DVDizzy.com

Are there some touches in a Disney film or a set of films that you like that almost nobody else would ever even take note of? You can talk about them here, if you want to. This is for absolute minute details within things. My little nuance;

In the entire run of the 50s there was this chorus that always accompanied at least one song in each of the films released, and I think they're absolutely wonderful. Added to the beauty of the songs they were applied to immensely. To wit, here are the songs I recall that had them;

-The main title and finale/Bippity Boppity Boo [Cinderella]; While I'm very neutral and uninvested in this film as a whole, the main theme is one of the few things I recall for a good reason. Within the film, they're less utilised than the other examples, they're used for the part where the song goes frantic at the very end and it's fun to listen to the difference between that and later use.
-The main title and finale/Very Good Advice [Alice in Wonderland]; Their part in Very Good Advice always used to drive me to tears when I was little, so that was pretty powerful. My favourite piece of all of theirs has to be the main themeto this film though. Listening to it sends shivers down my spine due to just how enchanting it is!
-The main title and finale [Second Star to the Right]/You Can Fly! You Can Fly! You Can Fly! [Peter Pan]; The main theme is nice to listen to, with the gentle melody. The energy they exert in You Can Fly is much more enjoyable though, I especially like the build-up to the title lines.
-The main title and finale/Bella Notte [Lady and the Tramp]; While they're both the same song technically, the main title sounds more grandiose than romantic honestly. Their singing within the film, though? Top-notch, especially towards the end of their part.
-The main title and finale/Once Upon a Dream [Sleeping Beauty]; I like both equally, but they're almost exactly the same anyway. I'm usually not a fan of the princess's/heroine's romantic song, something about them just disengages me. This is one of the few exceptions for a reason.


While not exactly the same since the chorus sounds different to the one used throughout the 50s, Bambi kickstarted the whole thing with Love is a Song/Little April Showers to great effect, and is just as memorable for it.

I am kind of disappointed that it ended with Sleeping Beauty, but I can understand why it was dropped since not only would having a chorus like that probably be expensive, it wouldn't fit the contemporary setting of 101 Dalmations, the next animated film.



So, that's my niche Disney film trait that I like, feel free to discuss yours!

the dog-luver in me enjoys watching bolt carry the "bomb". just as hes about to jump over the chopper, he does that thing to keep himself from dropping it.

_________________

Haha, reading your title i was thinking of the 40-50 chorus. i <3 em
the tiki room has that sound too. I watched a bunch of silly symphonies growing up (one is Toot whistle plunk boom) that have that sound too.

Interesting you mention the chorus on Disney films. I remember an interview with Alan Menken, where he was talking about the making of Little Mermaid, and that the original ending didn't have the choral reprise of Part of your world (watch the extras on the dvd)...and he pushed hard to bring back the "Disney Chorus", which would allude to the grandiosity and timelessness of fairy tales.
Sadly, that all ended with Hercules...and it's muses. And it reached a low with the finale of Mulan...and its 98 degree song! Barf!

Yeah, but Tarzan had a reprise of "Two Worlds, One Family".

Beauty and the Beast was one of my favourite films and the things I specifically liked were:

1. The colors and overall look. It looked very filmish, and had a certain magical, authentic look.

2. The animation in the scene from Cogsworth "But why"? It was beautifully done.

3. The most beautiful image in the film was after "Something There", when Mrs. Potts is talking to Chip, you see Belle and the Beast sitting in front of the fireplace together.

4. The impressive trashed backgrounds in the castle in all the scenes after "something there". It gives the scene where the Beast is getting a bath much more hope and despair.

5. But the most beautiful moment in the whole film was how the tension was built up in the song "Somehing there" and was flawlessly followed by the title song "Beauty and the Beast".

Boy, was I shocked when I watched the dvd. None of those things were there anymore.

The thing is, of course this post seems sarcastic, but acutally I did love those things very much. The reasons a person likes a film or scene are things like this.

BATB was one of my favourites. And I don't know exactly why, but it's not anymore.

I like little animation tidbits like:

- Aladdin's posture when Jasmine is giving him, the Sultan and Jaffar a piece of her mind about her arranged marriage.

- How Dumbo always holds Timothy's tail with his trunk when they're walking somewhere, the same way a child would hold the hand of his caretaker.

- After "Colors of the Wind", when Pocahontas has to leave due the drums signal, and John Smith is asking her to see her again, it seems for a little moment like he's about to kiss her before she leaves.

- Despite Andreas Deja and other Disney people ruining the scene for me, I really like the scene after "Bella Note", where Tramp and Lady are sleeping together, he wakes up, smiles and nuzzles closer to her, and goes back to sleep.

_________________

Yes MuMu, there was a reprise at the end of Tarxan, but it wasn't choral. It was annoying-phil collins singing it.

I particularly like when Ariel steps into the light for the first time after she's gotten legs. It's when Eric sees her for the first time in something other than tarp. I don't know why and it's really short.. but I've always loved it.

In the opening scene in Treasure Planet just after Jim's mother interrupts him reading and they wrestle. Her facial expressions and the fluidity in the movement of that whole little scene is great. I think Glen Keane animated it, even though he did John Silver, if I'm remembering correctly from the bonus features. It certainly looks like his style.

One of Rapunzel's lines in I've Got a Dream. "Like all you lovely folks I've got a dream!" I really feel like it illustrates her genuine kindness and character being that she's easily able to discern the ruffians kind hearts beneath their hard exteriors and accept them for who they are.

Also in Tangled, just at the end of the When Will My Life Begin Reprise... something really, really reminds me of part of the score from The Little Mermaid. I can't figure out where it is in the film yet, though.

In Tarzan, the expression on his face when he realizes he and Jane are the same species.

When Aladdin reaches behind his back and just kind of looks down and smiles.. I forget where it is in the movie at the moment.

That's all I can think of right now. I'm sure there are more.

_________________
http://thedisnerd.tumblr.com/

Yes, those are all great, and they are also used when Cinderella is crying in the garden and the fairy godmother appears, and when she's reminiscing about her time at the ball after midnight.


OMG YES!!!!! Bambi's choral music is I think also used throughout the whole film, it's one of the reasons I love it.

Hm, for one of my things, I'm going to say some things I think people noticed before, but oh well...the way Cinderella and the mice have some peaceful moments in the morning before the stepsisters get up, and the way the pumpkin scared and almost attacked the animals in "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo!", and the way the magic swirls and melts and rains down around Cinderella in her transformation while the magic on her arms and the halo around her head float upward. The way the Duke rushes to put the slipper on her, then slows down as it fits her perfectly, and it shines rays of light just as the wedding bells dissolve in, so you can barely see it, but it's there.

When Ariel huffs and vibrates her lips just like Max does, it is for me her best moment and the one where I really thought she was funny and I really liked her.


Yup me too!

Cody sleeping under his clothes in The Rescuers Down Under and his mom waking him up and he gets up so fast and skips breakfast to take care of the eagle.

How Belle exploring the Prince's room, and then seeing the Prince in the end, are some of the best moments to me. I mean, here we actually get to see and wonder about who this guy was. If only we had known more about him than he's kind deep down? Perhaps here are the clues, like books torn. The most magical part of the film for me is exploring the West Wing. Hm, Cinderella's prince was probably supposed to be mysterious too.


It is unfortunate, because I agree with you the film looked better before, but the filmakers truthfully always intended the film to have brighter colors, they didn't know how the film would look when it wasn't on their CAPS computers where they colored it. So they have made it look more how they wanted.

I will admit they should make a verison available that has how the colors were back when they first made it and mistakenly made it darker than they wanted.

Also, the other things you mentioned, they should be fixed back to normal, that's true, but you can watch almost all those original things if you select the original theatrical version.

_________________

One of my favorite moments in Disney is the scene in The Little Mermaid, near the end, on the wedding barge, after Ariel has just gotten her voice back. When the lighting changes after the sunsets right as she's about to kiss Eric...man, when Ursula screams, "YOU'RE TOO LATE!" and then throws up her arms, is struck by lightning and then BALLOONS out of her 'Vanessa' disguise back into Ursula, falls to the floor of the ship and SCURRIES across it like some horror movie monster, ravenous with hunger...Jesus. I cheer. I can't help but scream at my TV, "You...You GO GIRL! YOU GO!"

I love when Cruella comes to see the newborn puppies for the first time, her visceral reaction to the puppy being spotless. She literally gives a 'UGHHH!' and the best disgusted facial expression and it's over so fast, but god I love it.

I also love the entire Apple scene in Snow White. The tension. The pacing. The editing, cutting back and forth between Snow and the Queen and the Woodland critters racing to warn the dwarfs... this scene is so perfect, so suspenseful, and the icing, for me, is the part where the animals first attack the Queen and Snow White shoos them off and leads the Queen inside. As soon as she's inside, through the window, the expression of delight and joy on the Queen's face...she might as well be flipping all the animals off. Love it.

The way Shere Khan laughs. I don't know why I love it so much, he seems to draw up his whole face into a smug little ball.

The backgrounds in Bambi. And Sleeping Beauty. I drop my jaw at how stunning and gorgeous they are. True works of art.

The gap in between Sir Hiss's teeth. This is more personal for me than anything, as I have gaps in my front teeth. (two of my incisors just never grew in and so my teeth are more spread-out in my mouth to compensate for that.) So I've always kind of had a fondness for Sir Hiss for that reason. Strange as that may be.

Frollo's rings. I have no idea why, but as a child, I was fascinated by them.

Tarzan's musculature. I find it very...appealing as an adult. In fact, I'd be lying if I said I wanted his WDCC sculpture for any other reason than to oogle his muscles.

There are probably tons more. I just can't think of any more at the moment.

In Hunchback of Notre Dame when Frollo tells the torturer at the Palace of Justice to take more time in between lashing his victim so that it is more painful; for me a perfect example of why he is the most evil character Disney has ever created.

In Pinocchio when Jiminy Cricket is stuck in a bubble, pops it and when water begins to pour in panics that he will drown, even though he is already at the bottom of the ocean.

_________________
We're not going to Guam, are we?

Same.

_________________

When Ariel is clinging on to the statue of Eric in her cavern, while listening to Triton lecturing her and she suddenly bursts out: "Daddy, I love him!"... and then that expression on her face, when she realizes what she just said... and then, after Triton has destroyed her cavern, she starts to cry and she says to Flounder: "just leave me alone" with that little sigh in her voice... that's bone-chilling.

Also, the first time Ariel sees Eric. I love that expression on her face. I love how the animators have captured that feeling so well in that expression. God knows I must've looked that way more than a few times upon seeing a woman. That makes the perfect capturing of that feeling so amazing.

The Genie imitating Robert de Niro from Taxi Driver.

When Cogsworth is advising the Beast on ways to persuade Belle, including "promises you don't intend to keep".

The line in 'The Mob Song' that goes: "and fifty Frenchmen can't be wrong!"

I've mentioned this a thousand times: in The Rescuers, when Medusa says to Penny: "what makes you think anybody would want a homely little girl like you?" That scene is a delight to watch. Seeing her plucking her eyebrows, indicating a lack of real interest for the girl, yet at the same time trying to keep up some sort of facade when she's trying to persuade Penny... and then that insult on top of it. Very powerful.

How Bernard is so superstituous and doesn't like the fact that the stairs has 13 steps and Bianca advices him to skip the last step. I'm not superstituous at all, but I still do that, just out of habit.

I'll probably add more later.

_________________

Ah, Okay. I see your point.

Great thread! I think we all have plenty of these moments:

Snow White: I've ALWAYS loved the part where the queen storms down the stairs to the dungeon, not only how she walks, but how her cloak flows behind her. Watch the point where she turns the first turn on the spiral, she sort of grabs it and pulls it and it fans out fully around her. Don't know why I've always loved it, but it is pretty cool.

The Three Caballeros: The part where Donald tries to return from his miniature size to his normal size. It's just absolutely hilarious. First the spotlight misses him and he has to physically pick it up and put it in the centre, then he pulls back his sleeves to show they're empty, at which point playing cards and all kinds of things pour out. He then starts doing a weird dance where he even disappears inside his clothes. I laugh for ages at it.

Fun and Fancy Free: Jiminy's entrance: I love how the potted plant makes a little garden with a pond for him.

Cinderella: I love the shot of Cinderella looking out of her carriage window as she tries to escape the King's horses chasing her after the ball, her hair has come loose and the music in that scene is great.

Sleeping Beauty: There are so many minute details I love about this film I don't know where to begin! First of all, the idea to use Tchaikovsky's score was genius. It fits the film perfectly, which leads to my main point: how everything in the film is synched perfectly to the score of the ballet. I know it was reworked a little, but some of the ideas for how to make the action follow the music are inspired.
I love all of the fairies' scenes, but the details in the characters are exceptional: The way the wands also vary in size as well as the fairies, the way they each have a different shaped button fastening their capes, the way flora has to hold merryweather back when she's angry, and loads more.
I also love the bit where Aurora's finger is just hovering over the spindle when Merryweather shouts "don't touch anything!". Her voice echoes through the tower and when Aurora hears it she hesitates for just a moment.

The Little Mermaid: At the end of "Poor Unfortunate Souls" when Ariel is about to transform into a human. A bolt of yellow light shoots out of Ursula's cauldron and envelopes Ariel in a bubble, don't know why, I just think it's cool.

Mary Poppins: Again, Mary Poppins is one of those films so detailed that I wouldn't know where to begin. The first thing that springs to mind is just after the "Step in Time" number on the roof when the sweeps jump down the chimney to continue singing and dancing in the Banks' house. Every sweep as well as the children come tumbling out of the fireplace head over heels, but then the camera cuts to the fireplace and shows Mary Poppins' feet land perfectly and firmly on the ground as well as a "tap" of her umbrella, all while the music changes to a few bars of "A Spoonful of Sugar". It summarises her character perfectly.
I also Love when she's rummaging in her bag for her tape measure and stamps her foot perfectly in time to the music, as well as when she finds it and sings: "Ah haha haha"

That's all I can think of for now!

That white part of Snow White's dress that covers the back of her neck - I've always liked that. I also like Snow White's shoes, because of that bow on them. I like how, when Snow White is in the forest and when she's sitting down while singing to the animals, her foot sticks out and you can see her shoe. I've always liked that.

When Cinderella is singing Sing, Sweet Nightingale, I like all the multiple images of her in those bubbles, especially the different colors.

I really like Aurora's hair, especially how, when she's looking around a tree, some strands of her hair lean over her shoulder. Also, while Aurora and Phillip are singing, and as he pursues her, I like how she turns around to look at him, smiling, and takes his hand (just as the chorus joins in the song).

In The Little Mermaid, while Ursula is preparing her spell, I like how it releases those explosions of color, and how they reflect off of Ariel's hair.

I have lots of specific things in Beauty and the Beast that I like, particularly, the camera angles and zoom shots. While Belle is exploring the West Wing, I like seeing her reflection in the broken mirror; I like how, after she opens the door to the West Wing, the camera faces her and then zooms out to expand on the entire room; I especially like the shot of Belle approaching the rose. Also, near the end of the prologue, I like the shot of the castle as the camera zooms out on it during a thunderstorm.

I like the eagles at the end of Colors of the Wind, particularly their color. I like how one eagle represents Pocahontas and the other represents John Smith, and I like how the both of them release them to let them fly to the top of the tree. Also, I like the blue outlines of Pocahontas' hair.

Did you catch that just before she looks out the window, she is actually un-doing her hair so that if the men catch her, maybe they won't recognize her? Or she's trying to make the transformation end early or something.


That is called a collar.

_________________

Oh, of course! Silly me.

I could be here forever listing things I like and quoting things people like that I like as well.

I've been fond of the sugar bowl in The Sword in the Stone since I was a child. The thing's got attitude. It hits Arthur with its spoon for touching it, buries Merlin's teacup in sugar, and backs up the procession of dishware when Merlin is packing to move to the castle. The little rebel.

_________________