Senior Thesis - Introduction by nickomundo
Gender Roles in Disney Films
�When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are, anything your heart desires will come to you.�
-Pinnochio
For almost seven decades now the imaginative and creative minds at Walt Disney Studios have been making dreams come true for children and adults around the world. Their high standards of quality in every aspect of production coupled with their commitment to wholesome story lines and family values has earned them the respect of parents for the better part of a century. Disney is now a household name as well as a global corporation synonymous with magic and youthful happiness and innocence. Disney's magic is for sale in the form of theme parks, clothing lines, hotels and resorts, cruise lines, Happy Meal toys and, of course, family-friendly trips to the cinema. It has set out to give the general public what they want and to do so with a flair and fashion that only Disney can conjure and which has set new standards for nearly every commodity it has touched. People all over the world have come to associate Disney with quality entertainment and family values.
It is only through years of hard work that Disney has maintained its good reputation with viewers. It's first few films were triumphs of quality children's-entertainment which set the precedent for all that was to follow. Each successive production has desired to build on the ever greater foundation established by the films that came before it, and before too long, Disney had a rather large reputation riding on each new feature. As Disney opens more and more theme parks and continues to sell things other than movie tickets, a greater pressure is placed on the films to be successful and to attract new fans to the Mickey Mouse Club. Over the years the focus has moved away from upholding family values and quality story lines to making money and propagating Disney's influence. In order to maintain Disney's popularity, the company has begun producing films which promote societal values more than they promote traditional family-values, but it has made this shift subtly and without drawing attention to these changes. Riding on the reputation built by their earlier animated predecessors the latest offerings still smack of Disney's charm and magic but their moral character is in decline. In order not to offend anyone and attract the largest crowd possible, Disney has decided to accept the common standard on most societal issues rather than trying to maintain the idealistic standards which made it famous.
The result of these changes has been a gradual shift from conservative and traditional values to more tolerant and less-rigid stances on some very important topics. The controversial topics addressed in recent Disney films include religion, alternate lifestyles, proper roles for men and women, obedience to authority, and marriage and the positions taken might be surprising. The problem is that most viewers do not question the content of a Disney film and most �parents allow these films straight into the home� (Byrne 58) without considering the ideas they might subconsciously engender in young children. Whether these films are still acceptable for children is not the concern here as much as is the fact that Disney has ceased to produce heroes and heroines that should be emulated and has begun producing images that are more reflective of already extant social trends. The subtle messages found in these films are significant then because they can reveal a great amount about the culture that produced it and its values.
One of the most important questions that Western culture is struggling to answer at the present regards acceptable roles for men and women. More and more sit-coms, movies and other forms of mass media portray gender confused individuals struggling to find themselves and to make sense of their lives. Women are taking on roles traditionally given to men, and men are finding it necessary to be less brawny and more sensitive to be successful in what is no longer a �man's world.� Whatever the cause of these new trends, one of the best ways to get an idea of what is happening is to examine the stories that Western society has produced. In their book, Warrior King Magician Lover, Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette assert that �movies are like ancient folktales and myths. They are stories that we tell ourselves about ourselves�about our lives and their meaning.� (Moore 4) In other words, the way a society portrays particular themes in its popular media has much to say about that society's views on that subject. Because Disney has made it its goal to produce what the majority of society wants to see, societal views toward changing gender roles are reflected and influenced by Disney's portrayal of heroes and heroines in their animated features.
Introduction
Film as Social ConstructionFemale Roles in Disney FilmsWomen's AttitudesMale Roles in Disney FilmsConclusion and Bibliography
�When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are, anything your heart desires will come to you.�
-Pinnochio
For almost seven decades now the imaginative and creative minds at Walt Disney Studios have been making dreams come true for children and adults around the world. Their high standards of quality in every aspect of production coupled with their commitment to wholesome story lines and family values has earned them the respect of parents for the better part of a century. Disney is now a household name as well as a global corporation synonymous with magic and youthful happiness and innocence. Disney's magic is for sale in the form of theme parks, clothing lines, hotels and resorts, cruise lines, Happy Meal toys and, of course, family-friendly trips to the cinema. It has set out to give the general public what they want and to do so with a flair and fashion that only Disney can conjure and which has set new standards for nearly every commodity it has touched. People all over the world have come to associate Disney with quality entertainment and family values.
It is only through years of hard work that Disney has maintained its good reputation with viewers. It's first few films were triumphs of quality children's-entertainment which set the precedent for all that was to follow. Each successive production has desired to build on the ever greater foundation established by the films that came before it, and before too long, Disney had a rather large reputation riding on each new feature. As Disney opens more and more theme parks and continues to sell things other than movie tickets, a greater pressure is placed on the films to be successful and to attract new fans to the Mickey Mouse Club. Over the years the focus has moved away from upholding family values and quality story lines to making money and propagating Disney's influence. In order to maintain Disney's popularity, the company has begun producing films which promote societal values more than they promote traditional family-values, but it has made this shift subtly and without drawing attention to these changes. Riding on the reputation built by their earlier animated predecessors the latest offerings still smack of Disney's charm and magic but their moral character is in decline. In order not to offend anyone and attract the largest crowd possible, Disney has decided to accept the common standard on most societal issues rather than trying to maintain the idealistic standards which made it famous.
The result of these changes has been a gradual shift from conservative and traditional values to more tolerant and less-rigid stances on some very important topics. The controversial topics addressed in recent Disney films include religion, alternate lifestyles, proper roles for men and women, obedience to authority, and marriage and the positions taken might be surprising. The problem is that most viewers do not question the content of a Disney film and most �parents allow these films straight into the home� (Byrne 58) without considering the ideas they might subconsciously engender in young children. Whether these films are still acceptable for children is not the concern here as much as is the fact that Disney has ceased to produce heroes and heroines that should be emulated and has begun producing images that are more reflective of already extant social trends. The subtle messages found in these films are significant then because they can reveal a great amount about the culture that produced it and its values.
One of the most important questions that Western culture is struggling to answer at the present regards acceptable roles for men and women. More and more sit-coms, movies and other forms of mass media portray gender confused individuals struggling to find themselves and to make sense of their lives. Women are taking on roles traditionally given to men, and men are finding it necessary to be less brawny and more sensitive to be successful in what is no longer a �man's world.� Whatever the cause of these new trends, one of the best ways to get an idea of what is happening is to examine the stories that Western society has produced. In their book, Warrior King Magician Lover, Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette assert that �movies are like ancient folktales and myths. They are stories that we tell ourselves about ourselves�about our lives and their meaning.� (Moore 4) In other words, the way a society portrays particular themes in its popular media has much to say about that society's views on that subject. Because Disney has made it its goal to produce what the majority of society wants to see, societal views toward changing gender roles are reflected and influenced by Disney's portrayal of heroes and heroines in their animated features.
Introduction
Film as Social ConstructionFemale Roles in Disney FilmsWomen's AttitudesMale Roles in Disney FilmsConclusion and Bibliography