Oct. Blog Post

Blog post  

Disney has effected the lives of children all over the world. Generation after generation, children have grown up with some sort of impact by a Disney film. There are not too many people I know who didn’t have a favorite Disney movie. Disney is extremely popular and one of the biggest companies in the world. Disney for many years has produced worldwide classics, from Snow White to Frozen. After watching the documentary, in class I do see where the critics of Disney are coming from. They made good points about how some Disney scenes are offensive to the viewers. As an adult, it is easy for me to see how there could be some racism and sexism. But I feel little kids don’t know that is going on. Disney brings innocent joy and happiness to every kid that watches it. Have you ever seen a kid at Disneyland? They have a huge smile the whole time and are having the greatest time of their life. Disney teaches kids a lot of morals that the documentary didn’t credit them for. In every Disney movie, the main character has a pet that they love, it helps teaches kids to care for animals. Loyalty is another trait Disney focuses on every main character is loyal to their friends and families no matter what, such as Bell in Beauty and The Beast, who went to go save her dad. Courage is shown in  Mulan, when Mulan goes and becomes a solider to protect her families honor. Even though there are things that Disney may not being doing right doesn’t mean their movies don’t teach kids valuable lessons and values.

            Miami University of Ohio published a webpage for their Advanced Social Psychology class. The article, “Disney's Portrayal of Culture and Race in Film”, discusses something the documentary didn’t bring up. When Disney was filming Pocahontas the company wanted to make sure they respected Native American history. According to the website, “Disney sought counsel from actual decedents of Powhatan Indians as well as incorporating resources from academics, historians, and the leaders of American Indian organizations.” (“Disney's Portrayal of Culture and Race in Film”) I thought this was important information because it shows Disney does want to try to be sensitive to other groups and that they are trying to make leaps and bounds to prove that documentary wrong. Also that documentary we watched was dated, Disney made some wrongs in the past but maybe after seeing that documentary they decided to change for the better.     

            Disney is a company that I feel brings pure joy to children. I don’t feel we should stop letting kids watch Disney movies because some movies decades ago were offensive. Disney is a part of every kid’s childhood and the movies leave mark in their lives. My grandmother was close friends with Walt Disney’s daughter and my grandma has always assured he was the sweetest man to her and her family. She went to the first screening of Bambi with his daughter and at ninety-three it is one of her fondest memories. I genuinely believe it was Walt Disney’s dream to create movies and stories that would bring timeless joy to children everywhere.

Works Cited

Disney Portrayal of Culture and Race in Film. (2014, March 11). Retrieved October 28, 2016, from https://www.units.miamioh.edu/psybersite/disney/disneyculture.shtml