The Mouse that Roared: Disney and the End of Innocence

by Henry A. Giroux, Grace Pollock

This expanded and revised edition explores and updates the cultural politics of the Walt Disney Company and how its ever-expanding list of products, services, and media function as teaching machines that shape children's culture into a largely commercial endeavor. The Disney conglomerate remains an important case study for understanding both the widening influence of free-market fundamentalism in the new millennium and the ways in which messages of powerful corporations have been appropriated and increasingly resisted in global contexts.

New in this edition is a discussion of Disney's shift in its marketing strategies towards targeting tweens and teens, as Disney promises to provide (via participation in consumer culture) the tools through which young people construct and support their identities, values, and knowledge of the world. The updated chapters from the highly acclaimed first edition are complimented with two new chapters, "Globalizing the Disney Empire" and "Disney, Militarization, and the National Security State After 9/11," which extend the analysis of Disney's effects on young people to a consideration of the political and economic dimensions of Disney as a U.S.-based megacorporation, linking the importance of critical reception on an individual scale to a broader conception of democratic global community.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Film, Sociology, Politics, Education, Cultural

320 pages, Paperback

First published April 22, 1999

About the author

American cultural critic. One of the founding theorists of critical pedagogy in the United States, he is best known for his pioneering work in public pedagogy, cultural studies, youth studies, higher education, media studies, and critical theory.

A high-school social studies teacher in Barrington, Rhode Island for six years, Giroux has held positions at Boston University, Miami University, and Penn State University. In 2005, Giroux began serving as the Global TV Network Chair in English and Cultural Studies at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.

Giroux has published more than 35 books and 300 academic articles, and is published widely throughout education and cultural studies literature. Since arriving at McMaster, Giroux has been a featured faculty lecturer, and has published nine books, including his most recent work, The University in Chains: Confronting the Military-Industrial-Academic Complex.

Routledge named Giroux as one of the top fifty educational thinkers of the modern period in 2002.

Reviews

[Trevor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A while ago I was reading the introduction to some essays by Adorno and the author was talking about Adorno's idea of dual consciousness or double consciousness, something like that. The example used to explain this idea was horoscopes - I suspect that very few of us really 'believe' in horoscopes, but that doesn't stop them being amongst the most popular parts of newspapers and magazines. And even though we that it is probably something of an overstatement that one-in-twelve people in our society are born with multiple personality disorder, just because they were born in the month of 'the twins' - even so, if our horoscope says, "take a different route home today - something good awaits you" - well, what's the cost?

We don't believe, but we quite possibly might act as if we do believe... And if that is true for stars, it is also true for other parts of our culture. Disney is an interesting case in point. I think we have trouble in really taking Disney seriously. I mean, it's meant for kids and it is the definition of light and innocent entertainment - so, how can you take it seriously?

Disney, as an organisation, is very focused on perpetuating this perception. It wants to be understood as 'wholesome' and fun. But as such we might not approach what it does with the kind of critical eye that we should approach material that, let's be honest, we often use to babysit our children.

Also, Disney is a huge corporation. In fact, so big that it owns whole other corporations ,like the ABC network in the US, that are also household names. You don't get to be huge by being innocent - and this book documents many of the corporate practices Disney uses to produce, protect and popularise its product that, frankly, might make your hair curl. This is particularly true of how the 'cast' in the various Disney Worlds are employed, but also, and particularly, in relation to its various films - the product from their 'imagineers'.

The idea of us having a kind of dual consciousness is no where better exemplified than our attitude to marketing. We seem quite willing to believe that other people are manipulated by marketing, but that we, quite on the contrary, are just too sophisticated to be taken in. As is pointed out here - advertising is a quarter of a trillion dollar industry, do you really think it would exist if it didn't work? And for Disney it works in spades. Even films that don't do particularly well in the cinemas go on to make billions in the side-lines of toys, videos, various other merchandise products and god knows what else. One of the main functions of Disney is not so much to train children in innocence, but rather to train them to be consumers.

And Disney is more than just a provider of entertainment - it also wants to shape the world of its customers so that Disney's world vision becomes their common sense. It even has its own 'town' where you give up your freedom to choose various aspects of your own life, so that you can live in the Disney version of ideal small town America. As is repeatedly said here, a kind of Norman Rockwell painting brought to life. White, middle class, walled and constrained. Something else I read recently pointed out that in this most commercial of environments what you don't see is corporate advertising.

Disney appropriates many American cultural archetypes, strips them of anything deeper than the most superficial of content and then uses these as the definition of 'entertainment'. As such it seeks to define what is American culture - and increasingly, universal human culture - by reference to what it has appropriated, copyrighted and marketed.

Many other cultural organisations seek to effectively educate society into accepting their view of the world as being common sense, but Disney is much more upfront about this. They have even set up their own schools. These schools could hardly be said to practice the kind of critical pedagogy that the author would advocate - instead, they seek to encourage people to accept and adjust to change, rather than to have a role in affecting change. This is a similar message to just about everything else that Disney does. Creativity is something done by very clever people, who you aren't, given you are part of the audience rather than one of the imagineers. Your role is to wonder at the marvels of this creativity. As the author says, this is a kind of Taylorist entertainment experience - standardised, timed to within a microsecond and generally unchallenging and meant as spectacle, rather than something requiring thought.

The pedagogy of Disney is an important question - just what is it that this organisation is seeking to teach? As I said before, given that this is 'just' kids entertainment, too often people turn off their critical faculties and go with the flow. So, this book presents us a critical analysis of a number of Disney films - both children's cartoons and adult movies such as Good Morning, Vietnam. The analysis looks at issues of race, class and gender. Invariably, the lessons are anything but 'PC'. Women are always seeking that highest of all human attainments for their sex - a good husband. People of colour are stereotyped and are either irrationally violent (think Aladdin and anyone with a non-North American accent) or they are black and just about as deliriously happy that the nice young white couple have gotten together as it is possible to be, Pretty Woman. Parents hardly ever exist (something noted in How To Read Donald Duck, too) and when they do exist they are nearly always stupid (Beauty and The Beast) or needing to be rebelled against (The Little Mermaid). Rebellion in Disney is often 'constrained', and even a rewriting of history. In Good Morning Vietnam, for instance, rebellion is defined by the music people like. Perhaps your memory of the Vietnam era contained some other forms of rebellion - but the marches and the protests have been airbrushed from history. And just right, too - given we are all now so ashamed at how badly we treated 'our boys' who were off sunning themselves for democracy in foreign climes while tapping their feet to some really great songs.

This book seeks to be much more even-handed about Disney than I have been here. It has much praise for a lot of Disney product. However, the main point of this book is that while it is fine to switch off your brain while you are watching some Disney film, and even to enjoy the spectacle of it all - it really isn't okay to never turn your brain back on again. Cultural products create the mental environment we live in, they create our truth and our common sense. They give us tools to think with and they give us ways of seeing the world that, if left unchallenged, become our straitjackets. This book helps us to learn how to think critically, even when we are presented with 'just another kids film'.

[Diz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book discusses the power that Disney as corporation has to shape and mold society. Some areas that are covered are politics, education, militarization, and economics. It provides a much needed criticism of Disney. Interestingly, this was first published in the late 90s, and the current edition was published in 2010. Disney is currently a much more powerful corporation that it was then, so I think it's about time to make a third edition.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book, but it is really soul crushing. I love Disney movies, Pixar movies, and Disneyland, but this book really ruins a lot of it. In a good way, I suppose. Giroux examines Disney as a corporation, as a leader of education, and as a cultural force. Most of it, unsurprisingly, is negative. After all, the Disney corporation is one of the handful that is trying to take over the world. It's almost expected that they exercise shady business practices and fascist control. To me, the most edifying point was how greedy and unscrupulous these corporations are. Even Disney, who began as a family fantasyland/movie producer who catered to children, is bloated and evil. To be fair, Walt Disney was a product of his times, riding high on the American exceptionalism of WWII, and I don't think that he would be happy with the Disney of today. Also to be fair, Giroux acknowledges a lot of the good that Disney tries to do as a cultural force. Though the classic movies are all anti-feminist, anti-parental authority, and pretty racist, the new ones are more liberal and moral. Pixar definitely carries messages that are worthy of planting in your children. Giroux also looks at these aspects of Disney through all different lenses, so the book actually ends up being pretty balanced. However, it really turned Disneyland trips into moral dilemmas for me. I definitely recommend this book, even if you only use it to analyze other companies in the same fashion. It is also useful as an all-purpose guide to corporate greed and immorality, and it's imporant to be aware of these things as we make our decisions as consumers today.

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Critical theorist Giroux tackles the Disney conglomerate in considering issues of power and justice. As Giroux explains, Disney, a corporation with the intent of seeking profit, has integrated entertainment and education hand in hand. Taking this step means that they are responsible for the morality, beliefs, and cultural continuation for American children. He calls for a critical examination of Disney's practices in order to understand what the impact of their choices are on America. He does not believe that there is an evil master-plan from Disney that intends to control and brainwash the American people, but he does point out some questionable practices that seem to lead more toward order than democracy.

I agree with Giroux that schools need to teach students to be multiply literate, and that one avenue toward doing that is an examination of large corporations like Disney. I also believe that his assertion about the seamless combination of entertainment and education is happening, and that we need to think about the implications of this in the future. However, I look much more positively on Disney's influence on American culture than Giroux seems to. For example, he points out problems with race and gender in the movies. I believe that although these are clearly evident in the older films, Disney is making an effort toward a more modern view of both. For example, since this book's publication, the movie Brave supplied a female who was in charge of her own destiny, that didn't allow herself to be defined by the male. To me, this signals a positive change. I also welcome Disney's efforts at the Celebration school and its financial contributions toward quality education there. It is true that donations toward one school over the other is not necessarily fair toward those who get left out, but I believe that more corporate support for better schools is welcomed. It means less of a burden on government, and more money to save toward paying back our ridiculous deficit.

[Eric · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this book cannot pick which audience it is targeting. If you are familiar with the Frankfurt school, this book does not tell you anything about corporate culture and hegemony that you did not already know. There are many examples and anecdotes about the rigid control Disney holds over their employees and brand, but beyond these examples, the general critique and theory can be found elsewhere. Likewise, Giroux throws in sentences from time to time trying to soften the blow of his critique, saying Disney can bring genuine pleasure to people or that his children watch the same movies. Yet, anyone who is not a professor would probably put this book down long before reading these veiled notions of “I swear I’m not a buzzkill.” As someone who teaches Marxist critiques in their intro to anthropology courses, even I felt like this book was just a buzzkill. The Frankfurt School, and its perspective to culture critique, has not lent itself to neutral, balanced, or approachable discourse. For an example, read Adorno and Horkheimer’s thoughts on laughter in the “Culture Industry” chapter of their book The Dialectics of Enlightenment. In short, while I agree with the critique, the delivery leaves much to be desired, the audience who will read it already knows this critique, and the audience that needs the critique will not read it.

For a full review of this and other books, check out the From the Archives podcast: https://anchor.fm/anthropologyarchive....

[Laura Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have a great interest in how story telling shapes our culture and sense of self. The introduction to this book says "Mass-produced images fill our daily lives and condition our most intimate perceptions and desires. At issue for parents, educators, and others is how culture, especially media culture, has become a substantial, if not the primary, educational force in regulating the meanings, values and tastes that set the norms that offer up and legitimate particular subject positions-- what it means to claim an identity as a male, female, white, black, citizen, non-citizen."

I have no doubt that this is true. The Mouse That Roared throughout its text argues that Disney plays a major role-- if not the primary role-- in creating a culture in which citizenship is reduced to consumerism. While the author states this many times, I wanted to see some concrete examples of how the fiction that Disney distributes supports this view of society. I would be sympathetic to this argument, but the only case that the author made essentially was that Disney is a large, powerful corporation, that its theme park mixes commerce with story telling and that it enforces a squeaky clean image in its businesses. How this translates into a cultural message that values consumerism over the public sphere is not sufficiently explained.

The majority of the book is devoted to making the case that Disney is a dominant cultural force, that its role in educating children is not benign and neutral and that there should be more cultural criticism of it. This argument is important, but it did not require 3/4 of the book to make it. The sections dealing with the actual cultural products of Disney and their content was quite slim. It did a decent job making the case that Disney's films promote traditional and limited roles for women. Although the book, published in 1999, is a bit outdated. It also makes a persuasive case that Disney's santized version of history has the potential to warp our political discourse and de-legitimize diverse voices as history from multiple perspectives is erased.

These cultural critiques of the fiction marketed by Disney come only in the last part of the book. I would have liked to have seen them expanded.

[John Nash · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is a lot to criticize about Disney, and that was what I was expecting, but this is not the book to do that. He spends the first 1/3 repeating the same things over and over again, and uses the word pedagogy or pedagogical on just about every page. It got to the point where I was saying "I don't think that word means what you think it means." He does eventually define it, 124 pages into the book. He criticizes Disney for forcing its "cast members" to smile at work and to wear a uniform and that they have rules about hair, tatoos, make-up, etc. Welcome to the corporate world. Every major corporation I have worked for has had similar rules. And Disney Celebration controls what people can do with their homes; welcome to living with an HOA. Prof. Giroux needs to spend a little less time outside of academia.

But, as I said, there is a lot to criticize about Disney, which he points out highlights white, middle-class, heterosexuality as being the ideal, and how their movies stereotype minorities and set up strict gender roles. Unfortunately he only spends about six pages on that. He spends more time critiquing Good Morning Vietnam, which he needs to spend more time watching because he believes it supports the war, and his critiques of it miss the subtetly of the message that it was actually doing because it points out the very issues he wants to say it doesn't. This book could have been fantastic, but as it is there are only around 10-20 pages that are worthwhile. I wish he would have taken those and built upon it.

[Zach Rasey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Changed my perspective on the Goliath that is Disney

[Analese · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ed.D Reading!

I know there is a problem in this country when it comes to mega-corporations, and the fact that 90% of our nation's media is controlled by SIX of these corporations. What we get is NOT what we see when it comes to information and news.

HOWEVER, I have no patience for writers that want to make villains of companies that, while protecting their own financial interests, create wonderful spaces and safe creations for children to learn and explore creativity. Yes, there is issue with themes in Disney films that can be explored and we can demand that they as a company must to better to be more inclusive. But we can't forget two things: 1. that Disney is creating media for children who must process and digest information much more quickly, and 2. that it is really up to parents to balance what our children take and give from these sources.

This book is self-fulfilling, over-analyzed, and repetitive for lack of being able to clearly produce a point. Disney isn't the problem here, American Corporatism and Consumerism is the problem, of which Disney is just a piece of the puzzle.

[Zefyr · Rating 5 out of 5]

The debate about children's loss of innocence signifies more than society's changing attitude toward young people; it also points to the rise of a corporate culture that reasserts the primacy of individualism and competitiveness and that calls for young people to surrender their capacity to become citizens in the fullest sense—possessed of the widest range of citizen skills and rights—for a market-based notion of identity, one that suggests relinquishing their roles as critical subjects for the passive role of consuming subjects.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly critical examination of all aspects of the Walt Disney Company, from films to planned communities to partisanship to labor to merchandising to its reach into education. Excellent points about the dangers of corporate capitalism and brand loyalty.

[Tommy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is your detailed reminder on how Disney is pure evil. Let me stop right there and step out of such simple minded dualistic rhetoric because this book offers us a lot more.

What Giroux focuses on is the pedagogical enterprise that Disney is engaged in. This is not something that they have taken up and perpetrates unknowingly, rather from Walt Disney onwards they have been cognizant of this role that Disney Corp. plays. Approaching the critique of Disney this way is a refreshing path to take, since we will be able to delineate what exactly is being taught, what kind of narratives are being sold and what lessons are we learning unbeknownst to ourselves.

I think recently there have been more discussions regarding what Disney Corp. stands for, more engagement and critiques, and this book, just the way Giroux envisions it, can offer us tools to further this engagement.

Take Frozen as an example: I love that movie. I am pretty sure that a little girl who has watched it for the hundredth time has possibly, quite understandably, identified with either Elsa or Anna. The little girl goes to school only to find that her friends have bags with Elsa's face on it and again, quite understandably, she wants a bag with Elsa's face too. Now, this right here is the kind of subtle marketing that Disney Corp. plays with. Frozen isn't just a movie it is in many ways an advertisement that is supposed to create new products and sell them, simultaneously. And who are the consumers? Kids. Disney is not exactly embarrassed about how they consider kids to just subjects on whom they can try out their latest marketing tactics to turn into potential consumers. And not just any old consumers, but consumers who have their childhood memories associated, significantly, with their brand name. Finally, now we know that the happy smiley faces are actually the faces of smug, satisfied corporate execs.

But it isn't that simple. The movies also at many instances, neither always nor consistently, still at many instances offers us with subversive readings, even sometimes against Disney.

I don't even want to begin writing about the way Disneyland is managed, but Giroux gets into those details too. As I said earlier Giroux does not merely rant about Disney and then get up and walk away, but rather asks us to look at this image of innocence that Disney Corp. is selling, helps us notice the tactics used to sell it, and furthermore asks us to actively engage in pedagogy. We have to teach not just our kids, but ourselves too.

[Jeffrey Margolis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most families don't think about the reach of the Disney organization beyond trying to figure out how to afford a trip to Disney World without breaking the bank. But former Penn State Graduate School Professor Henry Giroux invites the reader to dig deeper. The Disney company is one of this country's largest publisher of children's books and is the owner of the ABC Television Network. At one time the company owned two major professional sports teams, and is currently the owner of a cruise line. Its' position places the company in the unique position of having a say as to what constitutes middle class values. Disney Company went so far as to create and build a town, Celebration, Florida, that espouses these values. Giroux writes;" Celebration is a reaffirmation of the current assumption that only a corporate-driven culture can address the the problems of the city with creativity and efficiency."
The author also points out how children have been manipulated by the Disney mystique. Originally written in 1999, "The Mouse that Roars " is still quite relevant today.

[Lulu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listening to this book as a Microsoft edge read pdf it was surprisingly clear and easy to digest. Given that it’s been 25 years since these essays were written, the issues raised seem even more prescient. I was struck by the progressivism and hopefulness in the call to action giroux promotes. We’re clearly amidst a more conservative cultural moment currently.

I sought this title out having seen bits of it referenced in an article about the Disney adult phenomena. I wanted to understand better why people were spending profound amounts of money on visiting the theme parks multiple times a year. While this book doesn’t address that phenomena directly, I think it was illuminating into the psychological needs that this corporation and its media fulfils for a subset of Americans.

[Kirsty · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Mouse that Roared, though now slightly outdated, is still a really interesting and informative read. It’s easy to forget the seedy behind-the-scenes of Disney when lost in its magic, this book reminds and teaches readers about how powerful this multinational conglomerate really is. Giroux also discusses how influential the ideologies of Disney are on children, leaving me to reflect over negative messages that completely flew over my head when I myself was a young, passive audience member. The statistics surrounding Disney mentioned in this book are mind-boggling, I can’t imagine how much power the company now has, especially in our increasingly tech-oriented age.

[Thrifted Library · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was really hoping for a breakdown and history of Disney and why the end of its innocence was. While there is some history and some breakdown, the authors are overwhelmingly so biased in what they are saying that at times it is very difficult to read between the lines of what is fact and what the message the authors are trying to portray. I would recommend reading about specific topics or first hand accounts of people who have worked for the company over spending the time reading a book about a mega corporation that is so left wing in their beliefs, that you may be tempted to skim at lengths

[Aitor · Rating 2 out of 5]

Me interesa el tema, pero da demasiados rodeos a lo mismo sin llegar casi a profundizar. Insiste en la influencia pedagógica de Disney, y pide cambios sociales y políticos al respecto, pero no profundiza en porque puede ser negativa la influencia de Disney, ni busca alternativas ni soluciones. Muy interesante el análisis de Good morning Vietnam, si hubiera analizado más obras de la misma manera, el libro hubiera ganado mucho.

[Ellen Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The ideas were okay, but the writing was insufferable. If I ever see the word "pedagogy" again, I'm going to smash a window. I had a really hard time reading it.

[Michael Motta · Rating 4 out of 5]

A prime example of how global capitalism has vanquished democracy.

[teresa · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5⭐️

[Cassandra Bremefors · Rating 4 out of 5]

läste hela skiten så tycker jag kan räkna med den.
Den var rätt intressant faktiskt.

[Kamilla Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read for my PhD

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARGH! This book... I appreciated the topic, the impact of Disney's stereotypes and illusion of the completely blissful life. Just did not love the delivery. This book is about 17 years old, I would be interested to hear if the author feels has any updated comments on the topic...

First of all, if you are going to read this book, the most important thing is that you should know what the word "pedagogy" is (because I didn't) - the author uses this word in practically every sentence. "Pedagogy refers to the production of, and complex relationship among knowledge, texts, desire, and identity; it signals how questions of audience, voice, power, and evaluation work to construct particular relations between teachers and students, institutions and society, and classrooms and communities." (Page 125!!)

I felt the book was sometimes hard to read, The author liked to make sentences stringing alot of "big" words together that took away from the topic.. I felt like I could have been more invovled if he just said what he wanted to instead of using fancy words. Also this would make the book appealing to the masses.. I can't see any non-reader picking up this book and getting all the way through.

I really appreciated the discussion parts of the book where Giroux explains the evidence to his thoughts through different Disney works, policies, etc.

Here are some highlights from the book..
"We are witnessing in this country the decline of public culture and increased attacks on the most basic institutions of democratic public life. Public funding for the arts, backing fir public schools, and support for social programs are in decline."
-- Feel this is true even 17 years after the publishing of this book...

"Growing up corporate suggests that, as commerical culture replaces public culture, the language of the market becomes a substitute for the language of democracy.... One consequence is that consumerism appears to be the only kind of citizenship being offered." These worsds are more true now, than when Giroux wrote them. It is just so sad to say that..

Giroux does offer some remedies for society by the end of the book.

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What a read on the state of our culture, and how much Disney owns of it. Disney's influence ranges from Baby Einstein, to Hannah Montana, and beyond. their business is designed from cardle to grave. As they sell culture to various cultures, ethics chnage. Politics, media, even religion is shaped and influenced by the mouse. Giroux points out the obvious and not so obvious. He does not go for the jugular, by presenting the upsides to Disney and the joy so many gain by it's existence. Still, he understands the depth of Disney's influence and what drawbacks come from it. He points to other problems with consumerism, education, corporate shadows and political interests too. A very good read, eye-opening even for the avid Disney critic! Well presented and not too heavy, even for such a dense subject.

[Maria Traficante · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Education is never innocent, because it always presupposes a particular view of citizenship, culture, and society. And yet it is this very appeal to innocence, bleached of any semblance of politics, that has become a defining feature of Disney culture and pedagogy."

This book was a real eyeopener to a Disney fan like myself. Giroux comments primarily on Disney as a corporate powerhouse, but the most interesting passages analyzed the thematic (racial, sexist, and anti-democratic) implications of movies like The Little Mermaid, The Lion King and Aladdin. Never knew that Disney also played a role running a school district, and was amused by all the rules of being an employee/ "cast member."

[Allie Roush · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book about the corruption of the Disney cooperation. I put this in my book set because it talks about a lot of social issues such as image, control over a nation, and hidden identity. I read this my senior year for a research project and feel in love with the double edge sword of identity that Disney Portrays to the public and their company. I loved reading about the dirty under belly of the Disney company and the loss of childhood innocence. Every students should read this book it really opened my eyes to the real world.

[Wesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thought provoking look at the dangers of corporate growth. It's a good reminder that you always need to keep in mind what's going on behind the curtain and remember that no matter how friendly Disney's public face is, they're still looking out for Disney first.

The book is a bit of a tough slog because it's obviously written by academics without a lot of thought to the layperson but there are a lot of important ideas hiding behind the overly complex jargon.

[Jake · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the end of the day, Giroux searches every nook and cranny for problematic elements in the Disney Corp., and believe me, there's lots to be scared about. However, I do think Giroux goes a little overboard at times with analysis, reading too much into some ideas. But for someone who is looking to become further enlightened in the world of Disney, this is worth checking out - I would recommend Disney Discourse as well.

[Rebecca Dunbar · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book that has been both helpful and useful for my dissertation. Chapters 1, 2 and 5 are very strong - Chapter 3 is a weak and pared down version of Amy Hill's 'Good Girls and Wicked Witches' and the collaborative 'From Mouse to Mermaid' - I would read/cite them over Giroux's essay discussing gender stereotypes in Disney movies from 1989 onwards.

[Dalice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Of all the Disney critic books I've read, this one did the least for me. While the argument that Disney has an almost incomprehensible of power and cultural influence is undeniable, the book has a lackluster and as-if-uninterested voice about the situation. Overall, the book is okay--but it doesn't really bring much to the table.