Post Mod in Disney and Mgm Cartoon
Post Mod in Disney and Mgm Cartoon
What is postmodernism? Postmodernism is an agenda of modernism or could be described as a progress which both arose from, and react against or reject trends in modernism (Krauss, 1986). Not only has that, Taket and White (1993, p. 836) defined postmodernism as:
A movement that attacks all that modernity has “engendered”; for example civilization, industrialization, urbanization and technology. It challenges the values and objects of modernism such as individual responsibility, liberal democracy, tolerance, liberalism, humanism, egalitarianism, rationality, quality, evaluative criteria and impersonal rules. Postmodernism recognizes no boundaries and transgresses all boundaries between disciplines (Taket & White 1993, p. 836).
Looking at my chosen practitioners, Disney and MGMs cartoons, both of them uses various ways to portray their versions of humour and parody. Humour as defined from the dictionary means a comic, absurd or incongruous quality causing amusement. It also means the faculty of perceiving what is amusing or comical or an instance of being or attempting to be comical or amusing (Humour, Online Dictionary,
On the other hand, parody means a humourous or satirical imitation of a serious piece of literature or writing. It also could be used as of a person or an event (Parody, Online Dictionary,
Disneys cartoon The Brave Little Tailor (1938) is actually a story based upon the Grimms Fairy Tale, “The Valiant Little Tailor” and it revolves around a medieval European village which is being constantly terrorized by an evil giant. The king has been seeking a warrior to kill the giant but no one is brave enough to step up for the job till a young peasant tailor (Mickey Mouse) kills seven flies at once and accidentally interjects several other peasants discussion of the problem about the giant and was misunderstood that he killed seven giants in a blow (The Brave Little Tailor, Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Short,
In this particular short, class is taken into a lot of consideration, as Mickey as the title character in the fairy tale captures the giant in order to assure the safety of the king and to guarantee his own class ascendancy through marriage which is his wins the hand of Princess Minnie (Smoodin, 1993). It is because Mickey is obviously a lower class than the royal family and in those times, who wasnt. Mickey then takes advantage of his calling from the King to kill the giant so he could raise his class. The proof can be seen (3.20mins – 3.50mins) where Mickey doesnt accept the task until the King offers his daughters (Princess Minnie) hand in marriage.
There is also another Disney cartoon which plays with sadistic humour and also shows subtlety of sexual innuendo, entitled A Good Time for a Dime (1941) starring Donald Duck. It is about Donald who visits a penny arcade where he sees a risquĂ© Daisy dancing in one of the nickelodeon shows and then tries to “cheat” in the iron claw machine and later has trouble with the airplane ride (A Good Time for a Dime, Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Short,
In this cartoon, it shows that Donald Duck, ever the gullible consumer, decided to try his luck. He strolls into the room lined with kinteoscopes, each one designed for an individual viewer. Most of them have travelogue labels and Donald was not interested in them till he came across a machine labeled “Dance of the Seven Veils.” Knowing that Donald could not resist the “forbidden fruit”, he then inserts a penny to watch it. Here is where the sadistic humour comes to play as when Donald is watching Daisy Duck, dressed in Hollywoods version of harem clothes (Soodim, 1993), perform a dance and when it reaches to the part where Donald muttered “Four” (2.25min) the machine breaks down (2.30min) which causes Donald to be frustrated and furious and then when the machine comes back on, (2.33min) he slips and falls and by the time he pulls himself up, the show has ended (2.39min).
Further into the animation, we could see that Donald attempts to win a prize