After the scorching heat of the summers, the monsoons are here again showering a new season of love, drama and joy. As children we have all had our joyous moments getting drenched in the rains whether splashing in the puddles at others or sailing paper-made boats or simply getting wet in the heavenly showers.
It wasn’t long before film-makers too aided their script with the monsoonal acts of nature for creating a pathetic fallacy either signaling a change in mood or simply graduating to an impending disaster. Today not only have the rains graced our Hollywood and Bollywood movies with some of the epic romantic scenes and dramatic hefts’ but have brought this symbolism in various animated features as well.
We at AnimationXpress.com bring you 10 such monsoonal sequences from animated features that have whetted our hearts over the ages.
Sioux Me (1939) – One of the earliest and best animated adaptations depicting the prominence of the rains was the short animated feature Sioux Me (1939), a Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton.
Enduring one of the worst droughts of the decade, an Indian reservation is scorched by the heat and the desperate measures bring the Indian Chief to call upon the rainmaker. While he chants away ‘We Want Rain’ sung by Paul Taylor’s vocal group and performs a hilarious rain dance which yield no wonders, it is the chief’s son who buys a set of weather pills from the town which can bring rain, ice, lightning, earthquakes and other natural phenomena. Where these pills end up supplies much of the humor to the seven minute shot feature that concludes with an amusing gay dance in the rain, bringing in merrier times back to the reservation.
Bambi (1942) – Another classic from Walt Disney’s kitty, the original Bambi (1942) features the wonderful rainy-day song, ‘Little April Shower.’ Bambi, directed by David Hand retells the adapted story from the book Bambi, A Life in the Woods where a young deer learns to grow up in the forest after the saddening event of his mother’s death at the hands of a hunter.
The sequence of ‘Little April Shower’ is a hard one to miss when we speak about the rains as along with the wonderful rhythmic music composed by Frank Churchill and Edward H. Plumb, the song takes us through the acts of the various animals in the forest as it showers and thunderstorms frightening the little ones rushing for shelter.
Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977) – Walt Disney’s The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977), a collection of animated shorts is based on the stories and characters by A. A. Milne. One of them featuring the amazing rainy day song, ‘The Rain RainRain, Came Down DownDown’ describes one harsh rainy day at the ‘the Hundred Acre Woods’, the fictional place where Winnie and other characters dwell. In the opening sequence, the narrator explains how a cloud-burst spelled the Hundred Acre Woods into floods and disrupted the lives of its inhabitants. From Winnie and the piglet waking up on their beds only to see their house flooding with rainwater, to Winnie’s desperate attempt at saving his supper on the branch of a tree, directors John Lounsbery and Wolfgang Reitherman create the pathetic fallacy of the impending doom some of us face during the harsh monsoons.
Beauty and the Beast (1991) – The musical-animated fantasy produced by Walt Disney Feature Animations is a touching love-story that focuses at the unexpected blooming relationship between the Beast and his prisoner, Belle. However directors Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise bring in a dramatic twist to this love-tale with an epic thunder-storming action climax between the Beast and the antagonist, Gaston. Also as the curse lifts from the Beast, the showers turn to magical rains morphing the Beast back to his human form. Together with the amazing track sung by Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson, the movie closes at a‘Happily Ever After’ leaving nothing but with a smile on your face.
The Lion King (1994) – The Academy Award winning animated feature from the house of Walt Disney, The Lion King (1994), too makes it to this list especially for its ending scene where it rains as Simba ascends to the top of the Pride Rock after fighting off his uncle, Scar. The epic sequence is coupled by Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack driving you to the exhilaration of a brilliant climax. Apart from adding to the dramatic heft of the scene, the entire raining sequence euphorically signifies the metaphor of a new beginning as old skeletons are washed away and the darkness is followed by a new spring of life at Pride Rock as Simba takes over his rightful stature, the King of the Jungle! A must watch if you have managed not to see this one yet.
A Bug’s Life (1998) – Although the rains are metaphorically described as heavenly showers, the torrential downpours can at times be the harsh truth of mother-nature. Such is depicted in the climatic-battle of Pixar’s A Bug’s Life (1998). The 3D computer animated feature tells the story of Flik, a misfit ant in the ant’s colony who are tormented by greedy grass-hoppers. In his attempt to free his fellow ants from the marauding grasshoppers, Flik recruits a group of warrior bugs that turn out to be an inept circus troupe. In the climax sequence, the torrential rains are brilliantly rendered by Pixar studios and every rain drop bombards the ants’ abode as canons creating a total war-struck battle-field. Directed by John Lasseter, the movie was commercially a success at the box-office grossing over $363 million.
Tarzan (1999) – The 37th animated feature from Walt Disney, Tarzan (1999) too makes it to this list with some of the most emotionally high-pitched rain sequences crafted in this forest adventure flick. Directed by Kevin Lima and Chris Buck, Tarzan is adapted from the story Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Raised in the rain-forests of Africa by a herd of gorillas, Tarzan must come to terms with where he belongs after he discovers he is a human. It is in one such rain sequence where Tarzan meets Jane in the forests and is the first time he encounters another human and discovers his true self. The entire scene is hilarious as a bemused Tarzan utters his first word mimicking Jane and struck with astonishment as he identifies himself as a human. Backed by the wonderful score composed by Mark Mancina Tarzan is a Disney movie you mustn’t miss.
Legend of the Guardians – The Owls of Ga’Hoole (2010) – Man of Steel director, Zack Synder yet again shows off his prowess in delivering some out-of the world visual effects in the computer-animated 3D film, Legend of the Guardians – The Owls of Ga’Hoole (2010). Rendering an extravagant rain-sequence using the cutting-edge CGI technology, the fantasy-adventure flick promises to blow away your mind with every crystal-clear rain-drop it created for the sequence where during a rain storm, Soren, a young barn owl grasps a brief hold on gizzard-flying (flying purely with instinct), but loses control and falls towards the torment sea only to be saved by Ezylryb an elderly screech owl. From delivering the harshness of the rain storm lashing on the owls to the speed-ramped rain drops, Soren flies through, the entire sequence makes the movie come alive. To top it all, is Zack’s favorite Greek-styled music composed by David Hirschfelder that makes this movie feature on our list.
Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011) – Dreamworks Animation’s one of the most successful animated features, The Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011), too has an emotionally ramped up rain sequences where Po, unlocks the power of ‘Inner Peace’ as he maneuvers the rain drop discovering his childhood memories. The entire scene where Po is battling his own mysterious childhood memories is artistically animated with 2D sequences as he recollects his tragic past .It is the symbolic rains here that enable him to find inner peace and as a powerful dialogue is exchanged with the soothsayer it enables Po to realize his true self. The movie was a stupendous hit and amassed over $665 million at the world-wide box-office paving way for the third installment next year.
Kotonoha no Niwa or The Garden of Words (2013) – The Japanese hand-drawn & computer driven animations, popularly known as ‘Anime’ too have an amazing fan-following, courtesy its bold take on genres which tune themselves for both the children as well as for the grown-ups.
Speaking of the romantic-monsoon bliss, Kotonoha no Niwa (The Garden of Words) 2013 is a heart-warming romantic drama between a 15 year-old aspiring shoe-maker Takao and a 27 year-old literature teacher Yukari. Set in the backdrop of the rainy season of Toyko, both end up falling in love after encountering each other in the garden of Shinjuku Gyoen especially on the mornings when it rained. From the beautiful music by Daisuke Kashiwa to the strong direction of Makoto Shinkao, Kotonoha no Niwapromises an amazing romantic journey. A must-watch if you get your hands on a version with sub-titles.
So these are some of the epic rain-drenched animated sequences we bet you can identify with these monsoons. If you think we’ve missed out any, please share your thoughts with us and also do let us know which one you think is your favourite.