Originally Posted By Marove I was playing the Disney scene it game with my 9 year old cousin. One of the questions was 'which Disney animated feature involves a dress, the stroke of midnight, and a glass slipper?' THen, he answered... "uhh... Sleeping Beauty?" It's weird about 15 years ago, it seems almost any child (myself included) male or female would know the answer, even if they hadn't seen the Disney film, they would at least be familiar with the story from the fairy tale. Then there was a part where his question was a picture from a movie, where it showed a bottle saying "Drink Me" and he had no clue what movie it was from. Then there was a clip from Beauty and the Beast (1991), where at the end it said "What movie is this?" and he answered... "uhh... Lady and the Beast?" Of course he knew all the answers to the Pixar movies. When we were at DCA, we decided we wanted to see the Aladdin musical, (based on a movie he is unfamiliar with) But then before he went, he was like "No! I don't want to see a musical, those are boring." It turns out he didn't even really know what a musical was, as they are rarities in animation today... He thought it was where you watch people play music on violins and stuff. In the end he did end up really enjoying it, even if he was unfamiliar with the original 1992 Disney movie. (Interestingly he and many of his friends are unfamiliar with such 'relatively recent' classics as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King. In addition to older ones like Snow White, Pinocchio, and Cinderella. I guess you could say, though that more recent films like Tarzan (1999), The Emperor's New Groove (2000), and Lilo and Stitch (2002) they do know, but those are the exceptions.) Obviously there are exceptions, and I know that there are many children who are still watching the "classic" films. My five year old half-sister, for example watches such Classic Disney films as Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty and even the more 'recent classics' like Mulan, The Lion King, and Tarzan. I'm also aware that the Cinderella DVD was sucessful, so there is hope. I don't mean to complain, kids and the like can watch whatever entertains them.. I just think it's kind of weird, how films that I watched as a kid such as the "then recent" Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast" and classics that I watched such as Snow White and Pinocchio are not being watched the same way by many kids these days, although there are many exceptions. What really almost broke my heart was when I told that same younger cousin, about Disney going back to Fairy Tales.. First, he didn't know what a fairy tale was, and then I told him of both The Frog Princess and Rapunzel. Now I understand he's a boy who might not be interested in that stuff, but of course he had never heard of Rapunzel. (Most people have never heard of The Frog Princess) So I told him they were stories similar to Sleeping Beauty or The Little Mermaid.. and then he said... "Boo... I think that's dumb" I told him they would be musicals with songs, and he also thought that sounded stupid. "I don't like that kind of movie," he said, "I like Pixar type movies."
Originally Posted By trekkeruss I could be wrong, but I don't think the classic fairy tales have nearly the impact they did, say, 30 or 40 years ago. I remember watching Cinderella on TV many, many times... not the Disney animated feature, but the live production with Leslie Ann Warren. Do they ever show those kind of things on TV anymore? It doesn't seem like it. There is just so much that kids are exposed to now, especially in regards to television and video games. I bet your nine-year old cousin knows all kinds of stories aimed at kids... just not the ones we (or at least I) grew up with. But maybe it's just because he is a boy; you did say he seemed to know the films that are more boy-oriented, like Tarzan.
Originally Posted By TheRedhead I think post 1 actually says more about the differences between what little boys and little girls watch. A boy not knowing that Cinderella is about a shoe and midnight, but liking the Incredibles? Makes sense to me.
Originally Posted By jdub I think the examples portray what is going on in that household, the "entertainment choices" made by the parents. For better or for worse, in some households, the EXPOSURE to this material is declining--including, apparently, much reading to children by parents. And that is what is very sad.
Originally Posted By basil fan Jdub hit it. There are many children who would like the older films, but if their parents don't rent or buy them, they'll never find out. Years ago, we were playing Charades & I acted out Casablanca. When it was finally guessed, my aunt, some 30 years older than I, asked if it was a black-and-white movie. "That's why I didn't guess it; I don't watch black-and-white movies." Now, if you saw Casablanca & didn't like it, that's okay. If you heard about it and thought you wouldn't like it, that's okay, too. but to just dismiss all b&w films outright without knowing anything about them just bugged me. It's not about age or era you live in. I thought it might be worth a look, caught it on TV, & now it's one of my all-time faves. Beyond Experiment 62 <a href="http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/disney/stitch.html" target="_blank">http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/ disney/stitch.html</a>
Originally Posted By KachinaBear I, too, agree that parents play a big part in what a child is familiar with. I'm a big Disney fan (naturally) so my son (almost 3) is VERY familiar with classic Disney movies. He actually likes Cinderella very much, especially the cat and mouse scenes.
Originally Posted By chickendumpling A little tiny part of my heart cracks when a kid I know doesn't know the Disney "classics". This usually only happens with my kids "new" friends. You know, the ones I haven't had a chance to convert yet! LOL. I agree with what jdub and the others have observed. I think its sad. I think kids really miss out on a very special, innocent part of childhood by not getting to experience the Disney classics. Honestly! How do kids grow up without the memory of Jiminy Cricket in their ear telling them right from wrong?! And while I'm on my soapbox... Can I just say how much I dislike watching the "classics" on t.v. Breaking them up with "glitzy" commercials just *so* breaks the magic spell the movie has cast on the imagination!
Originally Posted By FiveBearRugs There's an elegant solution: you sit your kids down and (in Medusa voice) FORCE THEM TO watch all of the Disney films. Start with Snow White and work your way down to Chicken Little. Yup, that means including Saludos Amigos and Make Mine Music and Oliver & Company and The Black Cauldron.
Originally Posted By sarahwithbaloo Well it would not surprise many to find out that Mikey love the Disney classics he has watched a great many of them. I do however think his heart lies with Pixar but at the moment his THING is to sit and watch 2 1/2 hours of shorts if he can get away with it as he has just discovered his dads treasure's collection. I think his favourite 'classic' is probably Tarzan but he was very still all the way through Basil the mouse detective when it was on the Disney Cinamagic channel the other day. I guess we are lucky in the UK none of our 5 Disney Chanels break the show with comercials at all.
Originally Posted By Marove Yeah, it's weird in the US the movie is just called The Great Mouse Detective,- Basil's name isn't in the title here.
Originally Posted By Marove Well he's one of the kids these days who is really into video games and stuff. I know he switches the channel every time Pocahontas come on Disney Channel even though he's never seen it, I guess it's not hip enough for him, I don't know. I do like the Pixar movies, and have nothing against computer animation. I remember going to see Toy Story in the theatres for the first time (I know that dates me, well at least if you're a little kid it does) back in 1995. I thought it was absolutely stunning, as it was different. I didn't mind that it wasn't a musical, as the "Disney musical" did not seem (at the time) to be declining being released around the same time as Pocahontas and The Hunchaback of Notre Dame. The songs were still good, and did show emotion even if it wasn't a musical in the classic sense. The thing is the whole cgi look was very different from traditional animation, if anything it looked more live-action than 'animated' in many ways leading people to fear that one day if anything happened live-action might get replaced with cgi... of course that's unlikely anytime soon, as people never get tired of seeing real people on the screen. What has happened is that now computer animation seems to be everywhere, leaving hardly any room for traditional animation. What do you know it would end up being that cgi animation would be the norm, and hand-drawn would be the rare exception. It's more than just the outside substance, even the stories of the cgi films seem to be quite different, for example although with the slight exceptions of Toy Story (1995) and Toy Story 2 (1999), none of the cgi films are musicals, or use songs to convey moods and help move the story along like in the hand-drawn films.. although it's true that many early 21st century hand drawn films tended to be non-musicals, but yeah it is something I miss. I don't know it just seems that to me, the whole novelty has warn off on cgi.
Originally Posted By sarahwithbaloo Oh I may have got it wrong I will check next time it's listed and come back to you on that one.
Originally Posted By sarahwithbaloo That was answering post 10. Just spoke to Davewasbaloo and he confirmed that in the UK it is indeed Basil the Great Mouse Detective and he new about the difference in the states. I think it is wierd how some things like that are for instance I know of 2 novels that have different names in the states to the UK and I can not see any reason for them being different either.
Originally Posted By sarahwithbaloo As for the music being missing from CGI I think that is a real shame although at least they tend to have cool sound tracks, but please do not forget that fabulous musical 'Put that kid back were it came from or so help me'
Originally Posted By basil fan >Yeah, it's weird in the US the movie is just called The Great Mouse Detective,- Basil's name isn't in the title here.< Basil doesn't really mind being referred to as "Great." Remember the Basil DVD cover previous to the latest one? The film noir-esque one? It featured a blurb at the bottom: Starring Basil of Baker Street. What other Disney character gets that type of billing? Basil rules!! Baker Street <a href="http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/basil/bakerst.html" target="_blank">http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/ basil/bakerst.html</a>
Originally Posted By basil fan BTW, my nephew went through a phase where he absolutely loved Salodos Amigoes. He used to make me play Mount Aconcagua with him. Or he'd imitate Donald with the flute & I'd have to be the llama. You can't know what kids will like if they're never exposed to it. Of cours, mom & dad, if you just watch all the movies yourselves when the kids are around, you'll be surprised to see what they get interested in.
Originally Posted By FiveBearRugs <<sarahwithbaloo: I think it is wierd how some things like that are for instance I know of 2 novels that have different names in the states to the UK and I can not see any reason for them being different either.>> Like... Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the US, and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in the rest of the world?
Originally Posted By sarahwithbaloo 5bearrugs, that one I did not know about. I was actually refering to Phillip Pullmans Northern Lights (UK) Golden Compass (US) and Diana Gabaldon's Cross Stitch (UK) Outlander (US) but I guess ther are probably loads. (perhaps I feel a thread coming on)
