COMM 3560 Assignment 5

COMM 3560 Assignment 5 | Tulane University

According to Eisenstein’s ​On Disney​, Disney himself would act out the expressions ofMickey Mouse for a film.  Because of this, the whole hyperbolization of the drawing comes tolife because it was taken from a real person.  Disney capitalized off basing cartoons andanimations from representations of people onto animals and objects.  His method was not merelyimpressionism but beyond that.  Disney put a soul into his creations.  “This man seems to knownot only the magic of every technical means, but also all the most secret strands of humanthought, images, ideas, and feelings.”  Disney offered an escape from the harsh reality of theGreat Depression.  Through his animations, he created a paradise people could get lost in if onlyfor a moment.  With every animation, Disney established “a complete return to a world ofcomplete freedom, freed from the necessity of another primal extinction.”  In the realm ofanimation, the creator has complete control over everything.  He or she has the freedom toexplore new concepts or ideas with no physical limits.  Disney’s films were/are a revolt against“partitioning and legislating, against spiritual stagnation and greyness.”  Disney essentiallyoffered his audience during the Great Depression a daydream.  His huge success can beattributed to the declining conditions his general public were living in.  Because the Depressionaffected all areas of society, “all ages--from children to the elderly, all nationalities, all races, andall types of social systems [were] intoxicated by him” according to Eisenstein’s ​On Disney​.

Scott 2In Don Hertzfeldt’s ​It’s Such a Beautiful Day​, the main character Bill is focussed onexpressing his disappointment with his everyday life.  His life is grey and dull.  He carries amorbid outlook on his daily routines.  This is paralleled to the individuals' outlook during theGreat Depression.  In one scene, Bill passes three dead horses on the sidewalk and barelystopped to register it.  Throughout the movie, the narrator refers to Bills significant other as the“ex” girlfriend.  This further points out his morbid outlook.  He approaches his daily life with arepetitive, uninspired outlook.  He’s just going through the motions.  In fact, much of his time isoccupied by thinking of his death and the death of others.  As Bill gets sicker and sicker, hebegins creating fantasies of animals coming to life.  For example, he finds two people appearinglike birds because they are constantly on their phones.  It is ironic the title of the film is ​It’s Sucha Beautiful Day​ because the main character Bill never stops to acknowledge the day.  It is notuntil the last scenes of the film that the viewer discovers Bill’s breakthrough and revelation ofthe environment around him.  His last walk he starts to see vivid details.  He finally Feels thesun's warmth.  It’s as if he’s been sleepwalking through life, and now he’s broken through thefog.  He’s alive; he sees the gorgeous vivid fibers in his bath mat.  He finally realizes there are somany profound questions he’s never stopped to ponder.  The evolution Bill’s psychic is theembodiment of how Walt Disney brought back life and vivid color to his viewers in the GreatDepression