When it comes to useful animation, many think of standard examples, such as motion graphics used in advertising or documentaries. However, useful films are any piece that is “made to sell, promote, or to teach” (Petter 2019, 74). While many…
Animals with human traits have populated the fables of Aesop and the fairytales of the Brothers Grimm to entertain and educate children and adults for hundreds of years. Therefore, is no great surprise that this aspect of the genre of…
Whilst researching how animals have been depicted by Walt Disney Animation Studios (WADAS)[1], I found that chickens were featured in nineteen WDAS films (34%) (Stanton, 2019). This makes chickens the most commonly depicted species of bird in WDAS films. This…
Throughout human history, the labor of civil rights has been done by the oppressed. In disability advocacy especially, disability representation and media have been amplified, and critiqued, by the Disability Visibility Project. It is also the assertion of this community…
Thanks to its legacy of animated fairy tale films, Disney will always have princesses. But will it always have the Disney Princess franchise? In an attempt to come to grips with her feelings about the astonishingly lucrative line of merchandise,…
Steamboat Willie, the first fully synchronized animated film that also introduced Mickey and Minnie Mouse, was first publicly presented on November 18, 1928, at Universal’s Colony Theater in New York City. Unlike all other iterations of Disneyland around the world,…
Walt Disney Animation Studios (hereafter: WDAS) are both famous and infamous for their individualized anthropomorphic animal characters, such as Mickey Mouse, Simba, and Baloo. Unsurprisingly, dogs are depicted in more WDAS films than any other animal species. Yet, perhaps surprisingly,…
One of the most significant aspects of the Disney theme parks is the use of Walt Disney’s mechanical creations that continuously entertain in many, if not all, attractions. The history behind this inspiration is that, on his many vacations, Walt…
It would not be controversial to say that Disney’s historical record of representing women is complicated at best. It becomes even more complicated when we consider the Disney Princess franchise, a plethora of paratexts that arguably undermine any progressive readings…
The studio narrative of Pixar Animation is predicated on the company’s groundbreaking research and the development of computer-generated animation technology, and the notable commercial success and critical acclaim of its feature films. Pixar has been acknowledged with numerous awards both…
