Satire of Disney...what?!

                           Who would dare poke fun at the power of Disney? Dreamworks, that's who. Dreamworks 2001 satirical analysis of Disney fairy tales yielded the movie Shrek. The movie follows the adventure of Shrek, an ornery ogre whose land has been overrun with banished fairy tale creatures, and Donkey, the talking donkey who tags along with Shrek and decides Shrek is his friend whether he likes it or not. This “unlikely hero-sidekick” pair is one of the stereotypical Disney traits Dreamworks decided to poke fun at. By having the Hero be a character that would normally be the villain, and his sidekick’s main attribute being his obnoxious constant conversation, it’s a direct contrast to the highly skilled and attractive heroes of Classic Disney films.  The plot and satire pick up as the duo journey to Duloc to visit Lord Farquaad. Lord Farquaad is wanna be king who banished the fairy tale creatures to Shrek’s land. After Shrek unknowingly wins Farquaad’s tournament, he is assigned the quest to rescue Princess Fiona. She is a beautiful princess locked in the highest room of the tallest tower, in a faraway castle, guarded by a dragon and surrounded by lava. This is an obvious dramatization of the damsel in distress, a common trait of Disney princess movies. Another common fairy tale thing used by Disney was the idea of princesses singing to animals. Dreamworks applies satire generously to this concept in this scene, where Princess Fiona is frolicking in the woods and sings to a bird, which explodes in response. Another satirical part of the movie Shrek, is when Shrek and Donkey arrive in Duloc and discover a singing information booth. This scene of the movie with the awkward picture following the welcome song is making fun of the cheer-y “It’s a small world” amusement park ride at Disney theme parks.
                            Similar satire is used in Huck Finn, but unlike the Dreamworks vs. Disney, Mark Twain’s satire was against moral and cultural issues of the south. Twain uses satire in his plot line including The Duke and Dauphin to amplify the gullibility of some southern religious revivals. For example, when the Duke and Dauphin attend a religious revival camp, they claim to be reformed pirates, on course for reform work on the sea. The participants of the camp willingly play in to their scam and give them their money to fund the “work.”  Another of Twain’s satirical expression including the Duke and the Dauphin is how Huck, being only a white kid, and Jim, being a runaway slave, are completely at  the mercy of the Duke and Dauphin’s judgment because they are white adult males. This social aspect of the south was repeatedly noted by Twain. He shows this in how the Duke and Dauphin tie Jim up when they land to “keep up the charade.” Huck’s inner conflict over Miss Watson being a “good Christian lady” is also an example of satire in the novel. Huck has conflict because he doesn’t understand how a person labeled as a good Christian can still be called that if she takes ownership over another person. The satire is in that Mark Twain believed that slavery was wrong.