The Mouse that Roared: Disney and the End of Innocence (Culture and Education Series) [Hardcover]

Henry A. Giroux (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0847691098 | ISBN-13: 978-0847691098 | Publication Date: April 22, 1999

Today, cultural practices and institutions shape nearly every aspect of our lives. Giroux takes up this issue by looking at the world's most influential corporation. He explores the diverse ways in which the Disney Corporation has become a political force in shaping images of public memory, producing children as consuming subjects, and legitimating ideological positions that constitute a deeply conservative and disturbing view of the roles imparted to children and adults alike. Giroux shows how Disney attempts to hide behind a cloak of innocence and entertainment, while simultaneously exercising its influence as a major force on both global economics and cultural learning. Disney is among several corporations that not only preside over international media, but also outstrip the traditional practices of schooling in shaping the desires, needs, and futures of today's children. Written by one of the nation's leading cultural critics, this book is important reading for anyone interested in education, society, and political culture.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

To many people, the name Disney has become synonymous with childhood innocence and squeaky-clean fantasy. But in this polemical, didactic work, Penn State education professor Giroux (Channel Surfing) charges that Disney is in fact a powerful corporation whose ideologyAlargely predicated on getting the consumer to buy Disney productsAis far from innocent. Giroux tackles Disney's theme parks, its recent forays into education and its movies in an attempt to expose how Uncle Walt's legacy is eroding democracy and endangering our nation's youth. He disparages Disneyland and Disney World for whitewashing history and casting America's past in a nostalgic light, excluding any mention of slavery, civil unrest, racial tension or war. In keeping with this practice of regulation and homogenization, employees are required to dress a certain way, to have their hair a certain length and to adhere to the "Disney philosophy." Disney's movies, argues Giroux, promote sexism and racism ("bad" characters speak with thick foreign accents, or in inner-city jive; female characters, however strong, depend on the men around them for identity) and encourage massive consumer spending while assuming the guise of innocuous family fun. But because children learn increasingly from popular culture, Giroux warns that it is dangerous to ignore the influence of a corporation whose private town, Celebration, dictates the color of its residents' window shades and house paint. The notion of Disney as a corporate, market-obsessed monolith was hilariously expounded last year in Team Rodent, Carl Hiassen's contribution to Ballantine's Library of Contemporary Thought series. In contrast, Giroux's sustained shock and outrage, buried in thickets of dense, academic prose, quickly wear thin. (June)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

The average fan of Mickey and Donald or Simba and Nala won't notice, but readers awed by the broad power of the Disney Company should read this critical examination by an education professor at Pennsylvania State University. The basic complaint about Disney has always been just what makes Wall Street love it: Disney's "imagineers" are so very good at convincing customers they need to see, visit, and own as much Disney product as possible. But Giroux goes beyond this concern (that the entertainment Disney cloaks in innocence and good fun is a constant sales pitch) to examine the varied messages of Disney's films for children and adults; for example, the racial coding in Aladdin and The Lion King and the positions, roles, and values of specific characters in Good Morning, Vietnam and Pretty Woman. Although Giroux charges no conspiracy, he maintains that "challenging the ideological underpinnings of Disney's construction of common sense" is a vital step in understanding corporate infotainment media and in empowering citizens to demand something better and more democratic. Mary Carroll

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers (April 22, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0847691098
• ISBN-13: 978-0847691098
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #374,690 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Academic, but spectacular in that regard., January 3, 2005

By 

Matt McDowall "spoko" (Newbraska) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Mouse that Roared: Disney and the End of Innocence (Culture and Education Series) (Paperback)

The negative reviews of this book here have been fairly typical: It's apparently enough to call Giroux "leftist" and to point out his concern with class, race, and gender inequality. That alone completely impugns his work for many people. If you are one of those people, don't pick up this book. But if you're not, you've got to read this. The book is academic, and is written that way: Giroux packs the ideas in, especially in the beginning. But it is also the best piece of cultural criticism I've yet read.

Contrary to what people have been saying here, Giroux does not simply scream "race class gender inequality" over and over again. In fact I was impressed by how seldom he did make direct appeal to those issues. Instead, he focuses largely on the "public pedagogy" (I love that phrase) at work behind a company like Disney (if in fact there is any other company like Disney). Giroux's central idea is that we need an intelligent, critical populace in order to have a true democracy, and his central claim is that Disney actively works against both intelligence and critical thinking in the populace at large. His claim is well argued, and well substantiated. The consistent move towards "security" in our society is a troubling symptom of the kind of worldview that Giroux ascribes to Disney. And if he's right, it is imperative that we all start to think a lot more critically about Disney and other, similar societal influences.

32 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Collection Reflects Giroux's Other Works, December 8, 2000

By 

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

This review is from: The Mouse that Roared: Disney and the End of Innocence (Culture and Education Series) (Hardcover)

In this collection of essays, Giroux provides readers a good introduction to Disney Studies. Essentially, Giroux's concerns focus on Disney's power to shape the public's understanding of itself, children , and American culture. His main point is that the public altogether too willingly accepts Disney as purveyor and protector of innocence. People allow themselves to be lulled to sleep by a hypnotic Disney whose products are, underneath it all, as dangerous as Malicient and her spinning wheel. Giroux's primarily explores the connection between Disney and families, especially children. He also considers Disney's representations of gender, race, sexuality, and so forth (fairly standard fair for academic critique). His book is supposed to be an activist statement--it offers readers ways with which to think about Disney critically. For those unfamiliar with his work or those just being exposed to Disney criticism, this book is a good and lively introduction. Giroux's examples are brief but numerous and he provides just enough scholarly material to ground his book. In many ways, it provides a representative perspective on most academics' view on Disney, a sort of mini-history of the discipline.

However, the book is is flawed in at least two areas. First, those familiar with Giroux's work will find nothing new here. Much of the material seems rather hastily compiled and updated for a book publication. I much prefer his individual essays on the subject. Second, and this is at the heart of many critiques, I question whether Giroux's portrayal of the public. He claims that the public is an active audience, one which is capable of producing several "readings" that complicate issues of Disney's reception. While Giroux proposes individuals may be (or become) thoughtful/resistant consumers, how they do so is less clear. In many sections Giroux contradicts his stated interest in people--he spends more time bemoaning Disney's power and then mostly theorizes on how people can resist Disney. Giroux does not seem quite convinced that most individuals are not passive consumers.

While Giroux is interested in inspiring the public to become critical citizens, even he seems unable to get beyond Disney as pervasive cultural force. As a book wich encourages individuals to think seriously about Disney, this book works rather well. As a book that provides ways to work with this this new knowledge--or as one that recognizes that working against Disney's ideological grain is even possible--the book is less successful. It is a solid starting point for serious discussions about Disney, but only a starting point.

30 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Disney trains consumers., August 8, 2005

By 

Brandi S. Martin "lilsleepeye" (chicagoland) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Mouse that Roared: Disney and the End of Innocence (Culture and Education Series) (Hardcover)

Once I read my daughter a book. At age 3, she turned to me and said "buy me the movie of that."

There was no movie of that book, but at age three, my child had already learned that a book means a movie, slippers, pajamas, and action figures. Instead of asking me about the book, or commenting upon the character, the only way she expressed her pleasure was in thinking about what we would buy as a result.

Say what you want about leftism and ivory tower this and that. Then look in your childrens' room, and their mountain of toys, and try to pick out which ones emphasize creative activity, and which are needlessly emblazoned with Disney and other characters. Buying is replacing creativity, in all of us. My child has learned this despite my best efforts. This book confirms what I didn't want to know.