MovieChat Forums > Peter and the Wolf (1946) Discussion > 'Walt Disney' image of wolves.

'Walt Disney' image of wolves.


Regarding the above title I heard someone use that phrase, I'd say it was one of my favorite oxymorons. He was presumably refering to an extreme "wolf-lover". Not that I'm a hater of the same. I just don't drink the coolaid that they're 100% harmless to humans-but I digress. Usually, when the "Disney" image thing is brought up, it suggests idealism. Like Bambi promoting a Disney image of deer, baby bunnies, skunks owls & the like. The ironic thing here is that wolves were in countless Disney features, & I only recall about 3 that were sympathetic towards them. Namely Junglebook, Lobo, & a tv feature of a framed pet wolf who's name escapes me. Whitefang is on the boarderline, because while it had wolves attacking & killing humans, it had disclaimers at the ending credits about wolves not attacking humans, & a hybrid cub was the protagonist

The wolf in this feature was definately NOT a sympathetic character, nor was the wolf in Lambert The Sheepish Lion(who looked a lot like this one) or the wolves in the more modern Beauty & the Beast(Done after Whitefang, & sans disclaimers) Disney movies are indeed inclined towards idealog, but it had a strong tendency to portray wolves as the anticedent of the same. I'm sure there are Disney movies that put wolves in a good light, but balanced against the predator-as-villain image of at least the features I've mentioned, do any of you think Disney stood above all the rest of popular culture in putting them in a positive light? I know they had a lot of Nature shows that undoubtedly did. But what about fictional portrayals?
Seems like the only worse portrayal I seen of wolves outside of Disney pertained to werewolf legends & vampires & the like.
Of coarse, there was Wolfen, but there was a lot of the supernatural involved there There was the wolf attack scene in one of the Look Who's Talking movies, a chillingly familiar wolf attack scenerio similar to at least 2 reports. Anybody know of any non-Disney movies that had more scary & menacing wolves in them than the Disney features. If not, then maybe the Disney image of wolves should be redefined.
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Wolves in general culture have been portrayed as evil, purely predatory, a legitimate threat to humans etc. I think Disney has generally stuck to that up through today. Frozen even had wolves attacking the people, though it may have just been cuz they wanted that sweet reindeer meat.

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