1.+The+Mickey+Mouse+Monopoly_Disney,+Childhood+&+Coporate+Power

//**Please write your reflections to the question(s) on this page. Begin with your names in your triads then your response. For example:** //

**Patrick Lewis, 2nd name, 3rd name:** //After sharing this film with about 7 or 8 different classes I am still struck by the number of resistant responses from students. It is of course understandable, most of the students were raised on Disney and it has become normalized. Yet, by trying to bring a critical lens to this helps us understand how other.....

**Chelsea Hamilton, Jenna Jelinski, Jasmine Johnson:** The Disney's portrayal of women can send dangerous messages to youth. Women are all portrayed as having big breasts, small waists, and seductive facial features, which they use to manipulate men to get what they want. Through watching these movies this could ultimately lead to girls taking it to the extremes to look a certain way and possibly developing eating disorders. We have noticed that girls are growing up faster and we think it is due to movies and advertisements. We also think its inappropriate how Disney movies use racial stereotypes to fill certain roles. This may not seem like a huge problem to the children watching these movies, but the fact that children are growing up so much younger shows that these negative images and ideas affect them more. //

As adults who were raised on and by Disney “classics” it is exceedingly difficult to alter our views and understandings of Disney motives. Because of our long and consistent submersion within the commercialized culture of Disney, we struggle to see beyond this spectacle of innocence. For instance, the overt and covert racial discrimination or stereotyping is prevalent in many of the films, yet not one of us previously were even aware of this aspect. This documentary highlights how children’s perception of culture has been highly commercialized and stereotyped. At the same time it provides one with a glimpse of how many cultural groups may feel subservient to the dominant white culture since they are always portrayed as uneducated, undesirable and as evil-doers. This documentary has helped us to critically evaluate how our naivety has affected and affirmed us, through Disney, as white-commercialized students.
 * Jennifer Heinrichs, Annick LeBlanc, Johanna MacGregor**

Another issue that needs to be discussed is the issue of race. Disney uses many animals that exemplify the common stereotypes of certain races such as African, Latino, and Asian. The animals that imiate African-American people usually act and talk like the stereotypical African-American people. It is crude and offensive. The portrayal of Asian people are also stereotyped and have the supposed features of them. The animals that are latino usually are pictured as stupid trouble makers. This is a terrible representation of the Latino people and it enforces white supremacy.
 * Brandee Braaten, Kimberly Covey, Natalie Dales:** While viewing the movie, it was hard to accept that something so beloved to us as children contained messages so inappropriate for children. The messages that are evident to us as adults are harmful ones. Firstly, the message that women, no matter how self-sufficient, always need a man to save them is a negative message to send to children, especially girls. It sets girls back and gives them the self-perception that they themselves are vulnerable and incomplete without a man. Also, the self-image of young girls is distorted by the images of the female Disney characters. What they get from these female characters is that women are seductresses and can get what they want by tempting men. Majority of the time with the women having slim body shapes, pretty girl faces. Even the female animal characters have the image of being flirty and beautiful, with the big fluttery eyelashes. After watching the movie it also made me realize that these movies give kids the impression that some behaviors are alright because something good happens in the end. For example in Beauty in the Beast he yells at the female, but then when kids are asked about it and how they feel, they see it as alright as they fall in love in the end, and she changed him to be nice. This is a dangerous message to send children because it will make them think that abusive people can change if they fall in love.

The documentary also points out that Disney has a great amount of power on commercialism for children. Children are continually advertising Disney through their toys, backpacks, lunch boxes and clothing however I have to argue that it is not only Disney who does this to children. People are advertising brands throughout their entire lifetime, mostly on their clothing. 
 * Erin Toppings, Crystal McLean, Bethany Wagner, Sarah Ramer:** Viewing this documentary was an eye opening, thought provoking experience. As many of our other classmates have said, it is difficult to realize the truth behind the Disney movies we have grown up cherishing. This film showed us how to be critical and aware viewers of media in the future. We need to question what we, and our students, are watching and not just consider Disney movies as an "ultimate form of fantasy". Disney helps develop a child's imaginary world, but the world that is portrayed is one of stereotyping, racism, and sexism. Disney princesses teach our young girls that being thin with large breasts and being manipulative over men will give you what you want.It shows you can get what you want by using your body. How many female Disney characters show power through their intellect, creativity, or leadership? Very few, if any. Disney's "Beauty in the Beast" teaches young girls to overlook abuse and violence. Belle excuses Beast's rage because she knows there is a "prince" within him. It has been made very clear women should follow orders. How many young girls watch this movie and overlook male aggression and violence in their own lives? In the video it mentioned we are allowing Disney to shape our children in a certain way; this is something our society may not think about when having family movie nights, but yet it is so true. Disney may be magical, but it may also be dangerous and damaging to children's self concepts. Entertainers have the responsibility to act as teachers because of the power and influence they hold.
 * Jerilee Wright, Alison Wiks and Jennette Skene:** This film enlightened our perspective towards Disney media. It is interesting that the themes highlighted (i.e. racism, sexism, violence, etc.) are clearly found in many classic Disney movies, yet we have never noticed them before. We appreciated how this film challenged our view of Disney and on a larger scale, media aimed at children in general. It helped us realize how important it is to critically analyze the films we show to children, as there are significant messages being taught through these stories. Something interesting in t he video that was emphasized was the idea that in watching Disney movies, the media takes away from childrens ability to play creatively, which in turn "deprives them of vital development". On another note however, without the cliche, stereotypical perspectives in which Disney portrays in their movies, children would have difficulties gaining a critical overview of how the world truly is; rather, children would perceive the world as a place where no wrong's or evil's exist. Without a doubt, it is comforting for children to feel like the world is a good and safe place, yet, in watching movies that display minor acts of violence (for example in Beauty and the Beast) or any other negative scenerios, the children would learn to empathize and understand right from wrong. In viewing Disney movies today, the negative connotation of displaying African-American people as Gorillas (Tarzan), Latino people as Chi-wa-wa's, domesticated women and macho men, are all evident after watching "Mickey House Monopoly", however depending on how parents educate their children about certain issues, there is little harm in exposing children to Disney movies; such controversial issues are not obvious to young children. It is the role of an adult to set the guidelines for what is appropriate for children and what is not and to monitor what is put on the screen.


 * Charla Mahlum, Derek Manson, Chelsey Matheis:** We feel it is ridiculous to think of the animals as a racist representation instead of just animals. Maybe children see animals as a race these days, but back when we were growing up, we did not see it. We never made a connection between the "racist" ideas that these researchers made with the animals. Back when we were growing up, we were in a more innocent time then the children of today. We can see the sexualization of women, for all of the beauties of Disney have a small waist, big breasts and beautiful facial features. But how many other movie producers do that too? It is unfair to blame Disney of doing this when everyone does it already. We, however, do not agree with this representation. Also, they may make it seem like a woman's place is in the kitchen, but we never grew up seeing this perspective. Sure, the Disney movies may provide some "controversies" but could young children come up with these interpretations themselves? We could not when we were that age, so how could these young children think differently? We feel that what children would pick up from these movies are the themes of friendship, love, trust, and the fact that though we are all different, we can still live in harmony. A movie such as "Fox and the Hound" teaches children that even if you are different, you can still be best friends, no matter what conflicts arise. We see how some Disney movies can give off these negative images, but the majority of them teach chilren appropriate messages.


 * Becky Anderson, Kaitlin Basler, Monique Dudragne**:We felt that this film showcased many different representations of different racial groups within society. The video showed that media targeted towards children may create a mindset that different racial groups besides those who are white are less significant and successful in society.An example of this is seen through the way Disney used Chihuahuas to represent latinos and were considered bad and often led the main characters astray. An additional example is how siamese cats represented Chinese people who had slanted eyes, buck teeth and had manipulative personalities. These different portrayals may be looked at as something that would have a negative impact on children watching the films however, most circumstances see that children view the characters in the films as just being the animals they see as opposed to the different cultural negativity.

We were so intrigued after watching this video, we decided to do some further research. Here are a few videos that we found on youtube that are quite interesting. Although the one about the subliminal messages can be far fetched at times, the message is still very surprising.
 * Brooklyn Krause, Jillian Lundquist, Stephanie Jones:** Before watching this documentary, we saw Dinsey movies as innocent, harmless and educational. Remembering back to our childhoods, and even today, we all have fond memories of watching Disney movies. Until recently, we did not see the racial issues and subliminal messages present in the movies, whether it was through dialogue, song or images. For example, women are portrayed as seductive with their big eyelashes, sensual voices and sexual feminine shapes (Jasmine in Aladdin, Ariel in the Little Mermaid). The image of all the female characters seem to be static throughout the majority of the films. Through this, young girls are learning what women and femininity "should" look like. The films also encourage girls to use their bodies in order to get what they want. We were also surprised how the young girls in the video supported Belle in her decision to stick with the Beast, even after his abusive antics. Additionally, the films also use animals to potray various races. For example, in the Jungle Book, they use Gorillas to represent the African people. Although we did not notice this before, we understand this could cause a major conflict in today's society. Times have changed since we were young and children today have noticed these simple details that we have been oblivious to until now. For example, Sammy (Jill's younger sister) pointed out to her that the priest becomes arroused at the wedding ceremony near the end of the film, The Little Mermaid. Sammy also noticed that the castle under water subtly shapes a penis.

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 * Jen Meyer, Ashley Scherle, Sarah Todas**: Overall, we felt the film was trying to pick apart the negative aspects of Disney and did not mention anything positive about the company. The views in the film were very one sided in that they heavily opposed children watching Disney movies. An interesting point in the film was when they mentioned Disney constructs what femininity is and then wrap this up and sell it to children. The way Disney females are drawn and portrayed in Disney movies, is an artistic expression. It is not just Disney who portrays femininity by giving females such attributes as small waists, big eyes, and a damsel in distress kind of personality. Maybe we should also, be critiquing other film companies for their portrayal of women. We acknowledge the fact that Disney has not accurately depicted all types of cultures in the world. With that said, Disney began in the United States which is a predominately white culture. Therefore, as the years have progressed, and as the United States' culture has become more enriched with a multitude of ethnicity, Disney has adapted and has made films focusing on other cultures other than the dominate race. In contrast to the film, we believe that Disney has many important ideas to share with children. There are many moral lessons to be learned from Disney films, that teach children right from wrong, to show acceptance of others and their beliefs, and to never give up when faced with life's challenges.


 * Alexandra Woiden, Rebecca, Rink, Christa Schmelinsky: ** After viewing the Mickey Mouse Monopoly we felt we had a rude awakening! As children viewing these classic movies we were not able to see the underlying messages but looking back with a critical eye we can now see the racism and stereotypes embedded in these tales. Having said that, is this something that is transmitted to the children viewing these movies? Would we show them to students in our care? We feel that a child's view of the world is created with the help of their parents and the people around them. Although movies and the media aid in this creating this view, a child will not be strongly effected by watching some magical Disney movies. After all we were raised on Disney and we turned out ok, didn't we? Or are we subconsciously thinking about the world in the eye of Disney as in it will be a fairytale ending? Do we think boys will rescue us and provide and protect. That’s not the case. Girls are portrayed as helpless and beautiful. We understand Disney’s ideas were accepted in the time he thought of them but now women are just as equal as men. The messages in these classic movies do not evolve as gender roles do, so it is very easy to see as an adult, but not as children watching the films. It is almost impossible to raise a child, at home and in the school system, without some exposure to Disney and it is our responsibility as the educators and parents of these children to inform them that not all of these messages are necessarily ones we would like them to mimic, although it just so happens that in the end of all Disney films, everyone lives happily ever after.

Disney films portray images of innocence magic and fun. Children have been raised on Disney for generations, and it continues to be a huge realm of their childhood. Disney has made a spectacle of innocence; it hides behind innocence, because what they portray as fantasy shouldn’t be questioned. Disney is the second largest media corporation in the world and even the CEO was quoted as saying his only objective is to make money. Do we really want the influence of Disney shaping our children’s lives when there main focus is to make money? An aspect of the film that caught our attention was how Disney represents Gender, especially how women are portrayed. For example female Disney characters have small waists, big breasts, and are often depicted as seductive, having to use their bodies to manipulate men, as well finding joy in cooking and cleaning such as in Snow White. Even female animals, like the girl rabbit in Bambi is portrayed in these stereotypical ways. Girls who watch these movies, are influenced to think this is what it means to be a woman. Even Belle in Beauty and the Beast who was intellectual and liked to read ended up in an abusive relationship. Is this really the image of womanhood we want our future generations of women to be brought up on?
 * Jocelyn Brubacher-Hines, Rebecca Frick, Whitney Bonick: **


 * Chelsea Holmes, Janna Mailhot, Joni Mailhot:** After watching the video about the Disney movies, it raised a lot of questions for our group. We did mention that we thought it was very interesting, but understood the things they were trying to say. However, growing up with Disney movies made us feel that they are still educational, in spite of all the bad things they said in they mentioned in the video. The sexism, the violence, the racism, and the stereotypes are all horrible things to be including in children's video, but a fight here and there between friends or siblings is not unusual we all experience it sometime or another. We also think that a three year old for example isn't really thinking about and knows what racism or stereotypes etc. but Disney may be portraying this. Is there a way we can change this? Or make it so these Disney movies are appropriate for everyone? If they are so bad why do schools continue to show them? 


 * Courtney Oyka, Kara Oak, Justin Matheson**

Many of us would agree that Disney is an important part of our culture and is a powerful force on the children in our society. This enormous corporation has raised many children and created a new form of entertainment which is enjoyable to watch, filled with fantasy, and hidden by innocence. The 'Magic of Disney' has lured in many children and many of us cherished these videos as kids. Until watching this documentary we had never realized the negative impact the themes of the movies had or the subliminal messages portrayed. The documentary really makes us question the appropriateness of Disney films. These movies are portraying women as helpless, useless and unable to funtion without the assistance of a man. Here, the point is brought forth that a woman's body is all she has and that she should manipulate others by using her body. After first hearing this we did not believe that our favorite childhood movies had this bad influence but upon review of a few clips we can see that it is very evident. One example was in "The Little Mermaid" where the main character, Ariel, gives up her voice for a beautiful body which she can use to manipulate others, be recognized and find a mate. To a young girl, this demonstrates that they need a slim, tall and 'perfect' body, and that expressing feelings, attitudes and ideas in words is not necessary. Women continue to be repressed and subordinated in the central themes of Disney Films. Disney repeatedly conveys the theme that woman cannot live a successful life, be recognized, or solve their own problems, and require a strong man or prince to rescue them from their troubles. Another shocking fact addressed in the documentary was the racism in Disney films. There are many strong points which backed up this assumption which seem to surprise us. It is recognized that the 'powerful' people in Disney Films are generally white, middle class Americans. The animals and other 'bad guys' tend to be those of low socio-economic status and of a different race. What messages are we sending out to the minority children who do not fit the prominent stereotype and are not like the 'good guys' or the main characters? Abuse is yet anothr prominent approach within Disney Productions. As demonstrated in "Beauty and the Beast" and many others, the characters are routinely beat, taken away from their families, and physically and emotionally abused in many ways. How are children to view the world as a safe and good place if they see all the bad things occuring in their favorite movies? It made us think about how much this abuse impacts them in their own life. Are children imitating the actions of the characters in the movies? Following this thought-proking documentar there were various conversations among our classmates surrounding our own view of Disney Films. Many of us admired Disney and watching these clips from the documentary brought back childhood memories, and even made us want to go home and watch some of our old videos. we are left questioning the effects these videos had on our development and how they changed our view on society. Although we were not consciously aware of the underlying messages and themes which were unappriate for our age, did they still effect the way we viewed society and ourselves?

Another subject we were talking about is the sexism in Disney. Before watching this video, we did not think about it however, after the video, it opened our eyes about how Disney can send a wrong message out to young girls out there. They are sending the message out that girls have to look a certain way and/or act a certain way to get what they want. Another message that they are sending is that girls only use their looks into getting what they want.
 * Bradie Mann, Katy Kohli, and Candy Lam:** After watching this video, our group had mixed opinions on it. We were resistant that Disney movies would have such a big influence on the youth of today in terms of growing up faster than they have to and we doubted that the children could pick up the racial comments and attitudes in the cartoons. What we based this on were our own childhood memories and the lack of recognizing some of the points that the video made such as the Chihuahua being Mexican (and also the troublemaker) and the Siamese cats (also portrait as the troublemakers). However after some discussions, we came to realize how inappropriate the message Disney is sending to the children, despite the fact that we never picked up on it when we were younger. Children today are more aware of what is going on around the media and they are more sensitive towards the messages in the media and we believe that Disney should be more aware of what they are doing to the children in our society (however, we don’t expect them to change the older cartoons, they should just be more aware in their future productions.)

**Renae Popowich, Cody Penrose, Kirstin Wiebe:**

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Disney has been around for a very long time and has become very popular. Our generation grew up watching Disney movies and have many favourites. After watching this video, it makes us aware of all the negative content, and underlying messages in a simple Disney movie that as young children we missed. As an adult it is very clear to recognize and after watching this video this negativity will become very clear when watching a Disney movie. As many have said this documentary has uncovered many hidden themes embedded in Disney media. Growing up watching Disney movies seems so innocent, and learning about harmful messages that they contain came as a shock. Whether Disney has as strong an influence on children as the documentary says is debatable. Are children really going to notice and pick up on such negative messages as they watch Disney movies? This video does bring to our attention the responsibility to monitor what children are watching and educate them on the differences between fact and fiction.======

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Disney openly displays their concerns about policing and upholding it's image of innocence which labels their brand them as safe for children without people asking the tough questions. It is hard to question something that we loved so much growing up, but we need to. Children are not the same today as they were; they are growing up faster. Many of the stories and themes in Disney media hold sexist and racist messages. Disney girls and Princesses for example are created to be hyper feminine, needing to be saved, and suggestive with their bodies. These messages are very counterproductive to the progress that society has made. The Little Mermaid giving up her voice for a man is practically saying that women don't need a voice or rights just a man. Ursula the witch strengthens this message in her song, saying:====== URSULA You'll have your looks, your pretty face. And don't underestimate the importance of body language, ha! The men up there don't like a lot of blabber They think a girl who gossips is a bore! Yet on land it's much prefered for ladies not to say a word And after all dear, what is idle babble for? Come on, they're not all that impressed with conversation True gentlemen avoid it when they can But they dote and swoon and fawn On a lady who's withdrawn It's she who holds her tongue who get's a man __[]__  We all acknowledge that Disney movies contain some strong negative messages that can be harmful to children, but they are not all bad. People seem to just be picking them apart and only focusing on the negatives of Disney, forgeting that their movies contain postive messages too. This video will probably wont stop us from watching and enjoying the “Magic of Disney,” but it will make us aware of underlying messages and teach us to monitor what children should be exposed to. After watching the Mickey Mouse Monopoly film it was hard not to look back on the Disney films we all grew up watching and take another look. We all grew up and loved these films, not thinking about any of the aspects that this film had mentioned when we were younger. We believe there are two sides to this coin. On one side, it is important that people, especially parents, are aware of the messages that these films are projecting on their children. However, these films are also for entertainment purposes for children to enjoy. DIsney is not the only company guilty of sending out wrong messages. Look at Barbie and G.I. Joe, who send out extremely strong messages about what little girls and boys need to look like. Both of these figures are still on the shelves, regardless of how wrong their image is to many young children. Disney is no different. Yes, we agree that the ideas of women and what their bodies should look like are not healthy for children to be learning: but it is also important for children to view all sides of images. If Disney were to put out a movie with all overweight people someone would complain that it is projecting ideologies of an unhealthy image to children. I guess the main point we are trying to make is, yes, the images are not the best that children could be given, but these films also help build imagination and dreams. If parents can help their child realize that it is just a film, and what they see is not reality or what has to be, then Disney films can keep their focus on magic and imagination. Everywhere in the world there are stereotypes and ideologies, children's movies and toys are no different. If we focus on these negatives, and do not educate our children that are watching or playing with these items, our children will be playing with cardboard boxes because society will become so wrapped up in what should/shouldn't be seen.
 * Amy McDonald, Alannah Vermeer & Mark Siemens**

The questionable content found in Disney movies is undeniable. Disney has had control over childhood culture for decades, and for the most part, its content has gone unquestioned and unchallenged. Because it reminds us of childhood fun and innocence, it may be difficult for us now, as adults, to accept the negative side of it. If we acknowledge that the media shapes our view of society, the world, and our own self image, then we are forced to see the unfavorable side of Disney. Although we agree that the portrayal of both male and female characters are not ideal, it is more the racial stereotypes that concerned us. The characters with African and Latino voices are stereotyped in derogatory ways. Whole cultures, as in Aladdin and Mulan, are not shown in positive light, and perhaps most disturbing of all, is that the “bad guy” is always “dark”. When this is seen over and over, the images of characters in our minds can become synonymous with people of different ethnicities in our lives. Although some of these things may have been socially acceptable years ago, it is time for Disney to rethink the images they portray in their films.
 * Caitlan Schmidt, Seanna Puszkar, Kristal Stocki, Candace Pepper**

Well, this movie was a huge slap in the face! It was a real shock to realize what has shaped generations of minds. As children, we don’t really put these ideas together. The pictures shown to children are of beautiful and perfect girls who only speak when spoken to and who are everything a “woman should be”. Men are big bulky guys who are always rushing in to save the poor, helpless woman in need. There are certain roles that people of colour or people who are not white are made to play. Black people notice that they are portrayed as crows, gorillas, orang-utans, buffoons etc Showing that they speak slowly and are quite dumb. Latinos are depicted by the Chihuahua and are always shown breaking the rules. Asians (in Mulan) are depicted as oppressive towards women, according to Chinese history there was never a match maker or strict rules regarding women. Tarzan depicts native Africa, but kicks the black people out completely. Instead, they have been replaced by gorillas! The idea of innocence in Disney makes one disregard the “oopsies!” and political incorrectness of what is actually being presented.
 * Chris, Brittany & Vanessa**

The Mickey Mouse Monopoly talks about the messages that children are receiving from the animated Disney films. The traditional Disney films are filled with stereotypes and sexism. We feel that the video put too much emphasis on the underlying messages and stereotypes without acknowledging that they were culturally accurate at the time they were created. Traditional tales are important for our children because they provide some cultural history for people around the world, but parents need to have conversations with their children about some of the stereotypes seen in the media. The video did not discuss modern Disney films, but they have changed their messages to align with the current state of society. Disney is highly influential in our consumer market. We see Disney icons on everything from food to household decor. Disney is no longer just telling stories it is selling our cultural icons for a quick buck. Disney advertising is geared to the child as a consumer when children are not developmentally capable to accept these messages and evaluate the products. They are constantly inundating children with images of products that they supposedly cannot live without, leaving our children as materialistic young persons.
 * Amy Burghardt, Alan Bashforth, Sandra Davis**

This movie made us look back to when we were children and the Disney movies that we watched. When we were children we did not see the Disney movies as a bad thing, neither did our parents. We talked about how the innocence has changed, how we did not think of those things it showed us in the movie when we were children, and now children are more informed of the bad things in the world. Children now are able to point out some things that you would never think of. Which is a little scary when you think about it what has the world come to? What has Disney come to? Keep in mind that when some of the movies where made that what they showed was the norm of the time they were made. Now the movies have turned into classics and many parents want to experience the movies that they watched when they were children with their own children. Even thought the times have changed and some things shown in the movies are not the norm now, it is important for parents to talk to their children about what they are watching and explain any questions that they may have.
 * Stephanie Brown, Terra Gignac**

**Amanda Baker, Kayla Brodner, Tara Baade **
====The Mickey Mouse Monopoly was a big shock to us. It showed all of the subliminal messages that Disney movies send to their children viewers. It is hard for us to believe that Disney could do this, especially when the image that they represent to the world is innocence. It is also hard to believe that all of these messages are in Disney movies because we grew up with Disney and we grew up to love some of the tales that were told in the Disney movies. It was awful to see how racial and stereotypical Disney movies actually are. Women characters (either human or animal) are portrayed as skinny, curvy and seductive, giving girls the thought that this is what beauty is and that this is what you need to be in order to be pretty. No matter how strong the woman is in the movie, she always needs to be saved by a man, showing young girls that women are helpless and cannot handle themselves without a man. These sexist stereotypes can be very harmful to girls who do not understand that what is being portrayed is wrong and can have a disastrous impact on their self esteem and their way of thinking how the world should be. Disney uses many racial stereotypes as well. African Americans are portrayed as gorillas, hyenas, baboons, etc. which expose the stereotypes of African Americans being dumb. Latinos are depicted as a chihuahua which entails that they are seen as worthless and are at at the bottom of the totem pole out of every race. This is wrong and Disney should not be able to get away with this, especially when they are implanting certain values and stereotypes into the minds of our children. Mickey Mouse Monopoly shows that it is important to talk to children about the issues sneakily portrayed in these films and how they are not correct. ==== ====**Chelsey Skibinsky, Kelsi McGillivray, and Nathan Wagner** Opinions in our group on this film varied. One opinion was that the film ignored the positive messages portrayed in Disney movies, and that the case against the negative elements used examples that were out of context. The other members of our group felt more convinced, and found the film shocking and eye-opening. Most disturbing was the blatant stereotyping of gender roles and races, the violence, and the portrayal of female sexuality. The fact that these themes are consistent for movies throughout the last 80 years perhaps points to these stereotypes as Disney policy rather than the preference of a particular cartoonist or script writer. However, the problem is not unique to Disney; stereotyped and caricatured images exist in many forms of comic and animated movies and TV shows. Another concern with Disney is the monopoly that the corporation has over other forms of media, and their manipulation of their public image. As educators, we cannot protect our students from these stereotypes, but we can attempt to educate them and teach them to think critically. ==== ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Karli, Amanda and Chelsea** After watching the video, we now view Disney from a different perspective. All of the movies have sexism, racism and/or abuse intertwined into them. The female image is huge in the Disney productions. Many of the female characters have small waists, large breasts and long batting eyelashes. They all have very seductive bodies, even the evil female characters. This gives children the perspective that females are beautiful if they have these portraits. Disney did not come up with this female image; however they are encouraging and selling it. In the movie Aladdin, Jasmine, uses her body to get what she wants. She tries to seduce the evil man while Aladdin escapes. What is this showing our kids? In the classic, The Little Mermaid, Ariel is willing to give up her voice to the evil lady, but she still wins over the boy with her body and physical attractiveness. Beauty and the Beast is an example of abuse. The beast is abusive towards Belle and her father but in the end Belle overlooks his abuse and falls in love with him. It’s hard to believe that these companies would create movies, TV shows and toys that can be harmful toward children. Children are so naive and innocence and these companies are taking advantage of this. ==== <span style="font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif;">


 * Nicole Delorme, Adele Burns, & Mikeala Diacon**: We believe that the video was being to harsh and critical towards Disney. Anything in this world, such as books, movies, magazines, if looked at as closely as they were looking at the disney movies. A lot of movies they talked about were made in the past decades, where females and minorities, didn't have as many rights as they do today. This means the way they were often portrayed was often considered the norm at that time. This has to be taken into account when viewing movies. We do agree that we should be carefull with the messages that children are recieving from the media. It is a parents and teachers responsibility to talk to kids about these issues and make sure they are aware of them and that they understand these issues. As long as this occurs we see no harm in children enjoying Disney movies.

After viewing the video on Disney, we found we were torn with our view points. For example, in Beauty and the Beast they analyzed women as being vulnerable and easily controlled by men. They only showed clips that supported their side of the argument, but in reality there are parts in this movie where Belle appears as a strong female character such as when she stood up to male characters such as the Beast, Gaston, and the angry mob. We do however agree with some of their arguments like the way Disney portrays women to use their bodies to manipulate and get what they want, such as Jasmine in Aladdin trying to seduce the guards to get Aladdin out of trouble. Another thing that opened our eyes is how Disney portrays other ethnicities as being evil or bad characters, as opposed to the Caucasian race as being good. We also agreed with how Disney themed toys limits the child 's imagination. Even though Disney is successful for their images of inocence and magic, they should still take into consideration how people of minorities feel when they are watching the movies. Disney does have some stereotypes in their movies, but the general population does not look into it as deep as these researchers did. For example, when Snow White was produced, cleaning was the roll of the house wife. The era the movie was made in has to be taken into consideration. Now that it has been brought to our attention, we feel Disney needs to make some changes to the rolls of their characters in future movies to suit a more multicultural society.
 * Amy, Broderick,Flaman**

Disney is one of the largest conglomerations of all time. They control what we see in the media, and produce many children's movies. We were amazed at the amount of racism and stereotypes that were portrayed in the movies. As children, we did not recognize these, as they are subliminal, or hidden, messages. The body image portrayed in these films are much more prevalent to the children watching. Over the years, Disney's representation of females in these films has not changed much. Women are most often illustrated as having big breasts, tiny waists, using coy expressions, and big, batting eyelashes. These images portray to children what the image of femininity looks like. For example, In __Aladdin__, Jasmine becomes a seductress as she distracts Jafar from noticing Aladdin. This shows young girls that they can use their bodies to manipulate men to get what they want. Another example is in __The Little Mermaid__. In this children's movie, Ariel gives up her voice and has only her human body to win her prince. In other words, her intellectual ability was lost along with her voice. Once again, a woman uses her body to get what she wants. Children watching these videos do not yet have the mental capacities to differentiate between what is fictional, and what is not. The messages the woman in the movies portray to children seem a reality to them rather than a fairy tale. We need to stress to young girls that the images in the movies are impractical and unrealistic. A fairy tale is only a fairy tale, and the messages they send out are not always beneficial to children.
 * Sarah B., Nicole G., Gabrielle D.**

Although most of us were raised on "Disney" and turned out okay we can see how the image of "Disney" has gone to far and the way that they portray certain characters have also went to far. That racism and stereotypes have been taken from these movies and turned the enjoyment factor of these movies into a discrimitory direction. However, we want to voice that if someone is as famous as Whoopi Goldberg knew that her character as a hyena was being racist towards her own people, why would she play the part. If a person with white descent was acting as if they knew what they think a stereotypical Africian would be like, then they would have more to argue about. Although we do agree that some of the characters are being portrayed as being racist why would these Africian people and others play those parts if it is to hurt their own culture or race. On another topic that we would like to discuss is that we do agree with the idea that "Disney" does portray women as sexual objects. This is the sad reality of the world we live in and it is disapointing that it has worked its way into children's movies. It is important that we teach kids that this is not the way that you get what you want. That this way of treatment towards women is not acceptable.
 * Sheldon Hand, Kerri Koback, Oliva Holman**

I grew up watching Disney movies and have encouraged my daughter to watch as well (my taking her to the theater and also watching these movies at home with her). This movie completely changed the way I think about Disney (in general). I realize that girls watch Disney movies so much that they are brainwashed to naturally think that they are not beautiful because they do not look like or act like a princess and boys are brainwashed to think that they have to have muscles and dominate little women. These are dangerous messages to continue to pass on to kids who are so vulnerable and continually taking information. I also never thought about the minority stereotypes either but do agree that because they also have been taken in by generation after generation it makes it difficulty because eventually people do not even realize they are doing it. I think it is sneaky of disney and despicable that for decades this kind of influence over the way we think has been passed down in such a way that seems completely harmless. Maybe this is why negative views of women and different minority groups is so ingrained in our culture.
 * Terra Albert**