We’ve all seen the media's take on our once beloved tales...
https://youtu.be/eT2R3E7vDUc 
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| http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/20/arts/banksy-dismaland-art-exhibition/ |
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| https://youtu.be/diU70KshcjA |
Do you laugh at this? Does it make you angry? Can you commiserate? Can you relate to any of it?
Are we roasting Disney or Burning it? Why do we hate it so
much? Or do we…?
Has anyone else questioned any of this?
I have, and I think I know the answer!
Storytime!
About a year ago, after many months and countless hours of
pouring my innermost frustrations into the keyboard of my computer and clawing and prying into
my brain in a desperate attempt to turn my jungle of conflicting paradoxical thoughts
into something relatable and interesting, I wrote a single paragraph on a small
sheet of paper and I left it be. The paper read…
The paragraph sounds a bit like a less-than-happy fairy tale, a
theme I had been playing with quite a bit in the months past. I didn’t really
see much potential in it right away.
I was standing in the shower later that day when it hit me. Not only HAD I written a fairy tale, but it was a fairy tale that already existed as a very well-known classic. More specifically, a Disney
movie, only I had written it in REVERSE! *gasp*
Denver, we have a novel!
But I digress. I’ll drop the shameless self-promotion for now
and <NOT> plug my book just yet to focus in the subject at hand.
Why
did I do write the synopsis to a Disney movie that day and why did I write in in reverse? Did I do it on purpose? What does it mean?
It’s a known fact that artists of all kinds create from what
they know. Painters, sculptors, writers, photographers, musicians, etc… ALL of us create from what is familiar. What we love or hate, enjoy or despise,
memories or dreams, aspirations or regrets. Whatever makes us feel STRONGLY.
So
why Disney?
Keep in mind that the generation that has the most influence
in the media scene right now is part of the tail end of Generation X to the beginning
of the Millennial Generation. We were the first generation to grow up with VHS and the first to have the capability to binge watch videos 7000 times.
And what videos did we have? Eh... mostly just Disney videos in those fabulous puffy cases.
We’d watch this crap after school, at our friend’s houses on the weekends, and with our siblings whenever it was too cold to play outside. Each sick day home from school was spent watching 101 Dalmatians followed by The Little Mermaid and then maybe some DuckTales on regular TV if we weren’t passed out by then.
We had toys, books, dolls,
cassette tapes, and stuffed animals modeled after our favorite Disney
Characters. We cuddled with Simba and made Ariel fight with Barbie. We LOVED this shit!
So why do we pick on it now? Why do we poke shit at Disney?
What did Disney ever do to us besides entertain us and lull us to sleep with the everfamous sound of...
Seriously though, if you've never played this clip for a room full of 4 year olds I highly recommend it. It's like a dog whistle for toddlers. Stand to attention, please!
Exciting our tiny minds and sparking our interests while occasionally providing us with ill informed messages like "be pretty so a man will love you don't forget to change everything about yourself for him. Oh, and don't write out any kind of explanation to him because men don't like it when girls are smart...even though you are clearly able and literate as you so beautifully demonstrated while signing that contract when the evil sea witch took your voice..."
So....do we secretly still love this Disney crap and are in denial? Are we just
looking for a more mature and creative way to relive our childhoods? Do we
finally see the gaps and inconsistencies and terrible messages some of these
movies put forth?
The answer is… ALL OF THE ABOVE. The psychological explanations
behind the Alternative Disney ReCraze are not entirely important. The fact is
that we KNOW it, we once LOVED it, and whether or not any of the themes and
ideas in Disney movies transfer to any aspect of everyday adult life, there’s
no denying that we can RELATE to it.
So whether you love or hate the fact that the entertainment
world can so easily and enjoyably rip apart, diss, recreate, overanalyze, or psychoanalyze
the beloved works of Walt Disney, it’s really all just good nostalgic fun, so sit
back and ENJOY a slice of your childhood as it’s shown to you in a completely
new and fucked up manner…. Because it’s awesome and you know it!
