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centrespread
DECEMBER 04-10, 2016
Through
Land
The name Disney is
synonymous with cartoons,
fairy tales, movies, silly
symphonies and themed parks. But the moniker
referred to is Walter Elias Disney, born on
December 5, 1901. More than a few of his creations
— including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy
— are instantly recognisable global icons. On
his 115th birth anniversary,
ET Magazine highlights some of Disney’s
greatest works of all time
Created in 1928, Mickey
Mouse is virtually
synonymous with Walt
Disney. Disney himself did
the mouse’s voice over till
1947, before being turned
over to English voice actor
Jimmy MacDonald
Journey Past
Steamboat Willie
Walt Disney dropped out of
high school at age 16 in the
hope of joining the US Army
but was rejected for being
underage. He took to
producing animated war
propaganda films and training
videos for the US military.
Disney also helped the US
State Department improve
relations with South America
by making a 1941 goodwill
tour, and later aided NASA by
developing documentaries
about the space programme
Special Mentions
Classic Music
Pinocchio, 1940
Disney films aced it when it
came to music. From romance
ballads to Broadway-esque
numbers, the music was
always definitive:
Aladdin, 1992
The Little Mermaid, 1989
When You Wish
Upon a Star, Pinocchio
Bambi, 1942
The theme song from the 1940
film has become an iconic
anthem for the Walt Disney
Company. It is used in the opening
logo sequence of all Disney films,
becoming truly a mission
statement for Disney: Dreams are for
everyone, no matter who you are
Peter Pan, 1953
Since 1937, Walt
Disney Studios’
animated movies
have been working
on brilliant artistry,
masterful storytelling and
groundbreaking technology.
These are the best:
Movies that Never
Made the Cut
Louis the Bear
The Lion King, 1994
The Lion King presents an
original story (albeit one inspired
by the Biblical tales of Moses and
Joseph, as well as Hamlet and
Macbeth) and perfectly balances
the serious and comedic tones. The
Lion King may be the most
enduring film in Disney’s
catalogue
Snow White & the Seven
Dwarfs, 1937
It is the world's first full-length animated
feature and the first in the Disney animated
canon. It is also the first one in English, the
first one in Technicolor, and the first one
ever made in the US
Cinderella, 1950
Cinderella is one of the first movies to
push the “Prince Charming Exists”
agenda. Based on the
classic fairy tale; it’s
hard to not feel a
swell of excitement
when Cinderella’s rags are turned into her dream gown after all the abuse she’s
dealt with. It gives hope that good people will ultimately be rewarded
Alice in Wonderland, 1951
With its psychedelic elements,
the movie also carries some of
the darkest undertones Disney
universe. While we see Alice’s
imagination in Wonderland
unfold, it goes from being fun
and whimsical to sinister. That
tension, that childhood can be
both wonderful and frightening,
is what makes Alice in
Wonderland a classic
Circle of Life,
Disney was going to release an animated movie
featuring the voice talent of Louis Prima, who
voiced King Louie in The Jungle Book (1967). It
would have been called Louis the Bear centered
on a bear escaping
from a zoo with the
help of two mice.
Unfortunately, Walt
Disney died and Prima
was diagnosed with a
brain tumour
Lion King
The Prince and
the Pig
Voiced by Disney
favourites Lea Salonga and Brad
Kane, it has become a modern
odern classic,
classic
capturing the excitement and wonder
of new love. It won the Oscar for Best
Original Song in 1993
The movie would have
been about a boy and
his pet pig on a journey
to steal the moon. It
would’ve been released in 2003, but Disney
scrapped the project due to a lack of interest
from the general movie-going public
Chanticleer
It was based on Cyrano de Bergerac, but with
barnyard chickens and roosters. Disney
scrapped it when ideas clashed with
Don Bluth’s Rock-A-Doodle in 1991
Composed by Elton John,
n, it was
nominated for the Academy
emy Award
for Best Song along with
h two other
songs from the movie, Can
You Feel the Love Tonight
ght
and Hakuna Matata. The
e
award finally went to Can
an You
Feel the Love Tonight
A Whole New
World, Aladdin
Source: history.com, buzzfeed.com, IMDb.com
Beauty & the Beast,
1991
But before Mickey, there was Oswald. Walt’s
first big hit was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, but
he sold the character to Universal in 1927.
Mickey was created as a replacement
to Oswald
Between 1932 and
1969, Disney won 22
Academy Awards and
was nominated 59
w
times. Included among
ti
this trove of Oscars are
th
three awards created
th
specifically for him —
sp
o for creating
one
Mickey Mouse,
M
another recognising
a
his contribution of
h
music in animation,
m
and a specially made
a
prize honouring Snow
p
White and the Seven
W
Dwarfs that featured a
D
Originally referred to as
Mortimer Mouse, the
name was changed to
Mickey which was thought
to be a more marketable
name. Mortimer later
became Mickey’s rival,
vying for Minnie Mouse’s
affection
Disney's very first animation studio
was Laugh-O-Gram, where he
began telling modernised fairy tales
based on Aesop's Fables, before the
studio went bankrupt
:: Joyshree Baruah
The characters are remarkably
memorable — there’s the
heartbreaking frailty of
Belle’s father, the suave
Lumiere, and the
lovable Cogsworth.
Belle, meanwhile,
has interests beyond
men. The music is
equally mesmerising
15
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DECEMBER 04-10, 2016
tr
traditional
statuette, and
seven miniature
se
versions alongside of it
ve
Friends in Need
The Best Baddies
A hallmark of a Disney flick is a great
friendship between the characters.
Here are the iconic duos of all time:
Disney’s crowning achievement
may just be the exceptional
catalogue of villains built up over
the last six decades. Here are
some of
o the baddest ones:
Timon &
Pumba
The meerkat and
d the
wild hog in The Lion
King become guides
ides
for Simba as
he struggles
to cope with
his father’s death.
th. They
provided one off the
musical's
favourite songs,
Hakuna Matata
which is arguably the
best motto for life
Baloo & Mowglii
B
Thi good-natured bear saw
This
aw
the man-cub
m
as his own son
n
in Th
The Jungle Book
(1967), with Mowgli
(19
returning the affection
re
by viewing Baloo as hiss
b
father. That and the fact
fa
that both are inextricably
associated with the
asso
infectious Bare Necessities
infe
Dumbo & Timothy
Dum
Througho Dumbo, Timothy acts
Throughout
as the much needed protector in
Dumbo’s life. His goal is to help
the saddened elephant
above all,
succeed in life and a
mother.
help him rescue his m
err.
e
determination, the duo
With this determina
uo
o
accomplish their goal
goa and
d establish
establ
bllissh
a unique friendship between
ween a baby
elephant
e
hant and a
mouse
m
se
Scar: He is without doubt
Sc
one of the best villains in
the history of animation.
His tone when dealing
with young Simba is the
most perfectly executed form
mos
pompous sarcasm and his
of p
greedy,
gree
ree
edy,
manipulative
ma
anip
pulative
and
jealous
an
d je
ealous
nature
na
turre just
oozes
evil
ooze
es e
Jafar:
Jaf
f
Th antagonist in Aladdin was
The
ccold, calculating, and
charismatic. Equal parts
psychopath, sadist and
narcissist, Jafar’s villainous
faults are rooted in an
unquenchable thirst for
u
power and a willingness to cut
po
corners and sacrifice others
co
in order to obtain it
Shere Khan :
The Jungle Book villain is known
as a man-eater, who is similar to
Hannibal Lecter in that he is
especially
e
es
p ci
pe
c ally articulate and polite
in dealing with his victims.
His cold, calculating
methodology verged on
sociopathic symptoms