Disney, Pixar, and the Hidden Messages of Children's Films

by M. Keith Booker

This work is a wide-ranging survey of American children's film that provides detailed analysis of the political implications of these films, as well as a discussion of how movies intended for children have come to be so persistently charged with meaning.

Disney, Pixar, and the Hidden Messages of Children's Films provides wide-ranging scrutiny of one of the most lucrative American entertainment genres. Beyond entertaining children―and parents―and ringing up merchandise sales, are these films attempting to shape the political views of young viewers? M. Keith Booker examines this question with a close reading of dozens of films from Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks, and other studios, debunking some out-there claims― The Ant Bully communist propaganda?―while seriously considering the political content of each film.

Disney, Pixar, and the Hidden Messages of Children's Films recaps the entire history of movies for young viewers―from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to this year's Up ―then focuses on the extraordinary output of children's films in the last two decades. What Booker finds is that by and large, their lessons are decidedly, comfortably mainstream and any political subtext more often than not is inadvertent. Booker also offers some advice to parents for helping children read films in a more sophisticated way.

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

What I took from this book is that Booker dislikes almost every Disney or Pixar movie (Dumbo seems to be the one exception) because they are racist, sexist, and focused too much on individuality instead of creating some animated world of ultra-leftist utopia. I'm a liberal, but Booker's constant focus on snippy little political attacks became exhausting quickly.

Oddly, he enjoys the computer animated Dreamworks films, seemingly because of their constant adult-focused pop culture references, which to me are the worst part of those films.

Oh, I did find what I imagine would be Booker's dream cartoon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyxYdj...

[K · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was a disappointed with this book. It was basically just a plot synopsis of all the Disney and other children's movies since Snow White, with general commentary about themes, etc. Then at the end he basically says that all these movies have different themes which may or may not be obvious to children, and it's the parent's responsibility for bringing some of these other messages to their attention. So while he did raise some interesting points about Disney, their competitors, and the movies in general, and I did learn some things about the current players and how they started out, it really didn't give me much in the way of new information, and I have a hard time figuring out the point of the book. All in all I wouldn't recommend it, unless you're interested in knowing the plots of all the movies without needing to watch them.

[Cory · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was interesting, but overall a bit disappointing. His conclusions were neither earth-shattering nor voluminous.

[Wawan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a comprehensive introductory guide to children films in general. The reader can find Keith Booker's discussions on the main characteristics of Disney movies and Pixar movies. The concluding chapter summarizes well the development of children film in the United States along with the tendencies that can be found in each of the stages, the early Disney, later Disney, Disney-Pixar, etc.

What sets Keith Booker's books apart from those by other academicians is his clear presentation. He has the rare ability to present complicated materials in plain English. If people talk about writing with the awareness of audience, I think Keith Booker's books can be used as an example for such awareness. His prose sounds so much like having him in front of us, sitting on his chair in his office, telling us about children movies and the messages that they potentially carry. I've also always found myself fascinated by his willingness to explain certain technical cultural studies terms at certain moments in his book.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read, although none of the messages he discovers were exactly hidden. It's a good overview of children's films and the attitudes they convey though.