Disney movies then and now

J

Jack 99

New member
Was watching Disney's "The Parent Trap" on Disney last night (yes, I have kids), made sometime in the late 50s or early 60s. Couldn't help but notice that Brian Keith tooled around his ranch in a Jeep with a scabbard mounted to the side and what looked like a Mauser Rifle in the scabbard.

Contrast that to the Toy Story movies Disney puts out now. "Woody the Cowboy's" holster is conspicuously empty.

Fruedian analysis aside (there's probably a Master's thesis in there being a whiny, unarmed cowboy named "Woody" as a character in a popular vehicle of mass culture), I think that the fact that Disney didn't think twice about arming Brian Keith's character in a "family movie" 40 yrs ago is telling about our society and the REALITY of gun ownership in our not so distant past.
Obviously, guns were considered healthy, even necessary. The sight of one didn't even ruffle feathers in a Disney production then but obviously the notion of even a toy gun on a toy cowboy isn't palatable for mass consumption anymore.

Just my thought for the day.

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"Put a rifle in the hands of a Subject, and he immediately becomes a Citizen." -- Jeff Cooper
 
Well, I don't know - they've sent contradictory messages for a while. Guns weren't portrayed negatively in "Old Yellar" (isn't that Disney?), but if you want to see the complete negative stereotypical redneck hunter, watch "Bambi".

Then again, if you want to see negative stereotypes of our fellow Americans of African descent, watch "Dumbo" or the never-to-be-released-again "Song of the South". Disney just goes with the times and the $$$, I guess.

[This message has been edited by Danger Dave (edited December 17, 1999).]
 
The Lion King ( a movie I really liked)

Mustafah and Simba discuss the circle of life:

"but dad.. don't we eat the antelope??"

"yes simba,they too are a part of the circle, and when we die our bones return to the earth and grow the grass the antelope eat" (it was similar to that)

When Simba returns to the pride.. i really wish he would have killed an antelope, thereby deciding to be true to his nature.. to BE a lion, before he tangled with Old nasty Skar and the Hyeanas.

Disney has INDEED changed a great deal.. look at the risk they took with Mulan .. a story about a girl who wants to be a soldier...

And lets NOT forget that while Woody's holster is empty.. the toy soldiers are still represented by R. LEE ERMY. ;)

Dr.Rob
 
It's good to see that there are people who watch television/movies with their children. It's the responsible thing to do because you can explain any confusing or incorrect scenes they may see. I tell my daughter that the men in Bambi aren't hunters, they're poachers; and they're bad because they are irresponsible. They shoot at anything that moves and they let their fire get out of control. I don't agree that they represent outdoorsmen, hunters, gun owners or men in general; but that is something that I have to explain to my daughter.

I don't see the negative representation of African Americans in Bambi. Danger Dave, can you explain? I think that Song of the South is available for purchase, BTW.

Disney's last big video release (I think) was Bug's Life. Where some ants go out and get some "warrior bugs" to protect them from the grasshoppers. It is only after the warriors/ants' plan fails that the ants realize that they outnumber the grasshoppers, at which point they attack with force and drive off the hoppers.

Hmm...has some parallels to the America and her government doesn't it? Let's all attack the evil hoppers at the voting booth next November and drive them out of town.


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RKBA!

"The people have the right to bear arms for their defense and security"
Ohio Constitution, Article I, Section 4
Concealed Carry is illegal in Ohio.
Ohioans for Concealed Carry Website
 
Here's something to check out next time you watch Lion King.....I read about this somewhere, didn't believe it, but did see it. There is a part where Simba is speaking with his dead father, a small cloudlike shape appears real quick, if you slow it down or freeze it, it says sex! There are a few others in Disney movies but I can't remember where they are now. So no, Disney movies arent the same. LOL Toy Story was a great movie though, my girl likes the second one also. She wants to be Jesse the cowgirl, funny, she asked where Jesse's gun was when pointing to the holster. I told her maybe the evil emperor Zurg took it. ;)
 
bluesman, you say song of the south is
available? that's new to me. where did
you see this? as far as i know it is
nowhere to be found,except in disney's
vaults. it is really a shame.
"whea is dat bluebird?"
 
BluesMan, I messed up. In the second paragraph, I meant to say "Dumbo" instead of "Bambi". Watch the crows near the end.

Sorry about that - I've edited my earlier post.

No, I don't think Song of the South is available for purchase. Disney did re-release it on videotape about 10 years ago, but quickly pulled it again when people protested - I know someone who has a copy. There was an article in one of the local free rags about it several months ago. Chandler (a white guy), who wrote down the stories of B'rer Rabbit and co. is from Atlanta. Supposedly, the stories are African in origin, and were probably told to him by former slaves & their descendants.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>"Woody the Cowboy's" holster is conspicuously empty.[/quote]

I don't think there is anything sinister behind this... I think it is in fact just the reality of toy personnel with ittle bitty side arms & holsters.

Case in point. For my son Colt's birthday (the day he was born i.e. 0 years) I pick him up a Marine Corps Teddy Bear. The Bear was attired in Blues and came complete with a holster and miniature 1911 (and I'm sure it has to be of Colt manufacture but the rollmark is to small to make out ;) ).

After him and my wife got home I put the Bear on his dresser. There it remaind until my next oldest started to play with it every now and then. Needless to say that within a few days the 1911 had disappeared into the void where small toys go. Thats been over 2.5 years ago... still haven't found it!

So Colts Marine Corps Bear is tooling around, like Woody, unarmed with an empty holster. Just the reality of ittle bitty sidearms!

Just my humble opinion!

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Schmit, GySgt, USMC(Ret)
NRA Life, Lodge 1201-UOSSS
"Si vis Pacem Para Bellum"




[This message has been edited by David Schmidbauer (edited December 17, 1999).]
 
I have a copy of the Songs of the South sent to me from a friend in England where it was released a while ago. The biggest problem that I've found is that it is in PAL format and nobody around here is willing to convert it to VHS (fearing the wrath of Walt I guess). Oh well, for now it just sits in my safe (I figure that it is worth at least as much as some of my pistols), maybe someday it will see the light of day again.
 
I stand corrected.

After some research I have found that supposedly Song of the South has been banned in the US since 1970. It was released in Europe in PAL format, but was pulled July 20, 1998. I remember seeing the movie as a kid at the theater, but don't remember much about it.

Trying to keep this gun-related: I think I remember a scene where Br'er Bear is holding a shotgun.

Greg L - Try http://home.earthlink.net/~donkell for conversion service. As for value, on ebay the PAL (european) format videos are going for $100.+ and Laser Disks are going for $200+. I guess racist movies are quite the investment. ;)


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RKBA!

"The people have the right to bear arms for their defense and security"
Ohio Constitution, Article I, Section 4
Concealed Carry is illegal in Ohio.
Ohioans for Concealed Carry Website
 
supposedly Song of the South has been banned in the US since 1970.

Well, add another to my ever-growing list of crimes. I had the soundtrack on vinyl when I was a rug-rat, and listened to it until age 14 or so. Yes, after 1970.

And last night I was musing on gun buyups (like Neal Knox says, the gummint can't buy back what they never owned) and confiscations, snickering at the thought of turning in my Jennings 48, weeping hysterically all the while... "Please, Br'er Fox, don' th'ow me in dat dere briar patch!"

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"The evils of tyranny are rarely seen but by him who resists it."
-- John Hay, 1872
 
Disney may be sitting tight on the film, but I find it hard to believe that it is banned in the US. By whom other than Disney? I care little for what corporate Disney has become under Eisner.
 
Song of the South isn't "racist", at least not in any derogatory sense. I have copies in VHS that I converted from PAL format (lots of video services can do this), and it's a cute movie, about the Old (antebellum) South, with old Uncle Remus telling stories in order to teach moral lessons, very much like Aesop's Fables. How some people can be so damn "politically correct" that they're "offended" by a cute little film (that juxtaposed cartoons with actors long before Roger Rabbit) amazes me. Anybody ever see Day At the Races (The Marx Brothers) or Sullivan's Travels (Depression-Era comedy-romance)? They're much less "politically correct" than Song of the South. How about old reruns of Amos 'n' Andy, or Rochester on The Jack Benny Show, or Steppin Fetchit in old Charlie Chan movies (the ones with Warner Oland playing Charlie Chan), etc, etc. These things were funny or cute, not offensive, and no one needs to be embarassed by them. Sure, they're stereotypes, particular to the time when they were made. So what? Caricatured political cartoons take account of the same sort of "pattern recognition" in conveying their message. People need to stop being so guilty about things for which they had no responsibility, and recognise what's good or innocent fun. Jeesh! (Rant over.)

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"Potius sero quam nunquam."
 
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