Lesson 8) Disney Through the Decades
Disney Lit Weeks is almost at an end! I can't thank you all enough for your participation in and dedication to these "two weeks" (which turned into a few months) of Disney magic. Today's overview lesson will be taught by Professor Brad Turing, your Astronomy Co-Professor. His lesson content spans the course of a few decades and functions as a kind of overview for both Disney Lit Weeks through the lens of a single theme. His assignments not only allow you to showcase your knowledge of the Disney works we have studied, but also other films that you are passionate about.
The final DLIT 2 lesson, Lesson 9, is the final review and will offer you the opportunity to show us how much you love Disney.
Enjoy!
EH
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Good morning, students. I am Professor Brad Turing, your Astronomy Co-Professor, and I am honored to be giving a guest lecture for Professor Hart's Disney Lit Weeks. Whether you have grown up with Disney, or whether Disney is new to you, I hope you are learning more about the movies that make up the core feature films of the Disney franchise. I have sat in many of these weeks' lectures, and I have definitely learned about the detail, depth, and dynamics of the Disney experience.
As Professor Hart mentioned in her first lesson for Disney Lit Week 1, Disney’s stories often use the trope of the orphan. Today, we will be tracing Disney’s orphan trope through multiple decades of Disney works as a kind of overview of Disney Lit Weeks.From the earliest Mickey Mouse films to the latest computer-generated animated shorts, the Walt Disney company has been telling stories about orphans. While stories about orphans are not new, as many stories – Muggle and Magical – have focused on characters who lose their biological parents, the Disney franchise has continuously told stories about orphaned characters in many different ways. Today’s class will focus on how the Disney franchise portrays orphans in one work from each decade of Disney films.
Please note that I have provided links and pictures to video clips. While they are helpful to see and watch, they are not necessary for receiving excellent grades on your assignments.
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Mickey’s Orphans (1931)Mickey's Orphans is a 1931 black-and-white Disney short that focuses on Mickey's and his family's experience with a new group of orphaned kittens. While Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto are celebrating the Christmas season, a cloaked figure drops of a basket at their house, rings the doorbell and leaves. What seems to be one orphaned kitten in the basket turns out to be a multitude of rambunctious kittens with a single-minded determination for destructive fun. As the orphans play, they wreck Mickey's house.
Since the film uses slapstick humor, most people in the audience laugh as the kittens cause chaos in Mickey's house.
In this film, the kittens' status as orphans is a plot device – if they were not orphans, than they would not have been left on Mickey's doorstep and thus would never have had the fun they had in Mickey's house. In addition, the orphans in this film are portrayed as both cute and destructive. While Mickey's family first sees the kittens as cute, it is also clear in the film that they love to cause chaos. While the film does rely on the destructive nature of the kittens for its humor, it still characterizes orphans as untamed and wild.
Bambi (1942)
Although Bambi, the eponymous character of Disney's 1942 film Bambi, is not a true orphan, the movie prominently shows the main character coping with the loss of a parent. The film opens up with Bambi as a young fawn who is just learning how to walk and talk. Soon, Bambi is exploring his world and even mimics the adult male deer that he sees. He enjoys being with his mother as well as his animal friends. However, one day, a hunter shoots Bambi's mother. Bambi grows up to be an adult and learns how to deal with other challenges, such as love and forest fires. One very interesting aspect of the film is the way Disney portrays Bambi before and after his mother's death.
His mother's death occurs about halfway through the film, and it is one of the most famous scenes in the movie – even though the death happens off-screen, many who watch the film are very saddened by the event. Before this scene, Bambi is portrayed is a vulnerable but sympathetic character – he is happy and optimistic, and he relies on his mother for everything. However, after his mother is killed, Bambi has to learn the trials of adulthood without his mother's help.
Even though Bambi's father is still living by the end of the movie, Bambi portrays an orphan’s journey. His mother, the person he relied on for most of his young life, was killed. His father is present at times to guide him, but he is mostly distant; this feature seems to be portrayed as part of deer “culture”. However, Bambi's experience is a one of strength. He learns through experience, and he deals with challenges – such as fighting rival suitors and running away from a forest fire while injured – with sheer willpower. At the end, Bambi and his wife become parents to two baby deer. Bambi's experience as an orphan is one that reflects that of resilience.
Peter Pan (1953)
I will not be delving too far into Peter Pan as Professor Hart will be exploring this work in her Magical Literature course in Year 4.
Peter Pan is a 1953 Disney feature film that focuses on Peter Pan's adventures with the Darling family. Peter Pan's adventures bring the Darlings to experience meeting groups such as pirates, mermaids, and fairies. One interesting part about Peter Pan is that he is portrayed as the spirit of perpetual youth – he never grows up. It can be suggested that his youthfulness is somehow magical, and he lives in a world of fantasy. He has a cocky attitude and he does not think about consequences. He also is portrayed with having no parental influences in his life, which is why he is an example of an orphan's experience.
Pollyanna (1960)
(Happy July 4th from your HiH Professors!)
Pollyanna is a 1960 Disney film about an orphan who uses her upbeat attitude to uplift an entire town. Pollyanna lives with her aunt, Aunt Polly, in a small town. The citizens of the town want to rebuild an orphanage, and since Aunt Polly would not fund it, the citizens held a carnival to raise capital for the construction. The citizens acquire support from the minister, which angers Aunt Polly even more. Because Aunt Polly does not support rebuilding the orphanage, she forbids Pollyanna to go to the carnival.
Pollyanna goes anyway and has fun. When Pollyanna tries to sneak back in the house, she falls and breaks both legs, and she feels a sense of deep sadness – a characteristic that is not often associated with her. The citizens express concern for Pollyanna's injury, and this causes Pollyanna to raise her spirits again.
Pollyanna is portrayed as a “plucky orphan”. She is very cheerful, and she seems carefree. She wins others over by her happiness.
Star Wars (1977)
Luke and Obi-Wan get involved in saving Princess Leia, who is one of the leaders of the Rebel Alliance. She at first seems to be a stereotypical damsel in distress, but she ends up being decent in fighting her way out of the Death Star, a Galactic Empire space station that is similar to a military base. During the escape, Obi-Wan dies. Luke also sees Alderaan, Princess Leia's home planet, destroyed. Luke sees his friends as fighter pilots for Rebel Alliance spaceships, and he wants to join in the action too. He uses his knowledge of the Force to shoot the Death Star in the weak spot and to destroy the space station. In future films, Luke learns that Darth Vader, one of the leaders of the Empire, is his father.
Luke's experience is that of a “heroic orphan” - but with a twist. In many stories, an orphan with royal blood or other hereditary claim is raised by a family of “average” people and then later comes to learn about his royal birth. He then uses his experiences as living as a non-elite to bring positive good to the kingdom, as his experience with poverty makes him innocent from the corruption of wealth.
Although Luke is not a prince, he gets much of his power in the Force because he is of the same blood as his father. In addition, as someone who has not grown up with his dad's influence, he was not corrupted by his father's evil. In fact, not only did Luke believe his father was dead, but Obi-Wan – who knew that Darth Vader was Luke's father – even told Luke that his father was also a Jedi Knight who had been killed by Darth Vader. The twist in the “heroic orphan” archetype is that Luke actively takes a stand against his father and, in later movies, uses his goodness to reform his father – even though is father was an evil person who has killed many people and destroyed many communities. Luke convinces his father to see the light just before he dies. Luke's history shows an interesting twist to the “heroic orphan” experience.
The Fox and the Hound (1981)
The Fox and the Hound is a Disney feature film about a fox named Tod and a dog named Copper. Tod, an orphaned fox, is adopted by a woman. Both Tod and Copper become friends when they are young. However, when they both grow up, Copper's master trains him to be a hunting dog. Others tell Tod that he and Copper cannot be friends because hunting dogs attack foxes. Tod, however, wants to make it work. After the main hunting dog is injured, Tod gets the blame, and the person who adopted Tod lets him go into the wilderness for his safety. Tod finds the wilderness to be a very strange place and struggles to find his way around. However, Tod saves Copper and his master, so his master doesn't consider Tod to be the enemy anymore.
Tod's story addresses an interesting aspect of the orphan experience. In particular, much of the conflict in the story stems from the difference between Tod's actual personality and the personality that Copper's master expects from Tod because Tod is a fox. Because the family that Tod has always known was his adoptive family, Tod behaves like any animal who is used to living with humans. However, Copper's master expects that Tod will behave like a fox in the wild. As a hunter, he relies on his “expertise” from many years of hunting foxes to understand Tod's character – instead of seeing Tod as an individual. It takes an event where Tod literally saves his life for him to see Tod's true personality.
Similarly, humans – orphans or not – who have grown up in a different culture than what one appears to be could have similar experiences to Tod. For example, during World War II, Japanese Americans from the West Coast of the United States were seen as the enemy by American leaders because they looked like the people who had bombed Pearl Harbor. Even though the great majority of Japanese Americans were loyal to the United States and even though a good number of Japanese Americans had families who had lived in the United States for generations, American leaders still judged Japanese Americans to be of similar character to the Japanese who had bombed Pearl Harbor because of their appearances. Throughout World War II, many Japanese Americans served in the American military – even those who have been in internment camps. As a nation, it has taken the United States many years to recognize not only the harm of the internment camp experience but also the heroism of Japanese American soldiers.
Darkwing Duck (1991-1992)
This cartoon series is interesting because it was one of the few at the time to show a single dad in a positive light. That being said, Gosalyn's experience as an orphan is mainly a plot device – she is the only person who knew the secret code to a doomsday device because her late grandfather taught it to her in a lullaby. The only way for Darkwing to stop the evil machine is to get the code from Gosalyn. Otherwise, Gosalyn's experience as an orphan does not play much into the story. She seems to have no issues after the first episode about being an orphan and being adopted. The show portrays her experience in a positive way. Even the orphanage is portrayed as clean, and the woman who runs the orphanage shows a genuine concern for Gosalyn.
Overall, the show puts an upbeat spin to Gosalyn's experience as an orphan.
Lilo and Stitch (2002)
Their friendship helps Lilo from avoiding being placed in the foster care system as well as prevents Stitch from being taken away from the family. The film ends with a happy ending, as the family – Lilo, Nani, and Stitch – get to stay together. Some of the other aliens even get to join Lilo's family in Hawaii.
This film is about three orphans – Lilo, Nani, and Stitch. Lilo and Nani lost their parents in a car accident, which is a situation that many viewers can understand. Stitch, as a genetic experiment, has no parents. The bond between Lilo, Nani, and Stitch helps them succeed and keeps them together. One interesting aspect of the relationship between Lilo and Stitch is how Lilo's friendship can override Stitch's instincts. Even though Stitch was programed to cause destruction, Lilo's friendship can override his programming.
This message, when applied to the real world, is powerful. Some orphans, perhaps due to rough upbringing, learn to be destructive and take on negative actions as their default behavior. However, the film shows that with love and care, even orphans that are “programmed” to misbehave when they are younger can grow up to be productive members of a good family. Even with its lighthearted tone, Lilo and Stitch sends a strong message on orphans' ability to solve problems, form positive relationships, and change their lives for the better.
Feast (2014)
Of course, this is a movie, and in movies, things change. Winston's human companion falls in love with a waitress, and he tries to eat healthier, which does not work well for him. The couple breaks up, and Winston's human companion takes out his stress by going back to his junk food diet. Winston finds the waitress, and the couple make up. The couple gets married and then has a child. At the child's birthday party, Winston runs around and happily eats the dropped cupcakes.
The film portrays Winston's experience as an orphan in an interesting way. In particular, it seems that he treasures food because he had a hard time finding food when he was a stray. For example, the opening scene shows Winston licking of cheese from a food package that was thrown away; after eating all the cheese, he whimpers when he realizes when there is no more food.
Immediately after Winston's human companion brings him home, he excitedly eats his dog food – it may be the first time that Winston has experienced having enough food to eat. Although Winston does have a happy life where he is loved, he is also sensitive about food because of his experience as a stray. Likewise, a human orphan who has to beg for scraps of food one point in his/her life would likely be very thankful of food because she knows what it is like to not have enough to eat. The combination between Winston's loving family as well as the knowledge that Winston will probably be very sensitive about his food makes this short film a complicated yet realistic portrayal of the orphan experience.
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Now that we have talked about examples of Disney's portrayal of orphans, let's talk about patterns. Overall, Disney shows varying aspects of the orphan's experience. For example, Bambi's experience is about resilience, Winston's is about food triggers, and Pollyanna's experience is about her happiness. Orphans are shown as good-natured people, and all of the stories listed above have endings that are positive for the orphan. Over the years, Disney's works tend to portray the orphan experience in more complex ways.Stories about orphans, however, have been around before Disney, and are still popular today.
For today's assignments, you will have a quiz, and two extra credit essays, one on the orphan experience, and one on the other common theme mentioned at the beginning of Disney Lit Weeks: Disney's use of magic.
Thank you for your time. Class is dismissed.
The final lesson will be posted later this evening. Just in time for Creature Feature!
Please be sure to check out the Magical Literature and the Professor Studies Track Facebook pages.
Stay tuned for Lesson 9!
EH
