‘It's kind of fun to do the impossible.’ Getting to know Walt

It is hard to imagine our world without the magic brought to us by Walt Disney. So lets go back to where it all started. Who was Mr. Disney?

His story began in Hermosa, Illinois where he was born in 1901. He was one of five children of Elias and Flora Disney. Walter Elias Disney spent most of his childhood in Marceline, Missouri and moved to Kansas City in 1911. His chief childhood interests were trains and drawing. From a young age he would draw and paint pictures and sell them to family and friends. As a high school student he took drawing and photography lessons and was a cartoonist for the school paper. He attended The Art Institute of Chicago for night courses.

In 1919 Walt decided to pursue a career as a newspaper artist. His brother Roy Disney who later co founded the Walt Disney Company found him a job at Pesmen-Rubin Art Studio. He also worked at the Kansas City Film Ad company. This is when he began experimenting with commercials based on cut-out animation, hand drawn cel animation and the camera. He named his cartoons ‘Laugh O Grams.’ Shortly after this, the Disney Brothers Studio was set up between Walt, his brother Roy and cartoonist Ub Iwerks. During this time a character known as Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was invented.

Unfortunately the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit were stolen and the Disney crew had to come up with another character. This character was Mickey Mouse. The first animated shorts for Mickey were The Gallopin’ Gaucho, which were both silent films. These cartoons were not so successful due to lack of distribution. Steamboat Willie was the third cartoon to be created upon the introduction of sound into film and was an instant success. The following year Disney created a cartoon called Instant Symphonies, which featured Mickey and his newly created friends, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy and Pluto. The first cartoon to be created in colour was Flowers and Trees, which won Disney an Oscar. The ball was now rolling.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Disney’s first full length animated film, hit the spotlight in 1937 producing $1.499 million, in spite of the Depression and also won eight Oscars. Snow White was followed by some other classic favourites, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo and Bambi. Walt Disney studios was finally opened in 1939 where some other Walt Disney classics were produced including Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland and Lady and the Tramp. As well as his animations, Disney became popular for other forms of television entertainment. He was indeed one of the first people to use television as an entertainment medium. Shows such as The Zorro and The Mickey Mouse Club were popular with children. He used his Sunday night show Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Colour to promote his new theme park. What can I say, the man was a genius.

On July 17th 1955 Disney embraced a new challenge by opening up the first ever Disneyland theme park where families could meet Disney characters and enjoy rides. Disney World in Florida was under construction when Disney was diagnosed with lung cancer at the age of 65. Walt died on December 15th 1966 and his brother Roy followed through with the Florida theme park project, which eventually opened in 1971.

Walt Disney Productions is one of the best- known motion picture production companies in the world. During his lifetime, Disney became known as one of the most innovative animators and won 22 academy awards. His efforts and notions have led to The Walt Disney Company becoming a leading diversified global entertainment and media enterprise; a colossal success, an international phenomenon and an inspiration to the world of creativity and innovation. He started the magic and left us with a lifetime of enchantment, dreams and delight. Can we ever thank him enough?

Lets hear it for Walt Disney!

  By Tasneem Mahmoud

Meet Mickey's crew!

The original Disney family have transcended through generations and generations. But what is the story behind all these bizarre yet incredible critters?

Mickey Mouse

Who’s the leader of the club that’s made for you and me? M-I-C-K-E-Y! Mickey mouse was created as an anthropomorphic mouse in 1928. His original outfit was red shorts, white gloves and big yellow shoes. Between his creation in 1928 and 1947 he was voiced by Walt Disney himself and the job was also carried out by various individuals such as James MacDonald, Stan Freberg, Alan Young, Wayne Allwine, Les Perkins, Peter Renaday, Bret Iwan and Chris Diamantopoulos afterwards. He is brave, helpful, kind and adventurous.

Minnie Mouse

Minerva Mouse, most commonly known as Minnie Mouse is Mickey’s girlfriend. She was also created in 1928 as an anthropomorphic mouse. She is recognized for her dotted dresses, big flouncy bow and high heels. She first appeared in Plane Crazy alongside Mickey. In these earlier cartoons she was often shirtless with a skirt and a flower on her head in place of her bow. She was also originally voiced by Mr. Disney, followed by other individuals before finally taken over by Russi Taylor. She is known to be thoughtful, caring, intelligent and fun.

Pluto

Pluto came barking into Mickey’s family in 1930 as Mickey’s pet. He is therefore not anthropomorphic, although very expressive. He is yellow with long black ears and a bright green collar. He made his first appearance in Chain Gang. Like Mickey he is also adventurous, but also cautious and has a tendency to panic quite easily. He is nevertheless very loving and is known to be Mickey’s best friend.

Goofy

Pluto was followed by another dog Goofy in 1930. Unlike Pluto, Goofy is anthropomorphic and wears blue pants, an orange turtle neck, black waistcoat, a bright green hat and brown shoes. The crazy colour combination of his clothes attributes to his name and personality. He is one of Mickey’s best friends, but does not appear to be as intelligent. Instead he is clumsy, mindless and foolish. He is however caring and lots of fun. He first appeared in Mickey’s Revue and was later included in the Mickey, Goofy and Donald trio films. He has a son called Maxwell, more commonly known as Max who first appeared in 1951.

Donald Duck

Donald Fauntleroy Duck, more commonly known as Donald Duck is a quirky anthropomorphic duck with an uncontrollable temper. He was created in 1954 and is one of Mickey’s best friends. His original outfit is a blue sailor style sweater with a red bow tie and a blue hat. Unlike, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and his girlfriend Daisy, he does not wear any shoes and has one of the most identifiable voices in animation history. His speech is sometimes incomprehensible which attributes to his being a short-tempered duck and adds to the comedy he brings to the audience. Despite his being one of Mickey’s best friends he is jealous of Mickey’s popularity and rivalry is often shown between the two. He is also very excitable and typically mutters ‘oh boy oh boy oh boy’ when he comes across something interesting. He has an extended duck family that appear in various cartoons with him, his three triplet nephews Huey, Dewie and Louie being the most memorable.

Daisy Duck

Daisy Duck is also an anthropomorphic duck and was the last to join the crew in 1940 when she featured in Mr. Duck Steps Out. Her original outfit consists of a purple t-shirt, a pink bow and heels. She has prominent eyelashes, which she uses to flirt and wears a bangle on her left wrist. Thoughtful and caring, she is Minnie Mouse’s best friend, but like Donald also has a bad temper. She has a sultry, diva-like demeanour, which also adds to her comical value as a female duck.

So there we have our loving Mickey crew! All different shapes and sizes but one loving family! They will continue to put smiles on our faces for years and years to come.

Come along lets sing the song
And join the jamberre!
M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E!
Yay Mickey!
Yay Mickey!
Yay Mickey Mouse Club!

Lets hear it for Mickey and his crew!

By Tasneem Mahmoud

From Feminine to Feminist; the evolution of the Disney princess

Historically Disney princesses have been inspirations to children on a global spectrum. Their gentle demeanors, elegant appearances, struggles against the conventions that surround them and wishes for dreams to come true render them as likable, relatable and motivational to all young viewers. Typically all Disney princesses give off a air of cautiousness innocence, naivety and decorum but over the decades the conventions set by Snow White have been liberated more and more.

All Disney princesses have undoubtedly faced both internal and external conflict in their fairy tales. Snow White longs for her prince to come someday and free her of the evil queen’s confinement and pursuit to kill her. Cinderella longs for her wish to be loved to come true and to be freed from the cruelty inflicted on her by her wicked stepmother and horrid step sisters. Aurora also hopes for prince charming to whisk her from her berry picking days.

Then we have Ariel longing to be with her human lover and to discover the fruits of being human much to the disapproval of her father. Belle struggles with the social constructions of the tiny provincial town she lives in longing for greater adventures while being viewed as a strange maiden by her local community. Lets not forget Jasmine who battles against the rigid traditions of the sultan’s kingdom being expected to marry for law rather than love. She was followed by Pocahontas who finds it difficult to live under her father’s restrictions and has to see her foreign lover in secret. Mulan is made to honour her place as a woman by adhering to silence and obedience.

Next we see Tiana struggle to raise funds for her restaurant. Rapunzel strives to find satisfaction with living in a confined tower away from society and real love, Merida tussles with having to marry and fulfil the customs of being a princess, Anna endeavours to understand, reconnect and free her sister, after her parents tragically perish in a ship wreck and finally Elsa with her effort to conceal her magical powers from her kingdom and in doing so building herself a solitary and miserable existence.

It is fair to say all the princesses have their own shares of 'trials and tribulations' as Tiana puts it like all young girls do. Despite their happy endings, none of them have it easy. The behaviour and reaction of each subsequent princess has however changed as time has passed.

As you have all probably noticed, the first three princesses whose films were released between 1928 and 1960 had very mature and classical voices and were all rather obedient and submissive. They knew how to resort to tears when things did not go their way, but not how to put up a fight. Snow White and Aurora had to be brought back to life by true love’s kiss and Cinderella had to be freed from the tower by rodents and birds for crying out loud.

Then the tide began to turn with Ariel, the first girl to stand up to her father and disobey his orders to follow her dream. Belle also refused to succumb to the horrid Gaston and to the bad tempered beast. Jasmine showed no fear in maintaining her objection to be forced to marry any prince to satisfy the law and fled from the palace in search to find her identity. Pocahontas, the only Disney princess based on a real person, also stood her ground against her father and John Smith in order to create peace in her village. She was followed by Mulan who defies historical China’s sexist’s views on women. Instead of holding her tongue in a man’s presence and allowing herself to be married off and become a silent and obedient wife, she impersonates a soldier to save her father’s life and to prove women have more ways to fulfill their honour (talk about moving from feminine to feminist). We can already see the princess has evolved by a mile by this point.

Then we have Tiana, the first working girl trying to raise money to open her own restaurant! The girl with two jobs! The girl who works morning, day and night who states she ‘ain’t got time for messing around’ and  that she doesn't care that people think she is crazy, topping it with ‘look out boys I’m coming through.’  Yes we know Cinderella worked hard, but that was her own house not her own business so there is a difference here especially when we are talking about 1912 New Orleans. Tiana therefore brought the modern hard workingwoman into the Disney spotlight, making the Disney princesses more  identifiable to modern day viewers.

We then saw the beginning of the 3D princesses; Repunzel, Merida, Anna and Elsa, the most modern and most recent Disney princesses, all with modern girl voices and all with guts. Repunzel disobeys Mother Gothel’s orders and leaves her tower in order to fulfil her dream and does not fall in love with Eugine until further on in their adventure together, a contrast to earlier princesses who experience love at first sight. She also does not appear to be a damsel in distress and does her fair share of battling and saving others.

Merida is the official tomboy, who is anything but feminine. Similar to Jasmine, she refuses to be forced into marriage for royal tradition, but nobody has this red head’s style.

Anna does in fact experience love at first sight, like some of our older princesses, but in her story, it is not about pursuing a boy, it is about pursuing and saving her sister. She demonstrates an impeccable level of loyalty, regard and unconditional love for Elsa throughout the film sacrificing herself to save her and reinforcing family values to viewers at home. It is also worth pointing out here how princesses such as Rapunzel and Anna possess certain levels of clumsiness and authenticity  stumbling and tripping over things like a lot of teenage girls today. Their comical, upbeat and not always so leisurely and lady like manners  shows a contrast to our earlier princesses. Snow White definitely would never sing about being 'elated or gassy' for one thing.

Then finally we have Elsa, Disney’s fastest selling and most popular leading lady is a headstrong ice queen who has no interest in falling in love and living happily ever after. Her declaration of independence, empowerment and individuality marks her as the true example of the transformation from feminine to feminist (even though she still looks pretty feminine in her fitted ice dress, glittery hair and heels). Her transcending message of letting go of your personal fears and allowing your talents to resonate has made her into a role model to millions of little princesses out there.

So there we have it. The evolution of the Disney princess. From classic to modern, from submissive to dauntless, from dainty and feminine to gutsy and  feminist, developing with the times and allowing Disney to reverberate around the world as a source of reflection and inspiration.

Lets hear it for all our Disney Princesses!

By Tasneem Mahmoud

Rodents to the rescue!

There is absolutely no doubt that Mr. Disney had a soft spot for little critters given how many rodents in the Disney animations list have saved the day. But why are rodents so popular in the Disney world? Let’s explore.

To start off, Mickey and Minnie are both mice, both kind, clever and charismatic. They are two of the world’s greatest celebrities, one of the world’s cutest couples and are a source of inspiration to so many people young and old.  Then there was Chip and Dale the adorable and troublesome chipmunks who have their own film called The Two Rescue Rangers! Talk about saving the day.

There were then a series of Disney animated classics where rodents are the heroes of the film.

We have Timothy Q mouse who saves poor baby elephant Dumbo when separated from his mother in a circus and convinces him of his abilities to fly through life. After they first meet, Timothy Q becomes his mentor and his companion and the pair embark on amazing adventures together despite the size difference.

Of course we can’t forget the mice in Cinderella. Jaq, Gus, Luke, Mert, Bert, Perla and Suzy, are,  along with the birds, her only friends who care for her throughout the film and stop at nothing to make her happy even if it means risking their little lives to the malicious Lucifer. They make her ball gown, the boys volunteer to be her horses and they all manage to get the key from Lady Tremain’s pocket to free Cinderella from her confinement allowing her to live happily ever after as one of our charming Disney princesses. 

Roquefort the mouse from The Aristocats proves himself a loyal housemate to his feline friends by saving Duchess and her kittens from the naughty butler Edgar’s grasp by rallying the alley cats to help him.

Then there is a whole two movies, The Rescuers and the Rescuers Down under based on two courageous mice who have the guts to travel long distances to save two human children’s’ lives and trump human villains!

There are  also smaller appearances like that of  the Porcupine in the Fox and the Hound who, concerned for Tod’s safety, takes him into his house on his first night in the woods.

Basil the mouse from Basil the Great Mouse Detective who has a whole film named after him uses his intelligence system to reunite a little mouse with her father and tackle the evil Professor Padraic Ratigan, the notorious vicious sewer rat (one of the only rodent villains).

After Pixar came along, Remy the rat took on the spotlight with his cooking skills helping Linguini the young chef to achieve his lifelong goals.

Don’t worry I haven’t forgotten little Pip, the Chipmunk from Enchanted, Giselle’s loyal friend who does whatever he can to save her from harm.

So what of all these lovable creatures? Why has Disney chosen to feature these little things as heroes again and again? Is it because children can relate to small and fluffy friends more than people or is it because they add comic relief to all the fright? Or maybe Disney’s underlying message is that it does not matter how small or vulnerable you are, when you have courage, you have power. If you believe, you will achieve. That is the message that has allowed these tiny individuals to resonate through the screen, into our hearts and around the world.

Gotta love the rodents!

R-E-S-C-U-E, Rescue Aid Society, Heads held high, touch the sky, You mean everything to me

In a fix, in a bind, Call on us anytime, We'll appear from nowhere, Mighty are we

R-E-S-C-U-E, Rescue Aid Society, Honesty, loyalty, We pledge to thee

R-E-S-C-U-E, Rescue Aid Society, Heads held high, touch the sky, You mean everything to me

In a jam, in a scrape, And you think, "no escape", Do not fear, we'll be here, Courageous are we

R-E-S-C-U-E, Rescue Aid Society, Heads held high, touch the sky, Our hearts we pledge to thee.

The Rescuers (1977)

Bernard and Bianca from Disney's The Rescuers

                                                               By Tasneem Mahmoud

Along came Pixar

We all know the hype began on December 21^st 1937 when Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Disney’s first full length cell animated feature film, was released. This was followed in the next five decades by hundreds of other animated films, most of which became known as the Walt Disney animated classics. 

In the mid-nineties there was another surge in Disney extravaganza when the first Pixar animated feature was released. But how did this all come about?

In 1986, a man by the name of Steve Jobs, now known as one of the world’s greatest revolutionaries in consumer electronics, bought The Graphics Group, a division of the production company Lucafilm which was first established in 1979. The group was later renamed Pixar Animation Studios. The company struggled throughout the early nineties and Jobs considered selling it to other companies on several occasions.

In 1991, Pixar made a $26 million deal with Walt Disney Feature Animations to create three computer animated films. The unforgettable characters of Woody the cowboy and Buzz Lightyear the Space Ranger skyrocketed into the global spotlight after the partnership released Toy Story in 1995 bringing in a gross income of $415,004,880.

In the years that followed, Steve Jobs, now CEO of Pixar, had a series of disagreements with Disney Chief Executive Michael Eisner. Even though Pixar was responsible for the creation and production of the films leaving Disney to handle marketing and distribution, Disney exclusively owned all story and sequel rights. As a result, in 2004, Jobs announced he was seeking other partners to work with. In May 2005, Disney finally agreed to buy Pixar for $7.4 billion in an all-stock deal. Jobs was now Disney’s biggest individual shareholder and joined the board of Directors.

Pixar’s timeless animations have been cherished by generations of children and adults, the three most lucrative being Finding Nemo, Up and Toy Story 3. According to the disneymovieslist.com poll, Finding Nemo, Toy Story and Toy Story 3 are the most popular. Their humour filled characters, quirky concepts and creative features have helped to elevate Disney’s fame and the novelty of modern day technology. Global excitement has already began to mount as we await Finding Dory, the sequel to Finding Nemo which is due to release in the US in 2016.

So there we have it, the development of Pixar in the world of Disney. It is with the success of Pixar Animations that one might ask how different Disney would be if the partnership was never formed and to a greater extent, how different the world would be if it were not for innovative geniuses like Steve Jobs who when commenting on Pixar, stated: We believe it’s the biggest advance in animation since Walt Disney started it all with the release of Snow White.  

Steve Jobs, 1955-2011

                                                               By Tasneem Mahmoud