Disney feature animation: a critical intervention

Abstract

The Disney name has come to signify a world of children's entertainment predicated on the manufacture of fantasy. Disney animation, however, is more heterogeneous than notions of 'Classic' Disney allow for. By focussing predominantly on the forty-eight animated features identified on the 'History' page of the official Walt Disney Animation Studios website, and the surrealist short Destino, this thesis challenges received notions of Disney and brings scholarly definition to neglected aspects of contemporary Disney. Through a combination of economic, cultural, historical, textual, and technological approaches, it provides a discriminating analysis of Disney authorship, and the authorial claims of others working within the studio; conceptual and theoretical engagement with the constructions of 'Classic' Disney, the Disney Renaissance, and Neo-Disney; Disney's relationship with other studios; how certain Disney animations problematise a homogeneous reading of the studio's output; and how the studio's animation has changed as a consequence of new digital technologies. In doing so, this study will provide original analyses of many key films.

Date of Award	Nov 2009
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Bangor University
Supervisor	Steven Price (Supervisor)