The Trojan Mouse: How Disney Is Winning the Culture War

by Samuel Lively

For Christians and conservatives, the long American culture war has increasingly come to resemble a culture siege. Yet no weapon has done more devastating damage to our beliefs and values then the one we’ve gladly ushered past our Disney. For the past 30 years, Disney has enjoyed unfettered access to the hearts and minds of American consumers, and has used that extraordinary influence to subvert the values and beliefs we once held dear.The Trojan Mouse is your definitive guide to unlocking the messages, values and beliefs hidden inside Disney movies from Snow White to the Frozen franchise. Screenwriter and film critic Samuel Lively gives the behind-the-scenes scoop on how Disney transformed from a shining beacon of traditional values to a giant Trojan Mouse, a devastatingly effective weapon of culture war. Cracking open everything from cherished favorites like Beauty and the Beast to recent hits like Wreck-It Ralph with unflinching analysis, The Trojan Mouse brings the progressive agenda of the storytellers to light. After laying these ideas bare, Lively equips concerned parents and leaders with the tools to counteract this influence and guard the hearts and minds of those dearest to us.Spanning the 9 decades of Disney's existence, The Trojan Mouse serves as a cultural history of Disney and a primer on the American culture war. The book divides into 6 chapters. The first addresses the power of storytelling to change hearts and minds. The ensuing chapters explore the ideologies that dominate each of the four distinct Disney eras, beginning with Walt Disney's conservatism and ending with the "woke" social justice messaging of the modern era. The final chapter details the methods consumers can use to neutralize Disney's subversive influence. An appendix explores the ideological battles underway in Disney's star subsidiary, Pixar.

Genres: Cultural, Nonfiction

214 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[Hope · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've had doubts about Disney being family-friendly in recent years. It started long ago with The Little Mermaid (1989) and Aladdin (1992) and their cavalier rejection of parental authority. And what was the point of all the cleavage in Cinderella? (2015) And should we really let our children imbibe the non-Christian themes of Pocahontas, Lion King and Moana?

Whether or not you agree with everything Lively has to say about dangerous, underlying messages in the Disney canon, you will have to agree with his assessment that families can no longer mindlessly entrust them to teach our children values. While Lively bashed a few movies that I have enjoyed without reservation (the original Beauty and the Beast and Toy Story 1), he certainly gave me a lot to think about with regards to many other films.

I'm not inclined to support Disney with a single penny, which is why it is so disturbing that they now own rights to all the Star Wars and Marvel movies. A Disney ban would certainly limit almost everything families can watch.

[Jonathan Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Really put into words feelings and thoughts I have had for a long time. While I am not an alarmist or anti-Disney, I am a believer that wants to be aware of the Worldviews behind the movies I watch. This book does it well. Recommended reading

One problem: copy editing on this book was not great many typos, and if I can find them they must be bad. Can be distracting though

[Sheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Makes some valid points.

[Josiah · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! WOW! WOW! So insightful. This book is gold. Easy to read, but very thought provoking. It carefully goes through the subtle worldviews presented especially in modern Disney movies, and Hollywood. Highly recommended. Don't get me wrong, it's not a 'bash up Disney' book. It commends some movies, and is openly critical of others, but it is an eye opening book, and makes you think about your own movie consumption. Top hole!

[Vagabond of Letters, DLitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10

[Rachel Schultz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m writing a whole blog post and doing a civic journalism series on instagram stories

[Brenda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the author makes a compelling argument for the transformation of Disney over the past few decades. Disney wasn't a leader/innovator in adopting new ideology - they just ended up following where the rest of Hollywood had already gone.

[Lacy Coker · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stories we tell ourselves matter. The stories we tell our children matter even more. This book is a great tool for looking deeper into the stories our children are hearing and the implications of those stories. The book will empower you to understand the ideologies in Disney movies and how to discuss the ideologies of these stories with your children.

The book mostly focuses on the woke ideology vs traditional values rather than any scriptural support. I says that not because I don't think the traditional values aren't supported by scripture but that he doesn't really make much of a case that they are. Rather it appears that he assumes the audience knows it to be so.

Much more could have been done to develop this part of the book. Instead, he focuses more on the development of how Disney moves from traditional values to woke ideology by analyzing major movies chronologically. Very little context is provided on the impact woke ideology is having on the church, so the book may fall flat for those who aren't aware let alone concerned. The reality is that we can only look at the impact woke ideology has had on the academic world to see what the future is for the church. I can only say that it will lead to unnecessary division and as a single mother with mixed children, it will only serve to help people throw pity parties for themselves and create a point system for victimization. The very healthy people these people need (I need) will now be silenced by the burdensome woke ideology that their privileged position contributed in some way to all these victims created by woke ideology/identity politics.

My only one warning is this. I think it’s more than naive to think you can guide children to think through the stories they hear. It’s better to save that when they are more mature. Child development doesn’t support this idea that we can allow children to be emotional drawn in by a movie and then engage their logical thinking side to persuade them from those ideas that they were emotionally moved towards in the movie. The author doesn't take any strong stance for or against movie watching. I think the intent of the author is merely to educate Christian culture and let the parent decide. Part of me appreciates this but the other part wishes he had done a little research on child development to add more depth to the book.

I advocate being a choosy parent. Go against the culture that invites you to let your young children be saturated in Disney movies. Rather, look to surround them with beautiful stories that amplify Christian values. My prayer is that we raise a generation of amazing story tellers who can weave meaningful stories that display the beauty and richness of the gospel.

Side note: Also I found the movie analysis by Little Light Studios on YouTube to offer another layer of biblical themes that must be considered when choosing movies. They really dig into the Marvel series which Lively doesn't really touch and they show the impact Joseph Campbell and Karl Jung have had on bringing Gnosticism (an upside down gospel) into our homes through Wreck It Ralph, Star Wars and the Super Hero culture.

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main part of this book is excellent. Lively does a very good job of demonstrating the rise and fall of the morality and ethics of Disney. He gives strong evidence to support his thesis that Disney was a cultural force for the True, Beautiful, and good under Walt Disney, and then its fall into the grasp of the progressive ideology that has infected most institutions.

He includes an appendix that I think was intended as a similar essay on the history of Pixar with regards to ideology, but it isn’t nearly as tight. Many of the points were conclusions without direct evidence.

Overall, definitely worth reading, even just as an exercise in worldview training!

[Keith West · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good and Balanced History

Interesting and informative discussion of how Disney's philosophy has changed over the years. The author has his perspective but presents a fair and balanced case that the Disney of today presents a message that is very different from what Walt presented.

[Sebastian Van wingerden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insightful

An interesting read into the world of Disney, how culture changes and effects an individual over time. Worth a read

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every parent and grandparent should read this book.

[Erik Koster · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not that this book is particularly bad, in fact it's quite good. And I do sympathize with the arguments to a point. I just don't think there's a devil behind every bush.

[Fred · Rating 5 out of 5]

fantastic read

Lots of little details easy to miss while watching Disney/ Pixar. Everything has a meaning and message. Hard book to put down

[James Lloyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

A 2000 ft overview of the history of the Disney company and the themes prevalent in most of Disney's major animated and live-action movies and how they have changed over the years.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A clear and insightful look at Disney's slide into full-blown rejection of God's creational order.

[ShepherdsDelight · Rating 5 out of 5]

85/100 (= 5.0/6) ≈ 5 Stars

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Outstanding. So helpful for teaching us how to be critical movie viewers. Excellent history and commentary on the various Disney and Pixar movies throughout the years, live and animated. Very balanced as well, giving credit where credit is due without sweepingly rejecting the whole lot. Does an incredible job of teaching us that we should be critical of the worldviews, messages and philosophies of a story and not just base our criticism on the amount of language and indecency they contain (which is a given). It's possible to disagree on some small elements or various readings of each of the movies, but overall, extremely solid. Highly recommended!