Fun Supermoon Image

This is an extremely short post, but I just saw this photoshopped picture in honor of the supermoon that happened last night and couldn't help but blog about it. While those of us at Duke weren't able to see the moon last night in person because of the absurdly thick cloud coverage, there have been some great pictures of the supermoon posted online. This picture of the Mickey Mouse supermoon, however, by far takes the cake.

If anything, this picture goes to show how relevant Mickey Mouse is in media even today.

Schwartz Reading Response: "Dopey's Legacy: Stereotypical Portrayals of Intellectual Disability in the Classic Animated Films"

As an optimist, I usually like to give Disney the benefit of the doubt when the company is accused of promoting negative messages of spreading the wrong ideals in the films. Although I would like to believe that Disney did not purposely set out to express contempt towards individuals with intellectual disabilities in its movies, the arguments presented by Schwartz are truly compelling in her article “Dopey’s Legacy”. By structuring her argument effectively by utilizing a clear and concise thesis statement, well-reasoned and logical points and most importantly, Schwartz provided ample evidence to validate her controversial claims. I really enjoyed this piece because of the thought-provoking manner in which it discusses the topic of mental or physical disability in the context of Disney, something that I had never even though to consider before.

With mental/physical disabilities still being major issues in society today, I'm surprised that so few people write about the topic as it relates to film and television. In this piece, Schwartz not only presents one example of Disney’s stereotypical portrayal of individuals with intellectual disabilities, but three, with each example displaying shocking evidence. Schwartz chose to deal with the highly entertaining and comical characters of Dopey from Snow White, Gus from Cinderella and Le Fou from Beauty and the Beast. While these characters are from very different films, from different time periods they are all connected by the fact that they all share three common characteristics of being 'childlike, non-human and fools/’The village idiot’. After reading the piece, however, I noticed that the points made about Dopey are much stronger the the arguments for Gus and Le Fou. It is clear that Schwartz is trying to use multiple examples of different characters showing physical or mental disability over different time periods in Disney's History, but Schwartz stumbles somewhat with the execution. In particular, I disliked his examples of Le Fou in that it is fairly clear that he struggles to make as strong of an example as he makes for Dopey.

I also really enjoyed this piece for the personal reason that it was particularly pertinent to my topic for our class' first essay for defending/refuting a Disney film. Choosing to write about the role of education in Tarzan as an empowering and humanizing tool. While reading Schwartz' piece I couldn't help but notice the parallels between Tarzan/gorillas and Dopey/Gus/Le Fou as being depicted as sub-human due to disabilities of some sort. Looking at this topic through the perspective of my paper, I was able to notice the truly appalling examples of disability in Disney films that exclude those with disability as the "other". Moreover, while "Dopey's Legacy" has a few weak points, I truly enjoyed the piece for the way in which it made me think about disability in our society and how it is portrayed in media. And the piece helped me get a quote for my paper which never hurts.

Ranking the Best Disney Films by Era

With my mind currently on the millions of college football rankings and statistics (and Duke's lack of a ranking for a football ranking), I've decided to pick the best Disney films from each of the major Disney eras. Before I actually pick the best movies, I guess I have to preface this post with an actual explanation of the distinct Disney eras, so here we go:

Fairy Tale era (Snow White --> Sleeping beauty) : What many I along with many others would characterize as the "Walt Era", the fairy tale era is defined by idealized protagonists, innocence triumphant over ambitious evil, doofus comic relief, Walt's era.

The Dark age (101 Dalmations --> Oliver & Company): Disney's dark age contains storylines with adventurous protagonists, bands of misfits, an emphasis on urban environments and villains based on vice.

The Disney Renaissance (The Little Mermaid --> Home on the Range): Following the "dark age", Disney changed things up a little by making movies with proactive protagonists, stories based on classic literature & folk tales, a heavy Broadway influence and first major use of CGI.

The Disney Revival (Chicken Little --> Present): Defined by protagonists & stories that subvert classics, influenced by Pixar and DreamWorks, traditional animation secondary to CGI and less emphasis on villains with more on social and emotional problems.

Now that you know each Disney era a little better, I'll give you a list of my favorite film from each era:

Fairy Tale era: This era is probably the easiest for me because it's my least favorite period of Disney films, excluding Pinocchio. There's just something about Pinocchio that's not only so epic for its time but also truly genuine. Truly a timeless movie in my honest opinion.

So epic

Dark age: Another easy one that goes to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. While this movie is a classic with Winnie the Pooh being a true icon, Winnie the Pooh also holds some personal significance to myself. For whatever reason, Winnie the Pooh was my absolute favorite movie as a toddler and so my first christmas ornament ever was a Winnie the Pooh ornament that I hang on my family's Christmas tree each year. So yeah, Winnie the Pooh is pretty awesome.

Two of Disney's biggest franchises merged 

Disney Renaissance: Although this time period includes some of my favorite Disney films, I have to go with Tarzan as my victor. I've always loved rock climbing and the outdoors since I've been a little kid, so from the first time I saw Tarzan I wanted to be like him and swing from the vines in the jungle Spider-man-style. Close second goes to Lilo and Stitch.

Disney Revival: With this era being my favorite, I have no clearly favorite film. Pixar truly shines in this era and while I love every single Pixar film, I have to go with The Incredibles as my favorite movie from this era. The Incredibles just has the absolute perfect combination of fun, action, storyline, and pretty animation; I can't wait for the sequel.

Reading Response: "Breaking the Disney Spell"

While I can understand why many dislike the arguments put forward in Jack Zipes' piece "Breaking the Disney Spell", I actually found that many of Zipes' key points resonated with me. From the very beginning of his argument, I enjoyed Zipes' use of rhetorical questions to challenge the meaning of the so-called "Disney spell". Although the background information on the history of oral and literary fairy tales was not overtly pertinent to Zipes' main argument, I truly liked learning more about the evolution of fairy tales over time from a communal oral tradition to an elitist privilege in the 19th century when they started to be written down as literature. Another facet of Zipes' writing that was enjoyable was how he drew parallels between classic fairy tales and modern Disney film. Parallels such as the patriarchal social structure, rural life, and rags-to-riches stories were all interesting examples that characterize both Disney films as well as classic fairy tales.

One particular aspect of Zipes' piece that I didn't love were the exaggerated metaphors that Zipes makes between Walt Disney's early films such as Puss in Boots and Snow White and Disney's own personal life in regards to dealing with cutthroat film industry. While I admit that the metaphors did make logical sense, they just came across as ridiculous and it was somewhat clear that Zipes was grasping at straws in that aspect of his argument. 

Finally, I thought that Zipes was effective with his use of numerical lists to make his points. I'm a logical person that likes to see various arguments written out in an outright manner, so it was nice to see Zipes make use of lists to reinforce his main points. 

Overall, I think Zipes wrote an effective piece that delves into the deeper meaning of the "Disney spell". My favorite quote from this piece is when Zipes argues that "the power of Disney fairy-tale films does not reside in the uniqueness or novelty of the productions, but in Disney's great talent for holding antiquated views of society still through animation". This quote highlights the true power of Disney films in that they are able to not only transcend time periods but also accentuate traditional values in society that everyone can get around and support. 

Live Response: Snow White

Inspired by Professor Andres' suggestion to write a live response to a movie for our blog, I've decided to live blog my viewing of Snow White. Because I'll be watching Snow White on Cornel 1801, I'll split up my blog into twelve individual responses that correlate to the twelve movie clips that take place in the movie. So without further ado...

Clip 1: "Once upon a time there lived a lovely little princess..."

Wow, it's crazy how much different animation was back in 1937. Everything about this just looks so old fashioned; even the wicked Queen's voice just sounds old-timey to me. Anyways, the Queen is talking to the Magic Mirror and all I can think about is the Magic Mirror talking to Lord Farquaad from Shrek. Now Snow White has entered and is singing until the Ken-doll looking Prince enters on his horse to serenade Snow White. Of course, Snow White runs away because that's what any girl would naturally do if a prince came out from nowhere and starts singing to you.

Clip 2: "With a Smile and a Song"

And we're back to a scene between the wicked Queen and the Huntsman where the Queen wants the Huntsman to kill Snow White and bring back her heart, a fairly grotesque plot detail from this movie that I totally forgot about. For whatever reason Snow White is now frolicking on the outskirts of the woods while picking flowers and talking to birds because that's apparently what most teenage girls do with their free time. Okay so now the Huntsman is about to kill her but he randomly changes his mind for whatever reason which motivates Snow White to run away and is flipping out in the middle of the woods and being excessively dramatic. It's already become fairly apparent how weak and fragile Snow White is depicted in this movie. 

Because spinning in place is the best way to run away from danger

Clip 3: "It's Adorable,  Just like a Doll's House"

After spinning in place for however long it was, Snow White literally just collapsed from helplessness. I know this movie is outdated in terms of the way women are perceived but this is honestly ridiculous. It is now revealed that Snow White wasn't in an ominous and dangerous part of the woods but rather a bright and sunny clearing with a bunch of cute forest animals that she can unexplainably talk to. 

Clip 4: "Heigh-Ho, Heigh-Ho, it's off to work we go"

This clip introduces the seven dwarves in the mine finishing up work. Dopey is by far favorite dwarf because he's just by far the most entertaining of the bunch. Meanwhile, Snow White decides to spruce up the Dwarves' house with the help of her forest animal squad. This may just be me, but it really bothers me that everything about Snow White is just so perfect. She reminds me of that one person in High School who was perfect at everything that he or she did and instead of being humble about it they would waltz around being perfect just for the hell of it. But back to the film that I'm supposed to be watching....

Clip 5: "Something's Cooking Smells Good"

Once the dwarves come back to the cottage, Snow White is already asleep in their bed in a very Goldilocks-esque manner. The dwarves are all on edge about someone being in their home which makes no sense because they left their front door open... so what did they expect?

Clip 6:  "A Girl Mighty Pretty"

Following a semi drawn-out scene of the dwarves creeping into their bedroom, they discover a sleeping Snow White and don't seem shocked or nervous whatsoever which I find somewhat outrageous, but I'll let it slide. Snow White also just nailed all of the seven dwarves' names on her first try which is underratedly impressive. After deciding to eat some of the soup that Snow White had made, Snow White's passive agressiveness is unleashed in full force on the dwarves for not washing their hands.

Clip 7: "March Straight Outside and Wash"

Pretty much this entire scene is just the dwarves washing their hands in an entertaining manner. And that's all I have to say about that. 

Clip 8: "Heart of a Pig"

Oh wicked Queen, you fell for the oldest trick in the book. Thinking a pig's heart was an actual human heart, classic. And now you're randomly a mad scientist that is able to create a magic potion with a bunch of arbitrary objects like mummy dust that transform her into a legitimately creepy old witch. And now she's gonna use an apple to murder Snow White which I always thought was a weird way to kill someone but that's none of my business I guess.

Clip 9: "Bless the Seven Little Men"

Honestly this clip of the film adds very little to the progression of the actual story since its mainly just a dance party at the dwarves' cottage but whatever I thoroughly enjoyed it.

After the dance party everyone just falls asleep and Dopey is still dope(y).

Clip 10: "Can be Revived Only by Love's First Kiss"

This scene is just straight up creepy when the Queen/old hag is rowing on her little boat at nighttime in the mist. Of course all of the dwarves just happen to be leaving at the same time, so it's clear that Snow White is kinda screwed...

Clip 11: "It's a Magic Wishing Apple"

In the midst of baking a pie for Grumpy, the old hag arrives at the cottage. Obviously Snow White isn't suspicious of anything because Disney wanted to make it clear just how helpless and dependent on others she truly was. You know it's bad when the freaking forest animals have enough common sense to realize that a creepy old witch that wants to give away an apple probably shouldn't be trusted. I still feel bad that Snow White actually ate it but I mean come on. 

Clip 12: "Find Our Love Anew"

In an epic final scene, the dwarves track and chase down the queen/witch after Snow White has died. I'm honestly impressed with how Disney made the death of the old hag so intense, even if in the end it was just a convenient strike of lightning that resulted in her death. Wow I haven't seen this movie in awhile but it's way more depressing than I remember, Snow White's funeral is legitimately saddening. But I was only sad for like sixty seconds because prince charming just came to the rescue for the trademark kiss that brought Snow White back from the dead. Woooo now they're gonna get married and be happy ever after despite only having met each other once and never even holding a meaningful conversation. What if they like the same kind of cereal or something? That's just asking for future arguments. But yeah since this is Disney I guess they can live happily ever after and all that. 

Overall,  I really did enjoy this rewatching Snow White, and I hope you liked my live reaction of the movie! I know I did.

Reading Response: Challenging Disney Myths with Wasko

After reading Wasko's piece, "Challenging Disney Myths", I've certainly gained a new appreciation for the empire that Walt Disney almost singlehandedly built from scratch. In general, I feel like Wasko did a good job of remaining unbiased in her attempts to educate the audience on the truth behind certain myths involving Disney. While her introduction was lacking to say the least when she uses fancy words such as the 'critical political economy', Wasko does do a great job of laying out the framework for her argument by listing the 5 main Disney myths that she plans to challenge and discuss. While some people tend to overthink certain aspects of Disney (both the man and the company)that results in some strange myths, I do think that there are some misconceptions discussed in Wasko's piece that hold relevance in society today.

Extreme examples of Disney conspiracies

Personally, I found the portions of the document that discussed the juxtaposition's between Walt Disney the man versus Walt Disney the figure to be the most thought-provoking and poignant of the topics discussed. It's truly fascinating to think that over time Walt Disney was able to essentially mold himself into an idealized version of himself that most effectively represented the Disney company as a whole. Moreover, I love the quote from Schnickel (1968) that Wasko highlights which concludes that "Walt Disney's greatest creation was Walt Disney". For a reason that I have yet to accurately pinpoint, this quote resonated with me and has caused me to think about the influential role that an individual can have on those in society around him. Although it's confusing, I guess what I mean by this is that the image and morals of family, friendship and love that Walt Disney worked so hard to create for himself have had a direct influence on countless people around the world. While one would be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't believe in these values that Disney promoted, it's scary to think about how different our society would be today if Walt Disney had chosen different values to support for the Disney brand. Luckily, Disney did the right thing and chose nice, wholesome values to represent the Disney corporation. Although Wasko did a poor job of making points that would refute or challenge her own opinions, I thought that overall her writing in this piece was provocative and insightful, leaving me with a desire to know more about Disney and the secrets that hide beneath the surface.

Happy Birthday to Pluto!

When one hears the word "Disney", it's fair to say that famous characters such as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, or Winnie the Pooh spring to mind. Although I can't deny my deep connection to these characters from my childhood, it's Pluto, Mickey Mouse's pet dog, that holds a special place in my heart. Besides Pluto's inherent likability and charm, Pluto was the first Disney character that I ever learned about. Watching the show House of Mouse for the first time at the ripe young age of six, I still remember my immediate captivation with Pluto's yellow fur and floppy black ears. I've always been a big dog person myself and whether it's just nostalgia or an internal sense of allegiance to my first Disney character, Pluto encapsulates everything that I love about dogs.

While today is a special day for many guys my age with college football officially in full swing with a slew of big games going on all day, for Disney fans today is truly sacred because it's Pluto's 85th birthday! It's hard to believe that Pluto's character existed for 66 years before I was even born. In many ways, I think that Pluto is a testament to the strength and success of Disney as a corporation inasmuch as his birthday is still relevant and talked about 85 years later. One of Pluto's qualities that makes him one of my favorite character's is that unlike most characters in the Disney universe he can't talk, and instead lets his actions and facial expressions speak for him. In spite of the frequent criticism that Disney receives for some of its more controversial characters, I would go so far as to support the idea that Pluto is the strongest role model of all Disney characters and deserves far more praise than he receives. Happy 85th Birthday Pluto! Here's to another 85, keep on doin' you, bud.