Cinderella Stories Double Feature - Cinderella and Sally

We venture into the world of fairy tale tonight for this entry. The tale of the scullery maid who makes good can be found as far back as ancient times; variations abound in nearly every country in the world, from China to Canada. Disney's animated retelling from 1951 is as straightforward a Cinderella as you can get, and is likely the first movie many think of when this story comes to mind. Sally is the tale of a very modern New York cinder girl from 1929. Whether in animation or early Technicolor, does the old story still hold up after all these years? Let's find out...

Cinderella

Disney, 1950

Voices of Ilene Woods, Jimmy MacDonald, Eleanor Audley, and Verna Felton

Directed by Hamilton Luske, Wilfred Jackson, and Clyde Geronimi

Music and Lyrics by Mack David, Al Hoffman, and Jerry Livingston

The Story: Cinderella (Woods) is the abused and put-upon servant in the house of her intimidating stepmother Lady Tremaine (Audley) and her spoiled and shrill daughters Anastasia (Lucile Bliss) and Drizella (Rhoda Williams). She's happiest when she's befriending the mice and other animals in the household, including plump Gus (MacDonald) and slender and clever Jaq (also MacDonald). Meanwhile, the King (Luis Van Rooten) holds a ball so his son the Prince (William Phipps) can find a bride. The mice try to help Cinderella get to the ball by fixing up an old dress for her, but the angry and jealous stepsisters destroy their work. Cindy thinks it's all over...until a kindly old woman who calls herself her fairy godmother (Fenton) uses magic to fix her outfit, create a coach, and make her wildest dreams come true. 

She makes it to the ball and enchants the prince, but loses one of her glass slippers when she leaves. The cunning Lady Tremaine will do everything in her power to make sure that Cinderella can't get to try on that slipper...but her animal friends haven't forgotten her.

The Animation: Disney was under severe financial strain in the late 40's after a series of flops. They threw everything they had at the time into this one, and it shows. While not as ambitious as some of its movies of the 30's and early 40's, this is still some nice work, with soft pastel colors illuminating its romantic story. I love the characters' expressions, especially on Cinderella, Lady Tremaine, and Lucifer the cat. 

The Song and Dance: Cinderella is one of my favorite Disney princesses. Though many wouldn't consider her to be as take-charge as later animated ladies like Belle and Tiana, she's not as accepting of her obnoxious family as either the narration or the story would have it. She can be quite sarcastic behind her stepfamily's back and with the mice. Lady Tremaine is one of Disney's best villains, cunning, domineering, and cold as ice. The King and the Grand Duke have a few amusing moments, especially when the Duke has to explain to the King that the girl at the ball ran off. The mice also have their moments, mainly in the first half of the film, where much of the emphasis is on them and their antics with Lucifer.

Favorite Number: "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo," the fairy godmother's song, was Oscar-nominated, and is one of my favorite comic Disney numbers. The effects animation as she transforms Cinderella, her animal friends, and the pumpkin for the ball is still fairly well-done. Probably the most famous number is Cindy's opening song, her wistful "A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" with the animals, which gives us a perfect glimpse of her optimistic character. I also like Cinderella and the Prince's duet at the ball, "So This Is Love," and "Sing Sweet Nightingale," which Cindy performs while doing her chores as nicely animated bubbles cascade around her.

Trivia: Turns out Disney was right to throw their hopes into this movie. Cinderella was a massive hit at the box office, one of the blockbusters of 1950, and continues to be one of their most popular animated films to this day. It was also one of their biggest hits on VHS; the original home video release in 1988 would be the best-selling video of all time until ET: The Extra Terrestrial came out a year later. 

It was such a huge hit that the money from the movie (including record and merchandising sales) would later go on to help fund not only their other animated and live-action films, but the creation of Disneyland and Walt Disney World as well. 

What I Don't Like: Although cat-and-mouse chases in the beginning can be funny, they also go on for too long and really don't have much to do with the story. The Prince was to have had a larger role, but it was cut down over the years this was in production until he barely appears and has no personality whatsoever. And though Cindy is an improvement on the princesses who bookend her (Snow White and Aurora), she's still a bit on the passive side for many audiences today.

The Big Finale: Although the non-musical 2015 remake is good, this is the one you'll want to look for. It's one of my favorite Disney movies, featuring one of their most iconic princesses. If you have princess-lovers, Disney fans, or fairy tale nuts in your family, this is an absolute must-see.

Home Media: The DVD and Blu-Ray are out-of-print and expensive in the US at press time. Your best bet may be to check eBay or other used venues. 

DVD

Sally

Warner Bros, 1929

Starring Marilyn Miller, Alexander Gray, Joe E. Brown, and T. Roy Barnes

Directed by John Francis Dillon

Music by Jerome Kern and others

The Story: Sally Green (Miller) has a few big dreams of her own. She may be a waitress at a Manhattan diner, but what she really wants to do is dance. She spends her time working on her routines and flirting with handsome and wealthy Blair Farrell (Gray) through windows when she should be paying attention to her job. After she accidentally drops food on theatrical agent Otis Hooper (Barnes), she's fired and gets another job at a nightclub as a bus girl. There, she reconnects with Blair and befriends Connie (Brown), a former duke who had to flee his country and is now a waiter. 

Blair convinces the owner Pops (Ford Sterling) to let Sally dance. Otis and his girlfriend Rosie (Pert Kelton) catch her act and convince her to pass herself off as a famous Russian dancer at the party for Connie's society friend Mrs. Tenbrock. All goes well at the party...until Pops rushes in and reveals the deception, and Sally learns that Blair is already engaged to a debutante (Nora Lane). Sally's heartbroken, even after Otis gets her a star spot in the Ziegfeld Follies. It doesn't take a fairy godmother to make Sally's biggest wish come true, just the intervention of a few of her friends...

The Song and Dance: Miller was one of the biggest stars on Broadway in the 1920's, and here we see why. She's not really an actress and is only a so-so singer, but something special happens when she dances. While she's not technically perfect, she obviously loves what she's doing and is magnetic while doing it. You can understand why Warners apparently paid her at least $100,000 to star in this and another girl-makes-good tale from the stage, Sunny. Other stand-outs include deadpan Kelton and Gray as warm and likable Blair.

Favorite Number: Two dance routines seen here are the grandparents of many a number in subsequent films. Miller and Brown's comic duet to "Look for the Silver Lining" is energetic and hilarious, with the two of them jumping around and goofing off and obviously having a whale of a time. 

Sally was originally filmed entirely in color. The color footage has since been lost...except for most the "Wild Rose" chorus song with Miller swirling around men in tuxedos. The number is already a delight, but the delicate peaches and soft greens add a note of almost Wizard-of-Oz-like fantasy to the sequence. (And for some reason, the sound improves during the color scenes, too.)

What I Don't Like: This is still very much an early talkie production. Most of the other songs besides a huge ballet in the finale are performed flat, and the color makeup seen in black and white makes everyone look like odd China dolls. The story is even more cliche than in the Disney Cinderella, and Miller is less fun and more stiff when she's not dancing. Brown keeps up with her well enough in "Look For the Silver Lining," but he's definitely out of place as a duke who has been run out of his country. 

The Big Finale: I've fallen in love with this since I first saw it on TCM in the early 2000's, but it's not for everyone. If you can handle the archaic comedy and early-talkie stiffness, you may want to look for the silver lining with Sally, too. 

Home Media: One of the earliest Warner Archives releases, easily found at Amazon.com, Warners' web site, and elsewhere. 

DVD

Till the Clouds Roll By

MGM, 1946
Starring Robert Walker, Van Heflin, Lucile Bremer, and Judy Garland
Directed by Richard Whorf (with Vincent Minnelli, among others, uncredited)
Music by Jerome Kern; Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein, Dorothy Fields, and others

This is the first of four biographies of beloved composers of the first half of the 20th century that MGM released between 1946 and 1954. Jerome Kern is best known today for writing the music for Show Boat and several jazz and pop standards, but he also wrote everything from spectaculars to operettas to intimate romantic comedies with music. Can an all-star cast bring Kern's story and songs to life, or will the be more than a few clouds raining on this huge production? Let's find out...

The Story: We begin in 1927, with the debut of Kern's most famous musical, Show Boat. After a 20-minute mini-version, Kern tells his life story in flashback to an interested cab driver.  Kern seeks out Hessler (Heflin), a music arranger and lyricist, in the early 1900's to help him touch up a song he's working on. Kern and Hessler become close friends; Kern's considered by Hessler's daughter Sally (Joan Wells) to be an uncle. Hessler's off to England to work on a "big, important" symphony he keeps trying to write. Kern follows, in the hope of impressing American producer Charles Frohman (Harry Hayden) with his work. Not only does he catch Frohman's eye with one of his numbers, but he falls in love with Eva (Dorothy Patrick), an English beauty he meets when he works on a song in her father's tavern.

Kern reluctantly returns to the US to see his first song in a major musical, the ballad "They Didn't Believe Me" from The Girl From Utah. He does eventually marry Eva and mostly goes from success to success after that, especially after World War I makes home-grown talent and stories more attractive on Broadway. His most popular hit was the smash vehicle for beloved stage star Marilyn Miller (Garland) Sally. Sally Hessler (Lucile Bremer as an adult) is now old enough for the stage, but when she throws a fit because Miller gets a big song instead of her in the show Sunny, she runs away. Kern spends years looking for her. It's not until he finally scouts her out dancing in a nightclub that he's able to join Oscar Hammerstein (Paul Langdon) in creating the music for Show Boat and many other films and shows in the 1930's and early 40's.

The Song and Dance: The movie starts strong, with the twenty-minute version of Show Boat that seems to be something of a warm-up for MGM's early-50's remake. Cheery Walker and gruff Heflin are so warm and funny together, they make the first half a pleasure to watch. The scene where Kern meets Eva after walking into her house and playing her piano is awkwardly adorable. (It's also one of the few events in the film based after real-life. Evidently, Kern really did meet Eva when he walked into her father's tavern and started practicing his music.)

Favorite Number: The musical numbers are really the thing here, and are probably the only reason to see this. Lena Horne's touching "Can't Help Lovin' That Man" makes you regret that MGM passed her up for the 1951 Show Boat. Virginia O'Brian gets to perform two of my favorite comic Kern songs, "Life Upon the Wicked Stage" and in the finale, "A Fine Romance." Dinah Shore delivers gorgeous performances of two of Kern's best ballads, "The Last Time I Saw Paris" and "They Didn't Believe Me." Britisher Angela Lansbury brings a bit of the real England to "How'd Ya Like to Spoon Wit' Me?" June Allyson headlines the hilarious "Cleopatterer" and the spirited title song. Garland gives a us glimpse of Marilyn Miller's actual performance style in the scarves-and-boys routine "Who?"

For all the memorable chorus numbers, my favorite song is the duet "I Won't Dance" for Bremer and Van Johnson, who bring down the house with their energetic and delightful routine. No wonder Kern thought Sally was in good hands.

Trivia: This was begun in 1945, with Kern's input. After he died in November of that year, it was delayed several months and dedicated to him.

Till the Clouds Roll By is in the public domain. Cheap copies can still be found fairly easily on DVD and video.

Though it did relatively well in 1946, it still barely made a profit due to the long production and high cost.

What I Don't Like: The second half is where things flag. No amount of manufactured drama between Sally and Marilyn Miller can cover up the fact that Kern was pretty much went from hit to hit for most of the rest of his life. This is where you start to understand why many critics in the 40's complained about this feeling phony and overly sentimental. Walker, as warm and laid-back as he is with Heflin, is really too laid-back to suggest a driven musician. The movie may almost be too big, with too many stars and huge chorus numbers overwhelming the thin story. The finale, despite some good performances, is just too much - and ending with a skinny young Sinatra comes off as silly rather than reverent.

The Big Finale: The numbers and stars alone make this worth checking out for fans of the big MGM musicals of the 40's and 50's.

Home Media: Avoid all those public domain discs that litter eBay and Amazon. The one you want to look for is MGM's official DVD, released in 2006.

DVD

Cult Flops Double Feature - Man of La Mancha and The Fantasticks

Tonight folks, I'm launching a new feature at the blog, where I review the occasional flop that deserves a second look. Case in point, these two major bombs. While their subject matter is vastly different, they have a lot more in common than you might think on the surface. Both feature casts with widely varying takes on the material, went through troubled productions, were distributed by United Artists, point out the harsh reality behind romantic facades, and had the misfortune to debut during time periods when musicals were largely out of fashion. La Mancha was a bomb during the 1972 Christmas season; Fantasticks was filmed in 1995, but didn't make it to a smattering of theaters until 2000. Do they deserve the notoriety, or are these darkly fanciful tales diamonds in the rough? Let's look and see...

Man of La Mancha
United Artists, 1972
Starring Peter O'Toole, Sophia Loren, James Coco, and Harry Andrews
Directed by Arthur Hiller
Music by Mitch Leigh, Lyrics by Joe Darion

The Story: Author and playwright Cervantes (O'Toole) and his faithful manservant (Coco) are brought into prison for writing a play that offended the Spanish Inquisition. The head of the prisoners (Andrews) grabs his manuscript and says they'll hold a trial to see if it's author is worthy of having it returned. Cervantes' testimony is the tale of Don Quixote (also O'Toole), an insane nobleman who believes he's a knight-errant who must right wrongs, and his servant Sancho Panza (Coco) is a squire. The head of the prisoners becomes the Innkeeper; the other prisoners are the old nobleman's family, who are determined to bring him home and show him what the world is really like.

Quixote admires a serving wench at the inn (and in the actual prison) who is really named Aldonza, but whom he declares to be his lady fair and true love Dulcinea. Aldonza doesn't know what to make of him at first, especially when the drunks at the inn (and prisoners) attack her later in the film. After a trick with mirrors makes Quixote realize just how harsh life is, it takes Aldonza and Sancho to remind him that everyone has an "impossible dream." Some of us are just better at making them come true than others.

The Song and Dance: Peter O'Toole was appropriately over-the-top as Cervantes/Don Quixote, in a performance somewhat reminiscent of his aging movie star in My Favorite Year. Coco was also good as his comic sidekick, and I liked Andrews as the disbelieving prisoner/innkeeper. The widescreen cinematography shows off a dusty, earthy Italy, who's flat yellow plains bring some surprisingly gritty realism to this semi-fantastical tale. The book even restores a sequence from the original novel (the part after Quixote's family arrives about the people who were supposedly turned into statues) that the show cut out. The shabbiness of the scenery and windmill and Quixote's armor is also directly from the book.

Favorite Number: This is the show that gave us the standard "The Impossible Dream," and it does come off pretty well here as Quixote uses it to explain why he's doing what he does. Some of the other songs are even better. Coco's "I Really Like Him," sung to Aldonza in the inn's courtyard, is really quite touching. "I'm Only Thinking of Him," with Quixote's sister Antonia (Julie Gregg) and their housekeeper (Rosalie Cruchley) complaining about his antics to a "padre" (Ian Richardson), is a simple number performed by actual singers in the dungeon, rather than the "imagined" world, and it's the funniest song in the film. The chorus reprise of "Dulcinea" and "Little Bird, Little Bird" are well-staged with exuberant choreography by Gillian Lynne (who would later go on to do Cats).

What I Don't Like: O'Toole was dubbed (by Simon Gilbert), and it does show, especially when his syncing is off during "Impossible Dream." Loren probably should have been dubbed as well. She does no justice to "Aldonza" and "It's All the Same" and sleepwalks through a role that should have been fiery and passionate.

This is not the musical for you if you want to look at pretty scenery. The colors are all muted browns and yellows and grays, even out on the plains of La Mancha, and the sets and costumes are all either dilapidated or dark and dreary (which, to be fair, is actually a reflection of the original novel). The original idea of a "show within a show" and the switching back and forth between the "real" inmates and the "fictional" Quixote and his world feels awkward and odd, and probably comes off better on the stage.

The Big Finale: Not a great musical, but not quite as horrible as many critics claim. I enjoyed some of the numbers and O'Toole and Coco enough that I didn't mind the rental, but it's ultimately too dreary to be a frequent favorite. Worth checking out at least once if you're a fan of O'Toole or prefer your musicals on the darker side.

Home Media: The solo DVD  is out of print at press time. Your best bet is the Blu-Ray or the 2-movie set with The Fantasticks (see that movie below).
DVD
Blu-Ray

The Fantasticks
United Artists, 1995 (Released in 2000)
Starring Joel Gray, Brad Sullivan, Jean Louisa Kelly, and Joey McIntyre
Directed by Michael Richie
Music by Harvey Schmidt, Lyrics by Tom Jones

The Story: Here's another tale of fantasy and illusion, this time set in the American Midwest of the mid-20th century. Romantic Louisa (Kelly) and dreamy Matt (McIntyre) think that a wall and their feuding fathers are keeping them apart. Actually, Louisa's dad Amos (Gray) and Matt's dad (Sullivan) are using the wall to try to trick them into marrying and getting out of their respective homes. They go to a performance troupe at a local carnival and implore their leader El Gallo (Johnathon Morris) to stage an "abduction" of Louisa and make her swain look like a hero. He and his bumbling players, including the mute Mortimer (Teller, of Penn and Teller fame), do kidnap Louisa and bring her to the carnival, and all goes perfectly as planned, bringing the lovers together.

It works too well. Now that the wall is down and the kids are allowed to love freely, they're just bored. Matt goes off in search of adventure. Louisa finds adventure with El Gallo, who uses a mask to show her an idealized world. Their ideals come crashing down in the end, when they're both left alone on the road...and realize that their idealized romance has deepened into a far more mature understanding of what love really is.

The Song and Dance: The colorful sets and endless vistas of the Midwest in the 20th century enliven this sweet and delicate tale. Kelly has a lovely singing voice and makes a plaintive and adorable Louisa, while Gray and Sullivan do just fine as their frustrated fathers. Everything is big and beautiful and magical, especially in the rainbow-shaded carnival and during the gorgeous "Soon It's Gonna Rain" duet.

Favorite Number: "Soon It's Gonna Rain" is as dreamy as title storm, with a lovely melody and a nice little dance for the lovers. "Never Say No," the number for the dads as they complain about their kids not listening to them, was written specifically for this movie, and it's kind of fun. The other standard from this one is the haunting ballad "Try to Remember." It's performed touchingly by Morris to a montage of Louisa and Matt's memories of their courtship as the carnival packs up and leaves for the winter in the finale.

What I Don't Like: As lovely as the cinematography is, it's really too big for this small story. The numbers work better when they're in the carnival, or performed in a small space, as with "Rain" and El Gallo and the fathers' "It Depends On What You Pay." The "Abduction Ballet" is less of a ballet and more of an over-the-top farce that comes off looking like a Scooby Doo episode, with Louisa shoved in a cannon, Matt chasing El Gallo's performers everywhere, and El Gallo himself conducting the whole thing on top of a pole. Even more than Man of La Mancha, this show truly belongs in a theater, where it's playing with illusion in the face of harsh reality comes off as endearing rather than too over-the-top.

The Big Finale: While it's no masterpiece, it didn't deserve anywhere near the drubbing it got in the few theaters it was released into in 2000. This one might be of more interest to theater aficionados, who will be able to understand more of the conventions and tropes that this show is spoofing.

Home Media: While the solo DVD is also out of print, it's a lot cheaper online than La Mancha. The Blu-Ray may be your best bet here. Twilight Time's 2015 release includes the full 109 minute director's cut along with the original 86-minute theatrical release that's on the DVD and Amazon Prime and that I watched tonight. There's also a 2-disc set that pairs the theatrical cut with Man of La Mancha.

DVD
Blu-Ray
2-Disc "Family Classics Double Feature" DVD set (with Man of La Mancha)
Amazon Prime

Animation Celebration Saturday - Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin

Disney, 1997
Voices of Jim Cummings, John Fielder, Paul Winchell, and Ken Sansom
Directed by Karl Geurs
Music by Carl Johnson

I return from my vacation hiatus with probably the last movie anyone expected to see here. Some of the Disney Pooh films are semi-musicals, and this direct-to-video release from the late 90's is one of them. I know most people consider the Disney made for home media animated sequels of the 90's and early 2000's to be travesties, but this one is an exception, and a real overlooked gem.

The Story: On the first day of fall, Pooh awakens to find that Christopher Robin seems to be missing. He finds a honey pot with a note on it, but thanks to him digging into the honey and spilling it, the note is smeared. Owl translates it as Christopher Robin being sent to a terrible place called "skull." Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit, Tigger, and Eeyore head out into the Great Unknown beyond the Hundred Acres Woods to find him. Piglet's still afraid of everything, even butterflies carrying him away. Tigger questions his courage after he can't bounce high enough to rescue his porcine buddy. Rabbit doggedly insists on following Owl's map, despite it becoming more and more obvious that Owl made it up off the top of his head. Pooh just wants to find his human friend...and he's the one who inadvertently spurs them to work together when he gets lost in the Skull Cave.

The Animation: Not bad, for either a Pooh movie or a direct to video film of this time period. At the very least, it matches the colorful visuals of both the original shorts and the 1980's and 90's TV show The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. The sequence with the butterflies in the green field and the venture into the Skull Cave are especially well-done.

The Song and Dance: This is surprisingly mature and touching for a Pooh movie, with several scary sequences before and during the Skull Cave scenes and Cummings' totally heartbreaking performance as a worried and lonely Pooh. Sansom as Rabbit, especially when he blames himself for Pooh's frustration, is also excellent. The "adventure" plot is a lot of fun, especially early-on.

Favorite Number: Pooh's "Wherever You Are," sung to a starry night as he admits how lonely he is, is one of the most heart-wrenching musical numbers in any Disney film, never mind a Pooh movie. Owl's "Adventure Is a Wonderful Thing," where he sings of the many dangers they will face (and that he won't be joining them to see), is also a lot of fun. The opening number "Forever and Ever," showing just how much Christopher Robin and Pooh enjoy each other's company, is very sweet, and nicely sets up how much Pooh loses when he's gone.

What I Don't Like: I kind of wish they'd gotten more characters in, including Kanga and Roo. Eeyore is present, but he really isn't used much besides to help out in the finale. This is basically a darker version of the later 2011 Winnie the Pooh theatrical release, and there's some surprisingly sad and scary imagery in this movie. Your littlest ones may need a hand to hold during some of the more upsetting scenes.

The Big Finale: If you're a fan of Pooh and enjoyed the 2011 movie or some of the 90's and early 2000's films like The Tigger Movie, you'll want to see if you can track this one down. Critics were harsh on it when it came out, complaining about the dark tone and it being too sugary...but that darkness is what makes it unique among Pooh media.

Home Media: I'm afraid my both my DVD copy and the Blu-Ray are out of print and insanely expensive at press time. Your best bet is streaming services like Amazon Prime.

Amazon Prime

Top Hat

RKO, 1935
Starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Helen Broderick, and Edward Everett Horton
Directed by Mark Sandrich
Music and Lyrics by Irving Berlin

Our last musical before my vacation hiatus is a true classic, and probably the most famous of the ten movies Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers made together. Will this feather-light confection keep us dancing cheek to cheek, or should it be slapped back into those Venetian waters? Let's find out...

The Story: American dancer Jerry Travers (Astaire) is in London to star in a new show produced by his friend Horace Hardwick (Horton). While rehearsing his new tap routine in his hotel room, he awakens fashion model Dale Tremont (Rogers). When she comes to his room to complain, he's smitten with her beauty and spunk. He softens the routine so she can sleep. The next day, he follows her around London, including in a rainstorm, trying to get her attention. It works too well. She thinks he's Hardwick, who happens to be the husband of her sarcastic best friend Madge (Broderick). He follows her to Venice, where she's modeling the gowns of fussy Italian fashion designer Alberto Beddini (Erik Rhodes). Jerry tries again, but his attempt at proposing doesn't go over well with Dale. It'll take intervention from Horace's sly manservant Bates (Eric Blore) to bring these two together and clear up the confusion.

The Song and Dance: This was the first movie written expressively as a vehicle for Astaire and Rogers, and RKO went all-out. The massive sets recreate a fantasy London and Venice, with Rogers and Broderick costumed in gorgeous gowns and every man in a tux. Both of the stars have some great moments; Astaire in particular makes Jerry's constant pursuit of Dale seem more romantic than creepy. Horton and Blore are hilarious together, especially in the second half in Venice when Blore disguises himself as a priest and a gondolier. I adore Helen Broderick, who steals every scenes she's in with her wisecracks about the opposite sex and how to deal with them.

Favorite Number: Irving Berlin wrote one of his best movie songs for this film. Fred and Ginger's big duet "Cheek to Cheek," with Ginger moving like a swan in her feather dress, is probably the most famous routine (check out Ginger's amazing back bend towards the end), but there's also the big ensemble number "The Piccolno" in the finale, Fred's tap dance with the chorus to the title song, and the less formal "Isn't It a Lovely Day?" as Fred flirts with Ginger in a gazebo in the rain.

Trivia: As nifty as Ginger's feathered dress looked in the "Cheek to Cheek" duet, it kept molting and getting in Fred's mouth. He nicknamed her "Feathers" after that.

Top Hat was the second-biggest hit of 1935. Only the massively popular Clark Gable-Charles Laughton version of Mutiny on the Bounty was bigger at the box office that year.

It's been made into a stage musical in England that played the West End (though it doesn't seem to have made it to the States yet). The stage version added songs from other Irving Berlin films and shows.

It was nominated for four Oscars, including Art Direction.

What I Don't Like: As with most musicals of the 1930's (and most of Fred and Ginger's vehicles), the plot is basically a light-as-air romantic comedy with musical interludes. This obviously isn't for people looking for something more dramatic or substantial. All the drama is in the duets.

The Big Finale: If you ever wanted to check out Fred and Ginger's starring vehicles, this is a good place to start. It has many of their most famous routines and a great cast bolstering a thin but fun plot.

Home Media: Doesn't look like it's on Blu-Ray at press time, but the DVD copy I have is still in print, and it's on Amazon Prime.
DVD
Amazon Prime

Animation Celebration Extra - Anastasia

20th Century Fox, 1997
Voices of Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, and Christopher Lloyd
Directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldman
Music by Stephan Flaherty, Lyrics by Lynn Aherns

Since I'll be on vacation starting Friday, I'm doing the Saturday review today. (There will be no reviews next Tuesday and Thursday. Regular reviews resume next Saturday.) We head to St. Petersburg, Russia to meet a most extraordinary orphan girl who is about to embark on a great adventure with two con-men to discover her true family...and the last remnants of an insane monk's curse...

The Story: Anya (Ryan) is an orphan in 1920's Russia whose only clue to her identity is a pendant on a necklace that says "Together In Paris." She learns that two con-men in St. Petersburg, former Imperial Court member Vlad (Grammer) and former servant Dimintri (Cusack), can provide exit visas for a small fee. Turns out they're rehearsing women to pose as the Grand Duchess Anastasia, the missing daughter of the murdered czar. Her grandmother Dowager Empress Marie (Angela Landsbury) will pay a handsome reward to the person who finds the lost duchess. Not having many other options and desperately wanting to get to Paris, Anya and her puppy Pooka join them.

Meanwhile, Rasputin (Lloyd), the monk who cursed the Romanov family when they tried to have him arrested, is in the underworld with his sarcastic white hench-bat Bartok (Hank Azaria). Despite the fact that he's (literally) falling apart, he will stop at nothing to keep Anya from making her journey, then to see that the Romanov lines ends with the Grand Duchess.

The Song and Dance: Cusack and Ryan have a lot of chemistry as the spirited Anya and cunning Dimintri, especially when they're constantly sniping at each other early-on. Grammer's reactions to their quarrels are hilarious. Ryan's Anya is one of the strongest-willed of the many 90's take-charge animated heroines, ultimately dealing with the villain herself on her own terms. Landsbury is appropriately regal as the Dowager Empress; Bernadette Peters is fun as her bubbly lady-in-waiting and Vlad's love interest Sophie.

I also like how they handle the animal characters. Pooka is a normal, non-talking cute puppy. Bartok doesn't really have much to do other than wisecrack and keep an eye on Rasputin's magical reliquary in the first twenty minutes, but he has some of the best lines in the movie. Neither is as annoying as many animal sidekicks in other animated films from this time.

The Animation: Bluth's animators outdid themselves on this one. The animation is incredible, from the details on the derailing train trip to the rainbow colors on the streets of Paris. There's also the dark scene where Anya dreams of her family while nearly being forced off a boat during a storm, and the sequences with Rasputin and Bartok down below. The action-packed finale on the bridge is mostly well-done, although the horse Dimintri rides is very obvious CGI.

Favorite Number: "Journey to the Past" got the Oscar nomination and "At the Beginning," played over the credits, was the radio hit, but for my money, the best song from this movie is the absolutely gorgeous ballad "Once Upon a December." It gets a number worthy of it, too, with paintings of Imperial Court members swirling around Anya as she daydreams of what had once been in the ruined ballroom of the Catherine Palace. I also like the ensemble song "Paris Holds the Key" as Sophie takes the three weary travelers shopping in Paris and introduces them to the delights (and celebrities) of the City of Lights in the 1920's.

Trivia: Actress and author Carrie Fisher did uncredited work on the screenplay, apparently punching up Anya's exit from the orphanage, among other scenes.

A stage version of Anastasia debuted at Broadway's Broadhurst Theater in 2016 and is still running at press time. It's apparently a far darker and more historically accurate story, with Bolsheviks as the villains instead of Rasputin.

What I Don't Like: Don't come here looking for a Russian history lesson. This is all pretty much pure 90's animated movie fairy tale, using Anastasia, the Dowager Empress, and Rasputin's names and not much else. (For one thing, in real life, Rasputin died well before the Romanov family was assassinated.) Despite the watering-down of most historical elements, this is still fairly dark for an animated film from the 90's, with a lot of violence and frightening imagery. Rasputin is...well, how can I put this delicately. He's disgusting. The running gag with his body parts falling off is more gross than funny, and it gets old after a while. Only Grammer makes any attempt to sound remotely Russian.

The Big Finale: It may be lousy history, but it's still my favorite non-Disney animated movie of the 90's, and my second favorite Don Bluth movie after The Secret of Nimh. I saw this when it came out in November 1997, and I loved it so much, I begged for the soundtrack for Christmas that year. I've owned the CD ever since. If you have older girls who love fantasy and fairy tales from around the world or have fond memories of it yourself, hop on a train to Paris and check it out.

Home Media: I currently own the Family Fun 2-disc set with the direct-to-video sequel Bartok the Magnificent (which I have yet to watch), but unlike some of the other movies I've reviewed, this one is very easy to find both on and offline, often for under five dollars.

Family Fun 2-Disc DVD
Blu-Ray
Amazon Prime

State Fair

20th Century Fox, 1945
Starring Jeanne Crain, Charles Winninger, Dick Haymes, and Dana Andrews
Directed by Walter Lang
Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein

First of all, Musical Dreams Reviews Blog will be going on hiatus from this Saturday through next Friday. I'll be on vacation for most of next week. There will be an extra review this week to make up for it. For now, let's head to Iowa with the Frake family to attend the State Fair, which proves to be life-changing for several members...

The Story: The Frakes have big plans for their trip the Iowa State Fair. Mrs. Frake (Fay Bainter) has high hopes that her pickles and mincemeat will win the top food prizes. Mr. Frake (Winninger) makes a bet with a gloomy neighbor (Percy Kilbride) that his huge hog Blue Boy will win first prize, and that nothing bad will happen to him or his family. Wayne (Haymes) is disappointed that his girlfriend Eleanor can't go, but is looking forward to taking on a carnival barker who humiliated him the year before. Margie (Crain) just wants to get away from her bore of a boyfriend and the stifling day-to-day life on the farm.

They all get what they want eventually, in very different ways. Margie meets handsome reporter Pat Gilbert (Andrews) at the roller coaster and falls hard for his charm and sophistication. Wayne gets help with the barker (Harry Morgan) from Emily Edwards (Vivian Blaine), who turns out to be the singer with the orchestra at the fair's night club. Emily, however, has her own romantic problems, ones she really can't explain to sweet Wayne.

The Song and Dance: Crain and Andrews, despite both being dubbed, are the best things about the movie. She's sassy and sweet in turns; he's the epitome of the dashing reporter of the movies of the 30's and 40's. Bainter and Winninger are also adorable and quite believable as an old married couple, and Donald Meek is hilarious as a judge at the mincemeat competition. The bucolic atmosphere of a typical midwestern state fair is so beautifully done, you can practically smell the popcorn and grease from the roller coaster on the midway.

Trivia: This is the only film musical Rogers and Hammerstein did expressively for film. All of their later movie musicals were adaptations of their Broadway shows.

"It Might as Well Be Spring" won Rogers and Hammerstein their only Oscar for Best Song.

It's also the second of three film versions of the 1932 book. There was a non-musical film in 1933 with Janet Gaynor as Margie and Will Rogers as Mr. Frake. The musical was remade in 1962, with Ann-Margaret as Emily, Pat Boone as Wayne, Pamela Tiffin as Margie, and retired singer Alice Faye as Mrs. Frake.

Favorite Number: While Margie's ballad of longing "It Might as Well Be Spring" won the awards and was a hit, I prefer the ensemble number at the fair "It's a Grand Night For Singing" and the sprightly "That's For Me," especially in the second version performed by Margie and Wayne the day after they meet their respective partners at the fair. Their little dance routine is too cute and really does look like something a brother and sister would throw together for fun in the morning. Blaine and Haymes have also have a nice duet at a party, "Isn't It Kinda Fun?"

What I Don't Like: In contrast to Crain and Andrews, Blaine and especially Haymes are stiff and a bit dull as the lovers involved in the slightly darker plot. This is not for people who like their musicals big, bold, and sophisticated. It's a simple, down-home story about romance and pig contests at a midwestern fair. Some of the attitudes about big city folks vs rural residents and farmers are a bit dated today, as is the completely unnecessary character of McGee, the nasal New York song plugger. This is also the lightest version of this story. The other two film versions retain more of the darker elements from the original book, including more of Emily's seduction of Wayne.

The Big Finale: Evidently critics were rough on this when it came out, complaining about the bucolic plot and characters and calling it average. I think it's mostly worn well. If you like Rogers and Hammerstein or want to try a smaller and more rustic musical, this charmer is definitely worth checking out.

Home Media: I'm afraid my 60th Anniversary DVD set featuring this and the 1962 film are out of print on DVD at press time and is only on Blu Ray in a set with other Rogers and Hammerstein films. Your best bet may be streaming services like Amazon Prime.

DVD 2-disc set (with 1962 version)
The Rogers and Hammerstein Collection on Blu Ray
Amazon Prime

Family Fun Saturday - Summer Magic

Disney, 1963
Starring Haley Mills, Dorothy McGuire, Burl Ives, and Deborah Walley
Directed by James Neilson
Music and Lyrics by Richard and Robert Sherman

This was the musical I originally planned on reviewing Thursday night in honor of the summer season coming to a close. I'll use it to inaugurate Family Fun Saturday instead. On some Saturdays, instead of reviewing an animated film, I'll cover a live-action musical that your whole family can enjoy. We're heading to Maine in the 1910's for our first entry, one of four live-action musicals Walt Disney made in his lifetime. Is this as magical as his animated classics, or does it fizzle like a stale lemonade? Let's find out...

The Story: Nancy Carey (Mills) lives with her brothers and recently widowed mother (McGuire) in Boston in the early 1910's. She's a romantic and fanciful teen girl who never stops talking about her favorite books and her many ideas. One of those ideas is writing to the caretaker of an old house in a small town in Maine. The caretaker is Oshum Popham (Ives), the laid-back owner of the the town's general store. He's a bit surprised to see them at first, as Nancy's letter greatly exaggerated their situation, but he and his son Digby (Michael J. Pollard) and shy daughter Lallie Joy (Wendy Turner) welcome them anyway. The original owners of the house are rich people who are out of town and supposedly gave Popham carte blanche to do whatever he liked with it.

They're settling in nicely, including the huge sheepdog that little Peter (Jimmy Mathers) adopts, when they receive a message that their cousin Julia (Walley) is moving in with them. Julia is spoiled and obnoxious, constantly talking about her foster family's money and position. Her refusal to help the family fix up the house and constant arguing with Nancy doesn't help matters. Their rivalry comes to a head when handsome Charles Bryant (James Stacy) moves to town. Frilly Julia is the one who gains his favor, leading Nancy to lash out. The girls do make up from their quarrel, and Julia even agrees to help her cousin with her wardrobe.

On the day of their big Halloween party, Nancy discovers that the owner of the house (Peter Brown) has come back...and he's not entirely happy with what Popham has done or with the Careys living there. But as Osh tells his sour wife Mariah (Una Merkel), things always work out in the end...

The Song and Dance: The movie is mostly carried by Mills, who is adorable as the chatty and excitable Nancy, and Ives as good-natured, eternally optimistic Popham. McGuire also makes a warm, firm-but-gentle Mrs. Carey, and Walley is appropriately haughty as snobbish and insecure Julia. I really like Pollard's stoic Digby and wish he hadn't disappeared to Boston for most of the movie. The fine widescreen cinematography and lovely costumes ably capture rural New England of a hundred years ago. I

Favorite Number: "The Ugly Bug Ball," which Popham sings with Peter as they work on the house, is probably the best-known song from this film (thanks to it's inclusion on the old Disney Sing-A-Long Songs videos). The charming "On the Front Porch" has Ives singing with the cast on the porch of the old house. It and "Summer Magic," performed by McGuire and her children early in the film (once again on the porch), are two of the Shermans' best slower numbers. "Femininity," which has Julia and Nancy giving advice to Lallie Joy on how to win the man of her dreams, is a very cute trio that shows off the Shermans' love of playing with big words. Julia is introduced before we even meet her by the hilarious "The Pink of Perfection," which shows just how unimpressed her cousins are with her high-falutin' airs.

What I Don't Like: This isn't for people who like their musicals big, brassy, and bold. There's no noise or elaborate chorus numbers, and the story is pretty much just a small family drama. Some of the views of city slickers vs country folk and how women should behave (especially when in pursuit of the opposite sex) may look a bit dated to many viewers today.

The Big Finale: All of Disney's live-action theatrical musicals deserve more love, and this one is no exception. If you're a fan of Mills or Ives or loved other musical excursions into early 20th century nostalgia like Meet Me In St. Louis, you'll want to spend a magical summer with the Careys in Maine at the Little Yellow House, too.

Home Media: Not on Blu Ray at press time, but it is on DVD (in widescreen, a rarity for Disney's older movies) and on Amazon Prime.

DVD
Amazon Prime

The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas

Universal, 1982
Starring Dolly Pardon, Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLouise, and Jim Nabors
Directed by Colin Higgins
Music By Carol Hall and Dolly Pardon

This was not the musical I originally planned on reviewing tonight...but then Burt Reynolds passed away. It might seem a little strange that this was a favorite in my family in the early-mid 80's. None of us were country music fans, and my sisters and I were really too young to understand almost anything that went on in this film. We just loved Reynolds and Pardon, the energetic dance numbers, and the colorful costumes. So does this ribald western tale live up to it's scandalous reputation? Lets dance a little side step over to the Chicken Ranch and see for ourselves...

The Story: The Chicken Ranch is a beloved brothel that's an institution in the town it's in and the state of Texas. The head madam, Miss Mona (Pardon), keeps everything clean and upscale, thanks to the protection of her lover Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd (Reynolds). They're pretty happy with the situation, until nosy TV reporter Melvin P. Thorpe (DeLouise) decries the Chicken Ranch and what it stands for on live TV. Dodd losing his temper and cursing at him in front of his cameras when he films in town only makes things worse, especially given he wants to get into politics. He convinces Mona to shut down for two months, but Mona makes an exception for the winners of a big Thanksgiving Day college football game. The party's a success, but Thorpe catches wind and raids the Ranch. Now Mona is facing having to shut down for good, unless Dodd can shuck his good-old-boy image and convince the conniving Governor (Charles Durning) to keep her open.

The Song and Dance: Pardon and Reynolds may have had trouble with each other during filming, but they make well-matched pair on-screen, especially in their sparring matches later in the movie after the Chicken Ranch is threatened. DeLouise is appropriately slimy as Thorpe, the kind of moralistic creep who would probably thrive on the Internet nowadays, and Nabors basically carries his aw-shucks persona over from TV. It's Durning, despite his small role, who walks away with the film (and got a supporting actor Oscar nod) as the politician whose only loyalty lies with the polls.

Favorite Number: Speaking of Durning, he gets a great song during the end of the film, probably the movie's single best song, "Dance a Little Side Step," which pretty much describes how he manages to avoid making a statement about anything to the press. "The Aggies Song" before and during the party is a terrific chorus number with some nifty choreography, especially in the locker rooms. Reynolds and Pardon have a cute duet early on where they describe their relationship and themselves, "Sneaking Around."

The only standards from this movie (and the show) are two slower ballads from the finale. "Hard Candy Christmas" has become a popular country holiday song (Pardon did an excellent recording of it on her own that year) since the late 70's. Pardon added her own 1974 hit "I Will Always Love You," making it a smash all over again. (It would be an even bigger hit for Whitney Houston in 1992.)

What I Don't Like: This is another movie that I wish had kept more of the songs from the original show, including two good ones for Miss Mona's girls and one for Dodd's other girlfriend Doatsie Mae (Lois Nettleton), instead of only letting the leads (and Charles Durning) sing. It also shares another problem with Grease: the last-minute ending feels tacked-on here, too, mainly to give a bittersweet story an obvious happy ending. (And it's not for people who don't like country music, Texas, modern westerns, or Pardon in general.)

The Big Finale: This was a big hit in 1982, one of the biggest hit musicals of the 1980's, and I can mostly understand why. For teen and adult fans of country music, Pardon, or dance, this spirited sex romp is definitely worth checking out.

Home Media: DVD
Blu Ray 
Amazon Prime

Back to School Again Double Feature - Grease and Grease 2

In honor of Labor Day and many students returning to school this week, we're touring Rydell High School, where the Pink Ladies and T-Birds rule the hall in the late 50's and early 60's. A pair of shy newcomers from England and Australia may be turning heads and hearts, but they're as square as they come. They can't fit in with the ultra-cool American cliques...until they make a few changes..

Grease
Paramount, 1978
Starring Olivia Newton-John, John Travolta, Stockard Channing, and Jeff Conaway
Directed By Randal Kleisner
Music by Jim Jacobs, Warren Casey, and others

The Story: It's the fall of 1958. Australian Sandy Olsen (Olivia Newton-John) just spent the summer of her life with handsome Danny Zuko (Travolta). Danny gets quite a shock when he runs into Sandy at Rydell. He just told pretty much every guy at school he spent the summer making out with her, which turns out to be far from the case. Sandy doesn't know what to make of him, or her new friends the Pink Ladies, who smoke and drink as much as the boys.

She finally gets fed up with his posturing and breaks up with him after another girl cuts in on them at the school dance and he tries to put the moves on her. The both decide that the best way to win their sweethearts back is to show that they can be what the other wants from them - that Danny can do an activity besides hanging out with the guys, and Sandy can be as tough as anybody. Meanwhile, sweet-natured Pink Lady Frenchy is having problems in beauty school, while sassy Rizzo is having her own trouble with her boyfriend Kenckie (Conaway), who seems more interested in the junker car he wants to race than in her and her possible blessed event.

The Song and Dance: What I've always liked about this movie is the late 70's grit that's attached itself to this late 50's tale. The "teens" may be played by adults, but they still talk like teenagers, even now. There's some mildly dark touches, including Rizzo's little problem in the second half of the film. Newton-John and Travolta's palpable chemistry makes them a lot of fun to watch. I also like Conn's upbeat Frenchy, Channing and Conaway as the second couple, and 50's TV actors Eve Arden, Sid Caeser, and Alice Ghostly as the principal and staff of Rydell.

Favorite Number: Almost every song in this movie, from the split-screen ensemble number "Summer Nights" that reveals Sandy and Danny's differing views on just what happened during their summer idyll, to their "You're the One That I Want" in the fun house towards the end, is pretty much considered iconic today. I've always loved the school dance sequence, with it's colorful costumes and awesome choreography by Patricia Birch. There's more energy in that number than in many musicals with twice the budget, and everyone looks like they're having a great time. All the little cutaway gags (like Sonny "washing his hands" with the punch bowl) add to the fun.

What I Don't Like: As good as Newton-John looks in her tight black leather outfit and perm, the ending, both in the original show and the movie, always felt tacked-on to me. I kind of wish we'd seen Sandy considering making changes a little earlier, as they did with Danny and the sports teams.

I also wish they'd kept more of the songs from the original Broadway show. The film's soundtrack includes Broadway songs they used in the background, like "Freddy My Love" and "It's Raining on Prom Night," and I think a lot of them could have been worked in for other characters. Everyone sings in the stage show; only Danny, Sandy, and Rizzo get solos here.

The Big Finale: The nitpick about Sandy's change and the missing songs aside, this is by far one of the most beloved and enjoyable musical films of the latter half of the 20th century. A must-see for fans of Travolta and Newton-John or musical comedies. (I haven't seen the live version from two years ago that aired on Fox, but it's gotten some sterling reviews. I really need to pick that one up somewhere along the line.)

Home Media: DVD
Blu-Ray
4K

Grease 2
Paramount, 1982
Starring Michelle Pfiffer, Maxwell Caulifield, Adrian Zmed, and Lorna Luft
Directed by Patricia Birch
Music by Louis. St. Louis and others

The Story: We're back at Rydell, but it's now 1961. John F. Kennedy's inauguration earlier that year has unleashed a new spirit of optimism and freedom in the US...and that applies to the Pink Ladies and T-Birds, too. Head Pink Lady Stephanie Zanoni (Pfiffer) is a tough tomboy who is tired of her obnoxious and immature boyfriend, head T-Bird Johnny Nogarelli (Zmed) and is shopping around for someone who is both cooler and more sophisticated.

Enter Michael Carrington (Caulifield), an exchange student from England who immediately gets a crush on Stephanie. No matter how brilliant or good-looking he is, he has three strikes against him. He's shy with the opposite sex, an A+ student, and is more interested in Shakespeare than motorcycles. He uses his brains to earn money from the T-Birds, then buys a motorcycle and more-or-less becomes Rydell's own bike-riding, leather-wearing mystery man. Stephanie's smitten, Johnny's jealous, and half the school is talking about him. Michael's having some doubts about keeping up the charade, though, especially after Stephanie's interest in him leads to her estrangement from the T-Birds/Pink Ladies group.

The Song and Dance: It's too bad Caulifield's career hit a snag after this. He and Pfiffer actually work quite well together as the tomboy looking to break out of the mold and the intelligent Brit who thinks she's the greatest thing since Hamlet. Zmed's Johnny and Christopher MacDonald as his dim-witted buddy Goose are also pretty funny. I've always appreciated how Michael's adaption of the mystery man persona is a lot more gradual than Sandy's sudden about-face...and that he and Stephanie learn that he doesn't have to change himself entirely for her. She actually likes him the way he is, long words and all.

Favorite Number: Nothing tops the dynamic "Back to School Again," which besides being the best song in the film, introduces all the leads and perfectly sets up everything that's to be come. The bowling number "Score Tonight" and the hilarious "Reproduction" are also fun. I like how the Pink Ladies' "Girl for All Seasons" number in the talent show really does look like something a group of teenage girls would throw together for a high school show in the early 60's. "Cool Rider" is a long-time favorite in my family (especially since my stepdad actually did ride a motorcycle until recently), and Pfiffer throws her all into it.

Trivia: According to Wikipedia, there were some scenes cut from the film and lost, including one that shows how Rhonda really hurt her nose, Michael showing up as himself at the talent show, to Stephanie's dismay, and Frenchy going further into helping Michael learn to ride a motorcycle. I hope these turn up one of these days.

The script wasn't finished until well after filming began (which does explain a lot about the end product).

What I Don't Like: For every song that does work, or at least has a good routine going, there's two with awkward lyrics or bland or drippy music, including both of the solo ballads and the final number, the awful "We'll Be Together." Caulifield may have chemistry with Pfiffer and be easy on the eyes, but he can't sing or dance worth a darn. This is especially apparent in his clumsy "Charades" and when he's obviously watching his feet in the finale of "Together." While he was a jerk about it, Johnny was kind of right that Paulette's Miss June costume was really too risque for a high school show. I'm surprised she got away with it. And yes, the plot has pretty much been recycled from the original film. Even the "mystery man" twist can't do much to hide the feeling of deja vu.

The Big Finale: Critics continue to roast this movie to this day, and audiences remain divided. Some enjoy the cheesiness and the overall energy, while others think it's a travesty and a poor way for Pfiffer to begin her career. Maybe it's because I grew up watching this on cable frequently in the early 80's, but count me in the former category. While probably not at the level of the first movie, I think this is a bit underrated. Worth checking out if you love Pfiffer, the first film, or other school musical tales.

Home Media: My solo copy of the DVD is currently out of print; your best bet may be to pick this one up in a double feature with the first film.

DVD
DVD 2-Pack (with Grease) 
Blu-Ray 3-Pack (with Grease and Grease: Live!)

Animation Celebration Saturday - The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Disney, 1996
Voices of Tom Hulce, Tony Jay, Demi Moore, and Kevin Kline
Music by Alan Menken; Lyrics by Stephan Schwartz

The Story: Quasimodo (Hulce) is the title character, a young hunchback who has lived his entire life in the bell tower of Notre Dame Church in medieval Paris, under the stern and unforgiving eye of Judge Claude Frollo (Jay). Quasimodo just wants to see the Festival of Fools, the big city-wide holiday where the ugliest man in Paris is crowned, and be out among the people. Frollo tells him he's too hideous to leave the tower, but his imaginary gargoyle friends Laverne (Mary Wickes, and after her death, Jane Withers), Victor (Charles Kimbrough), and Hugo (Jason Alexander) encourage him to join the fun.

Quasi's not the only one who is being persecuted by Frollo. Frollo especially hates gypsies, who represent all things sinful to him. He especially agonizes over his lust for a beautiful gypsy dancer named Esmeralda (Demi Moore). Not only does she stand up for Quasi when the public turns on him at the Festival, but she denounces Frollo as well. Quasi and a kindly Archdecon (David Ogden Stiers) give her sanctuary at Notre Dame and help her escape. An enraged Frollo won't stop until he's destroyed all of Paris, including his captain of the guard Phoebus (Kline) when he falls for Esmeralda and refuses to take part in Frollo's dirty work.

The Animation: Disney really outdid themselves here. This is some of the most gorgeous work they did during the 90's. (And given all the great work they did during the 90's, that's saying a lot.)  The sweeping shots of Paris when Quasi sings "Out There" alone are breathtaking. Paris bursts with rich golds and forest greens, and later with a riot of rainbow colors during the Festival of Fools. Notre Dame shows off its contradictions with shadowy corners and sunlight streaming in through stained glass windows.

The Song and Dance: Hulce, Jay, and Moore get top honors as the abused hunchback, conflicted judge, and defiant gypsy. Esmeralda is one of my favorite non-princess female Disney characters, strong-willed and mature. Hulce's Quasi is absolutely heartbreaking, especially in the beginning, when it becomes apparent what years of accepting verbal harangues from Frollo has done to his psyche. Speaking of Frollo, he's one of Disney's most chilling and underrated villains. Even Maleficent never obsessed over her sexual desires. The lengths that Frollo will go to eliminate the object of this desire is downright terrifying for Disney.

Favorite Number: Schwartz and Menken both specialize in downtrodden or misfit characters in search of their place in life, and their shared interests allowed them to craft one of the richest scores of the Disney Renaissance. "Out There," Quasi's "I want" song, soars as much as his enviable views of Paris. The touching "God Help the Outcasts" is Esmeralda's "I want" song, revealing that she only wants the gypsys to be free of persecution while pilgrims pray for glory and happiness in a chorus behind her. Frollo's "Hellfire" revels in his lust for the feisty gypsy woman and his fear of damnation because of it, with some downright intense and frightening images. Which brings us to...

What I Don't Like: I'm not really sure who Disney thought the audience for this was going to be. Even toned down from the book, this is still pretty dark for an animated children's film in the 90's. I  saw it in the theater when it came out in 1996, mostly with an audience of young children. I remember that a lot of kids got really freaked out during that "Hellfire" number. It even unnerved me a bit, and I was 17 at the time...but there's also the odd talking gargoyles and Esmeralda's cute goat. Literary critics and Hugo scholars complain to this day about the book being watered down.

The Big Finale: This is Disney's most underrated film of it's 90's Renaissance. If you aren't a literary purist and have older kids on up who can handle some of the darker elements, I highly recommend giving this one another look.

End Credits:  DVD
Blu-Ray