History, Time and Disney: Part One

[ficofandalasia]

Part Two: Time as an Illusion in Disney Animated Canon

Time and Place: Settings of Disney Films
Within Disney fandom, the debate over the historical and geographical settings of the films is a well-known one. d_princesses is a particularly good place for discussion on this topic, and there are posts here on location, and here, here and here on location and time

Comments

[swanpride]

Even the deers look more like the american than the European variant. Not that I blame Disney. When they did Snow White, it was a different time. Even if they had the budget to sent the animators to Europe, travelling wasn't that easy to do back then, and Germany was a political mess. And to draw animals accuratly, you have to see them in movement. For Bambi, they even bought deers to study. (And if you compare the movement of the deers in Snow White, with the movement of the ones in Bambi, it's obviously that the studies have paid off).

Not sure about the vulturese, but the tortoise is way too big so survive the cold climate in Europe. For the same reason, you'll find here next to no snakes. Reptiles and other cold blooded animals need the warmth to survive.

I'm not very knowledgable of sea-animals, but I'm ready to bet that you won't find all the animals you see in "the little mermaid" at one place.

But I think the maind point is making it look like it plays "once upon a time" and using historical clothes is a good way to go, no matter if they fit or not. I don't think that Disney cared that much. In the "silly song" the little men even sing about a skunk, another animal which doesn't live over here.

[afterandalasia]

That's very true. I think that the animals are 'generic forest animals', and to American animators that meant American animals. And we do get some reptiles (including three species of snake and several lizards) as far north as Britain, but we are somewhat milder than Germany.

I must admit that I cringe now to realise how little I looked at the animals. I got rather caught up on the artefacts instead.

I think that you've got a very good point. Disney was probably after a 'once upon a time' that wasn't too tied in time or place, but ended up taking inspiration from certain eras in certain ways.

It's probably nice, particularly from a fanfiction point of view, to know where to go looking for inspiration for further worldbuilding. :)

[swanpride]

Yeah, we have some lizards too, but only the really, really small ones...it's simple biology. A smaller body has an easier time to keep itself warm, so in colder climate, the evolution goes for compact - while in warmer climate, it can go for big. That's true for a lot of animals, unless they have a lot of fur to keep them warm.