I guess it's a plot device that yields great sympathy for the child protagonist, but they sure do it a lot.

Disney has great movies and I don't buy that they are trying to indoctrinate our kids with death. on the contrary, i think Disney has gone way too far in the hoaky and cute direction. These new Disney movies are way too shallow (even for kids). They lack the meaning and lessons that the old ones had. I think that Disney has spent too much time catering to this new generation of neurotic parents who seem to have forgotten when they were kids.

this is very noticable in the movie Ice Age too. I was unhappy about the movie because everybody was dying! I miss the classics like Pinoccio. He didn't really have biological parents. Hmm... Hunchback... yup death there too. Pocohontas doesn't have parent death in it, does it?

On my personal blog, I did a rough statistical analysis of Disney films, and they came out better than many people have suggested.

Of course, killing a parent is an excellent dramatic device, and Nemo's dad was surely a devoted father, but even two-parent families are more prevalent in Disney films than is often thought.

Phil, was that ping to your blog? You mention here that your analysis gives Disney more credit than most people think, but then when I read your analysis, it seemed to agree with the anti-family 'agenda'.

Did you write this?:
So the next time someone starts venting about Disney's bias against traditional families, know this: They aren't making it up. Nearly two-thirds of the movies they put out feature orphans or single-parent families, a percentage quite a bit higher than real life.

I don't have statistical data in front of me, but isn't the divorce rate over 50% right now? Wouldn't that make children of broken homes the norm rather than the exception?

I can't help but see this whole anti-family complaint put out by a lot of conservatives as just a little bit paranoia. I think if they were really anti-family, there would be more evil stepmothers/sisters, than the main character suffering the loss of someone he/she loved. They would show family as something bad, rather than something to be mourned, if they were truly anti-family. So I can't help but see a bit of paranoia there.

Most Disney shows, from Snow White, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Pochantas, Beauty and the Beast, Tarzan, Pinnochio, Treasure Planet, Aladdin, Peter Pan, etc. are not written by Disney but are creations or adaptations of stories that have been shared with children throughout history. They are chosen for the timeless messages of inner strength, personal responsibility, courage and the like, that have been shared with children throughout the years.

I would think an anti-family movie would be one that tries to destroy the family. If a disney movie is watched WITH the child, then the message can more accurately be received, with insight, along with the reasurrance that mommy and daddy aren't going anywhere.

I look forward to the day, in a few years, when I can sit down with my daughter and watch Snow White or Cinderella. And I can say with certaintity right now, that if the message my daughter takes from either of those two movies, is that she is going to need to be reliant on a knight in shining white armor to rescue her from her predicaments in life, then it certainly isn't Disney that has fallen down on the job, it would be me!

It's funny, I get knocked from both sides because of that post. Here is my take: Conservative Christians often complain that Disney rarely (they often say "never") portrays traditional two-parent familes, and in that particular criticism, they are correct.

While nearly 50% of marriages end in divorce (and the number is often exaggerated due to statistical misunderstandings), many divorcees are multiple-offenders, and many divorced couples either do not have children or they wait until the kids are older to divorce. So the percentage of children who -- while young -- have experienced the death or departure of one or both parents is much lower than 60%.

Anyway, I still think that the films are generally positive in their portrayals of parents, though the families are too often non-traditional. For the purposes of the tally, I counted films as "negative" if they featured a single parents, though the parents in those films quite often had wonderful relationships with their children.

Put another way, I used "negative" and "positive" as purely logical terms indicating true and false, but the vast majority of parents portrayed in the films are positive characters in my view.

I watch movies with my kids twice a week, often Disney movies. I've got a huge collection of Disney discs, a collection that has grown even since that post in November. When mom's not around, we even might watch Princess Mononoke, but only if she's going to be gone a while.

I'm rambling, but I think that (1) Disney does have a bias against traditional two-parent families that is far from representing reality, but (2) they don't "hate parents," instead using the situation as dramatic devices, and (3) they generally do portray parents in a positive light.

Here is my take: Conservative Christians often complain that Disney rarely (they often say "never") portrays traditional two-parent familes, and in that particular criticism, they are correct.

While they are correct in that the portrayal isn't there, it's sad to see that they compare that to 'celluoid serial killers of the family nucleus', (see original post at top of thread)

My beef, not necessarily directed at any specific individual, is at those who label Disney as anti-family. Not portraying a traditional family does not constitute anti-family. There is a difference.

I've seen a marked increase in the 'liberalness' that conservatives use with their words. Whether it is labeling someone who loves peace as a 'traitor', or whatnot on the news, now it's apparently - label someone as anti-family if the traditional family isn't even present, let alone presented in a positive wholesome light.

According to the original post of this thread, Disney, because they don't represent traditional families enough for some people, now suddenly 'hates parents'.

If the absence of a traditional family is going to be defined as anti-family, then what does that make the presentation of an 'evil' family? Also anti-family? Now suddenly the connotation that conservatives are instilling in their children, is that the lack of a traditional family is as evil as a 'bad' family.

While you make the distinction, far too many others don't. I'm not sure what the purpose is, of a tally where a single parent who is good, is given a negative score, right alongside an absent parent, or a parent who is evil. This is the generalization that leads to more problems than a movie.

Apparently, to make conservatives happy, it needs to be a two-parent family, everybody present and put in a positive light and ALL other representations, no matter what they are,, get lumped together as a big ole negative.

Talk about harmful and counter productive generalizations.

Your all nutz.
" Liberals " & " Conservitives "
You people talk as if its a bad thing to be either depending on the the side your on.

We are all AMERICANS.

No one has even suggested that maybe disney is makeing movies lacking parents because thats the norm in our society. Kids can relate to the fact that their parent isnt or HASNT been there.

Also attacking an opinion by turning up you nose and calling it a "Liberal" or Conservitive" veiw isnt the way to make a point. I was reading about this guy that captured power that way. He killed alot of HUMANS as a result. Hitler. Facism IS A Global Killer.

Back to the point. Disney is a corp. With marketing and ad dept. They are going to run the numbers on sociological statistics. Maybe that a growing number of kids have lost parents to one means or another is a factor in why they are chooseing scripts for production.

It sounded to me that the first post was a Mom makeing fun (playfully) at the fact that the mom died in the begining.

Another thing, they are kids movies. Kids dont anylize the crap out of movies. Adults do.

be sure to wear gloves when you analyze the crap out of movies

No one has even suggested that maybe disney is makeing movies lacking parents because thats the norm in our society.

They aren't saying it because it isn't true. When Disney began, the two parent family WAS the norm. But the Disny Corp has a LOOONG history of pushing out films without traditional families: Snow White, Pinoccio, Donald Duck's Nephews. One actually has to wonder if Disney is partially responsible for the decline of traditional family values.

I that that the movie Aladdin was horrible. There song chocies were horrible listin to a lyric I pulled out of a movie.


"Oh I come from a land, from a faraway place
Where the caravan camels roam
Where they cut off your ear
If they don't like your face
It's barbaric, but hey, it's home"



That is pretty bad I am only 13 and I do agree that all the classic Disney movies were great. I do not like the new ones or how they try to make the old classic ones new.