Okay, so I already discussed how great art ripped into Disney, but here I’ll discuss how Disney simply ripped off great art. There’s a significant difference between the two.
OK, so now it should be obvious where the ripoff occurred. The difference is that South Park actually skewered and satirized Disney, while conveying something of actual depth re: p.c., political censorship, and intolerance of all stripes—even p.c. stripes. In other words, it completely turns Disney’s usage of it on its head and it’s not only satire and tweaking, but outright pastiche.
Disney, on the other hand, merely stole the techniques that Stanley Kubrick used so brilliantly in 2001: A Space Odyssey, for no particular reason, aside from the hippies of the late ’60s and early ’70s. In 2001, it conveys intergalactic, and possibly interdimensional travel; thus it serves a very basic narrative purpose, despite claims to the contrary by naysayers—Kubrick simply didn’t like condescending to his audiences and wrapping every aspect of a story up in a nice little bow. In Disney, it’s a gimmick.
