Its worth a watch to see how Disney sort of sticks to history while doubling down on the noble savage trope. Ed, the third hyena, doesn't talk, but cackles and spasms in a way that was reminiscent to some of Tourette's Syndrome. In 1994's "The Lion King," Scar's accomplices are three hyenas Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed. Don't call me a leading man. "She loves singing more than anything but she won't be able to do that anymore because she has to make things work with the first dude she sets her eyes on. The term "Cultural appropriation" is a post-civil rights liberal revisionist term. It was beautiful and moving. American Indian medicine powers are badly understood by those who conquered Indian country. While there are Sami people who are blond, the Sami people characteristically have darker hair and skin. Diversity makes the stories feel less repetitive. Last edited on 26 February 2023, at 20:57, Outstanding Achievement for Animated Effects in an Animated Production, Outstanding Achievement for Character Design in a Feature Production, Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production, List of Disney theatrical animated features, "These Two Talking Moose Let Their Antlers Down", "Fraternal Obligation: Disney Revisits the Animal Picture with 'Brother Bear', "Brother Bear: Production Notes About the Production", "Brother Bear: Production Notes - Nature Calls", "Why For was Michael Clarke Duncan's Grizz character cut out of Disney's "Brother Bear"? The Emperors New Groove does for pre-Colombian Peru what Hercules did for Ancient Greece. When Tahana calls for him, Kenai's childish dream is to get a power stronger than either of them. Definitely a winning combination. Unless there's a personal connection to the culture, these tattoos could be seen as cultural appropriation. [8], After the project was green-lit, Blaise, Walker, and the story artists embarked on a research trip in August 1999 to visit Alaska where they traveled on the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes and Kodiak Island. As we meet Kenai, his two elder brothers have already received their totem spirit helpers from Tahana. As Ursula tells Ariel when she agrees to give up her ability to speak in order to become human and vie for Prince Eric's affections, "On land it's much preferred for ladies not to say a word / It's she who holds her tongue who gets a man. If you show love and appreciation for parts of a culture, such as clothing, hairstyles, or accessories, but remain prejudiced against its people, that's appropriation. Kenai falls down some rapids, survives, and is healed by Tanana, the shaman of his tribe. These errors are not only imprecise, but they are counter-productive, divisive, and downright dangerous. The cats' entrance is even marked by the sound of a gong. Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. The cartoon characters include a Brazilian parrot, a penguin from Patagonia and a Mexican rooster. However, upon realizing that Koda needs him because of his own mistake, Kenai asks Sitka to transform him back into a bear with Denahi's support. Kenai's big brother is Sitka. Add a Comment. Festival fashion has recently come under criticism for cultural appropriation. She was later held captive by the colonists and converted to Christianity. For his role as the Inuit Narrator, Kawagley translated the dialogue in written form into Yup'ik and faxed the translation back to the Disney studio. Cultural appropriation is a topic that is either explicit or implicit in our classrooms and one that must be . He plays the piano with chopsticks, speaks in a stereotypical accent, and sings about fortune cookies. (As we will see, the representation of other cultures is often regarded as a form of cultural appropriation. Its an adaptation of a 1912 American novel set in 1888 Africa. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. The voice cast is entirely American and white, but Disney hired a Sami musician to write the opening song. I will address this point in the next section.) As George Chesterton writes for GQ, "If we can only exist in and guard the cultures we emerged from, from those we resemble, we will shrink into the superficiality of newly contrived tribes . An ongoing question in the cultural appropriation versus appreciation conversation is, how do white people who love black, Asian, Latinx, Indigenous, and other cultures and its creations express . Disney made its name adapting famous European stories. The Sami officials were pleased with Kristoff though. It is adapted from a story set in India and written by a British-Indian author. Even though the US is made up of many different cultures, "exotic" is a . But Ariel literally does just that in 1989's "The Little Mermaid," showcasing an unhealthy view of relationships and romance to young women in particular. It was a bit of a disappointment, because I [usually] write songs that I sing myself. These movies are made of segments presenting famous sights and cultural aspects of Latin America through a mix of animation and live-action footage. Aug. 30, 2017. That's exactly the way it works in the reality where humans and animal spirits walk through life in unison. By Bari Weiss. In Disney's 1995 film "Pocahontas," the love between the movie's titular Native American protagonist and John Smith (a white Englishman sent to help "settle" America) effectively puts an end to the conflict between their two communities. In this form they can wreck havoc with their enemies and have additional skills at hunting as well. Many critics and audiences also noted the use of the film's aspect ratio as a storytelling device. Our modern understanding of cultural appropriation is highly individualised. The concept of an ape wanting to be like a human is innocent enough, but the movie's use of Louie becomes more concerning when viewers realize that the character and his subjects are the only characters who speak in jive slang. Someone might prefer Cultural Appropriation, by some it's seen as an adoption culture being stolen away from a dominant group. [31], On the syndicated television show At the Movies, film critics Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper both gave the film positive reviews. Cultural appropriation is starting to become more . In the 1937 film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," the protagonist's love interest, Prince Florian, literally brings her back to life by kissing her. In 1941's "Dumbo," the elephant encounters a pack of crows who are some of the only characters who are friendly towards him in the movie. Much like European fairy tales have fairies, kings, sorcerers with long beards and flying broomsticks, Aladdin has a genie, a sultan, a mustache-twisting vizier and a flying carpet. Its just too bad they got Eddie Murphy to voice Mushu instead of say Jackie Chan. Some of these movies have a vague setting while others are more specific. Following the showing of the film, Collins performed "No Way Out" before introducing Tina Turner to the stage where she performed the opening song, "Great Spirits". The local shaman disagrees with this action, and transforms the brother into a bear. Thus, the account not only bolsters our un derstanding of how cultural appropriation can cause harm, but may also provide the resources to lodge objections to cultural appropriation without exacerbating the harms of essentialism. [8] Because Blaise desired a more naturalistic story, Blaise and producer Chuck Williams produced a two-page treatment of a father-son story in which the son is transformed into a bear, and in the end, remains a bear. It focuses on the continued adventures of bear brothers Kenai and Koda. February 21, 2022. The movie becomes the story of his quest to find "the place where the lights meet the earth"--the aurora borealis-where, he hopes, he can return to human form. Is it accurate? The Simpsons veteran Pete Michels was to helm the series and was allowed to watch a copy of the film so that he could construct a pilot. 19 comments. So Kenai is given a great power. Rapunzel is a German fairy tale based on a French story loosely based on an Italian story. It likely takes place in Alaska as it features grizzlies, moose and auroras, but the animators said they visited national parks in Alaska and in the contiguous United-States for inspiration. Its a cool concept, and they cast African-American actors to voice the African-American characters, but I thought it was a bit weird to make Tiana the pseudo-servant of a rich white girl. Still, what most people think of today as cultural appropriation is the opposite: a member of the dominant culture an insider taking from a culture that has historically been and is still . There are two songs performed and written by a Hawaiian musician. This begins to official process of consideration to change your local mascot from a racist depiction to something more culturally appropriate. Life in this cold climate was extremely difficult, and it behooved everyone to have some form of medicine power. When patterns of borrowing fail to acknowledge their sources and compensate them, they can be categorized as cultural appropriation. Tahana reveals that his spirit helper is the bear. The DVD release consisted of two separate discs, which were both THX-certified. "Dumbo" also includes a song called "Song of the Roustabouts," in which faceless black circus "workers" sing offensive lyrics like "We slave until we're almost dead / We're happy-hearted roustabouts" and "Keep on working / Stop that shirking / Pull that rope, you hairy ape.". It is set approximately 2000 years ago. Eventually, Kenai and Koda reach the salmon run, where a large number of bears live as a family, including the leader Tug. Disney doesnt have anything new on its horizon as of now. Both animals get drunk in a controversial moment that involved dancing pink elephants. For Lavalier and many others, the origin of the term spirit animal is unclear. What a perfect gift! Disney chose to cut them out entirely, probably to avoid having to deal with the racist themes of the original story. It also includes the unauthorized use of parts of their culture (their dress, dance, etc.) So when I see people dressed as Indians on Halloween, I can't just have a good time. The company's platform . In a post-ice age Alaska, the local tribes believe all creatures are created through the Great Spirits, who are said to appear in the form of an aurora. Every other character speaks in British English, implying that the "Jungle Book" apes embody historically dehumanizing, racist comparisons between black people and apes. Mehgan Gallagher. It was not only black musicians who appreciated Elvis. The film stars the voices of Joaquin Phoenix, Jeremy Suarez, Rick Moranis, Dave Thomas, Jason Raize (in his only film role), and D.B. Unfortunately, this plot sends young girls the message that they can "fix" men who exhibit frightening and even abusive behavior towards them, and that it's up to them to fix those men in the first place a message that isn't altered in the 2017 live-action remake. [27], The film was released in a Blu-ray special edition combined with its sequel, Brother Bear 2, on March 12, 2013.[28]. In the novel, there is a tribe of black people, but they are Tarzans enemies. [26] In April 2004 alone, 5.51 million DVD copies of the film were sold. It's called The Bears. While the first film dealt with Kenai's relationship with Koda, this one focuses more on his bond with a young human of his past, Nita. Ollie Millington / Getty Images. Its too anachronistic to be taken as a serious attempt at cultural representation. Brother Vellies . Matt Sayles/Invision, via Associated Press. Cultural appropriation refers to the use of objects or elements of a non-dominant culture in a way that reinforces stereotypes or contributes to oppression and doesn't respect their original meaning or give credit to their source. However, it's undeniable that some elements of Disney movies (especially older ones) simply don't hold up well today specifically in regards to how they treat women, people of color, and queer people. But . Authenticity comes from being original, which can include everyone, as no one individual shares the same unique experiences as another. My reading of the historical records is that at least half of the people had spirit helpers. This can include unauthorized use of another culture's dance, dress, music, language, folklore, cuisine, traditional medicine, religious symbols, etc. (I'm sorry if this is not the right place to ask about Inuits, but I couldn't find a different sub to ask this in. Cultural appropriation involves pillaging, especially for profit or cool cred, without respect or reverence, like non-Black kids who talk and dress in the hip-hop style because it's trendy but . Kendrick Lamar performing at the MTV Video Music Awards on Sunday. [36] Stephen Holden of The New York Times felt the film was too similar to The Lion King. On the other hand, if you learn, explore, and understand a . The 44th Disney animated feature film, it was directed by Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker (in their feature directorial debuts) and produced by Chuck Williams, from a screenplay written by Tab Murphy, Lorne Cameron, David Hoselton, and the writing team of Steve Bencich and Ron J. Friedman. So another star for Disney's realistic portrayal of that seldom seen realm of American Indian medicine powers. ", Disney replaced the first half of those lyrics in all future versions of the movie after facing backlash from the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, but refused to cut, "It's barbaric, but hey, it's home.". The film opened second behind Scary Movie 3 grossing $18.5 million at the box office. The first disc contained the widescreen version (1.66:1 aspect ratio) and the second disc featured the original theatrical widescreen version (1.66:1 and 2.35:1 aspect ratio). Kenai accepts his new surroundings and is comfortable living with the other bears. The score builds at just the right times and knows when to lead the audience to a more somber feeling. On the mountain, Kenai is cornered by Denahi, but their battle is interrupted by Koda, who steals Denahi's spear. This blending of two cultures is a timely concept and a nice love letter to immigrants. Many replies to Stenberg's response of the original poster demeaned Amandla for making an argument about race as many bystanders were . The clothes, jewelry and architecture look inspired by ancient Middle-Eastern cultures, with a bit of India mixed in. Queer-coding is when writers consciously or unconsciously include stereotypes about LGBT people as characteristics of a character without their sexuality being part of a broader story. Typically, queer-coded male villains tend to be effeminate, flamboyant, and/or talk with a lisp, while queer-coded female villains tend to be more masculine and brash than the movies' heroines. 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