Which Disney movie portrays the best morals/standards?

[SleepingBeautyAurora]

Which Disney movie portrays the best morals/standards?

In my opinion, Pinocchio. When you wish upon a star, Always let your conscience be your guide....

[Margos]

Interesting that you would pick that one. I just showed my boyfriend that movie for the first time the other day, and we had an interesting discussion about it. I love the movie, but I understand what he means. Here are some points he brought up:

1. No villain gets any sort of retribution. You can kidnap children, you can force them into slavery, you can turn them into animals, you can even eat them.... But nothing bad will come of it. This is a world devoid of penalties.

2. If you've done something wrong, there's a good likelihood it cannot be undone. Just because Alexander acted like a jackass for one night on Pleasure Island, he will never see his mother again and will most likely be worked to death in the salt mines. Since the Coachman obviously just wants boys to turn into donkeys, he pays people to abduct them for him (such as Honest John), so he cannot guarantee that all of them are "asking for it." In addition, even if they were, no amount of "sorry" is good enough.

3. By "brave, truthful, and unselfish," the Blue Fairy just means unintentionally sacrificing your life in an attempt to save yourself and your family. Really, Pinocchio never told his father about how he got his donkey appendages (so he never learned about truth). And in addition, it seems as though he's actually learned something from his bad experiences (smoke will make people sick). So really, all he has done is survived harrowing trauma and learned some neat tricks using fire.

4. Your conscience may be completely incompetent. Jiminy really isn't very good at his job. He doesn't succeed in getting Pinocchio out of any bad situations at all. Sure, you could make the point that Pinocchio's troubles are because he didn't listen to Jiminy. But sometimes, Jiminy just abandons him, or leaves him behind. In which case, Pinocchio is left with no guidance at all.

[Disney Duster]

Here here! Very good! Those are the points he brought up?

I always, always wondered about the "brave, truthful, and unselfish" thing. I thought as a kid, that somehow, the act he did of saving his father either wrapped all those things up, or was just so great, it trumped any wrongs he did or anything else he needed to learn. But it still wasn't learning to be honest. Unless it's a kind of moral honesty, like he did what was the honestly good thing? But at least he was brave and unselfish.

The kids being donkeys forever thing never bothered me till recently when other people mentioned it. As a kid, I think that I assumed they would get a happy ending eventually. As I kid I thought everything would turn out okay for the good people in the end. Was this from being raised on other Disney films, or from my naturla kid point of view, or just my own personal view? I don't know.

But yea, Disney was terribly ruthless to poor Pinocchio and the other kids in this film. In many ways, it is actually a bad film.

[Margos]

Here here! Very good! Those are the points he brought up?

Yup. He shook his head several times and said, "What a dark film!" And I kinda nodded, and asked him what he thought. Those were the first four things he said, and I have to say, I think he's absolutely right. They aren't necessarily things I had really thought about before (the first one was, and to some extent the last one), but the other two were kind of like: "OMG, you're right! I hadn't thought about it that way!"

[Lazario]

Pinocchio may use the best methods to teach us a lesson. But I think the question at hand is - what's the best moral itself?

So, I'm going with either Dumbo, about celebrating our differences and overcoming what others perceive as a handicap, or Pocahontas, not judging people until you know them and about the alternatives to war. Honorable mention goes to The Rescuers, which is about never giving up even when things seem hopeless.

[Sotiris]

I would say either Pocahontas, Mulan or Hunchback

[Disney's Divinity]

I don't really have a problem with any of the morals Disney usually has. I think the only annoying movies are Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, where it comes across more as an evil v. good story--what's the moral? Don't be evil? O-kay.

As far as morals you learn, my favorites are probably Mermaid, Pocahontas, and TP&TF.

I think someone was misreading Pinocchio. The problem is most Disney movies try to depict reality to some extent, and Pinocchio is dark because, like reality, most villains go unpunished, some things can't be undone (even if you didn't do something that bad), and being a good person is very difficult. About that second one, I don't think the film is necessarily saying a sin can't be forgiven--but that they do have consequences that, regardless of forgiveness, can't just go away.

Some other movies don't really seem to have morals, like 101 Dalmatians, Lady and the Tramp, or Treasure Planet. I suppose you could get something out of them, but nothing where, "This is what the movie's about."

[Disneyphile]

If we're including the live action movies, then I'd say The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I think that one's pretty self-explanatory.

[avonleastories95]

I really like the moral/character of Cinderella, that if you keep believing in yourself, good things will happen to you. I also love that Disney shows that big fat meanies never win (I intended to use that word!)

I also like the morals of Beauty and the Beast, the Nightmare Before Christmas, Music of the Heart, The Little Mermaid, and Hercules, but the ones I mentioned above really inspire me to do the best in whatever I choose to do.

[Cheshire_Cat]

I really like the moral of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I like its themes of social injustice, religious hypocrisy, and bigotry, and how the film repudiates all three of those social ills.

[BellesPrince]

Beauty and the Beast.

Don't judge a book by it's cover or true beauty lies within.

[skyler888]

definitely "Huncback" goes so much deeper then the basic messages of good and bad

[Scarred4life]

The Hunchback of Notre Dame, without question, for reasons stated above.

[Goliath]

I really like the moral/character of Cinderella, that if you keep believing in yourself, good things will happen to you. I also love that Disney shows that big fat meanies never win (I intended to use that word!)

But that's just lying to the poor little children who watch the film. Because it isn't anywhere near true.

Interesting that you would pick that one.[...]

1. No villain gets any sort of retribution. You can kidnap children, you can force them into slavery, you can turn them into animals, you can even eat them.... But nothing bad will come of it. This is a world devoid of penalties.

Which is *exactly* why I would choose that film; because it reflects the real world so well.

[Lazario]

I don't really have a problem with any of the morals Disney usually has. I think the only annoying movies are Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, where it comes across more as an evil v. good story--what's the moral? Don't be evil? O-kay.

Well- do you come to Disney movies for the morals or for the experience of watching the movies; which is more important to you?

I think someone was misreading Pinocchio. The problem is most Disney movies try to depict reality to some extent, and Pinocchio is dark because, like reality, most villains go unpunished, some things can't be undone (even if you didn't do something that bad), and being a good person is very difficult. About that second one, I don't think the film is necessarily saying a sin can't be forgiven--but that they do have consequences that, regardless of forgiveness, can't just go away.

I also think someone is misreading Pinocchio. I don't believe it took a position on sin whatsoever. Of course, being me it's my job to say I don't believe Disney is trying to depict reality at all. I think fantasy is their strong suit, their films obviously take place in highly stylized and artificial worlds, and just as their best qualities are fantasy- their worst are equally absurd details in the story. So, their flaws are only accountable to their own product. But I'm not trying to debate your point on reality, I actually just want to say - what does "sin" have to do with anything in this movie? What is bad in the world, if Pinocchio's world is realistic (and that's something I'll give to Pinocchio and no other Disney animated film), is just portrayed as bad. We know who shouldn't be doing what and what not to do. It's nothing more than cause and effect. Right? Not only is the film lacking punishment, but its' lacking judgment as well.

Some other movies don't really seem to have morals, like 101 Dalmatians, Lady and the Tramp, or Treasure Planet. I suppose you could get something out of them, but nothing where, "This is what the movie's about."

That's what I meant when I was talking about Snow White and Sleeping Beauty above.

I think you nailed it.

[Disney's Divinity]

Well- do you come to Disney movies for the morals or for the experience of watching the movies; which is more important to you?

I don't really care about the morals, but since the topic was about that...?

I also think someone is misreading Pinocchio. I don't believe it took a position on sin whatsoever. Of course, being me it's my job to say I don't believe Disney is trying to depict reality at all. I think fantasy is their strong suit, their films obviously take place in highly stylized and artificial worlds, and just as their best qualities are fantasy- their worst are equally absurd details in the story. So, their flaws are only accountable to their own product. But I'm not trying to debate your point on reality, I actually just want to say - what does "sin" have to do with anything in this movie? What is bad in the world, if Pinocchio's world is realistic (and that's something I'll give to Pinocchio and no other Disney animated film), is just portrayed as bad. We know who shouldn't be doing what and what not to do. It's nothing more than cause and effect. Right? Not only is the film lacking punishment, but its' lacking judgment as well.

The film actually does have a fair amount of judgment; both the Blue Fairy and the cricket cast judgment on Pinocchio's behavior fairly often. Even the ending is based on the fairy's judgment.

I hope you didn't take the use of the word sin too seriously. It could easily be replaced with less connotative words with the same meaning--"mistakes," "bad choices," which ever. That being said, it's hard to deny that most of Disney's films (particularly the fantastic ones, and the ones made when Walt Disney was alive) do often have a Christian world-view imposed. My opinion about that is neither here nor there. Even something like Hercules is twisted into a God-Jesus-Devil type of mythos. Something that probably comes from making a product for the mainstream (or maybe a large quantity of filmmakers who have the same backgrounds). Of course, they have enough going on to be watched and enjoyed superficially, thankfully.

Some other movies don't really seem to have morals, like 101 Dalmatians, Lady and the Tramp, or Treasure Planet. I suppose you could get something out of them, but nothing where, "This is what the movie's about."

That's what I meant when I was talking about Snow White and Sleeping Beauty above.

I think you nailed it.

I disagree. Snow White and Sleeping Beauty both go out of their way to show polar opposites of good and evil. Why bother with that if they're not saying anything, even if it's a morality at its most basic. With Dalmatians, Cruella isn't an embodiment of evil, and the dalmatians don't learn life lessons like in Bambi. It's exclusively to entertain. All movies are meant to entertain, but some have morals shoved in alongside, some don't.

[littlefuzzy]

Disney's Divinity, what morals do you learn from The Little Mermaid?

I'm genuinely curious, I haven't seen it in a while and I don't have a great memory.

I DO recall posting the following about 5 years ago:

I am probably in the minority here, but I felt that The Little Mermaid was a bad departure from the earlier Disney movies.

Ariel is pretty disobedient, and ends up happy in spite of (or even because of) that disobedience. There really aren't any consequences for disobeying.

Lilo and Stitch is the same way - Lilo is extremely out of control, and doesn't face any consequences for her actions.

Here's another case of a "bad lesson (IMHO):

I particularly enjoyed Beauty and the Beast, although I felt that Gaston's character was pretty bad, and (IMHO) a character that was designed, in part, to encourage children to dislike hunters and/or gun owners... (although, I'm not going to touch on Bambi, especially considering it was 60 years ago.)

[Flanger-Hanger]

Since Ariel nearly gets killed and have her father become another addition to Ursula's "garden" I'd say consequences and regret do get shown in that movie.

[Disney's Divinity]

Morals…


Adults are flawed.

Adults aren’t gods.

Adults can often learn from children.

Children are human beings, not property.

Children deserve explanations, and not “you will do this,” “you won’t do that” commandments.

Children don’t have to obey bad parents (anymore than a citizen should have to obey a bad king, as they would say back in the 1700s).

Children have the right to grow up, and to be empowered.

Children have to be given the power to make decisions to learn to make the right ones (test drive).

Parents and children can love each other even if they don’t agree with one another.

Sometimes disobedience is necessary, especially if those with the power aren’t trustworthy.

People have different perceptions of the same things.

Anger can lead to bad decisions.

Your voice is your power. (corny, I know, I know…)


And so on…

[littlefuzzy]

Since Ariel nearly gets killed and have her father become another addition to Ursula's "garden" I'd say consequences and regret do get shown in that movie.

Another thing, Ariel made an agreement with Ursula, then wanted to go back on that. Her father then made an agreement with Ursula to save his daughter, but Ariel and Eric "in essence" broke that agreement by attacking Ursula..."