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A magic carpet ride from 'Aladdin' to 'Brother Bear'

In my opinion | The Clockwork Mind

by Joseph Vandehey | Columnist

PUBLISHED ON 2/14/08 IN Opinion

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Dear reader, the first time I remember going to the movie theater, I saw "Aladdin." I was only five years old at the time, but the image of that massive wave of lava and the subsequent chase through the Cave of Wonders has been etched on my mind ever since. I came out of the theater practically begging to see it again. I just wish I felt the same way about Disney movies today.

I kept up with the movies for quite a while, but then, about the time "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" came out, I waited until the DVDs to watch, and then, after "Brother Bear," I stopped watching entirely. All the charm has dried up, and I know it is not just nostalgia: the Genie still makes me laugh, and Rutt and Tuke, well, don't.

First off, what happened to the heroes? Either the protagonist is a social misfit too cowardly to stand up for him - or herself (like Chicken Little) or a jerk who thinks they know everything about the world (like Kenai), and their characters never develop further than that. The plots then consist of pumping the hero full of courage or beating down their egos as appropriate, and again the plot never develops any further. 'Tis a sad day indeed when the person who should be grabbing our sympathy compares unfavorably to a molding piece of fruit when it comes to character development. At least the fruit turns green.

Second, what happened to the music? The song and dance numbers put Disney animated films a step beyond their peers with tunes that would keep tapping through your mind even years after having last seen the movie. After a horrible flirtation with Phil Collins, Disney has dropped music almost entirely from its movies, except for the token pop song to make its way onto the radio (especially Radio Disney) and the soundtrack (also, wouldn't you know it, released by Disney).

Third, when did Disney start suffering from Land Before Time syndrome? For those unaware, the "Land Before Time" has spawned 13 direct-to-video sequels, two sing-alongs, a television series and seven video games to date. Now, I can understand and even appreciate Disney making a sequel or two to a popular movie if they actually put effort into them, but every animated sequel has been a poorly written, poorly scored, poorly animated direct-to-video disaster. And where once Disney had the sense to stop making sequels after extending a movie into a trilogy, "Lilo and Stitch," at three sequels, a cartoon series and counting, looks like it is rapidly becoming the next "Rocky" with even less dignity than Rocky himself - if that's possible.

As far as I can tell, Disney believes that kids want to see what Disney has made. Kids after all have short attention spans, so shouldn't they want flatter characters, simpler plots, pop songs - if any - and a reused setting over a new one?

No, and no for the same reason why adults don't want that. When things are trite, they feel trite, and kids as well as adults hate being talked down to. Today's Disney movies treat kids like they could not understand a joke more complex than "Knock, knock." Is it any wonder then that the movies are watched, perhaps laughed at, and then quickly forgotten?

Besides, no kid I have ever met thinks that Luke (or Anakin) Skywalker is any less cool for the complexity of his character, or that the orchestral accompaniment of "A Friend Like Me" makes it inferior to a synthesizer and drums. They are too busy having fun to care.

If Disney continues in this way - and every sitcom and cartoon it has produced in recent memory has convinced me they will - then I will simply find other sources of decent animation: Next movie night at my place, it will be Pixar, Studio Ghibli, or Sylvain Chomet. You know, something that treats me like I'm still a kid at heart, not an idiot.

jvandehey@dailyemerald.com

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