Lesson 4: Furry Friends
Welcome!! In our last lesson of Disney Studies we are going to focus in the most lovable characters. They are cute, they are friendly, they have the weird ability to talk, and they are covered in fur! If you haven’t guessed it by now, I am referring to our animal friends! These soft buddies have their own story to tell us, so let’s begin!
BAMBI from the movie BAMBI (1942)
THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS: I think Bambi is probably one of the cutest characters! We get to know him when he was born, and then, we get to see how he is finding his way around the forest, making Bambi a very adorable character. Bambi is a deer, but he is not a common deer, he is a prince! While growing up, Bambi befriends Thumper the rabbit and Flower the skunk, who also become his teachers and show him everything he has to know about the forest. Bambi learns how to name animals, receives advices about different topics, and has fun with his friends. He even met a little fawn called Faline, who became his first friend of his same species. While playing with Faline, Bambi sees a group of deer, and one of them, the most imposing, kept staring at him. Soon Bambi learns that the strong deer is the “Great Prince of the Forest” and that he is his father. Everything is perfectly fine in Bambi’s life, but one winter day things were about to change. While searching for food, mother and son suddenly hear a gun shot. The doe automatically knows that a huntsman is coming, so she tells Bambi to run away. Unfortunately one of the shots reaches Bambi’s mothers and dies. This scene is deemed as one of the saddest moments in all of Disney’s movies! Motherless, poor Bambi had to keep going. Years later, Bambi grew up into a handsome deer. His friends, Thumper and Flower, also grew up, and now they were busy with their female friends. Just when Bambi thought that he would never fall in love, he sees Faline, his childhood fawn friend, and instantly falls for her. Faline’s beauty wasn’t kept unnoticed, and she was courted by another deer called Ronno. Bambi and Ronno start fighting for Faline’s love and Bambi wins! One day, they perceive a strange smell, it was smoke! The Great Prince tells Bambi that the humans were near and that they should find a safe place. On his way, Bambi realizes that Faline was in great danger because she had been tracked by the hunt dogs. He saves her and when he was trying to escape, Bambi is wounded by a gunshot! His father arrives to help him and protect him from the fire that had started. All of the animals find a safe place in the river and the next spring, the forest welcomes Bambi and Faline’s fawns! In the upper hill, Bambi’s father retires, now it is time for Bambi to become the new “Great Prince of the Forest”.
Important characters include: Bambi, Thumper, Flower, Faline, Great Prince of the Forest, Bambi’s mother.
Important characters include: Bambi, Thumper, Flower, Faline, Great Prince of the Forest, Bambi’s mother.
MUSICAL MAGIC:
Some Bambi songs include:
Some Bambi songs include:
- “Love Is A Song”
- “Little April Shower”
- “Let’s Sing A Gay Little Spring Song”
- “Looking For Romance (I Bring You A Song)”
FUN FACTS:
- Disney’s fifth animated feature. Based on the book Bambi, A Life in the Woods by Felix Salten.
- The phrase "Man is in the forest" used in the film, was also a code phrase used by Disney's employees when Walt Disney was coming down the hallway.
- Unusually for the time, Walt Disney insisted on children providing the voices for the animals when they were young, instead of using adults mimicking youngsters.
- No matter how skilled the animator, the Disney cartoonists simply could not draw Bambi's father's antlers accurately because of the complicated perspective it required.
- Dialogues are not the main focus on this movie! There are approximately only 1,000 words of dialog throughout the entire film.
- The first and one of the few Disney features where the songs were not sung by any of the film's characters.
- One of the many rejected ideas was to show the hunter killed by the very forest fire that he had accidentally started.
- Two asteroids have been named after Bambi and Thumper.
- The Maine Development Commission sent two fawns, appropriately named Bambi and Faline, to the Disney studio, to be kept as pets while artists studied their movements and behavior.
THE ARISTOCATS from the movie THE ARISTOCATS (1970)
THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS: The Aristocats is a movie in which the protagonist are, you guessed it right! The cats! It is the story of mother cat Duchess and her three kittens: Marie, Berlioz, and Toulouse. They live a happy life with their owner, and old opera diva called Madame Adelaide Bonfamille, and her servant Edgar. When Madame Adelaide is preparing her will, Edgar overhears that she is planning to leave all her fortune to her cats, and when they die, to Edgar. He gets extremely mad and starts scheming the perfect way to get rid of the cats. He uses some sleeping pills on them and when he was trying to abandon them he is chased by two hounds named Napoleon and Lafayette, so the basket where the cats were falls. The next day, Duchess and the kittens wake up, only to find themselves lost. Luckily for them, they meet Thomas O’Malley, a stray cat who promises to help them go back home. After series of events, including an epic rescue in the river when Marie falls, and an encounter with three friendly and hilarious geese (Uncle Waldo, Amelia and Abigail), the cats arrive to the city. There, they spend the night with some of Thomas O’Malley cat friends, who entertain them with their musical abilities. O’Malley and Duchess start to fall in love, but Duchess is loyal to Madame Adelaide, so she rejects O’Malley’s marriage proposal. Next day, the aristocats arrive to their house, but Edgar sees them before Madame Adelaide and he locks them in a box to ship them to Timbuktu, Africa. When everything seemed lost, Roquefort, the mouse of the mansion and the aristocat’s friends, in a great act of bravery goes looking for Thomas O’Malley and his friends (he was almost eaten by them!) and asks them for help. The cats go to the rescue and fight Edgar, who ends up locked in his own cage and was sent to Timbuktu. Madame Adelaide is very happy to see her cats and she even adopts Thomas O’Malley! Now the cats had their happy ending!
Important characters include: Duchess, Thomas O’Malley, Toulouse, Marie, Berlioz, Edgar, Scat Cat, Roquefort, Napoleon, Lafayette, Madame Adelaide, Georges, Abigail, Amelia, and Uncle Waldo.
Important characters include: Duchess, Thomas O’Malley, Toulouse, Marie, Berlioz, Edgar, Scat Cat, Roquefort, Napoleon, Lafayette, Madame Adelaide, Georges, Abigail, Amelia, and Uncle Waldo.
MUSICAL MAGIC:
Some songs of the Aristocats include:
Some songs of the Aristocats include:
- “The Aristocats
- “Scales And Arpeggios”
- “Thomas O’Malley Cat”
- “Ev’rybody Wants To Be A Cat”
FUN FACTS:
- Disney’s 20th animated feature.
- The film is noted for being the last film project to actually be approved by Walt Disney himself, as he died in late 1966, before the film was released.
- Did you know that Thomas O’Malley’s full name is Abraham de Lacy Giuseppe Casey Thomas O'Malley?
- The characters of Toulouse and Berlioz are named after two famous French artists - painter and illustrator Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and composer Hector Berlioz.
- The dogs Napoleon and Lafayette are both named after famous french generals Napoléon Bonaparte and Marquis De Lafayette.
- Originally there was meant to be a direct-to-video sequel titled “Aristocats II”. It was intended for a 2007 release, but production was canceled back in 2006.
- The milkman's truck is the same as Jasper and Horace in 101 Dalmatians.
- A song called “Pourquoi?”, which was meant to be sang by Madame Adelaide, was delated. It was about the love for her cats, and in the song, Marie would interrupt her twice by asking “Purr-quoi?”. Now that looks like something I would have liked to see!
OLIVER from the movie OLIVER AND COMPANY (1988)
THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS: I believe Oliver & Company is one of the most unnoticed Disney’s animated features, but this movie is so close to my heart because I watched it with my sister over and over again when I was a kid. We even role played the entire movie plenty of times because we loved it! Because of that I couldn’t simply leave it out. That being said, this is a story of a little kitten, Oliver, who finds himself all alone in the big city of New York. When he meets Dodger the dog, his fortune soon starts to change because he introduces him into a family, something Oliver has never had before. This family is conformed by Tito the Chihuahua, Einstein the Great Dane, Rita the Saluki and Francis the Bulldog, all of them furry dog friends! The last member is Fagin, a pickpocket who is the owner of the dogs. Fagin is a good man, however he has a great debt with Sykes, who threatens him to pay his money back in three days. All of the dogs try to help Fagin by stealing things, however the things they get have poor to no value. When trying to sabotage a limousine, Oliver gets trapped and is found by Jenny, a little lonely girl. Oliver and Jenny are the perfect match, so Jenny decides to adopt him much to Georgette’s (Jenny’s French poodle dog) dismay. Georgette doesn’t like Oliver at all because he was stealing all of Jenny’s attention, so when Dodger and his friends came to rescue Oliver, Georgette helps them to get rid of him. What the dogs didn’t know is that Oliver didn’t want to leave because Jenny was his friend. Dodger gets mad and thinks that Oliver was being very ungrateful, but he lets him go. Before Oliver could leave, Fagin gets him, and seeing Oliver’s bright new collar, he thinks of a plan: ransom Oliver, and with the money he would get, pay Sykes. When Fagin sees that the owner is just a girl, he decides to give Oliver back for free. Enraged, Sykes, who was carefully watching Fagin perform his plan, decides to kidnap Jenny. Right after that, Oliver and company unite and rescue Jenny in a subway battle, where Sykes and his Doberman meet their end. The happy ending finally comes. Oliver decides to stay with Jenny but promises to keep in touch with Dodger and pals, after all, they will be friends forever!
Important characters include: Oliver, Jenny, Dodger, Tito, Einstein, Francis, Rita, Fagin, Roscoe and Desoto (the Dobermans), Sykes, Georgette, and Winston.
Important characters include: Oliver, Jenny, Dodger, Tito, Einstein, Francis, Rita, Fagin, Roscoe and Desoto (the Dobermans), Sykes, Georgette, and Winston.
MUSICAL MAGIC:
Some Oliver & Company songs include:
Some Oliver & Company songs include:
- “Once Upon A Time In New York City”
- “Why Should I Worry?”
- “Streets Of Gold”
- “Perfect Isn’t Easy”
- “Good Company”
FUN FACTS:
- Disney’s 27th animated feature. Loosely based on the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens.
- The idea came when animator Pete Young suggested, "Oliver Twist with dogs". Katzenberg, Disney’s chairman during that time, originally wanted to produce a live action adaptation of the musical Oliver!, so he accepted Young’s idea.
- At a certain point, this film was to be a sequel to The Rescuers. If this had happened, it would have given the character of Penny more development, showing her living her new life in New York City with Georgette, as well as her new adoptive parents.
- Animators shot photos of New York streets as reference, using cameras set eighteen inches off the ground to get a dog's point of view.
- Whitney Houston was considered for the role of Rita.
- Dodger's appearance was inspired by Billy Joel's.
- When Dodger sings "Why Should I Worry?" in the beginning of the film, some of theDisney dogs appear! The list includes: Peg, Jock, and Trusty from Lady and the Tramp, and Pongo from 101 Dalmatians. Anita Radcliff, also from 101 Dalmatians, is shown as well.
SIMBA from the movie THE LION KING (1994)
THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS: Without any doubt, one of the most successful films of the Disney Studios, and a personal favorite as well, and that enters this category because it has plenty of furry friends! This is the story of Simba, a lion cub that is the son of the Pride Lands King, Mufasa, and his wife, Sarabi. When Simba was born, all of the animals were really happy except for one: Scar, who also happens to be Mufasa’s younger brother. Scar is really angry because with Simba’s birth his chances to become king just faded away. Unaware of his uncle’s feelings, Simba totally trusts him, and Scar tricks him and his friend Nala into exploring the forbidden elephant graveyard, disobeying this way his father’s orders. While exploring the elephant graveyard, Simba and Nala encounter three hyenas: Shenzi, Banzai and Ed, who were sent by Scar to kill them. In the last minute, Mufasa appears and saves the cubs, scaring away the hyenas. That night, Scar and the hyenas plot to kill Mufasa, and they achieve that by putting Simba in danger inside a stampede of wildebeests. Mufasa rescues Simba, but Scar betrays him and kills him, pushing him back into the stampede. When Simba realizes that his father is dead, Scar makes him feel guilty and blames him for his father’s death. He also suggests him to run away and never come back, and Simba does exactly that, giving Scar the chance to take over the throne. Simba’s new chapter of life begins when he meets Timon the meerkat and Pumbaa the warthog. They decide to adopt him believing Simba will protect them from predators, but truth is that they soon become friends. They teach Simba an important lesson “Hakuna Matata”, which means not to worry and leave the past behind. Simba, now a grown up lion, continued living under that philosophy until he found Nala, who urged him to return to the Pride Lands and defeat Scar. Initially Simba didn’t want to return, but after a reasonable (and painful!) talk with Rafiki the mandrill, and an encounter with his dad, Simba returns to the Pride Lands. With the help of Nala, Timon and Pumba, Simba defeats Scar and ascends to the top of Pride Rock and takes over the kingdom. In the very end, Simba and Nala happily present their newborn cub to the Pride Lands, the circle of life never stops!
Important characters include: Simba, Nala, Mufasa, Scar, Zazu, Timon, Pumba, Rafiki, Sarabi, Shenzi, Banzai and Ed.
Important characters include: Simba, Nala, Mufasa, Scar, Zazu, Timon, Pumba, Rafiki, Sarabi, Shenzi, Banzai and Ed.
MUSICAL MAGIC:
Some Lion King songs include:
Some Lion King songs include:
- “Circle of Life”
- “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King”
- “Be Prepared”
- “Hakuna Matata”
- “Can You Feel The Love Tonight”
FUN FACTS:
- Disney’s 32nd animated feature. It is said that it was influenced by the biblical tales of Joseph and Moses and William Shakespeare's play, Hamlet.
- In the original version of the film, the plot was centered in a battle between lions and baboons with Scar being the leader of the baboons, Rafiki being a cheetah, and Timon and Pumbaa being Simba's childhood friends.
- In the original version, Simba was meant to become a lazy and horrible character due to Scar’s manipulation, so it would be very easy to overthrow him after coming of age.
- A few weeks before the film opened, Elton John was given a special screening. Noticing that the song "Can You Feel the Love Tonight” had been left out, he successfully managed to have the song put back in, which was a perfect decision because that song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
- Unlike the other lions, Scar's claws are always displayed throughout the movie.
- The team working on The Lion King was supposedly Disney's "team B", who were "kept busy" while "team A" worked on Pocahontas, on which the production had much higher hopes.
- Until 2013 this movie held the record for being the highest grossing animated film in history, until it was surpassed by Frozen, another Disney movie.
- Originally, Scar was going to send adult Nala away from Pride Rock because she ignored his romantic approaches. This idea was scrapped in the movie, but it is used in the stage version of the film.
- An alternate version of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight", a comic version to be sung by Timon and Pumbaa was storyboarded and even recorded but never used.
- Many fans have described Mufasa's death as one of the saddest and most traumatizing moments of any Disney’s film. In fact the only moment that is considered the same is the death of Bambi's mother.
STITCH from the movie LILO & STITCH (2002)
THROUGH THE LOOKING-GLASS: Our last furry friend is no other than Stitch! He is definitely one of my favorite characters because I really love the way he evolves throughout the movie. Besides that, you can’t deny that despite his “strange” looks or sharp teeth, there is something cute about him that just make you want to go and hug him! Stitch’s scientific name is Experiment 626, and he was created by Dr. Jumba. Seeing that Experiment 626 is very dangerous because he is insolent, rude, and with a mischievous and chaotic nature, Dr. Jumba is imprisoned for “illegal genetic experimentation”, and Experiment 626 is to be exiled. However, this creature besides being mean is also very smart, and he manages to steal a spaceship and scape, landing in our very own planet, planet Earth. Dr. Jumba and Agent Pleakley are sent to Earth to capture him. In here, Experiment 626 is adopted by a little girl called Lilo who confuses him for a dog and names him Stitch. Lilo is a very lonely girl whose only family is her sister Nani. They are facing troubles because Cobra Bubbles, a social worker, believes that Nani is not taking good care of her sister and is threatening to separate them. With all these situations, Stitch comes like a blessing to Lilo’s life. She soon realizes that he has bad character and starts to teach him (with not very good results) how to be a good citizen while Nani is searching for a job. One evening, when they were surfing, Jumba tries to capture Stitch from underwater, causing Stitch to unintentionally pull Lilo and almost drown her. Cobra Bubbles witnesses that and tells Nani that she was going to send Lilo with a foster family. Seeing the disaster he had caused, Stitch runs away. The next day, when Cobra Bubbles came for Lilo, she runs away as well and encounters Stitch who reveals his true form. Captain Gantu, who was sent to capture Stitch due to Jumba’s failed attempts, captures Lilo and Stitch, however Stitch manages to escape and convinces Jumba and Pleakley to rescue her, successfully achieving their goal. The Grand Councilwoman arrives and when she sees that Stitch has changed his manners and now is a good citizen, she lets him stay and entrusted him into the care of Lilo and Nani. Good new are that Jumba and Pleakley also get to stay, and Lilo finally gets what she was yearning for: Ohana, and like Stitch quickly learned: “Ohana means family, and family means nobody gets left behind”.
Important characters include: Stitch, Lilo, Nani, Jumba, Pleakley, Cobra Bubbles, David, Captain Gantu, and Grand Councilwoman.
Important characters include: Stitch, Lilo, Nani, Jumba, Pleakley, Cobra Bubbles, David, Captain Gantu, and Grand Councilwoman.
MUSICAL MAGIC:
Lilo & Stitch songs include:
Lilo & Stitch songs include:
- “Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride”
- “He Mele No Lilo”
FUN FACTS:
We have finally finished with all of our Disney Studies for this term! I hope that you have enjoyed the class and that you have learned lots of interesting new things! Please proceed to your last assignment and get ready for the Final Exam and Project next month! And never forget that, “no matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true!” =)
- Disney’s 42nd animated feature.
- Disney promoted this movie with a series of trailers inserting Stitch into some of its "classic" titles. Examples: In Beauty and the Beast, Stitch causes the chandelier to fall during the ballroom scene, nearly smashing Belle and the Beast. In The Little Mermaid, Stitch surfs a wave that crashes down on Ariel. In The Lion King, Stitch takes Simba's place on Pride Rock during the "Circle of Life" opening.
- The name Lilo means "Generous One" in Hawaiian, while Nani means “Beautiful”.
- The original version of the flying chase scene at the end of the film involved Stitch and Jumba hijacking an airplane and chasing Gantu's spaceship through Honolulu, crashing into buildings. The sequence was already animated and completed, but the whole chase was cut following the terrorist attacks on the USA of September 11, 2001
- Many of the aliens are inspired by Disney characters, including Piglet and Tigger.
- Originally, Stitch was going to be an intergalactic gangster, Jumba was going to be a disgruntled member of his gang who was left behind during a heist and was going after him as revenge.
- When Lilo and Nani are watching from the bedroom window what they initially believe to be a falling star, a Dumbo stuffed animal can be seen off to the left amongst paint jars on the shelf of an easel.
We have finally finished with all of our Disney Studies for this term! I hope that you have enjoyed the class and that you have learned lots of interesting new things! Please proceed to your last assignment and get ready for the Final Exam and Project next month! And never forget that, “no matter how your heart is grieving, if you keep on believing, the dream that you wish will come true!” =)
Sources:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bambi
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034492/trivia?ref_=tt_ql_2
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Aristocats
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065421/trivia?ref_=tt_ql_2
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_%26_Company
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095776/trivia?ref_=tt_ql_2
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lion_King
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110357/trivia?ref_=tt_ql_2
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilo_%26_Stitch
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0275847/trivia?ref_=tt_ql_2