My Own Personal Nerdy Disney and Animation Scrutinizing Analyses: desember 2022

Hi folks! Welcome to my My Own Personal Nerdy Disney and Animation Scrutinizing Analysis blog. A blog where I'm analyzing several Disney films, Disney or Animation in general! These entries are just meant to be my analyses. Not reviews or statements. Just fun analyses! Though I'll make some personal remarks now and then, the content of these entries are meant to be depicted objectively. They're made for entertainment purpose only and the pictures/clips are copyright Disney or other companies.

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When The Little Mermaid had it`s 30th Anniversary three years ago, it was marked with a special event: With an Broadcast Celebration where the movie is played and actors performing it`s musical numbers live. True that Disney has usually milked their beloved products into similar properties. But in no such way was entirely Broadcasted and delineated between it`s animated and live action parts. And it became a huge success. With that notion and due to how Mermaid was the one who started the famous and influential Disney Renaissance, there was no surprise that Mermaid`s successor, Beauty and the Beast, would undergo this transition.

A rose only for me :)
Ain`t I lucky? :)

As for the position of Beauty, it needless to point out it`s placement in Disney history. It`s been regarded as not only the Cornerstone of the Renaissance. But one of the studios most beloved films ever. So therefore it was no surprise that Beauty was going to be cherished in a Broadcast Celebration. Despite that it`s been celebrated the year after it`s 30th Anniversary (most likely due to the Pandemic, despite how the marketing has made it clear that this year is the Anniversary of it`s well know Best Picture nomination at the Oscar`s, after all).

General Information About Beauty and the Beast 30th Celebration

Released December 15th, Beauty and the Beast 30th Celebration is another Disney Broadcast presented by The Wonderful World of Disney and ABC. It aired Domestically (8:00-10:00 p.m. EST) on ABC and was available the following day on Disney Plus. The reimagining was taped in front of a live audience at Disney Studios. Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians) is the producer (who loves the original movie) and Hamish Hamilton (Super Bowl) is the director (who also directed the Mermaid Broadcast). The show was produced by Done+Dusted with Walt Disney Television Alternative and Electric Somewhere. Jamal Sims was doing double duty as executive producer and choreographer. Sets were designed by Julio Himede, and The Masked Singer costume designer Marina Toybina.

As for the cast, singer/songwriter Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson (a.k.a H.E.R.) stars as Belle. Having another White Princess being interpreted by an actress of color (or in this case, biracial, as H.E.R. is half African American and Filipina and who`s wanted to be a Disney Princess and loves Chu. Especially now that Ariel has gone through this transition in the upcoming live action remake. And no, I don`t mean it as a bad thing). Making her acting debut, H.E.R. also serves as a producer. Josh Groban (of all people) plays the Beast (making his second contribution to the property, having already recorded a version of Evermore for the 2017 remake). Also being a fan of the movie.

Joshua Henry was tapped to play Gaston. Martin Short plays Lumière. David Alan Grier performs Cogsworth. Rizwan Manji channels LeFou and Jon Jon Briones is Maurice. Shania Twain (yes, believe it or not) is be Mrs. Potts and Leo Abelo Perry is Chip. Rita Moreno serves as the narrator. And yes, Paige O’Hara and Richard White has their cameos, where O`Hara plays a librarian and White a baker. And yes, even Alan Menken makes a cameo (twice, since he plays Beauty and the Beast with Shania Twain). And yes, the late Angela Landsbury gets her tribute in the title song. And the logo for the Celebration was the same for the Live Action remake. The show brought in 4.26 million viewers and led broadcast networks among adults 18-49 with a 0.79 rating. The reviews have also mostly been positive. The soundtrack was also available the same day as the Broadcast.

Comparisons to The Little Mermaid Broadcast

Of course comparisons to the Mermaid Broadcast are inevitable. While Beauty followed the same pattern of being a movie shown with live musical sequences, it still was more edited with the animated sequences than Mermaid. But at least Beauty shows actual drawings in some of the numbers. However, the introductory scene with Maurice was shown in an alternative storyboard version. Some scenes (like the prologue, the wolves, Belle entering the castle) were acted out, instead of showing their animated versions (especially the latter scene, with new dialogue by Lumiere and Cogsworth. There`s even a new additional scene with them after Gaston). The Belle reprise has been added more length with new dancers, as well with Gaston. Beauty also shows some Behind-the-Scenes footage with the actors and creators. And some footage about it`s everlasting legacy.

The scenes with the mirrors are hybrids of animation and live footage. The transformation of the Beast is a hybrid of how the animated scene is shown on screen with the actors observing Be Our Guest has a new introduction to Mrs Potts. Also some unfinished animation is shown now and then.

There are many pauses with showing the pedals of the rose falling. The
ending version of Beauty and the Beast is performed by Belle and the Beast (and even having H.E.R. with a guitar solo, despite how it could`ve been perceived as not fitting in, due to it`s setting. No offence to H.E.R.). In fact, while Beauty has been equally known for it`s Broadway version, it`s remarkable that how unlike Mermaid, the songs from the stage version wasn`t in the Broadcast version. Instead we got Evermore performed by the Beast (performed by Groban without a Beast suit, which truly makes it a full circle for him). Due to how the live action remake of Beauty has been perceived as inferior to it`s predecessor, it`s still astonishing to even have it.

Behind the Scenes Information

The mirror stands out in this
room :) With purpose :)

To become the Beast, Groban didn`t want to do anything theatrical or theme park-esque. Instead, they made a puppeteered version (made by EW), inspired by Broadway's War Horse and The Lion King. Which covered him, but still made him visible in the structure. It required weeks of rehearsal and physical work for Groban to handle the costume, and wearing a 60-pound backpack. Which was challenging for him. The crew made a conscious decision that they didn't want it to be the big fuzzy mask. And didn't want it to be prosthetics, cause it can be hit and miss. The sequence where the Beast's rescues Belle by wolves required Groban to learn how to handle his heavy costume while doing fight choreography. Which he spent a week and a half rehearsing cause it was so complicated to do it with his costume.

A rose doesn`t always needs to
be red :)

For director Hamilton it was a daunting experience for the expectations. The sign for Woolverton’s Books is named after screenwriter Linda Woolverton. The costumes were inspired by Joan of Arc. Menken was busy doing many projects, so Chu had to interact with him on Zoom. Chu wanted to work with H.E.R. for a long time. The apron Wilson wears over her blue dress in Belle was painted to say "Belle" in Tagalog, the native language of the Philippines. H.E.R. even collaborated with Menken on new arrangements for the score for Fight For You from Judas and the Black Messiah.

Epilogue

So yeah, Beauty and the Beast 30th Celebration is another way of Disney milking their beloved products. But at least it`s an honorable way of milking their property. Cause it deserves to be honored in such a way. As for myself, having seen it, I`ve actually liked it a lot. I liked that it was presented as an event and cherished it`s legacy with Behind the Scenes information and interviews. Despite how it`s pretty much what`s expected. But considering how Disney has now transformed two of their beloved Renaissance properties into a Broadcast convention, let`s wonder if the same will happen for their next cornerstones of the Renaissance, like Aladdin and last, but not least The Lion King. Anyhow, we`ll have to welcome Beauty and the Beast 30th Celebration into the Disney family and cherish it for it`s honorable intention.