Montag, 31. Januar 2011

Mickey vs. Bugs


Two powerful studios were producing animated movies in the early days of Hollywood: Warner Bros. and Disney. But where as the Warner Bros. studio had problems, especially with there non-animated movies, to work within the boundaries of the Production code, Disney was even celebrating the moralty and purity it requested. Disney simply excluded the biological reality of sex and created characters with higher and deeper motives for action, such as love, power and friendship. Mickey Mouse is the typical example here. He could´t be created any more "harmless". Without whiskers and beastly paws he lacks attributes of a real mouse. He merely appears civilized like a human being and has hands (though four-fingered) which are neatly tied in white gloves. You could say his appearance is nearly sexless and due to his high voice (spoken of Disney himself) you can´t even tell weather he is child or adult. Same could be said for Minnie Mouse of course. As stated in the book "The myth of the American Superhero" from Lawrence and Jewett the sanatizing effort of Disney in its definite expression gets reflected in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937):

The mythic transmutation of the Grimm Brothers` fairy tale clearly indicates in both cleanliness and sexual purity.

In the original tale of Grimm, Snow White is messing around in the Dwarfs house, eating and drinking their reserves and sleeping in their bed, in Disney´s version she is tidying up and cleaning, while all her little forest friends are helping her.

The final detail in the sanatizing campaign is to erase any possible doubt about the sexual implications of a women living with seven dirty old men. Whereas the Grimms allowed the lucky dwarfs to sleep in their beds adjacent to the princess, Disney sends them all downstairs to sleep on the floor. (Lawrence, John Shelton & Jewett Robert, "The myth of the American Super Hero", Wm. B. Eardmans Publishing Co., Michigan, 2002, p. 183)


Keine Kommentare:

Kommentar veröffentlichen