Walt Disney

• Media – overall unprofitable.
• High cost of operations including high sunk costs, research, and development costs, and costs of entertainment production.
• Studio entertainment typically incurred losses because of production costs and the cost of extensive advertising campaigns, specifically a decline in DVD sales. Parks and resorts success unpredictable depending on the travel trends, leisure time, and seasonal.

OPPORTUNITIES

• Growth through further acquisition, increased in acquisition to enhance the resources and capabilities of its core animation skills and characters.
• Increased media Networks, the company recently has acquired a media network (JET) as a platform for them to enter India and Russia as those countries are using the JET media network as well.
• The company also has acquired Playroom to give the company new inline gaming capabilities.
• Another media network opportunity for the company to acquire is Localism.
• An increase in piracy in the movie industry leads to the company’s DVD sales declined.
• Intense competition – Disney operates in very competitive industries such as media, tourism, parks and resorts, interactive entertainment, and others. The intense competition leads to one of the company divisions which is interactive media incurred losses.
• Changes in consumer’s tastes and preferences, people choose to spend their money on entertainment not as willing to spend on parks or resorts, uncontrollable changes in travel and tourism.
• Employee retention- retaining and recruiting innovative people, competition on finding and affording the most creative human resources, increasing salaries and labor costs.
• Strong diversification, they diversified into related businesses, instead of making soot analysis of Walt Disney By park and resort, consumer product and broadcast media. Well-established product and interactive media.
• Brand recognition, have a strong image in their animation film through worldwide. Customer loyalty to their product is high.
• Largest worldwide licensor of own cartoon character-based merchandise. Such as Paxar, Marvel, and JET they able to increase their profits and revenue 0 Interactive Media- overall unprofitable.
• High cost of operations including high sunk costs, research, and development costs, and costs of entertainment production. 0 Studio entertainment typically incurred a specifically decline in DVD sales. Parks and resorts success unpredictable
• International expansion and look for potential markets such as India and Russia. Resources and capabilities of its core animation skills and characters. Increased littoral for them to enter India and Russia as those countries are using I-JET media network as well. The company also has acquired Playroom to give the company new online gaming capabilities. Another media network opportunity for the company to acquire is Localism.

Time Series Forecasting Introduction: The Walt Disney Company is known to be the worlds most admired entertainment company. It has recently decided to open up a new Paxar themed park in California. In order to do so, the company will need to assure their bank that It Is capable of paying back loans In the future as well as reassuring owners and Investors that they will not lose any money In the future.

In order for Walt Disney to carry on with their plan, they need to be able to show their banks, owners and investors a model to predict future values based on historical values. How lucky for them that a group of highly trained time series forecasters are available for a top-dollar price! The group of analysts will decide on a few methods to enter in their data and then determine which technique works best with the corresponding data. They will base their decision by determining which method has the least amount of error as well as the most dependability.

With a company this large and a lot at stake, it is crucial for the results to be as efficient as possible so that the proper decisions can be made to follow. The ingenious analysts will use historical data from the past eight years (31 raters) to determine the revenue of the thirty-second quarter. The forecasting will help banks determine whether It is a good Idea to support Walt Disney with a loan. In Dalton, forecasting for the thirty-second quarter will give Important Information can prepare and make plans.

Data: The company’s historical data involving revenue was collected from the past eight years, a total of thirty-one quarters, from the years 2005 to 2012. Our dependent variable (the variable being predicted) is revenue and our independent variable (used to assess the value of the dependent variable) is time. Revenue was measured in millions and time was measured in quarter periods. Thirty-one observations were included in the dataset in order to receive effective forecasting results.

Our source of data was collected from the Walt Disney quarterly earnings report, which is accessible through the following link: http://telecommunications. Com/investors/ financial-information/earnings. Preliminary Analysis When observing the scatter plot above, we look for whether our data is stationary, meaning that it has no trend or seasonality, whether the data shows a consistent rend, or whether the data shows both a trend and seasonality. Using Disney’s historical data from the past eight years we determined that there is a slight upward trend from looking at the scatter plots.

When forecasting for a positive or negative trend with no seasonal patterns, the Regression method is the technique that works best. In our data set, the variable being predicted is revenue (dependent variable) and time (independent variable) is used to estimate the value of revenue. Plotting these variables allows for us to find the slope of the regression line to determine whether there is a trend. If the slope is zero then there is no trend. If the slope is positive or negative then a trend exists.

A line drawn through our data permits us to calculate the slope and create an equation for the line. The slope of our regression line is 79. 218; meaning $79 million in revenue will change for each one quarter time period. Basically, revenue will increase with each quarter time period. Our data will continue to follow the same trend. Essentially we used actual values of revenue from the past eight years to come up with a regression line to predict future values of quarter time periods.

Forecasting: Forecasting using Naive Forecasting using Exponential Smoothing Forecasting using Classical Decomposition Evaluation: We can evaluate the different errors of each method by using Bias (mean of errors), MAD (mean absolute deviation), MAPLE (mean absolute percentage error), MUSE (mean square error) and SE (standard error) to determine which forecasting method is the best one. Bias can determine whether we have over or under forecasted the outcomes of our Y variables for each method. If there is a positive bias then are under forecasting (meaning we predicted too low of a future revenue).

If there is a negative bias then we are over forecasting (meaning we predicted too high of a future revenue). Bias in a regression method is always zero because half of the errors are positive and the other half are negative logically equaling them out to zero. In the Naive method, our bias is 80. 73 meaning we forecasted too low of a future revenue. In the Exponential Smoothing method, our bias is 473 meaning we forecasted too low of a future revenue. Naturally our bias for regression came out to be zero. MAD gives us the true degree of error in within each method.

Disney is one of the most recognized names in the world, but few know as much about the man behind the Magic Kingdom, not to mention the hundreds of animated cartoons countless feature films and endless toys that bear his name As the man of his time Walt Disney was an innovative animator and created the cartoon character Mickey Mouse that inspired children around the world. Coming up as a kid, Disney had four brothers and one sister.

He lived most of his childhood in Marceline, Missouri were he began to start drawing as a kid Disney unlike most was an entrepreneur , as fast as he could draw he would sell his paintings and his pictures o the neighbors and family friends. When Disney was 16 he dropped out of high school to Join the army, but was rejected for being underage. Instead, he Joined the red-cross and was sent to France for a year.

Soon after returning from France his brother Roy got him a Job at the Pesman-Rubin art studio where he made commercials based on cutout animation. In the late 1930s and early 1940s were tough times for American businesses. Disney made it through the Great Depression and World War II by dedicating much of his new studio to producing health, education and propaganda films for the U. S. government. It also produced short comedies aimed at boosting national morale. To raise additional money Disney took his operation public in 1940.

He would win 26 Oscars over the course of his career, the most awards given to any individual. During the next few years, Goofy- Donald Duck and several other memorable characters Joined Mickey. But Disney believed the future of company was in feature-length films, and released Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937. It was the first feature-length animated movie to be produced in Technicolor, and cost nearly $1. 5 million to make an unheard of amount in Depression-era America.

Walt Disney is considered an icon of American pop culture and has made many contributions to the American entertainment industry. A self-made-man from the Midwest, he became an inspiration to all American children and adults. Hailing from the heart of America, he was very patriotic and contributed a great deal to our country in times of need.

What was most likable about Walt Disney was that he was relatable; he came to embody the American values of courage, determination, wholesomeness, innocence, imagination, and self-confidence. Although Walt Disney was influenced by the setting in which he grew up, he shaped the American pop culture and everyday life of virtually the entire twentieth century, and he supported our country in times of need; his legacy continues today. Walt Disney was born on December 5, 1901, in Chicago, Illinois, but his family moved soon after his birth.

Although Walt Disney shaped most of twentieth-century pop culture, he himself was influenced by his small midwestern hometown: Marceline, Missouri. Walt Disney only lived there for a few years as a child, but it still had a major impact on his life and career. It was a traditional, Midwestern town that made Disney just an average guy, relatable to any other typical American. This ordinary town lacked magical and fantastical features, which could have contributed to his craving for magic and fantasy later in life. He grew up around animals on a farm; so many of his early animations consisted of animals and rural themes.

He used a lot of “outhouse” and farm humor in his cartoons such as outhouse gags, goosing gags, bedpans, Johnny-pots, thinly disguised farts, and cow udders. Even though Disney grew up in a traditional American small-town, his childhood occurred during the onset of the decline of small-town America. Disney loved small-town America so much that he wanted to preserve and live by its values, such as self-determination and hard work, because they were fleeting so fast. Disney brought these values to everything he did in life and tried to encourage them in others.

Walt Disney’s first claim to fame was the animated character, Mickey Mouse. Disney created Mickey Mouse in 1928, and from the very moment, Mickey hit the public eye he appealed to all Americans. Mickey’s story of “rags to riches” touched the hearts of many Americans and gave them the inspiration to follow their dreams. He was memorable and loveable in that he was the stereotypical hero, coming out victorious in many difficult situations. His courage, strength, will, ingenuity, and faith in himself allowed ordinary Americans to relate to him and brought hope to them in troubling times.

Mickey played many different roles, so many different people could relate to him. Mickey was know all over the world, – Michael Maus in Germany, Michel Souris in France, Miki Kuchi in Japan, Mikkel Mus in Denmark, and Miguel Ratunocito in Spain- and eventually became one of the most well-known symbols in the entire world. Mickey Mouse helped bring the world a little closer together and brought joy and courage to people in times of need. The Great Depression was one of the bleakest periods in American history, but it became a bit more enjoyable with a little help from Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse Club.

The original purpose of this children’s club was to attract more young moviegoers with discounted ticket prices, and its first theater-based club meeting was on January 11, 1930, at the Fox Dome Theater in Ocean Park, California. It gave kids something fun to do during the depression. “By 1932, there were already over a million boys and girls belonging to the Mickey Mouse clubs all over America. ” Local businesses benefitted from the club too: bakeries, ice cream shops, drug stores, and banks all donated prizes for the kids. The free goodies won the kids’ hearts, and the local businesses gained a loyal customer base.

The Mickey Mouse Club made kids feel like they were a part of something; at the start of every meeting the club members would recite an oath, and each club member received an ID card with the oath printed on it upon joining the club. Like the Boy Scouts, the Mickey Mouse Club taught kids how to be good and useful citizens, truthful, honorable, to follow their dreams, respect their elders, and take care of the aged, helpless, and smaller children. The Mickey Mouse club instilled values in the children of the depression, which were then carried through the rest of the century and helped make good citizens out of generations of children.

Walt Disney’s empire grew from a small “studio” over a garage to a world-famous corporation. Walt Disney Studios was built in 1939 in Burbank California, specifically for the animation process. As Disney Studios became more popular, they began selling products featuring Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and other familiar Disney cartoon characters. All of America was covered with Mickey Mouse wallpaper, dishware, cookie jars, ashtrays, salt and pepper shakers, watches, clothes, wallets, pocketbooks, lunch boxes, and other household items.

Mickey Mouse infiltrated every home and became a part of everyday life. Disney merchandise helped stimulate America’s economy during the Great Depression; people may have been short on cash, but they always had enough for Disney merchandise. Disney sold approximately twenty million dollars worth of merchandise from mid-1933 to mid-1934. Disney even saved several companies from going bankrupt during the depression. Ingersoll-Waterbury got the license to sell Mickey Mouse watches, and Lionel Corporation got the license to sell Mickey and Minnie themed electric train toys.

These companies were saved from bankruptcy because people could not resist buying anything Mickey Mouse-themed. In the 1950s the Mousecap was the primary symbol of Mickey Mouse pop culture. Children were proud to wear them and say that they were official members of the club. That decade Mickey “appeared on five thousand different items, which had contributed a quarter of a billion dollars to the gross national product. Mickey Mouse became an authoritative figure in the merchandise world. Whatever companies Mickey Mouse endorsed, such as

General Food, Standard Oil, National Biscuit Company, and National Dairy Products, consumers would always buy their products. Numerous companies fought to get Mickey Mouse as their spokesperson. Liquor, cigarette, and pharmaceutical companies vied for Mickey’s support, but Disney would not sponsor anything that went against Mickey’s wholesome image. Mickey Mouse had a huge influence on the merchandise industry of the twentieth century, and in doing so Disney Studios extended its power to the economic and everyday part of American life.

During World War II Walt Disney expanded his studios to play a role in American politics. After the attack on Pearl Harbor the U. S. government-commissioned Disney Studios to create military training videos and propaganda films. Since Mickey Mouse was so popular the government thought they could make military training a little more enjoyable by employing Mickey Mouse and other Disney characters for the movies. Disney Studios became the first and only Hollywood studio the army took over when 500 US army troops were stationed there. They stored repaired equipment in the soundstage and held ammunition in the sheds.

President Franklin Roosevelt used Mickey Mouse as an international symbol of peace to improve the U. S.’s Good Neighbor Policy; Walt Disney led a Goodwill Tour in South America in 1941 where a vast amount of kids who did not even speak English were eager to meet the creator of Mickey Mouse. Disney was also commissioned by the United States Treasury Department to create a film that would encourage people to pay their taxes. Mickey Mouse appeared as an Uncle Sam type figure and was the symbol of American patriotism during World War II. Mickey was the star of many U. S. and Allied war posters and propaganda. He appeared on at least 35 home-front insignia designs created by Disney Studios, and he was the mascot for the Red Cross during the war. Disney and Mickey Mouse were such a big part of American culture and the war effort that “the password for the Allies who stormed the beach at Normandy to crush the German army was ‘Mickey Mouse. ’” Even people on the Axis Powers looked to Mickey for inspiration during the war. Walt Disney’s help in the war effort further incorporated Disney into the pop culture and everyday life of Americans.

One of Walt Disney’s greatest contributions to American pop culture was the amusement park, Disneyland, in Anaheim, California. With Disneyland, Walt Disney changed the whole idea of an amusement park. It was not simply a park; it was a whole world; a full imaginative experience. Building Disneyland allowed Walt Disney to live out his imagination, and visiting Disneyland allowed every person to live out his or her wildest dreams. Disneyland appealed to everybody. The park’s traditional turn-of-the-century American main street- Mainstreet USA- made everyone feel at home.

Disney filled the park with iconic American images along with images that he had created such as Cinderella, Snow White, the Three Little Pigs, and Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Disneyland exemplified how much Walt Disney had influenced the imaginations of Americans by creating a certain psychological experience in the park; it was not too loud, crowded, or chaotic like other parks, and everything was soft, harmonious, and unthreatening. The park was also appealing in its cleanliness, the efficiency of the lines, the weather, and even the sound of the park.

Disneyland manipulated people into being happy by bringing out the child in everyone, but people were fine with the fact that they were being manipulated because it was executed so well. Disneyland also provided a lesson in American heritage; it taught Americans to remember their roots and traditional post-war values before they go on to fulfill their dreams. Disneyland was also a reflection of Walt Disney himself. Walt Disney put every single one of his living fibers into his park. He micromanaged everything and obsessed over every little detail until it was perfect.

His commitment to the quality of the park was one thing that made it so successful; he continuously improved the park, came up with new ideas, new angles, and new additions to make Disneyland more attractive. He felt like this park was another chance to create his fantasy world and make everything exactly how he wanted it. Disneyland portrayed Disney’s sense of wish fulfillment, and life experiences and journey with the use of the different worlds of Disneyland. The images and different lands created in Disneyland could also be applied to the history and growth of America.

Frontierland displayed traditional turn-of-the-century images and transported the guests back in time. Fantasyland allowed Americans to live out their wildest dreams and imagination. Adventureland depicted America’s desire for excitement and new experiences. Tomorrowland illustrated the promise of coming technological advances and America’s desire for progress. Disneyland was more than just an amusement park: it affected the lives of generations of people. Walt Disney had such a great effect on people because he embodied the idea of a true American.

He represented the typical self-made, family man that people could look to and think if he can make it big, then so can I. Disney was simple, clean, moral, and innocent, and these qualities were infused into his animations and transmitted to people. His old-fashion values such as hard work, perseverance, generosity, and integrity emanated from everything he did and people were just drawn to him. These qualities and values gave people what they needed in troubling times: hope and the ability to believe in themselves.

Disney’s personality made him a beloved figure in millions of middle-class households, and he affected the lives of many Americans. Walt Disney died on December 16, 1966, but his legacy continued long after he was gone. In Disney’s mind, his greatest legacy would be his work with the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, California. Mrs. Nelbert Chouinard created the Chouinard Art Institute in 1921 with the belief that an art school was needed on the west coast of the United States. Disney had been interested in the Chouinard Institute since the 1930s and when Mrs. Chouinard fell ill could not take care of it anymore he took over the institute. Disney knew how difficult it was to get admitted to art school and become successful, so he wanted to help out aspiring artists as much as he could. He financed the school, expanded it, and eventually combined it with the Los Angeles Conservatory of Music and renamed it the California Institute of the Arts. Walt even said that CalArts would be what he is remembered for. Walt Disney’s legacies continue to have an ongoing impact. Disney’s brother, Roy, once said about Walt Disney, “There is no way to replace Walt Disney. He was an extraordinary man. Perhaps there will never be another like him. ” He distracted people from the strife of the Great Depression, helped our country during World War II, and provided support afterward. He taught children how to be responsible citizens, while still allowing them to have fun and follow their dreams. He reinforced traditional American values into the minds of Americans. He helped connect the cultures of the world through the use of an iconic cartoon image while making American culture the most dominant. He recreated the idea of an amusement park and encouraged wish fulfillment.

Most importantly he demonstrated how one could turn dreams into reality. Walt Disney inspired the lives of millions of children and adults all over the world, and he is considered one of the most influential people of the twentieth century.

Works Cited:

1. “Art: Profound Mouse. ” Time, 15 May 1933 http://www. time. com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,745525-2,00. html (2 November 2010).
2. Gabler, Neal. Walt Disney The Triumph of the American Imagination. New York: Random House, Inc., 2006.
3. Heide, Robert, and John Gilman. Mickey Mouse The Evolution, The Legend, The Phenomenon!. New York: Disney Enterprises, Inc. 2001.
4. Press, Petra. A Cultural History of the United States Through the Decades The 1930s. San Diego: Lucent Books, Inc., 1999.
5. Schickel, Richard. The Disney Version The Life, Times, Art, and Commerce of Walt Disney. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1968.
6. Watts, Steven. The Magic Kingdom Walt Disney and the American Way of Life. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1997.

Notes:

[ 1 ]. Ibid. , 6.

[ 2 ]. Robert Heide and John Gilman. Mickey Mouse The Evolution, The Legend, The Phenomenon. (New York: Disney Enterprises Inc., 2001). 6.

[ 3 ]. Ibid. , 9.

[ 4 ]. Art: Profound Mouse,” Time (1933). http://www. time/magazine/article/0,9171,745525-2,000. html (accessed November 2, 2010).

[ 5 ]. Heide. 22.

[ 6 ]. Petra Press. A Cultural History of the United States Through the Decades The 1930’s. (San Diego: Lucent Books, 1999). 94.

[ 7 ]. Heide. 22.

[ 8 ]. “Art: Profound Mouse”

[ 9 ]. Heide. 86.

[ 10 ]. Watts. 148.

[ 11 ]. Ibid. , 148.

[ 12 ]. Heide. 101.

[ 13 ]. Ibid. , 103.

[ 14 ]. Heide. 101.

[ 15 ]. Ibid. , 103.

[ 16 ]. Ibid. , 71.

[ 17 ]. Watts. 228.

[ 18 ]. Heide. 72.

[ 19 ]. Watts. 231.

[ 20 ]. Heide. 73.

[ 21 ]. Ibid. , 77.

[ 22 ]. Ibid. , 81.

[ 23 ]. Ibid. , 76.

[ 24 ]. Neal Gabler. Walt Disney The Triumph of the American Imagination. (New York: Random House Inc., 2006). 632.

[ 25 ]. Ibid. , 496.

[ 26 ]. Ibid. , 497.

[ 27 ]. Gabler. 498.

[ 28 ]. Ibid. , 535.

[ 29 ]. Ibid. , 499.

[ 30 ]. Ibid. , 496.

[ 31 ]. Watts. 390.

[ 32 ]. Gabler. 492.

[ 33 ]. Ibid. , 499.

[ 34 ]. Watts. 393.

[ 35 ]. Ibid. , 146.

[ 36 ]. Richard Shickel. The Disney Version The Life, Times, Art, and Commerce of alt Disney. (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1968). 72.

[ 37 ]. Watts. 146.

[ 38 ]. Ibid. , 358.

[ 39 ]. Gabler. 591-592.

[ 40 ]. Ibid. , 631.

[ 41 ]. Ibid. , 632.

My first trip to Disney World My first trip to Disney World was really great. Disney World is in Orlando, Florida which is over 900 miles away from Columbia. We drove 15 hours to get there but we broke the trip up into two days. Although my grandfather and grandmother were tired when we got there, my sister Jazzy and my cousin Mychael were ready to go to Disneyworld. My grandfather took us straight to the resort and checked us in. Our suite was really nice. It was big with a big TV in the living room and a TV in each bedroom. My grandmother liked it because it had a washer and dryer by the kitchen.

She washes clothes all the time. Then, my grandmother told us we would not be going to Disney World until tomorrow. They were tired from all of that driving but I was not tired at all. We went out to get groceries and some things my grandmother needed because we were staying for a week. While we were shopping, we ate dinner at a Perkins restaurant near our resort. My grandparents had been to Orlando and Disney World a lot so they knew just where to go shopping. The next morning, our cousin Virgil came over and we all went to Disney World. We call our cousin Virgil “Veasey”.

Veasey works at Disney World so we did not have to pay to get in. Veasey took us to Epcot Center where I saw this huge silver ball. Veasey left us to go to work and we went into the ball. It was a ride that taught us about the history of technology. They had robots that looked like people and animals dressed up like people from the time each scene was talking about. We rode in cars like the kind on a roller coaster and a man told us about each scene when we got there. It was a great ride but it smelled like a cave and was smoky some of the time.

After we left the ball, we went into a nice building where they had games and a really cool place that had sodas from all over the world. Some of the sodas were good but some were awful so I threw the awful ones away. It was hot outside so I did not want to leave the soda place but my grandparents wanted to walk around the “Showcase of Nations” which goes around a big lake. We walked around the lake and had lunch at the American building. It looks like Independence Hall in Philadelphia but it looked bigger to me. We ate hamburgers, fries and soda.

At least this soda tasted better than the ones we sampled. After we ate lunch, we rode the monorail and a ferry to the Magic Kingdom. There we rode a lot of rides and walked around. I liked the “Small World” ride and ET. That evening, we saw fireworks at Cinderella’s castle. The fireworks show started with Tinkerbell flew across the sky on a rope. That was so great. After the fireworks, we went back to the resort. I was tired but excited for tomorrow. We were going to Universal Studios. But my fist time at Disney World was even better than I expected.

Rhetorical Analysis 10 February 2013 In the article The Masks of Mickey Mouse, Robert Brockway explains how Mickey Mouse was one of the most important cultural symbols during the twentieth century. The article discusses how mickey mouse went from being a slap stick cartoon character like all other animated personalities and grew into a much more complicated being. He was the sign of hope and escape during the depression and evolved even more into the dominating avatar of Disney itself. Brockway begins his article by describing Walt Disney himself trying to explain the dramatic success of his simply drawn cartoon character.

It starts the article by showing the reader that even Disney himself is shocked by the massive popularity the animated mouse collects during the 1920s and 1930s. This also sets up the first point the writer pushes which is that Mickey Mouse is no ordinary cartoon character but a diverse, evolving cultural symbol that everyone around the world can relate to. As the author puts it, “He has become an archetypal symbol, not only to Americans but to people everywhere, especially to the generation that was young during the thirties. Brockway goes on to reinforce the initial argument by stating that the entire film industry was shocked by the torrential success of Disney’s character and saying, “Mickey was instantly popular not only among ordinary people young and old, but with intellectuals, artists, and heads of state (Profiles of Popular Culture 80). ” The author continues to press the point of the cartoon’s global influence talking about the king, George V, in England requiring a Mickey Mouse short be watched before every film performances and the Emperor of Japan wearing a Mickey Mouse watch.

Shortly after proving Mickey’s dominance of international culture Brockway talks about how complicated the short, round mouse really is. He claims Disney himself tried to explain the mouse’s popularity simply on his plainness, saying that everyone could understand him easily. Brockway counters this statement by stating, “He is as complex as Disney was himself and as profound in his symbolic and mythic implications as any mythic or fairy tale character (Profiles of Popular Culture 80). ” Another point the author makes about Disney’s character was that it was in the actual shape of Mickey’s body that was a reason for his dominance. He also evokes the mysteries of the circular design which some authorities find profoundly significant as an archetypal figure. Such a phenomenon can scarcely be dismissed as frivolous,” Brockway announces in his article. There is a statement later in the essay that talks about curved shapes having always been a favorite of people even if they don’t realize it. It states that since there is no threat in a curved surface we enjoy them more, unlike a sharper object with points which we see as more of a danger.

For this reason the author deducts that one of the contributing factors to Mickey’s early competition, Felix the cat, didn’t last simply because of how sharp his design was. The essay quotes John Hench, “Mickey has been accepted all over the world, and there is obviously no problem of people responding to this set of circles. I’m going to oversimplify this, but circles never cause anybody any trouble. We have bad experiences with sharp points, with angles, but circles are things we have fun with- babies, women’s behinds, breasts. So Mickey was made this way, while a contemporary known as Felix the Cat didn’t get anywhere.

He has points all over him like a cactus (Profiles of Popular Culture 87). ” Brockway also quotes Ub Iwerks on the shape of mickey’s head, “Mickey’s face is a trinity of wafers- and the circular symbol… always points to the single most vital aspect of life- its ultimate wholeness (86). ” The other contributing factor the author lists as to why Felix the Cat doesn’t go anywhere was that he never evolved from the slapstick comedy that started him out. Mickey also began his career with a slapstick style as did many artists in the twenties.

Unlike Felix though, Mickey didn’t remain in the slapstick genre of comedy. According to Durgnat, slapstick emerges from childlike impulsiveness, dream fantasy and visual poetry. The “slapstick comedians are childlike, and… act out impulses which as adults we suppress (Profiles of Popular Culture 83). ” Disney evolved Mickey Mouse during the thirties because of the tone that America had taken. The economic crisis called for a different kind of comedy a more upbeat type. The bleakness of everyday life called for a cartoon that displayed sentimental escapism.

Brockway claims that Disney seamlessly changed the style of his cartoon to relate to the changing times in America with shorts called Silly Symphonies (84). Brockway writes that this is not the only evolution Mickey must go through to stay relevant. During the second world war, Mickey is matured again to fit with the times. He goes from short films to being the face of the corporate Disney image. Brockway claims he became the “organized man (86). ” Brockway’s final point in the text is that Mickey, as many heroes do, will die out in popularity as the generation that grew up with him also dies.

He states, “Mickey has some impact on younger people but far less than upon those born during the inter-war years. That generation is now senior and it is also diminishing. All gods eventually die and Mickey is no exception. But, being immortals, all gods rise. Mickey, too, may be reborn in some future imaginary character of the popular culture of which he is an avatar… Future generations will encounter him again (Profiles of Popular Culture 88). ” Works Cited Browne, Ray B. , ed. Profiles of Popular Culture: A Reader. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin, 2005. Print.

Grimm vs. Disney: The Making of a Fairy Tale Amber Brandenburg English 121 Proffessor Kari Lomanno 8/13/2012 The fairy tales that we grew up with are not the originals. Disney and the brothers Grimm had two very different versions. While many of us grew up watching cute birds and mice following the woe begotten princess, the original stories were forgotten by most. These stories were far darker, ending in cruel justice for a stepsister or worse. The difference between aspects of the two tales discussed, in some instances, is the difference between night and day. Grimm fairy tales contain more violence, harsher villains, and swifter justice.

The first example of this can be seen in the difference between Disney’s and Grimm’s versions of Cinderella. In the Disney version of the story, Cinderella is a poor girl who lives with her stepmother and sisters. She wishes to go to the ball and she falls in love with him before running off to make her curfew. Then of course, he comes to her rescue and everything ends happily ever after. The good characters are good and the bad characters are bad. There is a happy ending and no one really gets hurt in the end. Grimm’s Cinderella is a similar tale with some fiercer consequences to the villains.

The Grimm version has many of the same plot elements and devices as the story we all know and love. In this version her father is still alive and still lets the rest of the family treat her like a slave. Instead of a fairy godmother granting her wish it is a tree she planted on her mother’s grave and some birds. When the sisters try on the golden shoe one cuts off her toes, while the other cuts off her heels and the birds chant that neither could be the prince’s proper bride. Finally, the sisters are punished at Cinderella’s wedding by birds who peck their eyes out, leaving them forever blind.

Snow white, another acclaimed Disney tale, also contains plot devices and ending punishments that are very different from the cookie cutter nice endings of Disney. Everyone knows that Snow white is the daughter of a King who remarries an evil stepmother. Everyone knows that when the queen discovers that Snow White’s beauty is greater than hers, she asks the huntsman to kill her. Finally, we all know that the dwarves take care of her until her death, at which point the prince comes to the rescue and awakens her with a kiss. These are all elements of the story that we come to expect when we hear the name Snow White.

In the brothers Grimm version, the queen still demands the death of Snow White and the Huntsman still lets her go. Only this time he kills a boar and brings the queen back its lungs and liver and she eats them, thinking that they are from Snow White’s body. Snow White still meets the dwarves in the woods, but their introduction to her was more akin to that of goldilocks and the three bears. Then, when she is poisoned by the apple, the kiss of the prince is not what awakens her. Instead the prince begs the dwarves to have her dead body and the trip to the castle dislodges the apple bite caught in her throat.

Finally, at the marriage of the happy couple, the queen arrives and is forced to dance in red hot iron shoes until she dies. Definitely not what one would remember from the Disney adaptation. These are just two examples out of many. The versions of fairy tales by Grimm and Disney are always similar in nature and moral. The differences in the details of the story range from minute to highly significant. The punishments placed upon the villains are always more severe than those placed upon the villains in the tales spun by Disney.

The older Grimm stories definitely place a higher importance on the eye for an eye methodology of punishment than its newer Disney counterpart. The morals are the same, just the details and severities of the punishments differ. References Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Sneewittchen, Kinder- und Hausmarchen, (Children’s and Household Tales — Grimms’ Fairy Tales), final edition (Berlin, 1857), no. 53 Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Cinderella (Children’s and Household Tales — Grimms’ Fairy Tales), final edition (Berlin, 1857), no. 21