Disgusted with Disney

Two recent movie rentals have me disgusted with Disney. A couple of weeks ago, Rhiannon rented Fox and the Hound 2 and this week she rented Bambi 2. Both Fox and the Hound and Bambi the originals are family favourites. The characters are sweet, the storyline makes a point. The Fox and the Hound is about prejudice, friendship and loyalty. Bambi makes a point about the lives of animals and hunting and about friendships, loss and growing up.

But the sequel to both of these movies is sadly lacking. In Bambi there is rudeness, bullying, exclusion, unkindness. It is a far cry from "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all". There is almost no parental involvement in the second movie rather than the reassuring guidance of parents in the first one. It is very much like the school yard we expect children to survive on today. How does Disney miss it so badly that those who love Bambi would find this second movie appealing. Rhiannon was hoping for a story about Bambi as a father - taking up where the last movie left off. We were disappointed. It appears to be nothing but a blatant money grab by Disney. I myself am also tired of the constant message that children get through the media that rudeness and unkindness are cool, are accepted, are just part of life. Perhaps it is all the more jarring to us after more than 2 years without cable television in our lives. I don't miss it.

With Fox and the Hound 2, again instead of picking up where the last movie left and sharing some stories about the grown up Todd and Copper and how the managed their friendship across the bounds of hound and fox in their adult lives or the lives of their pups, we get a shallow story of the fair with none of the redeeming features of the first movie. Despite an all star cast with Reba MacIntyre and other country singers doing the music, which is great, the plot is sickening. A story of betrayal and greed.

I think Disney has gone a fatal step beyond the bastardized version of great fairytales like Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and the Little Mermaid in which most of the deep meaning of the original, age old tales is lost, replaced with a shallow, unsatisfying portrayal of girl and womanhood. That was bad enough. This is far worse. There is nothing to redeem it. Hopefully people will vote with their pocketbooks. These movies are not worth seeing.