Robin Hood (1973)

Robin Hood was released in 1973 and is based on the legend of Robin Hood, but uses anthropomorphic animals rather than people. The story follows the adventures of Robin Hood (a fox), Little John (a bear) and the inhabitants of Nottingham as they fight against the excessive taxation of Prince John (a lion), and Robin Hood wins the hand of Maid Marian (a vixen).

The movie is narrated by Alan-a-Dale (a rooster) who sets the scene; the story is of Robin Hood and Little John, two outlaws living in Sherwood Forest, where they rob from the rich and give to the poor townsfolk of Nottingham, despite the efforts of the Sheriff of Nottingham (a wolf) to stop them.

After escaping from the latest attempt of the Sherriff to catch them, they see the convoy of Prince John (and his assistant Sir Hiss, the snake), on his way to tour the kingdom, which is laden with gold and riches. They decide to rob him by disguising themselves as fortune tellers. The embarrassed Prince John then puts a bounty on their heads and makes the Sheriff his personal tax collector, who takes pleasure in collecting funds from the townsfolk including hidden money from the crippled blacksmith Otto (a dog) and a single farthing from a young rabbit, Skippy, who had just received it as a birthday present. However, Robin Hood, disguised as a beggar, sneaks in and gives back some money to the family, as well as his hat and a bow to Skippy in honour of his birthday.

Skippy and his friends test out the bow, but Skippy fires an arrow into the grounds of Maid Marian's castle. The children sneak inside, meeting Maid Marian and her attendant Lady Kluck (a chicken). Skippy "rescues" Marian from Lady Kluck, who pretends to be a pompous Prince John. Later, when she is alone with Kluck, Maid Marian reveals she and Robin were childhood sweethearts but they have not seen one another for years, and Kluck consoles her not to give up on her love for Robin. Meanwhile, Friar Tuck (a badger) visits Robin and Little John, explaining that Prince John is hosting an archery tournament, and the winner will receive a kiss from Maid Marian. Robin decides to participate in the tournament disguised as a stork whilst Little John disguises himself as the Duke of Chutney to get near Prince John. Sir Hiss discovers Robin's identity but is trapped in a barrel of ale by Friar Tuck and Alan-a-Dale. Robin wins the tournament, but Prince John exposes him and has him arrested for execution despite Maid Marian's pleas. Little John threatens Prince John in order to release Robin, which leads to a fight between Prince John's soldiers and the townsfolk, all of which escape to Sherwood Forest.

As Robin and Maid Marian fall in love all over again, the townsfolk have a troubadour festival spoofing Prince John, describing him as the "Phony King of England", and the song soon becomes popular with John's soldiers. Enraged by the insult, Prince John triples the taxes, imprisoning most of the townsfolk who cannot pay. This includes Friar Tuck who fought against the Sherriff due to the fact that the government has meddled in his church, who is then arrested for "attacking a lawman, interfering with the Sheriff's legal duties and high treason to the Crown". Prince John orders Friar Tuck hung, knowing Robin Hood will come out of hiding to rescue his friend and give the potential for Robin to be caught and a "double hanging".

Robin and Little John, having learned of the plot, chose to sneak in during the night, with Little John managing to free all of the prisoners whilst Robin steals Prince John's taxes, but Sir Hiss awakens to find Robin fleeing. Chaos follows as Robin and the others try to escape to Sherwood Forest. The Sheriff corners Robin after he is forced to return to rescue Tagalong, Skippy's little sister. During the chase, Prince John's castle catches fire and the Sheriff figures he has Robin where he wants, either to be captured, burned, or make a risky jump into the moat. Robin Hood elects to jump. Little John and Skippy fear Robin is lost, but he surfaces safely after using a reed as a breathing tube. Sir Hiss says he tried to warn Prince John, and now look what he did to his mother's castle, causing the Prince to exclaim "Mummy!" and suck his thumb and chase the terrified snake into the burning castle.

Later, King Richard returns to England, placing his brother, Sir Hiss and the Sheriff under arrest and allows his niece Maid Marian to marry Robin Hood, turning the former outlaw into an in-law. They then live happily ever after.

DID YOU KNOW…?

Reused Frames

Frames and animation from this movie would later be reused in a number of later Disney movies, the most notable of which are The Jungle Book and the Aristocats. This is not the first movie to have done this; the Sword in the Stone, Winnie the Pooh and the 101 Dalmatians also do this. When a Disney spokesman was asked about the recycled scenes, he laughed and said, “That was Woolie Reitherman.” Nearly every Disney film shown using recycled footage in these videos is one he directed.

“It’s actually harder and takes longer to redraw an existing sequence,” the spokesman states, “it’s a lot faster and easier to just do new animation, and it’s a lot more fun for the animators. But Woolie liked to play it safe and use stuff he knew would work. That’s all it was.”
(ref=https://geekdad.com/2015/06/disneys-recycled-animation/)

Alternate Ending

This move also had an alternative ending that never made it to the final edit, possibly because of its dark themes. In this ending, as Robin Hood leaps off of the castle and into the moat, he is wounded and carried away to the church for safety. Prince John, enraged that he has once again been outwitted by Robin Hood, finds Little John leaving the church, and suspects the outlaw to be there as well. Sure enough, he finds Maid Marian tending to an unconscious Robin Hood, and draws a dagger to kill them both. Before Prince John can strike, however, he is stopped by his brother, King Richard, having returned from the Crusades. King Richard is appalled to find that Prince John has left his kingdom bleak and oppressed. Abiding his mother's wishes, King Richard decides he cannot banish Prince John from the kingdom, but does grant him severe punishment. King Richard returns Nottingham to its former glory, knights Robin Hood as Sir Robin of Locksley, and orders Friar Tuck to marry Robin Hood and Maid Marian.

Mulan (1998)

Summary:

“Mulan” is a movie based on the Chinese folktale about a courageous Chinese teenage girl who disguises herself as a boy to fight against invading Huns. When Shan-Yu (the leader of the invaders) and the invaders sweep down the Chinese Wall, the emperor recruited all men who were able to defend the kingdom. Mulan’s father, who was old and feeble, threw his crutch away to volunteer. However, Mulan did not let her father volunteer by stealing the family sword and secretly going in his place. Despite the Mulan’s will, her family desire’s Mulan to abide by the plans of a matchmaker and marry her chosen partner. During this section of the movie, Mulan sings a song along the lines of: “Who is that girl I see, staring straight back at me”. She sang this song while looking into her own reflection as she realizes that her reflection did not show who she was inside. The movie shows Mulan’s strong desire to walk her career as strong independent women, yet she is scared that her personal desire will ruin the family. Well if the movie ended there it would be dull and boring so Disney did their signature move of making a new climax in the movie by allowing Mulan to meet the handsome young captain Shang. Mulan served under Shang by learning ways to become a “man”. Shang and Mulan got along together as Shang continuously helped Mulan become a stronger fighter. Mulan, of course being an extreme tryhard, showed continuous effort in Shang’s lessons which allowed Mulan to save Shang’s army from a certain defeat. This specific section of the movie showed the relationship between Mulan and Shang but also foreshadowed the future of Mulan and Shang as they are in need of each other. The movie breaks with a traditional, hero saving heroine, but Mulan did not forget to infuse the Western idea of romantic love.

  

Did you know:

1. It took 700 animators and technicians to complete the film. 
2. Jackie Chan voiced Shang in the Chinese version of Mulan.
3. They brewed 1,630 pounds of coffee during production.

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Movie is based on the French fairy tale of the same name by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont and transformed by Walt Disney in American animated musical romantic fantasy drama.

At the beginning of the story we met the prince who is young and handsome but also spoiled, selfish and unkind. One winter’s night, an old beggar woman came to the castle and offered him a single rose in return for shelter from the bitter cold. Repulsed by her haggard appearance the prince sneered at the gift and turned the old woman away. She warned him not to be deceived by appearances, “for a beauty is found within”. When he dismissed her again, the old woman’s ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress. Because she saw that there was no love in his heart, she transformed him into a hideous beast, to match his beastly heart, and places a powerful spell at the castle and all who lived there. The Beast receives a mirror that enables him to view faraway events, along with an enchanted rose which will bloom until his 21^st birthday. If he could learn to love the other and earn her love in return by the time the last petal fell, the spell would be broken. If not he will be doomed to remain a beast for all time.

“But who would love the beast?”

Ten years later we meet Belle, a young woman bored by the life she is doing in her village, and she is looking for excitement she finds in her books. She is ridiculed by everyone in the village except her father Maurice (the inventor) and Gaston who is popular with the townsfolk and determined to marry her.

One day Maurice and his horse Phillipe get lost in the forest, and they stumble upon the Beast’s castle. He meets Lumiere, the candlestick, Cogsworth, the clock, Mrs. Potts the teapot, and her son Chip, the teacup. They offer their help to him until Beast finds out about the intruder and imprisons him. When Belle arrives at the castle, she offers the Beast an exchange - she will stay if the Beast will give the freedom to her father. The Beast accept the offer and sends Maurice back to the village without giving Belle a chance to say goodbye. Back at the village, Maurice tries to convince the others to rescue Belle, but no one believes his story about the beast in the castle.

Back in the castle, the Beast is not happy when Belle refuse to have a dinner with him the first night and forbids her from eating at all in petty revenge. However, the transformed servants of the castle defy his orders and offer her dinner and a tour. Belle’s curiosity leads her to the forbidden West Wing where the Beast’s rooms are. When Beast frightens Belle in his rage, she runs out into the forest and she meets a pack of wolves. The Beast rescues Belle from this dangerous situation but gets hurt in the ensuring fight. He begins to develop true feelings for her when she takes care of him after the injury, and he delights her by showing his extensive library, which Belle, a true bookworm, adores.

Meanwhile Gaston pays Monsieur D’Arque to send Maurice to his asylum if Belle refuses Gaston’s proposal again.

In the castle Belle and the Beast are sharing the romantic evening together when Belle confess that she misses her father. The Beast tells her to use his magic mirror to see him which reveals a dying Maurice alone in the forest, looking for his daughter. The Beast lets go to save him, giving her the mirror to remember him by. Belle saves the father and she brings him home. However, they are met by Gaston and Mr D’Arque who tries to take her father away. In desperation, Belle proves to everyone that her father is telling the true about the Beast by showing them the Beast in the magic mirror. Gaston, realizing that Belle loves the Beast, convinces the villagers that the Beast is a man-eating monster and he leads the people to the castle to kill him.
When Belle and her father, after escaping confinement with the help of Chip, arrive to the castle, the villagers are being fended off by the servants and Gaston is fighting with a depressed Beast who believes that Belle is not returning. Upon seeing Belle has returned for him, he fights back for the woman he loves and orders Gaston to leave his castle. However, when the Beast turns to Belle, a mad Gaston fatally stabs him only to then lose his footing and falls to his death. Belle confesses her love for the Beast just in time to save not only his life but also break the enchantment before the last petal falls. With the spell broken, the Beast comes back to life in his human form. The servants also resume their human forms. The movie ends with Belle dancing with the prince in the ballroom as everyone watches in delight.

Did you know…?

1. Belle is the only one person in her village who wears blue, which means to symbolize how different she is from everyone else?

2. Beauty and the Beast was the first animated film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture?

3. Beauty and the Beast was the first animated film to earn more than $100 million at the box office.

4. Beauty and the Beast became Disney’s first animated film to be adopted into a Broadway musical.

 

Sleeping Beauty

via GIPHY

Origins:
Written by Charles Perrault sometime around 1330 and 1344, Sleeping Beauty was a fairy tale about a beautiful princess, a sleep enchantment and a handsome prince, and it is believed by many that Perrault wrote the tale in two parts. Part 1 focused on how the evil fairy cursed Princess Aurora on the eve of her christening - the evil fairy gifted the princess with death by pricking her finger on a spindle of a spinning wheel, the Princess fulfilling the curse once she pricked her finger on the spindle and instantly fell into deep sleep, and the Princess was saved by the Prince's kiss. Part 2 suggested that Prince Philip secretly married Princess Aurora and they had two children together. The Prince's mother, who was of an ogre lineage, tried to have Aurora and the children killed, but failed miserably, as the Prince came to their rescue and they lived happily ever after.

Walt Disney Film - Plot:
Released by Walt Disney Studios on 1959, Sleeping Beauty's story goes something like this...
Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away, King Stefan and his wife were blessed with a baby girl, Princess Aurora. At the eve of her christening, three fairy godmothers namely, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather, bestowed gifts of magic on the child. Then came the evil sorceress named Maleficent, which caused a scene in the castle and prevented Merryweather from gifting the princess. Upset that she was not invited to the event, Maleficent cursed the princess by promising that once she turns 16, she will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and then die. Once Maleficent disappeared, Merryweather then used her powers to lighten the intensity of Maleficent's curse by allowing Aurora to fall in deep sleep until kissed by her true love, instead of dying by a prick on the finger. With that, King Stefan ordered for every spinning wheel in the kingdom to be burned, in an attempt to protect her daughter from pricking her finger.

To prevent Maleficent's curse from taking effect, the three fairies decided to hide their magic and change their appearances into peasant women and they changed Princess Aurora's name to Briar Rose. They took Princess Aurora with them, and proceeded to live together in an abandoned cottage. On the eve of Aurora's 16th birthday, the fairies sent her out to pick berries, as they prepared her birthday cake. She was wondering in the forest when she came across a red cape, a hat and a pair of boots, which belonged to Prince Phillip.That same day, the Prince just so happened to be riding his horse in the forest and he eventually found Aurora in the forest and the two shared a dance. As Aurora returned to the cottage, she excitedly told her three aunties that she met a man in the forest, and fell in love with him. The three aunties then revealed their true identities saying that Aurora was betrothed to Prince Philip and that she must not meet with this strange ever again.

Back at King Stefan's castle, everyone was busy preparing for the arrival of Princess Aurora and King Hubert, father of Prince Phillip, was also in attendance. Both kings discussed the future of their children and once Prince Phillip arrived, he told his father about the peasant girl he met in the woods whom he fell in love with. Prince Phillip rushed back to the forest and to the cottage to reunite with the girl.Around this same time, the three fairies brought Aurora back to the castle via a secret entrance. Still upset that she could never see the young man she meet in the woods, they gave her time to herself. Once all alone, Maleficent opened a secret passage in the castle room, and Aurora under a trance, followed the green orb through the passageway. Moments later, the three fairies entered the room and found Aurora following the green light. It was not long before Aurora has pricked her finger on an enchanted spinning wheel, and she then lay crumpled on the floor. Distraught over what happened, Flora decided to put the entire kingdom to sleep, until Aurora is awakened. Moments before King Stefan and King Hubert were put to sleep, Flora heard them talk about how Prince Phillip met a peasant girl in the woods and the fairies remembered Aurora telling them that the stranger she met would be coming to the woodcutter's cottage. Convinced that it was Prince Phillip that Aurora saw in the woods, the fairies headed to the forest to get him to wake up Aurora. However, once they arrived at the cottage, the door was open and Prince Phillip's hat was on the floor, which suggested that Maleficent captured him already and was brought to the Forbidden Mountain.

Once the fairies reached Maleficent's castle, they freed Prince Phillip and they gifted him with the 'Shield of Virtue' and the'Sword of Truth'and he set on his journey back to King Stefan's castle. Maleficent tried to stop Prince Phillip from getting to the castle with lightning bolts, but the 'Shield of Truth' defected them. She also created a forest of thorns to surround the structure, but Phillip successfully cut his way through with the use of the 'Sword of Truth'. As her last attempt, Maleficent transformed into a dragon and was only defeated when the three fairies guided the 'Sword of Truth' to pierce into Maleficent's heart.

With Maleficent defeated, and Phillip beside Aurora, he kissed her and awakened her, as well as the rest of the kingdom.They shared a dance together, and they lived happily ever after.

via GIPHY

Did You Know:
1. Princess Aurora holds the record of having the fewest lines of any Disney main character. So much so that the princess only had 18 lines throughout the whole film!
2. Prince Phillip was named after England's real life Prince Phillip - Duke of Edinburgh.
3. Princess Aurora's looks were based on one of Hollywood's greatest actresses of all time - Audrey Hepburn.

Cinderella

This movie was first released in 1950 and became the greatest critical and commercial hit for the studio since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and helped reverse the studio's fortunes, which were downturned due to World War 2.

The story is about a young girl called Cinderella who is forced to become a maid in her own house to her cruel step-mother and sisters who took over the estate after her father dies. Her only friends are the resident mice and birds who she treats with respect and friendship. One day, the king, a pudgy likeable man who wishes his son to marry so he may have grandchildren to care for, orders every eligible maiden in the small kingdom to attend a royal ball in honour of the Prince. Cinderella’s step-mother, wanting to advance the interests of her own daughters, tries to keep Cinderella busy so she has no time to make her dress. Her small friends decide to repay Cinderella’s kindness by doing it for her, only to be thwarted as the step-sisters ruin the dress. All is not lost when Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother uses magic to create a new dress and allows her to go to the ball.

At the ball, the Prince rejects every girl until he sees Cinderella, who agrees to dance with him. The two fall in love and go out for a stroll together in the castle gardens. As they are about to kiss, Cinderella hears the clock start to chime midnight and flees. As she leaves the castle, one of her slippers falls off. The palace guards give chase as Cinderella flees in the coach before the spell breaks on the last stroke of midnight.

The next day, the king issues a royal proclamation ordering every maiden in the kingdom to try on the slipper for size in an effort to find the missing girl who the Prince intends to marry. After this news reaches Cinderella's household, the step-mother realizes her stepdaughter is that girl and locks her in her attic bedroom. Thanks to the efforts of her small friends, Cinderella managed to escape her room and ask to try on the slipper.

Knowing it will fit, the step-mother orchestrates for the slipper to fall and break. However, much to her horror, Cinderella reveals the other slipper, which fits perfectly. The film ends with a now-married Prince and Cinderella at their wedding, sharing a kiss as they leave.

SONGS: Songs in the film include "Cinderella", "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes", "Sing Sweet Nightingale", "The Work Song", "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo", and "So This is Love".

DID YOU KNOW: The original story of Cinderella was a lot more gruesome than its Disney counterpart. In the original, the step-sisters cut off bits of their feet in an effort to fit into the glass slipper. Gross!

WELCOME TO CLASSIC DISNEY MOVIES MQ!

Welcome to Classic Disney Movies MQ, a blog all about the classic Disney cartoons from the very first motion picture, Snow White, to the year 1999. This blog's admins are Madelaine, Nini, Abigail and Asia. We'll be posting reviews, 'did you know' segments, plot summaries and trivia as well as songs and videos. We hope you enjoy and gain a better appreciation for the wonderful world of Disney!