After escaping the Dodo and his friends (who wanted to burn Alice alive in the White Rabbit’s house because they thought she was a monster), Alice continues to try and find said White Rabbit (the reason she tumbled into Wonderland in the first place) only to stumble into a large garden of talking flowers! I have to say this is one of my favorite sequences because the flowers are so beautifully animated, each with a distinct personality.
The flowers seem to be led by the Red Rose, who is initially very kind to Alice. All of the flowers want to sing to Alice about how wonderful they are, but no one can agree on which flower they should sing about. The Red Rose decrees that they will all sing “All in a Golden Afternoon” because “that’s the song about all of us.” And so the flowers sing together with the Red Rose serving as the conductor (with Alice listening in wonder):
Little bread-and-butterflies kiss the tulips
And the sun is like a toy balloon
There are get up in the morning glories
In the golden afternoon
There are dizzy daffodils on the hillside
Strings of violets are all in tune
Tiger lilies love the dandy lions
In the golden afternoon
(The golden afternoon)
There are dog and caterpillars and the copper centipede
Where the lazy daisies love the very peaceful life
They lead…
You can learn a lot of things from the flowers
For especially in the month of June
There’s a wealth of happiness and romance
All in the golden afternoon
All in the golden afternoon
The golden afternoon…
(Alice chimes in)
You can learn a lot of things from the flowers
For especially in the month of June
There’s a wealth of happiness and romance
All- (voice cracks)
(All together): All in the golden afternoon!
“All in the Golden Afternoon” is a beautiful song and a reasonably sane interlude after the ridiculousness of the Dodo (though it won’t be long before we’re thrown into the insanity of the Un-Birthday Party, but I digress…). Alice loves the song, but the good time doesn’t last: the flowers are very curious to know just what kind of flower Alice is. When the naturally befuddled girl can’t give a clear answer, the flowers come to the only natural conclusion: Alice must be a weed and weeds aren’t welcome in the garden, so out she goes!
I always thought it rather silly that the flowers would think Alice was a flower too (considering she doesn’t look anything like a flower), but then again, this IS Wonderland we’re talking about, most of the inhabitants aren’t known for their common sense (just wait until we get to the Queen of Hearts).
What do you think of All in the Golden Afternoon? Let me know your thoughts on this song in the comments below 🙂
During the course of The Sword in the Stone, Merlin teaches Wart (the future King Arthur) a series of lessons that will help him in life: as a fish, Wart learns that brains can defeat brawn; as a bird, he learned that knowledge and wisdom are the real power; but it’s when Wart is a squirrel that he learns about the greatest lesson of all…the power of love.
After being unfairly given a mountain of work in the kitchen by his foster father, Wart is led out of the castle by Merlin with a promise to see into the crazy, dangerous life of a squirrel (it also helps that Merlin sets up a magical “washing assembly line” to get the dishes done in Wart’s absence).
And so, Wart is turned into a common brown squirrel and Merlin into a blue one (which always amused me) and the two set off to first learn about climbing trees (Wart is eager to make the jumps; Merlin…not so much). But they’re not alone for long: Wart quickly comes nose to nose with a red squirrel climbing along in the opposite direction.
They move out of the way, but the girl squirrel isn’t interested in moving aside, she’s interested in Wart! (As Friend Owl would say in Bambi, she’s “twitterpated.”) This prompts a highly amused Merlin to sing a song explaining the unavoidability of love in “A Most Befuddling Thing.”
It’s a state of being, a frame of mind It’s a most befuddling thing And to every being of every kind It is discombooberating!
You’re wasting time resisting You’ll find the more you do The more she’ll keep insisting Her him has got to be you It’s a rough game anyone knows There are no rules, anything goes There’s no logical explanation For this discombooberation It’s a most bemuddling, most befuddling thing
There’s no sensible explanation For this discombooberation
It’s a most hodge-podgical Most illogical Most confusiling Most bamboozling Most bemuddling Most befuddling Thing!
And as Merlin sings, Wart does everything he can to try and evade the girl squirrel who is determined to shower him with affection (whether he wants it or not!) Poor Wart runs into every obstacle imaginable: a harassed mother bird trying to sit on her eggs, Archimedes the owl who’s trying to take a nap, and a rather determined wolf (who nearly gets Wart on a few occasions). But the tables are soon turned: as Merlin’s song comes to an end, he unwittingly comes to the attention of another red squirrel (I always think of her as the pretty girl squirrel’s older sister) who takes a fancy to Merlin!!
Not anticipating this (hilarious for the audience) turn of events, Merlin decides that this particular trip needs to come to an end! Wart agrees and the spell is quickly undone. But while Merlin’s red girl squirrel runs away screaming in fright (and then anger that her “squirrel” is actually a grouchy old man), Wart’s girl squirrel is quite upset, clearly not understanding why her beloved boy squirrel has disappeared. Of course Wart can’t explain himself because squirrels don’t understand human language and the heartbroken girl squirrel runs away crying to a hollow in a tree. A sobered Merlin sums up the situation for Wart perfectly:
Merlin: Ah, you know, lad, that love business is a powerful thing.
Wart: Greater than gravity?
Merlin: Well, yes, boy. In its way, I’d, uh… Yes, I’d say it’s the greatest force on earth.
This is one of the saddest moments in the film because there’s really no way to “fix” the girl squirrel’s broken heart. And it’s a double blow because Merlin explained earlier that “when a girl squirrel mates, it’s for life.” This would imply that the girl squirrel is going to be alone and heartbroken for the rest of her life (which is a very sad thought). But it’s like Merlin said, love is a very, very powerful thing.
What do you think of “A Most Befuddling Thing” from The Sword in the Stone? I always giggle when Merlin finally notices the older girl squirrel sneaking up on him. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Today I’m going to look at parts of The Last Jedi that I considered “bad” (but not infuriating, that comes later). This likely won’t be a comprehensive list, but I’m hoping to hit the major points. Off we go!
The entire Canto Bight sub-plot: Part of what really bugged me about The Last Jedi is that, compared to other Star Wars films, we don’t really go anywhere for 90% of the story. Instead we spend the majority of our time in a slow-motion chase with the First Order patiently waiting for the Resistance fleet to literally run out of gas. So when Finn and Rose come up with the plot to get a hacker from Canto Bight, I was excited because we were finally getting away from skipping back and forth from the fleet to Ach-To. And while I don’t deny the planet is beautifully rendered and the chase scenes with the animals are good too, it’s all ultimately meaningless. Think about it: the entire point of bringing in a hacker was to break into Snoke’s mega-destroyer to disable the tracking system so the fleet could jump to hyperspace without being followed. Not only are Rose and Finn caught before they can do this, but the Resistance ultimately abandons their fleet to escape to Crait before squeezing onto the Millennium Falcon to finally get away. So there was really no point in Rose and Finn going to Canto Bight because we’d have arrived at the same end point regardless (in simpler terms: the Canto Bight story is pure filler to add time to the story).
“Holding for General Hux.”: This is just barely on the “Bad” list because I did find Poe’s teasing of the First Order funny the first time, but then the joke kept going (with Hux literally saying words to the effect of “Can you hear me now?”) and I found myself squirming with impatience (and not in a good way) for them to get on with the story. I don’t mind humor in a Star Wars film but this went on a few beats too long.
Captain Phasma: Is it just me or is the chrome-plated Phasma notably absent from most of this story? When they first introduced her in Episode VII, I was excited to see where they would go with her. And then this movie comes out and we get ONE fight scene; a cool glimpse at an eye under her helmet and then…does she die?? Just like that? There’s not even a shock factor because she appears in the trailers for the movie so we knew this moment was coming.
Luke Skywalker for most of the movie: I’m probably going to get grief for this but I had a hard time with Mark Hamill’s performance for a good chunk of his scenes. I don’t know if this is “bad” so much as it “royally subverted my expectations” but at any rate how I feel about it isn’t good so it’s on this list. It started when Luke received his father’s lightsaber, we all held our breath in anticipation of what he’d say…and then he tosses the lightsaber over his shoulder like it’s nothing. Of all the things I was expecting, it wasn’t that. I could also mention how his “training” of Rey really wasn’t what I was led to believe it was based on the trailers but that’s another argument for another list. Note though, that I say “for most of the movie” because by the end (i.e. his appearance on Crait) I’m in love with how he’s acting.
Where are the Knights of Ren?: Considering Kylo is considered “Master of the Knights of Ren”, you’d think we’d have seen them by now (or at least heard from them). But as of yet, except for that brief scene during Rey’s vision in The Force Awakens, we have not seen a trace of these “Knights of Ren” and now only a single film remains for them to be properly introduced and made use of. That doesn’t seem quite right to me, especially since the film seems to hint that some of them were fellow Jedi trainees at Luke’s school (he did say that Kylo didn’t kill ALL of the students).
The Rey/Kylo visions: On one level, this was really cool, but for the most part this came across as super AWKWARD. The one conversation where Rey is distracted because Kylo is shirtless had me groaning because it sounded like two teenagers having a telephone conversation (I mean, Kylo and Rey aren’t supposed to be teenagers…are they?). I understand the plot purpose of doing this, but there were some moments where it just felt wrong.
And those are the highlights of what I thought was bad about Star Wars: The Last Jedi! Did I leave anything significant out? Do you agree/disagree? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
I have been trying for a long time now to gather my thoughts on Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which says a lot about the film given how I was able to gush over Rogue One pretty easily. I’ve finally decided on a way to get my thoughts out there: rather than dumping everything into a single post (which is my usual method), I’m going to break this review up into what I liked (the good); what I didn’t like (the bad); and what downright infuriated me (the ugly). So this post will be highlights of what I liked in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
The return of Yoda: I LOVED this scene! When the camera panned over to reveal a familiar set of pointy ears with a familiar blue haze, my first reaction was “OMG yes it’s YODA!!” Somehow I just knew that we would see the deceased Jedi Grand Master before the movie was over (and for the record, I did not know about Frank Oz talking about the film before release, this was a complete surprise to me). This scene, combined with Luke’s reunion with R2-D2 were the two times I really felt like the “old” Luke from the original trilogy was back. The way he griped to Yoda like a pouting child, only to be whacked on the head with Yoda’s cane was just priceless! Bringing in Yoda was an excellent decision on Rian Johnson’s part.
Rey+Kylo+Throne Room = EPIC: Leaving aside what happened immediately before this scene, the fight between Kylo and Rey and the Praetorian Guard was absolutely beautiful. It’s kind of scary how well those two work together on short notice (if Rey ever did align herself with Kylo they might just be unstoppable). This is one of those scenes that helps to make Star Wars so special.
Luke’s final stand: In hindsight, I should have known that Luke wasn’t actually on Crait. All the hints were thrown out there beforehand: Kylo and Rey can see each other when they aren’t really there, they can even touch and it feels real. Not to mention Kylo’s ominous hint that “the strain (of projecting yourself) would kill you.” But I was so caught up in the moment of seeing Luke Skywalker, the legendary Jedi Master, walking out to face the First Order that I really didn’t think about how he got there or when. I just assumed that (off-screen), he’d thought about Rey’s words (and Yoda’s), raised up his X-Wing and hotfooted it to Crait where he could sense everything going down. One big clue that this was an illusion? Luke’s appearance is identical to how he looked on the night Kylo destroyed the new Jedi temple. That alone should have told me something was up (at the time I assumed that Luke had cleaned himself up before heading out). Even when the First Order fired on him at point blank range, I still didn’t get it. I just thought “Well he’s a Jedi Master, he can dodge and deflect anything.” It was only when Kylo went to slash Luke through the middle, clearly made contact, and Luke was still standing that I realized it…he wasn’t really there, he never had been. And I don’t feel disappointed by this revelation (because some have told me that this ruins the last meeting between Luke and Leia because Luke “wasn’t really there.”) I disagree; Leia knew the whole time (I’m sure) that Luke was only an illusion, but that didn’t matter. She could see him, and touch him, and it was their way of saying goodbye. And speaking of goodbyes…
Binary sunset: The revelation that Ach-To has twin suns like Tatooine was unexpected, momentarily confusing, but ultimately satisfying. Luke’s face as he took the sunset in said it all. In that moment, he was thinking back over everything: the sunset he saw on Tatooine the night before his life changed forever; saving Leia, destroying the Death Star, going to save his father, it all flashed through his mind. And then…with his work done, he vanished. This moment destroyed me, as I’d dared to hope that we’d sidestepped seeing Luke die when it was revealed that Luke wasn’t really on Crait. It didn’t help that Carrie Fisher had passed away the year before (so after her death and watching Han and now Luke die onscreen, it was pretty emotional for me).
The Supreme Leader is dead (?): Finally, I have to share my thoughts on the scene when General Hux discovers that Supreme Leader Snoke is (apparently) dead. He seemingly accepts Kylo’s version of events (that Rey killed him when it was really Kylo) and begins to lament that the Supreme Leader is dead, they have no leader now, when a furious Kylo seizes Hux with a Force choke and queries “The Supreme Leader is dead? Catching on, Hux chokes out “Long live the Supreme Leader!” I liked this scene because of how it played out. Hux is oblivious to the fact that Snoke’s death (his apparent death anyway) means that Kylo is now in charge. I’m calling it now: Kylo and Hux will come to blows before Episode IX is over, especially if Hux figures out that Kylo is the one who killed Snoke.
And those are my highlights for what was good in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Of course there was more that I liked than this, but if I listed everything the post would be several thousand words longer!
Which parts of Star Wars: The Last Jedi did you think were good? Let me know your thoughts (on the good only) in the comments below!
Considering that I’m a lifelong Disney nerd, I’ve been pretty terrible at catching most of their recent films. I still haven’t seen Tangled (2010, The Princess and the Frog (2009) nor have I seen Frozen (2013) (shocking I know). But when I saw the previews for Moana, I was determined that at the very least I would see THIS one, and boy oh boy, I’m glad I did. Moana is the first Polynesian Disney Princess and the youngest Disney Princess since Snow White. She is also the first Disney Princess to have no romantic sub-plot in her film whatsoever (which is fine with me).
From the moment I first watched this film in theaters, I fell in love with the soundtrack, which features songs written by Lin-Manuel Miranda (you know, of Hamilton fame) among others. And the first big song in the film is “Where You Are” which establishes daily life on the island of Motunui. Moana is (at the time) the toddler daughter of Chief Tui and Sina, and in a surreal encounter with the living presence of the ocean, is chosen to someday return the stolen heart of Te Fiti. Unaware of this, her well-meaning parents determine to do their best to raise Moana in such a way that she’ll never want to leave the island. This is the subject of “Where You Are.”
“Consider the coconut…” One of my favorite lines in the song
Moana, make way, make way Moana, it’s time you knew The village of Motonui is all you need The dancers are practicing They dance to an ancient song (Who needs a new song? This old one’s all we need)
This tradition is our mission And Moana, there’s so much to do (Make way) Don’t trip on the taro root, that’s all you need We share everything we make (We make) We joke and we weave our baskets (Aha!) The fishermen come back from the sea
In this song, Tui and the others describe how the island provides everything they need for life: coconuts, fish from the lagoon, palm fronds to weave baskets and other materials, and “no one leaves.” The tone of the song is so happy that you almost don’t realize at first that the sentiment of no one EVER leaving is repeated multiple times. But Moana DOES want to leave, or at least, she wants to explore the ocean. But time and time again, her parents are there to head her off and push her back to the island’s interior, where, as she grows into a teenager, she is prepared to take her place as a young chief on the island.
Moana doesn’t seem particularly thrilled with this, but then she has an encounter with Grandmother Tala (Tui’s mother), who loves the ocean as much as Moana does, and together the two dance like the waves.
I like to dance with the water The undertow and the waves The water is mischievous, ha! I like how it misbehaves The village may think I’m crazy Or say that I drift too far But once you know what you like, well, there you are
You are your father’s daughter Stubbornness and pride Mind what he says but remember You may hear a voice inside And if the voice starts to whisper To follow the farthest star Moana, that voice inside is who you are
As time passes, Moana begins to finally accept that, while she does love the ocean, she can be happy on Motunui, she doesn’t have to leave, everything she needs is right here “where you are.” And you almost believe her, except for the side glances she still sends over to where Grandmother Tala is still dancing.
I still believe that Moana is one of the few Disney Princesses who is mostly content to remain in their situation for the good of the family (contrast her attitude by the end of “Where You Are” with, say, Mulan, Ariel or Belle).
So here I’ll stay My home, my people beside me And when I think of tomorrow There we are I’ll lead the way I’ll have my people to guide me We’ll build our future together
And maybe if things had stayed in the status quo, she really would have been happy. But of course, this is a Disney movie, things NEVER stay in the status quo for very long.
I feel like I haven’t done a Disney series in ages, so I’m happy to finally be starting up again with Moana. I hope you enjoyed reading about (and listening to) “Where You Are,” there is plenty more to come.
*note: I’m only covering the “Night on Bald Mountain” segment, not the “Ave Maria” that follows
When I originally conceived of the Disturbing Disney series, I always planned on including Night on Bald Mountain from the finale of Fantasia (1940). It is well known that this segment is considered to be one of the darkest pieces of animation that Disney ever produced. But, and this might surprise you, it is also one of the few “disturbing” pieces that didn’t scare me as a child.
Let me explain: if you haven’t seen the original Fantasia film, Night on Bald Mountain is based on the symphonic poem of the same name (and earlier referred to as St. John’s Eve on Bald Mountain) by Modest Mussorgsky, with an arrangement created by his friend Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov. The segment takes place one night in an unnamed country village surrounded by mountains. The highest peak is revealed to actually be the massive body of Chernabog, a terrifyingly huge black winged demon, who uses his evil powers to summon all the dead spirits, witches and other lesser demons to attend him and perform for his pleasure. After wreaking havoc all night long, Chernabog goes toward the village itself, only to be stopped by the distant church bells chiming for Matins, signalling the arrival of dawn, and the end of Chernabog’s power for the night.
As I mentioned earlier, Night on Bald Mountain did not scare me as a child. I thought long and hard about it, trying to remember how I felt watching Chernabog reveal himself, but I cannot find a single memory where I quivered in terror. If anything, I was almost in awe of what I was seeing. I mean just look at the creature below:
Chernabog is rightly considered a masterpiece of Disney animation. He’s a perfect example of the intensive labor that went into Golden Age Disney animation. In the opening minute, when Chernabog shrugs his wings open, you can feel the weight behind the motion, even though he’s nothing more than a drawing on the screen.
Now, on to the disturbing elements of this piece (and they are many). First of all, as I said before, this is considered to be one of the darkest (if not THE darkest) animations that Disney ever produced, because never before has such raw evil been depicted. In fact, in the earliest stages, Chernabog was intended to be Satan himself (and referred to as such) but such a blatant religious statement was deemed….unwise (that’s my assumption anyway). Even though he’s named differently, it’s not hard to view Chernabog as the Devil (he’s got horns, wings, big glowing eyes, if he were red instead of black he’d be a perfect likeness to traditional images of Satan).
Aside from being pure evil, what also makes Chernabog himself disturbing is his sheer size: he’s so large that his wings are viewed as a literal mountain top! Full size humans (I would assume) could stand on his palm with plenty of room to spare. Not that you would WANT to of course, at one point, the demon creates fire dancers that dance on his palms before being cruelly twisted into barnyard animals and finally morphed into blue demons that frantically dance to please their master.
Other disturbing elements include the various ghouls and skeletons that fly through the air when summoned. There are skeletons riding skeletal horses (a reference to the Danse Macabre), ghouls with glowing eyes, witches on brooms and other strange figures. By the final chaotic minutes of the piece, the disturbing factor is ramped up: there are harpies flying straight up to the screen (revealing they were topless in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment), skulls and weird masks, all moving in a frantic blur.
Funnily enough, even though Fantasia was released almost 80 years ago, Disney still receives complaints from parents of children traumatized by this particular segment. If you have young children, I would definitely be wary of letting them see this segment too soon, but don’t hide it forever either.
And that’s just a glimpse of my thoughts on Chernabog and Night on Bald Mountain, I hope you enjoy watching the segment in the above link. Let me know YOUR thoughts in the comments below.
When Disney released a live-action adaptation of The Jungle Book last year, many seemed to have forgotten that this was the second live-action version of the story that Disney had ever made. The first was released in 1994 and stars Jason Scott Lee as Mowgli, Lena Headey (aka Cersei in Game of Thrones) as Katherine and Cary Elwes as Boone. I for one, can never wholly forget this film because it has a number of disturbing moments in the second half, one of the most disturbing coming in the Monkey City.
Unlike the animated film, where the Monkey City is just a pile of crumbling ruins, this version is not only loaded with treasure, but is also filled with booby traps of all kinds. Mowgli is forced by Boone and his compatriots to lead them to Monkey City so they can help themselves to the treasure (despite Mowgli’s warnings that the city is dangerous). By the time they get inside the city, most of Boone’s henchmen are dead, but a hunter named Buldeo (who incidentally left Mowgli’s father to die at the beginning of the film) is still alive and he is relentlessly pursuing Mowgli, intent on killing him. But this is complicated because Wilkins (another associate), accidentally shot him in the leg shortly before he was mauled to death by Shere Khan.
Limping all the way, Buldeo seemingly has Mowgli cornered in a sunken pavilion, when a stray shot unexpectedly causes a decoration to burst out of the wall, pouring salt out on the floor. This trips a chain reaction, where more and more decorations burst out, spilling more and more salt, and the reason why becomes clear; as the salt spills out, the roof of the pavilion is slowly lowering, meaning Mowgli and Buldeo are caught in a trap! Mowgli is able to leap out of the pit to safety, but Buldeo is hampered by his wounded leg and must hobble for the stairs, but he is caught in the growing streams of salt.
I’m convinced it is salt and not sand because the material causes Buldeo intense pain in his wounded leg (and salt is very bad for open wounds). Also, this was supposed to be a fantastically wealthy city, so it makes sense to me that the people who built these traps could afford the luxury of using salt as part of the mechanism. All this time the ceiling is slowly but surely descending, to Buldeo’s mounting panic as it becomes clear he will NOT be able to get out in time. By the end, he is futilely pressing against the ceiling in an attempt to stop the inevitable…with a final scream the ceiling clamps down on the floor, entombing Buldeo forever in that small pit, where he will quickly suffocate (unless that salt fills up the space first).
This scene terrified me as a child, because I would have nightmares of being trapped in that kind of a situation. To this day I can’t believe this film is ONLY rated PG because, in no particular order, we have: a man drowning in quicksand; a man being mauled to death by a tiger, people being shot, falling to their deaths, etc. But of all the deaths, Buldeo being buried alive in the Salt Trap is by far the most disturbing of all. I’d actually nearly put this scene out of my mind but I’m glad I remembered it so I could share it with all of you.
What do you think of the Salt Trap in this film? Does it disturb you? Can you believe they put this in a movie for kids? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, I’d love to hear about it.
So yesterday I shared with you the disturbing sequence involving a monstrous bear in the 1981 film The Fox and the Hound. But before we got to that point, there’s actually another equally disturbing moment that gave me chills as a kid.
After Todd is nearly lured into a steel trap, he makes a run for it along with his newfound mate Vixie. They run to their burrow and hide but are quickly cornered by the hunter and Copper. As there’s no way for the hunter to get a clean shot (and Copper is unable to dig his way in), the hunter gets an idea: he’ll “smoke” them out of their burrow by setting a clump of dried grass on fire and fanning the flames so that they roar INTO the burrow.
With one exit blocked by flames, the hunter and Copper stand poised at the main entrance, ready to kill the foxes the moment they come out. Inside Todd and Vixie are cornered by a growing inferno and finding it hard to breathe with all the smoke. This moment scared me half to death because, as a kid, I had a fear of being trapped by fire, so this scene was somewhat traumatic for me.
Even how Todd and Vixie escape this trap is somewhat disturbing. They can’t go out the main way because they’ll be killed instantly. So the only other way out is the back entrance (which is currently surrounded by scorching flames). But since it’s their only option…the two foxes run THROUGH the flames and make it out, to the shock and amazement of the hunter, who resumes the chase that will lead him straight to the crazy huge bear.
The whole scenario is disturbing for me, but at least Todd and Vixie aren’t burned to death, and to be fair, it doesn’t look like they were burned at all (which is totally possible in the world of Disney). So while this is a disturbing moment, it’s not as disturbing as it could have been.
What do YOU think of this disturbing moment in The Fox and the Hound? Let me know what you think in the comments below, I’d love to hear about it 🙂
I think I’ve mentioned before that the Disney films made between Sleeping Beauty in 1959 (the end of Disney’s Golden Age) and The Little Mermaid in 1989 (the start of the Disney Renaissance) often get overlooked or underrated because they’re not quite up to the standards of either era (or at least that’s the perception). A classic example of this is 1981’s The Fox and the Hound, a good film that is criminally neglected and yet it has one of the most disturbing sequences I’ve ever seen.
In summary: The Fox and the Hound is about…you guessed it…a fox and a hound who become friends (despite being natural enemies). The fox, named Todd, is eventually set loose in a game preserve to keep him safe from a gruff hunter and his hound Copper (formerly Todd’s friend). But the hunter wants to kill Todd for nearly getting his other hunting dog Chief killed and so he trespasses onto the preserve to hunt the fox down, laying a series of steel traps by a secluded watering area.
The trap nearly works, but at the last moment Todd senses the danger and runs for it. In the ensuing chase (including another disturbing moment I’ll cover next time), the hunter believes he has Todd cornered in some bushes, but he is so very wrong. Instead of the fox, the hunter has cornered THIS:
Even referring to this bear as “a bear” is an understatement; he’s practically a monster in the way he’s presented as this huge snarling mass of muscle and teeth (the demonic red eyes add to the monstrous impression). And then there’s the SIZE of this beast; even though the bear is colored black, in size he’s really more like a grizzly bear (which doesn’t make sense as I believe this story is supposed to be set in Appalachia).
The sheer viciousness of the bear’s assault is terrifying, and also not surprising, considering he’s been disturbed by this raucous hunter (and also shot). But the disturbing part comes when the hunter’s foot gets caught in one of his own traps and the bear comes closer and closer for the kill. Even though he’s an antagonist, this hunter is facing a pretty agonizing way to die and he can’t do a thing about it.
And then there’s the fight between Todd, Copper and the bear. This huge bear is just THROWING these two around like nothing, and it’s painful to watch. The entire sequence has me on the edge of my seat from beginning to end, especially when the bear has Todd cornered on a fallen tree perched halfway up a huge waterfall (the ominous music tells you this will end badly). This bear is an excellent example of Disturbing Disney (I hope you enjoy the full scene up above).
What do you think of the bear in The Fox and the Hound? Let me know in the comments below, I’d love to hear about it 🙂
You know, it sure seems to me like a lot of “disturbing” moments in Disney films happen to coincide with a villain’s death.
Tarzan (1999) is considered to be the end of the 1st Disney Renaissance, and for this reason I think the film has become totally underrated. Which is really a shame because the animation is incredible, particularly the scenes where Tarzan is “surfing” through the trees. The (real) villain is pretty awesome too. For most of the film, the “enemy” has been presented as Kerchak, the leader of the gorilla troop that raised Tarzan, and the gorilla that should have been Tarzan’s foster father, as it is Kerchak’s mate Kaala that took the young man in when he was a baby, but Kerchak could never bring himself to accept the human as his son. However, the actual villain of this story is the bloodthirsty and devious Clayton (Brian Blessed), who has hitherto been working as a bodyguard for the expedition of Professor Porter and Jane. But in reality, Clayton has come because he wants to capture the gorillas for the handsome price they will fetch back in England.
Behold the villainous Clayton, even before he’s revealed he kind of looks like a villain already
At the last minute, Tarzan is able to thwart Clayton’s attempt to kidnap all of the gorillas, but Clayton is not giving up just yet. After fatally wounding Kerchak, Clayton chases Tarzan up into the trees, figuring that if he can get Tarzan out of the way, rounding the gorillas back up should be easy. But despite his injuries (Clayton shot him in the arm), Tarzan has a distinct advantage: he was raised in this jungle, he knows how to navigate the trees with his eyes closed, Clayton is like a fish out of water.
Despite this, he continues to chase Tarzan until the latter is cornered against a tree trunk. But then Tarzan uses the jungle to his advantage, ensnaring Clayton’s limbs in a tangle of jungle vines (to his mounting fury). At this point, Clayton fully snaps and begins to furiously hack at the vines holding him up, and a single shot forewarns what is about to happen: as the vines are cut away, one loop slips up to tighten around Clayton’s neck.
The first time I saw this film in theaters, I didn’t realize what was going to happen, but my parents did. To this day I remember my mom gasping at the shot and wondering what she was reacting to. I realize now that Clayton has a particularly gruesome and disturbing death scene, one that is pretty graphic if you think it through.
As I’d said, Clayton is hacking away at the vines that are holding him up, not noticing one loop remains coiled around his neck. He is so frantic to get loose to kill Tarzan that he doesn’t notice there are fewer and fewer vines holding him up. Even Tarzan sees what is about to happen and tries to warn him, but Clayton doesn’t listen…and then it’s too late. Down to two vines (the one around his neck and the one his hand is clenching), Clayton hacks the wrong vine and begins to fall screaming, the vine still looped around his neck. This moment is terribly disturbing: not only is Clayton falling to his death, but he has enough time to know it and try desperately to avert the inevitable (see, as he falls, you can see Clayton’s hands trying to remove the loop before he runs out of slack). Maybe Tarzan could have saved himself, but Clayton is no Tarzan and in no time we see the vine go taught with an audible *SNAP* and then we see the shadowy profile of Clayton hanging by his neck…DEAD.
I’ll give Disney credit for one thing: at least they kept the actual moment of death off-screen and only showed Clayton’s dead body in silhouette. Still…watching a villain die via a broken neck is pretty disturbing, and thus it is here on the list of Disturbing Disney.
But I would like to know what YOU think of Clayton’s death; does it disturb you? Do you find it gruesome? Let me know in the comments below, I would love to hear about it.
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