WRITER'S NOTE: The following excerpts were originally published on March 19, 2020, and March 24, 2020.
PART I: ONCE UPON A DREAM . . .
1959 represented the end of an era for animation in Walt Disney's lifetime. The ambitious and expensive Sleeping Beauty was the last film of his made with a sense of romanticism. Since then, the animation department produced their feature-length stories with the Xerox process. (Read more about that here.) It was also the last fairy tale they made until The Little Mermaid thirty years later.
Despite being the title character, Princess Aurora (voiced by Mary Costa) has little screen time compared with the other central characters, particularly the good fairies (Flora, Fauna and Merryweather) and the wicked Maleficent. The plot is rather simple, centering on the protection over a royal princess who is cursed at birth, and sentenced to a "sleeping death" by a jealous fairy. (Sound familiar?) The approach to the story, in terms of its scope and artistry, is what makes it distinct from Snow White and Cinderella, even though it features many of the same tropes (i.e., "true love's kiss," talking/singing to forest animals). Another main difference with Aurora is that, while memorable in character and voice, she lacks much depth.
Sleeping Beauty is best remembered for its lavish art direction and set pieces, especially in widescreen. The filmmakers used a process known as Technirama, following Lady and the Tramp's Cinemascope aspect ratio (remember, movie theaters had to compete with television at the time). This process would only be revived once, in the mid-1980s.
Getting back to Sleeping Beauty's characters, the fairies are humorous and trustworthy (with fairy dust different from Tinker Bell's), while Marc Davis's designs and animation of the evil Maleficent and beautiful Aurora have stood the test of time. Even Milt Kahl's animation of Prince Phillip and his horse Samson are active and engaging. All elements are brought together in one of the film's central moments: the climactic battle between Phillip and Maleficent as a dragon.
Another highlight is Aurora's dance with the forest animals while singing "Once Upon A Dream" (set to Peter Tchaikovsky's classical ballad). The animators' skill in movement and weightlessness is on full display, recalling Pinocchio as a marionette, as well as the dwarfs dancing with Snow White. It's moments like these that recall the dreams that Disney had that came to fruition. And even though the medium would change for Walt and company the following decade, the medium (and Walt's ambitions) would still carry on and inspire.
PART II: A DARK MOMENT
Fast forward to the mid-1980s. The animation department at the Disney Studio had been at work for several years on an ambitious adaptation of Lloyd Alexander's five-part fantasy book series, "The Chronicles of Prydain." The project dates back to the previous decade, when legendary animators Ollie Johnson and Frank Thomas suggested it could make an amazing film if done properly.
The result (eventually renamed The Black Cauldron) would mark many firsts for the studio. It was the most expensive animated movie at the time. It was the studio's first non-musical in years, instead focusing on an action-adventure story to capitalize on the blockbuster hits that audiences were into (i.e., Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark). It was also the first (and only other) time they utilized the 70mm Technirama widescreen scope since Sleeping Beauty, along with a groundbreaking six-track Dolby digital sound system. Finally, it was the first feature film that many Disney "Renaissance" animators worked on, including Ruben A. Aquino, Andreas Deja, and Rob Minkoff. The company had even changed their studio logo from "Walt Disney Productions" to "Walt Disney Pictures," with an iconic white silhouette of the Magic Kingdom against a bright-blue backdrop, set to a variation of "When You Wish Upon A Star."
Most of all, The Black Cauldron became the first animated Disney film to receive be rated PG. But it almost would have likely received a higher rating, if not for some last minute edits. The story follows a trio of medieval characters (a farm boy, a princess, and a minstrel) on a quest to stop an evil king from destroying their kingdom with a magical cauldron (hence the film's title). What they encounter proved too "violent and scary" for audiences and studio executives--namely, then-chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg, who was appalled by the forementioned footage after a reported test screening. The controversial move pushed the film's initial 1984 release date by six months, as well as the eventual layoff of some of the filmmakers involved.
Make no mistake, The Black Cauldron is artistically and technically dazzling and features a few standout characters, including Hed Wen the mystical pig, Gergei the mischievous creature (whose voice may have inspired Andy Serkis's version of Gollum in The Lord of the Rings years later), and the frightening Horned King (voiced by the late John Hurt). But the film ended up being a huge financial disappointment for the studio, not to mention a missed opportunity. Although it has its fans nowadays, the film lacks the pathos, story investment, and coherence it should've had. And that was an issue that the artists and filmmakers made sure to correct on their next feature: a story about a "great mouse detective."
No comments:
Post a Comment