COLLECTION NAME:
Graduate Thesis Collection
Record
Title:
The Role of Parent Death in the Disney Mythos
Creator:
McDonald, Kit (Kathleen)
Subject:
Thesis (M.F.A.) -- Film and Television
Subject:
Savannah College of Art and Design -- Department of Film and Television
Rights:
Copyright is retained by the authors or artists of items in this collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Abstract:
"This paper will provide an exploration of the deaths of parent figures in Tarzan (1999), Frozen
(2013), and Moana (2016), including their on-screen portrayals and effects, occasionally
invoking comparison to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Doing so will demonstrate
the function of these deaths in the films’ plots and illustrate which elements of the Disney
mythos have endured or shifted with American culture in the last several decades. Disney films
are American fairy tales, which help codify and disseminate cultural morals and ideals to young
viewers through repetition of certain themes, imagery, and trends in storytelling. The death of a
parent figure in a Disney animated feature film can be a practical storytelling device used to
affect characters or may stem from Walt Disney’s own fascination with death. Death of parent
figures is an integral and defining element of Disney’s larger mythos, and analysis of the
portrayal of parent death in these three major Disney releases from the last two decades will
demonstrate the role parent death plays in the Disney fairy tale system."
(2013), and Moana (2016), including their on-screen portrayals and effects, occasionally
invoking comparison to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Doing so will demonstrate
the function of these deaths in the films’ plots and illustrate which elements of the Disney
mythos have endured or shifted with American culture in the last several decades. Disney films
are American fairy tales, which help codify and disseminate cultural morals and ideals to young
viewers through repetition of certain themes, imagery, and trends in storytelling. The death of a
parent figure in a Disney animated feature film can be a practical storytelling device used to
affect characters or may stem from Walt Disney’s own fascination with death. Death of parent
figures is an integral and defining element of Disney’s larger mythos, and analysis of the
portrayal of parent death in these three major Disney releases from the last two decades will
demonstrate the role parent death plays in the Disney fairy tale system."
Abstract:
*Includes the original short film "Light Years" / written and directed by the author, in which a budding young astronaut dreams of traveling to Mars as she reckons with the sudden death of her father
Abstract:
*Keywords: Disney, fairy tale, myth, death, parent death, America, animation, Tarzan, Frozen,
Moana, Snow White
Moana, Snow White
Publisher:
Savannah, Georgia : Savannah College of Art and Design
Date:
2020-03
Format:
PDF : 20 pages + 1 film (approximately 11 min.) : WMV, sound, color