Coloring the Tabula Rasa. Resurrected Post.

May 31, 2015

Coloring the Tabula Rasa

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Victoria Valentina Lizzi reached a year-and-a-half of age about a week ago. She is becoming a discriminating serial viewer of Disney films. Highly discriminating and highly serial. I never thought “The Bare Necessities” and “I Want to Be Like You” could grow tiresome, but after the umpteenth viewing of “The Jungle Book”I want to strangle the shiftless jungle bum, Balu.

Still, there is no denying V.V.’s good taste in this instance. “The Jungle Book” is a fine animated feature. It little resembles its source material. But since the bones of the tale derive from Rudyard Kipling, the adaptors would have had to work hard to screw it up.

 

V.V. likes “Winnie the Pooh” well enough, but what really gets her grinning is “Winnie the Pooh Springtime with Roo.” As a writer I’m pleased she’s been captivated by this one. She’s absorbing early on such advanced concepts as non-linear storytelling, metanarrative, and breaking the fourth wall. Seriously. You might not have seen this one, but check it out, you’ll see what I mean.

She’s starting to get into Robin Hood. As a fan of the sorts of fiction featuring arrows, swords, and castles, this makes me happy.

Besides “Jungle Book” and “Springtime With Roo,” another film in heavy rotation is “Lilo & Stitch.” Again, this makes me happy. Science fiction. A touch of space opera. A monster story. Men (or, at least, man) in Black. Plus it instills an appreciation for Elvis. It is winning all the way down.

She’s shown some interest inf “101 Dalmatians,” “Tangled,”  and “Princess and the Frog” but gets bored eventually. She had no patience with “Sleeping Beauty.” And “Cars 2” didn’t even get through the first lap. Again, showing good taste. “Cars” was the runt of the Pixar litter. How it warranted a sequel I don’t know. Well, yes I do. Money. Fine, that’s a good reason. But surely they could have done better than “Cars 2.” Message fiction wrapped in weak jokes and an even weaker Bond spoof. Ugh.

The Disney flow continues to trickle through the library and Netflix. So we’ll see what strikes her fancy. I have my favorites, films I hope she enjoys. But I’ll settle for just about anything to spice up the “Jungle Book/Lilo/Roo” stew. Its becoming rather unpalatable.

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