Disney’s Influence on Girls

For the next four years similar shorts, under the collective title Alice in Cartoonland, were the focus of Disney’s work. From his first full-length feature, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), to his studio’s mature works, which include animated and live action-Cinderella (1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951), Sleeping Beauty (1959), Pollyanna (1960), Mary Poppins (1963)-Disney always paid close attention to girl culture. Even in films like Pinocchio (1940) and Bambi (1942), the male protagonists were constructed to appeal both to boys and to girls.

It was not just good business sense that made Walt Disney a success. His passion for the art of animation was the foundation of his work. When asked to make another Mary Poppins, he replied, “By nature I’m a born experimenter. To this day I don’t believe in sequels. I can’t follow popular cycles.” During World War II, when his company was shut out from its foreign markets, Disney insisted on experimenting with high-cost technologies and epic-scale masterpieces. Even though the release of Pinocchio and Fantasia in 1940 had proven that high-budget production was a risky wartime venture, he didn’t fold up shop. He produced the film Bambi and released it in 1942.

Despite the film’s high quality artistic achievements and domestic success, the cost of running the studio, in light of a stock market crash, a labor dispute, and a worldwide depression, took their toll and nearly drove the studio into financial ruin. Not until eight years later, with the release of Cinderella, did Walt Disney return to the feature-length animation market. In 1950, for $1 million, Walt Disney was asked to sell his 350 cartoon shorts to his television sponsor. He refused the offer on the basis that his films were “timeless” for the theater (Maltin 1973, p. 20). But Disney did not reject the new medium. After he turned down the offer, he produced a special one-hour Christmas program to be televised by NBC, but only on the condition that the show would not be interrupted by any commercials.

In the meantime, he started a new company, Buena Vista, which would be used to distribute his full-length films. Beginning in 1954, Disney hosted the Disneyland TV series in collaboration with ABC. The 1950s also marked the beginning of Disney’s live-action productions: Treasure Island (1950), The Story of Robin Hood (1952), 20,000 Leagues underthe Sea (1954), and others. Although these films were based on well-known boys’ adventure stories that were considered classics of children’s literature, the adaptations appealed to girls as well.

During this period, Disney diversified further by creating true-life fantasies in amusement parks, beginning with Disneyland, which opened on July 16, 1955, in Anaheim, California. “ [Walt] Disney is dedicated to the ideals, dreams, and the hard facts which have created America,” California Governor Goodwin Knight said in his speech during the opening ceremonies, “with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration toall the world”. Today “Disney” is an international cultural producer, with film studios, movie distribution companies, cable networks, specialty TV channels, book publishing companies, newspapers, radio stations, amusement parks, resort hotels, cruise lines, clothing lines, and toy outlets-all of which are interconnected. Especially relevant to girl culture is the fact that the corporation has identified the tween girl market as its primary target since the late 1990s. The culture under the Disney label has had so much influence on the feminine imagination and children’s perception of life for so many generations that it is not possible to study girl culture and women’s formation of identity without taking “Disney” into serious consideration.