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Disney Unhappily Ever After
By Lim ha-young, International Editor, gkdud4355@mju.ac.kr
By Jeon Seung-jeong, Social Reporter, tmdwjd4984@mju.ac.kr
"Everyone lived happily ever after."
As we all know, this is the typical ending to a Disney fairytale. Everyone lives happily ever after, but what is the reality? The challenges that we are facing in life do not always work out to have a perfect and happy ending. We can easily find the opposite situation and see how tragedy exists even after a happy ending simply by looking at the many social problems happening around the world. So, when was the last time that Disney characters lived in the real world? An animation storyboard artist of New York City, Jeff Hong, has created images that bring Disney characters who we sympathize with into the cruel reality of the modern world.
Jeff Hong:
- New York City-based storyboard and animation artist
- Born and raised in Los Angeles.
- He is a big fan of Disney movies and feels very lucky to have worked as an animation artist for some of these films, including Hercules, Mulan, Tarzan, and The Emperor’s New Groove.
- Started his career as an animation storyboard artist immediately after graduating from high school.
- Hopes to spread the message of his collection of work entitled Disney Unhappily Ever After worldwide by using the power of the internet to garner attention and then change some of the ways in which people live and improve the environment.
1. Mulan Wearing a Mask Due to Severe Fine Dust
China is seen as the main culprit as the source of fine dust in East Asia. The capital cities of Beijing is extremely short on fine dust days, and the health problems caused by ultrafine dust are rising. China's female heroine Mulan, about whom Disney has made a movie, is depicted wearing a mask, reflecting this pollution problems.
2. Princess Ariel the Mermaid Suffers in an Oil Spill
An accidental spill of oil on a beach filled with sea life is one of the most frequent coastal accidents. To reflect this problem, Princess Ariel is shown to be in shock from the oil that has spilled on a beach.
3. Mowgli, Upset by the Destruction of Forests
Mowgli's jungle has disappeared due to urbanization. The land that was once full of trees, soil, grass, and flowers is now covered with trash. Mowgli, who had lived in nature, has lost his place to live.
4. Winnie the Pooh Loses His Home
Pooh is sitting idly were a pile of cut trees have been placed. If a skyscraper where to be built where the tree that was his home used to be, he would lose his home.
5. Ratatouille Becomes a Laboratory Rat
Because of the self-centered nature of humanity, humans subject innocent animals to cruel experiments. The animals become victims and are killed without cause if the experiments fail. Unable to demonstrate his talent for cooking, Ratatouille suffers from an experiment.
6. The Fawn Bambi Becomes a Hunting Trophy
Humans are willing to hunt illegally for their own personal gain. Sometimes deer are unfortunate enough to be used for a person’s pleasure after having been hunted. The fawn Bambi has been hunted and then placed upon the wall. Trophy hunting is the hunting of wild animals for sport, and people hunt for animals, such as rhinos, elephants, deer, bears, and others, after being licensed by governments. Since it has become a booming legal industry, more and more people will try to kill different kinds of animals simply for entertainment.
7. Dumbo the Baby Elephant Abused at the Circus
Animals suffer from barbaric training practices and have their instincts forcibly neutered for the circus solely for human pleasure. Dumbo, a baby elephant, is practicing at the circus for people today.
8. The Lion King to Be Placed in the Zoo
Animals are the most beautiful when they appear in nature, but they can be trapped in man-made zoos and become a spectacle. Sometimes the animals live with stress and can be hurt by stones or food that people throw at them. The Lion King, the king of beasts, is kept in a small cage in a zoo.
9. Melting Glaciers that Elsa Cannot Stop
Global warming has become a serious problem all over the world. Yet, humans continue to release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, forgetting its seriousness, and the Earth's temperatures continue to rise. Eventually, Arctic life will lose its habitat unless the fast melting of glaciers can be stopped.
10. Lost Home of Pocahontas
Those who did not respect Native American culture or appreciate their differences destroyed their way of life. The Native Americans lost their uniqueness and were suppressed by other cultures that claimed superiority. Eventually, the peaceful home of Pocahontas disappeared and modern buildings were built for the advantage of this dominant group.
11. Belle Is Considering Plastic Surgery
The type of beauty that the current generation desiring is getting harder to obtain. People want to have a smaller face, thinner body, and larger eyes with double eyelids. There are too many different ideals for them to achieve, so it is hard for them to become a perfect beauty. Belle is the eminent beauty in Disney`s film, but if she were to live in the modern world, even she would consider going under the knife in order to fit the modern standards of beauty even though she is already beautiful enough.
12. Alice the Drug Addict
Many people around the world struggle with drug addictions. According to World Drug Report 2017, 29.5 million people suffer from drug use disorders globally. Some people might even believe that Lewis Carroll wrote Alice in Wonderland under the influence of drugs, and so Alice the heroine turns into the drug addict.
13. Who Is Going to Care for the One Hundred and One Dalmatians?
It is ironic that while the number of animal lovers increases, the number of abandoned animals also increases. This phenomenon demonstrates that there are many people who are adopting animals only for temporary amusement rather than really being animal lovers. In the modern world, the One Hundred and One Dalmatians would be locked up in a shelter because their owners would not take care of them.
As we can see from this article, it is easier to remember things if they presented in a way that shocks us. This idea of putting Disney characters into the problems of the real world can be turned into a protest through the use of these pictures. These illustrations depicting the unhappy irony of cartoon characters who have always been seen as happy in painful real-life situations are making a great impact on those who can appreciate them. We should not forget that the miserable reality that these Disney characters would face is in the modern world that we have created. We should be ashamed of this reality and develop a desire to improve it voluntarily
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