Aladdin + Racism

In honor of today's discussion on race, evil, and Aladdin, a interwebz finds:

It's easy to say that Aladdin -- one Disney movie -- didn't affect our perceptions of Middle Eastern cultures, but...it is part of a trend in 90s media. The problem may not be "one Disney movie, aimed at kids" -- but if that movie is part of a pattern of repeated portrayals of Middle Easterners as oppressive, cruel, barbaric, and evil? Perhaps that's why we have things like "a Muslim-travel-ban-that-isn't-about-religion." 

Review: Beauty and the Beast (2017)

Confession: The Little Mermaid will always be my first Disney obsession, and Ariel will always be my favorite Disney princess, but I have no memory of seeing the movie. I have memories of my obsession, and wanting All The Happy Meal Toys, but not watching it.

I do, however, have a very strong, very vivid memory of seeing Beauty and the Beast in the theater. I remember watching the opening scene, as it zoomed in to the castle, and leaning over and asking my mom if we were at the right movie because the movie couldn't start this way. (Little Me didn't know about prologues and backstory.) She said something like, "of course we're at the right movie," because obviously not every movie was animated (but that's all I knew when I was 7). And I remember loving the fact that Belle read books, because even little Lisa was a total bookworm, and that she was a little different. Adult Me has been a little disenchanted with the movie, but I was so excited for this version. And, thankfully, I didn't have to wait too long to see it. (#godblessbabysittinggrandmas).

There's a very spoiler, full review below the cut, but, spoiler alert, I loved it. Accurate gif of me walking out of the theater yesterday afternoon:

James Corden + Beauty and the Beast

Not surprisingly, there's lots of Beauty and the Beast stuff going around the interwebz since the film opens this weekend. 

(We already have our tickets. Saturday matinee at our local recline and dine theater. I AM SO EXCITED.)

Until then, enjoy James Corden's late-night bit. :) 

Trailer for Pixar's _Coco_

Disney/Pixar just dropped an absolutely beautiful trailer for their new film, Coco, this morning. Watch it below:

According to IMDB, the plot synopsis is as follows:
Coco follows a 12-year-old boy named Miguel who sets off a chain of events relating to a century-old mystery, leading to an extraordinary family reunion.

The important thing to note, of course, is that this is, arguably, Pixar's first foray into diversity, as the film deals with Mexican culture and the Day of the Dead. (Pixar films tend to deal with anthropomorphized objects -- toys, cars, bugs, monsters, robots, fish, emotions -- moreso than with humans. While most of their films have human characters, the only Pixar films I can think of that deal primarily with human characters are The Incredibles, Up, and Brave...and all of those characters were white.

There are, I think, two additional things worth noting:

1. The cast -- at least, the cast listed right now on IMDB, which is sure to grow -- is entirely Hispanic/Latino actors. If the entire cast stays that way...I don't know if it's as unprecedented as Moana's all-Pacific-Islander-cast, but it's got to be a big deal.
2. Lalo Alcaraz, an outspoken Disney critic, was specifically hired as a cultural consultant for this film -- which hopefully means good things for the film's portrayal of Mexican culture and traditions. 

I'm pretty sure that people will still hurl accusations of cultural appropriation at Pixar, skewering them for making money off a culture that isn't their own, but...*sigh* You know my complicated thoughts on this. You can't call for diverse books/films for children and then lambast the world's biggest producer of children's films for making a diverse film. I, for one, am happy to see Disney & Pixar branching outside of their normal European-fairy-tale fare (Moana) or their X-has-feelings formula (Pixar) to tell a unique and, yes, diverse story. Especially in our current climate...I think it's all the more important.

My, What A Guy, That Gaston!

In a longer post I'm working on, about the revelation that LeFou is struggling with his sexuality, I make a comment about how this adaptation (more specifically, I think, how director Bill Condon) is letting the actors mold their characters and bring a certain depth to them that's lacking in the 1991 animated version (as well as in the original fairy tale -- which is, after all, to be expected, as fairy tales are allegorical stories so character depth and development isn't a thing).

I love the 1991 animated version -- specifically, I love the music -- but I've always been fairly open about it doesn't hold up too well under my adult-lens (not even my Disney scholar lens!). I mean, I've got questions:
Where is Belle's mom? Do the townspeople know about the Beast and the castle -- or, at least, the prince and the castle (a royal family seems a hard thing to NOT know about)? Where does Chip come from?! 

And, perhaps most relevant to this post -- why does everyone LOVE Gaston? I mean, the entire town basically does everything he says and hero-worships him. I get that in most Disney movies, he'd be the hero/love-interest. I get that, for the most part, he doesn't even really do anything evil. (FOR THE MOST PART. Yes, throwing an innocent man into an insane asylum just to blackmail his daughter into marrying you is pretty despicable. But really, the guy just wants to go kill an evil monster that did, admittedly, imprison two innocent people.) I get that he's supposed to be the pinnacle of hyper-masculinity: strong, athletic, good-looking, a pioneer in the field of interior decorating, single-handedly keeping egg-sellers in business...but.

But the guy's kinda of a jerk -- even to LeFou, his best friend. So why does everyone adore him?

Luckily, Entertainment Weekly recently interviewed Luke Evans, publishing an article titled, "Luke Evan's Backstory for Gaston is a Beauty" (pun intended, I'm assuming). AND you can read it online.
In a nutshell,

"Evans paints Gaston as a broken man devolving into monstrosity, transforming in counterpoint to the actual titular Beast’s evolution towards civility; more than this, the actor’s take on the burly villain comes loaded with a heavy history and more gravitas than one might expect of the one-dimensional (albeit six-abbed) antagonist."

The parallel in the two, male, main characters' journeys has always been apparent to people who look at the film with a critical eye -- the question has always been, "Who's the real beast?" But.
(More excerpts from the interview and my thoughts below the cut because, hi. I'm wordy and have lots of opinions.)

via HuffPost: Beauty and the Beat Themed Wedding

Ever since my love affair with Disney was rekindled during my freshman year at UNC when I realized that people could actually study Disney for a living, I pretty much knew my wedding was going to be Disney-level magical.

And it was.

I got married at a castle (not a real castle, mind you, but pretty damn close for the Piedmont of North Carolina) and it was Disney-themed. It was tasteful, I'd like to think, and more of a general Disney theme than related to a specific movie or Disney couple.

But these people? Took it to a whole new level. You can see a lot more pictures and details on the HuffPost's site, but two of my faves are below:

Y'all. The dress used to be white, but the bride hand-dyed in yellow in her backyard. And it looks stunning. 

What's a Beauty and the Beast themed wedding without an enchanted rose and your versions of Lumiere and Cogsworth?!

New Pirates 5 Trailer!

Disney released a new, full-length trailer for the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie. 

I have thoughts...not many, but a few.

(1) Note that this is advertised as The Final Adventure. Which is interesting, because I was pretty sure that Depp had signed a 6-film contract...the only reference I can find is this British newspaper article about a Coronation Street star potentially in talks for the 6th film. Which...if this is the final adventure...?

(2) Who is that playing a young Jack Sparrow?! Did they Benjamin-Button Johnny Depp? Or is that just an extremely fortunate young actor? 

(3) Not nearly enough Orlando Bloom. (Teenage-Me is still a fan.)

(4) GHOST. SHARKS. 

I just...*sigh* Of course, I'll still see the movie, but GHOST SHARKS?!?