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The Family-in-Mind Awards!

Based upon the Academy Awards system, Family-in-Mind is going to award the cleanest and most well-made films! Check for our awards!

The Tale as Old as 1991: A Movie Review of Disney's "Beauty and the Beast"

2012 3D release poster

Original 1991 poster

How can anyone learn to love a hideous monster? Is it even possible? In Disney's
Academy Award-winning Beauty and the Beast, it certainly is! The movie won two academy awards, which is impressive considering it is hard for animated pictures to win more than one (and even then they have other contenders for the "Best Animated Film" award). It was also the very first Disney movie to be adapted as a Broadway musical.
The film stars the voices of Paige O'Hara as Belle (the "Beauty" of the movie), Robby Benson as the Beast, and Richard White as the hunter Gaston. I should also mention that Angela Lansbury is the voice of the castle cook Mrs. Potts, and she does a marvelous job.

SUMMARY

 Belle and her inventing father live in the countryside, just outside of a small village. She has no friends except for her books, which she borrows from a bookkeeper constantly. Although she is quite "strange" (according to the townsfolk), she has at least one quality: she is definitely the most beautiful person in the village. And she has caught the eye of the self-consumed hunter Gaston.

   Belle's "papa" Maurice says that his new invention will make a new life for them. That day, he is off to take his invention to the fair, where Belle believes he will win first place.

   However, Maurice's horse Philippe is spooked by wolves and runs off. Maurice is chased by wolves and only can find refuge in a large, dark castle. Inside the castle, Maurice finds an open chair by a warm fire. Oh, by the way, he also meets talking objects (such as a talking clock, candlestick, and teapot). As he warms up by the fire, with a cup of warm drink, he is confronted by a hideous monster, who drags him away.

   Back at home, Belle rejects the proposal of Gaston, much to his frustration. A little while later, the horse Philippe returns to her, and she realizes that her father must be in some sort of danger.

   The horse takes her to the dark castle. The talking candlestick Lumière secretly leads Belle to the prison tower in which her father is being held captive. The Beast enters the scene, and she takes her father's place, setting Maurice free.

   As Belle explores her new home and the enchanted occupants, her father tells everyone back in the village tavern that his daughter has been captured by a vicious creature (causing the townsfolk to think he is even more crazy). 

   While the ending is good, it is also quite tense for a Disney cartoon.

CONTENT

   Like many of Disney's animated features of the 1990's, the G-rated Beauty and the Beast has a borderline amount of violence for the film (perhaps that is even being a bit generous). Some younger children might possibly find the Beast to be frightening. Gaston fires shots from his rifle at the beginning of the film, but the gun is not shot at any people. At the end of the film, there is a "battle" between the enchanted servants and townsmen. This includes weapons such as scissors, hot water, and an oven. Afterwards, there is a tense confrontation between the Beast and Gaston. The hunter fires an arrow into the Beast's arm. Also, a person is stabbed with a knife (though we don't see any blood, if I recall correctly) and a man falls down an abyss, shouting the whole time.

   There is just a little sensual content in the movie. In the village tavern, Gaston is admired by three women who wear strapless gowns. Lumière is sometimes seen flirting with a female duster, and one scene shows the Beast in the bath (but there is nothing sexual about this, and we see no intimate parts). There is, however, only one kiss in the film. Apart from this, there is some very mild crude humor (i.e. scissors poke a man's behind).

   There is no foul language in the movie.

   Beauty and the Beast is completely based on a magical spell cast by an enchantress. This spell can only be broken by true love. There is no other use of magic in the film.

   Disney's cartoon really is a wonderful movie for mostly all ages. Apart from the violence, which could scare young children, there are a lot of positive things about the movie: loving others despite their outward appearance, loyalty, bravery, and true strength. Gaston represents a strong, yet cruel man, while the Beast shows a strong and kind soul. 

   I also would like to make a special note of the songs by Alan Menken. Some of the most popular Disney songs come from this film, including Be Our Guest, Human Again, and Beauty and the Beast. All of the songs are great, but Jerry Orbach and Angela Lansbury do marvelous jobs in their respective songs Be Our Guest and Beauty and the Beast.

   With both positive and negative aspects, this is a good family movie for anybody. It is one of my personal favorite Disney pictures and continues to be a favorite of our whole family.

   (Please note that this is a review of the Special Edition, including a few more minutes of film and some new music, though the storyline is the same regardless)

GENERAL INFORMATION

Length: 84 minutes (Original edition), 91 minutes (2002 Special edition)

Rating: G

Directors: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise

Producer: Don Hahn

Music: Alan Menken (music), Howard Ashman (lyrics), Tim Rice (additional lyrics)

Year of release: 1991

Primary audience: Children, family

Technical Trouble

   The search box on Family-in-Mind has not been working properly for several months. It was said that Blogger is working on the problem and the trouble will hopefully be fixed soon.
   Thanks for understanding.

~Family-in-Mind Reviews

Two Worlds Collide: A Movie Review of Disney's "Tarzan"

Two worlds, one family. An orphaned boy (whose family was stranded on a tropical island) is taken under the wing of a mother gorilla who has lost a child. Thus, we have the song Two Worlds, from where we get those words.

SUMMARY

   The movie opens with a burning sailing ship and a family of three fleeing the wreck. They take a rowboat to a tropical paradise. After some exploring, the mother and father find a good place to build a home for them and their infant son. 

   During this, the audience is shown a pack of gorillas. A mother gorilla loses a young son to a beast of the jungle and is obviously heartbroken.

   With this introduction finished, the mother gorilla, Kala, stumbles upon the tree-top home of the human family. Among wreckage, she finds the baby lying in his cradle. Upon picking him up, she is attacked by a vicious cheetah. She eventually escapes with the baby, both unharmed.

   Kala adopts the baby and names him Tarzan, much to the annoyance of the gorilla leader (and her mate) Kerchak. 

   A few years go by, and we are shown a young Tarzan having wild adventures and doing a daredevil act, earning the friendship and even respect of his female gorilla "cousin" Terk. He also becomes friends with a little elephant named Tantor.

   The audience is then shown Tarzan growing into a young man and all the things he does to impress his adopted father Kerchak. An ultimate test comes, though, when the cheetah that attacked Kala years ago comes to harm the gorillas. Using a spear, Tarzan is able to kill the cheetah, earning respect and acceptance from Kerchek (well, maybe not quite...).

   One day, Tarzan finds creatures roaming the jungle. They all look similar to him, though they are dressed quite differently, not to mention their speech. He investigates further and eventually saves the female from a herd of ferocious baboons. 

   The female (Jane) and her father are on the island for scientific research, but their guide Clayton has some other nasty ideas in store...

   Tarzan befriends the humans and learns to talk like them, as well as being taught about the world they live in. Although, towards the end of the film, Tarzan is faced with a choice between his family of gorillas and the newly discovered world of the humans.

CONTENT

   For a G-rated cartoon, Tarzan seems to have an overabundance of violence. There are numerous shots fired from a rifle (some hitting people & animals, though just one death) and we are shown a gorilla die (I recall a brief shot of blood). Around the last half of the movie, a man gets entangled in vines and we the shadow of his limp body, as he was hung by the vines.

   Tarzan and Jane have a near-immediate romance. When the two first meet, a curious, yet innocent Tarzan starts to lift her dress, though she kicks him. I believe that there is only a kiss or two. Also, at the very end of the film, Jane can briefly be seen in a two-piece outfit, presumable made out of leather.

   There is no language in the movie.

   In the scene where Jane's father, a professor, first meets Tarzan, he says that Tarzan might be the "missing link." Younger children likely will not catch this, but it is still there in the film, assuming that there even is a missing link. Also, the song Two Worlds might possibly be a reference to evolution ("two worlds, one family"), though this is not stated.

   There is a song called Son of Man in the film and might seem like a reference to Christ (as he was called "Son of Man" in the Bible), but I personally don't think this was the case. Also, the song Two Worlds has a line that says, "Trust your heart, let fate decide, to guide these lives we see." As most Disney movies do, Tarzan has a "moral lesson" of "trust your heart."

   For its few drawbacks, Tarzan is a clean family adventure. I enjoy it no matter how many times I watch it. Although there are a couple of scenes which parents might want to be wary of with young children, the majority of the film is appropriate for all ages.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Length: 88 minutes

Rating: G

Directors: Chris Buck, Kevin Lima

Producer: Bonnie Arnold

Music: Phil Collins, Mark Mancina

Year of release: 1999

Primary audience: Children, family

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~Family-in-Mind Reviews

Greed, Madness, and a Fiendishly Evil Dragon: A Movie Review of Peter Jackson's "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug"

Some friends and I made our way into a crowding movie theater and sat down with our giant special edition Hobbit cups and a bucket of popcorn. All of us were excited to see the second film in the Hobbit trilogy! The story set up in 2012's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey continues (for another two and a half hours!) in the second film, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The twelve dwarves the the hobbit Bilbo must brave orc hunters, giant spiders, hostile elves, and not to mention a giant (and angry) dragon!

The film stars Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins, Richard Armitage as dwarf prince Thorin Oakenshield, and Benedict Cumberbatch as the voices for both Smaug the dragon and the mysterious Necromancer.

SUMMARY

   The film starts as a kind of historic epilogue to the movie (as in the first one). A year before the current adventure, the wizard Gandalf "happens" to run into Thorin Oakenshield in an inn. He councils him to find the precious jewel of Thorin's grandfather, which is the only thing that will unite the dwarf clans. Gandalf tells Thorin he will need a burglar (who is obviously Bilbo Baggins)...

   Twelve months later, Bilbo is acting as a sneaky lookout, watching the pack of vicious orcs that were hunting him and the dwarves in the previous film. Just as he is about to return to Gandalf and the dwarves, though, he sees a huge and ferocious bear. He, of course, reports this to the others.

   Gandalf urges the company to hurry because there is only one place where they can be safe from the orcs, who are closing in. There is a catch, though: the person who they will stay with will either welcome them...or kill them all.

   Fortunately, he doesn't harm them, but we learn that is not fond of dwarves. The only reason this man, Beorn, helps them on their journey (by giving them horses to outrun the orcs) is because he hates orcs more than dwarves. 

   The company finally makes it to Greenwood (now called Mirkwood because of the darkness that has ascended upon it), though Gandalf must leave them to confront a great evil. He leaves them with one command: do not leave the path. Well, they do just that and Bilbo must climb a tree to see which way is east. Although, when he comes back into Mirkwood, the dwarves are gone. They have been captured by giant, hungry spiders. It is up to Bilbo to rescue them again.

   After a battle with giant spiders (and one of their babies), the dwarves are caught by wood-elves and Bilbo must figure out a way to save them...once again!

   Eventually, they make it to Lake-town, near the mountain Erebor, which was their original quest. The company splits up: a few stay in Lake-town, while Bilbo, Thorin, and several others go to Erebor to search for the hidden doorway. 

   While they are away, Laketown is attacked by orcs. Also, the company at the Lonely Mountain (Erebor) find an angry dragon on their hands. During all this, Gandalf is fighting a dark power, after discovering a terrible secret.

   The Desolation of Smaug, like its predecessor, ends with a cliff hanger. This time, though, we have two or three of them. Trust me when I say that this film will not leave you without suspense, after or during the movie. 

CONTENT

   While both Hobbit films had orc creatures, The Desolation of Smaug has much more violence with them. As in previous Middle-earth films of Peter Jackson's, the second Hobbit film had multiple battles scenes, many of them with blood. A couple of orcs are beheaded in the film, not to mention the dwarves, elves, and men who are shot at or killed on-screen. These are definitely the most violent scenes of the movie. Also, some of the creatures will likely frighten younger kids: the orc hunters (as mentioned), the massive dragon Smaug, a giant bear, and large spiders. In addition to this, there is a Necromancer who takes form in a shadow and later as the silhouette of a human-like figure; his voice and battle with one of the heroes might scare children. 

   It is implied (and stated by elf king Thranduil) that the elf prince Legolas is fond of Tauriel, captain of the elven guard. There is really no romance between them, not even a kiss. The dwarf Kili obviously takes a liking to Tauriel and when she locks him in a cell, he says, "Aren't you going to search me? I could have something down my trousers" (this is the same dwarf that was earlier hiding lots of weapons). It later appears that Tauriel has feelings for him, though there is also nothing really beyond Kili's crude comment.

   I don't recall any foul language in the film.

   As in the previous Hobbit film, both the heroes and villains use magic. Gandalf (and the briefly-seen Radagast) are both wizards. Also, the Necromancer from the first movie returns and uses dark magic against one of the wizards. There is a clear contrast between the wisdom and goodness of Gandalf and Radagast, as opposed to the evil powers of the Necromancer.
   I have read mixed reviews (and heard mixed opinions) of The Desolation of Smaug. Obviously, to make three films, the director had to add a lot from the book and even change a few things. For fans of The Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit movies can never be just like the other trilogy, since its story is much different. I really enjoyed the film and if you like fantasy and adventure, this is a good choice. Even with some complicated plots and a few other things, this was still a great movie.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Length: 161 minutes

Rating: PG-13 (for extended sequences of intense fantasy action violence, and frightening images)

Director: Peter Jackson

Producers: Carolynne Cunningham, Zane Weiner, Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson

Music: Howard Shore

Year of release: 2013

Primary audience: Teens, adults

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

   Family-in-Mind Reviews would like to extend a very Merry Christmas to all of our followers!

   It is certainly easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of Christmastime; presents, "stocking stuffers," treats, and no shortage of ridiculous advertisements. We see images of Santa Claus and Frosty the Snowman everywhere we look, so we do not want this to cause us to forget what Christmas is truly about.

   Rather than talking about this subject, I will instead list some good verses to remind us of the true "Reason for the season" and God's great gift to all mankind...

"And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people." - Luke 2:10

"She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." - Matthew 1:21

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." 

- John 3:16

   So as we open our stockings and wrapped presents, it will be a great idea to find some things to focus on Christ. Our family will read the Bible passage and this year we will hopefully watch the film The Nativity Story. So instead of watching Frosty the Snowman or Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (which are both good films, don't get me wrong!), are there any Bible-related films to find for Christmas?

   

Merry CHRISTmas!

   ~Family-in-Mind Reviews