Aladdin

Most of the Disney Renaissance films hold up surprisingly well in retrospect.  Aladdin is not one of them.  Aladdin is by no means a bad film; it's very good.  Certain shortcomings, however, keep it from achieving "masterpiece" status.

Aladdin continues Beauty and the Beast's tradition of diving deep into the culture of the tale.  The Islamic culture of the Middle-East is represented here, complete with multiple mentions of "Allah" and direct references to the oft-harsh laws of the Middle-East.  It doesn't feel quite natural, though, especially since the heroes all speak in an American accent and use American mannerisms, while most of the other characters (including the "evil" ones) have Arab accents and mannerisms. While Disney's intentions were undoubtedly honest and good, they ended up getting themselves into trouble.

One highly noticeable change from the previous film is that the fictional world represented by Aladdin is slightly anachronistic.  Characters make many references to modern pop culture, allowing for numerous jokes at the expense of the film's artistic integrity.

Indeed, Aladdin seems to be focused on being a "thrillride" more than anything else.  Adventure--and the pursuit thereof--seems to be at the heart of the film's message.  While this is certainly a universal human theme, it may not necessarily be a good one.  Whereas The Little Mermaid centered on the pursuit of dreams, and Beauty and the Beast depicted "the most beautiful love story ever told," Aladdin seems to focus on the alleviation of boredom.  As with nearly all Disney films of this type, there are strong themes of romance and dream-chasing, but the "adventure" theme is at Aladdin's forefront.  This, unfortunately, makes the entire film seem somewhat shallow.

The animation is slightly more simplified here than in previous films.  While Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid had a more detailed approach, Aladdin has a much more fluid style.  Additionally, the brief CG elements that were seen in past films have now been applied much more heavily.  While it allows for more movement-based "camera angles," it doesn't look all that great.  Certain elements look just fine--like the tiger-head of the Cave of Wonders--but others look obvious and out-of-place.

It seems that while Disney was attempting to make their previous two films into high art, their approach for Aladdin was to have a compelling joyride.  That doesn't mean that Aladdin isn't good, or that it doesn't fit in with the pantheon of Disney animated films; it just means that it's not amazing.

Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast was a film that I saw only a few times as a child. I enjoyed it to an extent, but was too young to appreciate the surprisingly nuanced tale.

A few months ago, I watched the final scene from B&B as a school assignment to compare the Disney film with earlier versions of the story. I was completely shocked at just how much powerful emotion was contained within the tale that I thought I knew so well. As I and the rest of my Literature classmates examined the details of the different versions of B&B, one fact became clear: this was perhaps the only example of a Disney film that far surpassed the original version of the tale, as well as nearly every other story of its kind.

Disney's Beauty and the Beast has many levels of irony and conflict that do not appear in the original story. While the characters in Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's well-known "original" version of the tale are straightforward and mostly unwavering, this film's characters are deeper and go through realistic development. Unlike The Little Mermaid, in which the primary relationship was based on a simple crush (although seemingly fated), Beauty and the Beast strives to create a real relationship that grows from mutual resentment to selfless love. There is perhaps no better example in the vast Disney Classics library of a deep, growing relationship. That's quite an impressive feat, considering that nearly all of those films are reliant upon a love story.

From a technical perspective, this film is amazing. This is the first Disney animated film to be produced entirely using CAPS, and it shows. Unlike The Little Mermaid, which was filled with film grain and other visual problems, Beauty and the Beast is visually clean and sharp, standing up even to today's visual standards. The computer-generated effects that are used in the film blend perfectly with the hand-drawn animation style, never diverting the audience's attention.

The music in B&B is among Disney's finest. Every song in the film is both enjoyable and important, revealing and reinforcing important character traits. There are even specific musical cues that, when taken in context with each other across the plot of the film, reveal hidden details of the characters' inner thoughts.

Every single aspect of Beauty and the Beast is of the highest quality. Visually, it is amazing. Musically, it is astounding. In its entirety, it is animated mastery.
Anyone and everyone should see this film at some point in their life.

The Rocketeer

The Rocketeer is adapted from the comic book of the same name, which was heavily inspired by the science fiction adventure stories of the 1930s and 40s.

The plot is simple: In 1938, an experimental rocket jet pack accidentally falls into the hands of a young stunt pilot named Cliff.  With the aid of the rocket pack, Cliff publicly saves someone's life, quickly gaining fame as the anonymous "Rocketeer." Eventually, Cliff's loved ones are threatened by Nazi agents who want the rocket's technology, and Cliff must find a way to save the ones he loves while keeping the rocket out of the hands of evil.

The film's special effects are perhaps slightly crude by today's standards, but still work to a great degree.  They're quite notable in that they replicate much of the style of early television sci-fi adventure serials, with jet flames that crackle and pop.

The film's art style is also notable in that it replicates much of the art deco style of the original comic book without feeling completely unrealistic or outlandish.  The Rocketeer's helmet is the most obviously surreal visual element of the film, but it still works within the narrative.

Above any and all visual elements, however, The Rocketeer's real strength is in its storytelling style.  The characters and plot echo the most classic of adventure films, and keep an uplifting vibe that simply feels good.

Perhaps the film's biggest flaw, however, is the fact that, while the film is certainly enjoyable, it is not amazing.  There is no truly "thrilling" quality to it, only an "adequately exciting" quality.

In the end, however, this is one of rare few films of its type, and has a level of originality despite its obvious derivative concept.

7/10

The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid is, essentially, an experiment.
With its release in 1989, it kickstarted the "Disney Renaissance," being the first in a series of animated films with extremely high production values. Music, animation, and writing are all at their highest in these films, but to separate those three qualities would be a mistake, as they're expertly blended into a single experience that has no equal.

The Little Mermaid, being the first in this new line of films, is not necessarily up to the same animation standards as the Disney films that would immediately follow. A new animation coloring technology known as CAPS (Computer Animation Production System) was experimentally used on a few scenes of the film, but the majority of TLM was completed with traditional hand-drawn coloring, causing the picture to seem somewhat grainy in comparison to the later films that were completed entirely using CAPS. While this cannot be held against TLM, it still would have been nice to have the entire film in CAPS, as even the most recent DVD release does not make the picture any clearer.

However, the sheer level of detail in the hand-drawn animation is astounding. It was estimated that over a million bubbles were drawn for the film, without exaggeration. Every character moves through the water realistically, which is a very impressive feat. It's quite obvious that the animators studied the movement of human bodies underwater (especially hair) for this film, and their effort should be applauded.

The music of the film is quite literally astounding. The score echoes the underwater theme very well, and sounds just different enough to differentiate it from other European-based fantasy stories.
The actual songs themselves generally annoy me on many levels, though the main theme, "Part of Your World" is refreshingly less embarrassing, if perhaps still too quirky and girly for my taste. However, I can still acknowledge the songs' high quality, even if I personally don't enjoy them much.

The story is simple, yet contains many odd elements that are actually quite jarring. First of all, perhaps more from a visual perspective rather than story, is the fact that Ariel is a sixteen-year-old girl wearing very little clothing throughout most of the film, and is quite literally prancing about naked in one scene. While this is logical considering the plot, it's also quite unsettling considering the character's age. Were she either a bit younger or a bit older, she could have been too innocent or too mature for it to matter, but that in-between stage is highly problematic. While I'm completely willing to overlook the lack of clothing for plot's sake, I'm not entirely sure that the film's "camera angles" were done in completely good taste. Many have made the argument that The Little Mermaid is oversensualized, and, sadly, I'm not entirely sure I disagree with them.
Second of all, the story involves a teenager that essentially is rewarded for being rebellious. The message of the film is that of "following one's dreams," but in this case the protagonist chases her dreams by defying her father's wishes and engaging in witchcraft. While the negative consequences of her actions become apparent toward the end of the story, it seems rather odd.



The characters aren't extremely deep, but not completely shallow either.
Ariel herself is seemingly very shallow at first, falling literally for the first young male she sees. Furthermore, she seemingly devotes her entire life to him, rejecting everything she has for a man she doesn't even know. Luckily, he turned out to be a good guy.
Prince Eric seems to be a bit more mature than Ariel. Rather than simply falling for the first girl he sees, he very specifically waits for the moment when he meets the right one. It seems as though he has something specific that he's seeking after, rather than following a simple whim. His actions in the final battle of the film are actually quite remarkable. He is quite determined and dedicated, fighting with all his ability to protect his beloved. While it does seem odd that he would be in love with her so quickly, it does make sense to an extent, since he had essentially dreamed of her for his entire life, and was therefore in love with her before he actually met her.

As an aside note, Eric's maneuver with the sunken ship and the whirlpool is quite possibly the best action move I've ever seen in an animated film. I vividly remember being four years old and thinking how ironic it was that Ursula had become the ultimate supernatural power of the sea, yet, through misuse of that power, allowed Eric to steer the sunken ship and use sheer physical force to overcome all the magical power in the oceans. Effectively, her dark actions came full circle in the whirlpool, bringing about her own death.
Of course, I was only four, and didn't even know what the word "ironic" meant. I guess it should have been obvious at that point that I'd be a literary analyst and writer.


All in all, The Little Mermaid is not without its flaws, but is ultimately a great spectacle that shouldn't go unnoticed.


Rather than give TLM a star-rating here, I'll wait until the rest of the Disney reviews are done, and compare them all together in a separate post.