Monthly media and arts column

The name 'Disney' works like an undisputed seal of approval. It is recognised the world over as a guarantee of a wholesome, exciting and magical experiences. Most of us remember a trip to the cinema to see a Disney classic, perhaps even a trip 'to see the mouse' in Florida or Paris and many will no doubt give or receive Disney merchandise this Christmas.

This Christmas, the big Disney release, in partnership with the computer animation giant Pixar, is The Incredibles, an interesting departure from the normal Disney cartoon. It is directed by Brad Bird, a writer from the explosive satire of another highly successful cartoon franchise, The Simpsons. The result is a more laidback appeal to a mature audience without the cute and cuddly approach of Monsters Inc and Toy Story, with fast action and pyrotechnics that result in several dead baddies along the way.

These new themes have prompted many to question the direction in which Disney is heading with its animation. It is well known that Disney as a corporation owns production and distribution companies that produce and promote films with themes beyond the U rating, yet the name 'Disney' has become such a force for good in the entertainment world that parents and carers are understandably grateful for the consistently clean and moral fare that its animations offer.

The critic Mark Pinsky, religion writer with the Orlando Sentinel, has carried out a study into the moral and religious messages behind the Disney films in his new book, The Gospel according to Disney: Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust which was published earlier this year.

Disney gospel?

Pinsky's observation of the feature films as he watched them with his children was that there were values and lessons to be learned as well as racial, national and cultural stereotypes to challenge. He claims that his aim is to show that, where Disney is concerned, 'there is a consistent set of moral and human values, largely based on Western, Judeo-Christian faith and principles, which together constitute a 'Disney gospel'. Good is always rewarded, evil is always punished. Faith is also an essential element - faith in yourself and in some higher power (often a star or something in the heavens) that can help you. This is completed by the need for optimism and hard work.'

This 'gospel' is in full evidence in the early films such as Pinocchio, Bambi and Cinderella and it keeps on developing in the post-Walt era under the new Chairman, Michael Eisner, with Aladdin, The Little Mermaid and The Beauty and the Beast. Yet the more recent films have also added alternative religious messages such as reincarnation in The Lion King and Brother Bear, animism in Pocohontas and New Age crystal-worship in Atlantis.

Throughout his book, Pinsky skilfully identifies the variety of ideologies being mined for their usage and points out areas of contradiction within and between films.

Each feature length animation has a chapter devoted to it, making The Gospel according to Disney a useful reference book for the video collection. Although Pinsky calls himself a liberal Jew, he writes with the input and viewpoints of many religious experts, not least evangelical Christians.

Conspiracy theories

There will always be conspiracy theories about the messages and meanings in Disney films, not least that promoted by the best-selling The Da Vinci Code. Dan Brown suggests in his novel that the animators of Little Mermaid were secretly supporting the 'cult of the feminine' and the 'hidden truth' of the blood-line of Jesus by denoting the main character with red hair and displaying a picture of Mary Magdelene on the wall of her cave. Others have uncovered the animators' roguish practice of drawing characters in suggestive positions on individual cells (we view them at 22 cells per second) and claim that the effect on young viewers is subliminally more profound than we think. Yet Pinksy maintains that so long as parents and carers showing Disney cartoons to children have watched them first themselves, ready to discuss any controversial issues and values, they should be regarded as reliable and trustworthy in their content.

Disney animation is in decline. The last hand-drawn feature was Brother Bear. The Orlando hand-drawn animation facility was closed down earlier this year and the relationship with Pixar is coming to an end after the feature Cars is released in 2005. Disney will still play a big part in computer-animated features since it holds the rights for all of the Pixar characters and spin-offs and has opened a new computer animation studio in California for the production of Toy Story 3. However, competition from Dreamworks, Warner Brothers (in talks with Pixar) and other animators means that Disney animation will need to fight for its survival.

The Gospel According to Disney: Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust by Mark Pinsky is published by Westminster John Knox Press at £8.99 (ISBN 0 664 22591 8).

Eleanor Margesson

© Evangelicals Now - January 2005
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