Disney.

[ccharles000]

Which Disney movie is the most progressive?

[NightWatcher]

1. Hunchback of Notre Dame

ugly guys need lovin too

[ccharles000]

2. That falls under Beauty and the Beast and tolerance.

[colinmom71]

16. Actually, I see this film a little differently...

While it's not terribly loyal to Victor Hugo's novel, this film's narrative focuses on a morally corrupted power system (personified by Frollo, a man whose powerful position intermingles religious and state powers) that is taken down by those who have been systematically discounted and disenfranchised as "undesirables" (Quasimodo, Esmeralda, etc.) by talking truth to power.

[MotorCityMan]

15. Great question! Another vote for 'Hunchback of Notre Dame'

although it could be lumped with 'Beauty and the Beast'.

I have watched the Disney animated films with a much higher appreciation, since having a discussion about them years ago with a coworker who was a huge Disney fan. She told me that she saw the movie 'The Little Mermaid' as being about Ariel's sexual awakening. I thought she was reading a bit much into it, but there were parts of the movie that I thought, 'Well, yeah, maybe...'

Being a gay man, I have been surprised how many of the animated movies can be applied to the experience of being gay. How many of the movies (from 'Pinocchio' right up to 'Hercules') are about the hero or heroine being "different" in some way from everyone else, getting ostracized for that difference, and eventually proving themselves worthy and getting accepted.

I really related to the movie 'Hunchback' in this fashion. Quasi really seemed a metaphor for a gay man to me, the way he is hated and feared, simply because of his appearance, which he had no control over. I thought the beautiful song 'God Help the Outcasts' added to this interpretation, also. Of course, being Disney, Quasi triumphs over all enemies (unlike the original, darker story). The movie was quite adult in theme, a fact my right-wing sister in law pointed out that she didn't like, adding to it's appeal in my eyes.

[Posteritatis]

22. Utterly fantastic musically to boot! (nt)

[likesmountains 52]

3. Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs...polygamy

[ColbertWatcher]

4. Actually, Snow White is communism. n/t

[NightWatcher]

5. and midget rights (anti midget tossing)

[mikelgb]

6. Song of the South - (Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah)

[gollygee]

21. ROFL

[ColbertWatcher]

7. Just wanted to add a link to the new one coming out in 2009...

...http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17524865/">The Frog Princess

[CoffeeCat]

8. Ok, I'm going to be a sourpuss...

...because I think Walt Disney had some VERY serious issues with women and probably his own mother.

The vast majority of Disney princesses and main characters have no mother, or the mother dies early in film.
Or, the mother or main female character is a horrible person.

Little Mermaid---Ariel had no mother, but she had a father. Ursulla, other main female character was evil and ugly.
Cinderella--No mother, but stepmother was abusive.
Snow White--No mother, but the mother figure (wicked Queen) was evil.
Beauty and the Beast---Belle had no mother, but she had a father.
Finding Nemo--Nemo's mother is killed during the first five minutes of the film.
Bambi--Mom shot
101 Dalmatians--Cruella de Ville--Evil principle character.
Aladdin--Princess Jasmine had no mother, but she had a father.
Sleeping Beauty--Princess Aurora's father is a major figure in the film. The mother isn't even
assigned a name and is only seen once or twice. Maleficent is the evil sorceress who cursed Aurora.

Also--many of these female princesses characters are "incomplete" or "cursed" and needing to be save. Most of the
time, these female characters gain freedom or redemption from a male. The princes holds the keys to the happiness
of these female characters.

Also, Disney movies often repeat this bizarre male/female dynamic in which the male is a complete jerk and
the female character must be perfect, beautiful and wonderful--and transform him into a wonderful human
being. This bothers me because many abusive relationships have this dynamic. The woman mistakenly believes
that her sociopathic partner's faults--are really a product of her own shortcomings--and if only she could
be "better"--he wouldn't hit her or behave so badly. ....This really bothers me, and this dynamic is
exemplified in "Beauty and the Beast." Bell puts up with "beastly" behavior and is rewarded with her
prince.

I know some may consider this stuff over-the-top--but when you have kids and you watch movies with them--you
begin to notice these things after a while.

[ColbertWatcher]

9. That's why I voted for Mulan.

It really was the first Disney movie that didn't follow the old Disney template.

[Carnea]

11. Well in all Fairness to Walt those fairy tales the films are based on

are often much worse to their female protagonists. Walt never cut off Cinderellas feet. And Most of those were made after Disney was on ice and Finding Nemo wasn't even a Disney Film?????

[CoffeeCat]

14. It's the repeated dynamics...

...of all of this, that bothers me. Mothers are absent, fathers are present and practically saints--and other
female characters are evil.

Finding Nemo was a Disney/Pixar film.

[bryant69]

10. Isn't the message of Beauty and the Beast that inside every brown person

there's a white person trying to get out?

Great movie though.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[Carnea]

12. That prince transformation is the only failing of that film. The prince looks like a boy band tool.

[ccharles000]

23. LOL

[arcadian]

13. Other: Evil

[slackmaster]

17. Fantasia

Because Mickey Mouse chopping brooms up with an axe, resulting in more and more brooms, is just plain cool.

[Mike Daniels]

19. I was going to say Fantasia

It was a complete departure from the Disney template and was a pretty non-commerical idea in all respects.

IMHO, it still contains some of the best and definitely most creative animation to ever come from Disney.

The fact that it was initially designed to be a never ending project with new segments being swapped in every few years makes it even more ambitious for an animated film. It's a pity that it never reached full fruition in that respect.

[AndyTiedye]

18. Fantasia (Which is Also His Best in Every Other Respect)

[gollygee]

20. I voted for Mulan but the words "Disney" and "progressive" aren't a good match

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AKwCMmvI_U&feature=related

http://www.cracked.com/article_15677_9-most-racist-disney-characters.html