I hope everyone is enjoying December so far, because it’s almost over! Take a moment’s rest from your frenetic holiday pace and check out this week’s crop of letters. First up, MousePlanet columnist and MouseTales author David Koenig shares reader mail in response to his remembrance of Roy Disney, “Roy Genius” (December 18, 2009).
Paul B. writes:
Thank you for your article. However, you left out two important questions: With Roy gone, who will be the next champion for the things that made Disney great? Who will save Disney next time?
The bench is still pretty deep at Disney, as far as supporters of the way things were and should always be. Unfortunately, none have the power of a Roy Disney. In wholly different ways than were his father and his uncle, Roy E. was unique and invaluable to the cause. Let’s hope that the next time Disney needs saving, the right person will be in place, with exactly the unique qualities needed to overcome those future challenges.
Greg writes:
Roy the Bruce. Robert I of Scotland, much like Walt’s Nephew, wasn’t cut from the cloth of the indigenous Scots. Robert’s family was of Norman descent, a European tribe, yet through the years the Bruce clan took to the rugged high country and made it its own. Before the Bruce’s mega victory at Bannockburn, he suffered years of broken alliances, clan betrayals, and dirty guerrilla war; in order to finally rally the last corners of highland support the Bruce had to murder his closest Scot rival, in a church, after a failed negotiation of strategies.
Robert the Bruce is revered today, time can forgive so many of the ill things he did. He was not the first Scotsman to gain fame as a patriot, nor is the Bruce the first to come to mind (William Wallace is the global patron for Scottish Liberty now and forever). Here’s what’s important: Robert the Bruce WON the war and the crown of a united Scotland. Of course, he followed his ascension with numerous land grants and appointments for his supporters, coupled with plenty of punishing charges against his detractors, but it was the middle ages so you might expect such elite barbarism (certainly not in today’s modern and civilized world).
When he died he was a proven success. Even though he was a Norman Scot, one that probably never donned tartan or hurled a block of wood (both only Twentieth Century ideas of Scottish identity really is), the people loved him and praised him. Robert the Bruce fought and made himself king. He got dirty when necessary, made careful friendships and faced incredible odds. He won the trust and fealty of the Scots, just not as much as William Wallace did.
Great analogy. Thank you.
A Cast Member writes:
I enjoyed your latest article in memory of Roy E. Disney. Everyone I talked to who had met him said that he was a very nice, approachable person. The reason why I am sending this email to you is the very obvious snub Disneyland is giving to his memory. When the announcement was made that he passed away on December 16, you would think the American flag at Town Square would be put at half staff. Not so. Only the company flags were, the ones that say “Disneyland Resort”. A lot of guests and Cast Members were asking why. In a Mickey’s Roll Call, the managers were told to give this reason: the American flags have not been put at half staff because permission must be granted by Governor Schwarzenegger or President Obama.
If I remember rightly, when Walt, Roy Sr., and Frank Wells died, the flag at Town Square was at half staff within a day. Since Roy’s passing, the flag still has not been repositioned. And why only now is the Company going “by the rules”? What have you heard?
I’m sure there’s not permission required of governor or president. It’s private property. Disney can raise or lower it any time they want, for whatever reason. If the American flags didn’t get lowered, it’s one hundred percent Disney’s call.
Next, staff writer Andrew Rich answers a question about the next Walt Disney World MouseAdventure after reading the MouseAdventure Fall 2009 Recap (December 4, 2009).
Jim D. writes:
I’ve just been reading about MouseAdventure for the first time and saw that you recently had your first Florida event. So sorry we missed it! I don’t know if you’re familiar with the “Herald Hunt” event held in South Florida every November (it sounds a lot like MouseAdventure), but my family and I are avid annual participants. We LOVE any fun challenges like this. When is your next event at Walt Disney World? We’ll certainly be there. Thanks.
Our inaugural Walt Disney World MouseAdventure: World Explorers event was a great success and we are even now in the early planning stages for another Walt Disney World event. We haven’t yet determined when this will be, but the newsletter you subscribed to will keep you updated; you might also check in on the MouseAdventure forum on MousePad from time to time.
Finally, two readers share their reactions to Alex Stroup‘s review of Disney’s The Princess and the Frog (December 11, 2009).
Valanie writes:
I have to say I was highly disappointed in your review. I am a black female, and I watched the film in a predominantly black neighborhood in the South with a mixed group of people. It received great applause at the end. Not to play the race card too strongly, but I was so excited when I heard that there would be an African-American Disney princess. I think most blacks are excited about it. I determined that I would be at the first showing of this movie on opening day to show my support for this film. I enjoyed it very much. The beginning felt so warm and the colors so rich- I just loved it. I overheard two African-American females conversing on the way out. One said, “I am going to name my daughter Tiana! I am SO serious!” I was amazed at the depth of the connection that could be created with a 2D drawing!
I do not think the film was perfect; the voodoo, hoodoo black magic demonic stuff was a bit dark for a G-rated movie. And while the songs were not all memorable, I did find myself toe-tapping along to Zydeco for crying out loud! (Zydeco and I do not mix, not even a little…) The middle was a bit slow, but i think you overestimate the length. As I left the theater, people were quoting lines from that “slow” part.
I happened to attend a showing of Precious on that same evening with a friend. As we walked out of the building, we were stopped by a black man driving through the parking lot in his truck. He asked if we had seen The Princess and the Frog. I indicated that I had. He wanted very much to know if it was good or not. He wanted to take his wife and didn’t want to be the only adults in there.
It seems that he is not one that goes to a lot of Disney pictures. He is someone like me who goes to see every Pixar release. This was the average black man, preparing to go see an animated film because it was the first time that an African American was the star. And not just any animation, DISNEY animation. The full treatment. It’s like being invited to a dinner party at the White House (no pun intended) and not having to crash the gate.
The whole whitewashing (seriously not intentional) of racism does not have any place in this movie for the Disneyphiles that I know or for the black people that just want a good movie. Why the heck do I want to bring up old hurtful wounds when all I want to do is watch a beautiful story drawn and colored beautifully. It would be different if this was central to the story ala Mulan. In Mulan, misogyny WAS the story, so it needed to be focused on. Disney does not do well with historical dramatic animation (Pocahontas: boring). Disney has tried to make this less about her being black and more about her being industrious. They were expounding upon a classic fairy tale. It sounds as though you would like them to have left it “a long time ago in a land far, far away”.
They didn’t paint her in the rich area of town, they openly showed the shotgun housing common to blacks in the South (then and now). But they showed the disparate situation of her friend Charlotte. Of course, there was the whole Harlem Renaissance thing going on at the same time, so I think Disney could have saved itself some grief and moved the story North to quiet the naysayers. Truly though, I think Disney does a neat little electric slide and grooves right on past the color issue. I for one am glad of it. The people in my neck of the woods seem glad of it too. For a reality check, we can go see Precious and cry at injustice, abuse, harshness and the effects of racism on the black mindset. Then we can go see The Princess and the Frog for a bit of good old fantastic Disney escapism.
Pete writes:
Color me stunned! You and I actually agree on this movie, although, in the end, I think I liked it a bit more than you.
First and foremost, something which, I believe, is missing from your review or at least is not given enough of an emphasis, is the quality of the animation. The faces of the characters notwithstanding (I just don’t like the way they looked; Beauty and the Beast set the bar, and in my opinion that bar is not approached at all here), I thought the animation was top notch, especially, as you note, at the end.
As for the music, I liked the songs much more than you, but thought there were a few too many; perhaps if there were fewer numbers and if one primary tune was revisited throughout the movie, it might have been more memorable — the opening number for instance; it was quite good.
The story? Well, here is where you and I are in perfect and complete agreement (although I didn’t mind the fact that the time and place were set). I couldn’t help but wonder what Walt would have done in the making of the film to tighten up all the threads of the story to make it more compelling, or what scene or scenes he would have pulled to keep the story moving forward; in this respect I’m a bit disappointed in Lasseter who did such a masterful job in “fixing” Meet the Robinsons which, I agree, story-wise, is superior to this film. And then when the credits rolled, I saw the problem: four story people and three official screenwriters; that’s rarely a good sign.
In the end, I’m left more disappointed than anything else. With the quality of the animation, this could have been a classic (as you pointed out); it seems impossible that those involved could have forgotten that the most important aspect of any film is the story. No matter how beautiful a film is, if the story isn’t compelling or interesting or tightly wound, it falls apart and cheapens all the components (my god, just watch Finding Nemo again and marvel at how well the story flows and how tight it all is).
Having said all of what I have, I hope this movie is enough of a financial success to keep Disney in the business of making a feature-length hand-drawn animated film from time to time. I can’t tell you how much I am already growing tired of seeing “3-D” attached to every “animated” film that is due to come out in the near future. As much as I’m a fan of Pixar, and most of that is due to the story-telling, I’m a believer in the warmer, richer, feel of hand-drawn animation.
