From: dan@wombat.gnu.ai.mit.edu (Dan Parmenter)
Subject: Re: The Little Mermaid #4: Submerged in Horror
Organization: /home/fsg/dan/.organization
	<1992Apr12.225739.1@fnalb.fnal.gov> <nswjxsc@lynx.unm.edu>
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1992 19:36:22 GMT

In article <nswjxsc@lynx.unm.edu> vjmurphy@carina.unm.edu (Phred T. Platypus) 
writes:

>       I think you are being too kind.  Disney movies also support 
>    "traditional" women's roles: they fall in love, get married, and
>    have children, but careers are a no-no.  Fat women are evil, skinny
>    women are evil, strong-willed women are evil.  Dead women, though,
>    are good - the Prince falls in love with Snow White after she
>    has died.  And the doofus prince in Cinderella is so blinded 
>    by the glitz that he does not even remember Cinderella's face.

Well, sometimes the source materials they base the stories on are to
blame.  What gets my goat about TLM was the way they completely
perverted the meaning of the original story, much in the same way that
"Secret of NIMH" utterly missed the point of its source.  

>      Indeed - I think you've hit the nail on the head here.  I know that
>    movies are supposed to be a form of escapism, but Disney had refined
>    this art beyond redemption.  Dammit, I want a sad ending, sometimes.

I've long suspected that that is what will ultimately kill them for
good is their unwillingness to do any animated films with sad endings.
At least some of the earlier ones had slightly sombre endings, or
dealt with deeper, grayer areas of life (Bambi and Pinnochio come to
mind).  I suppose the fear of outrage from concerned parents' groups
is too overwhelming a possibility, but given the success of Roger
Rabbit (released under the Touchstone imprint, which is Disney) with
its somewhat more risque approach, maybe, just maybe, it'll happen.

What really annoys me about Disney these days though is the crass way
they market these movies.  They've refined their machine even further,
by ensuring that each film has an Oscar shoe-in score, by whatever's
left of their award-winning songwriting team - including some
wretched, horrid piece of filth that will blare at us from every
radio, TV screen and child's tape player for months after.  Then of
course, every two-bit Vegas lounge act includes the damn song and it
becomes a bloody standard part of the vast wasteland of vapid film
score songs that we loathe utterly.  What's really astounding about
these songs is that they almost all of them use a few stock musical
devices which are almost frighteningly easy to spot, in other words,
they just use recycled riffs, but not in an interesting or original
way, but the EXACT SAME WAY.  And then there's the marketing blitz -
the toys, the lunchboxes, the pencil cases, the clothes, the wall
paper, etc.  Anything small and understated about the movie (and these
movies still have occasional moments) is blown out of proportion and
reproduced ad infinitum, all with a kind of numbing bland style that
lacks even the vibrancy of the movie colors.  It's astonishing how
similar the Disney method of packaging and marketing are to the
methods used by Andy Warhol (anonymous, bland repetition that
obliterates any sense of individual artisitic involvement).

But then, Disney *invented* those techniques, so it's not that new.

I just wish Disney would avoid the formula (seemingly every element
will be virtually reproduced on the upcoming "Alladin") more often and
give us a "Rescuers Down Under" (which was flawed, but a hell of a lot
more fun than TLM or B&B) or something like that from time to time.
RDU had a more interesting cast - amazingly, the heroes seemed to be
adults!  The voice work was also superb, with a real attention to
making the design and execution of each major character be an
extension of the actor's voice (John Candy was absolutely inspired
casting) extending the idea of animation as acting.  Oh well.

- Dan

--
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| Dan Parmenter       |"When I saw you, you looked so surprised           |
|                     | the oceans flowed in your blue-grey eyes.         |
|                     | We stood and gazed through hot summer days,       |
| dan@gnu.ai.mit.edu  | so tell me, how does it feel?" - Spacemen 3       |
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