but I am not so sure about the golden age of the cartoon. I think many cartoons of later years

have much more interesting plots and technique.

A: Perhaps. But don't you think that Disney's shorts have carefully worked out plots, sometimes very neat? They are not simply

a string of violent gags, in the style of later American cartoons. Well, you see what I mean.

B: Yes, I agree entirely here. There is a reassuring, homely quality about his shorts founded on the resemblances between the

animal and the human world.

A: I couldn't agree more. His animal characters are actually human beings in disguise and they behave like recognizable

individuals.

B: That's exactly what I think. Mickey is the quiet little chap, who at the end of the race has outdistanced his more spectacular

rivals. He and Minnie both, are the innocents who triumph over the wicked world.

A: Yes, that's true. That's my way of looking at it too. Donald Duck always flies into spluttering indignant passion. Pluto and

Goofy are not too bright but both have hearts of gold and meet the world with a bewildered and bewildering enthusiasm. Disney in

fact has presented the world of the average American, preaching a moral, giving a message of optimism, of success.

B: You may be right, but I think it goes further than that, a lot further. His stories end happily, the characters are essentially

good fellows, the violence is not too extreme, cruelty and tragedy are excluded. Any satire is more than gentle. This imitation world is

presented with supreme technical competence and the various factors are blended to comfort and soothe the audience, to give it

something easy and undemanding.

A: I see what you mean, but there are potentially cruel and dangerous characters in Disney's longer films. There is a case of

"Snow White" having been given an "X" certificate. I myself have known children terrified by "Pinocchio". Perhaps what frightens

them are situations in which the child hero or heroine is in danger or being ill-treated.

B: What you say's perfectly true. But all the same W. Disney's films are readily accepted by mass audiences conditioned to the

Disney philosophy. All I know is that these films are very sentimental though they have been widely popular.

11. Answer the following questions:

1. Have you seen any of W.Disney's shorts? longer films? What is your impression of them? 2. Do you agree with all that is said

in the dialogue? With which statements dealing with his work do you disagree?

Use clichés expressing AGREEMENT and DISAGREEMENT given in the dialogue (Ex. 10). You may also use other phrases to express

disagreement:

A. You can disagree mildly: Well, I wouldn't go quite that far; I'm not so sure; That may be so ... but ... ; Yes, that's true, but take

my case; Oh, you wouldn't think so ... ; I wouldn't say that exactly; It might be right but... ; On the other hand ....

B. You may disagree strongly when you can allow yourself to be abrupt or even a bit rude: Rubbish!; That's totally • unfounded;

That's all right for you to talk but... ; You seem to think that things are different for me.