Disney?

[Moonprysm]

I was wondering if anybody had a good website on Disney movies? I'm looking for information regarding how inappropriate they are for children. (As in the promotion of slavery in Dumbo, ect). I'm NOT looking for the Christian "they actually treat people equal and provide homosexuals with benefits" stuff. That is one of the few reasons I actually LIKE Disney. But I would prefer not to show the movies to my child, and I'm looking for some specific examples to give DH. (As they're all escaping me right now).

[The Duchess]

Well I'm no media expert but one thing I can mention is that they almost always kill the mothers off. Most Disney characters are motherless, I find it hard to think of one who has a mother. Granted some are based on fairytales where the character loses their mother, but in the fairytale they are devasted and the story seems to be about their survival after the very worst happens: Snow White, Cinderella.

In Disney the mother is usually totally absent, think: Little Mermaid which is nothing like the Hans Christian Anderson story. In the story the mermaid wants to attain a human soul. In the Disney version she's just looking for more stuff to add to the enormous pile in her underwater cave.

I'm not sure if Nemo was also Disney but the mom in that movie was killed off in the first five minutes.

[boongirl]

Disney/Pixar films are pretty good.

Maybe you would get better information if we just gave you our opinions?

I am (seemingly) one of the few moms here who like Disney movies. I can share them with my child, the ones I remember. Pixar films is part of Disney but I think it is a shared venture. Disney does not have creative control over them. Steve Jobs (Pixar) does not give up creative control of his ventures.

Anyway, here is my two cents. I have a 3.5 year old girl who has been watching movies for about 1.5 years.

Pixar/Disney

Finding Nemo - delightful. We often start it on scene 3, where school starts, to avoid the whole barricude eating mom thing. The whole movie is fab!

A Bug's Story is really fun. Strong females in this movie!

Toy Story I and II - we love these. Some parts have to be explained but not a big deal. The mom is there; she is just not a major character.

Monsters Inc - this is just too confusing for her to understand. No moms.

Cars - this one is the current fave. We have seen it in the theaters twice. It would be a great one to have. Nothing wrong or scary at all. No moms.

Have not seen The Incredibles.

Disney

Cinderella - she loves this one but sometimes wants to skip the beginning part where the father dies and the sisters are mean. She loves the mice.

Lady and the Tramp - loves this movie but the dog catcher is a bit confusing to her, possibly scary. We remind her that Lady and Tramp come back home.

Lady and the Tramp II - not as enjoyable, a bit scary.

The Heffalump Movie - this one is adorable. The moms in this one are superb! The rest of the Winnie the Pooh movies are also great for this age.

Bambi - she does not fully understand the hunting thing 'though we do talk about who animals eat other animals, sometimes, and people eat meat (from animals). There may be a time, soon, where this bothers her but for now, I don't think she understands it fully. She does love all the antics with the animals and does not find the fire scary.

Bambi II - she finds this scary as there is some teasing play with racoons or badgers that she thinks is mean.

Wiggles - these are always popular with dd and fun to watch.

I have looked at Snow White and Sleeping Beauty on the rental shelves but they look scary for now. My grandma sent us a Disney storybook collection and dd enjoys them but I have to edit, while reading aloud, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, and Pinnochio with dd to get rid of scary parts. I would not show her these movies yet.

Shows from the Disney channel are often available on dvd. They are all fun, too, depending on your preference for all things sugary sweet. The Wiggles is all I can handle in that genre.


And, I agree with the post below that the Tarzan movies and Beauty and the Beast are not age appropriate for little ones. There are so many Disney movies. I've only listed a small few. And, there do seem to be a lot of missing/killed moms in Disney films. Also, the live action ones, like the Santa Clause movies, are all too mature for little ones.

But, Pixar films are awesome!

[mika85]

Originally Posted by The Duchess

Well I'm no media expert but one thing I can mention is that they almost always kill the mothers off. Most Disney characters are motherless, I find it hard to think of one who has a mother. Granted some are based on fairytales where the character loses their mother, but in the fairytale they are devasted and the story seems to be about their survival after the very worst happens: Snow White, Cinderella.

Wow I never noticed that before, its totally true.

I find that some of the more recent Disney movies (within the last 10 years or so) are pretty violent. Like for example I remember in the Tarzan movie, it showed the silouette of someone being hung. Also the beast in Beauty and the Beast gets stabbed.

[Moonprysm]

Thank you for your information Boongirl, however, I am pretty set on this. I could point out things in most of those movies that I do not agree with showing my child. I just do not feel that the morals of Disney movies are as great as people think. To quote someone from another board that I'm on:

"The Little Mermaid: A girl defies her parent, makes a pact with the devil (Ursula), destroys her father and yet everything turns out ok in the end.

Snow White: A girl's stepmother tries to kill her because she is too beautiful?!?! The only skills she has are house keeping, she isn't smart enough to realize who her stepmother is even when the dwarves warn her to be careful and the only one who can save her is a man she barely knows but is obviously in love with?!?!"

And that's just two of them. (Not to mention I wouldn't dream of showing Snow White, as it scared the crap out of me when I was younger).

[daniedb]

An interesting opinion article about momlessness in Disney movies:

http://www.cwluherstory.com/phpweb/a...op=Print&sid=4

Also, I found a ton of detailed reviews about each Disney film regarding children at a Christian site, it has a lot of information about each film and what the reviewers felt appropriate/not, from a Christian perspective - I thought it was helpful for anyone of any faith, because they detail things like role models, violence, parental roles/lack of, etc. Here's the link for one of them, and you can search the site for others...thought it might be helpful for those of any belief/faith.

http://www.christiananswers.net/spot...andstitch.html

[LionTigerBear]

Originally Posted by boongirl

I am (seemingly) one of the few moms here who like Disney movies.

Not the only one! Our family loves Disney and Disneyworld, even though usually I am opposed to such shameless consumerism, but it's one of the last few innocent fun things in this hardened society and we just really enjoy almost all things Disney.

That said, there are Disney movies that I don't like and won't have my kids watch, but I think everyone's values are a little different so I don't hold it against the whole company. They do a pretty good job and they are ehld to such an impossibly high standard.

Pixar rocks!

[Ruthla]

I personally find a huge difference between the old Disney movies and some of the newer ones- esp the made for TV "Disney Channel Movies." I personally find the Disney Channel stuff (both series and movies" to be perfectly appropriate for my preteens and not too objectionable for my 4yo, as he's not overly sensitive to media images (as were his sisters when they were his age.) What I see in the Disney Channel stuff is cultural diversity and sensitivity, strong male and female characters, and avoidance of innapropriate sexual behavior by teenaged characters (though there still is heterocentric dating stuff.)

I don't see too much Disney stuff as being appropriate for preschoolers though (with the exception of the Disney Channel programs aimed at preschoolers- the stuff that bores the big kids!) Most of the "family films" contain violent themes that can be frightening for very young children. Although I don't have the same reservations about the live-action films created when Walt Disney was still alive (Mary Poppins, Bednobs and Broomsticks, Heidi, and quite a few others I can't think of the names of right now.)

Bottom line: lots of the Disney movies are great for big kids but not little ones.

[oldcrunchymom]

Why don't you just watch the movies and see if they are appropriate to show your children? Also, you may find one movie appropriate while another is not. Seems to me that watching them yourself is the best way to "research."

Personally, we love Disney here. But that's just us. Different strokes for different folks, right?

[Meg Murry.]

I detest Disney, so that's my bias up front, but here's why:

1. They kill women.
Others have mentioned the mother issue.

2. They are relentlessly sexist, particularly in the older ones, but even in the newer ones, characters (I cannot call them "heroines") like Ariel are dressed like hookers.

3. They distort the fairy tale sources, making them unrecognizable and warping their symbolic and spiritual meanings.

4. They're relentlessly commercial.

5. There are rarely if any people of color in the almost-all-white Wonderful World. Oh, sorry -- other than in Song of the South. Loved the tar baby. . Maybe in Pocahontas, but I don't see many First Nation people advocating how it's sensitive to their culture. Disney's political correctness is more along the lines of "Why is the Red Man Red?" from Peter Pan.

Just my opinion.

[Joannarachel]

Meg Murry I LOVE your name! (My most favoritest book of all time )

I personally love Disney. My DC are too young for movies but I will show them (selected ones) as they get older.

The 'momless feature' is actually due to the fact that Walt Disney himself was motherless and he wanted to use the movies to portray the difficulties children go through without mothers in their lives. So it's not just sexism...it's a reference to a real struggle that a real man endured as a little boy

I DO hate the fact that they tend to dress some characters like street walkers, and all the women seem to need to be 'saved' by big. strong. men. Not all of them are like that, though.

I lurve Disney World. Such an imaginitive place! I can't wait til the DC are old enough to go.

OP, not all Disney movies are evil. I suggest watching a few of the newer ones (esp Pixar) and you may be pleasantly surprised

[Meg Murry.]

Originally Posted by Joannarachel

Meg Murry I LOVE your name! (My most favoritest book of all time )

Oh, me too -- totally OT, but I remember being a kid and reading the word "belligerent" in AWIT and thinking, "My God, someone finally understands how I feel about being in school!!! I feel so much like her!"

[St. Margaret]

Ditto loving your name, Meg Murry. Also, ITA with your post; well-put. The bad guys are always ugly and darker skinned, whereas the good guys are pretty and lighter (even when they are all supposed to be from the same ethnic group, ugh!)

I still fully intend on visiting Disneyland at least twice more in my life, with my future kids at some point, lol. I can't help loving that place from when I was a kid. There is some good imagination going on there, I think. While I can enjoy some Disney entertainment as a discerning adult, I'd not plug my kids into it as freely as I see all the parents around me doing, cuz it's Disney so they trust it.

[LeftField]

I don't like Disney films. They are too mature for my kids. Granted, my kids are more sensitive than most (my oldest gets scared by preschool cartoons sometimes), but the themes in Disney are just way too mature for them, IMHO.

Then, there's the commercialism angle. Also, Disney tends to copy stuff from others. I would rather read the originals than get the Disney rewrite.

I just find a lot of them sappy and goofy. It's just my personal opinion.

It's just down to personal tastes, I guess.

And, I don't know, I can't imagine my kids watching an entire Disney film. They have long attention-spans, don't get me wrong. But they would not be able to sit through a feature length film and not get squiggly. And if they did, it just seems like it's a huge waste of time that could be better spent. We recently took them to their first film, Curious George. It was a relatively short film and the most benign children's film I've ever seen. Still, they barely made it to the end without getting bored with it. And then they were kind of zoned out. I would rather they not get used to watching lots of movies. I think it's a waste of time, except for on a special occasion.

I'm very tired, so this may be very disjointed and full of typos. HTH.

[trmpetplaya]

Check out the book "Where The Girls Are" (I forget the author's name right now) it's about women and how they are portrayed in the mass media. The author really hasn't anything good to say about the Disney films' portrayals of girls and women.

love and peace.

[savithny]

Are you thinking of...

My parents, while appreciating "Dumbo" for its animation and its music, were disturbed (and limited my later viewing) because the crows are caricatures of African-Americans (though I've also read that their song was one of hte first exposures of "black music" to mainstream America, and was *intended* as some kind of "integration?").

My DH's parents wouldn't let him see "Snow WHite," because the dwarfs were designed as caricatures of Jews.

That sort of thing? I can't remember any more off the top of my head, but I know there were others...

[Brigianna]

I have problems with the Disney empire, mostly relating to their marketing to children, but I'm curious, how do you think "Dumbo" promotes slavery? It basically promotes animal rights, doesn't it?

[PeacefulSeams]

Originally Posted by boongirl

Disney/Pixar films are pretty good.
I am (seemingly) one of the few moms here who like Disney movies. I can share them with my child, the ones I remember.
But, Pixar films are awesome!

I love disney! I collect the movies. There are only a rare few that I will allow my DS to watch right now. He can watch Dinosaur, toy story, home on the range, chicken little, most of the movies from miyazaki(think I spelled it right), a bugs life and the lion king(his favorite one). We talk about the movie and about what is right and wrong in them. As he gets older and con understand things better, i will let him watch others.

But for now, I will keep adding to my collection.

[mika85]

Originally Posted by Brigianna

I have problems with the Disney empire, mostly relating to their marketing to children, but I'm curious, how do you think "Dumbo" promotes slavery? It basically promotes animal rights, doesn't it?

nak

Isn't there a scene where Dumbo gets wasted and has an LSD nightmare or something?? Maybe it promotes anti-drug/alcohol abuse, too.

[Brigianna]

Originally Posted by mika85

nak

Isn't there a scene where Dumbo gets wasted and has an LSD nightmare or something?? Maybe it promotes anti-drug/alcohol abuse, too.

He gets drunk, but the vision he has is definitely more suggestive of something "more" than alcohol. Although I can see how that could go against some people's values because it portrays getting drunk as "funny."

I am really curious about the slavery thing though.