Introduction

In high school, I took a four-year Digital Media/Broadcast Journalism course, which allowed me to explore my passion for film. I learned to see past the explosions and special effects and understand the techniques of broadcasting to an audience and camera work. So when I saw Decoding Disney as an option for my Writing 101 requirement, I knew it was the class for me. I learned that Disney movies incorporate more film actions than many of the other “serious” films we analyzed during my senior year in the Digital Media/Broadcast Journalism Program. Typically, we watched critically acclaimed dramas or movies that had obscure camera shots: Movies we could learn from (Ferris Buhler, Reservoir Dogs, Saving Private Ryan…). I remember Mr. Brown announcing that we were analyzing Frozen and we all laughed. In our four years of taking his class, we never analyzed a cartoon or a Disney movie. Most of the other students in the class were excited to analyze a movie that they had already seen while I was rather vexed. Watching a seemingly simple children’s film did not sit well with my mature, champagne taste in movies that I had acquired as a result of my time in the program. However, Mr. Brown instructed me to have an open mind and pay close attention to angles, colors, and backgrounds. I was surprised by what I saw. Not only did Frozen have one of the most complex scene progressions, but it also had a beautiful story. Another student and I decided to do our final video of our high school careers’ emulating the colors and sound score of Frozen. If analyzing Disney movies was not enough for anyone to want to take a course, all the upperclassmen I talked to recommended trying to get into the class, as it is a coveted one. Even on the Official Duke 2020 Facebook page a girl wrote,

If students are posting on social media hoping and wishing that they could be in this class, I believe it is safe to say that this class is incredibly memorable.  

            My first Disney movie experience (that I can remember) was sitting alone on the stairs of my God-mothers house while my sister and god-sister watched Sleeping Beauty. I was terrified. Maleficent and the eerie, green-glowing spinning wheel were too much for my four-year-old brain -- I swore off all princess movies after that moment. I refused to watch Beauty and the Beast and Snow White and would run out of the room whenever my mom put them on; However, about two years following my traumatic experience with Aurora, my grandmother showed me Mulan and I was hooked. I watched it multiple times a week, bought the sound track, dressed up as Mulan and even memorized some of the script. To this day, I have yet to see Sleeping Beauty.

My experience with Disney parks is far more positive than my Sleeping Beauty experience. When I was younger, my five-person family (and sometimes the dog) piled into a minivan and drove from New York to Orlando at least two times a year. We would celebrate Christmas with Mickey Mouse and my sister’s birthday at Cinderella’s castle. As we got older and the car started feeling smaller, we went to Disney less and less. By the time I was twelve, we stopped going entirely, until last year. My mom was feeling nostalgic and booked the trip without asking anyone if they wanted to go. Of course, my brother complained and said that he wanted to hangout with his friends, not go to a “playground” – typical teenage boy rhetoric. I was excited to re-experience all of the rides I loved when I was a child. It’s a Small World was and still is my favorite. By the end of the week at Disney World, I could corroborate that it is a magical place. My brother was a changed man: Even he did not want to leave and asked when we could go back. Everyone is always happy at Disney regardless of the crowds or heat. Disney holds a special place in the hearts of many, and I am no different.

    I would like to explore the topic of gender stereotypes in Disney movies and how they have progressed over time. For example, female characters in Snow White verses Mulan. I would also like to find out if the hidden messages in Disney movies.