Saturday, February 03, 2007

Walt a Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde?





We're goin' way back today folks! All the way back to 1934. After Steamboat Willie, but before Snow White. This article is from an April 1934 issue of Photoplay, and it seems even way back then Disney was creating some criticism- albeit weak.


Now, I'm no fan of the media. I like facts (researched, real, live, actual, untainted facts), I like stories free of anything one-sided, and editorials have never been my bag, but I have to say, at least this author cops to his attempt to write a one-sided article. That, in itself, is refreshing.


A rather ridiculous problem he has with Walt, in my opinion, but it makes me laugh at how his generally paranoid stance gets beaten down by parents and professionals alike; all singing the praises of Walt. I'm not entirely sure if the piece is completely serious or not, but he seems pretty adamant about his point of view.


I don't remember being scared by these cartoons as a small child. I remember being enchanted by them (especially the pigs), and loving them very much. Perhaps I wasn't a child that was easily scared, I don't know. Not much scared me... besides Bette Davis, clowns, and this cheese dish my grandmother made... so perhaps the author has a small point. You be the judge. Were any of you scared of the wolf/ogres? To refresh your memory I have included 2 stills from the cartoons below.


I have also included two praises for both the Three Little Pigs and Lullaby Land from a January 1934 issue of Photoplay (below) for a sample of the everyman's opinion of these cartoons two months before the above article was written. Happy reading!




2 comments:

Michael Sporn said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Michael Sporn said...

This is a nice post. It's a nice blog, too; keep up the great work.