As a young kid, my cinema experiences were dominated by Disney films and I know that many people my age will be in the same boat as me. Furthermore, with the success of films like Toy Story and Cars, it seems that a new generation is falling in love with Disney as well. However, there’s something I find very troubling. Why is it that we are so fond of Disney, even though most of their films are full of deeply emotionally disturbing and distressing scenes?
Thinking about it actually, whenever someone mentions a Disney film, for me at least it’s the scary scenes that first come to mind. To me, Dumbo is not about a happy-go-lucky young elephant (who may or may not have been on acid…) but is about a poor little creature that gets picked on. The defining moment of Pinocchio is not when he becomes a real boy but when he gets swallowed by that massive whale. Even with something more recent like Finding Nemo, my abiding memory is of a depressed Nemo being stuck in a dirty fish tank and not just generally larking about turtles in the ocean.
Indeed, I can’t think of a single Disney film that doesn’t have the potential to emotionally scar the sensitive and vulnerable – qualities that most young children will have…
I like to think that the reason I’m so fond of trashy action thrillers like The Expendables, Die Hard, and Under Siege is because of Disney. After all, once you’ve grown up as a child seeing a cute fox chained up in prison in Robin Hood, or the evil Queen trying to murder a harmless Snow White, frankly most things in the cinema won’t distress you any longer.
As a rationale human being, there’s no way that I should look so fondly on a company that was responsible for giving me so many nightmares as I kid. Yet I do and will definitely want any kids I have in the future to grow up watching Disney as well. Am I mad…?!
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