Deconstructing Disney
Rachel Casey, Erin Casey
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Two life-long Disney fans take on the Disney film catalog, beginning with the animated features, and discuss with a critical lens. New episodes the first Tuesday of every month. @DeconDisney on Twitter.
Episode results
Deconstructing Disney
Jul 4, 2022
Pocahontas
Episode Summary
In pursuit of another Oscar-worthy animated feature, Disney chose a culturally significant protagonist and pumped up the romance for _Pocahontas _(1995). Unsurprisingly, good intentions didn’t prevent a group of white men from creating a hugely problematic film, rife with gross historical inaccuracies, racism, and misogyny! _Pocahontas _underperformed at the box office, and the only Oscar went to Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz for best original song.
Episode Bibliography
Aleiss, A. (1995, June 24). _Maidens of Hollywood: Pocahontas is the pure expression of filmmakers’ fantasies about Indian women._ Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-06-24-me-16519-story.html
Allen, B. (2013). Female leadership in Powhatan Indian tribes: Changes from first contact with the Europeans to the present day [Poster presentation]. https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1012&context=uresposters
Bodenner, C. (2015, June 30). _Does Disney’s Pocahontas do more harm than good? Your thoughts_. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/06/pocahontas-feminism/397190/
Bradley, D. (1995, June 23). Disney gives Pocahontas sexiest cartoon image ever. _The Free Lance-Star_, 26.
Červinka, P. (2015, April 21). _The making of Pocahontas — A legend comes to life_. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJApIC4BIhM
Chief Roy Crazy Horse. (n.d.). _The Pocahontas Myth_. Powhatan.org. Retrieved June 15, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20131024050146/http://powhatan.org/pocc.html
_Chief Seattle Speech – The Suquamish Tribe_. (n.d.). The Suquamish Tribe. https://suquamish.nsn.us/home/about-us/chief-seattle-speech/
Cochran, J. (1995, June 16). _Pocahontas needed an ethnic look._ Entertainment Weekly. https://ew.com/article/1995/06/16/pocahontas-needed-ethnic-look/
Custalow, L. L., & Daniel, A.L. (2016). _The true story of Pocahontas: The other side of history. _Fulcrum Publishing.
_Disney Magazine: Cast and Crew Interviews_. (1995, July 31). The Waterfalls: A Pocahontas site. Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://cbl.orcein.net/pocahontas/misc/interviews.htm
Dundes, L. (2001). Disney’s modern heroine Pocahontas: Revealing age-old gender stereotypes and role discontinuity under a facade of liberation. _The Social Science Journal, 38, _353-365.
Dutka, E. (1995, June 11). _The Angriest Actor: Native American activist Russell Means focused his fierce will at Wounded Knee. Can a revolutionary co-exist with 'Pocahontas'?_ Los Angeles Times. https://web.archive.org/web/20150524095505/http://articles.latimes.com/1995-06-11/entertainment/ca-11761_1_native-american
Ebert, R. (1995, June 16). _Pocahontas movie review & film summary (1995)_. RogerEbert.com. Retrieved June 15, 2022, from https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/pocahontas-1995
Ebert, R., & Siskel, G. (2019, January 6). _Congo, The Glass Shield, Pocahontas, Fluke, 1995 – Siskel and Ebert Movie Reviews_. Siskel and Ebert Movie Reviews. Retrieved June 15, 2022, from https://siskelebert.org/?p=3485
Edgerton, G., & Jackson, K. M. (1996). Redesigning Pocahontas: Disney, the “White Man's Indian,” and the Marketing of Dreams. _Journal of Popular Film & Television_, _24_(2). doi: 10.1080/01956051.1996.9943718
Gilbert, S. (2015, June 23). _Revisiting 'Pocahontas' at 20_. The Atlantic. Retrieved June 11, 2022, from https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/06/revisiting-pocahontas/396626/
Gleiberman, O. (1995, June 16). _Pocahontas_. Entertainment Weekly. https://ew.com/article/1995/06/16/pocahontas-4/
Goldberg, E., & Gabriel, M. (1995). _Pocahontas _[Film]. Walt Disney Pictures.
Green, R. (1975). The Pocahontas perplex: The image of Indian women in American culture. _The Massachusetts Review_, _16_(4), 698-714. JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/25088595
Kempley, R. (1995, June 23). _'Pocahontas': A hit or myth proposition_. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/pocahontas.htm#kempley
Kutsuzawa, K. (2000). Disney's Pocahontas: Reproduction of gender, Orientalism, and the strategic construction of racial harmony in the Disney empire. _Asian Journal of Women's Studies_, _6_(4), 39-65. doi: 10.1080/12259276.2000.11665893
Mallory, M. (2012, February 23). _Pocahontas and The Mouse's Gong Show_. Animation Magazine. https://www.animationmagazine.net/top-stories/pocahontas-and-the-mouses-gong-show/
Ness, M. (2016, February 18). _The uneasy mix of prestige and a cute raccoon: Disney's Pocahontas_. Tor.com. https://www.tor.com/2016/02/18/the-uneasy-mix-of-prestige-and-a-cute-raccoon-disneys-pocahontas/
Ono, K. A., & Buescher, D. T. (2001). Deciphering Pocahontas: Unpackaging the commodification of a Native American woman. _Critical Studies in Media Communication, 18_(1), 23-43. doi: 10.1080/15295030109367122
Pewewardy, C. (1996). The Pocahontas paradox: A cautionary tale for educators. _Journal of Navajo Education_, (Fall/Winter). http://www.hanksville.org/storytellers/pewe/writing/Pocahontas.html
_Pocahontas (1995 film)_. (n.d.). Wikipedia. Retrieved June 5, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocahontas_(1995_film)
Rickey, C. (1995, June 11). _Disney takes over N.y. park for premiere of 'Pocahontas' to Many, the four-screen event was woodstock for the family._ philly.com. Retrieved June 15, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20140728162302/http://articles.philly.com/1995-06-11/news/25692966_1_disney-standards-pocahontas-central-park-conservancy
Rickey, C. (1995, June 18). _Disney's 'Pocahontas': Is it fact or fiction? What did she wear? Did she style her hair? Were she and John Smith a pair?_ philly.com. Retrieved June 11, 2022, from https://web.archive.org/web/20150626153346/http://articles.philly.com/1995-06-18/entertainment/25692271_1_pocahontas-irene-bedard-powhatan-confederacy
Rountree, H.C. (1998). Powhatan Indian women: The people Captain John Smith barely saw. _Ethnohistory, 45_(1), 1-29. https://doi.org/10.2307/483170
Rountree, H. (2020, December 7). _Marriage in Early Virginia Indian Society – Encyclopedia Virginia_. Encyclopedia Virginia. https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/marriage-in-early-virginia-indian-society/
Sito, T. (1996). _Fight to the death, but don’t hurt anybody! Memories of political correctness_. Animation World Network. https://www.awn.com/mag/issue1.7/articles/sito1.7.html
Smith, J. (1624/1907). _Generall historie of Virginia, New England & the Summer Isles: Together with the true travels, adventures and observations, and a sea grammar. _Macmillan.
Stack, P. (1995, June 18). _Disney's new animated feature / Meryl who? Pocahontas has summer's steamiest romance_. SFGATE. Retrieved June 11, 2022, from https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Disney-s-new-animated-feature-Meryl-Who-3030920.php
Steed, K. (2014, October 7). _Interview with Glen Keane, Disney veteran and legendary animation artist (Part 1)_. Skwigly. Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://www.skwigly.co.uk/glen-keane-interview/
Sterbenz, C. (2014, April 5). _The real story of Pocahontas is much darker than the Disney movie_. Business Insider. https://www.businessinsider.com/the-real-story-of-pocahontas-2014-4
Strong, P. T. (1995, June 30). Review of _Pocahontas _[Blog post]. Popular Culture and American Culture Associations/H-Net Discussion List.
Ziebarth, C. (2005, December 19). _A conversation with Eric Goldberg_. Animated Views. https://animatedviews.com/2005/a-conversation-with-eric-goldberg-2/
_Thanks to Katie Seelen for her research assistance. _
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Deconstructing a Fairytale: Overthinking Disney Movies
Jun 5, 2022
Toy Story 2 - Deconstructed
Welcome to our mini-series on the Toy Story franchise! Today, we're discussing the sequel that almost destroyed Pixar - Toy Story 2. These four episodes on the Toy Story franchise will be a little different, we're starting each one with the "Toy Story story" to share the history of how that film came to be, before we get to breaking down the movie. Surprisingly, Toy Story 2 has a wild history. Did you know that the film was accidentally deleted? And then deleted again on purpose? We also revisit the question, "Who is Andy's Dad?" And we consider a new Pixar theory - that Jessie originally belonged to Andy's Mom. Think we're crazy? Join us as we deconstruct Toy Story 2!
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COMMNTD
Jun 25, 2022
Deconstructing Disney: The Sword in the Stone (1963)
Join us as we take a deep dive into the making, music, origins & last impact of Disney's 18th animated movie, 1963's The Sword in the Stone
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Wayfinding with Tilly & Audrey
Oct 4, 2021
Deconstructing Disney
Today, we are discussing how children’s media corporations condition young people to internalize destructive gender stereotypes. We’ll first focus on traditional Disney princesses, but then we’ll also be taking a look at modern day Disney, like the live action movies and shows found on Disney channel. In this deep dive, we hope to answer some questions about how the media can shape our perceptions of ourselves and the world around us.
Ted Talk: "How Movies Teach Manhood" with Colin Stokes - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ueOqYebVhtc
Sources Referenced:
* "Tough Turtles and Pretty Princesses: A Content Analysis of Gender Representations in Popular Children's Media" by Shannon Case, Georgetown University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
* "Unlearning Disney: Developing a Feminist Identity while Critiquing Disney Channel Original Movies" by Maura Leaden, Rollins College
* "Researchers have found a major problem with ‘The Little Mermaid’ and other Disney movies" by Jeff Guo, The Washington Post
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Sovereign Nations
Apr 5, 2022
Deconstructing Disney: Part 1 | Public Occurrences, Ep. 84
The tiara is tainted, the pixie dust has turned to dirt and the polish of the previously esteemed brand of Disney is coming to an inglorious end.
Before we examine the disrupting and dismantling of the Disney Corporation, we examine the courageous and imaginative genesis of all things Disney: Walter Elias Disney.
Disney has been a cultural pillar of our nation for nearly 80 years. To watch this treasured jewel of American cultural influence degrade into a rough, woke beast is tragic for so many of us who have benefited and enjoyed the fruit of the Disney brand.
The question must be asked:
Is Disney worth saving?
Or
Should we cast Disney into the eternal trash heap forever?
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