Tuesday, March 01, 2005
Is DVD/home video the worst thing to ever happen to Disney? Remember when the name 'Disney' represented something pure, something that brought an undeniable joy to the world? No matter how jaded a person you were, there was at least one thing that Walt Disney had contributed to the world at one time or another that would bring a smile to your face. Sure, there were always other cartoons out there that you may have loved just as much, but there was something magical about seeing a Disney film. When the lights went down and the screen lit up and you could hear the symphony start to play as the words "Walt Disney presents" appeared on the screen, you could feel the exhilaration race through your body. I remember seeing Bambi at the drive-in as child. While the movie played I was in utter awe at every single frame. I wouldn't be surprised if I didn't blink once. That's just how it was. When you heard a Disney movie was coming to the theater it was a special event. We didn't ever have a lot of money when I was a kid, so I didn't always get the chance to see them, but when I did they just became a part of me, a special place in my childhood. The memories of that were so pure and had such an impact that I can still remember the rush from myself as a child lost in the story on the screen.
Fast forward a few years. Disney is no longer one man's vision of bringing joy to people's lives. It's a corporation who's sole purpose is to whore out the Disney name and use it's power to bleed every last cent that they can get out of every property they can wrap their hands around. With the exception of Pirates of the Caribbean, Disney hasn't made a worthy film in years. The only saving grace for the company has been the contributions that were made by Pixar. With only one film left to come out of the coupling, Cars, Disney is once again left to it's own devices. So what does the house of imagination choose to offer? There own devices, that's what. Instead of creating new worlds and wondrous stories to touch children's minds and hearts, they've opted to squeeze the last bit of juices out of the used, once-delicious oranges in the bottom of the trash can. In comes direct to video movies. This was Disney's only true contribution for the last decade while they allowed Pixar to do amazing, revolutionary things in the animation world (as long as Disney received top credit for it). The animation king had become the contamination king with forgettable insults like Lady and the Tramp II, 101 Dalmations II AND 102 Dalmations, Pocahontas II, Cinderella II, The Lion King 1 1/2???, basically using people's sentimental connection to these characters to cash in just a little bit more. All the while stealing from you everything that you may have held special about these movies, demystifying powerful characters, and creating incontinuities to otherwise solid stories. As long as they follow a formula (throw in some unnecessarily weak songs and at least one comic relief and that'll be good enough) parents will buy it because kids will see that the characters that they loved are in it, so it should be just as great an experience, right? What a great plan! What was the last movie they released with the big three (Mickey, Donald, and Goofy)? The Three Musketeers!!! That story's never been told before! Wait a tick...as a matter of fact it's been told by DISNEY before! Now that's REALLY reaching (Treasure Planet, anyone?).
What am I getting so worked up about, though? This is Disney, right? I'm sure they have big things planned for this year. Let's see...The Incredibles comes out next week on DVD. That's a fantastic (Pixar) movie. In October, (a beautifully Walt-inspired) Cinderella finally comes to a special edition DVD for all of you aspiring princesses out there, apparently as a follow-up to the forgettable sequel that came out to DVD...What?...two years ago! (That can't be right...) What else does Disney have to offer? How about Lilo and Stitch 2 (not to be confused with Stitch: The Movie, which was made to sell kids on the TV series), Tarzan 2 (obviously, Tarzan and Jane must not have been a sequel either), we've just had Mulan 2 (because apparently Mulan didn't prove as much as we thought she did in the first one), both Toy Story 3 AND 4 are in the works (sans the series' biological father and life's-blood, Pixar), Dumbo 2 was being developed (maybe they've decided to have the respect to leave at least one classic alone), in the theaters we have Pooh's Heffalump Movie starring a baby heffalump (child-speak for elephant) trying to fit in and be friends with the gang (making all 'heffalumps and woozles' stories from before meaningless), and saddest of all -a Bambi sequel, about the young fawn with his father and what happened before he returned as a fresh buck, taking away all the strength and mystery that made his father such a powerful character in the original movie. I can only imagine what Disney has on the horizon.
I'm not saying that all of Walt's movies were oh-so-original. Almost everything that he brought to the screen had already existed by the time he put his own special twist on it (Snow White, Bambi, The Jungle Book, Winnie-The-Pooh, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Peter Pan, Alice In Wonderland, Robin Hood, Pinocchio -all other people's works). The difference is that he didn't recycle, he re-envisioned. He wanted to present something that he thought the people would enjoy, not something that he thought the people would buy. His versions of these stories were so amazing that when someone mentions their names, Disney's name is thought of before the original works themselves. Or course, nowadays even these movies aren't that special to kids. They've been seen time and time again and sit on the shelf in-between Pokemon and South Park. As long as they're making their money, they'll continue to vault the classics and sell them back to the public in another ten years, all the while finding ways to milk another story out of each and every one of them while we're waiting. How long before they add Rose Red into the scenes of the original Snow White movie so that they can re-release an EXTRA-special version of it or better yet, a sequel where Dopey finally speaks. That ought to dash a childhood memory or two. Maybe Geppetto decides to make a second wooden boy and Pinocchio feels unloved and leaves. He takes to a life on the streets (perfect place to add a little edgy rap song) and in a fit of rage accidentally kills Jiminy Cricket, pulling on all our heart strings for the loss of a childhood icon. That's powerful stuff! I guess from now on it's "And they all lived happily ever...until".
...All that being said: Go out and buy Bambi on DVD. It's a beautiful, time-honored classic that you just can't go wrong with. In fact, I think I'm going to go watch it right now...
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