In the evenings lately I'd been watching a psychological dissection of the Disney film Pinocchio, delivered as part of Jordan Peterson's Maps of Meaning module. The dissection, which was six hours long, formed three parts of a twelve part lecture series from the University of Toronto, which had been uploaded to YouTube.
The talks started by highlighting the extent to which children and adults alike had been drawn to the film over the years even though its storyline was more than far-fetched and took the characters through situations the meaning of which wasn't straight-forward to understand.
Also highlighted was the level of detail built into small sections of the film, which like all Disney movies of its time, had been finely hand-drawn scene by scene.
Second only to the story of how a young boy overcame his naivety, was the character development of his conscience, which fans might remember took the form of a small green insect. At the start of the film, Jiminy Cricket was a proud yet dogmatic and unsophisticated source of advice. However, in the course of Pinocchio's adventures, the conscience grows into a wiser, more palatable companion.
I hadn't seen a Disney film in a few years. While a part of me was tempted to look one up online, the talks had been so detailed that I felt like I'd already watched it. Plus I still had the rest of the module to watch.
The lecturer might not have been drawn by hand but his gestures were definitely animated and with the intriguing relateability of concepts that were covered, I'd found the Pinocchio lectures as entertaining as the film itself.
The talks started by highlighting the extent to which children and adults alike had been drawn to the film over the years even though its storyline was more than far-fetched and took the characters through situations the meaning of which wasn't straight-forward to understand.
Also highlighted was the level of detail built into small sections of the film, which like all Disney movies of its time, had been finely hand-drawn scene by scene.
Second only to the story of how a young boy overcame his naivety, was the character development of his conscience, which fans might remember took the form of a small green insect. At the start of the film, Jiminy Cricket was a proud yet dogmatic and unsophisticated source of advice. However, in the course of Pinocchio's adventures, the conscience grows into a wiser, more palatable companion.
I hadn't seen a Disney film in a few years. While a part of me was tempted to look one up online, the talks had been so detailed that I felt like I'd already watched it. Plus I still had the rest of the module to watch.
The lecturer might not have been drawn by hand but his gestures were definitely animated and with the intriguing relateability of concepts that were covered, I'd found the Pinocchio lectures as entertaining as the film itself.
4 comments
I quite like Mr Peterson so I had a listen to one of them. I think he’s good at dismantling human behaviour and motives and advising on better ways to be. My Dads a bit like that with the exception that he trips himself up on glaring inconsistencies. He means well but he talks a great deal more than he listens which is something I guess a lot of us suffer from......(Note to self, must do better!)
Getting back to Mr P, he mentioned Hieronymus Bosch which has to be one of the all time great names in the history of the world ever! Nothing else, just the name.
He also mentioned a book that no one ever should read and I’ve forgotten the title which is annoying because I really want to read it now. It had some numbers in it. Went back to find the lecture and can’t find it now so I’ll never know! What have I missed?!
I can’t really say much about Pinocchio because I’m not a big Disney fan. All the hidden ‘messages’ were a bit lost on me because surprisingly I was a child when I watched them and just wanted to be entertained (and usually wasn’t that much) If he’d done one on Jungle Book I’d have been a lot more on board.
What’s your favourite Disney film or characters? Only ones that really stick in my mind are Baloo and Shere Khan, oh and Thumper.
Quite liked Grumpy too, that may explain a lot:)
The book... I'm not sure but might have been about some Japanese project, like project 741 or someting, that won't be the name but something like that. Horrific human experiments. It might have been something else.
I liked Freddie as FRO7. Not sure if it was Disney but it might have been.
Oh... THE ARISTOCATS! Wonderful movie.
Oh, now you’ve told me what it was about, my curiosity is satisfied and I’m happy to give that one a miss.
Mind you, I watched a true life documentary a few months ago about the Chinese organ trade. It’s going on now and not on a voluntary basis! It’s astonishing this kind of stuff happens but the main reason is people from abroad who are willing to pay for a new heart etc, and instead of waiting months or even years in their own country, can get one almost overnight.
OMG The Asistocats! I’d overlooked that one. Yes! I did really like that one too.
Now you’ve mentioned that one, I’ve suddenly remembered 101 Dalmatians, which was my all time favourite.
I’m going to have to Google Freddie as FRO7......
Oops, I just looked FRO7 up. It wasn't Disney and it was probably rubbish.
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