British Comic review

 

British Comic by James Chapman

As part of my research I am looking at other media text, not only cartoons in animation. Comic books relate to animation as the humour and visual look are very much the same. The issues and context they are in also are the same, and many of the animated cartoon find their origin in the pages of small comic strips in news paper. Popeye is one example of this, he wasn’t even the main character originally, but his popularity grew, and he was rewarded his own cartoon.

 

I have been reading “British Comics: A cultural history,” by James Chapman. In it he explores the origin of comics in Britain and compares them to their American cousins. He looks at what was going on in the world at the time, and how this effected what went into the pages of comics of the day. What society thought was acceptable to be printing and exposing children to. What new laws were put in place to ban some titles, or to tone down such things as violence, language, and the general theme and aesthetic look of the art.

It goes right back to the Victorian times and explores the sort of characters they had then. One that is looked at is Ally Sloper who had a friend of a stereotypical Jew. He then goes on to compare him and others to how they are represented in later years, and explores why they might have changed. People became wealthier, standards changed, the impact of the war ect. For example, he says that “there is no mistaking the allusion to Nazism,” in “Dan Dare- operation Saturn.” He also looks at comics such as Judge Dread, and what political statement they were trying to make and why.

I'm finding the book very interesting as it is asking all the questions I am. It shows me what else I might have to consider when writing my own essay. I do however still need to rain in my question to make it more specific. Look at maybe only one or two parts of the overall subject. For example, jut look at the issues of stereotypes and style. As you can see from this book, if I were to try and look at everything I would end up writing a book on the subject. After this year it might develop into that, but for the moment I need to consecrate on one thing.

Dumbo

The first thing I have looked at is the 1941 Disney film, Dumbo. This film is rated with a U certificate. I hadn’t seen it for many years now, but remember loving it when I was a child. On viewing it again, it struck me how bazaar the film was. I loved the classic animation style of the time, with the movement characters so fast paste and flexible no matter what their body shape.

The emotions that come across in their faces bring tears to you eyes, like the part when Dumbo goes to see his mother who has been incinerated, it’s very emotional. The style of animation can be quite dark in places, and I remembered finding a lot of it a little scary when I was young, but not being old enough to really understand, so I never got nightmares. There is a lot of rain in it, which adds to the horror. The part when they are putting up the tent I could see might give nightmares as it is very dark and the workers also are a tad scary. But in all these parts you usually get a break in the darkness with a little comic relief, like Dumbo making a little mistake, and the audience will go “awwww, how cute.” That is a common factor throughout the film. Dumbo is shown to be a cute little creature, an innocent minor. This adds to the character and you can really relate to him. But even with the cuteness of Dumbo, I think if you were to make this film now in the same style of dark animation, it would be rated as a PG. I don’t think that children would be as scared as the as the people who put certificates on films think, this has been proven as I never suffered from watching it over and over, but because things are too strict now. People do I think wrap kids up in cotton wall and are over protective sometimes. Another thing that stood out to me on viewing was the issue if race. When putting up the tent, the men are all black migrant workers. The owner of the circus and the performers are a white, and also the people who come to visit, like the children who torment Mrs Jumbo, are all white. This is something that had never occurred to me when I picked this film out to review, but again says a lot about the time it was made in and what was acceptable. I don’t think it was a deliberate attempted at being racist, it was just how things were at that time. The crows are also quite obviously black stereotypes, but still, I don’t think it was intended to be making fun of them; it was just used as their characters.

 

The next issue in this film that would certainly not be allowed now is the views on smoking and alcohol. One of the most famous parts of Dumbo is the song, “the elephants on parade.” This whole sequence in induced by Dumbo and his mouse friend Timothy drink too much campaign after the clowns spill it in the water bucket. It also shows the clowns constantly drinking too. If this film was made, it would have to incorporate the sequence in some other form, or cut it completely. I think that would be the most likely as when you do watch it is one of the freakiest bits in the film. A lot of people say that that part always scared them as a child, especially the part with the elephant made entirely of heads. They crows in the end are also smoking; something that would not be allowed at all in cartoons now. In those days however it was nothing. One of the crows wakes Timothy up by blowing smoke at him, and then repeatedly does so. Now if you tried putting that in a kids cartoon now people would be saying that it was encouraging children to smoke.

Some of the dialogue used is also very un-PC. On several occasions Dumbo is described as a freak because of his oversized ears, and on the side of his mothers prison it say mad elephant. You also wouldn’t get the level of abuse that the animals receive in the film nowadays. Circuses now don’t use as much animal acts; it is more gymnasts and clowns because of animal rights movements and the issue of animal cruelty. The film is of its time really, but that is still the way people envision circuses, even today. If you were to make a film involving a circus now, you would most probably include all the traditional animal acts in it even if they aren’t true of the time, because that it’s what people expect to see.

 

I think because of all the guide lines put down in, not just animation but in society itself, you would not be allowed to make a film like Dumbo now. it may seem a very sweet innocent film on the suffice, but when you scratch deep and take another look, there are many things that would not be allowed. This I think is a terrible shame, and means that some brilliant films might not be able to be made. If you’re only just thinking “oh that’s a good point, I never thought of that watching it. but now you say that, its true,” it just shows that it really doesn’t matter if you include smoking and drinking in a film like this because people don’t really think about it that much, they just want to enjoy the film. Ok so it might get a PG, but that doesn’t mean you have to cut so much out of it.