Jim on Film: Disney Thermometer
Page 2 of 4
Not only can the show be really funny, I love That’s So Raven for what it does. As with several of the shows on the Disney Channel, it’s a racially integrated show for kids. Three cheers to the Disney Channel for having the guts to do more than token casting, which they’ve also done with success on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. We live in such a varied and colorful world, and it’s great that on at least one channel, we are starting to see shows that reflect that, while retaining a broad target audience. Also, I think Raven herself is an amazing role model for kids. She’s beautiful, talented as an actor and a singer, and she’s normal-sized. When the pressure is on for young actresses (and real teens) to slim down, Raven is refreshingly normal. Kids need to watch television and see themselves reflected in the images they see, and I hope Raven doesn’t ever fall to the pressure to be too thin.
Likewise, I like That’s So Raven for giving a positive portrayal of all members of the family. There’s a mom who is smart and sassy. There’s a dad who is loving and available for his kids. He’s involved and shares the household duties with his wife. For the first time in years, we are getting shows with accurate and positive examples of how a family can look (as opposed to the too-perfect families of the 1950s), and we need to thank Disney for that. And to top it off, it’s a show that is safe for family viewing. Nobody needs to worry about what Suzie’s watching when That’s So Raven is playing in the background.
Three cheers to the Disney Channel for providing kids with such great entertainment choices and great role models. And in That’s So Raven, they have given the whole family a show worth looking forward to.
Herbie Fully Loaded
(c) Disney
75 degrees
Disney’s Recent Live-Action Slate—While Disney’s live-action films this year
have not generally lived up to expectations, they have been quite impressive.
Herbie: Fully Loaded was a pleasant time spent with an old friend, and it
was the best Herbie movie since Herbie Rides Again, with a Lindsay Lohan
who reminded us of why we ever liked her in the first place. With all the recent
remakes, it was a great idea to sequel rather than to remake yet another movie.
Sky High was a lot of fun. The story of a son of superheroes who attends a high school for kids with super powers had a lot of humor and a lot of fun. And although the cheesy comic book villains were a bit embarrassing, they were fitting considering the comic book concept. The previews for the movie also didn’t tell too much of the story, and while it was pleasantly predictable, there were several plot twists that were refreshingly unexpected. It was also great to see Linda Carter and former Disney favorite Cloris Leachman showing us why we loved them in the first place.
The Greatest Game Ever Played was a daring experiment and a great artistic achievement for the studio, even if it didn’t perform too well at the box office. The story of an amazing win in golf history was not readily kid-friendly, and the character development was nuanced, but it was compelling and interesting for all ages. The Greatest Game Ever Played made me gasp and temporarily fall in love with a game that I would have previously said was the most boring game ever watched.
In addition to releasing some great films for families, as I’ve written before, I admire the current Disney management—most noticeably Dick Cook and Nina Jacobson—for keep family films safe for family viewing. There were a number of years in the nineties where Disney films had their share of crude references and profanity, such as in otherwise strong films like The Mighty Ducks and Operation Dumbo Drop. Having sexual references did nothing to make Man of the House, Blank Check, or Operation Dumbo Drop better movies, and they only served to make kids uncomfortable sitting next to their parents. In the categories of quality and family friendly entertainment, under Cook and Jacobson, Walt Disney Pictures is the closest it’s been to the glory days of Walt Disney since Disney’s death.