Where did the Animated Classics take place ?

[steve]

(The Black Cauldron was more English, I'd have thought.) .

The Chronicles of Prydian on which The Black Cauldron is based say it's a forgotten part of Wales.

I didn't think it was forgotten so much as steeped in mythology, given that the books draw heavily on Welsh lore.

I should have said British instead of English - I actually meant the whole of island of the United Kingdom, which of course would have included Wales.

[Disney Duster]

As for the Little Mermaid I still think it took place in Denmark since Atlantica must have meant that the place must have been in the Atlantic ocean and that's the ocean beside Denmark.

For example, as pointed out above, "Atlantica must have meant that the place must have been in the Atlantic ocean".

According to Wikipedia, Atlantica was the name of a continent theorized to have been formed about 2 billion years ago. It become part of Africa and South America. It was seperated by the Mediterranean Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea is part of the Atlantic Ocean. So there is some connection between Mediterranea and the Atlantic Ocean?

You know, maybe these are set in fantasy places, but more specific than fantasy Europe, maybe fantasy France and fantasy Denmark? So they're allowed a little leeway and influence from other countries.

[Ariel'sprince]

I don't think that those films are taking places around the world,each Disney character has own "world" so it's not around the world,you can find Agrabah,Halloween Town,Wonderland or Atlantica in the world.
And Sleeping Beauty-Isn't that some english kingdom?.

[PrincePhillipFan]

I don't think that those films are taking places around the world,each Disney character has own "world" so it's not around the world,you can find Agrabah,Halloween Town,Wonderland or Atlantica in the world.

Of course they don't take place in the actual countries (I seriously doubt there were fairies and dragons in medieval Europe ), but personally I just like to theroize and think that they take place in some fantasy realm of Germany, France, etc. So many of the original fairy tales written by Charles Perrault and the Brother Grimm are derived from their respective country's past, culture and lifestyles, and some characters even based on former country monarchs or figureheads. So I think it's fun to theorize in which country they might be in in that way.

I think the idea of Sleeping Beauty taking place in Italy makes sense, although personally I still like to think it takes place in fantasy medieval France/Germany. The look of Stefan's castle in the film is based on Neuschwanstein in Bavaria, and the appearance and design of the forest reminds me of many illustrations I've seen in my Medieval/Renaissance class of French and German tapestries and manuscript illustrations. Also, Phillip to me bears a striking resemblance to a portrait of a past German king I have in a book of past European monarchs. I'll have to flip through the book and see if I can find the name of the one I'm thinking of. I think that and the look of the castle made me think of the German connection, along with the use of the name Briar Rose and the movie being based more on the Grimm version.

[Ariel'sprince]

I see your point,you mean the sort of the location? like the Beast's Castle is france but Beauty and the Beast isn't in france,right?.
Maybe Sleeping Beauty is about an english kingdom?.
I think Snow White has a Germany kingdom and Cinderella has france kingdom.

[Lars Vermundsberget]

As for "tiny kingdoms": You'll find plenty if you have a look at a map of Germany or Italy prior to 1860-70.

[pap64]

...I always thought all the Disney films took place in an alternate world populated by Disney characters and that the "movies" we were watching were really portals into their universe.

What are these France, Germany and Italian places you guys keep talking about?

[Princess Forever]

I'd say Snow White is definitely a fantasy Germany, even from little details like the beer steins in the dwarves cottage. Also, I saw a historic German dress that had similiar sleeves to Snow's.
I always thought Sleeping Beauty was set in England. It just reminds me of a historical England with the way everyone was dressed, although I might just be remembering historical England wrong ^^;
For some reason I think Italy or Greece for TLM, although there is evidence of French culture--the French bread Ariel carries and the hat Ariel wears on the carriage ride for example. Plus the chef, but he is the only speaking in a French accent so he could have just moved from France to whatever country TLM is in. Or maybe it's the country that Hans Christian Anderson is from? It is slipping my mind right now...

[pap64]

Off topic, but Prince Phillip fan, your sig is funny!

Phillip looks like he hates Eric, and Prince Charming looks to be falling for the beast! XD

How does the full image look like? Why is Phillip so angry when the other characters are happy and in love?

[Jack Skellington]

LOL that is kind of funny !

[Leonia]

I always thought Snow White was meant to take place in Germany...

I guess we'll find out when Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep comes out...

[Disney Duster]

Off topic, but Prince Phillip fan, your sig is funny!

Phillip looks like he hates Eric, and Prince Charming looks to be falling for the beast! XD

OMG, you made me really laugh out loud! It totally looks like that. I like it even more now.

Anyway, today I looked at photos from my grandmother's trip to England. The churches and castles and some of the landscape looked a lot like the castles and landscape in Sleeping Beauty! Especially the church architecture, the windows and spires and circular designs. I had always thought it was England before, probably because of the Renaissance. I thought the Renaissance was only in England? Then again, wasn't Sleeping Beauty supposed to be set in pre-Renaissance? NO WAIT IT BEGAN IN ITALY!!! But then it spread through the rest of Western Europe...and it is strongly identified with Western Europe...

[PrincePhillipFan]

Off topic, but Prince Phillip fan, your sig is funny! Phillip looks like he hates Eric, and Prince Charming looks to be falling for the beast! XD How does the full image look like? Why is Phillip so angry when the other characters are happy and in love?

I didn't even notice that when I was putting the banner together! Now that I look at it, I can't stop cracking up about it.

As for why Phillip looks angry, I have no idea. The full pics are about the same size with only headshots of the princes for the Disney Princes dolls. All the others just look really happy, but for some reason Phillip just looks angry and hardcore.

Anyway, today I looked at photos from my grandmother's trip to England. The churches and castles and some of the landscape looked a lot like the castles and landscape in Sleeping Beauty! Especially the church architecture, the windows and spires and circular designs. I had always thought it was England before, probably because of the Renaissance. I thought the Renaissance was only in England? Then again, wasn't Sleeping Beauty supposed to be set in pre-Renaissance? NO WAIT IT BEGAN IN ITALY!!! But then it spread through the rest of Western Europe...and it is strongly identified with Western Europe...

That's really neat, Duster! The design does seem to resemble some areas of England, but I think it's just hard to try and pinpoint a certain are of the movie. Looking at the design, it could be really anywhere from England to France, Germany, Italy since it seems to be just generic medieval design.

As for the topic of the Renaissance, Sleeping Beauty does take place before the Renaissance. Remember Phillip's line "Now father, you're living in the past. This is the 14th century!" The Renaissance didn't really start until the very late 1400s in Italy as you said, and then spread throughout Europe into Germany, France, and England in the 1500s.

[Ariel'sprince]

Off topic, but Prince Phillip fan, your sig is funny! Phillip looks like he hates Eric, and Prince Charming looks to be falling for the beast! XD How does the full image look like? Why is Phillip so angry when the other characters are happy and in love?

Yeah,it is funny thought the clip arts are pretty I liked the Eric one the best ,your siggy is great,PrincePhillipFan .

[Disney Duster]

As for why Phillip looks angry, I have no idea. The full pics are about the same size with only headshots of the princes for the Disney Princes dolls. All the others just look really happy, but for some reason Phillip just looks angry and hardcore.

I thought you might realize... Phillip probably looks angry because his picture was probably taken from a clipart of him fighting (or about to fight) the dragon. I can identify Eric and Charming from other clipart I have seen, paired with their respective princesses. Probably the Beast, too

I couldn't find that image of Phillip, but I think you would like this:
Prince Phillip Birthday Party and you can view some images larger here.

I liked your idea of France and Germany for Sleeping Beauty better. If they used parts of the Perrault and Grimm's tales, it fits with the idea of setting the film (or making the film look like) the places the source material came from. Although if Cinderella follows some of the Grimm's version, which is possible, I don't think Cinderella looks very German.

[2099net]

There's a season of documentries on BBC4 at the moment called "Inside the Medieval Mind" (see http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/medieval/ ). Which is interesting for various reasons. (incidently, Princess fans should probably look out for this episode http://www.open2.net/medievalmind/power.html for an insight into the class systems of the time)

But the gist of my post is, come the 1200's or so (1300's top), Europe was pretty much open country, even to those in Britain seperated by the sea on all sides. Ideas, styles and fashions fluorished throughout the whole of Europe. Generally - although not always - you can find aspects of any number of countries or regions in any number of buildings or clothing styles.

Of course even before those dates, cultures intermingled due to war, marriage or conquest. Rome once occupied most of Europe, and after that the French successfully invaded Britain for just two examples.

To some extent landscapes can be region specific, and certain building styles can too. But I think Disney purposely didn't lock any single story down to any single influence.

[PrincePhillipFan]

I couldn't find that image of Phillip, but I think you would like this:
Prince Phillip Birthday Party and you can view some images larger here.

Thanks! I actually got set a while ago and scanned in the pictures of the invitations.

If you're interested here are links to the picutres:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a23/Ti ... an0002.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a23/Ti ... an0003.jpg

Anyway, back on topic - for Pinocchio, I personally always figured it was the Alpine region of Italy myself due to the snowcapped mountains, and the Swiss/Northern Italian wood carvings and architecture.

[rougescrooge]

That was pretty much my line of thinking as well, perhaps around Trieste or so.

I can't help wondering if maybe Eric's kingdom isn't part of any known country. After all, they've got quite an intriguing estuary ecosystem, with tropical flamingoes and seal lions interliving with freshwater mallards and frogs and the like. Perhaps, one has to wonder, it may be a piece of Atlantis that didn't go to the bottom in the cataclysm we know of.

[Lars Vermundsberget]

I guess this book would be of interest to some of you:

Allan, Robin. Walt Disney and Europe. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1999.

[Chernabog_Rocks]

I can't help wondering if maybe Eric's kingdom isn't part of any known country. After all, they've got quite an intriguing estuary ecosystem, with tropical flamingoes and seal lions interliving with freshwater mallards and frogs and the like. Perhaps, one has to wonder, it may be a piece of Atlantis that didn't go to the bottom in the cataclysm we know of.
.

To add on to this, and also throw in my own 2cents, Little Mermaid could have taken place on the Galapagos Islands area, the primary language there is Spanish so I'm assuming the architecture is also influenced by Spain. Also, the wildlife there is similar to the animals seen in TLM, Flamingos being my primary example, however Sea Lions are also native to the islands.