The Importance Of Positivity And American Values In Disney

Since the 1930’s, the Walt Disney Company is known for producing characters, images, as well as stories which have created happiness for audiences around the world. This corporation has grown from a small cartoon studio run by famous Walt and Roy Disney to a million dollar business. In Janet Wasko’s novel, “Understanding Disney”, Wasko explains Disney as corporation calling it “The Disney Empire”. Throughout her novel, Wasko argues that Disney is set up like a typical profit seeking corporation, as well as creates and manufactures fantasy, and lastly re-invents folk tales by “Americanising” them.

Tracey Mollet’s view over Disney’s positive influence is interesting. I understand how she feels like these positive and happy ending stories shed light on a depressing time in America. In my opinion it also glorified the idea of the existence of “American dream” and what exactly it looks like. Her article gave me an idea of the effects and importance of history in any social matter: especially in the literary form. Walt Disney personalized fairy tales tailored it for the American

Disney is a lie. Why? This corrupt company brainwashes consumers into handing over their hard-earned money in order to purchase overpriced merchandise, all while under a facade of innocence and happiness. Fairy-tale endings and a cheerful mouse might represent Disney’s projected values, but underneath the exterior lay indicators of Disney’s corrupt ideals. Common people are deceived into handing over their hard-earned money to corrupt companies in order to purchase overpriced products. The power that these companies gain allows these businesses to control, to a certain extent, politics and influence political decisions. These companies will not hesitate to fire American workers in order to save a handful of dollars and stifle any trace of dissent. Therefore, large corporate companies should stop exploiting and manipulating consumers for profit.

Attention Getter: As Walt Disney once stated, “To all who come to this happy place, Welcome. Here age relives fond memories of the past, and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Hoping that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to the entire world (IMDb, n.d.).”

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]

Most individuals are familiar with Disneyland, otherwise known as the happiest place on earth. Walt Disney, the founder, envisioned a theme park where families can have fun and create memories together. With his vision, he created a magical world with five different lands both adults and children can enjoy.

The Walt Disney Company has created theme parks throughout the world for guests to undergo a specific experiences that recalls the guests’ inner child through rides, visuals, and music. Disney has proved to be more than just a theme park; it is portrayed as a “world” or “land” of acceptance and integration of all cultures into one place. The universality aspect is what draws people in from different countries to visit the parks. Ultimately, the Disney parks are based off of two key concepts: commoditization and Americanization. Since Disney is an imagined utopia, guests buy into, literally and figuratively, the commodities and experiences it offers. Through music and visuals, Disney intertwines a message of Americanization through a single world culture that the guests accept. Disney’s limited understanding of cultures became much more apparent as theme parks were erected in different countries with cultural values that differ from American norms. Disney is a utopian society that exposes a narrow interpretation of the different cultures throughout the world.

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.

     Walt Disney; When that name is spoken faces of children and adults alike light up with looks of sheer joy. When debating what to see at the movies the newest Disney flick is almost always decided upon over the others. With Disney people are 100 percent sure to walk out of the theater happy and smiling. From the catchy theme songs to the thrilling theme parks Disney has built the fantasy empire. Although he built the fantasy world Disney was not a man who walked around with his head in the clouds. He used his animation and film making skills to not only make fantastic movies but to also bring joy into times of war, fun into times of education, and excitement into times of vacation

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.

As suburban America witnesses urban violence invading it’s schools, homes, and neighborhoods, Disney becomes a symbol for the security and romance of the small-town America of yesteryear- a pristine never-never land in which children’s fantasies come true, happiness reigns, and innocence is kept safe through the magic of pixie dust.

The Disney theme parks mission statement is "We create happiness by providing the best entertainment for people of all ages everywhere. " Creating happiness is something that Walt Disney took very seriously. His own personal experiences influenced the values, vision, and mission of the company. Experiencing

Disney is one of the most successful and largest companies in the world. They have their hand in nearly every form of entertainment as well as media, and broadcasting. Disney is best known for their animated films, unique cartoon characters, catchy musicals, and fairy tales that most of us were first introduced to as children. They are one of the few entertainment companies in the World whose primary demographic is children and teens. Nearly everybody is familiar with the Disney name and its brand, and its realistic to suggest that nearly everybody has experienced a Disney film and animated character at some point in their lives; which may have helped to influence them or their behaviors or even their

Mickey Mouse Monopoly appeals to pathos when they discuss Disney’s influence on children and interview children and their insights on various Disney films, showing how sociological ideas presented in Disney films effect the cultural development of children. This is really directed at parents and people who want to be parents as it makes them think about all the issues Mickey Mouse Monopoly is bringing to light. Justin Lewis, a university professor, points out that Disney is so large and spread out globally, that its stories “will be the stories that will form and help form a child’s imaginary world, all over the world, and that’s an incredible amount of power, enormous amount of power” (Mickey Mouse Monopoly). He continues to say that we should question what Disney is teaching and what children are learning from their films. He uses rhetorical question to strengthen his point, asking if “these [are] the stories we really want our children to hear” (Mickey Mouse Monopoly). He brings to light that if those kinds of questions aren’t being asked, then people are allowing Disney to shape the imaginations of millions of children. This really sets up the film’s discussion on the influence Disney has on children. By introducing this part of

Culturally, Disney cannot force itself on another people, which in this case was the whole of the European continent. Disney promoted its product, the theme park, similar to that of Tokyo Disneyland believing Europe wanted their piece of “Americana”.