Losing that Disney feeling!

Looks like I'm not the only one out there
who thinks so. Courtsey : www.tumblr.com

 You know you have lost your childhood innocence entirely when you start asking 'What do you think this is, a Disney movie?' and what you are really saying is ,'That sort of optimism is crass and that'll never happen in real life' :-|

While I'm sure I still won't say no to Disneyland, Disney movies seemed to have lost it's magic for me quite a while back. I think I sat up and noticed it for 'Ratatouille'. There was/is/ever-will-be nothing cute about a rat in your kitchen. Unless he's Mickey Mouse. But even he's a mouse. Rats are a no-no, even if they are Disney endorsed! ARGHH. I lost my appetite for days thanks to my room mate happily saying 'ratatouille' every time she went in to cook in the kitchen! She was all for Disney rats! Bleh!

Another disappointing movie experience was 'Meet the Robinsons', and that's an understatement. I will not start on that because it's one of my pet peeves and I'll not know when to stop. Suffice to say that if someone forces me to pick between watching the movie again and sitting through 15 mins of nail scratching against the blackboard, the black board musical will have a better chance of having me in it's audience.

Tangled and Princess and the Frog, the last two animated offerings from Disney was not bad, but there was nothing truly memorable about either. Not like Toy Story 3 or How to train your Dragon, both of which were delightful to adults and kids alike. That's the sort of magic that Disney used to have.

Damn. I kinda lost control on the post. It was not really supposed to be taking an anti-Disney direction as much as loss of childhood innocence. I'm not even sure if it can be salvaged in that direction any more. :-/ Anyways, lemme try. 

One of the reason I cant relate to Disney movies anymore is 'black and white' nature of all the characters. They are branded 'good' or 'evil' from the start and they stay the same. No one ever really grows as a person. People don't get second chances if you fall in the ugly category, which is the same as evil in Disney's world. The old Disney movies from my childhood retain their charm more because of the happy memories associated with watching them.

[Warning: Spoiler Alert - Tangled]

The bad Mother? 

The Good Hero?

Least that ways I thought Tangled was refreshingly un-Disney. To be really fair, the witch might have locked Rapunzel up but never really ill-treated her. She did try her best to keep the girl happy in her tower. Getting Rapunzel all those expensive paints



 and letting the girl mess up the walls knowing that it'll kill the market value of the place if ever she has to sell it! I'm not sure her real royal parents would have let her do that!

And the hero of the movie though devilishly handsome was a relatively untrustworthy guy. He was a bandit and no Robin Hood at that either. He almost sold Rapunzel up the river to get out of trouble.

The menacing Crooks?

What is clear at the end is that Flynn ( the hero) is a good guy is because he chooses to not to give into his greed while the witch stops at nothing to satisfy her vanity. The fact that people become bad or good based on choices or actions they take is far more acceptable. And for once the bad girl was hot and there were ugly people who were good ( the crooks bar scene where all the really ugly people helped them hide and get away from the soldiers! You'll know what I'm talking about if you seen the movie!)

Of course one could argue that Jafar or Scar was evil because they were always power hungry. But we dont   really know why they became so. Maybe Scar was neglected coz he was a weaker cub? Maybe all work and no play made Jafar a cranky person. I mean even the most generous of viewers will not be under the impression that the Sultan was taking care of the country's admin stuff. C'mon! It was clearly Jafar who managed it. He probably felt a little under appreciated! There might be shades of grey we dint realise before. After all, Scar could have just killed the cub with one swipe. Surely it was always a possibility that the cub could come back to challenge him for the throne. So why did he let Simba go?

There are no easy answers in life and there are no people etched out in black and white. Sometimes we put people into boxes marked different colors because it's easier and not because it's true. And once we grow up and realise that, Disney movies are never the same again!

ps: Not a bad job, right.. I mean the salvaging bit, changing direction etc etc :-)