Wednesday, March 21, 2012

A Tale of a Few Old-Time Films

Welcome again, readers, and in today's article, we are looking back at a few films that somehow have inspired parts of the Wonders of Life pavilion, their attractions, and even the revolutionizing of health and lifestyle education as we know today. What made me write out this little article was due to a memory of when Extinct Attractions was once online (I know, don't ask, don't tell...), they had a preview of the Wonders of Life history documentary, about some of the health oriented films produced by Walt Disney (some of which as part of the war effort) and how they influenced the development and homage of some of its attractions. Silly old myself was meant to write the historical lookback of those films, but for some apparent reason, it was until now that I decide to write this up as of now.
Starting off, we must take note that seem of the films were made during the Second World War era, and even from the Post War period, so in a few of the films, there may be some propaganda elements that have appeared to be outdated (not to mention the insensitivity factor towards some viewers), but in all respect of the historical take on Wonders of Life and its place within Disney history (posthumous to be accurate), I'll provide some of the links leading to full length versions of the film whenever possible,

First up, mention the film Reason and Emotion and you would not be aware of it being the foundational influences for something remotely a little familiar...
Full length of the film is on here:

If you mentioned "Cranium Command" as the prime attraction the film reminds you of, then you are correct. Never mind the uncanny similarities, the short film reflects on how emotions can get in the way of reasoning, and using the example of a dictatorship meeting, how a dictator could manipulate the minds of their population using emotional ties. Of course, we can fast forward towards Cranium Command and with the comparison of the messages, there is an uncanny similarity of "using your head, not losing it" as the sure-fire way of reasoning to ensure emotions don't get in the way of our thoughts.

Next up, inner body wise, we glance at Defense Against Invasion, which again, likens our bodies as an around-the-clock operating machine and metropolis, and demonstrates the early process of vaccination against diseases...

While the issue of vaccination is controversial as currently it is now, this film was from a time during the war effort when it was the common norm to make a victory out of a few simple things done locally. In this instance, there is a reference of the war effort with regards the the blood cells - the 'helpers' as portrayed in the film, upping their defenses against the disease germs set to invade the body.

On a similar subject, there is another film on the subject of health habits called How to Catch a Cold, and basically it was centered on a poor old soul currently bedridden from the common cold. But what sort of video would it be without a conscience lampooningly dubbed Common Sense?

It also comes to no surprise that in the tradition of health habits, and speaking of the common cold, even Goofy had also gotten into this trend, albeit in a more entertaining aspect, and under his slightly more humanesque persona.

The reason why I managed to include this film is, primarily as a symbolic take on Goofy and his involvement in the Goofy about Health multimedia show, and obviously due to the fact that parts of the short films like this are shown as examples, for instance, as examples of poor health results.

And finally, this is practically more under the category of common urban legends confirmed, that while the Making of Me by current-to-past standards actually had the reproductive tolerance to mention where we ame from - how our parents met, how they celebrate their union, and how they welcome a new member of the family into the fold (even in the biological sense), then there are only relatively a handful of people who may have heard of how Walt Disney and the animation crew did a film designed for high school health classes, and focused on female health development. But while it's relatively too specific for myself to explain what it is about, so I'll let the film speak for itself.

Apparently, the motive isn't all selfish-minded, though. The above film was commissioned for a cotton company deciding to branch off into the female audience, with regards to their management of their biological cyclical aspects (excuse my weasel wording). Not bad for a health film being the first to even describe the anatomical aspects of... whoa...

Aside from the film fest, there is some rather interesting influential aspects behind these old-time films, and with regards to the relationship between the Wonders of Life pavilion, the concepts they attempt to teach to the audience, and just a few uncanny reminders and similarities (or even just a few quirks) found between films and the audience, it's no wonder why there is some interest in health films of this kind (whether to educate or entertain) in the world of Disney history.

If you have any thoughts, comments, or just other films of this genre or tackling the issue of health habits, lessons or just remind you of that overall, please say something. In regards to the subject of health films, here's an article that might be of interest to you, and especially the long mentioned but yet-to-be-confirmed video series under the WoL label, and from here, I'd just like a word or two from you about whether or not the series actually existed (either proof by either memories of watching it in class, or by research on the internet, just so I can peruse and evaluate such claims). Good luck!

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