to ask what is wrong with Disney movies?

[bubbleymummy]

A lot of people have mentioned hating them on recent threads and I'm just wondering why.

Depends which ones, Sleeping Beauty is crap, Cinderella not much better, love Beauty and the Beast myself but the children hate it, Dumbo great and short, Bambi a bit boring (apart from the mummy deer dying obviously), but the Little Mermaid one, Pocahontas, Lilo and Stitch, Jungle Book, Aristocats, 101 Dalmations, Alice iin Wonderland, how can you dislike all of these?

I went to Florida about 8 times as a child.

I'd never take my ds there.

bubbleymummy - I haven't read these stories for quite some time! But the females in it were always beautiful so i'd have to agree with the youtube vid - beauty comes from the inside but only when the woman is good looking. Ugly women in Disney tend to be witches don't they?

I would definitely put money on Rapunzel if she were to be in a fight with Snow White

I think Shrek covered that angle already

I hate all the princess crap - I dont want my DD to think that all the women do is aspire to be a princess.

OMG! I just YouTubed.

I think you may have changed my life!!! :)

disney changed the endings to books i loved as a child including the little mermaid and the jungle book.

all the girls have tiny bodies and massive heads

they are not v feminist imo

the disney princess line is the worst part - the most anti feminist merchandising ever.

i bloody hate disney and i ask family not to buy disney products for dd. yes, i fully realise i can only dictate like this whilst she is little but its something.

dont get me started on high school musical!

Mario - you might not be able to avoid it... My Dsis was determined that her eldest DD would not be exposed to it, but she still wanted to be a princess for a bit. My DTDs wanted to be princesses for about a year, but they have grown out of it and now want to be an artist and a cheesemaker (they're 4.6)

msrisotto - I don't think you can blame Disney on that really. SUrely all fairytales have beautiful princesses and ugly witches? My comment about the beauty being inside was in relation to the Beast. She loved him for who he was - not what he looked like. I think that is a nice message :)

I love most disney films. Hated dumbo too moon - it is the most tragic, awful story - bit like King Kong - reduces me to a wibbly wreck!!

Some of the original fairy tales/stories are much worse though. the Little Mermaid - I can't describe the effect that story had on me - heart wrenching.

sungirl - what's wrong with HSM? It has quite a positive message IMO.

Oh good Moongirl! :) You have to love a happy ending!

Little Mermaid is the worst... she gives up the ability to talk in order to get the man. Blardy hell.. what kind of signal does that give to girls?

I guess because everyone's still bitter about meeting their prince (ss) charming and finding that they would come and sweep you off your feet and actually you needed to work at the relationship. I know I am.

EvilTwins - Luckily DD is shaping up to be atomboy and she thinks princesses are 'yuck'. However that means that Special Agent Oso is her best friend!

I cannot forgive Disney for what they did to Winnie the Pooh and for that reason alone the films were banned throughout the DCs early years. Utter and complete commercial tripe, dubious politically and socially and just a teensy bit vulgar

I also banned DD from attending a Disney Princess party. Felt it was good for her to question this utter tripe at the age of 4. I'm not sure she understood then, but she gets it now, being an intelligent questioning young lady:)

My little boy cried at the ending of the book the Gingerbread Man when the fox ate him up :( I think I'll steer clear of the scary witch movies for now! He does like 101 dalmatians and Cars though and DS2 loves the Jungle Book at the moment!

I think the later films are better.

The best animations by a mile are from Japan, sorry cannot think of the studio. The moral in those stories are great and the lead characters are not beautiful, but rather typical everyday looking.

nightsky - can't blame Disney for that. Hans Christian Anderson did it first. And I'm sure the original fairy tale has the added delight that the mermaid feels excrutiating pain with every step she takes after her tail has been turned into legs. I rememeber taking the Ladybird Read-It-Yourself version of it with me when I was hospitalised with a dodgy appendix aged 5.

I love them, whats wrong with Disney flicks. Dh and I even went to Disneyworld Florida for our honeymoon, btw we did not have any kids at the time.

yes.. muminmiddle the Japanese ones are fab.

It depends entirely on which film it is. Some are okay. Good female 'role models' are rare.

What's truly vexing is the merchandising.

Agree re: Japanese stuff, Studio Ghibli. Ponyo, Totoro, lovely films. But we also like quite a lot of Disney Pixar things.

Msrissotto, all those youtubes shows that if your twisted enough, you can make disney mean anything. Beauty and the beast was about not judging people by their appearances.

Whether or not Disney are the only ones peddling this isn't my concern, it's more about their popularity and the influence they have on children. I don't like the messages their films send out, regardless who else is doing it.