For those of you who don't know Walter Elias Disney, best known as Walt Disney, allow me to fill you in. He is the creator and owner of all Walt Disney production companies. He is best known for creating Mickey Mouse, who was and still is the most loved character Walter created during his life. He is what launched the sales of Walters business, soon making him one of the most important men in history. But, Walt did not stop there, he created many more animated motion pictures that lead to his success story. Walt Disney was born in 1901 and died in 1966, 43 years of his life was dedicated to creating Walt Disney Productions.
In this blog, I want to decipher the messages that Walt Disney may have been putting into his animated films, if any at all? Personally I adore Disney movies, but there has been much controversy in the past and present of Walt Disney sending hidden messages through his films. These messages have been argued to have sexual content and abuse in them, on many occasions. But, those arguments arose more towards the movies that were created after the death of Walt Disney in 1966. I am going to discuss the messages that he may have been trying to send through the movies that he was involved in and mostly created between the 1940's and 1960's.
In almost every film that Walter was involved in creating had a main character that started off with a biological parent that later deceased, the child was forced to leave home, or no biological parents at all. It was the most common dilemma used in his films, but why? Do you think he was trying to send a message about the affect of parents on children? Here are some examples to help you think about the question.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937): Snow White had an evil step-mother that was jealous of her, so the step-mother attempted to kill her to maintain her power in the land. But Snow Whites' seven friends (dwarfs), saved her life. Along with the prince in the story.
Pinocchio ( 1940): A wooden puppet that desired to be a real boy, there for he had no parents, just his maker. But, had a curse; every time he lied his nose grew. Meaning he may have learned on his own by making mistakes.
Cinderella (1950): A girl that did not have a mother, lost her father in the beginning and was left with an evil step mother. She was turned into her step mothers slave. By rebelling against her step mother, she found love and happiness.
Alice in Wonderland (1951): In this move a young girl (Alice) goes on an adventure through a place called wonderland. There were no parents present in this film and she makes all of her decisions on her own while traveling through wild, adventurous area.
Peter Pan (1953): A boy that lives in Never Land comes to find his shadow, but finds Wendy while on his trip. He takes her back to Never Land to be the mother of the Lost Boys. During the movie you only see Wendy's parents getting ready to leave for a party and don't see that their children are missing when they return home.
Sleeping Beauty (1959): A girl (sleeping beauty) is threatened with her life while only being an infant. So her parents send her away until she is an adult with three fairies as her guardians. They did not once visit her and her friends consisted of wild life creatures because she was not permitted to see any one other than the fairies.
If you have not picked up on it yet, I shall point it out. In each movie listed the main character did not have their real parents present for nearly the entire film. Each character discovered something on their own, which resulted in a happy ending. So, could the message be that parents are not necessary? Or possibly that parents or children can be lost very easily if they do not keep a close watch on each other? Or maybe the message really isn't directed to or about the parents at all.
A longer more detailed biography about Walt Disney, mentions that Walt blamed some of his compulsions in adult hood to discomforts he had with his father as a child. Possibly meaning Walter resented helping his father with his problems instead of taking care of himself and his dreams. So I believe the real message behind the loss of the parents in these films is directed towards the children. He may be trying to influence children to keep their imagination and follow their dreams. By taking parents out of the picture it allows the young characters to chase their dreams, which I believe to be the message Walter is attempting to get to the young audience, but he does so in a discrete manor.
Many people like myself, originally focus on the loss of the parents which automatically makes you ponder the ideas that he may have had something against parents. But in turn, he may not have had a problems with parents, just wished that he was able to start chasing his dreams sooner. Even though this could mean Walt Disney thought parents held children back from their true potential does not mean he had an issue with them or deemed them unnecessary. He may just believe that younger people should be able to make their own choices before they are even considered adults. Because their choices at young ages will affect who they will become. With out parents/biological parents there are less restrictions and more room to try new things.
But, this is only my opinion and interpretation of these few movies that I have seen made during his time period. What's your interpretation of the messages Walt may have been leaving?
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i definitely agree with the fact the message possibly could be that children should broaden their imaginations as they continue to grow in life and gain more wisdom and knowledge possibly without the parents help. Also, i believe that the message could be that children should be taught lifelong lessons with guidance, and learn from the parents or any adult's mistakes while being watched closely. With the movies listed, the parents are only present for a brief moment in the begining and end of the movies. The main characters' began to learn life's most valuable lessons while the movie progressed on. Seeing as how she expalined the main story line of each movie and followed up with rhetoricals has made me question not only the movies that we're made when walt was alive, but also the movies that have been made follwing his death has broaden my perspective and view of each movie. She's also left me something to keep my mind open for with not just disney movies, but any movie in general, who the target audience is? and also what is the main message that's trying to get across to the audience and if there's any other messages that come across that's important for the audience to know? Great first blog and cant wait for the next one
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ReplyDeleteI really liked this blog post. It explains in detail the movies chosen and discussed. My opinion is that these characters are somewhat forced to have independence at a young age. I think that some of the ideas used shows children that there may be a consequence to their actions, as in Pinocchio having his nose grow when he lies. I think that it is very interesting to see what others think about these films. I would have never even considered or thought of any ideas like this until I had taken the first women’s studies class. I enjoy listening and learning to different beliefs and ideas regarding things that are a part of our daily life.
ReplyDeleteThat is a great point. When I think about the Disney films, I feel the films are based upon a chivalrous ideology which holds that a man must offer protection and affection to women as the fairer sex, conforming to the conventional gender roles. Characterizing women as creatures who ought to be protected, supported, and adored. Often times, this behavior of benevolent sexism goes unnoticed or possibly is even embraced by women, perpetuated by movies, media, and even something as innocent as a children’s story or household chores. The Walt Disney princess stories, finds a series of damsels in distress until the prince comes to her rescue and makes her safe. The idea that women need to be protected and cherished by a man to be complete, no matter how subtle the message, is, nonetheless, a means of domination by men.
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