Hey! I grew up on that!

There is no more sensitive topic then children's cartoons. We can talk intelligently about race, class and gender but don't insult the animated films that were so near and dear to our childhood. Men will defend the coolness of their GI JOE'S, their TRANSFORMERS and their superheros. Women will defend their love of princesses, almost all of which come from Disney adaptations of various literature and fairy tales. In fact, do you know anyone who hasn't seen a Disney film? I mean, come on, every one has at least one if not more, favorite Disney movies. What's the big deal though? They're just cartoons after all, right? Surely, there can't be more to their simple success other then the fact that they bring joy to children.

WRONG!  Whether you like it or not Disney is a HUGE corporation that dominates children's entertainment and owns many broadcasting companies and entertainment industries. I don't really have a problem with the animated films that Disney makes. In fact, they've made some pretty brilliant films. But there are common characteristics that Disney films share with flaws that few people are willing to admit.  These flaws are essentially subliminal messages for young kids that (no research done here) effect their behavior and way of thinking as adults.

I have chosen to point out three. The first, is that women can't do anything without a man's help. There are plenty of Disney movies that have fantastic leading ladies and if you read my blog on Beauty and the Beast, you know that I think there are positive sides to them as well. But Sleeping Beauty has to wait for a handsome prince to wake her up, Snow White needs the help of yes, another prince to kiss her and bring her back from an almost-death and Pocahantas can't solve the violence ensuing between the Indians and the Colonists without the help of pretty-blonde-white man: John Smith. Things are getting better. Not all Disney films send this message. In fact Pixar's new movie BRAVE stars a female character. It is the first of the Pixar films with a leading female role and looks pretty good. So go ahead, love those Disney princesses, but don't BECOME one.

The next is the racism that some of these films seem to promote. Most of the main characters are idealized, aryan and in power already. In the article Monarchs, Monsters and Multiculturalism, the author gives the example of The Lion King. I hate to harp on The Lion King because it's on of my favorite Disney movies, but after I read the article I realized some flaws. The Lions are at the top and represent those in power. In America, that means mostly white people. The hyenas are given Latino accents and are represented as insane followers of Scar. Scar himself, is drawn with a black mane versus the blondish-brown of Simba and Mustafa. The Lions want to keep everyone else in their place. Those of us who live in a democratic society should ask ourselves: is this what we want democracy to be? Shouldn't the Zebras and Giraffes have an equal say?
Things are getting better as far as diversity. Mulan was female and Asian, Jasmine was Persian (or middle eastern of some form) and more recently The Princess and the Frog starred a black princess instead of white. The more minorities rise to power, the more diverse animated films will become.

The third and final is the problem of the Good vs. Evil dichotomy. When it comes to children's media, its much easier to make good one side and bad the other. You are either good or evil, with us or against us. Makes sense, right? The problem is, kids are never made to question what it actually means to be good or evil. Certain things we know to be bad: stealing, killing, lying, that sort of thing. But don't the good guys do all those things in order to get rid of evil? What kids learn about good and evil nowadays is that they attack you, so it's okay for you to attack them. They wronged you, so you must get rid of them. But does that mean that they are evil? Isn't it all perspective? Oh, and not to mention those who are in power are the ones we root for, those who defy them are considered wrong and immoral.
Take Alladin for instance. Alladin stole because he had to. Alladin did not have money. He was referred to as "street rat." But that doesn't mean Alladin was bad. He was just poor!  If Disney would make its characters more complex and set the good/evil line a little bit closer, then perhaps we could actually make kids think about the movies they watch instead of just watching them.