Portrayal of Animals in Disney Culture

Kathy Merlock Jackson is Professor of Media and Communication at Virginia Wesleyan University, USA. Kathy Shepherd Stolley is Professor of Sociology at Virginia Wesleyan University, USA.Mark I. West is Professor of English at University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA.

• Introduction: Exploring the Interconnections Between Disney Studies and Animal StudiesKathy Merlock Jackson (Virginia Wesleyan University, USA), Kathy Shepherd Stolley(Virginia Wesleyan University, USA), and Mark I. West (University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA)Part I: Animals in Disney’s Early Life and Career1. Walt Disney's Boyhood Adventures in a Marceline Menagerie: The Origin of Disney’s Interest in AnimalsMark I. West2. Animals and Meaning in Silly SymphoniesPaula T. Connolly (University of North Carolina at Charlotte, USA)3. Giving Their All: Animals in Disney’s World War II Propaganda FilmsCurt Hersey (Berry College, USA)Part II: Individual Disney Animated Feature Films and Franchises Dealing with Animals4. Dinosaurs, Fantasia, and Walt Disney’s Response to Evolution Brian Alters (Chapman University, USA)5. Lots of People with Big Ears are Famous: Dumbo and Circus Elephants in Disney EntertainmentBetsy Golden Kellem (Independent Scholar, USA)6. Standing the Cheshire Cat on its Head: Disney's Transformation in Alice in WonderlandJan Susina (Illinois State University, USA)7. Lady and the Tramp: When Dogs Say More About Humans Than Humans Say About ThemselvesChristian Renaut (Disney Historian, France) 8. “Let’s have fun with it”: Marceline, Missouri, Aesop’s Animals and American Bricolage in Walt Disney’s The Jungle Book Sue Matheson (University College of the North, Canada) 9. Or Re-write History: Storks and DuckTales’s StorkulesNicholas D. Cross (United States Naval Academy, USA) and Nadia Cross (Independent Scholar, USA)10. The Ethics of Hunting in Disney's Lion King UniverseLaura Kitchings (Boston University, USA)11. The Shadow over Portorosso: The Use of Animals to Represent Lovecraftian Fear of the Other in Disney’s Luca Polina Ignatova (Linköping University, Sweden) and Emelie Fälton (Linköping University, Sweden)Part III: Animals in Disney’s Live-Action Films12. Rehomed on the Range: Animals as Latinx in Disney’s Live-Action AdventuresStacy Hoult (Valparaiso University, USA)13. “The Most Tenacious of All Sea Beasts”: The Narrative Persistence of the Giant Squid and Other Sea Monsters in Disney FilmsPhilip L. Simpson (Eastern Florida State College, USA) 14. Mythmaking, Transmogrification, and Narrative Design in Disney’s The Shaggy Dog James Plath (Illinois Wesleyan University, USA)15. Changing Depictions of Animals in Disney’s Live-Action Films of the 1960sAndrew Howe (La Sierra University, USA) Part IV: Specific Animal Types Traversing Disney’s Animated Realm16. Rattled, Reformed, Derided, and Redeemed: The Freewheeling and Eclectic History of Disney’s Rats and MiceTerry Lindvall (Virginia Wesleyan University, USA)17. Insects in the Disney MenagerieKathy Shepherd Stolley18. To Spare or Kill: Characters’ Behavior Toward Deer as Disney’s Moral TestBrennan Thomas (Saint Francis University, USA)19. Disney’s Trickster Foxes and Their Responses to Authority Structures Peter Cullen Bryan (Independent Scholar, USA), Antares Russell Leask (Northern Virginia Community College, USA), and Dori Koehler (Southern New Hampshire University, USA)Part V: Animals in Disney Theme Parks20. Animal Representation in Disney’s Theme Park AttractionsCarissa Baker (University of Central Florida, USA) 21. Imaginary Animals at Disney’s Animal KingdomAndrew J. Friedenthal (Independent Scholar, USA)Part VI: Thematic Approaches to Disney Animals22. From Appropriation to Allyship: Representation of Cultural Values in Disney/Pixar’s Animated AnimalsJacki Fitzpatrick (Texas Tech University, USA) and Rajib Ahmed Faisal (University of Dhaka, Bangladesh)23. Animal Welfare and Rights in Disney Animated MoviesJesse Donahue (Saginaw Valley State University, USA)24. Disney Adults and Their DogsKathy Merlock JacksonA Selective Bibliography of Disney’s MenagerieCamille McCutcheon (University of South Carolina, USA)About the ContributorsIndex

Jackson, Stolley, and West have given us a solid collection of interdisciplinary essays that insightfully connect Disney Studies and Animal Studies. The essays shed light not only on Walt's legacy of caring for animals, but also how that legacy continues to shape Walt Disney Studios to this day. Including discussions of popular films, theme park attractions, and imaginary creatures, this diverse, well-written, and engaging collection should attract anyone with an interest in Disney Studies, Animal Studies, and Film Studies.