1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910777446603321

Autore

Ward Annalee R

Titolo

Mouse morality [[electronic resource] ] : the rhetoric of Disney animated film / / Annalee R. Ward ; foreword by Clifford G. Christians

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Austin, TX, : University of Texas Press, 2002

ISBN

0-292-79866-0

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (200 p.)

Disciplina

791.43/3

Soggetti

Animated films - United States - Themes, motives

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. [153]-172) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- Foreword -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- ONE • Disney, Film, and Morality: A Beginning -- TWO • The Lion King: Moral Educator through Myth, Archetype, and Ritual -- THREE • Pocahontas: The Symbolic Boundaries of Moral Order -- FOUR • The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Comically Framing Virtue and Vice -- FIVE • Hercules: A Celebrity-Hero -- SIX • Mulan: East Meets West -- SEVEN • A Disney Worldview: Mixed Moral Messages -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

Kids around the world love Disney animated films, and many of their parents trust the Disney corporation to provide wholesome, moral entertainment for their children. Yet frequent protests and even boycotts of Disney products and practices reveal a widespread unease with the sometimes mixed and inconsistent moral values espoused in Disney films as the company attempts to appeal to the largest possible audience. In this book, Annalee R. Ward uses a variety of analytical tools based in rhetorical criticism to examine the moral messages taught in five recent Disney animated films-The Lion King, Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules, and Mulan. Taking the films on their own terms, she uncovers the many mixed messages they purvey: for example, females can be leaders-but male leadership ought to be the norm; stereotyping is wrong-but black means evil; historical truth is valued-but only tell what one can sell, etc. Adding these messages together, Ward raises important questions about the moral ambiguity of Disney's overall worldview and demonstrates the need for



parents to be discerning in letting their children learn moral values and life lessons from Disney films.