#allusions

fallen angel vibes

who is the real fallen angel though?

I’ve posted about this before, but I want to post about it again.

Disney's Beauty and the Beast is filled with subtle influences from classic Hollywood movies, especially musicals. More so than any other Disney animated feature that came beforehand.

Some of these you'll see cited in many places on the Internet. Others I noticed all by myself.

*Katharine Hepburn

Screenwriter Linda Woolverton has often cited Katharine Hepburn as an influence on Belle's characterization, with her intelligent, independent, strong-willed screen persona. Belle's general personality as a headstrong, free-spirited bookworm draws inspiration from Hepburn's portrayal of Jo in the 1933 version of Little Women (albeit less tomboyish), while her snappy arguments with the Beast in their early scenes were inspired by Hepburn's similar bickering with Spencer Tracy in their romantic comedies.

*Audrey Hepburn, Natalie Wood, Elizabeth Taylor, Ava Gardner, Vivian Leigh

While Katharine Hepburn influenced Belle's personality, these classic Hollywood brunette beauties influenced her appearance. Ava Gardner was reporttedly the strongest influence on early concept art of Belle, while Audrey Hepburn, Natalie Wood, Elizabeth Taylor, and Vivian Leigh influenced the way her design evolved. Photos of these actresses were allegedly displayed in the studio for the animators to literally draw inspiration from. The design of Belle's golden ballgown was also influenced by the gown Audrey Hepburn wears at the beginning of Roman Holiday, which reads as white in the black-and-white film, but which was, in fact, golden.

*The Wizard of Oz

Besides the above-mentioned movie stars, Belle also looks a bit like a young Judy Garland, with her brown hair and soft rounded face, and her blue and white peasant dress looks similar to Dorothy's iconic blue and white gingham dress in The Wizard of Oz. Appropriately, like Dorothy, Belle is a dreamer who doesn't quite fit into the workaday rural community where she lives, longs to escape to a better place, and then, through unforeseen, uncomfortable circumstances, is whisked away to a magical place where she meets new friends and has remarkable new experiences. Lumiere, Mrs. Potts, and Cogsworth can also be seen as counterparts to the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion. A trio of loyal friends who provide both comic relief and invaluable help, consisting of an unofficial leader who has most of the bright ideas (the Scarecrow/Lumiere), one who's especially kind and gentle despite being made of a hard, cold substance (the Tin Man/Mrs. Potts), and a comically nervous one who eventually proves to be braver than he seems (the Cowardly Lion/Cogsworth). Last, but not least, we get a Wizard of Oz shout-out when the Beast has his fur styled for his elegant dinner with Belle: his "stupid" hairdo with curls and ribbons looks almost identical to the Cowardly Lion's curled and ribboned mane after his Emerald City makeover.

*The Sound of Music

Belle's stance on a hill with her arms outstretched as she sings "I want adventure in the great, wide somewhere..." is an obvious homage to Julie Andrews as Maria singing the title song of The Sound of Music on a similar green hill. This is fitting, because a close look at the two plots reveal many similarities. In both, the heroine is a passionate, free-spirited young woman who doesn't fit into the conservative community where she lives (as her fellow community members express in song). Then, through unforeseen circumstances, she goes to live in a wealthy new home, where the master is a stern, aloof, and unhappy man. She quickly bonds with the others in the house (the children/the servants), but clashes with the master because she dislikes his attitude and ignores his rules. But just as she's about to leave, a turning point happens (Captain von Trapp hears his children singing and his own love for music reawakens/the Beast rescues Belle from the wolves), and so she stays after all. From then on, she brings new warmth and joy into the household, the master becomes a kinder man thanks to her influence, and they gradually and secretly fall in love with each other. Their growing feelings culminate when they share an intimate, romantic dance. Immediately afterwards, however, the heroine leaves and goes back to her old home (Maria to resist her feelings for the Captain, Belle to rescue her father), seemingly never to return. But her love for the hero ultimately brings her back and they joyfully wed. (Fortunately, in Beauty and the Beast, there are no Nazis to darken Belle and the Prince's newlywed days.)

*The King and I

Whether consciously or not on the writers’ parts, the Beauty and the Beast plot structure mirrors The King and I too. (Of course, some people might argue that in The Sound of Music, Rodgers and Hammerstein rehashed a fair amount of The King and I, just in a different setting and with a different ending.) A strong-willed, intelligent young woman comes to live in the palace of a royal man who is spoiled and short-tempered, yet secretly insecure. At first, they clash, because he tries to command her, but she won’t allow it. But after almost leaving, she gives him a second chance, and before long they gain mutual understanding and respect, and become good friends. Then comes a ballroom scene, in which the heroine exchanges her usual modest clothes for a gorgeous, bare-shouldered hoopskirt gown, and she shares an intimate dance with the hero, making it clear that their unspoken feelings have grown beyond friendship. But directly after the dance, a crisis occurs (Tuptim’s capture/Maurice lost in the snow), which drives the heroine away from the hero, seemingly forever. The hero falls into despair and loses the will to live. But then the realization that the hero is near death (the King of his illness/the Beast threatened by Gaston) brings the heroine back to him, and he dies in peace with her by his side. (Though unlike the King, the Beast doesn’t stay dead.) Both iconic dance scenes also emphasize the moment when the hero places his hand on the heroine's waist. But Disney offers a slight gender flip: in The King and I, the King takes the initiative and puts his hand on the waist of the momentarily shy, uncertain Anna, while in Beauty and the Beast, the Beast is the shy, uncertain one, but Belle takes his paw and places it on her own waist. Still, I suspect that this moment in Beauty and the Beast was meant as a subtle homage.

*Gigi (1958)

Yet another classic Hollywood brunette whom Belle looks a bit like is Leslie Caron, and both Gigi and Beauty and the Beast take place in France and feature a handsome, arrogant playboy named Gaston (the Louis Jourdan character in Gigi), who takes an interest in the heroine. But Gigi refuses to be her Gaston's mistress, while Belle refuses to be her Gaston's wife. Of course, the similarities end there, as the one Gaston ultimately redeems himself and marries Gigi, while the other Gaston becomes a murderous villain and dies. Lumiere’s voice and mannerisms are also clearly based on Maurice Chevalier, who plays the supporting role of Gaston’s uncle in Gigi.

*Frankenstein (1931)

The mob led by Gaston that storms the castle to kill the Beast at the climax recalls the mob that pursues the Monster at the climax of Universal’s classic Frankenstein. Particularly because both the Monster and the Beast are sympathetic, misunderstood creatures, and no mob ever tries to kill the Beast in the original fairy tale.

*West Side Story (1961)

As the Beast lies dying in Belle's arms, the camera angles are almost identical to those of Tony's death in Maria's arms in the original film version of West Side Story. The fact that Belle's appearance was partly based on Natalie Wood must have brought this scene to mind for the animators.

*Camille (1936)

The Beast's death scene also seems to draw inspiration from the famous death of Greta Garbo's Marguerite in the arms of Robert Taylor's Armand at the end of Camille. Even though the characters' genders are reversed, the emotional beats are similar: both Marguerite and the Beast are resigned to their fate because death will free them from their life as a social outcast, while both Armand and Belle insist that everything will be fine. The Beast's "Maybe it's better this way" mirrors Marguerite's "Perhaps it's better if I live in your heart, where the world can't see me," while Belle's "Don't talk like that" mirrors Armand's "Don't think such things." Then the moment of death is conveyed by Marguerite and the Beast's eyes, as they roll upward and then close. Then both Armand and Belle plead "No, no!" and "Don't leave me!" and both bury their faces in their beloved's chest in anguish. The 2017 remake adds yet another shout-out by having Belle plead "Come back!" just as Armand does.

All these homages and influences show that with Beauty and the Beast, the filmmakers weren't just trying to create another fairy tale movie for children, but a romantic musical in the spirit of the Golden Age of Hollywood, which adults could enjoy too. This classic Hollywood spirit was probably a key reason why the film became the first animated feature ever nominated at the Oscars for Best Picture.

Robert Redford in Jeremiah Johnson (1972)

okay okay okay I know. “dumbassery, what are you talking about, this makes no sense” just hear me out ok I PROMISE this rant will go somewhere (and if it doesn’t you have my permission to flood my asks)

first let’s look at the evidence. Viktor:

is from Zaun

moves to Piltover and begins working with Pilties (Jayce)

brings innovation to the world of Arcane

this innovation (hextech) eventually twists and becomes used for violence and destruction

seems to have an innate ability for sensing potential

has a deteriorating physical condition that worsens after making a breakthrough with Hextech

ascends to godhood only after a Muscular Man frees him from a prison (the hex healing box thing)

cares deeply about the people in his life and promoting welfare/progress

now for my favorite part:

the yappening

Prometheus, who is the Titan credited with stealing fire for the human race, ends up allying with Zeus and the other Olympians against his own generation of gods, the Titans. Then there’s a part where he tricks Zeus into picking a pile of bones but that’s not thematically relevant so I’m skipping over it. Next (and the story most are familiar with) involves Prometheus stealing fire for humankind. There are two versions—one where he goes to the forge of Hephaestus to steal the fire, and one where he goes to the hearth of Olympus. In both, though, he uses a reed to take the ember.

Zeus eventually finds out that he did this. In retaliation, Zeus chains Prometheus to Mt. Caucasus for (presumably) eternity. But wait! It gets worse! An eagle is summoned to peck out our homeboy Prometheus’s liver every day (it grows back during the night).

Of course, Prometheus was supposed to be imprisoned until the fall of Olympus, but Heracles interrupts his punishment and frees him during one of the twelve trials.

There’s more to the myth, obviously, since Pandora and Epimetheus play large roles in the punishment of Prometheus, so if you’re interested in learning more you should go here.

But how does this all link up?

Prepare yourselves because this is going to get long. In Viktor’s case, Zaun can be treated as a metaphor for the Titans while Piltover is a metaphor for the Olympians. By choosing to work with a Piltie and develop hex alongside Jayce that, eventually, gets used against Zaunites, Viktor is replaying that initial conflict between Zeus, the Titans, and Prometheus. Both Prometheus and Viktor choose their allies over their “family” (I use quotation marks here because Zaun isn’t Viktor’s family in the literal sense.) THEN, Viktor helps create something in Arcane that’s as helpful as harmful—Hextech. He starts with good intentions, but as is the nature of humanity, Hextech becomes synonymous with violence and only expands the unrest instead of calming it.

During this entire debacle, Viktor’s physical state is constantly deteriorating. It’s established that he’s had this chronic illness for a while, but it’s interesting that it shows its teeth after Hextech finally blooms, no? yes, I know that Prometheus’s deterioration is because of a punishment, but both of their conditions are things they cannot control that hit them only after they’ve committed the crime brought innovation to their prospective worlds.

Then Viktor ends up in the Hex Box and ends up healing. Why does he end up healing from his chronic illness? Because a muscular The Hero archetype—who doesn’t know his father—decides to help him. It’s the same thing for Prometheus. Heracles, who is arguably the most famous Greek hero of all time and had unclear ancestry until later in his life, unbinds Prometheus from his chains and gives him a chance at recovery. After Prometheus is freed, he’s able to ascend back to godhood—just like Viktor! If Jayce didn’t care so terribly much for Viktor, Viktor never would have recovered and gained the healing abilities he did.

This last one is more related to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, but since Frankenstein is known as “the modern Prometheus” I don’t see why I can’t include this too. One: the scientist (Victor Frankenstein) and Viktor have eerily similar names. Two: Frankenstein creates his monster with good intentions in mind. Despite this, he abandons the Monster soon afterward, just like another scientist we know!

remember this scene?

he left. he left. He left Jayce, and Hextech, and the entire world they created in their lab. He left them because he was horrified of his own creation. Just like Victor Frankenstein, once he saw his invention’s capacity for violence, he left.

(And then they both die because their abandoned projects kill them.)

Vlad King: Alright, everyone, let's go around the table and say what we're thankful for this year!

Monoma: I'm thankful class 1A isn't here.

Kendo: I'm thankful I get to knock you out 😊 after this.

Shiozaki: I'm thankful most of us survived the war.

Pony: I'm thankful I get to go home.

Komori: I'm thankful for wicked! Oh, and Moana 2! Oh and-

Awase: I'm thankful for our fellow students.

Kaibara: You mean Yaoyorozu-*gets kicked in the shin

Kamakiri: I'm thankful you're all slightly less annoying than you were last year.

Kurorio: I'm thankful for darkness.

Tetsutetsu: What does that mean? Also, I'm thankful for-

Manga: Let me guess, protein shakes?

Tetsutetsu: Yeah! How'd you know?

Shishida & Kodai: We're thankful for bookclub.

Rin: There's a book club at this school?

Tokage: I'm thankful for drama, keeps life entertaining, y'know?

Honenuki: Of course you are.....

Pony: Bondo's thankful for his glue gun! He told me so since he hates public speaking.

Yanagi: I'm thankful no ghosts have started to haunt us. Although it might have been fun if they did......

Vlad King: Alright then let's eat!

Kendo: Wait, what about Kodai? She never went!

Monoma: Where is Kodai anyway? She was here earlier?

Kodai: (has already eaten and is enjoying dessert in her room) I'm thankful I get to eat in perfect peaceful silence.

🧡💛🤎🧡💛🤎🧡💛🤎🧡💛🤎🧡💛🤎

AAAAA LITERARY ALLUSIONS AAAAA

I love Rwby it’s all immediately that deep with the character- like- LISTEN they take intentional simple good/bad characters fair tales which are THE simplest because it’s being told to children and then they make them complicated!!! They make them multiple things

Blake- everyone knows Blake’s everyone loves Blake’s I mean it’s wonderful beauty and the beast where she’s both of them already good already great but then!!! But then it also!!! makes a DIFFERENT CHARACTER also both beauty and the beast which also goes into their other dynamic of yin and Yang and transformation into the other and the constant switching and it makes it like symbolically Yang is a part of her it’s so good she’s the only one who’s a love story she’s defined by the people she loves it’s great

Weiss, she’s always great never disappoints she’s a knight and a princess she’s Snow White which Rwby recognizes as less of a love story and more of a story about parental abuse and overcoming it and never once is it Snow Whites fault the evil queen is acting like that she just is too pretty which Weiss is so it’s perfect for her i truly love “what if Snow White was a middle child” never stop Rwby

Then RUBY I love her she’s red riding hood and the HUNTSMAN makes the “are you a huntress” a little funnier to me cause it’s the core of her character just a little girl trying to do a sweet thing until she is TRICKED AND EATEN BY THE BAD GUY

she’s never not devoured in the story she goes to see her grandmother and they are both eaten and then saved because the huntsman cuts the wolf up it’s truly horrible she never gets saved beforehand and this I think is very well shown in volume 9 where she has to be totally destroyed by the wolf which in this specific instance was just her own grief and guilt (and the cat the cat was also wolf) and then she cut herself out of the stomach of the beast (and attacked the cat that too)

And finally in no particular order YANG my beloved she’s so great

Yangs particularly interesting because she’s the only one of them to be both the hero and the villain of the story and in Goldilocks that villain changes often the villain is the little girl for breaking into the bears house and other times it’s the bears

In some versions when they catch her the bears attempt to burn her (which doesn’t work quite right) drown her (not right either) and then finally MAIM HER BY STABBING HER WITH A CHURCH CHAPLE!??!?!?

She is also the only character in her story it’s Goldilocks and the three bears, she is the only one in this story and all the story is that she will destroy herself

And it’s so interesting that the child is the villain of the story it reminds me of when she was talking about Alice saying she was a bad person when she was just a kid trying to survive

And being the only character and her self destruction in her loneliness like when she lost her arm and no one was around and she just deteriorated

Fiery stones encase the past.

Long extinct things like Snow White in the glass.

Bejeweled sarcophagi and ancient corpses on display

Hardened reminders of more innocent days.

Hoards of beetles and bugs.

Even infesting locusts that time has ate up.

Thinking a mosquito could unearth the past only could serve to make the rest of us laugh.

Putting your judgment on ice;

As I held out for a sign.

Only to find the resin had set.