Thursday, September 19, 2013

Was Walt Disney A Sadist?????????????????


                                        I found myself asking this question more and more, darlings, in the days following my recent Pleasure Island posting.  When I viewed it again, and broke it down, I realized it was more horrific than I had imagined.  But, then I thought of other traumatizing moments from Disney classics (it always seems to be the early, brilliantly animated ones!!!!!) and wondered, what the hell was up with this guy??????

                                          Let's start with The Death Of Bambi's Mother!!!!!!!!!!  Oh, my God!!!!!!!!  I heard of kids who were so upset by this, they hid under the seat.  I did not see "Bambi" till I was an adult--I believe I saw it at the Alpine in Bay Ridge, and, let me tell you, that is one movie I do not EVER want to see
again!!!!!!!!  Now, by that point, I had actually lost my mother for at least a good decade, but even I was traumatized by this!  It brought up the fear of death in general, and of losing others that we love!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What was Disney trying to do???????????????

                                            Then, there was "Dumbo."  Oh, my God!!!!!!!!!!  The song "Baby Mine" (sung by Verna Felton, doing the voice of Mrs. Dumbo) is touching and comforting, but what precedes it are scenes of baby Dumbo being and mocked and persecuted in a manner that predates the whole issue of bullying today, and when Mrs. Dumbo tries to stand up for him, she is horribly mistreated and caged.  Whereupon comes the song, which is meant to comfort, but, girls, I am telling you, it did not do much for  me, because by this time I was so upset about what I had witnessed I could not calm down!  What saves "Dumbo," (which I also saw as an adult, and never want to see again!!!!!!!!!) are the crows singing "When I
See An Elephant Fly," and the ending, which--correct me, if I am wrong--is happier than "Bambi," because Dumbo is accepted, becomes the star of the circus, and Mrs. Dumbo does not die, but, because of her son, gets her own trailer!!!!!!!!!!!!  But  there is too much anxiety ridden stuff before you get to this!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                              I have to wonder what issues Disney was working out!!!!!!!  Did he have an unconscious hatred for children, and it came out this way?????  It certainly looks like it!!!!!!!!!!!! And how about his animators of the day, brilliant at their craft, but, when they were told to go dark, boy did they!!!!!!!!!

                                              Were I a parent with children, I would never let them see "Bambi" or "Dumbo."  Not even "Pinocchio."  I saw the last as a child, and, while a lot of it went over my head (and I was a pretty sophisticated kid, darlings!!!!!!!!!!) I know that "Bambi" or "Dumbo" would have had a worse impact, had I seen them at this age, than when I first did!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                Which goes to show, just because it is a Disney film does not mean it can be relied on!!!!!!!!!!  I am not saying send the kids to slashers (unless they want to!!!!!!!!) but in these cases, what was purportedly directed at children becomes questionable if one stops to consider the purpose for which it is being directed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                   Walt Disney definitely had a darker side!!!!!!!!!!!!  Why did he have to inflict it on viewers so often??????????????

                                                      He not only charmed generations, darlings; he TRAUMATIZED them!!!!!!!!!!!!!





No comments:

Post a Comment