Disney Discourse: Producing the Magic Kingdom (AFI Film Readers) [Hardcover]

Eric Smoodin (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0415906156 | ISBN-13: 978-0415906159 | Publication Date: March 22, 1994

Hirohito and his Mickey Mouse watch ...Goofy and Donald as Goodwill Ambassadors'. Disney Discourse is an interdisciplianry examination of the the founder and his empire. Examining Disney at a time of expansion - opening new mall stores and theme parks, the essays look at its domestic cultural production and global politics, while aware of audiences' various uses and interpretations of Disney products'. The work in Disney Discourse consolidates the outstanding current work on the subject, while sampling past analyses of Walt' and his Corporation. Taking the seemingly gentle innocence of a beloved' national icon, as well as forms of entertainment - theme parks, cartoons, and television - the essays examine the broader issues raised by analysis: the global impact of American popular culture, the politics of Disney, and the complexity and problems of meaning for Walt Disney and the Disney Company as we have received them.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Eric Smoodin is an Associate Professor of Literature at American University, Washington D. C. He is the author of Animating Culture: Hollywood Cartoons From the Sound Era.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Routledge (March 22, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415906156
• ISBN-13: 978-0415906159
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,168,777 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Complicates Assumptions about Disney, November 21, 2000

By 

"disneychick" (Main Street, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Disney Discourse: Producing the Magic Kingdom (AFI Film Readers) (Paperback)

Disney Discourse is a substantial contribution to the field of Disney Studies. Smoodin's collection offers a range of reactions to the different Disneys that exist: television and film, theme parks, retail, and so forth. Furthermore, this interdisciplinary work is structured in three useful ways. First, it offers some representative materials from Disney's "golden age" that tend to praise Disney (both the man and the corporation). Second, many of the essays consider the reception to Disney. Three, the book is divided into four separate categories that provide an overview of possible approaches to the study of Disney.

As with any collection, not all the essays are of equal analytic strength. There are many good essays, however, particularl in the the sections entitled Cultural Production and Reception. Smoodin's own essay, "How to Read Walt Disney" is, in my opinion, worth the price of the book alone. Even essays which seem more grounded in personal reaction than critique have their worth; they demonstrate the investment individuals have in Disney as a site of debate.

Overall, the result of the book's conscientious structure is to complicate any easy binaries--taken as a collection, Disney Discourse refuses to unreflectively praise Disney or, equally problematic, simply critique Disney. Instead, Smoodin's book offers Disney as a site of investigation, of exploration, and of analysis. Indeed, Disney Discourse might be better renamed Disney Discourses in order to reflect the multiple ways people have approached Disney. Though not all the essays are equally strong, the book is a "must-have" for both serious scholars and Disney enthusiasts alike.

4.0 out of 5 stars Disney, September 30, 2010

By 

Ronald W. Davis "redman" (Dover, DE) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Disney Discourse: Producing the Magic Kingdom (AFI Film Readers) (Paperback)

This is a good publication. A student encouraged me to purchase information about this topic, when she inquired whether my library owned this book. It is very informative and amazing. I have learned a lot about the inside of Disney. This publication is a must read, if you desire to learn about Disney and films.

4 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A collection of essays about Walt Disney and Disney Corp., August 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Disney Discourse: Producing the Magic Kingdom (AFI Film Readers) (Paperback)

The essays included in this book cover many different aspects of Walt Disney and his Corporation. Some of the essays written are very negative. The editor appears to have a person adgenda in compiling the essays he included