From Dracula to Disney Dissertation The crossover between fearful and friendly.
Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, amongst many other well-known animation companies, have all banned together and helped make the progression between fearful and friendly supernatural creatures a smooth transition so that children may adapt to the idea of them more easily. They helped facilitate children to the idea of friendly and relatable creatures through such films as ‘The Nightmare before Christmas (1993)’, by Disney Animation Pictures, ‘Dark Shadows (2012)’ by Warner Brothers and ‘Hotel Transylvania (2012)’ by Sony Pictures Animation. These films present supernatural creatures in a more forgiving light as opposed to the ‘Blade trilogy (1998, 2002, 2004)’ by Marvel Enterprises and ’30 Days of Night (2007) by Columbia Pictures. Disney and Pixar Animation Studios are known as a child’s production company making films that, although adults will watch and enjoy, will be primarily films for a younger audience to take joy in. ‘The Nightmare before Christmas’, was such a great hit that the generation born during the 1990’s realise it to be a classic. Disney is still managing to sell all sorts of merchandise with Jack and Sally’s faces on it. Pixar’s ‘Monsters Inc. (2001)’ was such a success that they followed it with the prequel ‘Monsters University (2013)’ several years later. The premise of monsters scaring children and hiding in their closet was debunked and spun on its head during this film, with instead making children laugh at their funny, unusual features. The crossover between the representation of fearful and friendly creatures has become more popularised to suit a wider audience; allowing it to be easier to reach more target audiences, makin...
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...this way, Hollywood twists the unknown to make it more appealing to audiences. However, they can also just as easily contrast this by making the object less desirable, as seen in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’. Where the Disney mermaid figure is flipped on its head and the beautiful innocent mermaid turns to sharp-fanged, devious, bloodthirsty merpeople. The general premise of the creature still appears, a half woman, half fish hybrid, however, being mythical creatures Hollywood can mould them into whatever they want, and whatever fits their needs most. There is no forced style everyone must adhere to as there is no evidence of their existence so Hollywood film studios can design their mermaid to whatever they want, probably to whatever makes them the most money. Completely depending on their target audience they could have anywhere between innocent and sinful creatures.
Monsters are supposed to scare people and represent their fears. In most monster movies, the monster is a huge, ugly, non-human beast that terrorizes the city and destroys everything. But in the 1985 film The Stuff, the monster appears to be an innocuous dessert; what does that say about the fears of society? Jeffrey Jerome Cohen, an expert on monster culture, explains this and more in his article “Monster Culture (Seven Theses)” reprinted in the textbook Monsters in 2012. Cohen’s first thesis of monster culture, The Monster’s Body is a Cultural Body, argues that “The monster’s body quite literally incorporates fear, desire, anxiety, and fantasy, giving them life and an uncanny independence” (12). According to Cohen, the outward appearance of the monster reflects the fears and anxieties of the culture from which it originated. The first thesis says that the monster is not just a monster; it embodies the things the society wants to cast out as different from it, made into flesh.
The most appealing films are those that keep audiences guessing, surprise them at the most unexpected times and break conventional film boundaries. Edward Scissorhands (1990) directed by Tim Burton, is a feature film that does exactly that. It blends a fairy tale story with a gothic horror film, to engage the viewer right from beginning until the resolution. It tells the tale of Edward, who was the creation of an inventor who died before he could give Edward proper hands, and was left with scissors as hands. When he was taken from his gothic mansion, into a “normal” suburban community, he was at first welcomed, but then heartbreakingly rejected when things went wrong. The character of the “monster” is an important feature to many gothic horror texts, and examining Edward and other various characters helps to bring about interesting ideas and concepts about this key role. Burton also draws on the relationship between the princess and the prince, commonly found in fairy tales. By using various features found in the gothic horror genre and the fairy tale genre, Edward Scissorhands is able to sway us to think about the consequences of judging people who are different, it influences us to question what true love is and changes the way we view who can be the prince and princess.
Some would say watching horror movies and being scared out of your wits is a fun way to spend their hard earned money. They go see these movies on average once a week, each time choosing a newer version of a trilogy like “Chucky” or “The evil Dead”. Film making has come a long way over the last few decades, the graphic...
Halloween is the time of year that most people loved the idea of being scared beyond belief. But nowadays it’s harder to be genuinely scared because it seems like some people have become accustomed to most horrifying things that relate to Halloween due to the fact that it is the same every year. Nonetheless every year amusement parks use Halloween as a marketing scheme to get people and their friends to come to their horror nights, and spend money on ridiculous overpriced items, which all present the same things; clowns, clowns, chainsaws, and more clowns. Yes we can all agree that clowns are scary, but there has to come a time where the ones coming up with these “horror nights” step back and realize that what they are doing is no longer working anymore. But alas there is someone out there who knows what they’re doing, and it quite possibly could have to do with the fact that they are connected to the movie studio that did invent the horror film genre. But what makes Universal Studios Halloween Horror night so sinister? Universal Studios has a way where they take you out of reality and place you in a horror movie where you encounter many horror mazes, and also by the way they attack your senses in unexpected ways.
Monsters and the Moral Imagination, written by Stephen Asma, presents many possible outcomes as to why monsters are the rise. Mr. Asma discusses why monster portrayals could be on the rise in movies, books, and stories throughout his subsection Monsters are on the Rise. Perhaps the rise is due to traumatic events in recent history such as the holocaust or the terroristic attacks of 9/11 in
King chooses to compare the minds of a child and an adult to see the different resilience levels when exposed to the horror genre. He describes his findings as a paradox, “Children, who are physically quite weak, lift the weight of unbelief with ease” (PP 118). King assumes because the mind of an adult is mature it can handle the horrific depictions within the horror variety yet children seem too be able to withstand the pressure. King backed his theory by analyzing Walt Disney’s movies and their impact on a child’s imagination. Walt Disney’s movie Bambi is what Stephen King pinpointed when comparing the toll of horrific events in children and adult minds. King questioned adults about what was most terrifying about a movie when they were younger and they stated, “Bambi’s father shot by the hunter, or Bambi and his mother running before the forest fire” (PP 119). Another aspect King unveiled was the Doppler Effect and that, “A part of ‘growing up’ is the fact that everything has a scare potential for the child under eight” (PP 119). The cognitive imagination does not stop developing it just suppresses certain mental functions to draw a line between what is real and what is not. Horror novelist mask the tension with comedy yet with one swift motion it, “Knocks the adult props out from under us and tumbles us back down the slide into childhood” (PP
Modern day horror films are very different from the first horror films which date back to the late nineteenth century, but the goal of shocking the audience is still the same. Over the course of its existence, the horror industry has had to innovate new ways to keep its viewers on the edge of their seats. Horror films are frightening films created solely to ignite anxiety and panic within the viewers. Dread and alarm summon deep fears by captivating the audience with a shocking, terrifying, and unpredictable finale that leaves the viewer stunned. (Horror Films)
When the word “fairytale” is mentioned, nearly everyone thinks of light-hearted stories with friendly characters and happy endings. However, these are not the ideas that classic fairytales originally sparked. In fact, numerous modern Disney movies were based off stories that were not so sugar coated. In the 19th century, the Brothers Grimm were responsible for multiple of these popular children’s tales. The Disney remakes of classic fairytales such as Cinderella, Tangled, and Snow White exclude the dark, twisted themes that are significant in the Brothers Grimm fairytales, because society tendencies continue to evolve toward sheltering and overprotecting young children.
The mermaid in Andersen’s version offers a greater depth of character as opposed to Disney’s mermaid. Anderson writes when introducing
“The mermaid swam with her prince toward the beach. She laid him in the fine white sand, taking care to place his head in the warm sunshine, far from the water. She also had to give up her voice, which she had done so willingly, endure tremendous amounts of pain to have the legs of a human, and give up her life as a mermaid as well as never be able to be with her sisters at the bottom of the ocean again. The little mermaid passed all of the tests that the universe threw at her, but in the end, she did not get to marry the prince and this is a great example of a message from the author that life can be unfair sometimes.
If a girl was going to search for her Prince Charming, the first place she should look is in the world of animation. Animation has probably been around since the beginning of time. Although, the artwork that originally resembled animation was only one or two cels, animation today is made up of hundreds or thousands of cels.
The persona of the ballerina is seen as a female role is shared with the mermaid. Many know mermaids as beautiful, female creatures of mythology. Specifically they are known as sea nymphs that are half-human with the tails of a fish. Bug uses the idea of the female mermaid to seduce the dog from being eaten once again in the cartoon “Hare Ribbin.’” Bugs initially disguises himself as a female mermaid with long, blonde hair and bright, red lips.
Horror films are designed to frighten the audience and engage them in their worst fears, while captivating and entertaining at the same time. Horror films often center on the darker side of life, on what is forbidden and strange. These films play with society’s fears, its nightmare’s and vulnerability, the terror of the unknown, the fear of death, the loss of identity, and the fear of sexuality. Horror films are generally set in spooky old mansions, fog-ridden areas, or dark locales with unknown human, supernatural or grotesque creatures lurking about. These creatures can range from vampires, madmen, devils, unfriendly ghosts, monsters, mad scientists, demons, zombies, evil spirits, satanic villains, the possessed, werewolves and freaks to the unseen and even the mere presence of evil.
For decades Disney has been the source of happy endings, fairytales, and family friendly stories for children of all ages. These stories range from realistic and familiar, to the eye-catching magical fairytale. The key to each of these stories are the happy endings brought about by each of the characters unique personalities and dreams. Disney’s films are attempted to provide children with the basic understanding of wrong versus right, but instead influences our society’s beliefs and awareness. Although Disney’s efforts to provide the basic morals to our children are misleading and affect our society strongly, they also contain the use of racism in a form which shows the major differences between characters. The once admired and well-known characters are seemed to be recognized by their species, ethnicity and even their social class. Disney films have taken out of context and have persuaded their viewers understanding of racial stereotyping, which is thoroughly explained in Henry Giroux and Grace Pollock’s novel, The Mouse that Roared. They bring awareness to the underlying racial stereotyping in Disney films, which deeply affect our societies understanding today. Giroux and Pollock bring into perception these admired and regularly watched films through precise examples and racist rendering of the specific characters species and ethnicities which strongly influence our society and lead children to intake these negative influences.
While young adults might do costume parties and children may wear costumes on October 31st, it is rare to see children go trick or treating or see a house decorated with Halloween decorations. While I enjoy Halloween and its myth, I grew accustomed to not celebrate it. However, when I came to Japan, I was surprised by how colorful and how fun shops decorations and designs for any kind of products would become during October as Halloween approached. The commercials of Disneyland on television would amaze me with its amazing costume design and its rapidity to adapt the park for Halloween and Christmas. Back in high school, I discovered the joy of celebrating Halloween with my friends as we wore our costumes to Japanese most famous spot during Halloween: Shibuya. The town was flooded with people, celebrating Halloween like there was no tomorrow. This year, however, as I fell ill I, unfortunately, could not go anywhere. Nonetheless, I tried to celebrate Halloween by watching one of my favorite Halloween themed animated movies: Paranorman. Released in 2012, Paranorman is a 3D stop-motion animated comedy horror movie that tells the story of Norman Babcock who is an 11-year-old boy. Norman can speak with dead but no one believes him besides his friend Neil. One day, Norman's strange uncle explains him of an important annual ritual he must do to protect the Blithe Hollow from a curse cast by a witch it doomed centuries ago. Norman agrees to cooperate, but things do not go according to plan. A magic storm of the witch menaces the town as the dead rise. With unexpected new allies, Norman struggles to save his town, only to discover the horrific truth of the