Why I chose this topic
I'd just like to take a moment to think about how Disney movies (which we watched as children)
have influenced us in our lives. There's the typical Disney villain, usually with a pointed nose and
much older age-wise. There was a study completed which found that the persistent portrayal of the
elderly as victims could lead children to forming the wrong impressions about the elderly. It was found
that 71 % of movies contained negative images of the elderly.[6,7] This lead me to think, what about
the portrayal of mental illness in Disney movies? surely that would have the same effect on children.
I chose to do this topic because as a child who was born in the 90's,I grew up watching Disney movies.
I still have fond memories of watching and re-watching some of my favourite movies. Only once I got older
did I start to learn about the other side of Disney movies, the side which had sexual innuendos, and even
blatant racism. If you had mentioned mental illness and Disney to me before doing this project, my first connection would have been "Alice in Wonderland".
This project has taught me that it goes much deeper and it is more widespread than that. Disney movies aside, my main question is how these portrayals
of mental illness in Disney movies affects the children who are watching them, which in turn shapes their view about mental illness when they are older. [2,3,5]
I would also like to apologize for the sensory overload in regards to pictures. I'm afraid I got way too excited about incorporating Disney into this project
and it kept going from there. Enjoy!
have influenced us in our lives. There's the typical Disney villain, usually with a pointed nose and
much older age-wise. There was a study completed which found that the persistent portrayal of the
elderly as victims could lead children to forming the wrong impressions about the elderly. It was found
that 71 % of movies contained negative images of the elderly.[6,7] This lead me to think, what about
the portrayal of mental illness in Disney movies? surely that would have the same effect on children.
I chose to do this topic because as a child who was born in the 90's,I grew up watching Disney movies.
I still have fond memories of watching and re-watching some of my favourite movies. Only once I got older
did I start to learn about the other side of Disney movies, the side which had sexual innuendos, and even
blatant racism. If you had mentioned mental illness and Disney to me before doing this project, my first connection would have been "Alice in Wonderland".
This project has taught me that it goes much deeper and it is more widespread than that. Disney movies aside, my main question is how these portrayals
of mental illness in Disney movies affects the children who are watching them, which in turn shapes their view about mental illness when they are older. [2,3,5]
I would also like to apologize for the sensory overload in regards to pictures. I'm afraid I got way too excited about incorporating Disney into this project
and it kept going from there. Enjoy!