Re: [ARSCLIST] Disney = God?--was: The Incompetence of Sonny Bono

[David Lewis <davlew@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Some previous exchanges on this topic:
 
> Actually, the Disney empire has essentially taken over any number of
> traditional literary characters! In the 21st century, we inevitably
> think of the Disney versions of Snow White, Peter Pan, Winnie the
> Pooh... and so on.

Snow White possibly, but certainly I don't think of the Disney versions
of Pooh or Wind in the Willows first.

XXX

Indeed, the thesis that "The Disney Version" supersedes that version of a
children's tale that one sees in their own imagination is an old one, dating
back to Richard Schickel's book entitled "The Disney Version," published, I
think, in 1962. I can concur with Snow White also, but this broad theorem
doesn't apply to everything. The book established Schickel as the movie
critic that he is now, and I'm not sure even he would put much stock in the
idea. If anything, by now Disney has contributed as much to the realm of
Fantasy stories as they have co-opted - there was certainly no "Lion King"
in my childhood. 

But I hardly think that Disney's "Cinderella" has become synonymous in the
minds of little girls with what the story means, or that their "Little
Mermaid" has overridden the one worshipped by the Danes, or that their
"Alice in Wonderland" takes the place of Lewis Carroll's book. Back in the
80s, there was a publisher who designed a Beatrix Potter book replacing all
of the original, lavish illustrations with generic, rounded off photographs
of Barney-like figures as "These are the images that kids associate with
characters they see on TV." And it wasn't successful - no one wanted it. 

  

David N. Lewis
Assistant Classical Editor, All Music Guide

"Music expresses what one cannot say, but about which one cannot remain
silent." - Victor Hugo

-----Original Message-----
From: Association for Recorded Sound Discussion List
[mailto:ARSCLIST@xxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Don Cox
Sent: Monday, October 30, 2006 11:25 AM
To: ARSCLIST@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [ARSCLIST] Disney = God?--was: The Incompetence of Sonny Bono

On 30/10/06, Steven C. Barr(x) wrote:
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Mike Loughlin" <mikel78_rpm@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>> Also the idea of a young "live" girl named Alice in the wonderland of
>> cartoon animation came to Disney from Dodgson's book. In > Oh
> yeah, a few years later on he did make a few million from a feature
>> length cartoon entitled "Alice in Wonderland, which I do believe was
>> based on Dodgson's book, and which Dodgson's estate never got a penny
>> out of.
>> 

Books of these containing the original (or early) illustrations are
still in all the bookshops, and I'm sure get bought as gifts for
children. 

However, while Alice and Pooh have "official" illustrations, many other
famous stories do not. In the case of the "Jungle Book", the Disney
version is so different as to be almost a new work entirely.
 
> Welcome to the XXI Jahrhundert...
> 
> Steven C. Barr
> 
Regards
-- 
Don Cox
doncox@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx