“Disney recently aquired the rights to many of the films of so-called “Japanese Walt Disney”, Miyazaki. (This man’s work is wonderful, BTW) When Disney released his most aclaimed film, Princess Mononoke, in November, many Disney animators stepped up to say what an influence Miyazaki was and is to them.”
Exactly - they covered their ass on this one - they ain’t dumb. Can’t beat them incourt - buy them out…
Of course they know the sources - ever hear animation fans yammer at a party dropping the names of the most obscure retro culture references they can…
>Second, about that “first original story” bit, what about “Lady and the Tramp”? I >heard that that story was based on Walt bringing home a dog to his wife. Failing >that, what about “The Aristocats,” what other story was that based on?
“Lady and the Tramp” was based on the story “Happy Dan, the Whistling Dog” by Ward Greene.
I thought “Aristocats” was based on a kid’s book by Tom McGowan and Tom Rowe, but I
can’t find any confirmation of that right now . . .
>Anybody know if “Nala” and “Rafeke” and those other names mean anything?
From The Lion King FAQ at http://www.lionking.org/~ryan/lionking/text/misc/tlkfaq.txt:
Many of the characters’ names are in Swahili and actually mean
things. Here is the listing of all the names that have translations.
Simba: Lion.
Sarabi: Mirage.
Rafiki: Friend.
Pumbaa: Simpleton.
Shenzi: Uncouth.
Banzai: Skulk, Lurk.
The remaining names-- Mufasa, Scar, Timon, Nala, Sarafina, Zazu,
and Ed are all proper names.