Disney and philosophy

Cover......Page 1
Title Page......Page 5
Copyright Page......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Contributors: “It’s a Whole Family of Supers”......Page 11
Acknowledgments......Page 19
Introduction......Page 21
Part I “The Seaweed Is Always Greener in Somebody Else’s Lake”......Page 23
 Chapter 1 Unruly Ariel: Not Born but Made a Woman......Page 25
  Silencing Women and a Mermaid......Page 26
  You Don’t Complete Me......Page 29
  A Hope for the Future......Page 31
  Notes......Page 32
 Chapter 2 “True to Your Heart”: Honor and Authenticity in Mulan......Page 33
  “Honor to Us All”......Page 34
  “Protect My People”......Page 37
  “Mulan, You Dishonor Me”......Page 39
  “What Do You Mean You’re Not Lucky?”......Page 40
  “Who is that Girl I See?”......Page 42
  Notes......Page 44
 Chapter 3 Zen and the Art of Imagineering: Disney’s Escapism Versus Buddhism’s Liberation......Page 47
  When You Wish upon a Bodhi Tree......Page 48
  Under the Sea or Part of your World?......Page 50
  May the Cash Be with You......Page 52
  Hakuna Matata, Bodhisattva......Page 54
  Notes......Page 56
  Emphatic Silence: the Experience of Divine Hiddenness......Page 57
  The Argument from Divine Hiddenness......Page 59
  When Is a Hidden Mickey a Hidden Mickey?......Page 61
  The Disanalogy Between Hidden Mickeys and Divine Hiddenness......Page 64
  Might God Be Hidden for Love’s Sake?......Page 65
  Notes......Page 66
Part II “I’ll be Shooting for My Own Hand”......Page 67
 Chapter 5 “Everyone’s Special Dash”: Tolerance and Conformity in a World of Incredible Differences......Page 69
  “Join Us or Go Away!”......Page 70
  Mill’s Maxims......Page 73
  “Cogs that Fit, that Cooperate by Design”......Page 76
  Notes......Page 78
 Chapter 6 Accommodating Dory, but Disempowering Dopey? Dilemmas of Disability from Snow White to Finding Dory......Page 81
  Seven Dwarfs, a Mouse, and the Medical Model......Page 83
  Disability as “Part of Your World”?......Page 85
  “You Remembered in Your Own Amazing Dory Way!”......Page 87
  Does Dopey’s Disempowered Legacy Live On?......Page 88
  What We Have Learned, or “Always Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide!”......Page 89
  Notes......Page 90
 Chapter 7 From Snow White to Moana: Understanding Disney’s Feminist Transformation......Page 93
  Someday my Prince Will Come......Page 94
  Once upon a Dream......Page 95
  Kiss the Girl......Page 96
  Let It Go......Page 98
  Notes......Page 101
  Acting IMPishly......Page 103
  Locke’s Liberty to Leave......Page 104
  Pongo, Perdita, and Procreation......Page 105
  Heaven’s Light or Frollo’s Song?......Page 106
  “You Can’t Grow Up Without a Decent Education, You Know”......Page 108
  “Done Properly, Parenting is Heroic”......Page 109
  Robots and Romance......Page 111
  Notes......Page 112
Part III “Your Identity Is Your Most Valuable Possession”......Page 115
 Chapter 9 How to Convince Sleeping Beauty She’s Not Dreaming......Page 117
  Maleficent, the Evil Genius......Page 118
  Epistemology’s Prince Charming......Page 120
  The Flight of Phillip’s Sword......Page 122
  Visions Are Often all they Seem......Page 124
  Notes......Page 126
 Chapter 10 Knowing Who you Are: Existence Precedes Essence in Moana......Page 129
  “This Suits You”......Page 130
  “But the Voice Inside Sings a Different Song”......Page 131
  “That Voice Inside is Who You Are”......Page 133
  “Do You Know Who You Are?”......Page 135
  “I Am Moana!”......Page 137
  Notes......Page 138
  Unexamined is the Life I Lead......Page 141
  The Man Who Forgot Who He Was......Page 143
  “Please Return to the Nursery”......Page 145
  Let’s Go Fly a Kite!......Page 146
  Notes......Page 148
  WALL·E : a Significantly Different Pixar Film......Page 151
  Is WALL·E Artificially Intelligent?......Page 152
  Analyzing “Artificial”......Page 153
  Interpreting “Intelligence”......Page 154
  Where Do We Go from Here?......Page 156
  Notes......Page 157
 Chapter 13 Inside Disney’s Inside Out......Page 159
  I Feel, Therefore I Am......Page 160
  “Riley, Just Be Okay. Okay?”......Page 162
  Inside the Lived Body......Page 163
  Notes......Page 166
Part IV “You can Be Anyone You Want to Be”......Page 167
 Chapter 14 To Be or Not to Be … the Lion King: Existentialism in Disney and Shakespeare......Page 169
  The Courage to Be and to Become......Page 170
  Hamlet’s Circle of Death......Page 171
  From Aesthetic to Ethical......Page 173
  Rafiki Holds the Mirror Up to Nature......Page 174
  Notes......Page 177
  Stay Out of My Room!......Page 179
  There’s Been a Bit of a Mix‐Up: This Is My Spot......Page 180
  Strange Things Are Happenin’......Page 181
  Who Am I … To Break Up the Roundup Gang?......Page 182
  You Don’t Know Who You Are, Do You?......Page 183
  I’m Still Andy’s Toy......Page 184
  He Can’t Hurt You No More......Page 185
  First Thing You Gotta’ Know About Me: I’m a Hugger......Page 186
  He’ll Be There For You, No Matter What......Page 187
  What Is a Queen?......Page 189
  Become Who You Are......Page 191
  Being Led......Page 192
  On Being and Not Being Bears......Page 194
  Changing Fate or Being Changed by Fate?......Page 195
  Notes......Page 196
  The Enchanting Trap......Page 199
  Freeing Plato’s Prisoner......Page 200
  “What If She’s the One?”......Page 201
  Beauty and Love’s Pursuit......Page 202
  Encountering Beauty......Page 203
  Love Sets Things Free......Page 204
  Notes......Page 205
  “Please, I Know You’re in There”: The Absence of the Other......Page 207
  “Let It Go”: The Psychology of True Love......Page 208
  Stronger than One, Stronger than Ten: Defining an Act of True Love......Page 210
  “For the First Time in Forever”......Page 211
  Notes......Page 213
Part V “Always Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide”......Page 215
  Kuzcotopia, Ox Mountain, and Family......Page 217
  “Give‐Aways” and Thought‐Experiments......Page 220
  Drama Llamas and Compassion Sprouts......Page 221
  Kuzco’s Two Journeys......Page 224
  The Rhythm by Which We Live Our Lives......Page 226
  Notes......Page 227
 Chapter 20 “Handed Down from Goof to Goof”: What Goofy Can Teach Us About Becoming Good......Page 229
  The Art of Narration......Page 230
  “Could You Back Up a Bit, Mr. Foot, Uh, You’re Out of Focus”......Page 231
  “There’s Nothin’ Can Upset Me Cause Now We’re on Our Way. Our Trusty Map Will Guide Us Straight and True”......Page 233
  “You Know, It’s Funny, But None of Your Techniques Worked for Me. The Harder I Tried the Worse it Got. Once I Eased Up, Things Just Clicked”......Page 236
  “It’s Been Handed Down from Goof to Goof to Goof, and Now, It’s Yours, Son”......Page 237
  Notes......Page 238
  What Are the Disney Propaganda Films?......Page 239
  What Is Propaganda?......Page 242
  The Point of Propaganda......Page 243
  Is Propaganda Permissible?......Page 245
  Notes......Page 247
  The Problem of Future Generations......Page 249
  The Problem of Valuing Nature Like Persons......Page 250
  Capitalist Greed Gets in the Way of Valuing Nature and Persons......Page 251
  Intergenerational Ships and Sustainable Duties......Page 252
  Notes......Page 254
 Chapter 23 Is There Any Utopia in Zootopia?......Page 257
  Man Is a Wolf to Man......Page 258
  “You Can Only Be What You Are”......Page 259
  “Even Though You’re a Fox?”......Page 261
  Where Humans Did Happen......Page 262
  “Real Life Is Messy”......Page 263
  Notes......Page 265
Part VI The Wonderful Worldview of Disney......Page 267
 Chapter 24 How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Disney: Marx and Marcuse at Disney World......Page 269
  Heigh‐ho, Heigh‐ho, It’s Off to Work We Go......Page 270
  Now Is the Best Time of Your Life! (Isn’t It?)......Page 271
  #EuphoricExhaustedBroke......Page 273
  Escaping to the Disney Bubble......Page 274
  But Everybody Needs a Laughin’ Place......Page 275
  Things Worth Believing......Page 277
  Notes......Page 279
 Chapter 25 Colonizing the Geography of the Imagination: Media, Mind, and the Magic Kingdom......Page 281
  Johnny Depp Is Channeling Keith Richards as a Permanent Peter Pan Disguised as Captain Hook Doing a Pepe Le Pew......Page 282
  We Have Found the Lemmings, and They Are Us......Page 284
  Give Me That Old Time Mythology......Page 285
  The Visual Containment of Metaphysical Values......Page 289
  Notes......Page 290
 Chapter 26 “We’re All Gonna Die”: Death and the Cycle of Life in Disney......Page 293
  “Hey, I know a joke! A squirrel walks up to a tree and says, ‘I forgot to store acorns for the winter and now I am dead.’ Ha! It is funny because the squirrel gets dead.” —Dug, in Up......Page 294
   “’Ohana means ‘family.’ ‘Family’ means ’no one gets left behind’” —Lilo, Lilo and Stitch......Page 297
  “The time has come, gypsy. You stand upon the brink of the abyss” —Claude Frollo......Page 300
  I think we’ve all arrived at a very special place, eh? Spiritually? Ecumenically? Grammatically? —Captain Jack Sparrow......Page 302
  Notes......Page 303
 Chapter 27 Liberty Square in the Shadow of Cinderella’s Castle: Political Philosophy in Disney’s Theme Parks......Page 305
  “I Just Can’t Wait to Be King”: celebrating Equality and Hierarchy in the Magic Kingdom......Page 306
  “I Can Show You the World”: epcot as a Multicultural Experience......Page 308
  “Look at This Stuff; Isn’t It Neat?”: disney and the Commodification of Political Values......Page 310
  Notes......Page 312
Index......Page 315