Eco/Dorfman&Mattelart - Courtney Sparling

Since I am so fascinated with all things Disney, I was really looking forward to this week's readings. I think that the most intriguing part of Disney is the illusion or the "magic" that can be seen in every aspect of the films, television shows, parks, comics, merchandise, music etc that Disney produces. Disney surrounds everyone around the world. As pointed out in the Dorfman and Mattelart reading, "It has been observed that in more than one country, Mickey Mouse is more popular than the national hero of the day."

This is the first sketch of Mickey Mouse by Walt Disney, himself. 

"It all started with a mouse." 

I found it interesting in the Eco reading that it explains that Disney World is a place of visitor participation in the 'degenerate utopia' of a setting that is hyperrealistic and tells us that nature can't offer us what they can through technology. It is a "fantasy world more real than reality." 

What drives this "magic" of Disney? MONEY. 

But as the Dorfman and Mattelart reading reminds us, "It would be wrong to assume that Walt Disney is merely a business man."

Disney is part of our culture. It is everywhere and does affect us, even if we think we avoid it or dislike it. It goes beyond just liking or disliking parts of the Disney empire. "Disney thus establishes a moral background which draws the child down the proper ethical and aesthetic path." But, "For the adult, in protecting his dream image of youth, hides the fear that to penetrate it would destroy his dreams and reveal the reality it conceals."

I think that these two quotations really come to together to create the bigger picture that the authors are trying to convey here. Disney hides behind dreams and imagination, and mostly dealing with children, molds them into adults who will be blind when they come face to face with reality. Disney establishes their own morals and truths and feed them to children, creatively and indirectly of course, and as a result children believe they are supposed to have certain characteristics in order to be accepted. It's a sort of parental authority that Disney possesses. And children know to listen to their parents.