Boston Bruins & Frozen

http://www.si.com/nhl/2014/10/27/boston-bruins-hospital-visit-frozen-costumes-dougie-hamilton

I thought this was pretty awesome. I love to see stuff like this especially involving anything Disney. Kudos to the Boston Bruins! 

Another Facebook Find...

http://www.buzzfeed.com/melissaharrison/under-the-sea-wedding

Disney Villain Music Video

I found this Disney Villain inspired music video link on Facebook today! Disney and One Republic is a fabulous combo! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqrBsMFRaLA

Lion King Reading Response

            After reading the articles about The Lion King this week in class and listening to the discussion I have come to realize many interesting observations about the film that I had previously failed to notice. Sweeny's article included "dilemmas" that she believed the film possessed. The idea that Timon and Pumbaa were Disney’s first homosexual couple never crossed my mind until after reading Sweeny’s “ “What Do You Want Me to Do? Dress in Drag and Do the Hula?” Timon and Pumbaa’s Alternative Lifestyle Dilemma in the Lion King”. I always thought they were just best friends who did everything together. Some of Sweeny’s arguments were rather convincing. For example, the fact that they raised Simba together essentially as there own child is something that I did not really think much of until I recently re-watched the movie. I also did not notice that they lived on their own private oasis away from the rest of their own species or any other animals for that matter. Sweeny made the argument that this was because they were banished from their specie families and casted as outsiders. In her article, Sweeny referred to Timon and Pumbaa as “theatre queens” and claimed that just because the actors that provided the characters’ voices were gay, this automatically means that they are gay themselves. I think that this argument in particular was one of her weakest in the article.

I think at some points people can over analyze Disney films when in reality they are just simply meant to entertain little kids. When I was little I most definitely did not think that Timon and Pumpaa were dating. And I think that goes for every other little kid that watches The Lion King. I disagree with Sweeny’s argument claiming that Disney characters have sexuality. In my opinion I believe that Disney characters aren’t meant to have sexuality because that can just complicate things. I think a lot of the articles we have read in class so far this year have been written by authors who over investigate these Disney films and create arguments and critiques that are not actually there. I understand that in some cases there are underlying meanings to certain aspects of the movies and specific agendas created by Disney but in my opinion that idea that Timon and Pumbaa are a homosexual with one another is not valid. I do not think when creating The Lion King this was Disney intention. I think this is a prime example of an author over analyzing a subject and forming an argument out of nothing.

Feelings about The Lion King

After watching The Lion King over fall break with my mom I realized that the film is a lot scarier than I remembered! It's weird because it would make better sense to be more afraid when you were little, but I found myself forgetting parts of the plot and feeling genuinely scared at certain scenes of the movie.... (slightly embarrassing). But I did really enjoy watching The Lion King for the first time in a while, as did my mom as she promptly decided that she was going to plan a family trip into NYC in order to see the film on Broadway! Pretty excited even though it will be my second time seeing it. The music and costumes just never get old!

Dopey's Legacy Response

In the Karen Schwartz, Zana Marie Lutfiyya and Nancy Hansen's article, Dopey's Legacy: Stereotypical Portrayals of Intellectual Disability in the Classic Animated Films, the argument that certain Disney characters are meant to portray the mentally disabled in order to offer a sense of humor is made.

This article in particular focuses on one of Snow White's famous 7 dwarves, Dopey, and exploring his character "in the context of stereotypical portrayals and imagining of people with intellectual disabilities". I have never really picked up on any of what the article was saying about Dopey's characteristics and how he resembles an animal with his long drooling tongue or dog like floppy ears, and his inability to speak. When I was little, I always just thought that Dopey was like that because he was the baby of the group, and he was still learning how to be a dwarf. Also, I don't think I was fully aware of what being mentally disabled meant at such a young age, so I am not sure if I agree completely with what this article is saying. In my opinion, I don't believe it was Disney's intention to "perpetuate largely negative messages about intellectual disability that are harmful and damaging to the individuals so labeled". In creating characters such as Snow White’s Dopey, Cinderella’s Gus, and Beauty and the Beast’s Lefou, I think the main purpose was to provide some sort of comic relief to give little kids to laugh at when they are watching these movies.

Many of the points made in the article are fairly farfetched in my opinion. For example, when Beauty and the Beast’s Lefou is being talked about, a part of the move is mentioned when Lefou is posing as a snowman out in the freezing cold. The article states that this “leaves the viewer with the feeling that he does not have the sense to come in from the cold, and also that it is acceptable to sacrifice him in the freezing elements because he has not real value or worth as a human being”. To me, this argument is completely absurd and exaggerated and does not make any sense whatsoever. I think Disney incorporated this scene in the movie solely to add some humor to it. I know when I was little I probably laughed when this happened and didn’t think Disney was trying to convey the message that Lefou has no worth as a human being. Little kids do not think that deeply into things when they are watching Disney movies.

To sum up, this article did open my eyes about certain things that I was unaware of at first regarding the characters of Dopey, Gus and Lefou, but as I kept reading I slowly began to realize that many of the points that were made were dramatic and I did not agree with the majority of them. In my opinion, Disney was not looking to portray mentally disabled people with these few characters, but rather make little kids giggle.