Board Thread:Off-Topic Fun/@comment-5367821-20130209055547/@comment-4047879-20130502211546

84.31.124.252 wrote:

I don't agree. First, Disney is part of the distribution, nothing more. The creative freedom the writers and producers take is what makes this show as strong as it is. The fact that people know a lot of the stories from Disney-productions shouldn’t be relevant and shouldn't be taken into account, since it would be a limiting factor. Also, don't forget that the well-known stories were known to people, even before the Disney-films. Disney certainly was part of and added their part to the storytelling over the last few decades. That doesn't mean that the image portrayed by them should be the norm for all future telling of these stories.

Also, don't forget that most of the Disney flicks were from the nineties. That was twenty years ago. And people aren't stupid. If the storytellers tell you that character A is fariytale character X, you'll know it. If they can make a black guy fit in the role of a character I always thought of as white, I wouldn't care. It's different with most other ethnicities, since the entnicity is often part of the story. Then what is the point of them even using the names that are souly used by Disney? If they wanted to be truely original why not create totally new versions of the fairytale characters? That way they could look and be called what ever they want. For example why use the name Belle, in the original story she is called Beauty and other than being described as beautiful she could essentially be of any race, hair colour  etc, in fact she could have any name as long as they set up the relevant parts to the story of Beauty and the Beast (however it is interpreted) and it would be clear who the character is, as you said people (mostly) aren't stupid. I would have absolutely no problem with that at all, infact I would welcome and accept it. However by using names that are all ready associated with only the Disney versions of characters the creators are setting up already preconsieved ideas of appearance. I know that in some cases the actual names are those in the fairy tales and in the disney films i.e Snow White and I love how they have developed her character. She looks mostly nothing like the Disney version other than a couple of nods (hair bow etc) Snow is mostly their own creation but even then you could not have Snow played by anyone other than a black haired caucasian female as it would not work. A black male Snow White and you have lost the character completly. It is not a case of prejudice at all, it just would not work.

I personally would love to see Aladdin should he appear played as Chinese with a Princess Badroulbadour (not Jasmine) like the traditional original tale of Aladdin rather than the Disney arabian version. However as it is essentially a Disney owned show I personally think it is unlikely that they go down this route (I could be wrong and probably will be now).

If they are going to do the little mermaid, why call her Ariel? She is actually totally nameless in the original story. They could use any name, there are hundreds of mermaid sounding names to pick from, but they are calling her Ariel who is so iconic as a white, red haired character, that to change her race or hair colour would make her basically not Ariel.

My point is, why bother even referencing Disney at all with characters when the origional tales are so much more open to character interpretation and give so much more scope for reinterpretation rather than use characters either created only by Disney i.e Gaston or named only those names by Disney i.e Ariel who are already highly established recognised characters?

I personally think fairy tale characters when used who either have the same name in both the fairy tale and Disney version or  those who are characters who have not been in Disney films can be open to interpretation from either source. However if they are using a name that is ONLY in the Disney film then the actor should in essence and general appearance resemble that character otherwise it is not that character and they should use a different name.

Just how I feel. I am all for a mix up, a retelling or new interpretation but don't use an all ready established name.