Disney Creating a New Hotel?

This is the lastest and greatest! Disney is set to open up a new resort in summer of 2012. There will be 864 traditional hotel rooms with the Little Mermaid theme and then 1120 family suits all themed after Cars, Lion King, and Finding Nemo. These family suits are basically like a condo. They include a master bed room, 2 bathrooms, and 3 sleeping areas. Disney's goal with this resort is to accommodate large families, that is why there are so many family suites which sleep up to 6 people.

This hotel will contain 4 court yards(one themed after each movie), 3 pools, food court, arcade, and a retail shop.  Shown in the picture above is the Finding Nemo court yard. According to online sources found with in the court yard will be sculptures, animations which children can play with, fountains, and much more.

Sleeping Beauty

After reading several different versions of "Sleeping Beauty" my mind is boggled. I am utterly confused as to how the original tales, that were written down, are so different than that of the modern tales. Don't let me get you wrong, the stories told in the original tales are disturbing at points. For example, in Basile's tale of "Sun, Moon, and Talia" the princess is curse with a sleeping spell. While she is asleep she becomes pregnant with twins and has the babies. It is not until one of her children sucks the splinter out of her finger that she finally wakes up. That right there is just MESSED up! But back to the point, after reading Calvino's tale, where did the three soldiers come from and what is their background information? In all of the original tales it was a prince that came and kissed the princess or a child that awoke her, but in Calvino's tale it was a soldier. Also, in the original tales the "prince" did not run away when he kissed the sleeping princess, but rather waited until she woke and spoke to her and they both fell in love. In Calvino's tale, as soon as he kissed the princess he ran off. I guess what I am getting at is how did these tales change so much with in just 300 years?

A couple ideas I have as to why they changed are:
       1-Readers preference has changed from the time of Perrault
          to Calvino
       2-The tales changed so that they could become movies
       3-To become more kid friendly

Here are some other people's options-
http://surlalunefairytales.yuku.com/topic/1079

Charles Perrault's Profile

      Have you ever wondered about the origin of popular fairy tales? Who were the creative master minds behind them? Well, look no further. Charles Perrault wrote many of the most well-known fairy tales which have been translated into books, and now movies. Perrault's involvement in the Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns is what led him to become the renowned writer that he is today. 

      Perrault lived a rather eventful life full of many opportunities dealing with the arts. He was the seventh child born into a well to-do French family. Perrault went to school to become a lawyer but did not find that to be his calling in life; however, he was fortunate enough to have many connections to the royalty of France in the mid 1600's. This large network make it extremely easy for him to land himself yet another desirable job. For example, Perrault played a major role of the Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns (Zarucchi 293). This was a highly regarded position at his time and he had the ability to make an impact on people through his ability to write.  

      The Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns is where Perrault was able to express his modern thoughts. The quarrel began in the late 1600's and it was a "two front battle". According to Erin Daly the fronts were, "First was an argument over philosophical knowledge and the natural sciences: did the ancients know more than the moderns? The second debate involved literature and the arts: had the ancients perfected these areas?" (Daly). Obviously, Perrault was more concerned with the literature and the arts half of the quarrel and that is where he was able to make his first stance as a writer to the public. He had many people ridicule his view on how antiquity will not lead to enlightenment, but that did not stop him from preaching his word.

      The Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns allowed Perrault to get his foot into the door of a whole new genre of writing. With the completion of the quarrel, Perrault was already a well-known name, so he began his adventure with fairy tales. Within just a few years Perrault wrote eight fairy tales, some of them including: Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Puss in Boots, and Little Red Riding Hood. These fairy tales are what he is most noted for, but if it had not been for the quarrel and the opportunity for him to spread his thoughts prior to the release of the fairy tales there is a chance Perrault would have never became the influential writer he is known as today. 

1.Daly, Erin Moore. "The Quarrel Between the Ancients and the Moderns." Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies. University of  Northern Texas, n.d. Web. 3 Mar2011.<http://www.phil.unt.edu/resources/syllabi/fall05/ErinDaly.pdf>.

2 Zarucchi, Jeanne Morgan. "Charles Perrault."Dictionary of Literary Biography. 268. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Web. <https://blackboard.unh.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsptab_tab_group_id=noActiveTabGroup& url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackb

      oard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_1051301%26url%3D>.

Over the river and through the woods to grandma house we go!

After reading several different versions of Little Red Riding Hood(LRRH) it is very clear as to the moral that is portrayed. Never talk to strangers! Every story has the same general story and that being; a young girl is instructed by her mother to take her grandma something to eat due to the fact she is sickly. While the child is on her adventure through the woods she encounters a wolf who she proceeds to talk to. The wolf finds out what her destination is and beats her there so that in the eat her.  

LRRH is a story I can easily relate to my life because of the fact I visited my grandmother all the time. I lived out in the country therefore I would just hop on my ATV and drive through the woods and be at my grandmas in just a jiffy. It was always terrifying to make that journey alone and the last thing I would ever do is stop to talk to someone, let alone a wolf! My mom made it very clear to me that if I was ever to encounter danger I was to stay on the trail and speed away and seek safety. 

I have not read LRRH since I was a small child. I did not realize how much it actually related to my life, but now after reading it now I see why my mother read it to me as a child and stress the fact to never speak to strangers.