Deconstructing Disney

by Eleanor Byrne, Martin McQuillan

Demonising Disney is nothing new. Disney films have long been synonymous with a certain conservative, patriarchal, heterosexual ideology, occupying a centre-stage position at the heart of the evil empire. Deconstructing Disney takes issue with knee-jerk polarities, overturning classical oppositions and recognising that, just as the Disney ‘text’ has changed, so too must the terms of critical engagement. This book is a sharply focused deconstruction of the political culture — and the cultural politics — of the Disney canon in the years since the emergence of the so-called New World Order. Eleanor Byrne and Martin McQuillan offer a critical encounter with Disney which alternates between readings of individual texts and wider thematic concerns such as race, gender and sexuality, the broader context of American contemporary culture, and the global ambitions and insularity of the last great superpower. The movies discussed include The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Pocohontas, Snow White, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, Dumbo, Peter Pan, The Jungle Book, Hercules and Mulan.

Genres: Nonfiction, Research

224 pages, Paperback

First published October 20, 1999

Reviews

[Phoebe]

I partially read this for my dissertation.

It was hard to read as a Disney fan however i tried to keep a completely open mind, and with that I still found this book to be so one sided and really negative. So much speculation over a company that makes animated films. Id say the authors have an unhealthy obsession with trying to unpick Disney.

I did my best but this book actually made me feel so down with its heavy words.

[Jenn Morgans]

I enjoyed this a lot, but it is hugely overwritten and a bunch of the assertions are gigantic implausible leaps.

[lizeindisney]

[Library book]

[Kamilla Peter]

Read for my PhD

[Ellie Hanjian]

I got this book from the Harvard bookstore basement and now I know why it was in the Harvard bookstore basement

[Taylor]

Well, this is deconstruction so really anything goes. I really liked the reading of The Little Mermaid as the Soviet Union [under the sea] vs. America [the land]. However, Hercules as Bill Clinton? It's hit or miss book but interesting nonetheless.

[Darrell]

a quasi Marxist, in theory queer friendly semiotic breakdown of Disney films

a bit overwritten and self important for my tastes but an interesting idea that the authors managed to execute