Diversity in Disney Films

Author: Johnson Cheu
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786446013
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 317

Book Description
Although its early films featured racial caricatures and exclusively Caucasian heroines, Disney has, in recent years, become more multicultural in its filmic fare and its image. From Aladdin and Pocahontas to the Asian American boy Russell in Up, from the first African American princess in The Princess and the Frog to "Spanish-mode" Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story 3, Disney films have come to both mirror and influence our increasingly diverse society. This essay collection gathers recent scholarship on representations of diversity in Disney and Disney/Pixar films, not only exploring race and gender, but also drawing on perspectives from newer areas of study, particularly sexuality/queer studies, critical whiteness studies, masculinity studies and disability studies. Covering a wide array of films, from Disney's early days and "Golden Age" to the Eisner era and current fare, these essays highlight the social impact and cultural significance of the entertainment giant. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

The Psychosocial Implications of Disney Movies

Author: Lauren Dundes
Publisher: MDPI
ISBN: 3038978485
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 246

Book Description
In this volume of 15 articles, contributors from a wide range of disciplines present their analyses of Disney movies and Disney music, which are mainstays of popular culture. The power of the Disney brand has heightened the need for academics to question whether Disney’s films and music function as a tool of the Western elite that shapes the views of those less empowered. Given its global reach, how the Walt Disney Company handles the role of race, gender, and sexuality in social structural inequality merits serious reflection according to a number of the articles in the volume. On the other hand, other authors argue that Disney productions can help individuals cope with difficult situations or embrace progressive thinking. The different approaches to the assessment of Disney films as cultural artifacts also vary according to the theoretical perspectives guiding the interpretation of both overt and latent symbolic meaning in the movies. The authors of the 15 articles encourage readers to engage with the material, showcasing a variety of views about the good, the bad, and the best way forward.

The Disney Middle Ages

Author: T. Pugh
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 113706692X
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 473

Book Description
For many, the middle ages depicted in Walt Disney movies have come to figure as the middle ages, forming the earliest visions of the medieval past for much of the contemporary Western (and increasingly Eastern) imagination. The essayists of The Disney Middle Ages explore Disney's mediation and re-creation of a fairy-tale and fantasy past, not to lament its exploitation of the middle ages for corporate ends, but to examine how and why these medieval visions prove so readily adaptable to themed entertainments many centuries after their creation. What results is a scrupulous and comprehensive examination of the intersection between the products of the Disney Corporation and popular culture's fascination with the middle ages.

Diversity in Disney Films

Author: Johnson Cheu
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476600090
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 317

Mouse Morality

Author: Annalee R. Ward
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292773935
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 204

Book Description
2004 – Clifford G. Christians Ethics Research Award — The Carl Couch Center for Social and Internet Research Kids around the world love Disney animated films, and many of their parents trust the Disney corporation to provide wholesome, moral entertainment for their children. Yet frequent protests and even boycotts of Disney products and practices reveal a widespread unease with the sometimes mixed and inconsistent moral values espoused in Disney films as the company attempts to appeal to the largest possible audience. In this book, Annalee R. Ward uses a variety of analytical tools based in rhetorical criticism to examine the moral messages taught in five recent Disney animated films—The Lion King, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, and Mulan. Taking the films on their own terms, she uncovers the many mixed messages they purvey: for example, females can be leaders—but male leadership ought to be the norm; stereotyping is wrong—but black means evil; historical truth is valued—but only tell what one can sell, etc. Adding these messages together, Ward raises important questions about the moral ambiguity of Disney's overall worldview and demonstrates the need for parents to be discerning in letting their children learn moral values and life lessons from Disney films.

The World Behind Disney Films

Author: Karlina Jones
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Children's films
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
This thesis explores the history of Disney films, analyzing diversity and racism concerns in the media giant's children's and family films for nearly 100 years and researching how the company is making changes to overcome its negative image in this specific regard. This body of research also reviews The Walt Disney Company's evolving leadership, with a particular focus on the many initiatives that have worked, as well as those that have not proven successful, for the company. As the researcher details Disney's evolution of leadership, patterns emerge, showing how quickly things shifted in the 1990s and how diversity in Disney's films and characters have developed and become more common in the last decade. There are also comments about numerous Disney films that have impacted audiences, from strong negative feelings surrounding Fantasia to those who see The Little Mermaid as Disney's saving grace. The research also points out what was wrong in beloved films like Aladdin and the Lion King and how these movies were remade into more culturally appropriate stories through the drive and opinions of fans. This research reveals a great many things survey subjects did not notice when growing up watching Disney films. This study identifies those before unnoticed scenes, racial gestures, and voice-over nuances while providing the reader and industry professionals information which will help shape best practices for future filmmakers, especially in the children's and family film industry.

Recasting the Disney Princess in an Era of New Media and Social Movements

Author: Shearon Roberts
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1793604029
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 365

Book Description
In the late 2000s, the Walt Disney Company expanded, rebranded, and recast itself around “woke,” empowered entertainment. This new era revitalized its princess franchise, seeking to elevate its female characters into heroes who save the day. Recasting the Disney Princess in an Era of New Media and Social Movements analyzes the way that the Walt Disney Company has co-opted contemporary social discourse, incorporating how audiences interpret their world through new media and activism into the company’s branding initiatives, programming, and films. The contributors in this collection study the company’s most iconic franchise, the Disney princesses, to evaluate how the company has addressed the patriarchy its own legacy cemented. Recasting the Disney Princess outlines how the current Disney era reflects changes in a global society where audiences are empowered by new media and social justice movements.

Fourth Wave Feminism in Science Fiction and Fantasy

Author: Valerie Estelle Frankel
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476677662
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 233

Book Description
Fourth wave feminism has entered the national conversation and established a highly visible presence in popular media, especially in cutting-edge science fiction and fantasy films and television series. Wonder Woman, the Wasp, and Captain Marvel headline superhero films while Black Panther celebrates nonwestern power. Disney princesses value sisterhood over conventional marriage. This first of two companion volumes addresses cinema, exploring how, since 2012, such films as the Hunger Games trilogy, Mad Max: Fury Road, and recent Star Wars installments have showcased women of action. The true innovation is a product of the Internet age. Though the web has accelerated fan engagement to the point that progressivism and backlash happen simultaneously, new films increasingly emphasize diversity over toxic masculinity. They defy net trolls to provide stunning role models for viewers across the spectrum of age, gender, and nationality.

The same old story? The portrayal of gender and ethnicity/race in Disney movies and the possible (re-) production of stereotypes over the course of the past 75 years

Author: Eva-Maria Krapfenbauer
Publisher: GRIN Verlag
ISBN: 3656859078
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 104

Book Description
Bachelor Thesis from the year 2013 in the subject Gender Studies, grade: 1,0, Vienna University of Economics and Business (Gender- und Diversitätmanagement), language: English, abstract: The following Bachelor’s thesis deals with the (re-)production of gender-related and ethnic stereotypes in animated movies part of the Disney Princess franchise. The introduction to the topic is followed by an overview of the theory, which includes the concepts of diversity, gender, and ethnicity as well as an introduction into stereotypes. The literature review will on the one hand present the Disney corporation and on the other hand give insight into the topics of television in general and children’s television in particular. It also outlines the hitherto findings pertaining to the scientific field of “Disney, gender and ethnicity”. The next chapters contain an introduction to the Critical Discourse Analysis and the methodology, which is followed by the empirical part consisting of the analysis and discussion of the movies. The thesis is completed by the conclusion, which brings together the findings as well as putting them in relation to the rest of the thesis.

Multiculturalism and the Mouse

Author: Douglas Brode
Publisher: University of Texas Press
ISBN: 0292709609
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 321

Book Description
Douglas Brode's spirited defence of Disney entertainment argues that Disney paved the way for today's multicultural values through its positive portrayal of women, ethnic minorities, gays, and non-Christian spirituality and it was this portrayal of difference that promoted diversity decades before the 1990s.