Walt Disney Treasures Wave 7 - 12/11/07 (1 Viewer)

[Colin Jacobson]

Here's a barely related aside for you: I went onto Amazon to see which of the three new WDTs was selling the best. I got review copies of all three but hadn't started on them, so I figured I'd begin with the most popular.

I entered "Walt Disney Treasures" as a search term, and on that screen, I noticed something called "Your Host Walt Disney". I'd never heard of it, so I clicked and saw it came out last year.

The thought "I got stiffed!" raced to my mind. Disney's sent me everything they make for years - why didn't I get that one? We DVD reviewers have a strong sense of entitlement, and this made me bitter! Plus, as a Disney fan, I knew I wanted it.

I poked around my DVD-cluttered basement... and there it was, sitting on a shelf where apparently I put it more than a year ago. I'm so lame!

 

[Mike Frezon]

Colin: I liked your "barely-related aside!"

At least you didn't push the "buy now" button at amazon before you checked your shelf.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Thank God for some restraint!

The experience bugged me because I had NO RECOLLECTION of the existence of Your Host and I love that kind of stuff. I've reviewed most of the WDT releases - I've only skipped some of the live-action stuff like Mickey Mouse Club because it really doesn't interest me. But Your Host sounds like a blast - how'd I forget it? I'd blame it on turning 40, but I was still 39 back then!

 

[Mike Frezon]

That's one of those instances (like playing horseshoes) where it's close enough!

I think there are probably a lot of us here who can relate. It is a theme I see pop up quite often in different threads. (I'm referring to forgetting what's on your shelves...although reaching your forties seems to show up fairly often, too!) I'm closing in on fifty.

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

Does anyone know why "Bee at the Beach" was in the "From the Vault" section on the latest Donald Duck set? What was supposed to be offensive in that cartoon? (And there was another cartoon that was not in the vault where Huey, Dewey, and Louie were dressed as Indians and Donald was singing a certain a song from the supposedly offensive "Song of the South".)

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I wonder what makes "Bee" a "Vault" candidate myself. I watched it twice to try and figure out what was offensive about it but drew a blank both times.

I think they're REALLY stretching with their "Vault" choices now. "Donald's Happy Birthday" is there because the nephews smoke some cigars. Yes, they do - as a lesson NOT to smoke. They're miserable as they puff down all those stogies. Shouldn't anti-smoking advocates WANT kids to see stuff like this? It couldn't be farther from a glorification of smoking...

 

[MatthewA]

I bought them from Amazon (except Oswald which I got as a Hanukkah present), and after watching "Bee at the Beach," I, too, thought to myself "This is offensive WHY?"

 

[Colin Jacobson]

In my review, I speculate that the Shark Anti-Defamation League objected to their portrayal as mindless beasts. That's the best I could do!

 

[Joe Lugoff]

Someone felt the shark held an anti-Semitic implication. I think giving that notion any credence is offensive in itself!

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

I actually can't tell if this statement is a joke or serious.:frowning:

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I wonder about that myself. My comment about the "Shark Anti-Defamation League" was clearly in jest - I don't know if the guy who mentions alleged anti-semitism is referring to that or something else about which I don't know...

 

[Joe Lugoff]

Oh, no, I'm deadly serious.

You know a scene was removed from "The Three Little Pigs," where the wolf dressed up like a Jewish peddler.

Some people felt the shark, with its "big nose," and the implications of "loan shark," was a little Disney anti-Semitism. And that's the only reason I can find why they slammed "Bee on the Beach" into the Vault.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Well, that's just... kooky, IMO. Yeah, I know about the "TLP" scene, but that one's about a million times more blatant. It seems like a stretch here - if Internet nerds intentionally TRYING to find offensive material come up empty, how offensive can it actually be? And I think of "loan sharks" as Mafia sorts, not Jews. And what did these sharks have to do with loans, anyway? They just wanted to eat Donald!

Out of curiosity, where did you hear about the "some people" who felt that way?

 

[Douglas R]

I've got it! In his Vault introduction, Leonard Maltin warns kids not to emulate anything in the cartoons. Donald (and the bee) are seen SUNBATHING and we now know that too much sun is dangerous because it can cause melanomas.

 

[Joe Lugoff]

I read it in an article on Disney's alleged anti-Semitism, many many years ago. I had forgotten it until it was brought up again here. I'd like to forget it again!

 

[Nathan Phillips]

I'm so happy I wasn't the only one who wondered what was offensive about "Bee at the Beach." Going back to the other disc, am I right in thinking "Clown of the Jungle" was in the Vault because of the constant suicide references? If that's the case, um... in "Donald's Dilemma" (which was a brilliant cartoon, btw; I'd never seen it), Daisy puts a gun to her head. The qualifications for "From the Vault" continue to be utterly mindbending.

Having said that, what a thrill to have the Treasures back. Finished watching both Oswald and Donald this week and both were outstanding; I really love how they made the Oswald set sort of a primer on Iwerks and early Disney overall. In PQ terms, both sets seem like a return to form, although I was actually satisfied with even the lesser releases of the last few years.

Are we running on the assumption that Mathmagic Land will be included on Donald 4, or will it likely be saved for the supposed eventual Educational Shorts WDT?

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Yeah, they're pretty perplexing. I made the same comment about the suicide thing in my review - there's no consistency...

 

[Steven Wesley]

Interestingly, it seems that the US Version of Silly Symphonies was edited differently than the UK Region 2 Version.

There were four edited versions of the Three Little Pigs. These included (1) the original uncensored short, (2) the short censored with the animation changed regarding the Big Bad Wolf's Jewish caricature mask, (3) the short censored with the original animation intact but the Big Bad Wolf's dialogue changed from a Jewish to non-Jewish tone, and (4) the short censored with both the animation changed and the soundtrack changed.

Version #4 appears on the US Treasures, whereas Version #3 on the UK edition.

 

[mdnitoil]

Mathmagic Land has already been released as a standalone Disney Movie Club exclusive. That doesn't automatically preclude it from being included in a future Treasures volume, but since it was a two-reeler, it wouldn't shock me if it were left out of the shorts collection.

 

[Harry-N]

Though I knew about Wave 7, and Chronolgical Donald 3 back in December, I also knew that we'd be heading for Dinsney World this current week in January, and I'd search for Chronolgical Donald 3 there.

Well we're here and looking in many stores there was no sign of any of the tins. We happened into the big toy store in Downtown Disney and they had two of the tins - Disneyland and Oswald, but no Donald.

I began to get a sinking feeling that I'd waited too long, but fortunately the big Marketplace Disney Store had about four copies of Donald. Three were pretty banged up in the tin department, but one was nice and smooth, and that's the one I got.

We've viewed a few of the cartoons here at the resort where we're staying, and so far everything looks good on these standard TV's. I too was puzzled over why "Bee At The Beach" was stuck in the From The Vault section. ...unless the act of attempting to kill a bee is frowned in these PC days...

Harry