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Has Disneyfication destroyed the traditional folk tale and damaged childrens illustrated literature? By Richard Neil Thomas Art & Design BA Hons. ILLUSTRATION Contents 3. Introduction 4. The Death of the Seven Dwarves 5. Folk Tales 6.
Rant # 1 7. Input ~ Laurence Anholt writes... 8. Beauty and the Beast 9. Cartoons, Capitalism, Commerce and Conjecture 13. Walter Elias Disney 18. Forum 21.
I Relent 22. Sycophant 24. Rant # 2 26. Tex Avery 27. Cutting Edge and Contemporary with Typographical Twists 31.
Conclusion 33. Bibliography / Reference Introduction Having decided to produce a childrens book as part of my Degree course, I initially considered writing a contemporary version of one of the old folk or fairy tales, possibly a story by Hans Christian Andersen or a tale collected by the Brothers Grimm. I narrowed my selections and decided tentatively on a reworking of the classic folk tale Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I immediately tried to blank all thoughts of Happy, Dopey, Sneeze, Bashful, Sleepy, Grumpy and Doc, but this proved harder than expected. How do you go about renaming, individual ising and illustrating characters that are so firmly ensconced in the memories of children all over the world?
Disneys monopolizing of the fairy / folk tale genre and mass marketing of the characters as toys appeared to limit my options of adapting the Snow White story to... a. Mocking the Disney version in the tale itself. or b. Radically departing from the original story and imagery... both of which seemed quite appealing.
I finally decided on a subtle combination of both options, but resolved to look further into Disneys domination and desecration of folk tales, myths, fables and classic childrens literature. The Death of the Seven Dwarfs On a high plain between Bring and Waldshut, near the Black Forest, seven dwarfs lived together in a small house. Late one evening an attractive young peasant girl, who was lost and hungry, approached them and requested shelter for the night. The dwarfs had only seven beds, and they fell to arguing with one another, for each one wanted to give up his bed for the girl. Finally the oldest one took the girl into his bed.
Before they could fall asleep a peasant woman appeared before their house, knocked on the door, and asked to be let inside. The girl got up immediately and told the woman that the dwarfs had only seven beds, and that there was no room there for anyone else. With this the woman became very angry and accused the girl of being a slut, thinking that she was cohabiting with all seven men. Threatening to make a quick end to such evil business, she went away in a rage. That same night she returned with two men, whom she had brought up from the bank of the Rhine. Together they broke into the house and killed the seven dwarfs.
They buried the bodies outside in the garden and burned the house to the ground. No one knows what became of the girl. Documented by Ernst Ludwig Rochholz 1856 (Translation by D. L. Ashliman 1998) Whilst researching traditional fairy tales, particularly those collected by the Brothers Grimm, it became apparent to me that Disneyfication has impeded the natural evolution of the folk tale and, to some extent, tainted childrens illustrated literature and animation as a whole.
Clearly my introductory tale The Death of the Seven Dwarfs would now be construed as being in bad taste: and rightly so, if considered purely in the context of 20 th/ 21 st century childrens books, and of course its an extreme example. But initially traditional folk-tales werent necessarily childrens stories, they just became so during the natural evolution of the story due to the oral traditions of times past; each re-telling would elicit new twists and variations on a fable, some subtle and engaging, others decidedly grim. In the words of writer Joseph Campbell, these stories are Told and retold, losing here a detail, gaining there a new hero, disintegrating gradually in outline, but re-created occasionally by some narrator. In his book The Masks of God: Primitive Mythology Campbell describes the folk-tale as an art on which the whole community of mankind has worked, and as if in warning to Disney himself asserts Clearly, mythology is no toy for children. Many children dont like them and many adults do C. S.
Lewis - on the subject of fairy tales. In my opinion the preceding old Swiss version of the tale, though cutting and concise, is far more exciting, charming and evocative than anything in Walt Disneys celluloid outing. (Did Snow White really require such a nauseatingly saccharine sweet voice? - Did they have to give the dwarfs memorably endearing / stupid names? ) Of course, I wouldnt want any young child of mine to encounter the language and brutality described in the previous text, but corny, clean-cut sentimentality, moralizing, and censorship are just as, if not more offensive. My other reason for recounting The Death of the Seven Dwarves is to illustrate how the Disney machine has desecrated classic storytelling, and deigned to stamp its own sterile mark, not only on early folk tales, but also enduring favourites such as Alice in Wonderland or Tarzan. To me, sanitizing great literature is plummeting to the depths of bad taste (but thats not to say it shouldnt be mocked or satirized). Perhaps, during my research I was in danger of becoming a little too biased against the Disney Corporation: I need, after all, to try and balance the companys good and bad points (and it certainly does have its good points). Maybe political correctness, the ever-changing moral climate, and the fickle and erratic tastes of children and parents, have a part to play in this matter.
To give balance to my deliberations I decided to get a second opinion on the matter. I wrote to Catherine and Laurence Anholt, Double Gold Award winners of the Next Smarties Book prize and named as Top 10 childrens authors in Britain by the Independent on Sunday; and I posed the following questions... Has the Disneyfication of traditional folk tales and classic children's literature - Halted the natural evolution of the folk / fairy tale? - Damaged children's literature as a whole? - Affected the way that you work? ... and in the same way has political correctness damaged / enhanced or in any way changed the folktale or childrens literature as a whole? In response to my inquiry Laurence Anholt writes... Im not a huge fan of contemporary Disney, (although I loved some of the earlier animations as a child), but I guess traditional tales have always been moderated, contemporized or censored by each new generation, and you could argue that 'Disneyfication' is a natural part of that process.
It's a bit like complaining that slang defiles the English language, whereas in fact language is an organic, constantly changing thing, in which slang has always played an important part. Essentially I accept Mr. Anholt's point, but I would like to suggest that, in the case of folk tales (unlike childrens literary classics, where we have a concrete and definite reference point), the animation giant has permanently etched a number of distinctive characters (each with their own particular idiosyncrasies) and a clear-cut chain of events into our subconscious minds, effectively eradicating its organic and constantly changing nature. Take for example Beauty and the Beast; As a child, no matter how many illustrated interpretations of The Beast I saw depicted in countless editions of the story, my imagination could still conjure up its own grotesque, misshapen behemoth. Sadly Disneys gruff, yet cute and cuddly buffalo style creation has entrenched itself in our bookshelves, brains, and living rooms via The Disney Store and I fear that the great illustrated revisions of this particular tale, by countless artists from the past, such as Paul Woodroffe, Margaret Tarrant, Jessie Willcox Smith, W.
Heath Robinson, Charles Robinson, Arthur Rackham, Margaret Evans Price, Peter Newell, Warwick Goble, H. J. Ford, Edmund Dual, Walter Crane, Eleanor Vere Boyle and John Batten, (not to mention more recent editions illustrated by Mercer Mayer in 1978 and Jan Brett in 1989) cannot compete with complete saturation of the marketplace. I hope I can follow the path these dark illustrators have walked, or at least use the sidewalk that runs alongside it.
Lane Smith ~ Childrens book illustrator In essence, Disneys machine was designed to shatter the two most valuable things about childhood ~ its secrets and its silences ~ thus forcing everyone to share the same formative dreams. It has placed a Mickey Mouse hat on every little developing personality in America. As capitalism, it is a work of genius; as culture, it is mostly a horror. Richard Schickel - The Disney Version At this point I would like to point out that Im certain Disney, in its infancy, didnt set out to erase our traditions, flood the marketplace with mass produced posters and playthings or brainwash anyone, but somewhere in the companys long history, either Walt, or at least one of his unscrupulous yet perceptive employees, decided to utilise their power, to exploit gullible consumers and to overlook minor little irritations like history and folklore.
Conversely, in Disneys defence Anholt rightfully points out that Angela Carter's superb retelling's and the Opies' collections of the original versions, remind us that fairytales were cleaned up and sentimentalized long before Disney got hold of them. Traditional fairytales are full of violence and even rape and I think the Victorians changed them quite dramatically for their young readers. The stories we were told as children were also softened. It's important to consider that the original stories grew out of an oral tradition and they were told to adults as well as children and were steeped in the brutality and morality of their time. Anholt also states that although I personally loathe the sentimental, dollar-motivated, formulaic junk that spews out of Disneyland, I feel that classic stories are robust enough to stand a bit of a thrashing. I don't know if you have read my Seriously Silly Stories, illustrated by Arthur Robins, but they are certainly not reverential to tradition.
In fact I would go as far as to say that some aspects of traditional fairy stories need a good shaking. And in reference to one of the aforementioned tomes Beauty and the Beast for example, is a beautiful story but it could have been written by Goebbels himself! I mean it is decidedly non politically correct and needs to be completely re-told in a contemporary light. My problem with Disney is that they don't challenge enough.
I could go at length, but in summary I don't think we need to worry too much about 'Disneyfication' - children have never had a greater wealth of stories and pictures; (some good, some lousy), and only the best will survive the test of time. On the subject of the adaptations of classic childrens literature, in particular the travesty that is Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland I would like to refer to reviewer Dan Patanella, who pledges in his internet appraisal of the film that; No amount of contextualism, revisionism, conversations with caterpillars, or sampling alternate slices of giant mushrooms will convince anyone that Disney's Alice in Wonderland is a classic film. It's a time-filler. Disney turned the Tea Party into an amusing ride at his various theme parks, and that's perhaps the kindest thing I can say.
Ever the conservative film, the Disney version of Alice follows the Hollywood tradition of mashing together Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, using Carroll's bizarre characters as excuses for stunt casting, and presenting the final result as a whimsical, neutered fairy tale. Patanella informs us that prior to the presentation of the finished artwork, studio drawings suggested a blatant Tenniel influence, but that on completion of the project the clean lines and flat colours were reminiscent of a more recent animation style such as Hanna-Barbera. He goes on to assert that in this film Much of Carroll's wordplay is dumped, and what little retained is delivered in a fey, overly precious manner. Mr Patanella also quizzically contemplates the question of whether Alice in Wonderland could be described as Disneys worst animated full-length feature film; but ultimately deems this accusation a little unfair, considering the companys recent penchant for churning out straight to video sequels such as Aladdin.
I was personally quite flabbergasted, recently, to see a television advertisement for Disneys latest venture: a DVD/Video sequel to 101 Dalmatians. What they appear to be feeding us here in 101 Dalmatians 2 - Patchs London Adventure is a feature film sequel, that is not only 40 years too late, but one which has been preceded by the live-action version of the original film, as well as its live-action sequel. In this instance I think that the Disney Corporation is being a little too greedy and far too lazy for its own good and I think that, unfortunately, children brought up on a diet of tedious, run of the mill entertainment and audiovisual mediocrity will greet it with open arms and lazy parents will accept it as another animated quick-fix to silence their restless and understandably inquisitive offspring, whilst critics and those with a more selective appetite will justifiably shake their heads and simply yawn. In the same vein Dan Patanella states that...
Alice may very well be a suitable time-killer for undemanding children totally unfamiliar with the Lewis Carroll texts. All others will find the film annoying in proportion to their love of Carroll's writing, and hope that Disneys heirs dont revive the hookah-smoking caterpillar and the Mad Hatter in a direct-to-video sequel. Patanella also points out in his review that Uncle Walt's input on the film was negligible, aside from obtaining the rights to use Tenniels original book illustrations as a basis for character outline and design, he also indicates the irony in that an early animated series by Walt Disney himself had the title Alice in Cartoon land and questions why Disney didnt shown more interest in the development of the project. In The Disney Version - The Life, Times, Art and Commerce of Walt Disney, Author Richard Schickel informs us that, apparently the movie mogul didnt particularly care for the film personally and, in hindsight, bemoaned the fact that it was filled with weird characters...
The more he worked on it, the more he came to think of Alice herself as a prim and prissy little person, lacking in humour and too passive in her role in the story. Audiences, he felt, could not identify with her and he could not blame them much: neither could he. To me, this begs the question; is it Disney the man or Disney the company that I should be taking issue with? To clarify this point I decided to read a little more on the man himself.
Could go on a Disney slagging off session as I hate everything he stood for politically. That, however, is not the point here. James Merry Illustrator/Animator Apparently, when Walter Elias Disney died of acute circulatory collapse on a December morning in 1966, his empire was at its zenith. The corporations balance sheets showed total profits at their highest since the companys inception in the early twenties. As Schickel states in his controversial chronicle on the life of the entertainment tycoon, The beautifully articulated machine he had constructed over some forty years, many of them frustrating and difficult ones, had, at long last, reached a state so close to perfection that even an inveterate tinkerer like Disney was hard-pressed to find ways to improve it. It is obvious to anyone with any knowledge of the renowned animators life, that he was a hard working, extremely talented and creative man.
He had, indeed, tenaciously worked his way up from the small-town streets of Marceline, Missouri to accomplish his dream despite times of poverty and despair. In his biography, The Magic Kingdom - Walt Disney and the American Way of Life, Author Steven Watts describes one venture in the early months of 1923 in which: Dwindling resources and mounting expenses... converged to undermine the project and we are told that the young entrepreneur, reduced to living in his office and eating beans out of a can... completely exhausted his funds as his staff deserted him, and yet in spite of the little or no success encountered in entrepreneurial ventures such as I werks-Disney and Laugh-O-Gram Films, Disney persevered and graduated to becoming not only a household name but, particularly as far as the United States is concerned, an idol of almost mythical standing: as the corporations own fawning promotional machine tells us Walt Disney is a legend; a folk hero of the 20 th century. His worldwide popularity was based upon the ideals which his name represents: imagination, optimism, creation, and self-made success in the American tradition. He brought us closer to the future, while telling us of the past, it is certain, that there will never be such as great a man, as Walt Disney.
But what I find admirable is that apart from the help of his older brother Roy, a few relatives and a couple of business acquaintances, he had accomplished it all by himself. Another creditable quality attributed to Walt Disney, mentioned in both complementary and derogatory biographical texts, is his unquestionable dedication to the use of prominent visual artists and quality craftsmen. Steven Watts highlights a number of occasions in the 1930 s when leading fine-artists and designers were invited to the studios to meet, address and inspire the assembled throng of Disney staff and to encourage the artists and animators to keep up to date with the latest trends and inclinations in the unpredictable yet demanding world of art: ... Jean Charles, the renowned French-Mexican muralist and colour lithographer gave a series of presentations on artistic design. Rico Lebrun, a draftsman and muralist with a special interest in anatomical structure stayed at the studio for several months as a special lecturer and teacher. Thomas Hart Benton, Salvador Dali and Frank Lloyd Wright came through for briefer stays, while a host of lesser lights made one-time appearances.
Disney also hired a pair of European-trained artists, Albert Hurter and Gustav Tenggren, as full time, in-house employees to do inspirational sketches and work on styling various film projects. Shouldnt we therefore assume, with Walt Disneys name irrevocably tied to these commendable values, that the companys founder is innocent of all charges of hype, media manipulation and the exploitation of young minds. Indeed, in the case of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Disney himself would flatly reject all requests to brandish the diminutive septet in any spin-offs or sequels. In what is generally credited as Disneys final written memoir he recalled that Back in the 30 s The Three Little Pigs was an enormous hit, and the cry went up ~ Give us more pigs! I could not see how we could possibly top pigs with pigs. But we tried, and I doubt whether any one of you reading this can name the other cartoons in which the pigs appeared.
And I would concur with Richard Schickel when he says that In an industry that has devoted enormous amounts of energy to scrambling on and off bandwagons it was an admirable and sensible policy. Accordingly, as I mentioned earlier in my text, regardless of my pontificating on the desecration of history and the wrongs of capitalism I do recognise Disneys positive side and I cant deny the high standard of much of the work that the company has produced. Occasionally they excel themselves with innovation, technique and most notably in terms of original storytelling: The Lion King and Monsters Inc. being two particularly fine examples. And obviously a company needs to market itself, nobody can blame Walt Disney for merchandising a popular product, but might I suggest that when an appetizing dish is served repeatedly cold it can become nauseating and indigestible. Schickel deduces that What was even better about Disneys machine, what made it superior to all its competitors was that it had the power to compel ones attention to a product it particularly treasured.
All its parts~ movies, television, books and song publishing, merchandising, Disneyland~ Interlock and are mutually reciprocating. And all of them are aimed at the most vulnerable portion of the adults psyche~ his feelings for his children. If you have a child, you cannot escape a Disney character or story even if you loathe it. , and this is what I object to... unadulterated exploitation. So, if I were to give Walt Disney the benefit of the doubt on the accusation of exploitation and manipulation of the masses, as well as forgiving his well documented right wing tendencies for just a moment, we are left with an exceptionally naive man, emotionally scarred and struggling to achieve The American Dream. In Steven Watts The Magic Kingdom we read of the studio in its early days: telling fairy tales which embodied the survival script: A protagonist, often innocent and defenceless, falls prey to a severe challenge, perseveres, and finally emerges triumphant.
Schickel, points to a man who could never bear to look upon animals in zoos or prisoners in jail or other unpleasant things... and one who was... truly incapable of seeing his material in anything but reductive terms. Could his naivety, innocence and insecurity, be a by-product of his upbringing. Schickel again, examines the influence of Disneys father: Elias a man of stern temperament, had clashed with all of his sons in their younger days, and his relationship with his youngest boy had been especially difficult. Their confrontations were partly a matter of divergent personalities, but also partly a matter of historical and cultural change.
The dour, demanding father simply talked a different language from his vivacious, creative son. Therefore, we appear to be discussing an undeniably talented man who respected yet feared his difficult and dominant father, cherished the company of children and animals and longed for a simple, fairy-tale way of life (Disneyland/Neverland? ? ? , the boy who never grew-up? ? ? ). Would I be the first to imply similarities between Walt Disney and Michael Jackson and, were my investigations in real danger of going off on a wild tangent? To keep firmly on track, and to get more opinions on the subject, I decided to start discussing the matter with other artists on a couple of internet illustration forums namely~ AOI (the Association of Illustrators) and a Yahoo Illustration Groups, from which I collated and edited a mass of interesting, highly relevant and challenging correspondence. James Merry, an animator and illustrator from London told me that he didnt think the Disneyfication of folk and fairy tales was a particularly new phenomenon, and that he believed these stories were somehow intended to teach something about life; indeed, many people that I consulted saw these traditional tales as a kind of tool of moral guidance.
In bringing up a point that I previously discussed, he suggests that... they have always been changed in accordance to the message that the storytellers want to tell, their audience and the prevailing culture of the time... but adds succinctly that the lesson, more often than not, appeared to be life is a bit shit so you'd better get used to it. In Disneys defence Merry feels that his versions of fairy-tales are... just as valid a contribution to the history of fairy-tales as anyone else's... My favourite one is Bluebeard's Egg by Margaret...
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