Favorite scenes in animation

[Earl Grey]

 

[Maou]

Hoyoverse got such a way with commercials.

 

[The Cat]

 

[Saturnal Snowqueen]

 

[Totenkindly]

This is one of my favorite parts of the film. For Disney at the time, it was kind of creepy while still being focused (unlike Black Cauldron) -- like when Belle looks into the shattered mirror that reflects her face into a spider web of various shards, and then she's facing a room that has been utterly destroyed. This whole sequence is just core storytelling. It encapsulates the character of the two leads, sets the conflict, pushes them to respond, and reveals core truths of each to the other... all in two minutes.

• It's a really unsettling area she knows she's not supposed to be in -- but Belle's curiosity is larger than her fear.
• The slashed painting summarizes Adam's entire story -- the person he used to be, now he can't bear to remember or look at himself.
• The eyes are how she recognizes Adam is actually Beast, after his transformation -- his eyes remain the same. [Her facial expressions are similar at movie's end.]
• The horrific and gloomy disaster of the chamber is belied by the beauty and light of the flower.
• Beast catches her with the flower and flips out, after of course he clutches at the glass container and brings the flower protectively into his bulk. To her, it's a beautiful flower. To him, she's betrayed him, invaded his space, and done something that could trap him as a monster forever -- and it also means someone else might now know his secret and the shame of his past.
• When Belle flees, Beast sags into despair because he realizes his fear and anger has driven away the one person who might be able to free him.

I think I remember reading once that this scene was not necessarily in the first draft, and they couldn't figure out how to get the narrative to flip to where Belle believably wanted to help Beast and they had a more positive relationship. (I think the original story, she just hangs out with Beast but eventually he lets her go because she misses her dad.) That's why this moment is entirely character driven and cracked the narrative wide open. This whole scene is the crux of the story: Belle's violation triggers Beast's rage, who drives her away before going after her and defends her to a possible death, which helps her reassess and realize maybe he's not unredeemable.

The animation also is very thoughtful and feels real. She looks around uncertainly before opening the doors, and when she finally just decides to do it, the doors feel like they have heft. She circles the flower a bit before daring to lift the glass. Beast just kind of "appears" because he came in through the shattered window, and his breath creates frozen puffs in the air -- which tells you Belle was actually pretty cold entering this area without protection. Beast towers over her, sending her stumbling with her palms up to try to show him she's harmless, back into some of the room fixtures, the camera moves when she runs out of the room, it just is very dynamic despite not actually being an "action" sequence per se.

I saw this film in the theater when it came out and this scene has always lingered with me since.

 

[The Cat]

 

[Totenkindly]

This is from ABCs of Death shorts, so it's kind of gruesome and I debated whether to include it, but it's well-done claymation -- kind of amazing even if it's shocking. Don't watch unless you have a stomach for claymation splattergore horror, though.

 

[Totenkindly]

The body language and facial expressions are so exquisite -- and all the cuts. They really know how to tell a narrative.

 

[Totenkindly]

The swinging camera angle is pretty cool, and the last bit with the top-of-train run is so reminiscent of Thundercats intro.

 

[Totenkindly]

 

[Totenkindly]

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]