Disney’s international popularity makes it one of the most influential companies in the world. As large of an impact as Disney films have, their cultural importance shape children’s lives each and every day. Since Disney films have such a diverse group of viewers, these films tend to spark controversy worldwide. While some argue that Disney films provide a sense of enchantment and innocence for children viewers, others argue that Disney films unfold certain conflicts to children viewers in regard to race, social class, gender, and sexuality. After extensive research, one can see the clear evidence that shows Disney films portray many different perspectives and difficult life situations. In certain movies such as Dumbo, The Little Mermaid, and Aladdin, most parents want their children to be exposed to the different life lessons taught in these films. As a result, I argue that Disney films are still helpful for the complex social learning development of a child.

In general, Disney films have a reputation for “quality animation, utilizing cutting-edge technological developments such as sound and color, and producing feature-length animated films” (Wasko 58). However, in certain films there are hidden controversy portrayed within the main idea. The main argument is that controversies over race, social class, gender, and sexuality all appear in Disney films that are still well-known today. Parents do not want their children’s minds to be filled with unethical values and questionable social inequities that may appear in different Disney films. In the novel, Diversity in Disney Films: Critical Essays on Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Sexuality and Disability, the author claims that even though certain Disney film comments can be marked as harmless fun, the real problem stems from the misrepresentations of minority groups throughout these films (Cheu 2). One of Disney’s most well-known example of racial diversity stems from the song called Song of the South. This piece from the Disney musical film “Uncle Tom” was so offensive the company stopped releasing the film in 1986. The racial content was so extreme, NAACP denounced the film as an “idyllic presentation of racial relations in the post-Reconstruction South” (Sperb 30). Therefore, the author who published this essay on Song of the South, makes the claim that Disney films persuade their audience, old and young, to reproduce deeply rooted cultural prejudices (Sperb 32). Racial diversity sheds a negative light on Disney films that create a hesitation for parents when they decide to let their children watch certain Disney productions. 

With this in mind, the novel Critical Essays on Race, Ethnicity, Gender, Sexuality and Disability, states that the critics love Disney at the core; though, they want people to understand that there are hidden diversity representations incorporated in certain works of Disney (Cheu 7). For example, some consider the films The Little Mermaid and The Sleeping Beauty to show evidence of sexism. In the movie The Little Mermaid, Ariel changes her physical appearance just to be with the man she loves (Taylor 13). She decides to lie about where she comes from just to please the opposite sex and fit into an unrealistic lifestyle. In the film The Sleeping Beauty, Princess Aurora pricks her finger on the spinning wheel and is put to an immediate sleep. The only way she can get saved is to be kissed by a prince; which means Princess Aurora’s only hope of waking up is left in the power of a man (Taylor 13). This gives parents the idea that their children would get the impression that females are incapable of being independent.

In contrast from sexism, animal cruelty is also a huge topic of debate in Disney films. An example from the film Dumbo, states that even though the films include trains, circuses, and animal friendship, the movie shows issues of animal imprisonment and lack of animal rights (Wills 115). In the film, Dumbo’s mother is taken against her own will when she gets captured and imprisoned by the Ringmaster and his guards. Another example of animal cruelty comes from the movie Bambi, where Bambi’s mother passes away from a hunter shooting her. This sparked a whole movement against hunters, which led to the cause of awareness to illegal hunting (Wills 115). The films illustrate animals in an inhuman way, which leads to a harsh criticism of certain Disney productions.

The evidence does show that some Disney films do portray questionable lessons; however, the recent film Frozen, sparked a positive lesson as being one of the first Disney films to exemplify feminine power (Taylor 14). This film in itself is an example of diversity because Disney films normally have a male protagonist, but in this film the leading protagonist is a female. Another example that portrays a positive lesson comes from the movie Mulan. In the film, the main character Mulan faces a gender issue when she takes her father’s spot in the army. She goes through training, but once people find out she is a female, she is sent home. Nevertheless, in the end she saves her country and becomes more successful and determined then most of the men in the army. The lesson taught in Mulan exemplifies female empowerment to young girl viewers. Whether the film The Little Mermaid teaches children about what could happen when two people fall in love, or the film Dumbo that exposes children to have a fiery passion of supporting animals, or the films Frozen and Mulan that gives young girls the idea to stand up for what they believe in, Disney films should be exposed to children despite what lessons are taught in the each of the films.

Even though Disney films are a helpful tool for the development of children, extremists such as conservative Christians, political progressives, and social scientists believe that Disney films create questionable cultural context regarding various social problems. They argue social problems such as race, gender, and sexism can be inappropriate when portrayed to children. Conservative moralists argue that Disney in fact produces morally questionable products, progressive critics claim that Disney’s messages help preserve social inequities, and social scientist criticize Disney for fostering inauthentic and alienating entertainment (Best and Lowney 431). These social groups tend to critique these films when they state that Disney films portray social problems. The extremists combined have a mutual opinion when they make the claim that these films create an “inauthentic experience for children” (Best and Lowney 440). Critics hold Disney films accountable for reinforcing corporate, patriarchal, ethnocentric and imperialistic values to children viewers. In the Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood, Disney films are criticized by the Los Angeles Times as they state that the films are “pretending everything is so sweet, so saccharine, so without any conflict except the obvious conflict of violence” (Clark 274). What these critics fail to see is that these Disney films are filled with so more than just “sweet or saccharine” life lessons. 

In fact, children are being exposed to a multitude of different diversity conflicts each time they watch a different Disney film. This exposure is helpful for children as they are introduced to diversity in their lives, which helps them understand different perspectives in the world. For example, a wealthy child could go through their life without having to face any financial hardships in his/her family. In turn, this child will never be exposed to experiences that a lower societal class family may have to go through. In the Disney Film Aladdin, the protagonist Aladdin, is unable to pay for a bread loaf for himself and his pet monkey. This film gives children of a higher social class a sense of empathy towards lower social classes that they may have never realized before watching the film Aladdin. Children may also get a different perspective on social classes as they see that some lower income people struggle to make ends meet each and every day, and not everyone is as fortunate as they may be financially. In turn, Disney films teach valuable lessons for a wide range of children.

On the flipside, there are also plenty of critics that are in favor of the exposure of Disney films to children in order to help them develop critical learning skills. According to authors Kevin Tavin and David Anderson, “Disney is a cultural pedagogy” (Anderson and Tavin 23). The two argue in this article that educators should investigate how corporations, such as Disney, produce knowledge about the world, distribute and regulate information, help construct identity, and promote consumption in visual culture - Disney films are the teachers of the new millennium (Anderson and Tavin 34). The critical art educators themselves are able to take their personal experiences with their own children and point out how Disney films are a positive influence in the development of their minds. After their children watched the films that involve hardships about race or gender stereotypes, they were able to see that their children were more diversified than they would have been if they did not watch Disney films. 

For instance, the exposure of Disney films facilitates children to have a private space to learn that they may not get from a classroom. Watching Disney films alone may grant children to be comfortable with diversity, but the introduction of the films into a classroom setting will allow them to collaborate as a group and learn as a community. Disney acts as a register for a golden age of innocence - an imaginary time in an imaginary past (Tavin, Anderson 22). Instead of getting lectured about the different types of diversity introduced into the world, Disney films make learning a fun experience for children. In the novel The Mouse That Roared, the author states “Disney films combine enchantment and innocence in narrating stories that help children understand who they are, what societies are about, and what it means to construct a world of play and fantasy in an adult environment” (Giroux 84). Giroux compares Disney films to schools when he argues that children’s films provide a high-tech visual space for adventure and pleasure, while school teaching provides a hard and joyless reality (Giroux 85). Therefore, it would be helpful for Disney films to be incorporated more in to school curricula in order to strengthen young student’s social knowledge and critical analysis that they may not grasp from an in-class lecture.

Given these points, some parents are scared of the word diversity. They do not want their children to face any sorts of controversy or difference than the societal norm; however, children are going to face diversity regarding race, social class, gender, and sexuality regardless if they are exposed to Disney films or not. Instead of school being the only way diversity is introduced in to children’s lives, Disney films should also be viewed as a helpful tool to teach children life lessons as they continue the path to adulthood. These enchanting films put a positive spin on the different controversies that exist, which exposes future generation's ideologies at an early age. When parents allow their children to watch Disney films, these children now can get a complex understanding of what the real world is like and develop a variety of social skills that start from a young age.
