Abby Gibson
Ms. Rollins
APLAC
28 Apr. 2014
“A Child’s Mind... The Disney Effect”
Once upon a time there was a man named Walt Disney who opened up doors of unbelievable fascination.Fascination so indescribable and so irresistible that everyone especially the children, adored the experience it let them live. Even to this day, Disney is a major part of childhood. Through a princess who is saved by her knight in shining armor, to a girl with magical hair, a singing mermaid with desire to live her own life, and a girl biting a forbidden apple, Disney teaches us to wish upon a star. But what Walt Disney didn’t tell us was the real misconceptions lying underneath all the fantasies. Because Disney portrays whimsical fairytales that lure our heart and mind into a state of complete fascination, children all over the world are trying to live up to the Disney expectation, a false reality that’s impossible to meet.
Misunderstandings underlie in the history of Disney fairy tales. Fairytales such as Cinderella, Snow White, and the Little Mermaid were not actually created by Disney. These characters and stories are a part of a long oral tradition. It is a mystery as to when and how this actual tradition started. There is no way to trace the origin of the first fairytale (The Cultural Evolution). Although Disney did not come up with these concepts entirely on their own, they did pick and choose the characters and their stories to match their view. This is the reason that characters, such as Cinderella, have different story lines depending on where the story is being told. (Walt Disney and Fairy Tales). Disney may not have known it at the time, but the way they chose to tell their fairytales, the details they included, would have...
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...s in the Disney fairytales, while watching them with their kids. In doing so, children won’t get confused and mistake the fairytale as an upcoming lifestyle for them in reality. By classifying the Disney princesses and princes as fictitious characters of entertainment, rather than believing that they are actual real people, children can grow up in a healthy environment. Looking up to independent strong role models such as moms, dads, and older brothers, and sisters, they can learn to follow people in their life who can actually support them in his or her life rather than characters who are behind the books and movies. In doing so children will grow up being their own person with their own dreams, and not the person society and the media has deemed as ”ideal”. May each child grow up and may their wishes be as diverse as each individual star that is wished upon.
“Despite the undeniable fanciful world of Disney’s shorts, it would be a grave mistake to associate people’s attachment to the Disney brand as nothing more than a desire for escapism.” (Page 113) She indicated that the society needed something that they could not identify with to “escape”. She also claims that Disney changed fairy tales and made it more fit for the American society. Disney portrayed the “American dream” of happily ever after and happy endings. She concluded that Walt Disney changed social myths and dreams in to a transformational literary form, and helped the grey and cloudy America have a little hope.
Are the little girl 's in America being cheated of their privilege of having a childhood? Stephanie Hanes, a freelance journalist, believes so and she decided to express her opinion in the article “ Little girls or Little women ? The Disney Princess Effect”. Hanes argues that today’s society is morally ambiguous because of the sexual messages being sent to young girls. In consequence of this , toddlers now aspire to attain the pre-teen goal to be sexy at such an early age. It all begins with the influence and example that The Disney princesses give to their young fans. For the reason that the article appeared in magazines and in the USA today , the targeted audience must be
Presently, Disney known for its mass media entertainment and amusement parks technically bring warm feelings to many children and some adults. Personally, Disney elicits magical fantasies that children enjoy and further encourages imagination and creativity. For decades Disney has exist as an unavoidable entity with its famous global sensation and reach. Furthermore, Disney is a multibillion dollar empire with an unlimited grasp on individuals and territories. An empire per se, since they own many media outlets, markets, shops, etc., you name it they got it. However, the film Mickey Mouse Monopoly presents an entirely new perspective on the presumed innocence projected in Disney films. This film exposes certain traits Disney employs and exclusively portrays through its media productions, specifically cartoons for directing and nurturing influence beginning with children. Mickey Mouse Monopoly points out camouflaged messages of class, race, and gender issues in Disney films that occur behind the scenes intended to sway viewers towards adopting Disney values.
Disney has made it his life 's goal to create home entertainment for both young and old. From the creation of Mickey to his work in films, Disney had made it clear that happiness is something that everyone should have. Disney had also know that animations is not just for the imagination of the children. Early movies such as Snow White and Pinocchio have clear messages for the younger views. “In Snow White- the main characters are victims of injustice who are eventually restored to their rightful place. In Pinocchio, the characters Pinocchio, Jiminy Cricket and Geppetto are faced with dilemmas, and their own actions result in them becoming victims of ev...
Walt Disney needed to change his version and many of his other fairy tales and in doing so started a change in the way we see fairy tales. Ask someone today to define a fairy tale and they will tell you along the lines of a beautiful woman put threw hardships that in the end of the story gets the man and becomes a queen of her own castle.
The debate over the good and bad aspects of Disney movies has been going on for years. It has become a part of pop culture in a way never expected through things such as YouTube videos and meme’s. While looking at multiple Disney movies may give a wider range of example of both the good and the bad in Disney movies, to help depict the effects the movies actually have on kids it is most beneficial to study just one movie. Zia’s essay argues that Disney movies have a good influence on children by teaching them good life morals. However, one of her examples, Mulan, is not an example of achievement through hard work like Zia explains, but rather a change made through magic, and example of the horrible historical inaccuracies made in Disney movies and the lack of parental respect that they teach children.
Walt Disney, creator of all things “happily ever after”, renowned for his work in movies and tv, is not only a famous animator and film producer, he is also a pioneer in American history by changing the lives of many through his encouraging work in movies. Walt Disney is important to the study of American history because he created movies and tv shows that taught happiness and heartbreak to children. He taught them that being small cannot hold you back from being mighty and doing the right thing. He revealed different cultures to children, and broadened their views on the world around them. In doing this, he widened global communication and the understanding of varieties of cultures and ethnicities (4).
The Disney corporation is easily the greatest empire of entertainment in the world thanks to the creator Walt Disney and his brother. Disney’s influence has been great within culture and society and I learned how much of an influence Disney has had through our course this semester. This influence is reflected and broadcasted through the many works and readings that we examined in class. The articles gave me new knowledge about Disney that I was previously unaware of.
When the word “fairytale” is mentioned, nearly everyone thinks of light-hearted stories with friendly characters and happy endings. However, these are not the ideas that classic fairytales originally sparked. In fact, numerous modern Disney movies were based off stories that were not so sugar coated. In the 19th century, the Brothers Grimm were responsible for multiple of these popular children’s tales. The Disney remakes of classic fairytales such as Cinderella, Tangled, and Snow White exclude the dark, twisted themes that are significant in the Brothers Grimm fairytales, because society tendencies continue to evolve toward sheltering and overprotecting young children.
A little girl sits on the floor with her gaze fixed on the television screen in front of her, watching magical images dance before her eyes and catchy songs flow through her ears. Even though she had seen it at least twenty times before, she still loved The Little Mermaid just as much as she did the first time she watched it. As she watched it, she longed to be a beautiful mermaid with a curvy body and wonderful singing voice like Ariel. She longed to be saved by the handsome Prince Eric, and fall in love and live happily ever-after like Ariel did. In today’s society, women strive to achieve equality between the sexes. Despite the tremendous steps that have been taken towards reaching gender equality, mainstream media contradicts these accomplishments with stereotypes of women present in Walt Disney movies. These unrealistic stereotypes may be detrimental to children because they grow up with a distorted view of how men and women interact. Disney animated films assign gender roles to characters, and young children should not be exposed to inequality between genders because its effect on their view of what is right and wrong in society is harmful to their future.
Over the years, fairytales have been distorted in order to make them more family friendly. Once these changes occur, the moral and purpose of the stories begin to disappear. The tales featured in the many Disney movies - beloved by so many - have much more malignant and meaningful origins that often served to scare children into obeying their parents or learning valuable life lessons.
Walt Disney himself once said that he does “[...] not make films primarily for children [...].” Therefore, his ...
We all grew up hoping that we were the princesses who met the dreamy prince and lived ‘happily ever after’ like in a fairytale.People debate over whether or not Disney fairytales are beneficial for children. Like Melissa Taylor the author of the piece ‘10 reasons why kids need to read non disney fairy tales’, I am against disneyfied fairy tales. In this essay I will argue on why kids should not only watch disney fairytales but also the real versions.
In today’s modern age, young children are being raised by their TV screen. Reining from the original tales of Perrault and the Grim Brothers, the Disney princess line has been a staple on the screens since the 1930s (Do Rozario 1). However, these princesses have gone through dramatic changes to remain relevant to todays youth. The effects that can be influenced by the roles expressed in these types of films send mixed messages to the audience, causing them to ask themselves whether or not they should believe what the princess is expressing on the screen.
These narratives have been passed down by mouth and book from generation to generation, losing parts and adding parts along the way. There are many variations of each story, but the general principle remains the same. Fairy tales are captivating to children, but can be used to teach lessons on safety and obedience. With the ever changing advancements of technology, fairy tales have been put into motion pictures for many years now, making the book versions of these narratives almost obsolete. Even with new technology, the moral of the stories remain the same.