why i love animation - The Ink and Pixel Club

Sara — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:18:53 +0000

This article is part of the series Why I Love Animation: Beauty and the Beast. To jump to any other article in the series, please use the following links.
Part One – Part Two – Part Three – Chip Interlude – Part Four – Part Five

The story structure of Beuaty and the Beast is all about balance: balancing drama and comedy, major and minor characters, and Belle and Beast. A serious Beast scene has just ended, so now it’s time to get back to Belle and to lighten the mood a bit. Even the backgrounds tell us that this scene is going to be far more cheery than the one preceding it. We go from a dimly lit castle at night to the countryside near Belle’s home on a beautiful sunlit day. The bright scenery, cheery music, and a few physical gags at Lefou’s expense are just what’s needed to break the tension caused by Beast imprisoning Maurice.

Gaston may have been “making plans to woo and marry Belle,” but now he’s decided to dispense with the wooing and cut straight to the marriage. Despite Belle’s obvious disinterest in him during their previous encounter, Gaston remains convinced that any woman would be thrilled to be asked to marry him, so much so that he has already set up the wedding before he’s actually asked Belle to be his bride. To him and to the rest of the townspeople, the proposal is almost a joke because the outcome is such a foregone conclusion.

Gaston\’s wedding

why i love animation - The Ink and Pixel Club

Sara — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:29:57 +0000

Maurice heads off to the fair, passing through breathtaking countryside straight out of Romantic landscape painting. But come nightfall, the lush, colorful landscapes give way to an eerie, mist shrouded forest. Even without the change in the score from a happy hopeful tune to more forbidding, creepy music and Maurice’s dialogue indicating his confusion, the nearly leafless, faintly visible trees against a dull brown sky communicate that Maurice is not on the right path.

A fork in the road

why i love animation - The Ink and Pixel Club

Sara — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 22:06:40 +0000

Part Four of Why I Love Animation: Beauty and the Beast is taking longer than I expected. The introduction of at least four new characters, the first full appearance of the Beast, Gaston’s proposal, and Belle’s first encounter with the Beast all in one article makes for a lot of writing. So to tide you over until it’s done (hopefully next week), here’s the story of how Chip, the little boy turned teacup went from the back of the cupboard to head of the table and who he stole the spotlight from.

The tale of the teacup

why i love animation - The Ink and Pixel Club

Sara — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 20:01:49 +0000

The prologue left us with the question “Who could ever learn to love a beast?”. Who is the very next character we see? Belle. What is the title of the next song we hear, which is both the first song in the movie and the first song written for the movie? “Belle.” So if you don’t have some idea of who could learn to love a beast, you aren’t paying attention.

Little town….”

why i love animation - The Ink and Pixel Club

Sara — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 16:14:50 +0000

Now that you know the history that lead up to the making of Beauty and the Beast (assuming that you’ve read Part One), let’s dive right into the movie. I’ll be sharing more behind the scenes information as we go.

Once upon a time…

why i love animation - The Ink and Pixel Club

Sara — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 14:07:58 +0000

Though I usually hate picking a single favorite anything, I will tell you that Beauty and the Beast is my favorite movie.

This is not a surprise to anyone who knows me and even less of a surprise to anyone who knew me as a teenager. For many years, Beauty and the Beast was my greatest obsession. I saw the film over twenty times in theaters, labored over countless drawings of the characters, purchased all manner of books, toys, posters, t-shirts, and other memorabilia, clipped out newspaper and magazine articles about the film, and dragged my family to the Disney on Ice adaptation. I’m sure that my age had something to do with just how hard I fell for the film. I was thirteen when it came out, exactly the right age to love a movie as wholeheartedly as I ended up loving this one. The film’s message of looking past appearances to the character within was also particularly resonant to an awkward teenager with little confidence in her looks. And yet, when I go back and watch it today, I feel something more than nostalgia. What I’m enjoying is not just the comfortable familiarity of something I loved when I was younger, but the amazing achievement of a dream team of talented filmmakers at the top of their game. To me, this movie remains the Disney fairy tale’s high water mark, the most perfect example of the genre.

The origins of my favorite movie

why i love animation - The Ink and Pixel Club

Sara — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:11:07 +0000

Thanks to Roger Ebert’s Twitter feed, I recently read a terrific article in which writers and filmmakers discuss their most memorable moviegoing experiences. Now this isn’t the same thing as writers and filmmakers discussing their favorite movies. Sometimes the key factor is a great movie, but other times it’s the audience, the theater itself, or some personal realization the viewer comes to while watching the film. Not all of the experiences are positive and in one case, the movie in question was truly awful. It was a fascinating read and it got me thinking about what my most memorable moviegoing experience was.

My moviegoing experiences, good and bad, after the cut.

why i love animation - The Ink and Pixel Club

Sara — Tue, 11 May 2010 15:03:19 +0000

Has it really taken me this long to get to Chuck Jones? Granted, there are any number of important animation artists and topics that I have yet to touch on. But Chuck Jones? Chuck Jones, the creator of so many beloved animated characters? Chuck Jones, winner of numerous awards for his work, including a Lifetime Achievement Oscar? Chuck Jones, director of no less than four of the top five films in the prestigious list of the 50 greatest cartoons of all time? Chuck Jones, the man who….

Wait. Let me back up for a minute.

Setting the record straight behind the cut.

why i love animation - The Ink and Pixel Club

Sara — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 15:51:40 +0000

First impressions aren’t always right. Any time I need to remind myself of this, I think of my initial reactions to Avatar: The Last Airbender. If I had never given the show a second chance (or, more accurately, if I hadn’t been visiting friends while they were watching a couple of episodes), I would have continued to believe that the show was merely “okay” and might have missed out on what is now one of my favorite TV shows of the past decade.

A brief reminder: I’m going to be covering one episode of the series in detail. Spoilers abound and if you haven’t seen this episode or any of Avatar yet, you aren’t doing yourself any favors by reading the article instead. It’s your call, but I strongly recommend you see the episode before you read any further.

Don\’t say I didn\’t warn you.

why i love animation - The Ink and Pixel Club

Sara — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:11:20 +0000

Now that I’ve finished up Toy Story 2, the fourth in a series about my favorite animation, I want to hear about some of your favorites. Why do you love animation? What movies, TV shows, shorts, web toons, commercials, or other pieces of animation do you count among your favorites? And, more importantly, why? What is it about the animation you love that makes it so special to you? I’ve shared some of my favorites, but now it’s your turn and I can’t wait to read your responses.