Just Three Circles

To me, Mickey Mouse is an adorable, welcoming, iconic and wise figure that symbolizes childhood merriment and the extravagance of Disney. Sometimes it’s easy to forget, but he wasn’t always like that. In fact, Disney had a childhood.

Created in 1928, Mickey is now 85 years old, and apparently his wisdom has come with age. As Robert W. Brockway explains in his essay “The Masks of Mickey Mouse: Symbol of a Generation,” Mickey was once like a bratty kid, kicking and lying and playing pranks. As the generations aged, however, so did this child. It is interesting to think that Mickey has not always been as we know him now. Further, his personality wasn’t the only thing to change.

Mickey over the years has become rounder and gained white gloves and wider eyes, among other things. His transformation has been analyzed by many including Brockway, who thinks that the use circles and more rounded features “always points to the single most vital aspect of life—its ultimate wholeness” (31). Additionally, circles are safe whereas “we have bad experiences with sharp points, with angles…” (Brockway 32). As Mickey got rounder he became softer and easier to love, a better representative for the Disney company.

Today it is hard to find someone who doesn’t have some relation to Disney, whether because they have watched a film, visited a theme park, or even seen a television show on any of the television stations owned by the company. Many believe the Disney juggernaut is so incredibly powerful, with so many assets and connections, that its impression on society is exceedingly greater than people realize. Some even think its power and amount of support is frightening. Mickey Mouse is instrumental to this success; his image is specially designed for Disney’s audience—the world—to make him, and therefore the company, lovable. The transformation of Mickey has come about all to make him more endearing and enchanting; his entire appearance and all of his actions are carefully thought out and planned since he is the representative, the mascot for one of the mightiest organizations in the world.

He is so much more than a mouse.

Sarcasm

Lessons from Disney.

A Truly Little Mermaid

I've got gadgets and gizmos a-plenty.

I've got who's-its and what's-its galore.

You want thing-a-mabobs?
I've got twenty.


But who cares? No big deal. I want more.

Disney’s The Little Mermaid was one of my most beloved films as a child, and looking back on it, I don’t agree with the large number of people who think the film is a bad influence for young girls. Especially when Ariel sings, “but who cares? No big deal. I want more” after describing all of her belongings, I realize how important the messages in the film are. In life it can be easy to get caught up in materialistic desires, and it’s important to remember that in the end, possessions really add up to nothing. Experiences and people in your life are what really count, and Ariel realizes that and yearns for more. I feel that I really connect with her on that level because I am not the type of person who gets anything from material things and, like Ariel, I want to explore other worlds more than anything. I see the point many make about the figurative meaning that comes with a girl literally losing her voice for a man, but I think it was just an imperative plot detail more than a sign about women, especially since she gains it back in the end. Ariel’s adventurous attitude and ability to dream is a wonderful example for any young child, and I really commend Disney for that.

On the other hand, I agree with every critique of the body image of the little mermaid. In Regina Bendix’s essay “Seashell Bra and a Happy End,” Bendix explains,

“Disney’s gender images stress body image stereotypes that play right into the hands of plastic surgeons, diet programs and the fitness and clothing industries. Ariel and her sisters’ spindly waists are counterbalanced by a well-endowed bust…. Disney couples prudery with alluring sexuality. Disney’s mermaid coyly wears a sea shell bra but reveals everything else down to her belly-button” (287).

It is ridiculous to me that Disney is creating characters that have physical dimensions that aren’t even possible in real life. The image truly is not a good role model for young, impressionable girls, who are constantly being convinced from all sides of the media that beauty means looking one particular way. That is, that being beautiful is equivalent to being tiny. It’s unrealistic and unhealthy. Ariel’s waist is almost half the width of her head!

In fact, in Disney’s recent film Brave, Merida has much more realistic dimensions, but she is never once called beautiful or “the fairest in the land” like the classic Disney princesses, including Ariel. In addition, she is quite desexualized, a severe contrast from Ariel.

I will always love The Little Mermaid because of the part it played in my childhood, but I will never be on board with the portrayals of animated princesses that are imparted on young girls, and I think the meaning of “beautiful” should change to a realistic idea that allows every girl to see the beauty within themselves instead of striving for unmanageable ideals.

The Brave Men

Recently, I read The New Man in Disney/Pixar by Ken Gillam and Shannon R. Wooden, which focuses on the portrayals of men in Disney/Pixar films. Right away I was intrigued; everyone puts a lot of focus on princesses and almost none on the prince, let alone on the non-princess movies common in Pixar. Gillam and Wooden analyze and praise the “new model of masculinity, one that matures into acceptance of its more traditionally “feminine” aspects.” They say the male protagonists “develop and change over the course of the film” and “achieve (and teach) a kinder, gentler understanding of what it means to be a man.” You can see this especially in Cars, Toy Story, and The Incredibles. However, Gillam and Wooden wrote The New Man in Disney/Pixar before the most recent Pixar film, Brave, was released.

The men portrayed in Brave do not at all fit into this description of the Pixar man.

Check out this clip from the film:

I find it interesting that in the one Pixar princess movie, the men are quite barbaric; they all fight and brawl and don’t seem to change or grow in any way throughout the film. As soon as the princesses come into play, the men are forgotten. The focus will go straight to the portrayal of the princess anyway, so why focus on the prince? The men in Brave are therefore the opposite of what Gillam and Wooden praise. Although the film tries to make a very feminist lead female, it does not try to create good role models of the other gender; as Gillam and Wooden put it, it is important “for our sons to be aware of the many sides of human existence, regardless of traditional gender stereotypes” but Brave does not do this. It pretty clearly just gives the impression of a ‘manly man’ without many, if any, traditionally feminine aspects.

Will Disney/Pixar ever create a movie that is fair and transformative for both genders, or is that actually impossible? 

Into the Woods

As more trailers and previews are released, the hype over Disney's newest movies Frozen and Maleficent grows. Although I also find myself getting excited over these new films, the majority of my excitement is devoted to Disney's film version of my favorite musical, Into the Woods, starring the fabulous Meryl Streep.

Though the movie is still in early stages of production, a few photos have been released. Revel with me.

(My personal favorite.)

Thoughts of the Butler

Check out Josh Butler's theory: 30 Disney Movies that Share a World.

Some find it compelling, some find it creepy...

I think Josh Butler has a little too much time on his hands.

Either way, it is amusing. 

The Diamond vs. The Rough Part II

"Americanization" is at it again.