Preach it Daniel! I can remember renting VCRs. I can also remember when new VHS tapes cost $80 and upward to own (can you believe it?!) and when video cameras were huge, bulky things weighing many, many pounds and requiring a tripod always. These young whippersnappers today….!
I am certainly impressed by Daniel’s encyclopedic knowledge of Disneyana. I am not a huge Disney fan myself (although “Feed the Birds” is one of the lullabies I sing to our daughter on a semi-regular basis; and I am certainly grateful to Disney for bringing back the Muppets – I wish that movie had performed better, our entire family loved it!), but I enjoyed the discussion. Thanks to you both!
Re: specific Christianity in Disney – I thought of the “Ave Maria” sequence in Fantasia, which is not only specifically Christian but specifically Roman Catholic (although that song is, of course, loved by many of many and even no faith); and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” I haven’t actually seen the film, but I love the score and the songs, and from that I can gather that we see both the bad and the good of the church – the bishop (I think? or is he just a civil magistrate?) is certainly no exemplar of faith and virtue (and that song “Hell Fire” is really chilling), but also the good. I think Esmerelda’s song “God Help the Outcast” is a beautiful one, and really calls Christians to account for how and we do or don’t treat “the least of these” (especially in the end title sequence as sung by Bette Midler – I’ve used that in Sunday school settings a couple times). Also, the story takes place on “Topsy-Turvy Day,” which is actually the festival of Epiphany (January 6), which, in European Christian tradition, often is (or at least was) all about God reversing the status quo of the normal social order.
Has this not been put on the podcast feed? I haven’t found it on my ‘Droid.
It should be there, Joshua. Have you seen it yet?
Preach it Daniel! I can remember renting VCRs. I can also remember when new VHS tapes cost $80 and upward to own (can you believe it?!) and when video cameras were huge, bulky things weighing many, many pounds and requiring a tripod always. These young whippersnappers today….!
I am certainly impressed by Daniel’s encyclopedic knowledge of Disneyana. I am not a huge Disney fan myself (although “Feed the Birds” is one of the lullabies I sing to our daughter on a semi-regular basis; and I am certainly grateful to Disney for bringing back the Muppets – I wish that movie had performed better, our entire family loved it!), but I enjoyed the discussion. Thanks to you both!
Re: specific Christianity in Disney – I thought of the “Ave Maria” sequence in Fantasia, which is not only specifically Christian but specifically Roman Catholic (although that song is, of course, loved by many of many and even no faith); and “The Hunchback of Notre Dame.” I haven’t actually seen the film, but I love the score and the songs, and from that I can gather that we see both the bad and the good of the church – the bishop (I think? or is he just a civil magistrate?) is certainly no exemplar of faith and virtue (and that song “Hell Fire” is really chilling), but also the good. I think Esmerelda’s song “God Help the Outcast” is a beautiful one, and really calls Christians to account for how and we do or don’t treat “the least of these” (especially in the end title sequence as sung by Bette Midler – I’ve used that in Sunday school settings a couple times). Also, the story takes place on “Topsy-Turvy Day,” which is actually the festival of Epiphany (January 6), which, in European Christian tradition, often is (or at least was) all about God reversing the status quo of the normal social order.
For Ave Maria the sequence was originally meant to include a church. To make it more generic they moved into the forest/woods setting.
On Walt’s birthday this past year I tweeted synopses of the animated movies made under his provision. Here are the good ones for anyone interested:
Snow White: deceived into eating a deadly fruit, she lie helpless, awaiting resurrection by the work of a royal kinsmen redeemer.
Pinocchio: creation rebels, creator enters the world to save him, creation becomes real when the ‘holy’ blue spirit touches him.
Cinderella: King’s only child is a slave, briefly shows her glory, & her royalty & grace are revealed & her reign begins.
Alice in Wonderland: Only the object that can show a person what they truly look like can transport them to a magical other world.
Sleeping Beauty: Future king battles the dragon of hell to save the life of his betrothed.
Sword in the Stone: An unlikely peasant boy has royal blood he never knew of and becomes the greatest human king ever.
Jungle Book: After being transfixed by the devious serpent, Mowgli is saved from the tiger by Baloo, who appears to die and return.
Nice!