Reflection Post

 Prior to this class, I had never examined or thought deeply about any Disney movie. I simply viewed them as a type of entertainment and nothing more. But, through our class discussions and articles that we read, I have come to realize that Disney animated movies are so much more than just fun for kids and in fact convey complex and “grown-up” messages.

 

Disney animated movies contain biases and stereotypes. Just like the people who make them, Disney animated movies are not perfect and unfortunately main older Disney movies portray biases and stereotypes. Although I did not consciously notice them as a child, I did when I watched again now. It is important that we recognize these so that we can educate our children about how these are wrong and steer them in the right direction.

 

Disney animated movies show the evolution in feminism. From Sleeping Beauty (yikes) and Cinderella (ugh) to Frozen and The Princess and the Frog, Disney has come a long way in how it portrays women and women’s roles in society through its films (finally!). Although feminism in Disney is not perfect, there has been a clear shift in the princesses’ goals from finding a prince to achieving their dreams (Tiana).

 

Disney animated movies also have a track record with portraying villains has having stereotypically homosexual traits. While very recent movies have moved away from this trend (Moana and Zootopia), earlier films rarely strayed from this trend. Even Dr. Facilier from Princess and the Frog conformed to this trend. It is important to notice this trend because it sends an immoral message to children (that those with homosexual traits are villains) that is simply wrong.

 

Additionally, having grown up in Orlando, Florida, I had always viewed Disney (the company) in a positive light because I associated it with the park and the movies. Although I got frustrated by the tourist traffic from time to time, I always had a place in my heart for Disney. For this reason, I was surprised when I started reading Team Rodent by Hiassen, another Orlando native. Hiassen is so against Disney and believes the company is a corrupt money making scheme. Although Disney does make a lot of money and Hiassen brought up though provoking examples of Disney being corrupt, I still cherish Disney movies and my childhood memories at the Disney parks. However, I will also remember the corrupt and questionable things Disney has done to get where it is today. I am glad that I read his book though because it showed that there multiple perspectives to every story. It also challenged my opinions and beliefs about Disney, which made me question why I love Disney. It made me realize that I love Disney because of what it stands for to me: family time, fun, and movie nights. Although I did not completely adopt Hiassen’s view point, his perspective has influenced my beliefs about the innocence Disney projects.

Throughout this class, I think the things I learned the most were that:

Everything deserves to be analyzed (even a Disney movie).

Don’t let something’s reputation (like Disney) define how you think about it. Analyze it on your own and then talk about your ideas with others.

#what'snewwednesday

Simone Biles as Moanna on Dancing With the Stars!!

#wednesday

I had to watch Tarzan for my developmental psychology class and thought this line was hilarious! I never noticed it before haha.

#toocooltuesday

I think these charts are interesting. They seem to show that good and evil are on a spectrum and characters do not simply fit into one or the other. More recent Disney animated films, like Maleficent, have made more of an effort to portray characters as whole people with both good and evil characteristics rather than have different characters representing all good or all evil qualities like in The Lion King.

Beginnings of Westworld?

According to this article, Disney has submitted a patent for interactive robot cartoon characters to walk around the parks. I'm not sure if I am excited for robots like Baymax to walk around the parks or freaked out by this strange similarity to Westworld.

My favorite scene from Frozen!

Good and Evil in Wreck-It Ralph

http://www.deviantart.com/tag/alignmentchart?offset=0

Response to Maleficent

Live blog:

This is my first time watching Maleficent!

Only a great hero or a terrible villain could reconcile the two kingdoms. I wonder which Maleficent will be.

I can’t believe Stephen cut off her wings so that he could be king! He was such a nice kid and I thought he loved her. This seems to show that children are innocent and pure while adults can betray and be vile.

This movie seems to be focusing on the back story of the villain Maleficent. It makes sense as to why she is so mean and villainous to Stephen, his kingdom, and Aurora. She curses Aurora to fall into a deep sleep on her sixteenth birthday when she pricks her finger on a spinning wheel. Aurora is then sent to grow up with three fairies in the woods.

Maleficent watches her grow up in the woods and often makes the fairies fight with each other. Maleficent continues to be characterized as both evil and good. She makes life difficult for the fairies, hurts the soldiers working by the wall, and calls Aurora “Beasty”. However, she also saves Aurora from falling off a cliff and provides food for her. In this way, King Stephen is portrayed more like a villain while Maleficent is depicted as someone good who had been very wronged.

I think Maleficent is having a hard time deciding whether she likes Aurora or not. At the beginning, I think she was jealous and hated Aurora because she represented what Stephan had done to her. Later, however, she starts to love Aurora for who she is. Maleficent tries to revoke the curse she set on Aurora for this reason. I think she feels guilty because Aurora should not have to pay for Stephens wrongdoings.

From Aurora’s perspective, Maleficent is the “evil that is in the world.” However, according to Maleficent it is the greed and power hungriness of men that are the evil in the world.

Aurora pricks her finger on a spinning wheel and falls asleep.

Both Maleficent and King Stephen do not believe in true loves kiss. Maybe it is because they kissed when they thought they were in love, and then they fell out of love. They both betrayed each other. Stephen cut off Maleficent’s wings, and then Maleficent cursed his daughter. Their belief is reinforced when the princess’s kiss doesn’t work. However, when Maleficent kisses her, she wakes up! In this way, Maleficent is similar to Frozen. Both redefine Disney’s definition of true love. True love is does not only include romantic love but also includes love between family, friends, and god parents and god children.

Maleficent gets her wings back thanks to Aurora.

Maleficent is also similar to Beauty and the Beast in the end. Both protagonists have the opportunity to kill the villain but choose not to. Then both villains try to kill the protagonists and fall to their deaths.

“Not by a hero or a villain as legend had predicted, but by one who was both hero and villain.” In the end, Maleficent is characterized as both a hero and a villain. This sends the message that no one is all good or all bad. Everyone is a mix of the two.

Response to Frozen

Live Blog:

I love this movie and the songs!

It is amazing how far animation has come when you compare Frozen to Cinderella. All of the men in the first scene are visibly different people with unique features which contrasts Disney’s normal portrayal of background characters as not different from each other.

“Beware the frozen heart” I never noticed this foreshadowing.

Baby Sven is so cute!

“The heart is not so easily changed, but the head can be persuaded.”

In the beginning of the movie the villain seems to be Elsa’s powers. This is different from almost every other Disney movie where the villains are very present and represented as people.

Disney does have a track record with killing off the parents of main characters or having main characters with one or less parents.

I wonder if Elsa would have learned to control her powers if she was socialized and not isolated in her room.

 

Frozen finally showed a realistic scene of how people wake up in the morning. Anna has messy hair and is drooling when she wakes up. Unlike Cinderella, who wakes up singing and hair perfect, Ana does not. Although she does start to sing shortly after she wakes up, it is only because it is a very special day.

“You can’t marry a man you just met.” Disney is trying to fix their prior statement that you can marry right after you met. Marrying right after they just met happened in Cinderella and Aladdin and in many other movies, characters get married after very little time spent together.

Frozen is similar to Wreck-It Ralph. Both Ralph and Elsa have a special and destructive power that can either be used for good or bad. They both have to learn how control their power and end up using it for good. Frozen and Wreck-It Ralph are also similar because they both have a villain that is not revealed until later on in the film.

Elsa and Ana may be the first protagonists without animal sidekicks. Kristoff has Sven but Elsa and Ana do not have animal sidekicks. Olaf fills in the role of comic relief and replaces the role of an animal sidekick.

“Do you think she knows how to knock?”

Elsa only wants to be free to be herself and not have to hide her powers from everyone. She also does not want to hurt anyone like she hurt Ana.

“I don’t have a skull. Or bones”

“He’s crazy”

Frozen continues Disney’s theme of blending the line between good and evil with the characters Elsa and Hans of the Southern Isles. Elsa never intends to be evil. However, her powers have the effect of a villain. Also in the beginning, Hans of the Southern Isles seems to have good intentions. He helps the people of Arendelle deal with the frozen summer. However, his true intentions are to marry Ana and kill Elsa so that he can rule Arendelle.

“We are not saying you can change him because people don’t really change.” This is the opposite of the message in Beauty and the Beast. In that movie, it is assumed that Belle can change the Beast if she tries hard enough. In fact, it is almost assumed that it is her duty to change the Beast. Frozen communicates a different and more progressive message to the audience.

Frozen also redefines Disney’s definition of true love. True love is not only romantic love but is also love between family and friends.