Jim on Film
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If The Rescuers is a drama with adventure, The Rescuers Down Under is an action-adventure with humor. Not only is this a completely different genre from the original, but The Rescuers Down Under is as funny as the original film is solely dramatic. It relies on verbal humor (such as much of Wilbur’s material) as well as great characters, like Frank, Krebbs, and Jake. Because it is so funny, it would probably play better today than it did in its original release.
It’s also interesting that Bernard and Miss Bianca are not as developed here. There are only a few moments to see Bianca’s humor and sense of adventure or Bernard’s quiet bravery. Because the film’s focus is action-adventure, there are not as many chances to delve into those two personalities; however, the other characters are well developed. If the viewer is familiar with the first film, this development goes unnoticed because these are clearly the same characters loved from the first movie. It’s just that not all aspects of their characters are explored.
Curiously, Beauty and the Beast doesn’t have quite the visual wonder of The Rescuers Down Under in terms of multiplane effects and majestic backgrounds. But this is probably because Beauty and the Beast doesn’t have the call to recreate the natural wonder of the epic Australia outback. In fact, after The Rescuers Down Under, the multiplane look would still be used, but it would appear less extensively.
Since the early days of Disney animation, Walt Disney strived to create richly developed characters, but with Beauty and the Beast, the artists would begin to explore creating characters with depth and complexity, most notably in the Beast, who is a character who grows and changes throughout the film. In the hands of supervising animator Glen Keane, he’s a conflicted character driven by many desires. From Beauty and the Beast through Treasure Planet, the studio would alternate between both forms of character development. One being the richly developed characters in films such as The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Pocahontas, and the other being characters with depth and complexity, such as in The Lion King, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and Mulan.
The computer would be used in Beauty and the Beast to spectacular new heights. It allows for some stunning camera work and equally stunning animation to heighten the emotional impact of scenes. One highlight has always been in the opening song, where Belle turns, clutching her book close, the camera panning around her as she sings, "I want so much more than this provincial life." Because that it a key concept established by the song, the camera move helps climax that idea in a beautiful piece of animation. There are numerous other uses of the computer, such as some of the objects in Be Our Guest, but the dancing in the ballroom, of course, will always be the highlight as the camera moves around the dancing couple. Not only is this scene beautiful, the computer, without making its presence known, allows the artists to better capture the emotional development in both characters during the scene. From The Rescuers Down Under and Beauty and the Beast, it is clear that the potential of creating using a computer will allow the animators to conceive many new scenes and exciting images. That is not to suggest, though, that the computer is the sole factor. In comparing The Little Mermaid to Beauty and the Beast, they are both very enjoyable films and masterpieces, though the earlier film has very little of the computer assistance that the latter film had.
Curiously, like one scene in The Little Mermaid (where Ariel sings to Eric on the seashore), there are a few spots in Beauty and the Beast where Belle looks awkward, where her neck is too long or her lips seem too large. This is surprising because these variations don’t appear anywhere else in the canon, though they can probably be attributed to the brutal time crunch under which Beauty and the Beast was produced. These are the only flaws in a beautifully conceived and animated film.
As the new generation of films would continue to have and like the two films before it, Beauty and the Beast has some very dark moments, scenes which are highlighted when seen in a theater. And this perfect balance between intense scenes and great humor echoes Disney’s own films from the Golden Age.
Beauty and the Beast is a stunning and powerful film. Every time I watch it, I am reminded why it made such an impact upon its first release and why it continues to be one of the studio’s most-loved films.