Lady and the Tramp (1955)
And now, on to one of my all time favorites from the vault. I remember watching this movie over and over again and never tiring of it. Revisiting it, solidified that admiration.
Believe it or not, the inception of this movie began way back when Snow White was finishing production. The idea of writing a story about the life of a family dog from it's own point of view attracted Walt, leading to it becoming his 15th animated film. Proving to be a popular hit with audiences, it was marked the most successful animated movie since Snow White.
This movie, also marks a few beginnings for the studio. It introduced Cinemascope to the animator's repertoire. A filming technique that allowed for larger and wider animated scenes, making the world they create have more of a feeling of space and reality. It also marked the first, and as far as I know only Disney animated movie without a clear villain. That's right, just because Aunt Sara doesn't like dogs, doesn't mean she's evil. And the rat was simply acting out of instinct.
Anyway, this movie hold's a special place in my heart, so seeing it as an adult, and falling in love with it all over again made me very happy.
First off, this movie is gorgeous!!! Cinemascope truly showcased how talented the Disney artists were with their beautiful recreation of small town America at the turn of the 20th century. The studio loosely based the fictional town after Walt's own hometown of Marceline, Missouri, with it's lovely Victorian style houses and manicured streets. The romance of Americana is potent in this movie.
And, speaking of romance...
What a love story this movie hides behind it's animated facade!
The relationship between Lady and Tramp, and how it evolves over the course of the story, has enough depth for any adult to respond to. And might I just say, Bella Notte is still one of my favorite love songs from any of the Disney films. Hard to believe Disney almost cut it from the film.
As far as characters go, humanizing dogs with personalities, wants, and fears, still to this day isn't something we tire of as movie going audiences. As a matter of fact, I believe a certain Secret Life of Pets is currently in theaters as I write this. Seeing them respond to the strange world of their owners, and dwell over the perplexity of what the ramifications of a baby really is, truly is charming and entertaining. Despite Disney's continued demonification of cats ('We are Siamese"), the songs who were written with help from widely known songstress of the time, Peggy Lee, are very memorable. Despite how few of them the movie overall holds.
Overall, Lady and the Tramp is a wonderful story about love and devotion to our families. And how sometimes our worst fears, weather it's babies, or leashes and dog licenses, are sometimes blown out of proportion. We see both the main characters evolve over the course of the movie as they explore these things they know nothing about, and find they aren't nearly as scary as what they originally perceived. Tramp's idea of living on a leash is changed due to his love for Lady. As her naivety and street smarts are changed due to Tramp. It furthers my theory that people come into our lives at given moments when they have something we can learn from them. Our differences from each other allow us to grow and shape ourselves into who we need to be, and sometimes leads us to happiness and fulfillment. Which, in this case, is even true for dogs.
So there you have it, Lady and the Tramp still holds up well to today's standards. And I highly recommend a revisit to this old tale of two star-crossed canines! Next up is Sleeping Beauty, see you all in 1959!!
Thursday, July 21, 2016
Monday, July 18, 2016
"All of this has happened before, and it will all happen again"
Peter Pan (1953)
With the box office disappointment of Alice in Wonderland, Disney never lost momentum and kept going strong right into the animated adaptation of J. M. Barrie's story of Peter Pan. Continuing the theme of escaping the mundane responsibilities everyday life brings us that Wonderland already explored. Only this time, a box office hit was what they had.
Many people strongly love this story. The idea of a place you can escape to where children never grow up, with pirates, mermaids, indians, and fairies that made you fly. It's a story that's hard not to love. Most people born within the western world these last one hundred years have dreamed of being whisked off to Neverland. Myself included.
Returning to this movie, for me, had me excited since out of many of the classic films, this one had been one I hadn't seen in MANY years. And most of the finer details had escaped my memory, so I knew going in, that a fresh perspective was what I was definitely going to get.
So.....
Let me begin by saying one major thing I had forgotten about this movie....
Peter Pan is an a-hole.
When your a child, and you are mesmerized by the magic of the story, and the grand adventure of it all, the finer details go over your head. But seeing this through the eyes of adulthood, the appeal of Neverland escapes me. Which, in some sort of irony, fits with the theme of the story. Peter Pan truly is the essence of youth. The one child who figured out how to escape the confines of mortality and achieve eternal youth. And his avoidance of maturity is quite apparent. He's boastful, ambivalent, immature, and completely oblivious of his treatment to the people around him.
In fact, Disney smoothed a lot of Peter's truly darker characteristics out of his telling of the story. In the original story, he killed the Lost Boys who showed signs of aging, or just to remind them of who was in charge. Making many people believe that the pirates were made up of lost boys who managed to escape him....
Yeah, kinda paints a new perspective of the flying sociopath, huh?
Anyway, the Darling children all get wrapped up on the wonderment of Neverland with the exception of Wendy. Who, out of all three, is on the cusp of growing up. So it makes sense for her to see through the veil, and find that staying a child forever isn't all that it cracks up to be. Once again, bringing the common ground of this movie and Wonderland together even more.
Aside from how unappealing a person the titular hero turns out to be, this movie shocked me with it's violence, drug use, and racism. Not only does the movie feature ALL of the children sharing a peace pipe with the natives, right before the break out into the ever popular musical number "What Makes the Red Man, Red?", but also features Captain Hook blatantly shooting one of his men dead. I had to pick my jaw off the ground quite a few times. Never before has a Disney film truly showed it age than this movie. So don't expect a theatrical re-release anytime soon, folks!
All political incorrectness aside, the movie holds up well, with a strong voice cast such as Hans Conried (a man with one of the best British speaking voices ever to grace this earth), Kathryn Beaumont (whom we already know as Alice from the previous movie), and many others. Also, the animation truly stands out strong, due to Disney's use of live action filming for animators to reference. Lots of strong points overwhelm the cons of this movie for sure.
But reflecting back on this movie, reminds me of why we love to revisit it. Especially as an adult. As we age, our sense of 'play' and 'adventure' lessens, as we are overburdened with the everyday responsibilities of adulthood. Wendy's parents see her maturity at the beginning of the movie, and suggest the idea of moving out of the playroom, and straight into adulthood. Every child's nightmare. But, by visiting the extremity of Neverland, we are all reminded of why growth and maturity are just as vital to life as youth. And the ticking crocodile of death is something we all have to face, eventually. And just as the movie says in the beginning, this right of passage has happened before, and it will happen perpetually over and over again.
Neverland is where we all learn to grow up.
With the box office disappointment of Alice in Wonderland, Disney never lost momentum and kept going strong right into the animated adaptation of J. M. Barrie's story of Peter Pan. Continuing the theme of escaping the mundane responsibilities everyday life brings us that Wonderland already explored. Only this time, a box office hit was what they had.
Many people strongly love this story. The idea of a place you can escape to where children never grow up, with pirates, mermaids, indians, and fairies that made you fly. It's a story that's hard not to love. Most people born within the western world these last one hundred years have dreamed of being whisked off to Neverland. Myself included.
Returning to this movie, for me, had me excited since out of many of the classic films, this one had been one I hadn't seen in MANY years. And most of the finer details had escaped my memory, so I knew going in, that a fresh perspective was what I was definitely going to get.
So.....
Let me begin by saying one major thing I had forgotten about this movie....
Peter Pan is an a-hole.
When your a child, and you are mesmerized by the magic of the story, and the grand adventure of it all, the finer details go over your head. But seeing this through the eyes of adulthood, the appeal of Neverland escapes me. Which, in some sort of irony, fits with the theme of the story. Peter Pan truly is the essence of youth. The one child who figured out how to escape the confines of mortality and achieve eternal youth. And his avoidance of maturity is quite apparent. He's boastful, ambivalent, immature, and completely oblivious of his treatment to the people around him.
In fact, Disney smoothed a lot of Peter's truly darker characteristics out of his telling of the story. In the original story, he killed the Lost Boys who showed signs of aging, or just to remind them of who was in charge. Making many people believe that the pirates were made up of lost boys who managed to escape him....
Yeah, kinda paints a new perspective of the flying sociopath, huh?
Anyway, the Darling children all get wrapped up on the wonderment of Neverland with the exception of Wendy. Who, out of all three, is on the cusp of growing up. So it makes sense for her to see through the veil, and find that staying a child forever isn't all that it cracks up to be. Once again, bringing the common ground of this movie and Wonderland together even more.
Aside from how unappealing a person the titular hero turns out to be, this movie shocked me with it's violence, drug use, and racism. Not only does the movie feature ALL of the children sharing a peace pipe with the natives, right before the break out into the ever popular musical number "What Makes the Red Man, Red?", but also features Captain Hook blatantly shooting one of his men dead. I had to pick my jaw off the ground quite a few times. Never before has a Disney film truly showed it age than this movie. So don't expect a theatrical re-release anytime soon, folks!
All political incorrectness aside, the movie holds up well, with a strong voice cast such as Hans Conried (a man with one of the best British speaking voices ever to grace this earth), Kathryn Beaumont (whom we already know as Alice from the previous movie), and many others. Also, the animation truly stands out strong, due to Disney's use of live action filming for animators to reference. Lots of strong points overwhelm the cons of this movie for sure.
But reflecting back on this movie, reminds me of why we love to revisit it. Especially as an adult. As we age, our sense of 'play' and 'adventure' lessens, as we are overburdened with the everyday responsibilities of adulthood. Wendy's parents see her maturity at the beginning of the movie, and suggest the idea of moving out of the playroom, and straight into adulthood. Every child's nightmare. But, by visiting the extremity of Neverland, we are all reminded of why growth and maturity are just as vital to life as youth. And the ticking crocodile of death is something we all have to face, eventually. And just as the movie says in the beginning, this right of passage has happened before, and it will happen perpetually over and over again.
Neverland is where we all learn to grow up.
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