Originally Posted By Rebekah This topic is for discussion of the 9/3/2002 news item <b><a href="http://sanantonio.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/stories/2002/09/02/editorial1.html" target="_blank">SanAntonioBusJrn: Disney advises Texans to forget 'The Alamo'</a></b> The August 30th <I>San Antonio Business Journal</I> offers a Texan's take on Disney's upcoming remake of <I>The Alamo</I>.
Originally Posted By DisneyLogic The problem in my view is the same malaise that affected Disney's approach to LORD OF THE RINGS ("LOTR"), reported at length in the pertinent discussions at about <a href="http://www.laughingplace.com/default.asp?WCI=MsgBoard&WCE=T-13777-P-7&Refresh=0904083834" target="_blank">http://www.laughingplace.com/d efault.asp?WCI=MsgBoard&WCE=T-13777-P-7&Refresh=0904083834</a> 4-6 years back, Michael Eisner discussed why Disney did R-rated movies and such through its Miramax unit. He explained that without giving talented directors and producers the freedom to go creatively with a story where they felt it must, even into R-rated territory, they could not attract top-flight talent. Often, he said, top-flight talent would then go on and make great G-rated and PG-13-rated films for Disney. But the same could be said, as in the case of Ron Howard, with capping a 'cosmic' production like "The Alamo" could be with a lid of $100 million. All that does is hobble the scenery and special effects people. Like LOTR, there are many Texans and others who have certain expectations about the story, and feel the main characters are original heroes in many respects. Then there is the John Wayne legacy. And there is also the ties with Disney's own cinematography, with its portrait of Davy Crockett. And the most interesting thing to me about an "Alamo" would be how the director would handle historical evidence that has been found since the John Wayne version and the famous image of Crockett fighting off Mexican troops swinging "Betsy" at 'em. Historians say , relying upon accounts in Spanish which have survived, that some of the major characters including Crockett surrendered. General Antonio López de Santa Anna was going to simply shoot them, but his officers convinced him that because of their huge losses against a much smaller Texan force they should use sabers. The rest is best left to the imagination. This kind of thing (e.g., Mel Gibson's "Patriot") probably happens in all wars, including American ones, but stories, legends, and movies have tended to "clean up" the details.
Originally Posted By DisneyLogic A couple of follow-ups to my post above, trying to find original sources for the claim of a handful of surrenders at The Alamo's siege. I read the original in the "human interest" (center) column of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL some years back. I found references to the diary in an archive of the University of Texas, at <a href="http://www.cah.utexas.edu/exhibits/Pena/translation.html" target="_blank">http://www.cah.utexas.edu/exhi bits/Pena/translation.html</a> Not surprisingly, there are some who doubt the authenticity of the diary, possibly because of what it says about several cultural icons. As for me, I don't see how the account diminishes any of their statures in the least. The account does contradict something I wrote above, however. The officers apparently wanted to spare Crockett or at least provide him with a more humane death. Santa Anna himself ordered their slaughter. It is known from historical records he was under orders to take no prisoners, although some women and children at The Alamo were spared. But his later letter reporting why he had to kill everyone is simply untrue, that Travis was arrogant, and caused their deaths. An organization devoted to Texan military history at <a href="http://www.kwanah.com/txmilmus/tnghist3.htm" target="_blank">http://www.kwanah.com/txmilmus /tnghist3.htm</a> also reports that Crockett and others were "put to the sword". It's clear that from very early on, the defeat at The Alamo or, more accurately, pyrhhic success against overwhelming odds became such an emotional event and the stature of its participants of such greatness, that "truer to the spirit" accounts were composed from quite early, such as those recorded in Reuben Potter's notebooks at <a href="http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/mcardle/alamo/alamo22-12.html" target="_blank">http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/mca rdle/alamo/alamo22-12.html</a> and by Theresa Hunter at <a href="http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/mcardle/alamo/alamo86.html" target="_blank">http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/mca rdle/alamo/alamo86.html</a> Like the Enola Gay incident at the Smithsonian, a portrait of The Alamo's finale could be a historical minefield. Or maybe they just won't show the end....
