Zipes on disney

The basic arguments that I got from the reading was...
By monopolizing the animation film industry and making fairy tales a flashy spectacle or cheap trick, Disney violated the fairy tale tradition to the extreme. Disney tailors the tales to his specific fit and captivates his audience so much as they don't care that his stories are flat as long as they are aesthetically magnificent or entertaining. Audiences become so blinded by his works that they fail to notice or embrace others mostly because he has put on a good show but sometimes and rarely he appeals to the American spirit.
Zipes goes through great lengths to explain the origin of fairy tales. He states that fairy tales come from an oral tradition and with that tradition comes a sense of community, shared experience and beliefs. The literary tradition, although it destroys fairy tales by making them private and for certain classes, it still has contained in it communal beliefs or ways of behaving. The move to film destroys all communal ties and makes the tale about the individual, that is the illustrator. The image not the the tale or what is encoded in the tale has the most staying power. Disney entirely kills the fairy tales by making them mostly about his experiences and projecting his works as a product of one pair of hands. This is evident in the interpretations of his Puss in Boots and Snow White. Disney further slaughters the fairy tale by not making the focus what audiences can learn from the tale or infer about society. Disney focuses on technology, modernity and aesthetics. Fairy tales are the examples of the advancement of technology. Fairy tales are diversions, images, spectacles or tricks and we are not suppose to read into them. "Everything is one the surface, one-dimesional, and we are to delight in its one-dimensional portrayal and thinking." It comfortable, fun, easy and adorable. Disney has stopped the thinking audience and its imagination. I agree with Zipes argument in that it is difficult today for me to think of films of fairy tales without thinking of Disney. On the first day of class when we were asked to think of other films it took me a couple of hours later to come up with one that was not a disney animation or film. I mostly remember liking disney films especially for its charming qualities and catchy tunes. I don't think I ever learned anything from the disney films I just thought they were great shows.

Zipes Vs Disney

Zipes begin by questioning the "spell" Disney has on modern day options of fairtales.  While Zipes acknowledges that Disney did not completely "divest the meaning of fairytales and replace them with his own." He does state, however that Disney took all meaning out of fairytales.  While fairytales were once tribal folklore to express natural occurrences and communal harmony, Disney turned fairytales into an unobtainable goal of a utopian dreams with false hopes and promises. 

While I acknowledge that Disney changed the American view of fairytales forever; in part by taking away from the original life lessons of fairytales. More importantly i find it extremely fascinating how Disney managed to make fairytales accessible and all and a staple in American culture. I find it exceptional how dedicated he was to fairytales and how he personally related to them so much.  Zipes states that he built the perfect studio for creating fairytales in Los Angeles and put so much of himself into many of the characters.  

What I most agree with Zipes on is how Walt Disney did not give credit where credit was due. Although he did change many aspects of the fairytales he reproduced they were not his original ideas and I think it is unfortunate that he did not reference that. Disney's selfish tactics have now made his version of classic tales the base off which many artists now craft their version of tales. I believe this change in base information takes away many aspects or version of fairytales that could interest audiences for years to come. 

Zipes and Disney

One of the main arguments in the article by Jack Zipes is that Walt Disney sought to impose his image of a perfect society onto the tale that was being animated. He outlines the use of oral tradition and folktales and gives a brief background of Disney's animation history. To support his claim he uses the example of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. In this example Zipes outlines many changes that occurs in Disney's version, that was not present in the version by the Brothers Grimm. One of the biggest arguments that Zipes makes is that the role of the prince is greatly enhanced by Disney and that "the prince, the only one who can save Snow White, and he becomes the focal point by the end of the story."
This argument about the prince is what I would like the focus my response on. Disney wanted all the credit for his animation, taking sole credit for the works that had his name on it. Also, as stated earlier by Zipes the animator wishes to impose the greatness of his ideal world. In this sense I take the emphasis of the prince as a metaphor for the self aggrandizement of Walt Disney. Disney sought to increase the role of the prince, just as he was increasing the role he played in the creation of these fairy tales. However, I have a few problems with some of the assertions that Zipes makes. The main problem is that the role of the prince was already increasing (and deviating from the Grimm's version) before Disney came along. A perfect example of this is the silent film version of Snow White. The prince plays a very important role in this version. He is the reason Snow White is sent to be killed, and he brings her back to the palace where she is revived (although he is not directly responsible for her being revived he is insturmental in the chain of events that cause it to happen.) My point is you can already see that there is some major digression from the Grimm's version well before Disney. Also, to hold judgement on him for trying to display his vision of how society should be is also unfair. As we have read in previous articles, for example the article about the role of children, fairy tales are a way to reflect on a society's values. So, while it is true to say that Disney is trying to paint the world with his utopian image, while accurate, is not a fair assessment, because that is that has always been a major component of fairy tales.

Zipes Response

Zipes argues that Disney created his fairytale films, as a meansd of self-betterment and for the pure entertainment of the American public. Zipes discusses how Disney gave little to no credit to the animators and others involved in the making of his films. He also changes the fairytales to fit his own life story and his own life struggles. He not only imposes himself into the traditional fairytales by introducing his films as “Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and by changing the plots to describe his life, but also by glorifying himself as characters or symbols within the fairytales (for example, the increased presence and influence of the prince in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs).

I have not done any extensive research on Walt Disney and his tendencies as a selfish artist and human being, but as far as I have ever heard, he did seem to be a miserable human being, so as far as I have been informed, I do agree with Zipes' thesis pertaining to Walt Disney. What I do not agree with, though, is Zipes' discrete criticism of American culture, in general, through his criticism of Walt Disney and the fairytale films he created. For instance, Zipes' introduces his arguments in the FIRST paragraph of his essay by writing, “…Disney employed the most up-to-date technological means and used his own “American “ grit and ingenuity to appropriate European fairytales.” Zipes also includes a quote by Richard Schickal which states that, “…It [Disney’s tendency of conquering versus serving] is a trait, as many have observed, that many Americans share when they venture into foreign lands…” Lastly, on page 352, Zipes describes Disney’s fairy tales as the “American” fairy tale. Although there is much truth to the argument that Disney defined what is, today, the “American” fairytale, Zipes infers that the American society created Disney, and thus created these inaccurate, one-dimensional versions of the traditional European fairytale, rather than suggesting that Disney’s versions of the traditional European fairytales helped to shape American culture. I, personally, believe they (Disney and American culture) are products of one another, since culture is a living thing. Zipes makes a lot of good points about Disney, and perhaps the American culture, but I think that generalizing the American culture based on just one American, Walt Disney is very unfair, and inaccurate.

Breaking the Disney Spell

Zack Zipes begins his essay by boldly stating that "Walt Disney cast a spell on the fairy tale, and he has held it captive ever since." Seeing as the casting of spells and the holding of something captive are generally associated with the work of witches, I think it is safe to say that he is skeptical about Disney's strong role in the modernization of the timeless fairy tale. In introducing the fairy tale to a new kind of audience through the use of mass media and modern technology, Disney succeeded in wrestling the fairy tale away from its German ancestry and transforming it into an American genre that "reinforces the social and political status quo."
Zipes proceeds through his argument with a history of the transformation of the fairy tale from an oral tradition meant for the common man to a literary tradition geared towards the elite and literate. If this shift from oral to literary can be called a "violation" of the fairy tale genre, then the production of animated fairy tales can only be viewed as something worse, or perhaps just utterly revolutionary. Once Disney's film industry took hold of the fairy tale and further violated its ancient innocence, Zipes argues that the notion of "self-figuration" offered another dynamic to the changing genre.
Even though Disney kept some key aspects of the Grimms' original tales (i.e. struggles of women in patriarchal society, etc.), Zipes argues that "there is something sad in the manner in which Disney 'violated' the literary genre of the fairy tale and packaged his verions... he employed animators to stop thinking about change, to return to his films, and to long nostalgically for nearly ordered patriarchal realms." In short, Zipes deeply questions whether what Disney did to make fairy tales one of the leading American film genres had a positive or negative effect on this ageold tradition. But fairy tales were changing and evolving (perhaps not for the best) long before Disney grabbed them and ran into a studio. Why was his course of action so much different than that of the elite and the printing press in the 15th - 18th centuries?

Assignment 4- 3.Feb 2009

Hey Alex, Jasmine, Allison, Alexandria and Tim,

Below is your assignment:

Identify the thesis/the argument(s) in Jack Zipes' essay , Breaking the Disney Spell’. Do you agree or disagree with him? Justify the stance you take.

• Posts to be sent in by Midnight on Tuesday
• Comments on two other posts to be posted by Midnight on Wednesday

Looking forward to what you have to say.

Ann