The King and I (1999)

User Rating:

2.9/10   

Director:

Richard Rich

Writers:

Margaret Landon (book)
Oscar Hammerstein II (adapted from the musical by)

Release Date:

19 March 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Family | Fantasy | Musical

Plot Keywords:

Dinner Party | Siamese Cat | Fall From Height | Dragon | Jungle

Awards:

5 nominations

Cast

Miranda Richardson	...	Anna Leonowens (voice)
Christiane Noll	...	Anna Leonowens (singing voice)
Martin Vidnovic	...	The King of Siam (voice)
Ian Richardson	...	The Kralahome (voice)
Darrell Hammond	...	Master Little (voice)
Allen D. Hong	...	Prince Chululongkorn (voice)
David Burnham	...	Prince Chululongkorn (singing voice)
Armi Arabe	...	Tuptim (voice)
Tracy Venner Warren	...	Tuptim (singing voice)
Adam Wylie	...	Louis Leonowens (voice)
Sean Smith	...	Sir Edward Ramsay (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Alexandra Lai	...	Princess Ying (voice)
Katherine Lai	...	Princess Naomi (voice)
Robert McEvilly	...	Luntha
Tony Pope	...	Burmese Emissary (voice) (as Anthony Mozdy)
Ed Trotta	...	Sir Edward's Captain (voice)

Runtime:

87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:G (certificate #36540) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | France:U | Germany:o.Al. | New Zealand:G | Peru:PT | Spain:T | UK:U

Company:

Morgan Creek Productions

Trivia:

In a February 17th, 2009 interview on NPR's Fresh Air, Ted Chapin, President of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, said he considered allowing this movie to be made his "biggest mistake in terms of granting or denying permission" to any of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II's works.

Quotes:

[when walking on roof and Louis follows]
Prince Chululongkorn: Not for boy, you'll get hurt.
Louis Leonowens: That's what you said about kick-boxing - and I bloodied your nose!

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Troldspejlet: (#24.3)" (2000)

Soundtrack:

Shall I Tell You What I Think Of You?

A shameless butchering of a great classic

Warner Brothers has seen fit to butcher this masterpiece with a new animated version that is thoroughly awful. The producers have attempted to bring the story down to a kid's level by eliminating key elements from the original and introducing new characters that would make Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein both turn over in their graves. The King no longer has a harem here, and his 106 children have been reduced to a mere 8. The Prime Minister has been transformed into an evil wizard who uses a magic gong in an attempt to overthrow the King, and he is aided by a bumbling fat midget who keeps having his teeth knocked out. Then there is the onslaught of cute animals including a monkey, an elephant and a panther that constantly save the King by hurling mangoes at the villains. Many of these new characters are directly stolen from Disney films, especially from `Aladdin.' If all this was not enough, we even get a scene where the King rides in a hot air balloon that is powered by a panther riding a bicycle mounted to a propeller. And just to make sure that we have a happy ending, absolutely NOBODY dies in this version. Admittedly, seeing this was an animated feature I was fully expecting some liberties to be taken, but I was not expecting a rewriting of the entire story.

The film's worst moments come during the musical scenes. Some of Rogers and Hammerstein's music manages to make it onto the screen but it is handled in such a way that it makes your stomach turn. For example, the movie begins with Anna singing `I Whistle a Happy Tune' while a sea monster attacks her. The King sings `A Puzzlement' while being attacked by giant statues that have suddenly come to life. Then there are the kids that sing `Getting to Know You' while being stalked by the fat midget. At the screening of this film I kept sinking deeper into my seat and saying, `Tell me this isn't happening!'