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Princess Frog

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Submitted By natalyajk
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The fact that animated films and cartoons affect the psyche of children creates no doubt, however the effect of Disney films on children’ mind and feelings, remains in the center of heated discussions. Many argue that Disney’s enchanting, wonderfully animated stories are infused with morals and leave children entertained, while memorable characters inspire and instil only good values. The criticism of Disney movies portraying negative stereotypes, violence and unethical for young children content is, however, growing with every new film. Even though Disney is “multinational mass media corporation” and so cannot please everyone, their films are still fairytales that apart from being entertaining, contain didactic messages and, therefore should be held to high critical standards.
Disney films are filled with contradicting images and contain dark and childhood shattering moments, which can deeply influence impressionable minds of children. For example in Dumbo and The Princess Frog beautifully drawn characters and nature are opposed to some seriously disturbing images of monsters and demons, like Dumbo’s hallucinations or shadow monsters in The Princess Frog. In Dumbo, the mother elephant is beaten and incarcerated and little Dumbo cannot see her anymore, and in The Princess Frog, the evil Shadow Man, murders a heroic firefly by crushing him up with his foot. Describing the influence of Disney’s films on individual identities, Henry A. Giroux and Donald A. Gross and Todd G.Shields state, that “Disney’s animated films provoke and inform children’s imagination, desires, roles, and dreams while simultaneously sedimenting affect and meaning.”(91) Any good fantasy or a fairly tale contains the forces of good and evil, and inevitably reflect the realities of the world we live in. These and similar films and cartoons leave a heavy sediment in the heart of an adult, who understands the reality of this film, how much more in a child, who emotionally connects with heroes and starts empathising with their feelings. On numerous occasions I have witnessed, that when boys would play together they would shout a line from a cartoon like: “I am a mighty monster!”, and try to attack or kick, or pretend shooting their friends. Girls, on the other hand, will dress up, all as one, like princesses on the Book Character Day, and bring in a princess story. These role models obviously do not inhabit their homes, but rather have been imprinted in their minds, while watching cartoons.

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