Bet MacArthur writes: > > > Please e-mail us about any recollections or sightings, in any Disney > *_animated_ short or full-length feature,* of what you consider disability, > disfigurement, or other (non-racial, non-gender) physical difference. Eg, > the 7 Dwarfs of Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan's Capt Hook, etc. > We hope we have overlooked no examples as we prepare a Disney chapter > for the forthcoming anthology, "Making Differences," which surveys pop > images of disability in an entertaining, non-academic fashion. > Call for writers -- BTW, if you know a writer who might be interested in > the Disney chapter, please encourage hi/r to contact us. At this point, the > assignment is still open. > > > Bet MacArthur, Director of Film Projects > Arts Analysis Institute, PO Box 390-372 > Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 USA > In Mass: (617) 455 6189 > In Los Angeles: (310) 313 5059 > > ---- > Dear Bet, Why limit yourself to Disney, when American animation is chock-full of characters who are "challenged" in many ways? Speech impediments are common (Porky Pig's stutter, Sylvester's lisp, etc.). At Fleischer Studios, Popeye was visually-impaired, Olive was anorexic, Bluto had aggression control problems, Alice the Goon was misshapen and Wimpy exhibited binge eating patterns common to bulemics. In the feature GULLIVER'S TRAVELS, Gulliver suffered from gigantism, while the Lilliputians were ...lilliputian, as were Walter Lantz's Dinky Doodle, Tweety Bird at Warners, and a host of other, one-off characters. Tex Avery's Screwball Squirrel suffered from dementia and post-nasal drip. The Roadrunner and Coyote were obsessive-compulsives. One might reasonably argue that conventional notions of "disability" are central to American animation, and not especially particular to Disney at all. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Mark Langer Email address: [log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- To signoff SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]