episode 8: Make Mine Music
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episode 7: The Three Caballeros
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Could Timothy Mouse also be characterized as a fool in the Elizabethan or Shakespearian sense?
“Pop quiz: what is one character archetype that appears in almost every Shakespeare play AND Disney movie?
Joe BUnting
I’ll give you a hint by listing some characters: Bottom, Puck, the Iguana in Tangled, Dori in Finding Nemo, the Clown in All’s Well That Ends Well, the Carpet in Aladdin. Got it yet?
…
The fool acts as the hero’s conscience. I realized this when I remembered Jiminy Cricket in Pinocchio. “Remember, Pinocchio,” says the Wish Upon A Star Lady, “be a good boy, and always let your conscience be your guide.”
Since the fool is already unfashionable, they have the freedom to always speak the truth, even when it is awkward or even dangerous to do so.
However, he also understands it’s often his humor that allows him to speak truth. As Oscar Wilde said, “If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they’ll kill you.””
More about the fool as common archetype here.
Do characters like Jiminy Cricket and Timothy Mouse, the kind guides and advocates who help our hero along, have a history in literature – or are they an invention of Walt Disney’s story team? Michial saw Dante, or perhaps Elizabethan fools. Victoria spotted some parallels with guardianship in Dickens.
“A younger character both sheltered from the world and brought deeper into subcultury dark places by characters who are more familiar with the subcultury underworld place.”
Do characters like Jiminy Cricket and Timothy Mouse, the kind guides and advocates who help our hero along, have a history in literature – or are they an invention of Walt Disney’s story team? Michial saw Dante, or perhaps Elizabethan fools. Victoria spotted some parallels with guardianship in Dickens.
“A younger character both sheltered from the world and brought deeper into subcultury dark places by characters who are more familiar with the subcultury underworld place.”
Do characters like Jiminy Cricket and Timothy Mouse, the kind guides and advocates who help our hero along, have a history in literature – or are they an invention of Walt Disney’s story team? Michial saw Dante, or perhaps Elizabethan fools. Victoria spotted some parallels with guardianship in Dickens.
“A younger character both sheltered from the world and brought deeper into subcultury dark places by characters who are more familiar with the subcultury underworld place.”
[vimeo 167292056 w=640 h=360]
“Good for them for teaching their children to be polite, and not stare and point. But, rather than sort of avoid engaging, or avoid acknowledging my existence…I would much prefer if parents would say…’go, say hello.’
As long as they did it in a respectful way. I think that’s a better way to handle it.”
Learn more here.
“Selective use of “crip” or “crippled” by people with disabilities is a conscious act of empowerment through “reclaiming” a former slur as a badge of pride. “Selected use” means we don’t use it all the time, in every situation. We exercise judgment in when and where it’s appropriate to use.”
Thoughtful, nuanced, argument on the use of “crip.” More here.
“The social model of disability says that disability is caused by the way society is organised, rather than by a person’s impairment or difference. It looks at ways of removing barriers that restrict life choices for disabled people. When barriers are removed, disabled people can be independent and equal in society, with choice and control over their own lives.”
“The medical model looks at what is ‘wrong’ with the person and not what the person needs. It creates low expectations and leads to people losing independence, choice and control in their own lives.”
More information and some practical examples here.
[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XH0WPasBzQ&w=854&h=480]
A great overview of Cerebral Palsy.
episode 6: Saludos Amigos
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episode 5: Bambi
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It took us four episodes, but I feel like we are finally a legitimate member of the Christian Humanist Network now that we have a Dante reference. And to think we could have had it back during Pinocchio if I’d only asked Michial the right question: do characters like Jiminy Cricket and Timothy Mouse, the kind guides and advocates who help our hero along, have a history in literature – or are they an invention of Walt Disney’s story team? (You may recall that the use of Jiminy was how Disney cracked the story of Pinocchio. Pinocchio is so unsympathetic in the novel that translating the book to screen was a challenge. Jiminy then became the prototype of a kind of character that we see throughout the Disney canon – including Timothy Mouse.) Michial sees a lineage all the way back to Virgil in Dante.
“The difference is Dante respects Virgil”
episode 4: Dumbo Featuring Special Guest Victoria Reynolds Farmer
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Kay Nielsen did the artwork for the Ava Maria sequence in Fantasia, which is one of my favorite moments in the Disney Canon.
“This finely crafted reprint restores the stunning detail and artistry of Nielsen’s images to their original splendor. Featuring 46 illustrations, including many enlarged details from Nielsen’s rare original watercolors, the book is printed in five colors with a lovingly designed slipcase. Three accompanying essays, illustrated with dozens of rare and previously unseen artworks by Nielsen, explore the history of Norwegian folktales, Nielsen’s life and work, and how this masterpiece came to be.”
The book Michial recommends for increasing your knowledge and appreciation of classical music.
Sure Michial says not to buy it and that he hates it – but Stravinsky was also busy selling the rights for Renard, Fireworks, and The Firebird to Walt Disney as he panned Fantasia – so, you know, words aren’t everything. As far as I’m concerned, it is THE book on John Updike.
Who knew that Marx was familiar enough with Fantasia to reference the Sorcerer’s Apprentice in his book? I’m not saying Marx was a time traveler, but I’m not not saying it either.
Join Dr. Victoria Reynolds Farmer in becoming a Mary Blair super fan. Get started.
Exactly the sort of thing I want for every genre of music – but especially classical. Also basically any other media I’m trying to get my head around. Helpful and informed opinions I can trust.
[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3_xiUYMnXA&w=640&h=480]
I love the internet. Ask and you shall receive. Dramamasks22 has lined up all the animated crocodiles and alligators into one image. While you’re there check out Dramamasks22’s other images of every Disney bird, horse, rat, etc.
[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-zaGM39Cik&w=854&h=480]
I’m declaring Haydn the patron composer of middle school orchestras everywhere.
“Antony Hodgson identifies George Szell as a conductor who was not afraid to overdo “the vulgarity of this joke”. Hodgson argues that “if, in concert, none of the audience laughs, then the episode must have been underplayed.””
“At the end, Dreamfinder told Figment and the guests that Imagination is our key to unlock the hidden wonders of our world. The guests then entered the final show scene as their picture was taken. In the following room, Figment stood in the center of a giant film canister, surrounded by several movie screens of him being a scientist, a mountain climber, a pirate, a superhero, a tap dancer, a ship captain, a cowboy and an athlete. Dreamfinder, sitting behind a movie camera, gave one last inspiring message and told guests to use their newly-found sparks of inspiration in the Image Works and the on-ride photo was shown to the guests on a screen next to Dreamfinder.
The ride closed on October 10, 1998 to the dismay of numerous fans.”
During our conversation on The Rite of Spring, I mentioned reading an article at one time that discussed how the mounting of dinosaurs in museums has effected our imaginations. (I didn’t find it – but this FAQ on dinosaur mounts is fascinating). I would still love to reread that article; if you’ve seen it send it my way! However, in my process of looking for it, I found some other really interesting things I can direct you to. What’s interesting to me is how the art has complimented the science, and the imagination has even outpaced the science. Sorry, Deems Taylor.
Artistic Depictions of Dinosaurs Have Undergone Two Revolutions
“More than any other single person, Greg Paul has had a major influence on how Mesozoic dinosaurs are imagined by other palaeoartists, by scientists, and by the public.”
Darren Naish’s article in Scientific American discusses dinosaur’s move from “flabby” (as in Rite of Spring) to “sprightly” and from there to feathery and soft.
Paleoart Shows Dinosaurs Weren’t the Terrible Lizards of Your Fantasies
Naish’s article also mentions paleoartist John Conway.
“Dinosaur fossils have been catching up with paleoart — and that’s quite nice, that the fossil evidence actually is lagging behind the art,”
Conway spoke to Jacqueline Ronson at Inverse. Ronson gives a nice rundown of the interaction between art and science.
“if you want to come close to the truth, you’d better bring your imagination.”
Walt Disney’s Dinosaurs: The Story of the Rite of Spring
Which brings us back to Disney and the work he and the studio were doing to advance science through their work on Fantasia.
“From the very start of preproduction on Fantasia in September 1938 Disney wanted to include a prehistoric sequence that would serve as “a coldly accurate reproduction of what science thinks went on during the first few billion years of this planet’s existence” (Fantasia). So he brought on Julian Huxley, Barnum “Mr. Bones” Brown, and Roy Chapman Andrews as scientific consultants for the project, along with Edwin Hubble.”
Noyes posits that the accurate art ignited the imagination and inspired more people to join the field of paleontology.
Michial claimed only people “our age” would know the Land Before Time movies, and I said there are 29 of them – and although both of these statements are clearly false – only mine may come true at some point in the future.
Also, we’ll definitely be mentioning The Land Before Time again when we get to the 80’s because it was created by Don Bluth – a rather infamous character in the Disney Animated Studios saga.
I’m not saying this is the definitive version of Faeries – from ‘The Nutcracker,’ but I’m not not saying it either.
If Toccata and Fugue in D Minor is your favorite piece and you (unlike Walt Disney) really like the abstract and experimental then I’d encourage you to discover more of the work of Oskar Fischinger at http://www.oskarfischinger.org.
“As the lights dim, Donald Duck is fast asleep. Mickey Mouse appears with music in hand and wakes Donald before rushing offstage to ready the show. As Donald prepares the orchestra for Mickey, he comes across the conductor’s baton and decides to work a little magic by donning Mickey’s Sorcerer’s Hat. But things get out of control fast and Donald is unexpectedly plunged into a 3D dream world of classic Disney animated musical sequences.”
[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Xns6ZDKxSQ&w=640&h=480]
A nice little behind the scenes look at how Fantasia came together.
If Michial piqued your interest in Marx and his use of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, then Coyle and Ed can guide you further into the political ideology of Marxism and the man behind the thoughts.
If Michial piqued your interest in Marx and his use of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, then Coyle and Ed can guide you further into the political ideology of Marxism and the man behind the thoughts.
Just because neither Michial or I took the time to read Der Zauberlehrling by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t read it.
You can also read the Sorcerer’s source – an ancient work called Philopseudes by Lucian of Samosata. Who knows, it might inspire you to write a fourteen stanza ballad of your own.
“The Sorcerer’s Hat is the former icon of Disney’s Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.”
episode 3: Fantasia
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“One Pinocchio
Some shading of the facts. Selective telling of the truth. Some omissions and exaggerations, but no outright falsehoods. (You could view this as “mostly true.”)
Two Pinocchios
Significant omissions and/or exaggerations. Some factual error may be involved but not necessarily. A politician can create a false, misleading impression by playing with words and using legalistic language that means little to ordinary people. (Similar to “half true.”)
Three Pinocchios
Significant factual error and/or obvious contradictions. This gets into the realm of “mostly false.” But it could include statements which are technically correct (such as based on official government data) but are so taken out of context as to be very misleading. The line between Two and Three can be bit fuzzy and we do not award half-Pinocchios. So we strive to explain the factors that tipped us toward a Three.
Four Pinocchios
Whoppers.”
Pinocchio gets a bad wrap for being a liar considering this is only one small (although iconic) part of the movie.
“Early animation tended to stay within the frame. In “Fantasia” and especially “Pinocchio,” Disney broke out of the frame, for example in the exciting sequence where Pinocchio and his father are expelled by the whale’s sneeze, then drawn back again, then expelled again. There is the palpable sense of Monstro the Whale, offscreen to the right.”
Read the full review. It’s very good.
“But if the roof carvings cannot be seen, to whom are their stories being told? Why was such craftsmanship expended on them, and such planning given to their content and narrative? Rose writes: “The most lofty work is as carefully carved and skillfully finished as any at a lower level.”
The best he offers by way of an answer to this mystery is to propose that this care and skill reflect “not just a feeling of self-respect on the part of the sculptor, but a belief that his work was an essential part of the whole building of the church which was for the worship and praise of God.” It seems that communication was not the primary purpose.”
Source: The Christian Science Monitor
See also: Art History Timeline 14-Gothic Architecture, a short lecture with lots of beautiful images from Dr. Jeanne Willette of Otis College of Art and Design on iTunesU. She makes mention at the end of the art made to be seen only by God.
[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5l6jJ-Gcek&w=640&h=480]
[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBFy2fQpHzg&w=854&h=480]
You could read this book critically, but if you really want it to shape your desires and imagination – read it for fun!
Around the network: The Christian Feminist Podcast, Episode #50: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
During the Pinocchio episode, I mentioned that my children watch a lot of My Little Pony. Here’s a good introduction for the unfamiliar.
“As of May 2017, Sam Mendes is in talks to direct the movie from Chris Weitz’s script.”
Magic that trains toward a Christian metaphysics.
The Professor is the happy ending to Alice’s story. The adult who experiences the magic of childhood, and then encourages it in the next generation of children.
“Logic!” said the Professor half to himself. “Why don’t they teach logic at these schools? There are only three possibilities. Either your sister is telling lies, or she is mad, or she is telling the truth. You know she doesn’t tell lies and it is obvious that she is not mad. For the moment then and unless any further evidence turns up, we must assume that she is telling the truth.”
But how could it be true, sir?” said Peter.
“Why do you say that?” asked the Professor.
“Well, for one thing,” said Peter, “if it was real why doesn’t everyone find this country every time they go to the wardrobe? I mean, there was nothing there when we looked; even Lucy didn’t pretend there was.”
“What has that to do with it?” said the Professor.
“Well, sir, if things are real, they’re there all the time.”
“Are they?” said the Professor; and Peter did not know quite what to say.
“But there was no time,” said Susan. “Lucy had had no time to have gone anywhere, even if there was such a place. She came running after us the very moment we were out of the room. It was less than a minute, and she pretended to have been away for hours.”
“That is the very thing that makes her story so likely to be true,” said the Professor. “If there really is a door in this house that leads to some other world (and I should warn you that this is a very strange house, and even I know very little about it)—if, I say, she had got into another world, I should not be at all surprised to find that the other world had a separate time of its own; so that however long you stayed there it would never take up any of our time. On the other hand, I don’t think many girls of her age would invent that idea for themselves. If she had been pretending, she would have hidden for a reasonable time before coming out and telling her story.”
“But do you really mean, sir,” said Peter, “that there could be other worlds—all over the place, just round the corner—like that?”
“Nothing is more probable,” said the Professor, taking off his spectacles and beginning to polish them, while he muttered to himself, “I wonder what they do teach them at these schools.”
Is stubbornness a more accurate representation of childhood than naïveté? Does stubbornness provide more interesting moral quandaries?
Christianity Today subscribers can read an excerpt from Guroian’s chapter on Pinocchio here.