Beauty and the Beast

Disney is an excellent example of a Media corporation as it is known worldwide, go any where in the world and ask someone about Mickey Mouse or Daffy Duck and they will know that you are talking about Disney. They have a huge range of advertising and merchandise ranging from children’s books and films to holiday resorts and theme parks. The Disney brand appeals to all, children and adults alike.

People will expect stereotypical characters for good and evil, the evil characters being quite dark and in dark surroundings, there intentions will be and as well. They would expect the good character/s to prevail at the end.

Beauty and the Beast is a classic film using old style animation techniques. It has been recently digitally re-mastered for the next generation to enjoy the magic of Disney. In comparison Toy Story uses computer generated images that saves time and gives a more realistic feel to the film. The animation techniques used in Beauty and the Beast will make the audience expect an older story with more ‘old fashioned’ morals whereas Toy Story uses modern animation techniques the audience would expect a modern tale with a moral more to do with issues at the moment.

DEVELOPMENT

In Beauty and the Beast the evil character changes during the film, at the beginning the Beast is the villain. He turns down the old beggar and imprisons Belle’s father before she switches places with him so he can be free. At the beginning he is made to look like a beast, he wears no clothes and is very scruffy. The Beast is very large and this is shown by the camera always being from Belle or her fathers point of view or from lower down to make the Beast look more menacing and big. He has a very bad temper and this is shown throughout the film when he gets angry. The Beast changes though with the influences of Belle, he begins to wear clothes and eventually changes into a good character at the end. By the end of the film he is a new person who can care and love and show compassion. He shows he has changed by the way he acts around Belle, treating her with respect and like a lady. Another way that shows the Beast has changed is the way people respond to him throughout the film, at the beginning Belle and her Father feared him but by the end Belle is no longer scared and sees him as a human being. Other noticeable changes are the times when he risks his own life for Belle, when she runs away from the Castle and when he kills Gaston at the end.

The evil character has changed by the end and though and is now Gaston. He is very confident, handsome and charming. At the beginning of the film he comes across quite charming but begins to change. Towards the end of the film he is shown more as a dark character when he attacks the Beast’s castle and the Beast. The turning point in Gaston’s character was when he was set to propose to Belle but was turned down and embarrassed when he fell into the puddle of mud.

Toy Story is similar in the fact that the first ...

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Toy Story is similar in the fact that the first villainous character in both films comes good at the end and another villain is introduced. At the beginning of Toy Story Woody is the villain when Buzz first arrives in the bedroom. He is jealous of Buzz, as he is not getting the same respect from his friends as before. As the story moves on Woody begins to change and realize that Buzz is not such a threat as he first assumed. He begins to change to what he was before, leading the way and setting a good example. He helps them get to Pizza Planet and saves Buzz from being blown up by a firework by their evil next-door neighbour, Sid. The other toys responded differently to him when he was seen as the evil character, treating him like a traitor and mocking him.

There are quite a few ‘good’ characters in Beauty and the Beast but Belle is the main one. She is very kind hearted and sweet and can find the good side in anyone as shown with the Beast. She changes everything in the castle for the better. She is always in blues, whites and yellows and this helps form her character. People around the village see her as weird of different because if the way she is, carefree and not afraid to not be a part of a group. She is seen as a loner. This changes in the castle as the servants and the Beast accept her for what she is and do not see her as weird or an outcast.

There is no obvious ‘good’ character in Toy Story, many toys are good though such as Woody when realises Buzz is not a threat. Buzz is not an evil character or a good character as he does nothing to make him either, he is quite hard to put on either side but I would say he is good. At the beginning he is seen as someone superior by the toys as they follow all of his instructions etc although they all know he is only a toy and not a ‘Space Ranger’. Woody sees him as a threat at the start and responds to him in this way, always trying to put him down and make him look inferior, by the end this changes and he treats him as a friend and an equal. The toys in Sid’s room are a great help to Woody and Buzz although at first they are seen as a threat and mutants. At one point Woody and Buzz believe the toys are cannibals and are going to eat them. Once they ‘got to know them’ they are treated for what they are inside and not on their appearance.

The Beasts castle is a stereotypical surrounding for an evil character, a dark, gloomy, stormy castle on top of a mountain. There are always dark clouds and thunder around the castle when the Beast is seen as ‘bad’. Inside everything is dark and very large which gives a threatening image and portrays it as evil. Through the duration of the film it changes with Belles influences becoming lighter and cleaner.

In Toy Story Andy’s room is bright and colourful and uses colours well such as the blues on the walls, it gives off a better atmosphere as well being tidy most of the time with lots of light. This shows a ‘good’ bedroom. Sid’s is the complete opposite being very dark and scary with luminous posters on the wall and green lights, it is very untidy with tools and a workbench. It does not give off the idea of a child’s bedroom more of a ‘lair’ whereas Andy’s is a typical child’s room with lots of Toys. Sid’s room shows his character, very dark and evil. There is a clear contrast between Andy and Sid’s environments and there personalities.

Good and evil are shown well in Toy Story and Beauty and the Beast using very stereotypical characters and obvious techniques such as the use of colour and setting. These help make an impact on the audience by letting them become involved by being able to hate the villain and be on the good characters sides or vice versa.

CONCLUSION

I believe that Beauty and the Beast was the most successful in portraying ‘good and evil’. The use of settings such as the dark, gloomy castle with the stormy weather and dark clouds around it tell you immediately it is an evil place. The evil and good characters are very clear to define as well; the Beast and Gaston are at one point evil and Belle and the Beast good. The lighting shows good and evil well, before Belle has any influence over the Beast or the castle it is very dark and gloomy and over time becomes much lighter and cleaner.