Posted on 11/15/2010 1:31:43 PM PST by NYer
Some of the Disney classics are still available on tape and DVD.
I’d like to know what the author thinks the moral lesson of “Rapunzel” was to start with. I’d suggest, “Life in early modern Europe was the pits, kids. Be grateful you live in modern America!”
We have long been bothered by Walt Disney films. They portray wimpy, ignorant fathers (Beauty and the Beast, Alladin) and disobedient daughters (The Little Mermaid, Alladin). The daughters are always bailing the father’s out of a situation and the disobedience of the daughters always leads to happiness with no consequence. That is not what we want to teach our children so we stay away.
I first saw the film during its 1963 release.
Disney resuscitated Ellen Degeneres’ career by making her the voice of Dora. They produced her talk show as well. Disney does not represent family values and should be avoided by parents. They are a colossus, it’s hard to avoid their content . . . but their content is not “good” anymore in a moral or value oriented sense.
Don’t know who owns Disney now, but I think it is not in the Disney family anymore. Is this correct?
Trek, which was pretty well done, had a lot of crude stuff in it, which I can’t fathom why, but I’ve heard the last Trek movie was worse in this regard.
Profits being down may not be due to this, but they are not raking it in lately.
“Disney profits slide
BY JASON GARCIA crline Orlando Sentinel
Walt Disney Co. profit sank 7 percent during the final three months of its fiscal year, disappointing Wall Street as one-time adjustments dragged down the company’s television networks and theme parks and more than offset gains from the blockbuster movie ``Toy Story 3.’’
Business remained soft at Walt Disney World during the July-through-September period, though the company said the resort’s fall bookings are beginning to pick up.
``Overall, we’re encouraged by many of the trends we’re seeing in our businesses,’’ Disney Co. Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo said during a Thursday afternoon conference call with analysts.
“Disney made $835 million during the quarter, which ended Oct. 2, down from $895 million last year. Revenue dipped 1 percent to $9.7 billion.”
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/11/15/1926705/disney-profits-slide.html
It is a public company (DIS), traded on the New York Stock Exchange, with large numbers of shareholders.
I believe Roy Disney, may he rest in peace, was one of the last of the Disney family to be heavily involved in the company. He died in December of last year. A few years ago, he led a stockholder rebellion against the direction the current management was taking the company. It succeeded in ousting Eisner.
I agree.
The last Disney film to attempt at a morality story was The Emperor’s New Groove and but the message was cheapened by a cliched and derivative script ripping off everything done before with a trendy “postmodern” gag reel.
Mad female witch as a villain - check. Incompetent male sidekick of the villain who’s not evil - check. Deluded protagonist comes good in the end - check. Voice of reason - check.
In contrast, Spirited Away (Studio Ghibli, director Hayao Miyazaki, Oscar for Best Animated Feature) is a completely different and far more thoughtful take on the idea of a self-centred child forced to confront the harsh realities of adulthood.
Where New Groove treated Kuzko’s epiphany as one scene of reflection in an 80 minute joke, Chihiro has to work through the entire film to redeem herself: it’s not her who’s turned into an animal, but her parents, and it is only through sheer persistence that she is able to get them turned back into humans. The themes of duty, responsibility, respect for your elders (especially your parents), love and commitment, and yes, even doing your chores, are hammered home in every scene.
Grave of the Fireflies tells the harrowing story (based on a true story) of an orphaned boy trying everything in his power to keep his ailing younger sister alive toward the end of World War Two. Schindler’s List also shows the spark of humanity that can exist in the midst of brutality in war - but then, Schindler’s List wasn’t an animated movie intended for a young audience (not that I’d suggest GotF is fine afternoon fare for the under-twelves).
Laputa: Castle in the Sky was inspired by Jonathan Swift, and is a creditable attempt to translate into the fantasy world, the sense of loss being felt in Japan (and the United Kingdom, Wales in particular!) as traditional industries, traditional values, and small communities are destroyed by remote political elites. Ring a bell, anyone?!
My daughter can watch a two hour Miyazaki film and I can be sure that there’s no sex, no innuendo, no postmodern rubbish... just a stunning visual experience, a stunning script and a very firm moral message that’s spread throughout the movie, not thrown at her in a hamfisted five minute scene.
That, for me, is why Hayao Miyazaki is the true heir to Uncle Walt.
>>Grave of the Fireflies<<
I can’t watch that. I always end up as a blubbering idiot by the end.
Studio Ghibli still hand animates the majority of their movies cells. Did you see the opening sequence in “Ponyo”? The sea sequence? All hand animated in WATERCOLOR!!!! I found it amazing.
Oh, and I can only watch “Spirited Away” in Japanese. Disney feels that all little girls should have high squeaky voices. The girl who dubbed Chihiro sounds like she is four and the man who dubbed Haku sounds like he is well past puberty.
>>(not that I’d suggest GotF is fine afternoon fare for the under-twelves).<<
Did you know that “Grave of the Fireflies” originally played as a double feature with “My Neighbor Totoro”?
I kid you not.
Related:
Disney accused by Catholic cleric of corrupting children's minds
Walt Disney on Faith & God, 1963
Fairy tales are morality tales? They were meant to scare kids into obedience. And talk about stereotypes! Always with the evil stepmothers and the old women as witches.
To the author of the review: Don’t compare Dreyer’s Joan of Arc to fairy tale films. And why are you so upset about a woman’s tear bringing a man back to life? But it’s OK for the prince to kiss Sleeping Beauty to bring her back?
If you believe this article, then don’t see the movie. If any groups want Disney/Pixar to make movies more to their liking, then they can buy the company outright, or buy stock and speak up at shareholder meetings. Or produce their own indie kids movies.
Bttt! Fantasia is a treasure. I wonder what Walt would really think of Tangled.
Does this guy even know Rapunzel’s original storyline?
Pregnant woman nags husband into stealing from a witch’s garden.
Husband gets caught. Witch demands newborn baby, or she’ll kill the husband. Dear old hubby agrees to hand over the kid.
Witch raises beautiful child in innocence at top of tower.
Handsome prince inveigles beautiful girl into midnight visits.
Beautiful innocent girl complains to witch her dresses don’t fit around the middle anymore.
Yeah, lots of morality going on there....
Disney is one of the few places where the word “Christmas” is not taboo. They even have a Christmas parade complete with real Christmas music and a Nativity set.
Every September, the Magic Kingdom hosts several “Night of Joy” events. These are all night events in the park featuring several major Christian bands on multiple stages. Church groups come from hundreds of miles away.
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