Breaking the Disney Spell

In his essay "Breaking the Disney Spell," Jack Zipes articulates a feeling likely experienced in part by anyone who has grown up watching Disney films and then grown up to give more thought to what they were all about, exactly.  However, it was hard to read this essay and definitively take one side or another--and perhaps ill-advised to do so.  Jack Zipes in a renowned scholar of literary fairy tales, whose work is informed by extensive research into the storytelling tradition behind the stories we have all heard as children.  Walt Disney built a media empire on a very specific interpretation of these well-known stories.  Both have a vested interest in maintaining one extreme or the other, but as a reader, it's hard not to consider your own history and relationship to these stories that are uniquely personal.  

I guess what I'm trying to say is that while I agree with Zipes on a lot of the points he makes, at other times I wanted to tell the man to take several deep breaths and think about dolphins or something equally calming.  

It isn't that I don't agree with Zipes that the Disney version of Snow White takes a number of artistic liberties with the original tale--but so did the 1916 version that we watched, and Zipes does not seem to have a problem with that, perhaps because that version was not part of a cultural phenomenon on the level that Disney's films were.  I do agree that the Disney version of Snow White is vastly different, in tone especially, from the Grimm original.  And I also agree that Snow White, and a number of Disney's other fairy tale films, perpetuate an idea of a patriarchal, male-driven structure (I really wish this most recent Disney Princess craze would end and soon, for all our sakes.)  I find all of those points to be relevant, it's just that I don't think one interpretation of a story with such a rich history behind it is going to ruin or change that story forever.  The very nature of fairy tales is to be passed from person to person and reinterpreted, so how, in essence, is a movie any different from that idea?

That being said, it doesn't mean that I particularly like Disney's interpretation of the Snow White character.  I actually caught myself rooting for the Evil Queen a couple of times, because Snow White was just so annoying.  

Disney

I believe that the main point of this essay was to show how Disney commercialized fairy tales through his films and how this "'violated' the literary genre of the fairy tale" (352).

In class, Professor Figal told us to pick an issue or topic in the Zipes essay to "grapple with." An issue I had with this essay was that Zipes seemed to accuse Disney of sacrificing the old oral and literary traditions of fairy tales for the sake of appealing to his consumers and gaining fame and fortune. I feel that the beauty of fairy tales is how they are able to change and morph depending on who tells them, who is listening, and the circumstances and culture under which these fairy tales get passed along. Disney being a household name that we all associate with fairy tales is something that should be admired, not condemned. Maybe Disney was ultimately in it to make money and gain recognition, but in the end, our culture today is defined by these Disney films, and I just see Disney as another method of passing along fairy tales to the next generation.

Zipes

dentify the thesis/the argument(s) in Jack Zipes' essay , Breaking the Disney Spell’. Do you agree or disagree with him? Justify the stance you take.

While the essay was well written, I found it difficult to take apart one thesis or argument in Zipes essay, "Breaking the Disney Spell".
I found the main argument to be that Disney was taking the classic fairy tales, and minimizing the lessons, replacing them with menial tales that were written and created to make money, and to show and demonstrate his skills as the owner of a company, and an animator.
I partially agree with what Zipes is saying. I do believe, since as he states that Disney was one of the first to use techniques in his animations and films, that Disney wasn't in the business to preserve and demonstrate classic tales. Disney adds too many commercial aspects into his films and stories to really care about the integrity of the stories themselves.

Assignment 4- 3.Feb 2009

Hey Nikki, Erin, Benton, Michelle, Tiffany and Emily,

Below is your assignment:

Identify the thesis/the argument(s) in Jack Zipes' essay , Breaking the Disney Spell’. Do you agree or disagree with him? Justify the stance you take.

• Posts to be sent in by Midnight on Tuesday
• Comments on two other posts to be posted by Midnight on Wednesday

Looking forward to what you have to say.

Ann