sound like he was unwell, so it worked for them[1]!

A few more actors to mention are the voices of Jim’s mother, Mr. Arrow, and the narrator of Jim’s bedtime story. Jim’s kind, but exasperated, mother is voiced by Laurie Metcalfe, known as the voice of Andy’s mother in the Toy Story franchise of films to Disney fans. The strait-laced Mr. Arrow is voiced by Roscoe Lee Browne, who had voiced Francis in Oliver & Company (1988) for Disney, and Tony Jay is the narrator of the bedtime story. He had voiced Monsieur D’Arque in Beauty and the Beast (1991) and Frollo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) before Treasure Planet. There are so many brilliant actors credited in Treasure Plant, I wonder whether many of them even remember doing this film, and if they do, whether they are proud of it…. I hope so. The script is so full of humour that it’s easy to stay interested and involved in the story, and I think the actors have a lot to do with that.

MUSIC

Moving on to the music. Treasure Planet, like most of the other Disney animated movies released in the 2000s, is not a musical, unlike the movies of the Disney “Renaissance”. Although it does include some songs, they are not sung by any of the characters. There are only two songs in the movie, both written by John Rzeznik, founder and frontman of the rock band The Goo Goo Dolls, who had hits with songs like “Iris”, “Slide”, and “Better Days”.

Rzeznik wrote the song “I’m Still Here”, which is also known as “Jim’s Theme”. It plays during the sequence where Silver is teaching Jim how to be a real space sailor and learn some responsibility, but we also see some backstory of Jim’s father leaving him and his mother without even saying goodbye to Jim. This shows the hurt that Jim has kept inside him for all those years and why he acts out, getting himself in trouble. This is Jim saying how lost he feels and wondering why no-one seems to see anything of worth in him. This is my favourite of the two songs, so there wasn’t much to choose from, but it is a very underrated song from a Disney animated movie, because there is so much emotion running through it. The lyrics actually mean something outside of the film. It’s a beautiful song and scene.

The other song written for the film which plays during the End Credits is “Always Know Where You Are”. It’s quite an upbeat song that ends the film nicely, as it shows that Jim is happy to be back home, and feeling more settled with an actual career path ahead of him. It is performed by the British band BBMak, who released the popular singles “Back Here” and “Still On Your Side”. It’s a perfect “walking-out-of-the-cinema-after-seeing-a-really-great-movie” sort of song, if that makes sense. Sadly, it doesn’t sound like too many people experienced Treasure Planet at the theatres, so it was perhaps a bit of a waste…

The score for Treasure Planet was composed by James Newton Howard, in his third for Disney Feature Animation. He had previously composed the scores for Dinosaur (2000) and Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001). James Newton Howard has composed scores for various film including The Hunger Games series of films, and the Fantastic Beasts trilogy, as well as Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) and Jungle Cruise (2021) for Disney.

Treasure Planet’s score combines the futuristic elements of the story with traditional instrumentals. I particularly like the piece “Silver Leaves”, which plays during that moving moment when Silver and Jim are saying goodbye, possibly forever. I also like “Silver Comforts Jim”, after Jim believes that he was to blame for Mr. Arrow’s death during the chaos of the black hole. Any piece of music playing during a scene with Silver and Jim is amazing. In terms of the more action-filled scenes, James Newton Howard’s score compliments those moments too, with that feeling of adventure and bravery. These moments sound quite similar to the instrumental pieces in Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001), I think, albeit Treasure Planet does sound more “piratey”, with a frequent use of pipes.

PRODUCTION

Looking at the animation for Treasure Planet, it is clear that the backgrounds are absolutely stunning. Disney wanted a “storybook” feeling to the artistic style of Treasure Planet. They ended up replicating an illustration style called the Brandywine School which had been taught by Howard Pyle to artists such as N.C. Wyeth’s, who created the original illustrations for the 1911 edition of the novel Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson. The style followed ideas like choosing warm colour palettes, making the scenes appear to be bathed in light, and not making everything so crisp in detail. They wanted to put that same type of illustration into this new modern, space adaptation. The space backgrounds feel really magical, and I think overall the film looks impressive.

The Disney team could also take advantage of technological improvements when designing Treasure Planet. Firstly, they were able to hand draw characters and place them onto 3D backgrounds, and they could make fully computer-generated characters, such as B.E.N. They created hybrid characters too, and one of these is John Silver. John Silver is a hand-drawn character by animator Glen Keane, with a computer-generated arm, leg, and headpiece animated by Eric Daniels. To see how the two different animation styles would work together, the team used Captain Hook for inspiration. They relayed a digital arm onto previous footage from Peter Pan (1953) so they could see just how it would look on screen.

They also took advantage of previous technological advancements at the Disney Studios by using their Deep Canvas technology. It had been used in Tarzan (1999) and won a Technical Achievement Academy Award in 2003. This technology allowed for CGI backgrounds to be produced that looked like traditional paintings. It was used to create about 75% of the environments in Treasure Planet. The Disney team also used Virtual Sets, which allowed for 3D, 360-degree sets to be created so that sequences could be staged and shot from different angles. One of these was the RLS Legacy ship, named RLS after Robert Louis Stevenson[2]. The Disney studios made the entire film using the “70/30 law”, which meant ensuring that not only the art styling and the characters, but also the sound and music, were 70% traditional and 30% science-fiction, though it could be argued the film is more science fantasy, as it is based in an alternative version of the future. The movie is not set in space as we would know it; in fact, it takes place in “the etherium”, an atmosphere that is more like a space ocean with breathable air and life. This meant that characters wouldn’t need oxygen tanks or spacesuits, and could freely move around space[3].

So, that’s all the good stuff about Treasure Planet. Now, let’s see what went wrong. Well, to begin with, it’s actually a very nice story. Ron Clements and John Musker first met during production on The Fox and the Hound (1981). The two then teamed up as story artists on The Black Cauldron (1985) during early stages of development, but were later removed from the project along with many others. Clements then pitched the idea of an animated picture based on the stories of Sherlock Holmes; this became The Great Mouse Detective, which both Clements and Musker directed, and was the next feature film to be released after The Black Cauldron. The Great Mouse Detective was a successful film.

This all took place during the difficulties that Disney Animation faced in the mid-1980s, when new executives were brought in from outside studios to manage the Walt Disney Company. Michael Eisner, the new CEO, and Jeffrey Katzenberg, the new Chairman of Walt Disney Studios, brought in a new way of pitching ideas, something they called “the gong show”, where anyone could pitch ideas for new projects that Eisner and Katzenberg would either approve, or “gong”, i.e., reject. Musker had an idea for an edgy retelling of Little Red Riding Hood and Clements put forward both The Little Mermaid and Treasure Island in Space during the “gong show” in 1985. Katzenberg hated both of Clements’ proposals, but specifically disliked Treasure Island in Space because he said Disney didn’t want to make a science-fiction or pirate film, and that a story following a teenage boy without a love interest would not be a good sell to potential audiences.

Katzenberg did eventually approve The Little Mermaid (1989), which was directed by Clements and Musker and was a massive hit, signalling the start of Disney’s “Renaissance Era”, a time when Disney Animation was booming. However, Clements did not want to let his idea of Treasure Island in Space be forgotten, so, along with Musker, they re-worked the proposal to become Treasure Planet. It was pitched to the executives again, and was rejected – again. Instead, the two directed Aladdin (1992), which was also hugely popular and a box-office smash. But the pair just couldn’t let go of Treasure Planet.

In 1993, the two pitched the idea again and it was, once again, rejected, but this time, Roy E. Disney said that he did actually like the idea, and brought it up with Michael Eisner. Eisner was more receptive to the idea, but Katzenberg was not, and was annoyed at Roy E. Disney seemingly going behind his back about it. In the end, Katzenberg made a deal with Clements and Musker, based on the fact that the two had directed some major movies for Disney Animation. The two had to make one more Disney animated movie and then they could work on Treasure Planet. They set to work on Hercules (1997). Katzenberg left Disney in October 1994, so to ensure Clements and Musker were still allowed to make Treasure Planet, the two signed a seven-year-contract with the specific stipulation that after directing Hercules, they were free to work on Treasure Planet or another project of their choice. So once Hercules was done and released, Clements and Musker got to work – finally – on their “passion project”. They didn’t mind the long wait to this point particularly, though, as it meant that technology had advanced significantly in that time.

The reason that setting Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel Treasure Island in space was so important to Clements and Musker was because they wanted it to be new, fresh, and exciting to a younger generation. It was first written as a serial story within the children’s magazine Young Folks in 1881 and 1882. It was first published as a book in November 1883. It has since been adapted in many media formats, including as a 1934 film, starring Wallace Beery and Jackie Cooper as Silver and Jim respectively, and Disney’s own live-action film in 1950, which starred Bobby Driscoll, who went on to voice the title role in Peter Pan (1953), as Jim Hawkins. It has also been adapted as a television series, with one being released in 2012 on Sky, with Eddie Izzard as Long John Silver. Let’s also not forget Muppet Treasure Island, released in 1996, where the Muppets were joined by real-life actors like Tim Curry and Billy Connolly, who played Silver and Billy Bones.

Apart from the change of setting and making the story more futuristic, the basic plot of Treasure Planet is similar to the original novel. The story was written by Clements and Musker, and Terry Rossio and Ted Elliott, who had all written Aladdin (1992) together. Rossio and Elliott had also co-written Shrek (2001) for DreamWorks, which won the BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and the Annie Award for Writing in a Feature Production. Rossio and Elliott also wrote the screenplays for some of the Pirates of the Caribbean films. The screenplay was written by Clements and Musker, as well as Rob Edwards. The trio later worked on The Princess and the Frog (2009) together[4].

RECEPTION

After four and a half years of production, a reported $140 million budget, many delays, and a huge push in new animation developments, it was time for Treasure Planet to be released, in November 2002. It premiered in Paris on 6^th November, before having its US premiere on 17^th November; it was widely released on 27^th November, at both IMAX theatres and regular cinemas simultaneously. But unfortunately, even with all that money, plus a supposed $40 million marketing budget, and merchandise tie-ins with Hasbro and McDonald’s Happy Meals, Treasure Planet did not do as well as was expected. That might actually be a huge understatement.

It was deemed funny “enough” with some good supporting characters, but many did not like this futuristic take on Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic story. Some also considered it to be “gimmicky”, whilst others did praise the animation, so reviews were mixed, but not terrible. The problem was how little money Treasure Planet brought in, despite being released at the optimal time of the holiday season. It grossed only $16.6 million in its first five-days, becoming one of the biggest financial flops in Disney Animation. It would seem that two decades later, with the release of Strange World (2022), that Strange World might now be considered the worst flop, but back in 2002, Treasure Planet was considered to be Disney’s biggest financial failure, so yes, even worse than The Black Cauldron (1985).

To be fair to Treasure Planet, it was released at the same time as movies like The Santa Clause 2 (2002) and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002). My family did actually see Harry Potter at the cinema when it came out, but not Treasure Planet; we waited for the DVD…Great, now I have guilt…Die Another Day (2002), the new James Bond film, had also been released just a few days before, so it was likely to struggle with that competition. Disney executives reiterated that Treasure Planet was received well by test audiences, but this was not what the Walt Disney Company needed, especially as the tragic events of 9/11 had meant less footfall at their theme parks. The surprisingly positive response to Lilo & Stitch (2002) in June of that year may have given them some false hope about how Treasure Planet would be received.

Some like to say that the fact Clements and Musker’s dream project had been rejected so many times meant that it was doomed to fail from the start. Some Disney executives blame their marketing for not focusing enough on the fun elements of the story. However, some executives claimed to have foreseen issues months before its release but alas, it was too late to change anything as their release date was locked in with promotional tie-ins[5]. Another reason for its failure was that CGI had started to become immensely popular as an animation technique, as it was quicker and cheaper, and could achieve much more than hand-drawn animation. There were other studios using CGI brilliantly, like Pixar and DreamWorks, so it was hard for Disney to compete. Some would say that Disney did not understand the new and changing tastes of their audience, as Disney knew they had to move away from their “Broadway-style” as more animated features flooded the market, but were unsure where to go, and where to focus their attentions.

Surprisingly to everyone, Treasure Planet was deemed “good enough” to be nominated in the second ever Best Animated Feature Film category at the 2002 Academy Awards, along with Disney’s Lilo & Stitch, however, both lost to Spirited Away (2002). To be fair, these movies are completely different, and Spirited Away in particular has a unique style all of its own, that it’s not easy to compare them, and perhaps they shouldn’t be.

LEGACY

So, what happened next? Well, a follow-up film was actually being written before Treasure Planet was even released, so there could have been a time when a Treasure Planet 2 would have existed. It is said that Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emma Thompson, and Martin Short were already attached to the film to reprise their roles, and that the story would have followed on from the first movie, and looked at Jim’s time at the Intergalactic Academy and his work role after that. A new villain, called Ironbeard, was also dreamed up with Willem Defoe allegedly lined up to voice the character. There were also rumours of a spin-off television series around this time[6].

There were plans for Treasure Planet to be used as new story material for the Submarine Voyage ride in Disneyland’s Tomorrowland. There had been similar plans for this to be done with Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001), a previous Disney movie release, but despite mock-ups and some light promotional work, this idea was abandoned due to Atlantis’ poor reception. Disney hoped the same would not happen with Treasure Planet, but it sadly did. Submarine Voyage would finally be rethemed in 2007, to Pixar’s Finding Nemo (2003)[7].

Because of Treasure Planet’s disappointing box-office results, Disney announced that Home on the Range (2004) would be their final traditionally 2D animated film, moving into computer animation from that point onwards. Ron Clements and John Musker left Disney in September 2005, but after the acquisition of Pixar and the naming of John Lasseter as the new Chief Creative Officer at the company, Clements and Musker were invited back to Disney to direct The Princess and the Frog (2009), a movie that went back to Disney’s roots of 2D animation. Musker and Clements then directed Moana (2016), this being their first fully computer-animated film[8].

At the Disney Parks, Jim Hawkins was seen as a walkaround character at Walt Disney World Resort’s Tomorrowland in 2020 and at the Disneyland Paris FanDaze event in 2019. He was also seen as part of Disneyland Paris’ 25^th anniversary parade along with B.E.N., and even Kida and Milo from Atlantis: The Lost Empire. These are the most recent sightings of Treasure Planet characters that I could find. It is likely that Jim and B.E.N. did appear as meet-and-greet characters at Walt Disney World and Disneyland, at least around the time of the movie’s release in 2002. Generally, there is very little reference to Treasure Planet at any of the Disney Parks, however, for the Disney100 celebrations, there was a small amount of dialogue and footage from Treasure Planet that featured in Disneyland’s Wondrous Journeys fireworks show in 2023; it closed in August 2023. A brief glimpse of a scene from Treasure Planet can currently be found towards the end of the Wonderful World of Animation show at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World Resort. Other than a few pieces of merchandise, such as ornaments and pins that were released by Disney in 2022 for the movie’s 20^th anniversary, Treasure Planet is not normally recognised by the Walt Disney Company. A live-action remake has not even been officially announced – huh? Disney, are you ok? – though it is clear that fans of the movie want it.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The fact is Treasure Planet was a risk, a risk that did not pay off at the box-office, and was not received well at the time. However, it has since gained a reputation as a “cult classic”, especially popular with fans of science fantasy and those who were children around the time of its release. I think for my family there were too many choices at the time to make Treasure Planet seem like a worthy cinema choice, but times have changed. People change. I know I gave Treasure Planet another chance, and found I loved it, and there were so many things to like about it, and so much to praise here.

Treasure Planet has enough heart, humour, adventure, and artistic styling to prove popular for many years to come, and if anyone has not watched it since it came out, then please, give it another chance.

You might find it’s your new favourite.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Jim Korkis, The Vault of Walt Vol 8: Outer Space Edition (2019), ‘The Strange Voyage to Treasure Planet (2002), pp. 158-175.

[2] Credit: Jim Korkis, The Vault of Walt Vol 8: Outer Space Edition (2019), ‘The Strange Voyage to Treasure Planet (2002), pp. 158-175.

[3] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘Treasure Planet (2002)’, pp. 127-129.

[4] Credit: Jim Korkis, The Vault of Walt Vol 8: Outer Space Edition (2019), ‘The Strange Voyage to Treasure Planet (2002), pp. 158-175.

[5] Credit: Richard Verrier and Claudia Eller, ‘Disney’s ‘Treasure Planet’ an Adventure in Losing Money’, Los Angeles Times (online), 6^th December 2002.

[6] Credit: Zach Gass, ’10 Things You Didn’t Know About The Canceled Treasure Planet 2’, ScreenRant.com, 29^th February 2020.

[7] Credit: Kayleigh Donaldson, ‘The History Of Treasure Planet, Disney Animation’s Biggest Ever Flop’, SlashFilm.com, 27^th November 2022.

[8] Credit: Jim Korkis, The Vault of Walt Vol 8: Outer Space Edition (2019), ‘The Strange Voyage to Treasure Planet (2002), pp. 158-175.

23rd Feb 202427th Jun 2024 by The Disney Purist

#25 The Black Cauldron (1985)

BACKGROUND

The Black Cauldron is potentially Disney’s most controversial film.

It was barely referenced in the Disney theme parks, even back in the 1980s, was locked up tight in the “Disney Vault” for years, and it was one of those films that Disney would rather you just didn’t know ever existed – and if you were born after 1985, chances are many of you didn’t know it existed until many years later.

For those who were around in 1985, either you watched The Black Cauldron or you didn’t, and if you did, you may not have liked it so much. Then again, you may have liked it back then, and still like it today. Either way, I’m not judging but I think the Walt Disney Company would probably rather you just forgot all about it, because it is not their proudest or finest moment.

Opinions have always been split over The Black Cauldron and its strange concept. The mostly negative reviews of the film are down to two key reasons. The first is that this was the first Disney animated movie to be given a PG rating, meaning that it is much darker and more intense than the types of movies Disney had been releasing at the time, and therefore may have put parents off letting their children watch it – or they did let them watch it and potentially traumatised them.

The other reason is that The Black Cauldron was developed within a particularly difficult time for the Disney Animation department. In the 1980s, there was a huge shift in the management as people from other film studios came in to shake up the company, especially the animation department, which had been struggling with its movies even before then.

More on those difficulties later, but nowadays The Black Cauldron has gained a cult following, especially amongst those who are fans of light horror and fantasy. I am not one of those, which is probably why it doesn’t appeal to me so much, but even though I don’t particularly like it, I have still seen The Black Cauldron a handful of times. It wasn’t for years after its release though, and was actually in the late 2010s when the UK and some of Europe had access to an early version of Disney+, an app called DisneyLife that had many of Disney’s animated and live-action movies available to watch.

To be honest, I find The Black Cauldron kind of boring in places and I think it looks quite grotesque, which isn’t something that appeals to me. I struggle with the look of Pinocchio (1940) and this is much worse for me! However, I do like the lovable little sidekick Gurgi, and find the ending of the film quite moving, so even I can find some positives here.

PLOT

The Black Cauldron follows Taran, an assistant pig-keeper – that’s his actual job title – who works for a man called Dallben, looking after his clairvoyant pig Hen Wen. Dallben is trying to hide Hen Wen’s powers from The Horned King, who wants to use Hen Wen’s visions to find the long-lost Black Cauldron and use it to raise an army of undead soldiers, to make him an invincible ruler. Dallben sends Taran off with Hen Wen to go into hiding.

Taran, annoyed at his lesser state in life, with dreams of being a warrior, spends too much time daydreaming on this journey, and Hen Wen runs off alone. As Taran searches for Hen Wen in the forest, he meets Gurgi, a strange fluffy greedy creature who, in exchange for an apple, will tell Taran where Hen Wen went. Unfortunately, we see that Hen Wen is being chased by dragons, minions of the Horned King, and Gurgi runs away frightened, leaving Taran to retrieve her himself. He fails, but follows the dragons to a run-down castle, the home of The Horned King. Taran enters the castle and saves Hen Wen before she can reveal the location of the Cauldron to The Horned King. Taran throws Hen Wen into the castle moat so she can swim to safety, but Taran is captured and thrown in the dungeon.

Here, Taran meets Princess Eilonwy, a fellow prisoner, captured for her magical bauble which The Horned King thought would help him find the Black Cauldron; needless to say, it didn’t. As the two team up to escape the castle, Taran finds a magical sword which can vanquish any opponent, including the Horned King’s guards, and they find Fflewddur Fflam, a minstrel who is also being held captive by the Horned King.

They all manage to escape the castle into the forest, where we see Gurgi again. And he runs away – again – when Hen Wen’s tracks lead them to a vortex in a lake. Instead of taking them somewhere awful as Gurgi expected, it actually takes them to the kingdom of the Fair Folk, who are fairies living underground. It turns out they have rescued Hen Wen, and will return her home to Dallben. They also tell Taran that the Black Cauldron is in Morva, with a trio of witches, as Taran and the others seek to destroy it once and for all. The Fair Folk take Taran and his friends to Morva.

At the home of the three witches, Taran, Eilonwy, and Fflewddur Fflam find that these witches don’t like humans and like to turn them into frogs, however, Fflewddur has captured the attentions of one of the witches, so he is safe. The witches listen to Taran speak of the Black Cauldron, but they never give anything away, so they allow Taran to try to bargain for the Cauldron. They spot the magical sword that Taran possesses and want that in exchange for the Black Cauldron. Reluctantly, Taran gives up the sword and the deal is done; they have the Cauldron and the witches have the sword, except they forgot to tell Taran that the Cauldron cannot be destroyed, and that its dark powers can only be stopped if someone sacrifices themselves to it, which will kill them.

All look’s lost for the humans, as they find that their bargain didn’t get them any further, and worse still, The Horned King’s dragons have found them and take they back to the castle along with the Black Cauldron. Now, the Horned King can enact his plan. He casts a spell over the Cauldron, which allows him to raise an army of the undead. Taran, Eilonwy, and Fflewddur Fflam can do nothing but watch, horrified, as The Horned King wins.

Except, luckily, Gurgi returns to save the day, freeing the three of them from their shackles, but the Black Cauldron’s powers have not stopped. Taran decides that he must be the one to sacrifice himself, and tells the others to leave. However, Gurgi sees this and does not want his friend to die; Gurgi throws himself into the Cauldron instead, saying that “Taran has many friends, Gurgi has no friends” in a truly sad moment for the film… The army of the undead begin to die right in front of The Horned King’s eyes. He blames his henchman, Creeper, and goes to see what is happening by the Cauldron.

Instead of running out of the castle, Taran tries to retrieve Gurgi from the Cauldron, telling the others to run, but the spell is too powerful and Taran struggles against it. The Horned King, and his henchman Creeper, find Taran by the Cauldron and The Horned King plans to throw Taran into the Cauldron to finally defeat the boy so he can try the spell again. But The Horned King ends up being pulled into the Cauldron and is destroyed forever. But Creeper is free to not be tortured and tormented for the rest of his life, so a small win for him!

As the three finally leave The Horned King’s castle via a boat, the Black Cauldron reappears in the water in front of them. The witches of Morva plan to take it back as it has no use for the humans anymore. Fflewddur Fflam reminds them that they always like a trade. The magical sword is returned to Taran, but Taran doesn’t want it anymore and would rather have Gurgi back. The witches take the sword and the Cauldron back, but don’t seem to want to return Gurgi. After Fflewddur Fflam claims they don’t have the power to do it, they leave Gurgi in the Cauldron’s place and vanish in a cloud of smoke. It seems that Gurgi isn’t alive, but when Taran picks him up, he is revived, wanting some more “munchies and crunchies”. Typical Gurgi! Everyone is thrilled to see him alive again and in a final moment of annoyance from Gurgi, he pushes Taran and Eilonwy’s heads together so that they kiss. The film ends with the four heading home through the forest as heroes, with Dallben seeing this through one of Hen Wen’s visions, saying Taran did well on his quest.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Taran is the “hero” of the story, though I find him to be arrogant at times, and unfeeling towards others. Throughout the movie, he constantly moans about how he is just an assistant pig-keeper and wants to be a brave warrior, so he is overjoyed to find this magical sword that seems to have infinite powers, but he isn’t bothered by friendship at this point. In fact, he is rude to Princess Eilonwy when they first meet and he is cruel to Gurgi, calling him a thief and a coward almost every time he sees him. But eventually, Taran does seem to understand the value of Eilonwy, Fflewddur, and Gurgi’s friendship and it is quite a touching moment when Taran tries to stop Gurgi from throwing himself into the Black Cauldron and then when he bargains for Gurgi’s return. I guess Taran did learn a lot on his journey. He also finally understands why Hen Wen needs to be looked after by him, because she has powers that can be abused by evil people, so again, he learns that too! Speaking of Hen Wen, the name means “Old White” in Welsh, and is a character in Welsh mythology, however, in the myth, Hen Wen, or Henwen, is an enchanted pig whose offspring were meant to cause devastation to Britain. Obviously, that is not mentioned in the Black Cauldron but she is still enchanted. Taran was voiced by Grant Bardsley here, who was a child actor in the 1970s and 1980s, and appeared in the BBC television adaptation of Wuthering Heights (1978) and in a couple of episodes of The Famous Five television series (1978-79).

Of all the human characters in The Black Cauldron, Princess Eilonwy is generally the most likable, as she is confident, kind, and smart. She is the one who manages to get Taran out of the Horned King’s dungeon, with the help of her magical bauble, and she is kind to both Gurgi and Fflewddur Fflam when Taran isn’t. Although her introductory line of “I’m Princess Eilonwy” sounds just a bit precocious. Eilonwy was voiced by Susan Sheridan, who voiced the characters of Noddy, Tessie Bear, and Dinah Doll in the British children’s series Noddy’s Toyland Adventures (1992-94), and voiced Trillian in the radio series of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in 1978. Sheridan continued to do voice work up until her death in 2015. In a behind-the-scenes documentary at the Disney Studios in 1981, Hayley Mills, who starred in the Disney live-action films The Parent Trap (1961) and Pollyanna (1960) as a child, stated that she was back at Disney to read for the part of the Princess Eilonwy in The Black Cauldron[1]. It is unclear why she did not end up voicing the part.

Fflewddur Fflam is the minstrel who is captured by The Horned King and seems to just be tagging along with Eilonwy and Taran for the ride, instead of escaping when he has the chance! He is a little bit annoying and kind of bumbling, so he needs to be saved much of the time by either Eilonwy and Taran, but in general, he doesn’t come across badly – he does help convince the Witches of Morva to do the right thing for example – but Fflewddur is just sort of there! Unfortunately, Fflewddur Fflam seems to have been unlucky with his portrayal in The Black Cauldron, as Fflewddur Fflam seems to have had a significant number of his lines cut from the movie, therefore, we don’t get to see, or hear, too much of him[2]. Fflewddur Fflam was voiced by English actor Sir Nigel Hawthorne, best known to Disney fans as the voice of Professor Porter in Tarzan (1999). He also starred in the British sitcoms Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister (1980-88) as Sir Humphrey Appleby, and won a BAFTA for Best Actor for his portrayal of King George III in the movie The Madness of King George (1994). Sir Nigel Hawthorne died in December 2001.

Then the final hero to talk about is Gurgi. Gurgi is my favourite character of them all, but again, he doesn’t appear all that much in the film, though he is the one who saves the day, and I’m glad he is revived at the end by the witches. We don’t really know what sort of creature he is, just some sort of fluffy thing! He runs away a lot, yes, but all he wants is a friend, because he seems so lonely out in the forest on his own. That’s why he’s hungry and steals food from people. Taran is just heartless for being mean to him; Gurgi is the best character in the whole film. John Byner voiced Gurgi, saying that he added child-like inflection to his lines because he is supposed to be fun and greedy, wanting to eat anything he can get his hands on! Byner is a comedian, actor, and impressionist, who voiced characters in the cartoon series The Ant and the Aardvark (1969-71). He went on to appear as a guest in many television series including the sitcom Soap (1977-81).

The Horned King is a terrifying villain. He looks terrible, with glowing red eyes, and a strange skeletal form. I’m not sure if he’s meant to be human or not – I think he is in some way, but he’s also very demonic. He’s the main reason for this movie being too scary for children. The Horned King was voiced by legendary actor, Sir John Hurt. Hurt stated that to get the voice of The Horned King he dredged the voice “from the bowels of the Earth” to get that really deep, evil sound[3]. Hurt played Ollivander in the Harry Potter film series and starred in major movies such as Alien (1979); The Elephant Man (1980), for which he was nominated at the Academy Awards in the Best Actor category and won the BAFTA for; and The Midnight Express (1978), where he was nominated at the Oscars for Best Supporting Actor, and won it at the BAFTAs. Hurt was no stranger to voice acting at the time of The Black Cauldron either, having voiced Hazel in Watership Down (1978) and Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings (1978). Later in his career, he also voiced The Great Dragon in the BBC series Merlin (2008-12). Sir John Hurt sadly passed away in January 2017.

The Horned King has many scary-looking henchmen, but then he also has his goblin sidekick, Creeper, who’s always being mistreated for his incompetence. I think Creeper is meant to be the comic relief in the film, because he is always getting things wrong and letting people escape. When The Horned King gets sucked into the Black Cauldron, Creeper realises he is now free, and at the end of the film, he flies away on the back of The Horned King’s dragons, knowing he no longer has to serve him and risk his wrath whenever he does something wrong! Creeper was an original character for the film and did not appear in the original books that the film is very loosely based on. Phil Fondacaro voiced Creeper in one of his earlier screen roles. Fondacaro went on to appear in the film Willow (1988) as Vohnkar, as well as appear in the television movie Double, Double, Toil and Trouble (1993), alongside Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen. Later in the 1990s and early 2000s, Fondacaro had a recurring role as Roland in the series Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

Those are the characters who get the most screen-time, however, there are a few others to mention. Dallben is Taran’s employer and we only really see him at the start, when he is scared about Hen Wen’s powers being used by The Horned King. He doesn’t seem to think much of Taran at the start of the film, but sees that he did a good job on his quest by the end. Dallben was voiced by Freddie Jones who appeared alongside John Hurt in The Elephant Man (1980) and played Sandy Thomas in the soap Emmerdale from 2005 to 2018 in his final appearance before his death in 2019.

Then there are the trio of witches. In the original book series, the three witches resembled the Fates of Greek mythology. They used a loom to control the destinies of everyone living, but they were not good or evil. In the film, the witches appear only for a short amount of time, unlike the book series where there was more time to establish the characters, therefore making the film’s witches not particularly memorable characters. Yet the witches are involved in the two most important moments of the film, trading Taran’s sword for the Black Cauldron so it can be destroyed, and returning Gurgi to the group after the task has been completed. The Witches of Morva are named Orddu, the leader of the group; Orgoch who is the most disagreeable; and Orwen, the curvaceous, flirty one, who is in love with Fflewddur Fflam. The witches were voiced by Eda Reiss Merin, Billie Hayes, and Adele Malis-Morey. Hayes went on to voice characters in many animated series such as TaleSpin (1990-91), Rugrats (1991-2004), and Johnny Bravo (1997-2004); The Black Cauldron was her first voice role[4]. Hayes passed away in April 2021.

PRODUCTION

The really fascinating thing about The Black Cauldron isn’t the movie itself, but the production and making of it. It had so many difficulties and complications it’s a wonder it was even made at all. The troubles go back to the 1970s, when the Disney Animation department was still struggling after the death of Walt Disney in 1966. The lack of guidance was sorely missed, and as a result, the films of the 1970s, like Robin Hood (1973) and The Aristocats (1970) were criticised for missing the original charm of Disney’s earlier films. Therefore, Disney knew they needed to take a risk to try to get back on top.

Ron Miller, then-Disney president, and husband of Walt Disney’s daughter Diane, was looking for an idea for a new film. He believed that The Chronicles of Prydain, a five-part book series written by American author Lloyd Alexander and published between 1964 and 1968, had the potential to be the Snow White of their generation. The rights were bought around 1973 by Disney. The book series is a fantasy series based on creatures and characters from Welsh mythology. Despite having fantasy elements that could have rivalled those of Tolkien or C.S. Lewis’ books, The Chronicles of Prydain have only been adapted once for the screen, with Disney’s The Black Cauldron. Due to the amount of material and the complexity of the plotlines within the five books, story man Mel Shaw was tasked with reading all the stories and condensing the storylines and characters into a workable story for a screen adaptation. He made close to 250 coloured pastel sketches of key moments from the books and put them into a twenty-minute presentation to pitch his version of the story[5].

The original stories had over 30 main characters with the storyline encompassing many years. Producer Joe Hale planned to combine the story elements of only the first two books of The Chronicles of Prydain: The Book of Three (1964) and The Black Cauldron (1965) to deal with this. The originally minor character of The Horned King was made into the main villain of the story.

Despite the rights being purchased in 1973 and the early work of Mel Shaw, not much more happened with The Black Cauldron for many years due to issues around management and the differing generations of animators. In the 1970s and early 1980s, there were three different generations of animators. The youngest artists were overzealous and full of energy, wanting to get started and make their mark on Disney Animation. The older veteran artists were due to retire shortly, and the second generation felt they were underutilised and underappreciated, showing a lack of harmony between the three sets.

Ron Miller wanted a new style of animation for The Black Cauldron, but felt that the younger artists weren’t ready to tackle it yet, so they were assigned to The Rescuers (1977). They were then put back onto The Black Cauldron, with a release date of 1980 being chosen. But it was put on hold again in 1978, to then be released in 1984, because Miller felt the artists were still not ready for this assignment so they were put on The Fox and the Hound (1981), during which production the remaining members of Walt’s original animators retired. Don Bluth, one of the second generation of artists, was fed up waiting to be given his opportunity to show what he was capable of, and ended up leaving the Walt Disney Company, taking half of the animators with him. This pushed back The Fox and the Hound by six months[6]. Don Bluth would later go on to produce and direct such films as An American Tail, which would beat out Disney’s The Great Mouse Detective at the box office in 1986; The Land Before Time (1988); Thumbelina (1994); and Anastasia (1997). He also made his directorial debut with The Secret of NIMH (1982) during Disney’s production on The Black Cauldron; it was well-received, putting more pressure on the Disney artists.

The Black Cauldron was finally officially put into production in 1980, with a $15 million budget assigned to it, but the troubles were still not over as there were constant changes in the artists and directors working on the movie, due to clashes over “artistic differences”, delaying progress. John Musker was one of these people who left to make the (more successful) movie The Great Mouse Detective (1986). Another was Tim Burton whose character designs were considered too “out there” for Disney, so he left the company altogether. He seems to be doing well, from what I’ve heard…

Eventually, the movie seemed to be getting somewhere, though the budget had grown to $40 million, and they wanted to now use CGI to push their designs further, after The Black Cauldron producer Joe Hale saw it being using in The Great Mouse Detective, which was in production at the same time. CGI was therefore used on scenes of the Black Cauldron itself, as well as Eilonwy’s magical bauble. They had also decided to shoot The Black Cauldron in Super Technirama 70mm, the first Disney film to do this since Sleeping Beauty (1959), and 6-track Dolby Stereo sound, as well as introducing the first in-theatre holographic effect in an animated film, during the sequence of the raising of the undead army. This scene just looks blurry when watching on a home release now.

Then, plot-twist, Ron Miller was removed as CEO in 1984, with Frank Wells, who had previously worked at Warner Bros., and Michael Eisner, coming from Paramount Pictures, taking over. They became the first people to have been brought in to Disney management from “the outside”. Eisner and Wells then employed Jeffrey Katzenberg, also from Paramount Pictures, to take over the Animation Department, however, his background was in live-action, not animation, so he didn’t understand the process or the artists themselves. This caused issues between him and the animators, especially when, on seeing the work on The Black Cauldron, Katzenberg was appalled by the film’s length and the graphic, violent scenes. He wanted to edit the movie, but the animators said this couldn’t be done at this stage, however, Katzenberg disagreed and showed them that this could be done, by cutting twelve full minutes of finished animation from the final movie cut. These cuts included a scene of The Horned King’s henchmen dissolving, and a man’s throat being slashed with the sword[7]. Some of the edits are actually quite obvious, as sometimes the characters’ mouths do not match with the words; some are still talking when there is no sound coming out; and some of the jumps to new scenes are a bit clumsy.

Despite these edits, The Black Cauldron could not escape being given a PG rating, making this the first Disney animated feature film to have a PG rating. It was also the last to have been made at the animation building at the Disney Studios in Burbank, as the Animation Department was then moved to Glendale in December 1983 as their building became used for live-action productions. Glendale was a less than inspiring place to work and the animators spent a few years fearing for their job security…

MUSIC

The Black Cauldron was also the first Disney animated film not to have any songs within the movie. The score was composed by Elmer Bernstein, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on Trading Places (1983), and at the Grammy Awards for his work on Ghostbusters (1984) whilst working on The Black Cauldron[8]. Sadly, I don’t recall much of Bernstein’s score, probably because I’m too stunned by just how grotesque some of the movie looks, but listening to the score separately, it does highlight the fantasy and mystery elements of the story well.

RECEPTION

After almost five full years of work, yet another delay to the release date, and at an official cost of $25 million, which may actually have been closer to $40 million, The Black Cauldron was finally released in the US on 24^th July 1985. However, The Black Cauldron only managed to gross $21 million at the US box-office. It was even beaten out by The Care Bears Movie, which had been released in March 1985, this being a huge blow to the team who worked on The Black Cauldron[9].

Not only that, but it received mixed reviews. Some heralded it as a return to Disney animation, enjoying the more gruesome and perilous elements of the story, whilst others called it mediocre and thought it was a missed opportunity given the potential of the book series. It generally considered too dark to be a family film. Some said the plot was convoluted and the characters were dull. Lloyd Alexander, author of The Chronicles of Prydain series, said in an interview with Scholastic Inc. before his death in 2007, that Disney’s The Black Cauldron bore little resemblance to his books, but that he had enjoyed the film, just watching it as a movie, without the context of the source material. Alexander also said that there was a possibility of Disney making more movies based on his works, such as Time Cat, but this never happened[10].

For a brief time around 1990, Disney re-released The Black Cauldron under the new title Taran and the Magic Cauldron, in an attempt to brand the movie more “family-friendly”. It avoided mentioning the evil Horned King and the dark powers of the Black Cauldron too much, and chose to focus on the magical elements of the story, like Taran’s sword, and the hero’s journey. This was reflected in both the trailer and the movie poster, where The Horned King was no longer overlooking the heroes walking through a scary looking forest and the Cauldron was no longer pouring out green smoke. Instead, the poster for Taran and the Magic Cauldron is light and bright, with sparkles coming from the Cauldron and the sword. The movie was re-released in this way in some cities in the US and some international markets, but it did not help change audience opinion on the movie. The Black Cauldron then was not released on VHS until 1998, thirteen years after the initial release, where it found a new audience and became a “cult classic”[11].

LEGACY

You’d think a movie like The Black Cauldron would not have been featured at all in the Disney theme parks, given its reputation, right? Wrong! At the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, what is now the food stand Friar’s Nook in Fantasyland used to be named Gurgi’s Munchies and Crunchies, from 1986 to 1993; “munchies and crunchies” is one of Gurgi’s catchphrases. Before being named after Gurgi, the outdoor quick-service location was named Lancer’s Inn, and after 1993, was named Lumière’s Kitchen, where it generally operated on a seasonal basis. It has been named Friar’s Nook since 2009.

There is photo evidence that walkaround characters of Princess Eilonwy, Taran, and Gurgi did exist at some point after The Black Cauldron’s release in 1985, however, it is unclear exactly what year, or years, they did so, and in which parks, however, given the dates, it would have to have been either Walt Disney World, Disneyland, or Tokyo Disneyland, as these were the only Disney theme parks open in the 1980s. It is unlikely that the characters appeared after this decade, given the financial flop of the film.

Speaking of Tokyo Disneyland, the biggest and most surprising reference to The Black Cauldron is actually the Tokyo Disneyland attraction the Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour, which ran from 1986 until April 2006. I had never heard of this attraction until I watched a video on YouTube and it is so interesting. The “tour” was a guided tour by a cast member through the basement area of Tokyo Disneyland’s Cinderella Castle. It started off with a speech about various Disney heroes and heroines like Pinocchio, Aurora, Snow White – and Taran. The group would then be interrupted by the Magic Mirror from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)who would awaken the villains. The group would be led down tunnels, showing the Evil Queen’s lair, Maleficent’s goons, and a projection of Chernabog from Fantasia, before arriving at a tapestry about The Black Cauldron. At this point, the guide would have to recount the plot of The Black Cauldron because chances were not many of the guests had actually seen the film. A member of the group would also be chosen at this stage to hold the Sword of Light before going into the next room, to come face-to-face with a huge animatronic of The Horned King, standing over the Black Cauldron, saying how everybody in the room would be sacrificed to the Black Cauldron so he could raise his army of the undead. At this point, the Sword of Light would be pointed at The Horned King, shooting beams of light and defeating him, and then the tour group could leave the castle.

It sounds bizarre but also kind of cool, especially if you are a fan of Disney villains, like me. I’m surprised this was designed for a Disney theme park given The Black Cauldron’s reputation, but to then run for twenty years is impressive. It was quite popular too, at least at the beginning, and it clearly didn’t matter if you’d seen The Black Cauldron or not[12].

As The Black Cauldron had its 35^th anniversary in 2020, naturally, a MagicBand was released that year that featured The Horned King, Taran, and Gurgi. As part of the 1980s Disney100 Decades Collection, for the Disney100 celebrations, a new MagicBand+ with The Horned King and Gurgi was then released in 2023. There are also Funko POP figurines of The Horned King and Taran available, however, merchandise around the film or its characters continues to be hard to come by for any fans of the movie.

Outside of the theme parks, clips from The Black Cauldron were used for part of the plotline of the direct-to-video film Once Upon a Halloween, which was released in the UK in September 2005. It featured clips and songs from many of the Disney villains as the Evil Queen planned to conquer Halloween. It also featured other under-appreciated villains such as Alameda Slim from Home on the Range (2004), Ratigan from The Great Mouse Detective (1986), and Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996).

On screen, there has been talk around whether The Black Cauldron will be remade as a live-action film, especially given how many remakes of animated films have been announced in recent years. It was said that Disney had re-acquired the rights to The Chronicles of Prydain in 2016 in order to look into developing a live-action series. There was then further talk around this in 2020, but no further news has been released since. Though many fans would like to see this remade, especially as fantasy films have been successful in recent years, like The Lord of the Rings franchise, and the fact that they could do so much more with the original stories for a modern audience, it is unlikely to happen because The Black Cauldron does not have a huge fanbase so would not be able to bring in the same number of viewers as big hits like Beauty and the Beast (1991) and The Lion King (1994).

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Black Cauldron is just ok for me. I actually don’t mind the plot so much; it is generally quite fast-paced. My main issue is just how horrible it looks at times, especially when compared to the majority of Disney animated films. You probably only get about ten minutes total of lush landscape in The Black Cauldron, with the majority of the film being quite dark and eerie, with lots of brown, yellow, and green, with detailed animated scenes of skeletons rising from the dead, and The Horned King’s flesh being torn from his skeleton, and his bones being burnt to nothing… That is a bit too much for me.

As I said earlier, The Black Cauldron is a cult classic and there will be some people who are fierce fans of it, whether that is for the artistic qualities, the fantasy themes, or the darker elements of the movie. If you’re looking for a family-friendly film, full of humour, bright colours, and enchanting magic, this is not one to watch. It is not one of Disney’s best animated films and they certainly could’ve done more with the source material.

However, it is still worth giving The Black Cauldron a go if you want to understand a bit more about the history of Disney Animation. It took a lot of work and a lot of hassle to finish, and let’s not forget that by making these mistakes, the Disney animators learnt from the experience and managed to give us some of their best work just a few short years later.

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Disney, Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life (1981).

[2] Credit: Mark Davies, ‘The Troubled History of Disney’s “The Black Cauldron” & The Lost Cut Scenes’, Yesterworld YouTube Channel, uploaded 17^th May 2021.

[3] Credit: Disney, The Disney Family Album: Voice Actors (1985).

[4] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘The Black Cauldron’s Witches of Morva’, CartoonResearch.com, 10^th July 2020.

[5] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Animation Anecdotes #265’, CartoonResearch.com, 3^rd June 2016.

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

[7] Credit: Jim Hill, ‘Why For did Disney’s “The Black Cauldron” fail to connect with audiences back in 1985?’, JimHillMedia.com, 10^th September 2010.

[8] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘The Black Cauldron (1985)’, pp. 73-75.

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

[10] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Animation Anecdotes #144’, CartoonResearch.com, 3^rd June 2016.

[11] Credit: Mark Davies, ‘The Troubled History of Disney’s “The Black Cauldron” & The Lost Cut Scenes’, Yesterworld YouTube Channel, uploaded 17^th May 2021.

[12] Credit: Kevin Perjurer, ‘The History of Disney’s Scariest Attraction, Cinderella Castle Mystery Tour’, Defunctland YouTube Channel, uploaded 26^th October 2018.

26th Jan 202427th Jun 2024 by The Disney Purist

#18 The Sword in the Stone (1963)

Disney Animation, Silver Age
adventure, fantasy, king-arthur, magic, merlin
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BACKGROUND

“Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil is rightwise king born of England”.

These words set the scene for the Disney animated classic The Sword in the Stone, the last Disney animated feature to be completed and released during Walt Disney’s lifetime.

Unlike other Disney animated features, where the timeframe that they were produced in has its own story, the 1960s weren’t a particularly exciting or painful time for the Disney Studios. Throughout the 1950s, they had been rebuilding after the impact of World War II and had some mixed results. Cinderella (1950) was a big success, but Lady and the Tramp (1955) and Sleeping Beauty (1959) received mixed reviews, the latter of the two being hugely costly to make and therefore, it took a while for it to make any money.

Because of the disappointment of Sleeping Beauty, the 1960s began an effort to make new movies cheaper. The Xerography process helped this and was instrumental in the creation of One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), a very popular box-office release. So, The Sword in the Stone was going to go the same way, something quick and cheap to make.

Once again though, The Sword in the Stone could not mimic the results of its predecessor, and, although it got some good reviews and made a small profit, it has not been remembered like other Disney animated features have been. It’s another one of those that has been forgotten or trashed by some, and remains a favourite with a small number.

I personally really like The Sword in the Stone, but I believe I am in the minority there. I don’t think it’s even that this film is inherently bad. At the time of its release in 1963, it would have been compared to other Disney movies and felt that it was lacking some “Disney magic”. In current times, I think it has the additional trouble of being forgotten in amongst all the other King Arthur and/or Merlin adaptations, of which there are many, with a general feeling that the story has been “overdone”.

But for me, and most children who have seen it, The Sword in the Stone was my first introduction to the legend of King Arthur. Since then, I have watched many others, including the 1967 movie of the musical Camelot, Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), and the BBC television series Merlin (2008-12) all of which take a different look at the legend. Disney’s The Sword in the Stone is a lighter, funnier version of the story, and that’s why I like it, because it is so different and pleasant to watch, whereas other adaptations can be a bit dark, delving into the story more with Black Knights, grails, and evil sorcery.

PLOT

Even though everyone knows the legend of King Arthur, The Sword in the Stone follows a unique story, so I will recount it anyway. The film starts with a short sung-through backstory, telling us how the old King of England, King Uther, has died with the heir to the throne unknown. An unseen narrator then tells us that The Sword in the Stone has been created in order to find the rightful king. Many try to pull the sword but to no avail, the sword being left to time and forgotten.

Then the story of Arthur can begin. In this version, Arthur is an 11-year-old orphan, living with his foster father Sir Ector and foster brother Kay, who have given him the “affectionate” nickname of Wart. Arthur has accidentally ruined Kay’s hunting trip by making him misfire his arrow. Arthur goes into the forest to retrieve it and in doing so, falls through a cottage roof, which happens to be the house of the wizard Merlin. Merlin has been expecting him, though he doesn’t know exactly who he is, only that he’s important for some reason. Arthur insists he must get home, so Merlin and his talking owl, Archimedes, accompany him back to Sir Ector’s castle, where Arthur is given “demerits” for running off and being late. Merlin introduces himself to Sir Ector, who is both suspicious and scared of Merlin’s sorcery. He leads Merlin to a room in one of the crumbling, leaking towers of the castle where he can stay. Merlin is not impressed, but wants to be able to educate Arthur to give him a better future, so Merlin and Archimedes stay. Arthur is being trained to be Kay’s squire, since Sir Ector has been informed of a New Year’s Day tournament, where the winner will be crowned the new King of England, so naturally Ector wants Kay to win and become king.

The next day, Arthur starts his lessons with Merlin. The first one involves them both becoming fish in the castle moat, where he begins learning how fish move in water. The two are attacked by a giant pike, with Merlin giving Arthur the chance to show that brains can beat brawn. With some help from Archimedes, Arthur succeeds and outsmarts the pike. Merlin quickly turns both of them back into humans. Because of this, Arthur is late once again for his training and Sir Ector tells him to get to the kitchen to wash dishes, ignoring all of the magical events that caused him to be late. Merlin finds Arthur in the kitchen and sets up a magical assembly line to get the dishes cleaned whilst they are both away. Merlin then turns them both into squirrels, to learn about gravity, but at the same time, the two are chased by female squirrels who have fallen in love with them. This is awkward and uncomfortable for Merlin and Arthur who try to outrun their fans. At the same time, a wolf, who has been following Arthur since the opening scene in the forest, returns and waits for Squirrel Arthur to fall to the ground so he can finally eat him. Arthur does fall, but luckily his new friend helps fight off the wolf. Once again, Merlin quickly turns him and Arthur human again, which confuses the female squirrels. Merlin angrily scares his off, while Arthur tries to let his one down gently. She doesn’t understand, being a squirrel, and runs up a tree to cry…

Meanwhile, Ector, Kay and the cook see the enchanted dishes in the kitchen and try to stop this “dark magic”. It doesn’t work, but Merlin and Arthur return and Merlin puts a stop to the spell. Arthur tries to defend Merlin from Ector’s tirade. As further punishment, Arthur is no longer allowed to be Kay’s squire; Hobbs will replace him. Arthur is upset, so to try to make it up to him, Merlin endeavours to teach him full-time, but because Merlin has time-travelled and seen the past, present, and future, his lessons confuse Arthur. Archimedes is tasked with taking over, and begins with the basics like the alphabet. Merlin wants to get involved again so begins a lesson on aircrafts and flight, but his model plane falls and crashes into the moat, with Archimedes confirming that “if man were meant to fly, he’d have been born with wings”. Arthur says how he’s always wanted to fly, so Merlin turns him into a sparrow. Arthur and Archimedes set out on a flying lesson.

During the lesson, Arthur is pursued by a hawk and falls down a chimney into a cottage in the woods. This is the home of Mad Madam Mim, an eccentric sorceress and Merlin’s nemesis. Arthur is about to be destroyed by Mim when Merlin comes to rescue him. Mim challenges Merlin to a wizard duel, where the two turn themselves into different animals to fight and outwit each other. However, Mim cheats, going against one of her rules about only turning themselves into real animals, not mythical ones; she turns himself into a dragon. To outsmart her, Merlin turns himself into a germ, called malignalitaloptereosis, which Mim catches, giving her a nasty, but survivable illness, where she needs lots of sunshine to get better, something she despises: “I hate sunshine, I hate horrible, wholesome sunshine!”

Just before the tournament, at Christmastime, Arthur is informed that Hobbs has mumps so he can be Kay’s, now Sir Kay as he has been knighted, squire in the tournament. Arthur is overjoyed and goes to tell Merlin and Archimedes the good news. Except Merlin is far from happy for Arthur, thinking he’s throwing away all their lessons and teachings, passing over education for a menial position. Merlin is so angry in fact that he blasts himself to 20^th Century Bermuda. Archimedes continues to support Arthur though, going with him to London for the New Year’s Tournament.

During the tournament, Arthur forgets Kay’s sword and must find him another one quickly. The inn, where he left the sword, is closed, so him and Archimedes go to a churchyard and see a sword set in a stone. Arthur touches it and a beam of light comes over him. Archimedes warns him not to touch it, but Arthur insists Kay must have a sword, and pulls it out of the stone. Arthur hands the sword over to Kay, where him, Ector, and everyone else present at the tournament finds it is actually The Sword in the Stone. Nobody believes that Arthur pulled it himself, so they order Arthur to show them where he found it. They all go to the churchyard, and place the sword back in the stone, asking Arthur to pull it out again in front of everyone. Kay decides that the sword will be easy to remove now, since it’s already been pulled out, so tries to pull it to become king. It doesn’t move, and despite Ector’s strength and those of some other knights, it won’t budge.

Someone in the crowd says Arthur should be allowed to pull it again. Arthur steps up to the stone and easily removes the sword, where he is proclaimed King. All the others kneel in front of him, including Ector and Kay, and Arthur is crowned. In the castle, Arthur feels he is not ready for this role and tries to run away, but he cannot as everywhere he turns, there are people watching him. Luckily, Merlin returns from Bermuda, and realises Arthur was special because he was going to be king. Merlin prepares to help guide Arthur through his new life, pleased to see how he has finally fulfilled his full potential.

CHARACTERS & CAST

Arthur – I can’t call him “Wart”, it seems too mean – is drawn to resemble a typical eleven-year-old boy. He is described as “scrawny” which you can see from his twig-like legs. But the whole point of Arthur is that he is the kid nobody expects anything of, he’s just an orphan with no life plan and not much of a future. He is teased and, frankly, bullied by his foster brother, Sir Kay, who thinks Arthur is just a pain, some kid he’s supposed to look after. He is used as a servant by Sir Ector, yet, he still seems pleasantly happy with his lot in life. Merlin tries to help educate him, but Arthur is happy enough training to be a squire, much to Merlin’s annoyance, though Arthur does enjoy Merlin’s magic and the adventures they go on. We see at the end when Arthur is crowned King, that he is terrified of his future, and how in the world do they expect him to be a king and rule the country. He thinks nothing of himself, until Merlin shows him, he can be so much more.

Arthur had three different voice actors during the three-year production of The Sword in the Stone. The original voice actor was Rickie Sorenson, who was known for his television roles at the time, such as portraying Tommy Banks in the television series Father of the Bride (1961-62). Sorenson had also voiced Spotty for Disney’s One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961). As his voice had started to change during the long length of production, he could not finish the lines by the end of it. Director Woolie Reitherman drafted in two of his sons, Richard and Robert, to finish the lines. The changing voice is quite evident during much of the film, but particularly in the final scene. Once you know about it, too, it can be a tad bit distracting…

Merlin is the cranky, intelligent, time-travelling wizard who helps Arthur. He is meant to be an old curmudgeonly sort of man, and he is at times in the movie, getting angry quite frequently, however, he is also kind and understanding. Bill Peet incorporated some of Walt Disney into the character of Merlin, as he was sort of the “wizard” of the studio. Facially, he used Walt’s nose for the character, and emotionally, used some aspects of his temperament, such as being cantankerous and demanding, but also playful and intelligent. Walt either didn’t notice or never commented on the similarities between himself and Merlin[1]. Karl Swenson voiced Merlin here. Swenson was particularly good at vocalisation after working extensively on radio during its “golden age”, before moving into screen roles. Swenson is probably most well-known for appearing as Lars Henson in the series Little House on the Prairie from 1974 to 1978. He also appeared in the Western film The Wild Country, produced by Walt Disney Productions, in 1970.

Archimedes is Merlin’s wise old owl, who is also quite cranky and grouchy at times! But he does have a caring side, as we see when he is the only one of him and Merlin to support Arthur in his dreams to be a squire, accepting that education can’t be forced upon someone. Archimedes is my favourite character because he’s so sarcastic towards Arthur when he doesn’t understand anything, even things Archimedes thinks are quite basic, and towards Merlin, when he mentions these crazy future inventions, like the aeroplane. This leads me to my all-time favourite scene. Merlin is trying to show Arthur that man will fly someday, and shows him a model aircraft which he picked up in the future at some point. He spins the propeller to wind-up the model, not realising that, when he goes to launch it out the window, that his beard has got tangled and the plane simply unravels his beard and crashes down to the ground below, to which Archimedes responds with: “Oh, man’ll fly alright, just like a rock!”, before proceeding to laugh hysterically. He reminds me of me – laughing way after everyone else has stopped and the joke is no longer funny! Disney legend and animator Ollie Johnstone loved this scene too. Junius Matthews, the voice of Archimedes, had to make sure that his laughter continued to feel sincere, not forced, for the full twenty seconds. By the end of it, both Matthews and Archimedes were exhausted! Junius Matthews would later be cast as the original voice of Rabbit in the Winnie the Pooh franchise. Matthews was actually recommended for a part in The Sword in the Stone by Karl Swenson, with them trying Swenson out as Archimedes and Matthews as Merlin, however, the two roles were later switched, which I think was definitely for the best[2].

Legendary Disney animator Milt Kahl loved animating The Sword in the Stone characters. He is particularly praised for designing Sir Ector and Sir Kay without any live-action or reference material. Those two characters both start off seeming harsh and uncaring towards Arthur; giving him the nickname “Wart” doesn’t help their case. They aren’t loving familial figures. By the time Arthur is proclaimed the new king, they become much more kind towards him, unsurprisingly. They aren’t all bad though, as they are quite bumbling and idiotic at times so that’s funny, like when they are trying to fight the “hexed” kitchen equipment that is washing itself after Merlin cast a spell on it. It’s a satisfying scene to watch, that assembly line. Kay and Sir Ector trying to ward off the “devilish magic” with swords is ridiculous; Ector gets smashed over the head several times, and ends up being washed himself, and Kay gets stuck in the fabric of the mop while it’s mopping the floor. These two are not true villains, but it is nice to see them get some sort of comeuppance! Some of this scene was actually reused animation of Horace and Jasper being attacked by Pongo and Perdita in One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961). The two characters can also be seen laughing at Arthur in a similar fashion to King Stefan and King Hubert in Sleeping Beauty (1959) earlier on in the movie.

Sir Ector was voiced by Sebastian Cabot, a British actor with quite a distinctive voice. Cabot had worked for Disney, starring in some of their live-action films, like Westward Ho, the Wagons! (1956) and Johnny Tremain (1957). After The Sword in the Stone, Cabot would again return to voice acting for Disney, performing as Bagheera the panther in The Jungle Book (1967) and then being The Narrator for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977). Sir Kay was voiced by Norman Alden, this being perhaps his most well-known film role, however Alden did also voice the character of Kranix in the animated film The Transformers: The Movie (1986), alongside big names such as Eric Idle and Leonard Nimoy.

Artist Milt Kahl and Frank Thomas were assigned to design Madam Mim, making her suitably wacky and crazy with their design choices. It was decided that Mim could not be a tall, attractive woman and that she had to be eccentric and old like Merlin, so she was given a short, chubby body with thin arms and legs. However, there is one brief moment where Mim turns herself into a tall, attractive woman. Supposedly, this version of Mim resembles a layout artist who worked at the Disney Studios at the time, however, she never said anything about any similarities, nor did Milt Kahl confirm it!

I like Madam Mim, though again, she is not much of a villain, but just about the only one this film has, despite the fact she only appears in the movie for around ten minutes in total and she has no relevance to the overall film. Mim is the witch nemesis of Merlin. She’s mostly just eccentric, but she does try to destroy both Arthur and Merlin; Arthur by turning herself into a cat to eat him when he’s a bird, and Merlin through the wizard’s duel. The wizard’s duel is an impressive scene in the movie, kept in the film by Bill Peet and created only by him. He wanted the duel to be a big visual treat for the audience, which it certainly is. The duel involves fifteen different visuals of animals, which had to keep the signature colours of Merlin and Mim – blue and pink/purple respectively. They also had to keep the visual characteristics, like Merlin’s beard, and Mim’s lavender hair, along with their personalities; Merlin by outwitting Mim with his quiet, calm intellect, and Mim with her brash overconfidence in her powers[3]. She’s a funny villain, not properly devious, but mildly intimidating! She was going to have a darker role in the movie, according to an alternate opening, where she was plotting to find Arthur, the missing heir to the throne, to usurp his position as ruler, and kill him before he ever pulled The Sword in the Stone.

The idea for Mim was her to be a cross between a spoilt brat and a crotchety old hag, always wanting to win so she lies and cheats, never playing fair to ensure that. Martha Wentworth was chosen to be Mim’s voice actor. Wentworth had a long radio career from the 1920s, and was known for her amazing voice impressions. For Disney, she voiced Jenny Wren in the Silly Symphonies Disney short cartoon Who Killed Cock Robin? in 1935 and also voiced Nanny in One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961). She also voiced Granny Squirrel here, the one who seems to like Squirrel Merlin[4].

MUSIC

The music for The Sword in the Sword was written by the Sherman Brothers, Richard and Robert Sherman. This was the first animated feature they’d worked on, though they had already done some work for Disney in the movies The Absent-Minded Professor and The Parent Trap in 1961. The Sherman Brothers then continued to work on Disney projects for many years, including for more movies, such as Mary Poppins (1964) and The Jungle Book (1967), as well as Disney attraction theme songs, like “It’s a Small World (After All)”.

The first song in the film is actually more of a sung-through narration, where we learn the background of how and why The Sword in the Stone came to be, simply called “The Sword in the Stone”. I really like it as an opening number, as it gives us a bit of backstory explained in a more interesting way and sets the viewer up for what’s to come. The song was performed by Fred Darian.

After that, we have the song “Higitus Figitus”, performed by Karl Swenson as Merlin, when Merlin is magically packing all of his belongings into one small suitcase. It’s a little bouncy tune full of nonsense words so perfect for a film aimed at children. This is the most remembered song in the film, I’d say. The Sherman Brothers said they made up the title words using a mixture of what sounded like British words to match Merlin’s nationality and the setting of the film, and some Greek and Latin words to signify his intelligence and love of books. The Shermans thought just using “abracadabra” as the magic words would be too boring – which is true. Originally, they had written the song “The Magic Key” to be performed at this point, with Merlin telling Arthur about the importance of education, but it was replaced with “Higitus Figitus”. A good choice, I think.

Then we have two songs that are performed during Arthur’s lesson as a fish and as a squirrel. The first, “That’s What Makes the World Go Round”, is another bouncy tune that I like, but I can see why it’s perhaps not very memorable to most people. I sometimes just remember it randomly for some reason. Both Karl Swenson and Rickie Sorensen perform this one, but the next, “A Most Befuddling Thing” is just sung by Swenson as Merlin and is another that people might remember more for the squirrel sequence than the song because it is pretty hilarious. At this point in the film, the two are squirrels but Arthur finds himself being pursued by a female squirrel, who does not take “no” for an answer. Merlin is trying to tell Arthur that love is an odd thing that can’t be explained and just happens. Soon, Merlin finds himself being chased by a squirrel too and that’s where the song stops! Merlin’s one is not as “attractive”; she’s a bit bigger and more muscular so when she tries to “flirt” with Merlin by pushing him over, he slams into a tree trunk. It’s even better because he’s laughing at Arthur, telling him he’s on his own with that one, when his shows up. Arthur’s squirrel is much cuter, and she’s become a fan-favourite. I never fail to laugh at this scene of the two of them being chased around. However, the end of this scene is incredibly sad because the girl squirrel realises Arthur is not a squirrel, but a human, as he’d tried to tell her, so she runs away, scared, and cries to herself in the tree. The final shot is of her sitting on a branch at the very top of the tree, sniffling and sighing. Unrequited love, eh?

The “villain’s song” of The Sword in the Stone is performed by Martha Wentworth as Madam Mim and it is called “Mad Madam Mim”. She is basically showing off her magical powers to Arthur. I like it but probably more for Mim than the song itself; she’s just so strange but so confident about it! There is also a brief section of a deleted song that appears in the film. It is only a few seconds long, so I’m not classing it as a song, where Ector and Pelinore are singing around the table at Christmas. The song is “Blue Oak Tree”. The full song would’ve appeared in the movie being sung by the knights, talking about the oak tree on their crests, and how they fight for this meaningless picture[5].

The musical score was written by George Bruns, who had scored Sleeping Beauty (1959) and One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961) beforehand, but had worked on the music for some of the 1950s Disney live-action films before that as well. He went on to write the score for other movies such as The Jungle Book (1967), The Love Bug (1968) and Robin Hood (1973). Though I cannot pick out an individual part of the score that I really like, other than the main title, I like how it feels both medieval and magical, fitting the atmosphere and tone of the overall film. For his score for The Sword in the Stone, Bruns was nominated for Best Score – Adaptation or Treatment at the 1964 Academy Awards, but lost to André Previn’s score for Irma la Douce (1963).

PRODUCTION

The production of The Sword in the Stone took place during the “Silver Age” of Disney animation. After the “Golden Age”, Walt’s enthusiasm for animation had started to decline despite having acquired rights for new animation projects, partly because of the lacklustre performance of some of his passion project movies, like Fantasia (1940), and because of the reputation of the Disney company after the animator’s strike, and the impact of World War II. Walt was spending more time on other pursuits.

In the 1960s, when The Sword in the Stone was in production, Disneyland was open, so Walt spent his time working on ways to improve the park and its attractions. He was also focused on television and live-action films at this point. His brother, Roy O. Disney, had even asked him about closing down the animation department altogether around this time, as they had plenty of material that could simply be re-released. Walt did not want to do this, but did reduce staff numbers and looked at cheaper methods, like Xerography, where animated drawings could be printed directly onto cels instead of painstakingly inking and painting. This technique was first used by Disney for One Hundred and One Dalmatians in 1961, which did well and secured the short-term future of animation. But Walt was not very involved even in that film. The last animated film to take up much of Walt’s attention was Sleeping Beauty (1959) and despite being among the ten highest grossing films of 1959, it was not able to recoup its costs, simply because of how expensive the animation was.

So how did they end up with The Sword in the Stone? Walt Disney first obtained the rights to T. H. White’s 1938 original standalone children’s story The Sword in the Stone in 1939. White’s series was not complete at this point, so when White published his novel The Once and Future King in 1958, which consisted of several shorter novels that he had written between 1938 and 1940, some elements from the original story were omitted in the final novel, such as the appearance of Madam Mim[6]. Disney did not know the final tonality of the whole series until many years after the rights were first purchased and the full series of books took on a new tone altogether, darker, more adult, more political. As this would not fit the Disney way of doing things, Bill Peet, Disney veteran of thirty years, spent a lot of time sifting through the material to figure out what would work. He wrote the screenplay before storyboarding the film, against process, because of this. Bill Peet wanted to make the story fun and playful so avoided talk of the Knights of the Round Table, the Holy Grail, and Guinevere, for example[7]. I am glad that Disney didn’t stray into complex themes. As well as not fitting in with the Disney theme, I have found that the Arthurian legend gets complicated when it delves into wars and dark magic. With the BBC series Merlin (2008-12) I loved the first two series, but then by series three, Morgause and Morgana started being evil and that sucked all the fun out of it for me!

In 1949, the Disney Studios began completing their first storyboards for the movie, however, it wasn’t until Walt Disney saw the Broadway production of the musical Camelot in 1960, another adapted work based on the legend of King Arthur, that he felt confident enough to put The Sword in the Stone into production[8]. Also, Walt felt as Sleeping Beauty (1959) and The Sword in the Stone were so similar in style, both being set in medieval times, that a different style of film had to be released in between the two. This was One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), which was written by Disney storyman Bill Peet.

After that, Bill Peet was then assigned The Sword in the Stone to work on by himself. At the same time, Marc Davis and Ken Anderson were working on their own movie, an adaptation of Chanticleer and the Fox. Davis and Anderson spent months working on their pitch to Walt and the concept was considered to be some of the best art seen at the Disney Studios in years. It would’ve been quite a different film to come from Disney Animation, as Floyd Norman stated in a later interview. Everyone at the studios thought it would be a guarantee that Walt would want to produce the film, but that was not the case. Walt said he didn’t like it and that was that. It was thought that Walt wanted to make a quick film with a low budget, in a similar fashion to Dumbo (1941), so he went with Bill Peet’s adaptation of The Sword in the Stone instead, where Peet was given a lot of freedom over the story.

Despite the disappointment that Anderson and Davis must have felt, the production of The Sword in the Stone was not marred with constant conflict and clashes. Though the story was difficult to adapt, given the source material, the animators worked together to devise clever characters; the Sherman Brothers were brought in to write the songs for it; and Woolie Reitherman was named as the sole director of the film, with The Sword in the Stone being the first Disney animated film to be directed by just one person. It was also only the second Disney animated film to be written by one person, Bill Peet. Walt Peregoy, lead background painter for Sleeping Beauty (1959), showed how much Disney Animation could push their colour palettes, with varied bright colours in The Sword in the Stone, where he practically painted all the backgrounds single-handedly.

But perhaps because of the lack of conflict, it resulted in a “bland” film that was lacking the Disney magic. Because of this, Walt Disney then made sure to be more involved in the following Disney animated film, The Jungle Book (1967), where he clashed with Bill Peet numerous times, leading to Peet leaving the Disney Studios altogether[9].

RECEPTION

The Sword in the Stone was released in December 1963, with it premiering in the UK a couple of weeks earlier than in the US. It made a small profit at the box-office, but nothing like the return of One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961), Disney Animation’s previous movie release. The critical reviews were not as good either, with many saying that the plot was thin, and that it strayed too far from the legend of King Arthur. I can see why this comment was made, as The Sword in the Stone does feel like a set of sequences strung together at times, but I still enjoy it. Others did find the movie funny and appreciated the smaller cast of characters, as Disney has been known to crowd their movies with too many. It was a mixed bag of reviews back then, but even audiences today don’t generally love it, probably for similar reasons. The Sword in the Stone was later re-released in theatres in 1972 and again 1983, before being available for home releases.

LEGACY

Thanks to The Sword in the Stone celebrating its 60^th anniversary in 2023, there has been more merchandise than usual related to the film in recent years, including pins, ornaments, and figurines. Disney had previously only tended to do big lines of merchandising for their most popular films, so with them now celebrating milestone anniversaries, and with the Disney100 celebrations in 2023, it’s good to see that fans of any animated Disney film can now find something related to their favourite film.

The Sword in the Stone did not receive any sequels or spin-offs, not even in the direct-to-video market, but, perhaps unsurprisingly, a live-action remake of the film was announced in 2015. A director was later attached to the project in 2018. Since then, there has been no further official news on the live-action film, so whether or not this will happen, I don’t know, but I will just say that there are so many live-action adaptations of the story of King Arthur that I’m not sure it’s worth Disney’s time and money to make it. The Disney Channel Original Movie Avalon High (2010) was based on a book by Meg Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries book series, which was itself loosely based on the Arthurian legend, and 20^th Century Fox, now owned by Disney, released The Kid Who Would Be King in 2019, which again is another adaptation of the same story. These are just Disney’s own versions of the story; countless other movie or television productions have also been created around King Arthur, Merlin, and/or Excalibur in just the last few years.

The Sword in the Stone, despite not being one of Disney’s “best” features, has left a legacy within some of the Disney theme parks. Five of the six parks have definitely had or currently have The Sword in the Stone, with Tokyo Disneyland seeming to be the only one that hasn’t; I am uncertain if they have had one in the past, but they certainly don’t have one now. There used to be an official ceremony in front of The Sword where guests would be given the opportunity to pull the sword. Normally, this honour went to a child, after some adults had already tried to pull it. Once the “worthy person” was chosen, The Sword would be able to be pulled just a few inches out of the stone, for safety reasons. A short Coronation Ceremony then took place, where the Ruler was given a crown and cape. They also received a “royal medallion” and certificate as a prize. For anyone who doesn’t want to believe in magic, The Sword is able to be lifted after magnets holding The Sword in place are disengaged by a cast member.

In the summer of 1983, the first The Sword in the Stone ceremony took place at Disneyland in front of the carousel, with Merlin appearing to officiate the ceremony. Variations of the show where also performed at Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida from 1993 to 2006, and at Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland from their opening dates in 1992 and 2005 respectively. I don’t believe any of the ceremonies at any of the Disney theme parks are still going, but The Sword is available to anyone for a photo-op or just to test your strength. Some have gone too far with this and managed to break The Sword though, so please be careful with it. In January 2020, at Disneyland, the sword was unavailable for a period of time as a guest broke the sword attempting to remove it and it had to be fixed. It was very old though, so probably not a big surprise that it broke! Shanghai Disneyland also has a sword in the stone, but doesn’t have a ceremony for it.

Alongside this, a Wizard Duel-inspired dark ride was considered for the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World when it was being constructed for its opening in 1971. This was so that the attractions were not simply copies of the ones over at Disneyland, with this dark ride being planned as a substitute for Snow White’s Scary Adventures, however, the idea was rejected by Roy O. Disney, who felt guests wanted some of the same attractions as the ones that could be found at Disneyland[10]. Also at the Magic Kingdom, Merlin used to be the “host” of the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom interactive game, where guests used interactive screens and packs of cards to battle different Disney villains and help Merlin defeat Hades. It was a fun game, and something good to do when the park had very long queues for attractions. It ran from February 2012 until January 2021. After the disappearance of the walk-around character of Merlin from The Sword in the Stone ceremony in 2006, this was Merlin’s last known appearance at the Magic Kingdom.

But that’s just one park. At Disneyland, the Magic Happens parade features Merlin and Arthur on their own float, complete with The Sword in the Stone. This is a random, but much appreciated, addition to the parade, as many of the other floats are themed to more popular Disney animated films, such as Frozen II (2019), Moana (2016), and The Princess and the Frog (2009). The Magic Happens parade first debuted at Disneyland in February 2020, but closed shortly after due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It then began again in February 2023 as part of the Disney100 celebrations. Disneyland’s carousel is named King Arthur Carrousel, due to the medieval faire surroundings of the carousel in Fantasyland, however, the carousel actually features scenes from Sleeping Beauty (1959) on the inside. The Sword in the Stone has been placed right in front of the carousel though. Finally, Merlin has featured at the Oogie Boogie Bash Halloween event as a meet-and-greet location.

At Disneyland Paris, along with their sword in the stone, there is a shop within the castle called Merlin l’Enchanteur (Merlin the Magician), which sells items such as jewellery, crystal, and glass displays. You can go past a miniature “The Sword in the Stone” during Le Pays des Contes de Fées attraction, their version of the Disneyland Storybook Land Canal Boats. Merlin and Arthur were also spotted recently for a meet-and-greet at the Annual Passholder Party at Disneyland Paris in March 2023. It is quite rare to see Arthur as a walkaround character. Disneyland Paris’ carousel is also named for the Arthurian tale – Le Carrousel de Lancelot, but as Lancelot isn’t mentioned in The Sword in the Stone, it isn’t a movie reference unfortunately.

At Hong Kong Disneyland, The Sword in the Stone was actually removed in 2023 to make place for their new “Dream Makers” statue, a statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse sitting on a bench. It was located in front of the Cinderella Carousel. There are however two shops named after Merlin still, both situated in Fantasyland: Merlin’s Treasures and Merlin’s Magic Portraits. Merlin’s Magic Portraits is just a cart where you can pick up your Disney PhotoPass pictures, whereas Merlin’s Treasures is a souvenir shop housed in a cottage.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Although The Sword in the Stone did not span a great franchise or a huge fanbase, it has become one of the first introductions for many to the legend of King Arthur. Because it is aimed at a wide audience, it is accessible to many and is nice, light entertainment. Some of the animation is a bit basic in places, and the soundtrack is not one of Disney’s best, but I don’t care; that’s never been enough to take my focus away. I think The Sword in the Stone is funny and I find it sad that it may have been forgotten amongst all the big Disney hits.

Still, the never-ending fascination with the Disney Parks’ Swords in the Stone has kept the legend alive and people just won’t give up trying to pull them out!

Everyone knows we have a King of England already, right?

REFERENCES

[1] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘The Sword in the Stone (1963)’, pp. 52-54.

[2] Credit: Jim Fanning, ‘Did You Know? 10 Wizard Facts about Walt Disney’s The Sword in the Stone’, D23 (online), 21^st December 2018.

[3] Credit: Jim Fanning, ‘Did You Know? 10 Wizard Facts about Walt Disney’s The Sword in the Stone’, D23 (online), 21^st December 2018.

[4] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Mad Madam Mim’, CartoonResearch.com, 21^st August 2020.

[5] Credit: Disney, Music Magic: The Sherman Brothers (2001).

[6] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Mad Madam Mim’, CartoonResearch.com, 21^st August 2020.

[7] Credit: William Fischer, ‘How ‘The Sword in the Stone’ Pulled Walt Disney Back Into Animation’, Collider (online), 4^th August 2021

[8] Credit: Jim Korkis, Everything I Know I Learned from Disney Animated Feature Films (2015), ‘The Sword in the Stone (1963)’, pp. 52-54.

[9] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Floyd Norman Remembers The Sword in the Stone’, MousePlanet.com, 1-8^th November 2017.

[10] Credit: Jim Korkis, ‘Floyd Norman Remembers The Sword in the Stone: Part One’, MousePlanet.com, 1^st November 2017.