Disney films had a huge impact on my childhood. I was a enormous Disney fanatic. This included not only Disney princesses, but super heroes, and almost every other type of movie too. I had Disney costumes, stuffed animals of characters, just about every movie on VHS and DVD when they came out, and any other merchandise imaginable. Looking back at Disney movies I once was infatuated with, I found two major themes. The first I found on my own, while the other was pointed out to me through reading an article by Kathy Maio, a journalist in Boston.
The first major theme that is portrayed throughout all Disney movies is a loss of innocence. The main character goes through a transformation when presented with a difficult situation. For example Cinderella loses her innocence at an early age through the emotional and mental abuse she is put through by her stepmother and stepsisters. She finds an escape from this abuse when her prince charming comes along. Mulan also loses her innocence at an early age when she pretends to be a boy and goes to war to fight for her country and represent her family. A third example is “Finding Nemo.” Nemo loses his innocence when he is taken from his father and home in the ocean. He is put in a fish tank at a dentist’s office with creatures that are complete strangers to him.
Almost all Disney characters lose their innocence in one way or another. This theme is found in every Disney movie. I wasn’t able to recognize this theme at a young age so I often believed my prince charming would come along, I could kiss a frog and it’ll turn into a prince, or my toys really talked and had lives while I wasn’t in the room. I believe that Disney overall sent out a “real” message. That at different times in our lives we are going to be faced with challenges and have to overcome them. Although in real life the good guy may not always win as Disney portrays. Disney takes a life lesson, makes it family friendly, adds some talking objects, and keeps it G rated. Kids don’t think about the real message Disney depicts. They just want Nemo to find his dad. It isn’t until they grow up and look back and realize like I did that Disney really was preparing us for difficult encounters in life. Disney’s messages can sometimes seem extremely harsh such as in Bambi and The Lion King when a parent dies. When I was a child I thought this was the worst thing ever and cried every time I watched these movies. The truth is death happens and sometimes it’s unexpected, but in the end it is inevitable.
Another theme that is commonly seen in Disney movies, that can go along with the loss of innocence theme, is how women are portrayed and viewed. Upon reading an article by Kathy Maio, a feminist journalist in Boston, it made me realize the negative message Disney is giving about women. Snow White is like a housewife and cleans throughout the entire movie. When the wicked stepmother poisons Snow White with an apple the only person that can save her is her prince. This is saying that women need a man to save them. In “The Little Mermaid,” Ariel thinks in order to be beautiful and win the prince over she needs to have legs so she gives up her beautiful singing voice and home under the sea to become a human. This isn’t a good message because she is giving up what makes her unique in order to have a man notice her. In “The Lion King,” when Simba runs away the female lionesses become scared and cannot protect each other from the evil Scar. They need a man to save them and protect them. This is saying that women are not strong. They need a man around to feel safe.
I think Disney has good messages and bad messages. Whether Disney means to give off bad messages is unknown to me, but I think how someone depicts Disney’s messages all depends on their mindset and how they feel towards the empire. I never realized until reading the article by Kathy Maio that Disney makes women look bad. It may not necessarily be true, but it really made me question Disney. When thinking back to all the movies I’ve seen she is right. In many of these movies the women need a man to save them. This isn’t teaching young girls to be independent.
Another thing Disney does is advertise its movies and merchandise more than any other company I’ve ever seen. 
They are even starting to remake old movies such as “The Lion King,” which came out in 3D this year. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing though. When I was younger and I fell in love with a Disney movie I wanted just about any type of merchandise possible. There’s nothing wrong with Disney making its fans happy. I do believe that Disney should work on some of the negative messages they put in their movies. Looking back it makes me wonder, did my parents realize the messages Disney was sending, was I too innocent and naïve to see?
laurendalzell 