Mickey Mouse Monopoly

Based on the film and your own knowledge of Disney, answer one of the following questions:

• Do you think gender stereotyping in Disney is more pronounced in the depictions of male or female characters? Cite specific examples.
  

• Is racial/ethnic stereotyping in Disney more pronounced for any particular minority group(s)? Cite specific examples. 
  

• How have portrayals of gender and race in Disney films changed over time?   

• How would you assess the overall effectiveness of this documentary? Were there any points that you found particularly strong or weak?

Celebration, Florida

(Photo: http://www.celebrationhomesales.com/)    

Cultural critic Naomi Klein calls Disney one of the world's most successful super-brands (No Logo, Media Education Foundation, 2003). Not only does it sell ideas and lifestyles, it also stretches and spreads its brand across the pop-cultural landscape.

Please answer one of the following questions:

• What do you think Klein means when she calls Celebration, Florida the achievement of Disney's “brand nirvana”?
• What ideas, values, and lifestyles does Celebration represent? What do you think it would be like to live there?
• Can you think of any other company that has achieved “brand nirvana”? If so, please explain.

Dissecting Disney

Analyzing Disney can be a tricky business because the man and his company have attained such a mythical (almost sacred) status in American popular culture. According to Janet Wasko, "taking a critical stance toward the company that has created the happiest places on earth may be considered overly pessimistic, not to say downright un-American" (p. 3). Wasko's Understanding Disney and the documentary Walt Disney--Secret Lives dissect the Disney myth and provide a more complex and less flattering view of the man, his personal biases, and his business practices.

Answer one of the following questions:

• Do you think Mr. Disney's attitudes toward women, minorities, labor unions, and Communists shaped his company's identity and mission? The content and quality of its films? If so, how?
• Do you think a basic knowledge of Mr. Disney's political activities during and after World War II is relevant to understanding the Disney Company's past and present? Why or why not?