There is nothing more precious and heartwarming than the innocence of a child. The majority of parents in society want to shield children from the bad in life which is appreciated. Within human nature exists desires of inappropriate behavior; envy, deceit, selfishness, revenge, violence, assault and murder. The most well-known fairy tales depict virtue and the evil in life. Even more important, the form and structure of fairy tales suggest images to the child by which he can structure his daydreams and with them give a better direction to his life. (Bettelheim).
The popular and adored movie The Lion King illustrates many of the undesirable actions humans take part in. There are a several scenes where the child can especially learn from. This in itself is one reason the movie is the highest grossing hand-drawn film in history, earning over $920 million worldwide as of 2011. My analysis of this film proves it to be an excellent choice for children to discover the complexities of life. If a child is protected from the dark side of reality, as the child develops he or she will not be prepared to go out on their own successfully.
To summarize the movie, The Lion King takes place in Pride Lands of Africa where Mufasa the lion is king. His brother Scar next in line for the throne until Mufasa and Sarabi gave birth to a lion cub called Simba. Mufasa, Sarabi his lioness and Simba were highly revered by the animal kingdom. Scar sets up a deceitful plan to kill Mufasa and Simba so that he may become king. He is successful with his plan to kill Mufasa, but Simba survives. Scar blames Simba for Mufasa's death, telling him to leave the Pride Lands and never return. Simba feeling guilty leaves, and on his journey he makes a couple of frien...
... middle of paper ...
... bright and multi-colored landscape with green grass and blue skies. From beginning to end this film appropriately teaches children a foundation of reality to intelligently handle adverse circumstances in life. At the same time including a mix of humor and laughter to lighten the grim scene of Mufasa’s death and the other intense scenes that portray evil. Of course it would be wise for parent’s to make a decision on how old a child should be before watching the film to ensure that the child is mature enough to understand what is taking place in the movie.
Works Cited
Bettelheim, Bruno. “Fairy Tales and The Existential Predicament.” The Uses of Enchantment: the Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. New York: Knopf, 1976. Print
The Lion King. Dir. Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff. 1994. DVD.
The Lion King. Wikipedia. Web. 4 Nov. 2011. http://www.wikipedia.org.
Throughout history it is known that fairy tales were written to teach children lessons about life in a way they could understand and that is fun and unique. Authors of fairy tales put simple lessons into the stories so the children could understand them easily while reading. Whether this be a lesson to be nice to all people, like in Cinderella, or to not judge someone by their appearance, like in Donkey Skin, both by Charles Perrault. Each fairytale has a moral that can be found throughout reading the stories that teach children right from wrong while letting them use their imaginations to discover that moral. The good and the bad lets them express their thoughts openly, rather it be their negative thoughts through the villian or their
Bruno Bettelheim, Austrian-American psychologist and author, devoted the large part of his life to studying human development—most notably the individual’s early growth, response to trauma, and long-term effects of various forms of repression upon the natural ego. His was the foremost scientific mind in child psychology of the post-World War II era, and his extensive theories regarding the power of fairy tales to provide insight into the “inner life of children” suggest that fairy tales confront juvenile issues in such metaphorical terms as to make them more readily universally accessible to children and therefore more resolvable. However, as assertive as Bettelheim’s arguments are and as all-encompassing his studies of the child psyche may appear to be, his career is not completely clear of spark controversies and questions of both academic and personal integrity. Ultimately, even if Bettelheim’s work were to be considered on account of its own merit alone, the detrimental effects of his own traumatic—and subsequently dissolute—life experiences on that work must not be overlooked. Thus although it is arguable that Bruno Bettelheim’s contribution to anthropology was indeed sizable, his theories as to the “uses of enchantment” are too personally biased and subject/vulnerable to critical censure to be considered applicable to any practical extent in the field of child psychology today.
In the Lion King, Simba's Ordinary World is the Pride Lands. This is where he was born and where he establishes his comfort zone. Here, Simba meets his childhood friend, Nala, and they explore the wonders of their home against Mufasa's will. At this young age, Simba assumes his family will always be together and safe from any danger, but his idealistic thoughts are soon disrupted when he explores too far out of his safety zone. Against Mufasa's orders, Simba gives in to his immature curiosity and goes to explore the lands. On his journey, he disturbs a herd of wildebeest who stampede him. Mufasa comes to the rescue, ultimately risking his life to save Simba and is killed when Scar refuses to lift him up to safety.
I believe that fairy tales are a big part of child’s life and they can make his or her childhood memorable. These fairy tales usually have a positive moral that teaches a lesson like the ones I was told as a child. Most tales teach against dangerous behavior. A good story teller, like the ones who passed down the tales and my grandparents, can really have a positive impact on a child. These tales were also a big source of entertainment, both in the present and in earlier days. Hearing stories as a kid taught me important lessons like not to talk to talk to strangers from “Hansel and Gretel”. These fairy tales are also very memorable part of my childhood with my grandparents.
Fairytales express the creative fantasies of the rural and less educated layers of common man (Cuban, 1984). They are characteristically full of magic, often involving upper class characters (Cuban, 1984). In short, Fairytales are organically grown with the creative material of a collective group. The Grimm Brother’s fairytale, The Frog Prince, is no exception. The Grimm Brothers’ fairytale is about a handsome prince trapped in the repulsive body of a frog, but who nevertheless overcomes and transcends this bewitched state through his wit, perseverance, and magic (Prince, 2009). Until the seventeenth century, it was the adult population that was interested in fairytales (Cuban, 2009). Their allocation to the nursery was a late development (Cuban, 2009). This allocation can be credited to the rejection of the irrational, and development of the ra...
...n. Dissimilarly, Simba’s ego protects itself through denial. After accepting the fact that he murdered his own father, Simba assumes a life of no responsibility through the acquiring the motto of “Hakuna Matata”. Simba ignores his stature and responsibility through repressing and reducing his position on the social ladder. This presents the notion of fatalism in The Lion King for like Hamlet, Simba cannot escape his position in the circle of life. This is seen when Mufasa appears in the clouds and reminds Simba of his responsibility, and stresses the importance of the restoration of balance in the Pride Lands. In turn, due to this intervention, Simba realizes his true fate and returns to Pride Rock to assume the throne. In closing, as with Hamlet and The Lion King, regardless of one’s attempt at pruseing their own destiny, they are powerless with respect to fate.
The Lion King is Disney's most successful movie to date. Many believe that the Lion King is Disney's only original movie; the only movie not previously a fairy tale from one country or another. In fact, The Lion King is in on based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Disney writers conceal the basic character archetypes and simplified storyline in a children's tale of cute lions in Africa. On the other hand William Shakespeare’s Hamlet was based on the Epic of Son-Jara or Sundiata. This lead to the debate is the Lion King based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet or the West African story, the Epic of Son Jara. Simba, Hamlet, and Son-Jara are all heroes in their own story. All of them must take on a villain that knew very well, but who does Simba’s journey resemble the most Does Simba represent Hamlet, the prince of Denmark, or Son-Jara, the lion king.
Fairy tales portray wonderful, elaborate, and colorful worlds as well as chilling, frightening, dark worlds in which ugly beasts are transformed into princes and evil persons are turned to stones and good persons back to flesh (Guroian). Fairytales have long been a part of our world and have taken several forms ranging from simple bedtime stories to intricate plays, musicals, and movies. However, these seemingly simple stories are about much more than pixie dust and poisoned apples. One could compare fairytales to the new Chef Boyardee; Chef Boyardee hides vegetables in its ravioli while fairytales hide society’s morals and many life lessons in these outwardly simple children stories. Because of this fairytales have long been instruments used to instruct children on the morals of their culture. They use stories to teach children that the rude and cruel do not succeed in life in the long run. They teach children that they should strive to be kind, caring, and giving like the longsuffering protagonists of the fairytale stories. Also, they teach that good does ultimately defeat evil. Fairy tales are not just simple bedtime stories; they have long been introducing cultural moral values into young children.
Fairy tales are one of the longest lasting forms of literature. Though now they bring to mind classic movies engendered by Disney, many of these stories were first passed on in an oral manner, meant to convey a message, moral, or lesson. Alison Lurie’s “What Fairy Tales Tell Us” covers a broad range of classic tales, discussing how under the guise of an entertaining story comes life lessons we would all do well to follow. To begin this paper, some of the tales Lurie examines in her article will be looked at and critically examined beyond what she discusses. This will then move the text towards its remaining sections, which will take Lurie’s ideas and have them applied to folk and fairy tales that have not yet been contemplated; for the purpose
The simplicity of fairy tales and non-specific details renders them ideal for manipulation allowing writers to add their own comments often reflecting social convention and ideology. Theref...
Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. New York: Vintage, 2010. Print.
Fairy Tale Text & Motif. Prod. Distribution Access. Distribution Access, 2001.Discovery Education. Web. 1 December 2001. .
I am writing this paper because I was assigned to write it as a class project. Along the way I realized the importance of sharing the real meanings of all these stories. Stories are important because in the society we live in things are constantly changing. Fairytales change but the base of the story always remain the same no matter how many times it has been retold. It’s important to reveal the true meanings of these stories, even with its dark characteristics, because the world is dark .Children need to know that there are people that have told stories relatable to what they are going through. Fairytales help the development of children; it helps their maturity as they confront someone else’s tough situations, instilling hope of a more positive ou...
“The fairy tale, which to this day is the first tutor of children because it was once the first tutor of mankind, secretly lives on in the story. The first true storyteller is, and will continue to be, the teller of fairy tales. Whenever good counsel was at a premium, the fairy tale had it, and where the need was greatest, its aid was nearest. This need was created by myth. The fairy tale tells us of the earliest arrangements that mankind made to shake off the nightmare which myth had placed upon its chest.”(Walter Benjamin). For generations fairy tales have brought happiness to hundreds of people. Through childhood to adults, people still enjoy the mysteries of fairytales. In society, fairytales are a great way of connecting
Bettelheim, Bruno. The Uses of Enchantment: the Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales. London: Thames and Hudson, 1976. Print.