Word: disneyized
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Cartoons at a super-serioso film festival? Mais oui, if the festival is Cannes, which has been hospitable to animation from the start; Walt Disney's Make Mine Music and Dumbo won prizes the first two years. More recently, DreamWorks' Shrek had a lavish premiere here; and last year Marjane Satrapi's Iranian-French animated autobiography Persepolis copped the Jury Prize, on its way to international renown and an Oscar nomination. (But never a Pixar movie, though several would have been ready for a mid-May slot. Go figure.) Today DreamWorks unveiled its latest ani-movie, Kung Fu Panda...
...World War II attitude of inclusivity and global understanding that drove the creation of such institutions as the United Nations, although from the perspective of a victorious and magnanimous industrialized West. Having spent many hours on the ride in my California youth, I couldn't help but wonder how Disney would translate the message of "Small World" in an era so profoundly different - particularly at a theme park whose desired customers are those who see the world through the cultural prism not of the industrialized West, but of a rising Asia...
...improved special effects and cross-promotional branding. As the Hong Kong ride's water propulsion system nudged our craft past scenes familiar from my childhood - the Taj Mahal, the rainforest, the singing mermaids - it became clear that the basic concept and signature, blocky 1960s motifs of Disney artist Mary Blair had been retained. The Hong Kong sets look more vibrant thanks to lighting techniques, while a more sophisticated sound system belts out "it's a world of hopes; it's a world of tears" in nine languages. The "Asia" component here has been expanded to include Cambodia, the Philippines, Hong...
...There has, however, been one big change - the strategic insertion of 38 Disney cartoon characters into what had previously been a simulacrum of the real world. Here, the eskimos share the North Pole with Bambi and Thumper; Mulan flies a kite in Asia; Cinderella and Prince Charming wave to passing boats from their castle. The additions, when first proposed, inspired a small but fierce cry of sacrilege in the Disney blogosphere. "Everybody is so precious about what we do," Lanzisero objects. "At Disneyland, just a few hours into opening, [Walt Disney] started redoing things. It's no fun just...
...Remaining competitive in an increasingly crowded global entertainment market challenges Disney to find the right balance between the formulaic familiar and the innovative, and thus far that blend proved elusive in Hong Kong -the gateway to a vast number of Asian visitors whose exposure to Disney storylines is lower. Last year's annual report noted that revenue growth at the resort in Paris was offset by Hong Kong's low attendance. Management hopes that "Small World" will help turn things around, but that may be a tall order, even for over 2,000 pounds of glitter and 241 dolls...