Hunchback; Disney (was: Aliteracy--various rants...)

[Ebony Elizabeth Thomas]

TGMO, everyone!  (TGMO=Thank God Monday's Over...)

Scott wrote:

>Most of you are also completely anti-Disney, but I did grow up on
>their animated movies as my main source of cinematic enertainment,
>and I don't think I'm worse for the wear. I'm also not your typical
>example, I mean how many other 11-12 year olds saw the animated
>"Hunchback of Notre Dame" (which was horrid) and then went on to read
>Victor Hugo's classic. (Confession: I didn't read the WHOLE thing
>but...)
>

Oh, Hugo makes me wish that French was my second language and not Spanish.  
I'd love to read Hugo untranslated... if his prose is this excellent in 
translation, he must be masterful in his native language.  I've read both 
Les Miserables unabridged (free confession--I skipped a couple of slow 
parts), and have re-read Hunchback several times (Scott--the beginning's 
slow, but the rest is awesome).  I also love Flaubert's *Madame Bovary* to 
bits and can't wait to teach it when I transfer this fall.

I'm a Disney fanatic!  One of America's best twentieth-centuty 
contributions, IMO... I mean, as a kid I thought Orlando, FL was Paradise.  
I don't mind my fairy tales being sugar-coated from time to time.  I even 
liked Pocahontas a little bit (puts fingers in ears to stopper screams from 
horrified listies) because I took it as pure fiction.  I wouldn't dare show 
it to a social studies class during a lesson on the colonial period, of 
course...

My favorite "old school" Disney movies have got to be Sleeping Beauty 
(Maleficent!  The Three Fairies!) and the Three Caballeros ("who says so?  
We say so!").  My favorite new Disney movies are Aladdin and Mulan (yes, I 
*know* that neither does justice to the original legend... begone, thou 
purists!  ;-))  And my favorite live-action Disney is Summer Magic with 
Hayley Mills... I know all the songs in that one.

Now, my sisters would say Bedknobs and Broomsticks, or Mary Poppins--they 
love any movie with magic.  (Yes, they both can't wait for the Harry Potter 
movie--neither are leisure readers like me, but it "looks real 
interesting".)  The three of us choose Nickleodeon, Disney, and the Cartoon 
Network or family-oriented movies over R-rated flicks and HBO when we're all 
over my mom's house.  At ages 17, 20, and 23... our extended family teases 
us because of this, but we don't care.  Besides, our younger cousins and 
neighborhood kids love for us to babysit.

So don't apologize for your Disney upbringing, Scott!  I'm sure not going 
to.  :-)

Random thought:  The Disney Channel used to have *much* better programming 
when it first premiered in the 80's.

--Ebony (who apologizes for the gush--she just happened to be listening to 
her "Classic Disney" boxed set when she opened Scott's post!)

<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><
Ebony AKA AngieJ
ebonyink at hotmail.com

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