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THE SCIENCE OF

DISNEY-FICATION
The Disney Analyst

Hercules:

An Anti-Grecian Satire

Anyone who has even scratched the surface
of Greek mythology in history classes, through Homer
texts, or otherwise knows that these tales of monsters,
battles, and heroes had a different idea of what it
meant to be a good person, to treat ones family and
foes, and to be a hero. By modern standards of socially
acceptable behavior, viewer discretion is unquestionably advised. In Disneys Hercules, our dramatic
narrator poses the question at the beginning, But
what is the measure of a true hero? Homer has a
thing or two to say about that. A hero ticks off powerful
Gods, a hero sleeps with a multitude of women, and
a hero slays hundreds of his mothers suitors. So what
business does Disney have with the Greek Gods?

Well, they have the business they always have
had: turn the culture on its head and make it appropriate for all ages! Dont get me wrong, this was a clever
and successful move. But far from just bleeping out the
bad stuff, Disney simply gives the Greek Gods the moral
standards of the late 20th century. Breaking the fourth
wall right from the get go, the charming plus-sized
muse yells about the narrator, Will you listen to him!
Hes making sound like some Greek tragedy! Figuratively following up with, Well, Im sure we can fix that
with a SONG! And they do.

Doing exactly what the real Hercules and
other mythological Greek figures do literally gets this
animated Hercules nowhere. He performs great deeds,
battles monsters, receives fame,
far from just
glory, and prestige, and he ends up
bleeping out
empty handed. However, when he
sacrifices himself to save the love of the bad stuff,
his life, Megara, he becomes a divine
Disney simGod, learning the sweet 20th cenply gives the
tury theme of the movie said by his
Greek Gods
father, For a true hero his heart. I
the moral
have the feeling Homer or any Greek
writer ever intended this form of love standards of
to be the theme of their stories. Just the late 20th
remember Homer: People always do
century.
crazy things when theyre in love.

image courtesy of www.yahoo.com

The Fox and the Hound:


From Natural Foes to the Best of Friends


Perhaps one of Disney Corporations greatest criticisms involves interpretation from an original
source into a Disney film. No step-sisters are harmed in
the making of Disneys Cinderella, Oliver and Company
takes a 80s animal twist on Dickens classic, Oliver Twist,
and The Lion King is often referred to as Hamlet with
Lions. What many movie watchers dont know is that
even Disneys The Fox and the Hound was bred from
book by Daniel Mannix that has the same title. But
what does it mean to Disney-fy an original source? Is it
a simple matter of making a story suitable for all ages,
composing a catchy soundtrack, and adding a happy
ending? Lets look at Fox and the Hound.

In the Disney classic, the only death in the
movie is at the beginning and unseen by audiences,
the greatest tragedy is when Widow Tweed releases
Todd into the wild, and the greatest tension is between
a friendship of two unlikely creatures and the natural
order of things. Other than some terrifying images of
a simply wicked bear, the violence and terror in this
movie is kept at a pretty expected minimum.
This is a stark contrast to the original Mannix novel. Far
from being a romanticized fairy tale, this book reads as

heightened nature documentary, Quite simply, in


taking place mostly in the minds
most cases, Disof the fox and the hound. The
neys
backbone is
story, included details on tracking
and trapping animals, the compe- two-fold: finding
tition of animals for a mate, and
a story that has
rather detailed accounts of the
already spoken
fox mating itself. There are no
to audiences and
traces of a fox and a bloodhound
adapting that
ever becoming friends; quite the
contrary, they are pitted rivals the story to include
whole time after the fox causes
the children
the death of the Masters other of the already
hunting dog. While the fox spend
developed fanthe first little bit of his life in a dobase.
mestic farm setting, he acclimates
the wild fairly quickly when released. But is it suitable
for all ages? That is a resounding no. Aside from the in
depth mating behavior, the book ends with the hound
chasing its foe, the fox, to the point where the fox dies
from exhaustion. A few pages later, the hunter (the
hounds owner) is told that he is to be put in an assisted living facility by his children. The book ends with the
hunter taking the aged hound outside, shooting him,
and then turning the gun on himself. Mixed in with
criticisms of urban development, this novel stands as
worth reading, but for slightly more mature audiences.

So what does this completely stark Disney adaptation mean? The book itself was critically acclaimed,
and Disney Corporation bought the rights soon after
the book won the Dutton Animal Book award. While it
would be a stretch to find even the most rabid of readers that have read this book, it really was quite big for
its time. Disney did aim to make the film much more
family centered than the book while maintaining much
of the simple grandeur that made the book so widely
read in its time. Quite simply, in most cases, Disneys
backbone is two-fold: finding a story that has already
spoken to audiences and adapting that story to include
the children of the already developed fan-base.

Cinderella:

The Mice, the King, and the Fairy Godmother



Grimms fairy-tales, though originally meant
for children, have become a pariah in the twenty-first
century. With the story Cinderella, it has almost
seemed like Disney Corporation has put down its foot,
figuratively saying, Let us tell it the right way. But as
this mistreated, ash-covered, good-natured girl has
been tried by time, its quite interesting to see the
evolution of the story even within the world of Disney.
What started out as a Grimm life lesson has turned
into one of the most canonized stories that has lasted
literally for centuries.

The story actually gained popularity in Europe
in 1697 through the writer
Charles Perrault. The Grimm
Brothers later picked it up
and dished out their blood
soaked rendition. Well,
Disney Corporation is not
one to let a timeless fairy
tale such as Cinderella slip through their fingers. After
removing a magical tree, a blood soaked slipper, and a
flock of irate birds, Disney introduced a goofy pack of
singing mice, a King hungry for grandchildren, and most
importantly, a Fairy Godmother. However, Disneys later
work with the character and story of Cinderella has
taken some anecdotal steps backward. Whether this
is a Disney apologetic to 21st century audiences or an
inability to let this story go, the company has decided
to adopt a much truer-to-the-tale Cinderella.

The journey that began in 1950 continued
again in 2014 with a very controversial move to buy
up the production rights of Into the Woods. At least a
good third of this film centers on Cinderellas journey,
but amends the adaptation of the 50s, including the
magical tree, the blood-soaked slipper, and the flock of irate birds. Still, So Disney did
what Disney
this was Stephen Sondheims story.
Disney can partially wash its hands
does (and of
of this part of Into the Woods.
course, we all
Of course, Disneys production of
love it) and
the film erupted into a somewhat
re-adapted their
heated controversy regarding its
adaptation of
appropriateness for all audiences.
So Disney did what Disney does
their original
(and of course, we all love it) and
adaptation.
re-adapted their adaptation of their
original adaptation.

In 2015, the live action Cinderella hit the big
screen, re-emphasizing the 1950 Disney magic of a
pack of helpful mice, a King who desires his son to be
wed, and of course, a fairy godmother. However, due to
the excellent acting from Lily James and Cate Blanchett,
our hearts are filled, broken, and swollen to a magical
degree as we root for the girl raised in ashes.

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