Picking up where we left off Friday …
This past weekend, as I kept bumping into friends at Disneyland, I kept hearing the same refrain: “You really traveled 3000 miles just to attend an ASIFA event?”
Look, if you’ve never been to one of these things … Well, you can’t really understand what I’m talking about. I mean, you’re sitting there in the same room with the people who made some of your favorite films. And you’re getting to hear stories that are NEVER going to turn up in the authorized making-of books and/or a DVD commentary track. These panel discussions are typically loose, informative and funny as hell.
What serious animation fan (How’s that for an oxymoron?) and/or film historian wouldn’t make the trek to the Glendale Public Library tonight to hear stories about the making of Disney’s “The Lion King.” Particularly if ASIFA-Hollywood’s July 2002 “Beauty & the Beast” panel is any indication of the way things will go tonight.
Speaking of which … Let’s get back to hearing some seldom-told tales about the making of that 1991 Walt Disney Pictures release … Like how the animators decided which way they should off Gaston.
Gaston had proved to be quite a challenge to the folks at WDFA. Getting the balance just right so that Belle’s would-be suitor could be considered amusing in the beginning of the picture, then successfully segue to being a menace toward the tail end of the film.
One of the ways that “B & B” production team thought that they could signal that Gaston was a no-goodnik was by giving him a mustache and/or a goatee. But then-Disney studio head Jeffrey Katzenberg nixed the idea of Gaston having facial hair. Insisting that – by having “Beauty & the Beast” ‘s villain have a beard – the film was tipping its hand too early. Jeffrey genuinely believed that audiences associated facial hair with evil.
Which perhaps explains why Katzenberg also nixed the idea of Aladdin’s having a bushy beard (As part of his Prince Ali Ababwah disguise) as well as John Smith in “Pocahontas” sporting a goatee. Or – more importantly – why Disney’s animators insisted that (as soon as Jeffrey exited the Walt Disney Company in the late summer of 1994) that Captain Phoebus in Disney’s 1996 release, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” have facial hair. Just so they could prove that their old boss was wrong.
Mind you, “Hunchback” was the first Disney Feature Animation production since 1989’s “The Little Mermaid” to not officially become a blockbuster (I.E. Not earn at least $100 million during that film’s domestic release).
And – given that Dreamworks has had a few films that featured main characters with facial hair (“The Prince of Egypt,” “The Road to El Dorado” and “Sinbad”) that haven’t done all that well at the box office – maybe there really is something to Jeffrey Katzenberg’s facial hair theory …
Anyway … Getting back to “Beauty & the Beast” and Gaston: As the filmmakers were trying to figure out a proper way to get rid of their villain, several different scenarios were floated by Disney’s story department. These included:
” The end that you already know & love. Gaston – after knifing the Beast in the back – loses his balance high up on the castle’s rooftops. He slips and presumably falls to his death on the rocks below the Beast’s chateau.
” A much milder sort of ending. Where Gaston is just so humiliated & embarrassed by the very idea that Belle would chose the Beast over him that he goes home & sulks.
” The violent come-uppance ending. Where Gaston flees the castle after attacking the Beast, only to be run down and eventually eaten by the same wolves who menaced Belle & Maurice.
Speaking of Maurice … Belle’s father inspired a complete series of in-house gags. Why for? Because – if you’ll remember the movie correctly: After Maurice’s plea for help is turned down by Gaston, Le Fou and the rest of their cronies, Belle’s father goes home. And – after shoving a few maps in his pockets – he strides off into the snow, vowing to find the Beast’s castle and rescue his daughter.
Then – according to the way the seasons seem to pass in “Beauty & the Beast” – it appears that at least three or four months go by. The Beast & Belle slowly grow closer, develop a real fondness for one another … But Maurice is never seen again until the Beast lets Belle make use of his magic mirror.
Which begs the question: Where the hell has Belle’s father been for the last three or four months? Particularly given that – early on in the film – it’s suggested that the Beast’s castle is just a few hours away (by hours) from Maurice & Belle’s house.
To the animators’ way of thinking, the only logical explanation was that Maurice had a really poor sense of direction. Which is why they all began this epic series of gag drawings. Which showed Belle’s father – still clutching a lantern, his pocket still stuffed with maps & charts – standing in front of such memorable pieces of international architecture as Stonehenge, the Parthenon and the Taj Mahal. The character looking increasingly bewildered as he cried out “Belle? Where are you?”
Speaking of wandering … As I was walking around DCA yesterday, I dropped by the “Disney Animation” exhibit in the Hollywood Pictures Backlot area. While Alice & her pal, Cody, were exploring the “Sorcerer’s Workshop,” I poked around that attraction’s “Art of Animation” gallery space.
I’m not entirely sure why this area appeals to me as much as it does. But getting to see all of those early concept sketches for various Disney characters – as the animators struggle to find just the right look for that creature – just fascinates the hell of me.
Anyway … As I stood there, looking at all the drawings that noted Disney artists like Mel Shaw, Joe Grant and Andreas Deja put together as possible looks for the Beast, I am reminded of how difficult it was for Disney to find just the right voice for that character.
To hear the folks at ASIFA-Hollywood tell it, Disney tested virtually every actor in Hollywood looking for just the right voice for the Beast. But all these idiots would ever do was growl. They couldn’t seem to understand the Beast actually started out life as a man. So there was more to this character than just his fur and his fangs.
So – when Robby Benson came in to test to be the voice of the Beast – WDFA vets didn’t hold out all that much hope for the “Ice Castles” veteran. But Robby actually nailed the role. Mostly because he knew that there was more to this character than his growl. That the Beast also had humor & heart.
So – after hearing his audition – Ashman & Menken & Trousdale & Wise happily signed off on Benson as the Beast. Unfortunately, Disney’s marketing department wasn’t all that eager to talk up the fact that Mr. “The Ballad of Billy Jo” was now the romantic lead in Disney’s next big feature animated film.
So what did Mickey’s marketing staff actually tell the animators to do? Don’t let anyone – particularly anyone in the press – know that Robby Benson was doing the voice of the Beast. Lie if you have to, but don’t let anyone know that Robby’s doing the voice of this character.
Well, this bizarre pronouncement didn’t sit all that well with Glen Keane. Keane – as the lead animator on the Beast – was well aware of the great vocal performance that Benson was turning in for this part. Plus – what with being a born-again Christian and all – Glen wasn’t all that fond of lying. Particularly to the press about something as silly as this.
So – when asked “Who’s doing the voice of the Beast?” by reporters – Keane deliberately let the cat out of the bag. Much to Jeffrey Katzenberg’s chagrin.
You see, Jeffrey – for some odd reason – was trying to keep a lot of “Beauty & the Beast” ‘s production-related stories a secret. Like all the use of CG & computer animation in “B&B.” Katzenberg seemed to think that – if word were to ever get out about how often CG was used in the making of “Beauty & the Beast” – traditional animators would get up in arms.
Which is why the then-Disney-studio asks the “B & B” production team to deliberately play down the use of CG & CAPS in the making of this film. Of course, Roy Disney seemed to have missed that memo. When asked directly by one reporter about how much computer animation has been used in the making of “Beauty & the Beast,” Roy said “A ton.” And then Walt’s nephew proceeded to walk that journalist through the way Disney Feature Animation used its the-proprietary CAPS system.
So much for keeping secrets, eh?
Well, that (again) is one of the main reason that I make a point of attending these ASIFA-Hollywood events. Where you get to hear all of these truly talented people telling tales-out-of-school about the way your favorite animated film REALLY got made.
Look, don’t just take my word for it, folks. Head on down to the Glendale Public Library tonight and see for yourself how much fun the 10th anniversary “Lion King” panel discussion will be.
I’m not lion, people. If you’re a real animation fan and/or a film historian, this is one panel discussion that you really don’t want to miss.
Speaking of which …
To learn more about ASIFA-Hollywood’s “The Lion King” 10th anniversary event — that’s being held Monday, June 14th at the Glendale Public Library — JHM suggests that you follow this link .