Parks Worth It After Break of $100 Barrier?

Disney's recent hike in prices has many talking about how attractive Disney will continue to look with a ticket price over $100. Many say the price will discourage attendance to the parks, but this writer seems to think otherwise. I inititally thought the prices would cause a decline in park attendance,but this man really pointed out a lot of key features that make Disney a unique experience that is worth the price. Very interesting read.  http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-disney-is-a-bargain-even-at-105-a-day-2015-02-26

A New Disney Renaissance?

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865622942/6Big-Hero-67-6Feast7-Oscars-make-case-for-second-Disney-renaissance.html

Little Mermaid

The similarities in the outcomes of the movies Cinderella, Snow White, and The Little Mermaid are just blatant, and all keep the theme of happily ever after, and quick and easy romance moving along in the minds of our youth. Cinderella received her salvation from a Prince who sweeps her off her feet, and Snow White receives her saving from a true love kiss, Ariel's salvation is none too different when she suddenly becomes human to be with the man she loves, which her father is suddenly okay with at this point. All of these Disney stories depict sad women who are helpless in many ways, and their only hope of getting out of the situation is to find a man. Men seem to be the key to success and the key to happiness, and I wonder what message this sends young women when they watch movies like The Little Mermaid. Not to mention that all of these female protagonists fall deeply in love after a few minutes, if not seconds, with a man they have never met, or had a conversation with. True love at first sight might exist in the world of Disney's fairytales, but it's not realistic, and it isn't helping young women's perception of relationships and love: that love will come find you at an early age (prior to 18 in Ariel's case, which is absurd), no work is involved, and you might have to change yourself so a man will come and find you. Particularly in The Little Mermaid, Ariel has to make really tough, unrealistic, old fashioned decisions, in order to stay with this man she just met. She has to forfeit her beautiful voice to get legs, and chooses her husband completely over her father; examples that just aren't really compatible with real world love affairs. It just damages young girl's expectations for how their love lives are supposed to play out.

Snow White

Watching Snow White, I can see many similarities between it and Cinderella. The maidens are both depicted as beautiful young girls who can sing really well, and who are both maids suppressed by their evil older mother or stepmother. They both have a man who they meet who is willing to sweep them away, but the mom ruins the plan and is jealous of the potential of the young girl. The similarities and outcomes are pretty much the same, or at least pretty similar in the way that there is a heterosexual marriage and they live happily ever after. But in Snow White it's interesting to see the stereotypes that Zipes points out in his essay, where the dwarves all work in the mines and go out to their jobs, while the women, Snow White, stays at the cottage and tends to the house. I would argue that it is also a bit sexist pertaining to the intelligence of Snow White as well, who is portrayed as a bit dumb when she cannot follow the dwarves' instructions and continues to make the same mistakes. It's interesting how all the heroines are portrayed as well. They are all beautiful princesses, while the ones who oppose them are typically significantly less attractive and ugly. Both Snow White and Cinderella conform to gender stereotypes and are depicted as having high voices, great singing talent, and a charming feminine touch with cooking and with animals.

Spell Bound

Zipes breaks down the history of the fairy tale, from its oral beginnings to the animated stories we are exposed to in contemporary entertainment. It's really interesting to read about the descriptions of the transitions of the fairy tale, as it was written down and eventually made into film. I agreed with most of what Zipes said about the exclusiveness of the written tale, as most poorer folk were not literate, but I disagree with how terrible he depicts Disney as. Zipes complains about the writing down of the tales, and how they changed the nature of the tale and the communal aspect of telling them, but he seems to make Disney out as a monster, when he only did the same thing as those who wrote the fairy tales down. But when people wrote the tales down, and they became exclusive to the elite, the same did not happen with Disney. When he took the written tales, he made modifications, just like those who wrote them down in the first place. He made modifications and put them on the screen for all to see, and it did not make the tales more exclusive, but instead made them more available because more children would rather see the animated movie version than read the tale. Disney made them more enjoyable and friendlier to children, thus he made them more acceptable. Disney did not do anything that hadn't been done before, but only moved the tales to a different medium to satisfy changing times and preferences. Zipes does make a great argument about the damaging effects and the gender stereotypes in Disney films and the tales themselves though. By animating those films, Disney perpetuated the gender stereotypes in the films, like the domestication of women and the dependence upon men. Most Disney films in the past like Snow White and Cinderella depict the heroines as dependent upon men to rescue them from their perilous situation, and can never independently get themselves out of the predicament. While the perpetuation of the tales can be blamed on Disney, the transformation of the tales into film was nothing revolutionary, but was only a different form of transition, like those who decided to write down the oral tales.