WHAT THE HELL WAS WALT DISNEY THINKING?!

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Yesterday my hubby was letting the diva watch Mickey Mouse on his iPhone. From the other room, I could hear him laughing hysterically. Knowing that Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is more annoying than funny, I said “sounds like you’re enjoying that more than her.” Apparently it was an old-school Mickey Mouse. You know, the ones you used to watch on Saturday mornings? Yeah. That. These cartoons are, albeit funny, violent and morally corrupt.

Let me set the scene for you. Mickey, Donald and Pluto are climbing into the Alps for eagle eggs and edelweiss (whatever that is!). Donald is collecting the edelweiss when he gets into a scuffle with a goat who is trying to eat his stash. While Mickey is collecting the eagle eggs, the momma arrives and roughs him up a bit. So Mickey does what does any good-natured mouse would do? He starts throwing her babies eggs at her. Instead of smashing to the ground into a mess of undeveloped eagles, they crack open and release angry eagle babies. I’m telling ya, that’s enough to turn anyone off eggs. One of the evil little creatures drives Pluto over a cliff into a pile of snow. Not to worry though, the trusty St. Bernard pulls Pluto’s blue and frozen-solid body to safety. He opens the tap on his barrel and proceeds to “thaw out” Pluto with what I can only imagine is alcohol by Pluto’s then blurry, double vision, hiccups and lack of motor control. To get the full effect of their drunkenness, you’ll have to watch the end.

So that begs the question, “What the hell was Walt Disney thinking?”

Mickey Mouse isn’t the only strange made-for-kid shows. Think Bugs Bunny, the Road Runner and Scooby-Doo. Plenty of movies are downright freaky too. Check out Babble’s list of what they believe to be the top seven most disturbing movies for toddlers. I agree with some, but would have to add Bambi (who after his mom gets gunned down, runs into the forest where he’s attacked by strange noises and angry trees), Beauty and the Beast (best example of Stockholm Syndrome ever), and finally Snow White (apple anyone?).

What tops your list of strangest kids movies?

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Comments

  1. St. Bernard’s were stocked with whiskey. Or at least, that’s the rumor I have always heard. 🙂

  2. I would have to agree with Coraline…I was too scared to watch that!!! So funny about the Stockholm Syndrome…I never thought of it that way LOL. I also think the beginning of UP is the most depressing kids movie I have ever seen! Why is that in a kids movie? I was near suicide after watching that.

    • Momma on the Rocks Momma on the Rocks says:

      The beginning of Up was SO SAD!

    • When friends told me how the movie Up started I decided not to see it right away. I still can’t watch it without bawling!!! (My eyes are tearing up as I type! LOL) I knew a couple that couldn’t have children, they were the nicest couple and I “adopted” them as my own!!!

  3. My 4 year old son is obsessed with Godzilla cartoons…I didn’t even know they existed. I’m not too fond of them – since he’s always destroying something. Also, old school Pink Panther cartoons – there’s a lot of “funny” stuff that goes on in them…

  4. Ashley - Embracing Beauty says:

    I know that Looney Tunes was made for adults and not kids. They used to be played before movies in the theater.

  5. I refuse to watch Bambi. Refuse. And I’m still trying to figure out Alice in Wonderland — I loved it in college, but it’s not exactly a kid movie (or a kid book).

    • Momma on the Rocks Momma on the Rocks says:

      ha ha! I got Bambi for my little one at Christmas. I completely forgot how sad it is.

    • Well, Alice in Wonderland wasn’t ever written for kids… at least the original. And I think Lewis Carroll (besides being a pedophile) was completely high the whole time he wrote it. Good times, good times. 🙂 It is eye opening to watch all of the old Disney Movies though… I guess I can’t take them too seriously.

      • Momma on the Rocks Momma on the Rocks says:

        Yeah I don’t either. I do think it’s funny what they used to get away with. Although when I watched those movies when I was little, I had no idea that they were strange.

  6. I don’t let my kids watch Sponge Bob, although I find it hillarious!!! Although I have let my toddler watch American Tale, although she mostly just listens to the songs and ignores the rest. She loves watching Tangled (kidnapping) Princess and the Frog (evil magic) and Little Mermaid (looks over intelligence) but mostly she watches them for the songs and not really the “content”. She does love Beauty and the Beast but our copy is scratched beyond repair! The one that freaks me out (still) is Sleeping Beauty! I mean, aside from the pricking the finger and falling into a coma, Malificent calls on “All the demons in hell!” I remember watching the movie with my cousin, I was 12 or 13, she was three or four! I’m not overly religious but that just struck a bad note with me…
    Stopping by from SITS!

  7. Let’s not forget about Dumbo. I still get freaked out when I think about those dancing pink elephants!

    –visiting from Finding the Funny 🙂

  8. First, thanks for telling us about edelweiss. I never knew! I so agree that there are some odd shows. The roadrunner was always flattening the coyote with an anvil (or was it the other way around??). The weirdest kid show now has got to be Yo Gabba Gabba. We never watch it, but it just looks very, very strange. Your post made me laugh! Thanks for linking up with us over at #findingthefunny this week!

  9. And Peter Pan. I’ll never forget the first time I watched it after having Stella and freaked out when they pulled out a gun and shot someone overboard. Yikes!

  10. My son loves Tangled and the Princess and the Frog. He also loves Mickey and Tom & Jerry. I don’t have a problem with anything he watches. I just let him know what is real and what is not. Now my little brother refused to watch Bambi after the first time he saw it. To this day he is still iffy. My other younger brother had nightmares when he was little caused by the movie Hocus Pocus (Bette Midler)

  11. All of those trippy dreams that the characters had in Disney movies – Pooh Bear with the Heffalumps and Woozles, Dumbo with the Pink Elephants on Parade. What was in Pooh’s “hunny” that night? And then there was the caterpillar smoking opium in “Alice In Wonderland.” And I do remember the St. Bernard cartoon of which you speak. My parents just explained to us that the “cider” in the barrel helped warm people up so they didn’t die of frostbite. I still didn’t exactly understand why they acted all silly like that, but I went with it.

    There are lots of things (even in cartoons from the 80’s) that you would never ever see in a kids show now.

  12. Angela Kinder says:

    Sometimes I don’t think the writers take everyone into mind when they write this stuff. By the way, Edlewiess is a flower mostly known around the Alpenlands (Austria, Germany, etc.). Considering my German heritage, I pretty much know about all that. LOL

  13. The worst movie ever in my opinion was UP I hate that movie…and for it to be a kid movie…I don’t think so.

  14. That made me laugh out loud. literally! Yeah the guys at Disney have to get their kicks some how! lol

  15. I was bawling at the begining of UP. And my dad took me to see bambi when it first came out. I cried so hard he had to carry me out and leave. Dumbo I cried because I didn’t want anyone to chain MY mom up. I was also terrified of the Wizard of Oz because I was convinced the flying monkeys were going to catch me.

  16. My biggest “children’s movie” issue was always with Watership Down. That is NOT a kids book, nor is it a kids movie. Oh, and Animal Farm. Just because it has animals in it doesn’t mean it’s meant for children!

  17. I am usually not too worried about cartoon violence but some of the stuff they SAY bothers me. I am always worried my 3 year old is going to be telling people “I’m in hillbilly hell!” After watching Cars. And the humor is a little adult for my taste. “Well race cars don’t need headlights, because the track is always lit.” “So’s my brother, but he still needs headlights!”

    • I wrote a letter to Disney after hearing that comment on Cars. Never heard back from them. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one with concerns about the movies being made for kids!

  18. Samantha D. says:

    Personally I love all the Old classic Disney movies instead of all the dumbed down PC stuff they feed kids these days. But as a kid its all about the characters, the songs, and the journey in their eyes. No more no less. But as an adult we all tend to over analyze everything. I mean looking at movie like Swiss Family Robinson, they had tigers fighting each other and other live action animals (PETA would have a hissy fit if that was made today). In old yeller the dog has to be shot because of rabies. In Pinocchio he smokes a cigar with the other boys. I believe the classics and some newer movies such as UP, shows kids life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows and that there are sad events that occur, or tough decisions or obstacles to overcome or even that there is such a thing as bad people. But in the end courage, love, and the urge to do the right thing overcomes evil. As for cartoons, they are cartoons made for all ages. An escape from reality and in my book shouldn’t be taken so literal.

  19. I’ve marveled before at what is labeled “kid” movie. Sleeping Beauty is terrifying and don’t even get me started on the gender roles portrayed in most of these movies. But the Mickey Mouse cartoons? They aren’t for little kids. For years after animation was invented, every movie had a cartoon at the beginning because everyone went to the movies every week, sometimes daily. And the cartoons are for for teen and up. Kids were not specifically targeted for a decade, maybe two.

  20. Happy SITS day to you!!!!

  21. I am always struck by the differences between the shows we used to watch and the ones around today. Funny how much things can change over such a relatively short amount of time.

  22. Visiting from SITS. Hope you are enjoying your day.
    I am probably one of the biggest Disney fans you will ever find. We’ve visited half a dozen times and are planning our second Disney cruise. I love the newer shows for preschoolers on Disney Junior. But you are absolutely right: the older stuff is wicked scary and/or just plain weird. Have you seen House of Mouse? or Mickey’s Magical Christmas (retelling of Scrooge). Oh, my. Dis.turb.ing.

    • Momma on the Rocks Momma on the Rocks says:

      I did see the Christmas ones! It is my favorite retelling of the Scrooge story. I’m going to have to check out the House of Mickey now! Can’t wait to take my daughter to Disney some day!

  23. They don’t make cartoons like they used to, do they? I’ve had the same experience allowing my kids to watch the old school Looney Toons cartoons. Well, I guess we survived watching them, right?

  24. Happy SITS day…isn’;t it funny how cartoons dramatically have new meanings for us as adults? I went to see “UP” a few years ago with my best friend and I was forever traumatized.

  25. Thanks for the post. I forgot about the early Disney being so different than modern Disney. I’m going to share my least favorite book instead of movie. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. In this book which is given at weddings and other occasions the tree does all the sacrificing and no one is ever grateful. In the end the stump is sat on. Hate that book. Enjoy your SITS Day. Off to follow your link for the 10 worst movies for toddlers.

  26. It’s definitely weird to think about. When I watch old shows and movies that I watched as a kid I think, “what the?”. But as a kid, I just didn’t get it, so I think it works just fine.

    • Momma on the Rocks Momma on the Rocks says:

      Totally went over my head, too, as a kid. It’s funny how dramatically things change from one generation to the next.

  27. It’s so hard to choose what shows/movies are “okay” and which ones aren’t! And you are right, “What WAS Walt Disney thinking?” When I catch my little one watching something I’m unsure about I have to remind myself that I grew up watching a lot of things that I don’t like now and I turned out okay. Mamahood is tough stuff.
    Happy SITS Day to you!!!

  28. Oh my goodness! I never thought of it this way. Oh, but I do love Disney.

  29. I think most Disney cartoons are intended for adults. I know Sleeping Beauty gave me nightmares as a child… Happy SITS Day!

  30. hehehe, this is why I love the old Disney stuff, it’s crazy and certainly not an example of the way I or my child should behave, but it is highly entertaining!

    • Momma on the Rocks Momma on the Rocks says:

      Definitely funny! The things they could do back then would never fly these days. I do love some of the innuendo in movies/cartoons these days though that kids would never get – like they were put there specifically for the parents.

  31. Those old school kids flicks are definitely scarier than the ones around nowadays. Guess that’s why we’re all screwed up!

  32. haha! I totally remember those cartoons with the St. Bernard pouring alcohol into the characters mouths. Tom and Jerry is the worst! Sometimes we’re watching the old school shows with our kids and I scramble to change the channel. But yes, highly entertaining for the adult!

  33. Ha ha, I think I remember watching that! No wonder I’m so quirky now. Congratulations on your SITS feature!

  34. Someone mentioned Up and although I loved it (Ed Asner is so lovably crotchety), that movie destroyed me. Kids don’t have enough life experience to understand how devastating the first 15 minutes of that film are, but I was weeping under my 3-D glasses.

  35. I just stumbled on your blog and love it! I have to add to this one though, has anyone else noticed the lack of mothers in Disney films? Think about it…if they are mentioned at all, the meet a tragic death in the beginning. There are only a few that I can think of that have mothers all the way through. Belle, Ariel, Jasmine, all live with their father. Nemo’s mother is eaten by a barracuda, Bambi’s is shot, Cinderella’s dies…seriously, what’s Disney’s beef with us?

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  1. […] TV shows are the classic cartoons – Dumbo’s Circus, the Jetsons, Mickey Mouse (you know the crazy ones), Scooby Doo and the Flinstones. Then as I got a little older, I started watching Hey Dude, You […]

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