Talked a lot about Disney this past week. I grew up watching Disney movies all the time. Every sunday night there was a different one on. Disney basically had a monopoly on animated children's films for a very very long time. The only Disney film that came out during my childhood that I can remember was The Lion King. The Lion King was a little different from the Disney Princess type story which catered more to me, a kid who spent a ton of time outdoors.
After that it seemed that a lot more companies, Pixar, Dreamworks, etc became prominent in animated films. I must say that Toy Story was really something different that was a huge success and I really enjoyed it. Another movie we talked about was Spirit. I had completely forgotten about this movie until I heard it mentioned in class. This film was brought up because it featured a prominent character, the horse, that didn't speak. Almost all Disney films had talking animals, or other various creatures, which brought you into another world. While Spirit wasn't really a big big success it was something different and I really enjoyed it.
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The most irritating thing about Disney is that it seemingly defined animation as juvenile. It's the reason we don't see mature animation here in the US. Not only that, but Disney has created a terrible environment for family entertainment, one that dumbs down humor and narrative to pander to young children and sell a product. You don't see terrible comedic asides in the animation of Miyazaki, but in every Disney movie you're bound to see some stupid shot of an animal doing something irritating in the middle of a major climactic moment.
ReplyDeleteTake the Pirate movies. Everytime things got too serious they threw in some stupid aside of Jack Sparrow bumbling around or one of the pirates doing something stupid. Man, I can't stand this new age Disney.
While I agree that Disney is one of the factors that created animation to be considered such a kids genre, I think a lot of things Disney has done with animation has been really cool. I really disagree with you saying Disney has dumbed down family entertainment. I think most of the Disney movies and other kids movies have a really sophisticated comedy that works on two levels: one for the kids and one for the adults. I also think there is nothing wrong with Disney giving good fairly clean comedy for kids. There are aspects of Disney I don't like but one thing I really like about them is for decades now they have developed a number of classics and given great things for kids to grow up on.
ReplyDeleteDisney's persistence with princess films never bothered me as a child, although I always liked the ones, like the Lion King, that were not princess films more. It was not until later that I realized their monopoly on children, especially little girls, with these films.
ReplyDeleteNow, however, Disney seems to acknowledge the pitfalls of their princess films (The Princess & the Frog, etc...). They also seem to be relying less and less on these films to generate revenue.
Spirit is one of my favorite animated films because of the fact that the animals aren't talking; their feelings and emotions are portrayed through their actions and sounds. However, I am bugged by the fact that the horses eyes are personified. I realize that they wanted to give viewers a way to connect with the mustangs through their expressive eyes, but it almost defeats the purpose of no talking. While I appreciate the animators efforts, I wish the eyes weren't as prominent.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Pixar, what a cool company. I watched a biography on them and they started as such a small company--with great goals.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately they are merely a part of the Disney cog at this point...Oh well, I'll still see Toy Story 3...
I think it is really interesting that you grew up with Disney, because I am the only kid that didn't! I dont know what my parents were thinking but I couldn't recite a single song or dance number to you. I feel left out; does this make me a bad person?
ReplyDeleteI do have an appreciate for the newer animation though. Pixar really does release some incredible films.