5 ms·

"People who insist on pigeonholing him as a purveyor of bland family entertainment ..." Seriously, who has ever said that?

by 100k0s 11y ago

RickHull 11y ago
I'll say it. It characterizes the Michael Eisner regime pretty well in my recollection.
smacktoward 11y ago
Go back and look at what Disney was putting out when the Baby Boomers were coming of age. The '60s and '70s -- the Dean Jones (http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Dean_Jones http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Dean_Jones) era. It's all stuff like That Darn Cat! and Son of Flubber and The Shaggy D.A., which is to say it's about as square as square can be. In an era when the boundaries of popular culture were being very aggressively stretched, Disney deliberately positioned itself as a producer of safe, conservative entertainment.
- fennecfoxen 11y ago
  Even if you're a staunch ally of safe, conservative family entertainment for its own sake, Disney was pretty damn crappy for a while. Look at their animated stuff in particular for plenty of mediocre storylines and bland animation (e.g. The Aristocats, The Fox and the Hound, Robin Hood). Children deserved better! Eventually some meaningful competition from the likes of Don Bluth started to push them in the right direction (Secret of NIMH, Land before Time, All Dogs Go to Heaven, etc.) and not too long afterward they were doing things like Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin. Quite an improvement, though I dare say the storylines have never quite caught up. (Of course, all of Bluth's stuff would later be undermined as it was sequel-ized to Hell and back, like The Land Before Time XXIV: Teach Your Kids Roman Numerals Edition...) Right now, though, after seeing Pixar's homages to Ghibli, I'm anticipating the impact of recent works like Puella Magi Madoka Magica, which really pushed some boundaries in Japan. (If you're not familiar with it, I'll just say... imagine if Pan's Labyrinth had been actively marketed to little children as a happy family film and an homage to Alice in Wonderland... and then translate that willful deception and the profound darkness onto Sailor Moon.) If it does make a splash in the youth entertainment industry at large, that will be quite interesting indeed.
  - silentplummet 11y ago
    Hey, don't knock Robin Hood. Watch the archery contest in reverse to see King John stuff the snake into his nether-parts.
  - mjevans 11y ago
    I think it depends more on the intended target audience. The films you have issue with feel like they fit in well with the attention span, vibrant colors and little funny scenes for children in the 6 to 9 year old range to enjoy. I consider anything beyond that something added in to keep the parents awake and the animators sane (or functionally insane as the case might be). The second list of films you mention have emotionally moving plots and I'd consider them a good fit for the next demographic bump, roughly 9-13. I think I might have cried to a film for the first time watching ADgtH as a kid. Puella Magi Madoka Magica is definitely mature. It has intense situations, highly emotional plot, and story elements that younger humans would be less equipped to relate to. I still highly recommend watching at least the first 3 episodes. If you're still on the fence watch another 3 episodes. The third movie is new content... I couldn't resist it, but the series/first two movies are a complete story without it.
pnathan 11y ago
I was born in the 80s, and pretty much that's all Disney has ever represented to me, outside of the black and white Walt Disney surrealist work.
- digi_owl 11y ago
  The most striking for me is how they are going back and editing out "controversial" scenes from older stuff. For example there is one where Donald is up against the aracuan bird, where he eventually is fed up and pulls a Maxim gun out of nowhere. The bird survives unharmed, classic cartoon style, and Donald snaps, starts behaving like said bird, and wanders off as things fade to black. Good luck finding that scene today. Now it just jumps from the bird sitting in a lawn chair to Donald wandering off.
  - pnathan 11y ago
    Interesting. I knew that some of the older, more racist, stuff was being quietly not shown anymore. Wasn't aware they'd be chopping at the strips themselves. Of course, I haven't watched the pablum in years myself. :-}
    - digi_owl 11y ago
      I think the reason why it is being chopped is that is usually a part of the Christmas special.

"People who insist on pigeonholing him as a purveyor of bland family entertainment ..." Seriously, who has ever said that?

by 100k0s 11y ago

"People who insist on pigeonholing him as a purveyor of bland family entertainment ..." Seriously, who has ever said that?

RickHull 11y ago

I'll say it. It characterizes the Michael Eisner regime pretty well in my recollection.

smacktoward 11y ago

Go back and look at what Disney was putting out when the Baby Boomers were coming of age. The '60s and '70s -- the Dean Jones (http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Dean_Jones http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Dean_Jones) era. It's all stuff like That Darn Cat! and Son of Flubber and The Shaggy D.A., which is to say it's about as square as square can be. In an era when the boundaries of popular culture were being very aggressively stretched, Disney deliberately positioned itself as a producer of safe, conservative entertainment.

fennecfoxen 11y ago
Even if you're a staunch ally of safe, conservative family entertainment for its own sake, Disney was pretty damn crappy for a while. Look at their animated stuff in particular for plenty of mediocre storylines and bland animation (e.g. The Aristocats, The Fox and the Hound, Robin Hood). Children deserved better! Eventually some meaningful competition from the likes of Don Bluth started to push them in the right direction (Secret of NIMH, Land before Time, All Dogs Go to Heaven, etc.) and not too long afterward they were doing things like Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin. Quite an improvement, though I dare say the storylines have never quite caught up. (Of course, all of Bluth's stuff would later be undermined as it was sequel-ized to Hell and back, like The Land Before Time XXIV: Teach Your Kids Roman Numerals Edition...) Right now, though, after seeing Pixar's homages to Ghibli, I'm anticipating the impact of recent works like Puella Magi Madoka Magica, which really pushed some boundaries in Japan. (If you're not familiar with it, I'll just say... imagine if Pan's Labyrinth had been actively marketed to little children as a happy family film and an homage to Alice in Wonderland... and then translate that willful deception and the profound darkness onto Sailor Moon.) If it does make a splash in the youth entertainment industry at large, that will be quite interesting indeed.
- silentplummet 11y ago
  Hey, don't knock Robin Hood. Watch the archery contest in reverse to see King John stuff the snake into his nether-parts.
- mjevans 11y ago
  I think it depends more on the intended target audience. The films you have issue with feel like they fit in well with the attention span, vibrant colors and little funny scenes for children in the 6 to 9 year old range to enjoy. I consider anything beyond that something added in to keep the parents awake and the animators sane (or functionally insane as the case might be). The second list of films you mention have emotionally moving plots and I'd consider them a good fit for the next demographic bump, roughly 9-13. I think I might have cried to a film for the first time watching ADgtH as a kid. Puella Magi Madoka Magica is definitely mature. It has intense situations, highly emotional plot, and story elements that younger humans would be less equipped to relate to. I still highly recommend watching at least the first 3 episodes. If you're still on the fence watch another 3 episodes. The third movie is new content... I couldn't resist it, but the series/first two movies are a complete story without it.

pnathan 11y ago

I was born in the 80s, and pretty much that's all Disney has ever represented to me, outside of the black and white Walt Disney surrealist work.

digi_owl 11y ago
The most striking for me is how they are going back and editing out "controversial" scenes from older stuff. For example there is one where Donald is up against the aracuan bird, where he eventually is fed up and pulls a Maxim gun out of nowhere. The bird survives unharmed, classic cartoon style, and Donald snaps, starts behaving like said bird, and wanders off as things fade to black. Good luck finding that scene today. Now it just jumps from the bird sitting in a lawn chair to Donald wandering off.
- pnathan 11y ago
  Interesting. I knew that some of the older, more racist, stuff was being quietly not shown anymore. Wasn't aware they'd be chopping at the strips themselves. Of course, I haven't watched the pablum in years myself. :-}
  - digi_owl 11y ago
    I think the reason why it is being chopped is that is usually a part of the Christmas special.