Adverse Influence of Disney Movies on the Younger Generation

Disney movies have been the leading outlets for child education and social learning. Due to such power of influence controversies have been raised which include the following, but not limited to, gender roles and stereotypes, issues of independence, and misrepresentation. Many people argue that despite the morals and messages that occur within such films there are still underlying messages that deal with beauty standards and norms. However, others may argue that Disney is evolutionary and evolved the imagery of male/female standards. The controversy then becomes: are Disney films doing more harm than they are good? Due to certain themes brought on by such movies, it has left younger audiences with both positive and

Imagine yourself as one person trying to totally reinvent the way that families are entertained. I will be talking to you about a farmer that became an animator. A farmer as a visionary leader, impressive. That is the story of Walt Disney. By all rights, Walt Disney was an excellent animator, but he had the self-awareness to know that he could not make his vision a reality on his own. I believe that Walt Disney is a visionary leader and I will show you how he used “Team Building”, “a group organized to work together”, (Thomas N. Barnes Center, 2012)(p.2) skills, “Diversity”, “a composite of individuals characteristics, experiences, and abilities”, (Thomas N. Barnes Center, 2012)(p.3) skills, and Full Range Leadership Development, “Contingent Reward”, “When the follower fulfills the leader’s expectation, a reward is provide to reinforce the demonstrated positive behavior.”,(Thomas N. Barnes Center, 2012),(p.14) skills to inspire people to buy into his vision and motivate others to help him accomplish his vision. I informed you earlier that I believe Walt Disney is a visionary leader, but that doesn’t make him an ethical leader. Through Walt Disney’s violation of “Honest”, “the bottom line is we don’t lie”, (United States Air Force Core Values, 1997), (p.1), “Openness”, “the free flow of

Despite the fact that there are so many Disney films that are (and should be) criticized for their social imperfections, there have been some recent signs of

These films have included certain features that can be seen as covert racism, a form of racial discrimination that is disguised and subtle, rather than public or obvious. In their film Aladdin, released in 1992 introduced the sixth Disney princess Jasmine, Disney include a song as the opening credits that created great controversy. The original song lyrics were, “Oh, I come from a land, from a faraway place where the caravan camels roam. Where they cut off your ear if they don’t like your face. It’s barbaric, but hey, it’s home.” After receiving negative criticism Disney agreed to change the lyrics of the song after obtaining approval from the song producers. However, the Arabic community was not fully thrilled about the song after the change. It was "nowhere near adequate, considering the racism depicted in 'Aladdin,' " said Don Bustany, the president of the Los Angeles chapter of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (Fox). In the film, Disney attempts to recreate Arabic culture by including what they believe as producers will represent the culture. “When they show a market where the signs are meant to be in Arabic but are written in a form of gibberish, it implies there really isn't a culture in existence that uses that language" (Shweffi). For their latest film Moana, the producers of the movie attempted to fully capture and represent Polynesian culture to the best of their

Walt Disney once said, “It’s kind of fun to do the impossible,” and I guess he was right. Disney made films that made a wooden puppet into a real boy, a thief into a handsome, and a beast into a man. Disney created dreams for little kids of becoming royalty, but was that all they had in mind? Although Disney films may seem full of happy thoughts with true love’s kiss, but in reality they are just bibidi bodibi booed with a dash of pixie dust to hide the real truth behind the films.

Background: The history of Walt Disney, and the Disney Corporation, is one shrouded in admiration and accolades for the accomplishment of the American dream. Walt Disney himself is an icon for the American work ethic, i.e., hard work pays off. He is seen as a Horatio Alger, "rags to riches," success story. Beginning his work in animation in the 1920s, Walt Disney gained fame worldwide for his films and theme parks. But Walt Disney created more than films and theme parks. By infusing them with an ideological stance glorifying "the American way of life," his brand of democracy and conservatism, he created a cultural institution. The moralistic stance of his enterprise became common knowledge and it is said that his 1933 version of Three Little Pigs was the last of his cartoons in which the film’s moral messages were open to interpretation [3]

Sleeping Beauty is culturally significant because it is told in many different ways and can reach a variety of people. From adults to children, many interpretations can be made depending on the version that is read or watched. The theme sexism can be found in Disney’s version while killing or cannibalism can be found In Perrault’s version. While children are watching Disney’s version, young girls could be exposed to sexism. Sexism is still a big problem in today 's society, and girls should not be exposed to a topic such as this at a young age. Many will have to deal with it while growing up and Disney is not helping by portraying the girl as helpless until a man comes along. This movie can have such a negative impact on todays society but it is still culturally significant. Perrault 's version is no better when it comes to representing

According to an article, “In fact, a 2009 experiment conducted by Professor Hayes and Professor Tantleff-Dunn revealed ‘that a third of girls under the age of six admit to worrying about being fat, and when asked to select the ‘real princess’ from a choice of ballerinas, 50% of the girls chose the thinnest one’.” (Body Image n.p.) Also, Disney films’ portrayal of the stereotypical body image negatively impacts young girls’ perception on their figure. This leads to them believing that the ideal woman is skinny-perfect, as shown by the Disney female characters; thus, their thinking becomes “[…] thin is the only acceptable type of beauty.” (Body Image n.p.). In another study, it said on how young girls wanted to change their skin color preferably lighter in order to become a princess (Mckinstry n.p.). There were also young girls who wanted to become a princess by dressing femininely. Disney have made a collaboration with Happy Skin to come p with a new lip collection in order for people to use and look like a Disney princess (Afinidad-Bernardo n.p.). According to a study, “Women are helpless and in need of protection.” (Towbin, et al 31) In Disney films, Snow White, Aurora and, Cinderella portrayed that they had to be saved by their male counterpart which gives off the message that women have to be saved by men (Johnson 15-16). Due to this portrayal

Disney princesses are fun for all ages, but their target audience is young children and “as children grow and develop, they can be easily influenced by what they see and hear”. Therefore, what they see and hear in Disney movies leaves an impression on them. The first princess, Snow White, was created in a time where each gender and race had a specific role in society. Recently, many believe that Disney has come a long way in regards to gender and race since Snow White, as several multi-cultural protagonists have been introduced subsequently, and gender roles do not appear to be as stereotypical as they once were. However, many of the apparent innocent messages about race and gender in these movies, can be exposed as otherwise. Despite

For most of society, the word Disney elicits warm feelings: memories of early Saturday mornings with family watching cartoons, family trips to Disney World, or a movie that was so encapsulating it was watched over and over again. Disney achieves a high level of regard from most of society unparalleled by other companies. Penn State education professor, Henry A. Giroux, accompanied by Grace Pollock, argues in his book The Mouse That Roared: Disney and the End of Innocence that society is blinded by Disney’s façade of “childhood innocence” and that Disney’s marketing tactics are far from innocent at all.

According to the leadership of the Southern Baptist Convention, the Walt Disney Corporation historically stood for “basic American virtues and values” but now represents a “significant departure from Disney’s family-values image, and a gratuitous insult to Christians and others who have long supported Disney.” Their belief is that Disney entertainment products produced while Walt Disney was alive differ substantially from those produced in the post-Walt era. Through time, it is inevitable that particular things have changed since the production of Walt’s personal films from the 1920’s to the 1960’s (such as being aesthetically and cinematically advanced, in

The Disney Corporation has had both positive and negative effects on American society. Disney has majorly affected both the youth and adults in America by way they interact with each other, what they expect from each other, and how parents bring up their youth in harsh and unrealistic expectations according to Disney. Disney has fostered a strong sense of imagination in the past, present and future youth of America. This sense of imagination is necessary to the development of children when it comes to success in life and self-confidence. The Disney Corporation knows how to work it’s audience for a profit and mastering that skill has allowed Disney to accumulated billions by advertising and selling fantasies to young children and their parents. It’s also these very ideas that influence what Americans believe our government and policies should be founded on. In “The Mouse That Roared” the author states “Education is never innocent, because it always presupposes a particular view of citizenship, culture, and society. And yet it is this very appeal to innocence, bleached of any semblance of politics, that has become a defining feature in Disney culture and pedagogy” (Giroux 31) This quote defines Disney at large. Disney has created the idea of ‘imagination’ in American society and perpetuates it in everything America does and influences everything America stands. In everyday American life, politics and business, The Disney Corporation has a hand in it.

Racism: discrimination which exemplifies stereotypical differences between the ethnic groups to which people belong. While Disney animated films are the ideal family movies, it is undisclosed to many that such racism is being portrayed. Disney’s movie Aladdin (1992), “was a high-profile release, the winner of two Academy Awards, and one of the most successful Disney films ever produced” (Giroux, 104); however, what is often disregarded is the obvious depiction of careless racism towards Arabs seen in the illustrations of the characters, the statuses into which they are placed and the lyrics of the opening song near beginning of the film. Furthermore, with the movie disguising itself as innocent and wholesome, children are exposed to these

Many young children grow up watching Disney films. Many parents do not think that these movies could have a negative impact on their children. Henry Giroux, who wrote the book, “The Mouse that Roared: Disney and the End of Innocence” is a firm believer that Disney films have a negative impact on the children that watch them. For several generations Disney films have been a huge part of children’s lives, but many parents do not realize how these films can negatively impact their children. Disney films can teach young children stereotypes, how to deal with life events such as death and they can learn negative ideas and values from these films.

Disney’s animated film, ‘Sleeping Beauty’, centres around the female lead, Aurora, and from the very beginning, a huge emphasis is placed on her physical characteristics and unrealistic body proportions. In a scene at the start of the film, infant Aurora is blessed with magic gifts from each of the three fairies, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather. Each of the fairies bestowed upon Aurora one gift; the first of which, from Flora, was beauty, and the second of which, from Fauna, was the gift of song. Aurora was to have, ‘Sunshine in her hair,’ with, ‘Lips that shame the red, red, rose.’ This strong emphasis on physical traits and beauty reinforces gender ideals in women and carries the negative message that being beautiful is more important than having other traits such as kindness and