"The original story, viewed by 8 million people, is about a high school basketball star and his brainy girlfriend who overcome the school's cliquish atmosphere."

When thinking about things Disney, I pretty much expect to find stuff like this to be the pinnacle of their moral opining. Well that, and white Americans are bad.

HSR

hmm, I've avoided Disney for a while. Yes, there is the factor that MANY families mindlessly let their children watch Disney because 'it's G and it's animated so it has to be okay.' But the big reason was The Little Mermaid. I liked it at first, but then I realized that it espoused 1. Crushes at 16 are 'true love' and if you don't get them you will be, and I quote, 'miserable for the rest of your life.' 2. Love is based PURELY on looks. She fell in love with him on sight alone, and he fell in love with her though she couldn't speak. 3. Children with strong wills should of course disobey their parents because they 'know better' -- especially when it comes to 'true love.' 4. Parents, when they give 'unreasonable demands' on their children, should repent in sackcloth and ashes, give up their own lives, and even put the lives of thousands of others in dire jeopardy to make sure their child doesn't have to suffer the direct consequences of her own actions.

I was appalled. I vowed then and there that I would never have that movie in my house. And upon reflection of other Disney movies, I'm not so keen on them, either.

I think my years of being childless are going to make my strict television rules for children hard to enforce. :-/

Right on Dyany! Just look at Porkahontas and what it promoted! Those darn Indians and their casinos!!!

Hey, what about Sleeping Beauty???!! The Prince conquers the forces of evil with the Sword of Truth and the Shield of Virtue!

And there are many examples of selflessness: the King and Queen send their baby daughter away to protect her, the three good fairies swear off magic to help keep Aurora safe, and Prince Phillip is willing to give up his kingdom for the love of a "peasant girl."

Not to mention, it has the best artistic style and music (straight from Tchaikovsky) of any of Disney's films!

Besides Malefocent is by far the very best disney villain ever created... She was just so commanding, and powerful... and well... with the exception of that whole tiny exposing your heart to a guy with a magic sword, she was pretty crafty... that and she reminded me of my mother (kinda looked like her too, though my mom always had the ball-hairdo, rather than the horns.)... :)

--Ray

Yeah, well Sleeping Beauty is an excellent Disney film. I agree. But how many years ago was it made? And how many other Disney films of the same quality followed? Not a whole lot. Oh! and Coco Cat and I are with you on the Little Mermaid. We don't own it either, but for an entirely different reason.
We thought the movie subtely promoted that its ok for young girls to defy their parents and everything will be honky dorry in the end. You were disobedient, but that's ok, you still end up with everything you wanted.
Nope don't think so.

As for High School Musical? We have a 10 year old who is totally nuts about the movie and who absolutely couldn't wait for the sequel to come out. Our 15 year old likes it too and especially likes the music to it, but isn't completely gaga. Although she was a little bummed because she missed the premiere of the sequel because she was at Girl's Camp, she said that there were alot of girls at camp who were really upset.
All in all it's not a bad movie. Maybe I just get annoyed because its the latest fad that young girls and teenagers seem to be obsessed about.

And Ray, after reading that article you linked to, that explains alot about ABC Family. I couldn't figure out why it was promoting itself as a family oriented channel, yet they constantly show movies and shows that are low quality, sleezy and definitely not geared towards young children and families.

I also noticed when the 700 Club would come on there would be a quick little claim saying: The Following show does not necessarily reflect the views of ABC Family.
It doesn't say that anymore. Now it says: The following does NOT reflect the views of ABC Family.

Interesting. The one show that channel does air (only because they have to) that has any values at all to it is the one they put a disclaimer in front of. No, they'd rather promote the sleazy stuff.

The Incredibles is another pretty good one, IMO. So is Finding Nemo. Actually, the stuff coming out of Pixar has been of higher quality than the other Disney fare.