Re: Up
Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2009 3:27 pm
Interesting trivia:
The original version of the classic comic, "Little Orphan Annie", was about a boy named Otto. But the publisher pointed out that there were already too many comics with male characters. "Put skirts on the kid and call her Annie," the cartoonist was told. So Little Orphan Otto became Little Orphan Annie.
Betty Boop started life as a dog. I have "Betty Boop--The Definative Collection" on VHS, and the first few cartoons have her as a dog, until she gradually morphs to a human, her floppy ears becoming earrings, her black nose turns white. In one cartoon, not only is her voice done by someone else, but it's where she's trying to prevent a train robbery, and as she's riding on the top of the train, her nose changes from black to white, then back again.
Upon researching the origin of fairy tales, they originally were "old wives' tales", not intended for children's ears. They were the passing on of information from old women to younger ones, about the repression and social confines they lived under, and their general lot in life, especially how women of that time were expected to have children early and often, and how death took many a mother and child too soon. So they were the original woman-centered stories. In fact, Cinderella goes back about 4000-6000 years, and originated in China. Needless to say, the plot details have been changed considerably, but the basic premise is about an abused little girl who grows up and with magical aid, attends a social event, meets a prince, and leaves a shoe behind when hurrying home. The shoe is used to find her, and the prince marries her.
The original version of the classic comic, "Little Orphan Annie", was about a boy named Otto. But the publisher pointed out that there were already too many comics with male characters. "Put skirts on the kid and call her Annie," the cartoonist was told. So Little Orphan Otto became Little Orphan Annie.
Betty Boop started life as a dog. I have "Betty Boop--The Definative Collection" on VHS, and the first few cartoons have her as a dog, until she gradually morphs to a human, her floppy ears becoming earrings, her black nose turns white. In one cartoon, not only is her voice done by someone else, but it's where she's trying to prevent a train robbery, and as she's riding on the top of the train, her nose changes from black to white, then back again.
Upon researching the origin of fairy tales, they originally were "old wives' tales", not intended for children's ears. They were the passing on of information from old women to younger ones, about the repression and social confines they lived under, and their general lot in life, especially how women of that time were expected to have children early and often, and how death took many a mother and child too soon. So they were the original woman-centered stories. In fact, Cinderella goes back about 4000-6000 years, and originated in China. Needless to say, the plot details have been changed considerably, but the basic premise is about an abused little girl who grows up and with magical aid, attends a social event, meets a prince, and leaves a shoe behind when hurrying home. The shoe is used to find her, and the prince marries her.