Disney influence, okay or not okay?? - Page 2

[zealsmom]

I own Fantasia (but no tv or vcr) and that is the extent of disney in our house. Actually, I just looked around and remembered that we have a stuffed Pooh and a magnet on the fridge from Disney. I will probably end up taking ds to Disneyland at some point in his life, but it will most definitely be when he is old enough to carry on a conversation that goes something like this:
"Wasn't that a fun ride? Isn't that curious how you have to walk through the store after the ride? They sure are trying to get us to buy their stuff." We hope to create a media-literate kid who can think about these things himself instead of being sheilded from them.

[Elismama]

We don't have a tv, so Disney movies are currently not an option- which I am grateful for. I hate the way Disney took a beautifully understated Winnie the Pooh and turned him into a bright yellow, smiley bear.

Recently some folks with older children passed on a bunch of audiotapes, I put in Disney's version of pinnochio and was completely annoyed with how they took an excellent story and dumbed it down. They have done the same with Pooh- trying to make the books "accessible" to young children, but loosing the beautiful prose that makes them so wonderful. There are so many excellent books out there, why in the world should my son waste his time on watered down versions of good stories.

Kids are open to everything, and I think much of their aesthetic sense is developed so young in life, I try to provide Eli with beautiful images, music, and stories, and opportunities to create so that his senses are enriched, not diminished. I can't help but feel that Disney diminishes.

[Julie]

My kids dont care overly much for Disney (or TV for that matter) but I have been collecting disney videos for as long as I can remember, I even had peter pan on Reel to Reel

[Mommy22B]

I agree with moderation in all things. I don't think Disney is God, or even very good. It is just a business. And as a business has no responsibility to my child. That is where i come in. As dd is getting older I am looking more at the movies we watch (we don;t have cable). We have thrown out a lot of adult movies that were just too violent. Now I am getting even more sensitive and will probably soon throw out some more movies, probably even some Disney. I like the shows that arent too violent and sexy. The Emporers New Groove is one I can think of that we want to buy., It is just silly and funny and not violent in any real way. There is also no GIRL. Just a pregnant mother and wife.
Anyway, we will never ban all of Disney and I love Disneyland so we will definately go someday, but we won't just accept everything they give us either. We will screen it just like everything else.
Beth

[Forest Sage]

It is my belief that it is the ultimate goal of Disney to rule the universe. I was not even one week postpartum with Donnie when Grolier Limited called my house to inform me that I was so lucky now that I "have a little one to share in the magic of Disney." The telemarketer was pretty rude and pushy, and even after I told her I didn't want to take part in their free offer (Lion King, Mulan, Little Mermaid, Jungle Story, The Search for Christopher Robin plus more I can't recall) she told me they would be coming anyway!
I didn't argue with her because I was still in the swing of having the baby blues...but if I would have known how difficult it was going to be to get rid of those friggin books I would have just hung up on her!
If I had wanted out of the Disney-indoctrination shackles, I needed to phone Grolier and inform them in person that I wanted out of their book club. Their phone number was next to impossible to get, I had to phone the operater and tell her how difficult it was for me to get in touch with the company....
anyways to make an already long story shorter, as peggy pointed out, when I knew better I did better. That is an example of how corporate a hospital birth can be, as Grolier is a part of a large network of companies that are "informed" if you have your child in a hospital!
I had problems with Disney before, but that put the icing on the cake for me. I can't stand the way the market is saturated with Disney characters, we can't escape.
Everything in moderation, sure. And I'm a tolerant, reasonable person. But I HATE Disney!

[robynberkley]

Grolier headquarters is in Danbury CT...FYI! I grew up there and had several friends who worked there. If you ever have problems like that again, let me know. I think my girlfriend's mom is the sec'y to the president or something important like that! I'd be happy to help shake them up a bit if you have another problem!!

Robyn

[Forest Sage]

Thanks for the info Robyn. I know this is straying from the original intent of the thread though...but its also relevent because this is one of the subtle ways that children are marketed to, and Disney is one of the biggest offenders as far as I'm concerned.
The incident in question happened almost four years ago. I'm generally an assertive person, especially when it comes to telephone solictors (although I'm never impolite with them as they are people trying to make a living just like the rest of us). But I do remember it, because the woman tried to insinuate that there was something wrong with me because I didn't want a collection of Disney books for my one-week-old. I'm not bitter about it, and I am wiser for the experience. Grolier was not the only company that was harrassing me after we got home from the hospital. Should I ever have another child, I would definately make sure that the hospital didn't put my name on "the list." But then again, I would probably have a home birth anyways.

I must say, the only magical thing about Disney is the fact that they can weasel their way into even the most barricaded home!

[Alexander]

Like Yammer, we are immune to merchantising that we do not need. On the whole though, I enjoy toys that come with some movies.

On Disney, we have them all, and edit them all. There are many scenes fome Disney that are simply not appropriate for young children.

a

[pie]

Toy Story and Monsters are cute. The cartoons ar ewell imagined and beautifully animated. Donald Duck is great.
It would be hard to totally boycott Disney, but I thnk it promotes endless consumerism and supports child labor. Disneyland is miserable and expensive and is the Crappiest Place On Earth. That said, I doubt I will avoid it totally, just as I will be unable to shield ds from many things I don't like. So I will strive to educate and monitor him.

[realramona]

My family loves Toy Story 1 and 2 and I love the original Winnie the Pooh movie(not as good as the book). I know there are so many problems with Disney movies especially the older ones dealing with racism and sexism. I refuse to ever let my kids watch Dumbo because I think it is really racist and I don't like Little Mermaid because she gives up her life for a man and the real story of the Little Mermaid does not end that way, but on the other hand Belle form Beauty and the Beast is so cool and smart. I would not mind my dd watching it at all. I guess it just depends on the movie. I do try to avoid buying Disney merchandise but if we get something as a gift I don't get offended or anything.........Stephanie

[wimbini]

Mickey does have a magical effect on babies...

At least, Minnie had a magical effect on our seven week old baby. I guess there is a good reason that Mickey Mouse et al are cultural icons. My dh was stuck in my little sister's room and there were no toys of any kind except for a Minnie Mouse doll. Our dd loved it, even at her tender age! My sister gave my dd the Minnie Mouse doll, and it is still her favorite toy. We bought her a teeny weeny Mickey mouse and she loves that, too.

So there must be something incredibly appealling to kids in those mice.

[Ruth]

For all the reasons you very eloquent posters have mentioned, I hate DISNEY: for its racism, sexism, violence, commercialism. Although I like the very little I know about the man named WALT DISNEY (smart, creative, tenacious-he went to 100 banks before he convinced one to loan him money, good business person.) I got a kid's book to read his biography, so I may change my mind about him.

My dd has NEVER watched a TV show or movie - she thinks that TV is for watching videos of herself. She doesn't know who Mickey Mouse is.

Only recently has she seen one movie-OH NO, my mistake, it was DISNEY. Why did I take her? Monster's Inc., where there are only two women - a sex bomb monstress chasing all over Monstropolis her boyfriend and wondering if she is ever going to understand "men." Another is a hideous monster - no personality, probably no love life or family- but very powerful in the "government." Actually she is number one in the agency. I guess the message is you can either be the beautiful receptionist chasing a man, or a powerful ugly woman with no life. Luckily my baby is too young to understand the story and only loves the cute little girl running around saying "Boo." Also, the monsters in the movie go around scaring children for "scream energy." We are supposed to sympathize with these monsters for terrorizing children in order to get energy to drive their cars. It sounds like US and the Middle East to me.

[miasmom]

I love Hailey Mills Movies!
Most of the "cartoons" suck in my opinion but Toy Story and Mulan are great. Is Monsters Inc a Disney? We like that too

[Katrina]

I kind of lied on the poll, but none of the choices really fit us. We have a couple of Disney movies from when I was a kid, but I do not plan on letting my daughter watch them. I hate the portrayal of women in their movies. I also do not like the general ideas addressed in Disney movies, not that they are really evil or anything, just kind of useless. There is no educational value in anything they do. I also feel like there is no room for imagination, that Disney wants to do it all for you. I will be reading the fairy stories to my kids. I also do not like disney as a corporation. They do use sweatshop labor, and market to kids. Marketing to kids is one of my pet peeves. :mad: I would not freak out if my daughter at some point is exposed to disney by family or friends, but it will not be an influence in our home.

[coracle]

I fall into the "moderation in all things" camp. So far we treat Disney like anything else: videos come from the library or as gifts, not from the store. If a gift vidoe is violent or scary it gets put away before he sees it. A lot of Disney movies seem to me inappropriate for kids under 8 or 10 because of the scary things that happen, and the old ones contain casual violence, racism etc. just like all media from that era so we won't see them until we can discuss that meaningfully. We don't have cable, ds watches public TV and videos, and the ads there are just for other shows and vidoes, not merchandise. Actually I think the main influence in his life toward wanting character merchandise is not from media in our home but from other kids and caregivers at daycare and the Y, where mainstream culture involves trying to interest kids in characters as a way to connect, distract, cheer up, etc.

Pooh or Mickey clothes at the consignment sale are fine if they are in good condition at a good price. Other branded items are fine if I was going to buy one anyway and the branded one doesn't cost extra. I don't buy anything at the Disney store for the same reason I don't go to the mall at all--too pricey and I hate the sensory overload.

At 2 1/2 ds doesn't yet know to ask for stuff in the store--he sometimes wants to look at character toys (though he doesn't recognize most of them yet) but doesn't yet ask to take them home. I'll be interested to see when the begging starts. He now wants a (unbranded) toy bulldozer like in one of his videos. We talk about how fun it is to imagine getting one, and that we get new toys at birthday and Christmas, not just whenever we see them.

Easy for me to talk while he is little--ask me again in a few years and I probably will have caved more often and despised Disney more often.

-Sue

[zinemama]

For all the reasons posted above, I am a Disney despiser. We don't have a tv or vcr, so videos aren't an issue, but I don't let the books into the house. I'm most bothered by the sexism and the lack of mothers in most of the Disney movies I've seen or read about. And also, that it isn't just stories - Disney is a brand that is marketing itself to kids directly, which gives me the shivers.

But my main objection is aesthetic. I grew up with kid's books illustrated by great artists like Trina Schart Hyman and Tasha Tudor. Also my mom's old color fairy books (The Blue Fairy Book, etc.) with those wonderful black and white drawings by HJ Ford. After being exposed to that, Disney art strikes me as ugly, tacky and vulgar. It's not what I want around my son.

[Arduinna]

Wow, I don't think I've seen such an even poll here before.

IMO, most things in moderation are fine.

[Luma]

ds doesnt watch videos but the other day he found one of those disney books with a record (turn the page when you hear tinkerbell sound or whatever) that we used to listen to when we were kids. It was that dog story Lady and the tramp (sp?) and he wanted us to read it. So we did but now we are editing the weird parts as well, (too many) when he wants to re read it (a lot!)
Like the male dog appears to be all knowing and keeps on telling her things like "you are too innocent, beauty, and know nothing about the world, I will show you, you have a lot to learn, you just dont know" she just looks at him with huge vacant eyes... weird
also he tells her all wise again that not having an owner and not wearing a collar "its the only way to be happy" and treats her as if she was stupid because she wears one and because at one point she wants to go back home.
When they do go back home he ends up accepting her way of life (DUH) and becomes a dog with a collar etc. But he is still portrayed as the smarty a** one. And also there is a line saying "I will never understand women"
He is dumb but is made as if it was cool to not be able to understand a person or doggie!
Anyways this is our Disney experience so far with ds.
I used to love this story and many other disney ones as a kid! But now

[Kiddoson]

Are there any disney video's that you all think are ok? What about The jungle book? Or Oliver and company? My DH put on the fox & the hound (I could have killed him) and now she loves it but the hunter degrades the women a lot, they argue & there is a lot of violence. What about pooh? I can't stand the marketing stuff for pooh & some of the clothing for girls with pooh or tigger on it is discusting but what about the stories? Being on the marketing issue, doesn't Barney mass market the same way?
I am not a disney fan, my DD will never watch 99% of the video's but I am wondering about some of them.
Input on the ones you see as appropriate & why would be great ladies

[Luma]

just to add that Im also guilty of editing other kind of books and stories I find violent or scary and that have nothing to do with Disney! And the main reason we edit is because of the amount of times ds wants his books read. Recently we went to a friends house and the kids were watching disney movies and I honestly didnt care if ds wanted to watch some (he didnt) is the repetition of ideas that I care about!