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[OT] Disney Bans Smoking in Films.


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fighterholic



Joined: 28 Sep 2005
Posts: 9193
PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 10:14 pm Reply with quote
http://movies.yahoo.com/mv/news/va/20070725/118539394400.html

Disney is making an effort it seems, to derail younger people from starting to smoke or to stop. They will not feature smoking in any of their films, put anti-smoking ads on their DVDs, and discourage it through their lower owned companies, quoted from the article. Could this have an effect to deter people from the habit, and could it deter people in Japan from doing it, as well as have an influence on the matter through anime?
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the_silent_child



Joined: 03 Aug 2006
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Location: Florida
PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 11:21 pm Reply with quote
I saw this on yahoo as well and read the article. I can't really remember a character from any movie or show of Disney that smoked off the top of my head though. I think that it is fine if they want to put out products with anti smoking things in them, but I hope they don't edit out scenes in the furture that show characters doing so. I used to smoke for 5 years and quit. In August it will be a year since I last touched a cigarette so I can relate to both sides of it. I think though, if the person who came up with the character made him a smoker... That's who that character is. A character like GTO wouldn't be the same if he wasn't a smoker. Take a look what they did to Sanji from One Piece... He was changed and the character doesn't feel the same. Even the movie The Hobbit, Bilbo would sit down with his pipe. I hope it helps kids from starting or to quit with the Anti-smoking ads, but doesn't sway people from there character designs.

POST 100!!! HOORAY!!!
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jetz



Joined: 31 Jan 2007
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Location: Manila, Philippines
PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 11:46 pm Reply with quote
the_silent_child wrote:
I saw this on yahoo as well and read the article. I can't really remember a character from any movie or show of Disney that smoked off the top of my head though.


I don't remember a Disney character smoking either, at least for the animated films. it's not like kids learn how to smoke from watching Disney movies/cartoons, but I guess they were trying to be cautious.
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LydiaDianne



Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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Location: Southern California
PostPosted: Wed Jul 25, 2007 11:54 pm Reply with quote
So what are they going to do about their older titles? Quite a few of those show smoking.
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Dorcas_Aurelia



Joined: 23 Jul 2006
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Location: Philly
PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 12:11 am Reply with quote
the_silent_child wrote:
I can't really remember a character from any movie or show of Disney that smoked off the top of my head though.

Cruella de Ville from 101 Dalmations (and Roger, too, come to think of it). Pinnochio, when they go to the island where they drink and smoke and gamble. The Caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland had a hookah. I think maybe Merlin might have had a pipe in The Sword in the Stone. And that's just the animated films I can think of off the top of my head.

Anyway, it's not exactly like Disney suddenly thought up a new idea about smoking and movies. A couple of months ago the MPAA decided to make tobacco usage a factor in movie ratings (with exceptions allowed for historical context or if the negative effects are clearly shown).
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v1cious



Joined: 31 Dec 2002
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 1:28 am Reply with quote
pointless... but i don't see how it would effect anything, given that all Disney's (not pixar's) recent stuff is just catering to tweens anyway. i do however, find it funny that they would try to take a moral highground after they just signed a deal to distribute content on the Xbox 360.
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Nagisa
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Joined: 19 Aug 2003
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 4:44 am Reply with quote
I laugh out loud every time I hear about some motion picture entity taking a stand against smoking in their films, because for as long as they've boasted about it, I've never noticed a difference. Kids in kids' movies never smoked and never will, and adults in adults' movie always have and always will using a myriad of excuses to do so (historical accuracy, mood, etc.). The only concern I have here is if Disney decides to go in and Lucas all their old films by replacing all of Cruella de Ville's cigarette holders with CGI lollipops or something. But then from what I hear, Disney plans on doing the smart thing for once when it comes to politically correcting their old films and just slapping an anti-smoking disclaimer on them instead.
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darksideoftheanime



Joined: 21 Jun 2007
Posts: 155
PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 7:53 am Reply with quote
My only question would be would they not be able to enforce that rule for Ghibli films since they have the No Edits policy?
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daxomni



Joined: 08 Nov 2005
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 8:36 am Reply with quote
darksideoftheanime wrote:
My only question would be would they not be able to enforce that rule for Ghibli films since they have the No Edits policy?


Is Only Yesterday still being left in 'no editing' limbo? If so maybe Disney is also against girls starting their menstrual cycle and wishes to do their part to help stamp out these sinful signs of maturity by keeping all such references out of their movie line up. I'm glad the nanny-state mentality is still alive and well in the land of the free.
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cool3865



Joined: 31 Aug 2006
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Location: Austin, TX
PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 9:15 am Reply with quote
Dorcas_Aurelia wrote:
the_silent_child wrote:
I can't really remember a character from any movie or show of Disney that smoked off the top of my head though.

Cruella de Ville from 101 Dalmations (and Roger, too, come to think of it). Pinnochio, when they go to the island where they drink and smoke and gamble. The Caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland had a hookah. I think maybe Merlin might have had a pipe in The Sword in the Stone. And that's just the animated films I can think of off the top of my head.

Anyway, it's not exactly like Disney suddenly thought up a new idea about smoking and movies. A couple of months ago the MPAA decided to make tobacco usage a factor in movie ratings (with exceptions allowed for historical context or if the negative effects are clearly shown).


dont forget Scarface from All Dogs Goto Heaven, he always had a cigar
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Brand



Joined: 30 Jan 2006
Posts: 1029
PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 10:01 am Reply with quote
cool3865 wrote:

don't forget Scarface from All Dogs Goto Heaven, he always had a cigar


That was a Don Bluth film not a Disney film.

Though this isn't really surprising on Disney's side, makes them look good to parents.
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camelot187757



Joined: 11 Dec 2005
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Location: The Nacirema Dream (17 and counting Asuka)
PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 10:16 am Reply with quote
Personally, I think that this is a BS ploy. Disney has been in busniess for what 60(?) years. Now say what you want, but it doesn't take a genius to know that inhaling fire, smoke, and tar isn't a health conscious choice by a long shot.

So let's give them a third of the benefit of the doubt and say that they have only known (realized, admitted, whatever word you choose) this fact (or give them the benefit again and call it a common ideal/train of thought) for the last 20 years. Just to add, if you choose to respond to this current statement, note that that will somewhat excuse, Dumbo, Pinnochio, Alice and Wonderland, and 101 Dalmatians from argument sake, four very sucessful, heavily accoladed movies off the top of my head that I know include (somewhat elongated even) smoking scenes of smoking, but feel free to say what you want.

So lets say they made the above 3 movies, and probably tens more with smoking in it for an audience thats mostly children because they had no idea in the 30s to the 80s. So from 1980ish to 2000ish they turned a blind eye and continued making movies, but without any direction of prolifically not having any smoking in it. So they make their Airbuds and their Mighty Ducks movies (along with 100s more), without having any smoking in them. And they don't announce that this or that movie in-particular has no smoking in it, but audiences don't seem to care right? And they make their millions and billions and everyone stays quiet.

So why in 2007 do they only now state that they are against smoking. It takes that long? Why now and not before? Because its a marketing ploy, good press. It doesn't matter if they haven't made a movie that had smoking in it in so many years, and they could have made that announcement before anyone that reads this was even born, they pick now.

I say its bull. Yes yes yes non-smoking is good, I lost my baby-sitter to cancer caused by smoking (CCBS) when I was young and it was my first funeral I ever went to. I can give a golf clap to the "groundbreaking" move they're making. But I can't look at any closer without calling shennigans.

It's their movies, they can do as they wish, and you can quote me as all hell on that if you want. PSA's in their movies, plasters on their DVD covers, fine. But I want to say that I honestly know the truth behind this, its because of good press, good words associated with Disney, and it'll get parents to take their kids to see their movies, and who cares if now parents may be taking their kids to see Disney movies just so they can use the chance to let the big-screen raise them to not smoke instead of doing it themselves (provided they can at least read).

It's an ingenious move. Somewhat at Disney must have watched the Godfather II DVD recently.
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mistress_reebi



Joined: 07 Jan 2005
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Location: Canada
PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 11:54 am Reply with quote
I've never smoked a cigarette in my life, so I'm asking all smokers out there if they started smoking because of a cartoon character or because of peer pressure? It's great that Disney is going on an anti-smoking compaign but this is too much. Reminds me of the edits in anime because a character was smoking. It's a little too over board to ban characters smoking from TV and movies. Some films have drugs invovled and if you ask me that's worse than smoking. I don't think they should ban those substances in those films because it's unnessessary censorship. I don't think Japan would hop on this bandwagon, and I hope that there won't be any edits in anime because so and so is a smoker. This is just a publicity stunt Disney pulled to boost sales.
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Dargonxtc



Joined: 13 Apr 2006
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 12:35 pm Reply with quote
Well at least it looks like MGM will be left alone. That's good.

To people worring about changing the older films to suit there new policy, I wouldn't worry about that. Many of the older Disney films(and rightly so) are damn well considered national treasures. And Disney has a very good record of respecting the original artists ideas. So I think this will be a policy that will only apply to future production.

mistress_reebi wrote:
I've never smoked a cigarette in my life, so I'm asking all smokers out there if they started smoking because of a cartoon character or because of peer pressure?
Mostly just because everyone was doing it, but I was never pressured(peer presseure by the very nature of the term is utter BS), I didn't hang around the type of kids who would try to make you do something you didn't want too anyway. But I did pick it up somewhere along the line. And then eventually you come of age and realize that in social scene the two go hand in hand.

[Edit: Keep in mind when I say kids(middle to late teens), I am talking like 12 years ago.]

Just an aside, I rarely smoke anymore(maybe two packs a month), but I do always keep some handy.
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bluepita



Joined: 18 May 2005
Posts: 465
PostPosted: Thu Jul 26, 2007 8:52 pm Reply with quote
mistress_reebi wrote:
I've never smoked a cigarette in my life, so I'm asking all smokers out there if they started smoking because of a cartoon character or because of peer pressure?


Ha ha, I no longer smoke, but the reason I did had nothing to do with any of that, or at least not in a direct way. Too much stress in a bad childhood and too much exposure to drugs would be my "excuse." I liked the way it made me feel, and I was extremely anti-illegal drug in a place where I lived for 7 years without knowing a single person not on drugs.



Gotta love the press bandwagon. If it irritates you, be irritated with the gullibility of the American majority, who will see Disney in a good light because of this announcement. I;ve noticed that people in general tend to think very little about what they hear, and you can't rewally blame Disney for that.
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