PennTags /tag/Disney+marriage

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Images of Couples and Families in Disney Feature-Length Animated Films

Haddock, Shelley A., Lori K. Lund, Litsa Renee Tanner & Toni Schindler Zimmerman. “Images of Couples and Families in Disney Feature-Length Animated Films.” American Periodical of Family Therapy 31.5 (2003): 355-374. EBSCO MegaFILE. University of Pennsylvania Library, Philadelphia. 7 April 2008. <http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=tfh&AN=10833476&site=ehost-live>

This article is based on a study that identifies themes about families and couples in a number of Disney feature-length animated films. It states that a main way in which children are socially educated is through the media, and especially through animated Disney films, since these films are often passed from one generation to another. The study claims that its findings will be useful in helping parents and family therapists understand what children are learning through these films. Included in the results is the finding that a majority of the 26 films analyzed evoked the notion that being married and/or having children was the normal route for couples to follow. This idea is emphasized by the fact that characters are depicted as being married just after meeting. Remarriage may be seen as bad, because in the films in which remarriage is illustrated, stepmothers are depicted as evil, such as in Cinderella. All of the couples in the films analyzed were heterosexual couples, and the majority of them experienced “love at first sight,” which thus emphasizes the importance of physical appearance. And, in the majority of these movies, one does not find out how relationships are maintained; rather, most couples just “lived happily ever after.”

One of the films analyzed in this study is Cinderella. The study helps convey the notion that Cinderella is a film that presents us with romantic ideals – it contains the idea of “love at first sight,” that marriage is normal yet also an immense dream to have in life, and that happily ever after is attainable. It can teach children about social aspects of life, especially concerning couple relationships. This article can help to provide further evidence that Cinderella creates within children ideas about what love is like. According to the study, love is depicted as happening immediately and without effort, and marriage is seen as the ultimate goal. Thus, Disney films such as Cinderella create an unrealistic ideal about romance and love.

belongs to Cinderella project

tagged children cinderella couples marriage disney by bauercm ...on 10-APR-08

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Media Portrayals of Love, Marriage & Sexuality for Child Audiences: A Select Content Analysis of Walt Disney Animated Family Films.

Junn, Ellen N. “Media Portrayals of Love, Marriage & Sexuality for Child Audiences: A Select Content Analysis of Walt Disney Animated Family Films.” Biennial Meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development. Washington, D.C. 4 April 1997.

This paper presents a content analysis that looks at the portrayals of love, sex, and marriage in several romantic and nonromantic Disney animated films, including both older and newer romantic films. Results found that male and female characters engage in “typical” gender roles – that is, male characters engage in more active love-related roles, while female characters are more passive when it comes to love. Over time, references to marriage and weddings in the films have remained relatively stable, though they slightly decrease in more recent films. Females were not featured as much in the films as were males, except in romantic stories. Both male and female characters engage in stereotypical conduct – females exhibit passive behaviors such as giggling and coy posing in order to attract male attention, while males exhibit more outward behavior, such as kissing the hand of a lady, fighting for the love interest, and other assorted chivalrous actions.

This analysis is useful for examining the topic that children may be influenced a great deal by the film Cinderella in terms of ideas about love and marriage. In fact, one of the older romantic films analyzed is Cinderella. Though this does not measure children’s responses to these images and themes, it is useful to think about the sorts of messages about love and marriage that children are receiving in Disney films such as Cinderella. Through these movies, children may have the capacity to learn about various social behaviors, including engaging in romantic relationships, since as the study points out, parents often do not discuss love and romantic related issues with their children until adolescence. As a result, it is very possible that they learn about love and relationships via the media, and as the study points out, Disney films are so ubiquitous that they may have a great effect on children’s perceived notions about love and romance. Thus, this study points out the many types of romance-related behaviors that a child may pick up from watching a Disney film, including Cinderella.

belongs to Cinderella project

tagged children disney love marriage romance by bauercm ...on 10-APR-08