Rethinking Disney....

This is my totally random tangent of the day, so I apologize.....
So the kids have a pretty good collection of classic disney movies, ones I watched growing up and some fairly recent ones. The vast majority of the ones I have I'm totally fine with, but have found myself really questioning others lately.

Take Dumbo for example-love the movie, pretty harmless. I remember being scared by the dancing pink elephants after he drinks the "water". So watching it as an adult is so much more disturbing I have to say. I've come to the conclusion that those poor clowns must have been drinking absinthe (think Moulin Rouge movie-the green alcoholic drink with opium). And then they end up in a tree with the southern crows.

Then the one that has bugged me the most recently-Peter Pan. I absolutely loved this movie when I was little, in fact I think it was the 1st movie my parents took me to see when I was just a few yrs old. So here's my issue, Peter's chauvinist attitude towards women. First, Wendy. Telling her she talks to much, and to get on with it.... Then he has tinkerbell who loves him, and hates Wendy. Then you have the mermaids who try and "drown" Wendy and the indian princess who also has his affections. He has all these women vying for his affections but just brushes them off like they are insignificant. The boy who never grows up. And when they are singing the song about the indians, I feel ashamed watching it, because it's so not pc. I know it's all a matter of what era the movie was produced and the sentiments of the time, but it's just very interesting to see it through a different set of eyes.

Then we have Pinocchio. Another childhood favorite of mine, which the kids only watched a few times before I donated it. I do fine with the movie until P gets taken off with all the boys to the amusement park world, and they start smoking and drinking beer and then start turning into donkeys, and shipping them off in boats. I remember this as a child, but really disturbed me as an adult.

A while back, I was singing the "Zipidee doo dah" song to the kids, and thought it would be fun for them to watch the Briar Rabbit video on youtube with the tarbaby. Because I loved it as a kid. WOW! Once again, I realize it was made in a different era, but wow was it offensive. I have a new realization of what the tarbaby was.

The kids loved Sleeping Beauty as well, and I did to, but I just couldn't handle Malificent and her little demon crew running around. I've taken it away for a while, and think when they're much older it might be better, but I have just had a much more sensitive spirit lately about all these things.

I let G watch Alice in Wonderland once when she was maybe 4 or so, thinking it would be fun. But as an adult, knowing that the story is about an acid trip, also made it much more disturbing, where as she thought it was fun and games.

And they also have Snow White. A young, 16 yr old girl living with a bunch of little men. I know it's all sweet and innocent.

I usually don't go off about random tangents like kids movies, and I know that most of the little stuff goes over their heads at a certain point. I grew up watching all these movies and turned out fine. It's amazing what culture and world experience etc can influence your change in perspective from child-adult. I just feel this need to protect their little spirits and to not just assume because it's a disney movie etc. that it can be trusted. To watch it first and make sure there is nothing questionable. At our house, pretty much the kids can only watch G movies, with the exception of a few PG ones, depending on content. My mom used to freak out about 80's cartoons and movies when I was growing up, and I never understood it until the last few years. Being a mom and wanting to be protective over their little minds-which are little sponges, repeating things etc. Then it becomes an issue of what do I really want them exposed to, however innocent it may seem. I'm sure I could go into a lot more here, but those are my thoughts for now :)