Analyzing Dan Schindel's Movie 'Frozen'

Every hockey player has heard the soundbite of Al Michaels shouting “Do you believe in Miracles? Yes!” after the 1980 American team took down the international powerhouse of the Soviet Union. During a time of uneasiness and frustration towards the current political climate, the young American hockey team gave the public something to be proud about. A true “miracle on ice” gave the country a strong presence within the hockey world. Going into the game against the Soviets in the semifinals of the 1980 Olympic games, Herb Brooks gave one of the most inspirational speeches known to date. This speech was portrayed word for word in the Disney film, Miracle, released in 2004 directed by Gavin O’Conner. Although Herb Brooks’ rhetoric sounds as if he is referencing the Cold War, that did not seem to be the case. Herb’s rhetoric seemed to be solely hockey driven: his significant playing and coaching career as well as his astonishing dedication to the game uncover his motivation prior to the miracle game. Close analysis and research reveals Herb and his players have rejected many attempts of being used as a political pawn after defeating Russia in the miracle on ice. This victory indeed boosted the nation’s spirits regarding the war, but the game had little to no impact on the outcome between the two governments.

My daughter and I went to the play “The Snow Queen” at the Marquis Theater in Northville, Michigan on December 10, 2016. The Marquis Theater is a beautifully restored historic landmark. Upon entering, you are transported back to an earlier time. The lobby features the original french doors, the stained glass windows, and the old fashioned ticket booth. The theatre is a victorian design that has two aisle ways with red upholstered seats on the left, right, and middle. The theater is quaint in size but that only adds to the magical allusion that is created when you watch “The Snow Queen.”

The effects of the portrayal of the princesses can be positive or negative. Young girls have become more imaginative by watching Disney films. According to Stephanie Hanes (n.p.), “’For 75 years, millions of little girls and their parents around the world have adored and embraced the diverse characters and rich stories featuring our Disney princesses.... [L]ittle girls experience the fantasy and imagination provided by these stories as a normal part of their childhood development’.” Also, children are encouraged to believe and hope. In most Disney movies, the characters convey the message that we can believe in true love (10 DISNEY MOMENTS THAT PROVE LOVE IS ALIVE AND WELL

perpetuated over the years throughout Disney’s movies. Disney is one of the largest media companies in the world. According to Forbes, the “net worth and market capitalization of Disney Company has been estimated as $103.96 billion in 2013” ("Walt Disney Company Net Worth - Celebrity Net Worth,”). From the premiere of the Steamboat Willie cartoons in 1928 Disney has transformed pop culture as we know it today. This paper is designed to look into four major issues gender identity, gender roles, ethnicity, social class throughout Disney’s Cinderella (1950) and Frozen (2013). I aim to show that in these films can be found a subtle manual for social norms, a supplier of dominant family values. I will assess certain sociological concepts that are represented in these films namely ‘The American Dream’, standardization, pseudo-individualism and the creation of false needs. As a society, the understanding of these issues are instrumental to our being since our identity is often distorted through long term norms, ideals and merits set forth through these animated films.

Disney movies bring a rush of joy, imagination, and excitement within little children whenever Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast and/or Snow White pops up on the screen. The bright colors and exciting story makes them want to watch Disney movies again and again. Their dreams circle around finding their own prince charming and living happily ever after. Disney send lovely messages within their movies implying to never give up on one’s dreams, but if one analyzes these movies on a deeper level a few concepts come into play, misogyny, and patriarchy.

“Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1997), is the earliest Disney animated feature film. It is a relevant example of how The Walt Disney company merged different technologies and industries together. In this time, the film introduced the “Disney princesses” trend, which was yet to impact on children of that generation and current generations since then. Soon after, many more princess based films were produced and distributed to the audiences worldwide and this then merged with merchandising. Now, eighty years later, it is not surprising to see a young girl running around dressed in a Snow-White costume. As O Siochru and Girard noted, convergence here is used to create “New cultural products” (Siochru and Girard:2013). These cultural products have been developed and expanded crucially since 1987, when

What young girl does not dream of becoming a princess and living in a castle happily ever after? Virtually every young girl identifies with princesses and has watched at least one Disney Princess movie. From the first movies of Snow White and Cinderella, to the later movies of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, to the most current movie Moana, Disney Princess movies permeate not only the movie theaters, but also our culture. In fact, “becoming a princess is as easy as purchasing a tiara and hosting a princess-themed birthday party or buying a Halloween costume and playing pretend” (Garabedian, 2014, p. 23). Nonetheless, as declared by Princess Merida in the movie Brave, “there comes a day when I don’t have to be a princess. No rules, no expectations. A day where anything can happen. A day where I can change my fate” (Andrews & Chapman, 2012). In other words, does the life of a princess measure up to the expectations of little girls everywhere? The Disney Princess brand has grown incredibly popular, especially with young girls. In spite of this, the franchise has also become extremely controversial due to potential gender stereotypes in the films. “Gender is one of the most discussed topics in today’s society…[it] represents and also reproduces certain attributes, expectations and roles which are associated with male and female…influencing the views and opinions of future generations” (Maity, 2014, p. 31). Yet, is the Disney Princess brand harmful to young children due to gender stereotypes? Two essays that contemplate the Disney Princess brand and gender stereotypes with opposite viewpoints on this controversial issue are “Girls on Film: The Real Problem with the Disney Princess Brand” by writer Monika Bartyzel and “In Defense of Princess Culture” by writer and mother Crystal Liechty. However, Liechty’s essay “In Defense of Princess Culture,” is the most effective article in convincing the audience of her point of view due to the claim, support, warrant, language, and vocabulary employed.

For decades now, Disney Corporation has been providing us with countless films made to delight and amuse children and adults alike. But not all Disney films seem particularly appropriate for their target audience. Many of these films portray violence, gender inequality, and skewed views of leadership roles that seem altogether inappropriate for impressionable young children. Better and more contemporary heroines need to be added to Disney’s wall of princesses in order to counteract years of sexism.

Walt Disney Animation Studios is a large part in America’s entertainment industry. Reaching children and adults through their many platforms, Disney has been influencing people for over 90 years. These films have played a huge role in the society displays of gender roles. This is seen in the representation in their characters, more importantly females. Culture has been going through changes in the past couple of decades and Disney reflects the changes in society through its characters. Popular culture rises with each of Disney’s films and become well known with their recognizable roles. The Disney Princess line up has been a rising influence since 1937 with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and continues to present with the current release of Moana, the most revolutionary Disney Princess as of yet.

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

Walt Disney Productions prestige is to never disappoint and their latest movie Frozen, is no exception. The movie centers around the lives of two sisters, kind-hearted Anna and the frightened Snow Queen Elsa. Fearless Anna sets off on a journey to find her sister, who flees to an icy mountain after she accidentally traps the kingdom of Arendelle in an eternal winter with her ice powers. Disney’s 2013 animated film reeled in its target audience and more; the film intended to appeal to children’s of all ages surprisingly enough enticed a wider audience largely comprised of non-families. Disney’s reputation for promoting happiness and the well-being of American families led to the direct success of the movie Frozen. The film met its purpose, depicting a touching storyline – showing the importance of family and undermining the traditional concept of “true love.” Furthermore, Walt Disney Productions established sufficient credibility within its viewers and audience with the use of artistic proofs such as; ethos, logos, and pathos. Disney’s tradition is to provide the audience with an educational piece of entertainment, Frozen is undeniably one of those Disney animated films worth seeing. Walt Disney Productions strategic use of rhetoric made it evident that the movie was going to be an all-time hit – some may even say “the biggest children’s film of all time” – simply because it was just that, a Disney movie.

Thus, many adults had a problem with this movie. The movie is addressed to not only children but adults as well. My adults are stubborn and don’t like things that are not how they see it. These parents have metathesiophobia. Also, those adults believe that the kids should not be watching these types of movies that shows them how to be rebellious. These parents focus on the parts of the movie that were irrelevant like how Elsa ran away. Other adults who see the positive difference between the old Disney movies and the new Disney movies encourage their kids to watch it and recommend other parents to watch it with their kids. It is parents like those who have helped changed the perspective of the medias role in our socialization. Media has always been negative towards women and the role they have in the world. But movies like “Brave” and “Frozen” are helping change those perspective in a positive way.

As a child, most children become infatuated with the newest Disney movie. Although Disney movies target children, watching them as an adult, we start to notice hidden messages and themes in our favorite childhood movies. A category of Disney packed with secret meanings is the Disney princess films. We watch in awe a young girl living, for the most part, the perfect fantasy life. She sings to animals, her hair is always perfectly in place, and there is always a prince to come and save her. In reality, there is much more to the princess persona than we realize. In 2014, Disney’s Frozen took the world by storm and became the highest grossing animated film ever. Frozen takes us on a magical journey with Princess Anna to find her sister, Princess Elsa, whose power to create ice has forever trapped their homeland, Arendelle, in eternal winter. Elsa is haunted by the memory of almost tragically killing her younger sister Anna because of her icy powers. Isolating herself from the world, Elsa dedicated her life to concealing her powers and learning to control them. The movie Frozen teaches the importance of social development among children.

When most people think about Disney movies, their mind often goes to the stereotypical princess movies in which the protagonist wears a pink ball gown. Time and time again these princesses must fight their way through the story in a luxurious ball gown in order to end up with a prince. However, there are many Disney movies that work to challenge these gender stereotypes. The movie Moana is a recent example of a Disney production that works to break the imposed stereotypes placed on children from an early age.

For my final paper where we had to pick a topic from current popular culture, I decided to write my paper with the focus on Disney movies. More particularly with the focus on the Disney princess movies. When it comes to the Disney movies they have always been and will always be such a huge part of our society. While growing up most children grow up watching these movies and get the idea that that is what they want to be when they grow up. When you ask a young girl what she wants to be when she is older there is a good chance that she will say that she wants to be a princess when she grows up. I have always been such a huge fan of Disney movies and I have a feeling I always will be. I found it very interesting this semester when we spend the short class period talking about the Disney female and male characters. It is rather interesting and something that I can say that I really never noticed before but the fact that the majority of all the female characters all had the same face shape. Whereas the males there were none two that were the same. However for this paper I will be looking into the relationship to cultural meanings about gender and other identity markers, such as race, sexuality, and cultural norms as seen in some of the more classic well known Disney movies.