Disneyfication: is it an adaptation or an alteration?
In the recent past, we have witnessed folklore traditions, and fairy tales evolve from oral storytelling to print and then film. We have seen several fairy tales being adapted for the screenplay, which includes films such as Alice adventures in wonderland, the jungle book, and Julie of the wolves, which have created rising popularity regarding the adaptations of fairy tales. Disney has been the reigning player when it comes to the adaptation of fairy tale films. With many individuals having been exposed to Disney`s films, the brand has grown to prominently feature in popular culture (Matusitz 95). However, despite Disney`s massive success in fairy tale films, several critics have criticized the manner in which the fairy tales have been adapted. The criticism has come from scholars as well as the general public who have highlighted the manner in which Disney made alterations to the storyline of fairy tales in their films. A number of critics feel that the alterations and censorship made to Disney`s films have done some injustice to the original tales. The aspect is known as Disneyfication, which has resulted as a result of Disney`s corporation dominance, which has caused a dignified perception of the fairy tales. According to the critics, Disney created a general perception regarding the fairy tales since the fairy tale films create a definitive fairy tale consciousness amongst their relevant audiences. Klugman defined the concept of Disneyfication as being the application of simplified aesthetic, intellectual, and moral standards in the film adaptation, which has the potential for more complex and thought-provoking expressions (Matusitz 97). In the present paper, we assess the aspect of Disneyfication of modern fairy tales such as Alice`s adventures in wonderland and the jungle book. From their assessment of the tales, we can accept or refute the claims by Klugman.
Disneyfication: is it an adaptation or an alteration?
Disneyfication can be defined as being the process of applying simplified intellectual, aesthetic, and moral standards to something which can be portrayed using more complex thought-provoking expressions. The concept has been hugely successful with the Disney machine touching millions while spreading the marketplace values and hence colonizing children`s fantasy life in the process. According to the adaptation theory, a change in meaning occurs as soon as the medium is changed. First, simplification becomes necessary as the directors attempt to create a film out of a 400-page novel. Since the directors have a short time to tell a story, the adaptation which they create only tends to focus on certain aspects in the novel, which results in others being left out. Second, novels brilliantly make use of mental images to tell the respective stories while visual images are conveyed in films which make the films to become more explicit.
However, despite the mutation of novels in films, audiences seem to accept them since the novel adaptations have become massively popular amongst audiences. According to Statistics derived from Matusitz (100), over eighty percent of all Oscars won have come from novel adaptations. It is claimed that between seventeen to fifty percent of all studio productions are derived from fairy tales and novels. The reason for this is the fact that ‘resemblance and recognition are all parts of pleasure. The psychology behind it is that the audiences develop a strong feeling of affinity and affection with characters they are already familiar with. This, hence, makes the adaptations very easy to relate to, especially since the films become reworks of the original fairy tales. The biggest challenge with adaptation is because they become more personalized with each component in the digitalization speaking to other audiences. In the era of Disneyfication, an adaptation`s success cannot be measured based on the faithfulness it holds to the original film but rather through their ‘persistence, diversity, and popularity (Matusitz 101).
A look at Disney`s adaptation of ‘Alice adventures in wonderland’ indicates that the film is merely a Disneyfied version of the original story. Burton placed several of the most recognizable elements in the story to help create the 2010 film adaptation. Burton creates a story world in which Alice makes a return to Underland, which is a world that she misheard to being ‘wonderland.’ In the film, Burton smartly changes the story`s aesthetics to help keep the audience’s attention (Carroll 87). He also makes changes to the novel`s aesthetics when it comes to the story`s feel, looks, and tone. In the film, we see how Alice adventures in wonderland get replaced with a live-action that promotes a fantasy world that features a dark undertone. The film version does not contain much of the childish nonsense, which makes it realistic. As for the intellectual alterations, Disney`s remake of the tale explains and adds a clear contrast between what is good and evil in the story. According to Disney, the belief is that the middle-class American audience should seek some clarification, which helps in explaining the characters in an extensive manner (Carroll 101). The moral of the story is changed completely in the film adaptation. While Carroll`s Wonderland makes Alice appreciate the Victorian life`s logic and norms, Burton`s Alice turns into a rebellious feminist as a result of her adventures in Underland. The illustration fits well with modern society as compared to the original novel.
Disney`s ‘The Jungle Book’ is a true version of its moment and was released at a time period when there was escalating social transformation. Disney`s version is based on the novel by Kipling, which talks about the internal conflict faced by Mowgli as he attempts to work out the kind of individual who he is rather than the place in which he belongs (Kipling 26). Mowgli has some real skills as tracker and hunter, and although he is a man, he must return to mankind. Disney`s film, on the other hand, talks of the jungle boy who is a young boy that aims to go back to his roots. Disney makes aesthetic and intellectual standards in which there was the removal of all the references to the British empire as well as white settlements. All these measures ensured that the local village became portrayed positively. Mowgli is portrayed as being a mischievous little scamp who listened to his guardians and did as he was told. They took him to what was considered as being his real family. In Disney`s Jungle book, we see the manner in which the film illustrates the expression of the story`s collaborative and interdependent elements.
The second movie by Steven Spielberg, ‘The war horse’ comes as being very different from the original ‘The Adventures of Tintin’ in which it is based. The film has unpretentious escapism that is aimed at the family audience (Morpurgo 62). The film is set immediately after World War 1, after which the movie tells the story of Joey, who is named by the tenant farmer`s on that cares for him while coaxing him into dragging a plow through rock piles. Joey passes it on from one rider to another with the horse being the baton. The movie, however, seems to lose its footing when it shifts its focus from the horse to the minders. This is an ill-judged interlude that seems to have been included as an olive branch for horse-lovers in female persuasion. Such Dinseyfication sits strangely besides Spielberg`s expressionist and nightmarish dash across the trenches of no man`s land. The terror and anguish experienced by the animal are horrific and vivid, with the long sequence being a good reason for the concern of parents and pre-teens.