Disney's "The Story Of Menstruation"
Mitch ;)
It's a boy! My wife gave birth to our first child this week. She and the baby are doing very well. While discussing various details of "changing bodies", my mother-in-law pulled up this gem and shared interesting memories of watching this Walt Disney Production in middle school.
;)
Leave it to 1940s Disney to produce an educational film presented to over 50 million young girls... about periods. I want to know which notable male animators worked on this. Did they admit it to anyone?? Were they assigned to this project after messing up on a different project? What were Walt's notes to the Story Department?
Let's watch the film and learn about:
Feeling sorry for yourself; exercising (but not too much); keeping smiling and even-tempered; relieving cramps; showering in the correct water temperature; slumpy posture; ovaries; avoiding constipation; dancing with boys; increasing morale by applying makeup; nature’s eternal plan of passing on life; and Mother Nature controling many of our routine bodily processes through automatic control centers.
Keep in mind, this was my wife's idea. With the encouragement of my mother-in-law.
Belle's Baby Boy
My wife is wonderful. She puts up with this silly blog and everything that goes with it. She humors me when I tell her about discovering something super geeky about old EPCOT Center or when I cover the upstairs in old park maps. And when it comes to delivering a baby, she's a real trooper. Her part-time job as Belle and Cinderella at Walt Disney World is on hold for a while. But you just may spot her all princessed-up later this year.
;)
Related posts:
Walt Disney Studios Post Production Behind-the-Scenes
Imagineering Sound Design Behind-the-Scenes
Original Visions of CalArts
Our Friend the Atom
Magic Highway U.S.A... It doesn't get much better than this.
Film
Reader Comments (13)
Congrats on your new baby boy!
Holy cow. This is incredible.
This is quite graphic! Though it's interesting that they never to into "the birds and the bees".
First CONGRATS on the bundle of joy!
It's rather fascinating that Disney was ever gone near topics like these. "The Making of Me" film at Epcot's Wonders of Life pavilion comes to mind. I do think Disney has a great capacity to educate while they entertain. Walt Disney liked to entertain first and was happy if his audience learned something along the way. I happen to feel strongly about this.
I grew up in the 80s but had I been in grade school in the 50s or 60s I would have absolutely loved the educational films like "Our Friend the Atom", "Mars and Beyond", and "Man and the Moon". I would vote for these same old films to be shared in classrooms today. I can't imagine films with this level of "edutainment" have been made since.
Before I even clicked on the link to this blog, I was expecting this to be a joke. Much to my surprise, it wasn't. I think it's cool!
Fun to see old videos that don't come up often. Any idea who the animators were?
Congratulations on your absolutely precious baby!!
The first time I saw the "The Story of Menstruation" I have to admit I was surprised. I'm a 90s baby and serious Disnerd so any time I see anything like this I turn into a complete mess of excitement.
Thank you so much for the awesome blog!!
Thanks everyone! Little babies are the best.
Erik- As for the animators, I still do not know who worked on this film. I'd love to find out.
And many joyful, happy tears were shed for the moment. Congratulations, and excellent information on the find ;3
I was a Brownie Girl Scout in the late 1960s, and I saw this film at a Girl Scout meeting! I haven't thought about it in years, but I remembered so much of it while I was watching it. I remember thinking I was sooooooo grown up to be able to see it. Incredible how much the world has changed in less than 50 years. Thanks for posting it, and congrats on your new baby!
I was expecting The Making of Me also, but this was awesome :)
Outstanding! And congrats on the little "future imagineer"!
You gotta love the subtle sexism,"daily activities" (cuts to shot of girl dusting)