[HPFGU-OTChatter] Has Disney lost its magic?

[danielle dassero]

Sabrina the teenage witch was orignally a comic book, she was a character from the Archies comics and then got her own comic book and eventually was made into a tv series


----- Original Message ----
From: P. Alexis Nguyen <alexisnguyen at gmail.com>
To: HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, April 8, 2008 3:10:46 PM
Subject: Re: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Has Disney lost its magic?

bdclark0423:
> Has Walt Disney lost his magic?

First, to address the show this post originally pointed to, Wizards of
Waverly Place doesn't copy anything so old as Bewitched but is
probably modeled off of the Sabrina the Teenage Witch (which was
probably modeled of Bewitched) franchise. It's an update of the old
for the current generation. I've seen it. It's not bad, just
predictable. It's a kid's show.

I also don't think it's trying to send any sort of message about
hiding your differences. It's following standard convention: magical
people hide their magic. Even without their magic, the kids on the
show fit in fine with their peers (considering their archetypal
personalities, of course). If this show is sending any message, it's
more of the "magic is cool, and hey, wouldn't it be nice if I could
have some?"

As for Disney, has it lost it's magic? I mean, it's not as magical as
it once was, but I'm also not 7 yrs old anymore. I still think it's
plenty fun. The Broadway shows are still going strong (and, possibly,
even that disaster of the Little Mermaid will get a few years' run).
Plenty of folks are still visiting Disneyland and Disney World. It
can still be called "the most magical place on earth" without most
folks snickering - and really, I'd wager that many would even agree.

Pixar is as strong as it is thanks to Disney. They produce the
movies, yes, but remember that the stories are still coming from the
Disney machine. (Realistically, Pixar is also part of that Disney
machine.) Moreover, Pixar wasn't doing a whole lot big until Disney
came along. It's all Disney, whether we call it Touchstone or Pixar
or Miramax or whatever.

I'll be perfectly honest in that I do watch the Disney Channel now, so
yes, I'm watching garbage by, apparently, many folks' standards, but I
think I understand the appeal to the current generation of kids (or at
least the demographics that Disney is going for with the channel).
It's a matter of relatability and wishing. Kim Possible: a girl who
can do everything but still has to do her homework and listen to her
parents. Wizards of Waverly Place: folks who have magical skills but
still has to the mundane of daily life.

As far as I can tell, Nickelodeon is going for the same type of thing.
Every once in a while, there's a hit (Avatar), but it's mostly just
bad. But then, I seem unable to understand the appeal of Spongebob
Squarepants, and that's just the biggest hit amongst kids *and* many
people my age, so maybe I'm speaking out of turn in this case.

Anyway, that's *my* rant on this subject.

~Ali

 


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