For
as long as I can remember I have always watched Walt Disney movies, but now
that I am getting older I wonder if Disney movies were really appropriate for
me to watch as I was growing up, I wonder if Disney movies are appropriate for
young children all together. There is many different things that happen in a
Disney movie and there is mothers all over that is questioning if it is
appropriate for their kids. Mackenzie Beverly is one person that thinks that
Disney movies are a little on the inappropriate side for children. Beverly
states in the article 7 Classic Disney Movies That Taught Us Terrible Lessons,
“The Lion King: To Be Successful, Sometimes People Got to Die” (Beverly). Many would probably
see this in many different ways. For example, The Lion King was and still is
one of my favorite movies and I believe that The Lion King can be a bit violent
for children at this age, but The Lion King is also teaching children that in
order to get what you want you must fight for it. The Lion King 2, teaches
children that just because there might be different opinions amongst different
groups of people, does not mean that all that is involved is not the same. So,
The Lion King can give off different vibes to different people, it just depends
upon how the movie is looked at. Beverly also lists Cinderella as one of the
Disney movies that has taught children terrible lessons, and by doing so
Beverly quoted, “Some kind of "Fairy Godmother" will sweep into your
life at any moment, and find you a man to take care of everything. Just keep
wishing!” (Beverly).
Although Beverly believes that Cinderella has taught children this, it does not
mean that this is the same way that children look at Disney’s Cinderella. Instead,
I believe that children learn that if you keep dreaming and have a lot of faith
and work at it a little bit that your dreams may just come true. This is the
way that I look at Cinderella, even though Cinderella does disobey the
stepmothers wishes as to her staying in for the night, she makes her life
better by going with her dreams. Beverly also believes that the Disney movie
The Little Mermaid teaches young children, “A little compromise with evil is
okay, as long as everything works out okay in the end!” (Beverly)
Okay, yes Ariel basically makes the deal with the devil, but to be fair, Ariel
did not know that Ursula was evil when she first met her, Ariel did realize it
later however. Even though Ariel made a deal with Ursula she still continued to
fight for what she believed in and for what she loved, and I think that this is
the real purpose behind Disney’s movie The Little Mermaid. Many people have
different beliefs and thoughts on Disney movies though, and most will probably
keep their own opinion and stand strong for them. Although Beverly believes
that The Lion King is one out of seven movies that has taught us terrible
things, the Disney Movies Guide says differently. According to the Disney
Movies Guide, The Lion King is ranked number one Disney movie at a poll
percentage of 91.39%. The Little Mermaid is also on the top of the list coming
in place at number four with 88.51% poll votes. So, even though one person
believes that these two particular movies have taught our youth terrible
things, the rest of the Disney world disagrees, or do they all really disagree?
Caitie Flum also has a few things to say about some Disney characters, one in
particular, Cruella De Vil. In Flum’s article Jolly Holiday: Disney Villian’s
Flum states, “She scared me when I was a kid. Not only did she look scary, but
she had an incredibly scary song to go along with her! She also went after the
innocent: a bunch of cute puppies! Looking back, she was also pretty
deranged/insane, which makes her an even more interesting villain now!” (Flum). Therefore, with an
adult saying that Cruella De Ville was scary then and even a little bit now,
that makes many wonder how scary could she be to a young child watching 101
Dalmations at this day and age? Cruella De Ville wasn’t the only Disney Villain
that Flum had listed in her article, she also listed, Ursula from The Little
Mermaid. Which again sends in mixed opinions about The Little Mermaid, but Flum
had this to say, “Ursula scared me so much as a kid! The tentacles freaked me
out and she was such a great example of how power can be used for evil instead
of good.” (Flum).
Ursula also freaked me out as a young child, now that I am older looking back I
am surprised my mom let me watch Ursula, because I probably got nightmares, but
it also didn’t do any real harm to me, so I see why I was still able to watch
The Little Mermaid. Disney’s Bambi is the one movies that I truly do not think
that young children should watch, maybe at an older age, but not young
children. I am not the only one that says this. According to Ralph H. Lutts, “Each
time the film is rereleased parents worry about the impact of the death scene
on their children.” (Lutts).
This is the one reason that I too do not think that Bambi is an appropriate
Disney movie for young children to watch. Although, there is so many different
opinions on the way that people look at Disney movies, Disney movies will
always be the number one children’s movies that people will love. Disney will
always be the family movie that most families will grab out of the movie
cabinet on family night. Disney will always be the movie that is close to
everybody’s heart. Disney will always be close to my heart.
Works Cited
Beverly, Mackenzie. "7 Classic Disney Movies
That Taught Us Terrible Lessons." 02 01 2009.
Flum, Caitie Flum And Jason. "Jolly Holiday:
Disney Villains!" Walt Disney World For Grownups 15 04 2011.
Lutts, Ralph H. "The Trouble with Bambi: Walt
Disney's Bambi and the American Vision of Nature." Forest and
Conservation History. 1992. 160-171.
