TheoFantastique » Disney

Gargoyles: Disney Making Live-Action Film

admin — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 18:57:04 +0000

I learned through a link to my blog from The Grimm Tea Party that Disney Studios has a live-action film on gargoyles in the works. A few websites are reporting on this, including The Hollywood Reporter, which states that

The studio is in the process of hiring Zoe Green to develop a story revolving around the stone creatures for a feature project being produced by Lauren Shuler Donner and Jack Leslie via the Donners’ Co.

The project seeks to build a mythology around the carvings, originally designed in medieval times to act as spouts but later took on roles as powerful symbols to ward off or attract evil. The story is being developed, but it is known to be set in modern times.

Readers may remember the Gargoyles cartoon television series produced by Buena Vista Television (1994-1996), which inspired a comic, video game, and other merchandise according to The Gargoyles Fans Website. Although little information is available on the proposed live-action film, it purporedly will not be an adaptation of the 90s cartoon. I’d like to see Disney take on something with a darker edge to take advantage of the potential in the gargoyle, but it will likely be lighter family fare. I just hope it will be a good film effort that makes the most of these architectural and mythical monsters. Until we find out what Disney comes up with, we’ll have to be content with films like Jeepers Creepers that involves one of the best gargoyle-like monsters to reach the silver screen.

Disney’s The Princess and the Frog: Cartoon Fantasy and Social Reflection

admin — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:57:28 +0000

I haven’t seen Walt Disney’s The Princess and the Frog movie yet, but living in a neighborhood with young families many of them have, and they seem to have enjoyed it. The television advertisements for the film make me a little wary since it is supposedly the best Disney cartoon since The Lion King. But come on, what about The Emperor’s New Groove?

Two articles in Religion Dispatches give me reason for pause in seeing the film, or at least to watching it more critically if I do decide to see it. The first is an article by Anthea Butler titled “Disney’s Lump of Coal.” The author’s displeasure with the film may be summarized with the words, “I’m going to go all out and say that the entire movie is a wholesale desecration of New Orleans, Creole culture, Cajun Culture, religion, zydeco music, the Evangeline story, and Louis Armstrong..”. In the second article, Michelle Gonzalez Maldonado focuses her displeasure with the film specifically on its treatment of Haitian religion in a piece titled “Bad Magic: Voodoo According to Disney.” Maldonado feels that “this film perpetuates offensive stereotypes about Voodoo.” As the author concludes the analysis she writes:

I did not expect critical race analysis or a sophisticated presentation of Voodoo when I walked into the theater. It is, after all, Disney. I did not expect such a blatant, racist, and misinformed presentation of Voodoo, however. The reduction of religion to magic is also reaffirmed in the curious absence of Catholicism in the film. My son is correct, Disney Voodoo is bad magic; it just doesn’t have anything to do with the authentic African Diaspora religion.

But how should audiences react to elements of race, culture, and religion as portrayed in a fantasy cartoon? Even Butler writes, “Yes, I know, it’s just fantasy, right?”

On the one hand, elements within a fantasy film take on the meaning given them by the writer of the story. This is a basic principle of literary, and by extension, cinematic interpretation. So it would be inappropriate to critique Harry Potter for providing “inaccurate” portrayals of witchcraft, since J. K. Rowling was creating a contemporary fairytale form of witchcraft rather than a representation of Wicca outside of her fantasy context.

But on the other hand, it would be a mistake to give fantasy a pass in terms of being divorced from the social and cultural context in which it is produced. Josha Bellin, author of Framing Monsters: Fantasy Film and Social Alienation (Southern Illinois University Press, 2005), reminds us that in addition to entertainment and escapism, fantasy has a dark side that is often missed because it is held to be separate from reality:

But of course, that’s what makes these films particularly powerful vehicles of social alienation, the phrase I use to suggest the whole range of processes by which marginalized groups are stereotyped, victimized, and scapegoated: fantasy films’ resistance to critical scrutiny enables them to perpetuate loathsome social ideologies under the guise of “harmless entertainment.”

My previous interview with Bellin on this topic as the thesis of his book can be found here, along with a second interview contrasting the original King Kong with Peter Jackson’s more recent version. Both interviews shed light on the need for a more critical reading of fantasy films that will enable viewers to gain a deeper appreciation of the many facets of fantasy and how they reflect social and cultural contexts. I offer this as food for thought for those who want to probe Disney’s latest cartoon offering beyond holiday cinema escapism.

Celebrating Creativity: Ub Iwerks and the Hand Behind the Mouse

admin — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 04:57:00 +0000

This blog is devoted not only to an analysis of various facets of the fantastic, the imagination, and creativity in popular culture, but also to the sheer enjoyment and celebration of these things. With this in mind I highly recommend a documentary that has aired a couple of times now on the Ovation channel titled Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story. For those who may not be familiar with Iwerks, he was a close friend and early partner and collaborator with Disney who was tasked with the creation of a new character that would eventually establish Disney Studios and cement animation’s reputation as a primiere form of entertainment for adults. It happened through the creation of Mickey Mouse, a cartoon character created by Iwerks as he locked himself into a room, later to emerge with the character and the first film in which he starred titled Plane Crazy.

As the documentary describes, Iwerks was a brilliant animator who constantly pushed the envelope with his willigness to try new things in his use of motion, perspective, as well as an exploration of the “dark side” of character animation. Iwerks was also gifted as a technical craftsman and was responsible for the design of several pieces of camera equipemnt and special effects processes, such as the sodium travelling matte, that was used with great success not only in Disney films like Mary Poppins, but also in Hithcock’s film The Birds.

It was a treat to watch this documentary that reveals a figure often hidden behind the success of Disney Studios and its better-known founder. A short sample of the documentary can vewed here.

Magic and Fairytales: Reassessing the Hermeneutic

admin — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 23:18:00 +0000

The other day I was waiting in line at the post office and was scanning the walls, bored enough to read the various posters. One of them promoted a new line of stamps that is available. As I looked at the familiar images I was reminded that for some time aspects of the entertainment industry have been using fantasy and film to promote magic to our children.

One of the more prevalent sources is reflected in this new series of stamps. I noted how the image looked innocent enough. Nevertheless, the image was that of a young sorcerer, or would-be sorcerer, who was using magic even while improperly schooled in it. In case the reader is wondering I’m not talking about Harry Potter, I’m talking about the various ways in which Disney Studios has presented magic in their cartoons over the years. And for those of you who might be worried, no, I write above with tongue in cheek.

The series of stamps I referenced featured Mickey Mouse as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice. I still remember that cartoon with its wonderful music, and the story of the sorcerer who steps out and leaves Mickey to mop up. He decides to use his sorcerer’s wand to animate mops and buckets, only to see it get out of control and needing to be rescued by the end of the cartoon by the returning sorcerer. Another stamp picking up on Disney’s magical theme was from Aladin, and yet another shows Tinker Bell with her magical dust.

I find it interesting that while Disney and other sources of popular entertainment have drawn upon fantasy magic for quite some time, in the past we did not see the outcry that we do in some segments of Protestant evangelicalism and fundamentalism today. Apparently a previous generation was able to recognize fairytale magic, even when it included sorcerers and magic wands.

This is not a major observation, but it presents a few items for our consideration, particularly since the most recent Harry Potter film is about to be released in theaters, and the last of the books will hit bookstores in the U.S. by month’s end. While it has been difficult to sustain anti-Potter rhetoric for an extended period of time, no doubt those Christians concerned with Potter’s alleged Witchcraft, occultism, and magic will sound their warnings soon.

I’d like to suggest that the Christian community needs to consider a few things in light of all of this. First, we need to reassess our understanding of fairytales and magic, and how this does nor does not connect to the real practices of Western esotericism. I commented on what has been called “occult-tinged fiction” a while back, and some interactions with colleagues provokes my continued reflection on this. Second, we need to reconsider the appropriate interpretation of literature and film. Even if we were to grant that an author or screenplay writer were drawing upon “occultic” or Pagan sources, the meaning of such elements are defined by the author within the story’s narrative, not from their supposed origin outside of the story. This is a basic hermeneutical principle, but one which is frequently neglected. Third, we need a good understanding of Western esotericism and Neo-Paganism. I’m afraid that Harry Potter and Hogwarts are closer to the Witches of The Wizard of Oz than they are Fiona Horn. The conflation of all such things including fairytales and real spiritualities like esotericism and covering them with the label “occult” is inaccurate, sensationalistic, and it makes Christian “experts” on such topics look just plain silly.

Perhaps the upcoming release of the Potter film and book will provide Christians with an opportunity for critical self-reflection, and will result in the ability to distinguish between a magical mouse and a Western form of spirituality.

Disney’s Contributions to America’s Halloween Mythology

admin — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 00:12:00 +0000

Last year I had an opportunity to do some research in preparation for a series of presentations at Cornerstone Festival in the Imaginarium venue looking at a historical and cross-cultural perspective on the development of Halloween. Some of the materials that I interacted with noted a variety of influences in current America’s celebration of this holiday, and I was pleasantly surprised to see the strong influence of Walt Disney.

Disney was a significant influence through a number of sources, such as the 1949 adaptation of Washington Irving’s story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” which included the Headless Horseman as part of the The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad cartoon. Tim Burton would later provide an homage to this in his own Sleepy Hollow (1999).

The 1952 cartoon Trick or Treat with Daffy Duck and Witch Hazel released as part of The Black Cauldron was another major influence on children and the holiday. The cartoon was played in theaters for the entire month of October in 1952, and those children who may not have seen the cartoon were nevertheless influenced by it through the release of the story as part of a 1974 record album with Witch Hazel as narrator. This cartoon had a strong influence on the development of Halloween rituals in America. David Skal has argued that this cartoon was “one of the most important media influences on the postwar candy-begging tradition” (Death Makes a Holiday: A Cultural History of Halloween [New York: Bloomsbury, 2002]). The impact of this cartoon resulted in a Halloween behavioral template for millions of baby boomers.

Other Disney influences include Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion which exerted its influence not only through those children and adults fortunate enough to be able to walk through the attraction at Disneyland and later through Disneyworld, but also through “Chilling, Thrilling Sounds of the Haunted House” record albums that spun off from the attraction. The first version of this album was released in 1964 in connection with the opening of the attraction in southern California, with subsequent releases in the 1960s and 1970s. Another record spinoff came in the form of the “The Haunted Mansion” featuring the vocal talents of a young Ron Howard and Robie Lester. A special re-release was done in 1998 with the new title “A Spooky Night in Disney’s Haunted Mansion.” An interesting piece of trivia is to note that many of the sound effects came from an early Disney cartoon with Mickey, Donald, and Goofy titled Lonesome Ghosts (1937).

Disney’s influence on Halloween would also continue through films such as Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) released through Disney’s Touchstone division.

I still have fond memories as an adult with each of the items mentioned above which strongly impacted my experiences and understandings of Halloween, although I was not able to visit the Haunted Mansion until I was an adult. (I am still recovering from this trauma.) It would seem that millions of children were likewise impacted. As we consider myths and archetypes as they relate to horror and their impact on culture and cultural celebrations we should make note of Disney and his contribution to the development of the Halloween mythos in American culture.