If I Had a World of My Own, Everything Would Be Nonsense

So, I have to admit that I was not originally a fan of the Alice in Wonderland story. My basis to Lewis Caroll’s Alice in Wonderland is the 1951 Disney Studios Film. As a kid I thought it was a little dull and it lacked any story that really sucked me in. Then I met my husband. He was always a huge fan of Alice’s adventures and during the course of our relationship I have seen many, many, many, many iterations of the tale. From my nostalgic favorite TV Special from 1985 to a really surreal British Alice Through the Looking Glass from 1998 staring Kate Beckinsale. My main issue with Alice is that the episodic nature of the tale does not lend itself to a 3 act narrative very well. To solve this most of the adaptations give Alice some contrived reason to wander away and flee something, anything, just to give her a goal. This is where the Disney movie differs, sure she’s bored with her real life, but she’s just a curious little girl who follows a rabbit in a waist coat into Wonderland. Even though it combines elements from both Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, I find the Disney version to be one of the more faithful adaptations and have really grown to appreciate it. 

Alice, voiced perfectly by Kathyn Baumont, is our point of view character, the blank slate that helps us experience the craziness of Wonderland. As she daydreams of a world of her own she notices the White Rabbit and naturally follows him down into the Rabbit Hole. What should be a panicky moment for anyone, Alice tries to make sense of the situation. That’s what makes this character so charming. She’s always trying to find logic in a land where nonsense rules. 

When reaching the bottom of the rabbit hole, Alice changes size by trying different food and drink to enter Wonderland and meets the vast cast of crazy characters. Among the first she meets is Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. Though these characters are fun in their own right it’s the story of the Walrus and the Carpenter they recite that I’ve always loved. It’s possible the catchy melody and rhyming, but it’s a really dark anecdote. And I’m not a dark guy. It’s tragic and deliciously twisted. 

Alice stumbles upon the White Rabbit’s home and finds him but is immediately swept into frenzy as he mistakenly takes her for his housemaid Maryanne. I always wanted to know more about Maryanne. Does she look anything like Alice? Is she possibly a rabbit? It’s so strange, yet makes perfect sense in this world. Inquisitive Alice eats a biscuit she found in the White Rabbit’s room, as is natural for any curious personality, and grows to the size of a giant. Eating a carrot she shrinks to the size of an insect and spends a golden afternoon with the flowers. An encounter with a hookah smoking caterpillar leads her to grow back to her normal size and she meets my favorite character in the movie, the Cheshire Cat.

Cheshire Cat is one of those characters that can only successfully done in animation and the whimsical style Disney went with here gives the character an iconic look. What might be a silly man in a costume in live action, animation allows this guy to disappear and reappear in sections effortlessly. Voiced by Disney All Star Sterling Holloway the performance is what gives most the inhabitants of Disney’s Wonderland this great edge warm crazy. They are insane, never quite too threatening, but I still wouldn’t turn my back on them. 

The Cat directs Alice to the film’s most memorable scenes, the Unbirthday Party. Again, another set of great characters with the Mad Hatter and March Hare. The highs and lows in mood these characters achieve at breakneck speeds are incredible. It’s another great example of not ever knowing where these characters are going to go. And it’s just a well written comedy act. Hilarious wordplay and timing, it’s totally worth a viewing as an adult just to see how well-crafted the comedy in this scene is. 

Moving on to the Royal Grounds, Alice meets the Card Army and The Queen of Hearts. The Queen of Hearts is one of the great comedic villains in Disney’s rouge gallery. I love her childish temper. She goes from the extreme of femininity one second to a raging lunatic the next. Things don’t go her way and her solution is to behead someone. And her poor little King just rolls with it. Voiced by Disney veteran Verna Felton and Animated by Frank Thomas we’re given a tyrant that’s a lot of fun to watch. The Queen finally takes Alice to her breaking point after a nonsensical trial and Alice flees Wonderland realizing life needs structure and balance. 

The only real low point of the movie is when Alice laments in the Tulgey Wood. There is a song called “Very Good Advice” that totally stalls the film and doesn’t really match wacky tone of the movie. But the rest of this film is just about Alice touring Wonderland, meeting up with one loon after another. It’s more about experiencing the insanity with Alice than it is about Alice reaching the end of a goal.

Stylistically Wonderland is a knockout. What could have been a typical cartoony tableau of bright colors are mostly black backgrounds with accented colors. This really makes all the colors in the foreground pop and is a technique Disney Legend Mary Blair uses often yet it never gets boring. 

So I concede that I underestimated this movie. It’s not just the trippy, drug induced film everyone makes it out to be. It is in fact a really creative and fun movie.  Alice in Wonderland is a great adaptation of a great literary work and has proven to be one of Disney most treasured animated classics.

If You Were Asked to Choose the Most Fabulous Character in English Literature, Who Would it Be?

In the last of the I-Didn’t-Know-This-Was-A-Movie package film series is 1949’s The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. Based off Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows this is another feature that is more famous to my generation has being two separate cartoons as opposed to one film. The tale of the Headless Horseman seems to be the more famous of the two shorts. Most likely because it’s one of the few outright spooky and dark cartoons that Disney produced and it became a staple of Halloween viewing. For those of you who don’t know, I spent a decent chunk of my career as an Attractions Host in Disneyland’s Fantasyland and you’d be surprised how many times I would hear people wonder who Mr. Toad was when I operated his beloved attraction. Most people didn’t know he had a film (not to mention an entire work of literature written about him).

Setting the tone of the film is a disembodied narrator in a lush library. The Wind in the Willows is the first story we hear, narrated by Basil Rathbone. J. Thaddeus Toad Esq. is our lead character, a wealthy toad with a penchant for anything new and trendy, in this case Automobiles. He sells the deed to his mansion to a sleazy bartender named Winky in exchange for a stolen car. Toad is falsely accused of the car theft and the resulting trial is absolutely hilarious as it parodies the justice system. Toad’s horse Cyril is a scene stealer as he recaps the events. Speaking of the horse, one oddity in this short is the scale of the characters. Toad is the size of a toad, so Cyril, being a horse, towers over him. The world is inhabited by humans, so they are much larger than our animal cast. You’d think it’d look strange but the color pallet and general madcap style make it work. Anyway, Toad gets incarcerated and breaks out of prison. It’s up to his friends Ratty, Moley, and MacBadger to help get Toad Hall back from Winky and his band of Weasels. It’s obvious that this Mr. Toad was supposed to get a full feature as the story is a bit rushed. The frantic pace sort of works in its favor, but I would have liked it to be slowed down to learn more about the characters. Ratty and Moley seem like they’re good people and their relationship is adorable, but I could have used more time with them. A full 90 minute feature could have fixed that. 

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was always meant to be a short and it shows. The story is much tighter and flows much better. The tale of Ichabod Crane is narrated by Bing Crosby and what’s pretty cool is that it’s all done in song and pantomime, none of the character have any dialog. We mostly follow the daily life of the new schoolmaster as he takes advantage of most of the women in town. He may be lanky and pretty socially inept, but he’s quite the lady’s man. What struck me the most when viewing this was what a jerk Ichabod was. We normally see him has this frail victim, but he’s just not here. When he meets his eventual demise you don’t exactly feel sorry for him. Back to the plot, he falls for one of the riches women in town, Katrina, for her looks and her money. Local bully Brom Bones is jealous and regales superstitious Ichabod the legend of the Headless Horseman, riding the night woods at night looking for replacement heads. The legend comes true as Ichabod rides home and he comes face to face (?) with what is possibly one of the most scary villains in Disney history. His laugh still gives me chills. The mood set during the chase is great as the atmosphere is dark and heavy, but the action is more often funny and fast paced. In the end we don’t see if Ichabod survived as all that is found is his hat.

This is the final of the anthology films of the 40’s and as much fun it was to revisit this series of films the second Golden Age of Disney Feature Animation couldn’t come soon enough. The Adventure of Ichabod and Mr. Toad isn’t the strongest of the package films, but it’s not the worst by any measure. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is strong and the best version of the story I’ve seen but there is a want for a single narrative film. And that want is more than met in 1950 when a curtain scullery maid makes her entrance to the ball.

Yes, Swing ‘Till the Rafters Ring

Even though Fantasia received an official sequel in Fantasia 2000, 1946’s Make Mine Music could be an appropriate sequel as well but with Popular Music being showcased instead of classical. The third package film of the 40’s, this one featured a lot of my childhood favorite shorts that I had no idea were part of a full length feature film. My generation of Disney Channel had very little original programming and consisted mostly of old Disney shorts spliced together to make various half hour programs. All the Cats Join In,  Peter and the Wolf, Johnny Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet, and The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met being some of my all-time favorite cartoons happen to originate from this film.

The similarities to Fantasia start from the beginning with the short Blue Bayou. In fact, the animation is recycled from a cut segment from Fantasia. It’s a beautiful opening with a stunning tracking shot in the middle of the piece. Sweeping shots like this never cease to amaze me in animation.

Next in the program is the fantastic All the Cats Join In. Done in the distinct style of Disney Animator Fred Moore, this short follows a set of teenagers living it up at a local dinner. Everything about it screams fun. From the swing music to the bright color palate, so much energy is comes out that you can’t help but want to party with this group of kids.

The short titled Without You is a great atmospheric piece about love lost. The perspective is of one staring out a window on a rainy day looking out to a weeping willow. It goes one to get pretty abstract before returning back to the starting point. There was so much mood and emotion that I actually got a bit choked up.

I’m sure we’ve all seen Casey at the Bat, and it’s just as hilarious as ever. Strange choice as I don’t see the connection to the music theme other then it being a recited poem? Other than that, I could watch Casey strike out over and over again.

Two Silhouettes features, oddly enough, two silhouetted live action ballet dancers performing against an animated backdrop. It’s kind of a stalling point in the film, it’s a bit dull but luckily pretty short.

The classical piece of Peter and the Wolf features some brilliant character animation. You can tell they had a lot of fun bringing these characters to life using only the instrument assigned to each one as their voice. Sonia the Duck has always been a favorite of mine, his low, lazy oboe perfectly fitting his carefree but oblivious personality.

After You’ve Gone is another short little interlude, but is a bit more fun while we watch the instruments featured in the song do their thing in a cartoon land.

If you ever wondered if you could buy a love story between two anthropomorphized hats, then look no further than Johnny Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet. Told through song by the tight harmonies of the legendary Andrews Sisters, this short has always had a little spot in my heart. I don’t know if it’s the beautiful tones of the Andrews Sisters or the fact that this story can only be told in an animated world but the moment I saw that department store window I was always glued to the screen.

The finale short is the tragic The Whale Who Wanted to Sing at the Met. Without giving too much away, the story takes you to fantastic highs as we see the meteoric rise of Willie the Whale as he becomes an opera star, but takes us to a really low, dark place. There is still a happy ending, but not the happy you normally associate with Disney. It’s pretty sophisticated storytelling for a little short. Mention has to be made to Nelson Eddy who provides all the vocals.

As you could probably tell, this is definitely my favorite of the package films, probably due to a huge case of nostalgia since so many of these were already among my favorite Disney cartoons and seeing them all together is a treat. If you haven’t revisited these ones in a while, I high recommend giving the film a view. You’d be surprised that they work well separately as shorts but work harmoniously together as a film.

 

Three Happy Chappies, with Snappy Sarepes

Have you ever wanted to see Donald Duck try his best to get tail feathers ruffled for a good 2/3rds of a movie before? Well, 1944’s The Three Caballeros is the film for you. You heard me right, for a good portion of this movie Donald is chasing women around south of the border.

The Three Caballeros is probably a more known in title than Saludos Amigos, and I’m sure that more than a handful of people think of them as the same movie, but being films about Latin America is pretty much where the similarities end (besides sharing Donald Duck and Jose Carioca). Where Saludos Amigos showcases the continent of South America during a goodwill tour with the Disney Artist, The Three Caballeros follow the complex storyline of Donald Duck opening birthday presents sent to him his pals in Latin America.

The feature starts simple enough with 2 short films; The Cold-Blooded Penguin, a cute story of a Penguin named Pablo from Argentina looking for warmer weather and The Flying Guachito , where a little boy from Uruguay races his winged donkey named Burrito. Caballeros really kicks in when Jose Carioca burst onto the scene with a rousing samba number in the Brazilian state of Baia. As Jose talks about the coastal state his silhouette is bathed in this gorgeous, warm pink light and we dip our toes in the pond of Surreal Land. There is a fantastic part of the sequence where a 2 man dance becomes a cock fight and back again. It is a great example of what I love most about animation, it is art in motion.

Upon returning from Baia Panchito Pistoles, a rooster representing Mexico, is introduced and we are treated to the Mexican celebration of Las Posadas via still paintings by Mary Blair. It’s quiet, it’s beautiful, and it’s touching. Then from here on out Donald Duck is in full horn dog mode as he tours Mexico on a magic Sarape! There is some really great Animation/Live action mixing in the sequences where the Caballeros learn about regional Mexican dances, which is odd since I’m pretty sure that Baia was not mixed, but the live actors were acting in front of a screen with the animation projected on it. Donald Dances with Women Patzuaro, he dances with women in Veracruz, and then he chases SEVERAL women on what seems to be the beaches of Acapulco but is most obviously a soundstage in some angles.

Donald seemingly falls in love with a singer representing the stars of Mexico and our foot now firmly planted in the Surreal Ocean. Donald moves his affection to a strange dancing flower woman hybrid and then falls for a Mexican woman conducting dancing cacti with her rider’s crop. Jose and Panchito join in the finale in an explosion of color and firecrackers.

The character animation in this one is fast and loose, almost Looney Toonsian. It’s a whole lot of fun to see them go off the animated rails a little but the very little story in it is a bit too fragmented. Are we watching an educational travelogue? Are we watching a cast of zany characters running around south of the border? Are we watching Donald Duck sow his wild oats whilst on a break from Daisy? What we do get is some really great imagery and fantastic music.

 

Aquarela do Brasil

1942’s Saludos Amigos is a bit of an odd duck in the Disney Animation Studio canon. It’s only 42 minutes long and a good portion of it is live action. I didn’t expect to enjoy it as I don’t have a great memory of the package films of the 40’s, but I thought this was a great little gem of Disney History.

We get to tag along with Walt Disney and a group of hand selected artist on their good will tour through South America. Sure, it reeks of the Good Neighbor Policy but it is so much fun to see parts of the world that were foreign to the eyes of a pre internet world. The Disney animation buff in me is totally delighted in seeing favorite artist like Frank Thomas and Mary Blair do their sketching and doodles in living color.

Playing more like a travelogue than an actual film, the shorts are tied together with the story of the animators getting inspiration from the surrounding lands and cultures. You’ve most likely seen the first 3 stories as standalone shorts and the animation, though consistent in quality, is no more groundbreaking than any other Mickey Mouse/Silly Symphony that was released in the past. We get to see Donald Duck being tourist in Lake Titicaca. We see the first installment of the Planes franchise in Pedro, the little mail plane who bravely flies through a storm over the country of Chile. We visit El Gaucho Goofy as he learns how to turn from an American Cowboy to a genuine Argentine gaucho with hilarious results.

The fourth short, Aquarela do Brasil, is where animation gets to do what animation does best: be wonderfully surrealistic. Translated to “Watercolor of Brazil”, a paint brush is animated painting landscapes of the country with each splattering of paint becoming something alive. A dash of blue paint becomes a flowing river. With a few drops of yellow a palm tree becomes an exotic jungle bird. Magically, a bunch of bananas are transformed to a flock of toucan with a mere splash of black paint. It’s beautiful, fantastic, and awesome. Once the scene is set Jose Carioca, the green parrot most associated with the Three Caballeros, is introduced to samba the night away Donald around the color streets of Brazil.

Not the best feature out there, and I probably wouldn’t recommend it as a must see to the casual fan, but if you have any interest in the Disney Animators of the 40’s, it’s a real treat. Bonus points for any anthropologist out there as all the live action footage has some great stuff from the native cultures of South America and Mid Century era Brazil.

“Recalling thrills of our love, there’s one thing I’m certain of. Return, I will, to old Brazil.”

… He Is Known As the Great Prince of the Forest

Mister Walt Disney sure gave us the 1-2 punch with the motherly tragedy when he released Bambi in 1942. Quite possibly one of the most beautiful of the animated films, Walt Disney set out for a more realistic look than the previous films that had been animated by the studio. Animators were instructed to study the anatomy of real animal and the hard work paid off. Animator Eric Larson is quoted as saying the previous attempts at deer in Snow White were more “like big flour sacks” than actual animals. It’s pretty amazing that you can actually see the back muscles moving when the deer walk around the forest. A forest made all the more lush thanks to the eye and hand of animator Tyrus Wong. The visuals of this film are true masterpieces of the medium.

Not only is this Disney’s first attempt at realism in a feature film, but this is really the first coming of age tale they tried to tell. There is more emphasis on the daily life of Bambi than there is on a clear cut narrative. The villain in the story is only identified as Man, and he is never seen. The death of Bambi’s mother is one of the most iconic parts of the film, and surely traumatized a fair share of children around the world, but it hurts mre because Bambi and his mother have such a wonderful relationship. The fawn cares for his mother so deeply that you want to believe that she’s right behind Bambi in the safety of the thicket. I don’t think I’m alone in hoping that she makes it every time I watch the film.

Not to be overshadowed by the tragic death of the mother, the movie is just chock-full of super intense moments. From the battle Bambi has with a competing Deer over the hand (hoof?) of Feline, to the forest fire and dog fight in the climax, there is almost no time to breathe in the second half of the film. My favorite moment in the film is actually one of the more frightening scenes, involving a quail and her fear of the approaching hunter. Against the advice of her friends to stay hidden in the brush, she succumbs to her fear induced madness and flies away only to get shot down has she tries to flee. And no punches are pulled here; you actually see her body fall and hit the ground.

Luckily there are plenty of light moments with cute animals frolicking around the meadow, skating an iced over pond, and finding the sensation of Twitterpation and romance. But best of all there’s Thumper. I love Thumper. He is so adorable and has so much personality. He is great when he’s getting scolded by his mother by reciting the wisdom of his unseen father.

I’m glad this film gets the respect it deserves, as it can be easily forgotten in the pantheon of fantasy and princesses normally associated with Disney. The Great Prince of the Forest is a crowning achievement for Walt Disney and his studio.

52 Weeks, 53 Movies

If you can understand the subtle reference in the title of my blog you’ll notice I’m a huge animation fan.  I’m sure there are bigger fans out there, but I have a true passion for the medium.  I love animation not only as a form entertainment, but as a true form of art. Like all healthy, well-adjusted American children, this passion stems from the wonderful artist at the Walt Disney Company.  I love Disney.  Who honestly can say they don’t?  Despite the reputation as a greedy corporation, the Disney brand, films, and character represent what is good and wholesome with the world.  I admit that this may be a naive point of view, but I prefer to see the bright side of the world and these movies have helped fuel that world view for generations.  These are films that just put a dopey grin on my face.

While looking through my healthy collection of DVDs/Blu-Rays, I noticed that I haven’t paid the attention to my Disney Collection has well I should.  I mean, I bought the damn things to enjoy over and over again, not so that they could sit on the shelf to collect dust. And as 2013 came to a close I was looking for a lofty aspiration to strive for throughout 2014.  Since joining the 2018 American Olympic Curling Team is still a few years away, this seemed like the perfect time to set a goal to watch the films released under the Walt Disney Animation Studios banner, one a week, in the order of their release.  Simple ground rules is that it has to be an “official” WDAS release, not a DisneyToon Studios release, not an animated film released by Disney, but the 53 movies made by the Animation House Walt and Mickey built.  54 when Big Hero 6 comes out this winter.

Part 2 of this goal was to stir my stagnant creative juices by rejoining the blogging world and write about my thoughts and feelings as I re-watched these films as an adult.  I’ll be doing a sort of an unprofessional, uneducated mini-review, analysis, and opinion of films that brought so much joy and inspiration (see what I did there?) to myself and so many others.   As a child, I watched (and re-watched and re-watched and re-watched…..)  these colorful movies for their adventure, their heart, their characters and their comedy.  And now, I enjoy these films for their artistry, the talent displayed by the animators, their creativity, their imagination, their skillful storytelling, and the fact that I just enjoy the hell out of them.

You have may notice that it’s late July and I haven’t written more than a blurb on my Instagram account (Shameless Plug: Follow me, @Eric218) when I posted a picture as I watch each movie. It’s time that changed and I play some catch up.  I’ll no longer confine myself to the 2 or 3 sentences as a caption to a square picture.  It’s time I reopened my Moving Castle Blog and entered my personal Disney Vault to revisit 53 Disney Movies in 52 Weeks.