Category Archives: Films

Aladdin “Prince Ali” (1992)

Before we jump into the wonderful mayhem that is “Prince Ali”, we first need to explore the context of when and where all of this is taking place. Agrabah, the city where Aladdin lives, is ruled by the benevolent Sultan, whose only daughter Jasmine, must marry a Prince by her next birthday. The problem is, Jasmine has firmly rejected any and all princely suitors that have hitherto come her way (the most recent, Prince Achmed, is sent packing after Jasmine’s pet tiger Rajah takes a bite out of his pants). The poor Sultan is despairing of Jasmine ever choosing a husband, but have no fear….Jafar, the Royal Vizier is here to help.

Thanks to Jafar’s involvement in the opening scene with the Cave of Wonders, we as an audience already have an idea that Jafar is up to no good, but here in front of the sultan he puts on the face of a well-intentioned counselor, whose only wish is to serve. The Sultan wants guidance on how to get Jasmine to marry someone, and Jafar says that this may easily be done, but first he needs the diamond ring off the Sultan’s hand. When the Sultan balks, Jafar hypnotizes the Sultan into handing over the ring via his cobra-headed staff. (In reality, Jafar needs the ring to find “the diamond in the rough” who can enter the Cave of Wonders without getting killed).

Jafar is actually a villain I hadn’t paid much attention to, even as a kid, that is until I learned a rather interesting fact about him. After I bought Sleeping Beauty on Blu-ray, there was an interview with the now-late animator of Maleficent, and several other Disney animators. One in particular, the lead animator for Jafar, revealed that Jafar’s design is directly based on Maleficent. Looking at the picture above, I can totally see the resemblance. But I digress, on to “Prince Ali” !!

After Jafar’s plan to use Aladdin to get the lamp backfires, Jafar has to think of a new way he can come to power. Thankfully, his wisecracking parrot Iago has the perfect solution: why doesn’t Jafar marry Princess Jasmine? There’s nothing in the Law that says it can’t be done and it would be the easiest route to power as once the wedding is done, Jasmine and the Sultan would suffer an unfortunate “accident” resulting in Jafar as the sole ruler of Agrabah. It’s diabolical, and it just might work! All Jafar needs to do is hypnotize the Sultan into authorizing the marriage and it’s a done deal. But just as the Sultan nearly agrees to it, a faraway trumpet blast breaks the hypnosis and the Sultan runs to see what is coming.

Make way for Prince Ali
Say hey! It’s Prince Ali

Hey! Clear the way in the old Bazaar
Hey you!
Let us through!
It’s a bright new star!
Oh Come!
Be the first on your block to meet his eye!

Make way!
Here he comes!
Ring bells! Bang the drums!
Are you gonna love this guy!

Prince Ali! Fabulous he!
Ali Ababwa
Genuflect, show some respect
Down on one knee!
Now, try your best to stay calm
Brush up your sunday salaam
The come and meet his spectacular coterie

I absolutely LOVE this song! The fanfares, the pageantry, it’s just amazing to watch. And right away you can tell that the leader of the parade is the Genie with flesh-colored skin. The entire song is performed by Robin Williams, the purpose being to present “Prince Ali Ababwa” (aka Aladdin) as this amazing prince whom the princess couldn’t possibly think of refusing because he’s so awesome:

Prince Ali!
Mighty is he!
Ali Ababwa
Strong as ten regular men, definitely!
He faced the galloping hordes
A hundred bad guys with swords
Who sent those goons to their lords?
Why, Prince Ali

He’s got seventy-five golden camels
Purple peacocks
He’s got fifty-three
When it comes to exotic-type mammals
Has he got a zoo?
I’m telling you, it’s a world-class menagerie

Prince Ali! Handsome is he, Ali Ababwa
That physique! How can I speak
Weak at the knees
Well, get on out in that square
Adjust your veil and prepare
To gawk and grovel and stare at Prince Ali!

He’s got ninety-five white Persian monkeys
(He’s got the monkeys, let’s see the monkeys)
And to view them he charges no fee
(He’s generous, so generous)
He’s got slaves, he’s got servants and flunkies
(Proud to work for him)
They bow to his whim love serving him
They’re just lousy with loyalty to Ali! Prince Ali!

Prince Ali!
Amorous he! Ali Ababwa
Heard your princess was a sight lovely to see
And that, good people, is why he got dolled up and dropped by
With sixty elephants, llamas galore
With his bears and lions
A brass band and more
With his forty fakirs, his cooks, his bakers
His birds that warble on key
Make way for prince Ali!

According to the Genie, Prince Ali has done it all: he’s as strong as ten men, he defeated a horde of bandits, he’s generous with his money and he’s the peak of physical perfection. Of course, aside from the handsomeness, everything else is a complete lie, Ali/Aladdin hasn’t done any of these things, so while it’s understandable what the Genie is trying to do (making Ali/Aladdin look good), he’s going seriously overboard. I mean, suppose a horde of bandits had swept down on Agrabah and everyone looked to this Prince Ali to solve the problem? I’m probably nitpicking, but it is something to think about.

At any rate, the procession is extremely impressive. In fact, it’s modeled after the famous Thanksgiving Day parade in New York City (with the giant floats and even a giant balloon gorilla at one point). Everyone is impressed: the people, the city guards who used to chase Aladdin, even the bawdy girls that Aladdin used to try and impress (I honestly don’t know what else to call them). Everyone is impressed…except Princess Jasmine (who leaves in a huff before the song is even over).

Jafar is not impressed either. While he doesn’t realize (yet) that Prince Ali is the street rat Aladdin that he left for dead in the desert, he IS upset that another Prince has arrived to upset his plans of marrying Jasmine himself. No matter how great this Prince Ali is, as far as Jafar is concerned, he has got to go!

Poor Iago got squashed…

The song ends as the giant procession forces itself into the throne room where Prince Ali presents himself to the Sultan by flying down on his magic carpet. That’s quite an entrance for any Disney Prince to make, but will Jasmine be interested? Possibly…IF Ali/Aladdin can be himself and IF he can tell her the truth and IF Jafar doesn’t figure out who he really is first, wow that’s a lot of “Ifs”.

What do you think about “Prince Ali” ? Did the Genie take things a little too far? For next time, we’ll look at “Friend Like Me”.

*all images are the property of Walt Disney Studios

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For more Aladdin, see:

Aladdin “Arabian Nights” (1992)

Aladdin “One Jump Ahead” and reprise (1992)

Aladdin “Friend Like Me” (1992)

Aladdin “A Whole New World” (1992)

Aladdin “Prince Ali (reprise)” (1992)

Aladdin “The End” (1992)

for more great Disney songs and films, check out the main page here: Disney Films & Soundtracks A-Z

Aladdin “Arabian Nights” (1992)

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After the outstanding success of Beauty and the Beast (1991), the next installment in the Disney Renaissance came out the following year. Aladdin (1992), adapts the fairy tale of the same name and tells the story of how a “street rat” named Aladdin falls in love with the beautiful Princess Jasmine, meets a powerful genie, and becomes a prince so he can attempt to marry her. Did I mention there’s also a power-hungry vizier/sorcerer named Jafar who’d like to be Sultan himself and will do anything to achieve this goal?

Aladdin holds a special place in my life. While Beauty and the Beast is my overall favorite, Aladdin is quite possibly the first film I ever saw in the movie theater. It is certainly the oldest film I remember seeing (I will never forget seeing the title card come up on that big screen). Though there is a (small) chance I was taken to see Beauty and the Beast, I have no memory of seeing the film in the theater, so I can’t say for sure.

On the musical side, Aladdin’s score was once again composed by Alan Menken, with songs created by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice. This is the final film to feature songs completed by Ashman before his untimely death from HIV: the three songs that feature his work are “Arabian Nights”, “Prince Ali” (Tim Rice completed the reprise of this song) and “Friend Like Me.”

Since “Arabian Nights” opens the film, that is where we will begin. The scene begins with the Peddler riding across the desert on his camel as he sings about the desert. Menken and Ashman originally conceived of this song as being a lot longer, with frequent reprises that would have taken place throughout the film to comment on developments in the story. This idea was nixed, though the opening prologue remained, with one semi-significant change. In the opening verse, this is what we hear:

O I come from a land/from a faraway place/where the caravan camels roam

Where it’s flat and immense/and the heat is intense, it’s barbaric, but hey it’s home!

The “flat and immense” line is actually a substitution. The original verse read “Where they cut off your ear if they don’t like your face…” Why they would put that line in a Disney film, I don’t know, but I think we can all agree that it was a good thing they changed it (interestingly enough, the original verse is intact on the CD release of the soundtrack).

When the wind’s from the east
And the sun’s from the west
And the sand in the glass is right
Come on down
Stop on by
Hop a carpet and fly
To another Arabian night

Arabian Nights like Arabian days
More often than not
Are hotter than hot
In a lot of good ways

Arabian Nights ‘neath Arabian moons
A fool off his guard
Could fall and fall hard
Out there on the dunes

The complete song is not very long (just over 1:30) but it includes a great shot of the city of Agrabah, as well as the fantastically huge palace (which I believe was inspired by the real-life Taj Mahal). I loved this opening shot, because once the palace appears, the entire song changes from a relatively slow ballad to a fast-paced Arabian melody.

Now as for the Peddler himself: Disney itself confirmed months ago what we’ve all suspected for years: Robin Williams was indeed voicing the character while he gives his sales pitch at the end of the prologue, which likely means that the Peddler is the Genie in disguise. However, that is NOT Robin Williams singing “Arabian Nights.” It was going to be, but Williams had so much trouble singing the high parts of the song (after Agrabah is revealed) that Disney brought in Bruce Adler to record the entire song in an imitation of Williams’ voice.

This song is very beautiful, but as I said before, so very short, that I almost wish the longer version envisioned by Menken and Ashman had survived to the final cut. As it stands though, “Arabian Nights” makes a perfect introduction to the setting of the film (it’s certainly a stunning reveal, going from pure desert to a huge palace in a matter of seconds).

That’s all I have for “Arabian Nights”, next time I will likely skip ahead to either “Prince Ali” or “Friend Like Me.” I hope you enjoyed this first look at Aladdin!

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*all images are the property of Walt Disney Studios

For more Aladdin, see also:

Aladdin “One Jump Ahead” and reprise (1992)

Aladdin “Friend Like Me” (1992)

Aladdin “Prince Ali” (1992)

Aladdin “A Whole New World” (1992)

Aladdin “Prince Ali (reprise)” (1992)

Aladdin “The End”

For more great Disney songs and films, check out the main page here: Disney Films & Soundtracks A-Z

Brian Tyler Battle: Los Angeles scoring session (2011)

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Brian Tyler scoring Battle: Los Angeles (2011)

You know that old expression “You can’t judge a book by it’s cover?” Well, I think a similar expression is also true: “You can’t judge a soundtrack by the film it’s attached to.” This was my thought after listening to a five minute scoring session from Battle: Los Angeles, a 2011 sci-fi action film which depicts Los Angeles (and the rest of the world) under attack from hostile alien forces. The film stars Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez and Ramon Rodriguez, and was directed by Jonathan Liebesman.

The film itself received very negative reviews (it was notably panned by Roger Ebert), but the soundtrack, composed by Brian Tyler, received some positive mentions. For example, on Wikipedia, one review called it “…a highly entertaining, old-fashioned orchestral soundtrack that should appeal to fans of Hans Zimmer…”*

I have to agree with Mr. Monger (the author of that review): the music does indeed have that old-fashioned feel to it, but in the world of film music I believe that is a good thing. To call a film score “old-fashioned” is to say that the composer is using a traditional orchestra and not simply synthesizing everything.

As you watch the scoring session, take note of the computer screen immediately behind Brian Tyler: you’ll see two sets of numbers, like this 12 l 1 . That is a measure/beat counter that is timing the recording according to the measure and particular beat of said measure. That way, if Mr. Tyler wants to go back to, say, measure 100, he can select that on the computer and the recording will automatically transfer to that point.

Given how wonderful the music sounds, it is such a shame that Brian Tyler’s hard work is attached to a film that was so badly received (I haven’t seen it myself, but Roger Ebert was never one to pan a film without good reason). It is obvious to me that Tyler puts a great deal of his heart and soul into this music, and I hope that someday his music will receive the proper appreciation (hopefully in the form of an Academy Award).

Please enjoy this scoring session from Battle: Los Angeles (2011)

You can become a patron of the blog at patreon.com/musicgamer460

See also:

Film Composer Interviews A-H

Film Composer Interviews K-Z

*review taken from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle:_Los_Angeles_(soundtrack)

** poster image is the property of Columbia Pictures

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Brian Tyler “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” scoring session

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Today I’m going to try something a little different. Normally, when I post about a scoring session for a particular film score, there’s an interview accompanying it. However, for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), I found a sound-only clip showing composer Brian Tyler conducting a scoring session.

Brian Tyler scoring “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” (2014)

A scoring session is when the composer and the orchestra sit down and record the music piece by piece for the film. As a general rule the finished film (or nearly finished in some cases) is playing on a screen in front of the conductor, with the current scene corresponding to the music being recorded.

I thought I would share this clip with you because, even though I have never seen Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I immediately found myself drawn into the music (it helps that Brian Tyler is a very energetic composer). This is partly why I chose to study film music: when you separate the music from the film, you can hear some very beautiful and wonderful things, and these are things I think everyone should hear at least once.

The music here is energetic, dynamic and surprisingly symphonic (I found myself reminded of Howard Shore’s style in some places) for an action film produced in 2014. Tyler’s style has clearly evolved since his work on Alien vs Predator: Requiem (yes, I actually sat through that movie, no I don’t know what I was thinking).

If Brian Tyler’s name is not familiar, then I think it will be in the next five years, he’s a very prolific film composer with an extensive filmography already. He’s already composed for a handful of MCU films (his score for Thor: The Dark World is half the reason I love that film so much) and he’s scheduled to compose the score for the live-action Power Rangers film due out next year.

This selection is only three minutes long, so if you have a spare minute this weekend, sit back, pop the headphones on, and give this a listen. I also dare you to listen with your eyes closed (by far the best way to listen to film music) and see what you think/feel. As I said, I thought I would try something new 🙂 Enjoy the music!

You can become a patron of the blog at patreon.com/musicgamer460

Check out the YouTube channel (and consider hitting the subscribe button)

See also:

Film Composer Interviews A-H

Film Composer Interviews K-Z

See also:

Brian Tyler conducts The Mummy (2017)

Brian Tyler scoring Partition (2007)

Brian Tyler talks The Expendables (2010)

Brian Tyler scoring session for Iron Man 3 (2013)

Brian Tyler conducting and scoring Now You See Me 2 (2016)

Brian Tyler talks War (2007)

Brian Tyler “Alien vs. Predator: Requiem” scoring session (2007)

Brian Tyler “Law Abiding Citizen” scoring sessions (2009)

Brian Tyler “Dragonball Evolution” scoring session (2009)

Brian Tyler talks Fast Five (2011)

Brian Tyler “Battle: Los Angeles” (2011) scoring session

Brian Tyler talks Rambo (2008)

Brian Tyler “Power Rangers” scoring session (2017)

*poster image is the property of Paramount Pictures

Beauty and the Beast “Transformation” (1991)

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At last we come to the end of Beauty and the Beast, but I had a lot of fun writing this series!

There is no denying that Disney is a master at pulling at our heart-strings, and the “transformation scene” is no exception. How can he audience not get upset? Sure, Gaston got what he had coming to him and then some, but the Beast has been badly injured and the magic rose is down to the very last petal!!

While the enchanted objects watch in terror/horror, Belle and the Beast share their moment together. The Beast knows this is the end, but Belle is in denial, swearing that everything is going to be okay. It’s not though, and the Beast, relieved that he could see Belle one last time, (seemingly) dies!! And while Belle breaks down in tears (quitely confessing that she loves the Beast), the camera looks back to show the very last petal falling. Of course Lumiere, Cogsworth and Mrs. Potts didn’t hear Belle’s admission of love, so they believe that it’s all over, they’re trapped this way forever. But then…something wonderful happens!

I always looked forward to this scene as a kid, because once the “magic rain” starts falling, you know something cool is going on. Animator Glen Keane was originally told that he would have only two weeks to complete this sequence, but he knew that wouldn’t be nearly enough time to do it properly.

So he went to producer Don Hahn and asked for more time and he as told “take as long as you need” and it really shows! On a quick side note, the smoke you see rising up around the Beast is real (that is, live action), it was left over from a scene in The Black Cauldron (1985) so the animators reused it here (though how I’m not exactly sure).

What’s really mind-bending about Beast’s transformation is that it’s all hand-drawn! You watch a hand, a leg, and finally the Beast’s face change into the Prince and the motion of change is so smooth (and at the same time so complex), it’s incredible work! Of course Belle (and the other enchanted objects) are spell-bound during this sequence (Belle has a perfect “What’s Happening?” look on her face).

Mid-transformation

The transformation finishes in one glorious flash and now, instead of the Beast, we have this really handsome Prince laying on the balcony, but he’s not dead! He staggers to his feet, turns and faces a shocked Belle. And yes, that is Robby Benson’s real voice when the Prince speaks (hard to believe it’s the same person isn’t it?) Belle doesn’t seem too sure that this handsome guy is the same as the Beast she’s fallen in love with, but then she sees his eyes, those beautiful blue eyes that are identical to those the Beast had.

Now properly reunited, Belle and the Prince share that long-awaited kiss, which seems to fully break the enchantment over the whole castle. There’s fireworks everywhere and suddenly it’s day when it was previously night, and the castle is completely transformed (notably, the monster statues become angels), and then everyone begins changing back into their human forms and everything is happy and wonderful again.

The story ends with Belle and the Prince happily dancing in the ballroom once more. Maurice is there also and everyone is going to live happily ever after. If this scene looks strikingly familiar to the ending of Sleeping Beauty (1959), that’s because it essentially is the same scene, and Aurora and Philip were painted over with Belle and the Prince and any other characters were altered accordingly.

This was done because the production was running short of time and money and this was a cost-effective way to complete the production without fully animating a whole new scene. Truthfully, I don’t mind, it’s a wonderful ending to a wonderful story. And the last refrain of “Tale as Old as Time” never fails to make me tear up. By the way, that last stained glass window is real!!! It exists somewhere in Disneyland (or so I’ve read) so, if anyone has a picture of the real window, I would love to see it!!

And that’s it for Beauty and the Beast! I hope you are all inspired to go out and re-watch this dazzling piece of animation (and feel free to sing along). Tomorrow (if no tiebreaker is required) I will announce the next Disney film to be covered.

P.S.

While doing research for this last post, I came across a last piece of trivia that I wanted to share: a proposed death for Gaston involved him being eaten alive by wolves after falling from the balcony but surviving with a broken leg (this fate was eventually used for Scar in The Lion King, substituting hyenas for wolves). I’m not sure what’s worse, falling to your death with enough time to think about it, or falling, breaking your leg and THEN being eaten by wolves. It’s interesting to think about.

*all images are the property of Walt Disney Studios

Become a Patron of the blog at patreon.com/musicgamer460

Check out the YouTube channel (and consider hitting the subscribe button)

For more Beauty and the Beast, see:

Beauty and the Beast “Belle” (1991)

Beauty and the Beast “Belle (reprise)” (1991)

Beauty and the Beast “Gaston” (1991)

Beauty and the Beast “Be Our Guest” (1991)

Beauty and the Beast “Something There” (1991)

Beauty and the Beast “Human Again” (1991)

Beauty and the Beast “Beauty and the Beast/Tale as Old as Time” (1991)

Beauty and the Beast “The Mob Song” (1991)

Beauty and the Beast “The West Wing” (1991)

Beauty and the Beast “Battle on the Tower” (1991)

For more great Disney songs and films, check out the main page here: Disney Films & Soundtracks A-Z

Don’t forget to like Film Music Central on Facebook 🙂

Royalty on Film Blogathon: The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

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*This post is part of the Royalty on Film Blogathon hosted by The Flapper Dame

robinhood

The 1938 film The Adventures of Robin Hood is the epitome of the perfect swashbuckler film: there are exciting sword fights, an archery tournament, a great ambush in Sherwood Forest and an A-list cast led by Errol Flynn as Robin Hood himself. But this film is also notable for highlighting a real life feud between two royal brothers, namely Prince John and his older brother King Richard “the Lionheart”.

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King Richard (Ian Hunter)

The story begins when news arrives that King Richard has been taken prisoner by Leopold of Austria while returning home from the Third Crusade and is being held for ransom! This is indeed what happened to the historical King Richard: during the crusade, Leopold had been insulted when Richard had replaced the Austrian banner with his own and so when Richard was returning back to England, he took the opportunity to capture him for his own personal revenge (never mind that those returning from crusade were not to be harmed in any way).

robin hood 03

conniving Prince John (Claude Rains)

Back in England, Prince John, brilliantly performed by Claude Rains, is gleeful at the idea that his older brother is out of the way for the foreseeable future. It’s no secret that John and Richard never got along very well (if at all), as John resented Richard for being favored by their mother Eleanor of Aquitaine. With Richard gone, John disposes of Longchamps (the man assigned to co-rule England with John in Richard’s absence, not all of England, as the film implies) and sets himself up as ruler of England.

This proves to be disastrous for the common folk of England as John begins to tax them ruthlessly. Ostensibly, this money is for Richard’s ransom, but John has no intentions of helping his royal brother get free. Instead (the film never mentions this but it’s a historical fact), John plans to use this money as a bribe to KEEP Richard locked up, at least until he can secure the throne for himself.

John_of_England_(John_Lackland)

historical illumination of the real King John

The plan is working beautifully until Robin of Loxley, a Saxon knight, gets tired of seeing his people oppressed and vows to do something about it. After fleeing Nottingham, Robin sets up a hideout in Sherwood Forest and gathers a huge company of outlaws who wreak havoc with Norman tax collectors (and wealthy Normans in general) any chance they get. The culmination of all this is when they take Sir Guy and Lady Marian captive and force them to have dinner with them in the forest (Marian ends up enjoying herself, while Sir Guy just fumes the whole time). While this film greatly highlights the tension between the Norman and Saxon populations, I should note that by the time of King Richard’s reign in real life, these tensions had all but vanished (it just made a good plot device for the movie).

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There is a third royal (of sorts), in this mix, the Lady Marian Fitz-Walter (Olivia DeHavilland), the royal ward of King Richard (and Prince John in his absence). Being a royal ward means that your parents are dead or unable to care for you, and your education and marriage and general well-being are the responsibility of the king. John plans to use this to his advantage by trying to match Marian with the handsome (but lethal) Sir Guy of Gisbourne (Basil Rathbone). It almost works too, until Robin interrupts the feast at Sir Guy’s castle in Nottingham and Marian gets a good look at the Saxon rogue.

r1codex12thc

Historical drawing of the real King Richard

While Marian and Robin slowly build a romance together, John proceeds with his plans to take the throne for himself, plans that are accelerated when the Bishop of the Black Canons reports that he’s spotted Richard himself in England (how and when Richard got back to England is never said). Desperate, John plots to have Richard murdered and himself proclaimed as King in two days time. Marian (fortunately and unfortunately) overhears all of this and writes a warning for Robin so that he can save the King. However, Sir Guy, Prince John and the Bishop noticed Marian overhearing, so Sir Guy catches her red-handed with the warning letter. This leads to a summary trial where Prince John condemns her to death. When Marian protests that John can’t order her execution because “only the King himself has the right to condemn me to death”, John states that it shall be a King who gives the order, implying that as soon as he is crowned, Marian will die.

Of course Robin gets word of what’s going on regardless and moves to save Marian, but not before meeting three mysterious monks in the woods. Of course, these aren’t monks at all but King Richard and two of his knights in disguise! Richard had been trying to find Robin Hood for quite some time, but when he noticed that the outlaws tended to show up for rich abbots/monks, he decided to go in disguise to grab his attention. Robin (and all the outlaws) are naturally overjoyed that King Richard has returned, but there isn’t a lot of time to waste: John is going to be crowned the very next day and he’s got to be stopped! Of course, Robin has a plan on how to do that…

As majestic as the coronation scene looks, there are a host of errors that make it completely implausible as well. First of all, a mere bishop cannot possibly crown Prince John, it has to be the Archbishop of Canterbury. Second, coronations are always held in Westminster Abbey; Prince John may be a prince of England, but even he can’t order a coronation where and how he pleases, the other nobles wouldn’t have accepted it! Errors aside, it is a grand sight to see, with the bishop marching in followed by altar boys and hundreds of fellow monks (you’d think they’d have gotten suspicious with so many monks tagging along).

the-adventures-of-robin-hood-1938-15

At the last moment, King Richard reveals himself when John tries to proclaim himself king, answering “Aren’t you a little premature brother?” Bedlam ensues in the form of a gigantic sword fight while Sir Guy and Robin separate to have their long awaited reckoning with one another.

Adventures of Robin Hood- Climactic sword duel

Happily, the good guys come out victorious, Prince John is banished from England for the rest of King Richard’s lifetime (which would be less than ten years) and Robin is “ordered” to marry the Lady Marian, to which Robin can only say “May I obey all your commands with equal pleasure sire!”

While coming up a little short in the historical accuracy department, The Adventures of Robin Hood still gives a great look at two of England’s most well known royals: the noble King Richard and the ever-despised Prince John.

Enjoy the rest of the Royalty on Film Blogathon! And please check out The Flapper Dame’s great blog if you haven’t already 🙂

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A Random Thought on Ocean’s 13 (2007)

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(yes I skipped over Ocean’s 12, I’m weird like that)

oceans13

When I watch a movie, there are few things quite as satisfying as watching the bad guy get what he/she has coming to them; the more drawn out the comeuppance is, the better. So it should be no surprise that after discovering the glory that was Ocean’s 11 (2001), I absolutely fell head-over-heels for Ocean’s 13 (2007), because this story is all about sweet, sweet revenge!

The story finds Danny Ocean and his crew out for vengeance after Willy Bank (Al Pacino) screws Reuben (Elliot Gould) out of his share of a new casino, causing Reuben to have a near-fatal heart attack. Because Bank “shook hands with Sinatra”, Ocean gives Bank one chance to make things right, but when Bank refuses…excuse the pun, but all bets are off!

Fast forward several months and Bank’s new casino is ready to open, but Danny and co. are ready with a genius plan to ruin the new casino and put Bank out of business for good. This plan has so many layers it’s a little dizzying at times, but in brief the plan involves:

Convincing a large number of high-rollers to withdraw from the casino
Sabotaging the experience for the reviewer responsible for determining if the hotel-casino will win a big award
Rigging the slot machines to pay-out on command
Rigging the card shuffling machines, using gimmicked dice, loaded roulette balls, etc. to ensure huge payouts
Slipping Bank a phone with a hidden magnetron that will short out the A.I. monitoring activity on the casino floor
Using a giant boring machine to simulate an earthquake, forcing everyone to leave with their winnings and not come back.
And last, but certainly not least, after reluctantly crawling to Terry Benedict for additional financing, they have to steal a set of valuable diamonds from the top of the casino as well.

George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and everyone else knock it out of the park yet again with this one. There is a hilarious scene where Rusty (Brad Pitt) comes in with new intel and discovers that Danny has been watching Oprah…while drinking wine. I could seriously watch a movie with just those two characters talking about stuff, and I would love it.

The revelation of what Linus’ dad does for a cover is genius! (Linus is right when he says his dad has “the greatest cover of all time”) The whole phone conversation that he has with his dad regarding the nose is just hysterical (“No I’m not giving the phone to Danny” *Rusty holds out his hand* “Not giving it to Rusty either.”)

But Al Pacino is just brilliant as the too-greedy-for-his-own-good casino owner Willy Bank. He’s so engrossed in the grand opening that by the time he figures out he’s been screwed…there’s absolutely nothing he can do to stop it. And it’s just beautiful to watch.

I do have one small gripe however: the reveal of Toulour (the thief from Ocean’s 12) being hired by Benedict to steal the diamonds; it’s not bad per se, I just wish that they’d kept the deleted scene in that included the pair meeting so that we had some idea that they were working together.

Ocean’s Thirteen is highly entertaining, and I recommend it to everyone! Have a great rest of the day!

Beauty and the Beast “Battle on the Tower” (1991)

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From the moment Gaston saw the Beast in the magic mirror, it became clear that a conflict between the two was inevitable. And Gaston couldn’t ask for a more complacent target: ever since he let Belle go rescue her father, the Beast has been sunk in a deep depression, he doesn’t think Belle is ever coming back and so he doesn’t care if he lives or dies. Thus, when Gaston appears in the West Wing with an arrow cocked at him, the Beast doesn’t even twitch (that alone should’ve told Gaston that this was no ordinary “Beast” but we already know that he’s not one to think anything through), that is until he gets an arrow in the back.

Beauty and the Beast “Battle on the Tower” (1991)

Gaston is being deliberately cruel: clearly an an expert hunter, he’s deliberately taunting the Beast (as opposed to a swift kill) because (in his mind) “how dare this ugly thing claim Belle as his own in any way?” He’s so blinded by hate that he can’t see that the Beast is clearly heartbroken. But Gaston’s taken way too long; Belle comes riding up and when Beast sees that Belle has come back, the entire game changes (and not in Gaston’s favor).

While Belle races to the West Wing, Gaston and Beast play cat and mouse on the roof tops of the castle. I mentioned in the post for “Tale as Old as Time” that this scene very nearly became the CGI scene (in which case the roof of the castle would’ve been computer generated), but the test images weren’t nearly realistic enough, so the idea was scrapped and animated traditionally.

Musically, this scene is a blending of several themes, most noticeably there are several lines from “Something there” but in an entirely different key (you can hear “for he’s no prince Charming” when Belle is seen running up the stairs, and “something there I didn’t see” when Gaston smashes the head of a statue by mistake).

Beauty and the Beast “Battle on the Tower” (Soundtrack version) (1991)

Gaston is delusional at this point, going so far as to say “Were you in love with her Beast? Did you honestly think she would want you? When she had someone like me??” It’s a total lie and the Beast knows it (if Belle had been attached to anyone in the village in that way, she would’ve surely said something to him), and he sneaks up for the attack. But Gaston believes he has him cornered until he goes one step to far and shouts “Belle is mine!!” This is too much for the Beast who, in two swift movements, knocks Gaston’s club away and leaves him dangling off the rooftop with one hand around his neck. What happens next is very, very important. Gaston (true to his character) is now a sniveling coward, pleading for his life. He’ll do anything, ANYTHING, just don’t kill/hurt him. I always knew that when the Beast did NOT kill Gaston, that he had learned mercy, embracing his inner humanity, but it only struck me last week that there was something more as well.

Remember in the prologue when, just before his initial transformation, the Beast tried to apologize to the Enchantress? It occurred to me, just then, that the Prince must have begged for mercy in the exact same way that Gaston begged for his life. And the Beast paused (with a magical theme echoing in his ears no less), not just because he was choosing mercy, but because he can see the person he was (a spoiled young man) in Gaston. And so, he’s granting Gaston the mercy that the Enchantress did not show him (the Prince) in the hopes that he will learn something from it, merely telling him to “Get out!”

Just at that moment, Belle appears on the balcony, and the Beast only has eyes for her. Gaston watched him climb towards Belle, but neither of them care; the Beast is awestruck that Belle really did come back and there’s a beautiful moment as the two grab hands, and you can tell they’re both happy to be together again. But just as the moment is building to a romantic climax…Gaston intrudes for the last time. Not content to run away with his life, Gaston has fully embraced the “if I can’t have her, no one can” mindset, snuck up from behind and STABBED the Beast in the back! Anyone who’s seen the movie knows what comes next, but would you believe me if I said the ending used to be a whole lot darker?

Don’t get me wrong, Gaston was always going to die, but it was the how of his death that was changed. In the original script, after stabbing the Beast, Gaston was going to shout something cruel to Belle and then throw himself laughing off the balcony down to his own death. And I can hear people saying Disney wanted to do this?? While it is incredibly shocking and dark, bear in mind that this is the same studio that originally planned for Bambi to come back and find his death mother in a pool of blood (Disney himself vetoed that idea once he got wind of it). Thankfully for all concerned, the animators and writers felt that this really was too dark and Gaston’s death was re-animated to the version we know today: the Beast thrusts Gaston aside and he falls screaming to his death. But you can actually see a few frames of the original ending (because the animators were running out of time and money): look at Gaston’s face and body posture just before he gets knocked off and begins to flail. See that insane grin? You can tell he’s positioned to jump, but in the very next shot, he’s in a slightly different spot.

No one dies like Gaston (I couldn’t resist)

And there we have the end of Gaston, and also the end of the Beast as Belle knows him. Next time, the final entry for Beauty and the Beast: “The Transformation”

Become a Patron of the blog at patreon.com/musicgamer460

Check out the YouTube channel (and consider hitting the subscribe button)

*all images are the property of Walt Disney Studios

For more Beauty and the Beast, see:

Beauty and the Beast “Belle” (1991)

Beauty and the Beast “Belle (reprise)” (1991)

Beauty and the Beast “Gaston” (1991)

Beauty and the Beast “Be Our Guest” (1991)

Beauty and the Beast “Something There” (1991)

Beauty and the Beast “Human Again” (1991)

Beauty and the Beast “Beauty and the Beast/Tale as Old as Time” (1991)

Beauty and the Beast “The Mob Song” (1991)

Beauty and the Beast “The West Wing” (1991)

Beauty and the Beast “Transformation” (1991)

For more great Disney songs and films, check out the main page here: Disney Films & Soundtracks A-Z

Don’t forget to like Film Music Central on Facebook 🙂

The Great Mouse Detective “The World’s Greatest Criminal Mind” (1986)

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It pains me to see that The Great Mouse Detective (1986) often falls under the radar of Disney fans. The film is really quite important to the history of animated film: after the debacle of The Black Cauldron (1985), Disney’s animation department was at serious risk of being eliminated. But the great success of The Great Mouse Detective the next year proved to the powers-that-be that Disney could still find success in animation and because of this, a little film called The Little Mermaid was given the green light (paving the way for the Disney Renaissance).

Based on a series of children’s books entitled Basil of Baker Street by Eve Titus, the film follows the adventures of the titular “great mouse detective” Basil, who lives in a tiny home at 221B Baker Street (sharing his residence with Sherlock Holmes and Watson). When Basil’s eccentric life is interrupted by Dr. Dawson and a little girl named Olivia whose father was kidnapped, Basil finds himself thrust into the greatest case of his career: stopping that master of crime, Professor Ratigan!!

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Ratigan might just be one of the greatest animated Disney villains, as he was brought to life by the master of horror himself, Vincent Price. Price had always wanted to be a Disney villain, and in an interview he gave, he called his performance as Rattigan as one of his favorites. In fact, Price’s acting influenced how the character was animated. Originally, Rattigan was going to be this rather weak-looking and snivelling character, but Price’s unforgettable voice changed all of that.

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Ratigan, as his name implies, is a very large rat; but in a world where mice make up the majority of the population, he has taken great pains to pass himself off as a mouse, and won’t stand to be referred to as a rat. “The World’s Greatest Criminal Mind” serves as Ratigan’s introduction to the audience, as well as highlighting how evil and devious he is.

The Great Mouse Detective “The World’s Greatest Criminal Mind” (1986)

The song begins with a spoken prologue, where Ratigan informs his gang that the time has come for his greatest plan to be put into motion, “the crime to top all crimes.” All we know for now is that it will take place on the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and that it will be “a night she will never forget” and that he will be “the supreme ruler of all Mousedom!!” This declaration begins the song proper, as Ratigan brags about all the crimes he’s done before: robbing the Crown jewels, drowning widows and orphans and robbing many other places based on the amount of treasure laying around.

From the brain that brought you the Big Ben Caper
The head that made headlines in every newspaper
And wonderous things like the Tower Bridge Job
That cunning display that made London a sob

Now comes the real Tour de Force
Tricky and wicked of course
My earlier crimes were fine for their times
But now that I’m at it again
An even grimmer plot has been simmering
In my great criminal brain

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During this part of the song, one detail that sticks out right away is Bartholomew, the really, really drunk gang member who is more interested in lapping up the champagne instead of listening to Ratigan’s plan and song.

Even meaner? You mean it?
Worse than the widows and orphans you drowned?
You’re the best of the worst around
Oh, Ratigan
Oh, Ratigan
The rest fall behind
To Ratigan
To Ratigan
The world’s greatest criminal mind!

Oh, Ratigan
Oh, Ratigan
You’re tops and that’s that
To Ratigan
To Ratigan

In fact, he gets so drunk, that as the gang is preparing to toast Ratigan mid-song, Bartholomew pipes up “To Ratigan the world’s greatest rat!!”

Of course Ratigan is not amused. And as the rat in mouse’s clothing tells his drunken lackey “…I’m afraid you’ve gone and upset me. You know what happens when someone upsets me…” he pulls out a bell and gives it a ring, and as this very action causes the rest of the gang to squeak in terror, you know something bad is coming.

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As it turns out, Ratigan has a rather fat cat at his beck and call. As the overfed kitty stalks up for her next meal, the oblivious Bartholomew launches into a spine-chilling refrain of “Oh Ratigan, Oh Ratigan, you’re the tops and that’s that…” This use of the song is what we musicologists call “musical irony”, in that the lyrics praising Ratigan are contrasted with the increasingly sinister sounds that are building to the mouse’s death by cat. To further add to the suspense, you don’t actually see the moment happen: all the audience see’s is the shadowy profile of Bartholomew suspended above the cat’s mouth and then….*GULP* Now thoroughly cowed, the gang hysterically launches into the final verse (lest Rattigan summon the kitty again) and the status quo in Ratigan’s lair is re-established.

Even louder
We’ll shout it!
No one can doubt what we know you can do
You’re more evil that even you
Oh, Ratigan
Oh, Ratigan
You’re one of a kind
To Ratigan
To Ratigan
The world’s greates criminal mind!!!

Seeing how casually Rattigan can dispose of anyone who “upsets” him (though we don’t really get to see him upset until the climax), this one sequence has made it clear that Rattigan is very, very dangerous (a lot more dangerous than even Basil is aware of). And also because of this scene, Ratigan remains one of my favorite Disney villains.

Become a patron of the blog at: patreon.com/musicgamer460

Check out the YouTube channel (and consider hitting the subscribe button)

*all images are the property of Walt Disney Studios

The Great Mouse Detective “Goodbye, So Soon” (1986)

For more great Disney songs check out the main page here: Disney A-Z

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Beauty and the Beast “The West Wing” (1991)

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From the moment Beast informed Belle that she could go anywhere in the castle except the West Wing (with no other explanation than “It’s forbidden!”), it was a foregone conclusion that Belle would go to the West Wing and that she would get caught. This is a long-standing trope in film that when something is explicitly forbidden, the character will go anyway and get caught by somebody at some point (case in point: Ariel was forbidden to have anything to do with humans, but she kept a grotto full of human things, and we all know how that turned out; Simba was forbidden to go to the elephant graveyard, Quasimodo couldn’t leave the bell tower, etc.)

I absolutely love the music for this scene. Purely orchestral, it highlights the danger of what Belle is doing (because we have no way of knowing where the Beast is right now), and also the growing curiosity to see what IS in the West Wing. As Belle walks down the hallway, she passes by a lot of broken statues that all resemble different beasts. Actually, that’s by design: practically every “beast” statue you see in the castle comes from a concept drawing when the animators were designing the look of the beast. My personal favorite is a statue of a giant snake (when Belle is looking in horror at all of the ugly statues in the hallway, just before she bursts into tears, look to the right and you’ll see it in an alcove).

Finally, Belle comes to a large door and for a moment there’s a breath of tension, as if the Beast might appear at any second, but Belle’s curiosity wins and she pulls the door open to reveal the forbidden West Wing. It’s in a shambles, but Belle presses forward anyway (as a child, my heart would always stop when she knocked the table over). And it’s here that she discovers two things: a heavily ripped portrait of a handsome man, with very familiar blue eyes (in reality a portrait of what the Beast really looks like), but just as Belle seems to make the connection, she notices something else, it’s the magic rose!!

The shot of Belle walking up to the bell jar is just beautiful, and for a moment, it almost looks like the rose is rotating to “look” at her (and maybe it is, it IS a magic rose after all). Of course, Belle then does the worst possible thing she could do, which is to remove the jar and try to touch the rose itself, and that’s when everything goes wrong in a hurry.

When I was young, I didn’t quite understand the magnitude of what Belle almost did. I knew that Beast was angry because she’s gone where she wasn’t supposed to, but something was going over my head. It was only when I was older that I realized that the reason Beast kept the rose in a jar was to protect it from any outside force inadvertently knocking off the petals more quickly and thus shorten the time he has left to break the spell. If Belle had touched the rose, she might have done just that, and that is what really infuriates Beast, who as expected, appears just as Belle is reaching out, and he is beyond angry!

Now, while Belle is in trouble and Beast does have a right to some anger (since she did disobey him), it’s also true that Beast never told Belle why she couldn’t go into the West Wing, so Beast’s roar of “Do you realize what you could have done??” can never be answered because no, Belle doesn’t realize what could have happened because Beast didn’t tell her! All of this is too much for Belle to take and she runs from the castle (literally), swearing “Promise or no promise, I can’t stay here another minute!”

I’m sure there will be a counterpart to this scene in the live-action version of the film (and I can’t wait to see how it plays out!)

Become a Patron of the blog at patreon.com/musicgamer460

Check out the YouTube channel (and consider hitting the subscribe button)

*all images are the property of Walt Disney Studios

For more Beauty and the Beast, see:

Beauty and the Beast “Belle” (1991)

Beauty and the Beast “Belle (reprise)” (1991)

Beauty and the Beast “Gaston” (1991)

Beauty and the Beast “Be Our Guest” (1991)

Beauty and the Beast “Something There” (1991)

Beauty and the Beast “Human Again” (1991)

Beauty and the Beast “Beauty and the Beast/Tale as Old as Time” (1991)