Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Impact of Disney movies on society
Snow white and the huntsman analysis introduction essay
Gender stereotype in disney
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Impact of Disney movies on society
The things we watch and children have a large impact on our adult lives. Whether we realize it or not. And the one constant genre that children have had access to for almost 100 years is Disney. In this paper the affects of the Disney Movies, Snow White, Cinderella, Pocahontas and Tangled, on young girls will be shown. As well as the subtle messages that as children and even sometimes as adults the watchers do not see. As well as how these subtle messages shaped the young girls of that particular decades ideas about life love and people.
In order to determine what affect movies had on children you need to analyze the movies themselves. Starting with the first full length animated Disney film, Snow White: And the Seven Dwarfs. Most people in this day and Age know this story, Snow White is a princess whose mother dies and her fathers new wife (Snow Whites Stepmother) is an evil queen Who is very Vain and Has a Magic mirror that tells her she is the fairest of them all. But then after the king dies the mirror tells the queen that Snow White has surpassed her in beauty. The queen then tells her henchmen to take Snow White to the forest and kill her and bring back her heart. Because of Snow Whites beauty he is unable to kill her and so he tells her to run. So, Snow White runs and runs until she finds a hut of seven dwarfs, and she lives with them. Eventually it comes out that Snow White is alive, and so the queen disguises herself as an old hag and gives Snow White a poisoned apple. Snow White Falls into a deep, Coma-Like sleep and stays that way until Prince Charming Kisses her awake. Now, on the surface there isn’t much to go on except the for the well known “being kind and humble makes you beautiful and being vain and greedy makes...
... middle of paper ...
...l come home to them. Mother Gothal, the woman who kidnapped Rapunzel and locked her in a tower so that she would have access to Rapunzel hair and be young and beautiful forever, does not want Rapunzel to see the lights knowing what they are. So, Rapunzel, after a strange man falls into her tower conveniently after Mother Gothal and she had gotten into a fight which cause mother Gothal to leave for a bit to calm down, decides to make the trek to see the lights.
Works Cited
1. David Derbyshire. "The Good Wife Guide: From 1939, a Chap's Charter (and no Chilly Toes, Please)." Daily Mail: 20. 2008. Print.
2. Patterson, Martha H. The American New Woman Revisited: A Reader, 1894-1930. New Brunswick, N.J: Rutgers University Press, 2008. Print.
3. Wood, Naomi. "Domesticating Dreams in Walt Disney's Cinderella." The Lion and the Unicorn 20.1 (1996): 25-49. Print.
James, Edward, Janet James, and Paul Boyer. Notable American Women, 1607-1950. Volume III: P-Z. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971. Print.
Since Disney’s Snow White appeared in 1937, Disney princesses have been a present in pop culture. With the release of new movies frequent and re-release of decades old movies inevitable, a continuous stream keeps Disney princesses in the foreground of adolescent society. It is with the value of entertainment they have been created and as entertainment they should be viewed.
Presently, many books and fairytales are converted movies and often, producers alters the original tales to grasp the attention of a large audience. However, some of these interpretations hide the primary interpretation. The original interpretations of the Disney classics Snow White and Sleeping Beauty are greatly reinvented from the original fairytales Sun, Moon, and Talia and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs because of the brutal nature of the treatment women in these original forms. Although there are differences in certain aspects from the original tales to the movies, there are many issues that are influential to the young girls who are still watching the Disney version. I realize this when my youngest niece, Anella asks me, “Why can’t I be beautiful and fall asleep and suddenly wake up to finally find my prince?” This is true in all cases of the four different translations of the fairytales. Every single girl in these stories are in a “beautiful” state of half-death who wake to find a prince who if eager to carry them off. This can lead to negative psychological effects on young girls as they are growing up, creating a large amount of pressure and low self-esteem due to the beauty that these stories portray and maintaining restrictions that these women experience in the stories. While it is true that Sleeping Beauty and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves are considered Disney classics that entertain children and provide meaningful role models, it is evident that the true, vulgar nature of these tales are hidden; these stories are about women who are thrown away.
Hartmann, Susan M. The Home Front and Beyond: American women in the 1940s. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1982
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...
Schneider, Dorothy. American Women in the Progressive Era 1900-1920. New York: Facts on File, 1993.
Walters, Frank J. “Woman’s Power.” Godey’s Lady’s Book (February 1850) : n. pag. Online. Internet Explorer. 18 February 1999. Available http://www.history.rochester.edu/godeys/02-50.html.
Disney princesses are fun for all ages, but their target audience is young children and “as children grow and develop, they can be easily influenced by what they see and hear”. Therefore, what they see and hear in Disney movies leaves an impression on them. The first princess, Snow White, was created in a time where each gender and race had a specific role in society. Recently, many believe that Disney has come a long way in regards to gender and race since Snow White, as several multi-cultural protagonists have been introduced subsequently, and gender roles do not appear to be as stereotypical as they once were. However, many of the apparent innocent messages about race and gender in these movies, can be exposed as otherwise. Despite their mask of progression, Disney princesses still have the potential to corrupt the minds of young children through sexism and racism.
If children or adults think of the great classical fairy tales today, be it Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, or Cinderella, they will think Walt Disney. Their first and perhaps lasting impression of these tales and others will have emanated from Disney film, book, or artefacts (Zipes 72)
Many of us have seen a Disney movie when we were younger. Disney movies captured our attention with their good morals and successful conclusions of finding their true love. The animations and music transform us into a land of magic where anything is possible if we just believe. Disney movies wrapped us in the idea that good always triumphs evil, that happy ever after exists. We have become the generation of Beauty and the Beast, 101 Dalmatians, Dumbo and Snow White as children now have not heard of these or have watched them. Some of these movies have been recreated and released in high definition and on DVDs in the past few years, but the structure and themes of the movies stays the same. However, we never stop and think about the undertones in Disney movies. They contain abuse, violence, dysfunctional relationships, and gender stereotypes, which is not appropriate for children. They may not understand what abuse, violence, dysfunctional relationships, alcohol or gender stereotypes are at their ages but do we want them to think that it’s normal. When we think that little girls watch these movies where the female characters are controlled by man or need a man to watch over them, they are not creating good role models for them. Would we not want them to have a better understanding that women do not have to have a prince charming to be happy, women can be independent and have careers and yes find love but not give everything up so their prince charming has the control.
Hymowitz, Carol, and Michaele Weissman. A History of Women in America. New York: Bantam, 1978. Print.
Ross, D. (2004). Proquest. “Escape from wonderland: Disney and the female imagination”. Marvels & Tales, 18(1), 53-66,141.
Disney movies have a very narrow view of what women should be like. Since the arrival of the first Disney movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937, the idea of it has expanded, but rather marginally. There is a clear distinction of what a young women should be and what she shouldn’t be. Those who do not fit the mold of Disney’s expectations are cast aside to become villains, but those who do, end up becoming the damsel in distress. Ultimately, these stereotypes are what influences young girls who watch these films, and can have devastating effects on their self worth and change their idea of what it means to be a women. Films like Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,
The 1950’s Cinderella created by world-renown Disney director, Clyde Geronimi, has been established as the most renown and generic story out of all. In comparison to Charles Perrault’s “Cinderella”, the standard storyline, both have the same concepts. Similarities such as the abuse, the magic, and the happily ever after is present in both exactly. Although, there are also horrifying aspects to discuss about Cinderella and their other versions. Certain acts such as the abuse and mutilation are considered to be unjust and not right, no matter the situation; but perhaps Cinderella was not as virtuous and kind as portrayed in the 1950’s film.
Criticists however note the potential dangers of negative effects for young girls who may learn to put themselves into those gender stereotyped categories due to their exposal to the Disney Princesses. Since these almost always need men to save them and are often displayed in weak and vulnerable ways with the sole purpose to fulfill only traditional gender role stereotyped types of work. Furthermore, the article explains how more recent Disney movies approach a more feminist and modern version of Disney Princesses, however the merchandise still display them as more feminine and gender stereotyped in addition to the fact that the older Disney princesses remain very popular among young girls. The article mentions several minor studies that have been conducted with kindergarten aged girls and young adolescent women with the results that an “internalization of princess culture in the early childhood can potentially affect those girls’ long-term attitudes towards gender role typical distribution of work, behaviours, etc. It is also mentioned how boys who often watch Disney movies can be affected by the gender roles in the movies, such as for instance the possible engagement in less violent forms of play that exclude weapons etc. and their greater interest compared to other boys of the same age group in more feminine plays. Due to the broad range of movie related products and toys young children are often influenced by these when playing with gendered