Villains Profile: Lady Tremaine

Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney and to another edition of Villains Profile. I'd been wanting to another set but I hadn't the foggiest idea as to what to do but then I recalled that Disney is currently going through their library of films and remaking them.  So, I thought that I could back to the originals of these films that have been remade and look at 4 of the villains from these original films.  So throughout this event, I'll be looking at Lady Tremaine from Cinderella, The Queen of Hearts from Alice In Wonderland, Shere Khan from The Jungle Book and Dr. Terminus from Pete's Dragon. We will be looking at Voice Actress, First Appearance,  Personality, Grand Desire, Lackeys, Most Evil Deed, Lackeys, Demise, & finally Is Lady Tremaine A Good Villain? With that out of the way, let's begin.



Voice Actress


Eleanor Audley

Now, we've talked about Eleanor Audley in the past as she was also the voice of Maleficent, if you couldn't tell by this image.   And she does play Lady Tremaine in a similar and very cruel fashion but if you know my stance on Maleficent, you won't be too surprised to learn that I prefer Lady Tremaine to Maleficent.



First Appearance


Now technically,  Lady Tremaine is introduced in the prologue of the movie.

Even then, you get the sense that there is something sinister about her.  And she doesn't even say a word. We next see her long after Cindy's father has passed and she is just as cruel and sinister. And all she does is lay there and smirk and pet Lucifer.

This woman is evil incarnate and she has no powers nor does she need them. She gets into Cinderella's head and plays mind-games with her stepdaughter.  That's her greatest strength as she doesn't have to lift a finger to get under the skin of Cinderella.



Personality


Lady Tremaine is a lady that tries to hold herself with grace and dignity and show that she is better than her stepdaughter in every way. For any Oncers, think of Snow and Regina but condensed. It was a common trope in classic Disney films but I think it works because compared to the original Evil Queen in Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs, there is a bit more to Lady Tremaine as is a bit more complex than the Evil Queen.


She is very cold and calculating and doesn't have to do much to get what she wants as she rules her household with an iron fist and will berate anyone who doesn't listen to her. But she doesn't get outright angry, well at until towards the end of the movie as she knows how to keep her calm and show that while something may be eating at her, it won't phase her.




Grand Desire



This one is a bit hard to pin down for a character like Lady Tremaine because like with her other villain, her grand desire isn't as clear defined. That is if you look too hard. It's simple really, she just wants to make Cinderella's life miserable and why. Because she is jealous of Cinderella's beauty.  Lady Tremaine is the antithesis to Cinderella's inner and outer beauty as Lady Tremaine is ugly on both the outside and inside.  Sure, she may not be horrifying ugly like other Disney villains but her ugliness is depicted with her old age.



Lackeys


Anastasia & Drizella

Now, admittedly there isn't much to these two as they are just bumbling lackeys to their mother and it is clearly shown that Mom can easily manipulate these two. And as mentioned with Lady Tremaine, their ugliness is also shown on the outside but it's exaggerated for comedic effect.




Most Evil Deed


Now,  I had two things in mind here. Either, when Lady Tremaine locked Cinderella in the attic or what I ultimately went with.






Because as stated before, this scene demonstrates how powerful, Lady Tremaine is as she just says one thing and gets her daughters to tear apart Cinderella's dress. I'm going to try and avoid bringing up in the remake but this is something that bugged me as they recreated this scene and tried to add more weight by  pointing out in that film, the dress once belonged to Cinderella's mother.  But unlike this scene, which left an impact, the scene in the remake felt empty. Even with that addition whereas here, you see how brutal and raw, the emotion is here.  Because the dress is just torn to shreds and Lady Tremaine just stands back and doesn't do a thing.


Demise


Lady Tremaine's demise is simple.  It doesn't involve death or being arrested. All it takes is for Cinderella to get her happy ending and boom, Lady Tremaine is done for.

Sure, she breaks the one that Duke brought but she knows it over, when Cinderella unveils the glass slipper that she still had on her.  It's so simple, yet so effective.



Is Lady Tremaine A Good Villain?


Honestly, yeah I think so.  Now I've seen others compare Lady Tremaine to Maleficent just because they share a voice actress and while they do have some base similarities, I honestly think that Tremaine is the more interesting villain as she actually is more effective in going about and causing torment without having to lift a finger.  She never gets her hands dirty because she knows that she doesn't have to as if she says the right thing, she'll crush you hard.   Join me next time as I look at...


The Queen of Hearts

My Thoughts on Tangled: Before Ever After (Update)

Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney.  In June of last year, a Tangled TV series was announced for 2017 and I went over my first thoughts then.  But they could be summed up as such.

Today, more news was revealed from the the title of the show to casting news and the cast for this thing is insane,  I'll quote Disney's blog to talk about the new cast because it was already announced that Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi would be returning but the new cast is insane.

Joining these returning favorites are Ashley Judd as Rapunzel’s mother Queen Arianna; Broadway star Eden Espinosa as Rapunzel’s handmaiden and confidant, Cassandra; comedian Jeff Ross as Hook Hand’s brother Hook Foot; Richard Kind as Uncle Monty; Sean Hayes, as Pete the Guard; Peter MacNicol as Nigel the Advisor; Clancy Brown as Rapunzel’s father King Frederic; Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as blacksmith Xavier; Diedrich Bader as Stan the Guard; Charles Halford as Pub Thug Vladimir; Steve Blum as Pub Thug Attila Buckethead; James Monroe Iglehart as Eugene’s friend Lance Strongbow; Jeremy Jordan as teen alchemist Varian; and Jonathan Banks as Quirin, Varian’s father. That’s right: get ready for brand new pub thugs.

Okay to look at this, we have Lex Luthor, Genie, Jack Kelly and Janosz Poha, & Bing Bong in this cast.  Clancy Brown, Peter MacNicol, James Monroe Iglehart, & Jeremy Jordan, & Richard Kind alongside other greats like Steve Blum and Diedrich Bader.  This is an insanely talented cast. I already know that the cast will bring their A game for this series. I was already excited for this because of it being Tangled but this cast has even more excited and the first image of the show was also released today.

This is a gorgeous image from the show.  I love it, it captures the feel of Tangled quite well while transitioning it from CGI to hand-drawn animation.  Yes, this show will hand-drawn.  Disney confirmed that and Claire Keane worked on design work and was a consultant for the show. If that name sounds familiar, it's because she is the daughter of Glen Keane, who was the animation director for Rapunzel, when Tangled was in production as well as being an executive producer and overseeing the story.  So, I know that Rapunzel is in good hands. As is the music as will once again be handled by Alan Menken and Glen Slater.  I know lyrics for the theme song have been floating around the web for a couple of days now but I don't think anyone has officially commented on the lyrics.  So, I'll wait until I hear them.


Now, you probably noticed the title. Tangled: Before Ever After

The title is an easy explanation as this show will take place after the movie but before Rapunzel and Eugene's wedding. Though, that is confusing as to why she still has her long blonde hair. Seeing as it was cut at the end of the movie but hopefully, it'll be explained in the show.   That's my only minor complaint but other than that, I'm excited for this show and 2017 cannot get here fast enough.

Classic Shorts Showcase: Lorenzo

Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney. Recently, on Netflix, I started watching the Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Film Collection and well, I thought that this was an opportune time to bring back what is possibly my favorite thing to do on A Look at Disney.

Now some of the shorts on here such as the first short, John Henry and Tangled Ever After are shorts that I have already reviewed but I've decided to go through and review all of the other shorts. Some that I haven't seen since seeing them in the theaters and some that I've never seen at all.  With that out of the way, we begin Lorenzo.



Look

The style of this short is beyond amazing. This is most beautiful looking shorts from Disney that I have ever seen.

Just look at the detail oozing out of this image.  I seriously got lost in the animation here and it's not hard to see why, the simple colors and minimal background make it easy to get lost in the detail of this short.  I've not laid my eyes upon anything this gorgeous in the longest time,  I can't recall the last time that I gushed about the animation of a short on Classic Shorts Showcase.  It was probably the John Henry review and while I still love that short, this style knocks the animation of John Henry out of the park.



The Plot

It's interesting as this short has no dialogue and instead relies on visuals and music to tell it's story, I ended up getting a Fantasia vibe from this short and come to find out that it was meant for the never made Fantasia 2006 that would've been a follow up to Fantasia 2000.

The short intended to be one of the segments for the proposed but never completed Fantasia 2006.

That certainly makes a lot of sense as it has a very Fantasia esque vibe.  The plot is a bit simple as we are introduced to Lorenzo, a fat lazy cat that lives a cushioned life and mocks the poor homeless cat outside his pet store window.

But then he mocks one cat, a black cat that has no tail but this black cat has some magic as he puts a curse on Lorenzo that brings his tail to life as he is forced to Tango with his tail. And the short becomes Lorenzo trying to find any way to get his tail to stop from having it run over by a train or taping it to a wall. But none of this seems to work as the tail now has a personality of it's own.

 


And at the very last moment, that same black cat returns with a knife and it seems that the only way for Lorenzo to be free of his torture is to cut off his tail and he attempts resistance at first but then he realizes that he has no choice but the tail turns on him and starts to attack him with the very same knife but in the end, Lorenzo is forced to cut off his beloved tail.




This short is a lot of fun.  It's silly and has an out there premise but they sell it and boy do they sell it well. I had never seen this short before watching it on Netflix as it wasn't until last year that this short got it's first official release and that's a shame as more people need to see this short as it really shows how good dialogue free story-lines can be told in a short amount of time.





Characters


Lorenzo

Lorenzo is a jerk and the short does a good job of setting that up and he deserves the punishment that he gets in this short for his actions at the beginning but this short does a good job of making him a likable jerk as while the short still punishes hims for his actions, it also makes you feel bad for him during the whole Tango, if you aren't laughing your side silly like I was. This short finds the right balance of making him a jerk but also making him sympathetic.





Lorenzo's Tail

Lorenzo's tail is one of the funniest things that I've seen in a Disney short after it comes to life and becomes it's own being. This tail is really into the dance number and for Lorenzo, there is no escaping his new dance partner as you might say that they're attached.  I'll show myself out.  The tail just makes this short all that much more fun, when he comes to life and it is so clear that the animators had a blast animating the dance numbers with Lorenzo and the tail as they went all in.



My Final Thoughts


This short is really good. I cannot recommend this short enough.  Seriously, if you get a chance to track down the Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection, check this short out as you will not be disappointed. It is really worth a watch and I cannot suggest it enough. Join me next time as we look at...


The Little Match Girl

Wildcats Wednesdays: My Thoughts on The Announcement of High School Musical 4

Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney. And well, it's the Start of Something New... all over again as Disney officially announced that have started casting for High School Musical 4.  

And my thoughts, well I made it no secret earlier this year, that I am a fan of these movies as I reviewed all 3 of the original movies but it's been ten years since the first film aired on Disney Channel and the third film came out 8 years ago, so the audience that watched High School Musical has grown up and moved on as has the cast.  Vanessa Hudgens is the lead in an upcoming DC show on NBC and Zac Efron is going to be in the Baywatch movie. And while the cast did mention that they have fond memories of the films and making them during the reunion special but having followed some of their careers, it's clear that they've moved on.  Really, the only one that I could see them getting back would be Ashley Tisdale as she still seems to have a bit of a relationship with Disney but I really don't see any of the original cast returning.

So, that leads me to my next point, while we don't know what the plot is and probably won't for a while, I have a feeling that this film is going to be an in name sequel only that serves as a reboot for the franchise.  Which is kinda funny considering that the third film set up characters to continue the franchise but by this point, those characters would probably be in college, if not having jobs already if they were freshmen in 2008.  Which, I guess I'm fine with as I do like the franchise enough on it's own to see how it holds up with a new cast but I do hope that they go back to East High as East High was such a big part of the heart of these movies.  And in a way for older fans like me, it would feel like going home again.   And besides,  it can't be any worse than their last Tween musical.

Oh yeah, Kenny Ortega also directed that disasterpiece.  To be fair, he did a good job with all 3 of the original High School Musical films but after something like Descendants,  I'm not sure if he should be given another shot at High School Musical. I know what I'm saying but he really botched it up badly with Descendants and he may be too busy to direct HSM4 as he'll most likely be directing the sequel to that...  

Well, I'd rather have High School Musical 4 over that.  It's funny for the longest time, after the third film came out, there were rumors of a 4th movie with the plot possibly being the merging of East High and their rival school, West High.  But that's all they were and I have no idea, where the rumor surfaced.Funnily enough, according to Us Weekly,  this film will introduce the West High Knights. So perhaps, they dusted off a script that was like the rumor that had been floating around. Heck, at one point, there was a rumor of them doing a Halloween themed movie for the franchise.  Kinda funny considering that Lucas Grabeel was in Halloweentown High.

But the big question is why now?  And the answer is simple....

Disney is playing on the nostalgia of fans of the original franchise as they saw how popular, the movie still is amongst fans, when they re-aired for it's tenth anniversary in January.  I can't be certain but I do believe that it brought in a lot of older fans and was a ratings boost for Disney Channel as fans sat there watching a movie that they had seen before (in my case, a week prior) and watch it again and in my review of the second movie, I discussed how that film was a ratings juggernaut for Disney Channel.  So, it's a combo of Disney seeing that there is still an audience for this franchise and that they still can work with it. Because really before the tenth anniversary, this year, this franchise had been dormant for quite a while and no one was talking about it but the tenth anniversary reunion got fans talking about it again and Disney Channel took notice of that and probably wanted to do something.  Now to be fair, they could have had this in the works before the tenth anniversary but I find it a bit suspect that they would announce this, two months after that particular airing.

I guess in the end, I'm somewhat excited even if I know it won't be the same as the original movies but I'll keep my eye out for any information that comes out and I just hope that this doesn't end up being another Descendants as I don't want two things from Disney I like, being messed with by Disney Channel movies.  I'll just have to wait and see. Peace!