Stubs - Beauty and The Beast

Beauty and The Beast (1991) Starring the voices of Paige O’Hara, Robby Benson, Richard White, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, Angela Lansbury. Directed by Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise. Screenplay by Linda Wolverton. Based on the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve. Produced by Don Hahn. Music by Alan Menken. Run Time: 83 minutes. U.S. Color, Animated, Musical, Fantasy

Beauty and the Beast came out following the success of The Little Mermaid (1989), but it was originally considered to be a follow-up to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Disney made attempts to develop the story into a movie in the 1930’s and 1950’s before giving up on the idea. What didn’t help matters was a film version by French director, Jean Cocteau, La Belle et la Bête (1946).

The idea would get resurrected in 1987 during the production of Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). For the first time, a Disney film was developed first as a screenplay rather than through the story-boarding process which had been utilized for all Disney animated films up to that point. As is true in many films, the original script was scrapped and the process started all over again. There was a change in directors and production, which had been originally planned for London, was moved to Glendale, California.

Produced on a compressed timeline, two years instead of the usual four, Beauty and the Beast was only the second feature after The Rescuers Down Under (1990) to employ a computer animation process called CAPS (Computer Animation Production System), a digital system of software and hardware developed for Disney by Pixar (yes, that Pixar).

The film is also known for its use of computer animation in a particular scene, the success of which would encourage studio executives to invest in the new technology. We’ll discuss that again when we get to the scene in question.

The story we're told at the beginning of the film tells a story related to the one we're about to see.

We’re told in an opening narration that a young, handsome prince is cursed when he refuses lodging for an enchantress, disguised as an old beggar. The rose she had offered in payment is now part of the curse. As a result of his actions, the prince is transformed into a beast. The rose will bloom until his 21^st birthday and he has until the last of the rose’s petals has fallen to learn love and be loved in return in order to break the spell. If he fails, he will remain a beast forever. (Is it just me or does this sound a lot like the deal Ariel makes with Ursula in The Little Mermaid, which also involved transformations and oddly specific deadlines?) The Beast is also left with a magic mirror that allows him the capability of viewing the world outside his castle (this will become important later). In addition to the prince’s punishment, his servants, for no fault of their own, are turned into household items and his castle into a dark fortress.

Gaston (Richard White) has his sights on marrying Belle (Paige O'Hara).

Years later, but not too many if the prince was already lord of the manor and not quite 21, a beautiful young woman named Belle (voiced by Paige O’Hara) lives in a nearby French village with her father Maurice (Rex Everheart), an inventor. Belle is a bookworm, who borrows, rather than buys, her books from the village bookstore. She longs for a life beyond the provincial village. Her beauty attracts the attention of the other villagers, who don’t think she fits in. But Belle is pretty and is pursued by the, as arrogant as he is muscle-bound, Gaston (Richard White). Despite the women who swoon over him, Gaston has his sights on marrying Belle. But despite Gaston’s resume and the envy of other men, Belle is uninterested.

Belle's father, Maurice (Rex Everheart), is an inventor.

Maurice gets a wood-chopping machine to work and heads off with his Clydesdale-sized horse Phillipe to a fair to showcase his new invention. But along the way, Maurice gets lost and takes a shortcut through the dark forest, despite Phillipe’s protests. Abandoned by his horse, chased by a pack of wolves, Maurice stumbles upon a dark castle and takes refuge inside. The household servants Lumiere (Jerry Orbach), a candelabra; Cogsworrh (David Ogden Stiers), a clock; Mrs. Potts (Angela Lansbury), a teapot; and her son Chip (Bradley Michael Pierce), a chipped teacup, welcome him in.

Some of the Beast's household servants include Lumiere (Jerry Orbach), Cogsworth (David Ogden Stiers),
 Mrs. Potts (Angele Lansbury) and her son, Chip (Bradley Michael Pierce).

But when the ferocious Beast (Robby Benson) finds out, he imprisons Maurice, throwing him into a dungeon cell. Phillipe, who had actually never been to the castle, leads Belle to it. She confronts the Beast and offers to take her father′s place, who doesn’t look well. Over her father’s protests, the Beast accepts her offer. The Beast moves her from the dungeon into a bedroom and gives her the run of the castle. The only stipulation is that she stays out of the West Wing.

The Beast (Robby Benson) imprisons Maurice for trespassing on his property.

Gaston sulks in the local tavern over his failed proposal while Lefou (Jesse Corti), Gaston’s minion, tries to cheer him up. Maurice arrives, seeking help to rescue her from the Beast. No one takes him seriously, so he sets out alone. 

Lefou (Jesse Corti) is Gaston's sidekick/minion and comic relief.

Belle angers the Beast when she refuses to dine with him that night. But Lumière disobeys his order not to let her eat. While Cogsworth and Lumière give Belle a tour of the castle, she wanders into the forbidden West Wing. There she finds the enchanted rose and the Beast angrily chases her away. Belle then attempts to flee the castle with Phillipe, but they are attacked by a pack of wolves, the same ones who no doubt attacked her father. The Beast comes to her aid and is injured when he fights off the wolves.

Lumiere and Cogsworth take Belle on a tour of the castle.

Back at the castle, Belle nurses his wounds, and he begins to develop feelings for her. She thanks him for saving her life and he impresses her by giving her the castle's vast library. The more time they spend together, the closer Belle and the Beast become. Back in the village, Gaston pays Monsieur d'Arque, the warden of the town's insane asylum, to have Maurice committed if Belle does not accept Gaston's marriage proposal.

The ballroom sequence mixes CGI (the chandelier) with hand-drawn dancing characters.

Belle and the Beast share a romantic evening together, dancing in the great Ballroom together, a sequence notable for its use of computer animation of the ballroom and chandelier. The hand-drawn dancing characters are then composited against it using CAPS. The household goods encourage the Beast to tell Belle how he feels about her, but the moment is never right. Instead, Belle tells the Beast she misses her father, and he lets her use the magic mirror to see him. What Belle sees is her father dying in the woods after a botched attempt to rescue her. The Beast allows her to leave so she can save him. He even gives her the mirror to remember him by.

Belle finds her father and takes him home where she nurses him back to health. Gaston tries once more to marry Belle and when she turns him down, Monsieur d'Arque arrives to put Maurice in the insane asylum because of his insistence on the existence of a Beast. But Belle proves Maurice's sanity by showing the gathered crowd the Beast with the magic mirror. Realizing that Belle has feelings for the Beast, Gaston warns the townspeople that the Beast is a child-eating monster that must be killed, and leads them to the castle. (You have to give the townspeople credit for being able to turn on a dime.)

Gaston convinces the village that the Beast is a child-eating monster.

Gaston locks Belle and her father in their basement to prevent them from warning the Beast. But Chip, who had hidden in Belle's baggage, releases them using Maurice's wood-chopping machine.

The Beast's household goods/servants defeat the townspeople in a pitched battle. Meanwhile, Gaston sneaks away to confront the Beast, who is initially too depressed to fight back. But when he sees Belle returning to the castle, he regains his will and fights back. The Beast wins a heated battle on the castle's rooftops and spares Gaston, who pleads for his life. The Beast frees him on the condition that he leaves. The Beast is about to be reunited with Belle when Gaston stabs him from behind. But in the attack, Gaston loses his balance and falls to his presumed death.

Belle has until the last rose petal falls to confess her love of the Beast.

While the Beast lies dying, Belle professes her love for him just as the rose's last petal falls off. With the spell broken, the Beast comes back to life and transforms back into his handsome prince form. His servants likewise change back into their old forms. The film ends with Belle and the prince, now married, dancing in the ballroom with her father and the servants happily looking on.

The Beast is transformed into a handsome prince by Belle's love.

Beauty and the Beast tells a very familiar story, but in a new and different way. Visually, the film looks very good, especially considering it is mostly hand drawn, something you don’t see that much of anymore. But when computer animation is used, it is quite obvious. And while the use of songs is nothing new in animated films and is still used in modern CGI features, there are almost too many songs, about half of the film’s run time is spent in song.

After watching the film, one wonders if which idea came first: the idea to make an animated stage musical or the idea to make a stage musical from an animated film. It wasn’t too terribly long after the film that the stage musical opened on Broadway and Broadway musicals, despite what we saw on Smash, are oftentimes years in the making.

Further, the film employs some very talented Broadway performers in supporting roles. including Jerry Orbach and Angela Lansbury. While Orbach might be best remembered as Detective Lennie Briscoe on 274 episodes of TV’s Law & Order or as Jennifer Grey’s father in Dirty Dancing (1987), he was an accomplished Broadway performer, starring in a 1965 revival of Guys and Dolls and the original stage production of Promises, Promises in 1969 (a musical based on the film The Apartment). For the latter, he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.

Jerry Orbach was a seasoned Broadway professional with a Tony to prove it.

Angela Lansbury, if anything, was more successful than Orbach. She had her own long-running series, Murder, She Wrote (1984-1996), but prior to that, she was nominated three times as Best Supporting Actress for her roles in Gaslight (1944), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) and The Manchurian Candidate (1962). She also won four Tony Awards for Best Leading Actress in a Musical, Mame (1966), Dear World (1969), Gypsy (1973) and Sweeney Todd (1979). She was also nominated for Best Actress in a Play for her role in Deuce (2007) and won a Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her role in Blithe Spirit (2009).

Angela Lansbury plays Mrs. Potts.

The leads, on the other hand, were either unknowns or surprise choices. Paige O’Hara made her Broadway debut in 1983 and her film debut with Beauty and the Beast. Since then she’s mostly reprised her role as Belle in direct-to-videos, Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas (1997) and Beauty and the Beast: Belle's Magical World (1998). Additionally, she released a series of paintings entitled Belles by Belle.

Paige O'Hara plays Beauty and Robby Benson plays the Beast.

While not an unknown, Robby Benson seemed to be an odd choice for the lead in a musical. Benson was mostly known for his work in TV Movies in the 1970’s prior to his starring role in Beauty and the Beast. Like most voice actors who get caught up in the Disney universe, he’s reprised the Beast role in subsequent related direct-to-video titles: Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas, Belle's Magical World, Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse (2001); TV series: House of Mouse; and Video Games: Kingdom Hearts (2002), Kingdom Hearts II (2005), Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix (2007) and Kinect Disneyland Adventures (2011).

The film at the time of its release received very positive reviews and earned about $425 million worldwide from an initial budget of $25 million. Three years later, a musical based on the movie, with seven additional songs, debuted in Houston, Texas. Later that year, the musical would have its Broadway opening, playing 5,461 performances until 2007. Just as Beauty and the Beast would pave the way for such animated musical features like Aladdin (1992), The Lion King (1994) and Tarzan (1999), the success of the Beauty and the Beast stage musical would lead to other such movie to stage adaptations, including: The Lion King (1997), Tarzan (2006), The Little Mermaid (2008) and Aladdin: The New Musical came to Broadway in 2014. A live-action version of Beauty and the Beast, starring Emma Watson of Harry Potter fame, will be opening in March 2017.

But back to the animated film, which is the point of this review. I would definitely recommend Beauty and the Beast, especially if you have small children. This is a really good example of family entertainment. Unlike many films and TV series aimed at children, the movie doesn’t play down to them. While not my favorite Disney animated feature, this is a very well made and, for the most, part enjoyable film.

Stubs - Toy Story

Toy Story (1995) Starring the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Annie Potts. Directed by John Lasseter. Screenplay by Joss Whedon, Andrew Stanton, Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow. Produced by Bonnie Arnold, Ralph Guggenheim. Run Time: 81 minutes. U.S.A. Color. Animated, Adventure

Ever wonder what it’s like to be a toy? Well, you need to look no further than Tin Toy (1988), a CGI short directed by John Lasseter to show off the Pixar Image Computer's capabilities. Despite why the film was originally made, it would go on to win the 1988 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

The short Tin Toy (1988) was the precursor to Toy Story.

Tin Toy got the attention of the Walt Disney company, known for its traditional hand-drawn animated classics like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Alice in Wonderland. Under the regime led by Michael Eisner, Jeffrey Katzenberg tried to seduce Lasseter, a former mouse house animator, back into the fold. But Lasseter felt loyal to Steve Jobs, then owner of Pixar, and decided to stay and make history with Pixar.

Undeterred, Katzenberg set in motion plans for a production deal with Pixar. Disney had made all their films in-house up until Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). But negotiations were not easy between the two companies. Disney had a bad reputation for how they treated their animators, something those at Pixar already knew, some like Lasseter knew that first hand. The other problem was Katzenberg himself, who had a well-established reputation as a micro-managing tyrant, something he himself copped to in a meeting between the studios. But things between the two studios worked out.

Originally conceived as a Christmas TV Special, A Tin Toy Christmas, as a way to gain experience before making a feature film, that gave way, in 1991 to a Tin Toy movie with the working title Toy Story. Disney would own the property with an option to do Pixar’s next two films and to make sequels with or without Pixar involvement using the characters in the film. Pixar would receive 12.5 percent of the ticket revenues in return.

It was in the writing of the film that the story began to take shape. Originally, under Katzenberg’s supervision, the character of Woody was the main villain and Tinny, the musical toy from Tin Story, was paired with a ventriloquist dummy and the two set out on an Odyssey together. When Disney relinquished creative control to Pixar, the story began to more resemble what we know now.

Tinny, which Lasseter felt was not antiquated, went through a transformation ultimately becoming a space ranger named Lunar Larry on his way to becoming Buzz Lightyear. Woody also went through his own makeover as it were, starting out as a ventriloquist dummy and ending up as a pull-string toy. The name Woody was supposedly in homage to Woody Strode, a black football player turned actor who appeared in several John Ford westerns, including Sergeant Rutledge (1960) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962).

Woody (Tom Hanks) holds court with the other toys, advising them to get a buddy for the pending move.

Inside six-year-old Andy Davis’(John Morris) room, his toys live in a world of their own when he’s not around. Their leader, and Andy’s favorite toy, is Sheriff Woody (Tom Hanks), an old-fashioned pull-string Cowboy doll. Woody, as he’s called, organizes the other toys, including Mr. Potato Head (Don Rickles); Slinky Dog (Jim Varney); Rex (Wallace Shawn), a cowardly dinosaur; Hamm (John Ratzenberger), a piggy bank; and Bo Peep (Annie Potts), a porcelain doll who is in love with Woody.

The toys paying attention to Woody's announcement include Rex (Wallace Shawn), Mr. Potato
Head (Don Rickles), Slinky Dog  (Jim Varney), Hamm (John Ratzenberger) and Bo Peep (Annie Potts).

Andy’s family, which includes his single mom (Laurie Metcalf) and a younger sister, are getting ready to move and Woody wants all the toys to find a moving buddy. During the session, Woody also announces that today is Andy’s birthday party, which causes anxiety amongst the toys. With the exception of Woody, they are all worried about being replaced. In order to keep an eye on the gifts,

The Army soldiers under Sarge's (R. Lee Ermey) command deploy to eavesdrop on Andy's Birthday party.

Woody sends a platoon of green Army men, led by Sarge (R. Lee Ermey), downstairs. Using a baby monitor, Sarge reports back to the other toys the presents as Andy opens them. When there is nothing to worry about, Sarge signs off, but quickly tries to get back online when Andy’s mom brings out a surprise gift. Again, the toys are anxious, causing Rex to knock the baby monitor to the floor, causing the batteries to fall out. While they are struggling to get them back in, Andy and his friends come running upstairs to his room. The toys become inanimate and fall to the floor; Woody takes his place on top of Andy’s bed.

Woody tries to figure out what to do after Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) lands on Andy's bed.

In the commotion, Woody slips off the bed as when the new present lands on the bed. When the boys run out of the room for cake and ice cream, the toys come back to life and wonder who has replaced Woody. It turns out to be an unaware Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), who doesn’t know that he’s only a toy. He thinks he’s on a space mission and is trying to make friends with the indigenous species while he attempts to make repairs to his spaceship, the box he came in.

Buzz "proves" to the other toys that he can really fly.

The other toys are impressed by all of Buzz’s features and even think that he can fly once he demonstrates his prowess. Woody is unimpressed, saying that Buzz is merely "falling with style!" Andy is also impressed and begins to favor him over Woody. Even though the family is days away from moving, we see Andy’s room transform into a shrine to Buzz with new sheets on the bed.

Woody can’t help but notice his diminished role in Andy’s life. When the family is planning a trip to Pizza Planet, Woody tries to trap Buzz behind the desk, to keep him from being picked, but he accidentally knocks Buzz out the window. The other toys gang up against Woody, accusing him of killing Buzz out of jealousy. But before they can punish Woody, Andy takes him as a second choice.

Woody convinces Buzz that the Pizza Planet delivery truck is taking them to a spaceport.

Down in the car, Woody finds that Buzz has also found his way into the car. When they’re left alone, when the mother stops for gas, the two get into a fight and fall out and find themselves left behind when the mother drives away without them. Seeing a delivery truck for Pizza Planet, Woody convinces Buzz that it is a spaceship that will take them to Andy. When Woody climbs into the back, Buzz carefully takes his place in the front seat with seat belts on.

Once they get to Pizza Planet they sneak in as trash. Woody starts looking for Andy’s family, but Buzz starts to look for a rocket ship, thinking Pizza Planet is a spaceport. At about the time Woody spies the family, Buzz has discovered a rocket-shaped crane game and crawls in. The game is populated, these are sentient toys after all, by little green squeeze alien toys (Jeff Pidgeon and Debi Derryberry), who treat the game as a sort of purgatory. Being pulled up by the crane is the same as salvation.

Woody becomes the hero to the little green squeeze toys (Jeff Pidgeon and
 Debi Derryberry) who are waiting inside the crane game.

Woody climbs into the game hoping to pull Buzz out, but they both get trapped when Sid Phillips (Erik von Detten), a ten-year-old bully and Andy’s next door neighbor, grabs Buzz with the crane and starts to pull him out. In his attempt to pull Buzz free, Woody gets caught up and Sid thinks he’s hit the jackpot. But Sid isn’t like Andy, he doesn’t play nice with his toys.

Sid Phillips (Erik von Detten) doesn't play nicely with his toys.

When Woody and Buzz are left alone, they discover that Sid’s room is occupied by a bizarre group of mutant toys created by combining parts from unlike toys together. Woody is shocked and scared by what he sees. He is surprised to see them help repair Buzz rather than consume him like toy cannibals.

Sid's toys are mutant creations.

Sid’s plan is to strap Buzz on a rocket that has just arrived in the mail. But the launch is delayed by a thunderstorm. Woody tries to make an escape, but they get separated and Buzz ends up in a room with a TV blaring a commercial, narrated by Penn Jillette, about the toy Buzz Lightyear and all the wonderful things it can do. Hearing that, Buzz for the first time realizes that he, too, is a toy. This news sort of bums him out. He tries to escape by flying, but he can’t and falls to the floor, where he is found by Sid’s sister Hannah (Sarah Freeman), who takes him as compensation for the myriad of toys her brother has ruined of hers.

Despondent, Buzz, who had one of his arms pop out in the fall, is dressed up as a member of her tea party. Woody, who had been hiding in a closet to get away from the Phillips’ family dog rescues Buzz from the tea party. Back in Sid’s room, Woody finally convinces Buzz that as a toy, he can make Andy happy. The mutant toys fix Buzz and then help Woody work out an elaborate scheme to rescue Buzz when Sid straps him to the rocket and takes him outside to launch him. Before Sid can light the rocket that he’s strapped to Buzz’s back, Woody and the other toys come to life in front of Sid, scaring him into no longer abusing toys and allowing Buzz and Woody to make their escape.

Before he's stopped, Sid plans to light the rocket strapped to Buzz's back.

But they just miss the family car, because Buzz has gotten caught up in the fence. Buzz and Woody chase after the moving truck, but Sid’s dog, Scud, gives chase, capturing Buzz. Woody tries to save him using Andy’s remote controlled car, RC, but the other toys turn on him. Still believing he has eliminated Buzz, the others, led by Mr. Potato Head, throw Woody off the end, but not before Woody has grabbed RC.

Buzz and Woody are "falling with style," but together.

They succeed in rescuing Buzz and while the other toys see them together, there is nothing they can do as RC’s batteries begin to run out. Woody tries to use the match that Sid didn’t to light the rocket, but the wind from a passing car blows it out.  Using Buzz's helmet shield as a magnifying glass, Woody ignites the rocket with the sun's rays and the three of them take flight. They manage to throw RC, now missing his remote, into the back of the truck as they soar by. Then Buzz uses his wings to free himself from the rocket just before it explodes. Buzz and Woody then glide and drop through the open sunroof into the mother’s car and land in a box right next to an excited Andy.

In the end, Andy (John Morris) gets Buzz and Woody back.

Flash forward to Christmas Day and Sarge and his men are on another reconnaissance mission while the toys in his room listen keenly for what presents Andy receives. Just as Woody is joking with Buzz that there is nothing Andy could receive that would be worse than Buzz, they hear over the intercom that Andy’s new gift is a puppy.

Released after dual premieres by Disney in LA and Pixar in San Francisco, the film was released on November 22, 1995, and would go on to gross $350 million worldwide on a budget of $30 million. Toy Story would also go on to be nominated for three Academy Awards Best Music—Original Song, for "You've Got a Friend in Me", and Best Music—Original Musical or Comedy Score both for Randy Newman and Best Original Screenplay for Joel Cohen, Pete Docter, John Lasseter, Joe Ranft, Alec Sokolow, Andrew Stanton and Joss Whedon, the first animated film to be so nominated.

Unlike say a DreamWorks Animation film, there are no hip cultural references that will quickly age the film. The writing is solid, managing to engage both young and old without speaking down to kids or up to adults. A buddy film with toys had never been done before and really hasn’t been done better, despite the sequels.

While CGI pioneered by Pixar has come a long way in the twenty-plus years since its release, the film for the most part still holds up. What was bad about the film then was its depiction of humans. While Pixar excelled at everything else, human characters appeared to elude them. They have gotten much better over the years with that, as well as other innovations that have made Pixar the premiere animation house, even though it is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Disney. What was once cutting-edge animation now looks a little below the standards Pixar keeps setting.

Besides the Easter eggs that first appear in this film, like the ball with the star on it, there are other things that this film demonstrates Pixar does very well. One of them is to get the most out of their voice actors. While Tom Hanks and Tim Allen were both new to voice work, it is not really amazing that they were good at their parts. What is surprising is that Pixar could take someone like Jim Varney, who I would normally move across the street to avoid, into a likable character actor. They would do the same thing in such films like Cars and Cars 2, where they made Larry the Cable Guy a mainstream star.

In fact, Pixar has excelled over the years with ensembles made up of actors from a variety of backgrounds including film actors, TV actors and stand-up comics; accomplished and unaccomplished alike. Somehow they have always managed to make them work. Some of the selections like Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head and Wallace Shawn as Rex are perfect.

The film was also the debut of John Ratzenberger in a Pixar film. Best known for his portrayal of the annoying Cliff Clavin on the long-running TV series Cheers, Ratzenberger would go on to appear in all of Pixar’s films to date. With him as a good luck charm, Pixar would have a very successful run of hit films, marred by only a few misfires.

Toy Story made Randy Newman, best known for his politically charged and satirical songs, into a more mainstream songwriter. While no stranger to writing film scores, his first was Ragtime (1981), it was songs like “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” that seemed to be a different offering for the accomplished songwriter. I don’t think he had many children fans before this film was released. Now the singer who was once known for such songs as “Short People” and “I Love L.A.” is also remembered for his song about friendship.

There is much to like about Toy Story. For a production company new to feature films, there is a certain feeling of magic surrounding their initial offering. The studio would certainly prove that it was no fluke with their next film, A Bug’s Life (1998).

Innovative, Toy Story is an interesting blend of talents from the producing, the writing, the voice acting and of course the animation and rendering. It was the first of its kind and the heralding in a change of animation from hand-drawn, which had been the tradition since film animation was first done. It also passed the baton, as it were, from Disney to Pixar as the premier animation house.

Toy Story is fun for children; it does not speak down to them. At the same time, the film is fun for adults as well and might even be a little nostalgic for some. Who didn’t have a favorite toy growing up that, at least when you were around, interacted with you like a real person? This film takes that a step further and tells they not only interacted with you, but with each other when you weren’t around. This is a film you can see several times, I have, and never grow tired of.

Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Dark Side of Dimensions

Note: This review contains unmarked spoilers relating to the events of the original Yu-Gi-Oh! anime/manga.

In celebration of the 20^th anniversary of the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, a new movie, The Dark Side of Dimensions, was announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2016, set to take place after the original Yu-Gi-Oh! series. I happened to attend the panel at which this was announced, which featured a special appearance by Yu-Gi-Oh! creator/mangaka Kazuki Takahashi, who would have heavy involvement in story and designs for the movie (he even did a special live drawing of Yugi just for that panel). In anticipation of this, Takahashi also created two special Yu-Gi-Oh! chapters called TRANSCEND GAME, bridging the gap between the original series and the new movie; these chapters have since been translated to English by Viz Media, distributed in the English version of Weekly Shonen Jump (the December 19^th, 2016 and January 2^nd, 2017 issues in particular, for those who are curious).

Though the movie was released in Japan in time for the 20^th anniversary, it was not until recently that the movie began a limited theatrical run in the US; due to circumstance, I had to view this movie at the rather luxurious iPic theater, though this did not affect my thoughts on the movie itself. There was also a special card handed out to movie-goers, a (tournament-legal) Gold Rare Obelisk the Tormentor. Overall, I thought the movie was a good expansion on the original story and a worthy celebration of the franchise.

One year after the events of the original anime (six months after the original manga in the Japanese version), Seto Kaiba (Eric Stuart) is working on a new design for the Duel Disk, while at the same time looking for a way to once again duel Atem. Meanwhile, Yugi Muto (Dan Green), Joey Wheeler (Wayne Grayson), Tristan Taylor (Greg Abbey), Téa Gardner (Amy Birnbaum) and Bakura Ryou (Ted Lewis) are contemplating their plans after graduating High School. At school, they meet a boy named Aigami (Daniel J. Edwards), whom they simultaneously do and do not remember meeting before. It isn’t long before Aigami begins using the power of a mysterious artifact to further his desire to reshape the world and prevent the re-awakening of Atem.

L-R: Téa Gardner (Amy Birnbaum), Yugi Muto (Dan Green), Bakura Ryou (Ted Lewis),
Joey Wheeler (Wayne Grayson), Tristan Taylor (Greg Abbey) discuss their graduation.

For what it is, the story is actually pretty easy to follow, though it generally assumes you are already a Yu-Gi-Oh! fan who is familiar with the original story. Seto Kaiba seems to be the one actually taking central focus this time, rather than Yugi Muto, although Yugi’s contributions to the story show that he is certainly not forgotten. Those who are fans may need to explain the story for uninitiated viewers, though the 10-minute extra included with the Bonds Beyond Time Blu-ray does an effective job of explaining some of the major canon events prior to the Millennium World Arc.

The new character and main antagonist Aigami gets more of a fleshed-out backstory than some prior movie-exclusive villains, a result of his increased screen time in the 2-hour feature, which also includes back-stories of a handful of other new characters. Some other new characters only exist in the movie as a form of cannon fodder for Aigami’s abilities, and so we do not really get to know that much about them aside from some very basic information. In spite of any shortcomings, the movie can get really funny in places, both in dialogue and in some visual aspects, and it can also get a little emotional at some points for longtime fans of the series.

Though the movie is stated on the official Yu-Gi-Oh! website to take place after the anime by Studio Gallop, fans of the manga can get a bonus out of being able to spot some minor cameos from characters who never appeared in said anime, which is evidence of the original intention of taking place after the manga. A running element is Joey’s attachment to his Duel Disk, which seems to take more after the design of the Duel Disk in the manga, where it was one solid piece, although this is muddied a little by an appearance from the anime-style Duel Disk, which had the ability to fold into a more compact shape. This, however, is only a minor tidbit in the grand scheme of things.

Seto Kaiba (Eric Stuart) will go to great lengths to get another
chance to Duel Atem.

The Duels in the movie are presented spectacularly, especially since the cards are actually translated into English, similarly to the Yu-Gi-Oh! movie Pyramid of Light, except with card text closer to that of the wording style in the real-world Trading Card Game as of the movie’s release. The only way to get a good look at the card text, though, would be to be able to pause the movie in any future home video release, though this I felt was a nice touch, as was the fact that Duelists start off with 8000 Life Points (LP) like in the real-world game, as opposed to the 2000 or 4000 LP rule used in most iterations of Yu-Gi-Oh! fiction. While the normal style of Dueling is still present, a new style of Dueling is introduced known as Dimension Dueling, which is used exclusively in Duels involving Aigami. While the concept is interesting, the pacing of a Dimension Duel admittedly gets a little muddy at times, especially on Aigami’s part.

The animation is some of the best ever seen in Yu-Gi-Oh!, making the Duels themselves a true spectacle. The CG used for some monsters is also improved over what can be seen in the anime or Bonds Beyond Time, blending in better with the traditionally-animated elements. A highlight is also Kaiba’s new Duel Disks, at times seeming influenced by and improving upon the designs seen in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal spin-off series. Kaiba’s new Duel Disk in particular, featuring virtual cards, is animated amazingly well, standing out against all other Duel Disks seen in the series thus far (as of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V spin-off).

The sound design is really good, particularly with the sounds made during Duels. Returning characters share the same voice actors they had in the 4Kids dub of the original anime, which works well for consistency, and they put out great performances that display a refined experience with their characters, especially Dan Green and Eric Stuart as Yugi and Kaiba respectively. Daniel J. Edwards does a good job voicing antagonist Aigami, displaying a good range with the character and capturing his emotions throughout the course of the feature. The background music is also good, although a highlight would be the new mix of the English Yu-Gi-Oh! Theme that plays during the credits.

Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Dark Side of Dimensions is a well-executed continuation of the original story, though it was definitely made with Yu-Gi-Oh! fans in mind. The film has one of the best examples of Yu-Gi-Oh! animation to date, and the plot and action are relatively straight-forward, with the exception of the Dimension Duel concept. The callbacks to the original manga provide an interesting touch, plus the returning voice actors do a good job in reflecting how much their characters have changed in the intervening period of time in-universe. Those who are uninitiated may get lost, especially during the actual Duels, and so may need a short explanation of preceding (original series) Yu-Gi-Oh! lore before going in. Those who are longtime fans of the series should definitely check out the two TRANSCEND GAME chapters as well, as they provide some insight into the exploits of Seto Kaiba preceding the events of the movie proper.

Yu-Gi-Oh! 3D: Bonds Beyond Time

For those who are unaware, Yu-Gi-Oh! is a popular anime and manga series created by Kazuki Takahashi in 1996 which follows a boy named Yugi Muto on his journey to uncover the mysterious past of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh who resides within the Millenium Puzzle, an artifact which hangs around his neck. Throughout the course of the series, Yugi fights a number of villains through the Duel Monsters card game, with each duel bringing new challenges to overcome. Since the conclusion of the original Yu-Gi-Oh! series, a number of spin-off series were produced in an effort to continue promoting the official Trading Card Game: Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s, Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal and, currently, Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc-V.

Yu-Gi-Oh! is also no stranger to film. The first film, known as Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie, was exclusively released in Japan in 1999 and based on a Japanese-only Yu-Gi-Oh! series animated by Toei Animation, a series nicknamed “Season 0” by fans. The second film, Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light, released in 2004 and marketed in the US as Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Movie, was based on the more well-known Yu-Gi-Oh! anime produced by Studio Gallop and Nihon Ad Systems and remains ambiguously canon. In 2010, a third movie subtitled Bonds Beyond Time was released in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime adaptation and serves as a crossover between the first three Yu-Gi-Oh! series. In the US, the film received a limited theatrical release in 2011 with 10 minutes of additional footage to give some backstory on the three main characters and an exclusive Malefic Red-Eyes Black Dragon card distributed to theatergoers. We had first seen Bonds Beyond Time in 3D during this run and, in anticipation of a screening of a fourth Yu-Gi-Oh! movie, The Dark Side of Dimensions, decided to view it again, this time at home on a Blu-ray.

As Yusei Fudo (Greg Abbey) contemplates the state of New Domino City, two of his friends, Jack Atlas (Ted Lewis) and Crow Hogan (Tom Wayland), challenge him to a duel to cheer him up. While the three of the them ride on a bridge, a mysterious man named Paradox (Sean Schemmel) shows up and steals Yusei’s ace card, Stardust Dragon, before disappearing into the past. Using the power of the Crimson Dragon, Yusei travels back into the past and rescues Jaden Yuki (Matthew Charles) from Paradox before the two of them travel back further to rescue Yugi Muto (Dan Green) from a dark fate. The three duelists then face off against Paradox in a duel to determine the fate of both the Duel Monsters card game and the world.

L-R: Yami Yugi (Dan Green), Yusei Fudo (Greg Abbey) and
Jaden Yuki (Matthew Charles) about to face off against Paradox.

Since the movie is short, clocking in at about 50 minutes, the story is pretty simple and the plot is fairly easy to follow. However, it does rely heavily on viewers already having familiarity with the three main duelists and their adventures, though mainly Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s, to make the most sense. As such, viewers who are not familiar with the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise may get easily lost in trying to understand the character relationships and the unnecessarily complicated card game, the latter of which a seasoned fan will more easily be able to follow. An additional ten minutes of footage explaining Yugi, Jaden and Yusei’s backstories can be viewed as a bonus feature on the Blu-ray, but it still may not help the uninitiated that much.

Fans of the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise may also want to know that this movie is actually canon, specifically to Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s, as Paradox and his exploits are relevant to a future arc of the series. For those who are wondering, the movie takes place between episodes 80 and 86 of 5D’s.

As for the actual duel, it’s a rare opportunity to see characters from across multiple series duel with each other, much less with the fate of the world at stake at the same time. However, the main heroes seem to fairly easily retain control over the duel despite the best efforts of Paradox. Despite this, it’s entertaining and a good chance to see fan-favorite cards interacting with each other. In addition, the interactions between the heroes occasionally produces some good humor.

Due to the increased budget of this movie, it has higher quality animation compared to the anime series it’s based on. Character and card animations and movements are much smoother and the quality is more consistent. While most of the movie uses traditional animation, there are some moments when CG animation is used, though it is pretty obvious when placed against the traditional elements, particularly when applied to the monsters. This creates a temporary visual contrast that can take one out of the moment, but fortunately these moments are infrequent enough they don’t detract from the overall experience.

As for the voice acting, the dub uses the 4Kids voice actors that viewers have come to associate with their respective characters. Whatever one’s opinion of 4Kids may be, the four most prominent voices, Greg Abbey as Yusei Fudo, Sean Schemmel as Paradox, Matthew Charles as Jaden Yuki and Dan Green as both Yugi Muto and Yami Yugi, do a pretty good job with their respective characters and display their chemistry with each other well. At the same time, since I personally had watched each season of Yu-Gi-Oh! for several years, I can’t imagine the idea of anyone else doing these voices.

Sean Schemmel voices the villainous Paradox.

The music choice is also pretty interesting. While there does appear to be an original score in places, the dub makes a pretty neat choice with incorporating music from the Duel Monsters, GX and 5D’s seasons of the show whenever the character from that series is most prominent in a given scene. For instance, when Jaden attacks with a monster during his turn, music from Yu-Gi-Oh! GX plays in the background. The music during the credits even consists of the dub themes from each of the three versions of the series, which can double as a nostalgia bomb for anyone who grew up watching these characters in action.

On a final note, I remember the 3D version during the limited theatrical run having a pretty effective use of the technology. Unfortunately, a 3D copy on home video is hard to come by, so we had to view it through a 2D Blu-ray. On the upside, it also includes the original Japanese version with subtitles, which some people may find attractive.

Yu-Gi-Oh! 3D: Bonds Beyond Time is an enjoyable movie for fans of the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise. Its straightforward plot and dramatic duel make for a decent addition to the canon of the spin-off material and is excellent fanservice for fans who have wanted to see their favorite characters and cards interact with each other against an original, though not very fleshed out, villain. While it is easy to recommend to fans, it would be very difficult for the uninitiated to follow along with the central duel, let alone care about the story or characters. In that case, it may be worth trying to view the bonus feature on the Blu-ray for some semblance of an explanation as to who Yugi, Jaden and Yusei are, but its effectiveness is not guaranteed.

Stubs - The Girl From Mexico

The Girl From Mexico (1939) Starring: Lupe Vélez, Donald Woods, Leon Errol, Linda Hayes, Donald MacBride, Edward Raquello, Elisabeth Risdon, Ward Bond Director: Leslie Goodwins. Screenplay by Lionel Houser, Joseph Fields Producer: Robert Sisk Runtime: 71 minutes USA Comedy

If you’re a friend of the TV show Fraiser or have read Hollywood Babylon by Kenneth Anger, you have no doubt heard of Lupe Velez, but not for her acting. Rumor has it that with her career waning, Lupe wanted to commit suicide in such a way that she would be forever remembered, you know, make an impression on the way out. She took seconal and then, in her best dress, lay down on the rose petal covered bed and waited for death. But the spicy Mexican meal that she had chosen for her last meal didn’t agree with her. She managed to get out of bed, but on the way to the bathroom, she tripped, hit her head and was found dead in the toilet. While it might make for a great story, that is all it is.

Still, having heard the story made me interested in seeing her act and when The Girl From Mexico played on TCM, I got my chance to see Lupe in action.

The Girl From Mexico has B-movie written all over it. A low-budget offering from RKO, the film is just one more example that not every film released in Hollywood’s Golden Year was up to the standards of Gone With The Wind or The Wizard of Oz or even Gunga Din.

The story revolves around Dennis Lindsey (Donald Woods), an advertising executive who is sent to Mexico to find a singer for one of his company’s client's radio shows. He is not the first one sent down and he is anxious to please his boss, L. B. Renner (Donald MacBride), even if his fiancée, Elizabeth Price (Linda Hayes), is not happy about it.

But things don’t go as planned. On his way to see one singer, Dennis’ car breaks down in a small town. Without parts to fix his car, Dennis is stuck. That night, at a local festival, he hears the hot-tempered Carmelita Fuentes (Lupe Velez) sing and offers to take her to New York and fame and fortune. But Carmelita doesn’t want to leave. Finally, Carmelita, after several incendiary confrontations with Dennis, accedes to her family's wishes and signs a singing contract with him. After Dennis promises to look after her welfare in New York and puts up a $10,000 bond, she accompanies him back home.

He invites her to stay with him as well as his aunt Della (Elisabeth Risdon), who has moved in with him to help get him ready for the upcoming wedding. And along with aunt Della comes uncle Matt (Leon Errol), a rather shiftless sort who makes fast friends with Carmelita. Meanwhile, Carmelita has decided to steal him from his fiancée.

Although Dennis tells her to stay home on the day before her audition, Carmelita persuades Uncle Matt to take her to a baseball game and a wrestling match, where she loses her voice cheering on wrestler Mexican Pete (Ward Bond). During the match, Mexican Pete ends up sitting in her lap at ringside and a newspaper photographer snaps a photo.

Carmelita cheers on Mexican Pete (Ward Bond) at a wrestling match.

The next day at her audition, despite uncle Matt’s attempts to help, Carmelita’s voice croaks, causing the sponsor to cancel the show and Dennis great embarrassment. When the photo of Mexican Pete and Carmelita comes out, Dennis questions her about it. To cover for Uncle Matt, Carmelita tells Dennis that she was out with an unnamed man, prompting Dennis to threaten to send her back to Mexico.

Uncle Matt (Leon Errol) tries to help Carmelita get her voice back before her big audition.

Angry Carmelita blames Mexican Pete for her bad luck and goes to a restaurant that the wrestler owns. But Mexican Pete offers her a job in his nightclub as compensation.

Meanwhile, Renner and his wife and Dennis and Elizabeth are out entertaining a new and divorced client, Tony Romano (Edward Raquello), at the same club. Romano is so impressed by Carmelita's performance that he hires her to advertise his perfume. As the night progresses, Elizabeth becomes jealous of Dennis' attention to Carmelita and Dennis becomes jealous of Romano's attention to Carmelita.

Dennis (Donald Woods) pays too much attention to Carmelita at Mexican Pete's cantina.

After the performance, Carmelita escapes with Uncle Matt and the two of them stay out all night at the six-day bike races then going on in New York. (An NYC six-day bike race was also featured in 1933's International House, so it was a real thing.) When they get home the next morning, Dennis has been waiting up for her. Carmelita leads Dennis to believe that she was out with Romano, so as not to implicate uncle Matt and to make Dennis jealous.

Carmelita uses Romano's perfume in prep for Dennis' arrival.

While at a photo session for the perfume at Romano's house, Carmelita calls Dennis and tells him that she is thinking of moving in with Romano. When Dennis decides to leave his own wedding rehearsal to rescue Carmelita, Elizabeth breaks off their engagement. Dennis rushes to Romano's house to defend her honor, and after an altercation with Romano, Dennis scoops up Carmelita and carries her to the altar.

Dennis breaks off his own engagement to save Carmelita.

When the film was released on June 2, 1939, it was a surprise hit. At the time the film was made, RKO had no plans to make a series out of it, but its success led to a sequel, Mexican Spitfire (1940) and a series of films starring Lupe: The Mexican Spitfire's Baby (1941), Mexican Spitfire at Sea (1942), Mexican Spitfire Sees a Ghost (1942), Mexican Spitfire's Elephant (1942) and Mexican Spitfire's Blessed Event (1943).

Having seen the film, it’s hard to imagine why it was a hit. While Lupe Velez may have had talent, the character she played was loud and annoying and hard to take. It’s hard to know how much of it was the actress or the script, but no matter, I can’t see why anyone would want to see more of the same.

The story is also as bad as it is predictable. This is one of those films, and there are many, where the couple falls in love only because it is in the script. There is no chemistry, no development or obvious attraction that would lead them to the altar. While Elizabeth is no real prize herself, she's rather a cold fish, she and Dennis do seem to have some history that Dennis is all too quick to throw away for a woman he barely knows and who is wildly annoying. But the script says he falls in love with Carmelita, so he does.

To call Donald Woods bland would be doing a disservice to plain yogurt. His uninspired acting is the perfect blank slate for the vivacious Velez to dance all over. He doesn’t add much more than a fairly good-looking actor who had blood in his veins and was available. He would be gone from the Mexican Spitfire series after Mexican Spitfire Out West.

It is interesting that the relationship with Uncle Matt would be the best one in the film, which isn’t saying much, and would eventually become the focus of the Mexican Spitfire series. The actors playing her husband Dennis would change, but Leon Errol would become a staple.

The Australian-born Errol has Vaudeville routine written all over him in this film, so it’s no surprise that he had spent time on the circuit. After moving to America, he got involved with not only performing but also management, giving an early boost to a young comedian, Roscoe Arbuckle.

His flirtation with movies began in the silent era, but it wasn’t until 1930 that he gave up Broadway for films, working for Samuel Goldwyn, Columbia Pictures, Warner Bros. and RKO, where he would make six shorts a year from 1934 until his death in 1951. While he’s not as off-putting as Velez is, a little Errol seems to go a long way.

The teaming of Leon Errol with Lupe would last
 through the run of  Mexican Spitfire movies.

Lupe Velez, born María Guadalupe Villalobos Vélez in 1908, had been a fixture in the Pre-Code party days of Hollywood. She was a regular at the Garden of Allah, a famous hotel known for having the same sort of reputation the Chateau Marmont has today. She had begun on the Mexican stage performing in revues. The recommendation of Frank A. Woodyard to stage director Richard Bennett, brought her to Los Angeles to appear as a Mexican cantina singer in his play The Dove. But she arrived too late and was replaced in the role.

But while in Los Angeles, she made the acquaintance of comedian Fanny Brice, who was quite taken with her. Brice recommended her to Flo Ziegfeld, who hired her to perform in his New York City club. As she was preparing to leave, she got a phone call from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer producer Harry Rapf, who offered her a screen test. That screen test was seen by Hal Roach, who hired her to perform in the Laurel and Hardy comedy short Sailors, Beware! (1927).

She would go on to appear in The Gaucho (1927) opposite Douglas Fairbanks and Wolf Song (1929) opposite Gary Cooper, both were silent. One of the first successful Mexican actresses in Hollywood, she was often typecast as a hot-tempered Latin woman, known as The Mexican Spitfire. She successfully made the transition to sound and was featured in many Pre-Code films, including playing Naturich in Cecile B. DeMille’s 1931 remake of The Squaw Man. She would eventually find a place in comedies playing beautiful but volatile characters. As time went on and her star dimmed, Velez would drift into B-Pictures, like this one and the series of related films that followed. She would make 13 films after The Girl From Mexico, so her suicide at age 36 had little to do with her career tanking; she seemed to be working steadily.

Instead, it was love gone wrong and perhaps undiagnosed bi-polarity that led her to take her own life. The former wife of Tarzan’s Johnny Weissmuller, she began to date a struggling young Austrian actor named Harald Maresch (aka Harald Ramond) in 1944. In September, she discovered she was pregnant by Ramond and announced their engagement in November. But that only lasted until December 10, when she announced their engagement was off and he had moved out of her house.

Harald Ramond and Lupe together in happier times.

On the night of December 13, Velez dined with her friends, actress Estelle Taylor and Benita Oakie from 9 pm to 3:30 am the next day. When she retired to her room, she consumed the 75 seconal pills and a glass of brandy, after leaving a suicide note. Apparently, after they had broken up, Ramond having told her he was only marrying her to “give the baby a name,” Velez didn’t see any other way out. A devout Catholic, she couldn’t have an abortion and so she took her own life.

Not being an expert on Velez, I have read that at the end of her last Spitfire film, Mexican Spitfire's Blessed Event, released five months before her suicide, Carmelita and her husband Dennis, then played by actor Walter Reed, learn that she is pregnant. It is ironic that her own would lead to suicide.

Carmelita and Dennis (Walter Reed) learn they are expecting in Mexican Spitfire's Blessed Event,
the last in the series of  films inspired by the success of The Girl From Mexico.

While her life came to a very sad end, that was five years away when this film was made and is no excuse to watch it now. I have no idea if any of the films from the sequel series were any better, but it is hard to imagine they could be any worse. The Girl From Mexico is almost unwatchable unless you’re a die-hard fan of Lupe Velez, and I’m doubtful there are many of those around these days if there ever were.