Tyler Walsh - Shirley Temple

Tyler Walsh

Shirley Temple is a name everyone will recognize. She is arguably the most well-known child star to exist. She was a huge hit specifically during the mid to late 30s, where she had #1 box office hits year after year. There were also all kinds of merchandise made based off her, be it dolls, clothes, etc. Shirley did her best to not set a bad example for her fans and also not to upset the image they may have had of her by hiding her smoking habit.

She was most popular during her younger years and won the affection of the whole nation. Everyone could watch and enjoy her films and feel happiness and joy in a very sad time of American history.  This really only lasted for when she was very young though, as when she reached her teenage years the popularity of her movies dropped and she eventually left films entirely by the age of 22.

20^th Century Fox did everything they could to make sure Shirley Temple was releasing a movie as quickly as possible, because she truly was the reason behind the success of the films she starred in. The contract that Shirley’s parents signed stated that they would agree to 4 films a year. When she started getting towards the end of her childhood, the studio was sure she would be a popular teenage actress. This resulted in them declining an offer to have her play the role of Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz.” Sadly, Shirley Temple’s popularity decreased in 1939, and she was no longer the #1 box office hit that she once was. This decline in popularity was in part because of her age and also because she was only in 2 movies that year instead of 3 or 4 like the previous years.

If Shirley Temple is any indication, many of the movies in the 1930s told stories with happy endings, because they were what the American public needed and wanted most at the time from cinema whether they knew it or not. Shirley provided her fans, both young and old alike, with many happy experiences and she has gone down in history because of it.

Tyler Walsh - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

Tyler Walsh

“The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” went through numerous different film-adaptations. The final one in 1938 was the first and only one to be done in Technicolor. The movie didn’t do tremendously well, in fact it lost $300,000, but it was received more positively than the previous films. The movie was created in such a way that it could appeal to many people through its slapstick humor and through its recreation of the most familiar scenes from the original Mark Twain novel.

The producer wanted to cast an orphan in the role of Tom Sawyer in the hopes that it would garner more attention and revenue from the public, but instead a boy was chosen through a national campaign. There was also hope that casting an orphan as Tom would create warm feelings for the film among the public.

Tom Sawyer is the kind of story that lets the audience relive their own childhood and compare whatever antics they had to those of the titular character. It’s a story that has earned a place in the hearts of the American people for its charm and its adventures! The film’s ending had to undergo some changes because of the audience. The ending was not suitable for children according to the audience at a sneak preview.

In the end the film was received mostly positively, with many ultimately liking the chosen cast. The film also stayed very faithful to the original story to the delight of many. The ending of this story, much like the other movies reviewed, was a happy one.

Tyler Walsh - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Tyler Walsh

“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” was the first full-length cel animated feature film and won the hearts of everyone the moment it hit the big screen. It’s very strange to think that the people closest to Walt Disney tried to convince him not to make this film. Lucky for everyone that Disney had his heart set on this movie and went to extreme ends to ensure it was made, going so far as to mortgage his own home just so that the movie could be financed.

The movie was of course, as almost all Disney movies are, created for children and their families to enjoy together. The movie’s main appeal was always planned to be the dwarfs and their strange, but funny adventures that only they would be able to find themselves in.  This holds true in the final product, although the comedic aspect was reduced in the end to make the characters and the movie as a whole seem more plausible.

Many movie-goers found themselves completely enthralled with the animation, almost forgetting that they weren’t watching real people acting. It was clear to many from the start that this movie would have a place in cinema history, although no one could have guessed just how big Disney as a company would eventually get.

“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” was appealing to everyone for its expertly done animation, and its cute and clever storytelling methods. Everyone could enjoy the dwarfs and their antics, and little girls everywhere could aspire to one day become Disney princesses. Keeping in line with other movies from this time I’ve been reviewing, there is still of course a happy ending to give people hope in a truly desperate time.

Tyler Walsh - The Wizard of Oz

“The Wizard of Oz” is by all means a classic. Everyone knows about the movie and gets the references; that’s probably why it was deemed “culturally significant” by the Library of Congress in 1989. The movie we all know and love today was almost something else entirely.

Tyler Walsh

The movie almost had all of its magical elements removed because fantasy movies were not doing well at the time and the audience was considered “too sophisticated” for a fantasy movie. There were also multiple different versions of the story that were being considered. Some versions would have been darker with tragic backstories for the sweet and innocent characters we know and love, and some would have been uncomfortable to watch, with hints of Dorothy and the Scarecrow having a budding romance instead of a close friendship. The film was, in the end, a movie designed for kids and families though so these ideas were scrapped, but as a result the famous song “Over the Rainbow” was almost removed as well.

Ultimately the movie as we know it today was created, but it didn’t do nearly as well as someone today would think it did., the movie actually lost $1 million at the box office and didn’t make a profit until the movie’s first re-release 10 years later. “The Wizard of Oz” was still considered to be more successful than anyone had expected it to be.

“The Wizard of Oz” is very much a good vs. evil movie, but it also shows how dreams can only be used as a temporary escape, and that while they can help sort your thoughts they cannot fix your problems. Dorothy finds refuge in the land of Oz for a time while trying to fix her problems being caused by the Wicked Witch of the West and her real life counterpart of Dorothy’s neighbor. In Dorothy’s dream world everything is more cheery, bright, and hopeful than the real world where everything is gray and grim. Although Oz is a nice place to stay, Dorothy realizes that she must return home, she must return home to face and solve her problems and to own up to the mistakes she has made.

This movie, along with many other movies of the era, was a very happy and family friendly one. Perhaps this is due to the circumstances of the time. The Depression was taking place and stories with happy endings can be very powerful when they are needed. So seeing the movie would be good to bolster one’s hope for their own future, and it could have even been flattering if anyone was aware that the producers thought the audience was “too sophisticated” for the movie.

Tyler Walsh - Introduction

Tyler Walsh

In order to better understand Media and Communication Studies, I am going to study 1930s cinema, particularly family-friendly movies. In order to best accomplish this, I will be applying the Circuit of Culture to this era of cinema. The Circuit of Culture is a method of analysis that focuses on 5 key points: Production, Regulation, Representation, Consumption, and Identity.

Production refers to the economic resources and labor that is involved in making the product. Regulation is concerned with the kind of restrictions, if any, that are imposed on the product. These restrictions can be self/socially imposed or institutionally imposed. Representation has to do with how the product is marketed to the public, and Identification, similarly to Representation, is how people identify themselves with using the product. Finally, consumption refers to how the product was…well consumed! Who watched the movie? Was it the target audience or was it some other unexpected group?

These different points will give me insight into Cinema in the 1930s, like what people thought of the movies I will be studying and how they thought of similarly marketed movies as a result and what watching them communicated to others about what they like and the kind of person they are. Some of this information, like the Representation and Identification, might be able to be applied to other products from the era as well.

Heidi

Pravanthika Alluri



           I used to have a favorite cartoon when I was little called Heidi. I used to watch it all the time when it used to come on. That’s the reason I wanted to talk about the movie Heidi which was released in 1937 and stars Shirley Temple as Heidi. The production of the movie took place in Lake Arrowhead, California. Shirley Temple apparently had at least 8 bodyguards escorting her to and from her trailer at the time of shooting. One of the extras, a boy, was a stunt double for Shirley Temple which resulted in his dad getting angry and never letting him act ever again because he was a double for a girl which he felt was insulting to his son. In that time, males were “above” females which explains the distraught that the father had. While this movie was filmed, the studio kept questioning how much longer Shirley Temple could keep playing “cute” roles but after the movie was released, she kept her number one position. I think the representation of this film works well with the fact that positive energy can always help other people. Heidi portrayed positive energy with Klara which caused her to change her attitude and not be so sheltered. The consumption of this movie was that it was a hit and Shirley Temple was applauded for her performance. The identity of this film is that like I said, positive attitude can change a person and also anyone in that person’s surroundings. It is important to always stay positive.     

The Wizard of Oz

Pravanthika Alluri



          The Wizard of Oz started development after Walt Disney’s Snow White showed that films adapted from children’s stories and fairy tales could be successful. The script had many rewrites and writers before they began the shooting. Many of the films elements were told to be dimmed down because the creators felt that the whole magic element wasn’t really popular with the audience. Instead of a fantasy, it was made into a dream sequence which I felt made the film what is it today. The representation of this shows that just because a fantasy might seem perfect, it’s not always perfect. It can be twisted and negative. The reality might not be perfect but it is what makes us feel safe and comfortable. The consumption of the film was that it did not make that big of a profit as people thought it would because even though it was popular, it wasn’t as popular as it is today. The reception of the film was positive and it received universal acclaim upon release. Some people thought that the actress who played Dorothy was a little too old though. They thought that Dorothy wasn’t the same as they imagined the character to be. The identity of the movie is more of that the movie takes you to another world so the audience could identify themselves as imaginative and more creative. There weren’t many regulations to the movie because it was a family movie and turned out to be one of the most successful movies of American history.

Shirley Temple

Pravanthika Alluri

Shirley Temple movies were very popular during the 1930s. She was Hollywood's number-one box-office star from 1935 through 1938. She was mostly famous for that time period because her popularity waned after she went into her adolescence. She was a leading child actress during the Great Depression and not only that but also would sing songs in her movies which just made her even more irresistible. Her movies brought happiness to people during a time when all they could feel was sadness and defeat. Her acting was so cheerful and entertaining which made people want to see more and more of her. She had many movies come out during the 30s because that was the decade which she was in her best age. Even President Franklin D. Roosevelt called Shirley Temple “Little Miss Miracle” because she helped raise the public’s morale during times of economic hardship faced during the Great Depression. He even went on the say that “As long as our country has Shirley Temple, we will be all right.” Her identity was portrayed as being very joyful and energetic which is what the audience needed at that time which is why people loved her and her films. The production of her films was taken very quickly because she made around 30 movies in the period of 7-8 years. The regulation for her films was just her age. She became popular for being so young and cute that once she went into her teens, she wasn’t as popular anymore. The consumption which took place with her films was very high because people wanted to just see her over and over again because they felt happy when they saw her and she put them out of their misery for the small amount of time they spent watching her movie. She was a role model for little kids as well because she brought joy to so many people so little kids wanted to be as joyful and happy as she was on screen.