Is the Disney princess ready to be a hero?

When I saw this post on Facebook earlier today I immediately smiled at the excitement in this little girl's face and it brought back happy memories of my own princess phase.  However, as I read the caption, "That moment when she meets her hero," my excitement faded a little.  Is a Disney princess really who we want young girls to look up to as their hero?

Part of me thinks that it shouldn't matter who our heros are when we're young children because our heros are likely to change as we mature and grow up.  On the other hand, we learn a lot of important lessons when we're very young, so the influences in our lives at this age do have a big impact.

I googled "disney effects on children" and my webpage immediately filled up with negative titles, such as "Top 10 Ways Disney Corrupts Children" and "The Negative affects of Disney on Children."  It seems to me that the majority of articles on Disney, including the ones that we read in our class such as "Mickey Mouse History: Portraying the Past at Disney World" and "The Little Mermaid," are criticisms of Disney.  If Disney is an overall negative influence, which is a much longer debate than I can cover in this blog post, then we certainly should not be encouraging young girls to look up to these princesses as heros.

However, although they are less common, there are also articles describing Disney as a positive influence.  One positive article that I especially liked is "Ten Things Disney Princesses Taught Me" by Lauren Cochrane.  Lauren emphasizes 10 Disney princesses and presents the positive lessons that she thinks they teach.  Some of her interpretations offer the exact opposite view as those posed by critics we've read.  For example, in her piece "The Little Mermaid," Roberta Trites argues that Ursula equates love to a kiss, essentially suggesting that love is just a matter of physical attraction.  However, in her analysis of Aurora, Cochrane argues Sleeping Beauty teaches that a simple kiss can very powerful, which she says is an especially important message because "sex is more mainstream" in today's society.  Although these two points are referring to different movies, it is interesting to see how different their interpretations are.

There is no right or wrong interpretation of the Disney films, as the interpretation will change from person to person based on what past experiences they bring to the table when viewing the films.  Yet, even if you think that Disney is the upmost positive influence on a child, I think "hero" is too strong of a role for a Disney princess.  I don't doubt that the Disney movies can teach children lessons, but I think the role of hero should be reserved for a more substantial role model than an animated character in a children's movie.  

Do you think the Disney princess is ready to be a hero?

Cinderella Continues!

 

Cinderella is a trilogy!  I only recently discovered the existence of Cinderella II and Cinderella III after reading "Dopey's Legacy: Stereotypical Portrayals of Intellectual Disability in the Classic Animated Films" by Karen Schwartz, Zana Marie Lutfiyya and Nancy Hansen.  These latter two films are likely not as popular as the first, given that I only recently learned about them, but I'm always excited to add a Disney movie to my watch list!  The two films portray Cinderella's life after she has married the prince and transitioned into royalty.  Part of me wants to leave the "happily ever after" part of Cinderella's life up to my imagination, but it would be interesting to see what Disney has thought up and I don't doubt that it will be entertaining.  If you've seen these movies, let me know what you think!

Celebration: a Disney town

 

Have you ever heard of Celebration, Florida?

Celebration is a "community", as the town website puts it, 20 minutes west of Orlando International Airport, home to about 9,000 residents, and founded by Disney.   

I only recently became aware of the Disney town after reading Kevin Shortsleeve's "The Wonderful World of the Depression: Disney, Despotism, and the 1930s.  Or, Why Disney Scares Us."  Shortsleeve's piece focuses on showing how Disney is, quite frankly, obsessed with the 1930s, but he mentions the town of Celebration.  According to Shortsleeve, Disney created the town Celebration as a means of extending Disney World.  He explains that Disney could only avoid certain environmental regulations if a residential community existed within the park, and so Celebration was created.  

I think it might be fun to live in a Disney town.  The town website implies that it is a tight knit community with frequent family-frienly events for residents.  The only catch: residents don't have total control over their government.  Shortsleeve points out that Disney couldn't allow Celebration residents to have power to vote on things that affected the park, so residents had to sign a contract with a hidden clause stating that while Disney's real estate firm owns land in the town, it has "veto power over any changes in governance."

Interested in learning more?  Check out these resources:

Celebration website: http://www.celebration.fl.us/

Kevin Shortsleeve's piece: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/lion_and_the_unicorn/v028/28.1shortsleeve.html

Follow Disney on Instagram!

Hello fellow Disney followers!  I saw this post (pictured above) on Facebook earlier today and thought I would share it with all of you!  If you don't already, I recommend following Disney on Facebook, and now Instagram!  While I'm sure this is just another advertising strategy, they post all sorts of pictures that usually bring a smile to my face.  The only downside is that the pictures usually make me wish that I was at a Disney Park, but they're still fun to see and can bring a little magic to your day :)  

Mickey's Transformations

How would you describe Mickey's character?

How you answer this question may depend on which generation you belong to.

In his piece "The Masks of Mickey Mouse: Symbol of a Generation", Robert W. Brockway describes 3 "rite de passage"s of Mickey Mouse in Mickey's lifetime that have transformed his character since he was created in the 1920s.  They are:

1. Although the first Mickey Movie that Ubbe Iwerks drew was Plane Crazy (pictured on the left above), Mickey Mouse was not born into stardom until the release of Steamboat Willie (pictured in the middle above) in 1928.  In this stage, Mickey was a slapstick character at this point.
2. Mickey's second "rite de passage" came with the release of The Band Concert (pictured on the right above) in the 1930s.  Brockway refers to this stage as Mickey's "initiation into maturity" which was called for by a desire for a more charming cartoon as views changed during the Great Depression.  In this phase, Mickey's character was "addressed to the inner child in the adult rather than to actual children..."
3. Mickey's third and final transformation came in the mid 1950s when he became the "King of the Magic Kingdom" and became "gentle and sentimental."  This is the Mickey that we see in Disney today.

Brockway expressed the concern that Mickey may not make it many years beyond 2001 because of a connection that Mickey has to the generation that grew up with him, but I am glad to say that I expect Mickey to be around for decades to come.  Having been born almost half a century after Brockway's last described transformation, I only associate Mickey the fun-loving character he is today, and I don't think that this less complex association will shorten his life span.  In fact, I am not a fan of slapstick comedy and I think that association would weaken my fandom.  I will continue to love Mickey and treasure him as a part of my childhood as I hope many future generations will as well.  Do you think Mickey will endure?

Welcome to my Disney blog!

Disney has been a part of my life since as long as I can remember, from my Winnie the Pooh nightgown (pictured above) to my most recent trip to Disneyland only months ago.  I am excited to share my passion for Disney through this blog and I hope you all enjoy reading and responding to my posts as I investigate and follow Disney in the months to come.