Walt Disney And The Great Depression

James J. Braddock once said, " I have to believe that once things are bad, I have to change them". The movie Cinderella Man is about Braddock rising from a poor, unsuccessful boxer to the heavyweight boxing champion of the world. The historical background to his life and career was during the same time period as the Great Depression. James Braddock was not always the boxer he is now known to be, in the 1920’s he had lost one third of his fights and people referred to him as a “bum” which is the lowest name you could label a boxer at the time. Despite a broken hand and the hatred the crowd brought upon him, Braddock never hesitated to do his best on the rink. However, when the

The Nineteen Twenties were an alluring, yet laborious, time for The United States as the country faced the Roaring Twenties, Great Depression and New Deal. Before the Great Depression, the United States have been a time of prosperity and originality. Products were affordable and Americans were living comfortably. Once Nineteen Twenty Nine arrived, the stock market had crashed, unemployment was at a new high, and millions of citizens were losing great deals of money. Fortunately, the New Deal, created by Franklin D. Roosevelt, was a solution to the poverty and distress of the nation. Relief, Recovery, and Reforms, the three aspects of the New Deal, gave Americans a resolution to the hardships of the Great Depression. The roaring Twenties,

The movie Cinderella Man was about life in the Great Depression from a boxer's point of view. The focus of the movie was on the protagonist, James Braddock; a father who had to accept jobs on the docks and become a boxer again so he could earn money to buy food and pay the bills. The movie highlighted the conditions for the homeless, the trough in the economy, and the struggle to support a family. The movie was successful in being a true and accurate representation of the Great Depression.

The Great Depression had resulted in a lot of people suffering. The horrifying event lasted from 1929 to 1939. It was the worst economic downturn in history. The Great Depression happened in October 1929 when the stock market crashed. It had wiped out millions of investors and sent Wall Street into panic. In the movie “Cinderella Man,” it tells the story of James Braddock, a boxer, and his struggles throughout the depression. It shows him steady on his feet in the 1920’s, suffering from the outcome of the depression, and then how he got back on his feet. “Cinderella Man” portrays the struggles of the Great Depression through James Braddock’s harsh complications.

Each president from Theodore Roosevelt to Herbert Hoover faced his own unique set of situations during their tenure, ranging from railroad regulation to the Great Depression. Though each presidency required different solutions for which the public had to be shaped, through spin, in order to resolve a situation in a manner the president saw fit, some presidents such as William Howard Taft, and Warren G. Harding are not as well known for their use of spin. Due to the varying technological and communicative advancements like the introduction of press conferences and the invention of the radio; and the different events, such as World War I, and the Great Depression that resulted in the change in public perceptions of spin, the extent to which each president used spin changed because the circumstances under which each president had to preside over changed, so each president had to build their presidency off of their predecessor’s successes and failures.

The Great Depression was a time of despair; however three men rose above and made history. The time period of 1929-1939 was an economic disaster for Americans (History.com 2009). An actor, an author, and a musician each inspired citizens during the Depression with their own unique skills. Their talents brought hope and happiness during a harsh time. All three men called Oklahoma “home” at one point in their lives. Will Rogers, Woody Guthrie, and John Steinbeck gave the common man someone to relate to during the Great Depression.

Walt Disney and the Roaring Twenties It was almost too good to be true. The 1920s was a time of happiness. World War 1 was over, the economy was booming, entertainment was everywhere, women had the right to vote, consumers bought on credit and the greatest movie maker of all time began his career. There is no doubt about it, Walt Disney was talented.

“I’ve always been bored with just making money. I’ve wanted to do things, I wanted to build things, or get something going.” (LeeBron) Disney stated that when he realized that he wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. Disney never wanted to be boring or be known as the man who did not have a childhood and was always pushed around by his father. Disney wanted to be successful in life, he wanted the name ‘Walt Disney’ to be remembered, and it will be forever. Disney has achieved many important and exciting accomplishments within his life. He created “full length animated films, short films, live-action features, and television shows” (LeeBron) Disney also introduced theme parks. He created Disneyland in Anaheim, California. He also developed Epcot which stands for “Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow”, and Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida. Walt Disney was an important figure in the 1920s American History because he made a change to the world with the idea of bringing inanimate objects to life with cartoons and created all new kinds of happiness.

Everyone loves a good fairytale, and nothing is quite as magical and heartwarming as a Disney fairytale. The themes of love, comedy, and morality deem them as more than just little kids' stories, but suitable and entertaining tales for the entire family. This is known by a majority of the stories' readers. However, what one may not be so familiar with is the origin of these tales. Where did the stories of Cinderella, Ariel, and Rapunzel come from? The Disney writers certainly did not create them themselves. The differences in the originals will shock anyone familiar with Disney. And what about Snow White? There are differences between the original Brothers Grimm version of the ebony-haired, white-skinned princess and the Disney movie, believe it or not. Some major differences between both versions are the multiple ways the evil queen tries murdering her stepdaughter, the cause of Snow White's revival, as well as how the evil queen died. Why the story was altered is obvious:

The film “Snow White and the Huntsman” depicts the journey between the two main characters Snow White and Ravenna the evil Queen. Snow White, who is played by Kristen Stewart for majority of the film, has been locked in her slain father's castle for years. The character is imprisoned by her father’s evil second wife played by Charlize Theron, whose now queen. The Queen also lives in fear of losing of her young appearance and uses the blood of virgins to restore it. She tests the success of this with the well-known mirror on the wall. When the magic mirror reveals that Snow White is the source of her immortality, the queen seeks to kill Snow White. In “Snow White and the Huntsman” many patterns are used like the camera shots of the film, lighting and color. The pattern of camera shots is seen throughout the movie using close ups shots and wide range shots. For example, when Snow White fled from the castle and is chased by the Queen’s horsemen into the Dark Forest, there are close up shots of medieval like armor enforcing the idea that the film is not in modern day and the action of the film will be done with weapons like swords and axes. Close up shots of Snow White and Ravenna dictates who is in power and who is not. The shots show Snow White wearing peasant’s clothing, whereas the Queen wears jewelry, expensive clothes and a crown. Wide range shots are shown in film with vast plains, castles and battles’ giving a sense of realism to the setting. Lighting is another pattern

Snow White starts off with a lonely queen who sat sewing by her window one mid-winter night. She pricked her finger and seeing the blood so red made her wish for a child who has cheeks as red as blood, her

Clarification of her beauty is there to aid the reader in understanding that she is good and valuable. Furthermore, her hair not only symbolizes beauty but fertility and sexuality; proving that she is an object. Once she loses her hair, it is evident that she also loses what makes her of value to men, which in this case is the innocence of her untouched beauty or her virginity (pg. 35). In addition, the story “Little Snow-White,” presents an initial description about Snow-white centered around her beauty: “as white as snow, and as red as blood, and her hair was as black as ebony” (pg. 124). Because of this description, the reader defines Snow-white’s importance with the base of her pure white skin, passionate red lips, and seductive black hair. These three characteristics show the value of Snow-White to the prince, who begs the dwarfs for her coffin. While persuading the dwarfs to give over Snow-white, he attempts to trade objects to compensate the dwarfs (pg. 130). To young women, values defined in fairy tales depict a horrid, demeaning view of

Fairy tales such as Snow White, have been rewritten and interpreted in many different stories throughout a vast amount of years. Two stories that retold the tale of Snow White were “Little Snow White”, Written by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm and Snow White and The Huntsman, directed by Rupert Sandors. The brothers Grimm wrote the “Little Snow White” in 1812 and explained the story of Snow White as a young child who was targeted to be killed by a jealous queen and hide away in a house of 7 dwarfs. In their home, Snow White was constantly tricked by the evil queen and killed then brought back to life by the 7 dwarfs. The story of Snow White and the Huntsman was directed in a much darker direction than the brother’s Grimm version where survival was sought for both the huntsman and Snow White. Similarities arose in both versions where Snow White had to survive a terrible ordeal that she is being placed in from being vulnerable to tricks from the queen in the brothers grimm version to surviving from her stepmother but also from the environment she encounters conflict in the Snow White and the Huntsman movie. The themes of both versions contrast each other since Snow White beauty is able to save her from different situations in ‘Little Snow White”, however, the queens obsession on being young and beautiful ultimately led to her downfall in Snow White and the Huntsman.

Over the years, Snow White’s story has been told in numerous different versions then its original version in 1812 by the Grimm Brothers. The main basis of the story has remained the same. Only a few minor tweaks to the story have changed. The three versions of the story that are going to be analyzed are the original story “Little Snow White” by the Brothers Grimm, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” by Disney, and “Mirror, Mirror” by Disney also. They each were created in very different times and the original story has changed over the years to appeal to the audience of that time. No matter how many versions there are Snow White is considered, one of the most cherished fairy tales of all time. They each use different methods to get their

Snow White is a fairytale that never gets old. Countless young children know the tale by heart: A young, beautiful girl tries to live a happy life while her mother tries to kill her due to Snow White being prettier than her. Snow White, though, has a much more profound, unexploited history. There are many versions of this story that not a lot of people read. Two texts that were particularly fascinating were Gold Tree and Silver Tree as well as Nourie Hadig. In Gold Tree and Silver Tree, Silver Tree becomes jealous with Gold Tree’s beauty and tries to kill her newlywed daughter, but Gold Tree made a new friend, and she helped take care of Silver Tree. In Nourie Hadig, Nourie is left in the forest by her father because her mother wants to kill her. There, she takes care of a prince all the while her mother is trying to find her. Both these stories have amazing similarities and striking differences, but the similarities significantly outweigh the differences. The stories are astonishingly similar many ways, but their characters are the most standout thing about these stories. While these figures have their differences, the similarities are much more eye-catching. These characters are similar because their personalities follow a similar rhythm throughout the stories and their actions also stay the same.