101 Dalmatians, 1961. The movie Cruela just came out, and I am afraid to watch it. I don’t want to sympathize with her, I don’t want to like her. The original 1961 film is enjoyable. I liked the book better, but they didn’t screw with the plot too much, they just streamlined it and made it more theatrical. Once again I am getting mixed up about what was in the book vs. the screen.They took out an extra nanny, merged Missus and Perdita, made Rodger a composer instead of a mathematician. It’s intriguing that this is not a musical, but still has a very memorable song. Two things from the book I wish they had put in, Cruella’s cat and the destruction of all of Cruella’s furs, and the irony of taking over the old De Ville place for the Dalmatian farm. I saw cameos from Lady and the Tramp: Peg, the bulldog, and a Scotty.
They struggled trying to realistically portray 99 puppies (in the book quite a few were almost full grown). My favorite character is Col. Tibbs- he is brave, resourceful and kind.
The Sword in the Stone, 1963. Another book that I loved, and a movie that captured the essence of it. Merlin is in my top 10 Disney characters. In the movie, he is a time traveler, possibly unable to control where he ends up. There are so many dancing dishes in this movie, it must have inspired Beauty and the Beast. I love the packing scene. The movie emphasizes the power of learning, Merlin is a much better mentor than Dumbledore. They did compress years of education into just six months. Archimedes is a wonderful side character, a grouchy, reluctant tutor, and an assistant to his wizard who struggles to know where he is in time and space. Transforming into a fish, squirrel and bird, Arthur learns about strategy, the dangers of love ( that one didn’t stick!) and the different perspectives each creature has. The magical duel with Madam Mim is fun. They don’t explain why she’s using evil magic, besides being a cheater, she seems just like Merlin. Arthur becomes king (the heavenly choir turning on and off when he touches the sword is funny, as is the owl urging him to run, both when he thought they had just vandalized a sculpture and to avoid being king.) Why isn’t Arthur included when they go on about Disney princesses? He and Merlin are not on very much merchandise at all. That’s a shame, because this is a good movie.
The Jungle Book, 1967. Walt Disney died in December of 1966. I wonder what it was like, going in to see this in the movie theaters? Did people think it would be the last, or cry? Another book to movie, and this one went from a serous, frightening story to a rather bland canvas for a couple of good musical numbers. Bagheera becomes an anxious nanny, the wolves dump Mowgli and are gone, Baloo isn’t connected to the wolves, the plot only encompasses a few days with a “ going from point a to point b” story. In the book, Mowgli was about 2, walking, when he was found by the wolves, not a tiny baby. More time is spent on the elephants and vultures than on Mowgli, who just reacts instead of taking action. The movie hard stops with him walking into the village, the villain defeated easily, with a joking nod to the “don’t be dead” trope. Shere Khan is not frightening in the least, and he doesn’t even appear until 47 minutes into the movie. This is a slow film with rather a lot of long sequences of Mowgli walking through a open empty jungle with no creatures in it. The music is American scat and jazz.
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