Jentasmic: The Big Uneasy

A view from New Orleans' St. Louis Cemetery #1

I just flew in from New Orleans, and boy are my arms tired.

Not too tired to type, though. This week’s Jentasmic is appropriately titled, “The Big Uneasy.”

It’s a strange thing, my relationship with Disney and New Orleans.

On the one hand, I’m uncomfortable with the shiny, well-scrubbed New Orleans that Disney presents to us in such tributes as Disneyland’s New Orleans Square, and Walt Disney World’s Port Orleans French Quarter, and of course the recent film The Princess and the Frog. I’ve walked Bourbon Street at night, and it’s nothing like the quaint, meandering corridors that Disneyland offers. In fact, when arriving in New Orleans last Monday night, I found myself tweeting, “Just arrived in New Orleans, as in Louisiana, not that namby-pamby Imagineering bullsh*t.”

And what about the other hand? Head on over to StudiosCentral to read the rest….

Happy Ada Lovelace Day, Harriet Burns!

How much do we all love Harriet Burns? A Disney Legend, and the first woman Imagineer, Harriet Burns had an enormous impact on the Disney parks. In fact, as one of the early Imagineers, she surely had an impact not only on the development of the parks, but also of the Disney culture.

But somehow, when I was preparing to write a post for Ada Lovelace Day, Harriet Burns didn’t come to mind. You see, Ada Lovelace Day is designed to honor women excelling in technology, and when I’d read about her accomplishments, somehow it always seemed that wardrobe came to the forefront. Not the audio-animatronics wardrobe, but Burns’ wardrobe itself. For example, the Disney Legends site reminds us that “while she worked padded-shoulder to shoulder with men in the model shop, wielding saws, lathes and sanders, she was still the best-dressed employee in the department.” In fact, all this focus on her wardrobe made it easy for me to somehow think of her as not-that-technical as I’d perused various Disney sites; were it not for an email from Len Testa I might not have thought to dig deeper.

Honestly, I get the fact that when a woman is one of the first in a given field, it’s easy to focus on those girly issues. Is there a ladies room in the workplace? Will the guys still get to tell bawdy jokes? Can she really lift that model? I still remember how the guys in my eighth-grade electric shop class freaked out when I first walked in the room.

I’m more interested in Harriet Burns’ technical work than her fashion statements, or her ability to tell a dirty joke (though I’m sure I would have appreciated all three, had I been fortunate enough to know her). And I’m glad to know that she created the model for one of my favorite Disney parks icons, the Matterhorn. From Jim Hill Media:

For the 1959 expansion, Harriet built a series of conceptual models of the Matterhorn. Though the Walt Disney Company claims that the Matterhorn is a 1/100th scale replica of the actual Matterhorn, Harriet often told me, that wasn’t exactly the case. Though she used photos from postcards and from National Geographic as a guide, she only modeled the upper third of the Disneyland mountain after the real Matterhorn. And even there, she accentuated the tilt of the mountain’s iconic chimney because she felt it looked better. The bottom two-thirds were designed by Harriet and the project’s art director, Vic Green, to better accommodate the bobsled ride.

Burns’ technical work is present throughout Disneyland: In the Tiki Room, in Pirates of the Caribbean, in the Haunted Mansion, just to name a few. And where did she get her start with the Disney company? Working as a prop and set designer for the Mickey Mouse Club.

If you’re interested in learning more about Burns I’d suggest checking out Window to the Magic episode 227, which has a fantastic tribute to her, including interviews with her colleagues Rolly Crump, Bob Gurr, and Blaine Gibson, as well as her daughter, Pam Burns-Clair. Her daughter has also recently published a book, Walt Disney’s First Lady of Imagineering, Harriet Burns.

Disney’s The Little Mermaid from a Trans Perspective

Jos of the Feministing blog, who identifies as trans, shares memories of watching The Little Mermaid from a perspective with which some of us may not be as familiar:

As a child I remember connecting with Ariel. I certainly didn’t watch the movie as often as Chloe or dress up as the character. I didn’t watch Disney movies when I was dressing up as a girl, so my costumes were Mother Mary and Mary Magdalene and Santa Lucia. By the time I saw The Little Mermaid I’d been pushed toward swords and pirates. I often outwardly mocked the fiction that gave me that funny feeling inside – related to the first tinglings of sexuality, but so much bigger, deeper – and I remember making a disparaging comment or two about Ariel. But I identified with her instantly. Her problems made so much sense. Her whole world was wrong – she knew where she belonged, but no one could understand. And she didn’t care, she went for it anyway, became the person she knew she should be in the world where she knew she belonged. When I heard she turned into foam at the end of the Hans Christian Andersen story that tragedy made more sense to me – the fantasy was far too good to be true.

You really gotta head over there and read the rest of the story, especially if you’re not already well-versed in (or even comfortable with) trans issues. It’s a great blog, and her commentary in this piece is very accessible.

It’s easy to write off The Little Mermaid as problematically anti-feminist, what with Ariel’s willingness to give up her voice and all. And I do have some problems with it. But even that fabled moment can be seen as a cautionary tale; after all, giving up her voice turns out to have been a mistaken, doesn’t it? And ultimately re-gaining her voice is central to the film’s happy ending. (No turning to foam for Ariel, thank goodness.)

And Jos’ essay made me think of so many Disney movies which easily provide comfort and/or inspiration to queer kids, whether that’s Disney’s intentions or not. I’ve written before about High School Musical 2′s message (intended or not) to today’s queer youth: We’re All in This Together. If we keep an open mind, and listen to the voices of those with perspectives different from our own, we can learn a lot.

Jos’ post is an example of something that’s been on my mind a lot lately: Critical thinking as applied to pop culture in general, and to Disney in specific. And by “critical,” I don’t mean “negative,” but rather a more academic definition: “Skilled, active, interpretation and evaluation of observations, communications, information, and argumentation” (from Wikipedia). Applying critical thought to pop culture doesn’t mean one enjoys it less; for some of us, it helps us enjoy it more.

Kudos to Disney on Florida Hospital for Children!

My eyes welled up with tears when I saw photos this week on the Disney Parks Blog of the entrance to the Walt Disney Pavilion at Florida Hospital for Children. I know first-hand what a difference this can make in the lives of children with chronic or severe illness.

I’m a big fan of the Children’s Hospital here in Boston, and it’s not just for the technical excellence of their staff, or the world-class facilities they offer. It’s the fact that the technicians have always chatted happily with my child when he’s undergone difficult procedures or tests, and that we could go hang out in the lounge and play (free) video games afterwords. I remember one particularly sad moment that was mitigated by the (free) jukebox in that same lounge, entertaining my spouse and I in a moment near despair.

I still remember one technician wearing a Walt Disney World lanyard during an hour-long preparation for one set of tests, after the completion of which we (yes indeed) jetted down to Florida for a couple days of respite from worry. And I don’t think I’ll ever forget the nurse from Arkansas who told my son jokes one difficult night; I’ll bet he’d even remember the man’s name if I asked.

I know first-hand, too, that many visits to hospitals for children aren’t quite so dramatic, and that when you’re sitting in the ER at 2am waiting to be seen, any sort of entertainment or whimsy can be alternately annoying and reassuring. (And I for one am grateful when the doctor’s not in a hurry to see me. It usually means I’m not sick or injured enough to be rushed to the front of the line, and I’m glad for that.)

Interactive displays and themeing don’t cure cancer; neither do they mend a broken arm. But when you’re in the thick of it, a smile sure helps. So does knowing that someone cared enough to try to make your day a little easier, a little more magical.

Radical Re-Imagineering: Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster

Sometimes I can’t resist meddling with a good thing. Hence, the discussions of re-imagineering Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster featured both on this week’s Those Darn Cats and Jentasmic! From my column today at Studios Central:

Steven Tyler’s out of rehab, and rejoined Aerosmith. They’ve even got a European tour scheduled, “Cocked, Locked, and Ready to Rock.” So, one can imagine that the rumors that Disney’s going to replace Aerosmith with a new band for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster should be dead, dead, dead.

But isn’t it fun to imagine what one could do with a Re-imagineered Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster? Aerosmith gets enough play on the oldies stations these days that one can imagine a future where Love in an Elevator feels almost as nostalgic and old timey as the Dapper Dans serenading the crowds on Main Street.

My sentimental favorite is still the Ramones: You’re in a super-stretch taxi headed to CBGB’s, and the object of the game is getting to the club before your buddy throws up in your lap. Or maybe that’s just a tad too much like my early twenties.

Love Vintage Disney? Check out Popular Science Searchable Archive

Now, you know that when I saw that Popular Science has made their 137-year archive searchable for free online, I had to search for Disney right away, right? And lo and behold, I am not disappointed. There’s a gold mine of vintage fun in there, including an article about the animation technologies behind the Three Caballeros (August 1944), and another entitled “Disney Plans TV Trip to the Moon” (October 1955).

Don’t fall for the “Disney brought the body ashore” search result, though….it’s a flashlight ad featuring quotes from someone whose last name happened to be Disney. Let me have made this mistake for you.

Hat tip: BoingBoing.

Racialicious on Princely Tails

The Racialicious blog has excellent commentary on a series of beefcake, racialized images of Disney princes. Some are kinda NSFW.

Having read and pondered the commentary, I feel a little disquieted linking to them, not entirely comfortable with spreading the meme. And at the same time, if we don’t look at it, we can’t talk about it. I’ve got a copy of Song of the South in my DVD library for just that reason, despite my queasiness about the possibility of Disney ever releasing it commercially again.

1977 Walt Disney World and Sea World Bollywood Music Video

Amazing vintage footage, groovy Bollywood music. What’s not to like?

Hat tip: BoingBoing

I think there’s another amusement park in there too; the comments on BoingBoing indicate that it’s Northern California’s Magic Mountain.

The Minnie Mouse circa 6:42 is kinda weird and awesome.