Just something interesting I found recently, whilst I was researching how to design characters! I was looking up more of Klaus’ character design process by Spa Studios on YouTube and accidentally came across these videos made by a filmmaker and family therapist. They make videos about both live action and Disney films and then psychoanalyse it! I thought it was interesting how they decoded the messages in the Pixar films using neuroscience and psychology! 😀
It’s wonderful to see how these themes actually relate to the real world and how Pixar is able to convey these with subtlety! This is of course for a more mature audience, but it is also notable how kids can be made aware of these situations through the medium of animation!
I’m actually really interested in neuroscience – particularly how the brain forms memories, both short term and long term – how we process information and how the brain stores this wide world of information. Its so wonderful how we process so much information in such little time, but when we are really enthused by what we learn our brains store all of it for future reference!
I researched quite a bit into this during my Foundation course, as I was making a film based on the memories that I could recall of my grandfather when he passed away. I was very little when he did pass away, so I was shocked at the details that I could remember even though it was so long ago! Maybe it was because I was so attached to him and loved him very much!
I suppose this relates a lot to what they (Jonathan Decker and Alan Seawright) were talking about in regards to the brain processing information that is learnt quickly by converting them into abstract thoughts – a scene shown pretty literally in Inside Out! Apparently our brain does process certain information in these very four stages!
They also talked about the subconscious mind, and how our anxieties or repressed memories that are stored in there, actually come out in dreams. Often referred to as the ID monster in Freudian terms – another one of my most favourite things to learn! I love studying Freud’s and Carl Jung’s theories on personas, find them very interesting!
I also found the above video interesting where they talk about Rapunzel being gaslighted by Mother Gothel, especially prominent in the song, ‘Mother knows best’ – which I’ll admit, I loved the way the song was sung and I thought that the acting (animation wise) was great too!
Another thing that Jonathan and Alan mentioned in this video, that I never noticed, although I love this film and have watched it countless times, that Mother Gothel always touches Rapuzel’s hair (because that’s important to her) and Eugene takes the hair away (looking at her true self)