Children's Programming: Disney and Pixar

History

In the 1950s, after making a name in the film industry with Mickey Mouse shorts and such signature feature-length fairy tales as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Cinderella (1959), Walt (use of Disney's first name is in keeping with the folksy image he worked to project and avoids confusion between reference to the man and reference to the company) used a deal with American Broadcasting Company (ABC) television to finance the construction of Disneyland, his dream amusement park. In return, Disney produced a one-hour weekly anthology television program, Disneyland, for the network. Because the television show discussed past and upcoming Disney films and reported on the progress of the park's construction (later focusing on the larger Walt Disney World in Florida), it served as a constant reminder to the audience of other Disney products. At the park, attractions were built and continue to be updated to re-create classic and current Disney movie settings. Disney animated characters, played by costumed employees, populate the “Magic Kingdom.” In addition to acting as a platform for promoting Disney films and parks, the original television program, Disneyland (which later became The Wonderful World of Disney), aired cartoons, films documenting nature and animals, live-action features, and miniseries dramatizations of historical figures, such as Davy Crockett. By the 1960s—thanks to its commercial success with Disneyland, The Wonderful World of Disney, The Mickey Mouse Club, signature feature-length animated films, live-action family films (such as 1961's Swiss Family Robinson and 1964's Mary Poppins), and amusement parks—Disney had established itself as the preferred media source for “family entertainment.”

Today, the Disney corporation owns such well-known film industry subsidiaries as Walt Disney and Touchstone Pictures, Miramax Films, and Pixar; broadcast and cable television networks including The Disney Channel, ABC, ABC Family, ESPN, and Lifetime; and myriad music, radio, magazine, and other media entities. As a result, it is virtually impossible for a media consumer not to have been exposed to the cultural influence of Disney's programming, and other products, for children.

As the leading purveyor of family entertainment over the course of the last 80 years, Disney has offered audiences stories of princesses and princes, heroes and heroines, victims and villains. Gender plays a central role in these narratives. Scholars from a number of disciplines—including but not limited to psychology, film studies, communication, sociology, media studies, and cultural studies—have critiqued the various ways in which both classic and contemporary Disney film and television programming depicts masculinity and femininity. So-called classic Disney animated films (such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1950's Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty) arguably laid the groundwork for film treatments of established folk fairy tales. In doing so, the studio relied on traditional and stereotypical gender roles. Contemporary animated films from Disney and Pixar tend to offer more complex gender constructions, reflecting shifting cultural norms and consumer demographics. Similarly, Disney television programming, from the original Mickey Mouse Club to today's Hannah Montana, can also be seen as reflecting the same societal changes with regard to gender roles over the last 50 years. Although it has demonstrated a willingness to adapt to changing trends, Disney's successful commercial formula rarely veers far from or overtly challenges accepted gender norms.

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