1. SOW: What can Disney’s ‘Robin Hood’ tell us about King John? Year 7 Concept - interpretations Please look through slideshow to see all animations and transitions. All resources are at the end of the PowerPoint. Lesson 5: Starter: In your books write down whether you think King John was a bad, good or unlucky, based on the information from last lesson, and one reason why you think this. Q. Overall, was John a good, a bad or an unlucky king? Q. Why then has Disney chosen to interpret John as a villain? Task: Students watch the trailer from the original 1973 film, and try to discern why King John has been interpreted as a villain (30 seconds – the video can be found by be found by clicking the poster on the task page) – the link is also here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awONp__GGvU&feature=youtu.be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awONp__GGvU&feature=youtu.be LQ. Has King John always been the perfect Disney villain? Task: 1.Students read through King John: Hero or Zero sheet, and highlight / underline parts which explain how or why John has been interpreted a certain way. 2.Students plot each point on their John’s interpretation timeline. They can then connect the points to show how John has been interpreted through history.* * Students should give explanations for each point, which justify the position they have marked down on their graph. … You have now learnt a great deal about what King John did, what he didn’t do, and how he has been interpreted throughout history. So… How fair is this interpretation? Introduce outcome task.

2. EQ: What can Disney’s ‘Robin Hood’ tell us about King John? How fair is this interpretation?

3. Let’s think back to last lesson. In your books write down whether you think King John was bad, good or unlucky, based on the information from last lesson, and one reason why you think this. What did you write down? So, according to what we know so far, overall was John good, bad or unlucky?

4. There are clearly several differing interpretations of King John… Why, then, did Disney decide to settle on this interpretation of King John as a villain?

5. Task: 1.Watch the trailer from the original Disney movie (1973) and try to work out why King John has been interpreted as a villain?* *Listen carefully to what the narrator says. What reasons could Disney have for interpreting King John as a villain? “From Walt Disney home video comes this summer’s best Robin Hood adventure, with America’s most popular hero. Walt Disney’s Robin Hood. He’s the cutest and foxiest Robin Hood ever. This summer, give your family an adventure they’ll never forget. Walt Disney’s Robin Hood on video cassette. Capture the fun today.” Has John been interpreted as a villain so that Robin Hood can be seen as a hero?

6. Every ‘classic’ Disney film has followed the same formula – from Snow White to Frozen, they always contain a villain. Villains, such as Scar and Hades, ensure that the ‘hero’ is always seen as good, even when their judgement waivers, or they make the wrong decisions.

7. “You know something, Robin, I’ve been just wondering, are we good guys or bad guys? You know, I mean our robbing the rich to feed the poor.” “Rob? *tut-tut-tut* That’s a naughty word, we never rob, we just borrow a bit from those who can afford it.” “Borrow?! Boy are we in debt!” Disney actually acknowledges this issue (dismissingly) 4 minutes 30 seconds into the film (through Little John).

8. Is this really borrowing? “You know something, Robin, I’ve been just wondering are we good guys or bad guys? You know, I mean our robbing the rich to feed the poor.” – Little John It could certainly be argued that if John had not been depicted as such a wicked and cruel tyrant, then Robin Hood would not have been as such a hero - in fact, he may have been seen as a vigilante or criminal, stealing valuable assets from the crown, at a time when England needed the money to fight off the attacks from troops in France. But, clearly, Disney felt that King John would make the perfect villain for one of their movies (and with a box office taking of $32 million, who can argue!). But, was this view of John as a ‘perfect Disney villain’ always the case?

9. We have already come across what the chroniclers have written about King John, in their writings from the 1200s. Their work has tended to argue that John was indeed a villain. And, we have come across the works of recent historians; Morris, Holt and Warren to be precise. Each has given varying views of John: some good, some bad and some unlucky.

10. 1200Last week However, you may have noticed that there is a rather large gap in history when we don’t know how King John was interpreted. Gap How would these two, for example, have interpreted King John; hero or villain? This leads on to our question for today…

11. Has King John always been the perfect Disney villain?

12. 1.First draw the two lines; 1 horizontal and 1 vertical. 2.Along the Y Axis (vertical line) you want to write the scale of interpretations, from hero to villain. 3.Along the X Axis (horizontal line) you want to write the years that King John has been interpreted by historians: use the scale 1200-2000. Hero Villain Quite bad Quite good 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 Once you have drawn this graph in your book you will need to read ‘King John: Hero to Zero’. As you read highlight / underline parts of ‘Hero or Zero’ which appear to show him being interpreted as a Hero, a Villain, or something in between. And once you have completed that, you can begin to plot your graph, just like this… Plot the interpretations of John over the last 800 years Your task is to plot the historians’ interpretations of King John: from hero to villain. First, you will need to draw the following timeline. Extension: Explain why you have plotted each point. The Tudors saw John as a hero because… The Victorians saw John as a villain because…

13. Your task is to: First – Read through ‘King John: Hero or Zero’ and highlight / underline any points which explain how King John was interpreted at the time, and why. Secondly – Plot each point on your John’s interpretation timeline. When plotting your graph, plot the points roughly. For instance, for the Tudors, you could put one ‘X’ at ‘roughly’ 1485 and another at ‘roughly’ 1603. Also, don’t forget to plot the chroniclers.* *Extension: When you are finished, add explanations which explain why John was interpreted in this way at this time. For example: “King John was interpreted as a real villain by the Victorians. The Victorians thought ill of John because they disapproved of his affairs – Victorians had very strict morals – and saw John as sinful.”

14. How fair is this interpretation? You have now learnt a great deal about what King John did, what he didn’t do, and how he has been interpreted throughout history. So…

15. To celebrate the 42 nd anniversary of Disney’s Robin Hood, Disney have decided to release a new remastered version of the original film. Whilst the majority of the film will remain the same, Disney is aware of the recent work which has been done on King John since its original release. Therefore, it is willing to alter its interpretation of King John (either positively or negatively) if an argument is brought forward.

16. Your outcome task, which you will do next lesson, is to become the historical adviser to Disney. In your role as expert on King John you must submit to Disney: A brief history on how King John has been interpreted; Your own personal argument for which interpretation should be chosen; A drawn scene of King John which must appear in the film.

17. EQ: What can Disney’s ‘Robin Hood’ tell us about King John? How should Disney interpret King John?

18. Resources

19. Victorian (1837-1901): John the villain Victorian historians saw John as a failure and a villain. They thought he created his own problems and was a cruel and wicked king; the Devil in disguise. Victorian historians, such as J. R. Green, used the medieval chronicles to find out about King John. Roger of Wendover and Matthew Paris were their main sources of information. Victorians disliked John because of his attitude towards religions and the stories of his many affairs with rich women. They judge John by their own moral standards. Victorians thought that Magna Carta was very important. They believed that the country should be run in a democratic way, with as many as possible – not just the king – having a say in how it was governed. Victorians saw Magna Carta as Britain’s first step towards becoming a democratic country. John: Hero or Zero Tudor (1485-1603): John the hero Tudor historians thought that John was right to stand up to the Pope. They saw the Pope as a power-crazy villain who wanted to control England. They blamed the Pope for many of John’s problems. They also thought that the barons were wrong to rebel against John: ‘What a disgrace and a shame that the barons rebelled against King John and did not give him help in his lawful wars.’ (An extract from Homily Against Disobedience and Wilful Religion, 1571). People in Tudor times saw John as an earlier version of Henry VIII. Both kings quarrelled with the Pope, and both kings stood up to the Pope. They also admired firm, strict kings who took a leading role in running the country. They believed that rebellions harmed everyone in the country. 1950s and 1960s: John the good From 1950, some historians began to challenge the traditional interpretations of John. They were more sympathetic, saying he worked hard. A few even claimed he was an administrative genius, who ran the country as well as anyone could have done. These historians also argued that John was unlucky. He was up against a powerful Pope and a skilful King of France, who had far more money than him. They also said that John in inherited problems from his father and brother. During this period historians started to study government records from John’s reign in detail. There are far more records from John’s reign than from the reigns of previous kings. This meant that historians could find out far more about what the king’s government did each day. Historians started to say that the accounts written by the medieval monks were unreliable. They argued that the monks were biased against John, because they were supporters of the Pope and the barons. They claimed that the chroniclers had created a myth (an untrue story), which was worthless and misleading.

20. John: Hero or Zero Fold your sheet in half and stick it into your book. Task: Make sure that you highlight / underline quotes that say he was seen as a hero (good) or villain (bad). Modern historians (1980s and 1990s): John the not so good Modern historians have mixed views about John. Most accept that he did have some good qualities. However, they argue that historians in the 1950s and 1960s made too much of his skills. They agree that John faced many problems, but say that his actions often made these problems far worse. John had serious faults in his personality that got him into trouble. Modern historians claims that medieval government records give the impression that John was better than he actually was. Just because there are lots of records showing John hard at work does not necessarily mean he worked harder than previous monarchs. Rather, it was not until John’s reign that detailed records were kept. They also point out that he worked harder in England precisely because he was a failure! John had more time to get involved in running England because, by 1204, he had lost his land in France. They argue that, although the monks were prejudiced (biased) against John, no one wrote anything that said John was a success.