From Mouse to Mermaid: The Politics of Film, Gender, and Culture

by Elizabeth Bell (Editor), Laura Sells (Editor), Lynda Haas (Editor)

From Mouse to Mermaid , an interdisciplinary collection of original essays, is the first comprehensive, critical treatment of Disney cinema. Addressing children's classics as well as the Disney affiliates' more recent attempts to capture adult audiences, the contributors respond to the Disney film legacy from feminist, marxist, poststructuralist, and cultural studies perspectives. The volume contemplates Disney's duality as an American icon and as an industry of cultural production, created in and through fifty years of filmmaking. The contributors treat a range of topics at issue in contemporary cultural the performance of gender, race, and class; the engendered images of science, nature, technology, family, and business. The compilation of voices in From Mouse to Mermaid creates a persuasive cultural critique of Disney's ideology.

The contributors are Bryan Attebery, Elizabeth Bell, Claudia Card, Chris Cuomo, Ramona Fernandez, Henry A. Giroux, Robert Haas, Lynda Haas, Susan Jeffords, N. Soyini Madison, Susan Miller, Patrick Murphy, David Payne, Greg Rode, Laura Sells, and Jack Zipes.

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, Academic, Film, Research

280 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1995

Reviews

[Meeri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oon lueskellu tätä aina siellä sun täällä tarpeen mukaan, Disney-tutkimuksen perusteoksia mut välillä mua rasittaa kyllä tätä läpileikkaava sellanen ihme moralisoiva sävy, populaarikulttuuri Pilaa Lapset jne XD

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eu já tinha emprestado este livro na Biblioteca Universitária da Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina antes e lido alguns de seus textos, e não tinha achado nada de mais. Provavelmente eu tinha escolhido os textos errados para ler. Resolvi dar mais uma chance e consegui encontrar valores neles que podem me ajudar em algumas pesquisas que tenho realizado. O principal destes textos é de Jack Zipes, que analisa como os contos de fadas evoluíram para a versão Disney e quais características foram mantidas. Outro bom texto é o de Patrick D. Murphy que expõe o androcentrismo nas produções da Walt Disney Company, seguido pela bela análise de Henry A. Giraux que fala sobre como o elemento inocência na narrativa disneyana ajuda a justificar a higienização que a companhia aplica nos enredos de suas produções. Outros textos nesta coletânea também são interessantes, mas, infelizmente, os que menos foram bons de ler foram aqueles que tratam mais especificamente das relações de gênero nessas mídias.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really can't read non fiction...

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. As with most books compiled of writing from different authors, I found them to be of variable interest and readability. I got it from the library assuming that it was meant for the educated layperson, but I have to wonder exactly who the target audience is, at least for some of the essays, as the following example of academese (maybe understandable to the specialist, but gobbledygook at its finest to the rest of us), almost stopped me in my tracks not that far from the beginning.

"Central to the formation of a new cultural politics are both the need for a renewed interest in the relationship between material determinations and the arousal of dormant emancipatory memories, and the construction of social movements that are as deeply pedagogical as they are political in their attempts to revitalize the institutional and ideological conditions necessary for diverse forms of political activism aimed at sustaining democratic public life."

Luckily these were few and far between, but that in alone was almost enough to make me round my 3.5 stars down instead of up.

[NCHS Library]

From Follett; Title proper from title frame.;Mode of access: World Wide Web.;Includes bibliographical references and index.;Description based on print version record. Contains essays that provide information on the production, semiotics, audiences, and ideologies of Disney films.

[Kamilla Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for my MA thesis.

[Belaraniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Поразительно, как мало тем с момента выхода книги не потеряло актуальности. Пожалела, что не делала записи пока читала.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting essays on Disney films (including several live-action movies distributed by Disney, such as Pretty Woman). They're definitely of the "Disney is a homogeneous, deeply problematic empire" type, so skip if you'd rather let your nostalgic favorites be or if you don't like sociological analyses (I'm a fan, but I love this type of thing). Knocked down a star for a few utterly ridiculous essays--when an essay states as a fact that the interaction between Gepetto's cat and fish is an introduction to pornography for children, I'm not going to take the rest of it seriously.

[Rems · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read a lot of works by Zipes since, I think this is perhaps the best of his work. As for the other chapters, whilst some contained ideas I haven't heard of before, I suffered through a lot of it due to inaccurate detailing, and the fact that it was apparant the author had not actually watched the film in question recently - some of the arguments presented could easily be contradicted when you realised that what they are describing did not actually happen.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read some of these essays for a class, and they were excellent. In particular, "Somatexts at the Disney Workshop" and the essay on The Little Mermaid are worth a read. I was less interested in the live movies distributed by Disney, but not really associated with the Disney brand/image, so... those parts basically amounted to padding for me.

[Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I knew there was a reason the Disney princess movies bothered me...

A really nice feminist reading of Disney films. You can never watch and of the princess movies again without asking yourself, "Isn't there more to life than marrying the handsome prince?"

[Jez · Rating 5 out of 5]

read this for a gender studies class. amazing. you will never watch the little mermaid in the same way again.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

was only required to read a few chapters of this for a course, however could not seem to put this book down. well written, well planned, well executed and organized. Really liked it.

[Kipi (the academic stitcher) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whole book wasn't required for class, but it had some interesting info. Will probably read the whole book somewhere down the road.