Up: Adventure found in an Hour and Half 

Up is a film that has critically acclaimed as a Pixar Masterpiece. The film, motivated by a genuine and beautiful love story,  inspires an audience of all ages and has remained relevant in the movie industry through both the marketing aspect and in reverence to slogans regarding fulfilling one’s dream. The story line aligns itself directly with the expression “anything is possible if you set your mind to it” if done with a courageous mind and a brave heart. With a background of a love story that is carried as a theme, there is strong sense of pathos throughout. The film Up promotes inner curiosity and the fulfillment in adventure that can be found at any age by using the dimensions of the seemingly ornery of the protagonist, Mr. Fredricksen tied to his wife Ellie, and young supporting character, Russell. 

Charles Muntz, the character who coined the expression “adventure is out there”, becomes the inspiration for Carl Fredricksen and wife Ellie. Muntz promises to capture the beast that is unknown to North America, even after his failure and embarrassment of tampering with the dimensions of a prior finding. His perseverance to prove his beliefs creates the thought that children too should be willing to drive towards their aspirations, regardless of set backs that happen along the way. The beginning of the film shows a young Carl imitating conquest like the ones Charles Muntz performs, such as conquering the grand canyon; he mimics this in a small way by jumping over a crack in the side walk. This small victory shows a passion finding confidence in accomplishing your own goals, though they only may start as a vision. There is a power in imagination. 

The couple together gets married and still have a shared want to go on their adventure. The concept of class levels is brought up at this point in the film, as Ellie’s side of the family is loud, loosely dressed and cheering where as the Carl’s side of the family put together and proper.  

There is an implied concept that the bride’s is a group of hillbillies opposed to the alternate  groom’s side of conservatives. Regardless of the separation, the two are still in love and in love with the possibilities of their future. This reminds the audience that no matter where you come from, the mold you are born to does not have to define the life you decide to live; common interest and love can be a greater force. 

The accept of adventure reoccurs again when the Adventure Book is brought to focus. Again showing the thing they both they want the most is feasible. A reoccurring aspect of the film, it again reiterates a solid and reachable accomplishment. Their dreams are a part of their daily life. The couple use the jar of coins, contributing to the jar every day. Though they have bad luck along the way, bringing about set backs, they continue to persevere. This continual commitment is yet another reminder of how to succeed. 

There is then a shift in the film after Ellie passes. Now called only Mr. Fredrickson, he cannot walk down the stairs and needs to be assisted with a device.He goes through a routine and refuses to move from his home and conform to modern society showing that the elderly are set in their ways and unwilling to change. When forced to live in Shady Oaks, a retirement home, they make comments such as, “thats typical, he’s probably going to the bathroom for the 80th time”. The comment makes light of the elderly losing their faculties and their ability to perform to the full capacity that someone of youth would be able to. 

Russell, a Wilderness explorer, again demonstrates the difference between the two elderly and young. Talking loudly and quickly, his hearing aid rings as a result. The use of the hearing aid adds to looking down upon the older community. 

Mr. Fredrickson is shown as being easily annoyed and frustrated, especially by Russell:two opposing characters. Russell seeking adventure as the now grown Mr. Fredricksen once did, asks many questions and fights against common thought. He is want to see new life and be a part of new experiences. Mr. Fredricksen, oppositely, is unable to be unattached from his house, as he talks to it and offers advice, once again showing that the elderly cannot let go. 

The main theme of adventure is well conveyed and offers many to believe that they too are willing and able to do fulfill what they hope to do one day, as the house does eventually end up in Paradise Falls as wanted. Though there is the presence of making fun of the elderly, the movie overall has a positive message that can be used as example for children in the years to come.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nviA72Lfio8

What We See and Don't See

What We See and Don't See

         The Lion King, a childhood favorite presented by Walt Disney Pictures, is filled with symbolism that might be hard for children to detect, but is far more evident to an older crowd. This movie includes examples of messages that could be considered positive and negative to children. The negative message I am going to focus on that I believe children would definitely not pick up on, but would be considered a undesirable message to teach children. The song in the movie “The Madness of Scar” is all about Scar’s attraction to Nala and how he’ll mate with her whether she agrees or not. The song begins with Scar singing about how he is disliked by most in the community, and he decides that what will determine his happiness is a girl. Scar believes he is dead without a queen, and that is when Nala enters. He comments on how perfect her timing is and then precedes to say one way or another that she will be his. He disregards her opinion for he believes she belongs all to him. Instead of Scar approaching the situation with the mindset of I want her to be mine, he instead claims that she has to be his. Although this is reading deeply into the situation, it is not something that should be taught to children. Just because Scar might want Nala, does not mean he deserves her or will be able to have her. He supposes that since she is the only thing he wants that is solely what matters and she will in fact be his. Nala even asks if Scar is listening to her because he seems to be completely ignoring what she is saying. He continues to talk about how she will be his even with her disapproval. This message could be degrading to women and sends the message that our opinion is useless to men. This is far from something we want to teach children, for we should be empowering children to have power to say no if they are in an undesirable situation. Contrary to this message, The Lion King is also filled with positive messages that are beneficial to children. “Hakuna Matata” is one of the most important life lessons one could endure during their lifetime. Timon and Pumba teach Simba to stay away from worries and replace them with optimism, joy, and love. Timon and Pumba instill in Simba that worries empty our strength and place a barrier on the face of happiness. This is such a vital life lesson because often people let their worries determine their happiness and rule their life. Hakuna Matata is a famous lesson sourced from The Lion King that is known by many. Overall, I believe the positive messages in The Lion King far outweigh the bad messages. Overall, I had trouble thinking of negative messages within the movie, but could immediately think of all the things it taught me as a child. I think the positive messages within this movie are far more powerful than the negative messages, and should continue to stay a childhood favorite.

"The Madness of Scar" Song

Lyrics

Zazu, why am I not loved?

I am that rare and awesome thing
I'm every inch a king
Yet I feel a twinge of doubt
As I go walk about
Is this talk of love or regicide?
Please tell me I'm adored
stinkin' entres!
Day after day it gnaws at the very core of my being
down and scoot
buzzards for your next bite!
But how about some lunch?
It doesn't matter if it's fresh
I need a fix of flesh
My bones have moved to where they've never been
They are on the outside looking in
Oh, you are so adored
Of wildebeest kielbasa
Or maybe hornbill on the spit...
There he is!
No! There he is!
And there!
headaches!
I'm better than Mufasa was
I'm revered
I am reviled
I'm idolized
I am despised
I'm keeping calm
I'm going wild!
Yes I am, no you're not
Yes I am, no you're not
I tell myself I'm fine
Yes I am
No you're not
Yes, no, yes, no, who am I talking to...?
What did my brother have that I don't have?
descendants, no future. With a queen, I'll have cubs... Immortality will
be mine! Immortality will be mine!
grown
It's written in the stars
Oh, Nala... you know how I loathe violence... One way or another, you will
be mine
You all belong to me

Hey, boss!

When my name is whispered through the pride

Reggie who?

Tell me I'm adored

Hey, boss!

Oh, what is it?

We got a bone to pick with you

There's no food, no water--

Yeah. It's dinnertime, and there ain't no

Oh, you and your petty complaints. You don't know what real hunger is.

I had that once. It was worms

No, no, no... it's like an itch... deep, persistent, profound...

That's it-- worms! When they get really bad all you gotta do is... hunker

Thanks for the tip. Ingrates! If it weren't for me you'd be beating off

Yeah, you're our savior, thanks a bunch

Are you blaming me?

Oh no, it's the lionesses

You are so adored

That's more like it

But what I'd give for one more hit

Oh, how I miss Mufasa

Mufasa?! Mufasa?! How dare you! I told you never to mention that name!

Note taken. I shall never mention "M-m-m" again

Even in death, his shadow looms over me

Calm yourself, Sire, or you'll get another one of your splitting

I am perfectly fine!

I tell myself I'm fine

No you're not, yes I am, no you're not

Oh, pull yourself together, Sire!

Oh, very well. Zazu? Zazu, Zazu, Zazu...?

Yes, Sire?

Nobody loved me, there's the rub, not even as a cub

Do you want the short list or the long?

Whatever!

Well, he had adoring subjects... a loving family... a devoted queen...

That's it! I need a queen!

A what?

A queen, man! A queen! Without a queen, what am I? A dead end, no line, no

Scar

Ah, Nala... Your timing couldn't have been more perfect. My how you've

Scar, you have got to do something. We're being forced to overhunt

She's got those assets feminine

You're the king. Control the hyenas

I have to make her mine

You're destroying the Pridelands

Nobility in every gene

If we don't stop now.. Don't you see...

She has to be my queen

...there's still a chance for things to be all right again...

Come, sweet Nala

What are you doing? Are you listening to me?

We'll create a host of little Scars

What are you talking about?

Tell me I'm adored

Get away from me

Tell me I'm adored

Never, Scar. Never!

You belong to me

You all belong to me

Blog 4-Shrek

Ariana Delgado

Mrs. Waggoner

Writing as Inquiry 10803

29 October 2016

Shrek Movie

Children movies are meant to present a moral message for children in a fun and easy way to understand. In some cases, a negative message can unintentionally be discovered throughout the movies as well. Specifically, the movie Shrek explores the importance how things are more than they appear on the surface. This message is conveyed throughout Shrek’s quest to rescue the princess Fiona from a castle. Lord Farquaad believes that he cannot be king without a princess, which leads him to demand for her rescue. In exchange for Shrek’s swamp Lord Farquaad requests that Shrek is the one who will rescue Fiona from the dragon-infested castle. Shrek is portrayed as an ugly, violent, grumpy and aggressive Oger who refuses to let anyone in his life. He prefers to be alone because he is use to scaring everyone in his path away. When Shrek meets donkey, a funny, caring and loving friend, he starts to allow his true colors to be shown. He cannot fathom the fact that someone would actually chose to be his friend. No matter how much Shrek pushes donkey away, donkey never leaves Shrek’s side and stands by him through every obstacle. Although the positive message is portrayed throughout the movie there is also a negative message that judging people by their appearance is acceptable. There are multiple jokes toward the characters regarding their appearance that might convince the younger crowd that they can judge people by their looks.

The positive message being conveyed in Shrek is that sometimes things do not always appear they way they are. Shrek is convinced that he is too ugly for anyone to want to be his friend. He lives alone on his swamp and wishes no one bother him. In multiple scenes, Shrek uses his intimidating demeanor to scare off people when in reality he knows he is a friendly Oger. In one scene, Shrek even admits to donkey, “Sometimes things are more than they appear.” This is the moment that the positive message is truly shown. Shrek is beginning to realize that he deserves to be treated for his personality rather than his appearance. Another example includes the dragon that is holding Fiona hostage in the castle. At first the dragon is portrayed to be violent, aggressive and even out to kill Shrek and donkey. Once donkey treats the dragon with respect it was obvious that the dragon would never hurt them and even helped Shrek reach Fiona in time. Lastly, Fiona is first shown as a beautiful princess but throughout their journey her true self comes out. For example when they come across a man in the woods and Fiona is the one to fight them and Shrek and donkey stand there in awe. Eventually at the end of the movie Fiona is expressed as her real self, an Oger. Fiona was frightened to show her real side because she thought she would not find love. When Shrek ignores how Fiona looks like she realizes that choosing her real side is more important and will not hold her back. This is a good message for young children because they might believe that putting out this fake persona is better because it can make them more friends but Shrek shows them that being themselves is always a better idea.

Although the positive message in Shrek is very distinct the negative message is still present. The negative message that children can receive from watching Shrek includes that judging people by their appearance is an acceptable thing to do. Throughout the whole movie there were unlimited inappropriate jokes about the character’s appearance. The most obvious one were the comments toward Shrek about his unfortunate appearance as an Oger. Lord Farquaad, Fiona and even donkey all refer to Shrek as hideous, ugly, and even violent. Even when Shrek rescues Fiona from the castle she is disappointed to see who her prince charming is. Several inappropriate jokes were made about Lord Farquaad size. The most noticeable joke includes the time that Shrek and donkey reach Lord Farquaad castle and see how big it is, wondering if he is compensating for something. There are multiple referrals Shrek would be poking fun to that children would notice. In the wedding scene, Lord Farquaad is about to marry Fiona when it become dark outside and she transforms to an oger. He immediately refuses to marry her and even threatens to put her back into the castle. This tells young children especially young girls that appearance is everything when trying to find love.

In conclusion, the negative message is more powerful because the judgment of characters started from the beginning of the movie all the way to the wedding at the end. Even in the last scenes, rude jokes were being made about Shrek and even Fiona’s appearance. The positive message is still distinct but young children would have to put the pieces together regarding the message. It might be difficult for them to realize how the characters change throughout the movie. The children might not catch the positive message because the inappropriate jokes were still being made to the very end. Young kids would have to make the conclusion that Shrek, the dragon and Fiona all appeared different from who they really are. The negative message of judging people is easier for children to see because it is present throughout the whole movie and is easy to catch on to. 

The Little Mermaid: Movie Analysis

                 Disney Cartoons were in almost everyone’s memory about childhood, with gorgeous princesses and princes who always ended up together. However, as when we re-watch the movie as an adult, we can have a more critical insight into the children movies, and we realize they have a lot of negative messages. In this case, ‘The Little Mermaid’ will be discussed.

                  The amount of positive messages in ‘The Little Mermaid’ as well as other Disney movies are prevalent. The movies of this type often try to convey very simple lessons, the most popular ones are: true love, good people always win, etc. However, in the little mermaid, the  message that impressed me the most is the true meaning of friendship. This is not as obvious as the true love message, but to me, it’s the most beautiful. The crab, Sebastian (can be called as the advisor of the Triton King) was portrayed at first as a strict man, then he finally went with Ariel (The Mermaid) to the price’s castle to support her in achieving her goal as making the price fall in love with Ariel and kiss her. We can see in the movie that Sebastian has gone through tons of troubles when he was there with the mermaid. However, he still stayed and help her with extra effort, such as building up the romantic environment for their love, persuade the king to help Ariel enjoying her happiness beside the prince. The fish, Flounder and the sea gull, Scuttle help Ariel in stalling the wedding between the sea witch - Ursula and the prince. They cooperate and work with each other perfectly, and I find that scene spectacularly entertaining. Basically, Ariel’s friends have done nearly 60% of the work that make the prince fall in love with the mermaid. With this detail, the movie provide the crucial but implied message: Friends are very important in difficult situations.

             However, there are some negative messages in the film that can be observed by more experienced viewers. There are some details like the overt sexuality of Ariel or the detail Ariel giving up her voice, the factor that made the prince fall in love with her in the first place, but what I want to discuss here is the over-emphasis of appearance. The sea witch actually said this ‘You’ll have your look, your pretty face’. This misleading opinion could be troublesome if it enters a young mind, because children may think appearance is the only thing that matters to get a boyfriend or girlfriend. Another example is when Ariel was at the ship when the prince was having a party, and she fell crazily in love with him because of ‘He is very handsome’. This viewpoint somewhat reflects some real life situation called ‘Love at first sight’. However, the scene could be looked at a different angle and convey a different meaning: Handsome is the first criterion to make some on fall in love with you. The over-emphasis of appearance in the movie is not only portrayed by love story, but also by the depict of villain and the main character (Ariel) in this movie as well as any other Disney cartoons involving princesses and princes. The villain is portrayed as being extremely ugly, and it can be easily seen as the villain, just through the look, and the main character is very beautiful and can be also judged as kind-hearted by her pretty look. This could lead to a misleading perception of children with the world full of disguised people, as they may ‘judge a book by its cover.

              Although the negative messages in ‘The Little Mermaid’ in particular and Disney children movies in general could be seen as troublesome, the positive impacts are stronger, in my opinion. There are two reasons: First, the film is filled with positive messages, and it has a happy ending, so it is safe to say it’s overwhelming with positive message. Second, the targeted viewers of the movie is children, mostly under 12 (or even under 10 nowadays), who are not able to have critical insight to realize some details like sexuality of Ariel or the fact that appearance is important. We adults can spot it easily, but children don’t often focus on minimal details like that, instead they focus on the big picture, which helps them overlook the negative messages and just enjoy the movie.

                To summarize, the movie ‘The Little Mermaid’ as well as other Disney films with the same type does have some negative messages along with an overwhelming amount of positive messages. Therefore, it is a huge chance that children cannot see the negative details, and the films still have educational and entertaining values. Personally, I remember when I was a kid, I never realized those bad messages, but now when I re-watched I can see it pretty easily.

Blog 4: Sandlot

Hunter Ricks

Kassia Jackson Waggoner

English 10803- Intro Comp: Writing as Inquiry 021

31 October 2016

The Sandlot

    Looking back on my childhood and some of my favorite movies, The Sandlot sticks out as one of my all time favorites. The Sandlot is the story of Scotty smalls, the new boy in town, who is trying to fit into the local crowd. That crowd was a bunch of kids who played baseball during their free time, except Scotty had no baseball skills whatsoever. Benny Rodriguez, one of the most gifted players in the neighborhood, took Scotty under his wing and taught him how to play the game. One of the main positive messages of this film is acceptance of someone that is different than you. There is also the message of brotherhood and being able to work together as a group. Benny stands up for Scotty numerous times throughout the film when the other kids thing he is just not good enough to be on the team. There are also some negative messages that can be perceived from a couple specific scenes.

Arguably the most crucial scene of the movie, the duel with “the beast”, has a crucial hidden message for all kids to learn. The power of being in a group and working on something TOGETHER to achieve a common goal. In this scene the sandlot boys lose a baseball over the fence into the beast’s cage. After careful thought and planning the sandlot boys work together by creating distractions and contraptions to allow Benny to retrieve the ball back. This scene has stuck with me till this day and is the epitome of camaraderie and brotherhood.  

    Unfortunately, there are some scenes in this movie that can have a potentially negative message that I never accounted for when I had seen this movie as a child. One scene in particular that pops out is the pool scene. Smalls purposely acts like he is drowning and quite frankly, almost did drown, just to get the attractive lifeguard to perform CPR on him. The message of putting yourself in harm to impress your friends or boost your self-esteem is not one that children should be adopting. Another scene in particular is the tobacco and carnival scene. A couple members of the sandlot baseball team try out chewing tobacco and subsequently puke on the rides. Now there is a positive message in the idea that it displays the negative consequence of trying this drug, but having this scene in there alone is potentially harmful considering the kids in the movie where not nearly of legal age. I understand this movie is a little dated and it may have been more acceptable back then to have chewing tobacco at such a young age.

Overall, I think the positive messages in the film outweigh the negative messages in the film. As a kid, I did not think of those messages as harmful and they have not negatively affected my life in particular, but I can say that the message of acceptance of someone that is different and working in a group to achieve a common goal are some of the ideals that I strive to achieve on a daily basis. The Sandlot is a wonderful film and I would recommend it to all children, but parents should realize some of these negative affects and address them to their kids after the movie.

High School Musical

High School Musical is a Disney film that came out in 2005. For my generation, this was the movie that  we watched everyday when we got home from school. Personally, I know all the lines in all three of the movies and I have all the dance routines memorized. It would be an understatement to say that I watched this movie a lot. As a kid, I looked up to the characters and thought they did no wrong. This movie displays the positive message of being true to yourself and that being different is okay and the negative message of an unlikely, too perfect, happy ending.

This movie demonstrates to kids that it is okay to be interested in different things than your friends. At the beginning of the movie, the main character, Troy, is the captain of the basketball team and all he can think about is sports. Throughout the movie he realizes that he has a passion for musical theater. At first he feels like he has to hide it because he is embarrassed of what his friends would think. He feels like he won't be accepted by his friends if they knew the real him. By the end of the movie he realizes that they aren't really his friends if they don't accept him for who he is. There is one scene in particular where the school has just found out that Troy auditioned for the musical and everybody confesses their secret hobbies. Even though by the end of the scene their friends are weirded out, by the end of the movie everyone is accepted and loved for who they are despite their differences. This shows kids to be themselves and not to worry about what other people around them think. At the end of the movie, all of the characters sing a song called "We're All In This Together" where they all come together despite their differences and become friends. While this plot sounds cheesy, it actually shows kids that they should be themselves above all else.

The movie ends with everyone becoming friends and Troy kissing Gabriella (the nerd who discovers her love for musical theater along with Troy) on the cheek, which insinuates the beginning of a romantic relationship. One could say that this movie has a picture perfect ending. There are no loose ends and everybody ends up happy. This demonstrates an unrealistic ideal for children. In real life, not everything ends up the way you want it to. You don't always get the girl and not everyone can become friends with each other. High School Musical gives children unreasonable expectations for life.

In my opinion, the positives far out weigh the negatives for High School Musical. First of all, most movies end in an unrealistic way. This is not a quality specific to High School Musical. If kids don't see it here, they're going to see it somewhere else. Secondly, this is a really strong positive message. In school, children are always comparing themselves to others and putting themselves down for what makes them unique. Seeing their favorite characters embrace their differences will inspire them to do the same.