The Disney Myths

Résumé du document

Beginning in the late 1920's, the Disney enterprise flooded the United States and indeed much of the globe with short cartoons, live-action films, comic books, colossal theme parks and consumer merchandise. This leisure empire became a universal symbol of the United-States. The economic impact of Walt Disney's enterprise is undeniable and actually Disney's enterprise is the world largest media company. But I don't want to talk about the enterprise to try to understand this entertainer's enormous popularity and enduring impact on generations of modern Americans, young and old alike, and to explain how Disney has become so influential. It seems that it is because Walt Disney operated not only as an entertainer but also as a historical mediator: his creations helped Americans to come to terms with the unsettling transformations of the twentieth century and Disney entertainment projects were consistently nourished by connections to the mainstream American culture.

Extraits

[...] The economic impact of Walt Disney's enterprise is undeniable, and actually Disney's enterprise is the world largest media company. But I don't want to talk about the enterprise to try to understand this entertainer's enormous popularity and enduring impact on generations of modern Americans, young and old alike, and to explain how Disney has become so influential. It seems that it is because Walt Disney operated not only as an entertainer but also as a historical mediator : his creations helped Americans to come to terms with the unsettling transformations of the twentieth century and Disney entertainment projects were consistently nourished by connections to mainstream American culture. [...]

[...] Against the threat of Communist collectivism and authoritarianism, Disney insisted on Americans' dedication to individualism and freedom. And above all, he succeeded in reinforcing these values and the American consensus by exploiting the contradictions of the American culture : so he lauded Americans' roots in traditional village values and in the same time emphasised their modern yearning for innovation, better technology and material abundance, he lauded their respect for traditional religious morality and also praised their capabilities in science, he honored the American past but encouraged his audience to embrace the future. [...]

[...] The symbolic role of the Disney's work 1. A great theme : triumph of the little Disney's films convey certain values of the American way of life and often accentuate the main features of the American popular culture. His films are consistently infused with an ideology that glorifies the American people and assumes a strongly egalitarian cast. Generally, the dogged persistence of Mickey Mouse or the outbursts of Donald Duck reaffirmed the ordinary citizen's capacity to survive and conquer all adversity. [...]

[...] Criticisms against Disney 1. Disney's portrayal of culture and race in film The first critics concern the portrayal of culture and race in film. I'm going to talk about 2 films that came out after Disney's death in 1966, but even when he was alive, Disney had been accused of racial discrimination, against the Indians for example. With the film Aladdin in 1992, the Disney Company has been accused of showing negative stereotypical imagery and lyrics in the movie by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and Disney had to change some details. [...]

[...] In addition to his films, Disney also built theme parks that were also mediators of the American popular culture. The first Disney park, Disneyland, opened in 1955 in Anaheim in California, then the Magic Kingdom park opened on October 1971 and the EPCOT Center in1982 in Florida, and the Disney-MGM Studios in 1989. With these theme parks, Disney wanted to create an ideal American town and with the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow (EPCOT) he wanted to build the town of the future. [...]