blogs_blog_1374

I remember looking up the multilingual version of "When Will My Life Begin Reprise" from Tangled.

 

... I ready need to see Frozen... I already know the general premise of the movie, I have listened to each song at least once, and I'm over the moon about the Tangled cameo which only lasted one second...

 

This is just like when I obsessed over Tangled before I saw it... Curse the internet and my curiosity...

I love this so much. It's just one of the greatest videos that could have ever been released that's related to this song. Better than any cover, and more professionally edited together than any other multi-language mashup I've ever watched. I don't even know why. Really it's such a simple concept but I think it speaks volumes with how universal and applicable the song's themes are for pretty much anyone. I think my favorite versions are Norwegian, French, Japanese and Spanish, in that order. Looking forward to hearing the Arabic version sometime soon.

 

Yet, when people talk of the best films of the year, which ones are they going to watch with their children, maybe even without their children, repeatedly on VHS Blu-Ray?

 

 

Fixed. For those of us who still use VCR's and don't have Blu-Ray capabilities, anyway. There is a photoshop (or actual photo?) of a Frozen VHS set and it's something that I would love to own. I think it would look great next next to all my other Disney VHS tapes... which I still watch (don't judge me).

 

I find it odd how people often neglect to mention Disney movies when talking of some of the great movies that are released these days, as if animation is somehow an inferior means of storytelling and merely some form of sub-culture.

 

 

I think the problem is that, in America at least, that is pretty much how we treat animated films (note that television seems to be a different matter entirely). I'm not a film historian by any means, but it seems to me that it wasn't really until 90's Disney and then Pixar that people (who aren't in the animation industry) started to see animation as a way of telling mature stories. And it sure doesn't help that many of the animated movies produced here are, in fact, targeted towards children. Obviously this doesn't mean the story has to suffer, but there is a stigma associated with children's entertainment. And let's be honest: it's an understandable one considering the wavering quality of children's entertainment.

 

In foreign countries this problem doesn't seem to exist. American animation companies really need to join them in this thinking and produce some good animated films for a more adult audience. And I don't just mean add gore and swearwords and such, but create actual mature storytelling. What Pixar did is a good start, but I think we can do more. Disney and Dreamworks seem to be trying, but with what I would say mixed results (and no, as much as I enjoyed Frozen, I just can't call it a storytelling success). And then there's Blue Sky who aren't really helping much at all.

 

Again, I don't study film professionally so maybe I'm just spitting fumes here and feel free to disagree. But anyway, all this reminds me that I was supposed to watch The Croods tonight. Let's see how that one goes.

I'm totally judging your for your VHS watching...and I have judged you to be awesome. And if there's a Frozen VHS, I want it.

 

It's interesting that you bring up the stigma against animation being part of a larger stigma against storytelling targeted towards children. I ran into that problem once when I was mentioning movies and stories that I thought were masterpieces and great examples for storytellers, and someone criticized me for mainly mentioning children's literature. It wasn't a neutral observation; it was brought up to make the point that I clearly don't know what I'm talking about.

 

But let's take a step back for a minute. I believe that Disney has always done a pretty good job of being not just children-oriented, but family oriented. Disney tries to make films that are easily accessible -- for everyone. From three-year-olds to ninety-year-olds, from Americans to Japanese. Anyone can watch a Disney movie. I strongly believe that we need more high-value G-rated film. People nowadays tend to think that the G rating means "dumbed down, simplified, and prevented from reaching its fullest potential," when what it really means is just "General Audience." To me, when the G rating is taken to its fullest potential and given a high value, it becomes a U rating, U for Universal, applicable to anyone and everyone.

 

And of course, there will still be a stigma against that who want to consider themselves elite and more mature for prefering material that's more specific. There's nothing wrong with storytelling that has a limited relevence, but at the same time I can't say that it makes it "elite" or inherently better than universal stories. As it happens, in our culture that is the trend since it's easier to tailor a movie toward a specific audience rather than a general audience. I've read in several places that it's actually harder to write children's literature than adult literature. Writing literature for both children and adults is harder still. So in any case, most directors of G-Rated movies find it easier to target in on children.

 

It almost seems like there needs to be a distinction between films rated G for being safe for a general audience and films rated G because they're targeted for a general audience. The latter describes most Disney films, like The Lion King, Toy Story, and now Frozen. These are the types of films that I would consider to be rated G and also as having high value. I would consider them prestigious art films, since they are literally pieces of art stitched together frame by frame. I think that people like us on BZPower give these films the credit they deserve (just look at the recent Golden Tohu votes; there's a lot of love for Frozen), and this is a case where I think that the values of critics ought to be adjusting. They do praise these films and give them 4 star ratings, but it's usually on the basis of them being "good in what they were trying to achieve."

 

For now, we have Disney. Everyone knows that Disney is good. But if frustrates me that it's being treated as being "good for what it is, that is to say animation." I understand that most animated films, as you say, are certainly not universal. They are pretty dumb. That's unfortunate. The majority of Dreamwork's animated films are this way. I do wish that animated movies were treated like actual works of high art. Especially since animated Disney movies will always be compared/contrasted first with respect to the the films with which they bear superficial similarities. As much as I don't like saying that animated films are good or bad "for animated films," I also understand that it's our human nature to want to compare things. It's easy and convenient, and it making these categories makes life a little more predictable.

 

Oh, and finally, I agree with you about the voice editing. It wasn't something I consciously noticed until you said it, but it is indeed smoother than anything else. I mainly thought "it's cool how they're all different singers, but they still sound like Elsa." That, and I was impressed at how the lip-syncing was actually pretty close.

 

My favorites were Japanese, Serbian, German, Dutch, Flemish, and Swedish (Vlaams), in about that order. The Japanese it just so bubbly and truly sounds magical, and the portion of the song it fits into, where she starts undergoing the beginnings of her magical transformation (not physical, but in terms of her character, basically the point where the song "turns on," if you will) is perfectly timed. Then I simply love the lyrics "Sad je Kraj," witch sound very cool. Whenever I put the song on repeat and listen to it, "Sad je krai" always stands out to me as a highlight. Then the Dutch and German (both by the same singer, by the way), have a certain somber tone to them that I think match the initial sadness of the song. It would make sense, since they're heavier languages. Flemish, meanwhile, which you heard at the end, is really just a southern dialect of Dutch, and I know several people from there, or with Flemish surnames. The strength and forcefulness of the language, to me, kind of matched the power walk she does at the end. Of course, the German and two dialects of Dutch have my bias, since I have studied both languages and love the way they sound. I also loved the Swedish and think that it deserves to be in my top 5 because the story takes place in a fantasy counterpart to that country, and thus the accent and manner of speaking in that portion of the song most closely fit the setting of the story. Special mention has to go to Danish, however, because Hans Christian Anderson was from Denmark. If I could have changed anything about this multilingual rendition, I would have put one of those two languages at the very end instead of Flemish, even though I am certainly flattered to have a Dutch dialect close this song.

 

Even though I'm not a super-huge fan of the language itself, though, I do have to admit to loving the lyrics of the French version. It's not a literal translation and it's cool to see another twist on the song. I'd say it was one of my favorites, but I haven't looked at the actual translations of all the languages yet. I do, however, like the way the Serbian translates the line "Here I stand, and here I'll stay." It goes "I am here, and I will stay." It sounds so much more matter-of fact and certain, and in a character-defining song like this I like there to be a simple "I am" statement.

 

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They do praise these films and give them 4 star ratings, but it's usually on the basis of them being "good in what they were trying to achieve."

 

 

 

I think this is a perfectly acceptable way to judge all films: by figuring out what the film was trying to accomplish and judging how well it did that. The issue becomes when, as you say, what they accomplish is measured not by the film's achievement but how it stacks up against similar films. Roger Ebert used this standard in his reviews, and it occasionally got him criticized (the best example I can think of is when he gave 2012 3.5 stars). It's certainly not an unreasonable system to use, and it can even be a more helpful way to tell people if they'll enjoy a movie or not. But at the same time it's, as you say, not always a true way to measure a film's worth.

 

And maybe that tendency to compare is why animated films get left behind. It can be hard to see the thematic value in an animated movie when so many films which deal with more pressing matters are released each year. Take last year. Maybe Wreck it Ralph wasn't telling as significant a story as Argo was, and maybe Argo was the more mature film overall, but there's something to be said for the former more successfully delivering on its premise and entertainment. Of course I might be in the minority of that opinion and to justify it is another essay entirely.

 

As for my own views on Disney, while I realize that the family audience tends to be their *goal* I do think that some of their movies tend to be more 'dumbed down' than (most of) Pixar's efforts, who seem to be trying to reach the same audience.* Of course there's something to be said for how moving and charming Disney films can be, and this contributes greatly to the quality of the films (and why I adore Tangled so much in spite of its flaws). But it doesn't change the fact that some of them are flawed. I hope that doesn't make me sound like the critics you're (we're?) criticizing- I just try to be as objective as possible when talking about a film's quality.

 

Anyway, moving on to the 25-lingual Let it Go (and apologies for derailing your blog post): I enjoyed reading your reasons for your language preference. I have to say that I'm much more shallow and just listed my favorites based on how pretty they sounded. Although the Japanese portion stuck out to me for precisely the reason you stated: I love how the character's face just lights up at that moment and I think it was nicely complimented by the soft and, well, bubbly voice. I makes me wonder just how much thought and intention went into this video. Was it just thrown together or carefully edited? I'm curious.

 

I have to say, though, that while I enjoyed that little two-lines of Swedish in the mashup, I wasn't entirely impressed with the singing in the Swedish version as a whole. Granted my exposure to foreign languages is very limited (aside from Spanish and Arabic) and to be honest I probably wouldn't know good Swedish singing if I heard it. And speaking of which, just as an aside, considering the film's design was more heavily inspired by Norwegian culture than Swedish I think it's safe to say that it takes place in a fantasy version of Norway- unless you know something I don't (very probable).

 

Can I ask where you looked up the translations and/or foreign lyrics? Google translate is sketchy (at best) and the Serbian lyrics I found certainly didn't spit out anything that looked like "I am here, and I will stay" (a translation which I love, by the way.)

 

* As an aside, the only reason Pixar has this reputation is because they only have about 14 films or so. When they reach number 53 I'm sure even they'll have a decent list of flukes.

Incidentally, the very critic I was thinking of was the late Roger Ebert. As you know, I review films, too. Reviewing films and awarding films are two entirely different tasks. The job of the reviewer is to help people understand what sort of experience they would be in for if they watched a particular movie, and the rating system we've been describing is perfectly fit for that. It's exactly what a prospective viewer needs to hear when deciding whether or not he or she wants to see a movie. When it comes to critics and awards, however, I believe that this is doing more than just describing how good something is based off of what it was trying to accomplish, but rather they are assigning value to these accomplishments. They make a judgment on what is is to be held as important in the broader culture. I'm not saying that animated films should win, necessarily, but often times they're better than a handful of other nominees and it seems odd that they would be overlooked when they do have a lasting value and they do have serious artistic merit.

 

Regarding flaws in Disney films, I think that they still usually stand as solid works of art that function greatly as both event films and fluid masterpieces. When you bring up flawed Disney movies, what comes to mind for me are their sequels and movies they've been making in-between Atlantis and The Princess and the Frog. Movies like Chicken Little and Home on the Range, which felt indie by comparison and far less ambitious. Because of that lack of ambition and inability to tap into the artistic integrity that fueled their other masterpieces, they aren't the sorts of movies that will stand the test of time, inspire theme parks, and be rewatched repeatedly on VHS. Well, I suppose that someone out there has a kid who's addicted to Chicken Little, but that's not the same as saying that it's a common right of passage for kids growing up, which is a description that just might apply to cinematic masterpieces like Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King.

 

Back to the song, I'll actually agree with you on the actual voice for the Swedish singer. When I have the video minimized and only partially listening so that I'm only hearing the voices, it doesn't necessarily stand out. Now that you mention that it was Norway, however, I looked up the information I was looking at and realize that you're right, and that I just mixed up the two names as I wrote that last post. I guess Norsk is my other favorite language to hear it in! And actually, now that I compare those two segments in particular I can come to the conclusion that I also prefer the Norsk voice to the Swedish voice as well.

 

That being said, I probably do know quite a few things about this film that you don't, since I did a bit of research on what was and wasn't accurate about the film. For example, in the Norwegian dub of the film, the Trolls speak in old Dialect called "New Norwegian" (I have no idea what the current dialect would be called in comparison). New Norwegian is still in use today in some small areas, but in any case it isn't modern. The film gives several indications of its time period by referencing chocolate and Joan of Arc, and the producers says that it takes place within the 1840's, and much of the architecture and music reflects that. Still, there's Finish elements thrown in that make things an anachronistic stew, which shouldn't be too surprising. Overall, the film went for a general Scandinavian vibe with landscapes specifically inspired by Norway when the concept designers took a visit there. That would make sense, since Disney gets around a bit when it does its settings and likely won't visit another Scandinavian country for a while, so they would want to represent the region as a whole. The reason why we can say that it's located in a fantasy version of Norway comes from what we know about the development of the landscape art, but also from the fact that Arendelle sounds like "Arendal," which is a Norwegian port city that's very much like the city in the movie.

 

Finally, I found the meaning of the lyrics in other languages usually by searching around and trying multiple videos until I found someone who had translated them, as with the French version and Serbian version. Sometimes the search words that I find most helpful are "'Let It Go' [foreign language] English meaning" and that does the trick, but not always. I have yet to find translations (or rather retranslations) of of all the versions, but hopefully that should give you a start. What I've noticed as that some of the more Germanic languages have can afford more literal translations and often do so, which you could probably tell just listening to the Flemish segment.

 

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