2nd Edition
The Idea of Nature in Disney Animation From Snow White to WALL-E
By David Whitley
Copyright 2008
200 Pages
by
Routledge
200 Pages
by
Routledge
200 Pages
by
Routledge
Also available as eBook on:
In the second edition of The Idea of Nature in Disney Animation, 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... Read more
Contents: Introduction: wild sentiment: the theme of nature in Disney animation; Part 1 Fairy Tale Adaptations: Domesticating nature: Snow White and fairy tale adaptation; Healing the rift: human and animal nature in The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. Part 2 The North American Wilderness: Bambi and the idea of conservation; Wilderness and power: conflicts and contested values from Pocahontas to Brother Bear. Part 3 Tropical Environments: The Jungle Book: nature and the politics of identity; Tropical discourse: unstable ecologies in Tarzan, The Lion King and Finding Nemo. Part 4 New Developments: WALL¢E: nostalgia and the apocalypse of trash; Conclusion: new directions?; Bibliography; Index.
Biography
David Whitley is Lecturer in English in the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, UK.
'In this welcome new and expanded edition of his 2008 book, David Whitley makes a major contribution not only to Disney studies but to film/media studies and to studies of environmental representation. Packed with persuasive close readings, well-researched, and engagingly written, his book offers fresh perspectives on the Disney canon and its place in popular and academic culture.' Kenneth Kidd, University of Florida 'Whitley carefully and expertly preserves both the inherent wildness and the human sentiment in his attempt to demonstrate how Disney’s animated features function to educate mostly young audiences on salient environmental issues... In looking at wilderness, [Whitley] locates the idea of conservation of the idyllic realm of nature, endangered by the human, in Bambi, and demonstrates how films like Pocahontas contest value systems of power and beauty... Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty.' Choice
