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The Travails Of Being Short

Disney is high profile and risk adverse, I'm thinking more of the the snow white name, but as you can see the dwarves are already a controversy. I believe that the Jawas and Ewoks were originally played by children. I have no personal preference, leaving it up to the people who are affected. I haven't gone to a Disney movie since I was about 10.

It's Disney who are doing the Willow sequel. The Ewoks were played by dwarves - like Warwick Davies (who is an expert on short actors - we could do with his input on this thread).

Snow White was so-called because of her cocaine problem.
 
On the other hand...

Shorter men live longer, scientists find
Shorter men are likely to live longer, scientists find, with those under five-foot-two reaching the greatest age
By Agencies
7:00AM BST 12 May 2014

They may not have the easiest ride in life, enduring accusations of inferiority complexes and jokes at their expense, but it appears short men will have the last laugh after all.
Scientists have found evidence that they are likely to live longer, with those under five foot two having a greater chance of surviving to old age.

The news is likely to be welcomed by petite stars such as Ronnie Corbett, Jamie Cullum and Tom Cruise, as researchers confirm that size really does matter.
A study has shown that adult men under five foot two live longer than their taller rivals, with one researcher explaining: “The taller you got, the shorter you lived."

His team, at the University of Hawaii, found that shorter men were more likely to have a protective form of the longevity gene, FOXO3, leading to smaller body size during early development and a longer lifespan.
Shorter men were also more likely to have lower blood insulin levels and less cancer.

Dr Bradley Willcox, from the Department of Geriatric Medicine, said researchers had split people into two groups: those who were five-foot-two and shorter, and five-foot-four and taller.
"The folks that were five-foot-two and shorter lived the longest,” he said. “The range was seen all the way across from being five-foot tall to six-foot tall. The taller you got, the shorter you lived."

He added: "This study shows for the first time, that body size is linked to the FOXO3 gene.
"We knew that in animal models of aging. We did not know that in humans."

Dr. Willcox noted that there is no specific height or age range that should be targeted as a cut-off in the study, in part because "no matter how tall you are, you can still live a healthy lifestyle" to offset having a typical FOXO3 genotype rather than the longevity-enhancing form of the FOXO3 gene.

The study involved more than 8,000 American men of Japanese ancestry born between the years 1900 and 1919. The lifestyles and health conditions of these men were closely followed and studied by the researchers through the years.
Around 1,200 men from the study, published in the journal Plos One, lived into their 90s and 100s, and approximately 250 of those men are still alive today.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/scie ... -find.html
Odd that they only followed men of Japanese origin. Diet also affects longevity.
 
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves has already been rebooted three times in recent memory, once with Snow White and the Huntsman in 2012, then the same year Mirror Mirror, and in 2016 the Huntsman got a sequel. Nobody complained about the dwarves, who were played by non-dwarfism-afflicted actors made to look small in the Huntsman movies, but actual medical dwarves in Mirror Mirror.

Meanwhile, there were Jawas in The Book of Boba Fett last week, presumably played by genuine little people. There's also a sequel to Willow currently filming, featuring Warwick Davies and others of his size playing dwarves. So why pick on the Disney reboot, which will presumably be more like Maleficent than a cartoon from the 1930s?

Snow White and the Huntsman received loads of criticism for superimposing average height actor's faces onto digitally shrunk bodies.

In particular, the Little People of America declared it offensive.

I'm 6 ft 3" and so cannot imagine what prejudices such folk have to endure.
One of my brothers-in-law, whilst not medically classified as having dwarfism, is well below average height (around 4ft 9 or 10) and is extremely sensitive about his height.
I can sympathise with that and would not say anything in jest which could upset him.
 
Some thoughts on the Disneyfied Snow White. I enjoyed reading Grimms fairy tales and other folklore as a kid and I still enjoy the adult (not the kind that most if you are probably thinking of) fairy tales -Terri Windling, Holly Black, to name a few authors.

The physical description of Snow White may originate from the original tale, but it also means untouched, virgin etc. Something that Disney seemingly does not want people to connect this idea to the story. Fairy tales and folklore are usually brutal and violent. They were used afaik as cautionary tales.

Off topic - Disney took tales that were free of copy write protection and made millions.
 
Warwick Davies played one of the ewoks. Incidentally Peter Dinklage played a mythological dwarf in Avengers: Endgame.
 
Some thoughts on the Disneyfied Snow White. I enjoyed reading Grimms fairy tales and other folklore as a kid and I still enjoy the adult (not the kind that most if you are probably thinking of) fairy tales -Terri Windling, Holly Black, to name a few authors.

The physical description of Snow White may originate from the original tale, but it also means untouched, virgin etc. Something that Disney seemingly does not want people to connect this idea to the story. Fairy tales and folklore are usually brutal and violent. They were used afaik as cautionary tales.

Off topic - Disney took tales that were free of copy write protection and made millions.

Don't forget that by the time Disney started making cartoon features, fairy tales and fables were considered largely suitable for children, which is another reason modern depictions of fable dwarves are associated with infantalising people of short stature.

But the stories didn't start that way, they were created by adults for adults way back in the mists of time. The likes of Tolkien and Lewis and many others tried to write 20th century versions of those tales and get a free pass in this debate, because adults like them.
 
Snow White and the Huntsman received loads of criticism for superimposing average height actor's faces onto digitally shrunk bodies.

In particular, the Little People of America declared it offensive.

I'm 6 ft 3" and so cannot imagine what prejudices such folk have to endure.
One of my brothers-in-law, whilst not medically classified as having dwarfism, is well below average height (around 4ft 9 or 10) and is extremely sensitive about his height.
I can sympathise with that and would not say anything in jest which could upset him.

I hate to bring this up, but you were enthusiastically joking about dwarves a few months ago on this very forum.
 
I hate to bring this up, but you were enthusiastically joking about dwarves a few months ago on this very forum.

Was that my comment about the "national 'elf service" or "unexpected item in the Baggins area..." ?

I doubt if Peter Dinklage would object to a couple of puns.
In any case, can't one change one's mind and I still feel Disney has called this one wrong.
 
Was that my comment about the "national 'elf service" or "unexpected item in the Baggins area..." ?

I doubt if Peter Dinklage would object to a couple of puns.
In any case, can't one change one's mind and I still feel Disney has called this one wrong.

Fair enough if you're a reformed character!
 
Snow White and the Seven Dwarves has already been rebooted three times in recent memory, once with Snow White and the Huntsman in 2012, then the same year Mirror Mirror, and in 2016 the Huntsman got a sequel. Nobody complained about the dwarves, who were played by non-dwarfism-afflicted actors made to look small in the Huntsman movies, but actual medical dwarves in Mirror Mirror.

Meanwhile, there were Jawas in The Book of Boba Fett last week, presumably played by genuine little people. There's also a sequel to Willow currently filming, featuring Warwick Davies and others of his size playing dwarves. So why pick on the Disney reboot, which will presumably be more like Maleficent than a cartoon from the 1930s?
Are you sure about the Jawas? I'm referring to the original 1st picture, perhaps it was just flak but I remember thinking when I saw it how much fun those kids must have had. So Disney got away without controversy before, they're betting they will again.
 
... And I just want to add for no reason at all that my mother's cousin Eleanor was the voice and the art model for the wicked queen in Snow White and Cinderella and was very fond of Mr. Disney even when the rest of the family was picketing him (she also had a recurring role in Beverly Hillbillies.)

Just a note ... That would be Eleanor Audley, and her voice / depictions were used for the original Maleficent in Disney's Sleeping Beauty rather than the wicked queen in Snow White.
In the animated film industry, Audley provided her distinctive voice to Lady Tremaine, Cinderella's evil stepmother, in the 1950 Disney film Cinderella; and Princess Aurora's evil fairy nemesis, Maleficent, in Disney's 1959 version of Sleeping Beauty. For those films, animators Frank Thomas and Marc Davis designed the characters' facial features and expressions to be closely similar to Audley's. In addition to providing their voices, she served as the performance model for both characters for live-action referencing to help the animators. ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_Audley

Meet Eleanor Audley, the Original 'Maleficent'
https://www.theatlantic.com/culture...leanor-audley-the-original-maleficent/371829/

The evil queen in Disney's Snow White was modeled after multiple other actresses.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evil_Queen_(Disney)#Conception,_design_and_portrayal
 
I think Disney shouldn't do it because it will be crap - like all the other remakes of classic animated movies - make something new instead.
Dwarves in fantasy arent humans - we had this nonsense a while back with saying Orcs were black and thus racist.
This sort of blather is dangerous nonsense that hides real discrimination and problems in society.
Meanwhile retaining a sense of Humour is the best advice I can give, Over to Billy -

 
Just a note ... That would be Eleanor Audley, and her voice / depictions were used for the original Maleficent in Disney's Sleeping Beauty rather than the wicked queen in Snow White.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_Audley

Meet Eleanor Audley, the Original 'Maleficent'
https://www.theatlantic.com/culture...leanor-audley-the-original-maleficent/371829/

The evil queen in Disney's Snow White was modeled after multiple other actresses.

https://en.wikipedia.

She also was the original snow white. The didn't always just use one person. As long as she got paid it was fine with her. And I'm told she can be heard on some Disneyland ride.

My replies keep showing up in the original comment?
 
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Are you sure about the Jawas? I'm referring to the original 1st picture, perhaps it was just flak but I remember thinking when I saw it how much fun those kids must have had. So Disney got away without controversy before, they're betting they will again.

Jack Purvis is listed in the credits as Chief Jawa, he was a British dwarf actor best known for Time Bandits, and there are other dwarf actors (like Rusty Goffe) listed as Jawas in the uncredited section. There may have been kids too, to make up the numbers?
 
Peter Dinklage is a good actor. I first saw him in The Station Master.

As to being short, me 62 inches. I laugh at @Tempest63's comment about not banging your head. I've gone walking through wooded areas blithely not noticing overhead branches, only to have someone to warn me "watch out" just as I walk under the branch. Lol. Of course, the warning is always too late if there were such a hazard.

My late husband put up the shelves in the kitchen and insisted they had to be minimum height. I do have things on the top shelves that I haven't seen for years:chuckle:

At work I used to work with two tallish sisters. They always put oft used things on the top shelves. One day, just for my own private chuckle, I put some item that we always used on the bottom (floor level) shelf. Neither one could find it as they never thought to look lower.
 
Peter Dinklage is a good actor. I first saw him in The Station Master.
This is also where I first saw him. I remember thinking, 'This guy is great! It's a shame his acting options are so limited because of his dwarfism.' I'm glad to say, my fears were unwarranted.

However, the traditional use of short actors in fantasy is already under threat from visual effects as has been shown by the Lord of the Rings movies and Snow White and the Huntsman. We don't need a prominent member of the acting community saying they can't make a fantasy movie any longer that portrays short people. That's not helping a community of short actors who, let's face it, can't always compete in a world built for people of average height.
 
There is also a movie where Dinklage rants about dwarves in dream sequences. Keeps them employed though.
 
Let them fight bull calves!

Spain bans ‘dwarf bullfighting’​

Spain bans ‘dwarf bullfighting’


Dwarf bullfighters stage a protest in front of parliament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday April 27, 2023. Spain’s parliament on Thursday banned “comic” bullfighting events featuring dwarves dressed in costumes, in a decision applauded by disability rights groups but condemned by the few surviving performers. Dwarves in Spain have long dressed as firefighters or clowns to chase bulls without killing them at public spectacles designed to be humorous. The tradition stretches back decades, but has declined in popularity. Banner written in Spanish reads ‘Freedom’. (A. Perez Meca/Europa Press via AP)

Spain’s parliament has banned “comic” bullfighting events featuring dwarves dressed in costumes, in a decision applauded by disability rights groups but condemned by the few surviving performers.

Dwarves in Spain have long dressed as firefighters or clowns to chase bulls without killing them, at public spectacles designed to be humorous. The tradition stretches back decades, but has declined in popularity.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/world/arid-41126566.html
 
Let them fight bull calves!

Spain bans ‘dwarf bullfighting’​

Spain bans ‘dwarf bullfighting’


Dwarf bullfighters stage a protest in front of parliament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday April 27, 2023. Spain’s parliament on Thursday banned “comic” bullfighting events featuring dwarves dressed in costumes, in a decision applauded by disability rights groups but condemned by the few surviving performers. Dwarves in Spain have long dressed as firefighters or clowns to chase bulls without killing them at public spectacles designed to be humorous. The tradition stretches back decades, but has declined in popularity. Banner written in Spanish reads ‘Freedom’. (A. Perez Meca/Europa Press via AP)

Spain’s parliament has banned “comic” bullfighting events featuring dwarves dressed in costumes, in a decision applauded by disability rights groups but condemned by the few surviving performers.

Dwarves in Spain have long dressed as firefighters or clowns to chase bulls without killing them, at public spectacles designed to be humorous. The tradition stretches back decades, but has declined in popularity.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/world/arid-41126566.html
Ozzy Osbourne tells a story about when they had a 'vertically challenged' guy (not sure why) on tour with them. An obnoxious chap iirc. I think he may have been one of the roadies- anyway, one day while on tour in the USA they were all stood around waiting for him and when he eventually turned up, someone threw him into the luggage compartment under the tour bus and shut the door.
A woman walking past was very shocked to see this and said that they can't do that to him as he's a dwarf (her words).
The luggage door opened and the guy popped his head out and said ''I'm their dwarf- now p**s off''.
 
I can assure you after nearly 42 years in construction, being short has it’s advantages, like not banging your head a tenth of the times that the non-porgs hit theirs.
Especially when hard hats became compulsory. I reckon my neck must be an inch shorter now after banging my head on scaffold poles so often with the extra height of the hard hat:)
 
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