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The King and I (1999 film)

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For the 1956 live-action film, see The King and I (1956 film).

The King and I
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRichard Rich
Screenplay by
Starring
Edited by
  • Joe Campana
  • Paul Murphy
Music by
  • Richard Rodgers (music)
  • Oscar Hammerstein II (lyrics)
  • William Kidd (score)
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • March 19, 1999 (1999-03-19)
Running time
89 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$25 million[2]
Box office$12 million[2]

The King and I is a 1999 American animated musical film romantic drama film produced by Morgan Creek, Nest, Rankin/Bass, and Rich Animation Studios, distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The only Morgan Creek animated feature film to be made,[3] and 26th to be distributed theatrically by Warner Bros., it was directed by Richard Rich. The film is loosely based on the life of the English school teacher Anna Leonowens, it portrays a fictionalized account of her historical encounter with the King of Siam King Mongkut, and royal court. The voice cast stars Miranda Richardson and Martin Vidnovic as Leonowens and Mongkut, respectively, with Ian Richardson, Darrell Hammond, and Adam Wylie. The score, songs, and some of the character names come from Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's stage musical of the same name. Screenwriters Peter Bakalian, Jacqueline Feather, and David Seidler took creative liberties with the history and with the source material from the musical in an attempt to make the film palatable to all audiences.

The King and I was released on March 19, 1999 to mixed reactions from reviewers, who praised its musical score and songs but criticized its animation and story, while the film's racial overtones and artistic license received polarized responses. The King and I earned $12 million at the box office[2] and it's gross was seen as a disappointment compared to that of other animated films released at the time. The film received five nominations including the London Critics Circle Film Award for British Actress of the Year for Richarson and the Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing in Animated Feature.[4]


Plot

In 1862, a ship sails from London to Bangkok, on board are Anna Leonowens and her son Louis. The Prime Minister, Kralahome uses his powers of illusion to cause it to appear as if a massive Sea serpent is attacking the ship as its battered in a storm. Anna with the help of Captain Orton manage to save Louis from drowning. As they approach the Captain fills Anna in on the political structure of the kingdom.

In the Grand Palace, in Siam, Anna witnesses King Mongkut receive the gift of a slave, Tuptim a young woman from Burma. Despite being promised her own house outside of the Palace, Anna is denied such. The King drags Anna to his workshop were he tests new inventions such as hot air balloons, and trains. Louis is taken on a tour of the armory by Master Little, who barely misses injury. The King's wives help Anna unpack despite her protests, this is when Anna sees Prince Chululongkorn and Tuptim getting to know each other in the courtyard. Anna who wants to leave since she won't be receiving the house, changes her mind after she meets the Royal Children, namely Prince Chulalongkorn.

With Kralahome still plotting to over throw the king, he write a letter to the British claiming Anna is in danger. Anna begins to teach the children only to learn they've never been outside the Palace walls. To give the hands on experience she takes all of the royal children all around the City to see how other people live, this in turn angers the king. It boils over into a fight with Anna still complaining about the house she was promised but didn't receive.

Chululongkorn meets with his father to discuss traditions, wanting to be with Tuptim but knowing his father would never allow it. Confused Kongkut goes to pray to Buddha. While he is the Kralahome uses his powers on the statues in the room to try and attack the king, which the king's Black panther Rama fights off. When the Chululongkorn is kickboxing, Tuptim finally learns he his the prince and that their love is forbidden. But he tells her that he doesn't care about tradition and wants to be with her. Master Little learns of their relationship tells Kralahome who plans to use it to excite the king at the right time.

Anna goes to the king, he is troubled after learning the British are coming because he is allegedly a Barbarian, which she knows isn't true. Anna advising the King to throw a banquet for the British when they arrive to show they are civilized. At the dinner, Kralahome mentions the Ivory pendant the king is supposed to wear, the one which he have to his son, who then gave it to Tuptim. When it is revealed Chululongkorn gave it away, Tuptim is brought in by guards. Dishonored by the relationship Kongkut threatens to whip Tuptim to death, but she and Chululongkorn escape into the jungle along with Louis.

While they're escaping Kralahome uses his powers to guide them through the Jungle across a rope bridge. The bridge collapses and Tuptim is swept away by the river. Mongkut using one of his Hot Air Balloons catches Tuptim, and saves everyone else. But on their journey back to the Palace Kralahome fires a firework destroying the Balloons causing it to crash to the ground. Everyone but the king was able to jump into a lake to safety. An injured bedridden Mongkut lays in bed telling his son to be ready to lead Siam when he dies. But he doesn't die, the King heals and presents Anna with her house outside of the Palace walls, and the two of them dance.

Voice cast

Production

Development

After the success of Walt Disney Animation Studios' The Little Mermaid in 1989 Warner Bros. began to seek out animated films to distribute. Which led to them releasing The Nutcracker Prince and Rover Dangerfield, in 1990 and 1991, respectively. But it wasn't until the success of Disney's The Lion King, and all Hollywood studios began looking at getting into the animation field that the company began to develop animated feature films internally. In 1991 Morgan Creek Entertainment began a production and distribution deal with Warner Bros. In 1993 the company established Warner Bros. Feature Animation led by Max Howard to produce their own animated films while still distributing third party animated films. Warner Bros. distributed Thumbelina, and The Swan Princess in 1994, before releasing their first internally created feature film Space Jam in 1995. With the film a financial success, the next film was quickly underway Quest for Camelot. Arthur Rankin Jr. the head of Rankin/Bass Productions, who had been brought in to co-produce the film, was able to convince the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization who is in charge of the rights to their works that an animated feature film "would be a superb way," to expand the property.[5]

Writing

Prior to the theatrical release of the Quest for Camelot it's writers David Seidler and Jacqueline Feather were contracted to adapt The King and I for Morgan Creek, to be released under the Warner Bros. Family Entertainment label. In 1998 it was revealed the plot had been "slightly altered" from the original musical "in the interest of family viewing."[6] But no change could be made without approval by the Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization, it was known that the family friendly changes would be a risk, but they hoped the film would "introduce a generation of younger people to the show, earlier than they might have been under normal circumstances" according to R&H President at the time Ted Chapin.[5]

Design and animation

Each of the characters in the film were designed by a team of animators consisting of Bronwen Barry, Elena Kravets, and Michael Coppieters. The final design of each character had to receive final approval from James G. Robinson, the head of Morgan Creek Entertainment. Over one thousand animators were hired in over 24 countries across four different continents to hand draw each second of the film.[7] Clean-up animation was contracted to Hanho Heung-Up in Seoul, South Korea.

Musical numbers

  1. "I Whistle a Happy Tune" – Anna, Louis, Chorus
  2. "Hello, Young Lovers" – Anna
  3. "Getting to Know You" – Anna, Children
  4. "Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?" – Anna
  5. "A Puzzlement" – King
  6. "I Have Dreamed" – Chulalongkorn, Tuptim
  7. "Prayer to Buddha" – King, Anna
  8. "Anna Remembers/Shall We Dance Fantasy" – Anna
  9. "Shall We Dance? (Finale)" – Anna, King
  10. "I Have Dreamed/We Kiss in a Shadow/Something Wonderful" (end credits) – Barbra Streisand[8]

Soundtrack

A soundtrack album was released on March 16, 1999 by Sony Classical Records.[9] It was released on both CD and cassette formats.[10] All the songs on the album were composed by Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers. William Ruhlmann of Allmusic.com gave the album a rating of 3 stars out of 5, describing it as a "surprisingly adequate" soundtrack to a "badly received" film. He adds, however, that the "overly effusive vocal performances" and "overly busy arrangements" make it "by far the worst version of this music ever recorded", and cites the use of "nine different orchestrators" as a possible factor. He concludes by conceding that there is good singing on the album.[11] John Kenrick in his article Comparative CD Reviews Part III, describes the 1999 recording as a "total disgrace" that sees "superb Broadway singers...labor against mindless cuts and gooey orchestrations".[12] In a relatively negative review of the animated adaption, The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia does say that "some of the songs survive nicely, and the singing vocals throughout are very proficient".[13]

Track number Title Performer Time
1 I Have Dreamed/We Kiss in a Shadow/Something Wonderful Barbra Streisand 4:51
2 Getting to Know You Beau Brader / Christiane Noll / Emma Stephenson 3:34
3 March of the Siamese Children The Philharmonia Orchestra 2:56
4 A Puzzlement Martin Vidnovic 2:26
5 I Whistle a Happy Tune Charles Clark / Jeff Gunn / David Joyce / Larry Kenton / Christiane Noll / Adam Wylie 2:08
6 Hello, Young Lovers Christiane Noll 1:55
7 I Have Dreamed Dave Burnham / Tracy Venner Warren 3:01
8 Shall I Tell You What I Think of You? Christiane Noll 1:52
9 Prayer to Buddha Miranda Richardson / Martin Vidnovic 1:53
10 Anna Remembers/Shall We Dance Fantasy Christiane Noll 1:43
11 Shall We Dance? (Finale) Christiane Noll / Miranda Richardson / Martin Vidnovic 2:19
12 Prologue The Philharmonia Orchestra 0:54
13 Arrival in Siam/Moonshee's Mischief The Philharmonia Orchestra 2:54
14 Two Servants/Anna's Demands The Philharmonia Orchestra 2:59
15 Kralahome's Scheme/Tuptim's Gift/Anna's Academy The Philharmonia Orchestra 2:48
16 Everything Scientific/Children Outside Palace The Philharmonia Orchestra 2:03
17 What to Say to Growing Son/Evil Duo The Philharmonia Orchestra 1:14
18 Anna Will Stay The Philharmonia Orchestra 4:05
19 Mango Madness/Kralahome's Sinister Trap The Philharmonia Orchestra 2:07
20 Banquet/King's Threat/Balloon Rescue The Philharmonia Orchestra 5:12
21 King's Fate/Prince's Future/Kralahome's Demise/Anna's Surprise The Philharmonia Orchestra 5:29
22 Finale The Philharmonia Orchestra 0:54

Release

The film debuted Friday, March 19, 1999, in 2,352 theaters, grossing $4 million dollars in its opening weekend - number six at the box office behind two other Warner Bros. films, Analyze This, and True Crime.[14] The King and I played for 228 days in theaters, about 41 weeks.[15]

Box office

The film was a box office bomb. It took in $4,007,565 in its opening weekend, taking the #6 spot at the box office, but only managed to gross just under $12 million at the box office, and was overshadowed by the release of Doug's 1st Movie, which was released the following week.[2]

Home media

Despite the underwhelming box office performance of the film, upon the home media release the film July 6, 1999, it stayed in the top 20 of Billboards Top Kid Video Chart for over 15 weeks.[16] Leading to The King and I going on to be the 16th best-selling children's video tape of 1999.[17] In 2019, for the 20th anniversary, the film was listed on iTunes for digital sale. The King and I is slated to be available on HBO Max when the streaming service premieres in 2020.[18]

Critical reception

The King and I received negative reviews and has a 13% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The critical consensus reads, "Charmless and shoddily animated, The King and I pales in comparison to its classic namesake in every way."[19] Historian Thomas Hischak wrote that it was "surprising to think that the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization allowed it to be made ... children have enjoyed The King and I for five decades without relying on dancing dragons".[20] Hischak, in his work The Oxford Companion to the American Musical: Theatre, Film, and Television, says the film is "easily the worst treatment of any Rodgers and Hammerstein property".[21] The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia says "whether or not one agrees about the 1956 film of The King and I being the best R&H movie, most would concede that [the] animated adaption is the worst". Roger Ebert gave it 2 stars out of 4 and felt that animated adaptations of musicals have potential but found the film rather dull.

See also

References

  1. ^ "The King and I (U)". British Board of Film Classification. April 15, 1999. Retrieved April 1, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d "The King and I (1999)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
  3. ^ "The man behind Morgan Creek". The Baltimore Sun. March 21, 1999. Archived from the original on November 12, 2019. Retrieved November 12, 2019.
  4. ^ "Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA 2000 Awards". IMDb.
  5. ^ a b Jones, Kenneth (March 18, 1999). "Shall We Kickbox? Animated 'King and I' Opens at Movie Theatres March 19". Archived from the original on November 12, 2019.
  6. ^ Simonson, Robert (May 4, 1998). "Plot Changes Planned for Animated The King and I Film". Archived from the original on November 12, 2019.
  7. ^ Making The King and I bonus feature (DVD). Warner Home Video. 1999.
  8. ^ Ruhlmann, William. "1999 Soundtrack: The King and I", Allmusic.com, accessed December 24, 2012
  9. ^ Artists, Various. "The King and I – Original Animated Feature Soundtrack [Music Download]: Various Artists". Christianbook.com. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  10. ^ "The King and I [Original Animated Feature Soundtrack] – 1999 Soundtrack : Releases". AllMusic. March 16, 1999. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  11. ^ Ruhlmann, William (March 16, 1999). "The King and I [Original Animated Feature Soundtrack] – 1999 Soundtrack : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  12. ^ "Comparative CD reviews – 3". Musicals101.com. Retrieved March 23, 2013.
  13. ^ Hischak, Thomas S (June 30, 2007). "The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia". ISBN 9780313341403. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  14. ^ "Domestic 1999 Weekend 12". Box Office Mojo.
  15. ^ "The King and I Domestic". Box Office Mojo.
  16. ^ McCormick, Moria (November 13, 1999). "Top Kid Video". Billboard. Retrieved November 11, 2019.
  17. ^ McCormick, Moria (December 25, 1999). "'Simba's Pride,' Buena Vista Rule Kid Vid Chart For '99". Retrieved November 11, 2019. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  18. ^ "IMDb King and I Company Credits". IMDb.
  19. ^ "The King and I (1999)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
  20. ^ Hischak, Thomas S. The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007, p. 151 ISBN 978-0-313-34140-3
  21. ^ Hischak, Thomas S (June 2, 2008). "The Oxford Companion to the American Musical: Theatre, Film, and Television". ISBN 9780195335330. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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