Princess Tiana: Frog or Human?

After watching Princess and the Frog for the first time, I realized I really did not enjoy the movie. This was mainly because of the fact that the characters were frogs for most of the film. I enjoyed the beginning and ending better when the characters were actually humans. Princess and the Frog is a controversial Disney movie because it contains the first African American Disney princess. I agree with Ajay Gehlawat point in his piece The Strange Case of The Princess and the Frog: Passing and the Elision of Race that "to call P&F a “black princess” narrative is to overlook, or elide, not only the fact that the titular character spends more time onscreen in green but, indeed, that audiences would not take notice of this strange substitution" (429). Gehlawat brings up a good point that this cannot really be called a "black princess" film. Princess Tiana may be black, but because she is mainly a frog throughout the movie it hard to say that this film is truly about a black princess. 

This is the first Disney movie where the main Disney princess is not even human for most of the film. Because this was the first Disney black princess, I think it was smart on Disney's part for depicting the characters as frogs for most of the film. By doing this they avoid possibly making racial stereotypes offending viewers. However, as Ajay Gehlawat points out, this hypersensitivity to race seemed to ignore race as a whole. I believe Disney's next step would be to make a Disney black princess that remains human for the entire duration of the movie. Princess and the Frog was a small stepping stone to attacking race. By making another film entirely focused on a new black princess Disney can fully focus on a new, different kind of princess. 

What It’s Like To Be In College, As Told By Our Favorite Disney Characters

I happen to see this post on my Facebook newsfeed and I'm glad I clicked on this link! I found it hilarious! It is basically about life in college using Disney pictures and jifs. The post ranges from dorm rooms, food, boys, classes and more. I really connected with the part saying "and you think your dorm is going to be like" then there is a picture of Cinderella's castle. Then it says "but really it's the size of a jail cell." I first felt this way about my room. I am currently in a single and at first I thought it was so tiny! I still this is it tiny compared to other singles at least. However, I've grown to love my cozy little room. 

The last part is also one of my favorites. It reads "It turns out, between the tiny dorms, the nasty dining hall food, those crazy classes, the parties, and the dating snafus, you made a lot of great memories in college. Do we really have to graduate?" This is followed by a a cute jif of Stitch crying in the rain. With the semester almost coming to an end, I realized college does go by pretty quickly. That also means this Disney class is coming to its end. Sadly, I will miss this class but I am glad I got to spend a semester reconnecting with my childhood self through Disney. 

Here's the link to the post!

http://www.hercampus.com/life/campus-living/what-it-s-be-college-told-our-favorite-disney-characters

Disney's Frozen

After watching the Disney Frozen trailer in class it really got me excited about the movie!! It seems like a fun new movie that I can't wait to watch. With the Hollywood premiere of the movie Wednesday and the official release of the movie yesterday, I am getting very eager to watch it. It is going to be interesting to see how the movie differs from the trailer. 

I love watching new Disney movies. Last Thanksgiving, I remember seeing Wreck It Ralph with my family. I absolutely loved the movie and loved how Disney incorporated classic video games into this new movie. Wreck It Ralph was not like anything I had expected. Now this Thanksgiving, I am very excited to go home and watch Frozen with my family, although I may have to force my brothers to go watch it with me. I can't wait to see what Disney did with this new film, but based off of the reviews it should be a good one!

Christopher Wise on Aladdin in the Emperor's Old Groove

Author Christopher Wise brings up some interesting points in the "Notes from the Aladdin Industry: Or, Middle Eastern Folklore in the Era of Multinational Capitalism." In the later part of his argument, he goes off on some, what I think, far fetched theories about Eastern and Western law. However, he brings up an important point that really got me thinking about society today.

Wise states, "Aladdin, Jasmine, and the Genie are all victims who seek their freedom from social oppression, or from being "trapped" by the law and outmoded custom..." (106). He then goes on to talk about how Aladdin must steal food in order to survive and is "victimized by his social class status in  that he is born a street rat" (106). Aladdin's goal is to marry a princess in order to escape this lifestyle. Quoted above, Christopher Wise talks about how Aladdin is trapped by this outmoded custom of law; however, I believe this issue is still prevalent in society today. Like Aladdin, many people these days are born into poverty. They can barely live off of food stamps and may often have to find other methods to survive. In society today, especially with America's not-so-great education system, it is hard to break out of these social roles. A kid that is poor may only be able to learn to minimal amount taught in school, thus unable to use his knowledge to continue to grow academically. Already off to a slow start compared to kids in wealthy families, the opportunities are limited. A kid can't just go find a princess to marry. Life does not work like it does in Aladdin.

Disney does a good job portraying the lower class in Aladdin, but gives a false impression to viewers that moving societal classes is plausible, when in reality there are very limited examples in life supporting this theory. In order to do so, it takes a great amount of effort and determination, not the luck of marrying a princess.

Just Another Buzzfeed Post

I open up to Buzzfeed, of course after Facebook, to procrastinate from doing any actual work. Thinking I would have to search "Disney" in the search box, I was happy to see "16 Disney Princesses Ranked by Intelligence" at the top of the home page. I clicked on the link and found it hilarious. The authors ranked the princesses with witty comments explaining their reasonings. My favorite is their reasoning for ranking Belle number two was "This girl reads. A lot."

Ultimately they ranked Tiana from Princess and the Frog as number one. I would definitely have to agree with this. As one of the more recent Disney films, it shows that the Disney princesses have developed much more complex characteristics than the original Disney princesses. Tiana works hard to try to fulfill her and her dad's dreams of opening their own restaurant. Viewers can immediately see her motivation. I personally found it inspiring. Even though she was sometimes put down and defeated, after an interesting journey, Tiana ultimately opens up her restaurant. Her hard work had paid off in the end. Disney depicted Tiana as an intelligent worker who was determined to achieve her goal. 

Here is the link below!
http://www.buzzfeed.com/leonoraepstein/disney-princesses-ranked-by-intelligence

Hiring Handicapped Guides to Skip Lines

I remember hearing about this a while back and thought it would be a perfect topic to blog about.

Coming from a prestigious New York City private school filled with the "1%" that the article refers to I wouldn't be surprised if someone in my grade had done this themselves.

Basically, it was discovered that wealthy Manhattan mothers were hiring handicapped guides so their kids could skip the lines at Disney World. The guides cost about $130 an hour or $1,040 for an eight hour day. Because I am so used to living along side Manhattan's elite, when I heard about this, I found it quite comical. It is not surprising to me at all that people would think of doing this. Technically there's no law or anything against this so I guess if people don't want to wait in line and can pay for an alternative why not...

I remember waiting in lines at Disney all the time. Even though we bought the special fast pass line the lines still took forever; however, it always paid off once I was on the ride. It's the wait that makes Disney so great.

http://nypost.com/2013/05/14/rich-manhattan-moms-hire-handicapped-tour-guides-so-kids-can-cut-lines-at-disney-world/

Laura Beres' The Romanticization of Abuse in Popular Culture

To be blunt. I did not enjoy reading this article. Beres starts off talking about how she is a clinical social worker and has experience working with women in abusive relationships. I do not think Belle's relationship with the Beast can be compared to women in abusive relationships. I don't necessarily consider Belle to be in an abusive relationship. Yes, she is technically a prisoner, but the Beast does not keep in her a prison cell. He gives her a nice room and luxuries many people would wish for. The Beast does yell at her sometimes, but he only does so because he forgot how to treat a real human being. If it was truly an abusive relationship the Beast could have treated her more as a prisoner than as a guest.

A main point in her argument I found interesting was that Beauty and the Beast makes it seem like if women in a violent relationship act loving to her partner, he may begin to love also and turn into a "prince". I understand how she may feel this way, but I do not necessarily agree. In Disney's Beauty and the Beast the Beast is not actually an abusive partner. He was literally transformed into a beast, so he forgot how to properly function in human society. The reason he is more harsh to Belle at first is because he doesn't know any other way of life. He does not remember how to communicate with other humans, besides his servants. The Beast never purposely tries to harm Belle, all he wants is a human connection. The only reason Belle is able to change the Beast is because she shows him how to be human again. Belle does not change him from an abusive partner to a prince. She shows him a way to love again. 

Beauty and the Beast: The Father

Madame de Villeneuve's version of Beauty and the Beast was interesting to read. I think I actually like the original version better, because it was a more complex plot. Although, it was neat seeing how Disney changed from the original version taking only some aspects. Reading the original version of Beauty and the Beast shortly after watching Disney's movie made me realize one similarity that bothered me: the father. In both versions the father willingly sacrifices the daughter for his own life...

Something doesn't seem right to me there. Seriously though, what kind of father would do that...

This really bothered me about the storyline. I understand that it shows the princess as more of a heroic character because she is sacrificing herself for her father's life, but in both versions the father sort of just lets her do so. Disney and Madame de Villeneuve could have both had the father at least try to refuse for the princess's capturing. In the end, obviously it works out because the she falls in love with the beast, but still the father's role never made much sense to me. By doing this Disney and Madame de Villeneuve portray men more negatively. It shows Belle's ability to be a more heroic character compared to earlier Disney characters. It also emphasizes the importance of family. To Belle, even though her father is thought as "crazy" in Disney's version and poor in Madame de Villeneuve's version, to Belle, family is so important, more specifically, her father is so important to her, that she sacrifices her life to save her father.  

In general I think this is a great stepping stone to portraying women more positively. Disney continues to do so with more and more recent films and its interesting to see how the depiction of women are constantly changing, including the role of men and fathers. 

Christian Anderson vs. Disney

I actually enjoyed Robert Trites' article on The Little Mermaid. Compared to the other articles we have read this semester, I think this is one of the best ones. Trites articulates his point clearly and effectively with good organization. His main point is to discuss Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid vs Disney's version.

The main focus is on the portrayal of femininity. Disney changes Anderson's version to make is much less feminine. A strong point Trites makes is that in Anderson's version the reason the mermaid is motivated to become human is much different than in Disney's. In Anderson's version the mermaid learns from her wise grandmother that mermaids die into sea foam, and the only way for a mermaid to gain a soul is "for a human to love the mermaid so much that part of his soul flows into her and creates a soul within her" (145). In Disney's version Ariel is mainly looking for love.

I believe Trites is correct with this point, but I do not believe Disney's Ariel is only looking for love. Ariel is discontent with the way her life is with an overpowering father and Ursula. Ariel wants to explore and find a new meaning to life. However, early on she finds Prince Eric and falls in love with him.

After reading Trites' article I generally agreed with him that Disney's portrayal of femininity was far less than the original. Trites lists many reasons why that I think are important to look at. First, in the original tale the grandmother is portrayed as a wise and "positive role for the mermaid", but in Disney's she is replaced by a male bird (152). Next, there is no evil mother in Anderson's version, but instead an enchantress that supports the mermaid. Finally, in the original the sisters of the mermaid help her, but in Disney's they do absolutely nothing. In Anderson's tale all of the women are feminine and strong characters.

Comparatively, Disney's portrayal of Ariel is far better than their portrayal of Snow White, and is continuing to depict femininity more and more with characters such as Rapunzel in their recent Tangled.

Erin Addison's Saving Other Women from Other Men: Disney's Aladdin brought up many good points. I found Addison mainly focuses on Jasmine and Aladdin's roles in comparison to Islamic and American cultures. She states, "Aladdin's missionary project replaces Islamic Law, social codes, and local aristocracy with American individualism, romance, and the aristocracy of wealth" (page 8). This meaning, Aladdin represents American culture that takes of Islamic culture by influencing Jasmine. I especially enjoyed how Addison goes into the physical descriptions of the main characters. She talks about how Aladdin is much more American looking while the others are much more "Arabic" with thick facial hair and heavy accents. This helped me see Addison's point that Disney is clearly portraying Aladdin as different. Addison then goes on to describe Jasmine's role as a "legal tender, the currency traded in the economy of male relationships" (page 8). She describes that Jasmine does not have real power in the film and can even be thought of having only looks and not brains. Because of the ownership of Jasmine, Aladdin ultimately becomes powerful and able to use his "American" influences to impact the Arab world by changing the laws freeing women from marriage.

In general, I thought Addison did not effectively organize her essay. Mainly because of the beginning of her essay. The first part of the essay got confusing when she began talking about orientalism. I'm pretty sure she never fully explained the idea of orientalism, or did so too late in the essay. This confusing beginning made it a bit hard for me to follow along in the essay. Once I got to the descriptions of their appearances I began to follow along better. The later part of her essay was better organized. I understood that Addison was then explaining Aladdin's role and Jasmine's role. Finally, I especially liked Addison's final points about the idea of freedom. She brings up the point that in Aladdin freedom ultimately means wealth and political power. This got me thinking about what freedom really is. After all, Aladdin suggests that Aladdin was unable to be free because he was trapped by poverty. Ultimately some may argue he was freed by "love" but this love comes along with a plethora of wealth, because after all, Jasmine is still a princess. So in order to be completely "free" in today's society, does one need wealth and power to fulfill these dreams of freedom?

Technology and Disney: Good or Bad?

I found the article "Disney's 'Little Mermaid Second Screen Live' adds iPad twist" to be extremely interesting. In summary, the article discusses how Disney created an app on the iPad which allows for a more interactive movie experience with the Little Mermaid. Children can use the app during the movie to sing along, play games, and even interact with other children. The issue at hand is that this style of movie watching goes completely against the norm.

I believe that because technology has become so mobile and accessible these days, culture will change as well. Watching a movie in a more interactive way may become more common in the future. The reason I am not against this idea, is because as a society we must accept change. When I was younger I would never carry around an iPad and play games on it; I would have a small plastic toy. Through the improvements of technology, everyday life has changed, and so will movie watching one day. For example, people used to gather on large empty fields and watch a movie outside on a large screen. Now, people can search a movie online and multiple links to watch it online will pop up. 

However, because this is still a developing change, I do not believe this gives the right for people to take out their phone and have a conversation while in the movie theater. Since Disney promoted this special interactive way of movie watching it is okay, as long as parents make it clear to their kids that they can only take out their iPads during certain movie watchings. 

In the future, I believe this innovative idea of an interactive movie experience may become more popular, but I do not think that means the classic film watching setting of no talking, cell phones, etc. will diminish. 

I was scrolling through a buzzfeed link when I found this photo. I thought it would be a perfect transition into The Little Mermaid.  That pug really looks like Ariel!

Here's the link to the buzzfeed if anyone wants to check it out! It's adorable!
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mattbellassai/reasons-why-pugs-are-the-most-majestic-creatures-on-earth

Timeflies Under the Sea

Two of my favorite people Cal and Rez, also known as Timeflies, took out a steel drum and did an amazing mix of Under The Sea a couple years ago. Timeflies did a great job at changing up the classical Disney tune and turning it into a catchy new song. I've been a huge fan of them for a while now and this song is definitely one of my favorites!