Let's take Disney seriously

When I was in graduate school back in the mid-1990's, one of my professors and I got into--shall we say?--an argument about whether or not Disney was a valid subject of film study.  "Disney is not film!" the professor insisted.  "Disney is only a corporation selling things!"

This arose because I suggested at the time that such films as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and The Lion King might represent a renaissance of musical film and theater.  They were classic musicals, I asserted, and, if they were on the stage (they weren't at the time--wasn't I prescient?) they would be the sorts of shows that parents would take their children to, which would lead their children to learn to appreciate musicals in form, content, and symbology.

This was partly born out of my personal belief that ever since the late 1960's, and especially with the advent of Hair, musical theater has been much less family friendly, and that unfriendliness is part of the reason for a period of decline in the popularity of the form.  I think that since the musical form is a difficult form to read, if children are not trained to read it, they will likely abandon it--which is almost exactly what happened until--guess when--Disney helped to establish the resurgence we are seeing today.


In order to consider such things as Disney's influence on the American musical--or the company's influence on any part of American culture--we must take Disney seriously as an artistic style, and not reject the company merely because it makes makes money. (Which American motion picture company does not try to make money?  Even William Shakespeare made money--lots of it--and we take him seriously.  If he could have sold little Hamlet dolls, I'm sure he would have without flinching.)

So, let's take Disney seriously.  Walt, after all, won more Academy Awards than any other person in history.  Disneyland, perhaps the best if not the first theme park, is an immersive theater experience, utilizing audience participation, environmental theater, street theater, improvisation, happenings, and shows within the show.

Before I start on any extended discussion of Disney and performing art, I want to make it clear that I do not work for the company.  I never have, and I likely never will.  I have no connection to Disney whatsoever except the connections of my own childhood and the connections of the Disneyphiles I raised.