Disney's Transformation of the Little Mermaid

I found Regina Bendix's article very interesting as it provided a lot of comparison between Anderson and Disney's version of The Little Mermaid. Perhaps what was most interesting was not all of the differences that I already noticed after reading the tale, but all of the differences that I had not noticed. This article was informative at showing how each tale was extremely different from one another even though they both had the same plot. What confused me about this article was, where is Bendix's argument? Is this supposed to be an informative article?

Either way, I found it interesting how Bendix focused on the perception of sexuality in each of the tales. I did not notice that in Disney's version, there are barely any female characters compared to Anderson's tale. Also, I found it shocking how Anderson's tale had a symbolic reference to the loss of virginity. However, I can see why Disney neglected this in their version. As the article notes, Disney still keep a bit of sexuality in the movie by the way they dress Ariel. Her seashell mermaid bra is anything but prudish.

Overall, I can see why Disney had to change a lot about Anderson's tale before showing it to the public. There would be far more controversy and the "happy ending" that Disney is known for wouldn't be apparent. Honestly, I think Andersons tale is way too harsh and "peerlessly mythic" for an audience of such a young age (281).

Princess and the Frog

In Gehlawat's article  The Strange Case of the Princess and the Frog: Passing and the Elision of Race, I found a lot of over-analyzed information. I truly think the author thought too much into The Princess and the Frog. The movie is the start of change. It shows a slow transition for Disney. This article says that by making the main characters into frogs, it avoids the racial issues. In my opinion, it's even better that Tiana And Neveen are frogs majority of the movie because it shows that race doesn't matter. Like we talked about in class, you can still tell the background of a character just by the way they are portrayed (even if they are an animal, a car, or anything else other than a human). If the movie would have shown Tiana as a black sassy character the entire time, someone would have had a problem with it being a racist movie. I think Disney did a lot of research and succeeded in both covering the issue while making sure it wasn't over-dramatic.

This article starts off over-analyzed in the very beginning. It talks about how the setting isn't properly portrayed and how the time period was before World War I where there were segregation laws on trains that were passed. Honestly, this information is useless. This is a Disney movie aimed at children. No child has any idea about any of this. Therefore, it does not matter and these parts are not fully relevant. No child will watch the movie and say this is racist because they are sitting in the back of the train! The movie did a wonderful job showing that race is not an issue (especially by showing Charlotte and Tiana as friends their entire lives). It also teaches a lot of other morals besides race which is why I think it will (and should) be considered a classic.

Encoding and Decoding Race in a Colorblind World..

     After watching The Princess and the Frog for the first time, I was shocked by how different it was from every other Disney princess movie. At first, it may have been due to the race difference. However after reading this last article I realized it wasn't the race that made it so different. It's the way that this movie captures the American Dream perfectly. It truly is the Horatio Alger story, as the article touches on.
      It's kind of shocking to think about how much this movie actually doesn't focus on race. Sure there are parts and one or two comments that could focus on racism, but for the most part it deals with our blindness to racism. I loved the way Sarah Turner used this term in the article. She specifically mentions how Disney confronted multiple people before making final decisions for the movie from the name to the job of the main character, showing that they didn't want to step on anyone's toes unlike in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I also noticed how most of this movie the characters aren't even in human form. They are frogs for majority of the film (around 50 minutes as the article says) which also shows how we are all equal. Anyone can live the American Dream.. anyone!
     While the article starts to compare this movie to other princess films, I realized that this movie has a beginning just like The Cinderella Story (a Warner Brothers film). Both movies start with a story told by their parents about working hard and going on in life but not forgetting about the most important things. This yet again shows another example of how The Princess and the Frog is a universal and colorblind movie.
     Overall I really enjoyed this article and agreed with most of the points argued. I got lost when Turner brings up the lack of historical information, but other than that it was extremely interesting and supports the success of this Disney film.

Saving Other Women from Other Men

Our last article by Erin Addison was very interesting. It brought up a lot of points in Aladdin that I never noticed before. Overall, I enjoyed the article because it made me realize how influential American culture is..even across the world. It made me realize how just like success, "freedom" is defined very differently to everyone, not just for Aladdin and Jasmine.

There were two parts of the article I found most interesting. I questioned where Addison says Jasmine “is too ‘assertive’ for Arab men, who are confused or annoyed by her.”  Where in the movie is there support for this? It seems that Jasmine is the one who is picky and having problems with the men, not the other way around. After all, she is the princess and I’m sure any man would deal with her assertiveness if it gave them power. Lastly, I found it interesting where Addison says “it is her beauty—not her brains—which propels the love affair.” How is this true? Jasmine does a few smart things, such as hop over the wall, which impresses Aladdin. Just because she didn’t notice Aladdin disguised as a prince doesn’t mean she is dumb. She never had a chance to meet people so how is she supposed to know he is a street boy? I disagree with this statement because I don’t think it is her mere beauty that captures Aladdin’s attention.


"Whereas romance is a means to other ends for Aladdin, for Jasmine 'freedom' is romance."

Alice in Wonderland art

Scrolling through Instagram, I came across this. Seeing as I wrote my last paper on Alice in Wonderland I thought it was pretty incredible. Art is no longer on paper now a days! Take a look..

The "New" Man

     I really enjoyed reading out current article, "Post-Princess Models of Gender: The New Man in Disney/Pixar." I especially enjoyed the main parts of the article proving the male characters to have more feminine aspects about them today than they have in the past. It made me think about the men in my life now as I compared them to the typical man back in the 20th century. I've come to the conclusion that this article (to me) is spot on. Men aren't the same as they were back then. They are still considered (somewhat) the "alpha" but much more vulnerable and dependent on women. If you think about it, they were always dependent in some ways. Before they mainly relied on women to do the cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the family whereas now they rely on women for more than that.
     Looking at figures such as my father, brother, and even my boyfriend, I can see exactly what Gillam is talking about. However, I don't see it as much in my father as in the latter two. This shows the transformation of men and their behaviors that Gillam is talking about. My brother is a sweetheart and would do anything for his family. He gets hurt and let down and although he tries not to show it, you can see the parts of him that are hurt unlike my father who is especially good at having the same emotion no matter what. Also, I can see it in my boyfriend. Some things he shares with me that bother him really shock me because it always seemed like some things only bothered girls and guys could care less. I am starting to see this isn't always true. On the other hand, you can never hurt my father's feelings. Maybe he just has a good personality and mindset about things like that. Or maybe, it is because he is from a different generation. The men today definitely show more "feminine aspects" than the men of previous generations. So, it only makes sense that the male Disney characters transform with the generations they are born with.


Gillam's Article

Disney Income

While reading one of our articles "In ages of Animated Others: The Orientalization of Disney's Cartoon Heroines From the Little Mermaid to The Hunchback Of Notre Dame," I noticed a footnote that caught my attention. It said that in 1994 the net income of Disney was estimated at $1.1 billion dollars.. $1.1 billion dollars! Just imagine what it would be today..

 Searching the web, I came across this article from 2012. The profit alone for 2012 estimated to be $5.7 billion!

The article had a few other interesting points.

The article focuses on 2012 but tells us that 2013 will be a "transitional year". Also, it tells us how in 2015 Disney is hoping to transform into more of a Star Wars look. Can you imagine that? Here's a little "preview"...

Disney earnings