Week #12: Prathithi Nellaiappan - Power of Animation
As someone who adored disney movies when I was younger, I have always loved the old style of animation and filmography. The warm colors and organic feel of the scenes fill me with nostalgia everytime I rewatch a classic film like The Little Mermaid.
The overly expressive movement of the characters makes the movies truly one of a kind. For example, in Bambi, the shy, fragile nature of Bambi and the excited, youthful nature of Thumper are shown through detailed animation. The contract between the characters made the movie interesting and drew the attention of kids for years even though it was made quite a long time ago in 1942.
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| Source: JW3 |
Another thing that made disney films unique was the charming villains. Characters like Ursula and Maleficent had their own fan base because of their featured songs and backstories.
However, as time has passed, Disney has lost sight of its original style and has moved towards a more 3D style of animation like in Ralph Breaks the Internet where all the classic Disney princesses are reimagined in a new style. The characters’ modernization made me excited but a part of me missed old animation. Similar to the old style, the characters were overly expressive but they held smartphones and wore pajamas instead of ball gowns.Source: Business Insider
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| Source: MI |
In the process of converting the film to a live action, Disney often chooses to add new songs like Speechless from Aladdin and take out essential characters like Mushu and Shang from Mulan. I was devastated when I heard that Mushu wouldn’t be a part of the film because Mulan was my favorite movie when I was in elementary school and Mushu’s comedic scenes made the film worth watching. In fact, to this day, I have not yet watched the live action version of Mulan because of the excessive character edits.
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| Source: National Geographic |
Disney’s decision to chase fame and views over keeping the integrity of the films that fans once adored is truly heartbreaking. In the future, I hope they will understand the magic of their old films and the power of animation.
Hi Prathithi! The timing of your blog and me reading it is so interesting because I was actually thinking about how unsatisfied I was with the Mulan live-action remake earlier today. I can't even explain to you how genuinely disappointed I was when I found out the remake wouldn't include the music and Mushu from the original. While a part of me does understand why Disney chose to represent the original princesses in newer, more modern, relevant ways in recent films, I think it would've been more meaningful to just leave the animated versions as they were. It's like Disney was trying to figure out how to make sure the movies stayed relevant to newer generations by conforming to the times, but the thing about the originals is that they're timeless. What you said about the value of movies serving as escapism rather than a mirror of what someone already might be going through was interesting. Despite obvious fictional, unrealistic elements of animated Disney movies, they always have some sort of deeper meaning, it just requires slightly more thought to see that. That's why the animated versions are so dynamic; the animation and vivid colors are engaging for kids but they are also complex enough for grown people on a deeper level. For these reasons, I agree with you that the original Disney movies shouldn't have been interfered with at all.
ReplyDeleteHi Prathithi! I definitely agree with your opinion about the live-action Mulan film. Not seeing Mushu in flesh and blood really disappointed me, because I really only ever watched Mulan for the Mushu cameos. I also agree that old Disney villains were amazing, and the ones now pretty much pale in comparison. Older Disney villains, like Ursula, actually seemed diabolical, and like you said, they had real backstories that the audience could connect with and understand. Most of the new live actions make me feel like Disney was just in a rush to get them filmed and released. I would probably still enjoy them if they stayed true to the originals, but to some extent, I understand why Disney can't turn every character into reality. Admittedly, even with the CGI and graphics available today, making a hyper-realistic Mushu who was still charming and adorable would have been hard. Even though Disney did a great job with the animal cast of the life-like adaptation of the Lion King, it was still fairly easy to tell that they weren't fully "real." At that point, it would just be better to let them stay animated. If Disney truly does want to keep pushing out more movies, I wouldn't mind remakes of the classic tales in the same art style, of course, but probably just crisper and sharper.
ReplyDeleteHi Prathithi! Like you I also grew up adoring disney movies when I was younger and felt that the animation style back then was beautiful and engaging.
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely true that disney films are more intriguing due to the inclusion of a villian. My personal favorite villain is Maleficent.
Though the new style of animation is colorful and connective, it is missing the sense of nostalgia that the older style consistently provides.
Aladdin is actually one of my favorite disney plots so I was glad that most of the characters were included unlike the live action for Mulan which made me very disappointed due to the disinclusion of probably the most comedic and best (in my opinion) character in the movie and a change of storyline.
I completely agree with you on the fact that sometimes reality is not the element that is required in a disney movie, it is much more fun to see the main character battle the bad guys than face problems that many already face in real life in a disney movie. Thank you for your engaging blog!
Hi Prathithi! First of all, your blog immediately caught my eye as I also wrote last week's blog about an aspect of filmmaking. I definitely related to the beginning of your blog — growing up, I always loved watching Disney moves — like you described they were almost like an escape from reality, a world full of imagination where a much younger me would let my thoughts run wild. I especially liked reading about your take on the new live action movies, especially Mulan and Aladdin, two movies that were one of my favorites growing up. I have also thought about and often discussed the absence of Mushu in the live action movie, one of my favorite characters from Mulan due to his amazing comedic relief. Although I am glad Disney has come a long way in developing its animations and special effects, these seemingly minor changes in storyline are something I hope does not prevail for the many other live action films that are to come. The battle against a common "villain" as represented by the old Disney movies are indeed what give them life. As always, I enjoyed reading your blog and found your opinion on this topic to be intriguing!
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ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your opinion about Disney's animation Prathithi, I think a really big thing with amination these days is that the fancy effects don't capture the same vibe that these older movies have. There was something magical about that old animation style, and maybe it's party due to nostalgia from the "old times," but something just seems off about the 3d animation that newer movies has or the more modern effects. Take Elemental for instance. I think it was a good movie overall, but the style of animation just wasn't what I had associated with Disney to begin with. Something that really didn't stick with me was the 3d modeling in the movie. I just think it isn't my cup of tea when it comes to animation because when I usually think about animation I usually associate it with the old Disney movies which were 2d and more fantastical if that's the right word. Now I'm all for supporting the new age of animation, but I think it just works better for companies that aren't known for specific types of movies like Disney, who are known for their classic animation styles with movies like Snow White and Bambi. I think a lot of Disney's "magic" has worn off for me, and the new style of animation that they have is just not the same to me.
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