The Theme Of Mystery In Kingdom Keepers II, By Ridley Pearson

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.

It’s no doubt that creating a family oriented theme park based on popular, beloved cartoon characters and imagination was a good idea. From Cinderella’s castle to the famous Main Street, U.S.A, there’s something extraordinary lying around every corner. Walt Disney World, other wise known as “the happiest place on earth”, or the place “where dreams come true”, was founded by a man with a dream of creating a place where children and parents could spend time together while making amazing memories. However, this extravagant amusement park is only one of the major accomplishments of Walt Disney.

The Mickey Mouse Monopoly documentary reveals the obscure social messages behind the animated films created by the Disney Company. Although we are conditioned to believe that these movies are pure forms of entertainment, further examination has proved that there are hidden messages concerning gender, race and class that Disney is instilling in the minds of children. The speakers in the documentary argue that Disney is extremely political and hides its ideas behind innocence, magic and fun. When masked by features that are appealing to a younger audience, it is difficult to realize these ideas without taking a closer look.

It was around 5 in the afternoon. The air was crisp, we sat on a bench in front of a contraption full of screaming children and blaring calliope music. The sight of all the lights around me was overwhelming, I had to squint to prevent myself from going insane. Something about it was enjoyable, in its own twisted way. Along the streets beside us we saw giant mice marching around and being followed by hoards of tiny humans. All of the aspects this estate had in store were beautifully put together. I had spent hours wandering around the vast lands of Disney with my brethren beside me. We had gone through all of its obstacles. All of its obstacles but one. The tallest spectacle of them all. A towering attraction known to induce horror inside of anyone who dares to enter its grasp. It is widely known among the public, but only few are fearless enough are fearless enough to face the dangers of: The Tower of Terror.

Being that a live action version of The Lion King is soon to come, it would be inappropriate to not take a look back at Disney classic. The movie discussed topics that many children had never learned; which helped change the perspective of Disney forever. Along with a new perspective, the film brings a flavor that is definitely new to Disney movies. Before someone watches the upcoming live action film, they must first fall in love, if they already haven’t, with the original movie. The Lion King is incomparable to all

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.

As I stepped off of the bus, I immediately noticed a magnificent castle. The sun gleamed off of the blue, white, and gold spires that reached for the clear, blue sky. At this moment, it was evident that Magic Kingdom was not an ordinary theme park. Still in wonder over the architectural beauty of the building, my family and I joined the rest of the energetic crowd waiting to enter the park. I forgot about the summer homework assigned, the workouts that were to be completed, and the stresses of everyday life. I became a child again, preparing to enter a multitude of worlds in a tiny section of Florida.

As a tourist corporation, Walt Disney is similar to a machine that regulates people's thoughts, compromises their individuality, and alters their perception on certain aspects of society.

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.

From the moment the world introduced us to television, we have been bombarded with images of fantasy and “happily ever after’s.” Perhaps the most well known corrupter of reality lies within the Disney franchise. Disney’s, The Little Mermaid, follows a typical fairy tale format in which all goals and dreams are achieved. Its counterpart, however, moves to the beat of a different drum. Hans Christian Andersen’s, The Little Mermaid, portrays a more serious plot much different from Disney’s loveable adaptation. One may conclude that the most these two stories have in common is their titles, but a deeper theme runs throughout both of these fictional plots. Despite these two stories’ conflicting agendas and the

lead: Picture this: every night you're only allowed to sleep for 20 minutes or else you will get stuck in your dream forever. When one member of a group of six friends, all who have special abilities, got trapped in a dream, the remaining friends declare that it is no longer safe to sleep and have to find a way to rescue her. After multiple unexplainable events the remaining five friends know that they are being targeted by an evil villain and need to watch their every step. They don't know is going on but, they know they have to get to the bottom of it. By adding text messages, the author is trying to show that whatever the characters are talking about is too confidential to say aloud.The author, Ridley Pearson uses text messages to build suspense and set a mood.

Welcome to the happiest place on earth, otherwise known as hell. Imagine entering a place where the air smells like fresh homemade cookies, the lush green trees are shaped like animated characters, and the sidewalks are always squeaky clean. The employees or “cast members” appear to be clean-cut, happy, wholesome, all-American people. This is the image Walt Disney World provides for its guests. But what goes on behind the scenes at Disney? Until a person has worked for the “big mouse” she won’t be able to understand the torture that can go on for employees. I’ve been in that Disney “cult,” part of the “wonderful world of Disney.”

He described a term that he referred to as “Disneyfication”, which he defined as “an idea of taking an environment and creating a fantasy world out of it by sanitizing it and making it devoid of any sort of impurity, Disney as a corporation tries to do that, and it affects children” (Stereotypes, 2013). While their parents are off running errands, or working their children rush home from school and turn on the T.V. to their favorite Disney channel movies, and get lost in the fantasy world of Walt Disney where all things can happen, characters are shown ideally and therefore unrealistically and there is always a happy ending.

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

Cramped in a small Los Angeles office, Walt Disney drew a few larger than life cartoons. After Disney’s big hit Alice Comedies and cartoons of Mickey and the gang, he moved his office to Burbank, California. There, Walt and his brother, Roy, came up with their most famous movies such as Cinderella, Snow White, and Alice in Wonderland. Now with two American amusement parks, three international parks, multiple cruise lines, multiple resorts, over five hundred films, and over thirty academy award, it’s hard to not heard of Disney. Every boy or girl has at least seen or heard of Disney movies. It’s such a big part of society today that it becomes influential in a kid’s childhood. This project will look at the underlying effect of the Disney princess phenomenon and how it shapes a young girls’ perspective of herself and how she’s “supposed” to be.