Walt Disney Studios

by: Mingchung (15 years old)

In the rise of the 21st century, the magnifying use of media has shaped society. Media refers to the means of mass communication. Whether it be in the format of written, oral or broadcasted transmission, the overall objective of media is to impact a wide audience. Of the vast variety of media, movies and cartoons tend to dominate the market for the younger audience. These productions aim to inspire positive morals, as children are easily influenced. Founded by Walt Disney in 1923, Walt Disney Studios is widely-regarded as the leading corporation responsible for the creation of youthful media. Walt Disney was born December 5, 1901, in Chicago, Illinois. He was an American entrepreneur and animator. In 1923, Walt Disney arrived in California where he created his first animated production - Alice’s Comedies. Walt Disney gave Alice’s Comedies to a distributor in New York, who released it to the public on October 16, 1923. This led to the establishment of Walt Disney Studios (1)(4). During Walt Disney’s life, he created several iconic characters including, but not limited to Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Pluto. Walt Disney Studios also went on to produce numerous live action PG films such as The Black Hole, TRON, Never Cry Wolf, Trenchcoat, and Max Devlin. However, these efforts proved unsuccessful due to the family-friendly reputation of Disney. The son-in-law of Walt Disney, Ron Miller, created a protective subsidiary company called “Touchstone Pictures” in 1984. Touchstone Pictures allowed Disney to maintain commercially relevant to the competitive market of live-action films (5). Generally, the primary objective of Walt Disney Studios is to be a positive inspiration. Nevertheless, film critiques and movie analysis regarding Mulan, The Little Mermaid, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit argue otherwise. The unrealistic societal norms, the implicit messaging, and racism explored in Walt Disney Studios’ cinematic productions foster negative influences on society.

When examining the unrealistic societal norms in Disney films, one can observe the presence of gender issues. During the era when Disney was established, women were commonly mistreated and body-shamed. These issues are commonly portrayed in the film Mulan. In Mulan, the diegesis consists of a girl attending a war in the pursuit of protecting her father. This shows the use of gender roles; the army only allows men to participate in war campaigns. Before Mulan participates in the war, she is expected to marry someone of the royal family. In an attempt of doing so, Mulan contacts a matchmaker, thus she must behave appropriately and look attractive, provoking gender stereotypes. The majority of these stereotypes are found in songs. At 7:17, Honor To Us All is sung: “Men want girls with good taste, calm, obedient, who work fast paced. With good breeding and a tiny waist.” (7). These lyrics partially illustrate society’s acceptable female behaviour expectations. This is represented in the line “Men want girls with good taste, calm, obedient, who work fast paced. With good breeding….”. This can influence young women to behave or act accordingly. Honor To Us All also explores female body imaging. The segment “...and a tiny waist” refers to the ideal physique of a woman. Another song called A Girl Worth Fighting For also depicts physical expectations. Specifically, the quote “I want her paler than the moon, with eyes that shine like stars… It all depends what she cooks like, beef, pork, chicken, mmm.” represents cultural beauty standards (7). In Chinese culture, women utilize cosmetics to appear pale in facial colour, portraying the alleged definition of beauty. Walt Disney Studios has attempted exemplify this within the lyrics of A Girl Worth Fighting For. When conceived, these idealizations can have a negative influence on the young women of society.

As Walt Disney Studios generally operates as a children's film producing company, they explicitly inspire positive morals. However, many do not notice the negative subliminal messages and implicit meaning behind the positive morals within The Little Mermaid. The diegesis accounts a story about a mermaid named Ariel and her ambition of marrying a human Prince - Eric. Ariel utilizes a spell that transforms her into a human for three days, in an attempt to kiss Eric before the third night. In doing so, Ariel must surrender her talented voice to Ursula, who plays the role of a devil. Ursula sings Poor Unfortunate Souls at 41:00 during the scene which the spell is brewed: 

“Have we got a deal? If I become human, I'll never be with my father or sisters again. But you'll have your man! Life's full of tough choices, isn't it? Oh, and there is one more thing we haven't discussed the subject of payment. But I don't have-. I'm not asking much, just a token really, a trifle. What I want from you is your voice.” (6)

This quote shows the request Ursula is proposing to Ariel. Ariel positively enlightens the young audience to strive for their goals. The implicit message appears when she accepts the consequences by surrendering her voice. This can negatively impact children, as it suggests that one should submit their talents for their goals. Alternatively, this scene can suggest the acceptability of making personal choices until it negatively affects others. When Ariel surrenders her voice to become human, not only is she sacrificing her voice, but she is sacrificing her sisters’ and father’s ability to interact with her. This represents the selfish choices youth can make. Near the resolution of The Little Mermaid, one of the characters says: “Children should be free to live their lives.” (6) Unquestionably, this quote promotes the freedom of children. Yet, it can additionally suggest that children should leave the authority of their parental guardians to live independently; children are not prepared to live independently at such a young age. In The Little Mermaid, Walt Disney Studios attempted to promote positive morals, nonetheless, the concealed implicit meanings of these morals can result in a negative effect. 

    Unlike the previously discussed films, Who Framed Roger Rabbit was produced by Touchstone Pictures. As a result, its themes possess more maturity when compared to previously analyzed animations. In Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the theme of racism presents itself, as the film involves two character groups: toons and humans. These two character groups are segregated throughout the film. Eddie Valiant is the human protagonist of Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Early into the film, he expresses his initial opinion regarding toons. Valiant simply says “Toons.” (8). This line is additionally expressed with an irritated emotion, showing his attitude towards toons; he despises toons due to the murder of Valiant’s brother committed by a toon. This can suggest the promotion of prejudice to the audience. Subsequently, a friend of Valiant, R.K. Maroon states: “I got him on loan from Disney. Him and his cast of Fantasia. Best part is… they work for peanuts!” (8). An interpretation of this quote can be conceived as a reference to 19th-century western slavery. During this period, slaves could be marketed and work at cheap labour costs, represented by “I got him on loan from Disney… they work for peanuts!”. Themes such as racism can negatively alter one’s mindset concerning a different race by promoting segregation ideas to its audience. Therefore, the apparent influential theme of racism in Who Framed Roger Rabbit contributes to the negative impact of Touchstone Pictures.

Walt Disney Studios has created numerous iconic productions. In their productions, they attempt to deliver positive morals to its audience. The films Mulan, The Little Mermaid, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit feature the exploration of unrealistic societal norms, implicit messaging, and racism. When considering these negative effects, one can question whether Walt Disney Studios is truly influencing the young members of society appropriately.

沃尔特·迪士尼影业

作者： 夏明强 翻译： 影Shadow

21世纪伊始，社会就开始大量媒体化。媒体是指大众传播的手段， 无论是书面，口头，还是广播的形式，总体目标都是为了影响广泛的人群。其中，电影和动画片在主导性地影响着年轻观众，特别是激发儿童积极的道德观念。创立于1923年的华特·迪士尼影业被公认为世界前沿的年轻媒体公司。美国企业家及动画师迪斯尼于1901年12月5日出生在伊利诺伊州的芝加哥。自 1923年到达加利福尼亚后，他创作了首部动画作品《爱丽丝的喜剧》并赠予了纽约的一家发行商。该剧于1923年10月16日向公众发行，这导致了沃尔特·迪斯尼工作室的成立。

华特·迪士尼毕生创造了几个标志性人物，除了家喻户晓的米老鼠，唐老鸭和冥王，还制作了许多实景PG电影，例如《黑洞》，《 TRON》，《不哭的狼》，《Trenchcoat》和《Max Devlin》。由于迪斯尼一向以家庭和友谊的主题著称，这些努力均告失败。后来，沃尔特·迪斯尼的女婿罗恩·米勒于1984年创建了一家名为“ Touchstone Pictures”的子公司，从而使迪士尼得以在商业上与实景电影匹敌。总体来讲，华特迪士尼影业的主要目标是焕发大家积极的灵感。当然，关于《花木兰》，《小美人鱼》和《陷害罗杰·兔子》的影评不容乐观。沃尔特迪斯尼电影作品中隐射的一些的不切实际的社会规范和信息信息及种族主义，也对社会产生了负面影响。

对迪士尼电影的研究发现一个不切实际的社会现象那就是性别歧视问题的存在。在迪斯尼成立之际，妇女普遍地受到虐待和羞辱。这些问题在电影《花木兰》中有大量描述。《花木兰》讲的是一个为了保护父亲而女扮男装替父从军的女孩德故事。这说明了那时军队只允许男人参加战争。花木兰参加战争之前，原本会嫁给王室成员的。为此，木兰得按照媒人的要求必须举止得体，外表诱人，树立典型刻板的淑女形象。这些观念大频繁反应在歌曲中。《向所有人致敬》里歌词提到：“男人希望女孩们品味好，安静，服从，工作节奏快。会生孩子，腰部细小”。这些歌词反映了社会对女性的普遍期望，从而会影响年轻女性的举止或行为。《向所有人致敬》还探讨了女性的理想体格像 “ ...细腰”这一段。另一首名为《为战斗而奋斗的女孩》的歌也描绘了男性对女性身体体格的理想期待。比方，“我要她比月亮更苍白，眼睛像星星一样闪亮……她的厨艺如何也相当重要”。这些都代表了对女性的审美标准。在中国文化中，女性利用化妆使脸色显得苍白，描绘出所谓的美丽。沃尔特·迪斯尼工作室在《女孩奋战》的歌词中体现这一点，这对社会年轻女性会或多或少产生负面影响。

由于沃尔特·迪斯尼制片厂是一家儿童电影制作公司，明确地激发了积极的道德典范。但是，许多人没有注意到《小美人鱼》内消极的潜意识信息和道德背后的隐含含义。这部影片讲述了一个名叫爱丽尔的美人鱼及其与人类王子埃里克结婚的野心的故事。爱丽尔利用咒语将自己变成人类三天，试图在第三天晚上之前亲吻埃里克。为此，爱丽尔必须将自己才华横溢的声音交给恶魔尔苏拉。尔苏拉在酿造该咒语的场景中的演唱了《可怜的不幸灵魂》：

“我们达成协议了吗？如果我成为人类，我将永远不会再与父亲或姐妹在一起。但是你会有你的男人！生活充满艰难的选择，不是吗？我们还没有讨论付款的主题。但是我不管。我的要求不高，只是一个小小的象征。我要你的就是你的声音。“

以上引用谈的是尔苏拉向爱丽尔提出要求。 爱丽尔启发年轻观众为自己的目标要积极地而奋斗。这暗示着当她通过放弃自己的声音作为条件时，会对孩子产生负面影响，因为这表明为实现自己的目标而牺牲才华是理所当然的。或者，此幕意味着我们认可在做出个人选择时都应该对他人产生负面影响。当爱丽尔放弃自己的声音成为人类时，她不仅要牺牲自己的声音，而且还要牺牲自己和姐妹及父亲的亲密关系。这暗示了年轻人可以做出的自私自利的选择。在接近小美人鱼做决定之时，其中一个人物说：“儿童应该有自由生活的权利。” 毫无疑问，这句话促进了儿童的自由。但是，同时也建议了孩子应该离开父母监护人的权限独立生活。而儿童并不具备独立生活的能力。在《小美人鱼》中，沃尔特·迪斯尼制片厂试图弘扬积极的道德观，然而，这些道德观念的隐性含义仍可能产生负面影响。

与先前讨论的电影不同，《陷害罗杰兔子的人》由试金石影片制作。与前面分析的动画相比，其主题具有更高的成熟度。然而该片宣扬了种族主义的主题，因为它涉及两个角色群体：卡通人物和人类。这两个群体在整个电影中是分开的。埃迪·瓦利安是《谁陷害了罗杰·兔子》的主角。在电影的早期，他表达了对卡通的初步见解。这条线还表明了他对卡通不满的态度。他因埃迪的兄弟被一个卡通谋杀了从而藐视卡通。其中有句话就隐射了19世纪西方奴隶制。那时，可以贩卖奴隶而且可以廉价地剥削他们的劳动力。种族主义的主题可以通过向受众宣传种族隔离观念，从而负面地影响人们对不同种族的观念。因此，《谁陷害了罗杰·兔子》中的种族主义主题对试金石影片带来了负面影响。

沃尔特·迪斯尼工作室已经创作了许多标志性作品。在他们的作品中，他们试图向观众传达积极的道德风尚。电影《花木兰》，《小美人鱼》和《谁陷害了罗杰·兔子》，讲述了对不现实的社会规范，隐性信息和种族主义的探索。在考虑这些负面影响时，人们可以质疑沃尔特·迪斯尼影城是否确实在正确地影响着年轻的社会成员。