Disney - Never Forget

The fact that we question and criticize Disney, doesn't mean that we must forget all those best and greatest moments that changed our whole life and childhood!

To remembering those moments!

How Far I'll Go

This girl singing How Far I'll Go, stole my heart and some tears. I think it will do the same with you!

Questioning Disney

Looking back at these four months of blogging about Disney and its flaws (mainly), I've noticed that I had entered this phase of questioning everything Disney shows me.
However, no matter how much I question, I still enjoy the movie! I realized this three times in the last month.

The first time was when I was watching Beauty and The Beast Live Action back when it premiered during spring break while I was visiting my family and friends back at my hometown.

While watching the movie I kept turning around and telling and showing my friends how the entire movie was racist! Clearly, it took me some time before noticing that actually Disney did an incredibly good job in trying to delete racism from this movie! Disney was also expanding and attempting to break a whole new environment: homophobia.

Either way, whatever Disney made that indicated any small lack of a necessary quality like not showing people of various color within a movie, or showing some bad qualities like racism was immediately criticized by me, and I believe that this is good because it changes the way I used to view an innocent company like Disney. In short, I am more aware of Disney actions. I more awake to their evil and good actions.

The second time was when I was watching Zootopia in order to gather information for a final essay. While watching I noticed that while I still saw how Zootopia did some aspects wrong like showing the bad stuff of being every animal (for example the hamsters in the tub), I also enjoyed the movie and laughed at those moments. Specifically, that scene.

The third and most important time was when I was watching this video:

The reasons why this video took me (just like it took you) to be more aware of the stories we are portrayed might be very specific, but I want to go into some details.

First and foremost, off course not!! I would never watch this story or let my kids near it, then WHY THE **** do we let our children near it?? That is a question we all must ask ourselves and it is the type of question I've been asking myself on every category relating Disney.

On a second note, it expands my view on every Disney movie. Yes, it is true that I've been reading a lot about gender within Disney movies, but none of those texts changed me like this video. In fact, after I watched this video, I flipped every Disney story by making males females and if it seemed right at first glance within my head, I would not harshly judge that movie.

Finally, I want to encourage the same thing with you. Just like my teacher used to say, "This is intended to break your Disney bubbles." And, in fact, I've busted my bubble, and it is time for you to bust yours and view Disney within more critic and realistic eyes!

Be Our Guest

Disney is investing on the future. Look at this cool technology.

Basically it is a restaurant at the Disney Parks motivated by the song Be Our Guest that you swipe your bracelet at the entrance and the food finds you!

Is this some sort of new technology Disney is coming up to track us down? What do you think?

Moana Honest Trailer

I laughed a lot watching Moana, and this is the true story of Moana, it made me laugh so much! (The song is the best part!)

Frozen

There is a lot of things that we probably don't agree on, but we might be able to agree on this one: FROZEN IS ONE OF THE BEST ANIMATED MOVIES!
I could repeat that sentence over and over again! What is not to like? The incredibly addicting and amazing soundtrack, the wonderful imagery and animation, the interesting story, the biggest plotwist in children movie, the breaking of stereotypes, or the relatable characters?

The Soundtrack
Once in a creative writing class I wrote a paragraph containing the sentence "For the first time in forever, I could hear it loud and clear." I know, I know. You, just like everyone in that room who heard me read that sentence started singing inside your brain the song "For the First time in Forever" from the Frozen movie. You cannot say that the soundtrack is not addictive! Also, the fact that we all know the song by heart and we can sing it clearly means that it is also an amazing soundtrack.

The Story
Girls usually love a story about a princess and boys usually don't. WAIT, WHAT?! Does this mean that I am a girl (I am pretty sure that I am not!) So, what went wrong (I mean, good) here? Because if that first sentence is usually true I would consider myself and all my male childhood friends as girls because we actually all loved Frozen!
What I think went good in Frozen is that the movie is that it more than a movie about a princess. It is a movie about a queen who struggles with her inner self (like all humans do) and doesn't see the collateral damage she causes by just letting go. (By the way, I did it again... You must be singing Let It Go now.)

The Characters
As I've said before, I love complex characters and this movie is filled with them. Hans is the prince of your dream, Elsa is the queen with a dangerous secret that is killing her, and Anna is relatable friendly character that wants to help. But, it doesn't stop there. The characters cannot be defined in just one sentence, because they are way more complicated than that. Hans results to be the villain of the story who wants to rule Arandale, but yet he is the one who is kind enough to give free blankets to everyone in Arandale without thinking of economical repercussions. Elsa is the queen whose inner dark magic is a villain of the story, but she is the character we all love and support. Anna is just Anna. There is not much to say here because she is just amazing!

The Meaning of True Love
Another small fact that makes this movie stand out (I have to note that this fact is also present in Maleficent) is that love is also present in a family! Frozen recognizes that an act of true love can be done by the people that are closest to us and that love us the most: our family. And this is a big change in the meaning of true love in Disney movies. We passed from a true loves kiss to an act of true love, and this only makes the movie more complex and interesting! (And amazing!!!)


The Stereotypes
This movie breaks with a lot of stereotypes like villains are ugly. This is more than clear when Hans, the handsome prince of Anna's dream, has evil plans for the royal family of Arandale.

So, what is not to like?

Wreck-it Ralph

I couldn't remember watching this movie before, but when I met Turbo, I recognized the movie and I knew that it was not my first time watching it. This lead me to think that Wreck-it Ralph was probably a movie that I don't remember quite well and therefore it was a movie that had no deep effect on me which leads me to conclude that it was not important or good for me. At least not in the past.

When I re-watched this movie a couple of days ago I viewed it under other eyes, and I liked what I saw. I liked seeing Browser from Mario and the villain of PacMan at the villains convention, I thought it was a really nice touch from the developers (although not an obligation to have in a movie). Still, it was a nice touch, one that if I had the movie, I would have definitely paid for.
As I've previously said in other posts, I enjoy complex characters that make tough decisions that mold the way they are, and this movie is one great example of one character that was coded to be evil, but he doesn't want to be the bad guy. In fact, he wants to be good and he goes on an adventure in search for that goodness.
For me, it would have been more interesting if him leaving actually ended his game from the arcade, meaning that his actions would result in the villain or the cause of the main "evil" plot, but that is not what happened. Although, it was close to happen.
I love the duality between good and bad, but I think it could have been much better and that is the only reason why I like the other two movies (Maleficent and Frozen) more. These two movies show a more broad duality. A more complex duality, and that is what I like in a movie!
As a Computer Scientist major, I am driven to talk about the part where turbo, as the king of this world, destroys the code of the Glitch and locks her away. I love how the characters have so much free will to the fact that they can actually change code! This is the best part of the movie, because it means that they have to follow the script (or code) in order to be part of the arcade, but they have enough liberty to not do so and this is the perfect description of society.
As part of a free society we have to follow some kind of script, yet we are not force to do so, and this is depicted perfectly in this movie. Additionally, the movie shows how characters deal with the script and how they act when they are not being viewed by society and this is a perfect mirroring of the world we live in and the people that surround us.

Some people play their part and act their role, but when we stop watching them their true inner self comes out.

Maleficent Live Action

After I finished watching the 2014 live action of Sleeping Beauty for the second time, I could one of my lifetime friends to discuss about it. I knew that, just like me and you, he was a big Disney fan and his favorite Disney movie is Maleficent. He also admit that his favorite villain is Maleficent and the reason why he loved her because she was the worst of the bunch, the villain of villains, the representation of pure evil.
I have to admit it, I was shocked (and confused)! He just admitted that his all-time favorite villain is Maleficent just for the fact that she is evil for being evil. Originally, in the Disney animated version, she cursed a child for not being invited to a party!
This lead me to start wondering why I didn't like Sleeping Beauty all that much (although my friend must never know or I will have a really long conversation of him trying to convince that Sleeping Beauty is the best movie ever) and I loved Maleficent. The reason was right in front of me: I loved maleficent because the villain had a background, a reason. There was reason in Maleficent's actions and I felt like I could have done the same!

I liked Maleficent because everything made sense in my mind, and I couldn't care less that they didn't follow the same storyline than the one in Sleeping Beauty. Yes, it would have been nice that they have followed the same storyline, but the fact that they changed it makes it intriguing and interesting. Unlike my friend, I started liking Maleficent because her actions seemed to have some logic, and not because she was a villain just for being evil.
Maybe this is more of a personal subjective preference, but I like to understand the details. I like to understand the logic of actions. (Maybe its because I sometimes dream that I could be a great detective, but who knows?) Maleficent gave me that, the movie passed from having heroes that where only meant to be born heroes and do good stuff and villains that were meant to do bad stuff, to actually showing reason and meaning being every action without caring if it is good or bad.
Finally, who cares if the storyline doesn't make sense? I watched this movie around midnight and I did not fall asleep (and it was my second time around)! I cried through most of the movie and I couldn't even pause it to go to the restroom. These are the characteristic of a good and intriguing movie that kept me completely hooked and it is the reason why I loved it!
Maybe it is because it has the characteristics I love in a movie (complex characters, drama, logical actions and decisions) or maybe because it has some traits of a good movie (great image quality, nice story, and amazing acting). Either way, I enjoyed it and thought it was extremely good and that is all that matters.

Gigantic

Although there are no Walt Disney animated movies coming this year, we will get two in 2018. The first is Ralph 2 (Yeah Disney is starting to make a continuation for Disney movies. I hate this because they might end up like Pixar planning to create movies like Cars 10. Hopefully, they won't).

On the other hand, Gigantic based on Jack and the Beanstalk is coming next year!

Coco

There are no Disney movies coming in this year, but we get two Pixar movies.
Have you seen the trailer for Coco?? You must, it might have no villain at all!

Disney Live Actions

Are the live actions Disney is creating for some of their animated films just a successful attempt to fix the wrongs and mistakes they made when they created the animated versions? In short, is Disney attempting to make all their wrongs, good?

No one knows the answers to these questions, but I think that Disney is, in fact, trying to amend those mistakes they made throughout their animated versions.

In general, Disney was not only racist but also homophobic and elitist. Disney animated movies, in general, were filled with green-eyed thin blond American princesses, and Muslim, black, or Latin fat, ugly, and sexually disorienting villains. Their movies were also, in general, discriminating and racist.

For example, in Aladdin, the intro song said, "where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face. It's barbaric, but hey, it's home."

Another example, in Pocahontas, there is a clear segregation between British people and Indians.

OH! I almost forgot! Look how the color of Aladdin's skin evolves through the movie! At the beginning, he was poor and black, and by the end, he was rich and white:

On the other hand, we could view the princesses in the first Disney animated films and notice that they all had one thing in common: they have white skin. Snow white, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, and Belle are all white! Not until the last two decades we began to see non-white Disney princesses! Jasmine, Pocahontas, Mulan, and Tiana were the first princesses that their color or ethnic race was different.

Finally, Disney villains. Look at them, they are thin with sharp pointy body parts or fat. Either way they are not physically appealing (except maybe for Gaston and the most recent ones like Hans from Frozen). Also, look hard and try to find as many white villains as you can, because they are scarce!

I think Disney movie would have been way more interesting if the villains looked like this.

In order to answer the question from the beginning, we must now analyze recent Disney live actions, but here I will only analyze the most recent one: The Beauty and the Beast.

First, it is important to note that the animation version is the only Walt Disney animated movie that has been nominated in the Oscar category of Best Picture, so this movie is a big deal. But the most interesting parts of the live action are that it is not racist and it is daring.

At the end, we see interracial couples. Actually a lot of interracial couples. This is an aspect that was rare or maybe inexistent in old Disney animated films.

Additionally, we get a gay couple! I don't know about you, but I've never seen a Disney animated film (or even better a children's animated film) that has a gay or lesbian couple in it!! This is a game changer, and Disney played the cards.

In conclusion, if you ask me, Disney is, in fact, trying to amend the errors of the past with these new live actions of the old Walt Disney animated films. Hopefully, we will get Aladdin next (with a big apology).

Reasons to Ban Every Disney Movie

The other day I was scrolling through my facebook feed, and I found this video! I couldn't stop laughing. It is hilarious.

"Had to ban Moana. Ocean ain't no person, mountains ain't no lady." I can't stop laughing!

Gay Moment in Beauty and The Beast

I went to the cinemas last week to watch The Beauty and The Beast and I was carefully searching for the gay moment that caused a scandal! Towards several moments of the movie there were several hints to gay characters, but until the end there was no actual gay scene.

In the last five minutes of the movie, when the plot was resolved, I turned for half a second to tell my friend what I thought about it and before I could say a word, the ENTIRE audience gasped!

DAMN!! I HAD MISSED IT! I immediately turned around, but the scandalous scene was over... You could imagine my frustration. I had to ask around to know what the scene was about... SPOLIER! Two men dancing? Seriously, that was IT!

I couldn't believe the tremendous scandal, for half a second that even I, who was searching for the moment, missed it. I'll eventually find that dance in the internet, but for now, you need to watch it and judge by yourself!

The Princess and The Frog

The Princess and The Frog is the movie that they keep playing on the disney channel on TV, and it is one movie that I never liked.

I used to view this movie as scary. Dr. Facilier, the villain, practices voodoo, something that even now at my adulthood makes me feel scared. Dr. Facilier walks among the shadows and talks to beings (the demon kind of ones) at the other side and is called "The Shadow Man". His tall and thin body structure is scary and the way he dresses with black magician outfits and skulls freaks me out. The way he is surrounded by dark magic like voodoo dolls and scary totems just makes me want to run away.

I used to hate this movie because I was afraid of it and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. I

f I viewed Cinderella under the cruelty of her stepmother, I could have adopted her and given her a home and attempted to fight the evil cruelty of the stepmother. If I viewed Ariel signing a contract with Ursula, I could have tried to stop Ariel from signing.

In every case there is something I could have done to stop the villain and in fact in every case the hero stopped the villain. Aladdin stopped Jafar by convincing him to wish being the most powerful Genie. Moana stopped Te Kah when she returned the heart. But in the Princess and the Frog there was no good way (and by good I mean without killing) to stop Dr. Facilier. In fact the ones that kill Dr. Facilier are actually his friend from the other side (although they end him because Tiana destroyed the totem, but she had no idea that that would actually kill Dr. Facilier).

Dr. Facilier had the power of the other side which I view as a power from demons. This is the power that I think satanists worship. This power is the power I am deeply afraid of and it is the reason why I was scared of The Princess and the Frog. It is the reason why I hated the movie.

While viewing this movie for a thousandth time for my Writing class, I realized that this is a reason to hate the villain of the movie but not the movie itself. There was nothing wrong with the movie. The only wrong thing was that I was afraid from the villain, and that was not a logical reason for hating it so my mind automatically searched for arguments to convince me that this movie is terrible and to my surprise I found none.

I viewed myself reflected on this hardworking person just like me! I viewed this movie as attempting to break the classic fairytale movie, and I loved that! I viewed this movie under other eyes. I gave this movie a second chance and I started to appreciate what it truly was. I enjoyed the movie for the first time.

Aladdin

Before I say "I love this movie," I must say something about my cultural background.

My four grandparents where born in the Middle East which, to some extent, makes me middle eastern. Also, by many I am considered an arab! I must also add the fact that I am not muslim, I am catholic.

Now, about Aladdin, I think it is not racist. Well maybe with the original song that said "where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face. It's barbaric, but hey, it is home." But this song was later changed so it will not be considered in my analysis. (By the way I think the original song is better! It rhymes so well and it is amazing although a little bit radical.)

On the other hand, talking of the second part of the lyrics ("It's barbaric, but hey, it is home.")  written above, the ones that where not change, I think they are a perfect demonstration of the reality because after all it is barbaric! It is barbaric because in the muslim world women are sold like a piece of market. It is barbaric because in that world they would cut any person's hand for stealing anything (even a loaf of bread)! It is barbaric because the sultan would have his own brothel conformed by the most beautiful kidnapped women from invaded countries! That world IS barbaric and it IS history (although now a days some of these are still practiced)!

I think Disney was to kind in not showing the extremely bad part of that world! If Disney wanted to be real instead of what some claim as "racist", Disney should have shown us the common brothel the turkish sultans had and how (as sexual slaves) the sultan treated the prostitutes in his brothel. Disney should have shown us how they sold women in the market by exchanging them with a physical price like a camel or gold. Disney should have shown us how the sultan kidnapped the entire world by turning people into slaves and women into prostitutes during the ottoman empire! This was the real dark side of the sultans era and none was shown, so I believe that Disney was generous.

Aladdin is an amazing movie and haters will always criticize it. I think that it deserved the awards it got and maybe more, and being Middle Eastern and knowing how women I've spoken to crave for their freedom, I believe that this movie could have shown the real world instead of a good shadow of it, so everybody who claims that these frases are not accurate by claiming that they are racist is wrong. They are right by saying that they are not accurate and that is because they are much worse! They would have cut your hand, or sell women as products, or treat women as sexual slaves in that world, and Disney did not shown that horrible side of the sultans reign!

Pocahontas

Throughout my entire childhood I told myself that I have watched Pocahontas. I watched it a couple of days ago, and right now I don't know if it was my first time.

Throughout my life, I had this storyline based from a mashup of many other movies that came to my mind whenever I was asked if I have seen Pocahontas, and I always believe that I had, but now that I watched it again I don't remember a single part of it.

I remember some parts and some songs because I have seen them in other places like youtube videos and my music library in itunes. I now by heart the lyrics to the song "Colors of The Wind" and I keep singing this song while I'm taking a bath.

When I "rewatched" Pocahontas a couple of days ago, I could recognize any character nor villain which meant that it was the first time I saw it. I couldn't believe it so I called my high school friends which whom we made a five straight day disney animated marathon where we viewed most disney animated movies in a row and asked them if we had the opportunity to watch Pocahontas and they said that that was one of the few we did not watch.

WOW! I was surprised! There was a Disney movie I did not watch in my childhood! That IS a plot twist!  Now let me tell you the important part: Did I like it? Because this is the first question you ask anybody (specially a kid) whenever they finish a Disney movie. This question for some odd reason is more important than the discussion of the movie itself.

YES! YES! YES! YES I DID LOVED IT! Pocahontas is amazing and I loved it! I loved the characters, the soundtrack, and the storyline. I loved the independence of Pocahontas to stand up to her father! I loved the "Romeo and Juliet" background love story!

I also liked the villain, because to some extent he was doing what all conquerors where doing in America added to the fact that he looked royal to some extent. I know many will argue that he looks feminine and in many aspect he does, but the color of the clothes is not an indicator because the purple clothes is an indicator of royalty. The purple dresses where sold in that time by the Phoenicians and they very expensive because they were a symbol of royalty! And the fact that the governor is wearing purple is an acknowledgement of that!

In short,  I loved Pocahontas and I would watch it again. Now that I think back to the mashup of movies that took the place of Pocahontas I can't remember my old story and that is what makes me wonder if I actually watched Pocahontas before or not.

La Nouba

FINALLY! There are some rumors that La Nouba, the Cirque du Soleil special located near Disney World, is being replaced soon.

I am so happy! I have been to Disney World several times, but I not only love Disney, but also amazing cirque without animal!!

I am so excited, but I must say that if you haven't seen La Noube, you definitely should, because once replaced it probably won't be back because it is already old!!

The Gay Disney

Well, well, well... Disney has been gay #happy since it's beginning.

There were rumors about Moana being the first gay princess from Disney, but these were never confirmed.

But now, we get a "confused" character about his sexuality in the latest Beauty and the Beast Live Action!

The big question is: Is Disney doing the wrong thing for showing this to children or is Disney just showing kids some reality at last? Directed back to the same question: Is Disney evil or good?

Wireless Disney

As a prospect electrical engineer, I feel an obligation towards commenting this news.

Disney is building the rooms of the future!

Rooms where you don´t need to plug your phone to charge it!

Just walk in and watch the technology magically (not really, with engineering and not disney magic) charge your phone!

Actually, you can call it magic if you want!

Zootopia Oscars

After the big scares in the BAFTA Awards (the UK's Academy Awards) where Zootopia nor Moana won the best Animated film, the Academy Awards (Oscars) come with the truth!

Zootopia wins best animated film in the Academy Awards 2017.

Gender and Imagery in Disney Animation

Are you a villain for being a female that looks and talks like a male or a male that looks and talks like a female? Will a villain always be a female that looks and talks like a male or a male that looks and talks like a female?

Are you a villain for dressing black, red, and/or lime green? Will a villain never dress something different than black, red, and/or lime green?

Will a person that is ugly under your eyes necessarily be a villain? For being good do you only need to look elegant and nice?

These are small generalizations that Disney makes in all movies (exclude the most recent ones).

Examples

1) 1937 Snow White and The Seven Dwarves - Snow White vs. Evil Queen

Just looking at the image is enough. Snow White is this beautiful young girl. The Evil Queen is so jealous of Snow White and this is the reason why the queen wants to kill Snow White.

Finally, we have two views that portray the Evil Queen. The first is under her Queen costume where she doesn't look ugly, but her face scares me, while the other is her witch side, which only the view scares me away, she is definitely old and ugly and wearing black. She clearly doesn't have the sweet voice. She is obviously the villain!

2) 1959 Sleeping Beauty - Aurora vs. Maleficent

Just looking at the image is enough. Aurora can be described in one word: beautiful. Maleficent can be described in one word too: demon. She looks exactly like a demon added to the fact that she wears black and purple and has horns. 

You can clearly distinguish this generalized views of heroes and villains in Disney animated movies.

3) 1989 The Little Mermaid - Ariel vs. Ursula

The Little Mermaid is one of the classics Disney animated movies.

The image is more than enough to reinforce the clear stereotypes reinforced by Disney. Aurora is a beautiful princess with sweet voice (and an amazing singer), and Ursula is not only jealous from Aurora's voice that she forces her to sign a contract for the voice, but also is an ugly female that has really strong male characteristics.

There is no need to point that all scenes with Ursula all surrounded with black, purple, and lime green colors. Also, Ursula's voice, hair, and some characteristics are extremely close to a man, although she is a woman. Ursula is fat and ugly, and without a doubt, the stereotyped villain.

4) 2009 The Princess and the Frog - Tiana vs. Doctor Facillier

The Princess and the Frog and The Little Mermaid are two of the best examples of the stereotypes reinforced by Disney in their animated films.

Doesn't the image talk by itself? Tiana is this beautiful female character while the villain, Dr. Facillier, besides of the fact that he is continuously related to death symbols and voodoo, he wears black and all his scenes are related with black and lime green. He is a male with a few female characteristics.

Inner Working

Disney Moana is being released in DVD tomorrow! I am completely excited! If you haven't watched it you MUST buy and watch. This DVD also comes with one amazing and interesting short animated films that Disney previews before some films

The name is Inner Workings and here is a youtube trailer for the short film! Enjoy!

Beauty and The Beast Live Action

We are three weeks away for the live action of the Beauty and the Beast. I can't believe that I am so excited for this movie (I used to hate it when I was a child!) Well, well, well, here we go! Almost there and Emma Watson is the BEST Belle ever.

No doubt that she was the best Hermoine and Hermoine is nice and smart (my childhood crush) just like Belle (because she reads a lot!). Emma Watson, please bring the magic! (Again!)