The company’s animators cite the drag performer Divine as the inspiration for Ursula in The Little Mermaid. In the seminal Gender Trouble, Judith Butler pointed out how gender was in part performance-based, a fact that Disney has often depicted with cross-dressing and gender subversion. It was impossible for Ariel to be with Eric unless she became human, or for Belle to be with the Beast unless he became human, or for Aladdin to be with Jasmine unless he became a prince, or for Pocahontas to be with John Smith unless she left her people. Indeed, many Disney romances are examples of “impossible desire,” a trope that is crucial to the queer experience, as gender-studies theorist Heather Love argued in Feeling Backward. In this way, even though Disney films usually offer a traditional happy ending with a heterosexual marriage, the journey always involves rejecting parental and societal expectations, and exercising a “freedom to marry whomever you love” spirit that is endemic to gay rights. Ariel wants to marry a human against her father’s wishes, Belle rejects Gaston’s proposal in front of the whole town, Jasmine refuses to marry the sultan’s suitors, Pocahontas refuses to marry a tribal warrior, and Mulan rejects conventional matchmaking. Then there’s the fact that Disney protagonists often reject traditional marriage partners. SUBLIMINAL MESSAGE IN DISNEY HOW TOPinocchio ( Pinocchio) reflects queer anxiety since he doesn’t know how to act like “a real boy,” and he thinks performing masculinity through smoking, cursing, and misbehaving will earn his father’s love. Initially mocked by his peers, Dumbo ( Dumbo) “comes out” and waves his freak flag after hallucinating pink elephants and learning to fly. Queer kids can uniquely identify with Disney protagonists, who are usually outcasts set apart from society by some innate desire.Įven classic Disney films featured these archetypes. This marks the Disney protagonist as odd, unusual, queer. Ariel ( The Little Mermaid) wanted to be part of another world, the townspeople think Belle ( Beauty and the Beast) is “ a funny girl … different from the rest of us” and Pocahontas ( Pocahontas) does not want to be steady as the beating drum. Belle’s love and the ultimate breaking of the curse is the fantasy cure that Ashman was denied.īut even without Ashman’s involvement, queer kids could identify with Disney protagonists, who are usually outcasts set apart from society by some innate desire (usually indicated by an “I want” song that details whatever dream that particular character is pining to attain). SUBLIMINAL MESSAGE IN DISNEY MOVIEAshman worked on Beauty and the Beast while suffering through the worst (and final) phases of his illness, and composer Alan Menken called the film Ashman’s “personal story.” The result is a movie that can be viewed as an allegory: Shunned from society, his body hideously transformed, and his life wilting away like the enchanted rose, the Beast is a figure of degenerative disease. At the end of Beauty and the Beast, Disney acknowledged his contributions with this tribute: “To our friend Howard Ashman who gave a mermaid her voice and a beast his soul, we will be forever grateful.”īut Ashman’s story also offers an example of how the substance of Disney’s films reflect an interest in LGBT peoples’ struggles. Not only did Ashman write songs for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin, he was also closely involved in those films’ productions, casting actors and holding story meetings with animators. One of the most poignant examples of the company’s tolerant atmosphere is the case of lyricist Howard Ashman, who was openly gay and died of AIDS in 1991. Gay pride events have been hosted at Disney World since 1991, and the company started offered its gay employees health insurance benefits for their partners since 1995, a decision that wasn’t entirely popular back then. To start in the most obvious place: As a business, Disney has long held a progressive attitude toward LGBT people. Through both its corporate practices and the content of its films, Disney for decades has implemented the so-called "gay agenda"-which is to say, helping make the world a more accepting place. But the most remarkable thing about queer readings of the film may be how unremarkable they really are.
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