Film Studies

Walt Disney (1901-1966) was one of the most significant creative forces of the twentieth century, a man who made a lasting impact on the art of the animated film, the history of American business, and the evolution of twentieth-century American culture. He was both a creative visionary and a dynamic entrepreneur, roles whose demands he often could not reconcile.

Based on hundreds of interviews with Disney staff members past and present, this story of Walt Disney and his company's vast artistic achievements through the decades contains more than 800 illustrations ranging from concept art to film stills to views of the theme park attractions.

For ten years before the creation of Mickey Mouse, Walt Disney struggled with, failed at, and eventually mastered the art and business of animation. Most biographies of his career begin in 1928, when Steamboat Willie was released. That first Disney Studio cartoon with synchronized sound made its main character--Mickey Mouse--an icon for generations. But Steamboat Willie was neither Disney's first cartoon nor Mickey Mouse's first appearance.

From Mouse to Mermaid, an interdisciplinary collection of original essays, is the first comprehensive, critical treatment of Disney cinema. Addressing children's classics as well as the Disney affiliates' more recent attempts to capture adult audiences, the contributors respond to the Disney film legacy from feminist, marxist, post-structuralist, and cultural studies perspectives. ...

In Good Girls and Wicked Witches, Amy M. Davis re-examines the notion that Disney heroines are rewarded for passivity. Davis proceeds from the assumption that, in their representations of femininity, Disney films both reflected and helped shape the attitudes of the wider society, both at the time of their first release and subsequently.

From the iconic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) to Tangled, the 2010 retelling of Rapunzel, Handsome Heroes and Vile Villains looks at the portrayal of male characters in Disney films from the perspective of masculinity studies and feminist film theory.

David Whitley updates his 2008 book to reflect recent developments in Disney and Disney-Pixar animation such as the apocalyptic tale of earth's failed ecosystem, WALL-E. As Whitley has shown, and Disney's newest films continue to demonstrate, the messages animated films convey about the natural world are of crucial importance to their child viewers.

Throughout its long and colorful history, Walt Disney Studios has produced scores of films designed to educate moviegoers as well as entertain them.

The imagination of Walt Disney (1901-1966) is still seen in theme parks throughout the world bearing his name, on numerous live-action films and television specials, on toys and assorted merchandise, and on an international corporation known both for the high quality of its creative output and its ubiquity.

When P.L. Travers travels from London to Hollywood in 1961 to finally discuss Walt Disney's desire to bring her beloved character Mary Poppins to the motion picture screen (a quest he began in the 1940s as a promise to his two daughters), Disney meets a prim, uncompromising sexagenarian not only suspect of the impresario's concept for the film, but a woman struggling with her own past. During her stay in California, Travers' reflects back on her difficult childhood in 1906 Australia.

By the mid-1980s, the fabled animation studios of Walt Disney had fallen on hard times. The artists were polarized between newcomers hungry to innovate and old timers not yet ready to relinquish control. The following is no fairy tale. It's the true story of how Disney regained its magic with a staggering output of hits such as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, and others.

When Life magazine unveiled its list of the one hundred most influential Americans of the 20th century, the selection committee was guided by one question: How would our lives be different if each of the honorees did not live? Not surprisingly, Walt Disney made the list. In addition to a complete biography, Jackson explores Disney's impact on American mass media and popular culture by focusing on animation, live-action film, documentary film, television, books, comic books, magazines, sheet music and recordings, theme parks, business, and the over-all Disney vision. A bibliographic essay examines sources of Disney scholarship, including a listing of resources available at the Walt Disney Archives in Burbank, California. Appendices provide a Disney chronology, Disney film and television credits, Disney's awards, and a listing of theme parks.

Walt Disney was uniquely adept at art as well as commerce, a master filmmaker who harnessed the power of technology and storytelling. This new film examines Disney's complex life and enduring legacy.

Few figures of the 20th century have made so deep and indelible an impact on world culture as Walt Disney. Few people have direct knowledge of Walter Elias Disney’s life, his precise contributions to cinema, or the television programs, toys, and attractions that bear his name, but Disney is nevertheless a name familiar to hundreds of millions.

Covers over 300 journal and magazine titles for film and television reviews, scholarly and critical analysis of cinema and television, and articles of popular interest about film and television.

Offers full text plus abstracts of articles published from 1984-present. Coverage includes all aspects of the Visual Arts & Art History. Indexing includes images and advertisments.

The Film Literature Index (FLI) annually indexes 150 film and television periodicals from 30 countries cover-to-cover and 200 other periodicals selectively for articles on film and television.

The online version of 3 separate ISI indexes: Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Science Citation Index and, Social Sciences Citation Index.

A trouble-shooting 19th century seaman is trying to discover why so many whaling ships have been disappearing of late. Teaming with a scientist and a diver, they set sail to investigate. They are promptly captured by the megalomaniacal Captain Nemo, who skippers a lavish, scientifically advanced submarine.

A live action version of the classic story of the villainous Cruella de Vil's attempt to make a coat out of Dalmatian puppies.

Alice is a bored schoolgirl who yearns for a more exciting life. Things get "curiouser and curiouser" after she follows the frantic White Rabbit down the rabbit hole and has a series of surreal misadventures in the madcap world of Wonderland, where "nothing's impossible." In Wonderland, Alice meets extraordinary characters such as Tweedledee and Tweedledum, the Queen of Hearts and the Cheshire Cat.

A collection of rare animated films by Walt Disney Productions.

The story of the deformed bellringer Quasimodo who rescues a gypsy girl from the evil intentions of his guardian who wants to kill her.

Enter the mythical world of the Gargoyles and get to know the ancient creatures that once guarded a medieval Scottish fortress, and who now have come alive at night to protect the city of Manhattan from evil.

"M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E." Before the theme song's memorable spelling became an audio icon, before the series even aired, the Mickey Mouse Club was the most anticipated children's programming ever. This volume features the episodes that launched a television revolution.

When word of the Nazi plot to arrest Denmark's Jews leaks out, Christian families such as the Kosters band together to thwart the impending raid by aiding their Jewish neighbors in hiding.

The only son of Don Alejandro returns to 1820s California to fight the corrupt local military. He plays the foppish dandy by day and the masked swordsman Zorro who slashes Zs everywhere by night.