Friday, November 11, 2016

DISNEY MONTH DOUBLE FEATURE: Top 5 Disney Protagonists/Sidekicks


We’ve got a special double-feature pairing of lists here today on Rhode Island Movie Corner. Disney Month, a month dedicated to the best of the best from the House of Mouse, continues in preparation for Disney Animation’s 56th animated feature, Moana, out later this month. Last time, I ranked all the current members of the Disney Princess line, from the originals like Snow White and Cinderella to new members like Rapunzel, Anna and Elsa (who technically aren’t part of that line but I included them anyway because they’re still ‘Disney royalty’; in fact, the latter outranks them all as a queen), and Merida. So today, I’m going to be highlighting the other great main characters of Disney films. Specifically, I’ll be listing my Top 5 favorite ‘non-Princess’ main characters as well as my Top 5 favorites from the many great sidekicks of Disney Animation that sometimes even outshine main protagonists to become the standout characters of their respective films. Now, the reason why I’m pairing these two lists together is because otherwise I would have to have done three ‘Disney Month’ posts in one week. You see, my original plan for this week was to have the protagonists list posted on Monday, followed by the sidekicks list which would’ve been posted on Wednesday, and then culminating with the post that was originally meant to be posted today, my Top 10 Disney Villains list. And simply put, that’d be too much to do in just one week, especially for someone like me who must also deal with things outside of writing these posts, namely schoolwork. Thus, I decided to indefinitely postpone the villains list, pair the two other lists together, and move them from their original posting date of Tuesday to today. So, without further ado, let’s get into the first of today’s list; my Top 5 favorite Disney Protagonists.

PROTAGONISTS

HONORABLE MENTION: THE BIG HERO 6 TEAM (BIG HERO 6)

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Big Hero 6 was a highly entertaining entry in the Disney canon that continued Disney’s recent hot streak. The first Disney animated film to utilize the company’s recent acquisition of Marvel Comics, it was very much the animated equivalent of a Marvel Cinematic Universe film. It was fast-paced, full of great visuals, and featured a fun cast of main characters. But also like a lot of the best MCU films, the story had a lot of heart to it. This is mainly reflected in the film’s main character, Hiro (Ryan Potter), a robotics prodigy who tragically loses his older brother Tadashi (Daniel Henney) in an explosion. The film does an impressive job at handling Hiro’s attempts to cope with this loss. At first, he’s driven by revenge to take down the man in the kabuki mask when it’s revealed to be noted robotics professor Robert Callaghan. Because it means that when Tadashi went in to save Callaghan from that burning building, he died for nothing. It’s only until the helpful words of Baymax and a series of videos of Tadashi running tests on him effectively calm Hiro down and realize that this wouldn’t be what Tadashi would’ve wanted. As for Baymax (Scott Adsit), he’s easily the best part of the film. He may be limited in emotion because he’s a robot but the ways in which he interacts with people and things in his environment produce hilarious results. And then there’s the other members of the team; tough-girl GoGo (Jamie Chung), hyperactive chemistry enthusiast Honey Lemon (Genesis Rodriguez), neat freak/laser expert Wasabi (Damon Wayans Jr.), and fanboy Fred (T.J. Miller). The great camaraderie between them all help make them a solid team in what was a super fun Disney film and what is sure to be a fun TV series spin-off that debuts next year.

5. BERNARD AND MISS BIANCA (THE RESCUERS/THE RESCUERS DOWN UNDER)

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The Rescuers films are one of the rare instances of a Disney franchise in which both films have seen a theatrical release and are officially part of the ‘Walt Disney Animated Classics’ line. The first one was a decent albeit flawed adventure flick while the sequel upped the ante in the best of ways but was unfortunately under-marketed and became the lowest-grossing film of the Disney Renaissance. And through it all, the best thing about both films is its lead duo; Bernard, played by Bob Newhart, and Miss Bianca, played by Eva Gabor. Both characters are incredibly likable and balance each other excellently. When they’re first paired together, it’s established that Miss Bianca is a sophisticated and experienced member of their organization, the Rescue Aid Society, whereas Bernard is just the janitor who ended up getting picked by Bianca to join her on her newest mission. In short, Bernard is the everyman in this situation and you can also see that in the sequel with the running gag of him trying to propose to Bianca and yet something always happens to distract him. To make matters worse, on assignment in Australia they team up with another mouse named Jake who starts to flirt with Bianca. Seriously, our boy Bernard can’t catch a break, can he? Thankfully, that changes at the end when he finally manages to propose and Bianca happily accepts. Goes to show that while Miss Bianca is the more ‘dignified’ of the two, she’s also a very kind soul and a perfect match for Bernard. In short, Newhart and Gabor do fantastic jobs in these roles and thus, this mouse duo is one of Disney’s most underrated pairs.

4. RAPUNZEL AND FLYNN RIDER (TANGLED)

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Ok, kind of cheating here a bit because Rapunzel is a Disney Princess and I said that I would limit this list to ‘non-Princess’ characters. But still, I had to include her along with Flynn because not only are they the main characters of the film but they do form a great team in it. As I stated before, there was some controversy over the film getting a title change. Originally titled Rapunzel, it was then changed to Tangled reportedly because it was intended to appeal to a wider demographic. Some might say that this was a cheap marketing ploy or that the new title was too generic. Still, it does accurately reflect the fact that Rapunzel and Flynn Rider are equals in the story. So, because I already talked about Rapunzel last time, let’s discuss the charming thief Flynn Rider, whose profile is never truly portrayed right on a wanted poster (“They just can’t get my nose right!”). While on the run after stealing a crown (Rapunzel’s crown, for the record) from the kingdom of Corona, he ends up at Rapunzel’s tower and after spending a brief amount of time as her ‘prisoner’, he agrees to help her escape from the tower and go to the kingdom so that she can see the lanterns. Simply put, Flynn works off Rapunzel well (as some critics have noted, their back-and-forth banter is like something out of a romantic comedy) and his voice actor, Zachary Levi, does a great job in giving Flynn his sarcastic but charming personality. In short, one of the best things about Tangled was that it was a true fantasy-adventure and at the heart of it all was the lead duo of Rapunzel and Flynn AKA Eugene Fitzherbert.

3. ALADDIN (ALADDIN)

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Aladdin kind of has it all in terms of character traits. He’s a quick-witted, good looking (fun fact, his design was inspired by both Tom Cruise and Michael J. Fox), adventurous young man who’s burdened by the fact that he’s a street-rat in the city of Agrabah. Day after day he is forced to survive on the city streets, constantly being pursued by palace guards whenever he does something like steal a loaf of bread (“All this for a loaf of bread?”). But then things start to change when he comes across Princess Jasmine. At first unaware that she is the Princess, the two immediately start to form a connection out of them sharing a similar habit of disliking their current situations (in her case, being forced into marriage). But then the reality of his situation hits once he finds out that she is the Princess; clearly, she’s ‘out of his league’. But then he finds the magic lamp which contains the Genie and soon finds himself becoming ‘Prince Ali Ababwa’. Admittedly there’s not much else that I can say about Aladdin. Simply put, he’s a very likable protagonist and a lot of that comes from his voice actor, Scott Weinger (AKA Steve from Full House for you 90’s kids). Weinger does do a fantastic job in making Aladdin a clever lead character but also one with a good heart. And even though the film does focus around Aladdin putting on a false persona, this lie does come back to haunt him from time to time, namely when he is forced to consider going against his promise to Genie that he’d free him just because he’s now realized he’s being prepped to be Sultan and he can’t keep up this charade forever. But at the end of the day, Aladdin’s still a good guy and it's easy to see why he is known as ‘the Diamond in the Rough’.

2. JUDY HOPPS AND NICK WILDE (ZOOTOPIA)

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Disney’s latest lead duo take the number 2 spot on this list; Officer Judy Hopps and con-man Nick Wilde. Originally, Zootopia was to focus on the character of Nick Wilde as he tried to clear his name from a crime he didn’t commit while being pursued by Officer Hopps. That plotline ended up getting scrapped in favor of focusing more on Judy. And overall that was the smart move as Judy is immediately established as a likable optimist who dreams of becoming a police officer, even though many people tell her that there has never been a ‘bunny cop’ before in the generally predator-based police force. But she manages to prove a lot of her critics wrong and lands a position at Zootopia’s primary precinct… before getting delegated to the lowly position of meter maid. But on a whim, she assures the wife of a missing otter (one of many missing animals all over the city) that she’ll be on the case to find him, even though she ends up coming to an agreement with her superior, Chief Bogo, that she’ll resign from the force if she doesn’t find the missing mammal in 48 hours. Again, Judy’s greatest strength is that she’s optimistic and doesn’t give up. But at the same time, she also has her own imperfections, namely the fact that in a story that turned out to be a timely fable of combatting prejudice and racism, she had to deal with her own prejudices, namely her species’ general distrust of foxes. Because even when it looks like she and Nick have become friends and she encourages him to become a cop as well, that ‘bunny-fox’ rivalry slinks back into the situation and messes everything up.

As for Nick, while he does start out as an ‘antagonistic’ character towards Judy, he ends up becoming one of the most sympathetic characters in the entire film. We learn that even he’s struggled with having to deal with prejudice and the stereotype of being a ‘sly fox’ directed towards him on a regular basis. In his case, it’s shown in what is easily the most emotional moment in the entire film; a flashback to his youth. Back then, his biggest dream was to join his local Ranger Scout group. But, when he attends an initiation ceremony, he is instead hazed and muzzled for being a ‘untrustworthy’ fox. And so, he decides in that moment that if the world won’t see him as anything but a ‘sly fox’, why should he try to be anything different? It’s a powerful scene that I’ll admit even got me a little teary-eyed. But in the rest of the film, Nick serves as a great foil to Judy in this ‘buddy cop’ story. While she’s the straight-faced cop, he’s the charming swindler with a dry sense of humor. And both are voiced excellently by Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman, respectively. This is pitch-perfect casting; Goodwin imbues Judy with her optimism as well as a great no-nonsense attitude, especially in scenes where she and Nick trade quips, while Bateman’s dry wit is obviously a perfect fit for Nick. In short, pair Judy and Nick together and you have one of the best ‘buddy cop’ duos ever to be put on film.

1. SIMBA (THE LION KING)

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Taking the top spot as my favorite Disney protagonist is Simba from The Lion King. To me, Simba has one of the best arcs of any main character in a Disney film. The son of King Mufasa, the film begins with Simba eagerly awaiting the day when he’ll become the king of Pride Rock. However, he’s shown to be a bit arrogant/rambunctious at times. When he learns of the Elephant Graveyard, which Mufusa orders him not to go to because it’s beyond the borders of their kingdom, he goes anyway with his best friend Nala and they nearly get eaten by a group of hyenas. And then of course, there comes the tragedy of the death of Mufasa. Because Simba was tricked by his uncle Scar into waiting in a large gorge before having to flee from the wildebeest stampede he set upon him, Scar led him to believe that it was his fault that Mufasa died. And so, he runs away from the Pride Lands and ends up coming across Timon and Pumbaa, who cheer him up by teaching him about their care-free way of life. And that lifestyle is exactly what Simba embraces for years until he’s reunited with Nala as an adult. He learns about the ways in which Scar has ruined Pride Rock and after doing some soul-searching, he finally returns home to fight his uncle and take his rightful place as the king of Pride Rock. It’s well-known that Simba and the whole story of The Lion King in general was inspired by Hamlet and overall it ends up delivering a solid new twist on that story. Simba also benefits from solid performances from his two main voice actors. Jonathan Taylor Thomas (AKA Randy from Home Improvement) voices young Simba while Matthew Broderick voices adult Simba. Both do a great job in conveying Simba’s adventurous but also conflicted personality. So, in short, Simba is a well-layered protagonist who slowly but surely develops into the leader he’s meant to be. And that is why he’s my favorite Disney protagonist.

Now it’s time to move on to the characters who sometimes become the true stars of the show…

SIDEKICKS

HONORABLE MENTIONS


I got a few Honorable Mentions when it comes to Disney sidekicks so I’ll just quickly rattle them off here. First there’s the fairy trio of Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather from Sleeping Beauty. These three fairies work off each other excellently, resulting in some great humor. Said humor namely stems from their attempts to do various household chores (e.g. baking a cake for Aurora’s 16th birthday, making her a dress) without the use of their magic. Next up is the wise wizard Merlin from The Sword in the Stone. This may just be the definitive on-screen version of the iconic wizard; goofy but wise and ready to help Arthur become king of Camelot. His owl assistant, Archimedes, is a pretty fun sidekick as well. A total grump but nevertheless very intelligent at the same time. And finally, we have Mowgli’s two best friends from The Jungle Book; the panther Bagheera and the bear Baloo. The contrast between these two is hilarious, with Bagheera being the wise, no-nonsense protector and Baloo being the care-free friend who teaches Mowgli to ‘look for the Bare Necessities of life’. And both are excellently voiced by Disney regulars Sebastian Cabot (The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, The Sword in the Stone) and Phil Harris (Robin Hood, The Aristocats), respectively.

5. THE ATLANTIS CREW (ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE)

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Atlantis: The Lost Empire was released to generally mixed results in 2001. Critics were split on it and the film only did okay at the box-office, effectively silencing any plans for a franchise, including a TV series spinoff and an underwater attraction at Disneyland. And that’s a shame because it’s an underrated entry in the Disney canon that dared to do something a little different. Instead of being a musical, Atlantis is an action-adventure flick with great animation that feels like it came right out of a comic-book. One of the film’s best aspects is its cast of main characters. Not the main villains, who are basically just greed-obsessed, but more the title character Milo (voiced by Michael J. Fox) and his primary allies. Now sure, characterizations in this film are simple at best but still these sidekicks do prove to be very memorable. There’s tough-girl mechanic Audrey, friendly doctor Joshua Sweet, eccentric geologist ‘Mole’, old-fashioned chef ‘Cookie’ (voiced by Jim Varney in his final film role), sarcastic radio operator Packard, and probably everyone’s favorite, demolitions expert Vinny (played by SNL alum Don Novello AKA Father Guido Sarducci). Simply put, Vinny gets the best lines (“We done a lot of things we’re not proud of. Robbing graves, eh, plundering tombs, double parking. But, nobody got hurt. Well, maybe somebody got hurt, but nobody we knew!”). These characters work off each other phenomenally and it’s a shame that we didn’t get to see these characters go off on further adventures. I mean, we did kind of get that with the direct-to-video film Atlantis: Milo’s Return, which was basically the pilot for the canceled show, but the less said about that the better.

4. OLAF (FROZEN)

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While Anna and Elsa have proven to be an excellent lead duo, many consider Olaf to be the breakout character of Frozen. And rightfully so because Josh Gad’s happy-go-lucky, innocent snowman provides the film with a lot of its best humor. Olaf’s main role in the plot revolves around him wishing to get the chance to experience summer. Obviously, we all know what would happen to snowmen after winter (Kristoff: “Somebody’s got to tell him…”) but for the most part, Olaf is blissfully unaware. And that is hilarious. In fact, Olaf gets a lot of the best lines in the film. There’s the instance in which he nonchalantly remarks that he just ran into an icicle (“Oh look at that… I’ve been impaled”). There’s the instance in which you think he’s talking about Kristoff’s reindeer pal Sven but he was referring to Kristoff the whole time. There’s the instance in which he interjects with “You hesitated…” when Kristoff stumbles a bit when answering a question about Anna’s hair. And that’s just to name a few. But at the same time, Olaf also proves to be a warm (no pun intended) presence in the story. It’s established that when Anna and Elsa were kids, Olaf was the name of a snowman that the two built on the night when Elsa accidentally injured Anna with her powers. Later, during the big ‘Let it Go’ scene, we see Elsa reconstruct Olaf and this, it turns out, results in him being brought to life. And although Anna’s memories of Elsa’s powers were wiped when she was a child, her memories of Olaf weren’t, hence why she can remember him. Simply put, there is a solid personal connection there and thus, it’s easy to see why Olaf became the lovable sidekick that he is.

3. PACHA (THE EMPEROR’S NEW GROOVE)

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Who doesn’t love Pacha? Voiced by ‘America’s Uncle’, John Goodman, Pacha is the kind leader of an Incan village who learns that Emperor Kuzco plans to build his ultimate summer get-away, Kuzcotopia (complete with water slide!), on the hilltop where the village is located. Obviously, though, this would mean that everyone in the village would lose their homes. But despite Pacha’s arguments against it, he is unable to change Kuzco’s mind, making it seem like his village is nearing its final days. That is, until Kuzco ends up becoming the victim of a plot by his advisor Yzma to take over the empire. He’s turned into a llama but ends up getting dumped onto Pacha’s cart as he travels back to the village. As soon as Kuzco realizes what happened, he orders Pacha to help him get back to the palace but Pacha refuses unless Kuzco changes his mind and builds his summer house somewhere else. Being the self-absorbed leader that he is, Kuzco refuses at first but eventually starts to reconsider. And so, this begins a crazy buddy road trip complete with all sorts of misadventures, from the two of them getting stuck on a tree log as it falls off a waterfall to them getting caught up in an awkward situation when Pacha tries to revive Kuzco via mouth-to-mouth (“For the last time, it was not a kiss!”). And like Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde in Zootopia, Kuzco and Pacha work off each other incredibly well, with Kuzco being the arrogant spoiled brat and Pacha being the straight man in their situation. Sure, when it comes to the film’s humor, a lot of the best moments come courtesy of main villain Yzma and her lackey Kronk. But there are also some great funny moments with Kuzco and Pacha as well. One of my favorites is when Pacha is swinging in on a vine to save Kuzco from a bunch of jaguars but misses at first. Then, after he finally nabs Kuzco… they end up getting tied to a tree (“Maybe I'm just new to this whole rescuing thing, but this, to me, might be considered kind of a step backwards, wouldn't you say?”). In short, Pacha is a lovable sidekick who manages to spark a change in attitude for the selfish emperor and is one of the many reasons why The Emperor’s New Groove is one of my favorite Disney animated films.

2. TIMON AND PUMBAA (THE LION KING)

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You just can’t go wrong with this legendary duo from one of Disney’s most legendary films. Timon, voiced by Nathan Lane, and Pumbaa, voiced by Ernie Sabella, first appear to help liven up the mood after the devastating scene that was the death of Mufasa. They come across Simba while out on the desert and offer to let him stay with them. It is through them that Simba learns to live a care-free lifestyle as inspired by their motto, “Hakuna Matata” (Simba: “What’s a motto?” Timon: “Nothing! What’s the motto with you?”). But even after Simba finally accepts who he is and goes back to fight Scar, Timon and Pumbaa go to help him as well. They distract a bunch of hyenas by putting on a luau performance so that Simba and Nala can sneak by them. And later, when Timon gets captured, Pumbaa takes on his captors in what I must admit is a pretty badass moment. After getting called a ‘pig’, he references a classic film line (“They call me Mr. Pig!”) and charges at the hyenas like a battering ram. In short, while these two aren’t exactly the kind of characters who try to get too involved in certain conflicts, their loyalty to their friend Simba always shines through. It’s easy to see why these two became some of the most popular characters from the franchise. They got their own spin-off show, Timon and Pumbaa, which ran for 3 seasons from 1995 to 1999. I fondly remember watching this show all the time when I was younger. They also starred in their own direct-to-video sequel, The Lion King 1 ½, a re-telling of the first film from their perspective and while it’s not saying much, I consider it to be one of the better Disney direct-to-video films.  

1. THE GENIE (ALADDIN)

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At the end of the day, though, I’d argue that it’s hard to top what the legendary Robin Williams did in the role of Aladdin’s wise-cracking sidekick, the Genie. Genie… is the best thing about Aladdin. It’s interesting to note that when Williams first signed onto the film, he agreed on the condition that the marketing wasn’t centered around him and the character. Disney obviously went back on this agreement, effectively resulting in Williams not returning to voice the character in the first direct-to-video sequel, The Return of Jafar. Dan Castellaneta (AKA Homer Simpson) voiced the character instead but Williams later returned for the second direct-to-video sequel, Aladdin and the King of Thieves. Regardless of this whole ordeal, the Genie does end up stealing the whole show. Williams’ talents in accents and improvisation results in plenty of hilarious moments. Obviously, some of the references that he makes are anachronistic; by that I mean they’re references that no one in the time-period that the film takes place in would recognize. But for us modern audiences, they’re a hoot; Rodney Dangerfield (“I can’t believe this, I’m losing to a rug…”), Jack Nicholson (“Alright, Sparky, here’s the deal. If you want to court the little lady you gotta be a straight-shooter, do ya got it?”), the list goes on. But through it all, Genie also comes with an endearing plot thread of him yearning for freedom; because despite all the “phenomenal cosmic power” that comes with being the Genie, it also comes with the “itty-bitty living space” that is the lamp. Not only that, but the friendship that forms between him and Aladdin is extremely heart-warming. Simply put, you could truly sense the warmth that Robin Williams brought to not just this role but basically every role that he ever did. And that’s why we’ll always remember him; for roles like the Genie. Not only is the Genie my favorite Disney sidekick, he may just be my favorite Disney character period.


And those are my Top 5 Disney Protagonists and Top 5 Disney Sidekicks. Be sure to sound off in the comments below with your own favorite Disney main characters/sidekicks. Disney Month will continue next Friday with a big Top 10 list; my Top 10 favorite Disney Songs.

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