Disney Animation Essay

Over most of the last century, Disney animation has transformed through many different eras. Some people claim there have been nine eras, some people claim there have been seven, others focus on the changes at large and only see two or three eras. Regardless, there has been an undeniable change. Some of the eras have even repeated themselves; Disney animation has gone through traditional eras, dark ages, and renaissance eras multiple times. The call for each of these eras has not come without need. Whether it be the needs of the children’s generation at the time or current events, Disney animation has changed. However, the question is: Did Disney Animation shape history in the United States or did history shape Disney animation? One of the

This Disney era was characterised as the first Disney renaissance or Disney-Formalist period. In this period Disney animation reverted back to fairy-tale type stories such like the ones created before and after the wartime era. According to Pallant, a Disney critic, “Having entered a period of renaissance during the 1990s, which provided both artistic renewal and considerable box office success, the trajectory of Disney animation appeared fixed” (Pallant Neo-Disney). Many people consider the lessons behind stories, such as the ones produced in the renaissance era, as important and influential. Time magazine claims animations from this era, such as Tarzan, “stages its own powerful arguments about the modern world, about man’s violation of nature and its propensity to act in ways more savage than the animals it forever hopes to tame” (Mayer). Animations during this time associate with morals that the animators and Disney believe should be imbedded into the brains of their adolescent

Disney animation reverted back to the fairy-tale type stories after a second period of dark ages. The second renaissance and the first renaissance are somewhat comparable in that millennials may have required the lessons that these animations provided. Pixar, which was bought by Disney Studios in 2006, produced films that again broadened the spectrum of topics that Disney animations would cover. Pallant describes this change as “Pushing the envelope in its features (engaging, for example, with ecopolitics in WALL-E [2008] and tackling themes such as miscarriage, bereavement and ageism in a heavy-hitting opening ten minutes in Up [2009])” (Pallant Demystifying Disney 143). After purchasing Pixar, Disney Studios then purchased Marvel Entertainment. During this period, Disney saw an opportunity to express their values on their Marvel audience which is mainly young boys and their girl audience which followed things like the Disney Princesses, High School Musical and Hannah Montana (Pallant Demystifying Disney 144). The studio would capitalize on profitability through selling the brand, but would also capitalize on pushing their values through the screen to their viewers. According to the Mises Institute (an institute that promotes deductive reasoning behind the science of human action), Marvel Entertainment contains many messages about politics and technology of military related things. Ryan McMaken, the