Disney has long been inspired by folktales and 19th century novels for its movies. Except for a few original Disney characters like Mickey, Donald & co. and a few original movies (Dumbo, Aristocats, Lion King...), most of the famous 20th century animations were borrowed.
Britain has given Disney King Arthur & Merlin, Robin Hood, Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, the Jungle Book, Oliver Twist, the 101 Dalmatians and Winnie the Pooh.
Snow White is German, the Little Mermaid is Danish, Pinocchio is Italian, Bambi is Austrian, Sleeping Beauty, the Beauty & the Beast and the Hunchback of Notre Dame are all French, while Cinderella is shared by the French, Italian and German folktales. Let's not forget Atlantis from Ancient Greece.
Onced Disney ran out of ideas from Europe, it looked to Arabia (Aladdin), China (Mulan), native America (Pocahontas...) or Hawaii (Lilo & Stitch).
But in the last few years we have seen a new and completely different styles of animations appearing, like Toy Story or Monsters Inc. where the heros no longer belong to tradition, but to some weird futuristic world.
How do you think Disney productions will evolve ?
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