Walt Disney
An American Auteur
What do we mean by 'Auteur'?
●Is the director technically competent?●Do the films show a signature style?●Do the films project a consistent world view?
Disney
Remember, it's not just the name of the company – Walt Disney was the head of the studio until his death in the late 1960s.
Technically Competent?
Did things nobody had managed before – Snow White put together over 140,000 individual drawings to tell its story. Even then, working from observation the animators studied the way a dress would move as she danced, how leaves flew in the wind, how shadows changed on different surfaces...
Stylistic Characteristics● Fairy tales
● Anthropomorphic sidekicks
● Teenagers (especially teenage girls) growing into adulthood and breaking away from their parents
● Realistic animation rather than squash and stretch cartooning
● Songs – Disney films are musicals
Messages and Values● A clear good -v- evil view
of the world
● Standing up for what you believe in
● Rewarding 'good' behaviour (eventually)
● Children's/Young People's lives are important
● Good hearted, honest innocent loyalty will wiin over scheming evil
Possible Disney Projects?
Look at the changing representation of women in Disney films
● Snow White● The Little Mermaid● Mulan
What Would You Do?● Choose a focus film.
● Watch, watch and watch again, noting ideas about representations of gender
● Watch the other films and make notes
● Research Disney and Gender – research the specific films – research gender and fairy tales – research the 'root' stories (fairy tales, myths and legends)
And then what would you do?
● Record your findings● Evaluate your
findings● See where your
findings lead you next
● Go back to your notes, and the films, and think again
What else might you look for?● Marketing material
● Audio material – podcasts – discussions – press conferences
● AV material – as for audio.
● User generated AV
● Financial information – how much did they cost and how well did they do
● Awards
What will you do with this stuff?
● You will use what you've learned to write a presentation script
● You will refer to your research in the presentation
● We will worry about exactly how to write this in the autumn.