The Popular Culture Of Disney Movies

In the past years, Disney/Pixar has revolutionized the premise of their movies by shifting away from princesses and portraying resilient male characters as the protagonists of their highly successful animated feature films. From 1995 to 2008, Disney/Pixar released eight films, all of which included a male lead, yet these characters are arguably unlike any other protagonist in early Disney animated films. In their essay, “Post-Princess Models of Gender: The New Man in Disney/Pixar,” Ken Gillam and Shannon R. Wooden call attention to the new manner Disney/Pixar use to depict their heroic male characters in their movies. Gillam and Wooden claim that Pixar is using their movies to promote the acceptance of a new standard of masculinity capable of embracing feminine traits, as conveyed by the male characters within the films. As a viewer, it is easy to recognize the emasculation of the male protagonists within Pixar movies, however, the authors’ claim is faulty; they fail to acknowledge that society now has room for a new sympathetic man because it is straying way from a patriarchal beliefs of the past.

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

The Walt Disney Company is a well-known franchise that is specifically popular among young children. This franchise’s growing popularity is due to their heart-warming, family-friendly animated films. In any given year these animated films were released, almost always they had a common theme present throughout the movie: the classic female princess who needs to be saved by the strong, handsome prince. Due to this common prevailing theme, this essay will analyze the claim that Disney only writes its characters to follow heteronormative roles with intentions to teach young viewers that they too must follow their gender heteronormative norms to be accepted by society. To prove this claim is true, research need to be conducted.

According to A Dictionary of Journalism, the media is defined as journalism as part of a much broader field of public communication organizations, including newspapers, magazines, radio stations, TV channels, the film industry, the music industry, websites, advertising, and public relations. For young children, media plays a predominant role in developing schemas of one’s identity, including body image, and gender roles. Young children spend the majority of their time viewing media, therefore the process of generating one’s identity based on his or her observation of media is inevitable. Disney’s princess movies have brought significant effects to children’s development of their identities. There are three main stages of Disney movies. The first stage is the “princess” stage, where the movie depicts the most stereotypes (i.e. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs). The second stage is the “rebellious” stage, where the princesses are illustrated as curious and adventurous, yet still show the aspect of female stereotypes (i.e. Jasmine in Aladdin). The third stage is the “hero” stage, where the princesses are shown to fight the female stereotypes (i.e. Mulan). Although Disney has portrayed more complex, yet evolving gender roles as time went on, Disney’s princess movies had significant effects on young audiences by planting changing gender stereotypes.

By doing so, Disney princess culture increases gender roles and affects how young girls view themselves.

Some quick things I have noticed in some of the Disney Princess films: In many of the films like Beauty and the Beast, there is a main female character, who is the princess and a male character who is romantically connected with the princess. There is also a portrayal of the social construction of gender. In Beauty and the Beast, while Belle is small, gentle, and kind, the Beast is portrayed as large and prone to angry outbursts. Even though the Beast was an actual beast, his personality compared to Belle’s infers that a person’s literal body size affects moods. This teaches children that people that “the social differences that define “woman” and “man” … individuals… act and react in expected ways”

This article talks about a study done on all Disney movies and the coding of the male and feminine characteristics of Princesses and Princes. To name a few for male characteristics they looked for are; exploration tactics, if they're physically strong, assertive, unemotional, independent, athletic, and take the leadership role. For female characteristics they looked for; submissiveness, whether the woman was ashamed, was a victim, and asks for help or advice. The researchers ended up putting the Disney Princess films into three categories; the early movies (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty), the middle movies (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, and Mulan), and the most current (The Princess and the Frog). According to the data in each of the groups all the Princesses conveyed more feminine characteristics than male. Talking about the Princes, they were rarely seen in the earlier films but when they were they showed overly masculine characteristics, showing male characteristics has decreased in a slow

The portrayal of Feminine aspects within Disney movies has been widely criticized, however the way masculinity is portrayed in films is also very controversial but infrequently discussed. My goal for this research paper is to look at two Disney films through a feminist lens and queer lens to decipher any stereotypical aspects of masculinity that are shown within the main characters. I am hopeful to find a film that breaks the norm of having a masculine main character that is hyper masculine like Gaston from Beauty and the Beast or Jaffar from Aladdin. I would also like to analyze the damsel in distress situations in films where the male role seems to always be the heroic figure even when they aren’t the main character in the story. Even though

The representation of females in Disney films can be interpreted to be very sexist and miss-leading to young girls. In nearly all Disney films women are represented as house wives that are vulnerable and need saving. Although in our postmodern society where laws are now in place to protect females from being discriminated against (such as the equality act.) Disney has not kept up with these changes in the view of many people and still remains to include these sexist stereotypes.

Since the beginning of the Disney princess era in 1937 with the release of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Disney princess films have been a part of children’s lives for almost a century. According to Robinson, Callister, Magoffin, and Moore, media, specifically television and films present children with images and ideas that may create, alter, or reinforce how they portray stereotypes (203). From the classic Disney princesses such as Snow White and Aurora, to today’s modern princesses such as Elsa, Anna, and Tiana, the roles of Disney princess have changed significantly since the beginning of the franchise. The evolution of gender stereotypes in Disney

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.

The Walt Disney Company dominates the youth entertainment market and greatly impacts children around the world. Disney Princesses, the most lucrative Disney franchise, grosses billions of dollars in revenue each year (Forbes). Through this franchise, Walt Disney imposes rigid definitions of gender, masculinity and femininity on children. The media plays a large role in the construct of social norms and has a heavy influence on young kids: “children as young as three were very conscious of what they played with and appeared to have mapped out in the mind which toys and activities were ‘for girls’, which ‘for boys’ and which were gender neutral” (Browne and Ross 143). Beauty and the Beast, first released in 1991, exemplifies the rigid gender roles and stereotypes that the Disney Princess franchise embodies and imparts these values on children.

As a child I had often enjoyed playing pretend, emulating my favorite characters from television and film. In particular, I had often imagined myself as the heroes from popular Disney films and often looked to them as role models and inspiration. Disney movies played a large role in mine and millions of others children’s development, imbedding there themes and lessons into our personalities and conscious. The problem however, laid in the fact that the majority of these classic Disney films themes and lessons are from an era that promoted sexism and negative gender roles. Disney’s misrepresentation of the role of males and females portrayed in their popular films coupled with the rapid increase of digital media and merchandise sales has distorted

We all have different goals in life, my goal has been clearly defined since my toddler years….to be a Disney Princess. So Recently, when I found one of my favorite Disney movies growing up stashed in an old drawer. I decided to watch it for old time’s sake. When I watched it now, however, there were a lot of… innuendos I missed when I was five years old. I also was much more aware of the actual story line, not just the adorable talking animals. I started to see some serious gender issues from our four legged and two legged characters. After it finished, I watched the credits and I noticed that the film crew was male-dominated. I couldn’t find a single female. Many other movies are male dominated when it comes to their characters, and if

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.