A Cultural History of the Disney Fairy Tale

This book charts the complex history of the relationship between the Disney fairy tale and the American Dream, demonstrating the ways in which the Disney fairy tale has been reconstructed and renegotiated alongside, and in response to important changes within American society. In all of its fairy tales of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the Walt Disney studios works to sell its audiences the national myth of the United States at any one historical moment. With analyses of films and television programmes such as The Little Mermaid (1989), Frozen (2013), Beauty and the Beast (2017) and Once Upon a Time (2011-2018), Mollet argues that by giving its fairy tale protagonists **characteristics associated with 'good' Americans, and even by situating their fairy tales within America itself, Disney constructs a vision of America as a utopian space.

Examines the hitherto unexplored relationship between Disney's fairy tale productions and the American Dream Charts the extensive political, social and cultural history of Disney fairy tales Argues that Disney acts as a willing sponsor for the American Dream by creating fairy tales that envisage America and American values as a cultural utopia

Autorentext

Dr Tracey L Mollet is a Lecturer in Media and Communication at the University of Leeds, UK. Her research interests include Disney and Warner Brothers' animation, American cultural history and nostalgia in contemporary American television. She has published widely on Disney animation and American popular culture and is the author of Cartoons in Hard Times: Disney and Warner Brothers in Depression and War 1932-1945 (2017).

Inhalt
Chapter 1: Introduction: Once Upon A Time in Hollywood.- Chapter 2: The Classic Era : 1937-1959.- Chapter 3: The Renaissance Era: 1989-1999.- Chapter 4: The Renewal Era: 2009-2013.- Chapter 5: The Reboot Era 2014-2017.- Chapter 6: Conclusion