The Scary Factor

I am a classic Disney fan. I like watching the oldies. Of course, I like watching the new stuff like Enchanted and I’m very excited about the Princess and the Frog, but the Jonas Brothers and Hannah Montana can take a hike. So I am sitting in my dorm room, discussing the DVD release of Pinocchio with my roommate (this was a while back, obviously). I was telling her about Jiminy Cricket, my favorite character of the movie (I promise, this will be a post). She told me that it scared her, even today. Reflecting on that comment, it is true, that movie is scary

The old Disney movies, even with Beauty and the Beast in 1991, had very scary scenes in it. Scenes that still scare me as an adult. I still get a little nervous during Fantasia on the last scene and I jump when the driver in Pinocchio smiles (Here's what I'm talking about). For that reason, I feel they were very powerful in storytelling. As a child, we couldn’t appreciate it but when we grow up and watch it as an adult, it holds our attention. We sense the danger. Even Cinderella had a scary moment, when her carriage is being chased down by the knights (I think this was a little on the unnecessary side). We are moved by it as movie-watchers. It is no longer just some children’s movie but a story that conveys emotion and makes us jump, as adults.

What spawned the scare? What made us jump out of our seats? The villain.

If we were to take most of the scary scene from the classic Disney movie, we can derive it from the villain. For a villain to work, he or she must not have any humor. They can have humorous sidekicks but the villains themselves have to be serious. They had to be evil! Or else the scare factor didn't work. There were no scary scenes in Hercules, (I might be willing to make an exception for the Hydra, if you're convincing) because Hades was a funny character. Yet, we felt at least a little trepidation when dealing with Anton Ego in Ratatouille because he was a serious character.

The scariness has gone away, at least the extreme kind when the shading is dark and mostly shadows and red eyes are used. Enter in, Beauty and the Beast. This was scary because for the first time, the villain isn't scary and the supposed hero is. Beast is frightening to children with his temper tantrums. Then after that, the scary element faded from existence from Disney movies. This could be that scary scenes don't sell or parents nowadays are too cautious with their children. Pixar on the other hand, isn't afraid to be afraid. I still get chills when I see Flik from A Bug's Life with a black eye and Hopper standing over him.

When it comes down to it, the villain has to be scary, or at least a threat to invoke fear. Of course what I fear now in Disney movies isn't what I was scared of as a child. But I'm sure if you mention a classic Disney movie, whether it be Pinocchio, Beauty and the Beast, or in my opinion, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, there will be a small shutter down someone's spine. It can't be helped. As much as we remember the fantastic and wonderful elements of the movie, we still can't shake the fear. Like eating tiny people in Cheerios. And that fear is a part of our childhood as much as the movie was.

Cinderella III: Not A Waste of Time

We all have had our experience with terrible Disney sequels. It's a rite of passage. We grow to love these characters then are horrified when they are mangled and practically destroyed in any attempt to continue the plot line. If you are like me, you cringe every time that you see a commercial for a sequel. For example, Race to Witch Mountain. When I reflect on the original Escape to Witch Mountain, I remember magical and fun characters with a riveting plot that was surprising. As I watch Dwayne Johnson drive a taxi of two alien kids to a mountain, I want to bury my head into the sand until the hype about the movie passes. If you are one of those people to point out the good Disney sequels, good for you. As a rule though, I assume it's going to be terrible until I see it.

Which is why I was surprised with Cinderella III, a Twist in Time. I stumbled upon it by accident while babysitting. The Disney Channel was on and was doing a movie marathon of Disney sequels with Peter Pan 2 (another blog, I assure you) and Cinderella. Cinderella III came on and the little girl wanted to watch it. So I took a breath and prepared myself for the horror that would ensue.

The second movie was terrible and I wasn't even able to sit through the whole thing. I had to turn it off. The third one was surprising because it wasn't terrible. It wasn't even decent. It was good. I am always hesitant of sequels of movies when it's been longer than 30 years. I believe if you didn't get an idea within the decade of the movie being released, then there is no reason for a sequel. Apparently some people don't believe this.

Cinderella III begins with the one year anniversary of Prince Charming and Cinderella. The stepmother, Lady Tremaine, and sisters, Anastasia and Drizella, have been forced to do chores. Anastasia stumbles upon the celebration of the couple with the Fairy Godmother, right as they are discussing how they first met at the ball. Anastasia overhears this and through the carelessness of the Fairy Godmother, comes into possession of the wand and turns the Fairy Godmother into stone. Lady Tremaine uses the wand to go back in time to the point when the Grand Duke comes with the glass slipper. Using magic, Lady Tremaine makes the glass slipper fit on Anastasia's giant foot and they are swept away to the castle, leaving Cinderella at the house. Using her wits and the help of her mice friends, she ends up in the castle but magic steps in again and wipes the memory of Prince Charming, despite Cinderella's pleading.

Spoiler: Through the power of love, Prince Charming falls in love with Cinderella all over again and Drizella and Lady Tremaine get what they deserve.

The interesting thing about this was Anastasia. She was not a bad character. She was well developed and wasn't the stereotypical evil stepsister we are familiar with in the first movie. I felt for her throughout the whole movie. I wanted her to get the prince and to tell Cinderella to go take a hike. She wasn't a gorgeous character like Cinderella (that requires eye color) but she wasn't ugly either. I'm sure a lot of girls could relate to Anastasia, wanting someone to like them for who they are.

The animation of this was amazing. The artists actually used previous models and had live actors in the studio to draw believable characters. And the music wasn't bad. Of course we had singing mice but what kind of Cinderella movie would this be without singing mice?

There was so much more personality in this! The Prince had a personality, Cinderella had a personality. Anastasia had a personality. It was fantastic. The Prince was lovestruck and wild-eyed, Cinderella was quick-witted and tenacious, Anastasia had good intentions but clumsy. And it wasn't about the mice. I hate those mice. I will continue to hate those mice. Their voices, their stupid shirts. But I digress.

The sidekicks didn't take over the picture. Yes, there were the funny antics but the main point was getting Cinderella and Prince Charming back together. I found more enjoyment wondering what Lady Tremaine would do to stop them. Then I grew excited to see how Cinderella would solve it. It kept me engaged and I didn't get bored. The two most important things about a movie. This movie moved Lady Tremaine up on my evil villain list three levels.

Did I mention this was actually funny? Yeah, I laughed. It was good. I'm not lying. I'm as shocked as you are. With Disney movies, they can be charming, but if they are trying to strike humor, sometimes they try too hard. Not in this case. The one liners just make me giggle.

Anastasia: This is the answer to all of our problems (holds up wand)

Lady Tremaine: A stick?

Drizella: Oo, let's beat her with it

If you are looking for magic in this one like in the first movie, you are out of luck. There is so much wand flinging, than when something magical and wonderful does happen, it's just lack lustered. It has the scene, like in the first movie, with Cinderella transforming from rags into her dress at the end of the film but it wasn't as magical and powerful as it was in the first movie. Maybe because it lacked the chorus but I just didn't care about the magic of the dress like I was suppose to. It had all the actions, like her hands rising up and the white swirls but I felt nothing. It honestly made me sad.*

Another unfortunate problem is the true love deal. Yes, I understand that it is Cinderella but I was beaten over the head with it. True love, true love. Everyone has a true love. You'll know it when you touch her hand, blah, blah, blah. It's tiresome. I wish they weren't so forceful with that idea because then when Prince Charming actually went back to Cinderella, it would make it so much more meaningful because we weren't killed with the phrase of true love earlier.

If you saw Cinderella II, I'm sorry. This makes up for it, I swear. It almost makes you forget that the terrible tape was ever created. So go watch it on youtube, go buy it. It's worth it for a Disney sequels. Of course, I don't expect you to replace the first one with this but this is good for being a third installment of Cinderella. I'm putting it on my Christmas list....or maybe just sticking to the Internet.

*That scene when Cinderella goes from rags to her ball gown in the first movie was Walt Disney's favorite scene of the whole movie