Antagonists In Disney Films

Jack Zipes, in his essay "Breaking the Disney Spell", directly addresses the issue of what happens when a story is taken from its original oral form and written down. Zipes discusses in depth what Walt Disney has done to fairy tales and the consequences of Disney's actions. Zipes addresses many issues, including those of context, society, and alteration of plot. He accuses Walt Disney of attacking "the literary tradition of the fairy tale" (344). While many scholars disagree with Zipes' accusations, his essay makes very solid and well-presented points that he promptly backs with fact. Regardless of what the scholars say, Zipes was right: Oral tradition is important, and Disney's representations of historical folktales damaged fairy tales

Fairy tales have existed for years, some starting as oral stories for decades before ever being recorded on paper. These tales continue to hold an importance in the present such that they reflect the changes in time and progression of thought and ideas. Over time, many fairy tales are retold for various reasons including reforming them to be used for new audiences to make the story more relatable or to convey a different point of view to various specific audiences. This can be seen in various renditions; Andrew Anderson’s Shrek can be compared to Steig’s “Shrek!” and Perrault’s “Sleeping Beauty in the Wood” and evaluated as a retelling of either based on specific criteria. Although some may argue that William Steig’s “Shrek!” appears more closely similar to Anderson’s Shrek, as evaluated from the presence of similar characters, general plot structure, and targeted audience, the movie Shrek is more closely a retelling of Charles Perrault’s “Sleeping Beauty in the Wood.”

Fairy tales are timeless entities that will always be relevant in people’s lives. Fairy tales and stories offer entertainment, advice, and moral examples. The creation of fairy tales is important in the development of social norms. Children everywhere would read fairy tales and learn from them. As a result, these fairy tales are translated into multiple languages and allows people with different backgrounds to understand and relate to the story. People take these stories and adapt them to life around them. Within these adaptations of the same story, it is normal to observe slight differences that contribute as evidence in identifying the culture or societies in which these stories come from. Whether it is the slang of the dialogue or the change of location, modern producers and writers are known to take these classic stories and adding a significant twist to adjust to their cultural agenda. The movie, The Princess and the Frog, is a modern example of writers and directors creating a modern twist to the popular story of the Brother Grimm’s The Frog King. The Princess and the Frog and The Frog King both encode the mores, values, and beliefs of the cultures of the societies from which they come because, even though they both have similar plot ideas, the differences of the location and the differences of the overall specific plotlines attribute to understanding how their own specific cultures influence the adaptation and the actual story.

The story of Cinderella is well-known by most people, however, there are several versions of this beloved tale. There is the one told by the Grimm Brothers, depicting a world where moral choices can affect your life in extreme ways, but it is Walt Disney’s 1950 cartoon version of Cinderella that most children think of when the story is mentioned. This version leaves behind both the question of morality and the bloody punishments, allowing children to enjoy an eye-catching, G-rated film. Both of these versions use their respective mediums to emphasize what the creator deems to be most important: a lesson about piety and goodness in the Grimm tale and the entertainment factor in the Disney cartoon. These are each shown in different ways, according to the medium used.

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.

In their essay, Gillam and Wooden express their revelation that Disney/Pixar is trying to teach their young viewers a new perspective regarding the characteristics of a male. The authors focus on denoting certain points in Pixar movie plots when the male protagonists underwent character growth and hence became the “ideal” character the audience learned to love. Gillam

Robinson, T., Callister, M., Magoffin, D., & Moore, J. (2007). The portrayal of older characters in Disney animated films. Journal of Aging Studies, 21, 203-213.

It seems like the entertainment icon Walt Disney Company has been around since the beginning of time, entertaining the public with its lifelike and imaginative animations and characters. Nearly every parent and child that was born in the last century has experienced a Disney animated film at some point in their lifetime, which has left either a negative or positive impression on them. The experiences with Disney films leaves most viewers with a warm and fuzzy feeling inside or the feeling of happiness, because the films themselves take the viewer on a ride out of their reality into the World of imagination, fairytales, and fantasy. On the contrary some ethnic viewers leave Disney films feeling misrepresents, disrespected, and upset regarding the way that Disney choses to represent race and cultures other than Caucasian in their films. The Disney company discriminates against people of ethnic backgrounds, does not take into consideration the cultural differences between ethnic groups and deliberately stereotypes and homogenizes all racial groups and protagonist in their films.

Many Americans grew up watching Disney movies. As a child, these films probably seemed innocent. However, scholars would disagree as Disney has been under heat for having racist elements in their movies. One film in particular that has received the attention of many scholars is Dumbo. One Scholar, Sheri Joffe wrote A Critical and Contextual Analysis of the Changes in African-American Character Representation in Disney Animated Films from Dumbo (1941) to The Princess and the Frog (2009), discusses how Disney portrayed blacks. The main topic of the thesis was on how in both films, black characters and caricatures were depicted in a negative light. For the purpose of this essay, only the depiction of black characters and caricatures will be discussed. Joffe analyzed how in two scenes Dumbo had problematic illustrations of blacks. After researching the topic, scholars are of two minds of whether or not Disney was racist in the film Dumbo.

I chose to research fairytales, specifically fairytales by the Grimm brothers. Fairytales are short stories that tend to consist of fantasy people, places, and objects. Many of these consist of fairies or magical creatures. Most fairy tales start off with “Once upon a time”, or “In a faraway land”. Many times in fairytales objects are enchanted and can talk or move. The most common characters in a fairy tale are prince and princess. A lot of fairy tales are retold throughout generations. As a child I was told fairy tales as bedtime stories. I grew to love Disney movies which are popular for remaking fairytales such as Sleeping Beauty and Snow White. To this day I still enjoy remade fairy tales such as “Rapunzel” which was

When raising children, it is necessary to understand how to navigate their questions on life in a manner that is both appropriate for their age, yet is acceptable in their eyes in terms of an actual answer. According to Bruno Bettelheim, fairy tales are told to children as a way to allow them to symbolically address issues and challenges they might face. These fairy tales employ the use of characters and plots that children can place themselves in, thus allowing them to identify with the situation described. However, over time, some adaptions of the fairy tales differ from their subject matter. Jean Cocteau’s version of Beauty and the Beast differs from Walt Disney’s version, as it retains many of the theories that the Disney version omitted. Jean Cocteau’s version and Disney’s versions of Beauty and the Beast differ in their message by changing aspects of the symbolism and characters’ personalities.

Child abuse is present in both the Grimm version of this tale and the modern Disney retelling, starring Mickey and Minnie Mouse who are presented as young, naive, and lacking any sense of good judgement or aprehension. However, the abuse in the Disney verson has been lessened to just the witch's mistreatment, and has been spun with elements of fantasy to detract from the truley gruesome nature of the narrative.

All of the heroes and princesses in the Disney Princess films are hyper-heterosexual – they fall in love, get married, and live happily ever after. However, the Disney villains are not, cross the gender boundaries by displaying masculine or feminine characteristics that oppose their sex. Through the portrayal and association of gender fluidity with evil, young girls, and children in general, associate being different with being bad. Several of the Disney villains display gendered behavior that opposes their sex.

With lively animated films, imaginative production, and a knack for nostalgia, it is clear that Disney plays a fundamental role in the juvenility of many. Wander into any elementary school and you’re sure to find a first grader quoting The Lion King or an array of Frozen-themed backpacks lined up against the classroom wall. Unsurprisingly. children absorb whatever they see in television and film. They are malleable, their personalities easily swayed by a favorite celebrity at the moment or an older, admirable sibling. While this may seem unharmful, it leaves the developing youth and teenagers alike more susceptible to absorbing negative behaviors in conjunction with beneficial ones. Since popular cinematics akin to Walt Disney’s are so

A young girl with black hair and brown eyes sees a beautiful princess named Cinderella who has blond hair, blue eyes, and flawless skin. She believes she will never be as radiant and beautiful as the princess because they don’t look alike. Like this girl, there are many cases of Disney films having lasting negative effects on children. Disney influences children more than any other age group since most merchandise and movies are geared toward younger audiences around thirteen or younger. Walt Disney Productions have a negative effect on children through stereotypes, violent actions, and sexism presented through its characters’ physical characteristics and actions. Disney has been