DISNEYS ADAPTATIONS

Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Original by Victor Hugo

The story begins on Epiphany (6 January), 1482, the day of the 'Feast of Fools' in Paris, France. Quasimodo, the deformed hunchback bell-ringer of Notre Dame, is introduced by his crowning as King of Fools.
Esmeralda, a beautiful Gypsy with a kind and generous heart, captures the hearts of many men, including those of a Captain Phoebus and a poor street poet, Pierre Gringoire, but especially those of Quasimodo and his adoptive father, Claude Frollo, the Archdeacon of Notre Dame. Frollo is torn between his obsessive love and the rules of the church. He orders Quasimodo to kidnap her, but the hunchback is suddenly captured by Phoebus and his guards who save Esmeralda. Quasimodo is sentenced to be flogged and turned on the pillory for one hour, followed by another hour's public exposure. He calls for water. Esmeralda, seeing his thirst, offers him a drink. It saves him, and she captures his heart.
Esmeralda is later charged with the attempted murder of Phoebus, whom Frollo actually attempted to kill in jealousy, after seeing him about to have sex with Esmeralda, and is tortured and sentenced to death by hanging. As she is being led to the gallows, Quasimodo swings down by the bell rope of Notre Dame and carries her off to the cathedral under the law of sanctuary. Clopin, a street performer, rallies the Truands (criminals of Paris) to charge the cathedral and rescue Esmeralda. Frollo asks the king to remove Esmeralda's right to sanctuary so she can no longer seek shelter in the church and will be taken from the church and killed. When Quasimodo sees the Truands, he assumes they are there to hurt Esmeralda, so he drives them off. Likewise, he thinks the King's men want to rescue her, and tries to help them find her. She is rescued by Frollo and her phony husband, Gringoire. But after yet another failed attempt to win her love, Frollo betrays Esmeralda by handing her to the troops and watches while she is being hanged. When Frollo laughs during Esmeralda's hanging, Quasimodo pushes him from the heights of Notre Dame to his death. Quasimodo then goes to the vaults under the huge gibbet of Montfaucon, and lies next to Esmeralda's corpse, where it had been unceremoniously thrown after the execution. He stays at Montfaucon, and eventually dies of starvation. About eighteen months later, the tomb is opened, and the skeletons are found. As someone tries to separate them, Quasimodo's bones turn to dust.

Disney Adaptation

In 1482 Paris, Clopin, a gypsy puppeteer, narrates the origin of the titular hunchback. A group of gypsies sneak illegally into Paris, but are ambushed by Judge Claude Frollo, the minister of justice. A gypsy woman from the group attempts to flee with her deformed baby, but Frollo chases and kills her outside Notre Dame. He tries to kill the baby as well, but is stopped by the cathedral's archdeacon, who accuses Frollo of murdering an innocent woman. To atone for his sin, Frollo agrees to raise the deformed child in Notre Dame as his son, naming him Quasimodo.
Twenty years later, Quasimodo develops into a kind yet isolated young man who is told by Frollo that he is a monster and would be rejected by the outside world. A trio of living stone gargoyles serve as Quasimodo's only company. Despite Frollo's warnings, Quasimodo sneaks out of Notre Dame to attend the annually-held Festival of Fools where he is celebrated for his bizarre appearance, only to be humiliated by the crowd after Frollo's men start a riot. Frollo refuses to help Quasimodo, but Esmeralda, a kind gypsy, intervenes by freeing the hunchback, and uses a magic trick to evade arrest. Frollo scolds Quasimodo and sends him back inside the cathedral.
Esmeralda follows Quasimodo to find him, but is herself followed by Captain Phoebus of Frollo's guard. Phoebus does not approve of Frollo's methods and refuses to arrest her for alleged witchcraft inside Notre Dame, instead having her detained within the cathedral. Esmeralda finds and befriends Quasimodo, who helps her escape Notre Dame out of gratitude for defending him. Esmeralda entrusts Quasimodo a pendant containing a map to the gypsies' hideout, the Court of Miracles. Frollo soon develops lustful feelings for Esmeralda and, upon learning of her escape, instigates a city-wide manhunt for her in which he burns down countless houses in his way. Phoebus becomes disgusted with Frollo's actions and defies Frollo, who orders him to be executed. Phoebus is injured and falls into a river, but Esmeralda rescues him and takes him to Notre Dame for refuge.
Frollo returns to Notre Dame later that night and, knowing Quasimodo helped Esmeralda escape, bluffs that he knows where the Court of Miracles is and that he intends to attack it at dawn. Using the map Esmeralda gave Quasimodo, he and Phoebus find the court to warn the gypsies, only for Frollo to follow them and capture all the gypsies present. Frollo prepares to burn Esmeralda at the stake after she rejects his advances, but Quasimodo rescues her and brings her to the cathedral. Phoebus releases the gypsies and rallies the citizens of Paris against Frollo's men, who try to break into the cathedral. Quasimodo pours molten copper onto the streets to ensure no one will enter, but Frollo successfully breaks in and chases Quasimodo and Esmeralda to the balconies where he and Quasimodo stumble off the cathedral. Frollo falls to his death, while Quasimodo is caught by Phoebus on a lower floor. Afterward, Quasimodo is encouraged by Phoebus and Esmeralda to leave the cathedral into the outside world, where the citizens hail him as a hero and accept him into society.

SIMILARITIES-
Esmeralda is a desired character
Same characters
Quasimodo is an outcast
Festival of Fools

DIFFERENCES-
Death of characters
Quasimodo isn’t accepted by public
No magic used

AUDIENCES-
Victor Hugo: older readers who would understand themes and deaths easier
Disney:  family any age can watch

MORALS-
Victor Hugo: High status people will get their way
Disney: Don’t treat others badly because they look different.

Tarzan.

Original by Edgar Rice Burroughs

The novel tells the story of John Clayton, born in the western coastal jungles of equatorial Africa to a marooned couple from England, John and Alice (Rutherford) Clayton, Lord and Lady Greystoke. Adopted as an infant by the she-ape Kala after his parents died (his father is killed by the savage king ape Kerchak), Clayton is named "Tarzan" ("White Skin" in the ape language) and raised in ignorance of his human heritage.
Feeling alienated from his peers due to their physical differences, he discovers his true parents' cabin, where he first learns of others like himself in their books, with which he eventually teaches himself to read.
On his return from one visit to the cabin, he is attacked by a huge gorilla which he manages to kill with his father's knife, although he is terribly wounded in the struggle. As he grows up, Tarzan becomes a skilled hunter, gradually arousing the jealousy of Kerchak, the ape leader.
Later, a tribe of black Africans settles in the area, and Kala is killed by one of its hunters. Avenging himself on the killer, Tarzan begins an antagonistic relationship with the tribe, raiding its village for weapons and practicing cruel pranks on them. They, in turn, regard him as an evil spirit and attempt to placate him.
Finally Tarzan has amassed so much credit among the apes of the tribe that the envious Kerchak at last attacks him. In the ensuing battle Tarzan kills Kerchak and takes his place as "king" of the apes.
Subsequently, a new party of whites is marooned on the coast, including Jane Porter, the first white woman Tarzan has ever seen. Tarzan's cousin, William Cecil Clayton, unwitting usurper of the ape man's ancestral English estate, is also among the party. Tarzan spies on the newcomers, aids them, and saves Jane from the perils of the jungle. Absent when they are rescued, he is introduced further into the mysteries of civilization by French Naval Officer Paul D'Arnot, whom he saves from the natives. D'Arnot teaches Tarzan French and how to behave among white men, as well as serving as his guide to the nearest colonial outposts.
Ultimately, Tarzan travels to Jane's native Baltimore, Maryland only to find that she is now in the woods of Wisconsin. Tarzan finally meets Jane in Wisconsin where they renew their acquaintance and he learns the bitter news that she has become engaged to William Clayton. Meanwhile, clues from his parents' cabin have enabled D'Arnot to prove Tarzan's true identity. Instead of claiming his inheritance, Tarzan chooses to conceal his identity and renounce his heritage for the sake of Jane's happiness.

Disney interpretation

In the 19th Century, an English couple and their infant son escape a burning ship, ending up on land near uncharted rainforests off the coast of Africa. The couple craft themselves a treehouse from their ship's wreckage, but are subsequently killed by Sabor, a rogue leopardess. Kala, a female gorilla who recently lost her own child to Sabor, hears the cries of the orphaned infant, and finds him in the ruined treehouse. Though she is attacked by Sabor, Kala and the baby manage to escape. Kala takes the baby back to the gorilla troop to raise as her own, despite her mate Kerchak's disapproval. Kala raises the human child, naming him Tarzan. Though he befriends other gorillas in the troop and other animals, including the young female gorilla Terk and the paranoid male elephant Tantor, Tarzan finds himself unable to keep up with them, and takes great efforts to improve himself. As a young man, Tarzan is able to kill Sabor with his crude spear and protect the troop, earning Kerchak's reluctant respect.
The gorilla troop's peaceful life is interrupted by the arrival of a team of human explorers from England, consisting of Professor Porter, his daughter Jane, and their hunter-guide Clayton. Jane is accidentally separated from the group and chased by a pack of baboons. Tarzan saves her from the baboons, and recognizes that she is the same as he is, a human. Jane leads Tarzan back to the explorers' camp, where both Porter and Clayton take great interest in him — the former in terms of scientific progress while the latter hoping to have Tarzan lead him to the gorillas so that he can capture them and return with them to England. Despite Kerchak's warnings to be wary of the humans, Tarzan continues to return to the camp and be taught by Porter, Clayton, and Jane to speak English and learn of the human world, and he and Jane begin to fall in love. However, they are having a hard time convincing Tarzan to lead him to the gorillas, due to Tarzan's fear for their safety from the threat of Kerchak.
When the explorers' boat returns to pick them up, Clayton makes Tarzan believe that if he shows the group the gorillas, then Jane will stay with him forever. Tarzan agrees and leads the party to the gorilla pack's home, while Terk and Tantor lure Kerchak away to avoid having him attack the humans. Porter and Jane are excited to mingle with the gorillas, but Kerchak returns and threatens to kill them. Tarzan is forced to hold Kerchak at bay while the humans escape, and then leaves the troop himself, now alienated by his actions. Kala takes Tarzan to the treehouse she found him in, and shows him his true past, encouraging him to leave with Jane and the others. When they return to the gorilla home, they find Clayton and his men capturing the gorillas, and are captured themselves and taken to the waiting ship. Tarzan manages to escape with the help of his friends, and races back to the gorilla home. Kerchak and Tarzan together battle Clayton; Kerchak is fatally shot while Tarzan chases Clayton into vine-covered trees. After a fierce battle with Tarzan, Clayton is hung when a vine is caught around his neck, killing him. Kerchak, in his dying breath, accepts Tarzan as his own and names him the leader of the gorilla pack. The rest of the gorillas are freed after scaring away the rest of Clayton's men.
The next day, as Porter and Jane prepare to leave on the ship, Tarzan reveals that he now plans to stay with the gorilla troop. As the ship leaves shore, Porter encourages his daughter to stay with the man she loves, and Jane jumps overboard to return to shore; Porter shortly follows her. The Porters reunite with Tarzan and his family and prepare for a new life together.

SIMILARITIES
Tarzan is orphaned
Kala is killed
Tarzan feels different to other gorillas

DIFFERENCES
Tarzan and Jane do or don’t end up together
Kerchak is good or bad
Some differences in characters

AUDIENCES
Edgar Rice Burroughs: Not young children as it could be seen as upsetting for them
Disney: Family film for everyone to enjoy with a happy ending

MORALS
Differences in species and people doesn’t matter

Marketing or Film? -Theories

The idea that marketing is more important than making a good film supports the hypodermic syringe theory which says audience members are passive and therefore believe everything they are told. Marketing is important in persuading people whether or not to watch a film. They won’t have their own opinion on the advertisement and automatically believe the film to be of high standard if the marketing is.
    It also supports the ideas of Richard Dyer’s utopian solutions theory, which says audience member are looking for escapism from reality and a solution to their problems. Marketing by Disney is often very magical and appealing to see. This captivating advertising makes the film more desirable to watch, due to the promise of their problems disappearing, making marketing more important for the success of a film.
     Two step flow theory also would support the statement, as their ideas involve media being passed down to an opinion leader, who interprets the film in the way they want, then pass their personal opinion onto a passive audience. Therefore the marketing must be good in order to please the opinion leader such as a reporter who is influencing the audiences’ decision whether to watch the film or not.
      A theory which would disagree and say that a good film is more important than the marketing is the uses and gratifications theory, as its ideas involve audiences being active and having a choice in how to interpret the advertising they are shown. It believes they have the ability to recognize a good film without being influenced by marketing and will take other factors into account such as other opposing opinions.

Advertising Debates

“Audiences are completely free to ignore advertising therefore it cannot brainwash people.”

          I agree with what this quote says, as I think that audiences are active and are able to make their own choices on what they see, as the Uses and Gratifications Theory suggests. Audiences don’t believe everything they are told and have the ability to see false truths or exaggeration, unlike what the Hypodermic Syringe Theory says about people being passive.

In this L’Oreal mascara advert, you can clearly see that this mascara wouldn’t be able to make eyelashes this long without use of other eyelash enhancing products such as false eyelashes. Only a small number of people would be naive enough not to realise this, and to understand that under the tough competition makeup companies face, they will use programs such as photo-shop to emphasise a person’s looks purely for advertising purposes.  They are able to watch this advert and not automatically want to buy the product, even if they’d want to look like the model, because they can distinguish the differences between the result of the product on an advert and reality.

Safe style UK advertised ‘Buy One Get One Free’ for their windows, which is a genuine offer they are giving and isn’t false advertising. But just because an audience watches the advert, doesn’t mean they will be brainwashed into going and buying them. If the advert applies to them, and they are currently looking for windows, then they might show more interest in the advert, but if they aren’t just because a good offer is on doesn’t mean they will show any more interest in the product.

The Disney World advert shows children being told they’re going to Disneyland and asks the question ‘So when are you taking them?’ If an audience was passive, they would automatically order a Disney holiday so they could tell their children about it. But not everyone with children goes on a Disney holiday, proving audiences are active and are able to make their own opinion on an advert, without being completely manipulated.

Media Platforms

Merchandise

Merchandise is used to advertise a film before and after it is released.

This can include;
-Toys
-Clothing
-Soundtracks
-Keyrings
-Cups
-Books

This is used as advertising because other people see others with it, becoming aware of the film. Merchandise is available to people from Disneyland, from Disney stores, and online, making it highly accessible to people worldwide. Disney makes merchandise for their well recognised films, so people who have seen them can buy it. It is effective in raising awareness of a film and of the Disney brand.

Cinema

Disney distributes their films this way to an audience and use it as their first screening for most A films. Cinemas advertise themselves so they gain awareness from them too. They also advertise within a cinema, showing trailers before another perhaps related film, so the targeted audience are watching it, in an environment it’d be shown. Posters, billboards etc are also used within the cinema to advertise the film.

DVD/ BluRay

This way films can be watched at home and made more accessible for people who are unable to leave the house or need assistance watching films such as the use of subtitles. Also extras such as special features make it more appealing to buy, so people who have already been to the cinema will want to buy it and watch it again. BluRay also encourage people to buy it again as its better quality.

Internet

Advertising on the internet is seen by a huge amount of people and a large audience, so is effective to use as advertising. It can be used on websites such as miniclip where their main target audience of children is likely to be on. Youtube offers trailers to watch for free where people can comment and share their views which encourages people to get involved. Facebook pages are also used to advertise, so people can see their friends have liked and enjoyed it. Itunes can be used to distribute it so people can get access to the film without leaving the house.  

Disney’s Film Production – ‘Then and Now’

1.      Describe Disney’s early film production. What innovations did Disney make use of, and were there any drawbacks to early methods of film production?

  Disney’s first film was ‘Alice’s Wonderland’ and was created by animator Walt Disney in 1923. It was black and white as colour was available but very expensive to use. There was no sound so used titles to show speech. It featured a   mix of live action and animation. During early film making they moved to Los Angeles and set up their studio in their uncle’s garage called ‘Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio’. He couldn’t afford to distribute his own films at the time so Universal Pictures distributed his films. This was a drawback for them as they had no control over decisions such as how long the film is in cinemas for and where it is shown, also a large portion of their profits would be lost to Universal Pictures. ‘Snow White’ distributed by RKO Pictures was their first real success which bought them high profits and got them noticed, which allowed them to build a new studio in California. In the 1940s Disney produced classics, but production went down during the war. They used this to their advantage and made propaganda films to contribute with the war effort, increasing their popularity. After the war production resumed and normal and Disney created their first all live action film, ‘Treasure Island’.

2.      Describe Disney’s modern methods of film production. What options are available for Disney when they are making a film? (e.g. animation or live action, 3D). What are the benefits of some of these methods? What are the drawbacks?

       Now in Disney, in their animated films they can use CGI, which is a specialist computer programme to create places, characters, and scenes. It is very expensive and takes up time and needs high skilled employees to use it, but helps to make the animation look more realistic and flow more. It can be mixed with live action, such as in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, to make the film more interesting and exciting.  Pixar created shorts while experimenting with it, so when the two companies merged in 2006 they gained these skills. Also, giving people a choice when it comes to watching in 3D or in blue ray, makes seeing the film more appealing to watch for a larger amount of people, making the film more successful with a larger audience. But also doing this takes more time and money, slowing production down and reducing profits. 

3.      How is technological advancement in film production benefitting audiences of Disney films? (i.e. are films better quality now than they used to be? Is this what audiences want?

       Increasing the quality as time goes on allows Disney to keep up with other film companies such as ‘Dreamworks’. Audiences enjoy the classics but also want modern looking films as we’re used to seeing it and are disappointed with any lower quality. They are better quality now as Disney has a much larger budget to work with to include editing such as CGI. Using 3D gives an audience a completely different experience making it more appealing for them to watch.

4.      Who are Disney’s target audience? (Use your prior target audience profiling knowledge! A, B, C, succeeders, reformers, etc.)

       Disney makes family orientated films that are aimed at the same kind of audience. You can see this in their ideologies of family, love, happiness, and traditional gender roles. Their target audience could be mainly made up of mainstreamers as it appeals to everyone, and aspirers, as their films involve people working for success and aiming high. Any social class can watch a Disney film from A-E, but might aim for the lower end so they have an escape from normal life in the utopian world.

       

5.     Choose THREE Disney films that show Dyer’s Utopian Solutions Theory. Explain how each film demonstrates the theory, and why this will attract audiences.

       SNOWWHITE- Prince saves her at the end of the film, masculine role protecting the woman who is slim pretty and innocent.
CINDERELLA- Nasty stepmother and two ugly sisters are punished in the end, girl who did chores all her life gets rewarded.
MULAN- Men are stronger and more powerful than women, women struggle in a mans world.

Disney Films

	Release Year	Original Story	Awards	Animated/ Live	Production Distribution	Rating
Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs	1937	Willhelm & Jacob Grimm	Honorary award, oscar	Animated	RKO Radio Pictures	7.8/10
Bambi	1942	Felix Salten?	Oscar	Animated	Walt Disney Studios Home	7.5/10
Toy Story	1995	Short Film, Tin Toy.	ASCAP Award	Animated	Walt Disney Pictures	8.2/10
Peter Pan	1953	Play by J.M Barrie	Nominated for  Grand Prize of the Festival	Animated	RKO Radio Pictures	7.3/10
Treasure Island	1950	Robert Louis Stevenson's novel	Nominated TV Land award	Live	Walt Disney Pictures	7/10
101 Dalmations	1961	Novel by Dodie Smith	British academy award	Animated	Walt Disney Studios Home	7.2/10
Mary Poppins	1964	Books by P.L Travers	2 Oscars, bafta	Animated & Live	Walt Disney Studios Home	7.7/10
Jungle Book	1967	Mowgli Stories Rudyard Kipling	Oscar	Animated	Walt Disney Pictures	7.6/10
Bedknobs & Broomsticks	1971	Mary Norton	Oscar	Live	Walt Disney Pictures	6.8/10
Tron	1982	n/a	Nominated Oscar	Live & Animated	Walt Disney Pictures	6.7/10
Beauty & The Beast	1991	Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont	ASCAP award	Animated	Walt Disney Pictures	8/10
Muppet Christmas Carol	1992	Charles Dickens	Best direction	Live	Walt Disney Pictures	7.4/10
Cool Runnings	1993	n/a	BMI Film Music Award	Live		6.6/10
The Lion King	1994	Hamlet, and Kimba the White Lion	Oscar	Animated	Walt Disney Pictures	8.3/10
Pirates Of The Caribbean	2006	n/a	ASCAP award	Live	Walt Disney Pictures	7.3/10