Decoding Disney 101

Also on the topic of The Little Mermaid I saw some cute arts and crafts that could be a good idea for Holiday or Birthday gifts. Personally, I am an arts and crafts kind of girl so I found an ideas page on Pinterest. Take a look and maybe get some innovative decoration, gift or tasty ideas! https://www.pinterest.com/explore/little-mermaid-crafts/

Since we are on the topic of Cinderella I thought I would look at the one of the most iconic parts of Disney itself; her castle. This article talks about the "secretive room" within Cinderella's castle that guests can stay in that was originally built for Walt Disney and his family. It is the only room within one of the parks and it has a lot of amazing features which the article shows! http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-disneys-secret-cinderella-castle-suite-2016-11/#theres-a-foyer-featuring-a-24-hour-concierge-pumpkin-murals-sculptures-of-mice-and-a-clock-that-perpetually-reads-1159pm-in-other-words-the-clock-never-strikes-12-at-the-cinderella-castle-1

The Little Mermaid is another childhood favorite of mine. This movie gave every little girl the right of way to act like a mermaid in the swimming pool and brush their hair with forks. The thing I like most about this animation is the many famous, feel good songs that it includes. The top ones being Under the Sea, Part of Your World and Kiss the Girl. When I was a kid I remember singing those songs all the time and never getting tired of them. I also enjoy the characters of Flounder, Sebastian and Scuttle. These secondary characters give a comical and happy contrast to the malevolent Ursula and worried King Triton. Another aspect of this movie that I enjoy is the voice acting of Ursula's character. Pat Carroll's voice is raspy and deep which give the character of Ursula an even more villainous persona. Whenever Ursula is on the screen she is so captivating not only because of her appearance, but also because of her sound. On the other hand there are many aspects of this movie

Personally, I really enjoy watching the original Cinderella. There are many aspects that I enjoy about it and the first being the sheer fact that it is an old animation. The technology at the time was not like it is now; therefore, the details are not as sharp and the video itself is a little "crackly" or blurry per say (which I enjoy). With old animation also comes an older way of singing. The way Llene Woods sings is very relaxing and makes me feel like I am a part of her time. The old time animation is a part of history that will be watched for decades and decades. Another aspect that I enjoyed was the Fairy Godmother and her song, Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo . The Fairy Godmother reminds me of my own Grandma which gives the movie a personal connection. The entire scene where she is helping Cinderella is a feel good moment with singing and magic. Who wouldn't like that? It also seems hard to dislike this movie because I used to watch Cinderella frequently when I was a child, s

Photo URL Disney has been spared in the recent chain of events (aka. Hurricane Irma), and has reopened many of its parks. Many other parts of Florida, on the other hand, are still in devastation from the storm and are in dire need of support. With the USA death toll being around 22 people and the returning refugees coming home to nothing, Disney decided to donate $2.5 million to the Hurricane Irma efforts along with donating meals, bedding, storage and shelter. Disney has been known to raise money for hurricane efforts in the past including $16 million for Hurricane Harvey. It seems to me that Disney is doing a great job in helping its fellow Floridian friends http://www.newsweek.com/disney-gives-25-million-hurricane-irma-relief-florida-and-caribbean-664016

As a person who always wants to know what Disney's new creations are, I looked into some of their upcoming movie releases. To my surprise I found an article that includes upcoming Disney movies for the next 3 years! While reading through the article I found some extremely popular titles that are either sequels or remakes in the years 2017, 2018 and 2019 (my favorite being the incredibles 2 :)). I don't know if I'll have the patience to wait for these movies, but I'm hoping you enjoy some of Disney's new creations as much as I did! Have a great weekend! http://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/entertainment/news/a39437/disney-future-release-dates/

Giroux's second article, How Disney Magic and the Corporate Media Shape Youth Identity in the Digital Age , brought his ideas to a more respectable level. The publication of Giroux's first article was in 1994 and his most recent one was published in 2011, which is significantly more relevant to the "modern" Disney era. Although the context is more recent, Giroux still finds a way to make his pessimistic opinions about the Disney name known. The article focuses more on Disney as a corporation and how it influences children into being high end consumers of today's society. Large companies are able to have such control over cognition by way of technological advances, and now, as Giroux would say, Disney is able to insert product advertisement into "every waking moment of children's daily lives." Giroux still argues that Disney has this power because nobody is willing to stand up and criticize their facade of innocence/joy. He even goes on to say how the

Since Hurricane Irma plans to make most of its impact on Florida I wanted to see how it would effect Disney World. It goes to show that Disney World has only closed four times since its opening in 1971 and it will close for two days as a result of the incoming weather. Some families who live in major impact zones of Irma intend to stay in an Orlando hotel until conditions are safe enough for them to travel home, but as for the Disney parks themselves they will be closed until Monday, September 11th. Best wishes go out to everybody in Florida! https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/09/09/hurricane-irma-forces-disney-world-close-5th-time-parks-history/649770001/

The Disneyfication of Children's Culture, by Henry A. Giroux is an article that argues how Disney's facade of "innocence and moral virtue" has underlying themes that can be harmful to the education of adolescent minds. Giroux focuses on the fact that Disney is an economic powerhouse that is trying to make their money off of movies that are most of the time not politically, morally or historically correct. Disney is such an influential and readily available source that children are exposed to it everyday, yet their most famous movies (since 1989) include stereotypical ideologies of race, gender and conservative world views. Giroux goes on to suggest how teachers, cultural workers and parents can change the course of Disney pedagogy, and hopefully help children come to the realization that the happy go-lucky animations aren't always correct. Based on the title of this article, I had the preconception that it was going to dote on how Disney was positively influentia