Disney et al
Oct. 4th, 2013 12:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dancerjodiI don't think of myself as a big pro or anti Disney person. I have great memories of some of their products. I have great problems with others.
My parents are very big into movies, and we had a VCR quite early in their time given that my Dad did print/graphics work for a local video place. It was the only place you could buy a VCR or buy/rent movies. There was a brisk business in bartering as times (for them) were tight. Dad would provide the work and we ended up with a great TV, a VCR before anyone else had them, and videos.
Some of our first movies included Winnie the Pooh (the Disney/US compilation, recently actually released on Blu Ray for the first time) and some holiday compilations. There was http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney's_Halloween_Treat and http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0483445/ . We watched these fairly often, along with PBS. We didn't have cable until I was actually out of college.
I have told Brian about these holiday videos and bemoaned the lack of them being released on DVD. People actually pay a lot of money for the VHS copies online, trying to get back a piece of their childhoods and/or share with their own children. Yesterday I learned that someone put up segments of these on Youtube. I was so excited last night to sit down and watch the Halloween one with Brian last night. Oh my goodness.
On the one hand, I think that parental suggestions on media, and sheltering your kids from icky stuff is a bit nuts nowadays. That whole 'I did it and I turned out OK' thing. On the other hand, I was astounded by the level of violence in these cartoons. Mickey Mouse was going after a strange noise with a gun. Donald Duck going after an escaped, violent gorrilla with an ax. Lots of characters telling each other to "Shut up". It is no wonder that the Disney of today would not release this on DVD.
My intention was to try and download or acquire these to at some point show Mina. Watching them last night, I don't think there was much value to them. The clip from Fantasia (ghosts/demons) could be found via Fantasia. The slapstick/violent stuff wasn't funny, and wasn't entertaining. Which just left the Sleepy Hollow segment.
I'm interested in finding the Christmas comp (or its segments) and seeing how that compares.
It is very interesting to compare the Jodi pre-kid with the Jodi post-kid. I want my kid to be exposed to things so that she isn't afraid, and so that she has a healthy respect for what's real, what is imagination and what truly are things to be cautious about. I want her to love Halloween and all of the spooky things that Brian and I love. It is surprising to see me wanting to pause now.
After dinner last Friday we took her into the local party store, not thinking anything about the creepy Halloween stuff in there. She's grown up going to conventions (Sci Fi and Horror) and is used to things like her Dad's zombie trooper costume. She playfully poked at and commented on (by name) skulls, bats, mice, rats. We turned a corner and she saw a skull decoration with hair and a wispy gauze-like dress laying on the floor. She got this horrified look on her face and exclaimed "THE LADY!", with a look of concern that it was an actual sick (dead) woman laying on the floor there. I hugged her and said "oh baby, this isn't a real lady, it is a toy" and tried to show her that it was fake. I felt like the worst parent ever for her having to experience that.
I wonder what is nurture and what is nature. It is magical and heart-warming to see the empathy in our girl. She knows what is 'wrong' in ways that we can't even fathom. I want her to be aware, don't want to shelter her from everything. But then I do.
Parenting is such a crazy journey. In the meantime we trudge along, do our best. Our girl was scared/concerned for the "lady", but at the same time loves Batman (POW! BAM! WHAP! - albeit cheezy, is also violent) or thinks of Darth Vader as a snuggly guy to give high fives to at conventions. It is just fascinating.
My parents are very big into movies, and we had a VCR quite early in their time given that my Dad did print/graphics work for a local video place. It was the only place you could buy a VCR or buy/rent movies. There was a brisk business in bartering as times (for them) were tight. Dad would provide the work and we ended up with a great TV, a VCR before anyone else had them, and videos.
Some of our first movies included Winnie the Pooh (the Disney/US compilation, recently actually released on Blu Ray for the first time) and some holiday compilations. There was http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney's_Halloween_Treat and http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0483445/ . We watched these fairly often, along with PBS. We didn't have cable until I was actually out of college.
I have told Brian about these holiday videos and bemoaned the lack of them being released on DVD. People actually pay a lot of money for the VHS copies online, trying to get back a piece of their childhoods and/or share with their own children. Yesterday I learned that someone put up segments of these on Youtube. I was so excited last night to sit down and watch the Halloween one with Brian last night. Oh my goodness.
On the one hand, I think that parental suggestions on media, and sheltering your kids from icky stuff is a bit nuts nowadays. That whole 'I did it and I turned out OK' thing. On the other hand, I was astounded by the level of violence in these cartoons. Mickey Mouse was going after a strange noise with a gun. Donald Duck going after an escaped, violent gorrilla with an ax. Lots of characters telling each other to "Shut up". It is no wonder that the Disney of today would not release this on DVD.
My intention was to try and download or acquire these to at some point show Mina. Watching them last night, I don't think there was much value to them. The clip from Fantasia (ghosts/demons) could be found via Fantasia. The slapstick/violent stuff wasn't funny, and wasn't entertaining. Which just left the Sleepy Hollow segment.
I'm interested in finding the Christmas comp (or its segments) and seeing how that compares.
It is very interesting to compare the Jodi pre-kid with the Jodi post-kid. I want my kid to be exposed to things so that she isn't afraid, and so that she has a healthy respect for what's real, what is imagination and what truly are things to be cautious about. I want her to love Halloween and all of the spooky things that Brian and I love. It is surprising to see me wanting to pause now.
After dinner last Friday we took her into the local party store, not thinking anything about the creepy Halloween stuff in there. She's grown up going to conventions (Sci Fi and Horror) and is used to things like her Dad's zombie trooper costume. She playfully poked at and commented on (by name) skulls, bats, mice, rats. We turned a corner and she saw a skull decoration with hair and a wispy gauze-like dress laying on the floor. She got this horrified look on her face and exclaimed "THE LADY!", with a look of concern that it was an actual sick (dead) woman laying on the floor there. I hugged her and said "oh baby, this isn't a real lady, it is a toy" and tried to show her that it was fake. I felt like the worst parent ever for her having to experience that.
I wonder what is nurture and what is nature. It is magical and heart-warming to see the empathy in our girl. She knows what is 'wrong' in ways that we can't even fathom. I want her to be aware, don't want to shelter her from everything. But then I do.
Parenting is such a crazy journey. In the meantime we trudge along, do our best. Our girl was scared/concerned for the "lady", but at the same time loves Batman (POW! BAM! WHAP! - albeit cheezy, is also violent) or thinks of Darth Vader as a snuggly guy to give high fives to at conventions. It is just fascinating.
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Date: 2013-10-04 04:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-04 04:56 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-04 05:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-04 07:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-04 11:04 pm (UTC)I remember that compilation! My family always seemed to watch it every year and I really didn't like it.
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Date: 2013-10-05 03:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-10-07 11:18 am (UTC)Peanuts cartoons are a good example. Not violent per se, but the kids are not nice to each other, They are downright mean to Charlie Brown at times and K refuses to watch them because of that. It's just not funny to her. Which is a good thing, but not something that I anticipated beforehand. And weird for my own childhood nostalgia to witness.
Same thing happened the first time we tried to watch Disney's Cars movie. The first scene is a race and the cars are not nice to each other (pushing and trash talk etc...). I thought, of all Disney, that one was pretty safe. No one dies. No dysfunctional families. No missing/dead parents. No bad guys!! It's really just a character growth story (so much better than a lot of Disney plots).