The Evil Of Disney

[poliphilo]

I'm told that Werner von Braun- the scientist who built rockets for Hitler (slave labour was involved) and later for NASA, also designed rides for Disney.

I love it. A life that links the Third Reich, the Space Race and Disneyland deserves to be novelized- deserves to be turned into the biggest of block-buster movies.

I've always hated Disney. The way his factory turned all those great children's stories into formulaic, sentimental kiddie-feed. Pah!

Note the word "hate". Not "dislike". This an affair of the passions and not so far removed from love. The animation in those early films- Snow White, Pinocchio, Dumbo- leaves me gasping with admiration.

And I have a weird, twisted regard (as you may have guessed) for Mary Poppins and its companion-piece, the under-rated Bed-knobs and Broomsticks.

That Disney magic- an evil spell cast across children's entertainment for more than half a century, so that rivals felt they had no choice but to attempt to do the same thing only worse: how glad I am- how very, very glad- that Pixar has escaped from its shadow!

Comments

[silent-mouse.livejournal.com]

Try My Neighbor Totoro by studio Ghibli - at the beginning it's rather slow, but then it becomes such a wonderful thing that will make you happy, I'm sure. You can really see where the charm of Spirited Away comes from.

I also love European animation. Unfortunately they are really hard to come by. By my sister-in-law, who is a starting animator herself, knows more and sometimes even shares that knowledge with us. :)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I enjoyed Bellevue Rendezvous. Otherwise I can't think I've seen much else from Europe recently.

Yeah, I must look out for more from Ghibli. Thanks for the recommendation.

[silent-mouse.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes, how could I forget - the amazing, unbelievable, cynical, awful sometimes, but really amazing Triplets of Belleville! Have you seen it?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

No I haven't. You make it sound unmissable. I'll put in an order for it with our DVD supplier.

[silent-mouse.livejournal.com]

Oops, looks like it's the same movie! I didn't know that.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Is it? Oh...

I too had assumed that there were two movies with similar titles.

[ibid.livejournal.com]

Oh yes - that's my happy film for when I'm down. The cat bus always makes me smile!

Miyazaki is the greatest animator that I know.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Miyazaki has this wonderful, far-out imagination, though I guess some of his things are rooted in Japanese folklore etc...

[silent-mouse.livejournal.com]

Actually I felt that he takes very little from the traditional japanese folklore - maybe with the exception of Spirited Away. Totoro, for example.. but you haven't seen it yet. Go see it so we can continue talking! :)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

OK. I'm going to order it from Tesco.

They have this great scheme whereby you pay them £15 (or thereabouts) per month and they send you DVDs through the post. Their catalogue is huge- and encompasses just about everything that's available in the UK.

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

Try My Neighbor Totoro by studio Ghibli - at the beginning it's rather slow, but then it becomes such a wonderful thing that will make you happy, I'm sure. You can really see where the charm of Spirited Away comes from.

I agree so much. The beautiful world, the kindly spirits, the worries of the children and the care and support of adults--it's a very happy film.

One day I put it on my dvd player and just played it over and over. I love the little song "Totoro, To-to-ro"...

It's very much a film for adults, too.

I suppose you've seen The Triplets of Belleville? Very dark and strange! I loved it. (And the music--)

Spirited Away is very powerful stuff. It's a more mature vision of the darkness of childhood--it's captivating in a way that Totoro can't be...

Did you like Kiki's Delivery Service? I found it charming.

I liked Castle in the Sky a little less--it has beautiful backgrounds--like storybook illustrations--and interesting characters, but somehow the second part didn't engage me as much as the mystery of the first part.