Monday, August 26, 2013

Color Theory, The Lion King and YOU

I just skimmed through all my old Disney related posts and I discovered that I have only referred to one other movie as a masterpiece (Pinocchio). Well, I'm giving a second movie that label. The Lion King is seriously a flawless masterpiece. We all know the plot to this fantastic movie is epic and moving and has possibly been quoted in General Conference talks and in several church talks throughout my life. I even recall one lady giving an entire lesson on The Lion King at EFY long LONG ago. So since the completely inspirational plot line as been dissected thoroughly by countless sources I don't want to focus on that so much in this post. Instead I want to talk about color theory and how the colors in this movie help layout and maintain the amazing story that is The Lion King.

So, these are things I noticed about this film a few months ago while I was watching it on TV. I haven't researched any of it to find if it's valid or if it was even intentional. However, when I started putting all these things together it blew my mind so completely that I jumped out of my chair and ran off to find someone I could share my insights with. That person ended up being my roommate. Bless her heart for so patiently listening to the insane ramblings of an art student. Especially since I was so excited about my discovery that I nearly tripped over all my words and mostly shouted "COLOR THEORY.....RED!....BLUE! IT'S SO AMAZING!!!!"

Let's start with Mufasa. He is an orange colored lion and whenever he is seen on screen he has a backdrop of blue. The only exceptions to this rule are when he has encounters with his brother, Scar. When these encounters happen the background changes to stone. (Maybe because he and Scar have a ROCKY relationship!!) So, orange and blue are complementary colors with orange symbolizing wisdom, warmth, happiness, and assurance and blue symbolizing loyalty, tradition, calmness, and trust. All of these attributes explain Mufasa's personality and on a deeper level are just what a child needs in order to grow up to become a competent adult.

Scar on the other hand is always seen in the shadows. When he isn't lurking and actually steps out of the shadows the sky is overcast or otherwise obscured. He is also most frequently depicted with secondary colors: purple, orange, and green...also yellow but the shade of yellow used has a greenish tint to it. Secondary colors are very frequently used for villains as they give off a spooky and menacing vibe. This is also why witches costumes during Halloween are usually secondary colors.

Timon and Pumbaa both belong in the red family and they live in a very green and lush environment. Some of the MANY things red symbolizes are: love, compassion, rescue, and pain. Green often symbolizes growth, hope, and youth. So Timon and Pumbaa literally rescue Simba from death. They have compassion over his sadness and allow him to grow up in safety.

I have come to think of this movie in parts and I think the colors used help block things out perfectly. You start out with orange and blue as a symbol of Simba's childhood. When the song "I Just Can't Wait to be King" is played the colors become over saturated as a symbol of the height of innocent youth. This sequence is followed by the stark grays of the elephant graveyard. This is showing the audience that the innocence is over and it's time to grow up. Those bright colors will never be seen again for the remainder of the film. Green and red take over the the latter part of the movie to show that Simba is going through adolescence. In the part following Simba's conversation with Timon and Pumbaa about the stars, Simba falls to the ground with a heavy sigh, sending up a puff of dust which floats across the desert and finds their way to Rafiki. Notice how it is that as the dust floats across the screen the colors in the background are red, green, orange, and blue. I take this as the past catching up to Simba: it's time to face it and become a whole and functioning adult. And the conclusion comes with more stark grays as a symbol of death followed by rain and a renewal of the Circle of Life.



Can you see why I say this movie is a complete masterpiece?! The colors alone tell the whole story of Simba's journey from child to adult. Of course there are other amazing things done visually throughout this movie. I love the nod to fascist propaganda during the song "Be Prepared." Another favorite moment of mine is when Mufasa is explaining to Simba that the stars are the "great kings of the past." I love that he shares this insight just after the sun has set. It is such a fabulous foreshadowing that the sun is setting on Mufasa's time as king and he will soon join his ancestors in the stars.

And of course, here's a miscellaneous thought for you to mull over: Is Simba a vegetarian?

Next time we'll talk about the Colors of the Wind and other things I learned about Native Americans while watching Pocahontas.

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Tale Old As Time?

What's up my friends?

Today I would like to talk to you about two movies that possibly everyone in America who grew up in the 90's has seen, and probably even remembers seeing in theaters (I know I do). That is Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin.



I was four years old when Beauty and the Beast came out. It's actually the very first movie I remember seeing in theaters. It was also the theme for nearly every birthday party I went to for at least two years after that. I guess you could say Beauty and the Beast is the Tangled of my generation. This movie was so enchanting to my four year old eyes (except for the typography they used for the main title....that ribbon and stone deal has always been awful to me; yes, even when I was four, because that's the kind of child I was). So the nostalgic part of me still loves this movie. The artistic side of me..... has a hard time sitting through it.

I know several of you out there are shocked and possibly outraged by this admission. Allow me to explain:

Once upon a time, I was watching the special features for Beauty and the Beast. They have one of those "making of" featurettes in the copy I own and since I watch ALL special features of any animated film when they are available I watched this featurette. It talked about the MANY speed bumps the animation team had in order to get this movie made and how half way through production they were told everything they'd done was junk and had to scrap everything and start over. So the average animated movie takes 3 years to make. Beauty and the Beast was made in a year and a half. Then the producer/director (I forget which) made a comment that went something like this: "I still look at this movie sometimes and think of things I want to change and could do better but as a whole I'm pretty pleased with it."

Artists everywhere please heed my words: If you think there are problems with your finished work DO NOT BRING THEM TO THE ATTENTION OF THE CONSUMER!!!!!

The second those words came out of that guys mouth I immediately thought "What's wrong with this movie that would make him think that?" So I watched the movie again and I started to notice all these flaws in the animation. There are so many things that look sloppy or rushed. There are proportions that fluctuate and sometimes a characters eyes aren't both looking in the same direction. It just comes through as shoddy workmanship. I can't blame the animators too harshly for this since they created a movie in half the time it usually takes. However, I wish they had pushed its release date back instead of insisting that they have a movie come out every year. I'd rather have quality over quantity any day.

Also, kudos to the writers for trying to spruce up an otherwise dull fairy tale, but there are just too many plot holes in this story. First off, the prince is supposed to remain a beast until he's 21 and he's been a beast for 10 years. Now, I'm not that great at math but, wouldn't that mean this prince was 11 when he had his encounter with the enchantress? Does anyone know an 11 year old who isn't a complete doofus? Not to mention, where are this boy's parents during this whole ordeal? AND if your monarch up a disappears, don't you think the townspeople would have noticed? I mean, he's only been MIA for 10 years. I think they'd be a little more panicked than they are....or even be in the throes of a battle for the throne. And will someone please explain to me how in the world Belle gets the Beast onto that horse after he saves her from the wolves?! Does she use a pulley system? Does the horse do it? Come on people! Oh, and when the Beast has his confrontation with Gaston, Gaston stabs the Beast in the side with a dagger and SOMEHOW that's a fatal injury?! I mean the Beast climbs up onto the balcony and is on the verge of death. Did he get stabbed in the liver? Is the anatomy of the Beast different and that's where his heart actually is? WHY IS THE BEAST DYING FROM THAT?! The conditions of his spell aren't that he'd turn 21 and die, it's that he'd turn 21 and remain a beast forever. WTF Disney!

Ok, I've ranted about (most) of the stuff that bothers me about this movie. Now let me point out the things I like about Beauty and the Beast:

I like the expository sequence of this movie, i.e. the stain glass window storytelling. It's pretty fantastic. I also like the little things drawn into the background. Like the fact that Gaston has a bald eagle's head mounted on his wall, or the little things thrown into the town, like the bird's nest built into a chimney, or the bald lady at the wig shop who agrees that Belle is "rather odd." Of course I love the ballroom scene because no one can dislike that scene. I like the Gothic art qualities of the Beast's castle and how everything is painted in green and purple tones to give it a slightly creepy feel. And some of the dialog in the movie is just SO funny to me!



Oh, and I get a little annoyed when people tell me the Beast is ugly when he turns into a human. He doesn't look ugly, he looks French.



Let's move on to Aladdin....



I remember very clearly seeing this movie in theaters. It. Was. AmAzing. I even remember leaving the theater and my dad commenting on how that was a movie that needs to be seen on the big screen. I couldn't agree more. You know how occasionally Disney's been into re-releasing their classics back into theaters for a limited time only? (They've done this with Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King.) I REALLY wish they'd do that for Aladdin.

There are a few rather spectacular things that they've done with this movie so allow me to elaborate on a few of them.

First: the character design is fabulous. I love it when you can know the demeanor of a character just by looking at them. The Sultan is essentially a circle with appendages. This translates to a secure, trusting, and happy personality. Jafar is a big upside down triangle with nothing but sharp edges...evil much? If you look at the way Aladdin and Jasmine are drawn, they're basically gender-swapped versions of each other (i.e. if Aladdin were drawn as a woman he'd look like Jasmine and vice versa) this indicates that they belong together; they're a matching set.

I'd also like to point out that frequently, main characters/protagonists have a tendency to have large and detailed eyes. This is because the most expressionate part of the face is the eyes so if you want an emotion to read really well in animation the eyes are drawn larger. Minor characters/antagonists usually have smaller eyes to make them seem less important/more villainous. Jafar not only has small eyes but he's the only character who has no highlight on his iris. This, in my opinion indicates he has no soul....or some such villainous type idea. Not to mention the fact that everything in the movie is very brightly colored with the exception of Jafar who is wearing stark black. Another obvious sign that he's evil.

I find it so amazing too that Aladdin doesn't solve his problems using magic. He doesn't even do it using violence. When he tries both of these things they fail. Ultimately he overcomes his obstacles using his cunning intelligence. And he has a deep abundance of integrity. In the end he has a chance to be with the woman he loves or to do what he promised to do at the beginning of the story, and he chooses to forfeit his own happiness for the sake of someone else's. I also love that his level of character is consistent throughout the movie. He doesn't transform into a good man full of integrity just because he met some girl, he was always a good man and in the end he's rewarded because of that. I get a little annoyed when I watch a movie where the guy's a bit of a douche and then meets this girl and suddenly everything changes and he wants to be a better person (that's right, I'm talking about YOU Princess and the Frog and Tangled!). I just feel like that's giving people a false sense of how relationships work.

Ok, have I ranted enough? I think I have. Well prepare yourself for next time. I'll be talking about The Lion King and color theory. Minds will be blown.

P.S. In case you were wondering, I have also watched Return of Jafar, Aladdin and the King of Thieves, and Aladdin the animated series and I was a big fan of all of them.

P.P.S. Welcome to the 90's where the ending credits are run while the movie's love song is sung by a pop sensation/duo. So entertaining.

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Disney Animation 1970-1990...but mostly 1989

Hey guys! Long time no Disney post. What's up with that? I've watched a lot of terrible Disney movies in the last month and I REALLY don't want to talk about any of them extensively so I thought I'd share my feelings about each of them in two sentences or less:

The Aristocats: Disney dies and THIS is what comes out next?! For shame.

Robin Hood: this is not a bad movie...it's actually very cute. Those animal children are spot on!

The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: always reminds me of my dad because he tried to read this story to me in Latin (don't ask why). I like how they incorporate the book pages into their visual presentation; the story is otherwise unremarkable.

The Rescuers: other than having an adorable orphan girl named Penny in it whom I'm obligated to like because my sister's name is Penny this little movie is lame and greatly distressed my 2 year old niece.

The Fox and the Hound: it took me three different tries to watch this whole movie and I fell asleep every time. An incredibly low point in Disney history.

The Black Cauldron: this movie is significant for a few reasons - it's Disney's first PG rated film, it's the first film that has the credits at the end of the movie instead of the beginning, it has the only princess that hasn't been inducted into the official cannon of Disney princesses, and Tim Burton worked on this movie (sort of). Everyone should read The Chronicles of Prydain, which is the book series this movie is based on. It is awesome.

The Great Mouse Detective: the first Disney movie to employ computer animation and it looks fabulous! It's so well integrated into the movie that you don't notice it at all.

Oliver and Company: Also uses computer animation...which I didn't even know until after I watched this movie. Oh, and I don't like this movie, I think it trivializes the point Charles Dickens was trying to get across with his novel Oliver Twist, of which this is based on.

The Little Mermaid: Ok, I have WAY more than two sentences worth of stuff to say about this movie so the rest of this post will be focusing on it.

I love this movie, especially after watching 8 movies that are varying degrees of mediocre to bad; this film is a breath of fresh air. It's so cleanly drawn and full of life.The music is brilliant and the plot is near seamless. Oh, and the graphic qualities in the composition give me goosebumps. Just look at the scenes when Ariel transforms into a human, or when Eric's ship gets caught in the storm. It makes me giddy to think about!

I know a lot of feminists who hate this movie due to a belief that it is anti-feminists (how strange that feminists would get all bent out of shape about something being anti them). I will concede that I can see their point but I have to disagree. Sure, Ariel can't speak and Ursula persuades her to get her point across with sex appeal but can I just take a moment to point out that Ursula is a witch? Of course she's going to try to convince this poor unfortunate soul to use improper methods to get what she wants. That's how evil creatures work. Not to mention I think it's rather one dimensional to say the only way to show a man you're worth it is with words. That seems like a rather harsh discredit to the mute community. And I feel like Ariel does show a lot of personality very innocently. She's enthusiastic, curious, and adventurous. Oh, and can we please remember that she is 16 and behaves very much like an idiotic 16 year old.

Which brings me to a different point: I don't consider this movie to be as much of a love story as it is a story about a father/daughter relationship. For me, this story is more about a father learning to let his daughter grow up and make her own mistakes and choices than it is about a girl falling in love with a boy.

Fun facts about this movie: it was originally considered for production in the early 1940's and Disney said he didn't care who the prince married, so long as it wasn't the Little Mermaid. The original concept art was created by my man Kay Nielsen who died in 1957 and his name is in the credits of the 1989 movie. AND Ursula is not an octopus, she's a squid....she has six tentacles, not eight.



Everyone should read the original Hans Christian Andersen story because it's awesome and melancholy....like everything he wrote.

Also, does anyone else wonder what it does for the economy of a seafaring/fishing nation to have a mermaid for a queen?

So after The Little Mermaid comes The Rescuers Down Under and I have very little to say about this flick so I'll just tack it to the end here.

This movie is the first movie to have Pixar in its credits. It's also Disney's very first canonized sequel. I find it interesting that at the time this movie came out Disney had been around for 57+ years and this was its 29th animated film. Pixar on the other hand, has been making full length movies for not even 15 years, has 14 movies and 4 of them are sequels with another two sequels in the works. I don't know what that means to you, but it speaks volumes to me.