A New Tale As Old As Time…

I knew this day would come…

I didn’t think it would come on a day I slept in ’til 12 due to spending a weekend fighting a stomach bug.

But come it did, and I was prepared.

I don’t think I have to restate how much I adore Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (but if you’re new to this blog, just click HERE) so the idea of adding it to the roster of live-action remakes I initially scoffed at. Alice in Wonderland was a chore (yet the almighty dollar declared that a sequel must be made), Sam Raimi’s Oz The Great and Powerful was a missed opportunity, and Maleficent…I think the mistress of all evil herself said it best.

Cinderella changed all that, however. Not only was it a big budget adaptation with huge names behind the cast and crew (Kenneth Branaugh was MADE for this movie), but it was the first straight telling of the story. Not a sequel, not a pseudo-prequel or narrator-flipped retelling, a movie that stuck to the original plot with all the story beats and characters in tact. It’s not perfect, but it’s a suitable companion piece to the animated classic that even manages to improve on it in some aspects. Disney took the same route when they did The Jungle Book, which was released just a few months ago, and while I haven’t gone to see it yet, I’ve heard nothing but great things about it.

One question remained, though – what about Beauty and the Beast? Fans at D23 got to see sneak peeks of it at least a year ago and showered heaps of praise upon it, but nothing – not a scrap of publicity stills, no posters, no viral videos of the cast on set – was officially released…

…until now.

 

So without further ado, here’s my rundown of the Beauty and the Beast teaser trailer.

• The traditional castle opening looks like a mix of the castle from the animated film and the real-life French fairytale castles that inspired it. Nice.

• OHMIGOD the opening prologue music…I AM IN LUUURRRVE….

• Seeing the castle go into deep freeze and age over time? Very atmospheric and cool (somewhere Elsa’s whining “Where’s MY live-action movie?!”) The spiderwebs appearing and the icicles growing on the chandelier while the candles shrink is a nice touch.

• What’s this? A portrait of a young Prince? A VERY young Prince? Like, TEN YEARS OLD? I guess Disney’s not going the “many years” route the show did. Still, nice to see he had parents for a – OHMIGOD BEAST CLAW!!

• Belle, you break that door, you’re gonna have to pay for it.

• Ewan McGregor and Ian McKellen as Lumiere and Cogsworth…have to see more of the movie before I fully buy them as the characters. I fully expected “I know it’s a girl, you fool!” to end with “fool of a Took!” And Ewan’s accent…was Jean Dujardin just not available?

• Ah, the rose, the film’s icon…needs more magic sparkles. That image of Emma Watson peering into the bell jar from the inside though…beautiful.

• And the classic theme plays while the trailer invites us to “Be Our Guest”. Perfect way to end it.

 

So that’s my thoughts on the trailer in a nutshell. For a teaser it holds a lot of potential, and I’m excited to see more of the film itself. Hopefully the next trailer will contain actual songs since it’s supposed to be a full-fledged musical this time around.

 

Until then, this is Shelf, out.

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May Review: Spirited Away (2001)

There’s one month left to vote for a new series for me to review, click HERE to go!

(DISCLAIMER: This blog is not for profit. All images and footage used below are property of their respective companies unless stated otherwise. I do not claim ownership of this material.)

“What’s going on here?”
“Something you wouldn’t recognize, it’s called love.”

-Lin and Kamaji, shippers on deck

Just as any business, sport, or some other third thing has its hall of heroes and boundary-breakers, so too does animation. Walt Disney, John Lasseter, Glen Keane, Chuck Jones, and countless others have left their mark in the pantheon of this art form. One of the most prolific names in animation is a man who some call the “Walt Disney of Japan”, a man famous for his strong characters, gorgeous aesthetics, creative storytelling, and notorious indecisiveness on the subject of retirement.

I am of course talking about Hayao Miyazaki.

When most people think about Japanese animation, things like Astro-Boy, Pokemon, Akira, and certain things involving tentacles come to mind (never again, Deviantart..never again…). Miyazaki, however, is in a class of his own. Deftly weaving together tales ranging from fantasy to slice-of-life (or a mix of the two) while blending in likable heroes and villains, some kickass technology (particularly things involving flight), and subtle themes of environmentalism vs. industrialism, he takes animation to its fullest potential in both artistry and story. He worked his way up in the animation world through the 70’s and eventually founded Studio Ghibli, which is as much a cornerstone of Japan’s identity as Disney is to America. In fact, Miyazaki and several members of the studio paid a visit to Disney’s animation studio in the early 80’s where he met a young animator by the name of John Lasseter. Lasseter was frustrated with how Disney was treating their animated movies at the time (this was the dark period long after Walt Disney’s death but before the Renaissance of the 90’s) and he briefly bonded Miyazaki over their shared love of animation. Later, after Lasseter was fired for his “outrageous” experiments of combining traditional animation with CGI and went on to found Pixar with Steve Jobs, he visited the Ghibli Museum (yes, there is a museum and park dedicated to Studio Ghibli in Japan and going there is on mine and every animation-phile’s bucket list) and he got to meet Miyazaki again; learning more about his approach to storytelling and animation would inspire him when creating his first movie, a little thing called Toy Story, maybe you’ve heard of it.

Just as Miyazaki’s influence helped him reach a broader audience for his films and climb up in the animation world, Lasseter wanted to do the same for his friend. He was upset at how many of his movies were poorly dubbed and released in the US, so he used his clout to convince Disney to buy the distribution rights and let him oversee every aspect of their release, especially the English dubbing. Look on the back of any Studio Ghibli DVD and you’ll find a who’s who of the best of Hollywood lending their voices (Anne Hathaway, Laura Bacall, Christian Bale, Gillian Andersen, Mark Hamill, Liam Neeson, and Michael Keaton, to name a few) and they all do phenomenally with the material given. Spirited Away in particular has a lot of well-known voices, but not for the reasons you might think. As much as I love this movie, I swear John Lasseter was going through a list of Disney veterans who have experience playing similar parts when casting them for Spirited Away. Don’t believe me? Keep reading.

The main protagonist is a curious sweet-natured girl who’s loyal to her family but has a bit of a bratty streak…

Her friend is a moody teen who learns to open up to others he considers family…

She’s helped by an outspoken feisty assistant caught in a contract with the antagonist…

And a cranky old-man who keeps the place he calls home running even though he looks like something from out of this world…

Our villain is an overbearing mother whose soft spot for her son is clouded by her greed more often than not…

And then there’s also John Ratzenberger. Because Pixar.

Contrary to what you might think, I don’t find the familiar voices distracting at all because the actors do their jobs so well. I can even overlook the one or two moments where the words don’t match the mouth movements because they and the people translating the script are doing their hardest to make it work for an audience that speaks a completely different language (I will say, however, that watching a dubbed animated film is much easier on the eyes than a dubbed live-action one). I can understand if why anyone else would feel differently and claim the original Japanese dub is better, but if you want to watch it that way you can just change the settings without losing a thing (also, have fun reading subtitles for two hours!)

 

Our movie opens as a young girl named Chihiro (Daveiugh Chase) sullenly sits in the back of a car clutching a bouquet of flowers. She and her parents are moving to a new town, and like every kid in movies where the plot involves moving away, she’s not happy as it means leaving her old life behind. Her mom and dad try to reassure her that going to a new school and making new friends will be fun, but Chihiro won’t hear of it. She starts to panic when she notices her flowers, which are a goodbye present from her pals, are starting to die, and her mom tells her that they wouldn’t be if she didn’t cling to them so tightly (which is the first instance of a theme that you’ll see running throughout the film that I’ll address later).

Chihiro’s father, who’s driving, gets lost and decides to take a “shortcut” to reach their new house (oh boy, I’ve seen Beauty and the Beast enough times to know this won’t end well). On the way they pass little stone houses by the road, which Chihiro’s mom tells her are shrines built for spirits back when people used to believe they lived there. After a bumpy drive through the woods, they nearly crash into a small grinning statue in front of an old tall red building. Dad wants to go check it out in spite of Mom worrying about missing the movers and Chihiro whining about how scary it is. They leave her behind to investigate, and after a minute alone with the creepy statue, Chihiro runs in after them.

After a long walk through a dark tunnel, the family finds itself in a sort of terminal which opens up into a beautiful field and a dried-up river. Dad surmises that this whole place was probably part of an abandoned theme park that closed after Japan’s economy went down the tube after the 90’s (and yes, Japan does have those. Lots of those. Lots of creepy, creepy, post-apocalyptic Disney World knockoffs of those). The “park” isn’t as abandoned as they think, however, because they can smell food cooking nearby. They follow the scent to a nearby village that seems to consist of nothing but restaurants and find one with lots of delicious food out for the taking but no one around. Mom and Dad help themselves and when Chihiro suggests eating here isn’t such a good idea, they tell her to join them in eating the mysterious strange food left out in the open.

Quality parenting!

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VOTE for a New Series! (And Other News)

Guess what? Today’s my birthday!

And in the spirit of change, growth, and fun, there are a few things I’d like to announce –

 

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about this blog and the direction I want to take it in. Reviewing movies once a month is fine, though I’m sure for some of you the long downtime between each review is annoying. I’d love to do a little bit more, expand my palette, maybe generate a few more views.

As to what I could review, well once again, I’m turning it over to you, the viewers. I’ve handpicked a couple of my favorite series from both television and online that I’d love to do reviews of in addition to my monthly movie ones.

Seeing as I’m counting the months of June and July as the first anniversary of my blog, the deadline to vote for this new series will be June 29. The winner will be announced the 30th, and the first review will be up July 31st, the day my first review was published.

Below are the contenders, a few reasons why they’re worth looking at, and my plans for them if picked.

 

As some of you may remember from my post this past February, Gravity Falls, a truly remarkable Disney series full of mystery, humor, and a ton of heart, came to an end. Few shows with as short a runtime have left such an impact on culture and how we view animation. Gravity Falls pushed the limits of children’s programming and few before or after have measured up to it.

If Gravity Falls is chosen, every episode (and related short) will be reviewed every other week.

 

The Simpsons is one of the most iconic shows in history, breaking boundaries in terms of television and animation. Its catchphrases have entered our lexicon, its spawned countless imitators (as well as merchandise) and it’s shaped America’s sense of humor. Has it overstayed its welcome? Definitely. One can’t deny, however, that in its prime, The Simpsons were brilliant.

If The Simpsons is chosen, I post a Top 10 list of episodes from Seasons 1-10 once a month.

 

Avatar: The Last Airbender, quite possibly one of the last great animated series to come out of Nickelodeon, is a rare show that combines stellar animation and voice acting, and  draws from so many varying cultures and myths while building its own memorable story and characters that it’s not hard to see why it’s so beloved (and why the M. Night Shymalan movie is so hated).

If Avatar: The Last Airbender (or “Legend of Aang” as it’s known in other countries) is chosen, then I will review each episode on a bimonthly basis.

 

Red Dwarf – while some series go out quietly and other refuse to be stamped out, Red Dwarf is that persistent little cockroach that keeps popping up when you least expect it. One of the best examples of sci-fi comedy, we see what happens when the last human alive, the hologram of his rule-bound neurotic roommate, a senile computer, a being evolved from cats and a robot learning to rebel search for what’s left of planet Earth after spending three million years in space .

If Red Dwarf is chosen, I will look at each episode released thus far (including the tv movie “Back to Earth”) on a monthly-to-bimonthly basis.

 

Say what you will about My Little Pony and its fans, it had to do something right to reach six seasons (with a seventh and feature film on the way) and garner the following it has now. Twilight Sparkle is tasked with learning about what friendship is, picking up many friends while learning, teaching – and occasionally ass-kicking – a few things along the way.

If My Little Pony:Friendship is Magic is chosen, I will review each episode AND the Equestria Girls movies at least every other week.

 

Okay, this is something of a departure from what people normally review, but if someone has to give Team Starkid praise, it’s going to be me. Since 2008 they’ve created their own original musicals as well as several parodying popular films (most notably the “Very Potter Musical” trilogy) and have released them all online for the world to enjoy. What’s more amazing is that these “kids” are all around my age; they started this group in college and continue to write, direct, and star in them to this day. Some have gone on to be famous like Darren Criss, others are in pursuit of fame and music and are more worthy of being recognized than certain pop stars I could mention.

If Team Starkid is chosen, then I will review every single one of their musicals (barring the concert tours) at least once a month.

 

“Way back in days of old, there was a legend told, about a hero known as Gaaaalavaaaaant…” Once you get that song in your head, you’re gonna have a hell of a time getting it back out, and that goes for all the songs in this surprise cult hit series as well. Mix equal parts Disney fantasy musical and parody, a healthy dose of Spamalot, a stellar cast and tons of guest stars, and top it off with music penned by none other than the great Alan Menken, and you get Galavant. Serve in small but powerful doses of two mini-seasons, preferably with friends you can sing along with.

If Galavant is chosen, then I will review each episode, culminating in a countdown of the very best songs.

 

And now that that’s out of the way, time for something less pleasant –

 

Much of the myths about the starving artist/writer is true, and since I’m both, that goes double for me. Since I don’t have enough viewers for a full-blown Patreon, I will be adding a PayPal donation link with each future post.

“SELLOUT!! SHE’S A SELLOUT!!!”

Um, no. Let me make this clear for everyone.

1. I’m NOT getting paid by anyone to endorse their creations.
2. I’m certainly NOT trying to make money off of anyone’s intellectual property.
3. I’m DEFINITELY NOT looking to take money from your pockets with every review.

All I ask is a little donation if you can spare it. Any dollar given will be used to keep my bank account from going in the red. Not all artists can survive on experience and dreams, and at the moment the prospect of finding work where I am is very slim. I appreciate any handout I can get. If this blog does well I may upgrade to Patreon and offer all the perks that come with it, but for now PayPal is all I can do.

I’ll see you next week with the Spirited Away review!

If you feel like making a donation, click here.

Your May Review Is…

Would you believe that this month is the first anniversary of this blog? Well, technically June would be the anniversary since that was when I started writing my first review…actually July would be the anniversary since that was when my review of Secret of Kells was published but you know what? The idea of this blog was born in May so I’m counting these following months as my anniversary celebration! (Hey, if Disneyland can have its milestone party last an entire year, why can’t I keep mine going for three months?)

Shortly after this post, I’ll be making a special announcement, so stay tuned for it.

And now, your May review:

 

Konnichiwa, Miyazki-san.

 

Anyone in a Muppet mood, ‘cuz I sure am:

• The Muppet Movie

• The Great Muppet Caper

• Muppet Treasure Island

• The Muppets

• Muppets Most Wanted

 

And remember, these are only recommendations. You can vote for any film that’s featured On The Shelf by leaving your choice in the comments or emailing me at upontheshelfshow@gmail.com

Happy voting!