From: Ellen Greever <greever>
Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 11:47:36 -0500

I don't actively dislike all of the Disney movies, though I refuse to see the Little Mermaid because I adore the Andersen original and to have the ending changed is just too offensive. What bothers me more is that the books from the movies are such crap. There is absolutely no care taken with the writing. It's just illustrations from the movies with bare bones or lousy writing to go with the pictures.

>From a folklore perspective, I don't really care for the way so many of
those stories have been carved in stone by Disney, where before they changed and evolved with each retelling. And I was just horrified when I found out that my now 6 year old niece was in love with the whole Disney
"Princess" line of merchandise, although I don't think she's many, if any, of the movies. But that's the feminist in me. Ellen Greever SOIS UW-Milwaukee

-----Original Message----- From: ccbc-net-bounces at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
[mailto:ccbc-net-bounces at ccbc.education.wisc.edu] On Behalf Of James Elliott Sent: Thursday, July 20, 2006 11:23 AM To: randall.w.wright at comcast.net; ccbc-net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu Subject: Re: [CCBC-Net] RETELLINGS

I have to agree with Randall. I did like the early Disney projects, and

probably would have had little knowledge of the originals without them. Plus the artwork in the ones he mentions is fantastic. In those days, Walt gave his creative staff nearly full control. When he got involved in too many projects (theme parks, tv, etc.) and after his death, that ended and a more cookie-cutter approach was established for Disney's projects.

As for Pooh, the early version with Sebastian Cabot's narration were great fun. Anything after that is, well, pooh!

Jim Elliott Reference/catalog librarian Gadsden County (FL) Public Library


>From: "Randall Wright" <randall.w.wright at comcast.net>
>To: <ccbc-net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu>
>Subject: Re: [CCBC-Net] RETELLINGS
>Date: Thu, 20 Jul 2006 06:27:15 -0600
>
>Lee,
>
>I'm going to disagree with you about the singing cricket and the
day-glow
>colors of Snow White (it wasn't until later films that they introduced
that
>fairy-tale brightness). I think Disney did a wonderful job with
Pinocchio
>and Snow White. And even Sleeping Beauty. He created some great images
and
>brought animation to an art form. But along came Cinderella and those
>annoying mice. At least in Snow White the animals were animals (albeit
>friendlier than most). And I do believe that Pinocchio would be lost in
>obscurity were it not for Disney's treatment of it.
>
>Another Hollywood retelling that I really believe improves on the
original
>is The Wizard of Oz (of course NOT Disney). The drama is greatly
improved.
>As I recall from the original, the worst that happens to Dorothy is
that
>she
>has to mop floors for the witch. And the munchkins are boring-all
dressed
>in
>blue. In the movie version, Dorothy's life is at stake. The witch is so
>awfully and delightfully evil. And the wizard gave me nightmares.
>
>To bring the subject back to books: One of my favorite retellings is
the
>recent Goose Girl by Shannon Hale. There is also Mira Mirror by Mette
>Harris
>that actually takes the Snow White story on from the point of view of
the
>mirror (who was once the sister of the Queen). I realize these aren't
>retellings of books already in print, but rather original treatments of
>traditional stories.
>
>The trend that appalls me is the continuation of series by authors
other
>than the originals: additions to the Narnia series or the Little House
>series. To me that is bastardization in the real sense. I rather like
the
>first Disney version of Pooh, but what has happened since is quite
>annoying-stories that Milne would never have imagined (he wasn't that
>bland).
>
>Randall Wright
>A Hundred Days from Home (Holt 2002)
>Hunchback (Holt 2004)
>The Silver Penny (Holt 2005)
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: ccbc-net-bounces at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
>[mailto:ccbc-net-bounces at ccbc.education.wisc.edu] On Behalf Of
>Lbhcove at aol.com
>Sent: Wednesday, July 19, 2006 3:03 PM
>To: ccbc-net at ccbc.education.wisc.edu
>Subject: Re: [CCBC-Net] RETELLINGS
>
>Anything...any thing...Disney did to the classics is DIS-mal. Parents
>might
>find singing crickets, a princess who feels that one day her prince
might
>come, all in day-glow colors, 'cute.' But he bastardized the classics
in
>every
>sense of the word.
>
>"If it ain't broke, don't fix it," might be a motto to all publishers.
>Leave the originals alone.
>
>Caldecott board books? Classics in coloring book-formats? Poetry
magnets
>to put on refrigerator doors? Let us continue the trend
>to make all youth idiots.
>
>Stick with today's trend...where all YA book jackets are pretty pink
and
>most novels deal with tragedy. It is just what are youth needs in
these
>disturbing times.
>
>Lee Bennett Hopkins
>
>www.leebennetthopkinsbooks.com
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Received on Thu 20 Jul 2006 11:47:36 AM CDT