Mickey Mouse (2013) Mondays: Tapped Out/Third Wheel/The Adorable Couple

Hello  and welcome  back  to A Look at  Disney  and  the Mickey Mouse (2013) Mondays  and guess,  what, after these three shorts,   I'm free.  I'm done. And  I never have to watch another one of these shorts ever again.  Now let's clarify,  yes this series did get renewed for a second season but as I said when I started this,  I was only going to look at the shorts from season one.  Well, I ever go back and look at season 2.

With that out of the way, let's start this finale by taking a look at Tapped  Out.

The  Plot

We  open  the short with Mickey, Donald, and Goofy  watching a wrestling match in a live studio audience as they see the world champion has just obliterated his latest opponent to smithereens and Mickey calls the champ, a bully and wants to teach him a lesson.   So, he says and the champs  hears all of the booing and asks who in the audience wants to take him on and Goofy volunteers Mickey.  Oh,  and did I forget to mention that  the champ is Pete.   

Man, it took them long enough to introduce Pete into this series.   And I gotta say that  I love seeing Pete with his peg leg again and  this  is how you do  a Mickey  Vs.  Pete short.   Pete  is a big ole bully, who Mickey has to use his wits to defeat and here it just so happens that the key to defeating Pete was tearing off his hair and it landed in Donald's nachos and that made the fine feathered fowl  angry.   Yeah, there was a subplot  of Donald being overly protective of his nachos and not wanting anyone else to touch them, well,  Mickey's chase in the ring caused Pete to land in them and  Donald unleashed his fury on ole Pete and it was a fire-y explosion and a sight to behold.  And it ends  with Mickey,  Donald, and Goofy  being declared the new champs  and Goofy asking who wants  to take them on.  All  in all, this was a decent little short that was a lot  of fun to watch.

Characters

Main Character

Mickey  voiced by  Chris  Diamantopoulos

Mickey  was a lot of fun  in this short and it was  a nice touch to see him having to use his wits to win the fight against Pete as his stature was clearly taken into consideration and Mickey knew that brute force was not on his side.



Supporting Characters

Goofy  voiced by Bill Farmer

I don't  really feel like  Goofy  got that much to do after he volunteered Mickey to fight in the ring and seeing how this series has mishandled his character in the past, maybe that's a good thing.


Donald  voiced by  Tony  Anselmo 

Donald  really seemed to be a one note joke in this short as they  only used him for the nacho gag and nothing more.  


Villain 


Pete  voiced  by Jim Cummings

Honestly,  a wrestling setting  was  perfect place to introduce Pete into this new series as it works so well with his personality of being a big bully and this short got that down to a tee.   They  understand that Pete is a bully and a jerk and  that  is why  he works so well against  Mickey's  kindness.   Because  Mickey vs.  Pete is the ultimate  nice guy  vs.  bully  in terms of Disney characters facing off.


My  Final Thoughts


All in all, this was a really  good short.  I really liked it.    It was simple but fun.   Let's see that streak can keep going with  Third Wheel.

The  Plot


This short  is okay  but  I can't  say that I'm the biggest fan of it.  The basic gist of this short is that Mickey and Minnie are trying to have a romantic  dinner for two at a fancy restaurant but Goofy  invited himself  along.  (No joke,  I've had a similar  experience.   Last week after my Dad and I got done with our hike,  my Mom picked us up and took us to a Pizza  Hut in the local town to get lunch and we were talking about the trail and some guy  heard us talking about our hike and pulled his chair on over and invited himself to sit down at our table with his pizza, while we were still eating our salads. The entire time, I wanted to ask the guy to leave because he was making me uncomfortable and I'm sure that's what Mickey was feeling).   Back to the review at hand,  it is full of a lot of silly shenanigans on Goofy's part such as setting fire to Mickey and Minnie's table or trying to set the mood with the music but not knowing how to play or tying them up with a noodle that he took off the plate of Lady and The Tramp.   I guess the No Dogs Allowed thing does not apply here.

And when the dinner is brought,  Goofy goes crazy and eats everything in sight including the table and Minnie. EWE!!!!!!!!!    Eventually,  Mickey and Minnie do get some peace and quiet in Goofy's stomach. WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?  I... I... I... uh... I... I don't get it.  This short is weird.   I just don't get it.



Characters

Mickey  &  Minnie  voiced  by  Chris  Diamantopoulos &  Russi  Taylor 

Man,I really sympathized  with these two.  They were just trying to have a romantic dinner but it was ruined by Goofy being super annoying and as we will talk about with Goofy,  annoying characters aren't always funny characters.



Goofy  voiced by  Bill Farmer

Y'know  guys,  annoying doesn't always equal funny and  there here turned up the annoyance level of Goofy to 10.  Now this does remind of a short from House of Mouse, where Goofy was a waiter serving Donald and Daisy but for some reason, Goofy  annoying Donald works better than it does with Mickey.  Maybe, if this had been Donald and Goofy, the short would've worked better as Mickey's anger doesn't reach the same humorous heights as Donald's  but even then,  the way Goofy  was portrayed here, I won't say it was out of character but it felt like they dialed up this character to put his worst traits on display.


My  Final  Thoughts


I don't hate this short but I'm left wondering why,  they decided to make Goofy so annoying in it.  Was this a bad call?  Perhaps  not but again,  I feel like I've seen this done better and with Goofy being less annoying.   Alright join me below  as I close this sucker out with The Adorable Couple.

The Plot

Yeah,  your going to watch this one for yourself. Words cannot fully describe what this short is but I'm gonna try.   This  short decides  once to exaggerate  and almost flanderize  these  characters.  They  show  Mickey and Minnie   such as a lovey-dovey  couple   that gum drops and sunshine follow them, wherever they go and that they  don't  like seeing  Donald and Daisy fight  and that is the only  attribute  of  that couple , they focused on and the entire short  revolves  around Mickey and Minnie  trying to cheer  Donald and Daisy up  and in the end, learning that they enjoying fighting with each other.  WHAT?!?!?!?  No,  yes,  Donald  and Daisy  do fight with each  other but  not because they enjoy it but because they are a real couple that have real emotions that can set each other off but they will always be there for one another and at the end of the day, they'll always have one another's back and oh, this short goes so far as to show Mickey and Minnie love each other that they can't even have a fight with one another. No.   That is.......     Elsa, do  ya mind.

Thank you, your  majesty  and best of luck on Once Upon A Time.    That isn't true at all,  Mickey and Minnie have been shown to fight before.  Yes,  it's  not on the level of Donald and Daisy but Minnie in particular has been shown that she can sometimes be impatient with Mickey.  So to portray as so sickly sweet in love made this feel more like a parody of Disney than anything else.  Oh,  I should also mention that Beast and Belle show up dancing and Donald accidentally bumps into Beast while dancing and that causes Beast to lose his temper.

I know this is just a cameo  and this shouldn't bug me but doesn't that joke kinda go against what Beast learned in the movie about controlling his temper.   Alas,  I have to say  I'm not a fan of this short.


Characters

Mickey  & Minnie   voiced by  Chris  Diamantopoulos  & Russi  Taylor

This short decided to exaggerate the love these two have for each other and pretty much turned it into a joke.  I get what they were going for but this take on Mickey and Minnie  just rings hollow to me.  


Donald and Daisy voiced by Tony Anselmo  & Tress MacNeille

This short did the same thing to Donald and Daisy but  decided to only focus on their bickering and  acted as if that was the only part of their relationship and forgetting until the very end, that y'know these two actually love each other.

Yes, they may have their disagreements but through thick and thin, they will always love one another and when it really counts, they can look past the bickering and remember why, they love each other.  Sure, their  relationship may be difficult and complicated but there is more to it than just bickering.


My  Final Thoughts

In many respects,  the more I think about this short, I more I find it kinda insulting to these couples and how much it undermines what their relationships are really like.  It isn't the worst short from the 2013 series, that would be a tie between Dog Show and Gasp! but I can't say that I liked it either.     Before we close out,  I should give my thoughts on this series as a whole.



My Overall Thoughts on Mickey Mouse (2013)


The question, I keep asking myself is "Do I still hate these shorts?"  And the answer is for the most part is no, not as much as when I started.  Are these shorts as bad as I thought?  Well, they are a mixed bag.  You get some really good ones like Bad Ear Day but then you also have trite like Dog Show and Gasp!  And The Adorable Couple didn't help much either  but I don't know,  maybe these  just aren't  meant for me.   Maybe, these Mickey shorts are meant for a new generation and that's fine but  I almost feel like in the process of watching these shorts, it felt as though the creators behind them were so intent on making sure that today's youth liked Mickey that they forgot about the fans that grew up with Mickey.   Are these the worst shorts, I ever watched?   Some of them, yes they are but   while I'm still not the biggest fan of this new incarnation of Mickey Mouse,  I can't say that I hold the same hatred that you saw in the Gasp! review for this series.     Now if you don't  mind me, I'm going to watch Sofia The First.  Piece!

Remake Month: Beauty and the Beast

I hate this movie, really really dislike it. The Lion King is the laziest remake for just using the same script and shooting everything shot for shot the same as the original but this one is the most glaringly offensive.  Everything about this movie is performative,  it acts as though it is being progressive when in reality, it is just wearing the costume of being an ally.  

This movie set out to fix problems with the original that no one had and in turn by doing that, made a worse movie.  I look at this remake and realize that it had the opposite problem of The Lion King remake in which that did nothing new, this one did new things that made no sense for the story being told.

We're going to break from format with this one and not look at the similarities and differences but rather all the issues that I have with this movie because there are a lot.  Let's start with the big one.

Performative Allyship 

What do I mean by performative allyship?  Quite simple, the performative politics of this movie are quite hollow and only serve to make the movie look as though it is being progressive when it really wasn't.  There's a small issue of how the film felt the need to show us that Belle is smart by showing that she was the inventor and took that away from Maurice.   In that, she invented the washing machine.  It's a small moment but it's an indirect message that Belle in the original wasn't intelligent when that is far from the case.  

This woke scene irks me but the next thing that this movie does straight-up offends me. This remake decided to introduce Disney's first Gay character. That's good.  Who is said character?

This could have worked but this was not handled with care.  There may have been some hints throughout the movie such as new LeFou telling the Bimbettes that they'd never get with Gaston. And Gaston is shocked that LeFou has never gotten with a woman. LeFou that women find him clingy, which if LeFou is supposed to be gay, I'm not a fan of.

However, director Bill Condon said that LeFou would have an exclusively gay moment in the movie.  Well, I remember sitting in the theater watching the movie and waiting for this scene. It came in the end when people were dancing at the palace where LeFou is dancing with a woman and man cuts in.  It had a feeling of that was it.  However, people smarter than I have written on this point in great length. This 2017 Bustle article goes into more detail about the issue that was presented in doing the least amount of work when presenting LeFou as gay.

I'm certainly not going to praise the director and cast for representing the gay community when they did so little to represent us. LeFou's dance scene was further diminished by the fact that it wasn't even "exclusively" gay. As Vulture pointed out, you could still see the other straight couples in the shot. This reduces LeFou's "incredible moment" to really just a large celebration of mostly straight love with a same-sex couple thrown in.

As a Bisexual man, I may not have the right to speak over Gay people but the LGTBQ+ community deserves better than what Condon gave us.  But I'm not sure Disney learned from this and did better in the future.  Oh wait, they didn't because they did the same thing with the Lesbian cyclops cop in Onward.






I guess the TV side will just have to pick up the slack as seen in shows on Disney+ such as High School Musical: The Musical: The Series that has an adorable gay couple and the show that just debuted on Disney+, Love, Victor, a spinoff of one of my favorite movies. Oh wait, it was moved to Hulu.

Disney, you have a lot of LGTBQ+ fans and as one, please treat our community better than these three examples. Let's move on from this entry before I blow a gasket. 

Awful Singing





Listen to this number. I like Emma Watson, she has done a lot of good work and I grew up with her as Hermione but this singing is not good.  And it's actually worse when you hear it in Something There.





This was just bad. But the worst offender is Emma Thompson's rendition of the title song and this is not just me comparing the song to Angela Lansbury.  Emma Thompson is a great actress but her singing here does not work.





This is just yeesh and when you have someone that cannot sing the titular song of your movie, there's a problem. This brings us to the next issue.


Lifeless Musical Numbers


Beauty and the Beast is a musical and the animated movie is one of the best animated musicals of all time.  Heck, one of the greatest musicals period.  Just watch the opening of the original





It's so lively and exuberant but all of that was sucked out in this remake. There is no life to be found anywhere in this movie's numbers. They feel inauthentic and you can never get the feeling out of your head that this was filmed on a set and because of that, you can't buy into what the movie is selling. Moving on from this, there is also


Wasting a Talented Cast


This was a huge crime as this movie had so many bright starts but they get nothing to do. I mean you waste Audra McDonald by having her character constantly be asleep. What were you thinking?  This cast deserved a better movie.  Speaking of the cast, let's look at the Enchanted Objects.



Gawdy Enchanted Objects

The Enchanted Objects in the original had a cute and warm design to them that made them seem friendly. Even the Broadway show got this right.

But here, there is no warmth as they rely too much on the object part and forget that these are supposed to be characters as well.  The Beast doesn't fare much better.


CGI Beast

Making The Beast CGI robs any chemistry that Dan Stevens and Emma Watson were meant to have. It just doesn't work because while Stevens may have been on set, The Beast was not.  Using makeup and prosthetics would have gone a long way in selling that The Beast was actually there.


We have one last item that I wish to look at.  Don't get me wrong, there are more issues but these are the ones that bugged me the most.


The Magic Book

When The Enchtrantess cursed The Beast, she gave him a magic book that could take anywhere if he just thought of the location. Why?  This is so pointless and is a clear misunderstanding of why The Beast locked himself away in the tower. Also, why would you give someone that you punished a present? That doesn't make a lot of sense, we don't gift children when they color on the walls. We see it used once so that Belle can go to Paris to see what happened to her mother but that one scene does not make up for this needless thing brought into the movie. 



This is not a good movie and before rewatching it, I thought The Lion King was the worst remake but I am so wrong, this is offensive on a whole other level.  I could not in good conscious do the format I've been using as that would be dishonest with my feelings on this movie. It stinks and there is frankly no reason to watch this when the original is so much better.   Join me next time as we look at a remake that doesn't anger me quite so much as we look at the remake of

Classic Shorts Showcase: Feast

Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney. Today, we enter the homestretch of our look at the Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection

And this short like last week's uses the style of animation invented for Paperman known as Meander. Which is a mix of 2D with CGI.  Though I must say that I think that I like this short more than Paperman.

The Plot

The team behind this short described it as seeing the growth of a relationship through the meals that they eat and this is seen through the eyes of the man's dog, Winston. Who we are first introduced as a puppy and he is just so cute.

The man gets him with a fry and as a single man, we see him and Winston eating rather unhealthy food like nachos but soon, The Man starts to date and the food doesn't taste as good as it's now healthy such as a scene, where Winston is given a plate of Brussel Sprouts and he's not a fan of them.  

 

And he is also given a piece of parsley. Which'll come into play, later. We cut to sometime later and see that The Man and The Woman had broken up. And Winston sees how broken his Man is by this hat he grabs a piece of parsley that was on top of The Man's takeout spaghetti and runs to the restaurant, where the woman works and the couple gets back together. and from there, we cut to The Man and The Woman getting married.

And then seeing them move in together and starting a family with their first child as he drops meatballs from his highchair and Winston loves this and as the credits roll, we see the family grow as a little girl is added to the family.

 




This short is simply adorable and one of the best in this collection.  Honestly, there hasn't been a dud that I've reviewed thus far.  All of these especially since Tick Tock Tale have been strong and some of the best shorts that I've seen from Disney.



Character



Winston

Winston is simply adorable and one of the best Disney dogs to date. He is so full of energy that he can't help but put a smile on your face.  According the team behind Feast, they brought puppies into the studio to study their mannerisms and they said that was always a highlight and people that weren't even working on the short would show up on the days that they brought in puppies. Which I must say that seems like that really paid off because they must have taken the time that they spent with the puppies to heart as they did a good job of making Winston very believable.





My Final Thoughts


This is an excellent short and one that I cannot suggest enough. It is simply adorable and has a unique look at how a relationship changes with the meals through the eyes of a pup. That is such a clever idea that really seems like something that only the people at Disney could come up with. Join me next time as I close out my look at the Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection with Frozen Fever.

Power of The Princesses: Belle (with That Long-Haired Creepy Guy)

Moviefan12:  Hello & welcome back to Power of The Princesses and today, we are taking a look at my third favorite Disney princess as I take a look at Belle and  I'm  excited to be joined to be joined by  one of my favorite reviewers from Manic Expression here as That Long-Haired Creepy Guy joins me And just like last time, we will be looking at Belle's Original Voice Actress, First Appearance,   Personality, Favorite Moment, &  Later Appearances (as always, DisneyOtoko will step in to cover Belle's appearance in Kingdom Hearts) and finally answer the question,  Is Belle A Good Character? With that out of the way, let's begin.


Creepy:  Thanks for having me, Moviefan12.

Belle was the Disney princess to represent several firsts for me.  She was the first Disney princess whom I felt was a truly well-rounded and three-dimensional character.  Before this film was released, I had watched Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, The Little Mermaid, and they were decent films, but none of the protagonists grabbed me.  Secondly, Belle was one of the first female characters I really related to.  Even now, people may think it strange for a male to identify with a female character, but for myself, that was part of the genius of her characterization.




Original  Voice Actress

Paige O'Hara

Moviefan12:   O'Hara was critically acclaimed for her turn as Belle  in Beauty and The Beast and like Benson before here, she was both the acting and singing voice for Belle.  And she would be the last actress to do both voice acting and singing for a princess until Tiana.  Paige  was chosen in part because her voice had a quality that was similar to that of Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz. I never really thought Belle and Dorthy sounded the same.  Now thinking of it,  I can kinda hear it.  And what's interesting is that O'Hara was not  the first choice to voice Belle.  No,  you want to know who was?  Jodi Benson aka  Ariel.  My  thoughts  on this, that'd  be a little weird to have two back to back princesses be voiced by the same lady.   In 2011,  O'Hara became a Disney Legend and alas,  she also had to step down from voicing Belle in 2011  because  of her voice changing so much since the film came out and was replaced by Julie Nathenson, who was first heard in Disneyland Kinect.  However, this is not the first time that someone else stepped in to voice Belle as O'Hara did not voice Belle on any of her House of Mouse appearances.  Who did?  Jodi Benson.   



Creepy:  Paige O'Hara was the voice actress for Belle's character, and she made this simple country girl with a glowing voice and beautiful soul come to life.  One thing about the character of Belle that helps her stand out among the other Disney Princesses is her evolution.  Belle has a simple beauty when she appears at first.  There's no denying that she is lovely, and the song the villagers sing about her fits, but the air of 'mousy country girl' is still present nonetheless.  This isn't a bad thing, but for the purposes of what I am trying to illustrate, it merits pointing out.  Belle evolves gradually as the film progresses from a country girl, to a beautiful young woman, until she is finally the glamorous princess so many remember her as.

I will admit.  That pimped out dress she wore was jaw-dropping, but for me personally, I remember Belle across the board, and how she grew.

Paige O'Hara added to the visual showcase by adding little nuances to Belle's voice.  There is a timidness to Belle's voice at first.  It is subtle, but present.  This doesn't make her a coward, mind you!  Belle stands out as one of the bravest Disney Princesses, but the inflection of timidity adds to her character.  It's clear that Belle hasn't seen enough of life or the world yet.  This adds to her longing for fun and adventure somewhere far off beyond the quaint French village.  Paige O'Hara would continue this trend as the film progresses, giving Belle more confidence after she trades places with her father as the Beast's prisoner.  Belle goes from being frightened of her new surroundings to finding confidence and security.  Before long, she speaks to the Beast as an equal, not putting up with his crap for a second (in one of the best scenes of the whole film, but we'll get to that).  By the end, Belle is not afraid to tell the villagers what she thinks, or to hold her own against Gaston in a brief, but powerful, verbal sparing match.

In short, the animators drew Belle as an evolving young woman, but Paige O'Hara gave the character a voice that brought life to Belle, and evolved with her.



 First Appearance

Moviefan12:  Belle made her debut  in the 1991 film,  Beauty and The Beast.   The only film from the Disney Canon to be nominated for Best Picture.  In film,  we first see during her titular song Belle,   one of my favorite Disney songs and my favorite song from Beauty and The Beast.  And we learn from the town  that it's  no wonder that her name means beauty but according to them she is odd and peculiar.

It's  a great introduction for a great character as it lets us know who she is and that she is different from the rest of the town. However, what if I told you that there was an opening that was much different.  In the original alternate opening,  we met Belle as a young girl with her little sister, Clarice and her papa was wealthy merchant that had lost his fortune.  Yes,  that's right,  the original was much different.   And it can be found on YouTube,  I'll link to Pt. 1.

My  opinion,  it's not bad but I'm glad they didn't go with this opening,  as it just doesn't ring with me. 


 Personality


Moviefan12:   It's  interesting to note but with Belle and I would even say going back  to Ariel,  we started to see the princesses develop beyond what the classic 3 were and were given more developed and well rounded characters.  I  hope not to sound hypocritical considering that Cinderella is one of my favorites  but even taking her and comparing her to the likes of  Ariel  & Belle,  she wasn't as well defined as her successors.  Belle was very smart, witty,  intelligent,  and didn't care about looks.  She was able to look past the monster that people saw Beast as and see him for a good person.   And her  "I Want"  is one of the firsts that doesn't  have anything to do with romance.   To quote the reprise of Belle.

 I want much more than this provincial life!

Her  love of reading led  to dreaming  of these adventures  that could give her an outlet and an escape from her hum drum life.  Also  to play off this song, it's also  important for Belle  as a character because it also lets us know that she is no one's prize.   She will not let anyone treat her like a trophy.   This is part of the  reason, that she is turned off by Gaston.   

  










This  is also,   as we see how Belle is able to stand her ground with the likes of Gaston and Beast and speak her mind.


 Creepy:  Belle was an outcast, a young woman who (gasp!) dared to read.  Not only was she able to read, she loved it!  I immediately related to this girl as she strolled through her hometown while people passing by gossiped about her.  Belle was a bookworm, the same as me.  She was also regarded as odd and anti-social by her peers (again, the same as me).  Belle lived the life of a simple country townsfolk while longing for adventure in far-off places.



 I could completely relate.

Belle was a princess with depth and personality.  She could be vivacious and strong, spunky and snarky, intelligent and quick-witted, but also vulnerable and unsure of herself.  There were layers to her persona, which I think is why she still one of the best Disney princesses out there.  Belle didn't cower before Gaston or the Beast.  It goes without saying that either man outmatched her in terms of fighting skill and brute strength, but Belle stood up for herself.  She was smart and clever, using what she had to her advantage.  She didn't sit around waiting to be rescued.  Belle handled most problems for herself, even when the situation seemed hopeless.




Favorite Moment


Moviefan12:  If  I'm to be 100%  honest, there are two princesses that gave me difficulties in choosing a favorite moment.  Well, three if you count Aurora but I don't really like her.    The two  that I actually like that gave me a hard time in choosing a favorite moment are Rapunzel  (pretty obvious, why if you know me)  and Belle.  Now   I didn't want to repeat myself seeing as I've already done a Top 6 Belle Moments, last year during the Takeover Week event but in the end, I had to go with the moment that I listed at my # 1 moment from that list.   That's why I've chosen  as my Favorite Moment,  the moment, when Belle stands up to Gaston.

 I  chose this scene as it  best demonstrates how  much  Belle cares for Beast  and it comes down to when she tells Gaston that he is the monster.  As her we see Belle love for Beast come full circle and how much she truly  cares for him and that she'll do anything for him.   And it is also a great moment as we see Belle  stand up for someone that no one else would.




 
Creepy:   To illustrate, if I may, Belle flees the castle after her encounter with the Beast in the West Wing.  While riding through the woods, she finds herself surrounded by the same pack of wolves that had attacked her father earlier in the film.  Belle does everything in her power to fight the wolves off, both to protect herself and her horse.  Beast DOES rescue her, but not because Belle is weak.  She's simply out of her depth in this moment, and understands that later.  Despite how the Beast frightened her earlier, she thanks him for saving her when he didn't have to.  It's a major turning point for both.

And so long as we're on the subject, THIS is my favorite Belle moment.  She had plenty of them, and they're all either hilarious or wonderful, but Belle's snarky bravado in the face of the Beast's temper is marvelous.  Having had enough, Belle tells the Beast off for scaring her, and points out the major flaw that the Beast has.  The scene is simultaneously comical, yet touching.  It is here that both characters begin to change their opinions of one another.  It is a turning point for them and the story.

 










Later Appearances



Moviefan12: Per usual, we've got a lot of later appearances to cover. With that out of the way, let's begin.  To start, we are heading all the way back to 1991 as we take a look at Beauty and The Beast: Live on Stage at Disney's MGM Studios.

Much like Voyage of The Little Mermaid,  it is a condensed  version of the film and changes things around but here's the thing,  I don't actually hate this one.  And I think that comes in part that I saw this one first as a kid and I have nostalgic connections to it. Maybe, if I had seen it as an adult and never saw it as a kid, I probably wouldn't like it as much.  Now as you may have noticed, this opened the same year and the same day, the film opened.  So, in a way, I'm bit more forgiving.  Now two years later,   Beauty and The Beast would grace Broadway and unlike The Little Mermaid, I've seen the stage production of Beauty and The Beast and I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's better than the film as I do with The Lion King  but it's still very good and this was the first play from Disney Theatrical and it was nominated for many Tony's including Best Musical back in 1994.  And at one point according to Alan Menken, there were plans for a live action film adaption of the play. Huh, would that work?  I mean, sure that's been done with stuff like Hairspray and The Producers but the original film unlike the sources for those two was a musical  and I don't know.  Part of me wonders what that would've been like.

In the original production,  Belle was played by Susan Egan, who would go on to play Meg in Disney's Hercules. 

Now  one other  notable actress to portray  Belle  was R&B singer,  Toni Braxton, who had a song specifically written for her,  A Change In Me.  Now,  I don't think that Miss Braxton's version of the song has ever been released to the public but you can find other recordings of that song and here is a version of it.

Hmm, it's not bad but probably my least favorite of the new songs from the play.  It's actually done much better in the show, On The Record.   And also I just found out that Christy Carlson Romano played Belle, at one point as well.  Who is that?  You might ask, the voice of Kim Possible.  KP played Belle.  That is awesome.

Now like most of the princesses, Belle fell victim to Disney's Cheapquels.  Not once but twice.  First with Beauty and The Beast: The Enchanted Christmas and Belle's Magical World.   I do own Enchanted Christmas and yeah, well  uh,  it suffers the problem that a lot of tie-in material to Beauty and The Beast suffers from.  It tries to plant an all new story into the middle of the original film hence a midquel.  And in this one, we find out that Beast hates Christmas and not even Tim Curry as the villain  could save this one.

And there is one thing that always bugged me about this movie.  In the original, it was clear that Lumiere and that feather duster, Fifi (I think it is) are in love, but yet in this film, that character doesn't appear at all and is instead replaced by Christmas angel (voiced by Berndaette Peters) Even as a kid, I never understood this and oh, Tim Curry is trying to stop Belle from breaking the curse.   I don't want to go into it but let's just say that he finds himself more useful  as an organ than he did as a human.

Now as for the other film,  it just episodes of an unreleased  cartoon series woven together.  I've seen it once or twice but never in full, so I cannot give you a full opinion but what they were trying to do, goes back to a key problem, all of the stories took place during Belle's time with Beast before he became human again.  I'm sorry but that just doesn't sound interesting because we already saw her time with Beast in the original movie.

Now,  from my reading in the original draft for a sequel to Beauty and The Beast, Gaston's younger brother would be out for revenge.  Sounds kinda lame but at least it doesn't try to plant a story in the middle of the original film and as we will see, it isn't just films that are limited to this.  Now speaking of TV, there actually was a TV show starring Belle that came out in 1999 simply titled Sing Me A Story With Belle.  Here's the intro. Now, the show  itself  never states when it takes place but I am bound to say that it either takes place before the film or just ignores the film in general as there was an episode with Gaston, where he actually  learns a lesson about humility.  Yeah, I remember watching this show as a kid.   The best way to describe it,  imagine Reading Rainbow crossed with Sesame Street meets Beauty and The Beast and throw in the Silly Symphony shorts.  As you see in this show Belle ran a bookstore.  Did she take it over from that old man?  And would read stories to kids that tied into a lesson that related to a situation.  Now there were other characters such as a Bookworm, a cat and talking book that I think held the stories.  I haven't seen this show since I was a kid and forgot about it other than Gaston's appearance. 

My word, that Gaston just looks so cheesy.  This show is one that I can't believe existed.   This was a like a repressed memory. Though,  I guess if you want to do a Beauty and The Beast TV show, this is one of the better ways to go about it.   Though,  I'm still shocked that thing existed and that I remembered it.   Now as mentioned up top,  Belle made quite a few appearances on House of Mouse.  My personal favorite being when The Mob comes and preforms Kill The Beast and Beast asks Belle, if they're done yet.

Belle also makes a cameo appearance in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.  

Belle also like many princesses made an appearance on Sofia The First in perhaps the show's weakest episode, The Amulet and The Anthem in which Sofia's amulet curses her after she starts bragging and it causes her to croak and Belle is brought in, for well I still don't really get why they used Belle.  She was there to teach Belle that saying sorry isn't enough and they were trying to compare it to Beast.  Yeah, didn't work and this was the first time I encountered Jule Nathenson as Belle and  she has grown on me over time. Her song, Make It Right with Sofia isn't bad.

Alas, with how much I like this song that doesn't save it from being the weakest episode in the series and the only one that I have no issue skipping. Now  besides these,  Belle starred in two comic series that came out around the time of the series, one published by Marvel that is set during Belle's time as the palace and another set before the events of the film and features Belle as a young girl.

Now this would not be the only be the time  that  Young Belle  would make an appearance because as a part of New Fanstayland,  Enchanted Tales with Belle, a new attraction was added  and  you enter through  Maurice's  Cottage and in there is a picture of Belle and she looks to be about 5 -6 years old in the picture and in that picture, she is shown with her mother.

Now as for Enchanted Tales with Belle,  it appears to be a show catered to the the youngest of the guests as they get to participate in retelling this tale as old as time.  Belle  and Beast also made a cameo appearance in the latest Mickey Mouse (2013) short,  The Adorable Couple.

Now that we've gone over  Belle's later appearances,   let's take a look at Belle on Once Upon A Time.


Belle On Once Upon A Time

Moviefan12: Belle debuted in the season 1 episode, Skin Deep, where she was taken by Rumpelstiltskin as her prisoner in the flashback and we see over time, we see a romance develop between the two and she even tries to break the curse set on Rumpelstiltskin. Meanwhile  during  season 1 in Storybrooke,  Regina had Belle locked up and just  like everyone else forgot who she was.   During season 2 however, she regained her memories and her relationship with Rumple blossomed over time and we saw that Belle  brought out the best  in Rumple  and there were cute  moments such as Gold/Rumple giving  Belle, the library and it seemed like things were going well until season 2B, when Hook came to Storybrooke to kill Rumple and pushed Belle over the town line, which at the time caused the fairy tale residents to lose their memories from the Enchanted Forest and alas  it caused Belle to get amnesia and not remember ever loving Rumpelstiltskin and nothing  he did worked.  But Belle had memories reinstated by Regina and became Lacey,  a barfly that was nothing like my Belle.  

Now ,  I want to get honest here. I HATED Lacey.   They took my sweet and lovely Belle  and basically turned into a bad girl. No, just no.   Belle is one of my characters on Once and I have a huge crush on Belle on the show.  The way that Emile de Ravin  is  just great and I missed Belle but thankfully,  her memories were restored by the season 2 finale but she didn't get to spend much time with Rumpelstiltskin as he along with the rest of the main cast of heroes headed off to Neverland to save his grandson from Rumple's father, who just happened to be Peter Pan.  Man, this show is weird and the last active role, she had was when Ariel came to Storybrooke to find  Pandora's Box and I covered that last week, so I won't be touching on it too much here.

Now,  I  don't  want to give away too much else as Belle is  an important character on the show and I don't want to spoil her arc for people that are curious to see the show.  Season 1 & 2 are on DVD/Blu-Ray.  








BELLE IN THE KINGDOM HEARTS SERIES

Belle Before Kingdom Hearts 1

DO: Not much is known about what exactly Belle's life was like before we see her in Kingdom Hearts 1. It is assumed that it was very similar to the film. She for whatever reason (due to Belle being much more friendly and loving with Beast in KH it is unlikely that she's the "prisoner" like the movie and that she can see her father whenever she wants) finds herself in Beast's Castle and she lives there with Beast and the castle staff. Beast and Belle's relationship has to be at the point long after the "Something There"  sequence and then the Heartless attacked.


Belle in Kingdom Hearts 1

DO: It is implied the Heartless attacked actually during the events of Kingdom Hearts 1 near the end while Sora is either in Halloweentown, Atlantica or Neverland. The Castle was destroyed and Belle was taken into the darkness. The Beast had such a strong heart and vowed that he would follow Belle to the ends of the universe to find her. And a corridor of darkness appeared and it took him to Hollow Bastion Maleficent's headquarters and there he met Sora, Donald and Goofy the only outsiders who never once judged him by his appearance. After the Princesses' hearts have been freed Belle obviously hangs out in the library and there is an optional cutscene of Beast and Belle's reunion. Talking to Belle will net you one of the most powerful Keychains in the game the Divine Rose. In Final Mix it is the second most powerful weapon for Sora in the whole game. Speaking to her again she will offer poignant and wise words and encouragement. When Ansem the Seeker of Darkness is defeated she returns with Beast to his castle. 




Belle in Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories

Belle appeared as an illusion of Sora's memories on his journey in Castle Oblivion on the 7th -10th floors depending on the player's world selection. Even though Belle is an illusion this is one story that puts Beast and Belle's relationship to the test more than Gaston ever could. In the illusory Hollow Bastion Sora, Donald and Goofy encounter Beast and Belle having an argument and Belle is quite mean to him and tells him to leave her alone and Beast leaves sad. When Sora and company catch up to Belle to find out why she was treating the Beast that way she does say that she didn't mean it, but can't elaborate any further because Maleficent was on her way and she told them to hide. After an ominous conversation between Belle and Maleficent the Mistress of all Evil spirits them away and Sora and the gang decide to follow. In the Entrance Hall Maleficent threatens Belle in an attempt to get the Beast to show up. He does and Belle responds by saying some truly hurtful things and Jiminy is left stunned at such cruelty. Best says he doesn't care what she says. He's not leaving her to be Maleficent's prisoner.  It is revealed that Maleficent wanted to capture Belle's pure heart, but since Beast's love for Belle was at its strongest Maleficent decided to capture Beast's heart, but Belle got in the way of Maleficent's spell and saved his life at the cost of her own. Sora, Beast and company follow Maleficent and she explains everything. In order for Maleficent's dark magic to be sustained she must capture and corrupt pure hearts and Belle's was a natural candidate, but Belle being smart caught on to this plan and as long as she denied her love and kindness Maleficent could not do much, bust when Maleficent decided to move to Beast Bele could no longer hide how she felt and her heart was taken by Maleficent and she told this to everyone so she could take Beast's heart next and then the boss fight with the illusory Dragon Maleficent takes place. After the battle Belle's heart is restored. Beast and Belle reunite tying into the theme of memory in which Beast explains that he couldn't abandon Belle because he loves her and couldn't  go back to the days where he was full of anger self loathing and hatred and Belle decides that new happier memories be made for a better future for them both. After that Sora, Donald and Goofy continue with their journey in Castle Oblivion. 

Belle In Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

While Sora, Donald and Goofy slept to regain their memories Rocas the 13th member of Organization XIII went on several missions at the Beast's Castle ranging from killing Heartless to doing recon and figuring out the castle's history and the history of the residents. Beast and Belle have very little time to spend with each other because Beast is always out fighting the Heartless to protect the castle and most importantly Belle. Roxas being one without a heart has trouble understanding what the Beast is fighting for and believes he fights to protect the rose and while that is true he fights to protect Belle and his servants. Organization member Xaldin becomes fascinated with the story of the world and is already concocting ways to destroy their relationship and plunge Beast into despair and gain control of his powerful Heartless and Nobody. After a pivotal battle Beast is defeated by a Heartless and after Roxas takes care of it Belle comes rushing to his side and takes Beast inside to dress his wounds much like the scene after he fights the wolves. In this moment Roxas realizes it wasn't the rose he was fighting for it was Belle and Xaldin shows up to show his disgust at such emotions. Reading his secret report shows how much he is disgusted by the Beast and Belle's love and by the end of the game he is already planting seeds of distrust to break them apart and make them suffer. 

Belle in Kingdom Hearts 2

Sora, Donald and Goofy arrive in Beast's Castle in their new adventure and Beast is acting suspiciously and grumpier than usual when they go see Belle in the East Wing she's planning how to approach Beast in dealing with his behavior and she informs Sora and company that Beast has locked up the castle staff and she would get them out, but the Heartless are out and about as well as dark defenses as Sora Donald and Goofy have to fight a boss guarding the gate to the dungeon. When the servants have been rescued they explain the prologue to the Beauty and the Beast film to Sora, Donald and Goofy and they work with the servants to get Beast back to his senses. When the way to the West Wing is opened Xaldin tells Beast that Belle is his enemy and that she is playing with his heart and his pain and will take everything from him and encourages that Beast's anger and solitude will be what saves him. Beast obviously doesn't believe him and Xaldin mocks him by saying "Who could ever love a Beast?". Xaldin's influence and the stress of the Beast's life of late prove to be too strong for Beast's mind and the darkness sends him into a berserk state and he attacks Sora, Donald and Goofy. Thanks to the power of the Keyblade and Cogworth's loyalty he is free and joins the party. When the group returns to the East Wing to apologize to Belle she decided to leave the room and follow Xaldin and get some answers and the party goes to the ballroom where Belle is being chased by the Heartless boss when she reaches a safe place the boss battle commences. After the battle Beast and Belle make up, but not without a little tension left in the relationship. 

When Sora and the gang return in the second half of the game Beast and Belle are getting ready for their legendary date blue suit and yellow dress and all and they are invited to stick around. The date is ruined when Xaldin shows up and attacks with Nobodies and says that he has taken something he holds very dear. He took the rose. Beast is very angry that the key to his humanity is gone and in typical Beast fashion lashes out and takes his anger out on Belle and he tells Belle and Sora to leave the castle to go back to the way it was before when he was alone. Belle upset as well respects his decision and goes back to her room to think of what to do. Sora won't have any of it and goes back to give Beast back his confidence just like how Beast restored Sora's confidence in Kingdom Hearts1. Beast rejoins the party and goes to apologize to Belle after that he respects her privacy and decides to leave her alone till she makes her decision and the party goes after Xaldin and Xaldin kidnaps Belle and forces Beast to choose between Belle or the rose not understanding what Roxas figured out a year earlier Beast obviously chooses Belle. Now I was concerned that Belle was going to be put in a typical damsel in distress role, but what happened next was awesome! The next moment is my favorite Belle moment and is one of my favorite scenes in the whole game!

Belle using the element of surprise socks Xaldin right in the stomach and snatches the rose from Xaldin and books it to the castle with a triumphant grin on her face and all I can say about that is "I want adventure in the great wide somewhere!" That was awesome! After Sora, Beast, Donald and Goofy kill Xaldin Beast apologizes again and says he wants Belle to stay and they pick up where they left off on their date and they dance to Beauty and the Beast playing and that ends the story of Beast's Castle. 

Belle in the Kingdom Hearts 2 Credits

In the Credits to Kingdom Hearts 2 we see Belle and Beast try to go into the ballroom again and then after an odd camera angle Beast is now seen in his human form and they dance triumphantly now that the curse is broken.







Is  Belle  A Good Character


Moviefan12:  In my opinion,  Belle is a great character.  She is very self-assertive, willing to stand up for herself and you get the feeling that she'll do anything to protect those around her. She is one of my favorites because she is a very smart and independent  woman that has both  brains and beauty.




Creepy:   At last, we come to the all-important issue that some critics have with this film: Is Belle a good character?



More specifically, when this criticism is made, it is generally in reference (or outright stating) to Stockholm Syndrome. To explain, Stockholm is a psychological phenomenon involving captives who empathize or sympathize with their captors. I've read the arguments, and find them hollow, to put in kindly.

In another way, I wonder whether said critics know how Wikipedia works so they can find out what Stockholm actually entails.

Belle is never subjected to torture. She isn't put under psychological battery or extreme emotional duress. She is living in a castle that has an enormous library while servants wait on her hand and foot. The only real negative consequence to her situation is how much she misses her father. Belle could leave at any time, but she concedes to staying out of respect for the agreement she made, and later because of the developing love between her and the Beast figure. Belle never outright suffers while staying at the Beast's castle. It could easily be called the highlight of her life if not for the homesickness she felt.

In short, I love this character; I love this movie; and I challenge anyone who dares say that Belle is anything other than a strong, intelligent, and fierce character. Belle made me wish there were more Disney princesses like her.



Moviefan12: Creepy,  thanks for joining me on this extensive look at Belle and what makes her such a great character.