Page 111 - CelebrationsSpring2020

Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along
Epcot’s World Showcase is proud to present two new films, both of which are new takes on old favorites. The first is in the France Pavilion, paying tribute to one of the most-loved films of the Disney Renaissance, Beauty and the Beast. Ever since its debut in 1991, audiences have hummed its catchy tunes, which garnered three of the five Academy Award nominations that year (“Belle,” “Be Our Guest” and the title song, which earned Disney Legends Alan Menken and Howard Ashman Oscar gold). Now Guests are free to sing along on these three songs, along with the rollicking “Gaston,” with the original cast, including Tony Award winners Jerry Orbach (Lumiere) and Angela Lansbury (Mrs. Potts), who narrates the new film, longtime Candlelight Processional narrator David Ogden Stiers (Cogsworth), Bradley Michael Pierce (Chip), Rex Everhart (Maurice), Jessie Corti (LeFou), Richard White (Gaston), Robby Benson (the Beast/Prince) and Disney Legend Paige O’Hara (Belle). (Incidentally, Ms. O’Hara, who was displaying her paintings at the International Festival of the Arts during the movie’s inaugural week, was on hand to celebrate its opening, to the surprise and delight of those early audiences!)
Beauty and the Beast Sing-Along has cut the film to approximately 14 minutes and as added a little spin to the “tale as old as time,” which is hinted at in the show’s poster: a close look will reveal that the spotlight on Belle and the Beast is being held by none other than LeFou, Gaston’s less- than-brilliant sidekick. (After all, “LeFou” is translated to “the fool”!) But while he may lack a bit in the brains department, it turns out that his heart is certainly in the right place, as this film divulges that it is LeFou who has brought the seemingly mismatched pair together. New animation and dialogue help to bring this new point of view to live, a captivating twist for those who think they know everything there is to know about the story! (While some of the cast members, namely Orbach and Ogden Stiers, have passed away, others have been enlisted to revive their new old personages with new lines for Epcot’s film.)
For those who are fans of Impressions de France, a picturesque film featuring the various landscapes of the country, as well as music by its famed composers, including Maurice Ravel, Jacques Offenbach, Claude Debussy and Camille Saint-Saens, fear not: both films are part of the repertory at the Palais du Cinema. At the time of this writing, Beauty and the Beast runs from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m., with Impressions de France closing out the day from 7:30 until
9:00 p.m. The Cinema has also added the Tales as Old as Time Gallery, with exhibits of costumes and props from Disney productions of the stage and screen which were inspired by French stories. The Festival of the Arts featured a special display of items from the stage and screen musicals The Phantom of the Opera (based on the original novel written by French author Gaston Leroux) and Les Miserables (novel by Victor Hugo, who also penned The Hunchback of Notre Dame).
Canada Far and Wide
Epcot’s third new film is Canada Far and Wide, replacing O’ Canada, which had technically run since the park’s opening in 1982, though it received a significant upgrade in 2007— significant enough to be considered by many to be an entirely different film.
All three films have been (and are) presented in Circle- Vision 360°, a technique that uses multiple cameras (in this case, nine) and presented on screens across a circular theater: it is essentially “surround sound,” but with movie screens! In addition, all of the films have followed the same basic format: an introduction to the country followed by a territorial tour, moving from the Maritimes of the Atlantic coast to central Canada, comprised of Ontario and Quebec, then on to the prairie provinces and the Pacific coast. Some of the country’s most notable tourist attractions are featured, including the Bluenose, a Nova Scotian racing schooner that was at one time the fastest in the world, and Alberta’s Calgary Stampede, the world’s largest rodeo.
The original film opened with the park in 1982, but was not particularly looked on with favor by the Canadian Tourism Commission, who felt that the movie was superficial and incomplete. For one thing, there were important locations that appeared in the film, such as Banff National Park and Ottawa’s Rideau Canal, which were seen but never identified nor explained. Some felt that the accents and script of the narration were stereotyping to the point of being caricatures. And as the years passed, the film became increasingly outdated. (One of its high points, though, was the use of authentic Canadian folksongs: “The Bluenose,” written by Stan Rogers, considered to be the greatest traditional singer in Canadian history, and “Vive la Canadienne,” which was the Québecois anthem until the adoption of “O Canada” as the national anthem. The original anthem, “The Maple Leaf Forever,” paid homage to the nation’s English, Irish and Scottish roots, ignoring its French
Paintings © Lori Elias
111 · Celebrations