THE KING AND I
US, 1999, 87 minutes, Colour.
Voices of: Miranda Richardson, Christiane Noll, Martin Vidnovic, Ian Richardson.
Directed by Richard Rich.
The King and I is an animated version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. There had been the serious version with Irene Dunne and Rex Harrison, Anna and the King of Siam, which was remade as Anna and the King at this time with Jodie Foster and Chow Yun- Fat. The musical version of The King and I was made in 1956 with Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr.
This animated version is simplified, very simplified, for a very young audience not familiar with the story or the musical. Some of the tunes are still there (Whistle a Happy Tune during the storm, Hello Young Lovers, March of the Siamese Children, A Puzzlement… Shall We Dance).
However, the film looks very much Aladdin and has an evil prime minister in the same vein (voiced well by Ian Richardson). The king is there carrying on his tantrums though very few of his children appear. There is the prince doing martial arts and falling in love with the Burmese servant. Anna herself, voiced by Miranda Richardson, comes across as a mixture of primness as well as open-thinking.
The film was not very well received, especially by adults. It is an oversimplification of life in Siam in the 19th century, British colonial attitudes, the role of education, the place of women, freedom to choose in marriage.
The film was directed by Richard Rich, a prolific animator, especially of religious themes.
1.The popularity of the stage performances of The King and I, on screen, the music?
2.The animation style, Disney-like, the visuals, the settings, the characters, the action?
3.The simplification of the story for children? How effective?
4.The inclusion of parts of the songs?
5.Audience knowledge of the 19th century, Britain, Siam, the kingdom, Burma?
6.The introduction, the storm, the monkey overboard, Whistle a Happy Tune, Anna and Louis going to Siam?
7.The prime minister, visual appearance, his assistant, fat and awkward? Magic, controlling the storms? His plans for power, evil?
8.The king as an aristocrat, despotic, accused of being a barbarian, in favour of traditions, lip service to change? Rules and protocols – especially about height?
9.The prime minister, his support of the king, his support of Anna, setting the two against each other? The issue of the house, the issue of the crown prince and Tuptim?
10.Anna in herself, her arrival, expectations of the house, British, demanding? Hello Young Lovers? Getting to Know You?
11.The issue of the house, in the palace, Louis and the monkey, the prime minister, going to look at the arms? His martial arts and fighting the prince?
12.The king, etcetera, his demands, Anna and her reluctance?
13.The prime minister, sending the letter to the British ambassador, Sir Edward Ramsay and his assumption of the king’s being barbaric?
14.The prince, martial arts, seeing Tuptim, not telling her the truth, finally giving her the medallion, his being shamed at the banquet?
15.The children, the march, Anna taking them outside?
16.The king, comments on dancing, British dress, the dinner, the medal, wanting to execute Tuptim? His not doing it, humiliated?
17.The prince and Tuptim escaping, Louis with them, the elephants, the prime minister and his magic, the ferocious animals and spiders, snakes, the cliff, the bridge, Tuptim falling in? The king and the balloon, the rescue? The prime minister attacking the balloon?
18.The prime minister at the meal, his magic, firing the arrows, his being humiliated and caught?
19.The king, naming the prince his successor?
20.The prince, his doing decrees like his father, etcetera ..
