Disney
Walt Disney was born in 1901 in Chicago. He had four other siblings.
Walt was interested in Art from an early age, he would often sell his drawings for a little bit of extra pocket money. His interest in Art continued when he went to high school and studied Art and Photography.
Walt developed a love for nature, wildlife and family. His father was quite stern and there was often little money but his mother and older brother still encouraged him to pursue his talents.
At sixteen Walt tried to enlist for military service but he was too young, instead he joined the Red Cross and was sent over to France. He spent a year driving an ambulance and chauffeuring Red Cross officials, his ambulance was covered with Disney cartoons.
When Walt returned from France he started a career in commercial Art, he started a company called Laugh-O-Grams which failed and went bankrupt. Walt decided to head to Hollywood and start over.
Walt became successful with his "Alice Comedies" and was recognised as a Hollywood figure. In 1935, he married one of his employees and they had two children together.
In 1932, his first production called Flowers and Trees, which was the first colour cartoon won Walt the first of his academy awards.
From 1937, Disney commenced producing such films as Snow White and the seven Dwarves, Bambi, Sleeping Beauty and Dumbo.
Walt Disney is seen as a legend of the 20th century. His international popularity is based on the ideas that his name represents: imagination and creation.
Analysis of Disney's version of Sleeping Beauty
Disney's version of Sleeping Beauty is very different to the other verions as it is primarily in the form of a film and it is was produced to engage children and entertain them. The changes made by Disney are there to make the tale easier to understand for children and more compelling and more appropriate so it is likely to be watched. In productions like this Disney uses the same style when constructing their stories. This is exactly the same as the Brothers Grimm style when constructing stories, there is always a wicked stepmother, an evil character such as a witch and their is definitely always a hero or heroine that saves the day, it the style of using these similar archetypal charcaters. One element that we cannot forget is these Disney movies always end happily ever after, and if they didnt they just wouldn't be a product of Disney. Another element that is common in Disney versions of stories is the exciting musical feature that every Disney movie uses, that gets children involved in the movie and connects with them, this is definitely Disney's style and it is highly beneficial for them.
Some differences in the Disney version compared to the other versions are the actual length. As I have said previously the Perrault version is quite elongated because of the subplot, the Grimm version is quite short because they jump from event to event and just tell a short tale rather than a story and Disney's version is quite long as well but this is due to it being in a different form and it is 72 minutes.
In this version Disney only has four fairies, the three good fairies and the evil fairy, which sets the curse at the celebration. This last fairy seems to be more of a witch than a fairy as she is so evil and the way Disney makes her appear is so evil. For example she is fully decked out in black clothing and when she appears or vanishes there is a cloud of green smoke that either comes or goes with her. Another feature that Disney add to make it obvious that she is evil is her name, Maleficient, which just sends shivers down the spine. Disney make it clear that it is not a mistake that Maleficient is not invited as she is the definite evil character in this version. Unlike other versions where the evil fairy leaves the story after she has put her spell on the princess, this version keeps up the apperances of Maleficient and she is one of the major characters as is Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip. For example it is Maleficient who encourages the princess to touch the spindle so that the prophecy comes true. By setting up Maleficient as an evil fairy, Disney using their style have set up a bad character for their audience to hate and also gives their audience an easy conflict to identify. It is clear that Disney see this important when dealing with children.
Another difference in the Disney version is that the prince is already in love with the princess as we see in the scene where they sing "Once upon a dream" (Walt Disney) this provides more of a sense of a story for a film rather than a tale in a book, it is also what motivates the prince to fight through the thorns. In this version the prince also has to deal with the dragon after he gets through the thorns, the dragon being Maleficient herself. Once the prince has fought through the thorns Maleficient says (Disney 1974) "I shall turn myself into a dragon and wait for him in the rose forest." The prince fights the dragon and kills it. This style of using the theme of conflict in Disney movies engages the audience because everyone likes a bit of action in a story.
Due to Disney's version being a film, it would seem unreasonable for the prince and princess to just meet that once and fall in love so that is why Disney had the characters meet previously to the princess waking up. This is the scene where they are walking in the woods singing and dancing. By using this scene it creates more realistic grounds for the prince's motivation to go and save the princess, then for them to fall in love and get married.
Therefore the major differences in Disney's version are the length of the actual story, the non invitation of Maleficient and how she is evil from the start and how she maintains her evilness throughout the story and the prince and princess already knowing each other due to falling in love with each other previously in the woods.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths:
* Due to this version being in a film format it is more entertaining for a larger audience. It is not just a tale retold but a tale that has been adapted into a film for entertainment purposes so it is enjoyable.
*Due to it being a film, there is the chance to be more engaging through the use of music and it was more engaging and made it more enjoyable rather than just text on a page.
*A great strength of Disney's version is that it builds the relationship between Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip before he wakes her up, which is good as it is more realistic and has better grounds for the prince to be so motivated to get through the thorns and kill the dragon and save someone he has met before rather than a stranger he has just heard is beautiful.
Weaknesses:
* This version is very typical of Disney movies and you expect the outcome at the end rather than being surprised, you know what is going to happen.
*The Disney version was done a very long time ago so it is a bit outdated compared to Disney's productions now, so if children were to watch it now they would think it was boring as even the music in it is dull compared to today's music in Disney films.
* I didn't like the idea in this version of the three good fairies taking Sleeping Beauty away from the palace until her birthday to protect her from the evilness of Maleficient, I thought maybe Disney could of come up with a bit more of a clever idea rather than making her live in seclusion for so many years away from the palace and her parents because after all they did want a child so much and then when they finally have one she is taken away. Therefore I see it as a bit of a weakness.
