Walt Disney Impact On Society Essay

How Disney Impacts Society

“If you can dream it, you can do it.” and that’s exactly what Walt Disney did when he decided to become an animator. When I was 8, my sister and I would used to have a Disney movie marathon every Saturday. We would watch Disney movies like Toy Story, Lilo and Stitch and Bambi. When you watch Disney, you don’t always realize that there’s a message being shown. You probably won’t even know that there is a message until you stumble upon a website such as buzzfeed because you don’t want to do your homework.. Disney has greatly affected society including you. It inspires you, teaches you values and the Disney characters show what reality is.

Disney inspires many people to pursue their dreams. One of my friend’s cousin loved to watch Disney as a kid

and he also loves to draw. He now works at Walt Disney Animation Studios as an animator. I also know someone that is a huge disney freak. She goes on about Disney everytime I talk to her. The walls of her room are decorated with Disney quotes like “Hakuna Matata” which incase you didn’t know, means “No worries”. These are just examples of what I mean by Disney being inspirational. There’s also one i’m pretty sure all of you have heard of, “just keep swimming”. This quote quoted by Dory in Finding Nemo has motivated a lot of people and possibly you as well. Another really popular one is “let it go”. It’s obvious all you have heard this one. If not, then you probably live under a rock. It’s not just the movies and short films that inspire people, it’s Walt Disney himself as well. The story of how he became an animator is very inspirational. I have recently watched a documentary on Walt Disney and I found it heart-warming on how he got the idea of Mickey Mouse and all the struggles he had to face. At one point, he was homeless because his animations were doing poorly, but Walt didn’t quit. He continued with what he loved to do. This is one reason why Disney has an affect on society; it inspires many people.

What do Snow White, Cinderella and Princess Aurora all have in common?

Well, they all got saved by their ‘prince charming’. Since these movies were all released before 1960, it would make sense on why a prince came to save them. The next Disney Princess movie; The Little Mermaid was different. Ariel, the little mermaid, saved Prince Eric during a storm while he was sailing. The more recent princess don’t really have a prince at all. Merida, Elsa and Moana don’t need a prince charming to help save them from evil like Snow White and Cinderella. Disney characters also show a different perspective on true love. In Frozen, when Anna was turned to ice, only an act of true love can save her. Just like in Snow White. When Snow White got poisoned with an apple, only an act of true love could save her so her prince came along to bring her back to life. On the other hand, in Frozen, Elsa, Anna’s sister was the one to save her. Disney characters also show diversity and multiculturalism. For example, Princess Tiana, Jasmine, Mulan and Moana are all diverse characters. They show that you don’t have to be the classic princess to be a princess. You can have different backgrounds and you still are a

princess.

Finally, Disney teaches you many life lessons and values. Mulan taught us to be yourself and ignore what others think. Mulan wanted to fight in war for her father but you had to be a man to go in war. She disguises herself as a man but her true identity gets revealed. She embraces herself and proves everyone wrong, that she can fight in the war without being a man. Another example is Peter Pan. Peter Pan taught us that growing old is mandatory but you don’t have to grow up. You should embrace your inner child. You don’t need to be “mature” and do what you're expected to do at your age. You can be a child forever. Beauty and the Beast teaches us that true beauty is found within and not by looks. The nicest person may not have the best looks but their beauty will be shown if you get to know them.

As you can tell, Disney has greatly impacted our community. Disney inspires us to pursue our dreams, it taught us values and exposed us to different cultures. Next time you watch a Disney movie, think; what is the message and how can it affect us?