Cultural Influence Of Disney

Before I get into the crux of this first journal, let me recount a moment from the first class that completely blew my mind and showed me how much power that the media, especially Disney, has upon the masses. “So, how many disney princesses can you name class?” Everybody begins to hurriedly and excitingly shouting out the name of each and every disney princess as if it were some kind of race. Then the tables were turned when Professor Keller followed up with, “Alright give me the name of the nine supreme court justices!” The once chatty classroom was then swept by a lull of silence and dumbfounded looks. Nobody could muster up an answer. I know for myself, my mind went completely blank when I heard that question. It was completely extraordinary

Disney knows exactly what its branding is and that includes themes such as family, happiness, magic, and Happily Ever After. Disney knows the power, influence, and value of its work and protects it turf quite well. It is apparent that Disney is able to hold such a unique position in American culture is through capitalizing on the power of the media and ability to mirror changes in society in its products. Disney excels well on the usage of media to spread its influence as I had explained before, it uses the media it had developed to shape society itself. Disney also excels quite well at mirroring changes in society through its products as can be seen in their recent films. In today’s society, we see topics of feminism, diversity, etc being brought up constantly. We can see these being mirrored in films such as Zootopia which addresses issues such as racism and discrimination and Tangled, Frozen, and Moana. These three Disney films showcasing princesses who break free passivity and are very action oriented and independent, either have a love interest that may not be “socially acceptable” in terms of the film or have no love interest at all, and showcase and celebrate diverse

It all started with none other than the mastermind himself, Walt Disney. Not being the brightest businessman and after losing ownership of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Walt would go on to create Mickey Mouse and realize his visions through creation of many films. Despite being the well realized visionary he is known today, he was still quite reckless with how he spent the money he had earned from these projects. Without help from his brother, Roy Disney, who is credited with helping Walt realize his dreams, Disney wouldn’t become as big as it is today. Especially with the inception of Disneyland, which is what put the company on solid financial footing. Disney would become so big as a result of the revenue from the parks and films and due to the indifference of Walt Disney himself. However while Walt prioritized fun and his artistic vision over making money, that attitude has changed. What did the Disney executives believe their social responsibility should be? “To make money is our only