A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF DISNEY ANIMATED FILMS:
IDENTIFYING TEACHABLE MOMENTS FOR PARENTS
By
Elizabeth Marie Lavoie
B.S. University of Maine, 2004
A THESIS
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree of
Masters of Science
(in Human Development)
The Graduate School
The University of Maine
May, 2008
Advisory Committee:
Sandra L. Caron, Professor of Family Relations/Human Sexuality, Chair
Julie DellaMattera, Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education
Gary Schilmoeller, Associate Professor of Child Development & Family
Relations
11
Copyright 2008 Elizabeth Marie Lavoie
A CONTENT ANALYSIS OF DISNEY ANIMATED FILMS: IDENTIFYING
TEACHABLE MOMENTS FOR PARENTS
By Elizabeth Marie Lavoie
Thesis Advisor: Dr. Sandra L. Caron
An Abstract of the Thesis Presented
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the
Degree of Master of Science
(in Human Development)
May, 2008
This study analyzed the content of 10 animated feature length Disney films for
teachable moments for parents to utilize. The research looked for the most common
teachable moments that were presented in the top ten Disney movies and how common
these teachable moments were across the ten movies.
The 10 animated, feature length films that were analyzed were: Aladdin, Beauty
and the Beast, Cars, Finding Nemo, The Lion King, Monsters, INC., Ratatouille, Tarzan,
Toy Story, and Toy Story 2. The films were analyzed to find out what teachable moments
these films had, and how common they were.
The results showed 42 teachable moments under five broad categories of selfdevelopment, political/world/religion, education, social development, and harm
reduction. The broad categories held between 15 and 4 teachable moments. Each of the
ten movies had teachable moments with the top film having 33 moments and the least
film having 24. The study found that there were 10 common teachable moments that
were present in all of the films.
The results of this study describe the teachable moments and also discuss
implications for parents.
iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank my husband Corey Lavoie for his endless love, support and
encouragement through my entire academic career. You truly mean the world to me and I
love you to infinity and beyond.
To my son David Lavoie for watching Disney movies with me, and not getting
upset when I had to pause and replay them. You are the light of my life and I love you
dearly.
I also would like to thank my father Ervin Williams for always being there for me
and providing endless support and encouragement. I would like to thank my grandmother
Mary Williams for your support, empowerment and for sharing the summer in Maine
with me.
I would like to thank Dr. Sandy Caron, my thesis adviser, for her support,
meetings, endless emails, and dedication. You have been a rock of support and
encouragement. You truly inspire me as a woman, educator, and mother.
To my thesis committee Dr. Gary Schilmoeller and Dr. Julie Dellamattera for
your valuable advise, support, guidance, and editing. I really appreciate the effort, time,
and dedication of your countless reviews and edits to my drafts.
I would also like to thank Dr. Gary Schilmoeller for allowing me to be his
graduate assistant for the Fall 2007 and Spring 2008 semesters. I have gained valuable
information from you and have received the gift of learning more about myself. You are a
great inspiration to me as an educator and mentor.
I would like to thank Janice Bacon for her computer skills and endless efforts of
formatting.
IV
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
iii
LIST OF TABLES
vi
Chapter
1. INTRODUCTION
1
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
4
Walt Elias Disney
4
Content Analysis of Disney Movies
5
Purpose of Study and Research Questions
12
Research Question 1
13
Research Question 2
13
3. METHODOLOGY
14
Sample
14
Instrument and Procedure
14
Data Analysis
15
4. RESULTS
18
5. DISCUSSION
32
Limitations and Further Research
45
Implications
46
REFERENCES
47
APPENDICES
49
Appendix A: Top Ten Disney Films
50
Appendix B: Definition List of Teachable Moments
52
V
Appendix C: Checksheet
BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
54
55
vi
LIST OF TABLES
3.1 Teachable Moments
17
1
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION
Disney is a household name. I am not sure that there is a child in the United States
who doesn't watch, own, wear or play with something that is Disney related. Disney has
grown into more than just theme parks and Mickey Mouse. Today Disney produces
action figures, princess dress-up clothing, backpack, lunch boxes, key chains, antenna
balls, books, pajamas, video games, Halloween costumes, and animated movies, just to
name a few. Disney has excelled in animated movies. In fact, the top one hundred and
fifty worldwide grossing box office movies of all time include twenty-four that are
animated (IMDb, 2007). Of those twenty-four animated movies, thirteen of them are
Disney productions. Titles include The Lion King, Aladdin, Monsters Inc, and Finding
Nemo (IMDb, 2007).
These animated movies have become classics that are passed on from one
generation to another. It's a pastime for adults, something we can give our children that
we had in our childhood. But, do we really know what we are sharing with them?
Children get their views about life from a variety of resources. One of these resources
includes animated movies. According to Artz, "Disney animation entertains and instructs
because it offers a cinematic escape from reality by presenting narrative and imagistic
fictions as if they were or could be reality" (Artz, 2004 p. 119). Do these animated
movies really reflect our own personal views on such things as violence, sex, or gender
roles? Artz (2004) argues that "Comfort comes in part from the friendly animals that
appear as lead characters, editorial commentators, or companies; adding appeal for young
viewers and comic relief for older viewers" (p. 121). In this researchers opinion, not
many people look at the content of an animated movie, instead they rely on the Motion
Picture Association (MPAA) to rate them. The MPAA is comprised of ten to thirteen
members who view the movie for sexual content, nudity, language, drug use, and adult
content. Then each of board members submits a rating of G, PG, PG-13, R, or NC-17.
That is assigned to the movie (MPAA 2007). In 2006, the top twenty grossing films
included four animated feature length movies; three were rated PG and the other was
rated G (MPAA).
When it comes to feature length animated Disney movies this researcher feels that
parents often rely on two things.-The first thing they rely on is the Disney name,
synonymous with family values and popular culture. One possible measure that parents
often use is the movie rating system of G, PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17. This rating system
sorts movies by deciding on the appropriate age of the viewer. This is not enough; parents
need to be aware that movies with similar ratings can vary greatly (Thompson & Yokota,
2001). Parents and caregivers need to realize that children can learn stereotypes, negative
behaviors, inappropriate gestures, bullying, and violence from these animated movies.
However, they can also learn positive messages such as friendship, self-esteem,
community, family values, caring, sharing, and how to deal with true-life situations. This
is why a content analysis of Disney-produced animated films is so important. There have
been a number of content analyses done on children's cartoons and movies, but there is a
lack of research done on Disney produced animated films, as well as the teachable
moments that children and families may receive from these animated films.
3
Teachable moments are opportunities that parents can utilize to help teach life
lessons as well as their values and beliefs to their children. For example, a young child
and his mother were watching the Disney movie Dumbo together. Ms. Jumbo, an
elephant mother, got her baby delivered by the stork; it was a bouncing baby elephant
that she named Dumbo. At this point in the movie the child looked at his mother and
asked, "Why was Dumbo brought to his mom by that bird? That isn't how babies are
born." What a great opportunity for this parent to utilize a teachable moment by
discussing the fictional birth of Dumbo with the reality of how babies are really born.
In this content analysis, Disney animated movies will be analyzed for "teachable
moments" that children and families can take advantage of while watching these films.
Bell, Haas and Sells (1995) put it best when they said, "these cartoon visions, like many
other films for children, make crucial contributions to our most important discourse of the
self (p. 86). Ward (2002) points out that "the stories children are exposed to will form
the standards for testing the truth of other stories later in life" (p.5). This study will allow
parents and caregivers a chance to make the most informed decision when allowing their
child to watch Disney animated movies. It will also ask whether such movies can
facilitate parents' discussion with their children about important life issues.
Pinsky (2004) argues that Disney animated movies can be utilized as tools, "in
building a general, moral sensibility among children and in reinforcing parental and
religious values" (p. 12). By taking the concept of using animated films as teaching tools
in therapy and in the classroom, parents can apply it to children in the home. Parents can
then begin to use animated film as "teachable moments" within the household.
4
Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
The following literature review will provide a background on Walt Disney, the
man, as well as a review of some of the research that has been done on the content of
Disney movies. The final section outlines the purpose of this study, which will focus on
the use of Disney movies by parents when talking with their children about real life
situations.
Walt Elias Disney
Walter Elias Disney was born to Elias and Flora Disney in Chicago, Illinois on
December 5, 1901 (Gabler, 2006). Walt, as he would become known, was one of five
children. The family moved to Marceline, Missouri when Walt was about four years old.
Marceline would forever remain special to Walt (Gabler 2006). The Disney family was
by no means wealthy. Walt began working at a very young age, upholding a paper route.
Even as a child Walt was creative and wanted to be the center of attention (Gabler, 2006).
His friends would remember Walt as a great artist and most of them knew that he would
go on to be an artist. When Walt was an adolescent he wanted to be a cartoonist and draw
for the Kansas City Star. It wasn't until Walt checked out a library book on animation
that he wanted to become an animator (Gabler, 2006). It would take many trials and
tribulations and even a bankruptcy before Walt eventually made his dream a reality. But
the struggles were well worth the battle when he was finally able to release his first
feature length animation, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937. Walt's career was
well on its way. Walt would release many more animated favorites, create two theme
parks, and change the world of animation forever (Gabler, 2006).
5
Walt Disney died of Bronchogenic carcinoma on December 15, 1966, at the age
of 65 (Gabler, 2006). Shortly after his death his brother Roy released a statement stating,
"We will continue to operate Walt's company in the way that he had established and
guided it. All of the plans for the future that Walt had begun will continue to move
ahead" (Gabler, 2006, p. 631,) Although the Disney company has strayed from some of
Walt's original views, the Disney company has continued to flourish and grow into
something that Walt Disney himself could be proud of. One of Walt's goals was for
people to be able to watch his films and lose their control, to let the films take them away
from reality. In an interview Walt commented on nuclear peril and said, "If people would
think more of fairies they would soon forget the atom bomb" (Gabler, 2006, p. 481).
To this day, Walt's dream of providing entertainment and temporary escape from
the problematic day-to-day horrors are still alive. Audiences young and old can turn on
the television, put in a DVD, watch a movie online, or even go to the movie theater to
catch the latest Disney movie and experience the temporary escape from the "real" world.
Walt's dream of providing this temporary escape does not come without criticism. There
are many critics who suggest that children's entertainment (in this case animated feature
length movies) are more than just a temporary escape from the "real" world. They believe
that there is more depth to animated movies that just a temporary "escape" from one's
own reality.
Content Analysis of Disney Movies
There are literally hundreds and hundreds of research articles that have been
published with a focus on children's entertainment. For example, a search using Google
Scholar revealed over 50,000 articles on this very topic. A great majority of these articles
(approximately 10,000) focus on animated movies and cartoons. Of these articles, some
of them analyze Disney animated feature length films and focus on challenging Disney
myths (Wasko, 2001), gender construction (Abel, 1995), archaeological sites (Silverman,
2002), mental illness (Wahl et. al., 2007) and demonizing (Fouts, Callan, Plasentin, and
Lawson, 2006). These articles are great if you are looking for something particular, such
as how mental illness is portrayed in film. But, for the purpose of this study they are not
useful because but they do not serve the needs of parents. I have chosen six studies that
are better suited to the purpose of this study; analyzing Disney feature length animated
movies for "teachable moments" that children and families can take advantage of while
watching these films.
Below are six specific studies that use content analysis of Disney movies as they
relate to situations children may face. For example, Thompson and Yokota (2001)
reviewed 81 G rated feature length animated films and looking for themes of alcohol,
tobacco, and other substance abuse. Of the eighty-one, 46.9% of them had an average of
forty-two seconds of a character using alcohol. 43.2% of the films had at least one
character using tobacco for an average of two point one minutes. They concluded that the
use of tobacco has seemed to diminish over time, with the newest animated feature length
movies not having as much exposure to tobacco. None of the films contained a character
using illicit drugs. Three films did show a character eating or swallowing a magic pill or
potion. Two of the movies showed a character injecting another character with a syringe.
Thompson and Yokota concluded the article by stating that the use of tobacco and
alcohol use in animated feature length films has decreased over time but that three of the
7
films sent messages that the character should stop smoking. It should be noted that
nothing was said to the character(s) about alcohol consumption within the films. This
study is particularly important because it emphasizes the fact that parents should screen
the movies prior to their child watching it. Or better yet it suggests that parent's co-watch
television and movies with their children to allow the child to ask questions. This allows
the parents to express their beliefs and values on certain situations such as, the use of
tobacco and alcohol.
Another article discussed the personality traits within the Walt Disney story
Winnie the Pooh. Kortman and Eckstein (2004) used the four main characters from
Winnie the Pooh to characterize personality differences in therapy with families and
couples. This study points out that each character is individualized just like people in our
own world. For example, Pooh Bear is what the authors call "harmony". He wants to
please others; he is sensitive, warm and caring. He, "enjoys sensory experiences as his
"comfort food" of honey" (p. 68). Much like humans, relationships are very important to
him. He is constantly trying to get all of his friends together for a party so he can feel his
sense of community which is a common stress response that a personality such as Pooh
would experience; people who value harmony "tend to overadapt, overplease, and
become self-defeating in their negative behavior", (p. 68) Kortman and Eckstein also
describe personality types of Rabbit who is the production, Tigger who is the connection,
and Eeyore who is "status quo", (p. 71). These personality types can be found within our
own environment and it gives children the opportunity to see themselves within a
character. It allows them to relate to someone or something. Personality types are varied
8
throughout the animated world. Just looking at one animated feature length movie of
Winnie the Pooh can allow children to see differences and similarities in other people.
Pocahontas was a Disney film that was released in 1995. Disney was both
acclaimed and criticized for this movie. Dundes (2001) wrote an article just on the topic
of Pocahontas, discussing gender stereotypes, and female liberation. Pocahontas was an
engendered character compared to her counter parts Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and
Snow White. Unlike her counterparts she chooses not to succumb to the traditional
"princess" ending, instead she becomes a leader for her people. Dundes argues that this
was not a selfless act at all. In fact, it was based on Pocahontas's, "selfish love, rather
than a more noble, altruistic cause. She does not want the man she loves to die" (p. 355).
Dundes goes on to analyze the movie Pocahontas using Lawrence Kohlberg's
theory of moral development in young children. In the first stage the child is egocentric,
only looking out for his/her own needs. However, in the last stage of moral development
"a person's actions are guided by higher principles of human rights, liberty, or equality".
(p. 355) Dundes explains that both Pocahontas and her love John Smith go through the
stages of moral development throughout the film; the fundamental stages of moral
development vary according to gender stereotyping. Pocahontas teaches John Smith that
killing is wrong, imperial and she begins to show him the error of his ways. He then
realizes that killing Native Americans for sport is wrong so he takes a bullet for the
Chief. Once Pocahontas realizes the power that she has, her goals turn and they focus on
saving John Smith. Dundes states the problem with Pocahontas's moral development is
9
that she is not looking out for the good of society. Instead she is only focused on her
relationship.
Dundes discusses the gender stereotyping within this film in the context of moral
development. Girls are expected to change their way of thinking about themselves around
the age of ten. They are expected to think about others before themselves. This is not the
same for boys and men. When a person thinks of duty they don't think of selflessness.
Instead they think of duty as being noble and moral. In discussing the ending of
Pocahontas, Dundes says that it is not surprising that, "in light of societal expectations
that a mature woman will subjugate her own desires in order to benefit others" (p. 357).
Dundes takes this opportunity to talk about sensuality in childhood and the transition into
adulthood sexuality. Pocahontas is clearly smitten with John Smith yet she resists his
attempts to kiss her when she hears the drums of her tribe signaling trouble. This
becomes a landmark to her selflessness. Dundes then discusses the role that selflessness
has on females and relates it to one preparing for maternity. Dundes adds that there is
nothing wrong with the maternal instinct but we must be aware of how it is presented.
All of Dundes arguments are very worthy of attention and are a good starting
point for a parent. Dundes article allows the reader to understand underlying influences
and situations that a careless viewer may not understand. It is also a starting point for
parents to be able to see where they themselves stand on certain issues. It also has
empowering qualities that allow the viewer to see the new breed of Disney heroines and
to get a feel for the movie itself; continuing with the discussion that parents should be cowatchers with their children.
10
In another study, twenty-six Disney feature length animated films were observed
for images of age, race, gender, and sexual orientation (Towbin et al., 2003). Their
findings indicate that gender, racial, and cultural stereotypes have persisted over time in
Disney films. A few positive portrayals emerged but they were few and far between. In
twelve of the twenty-six movies Towbin et. al. (2003) found that boys and men are more
likely to use physical forms of expression rather than verbal. In fifteen of the movies
boys/men are not in control of their sexuality when a woman is present, they tend to
freeze or not be able to speak. In nineteen of the movies the boys/men were portrayed as
the rescuers. In two of the movies the men are not portrayed to be rescuers as they have
to learn to be brave or they get by on luck alone.
In Towbin et al (2003), four themes regarding females emerged: beauty is valued
more than brains; females need the protection of another because they are helpless;
females are more in the household and tend to marry; and women who are ugly and who
are unpleasant are usually not married. Five themes about culture emerged, stereotypes of
class are overstated; non-dominant cultures are represented negatively; values of western
society and Christians are depicted; values/beliefs of similar characters should stay with
each other; and it is okay for characters who have opposing values/beliefs to be friends or
have a sense of community. It was noted that no gay or same-sex relationships were
portrayed in any of the twenty-six movies. The results of the analysis showed that only in
some areas there have been improvements such as with race and culture as well as gender
and the female role.
Towbin et al (2003) suggests that therapists use Disney animated feature films
within the context of therapy. Children are very familiar with the movies and characters
and therefore a dialogue can take place using a situation/character from a movie. Towbin
et al (2003) also suggests that therapists coach parents to mediate their children's media
exposures.
Tanner, Haddock, Zimmerman and Lund (2003) analyzed twenty six Disney
animated classics and newly released movies for content on families and couples. While
it is true that children learn about the family unit by participating and observing their
own, the media portrayal of family is another avenue that children utilize to learn about
couples and families (Tanner, Haddock, Zimmerman & Lund, 2003). Tanner, Haddock,
Zimmerman, and Lund (2003) used three categories, which were families, parents, and
couples. Then they subcategorized codes and questions to find out, "Who comprises a
family? How are families created? How are families maintained? What is the nature of
families? Which parents are present? How does one become a parent? What is the nature
of mothers? What is the nature of fathers? Who compromises a couple? How are couple
relationships created? How are couple relationships maintained? What is the nature of
couple relationships?" (2003). The results revealed that Disney films have a strong
familial precedence. Families are diverse but the diversity is usually simplified, fathers
are often on a higher pedestal and mothers are often on a lower margin, and lastly couples
are shown in traditional gender role stereotypes.
Tanner, Haddock, Zimmerman, and Lund (2003) findings are consistent, "with
the values that most parents and family professionals want to instill in children." This
12
supports the contention that Disney movies can benefit and reinforce these values and can
be utilized by therapists and other professionals who are working with families to
strengthen their relationships.
Similarly a study by Champoux (2001) proposed that educators use animated
films as teaching resources in organizational behavior and management. Chapoux (2001)
argues that because directors have concise control over animated films and presentations,
they provide the perfect opportunity for utilization. Directors have control over staging,
personality of characters, actions, color schemes, music and anything else within the film.
Chapoux (2001) lists five reasons why animated films should be used as a teaching
resource in organizational behavior and management. The reasons include 1)
visualization (because it can provide long lasting images of ideas), 2) it provides variation
from live-action, 3) the strength of some characters provide concepts, 4) abstract ideas
can become visual elements by exaggerating them within the film, and lastly Champoux
borrowed an idea from Roger Ebert in that, 5) "animation can help us link concepts
directly to the minds of our students" (p. 81).
Purpose of the Study and Research Questions
There is a great deal of research that has been done on animated feature films, as
well as those specifically created by Walt Disney. While the six articles reviewed above
reflect the negative light of animated feature length films (which should not be
overlooked), this study will look at Disney feature animated films from a different
perspective, with an eye toward "teachable moments" for parents. This analysis will
highlight both the positive and negative life situations that parents can utilize as
13
"teachable moments" with their children. This analysis will attempt to identify those
scenes within Disney animated feature length films which depict situations where parents
and children can have constructive interactions before, during, and after viewing films
together. The research questions are as follows:
Research Question 1: What are the most common "teachable moments" presented
in the top ten Disney movies?
Research Question 2: How common are these various "teachable moments"
across the ten movies to be analyzed?
Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY
Sample
In this study the top ten box office grossing, G-rated, Walt Disney animated
feature length movies were analyzed for their content. The ten movies were released in
the USA, between the years of 1991 -2007, in English, at least eighty minutes long and
available for parent's to purchase. Using the IMDb Internet Movie Database the top ten
grossing, G-rated, Disney films were identified. These ten animated films serve as a
representation of Disney animated feature length movies (See Appendix A). This yielded
a sample size of 949 minutes. The movies include Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, Cars,
Finding Nemo, The Lion King, Monsters Inc., Ratatouille, Tarzan, Toy Story and Toy
Story 2.
Instrument and Procedure
The films were analyzed for their content of teachable moments. Each of the ten
films were viewed three times in their entirety, the first viewing was to get a overview of
what the movie was about and an idea of the teachable moments. The second viewing
was specifically for the teachable moments, stopping at two-minute intervals to exam the
scene and look for each teachable moment. If a teachable moment was identified it was
written down, noting what the moment was and what it was about. It should be noted that
more than one teachable moment could be depicted in a scene and if the scene carried
into the next 2 minute interval it was not noted a second time. The films were then
viewed a third time for more specific details of each example and exact times of the
teachable moment. The primary researcher and one of her committee members
15
independently coded one movie in its entirety to ensure consistency in the coding
process. The rate of accuracy was 88.4%. See Appendix A for a synopsis of each movie.
Data Analysis
A template was developed using teachable moments (Crabtree & Miller, 1992).
The two research questions were asked: What are the teachable moments? How common
are these teachable moments? Using these two research questions the coder then focused
on the films looking for specific teachable moments. The coder then compared the
teachable moments from the movies, grouping them into categories of the most common
teachable moments; paying special attention to the commonalities throughout each of the
films. The primary researcher came from a background of human development, therefore
the five broad categories that contain the 42 teachable moments were chosen from a
human development perspective.
The following are the five broad categories and followed by the 42 sub categories
that were found when coding the content of the analysis. Please see Appendix B for a
table version of the categories and subcategories. A table was also made to allow the
coder to look at the teachable moments in each film, the broad categories of each film
and to look for the commonalities among all ten films (Table 1: Teachable Moments).
1. Self Development: affection, attitude, behavior, communication, death, feelings,
hygiene, language, love, lying, manners, morals/ethics, play, self-esteem and
sexuality.
2. PoliticalAVorld/Religion: economic, going green, government, and religion economic.
16
3. Social Development: celebrations, culture, families, friendship, material objects,
relationship, sexism, stealing, and stereotypes.
4. Education: animals, culinary, disabilities, geography, history, music/singing, reading,
and science/ecology.
5. Harm Reduction: cartoon violence, fire safety, strangers, verbal abuse, and violence.
17
Beauty
and the
Beast
Aladdin
Self
Development
Affection
Attitude
Behavior
Communication
Death
Feelings
Hygiene
Language
Love
Lying
Manners
Morals/Ethics
Play
Self Esteem
Sexuality
Political/World
/Religion
Economic
Going Green
Government
Religion
Education
Animals
Culinary
Disabilities
Geography
History
Music/Singing
Reading
Science/Ecology
Social
Development
Celebrations
Culture
Families
Friendship
Material Objects
Relationships
Sexism
Stealing
Stereotypes
Harm
Reduction
Cartoon
Violence
Drugs
Fire Safety
Strangers
Verbal Abuse
Violence
Total
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Finding
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Cars
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Table 3.1: Teachable Moments
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V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
i
V
V
V
V
V
24
V
V
V
28
V
V
V
23
-J
V
33
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
'
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
32
V
V
V
25
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
32
Total
9
10
10
9
6
10
4
10
9
8
10
9
7
10
4
1
5
2
2
8
1
4
6
2
10
6
7
6
5
10
10
6
10
7
4
8
8
5
4
7
10
8
18
Chapter 4: RESULTS
This section provides the results for this study. The current study conducted
analyzed ten Disney animated movies to identify teachable moments for parents. Each
film was viewed for its overall content and for teachable moments. All ten of the films
were viewed and detailed information was recorded. A template was developed and the
teachable moments were coded into five broad categories, including: self-development,
political/world/religion, social development, education, and harm reduction.
Research Question 1
The first research question, "What are the most common teachable moments
presented in the top ten Disney movies?" As outlined in Table 1 there were 42 teachable
moments identified in the 10 films that were analyzed. Below are specific examples of
scenes depicting each of the 42 teachable moments, under the five broad categories.
Many of the scenes may have more than one teachable moment; for the sake of clarity
each teachable moment will be presented in its own scene from one of the films.
Self Development:
Under the broad topic area of self-development, there were 15 sub-categories
including affection, attitude, behavior, communication, death, feelings, hygiene,
language, love, lying, manners, morals/ethics, play, self esteem, and sexuality. Specific
examples of how these are portrayed in various films are presented below.
Affection: In the movie Aladdin (54:12) Aladdin who is pretending to be Prince
Ali, so he can marry Jasmine is talking to Genie. He is telling Genie that he needs help
19
with Jasmine. Genie tells Aladdin that he needs to tell Jasmine the truth; Aladdin
dismisses Genie's idea to tell Jasmine the truth because he is just a poor commoner.
Attitude: The Lion King (4:32) opens with a small grey mouse seen running
around in a cave. As the mouse stops to itch his face and smell the air, a huge lion paw
traps him and holds him by his tail. It is Scar, a lion who is the brother to the king,
Mufasa. Scar is somber as he talks to the mouse about life not being fair. He proceeds to
tell the mouse that he will never become King. And then he tells the mouse that he will
never see the light of another day.
Behavior: In the movie Tarzan (9:29), Kerchak, (the head gorilla) confronts Kala
(his mate), he tells her that Tarzan will not replace the baby gorilla that they have just lost
and that she needs to take him back. Kala replies to him saying that she understands that
Tarzan won't replace the one that they lost and then she refuses to take him back, for fear
that the jungle will get him. Kerchak says that Tarzan is not their kind. Kerchak and Kala
argue about taking Tarzan back. Kerchak stands on his hind legs and pounds his chest
fiercely.
Communication: In Beauty and the Beast (1:05:02), Belle and the Beast are
outside on the terrace balcony when Belle's face saddens. The Beast asks her what is
wrong. She explains to him that she misses her father, if she could just see him one more
time? The Beast gives Belle a magic mirror that will allow her to see anything. She asks
the mirror if she could see her father. The mirror shows her father sick, alone, and
possibly dying. Belle is very scared; The Beast tells her she must go to him and to keep
the mirror. Belle thanks him and goes to her father, no longer the Beasts' prisoner.
20
Death: In the movie The Lion King (34:44) a stampede occurs and Simba, who is
the cub of the King, Mufasa, is in the middle of it, hanging onto a branch. Mufasa runs to
save his son. He gets Simba and brings him to safety. Mufasa desperately tries to climb
up the cliff but struggles. When he finally almost reaches the top he sees Scar and asks
for help. Scar digs his nails deep into Mufasa and says, "Long live the King." Mufasa
falls to his death. Once the stampede clears, Simba goes searching for his father. He finds
his father lifeless on the ground.
Feelings: In Finding Nemo (8:50) three fish are jumping on the "sponge beds"
when one of them falls off and gets hurt. The fish begins crying and another fish
(presumably his mother) comes over to comfort him.
Hygiene: In Ratatouille (1:32:46), the entire rat colony comes to the aid of Remy.
They report to the kitchen to help him out. Before they can begin cooking Remy looks at
a sign in the kitchen that reads, "Employees must wash hands." Remy makes all of the
rats go in the dishwasher to get sanitized before they begin cooking. Remy also adds that
any rats that handle food will walk on two legs.
Language: This teachable moment is throughout all 10 of the films. In each of the
film has a spoken dialogue.
Love: In Cars (1:11:09), Sally and Lightening McQueen are taking a leisurely
drive up a windy mountain road. They stop at an old, closed, wheel museum. Lightening
McQueen asks her how come she left California. Sally says that she was not happy; she
tells him that she broke down in Radiator Springs and Doc fixed her and Flo took her in,
and she never left. Lightening McQueen asks why she never left. She responds by telling
21
him that she fell in love. She drives over to a nearby cliff and shows him the scenic
nature that she fell in love with.
Lying: In the movie Aladdin (48:38) there is a scene where Genie grants
Aladdin's wish to become a Prince. They come into town via a huge parade that includes
various animals like a giant elephant that Aladdin rides in on. There are men and belly
dancing women. Aladdin throws golden coins, which he throws into the crowds. Aladdin
is really just a poor guy and not a Prince; he is trying to win Jasmine's hand in marriage.
Manners: In the movie Ratatouille (25:47) the head chef sees that soup that he did
not approve of is going into the dining room. The chef runs through the kitchen
screaming. He then goes through the kitchen doors into the dining room and he is still
screaming. All of the patrons look at him, he then runs back to the kitchen.
Morals/Ethics: In Monsters, INC. (40:54) Mike and Sully enter the scare floor (a
room that holds children's doors and where the monsters enter the child's room) with
Boo (a human child) dressed like a monster. Sully wants to do the right thing and put her
back in her door (which is the closet door in her bedroom). He clarifies with Mike that he
has the right card to bring Boo's door back. Mike assures Sully that he has the right card,
as he steals a card from another monster. Mike makes a door appear. Sully quickly says
that this is the wrong door. Mike lies to Sully and says that it is the right door. Sully says
that Boo's door had flowers on it. Mike pretend that he doesn't know what Sully is
talking about and tries to encourage Boo to enter the door. Sully closes the door and says
that it is not hers!
22
Play: In the movie Toy Story (1:41), Andy is in his room playing with his toys. He
is using his cowboy doll Woody as a sheriff who has just saved the day. Andy and
Woody use a laso and round up cattle. (The cattle are plain brown boxes with cattle
colored on them).
Self-esteem: In one of the first scenes from Beauty and the Beast (3:13). Belle is
walking from her house into town. She is singing as she strolls through town. During her
pauses the town folk sing along and sometimes about her. Belle is carrying a basket with
a book in it. The town folk sing about how crazy she is. Belle however, pays them no
attention and continues singing. She enters a bookshop where she returns a book she had
borrowed. She picks out another book that she has already read twice. The bookkeeper
tells Belle that she can keep it. Belle is very thankful and goes back outside where she
shows sheep the pages of the book and continues singing happily.
Sexuality: In the movie Tarzan (45:49), Jane is telling her father about her
encounter with the monkeys and how this "wild man" saved her. As she describes Tarzan
she looks off into the far distant and her face has a love stuck look.
Political/World/Religion
Under the broad category of Political/World/Religion there were 4 teachable
moment categories including, economic, going green, government, and religion. Specific
examples of how these are portrayed in various films are presented below.
Economic: A scene in Cars (1:12:05), shows Lightening McQueen and Sally are
looking down over the town of Radiator Springs from a cliff. In the background the
23
narrator sings a song entitled "Our Town." The movie goes to clips of Radiator Springs
when it was bustling with cars and all of the businesses in town were booming with
customers (unlike the current times of Radiator Springs). The clips show the interstate
being built and the traffic dwindling down next to nothing, to the present days.
Going green: In Monsters, INC. (7:19) Mike and Sully, the two main characters,
exit their apartment building. Mike's car is parked near the curb; he unlocks the door and
tells Sully to get in. Sully says no and Mike asks why not. Sully tells him, "Because there
is a scream shortage." Mike tries to get in the car anyway but, Sully being a lot bigger
than Mike pulls him away from the car, and they begin walking to work.
Government: In the movie Aladdin (12:27), Jasmines is only three days away
from her birthday; the law states that she must marry a Prince before then. Jasmine and
her father, the Sultan, are outside discussing Jasmine's future husband. She is upset
because, if she were to get married, she wants it to be for love. Her father wants to make
sure that she is taken care of, but Jasmine just wants to be a "normal girl." Her father tells
her that she is a Princess. Jasmine replies by saying that maybe she does not want to be a
Princess.
Religion: In the movie The Lion King (1:03:45) Simba is grown and is trying to
figure out who he is. Rafiki, a baboon tells Simba that he is Mufasa's boy. Rafiki then
runs away. Simba then chases him. Simba asks Rafiki how he knows his father. Rafiki
tells Simba that he "knows his father." Simba tells him that his father has died. Rafiki
tells Simba that his father is alive. Rafiki then leads Simba to a small cliff that has grass
and rock surrounding a small lake. Simba looks down but only sees his reflection in the
24
mirror. Simba tell Rafiki that he can't see his father. Rafiki tells Simba that Mufasa lives
in him. The movie grows very dark and the stars and clouds are showing at night. The
clouds form into the shape of Mufasa. Mufasa tells Simba that he needs to take his place
in the circle of life and that he needs to remember who he is.
Education
The third broad category is Education in which there are 8 sub categories which
are animals, culinary, disabilities, geography, history, music/singing, reading, and
science/ecology. Specific examples of how these are portrayed in various films are
presented below.
Animals: In the beginning of Tarzan (8:10), Kala has just discovered this orphan
infant in a tree house. Kala takes this infant in as one of her own. She presents Tarzan to
the rest of the gorillas. The whole gorilla pack is there to see baby Tarzan.
Culinary: Ratatouille (17:47) has a scene that shows a restaurant. There are
various kitchen staff including waiters and chefs. The waiters place orders and the chefs
are calling them out. There is food in pans being cooked and tasted. Food is being plated
and ready to be served.
Disabilities: In the movie Finding Nemo (5:45), Nemo wakes his father excitedly
because it is his first day of school. As Nemo is tugging at his father trying to wake him
up, Nemo flies into a tubular shaped plant. His father becomes hysterical asking Nemo is
his "lucky fin" is okay. Nemo says, "yes" and high-fives his father with his lucky fin.
(Nemo was born with his right fin substantially smaller than his left.)
25
Geography: In the movie Toy Story 2 (28:00), Woody has just been reunited with
the Round-up Gang (Jesse, Stinky Pete, and Bull's-eye). They are playing and goofing
around excitedly. Bull's-eye is on the record turntable, he is then joined by Jesse and
Woody who begin spinning and dancing around on it. Stinky Pete yells, "Now it's on to
the museum." Woody is shocked and asks what museum. Jesse, Bull's-eye and Woody
all fall off the record player. Stinky Pete says, "We are being sold to the Keneski toy
museum in Tokeo." Jesse excitedly says, "That's in Japan."
History: In Cars (1:11:42) Sally and Lightening McQueen are on the side of
Route 66 overlooking the valley below and the interstate. Lightening McQueen says
those cars are just driving by, referring to the traffic on the interstate. Sally begins to talk
about forty years ago before the interstate existed. When cars traveled a whole lot
differently, "cars didn't drive it to make good time; they drove it to have a good time."
Music/Singing: In Tarzan (41:10), there is a scene where all of the young gorillas
find the camp of Jane and her father. They begin by investigating the camp, looking at
various items and wondering what they do. One of them types on a typewriter and loves
the noise it makes. Another one throws dishes. Pretty soon they begin to make music with
these things; they sing and dance too.
Reading: In the movie Beauty and the Beast (59:55) there are several instances
where the teachable moment reading is apparent. In one of the reading scenes Belle and
the Beast are sitting at a table in a room filled to the brim with books. Belle is reading a
book to the Beast. When she finishes, he asks her if she could read it again. She replies
by suggesting that he read it to her. At first he says yes, but then soon says he cannot
26
because it has been a long time since he has read. With Belles encouragement and help
Beast begins reading the book aloud.
Science/Ecology: In the movie Ratatouille (6:35) there is a scene in which Remy
and his brother Ameal are on top of a house using an antenna to roast a mushroom. The
weather is stormy and there is thunder in the background. Ameal begins to ask about the
storm right when lightening strikes them both.
Social Development
Under the broad category Social Development are 9 teachable moment categories; are,
celebrations, culture, families, friendship, material objects, relationships, sexism, stealing,
and stereotypes. Specific examples of how these are portrayed in various films are
presented below.
Celebrations: In Toy Story (2:55) there is a scene where Andy's mother is in the
dining room; she has just finished putting up balloons, banners, and streamers to decorate
for Andy's upcoming birthday party. Andy is very excited when he sees all of the
decorations.
Culture: In the movie Ratatouille (12:13) Remy is in the sewer and he comes up
to the city. The city is Paris. The scene shows the city life of Paris, France. Remy climbs
to the roof of a building and he looks out over the city. From this location you can see the
lights of the city and the Eiffel tower.
Families: In the movie Toy Story 2 (1:22:13) Andy has just finished sewing
Woody's arm back on when Andy's mother enters his room. She tells Andy that it is time
to go. She then realizes that Andy has just fixed Woody. She smiles and shows her
approval. Andy says that he is, "glad he didn't take him to camp because his whole arm
might have come off." Andy and his mother leave the room. The toys come to life.
Woody looks at his arm and smiles. The scene then shows Jessie and Bullseye on Andy's
bed. They both look at the bottom of their shoes where it says, "A N D Y." Jesse
excitedly explains, "Yeah ha! Oh Bull's-eye we're part of a family again!"
Friendship: In the first few minutes of Monsters, INC. (10:44) friendship is
evident when the two main Monsters, Mike and Sully are in the locker room getting
ready for work. Mike says to Sully, "You know pal, she's the one! She is the one!" Mike
is referring to his girlfriend Celia. Sully then tells Mike how happy he is for him.
Material objects: This scene is from the movie Tarzan (1:19:08). Toward the end
of the movie Tarzan and Jane say their goodbyes as Jane gets ready to head back to
England. Jane is sitting with her father and another man in a small boat. As she is putting
on a pair of white gloves, her father tells her she should stay. Jane explains that she can't
because she belongs in England with her father and other people, as her other glove flies
from the boat into Tarzan's hand. Her father tells her to stay because she loves him. Jane
then says okay and jumps out of the boat and into the water, all the while wearing a fancy
yellow dress. She chooses to stay with Tarzan rather than going back to England.
Relationships: In the movie Toy Story (3:20), there is a scene where Andy and his
cowboy doll Woody run upstairs to get Andy's little sister from her crib. As Andy enters
the room he tips Sheriff Woody's cowboy hat and says, "Howdy little lady." He puts the
Woody down and grabs his sister Molly from her crib and carries her downstairs.
28
Sexism: An example of sexism is apparent in the movie Monsters, INC. (38.12).
Mike knows that he did not complete his paperwork from the previous day's shift. So he
decides to "sweet talk" the secretary named Raz. He tells her that she is an "oozing
blossom" and that she must have done something with her hair or make up. He says her
skin looks like it had some work done. After his moments of flattery he then asks her for
a favor.
Stealing: In the movie Toy Story 2 (16:37) there is a scene where the toys,
watching the garage sale from a window, notice that Woody has been taken. Buzz jumps
out of the window, down a drainpipe, and after the man who took Woody. Buzz catches
up to the car but then falls off. Little Bo Peep says, "Why would someone steal Woody?"
Her face and demeanor are very sad.
Stereotypes: In the movie Tarzan (34:50), there is a scene where Jane is walking
through the jungle with her sketchbook. She sees a little monkey and sketches him. The
monkey snatches it and Jane demands it back. The monkey screeches and all of a sudden
Jane is surrounded by angry monkeys. They chase Jane. In the typical boy rescues girl
style, Tarzan swings from a vine and saves her from the monkeys.
Harm reduction
The last broad category is harm reduction and it includes 6 teachable moment
categories, which include cartoon violence, drugs, safety, strangers, verbal abuse, and
violence. Specific examples of how these are portrayed in various films are presented
below.
29
Cartoon violence: In a scene from Monsters, INC. (8:15) Mike and Sully are
walking to work. As they walk they see three monster children playing jump rope. A little
octopus-looking monster is in the middle jumping rope. The two jump rope twirlers sing,
"How many tentacles jumped the rope?" Another child monster rides by on a skateboard
saying, "Help" to Mike and Sully. The little monster jumping rope gets her tentacles
caught in the rope, which then acts like a sling shot and slams her into a window of an
apartment building. She hits a one eyed monster right in the eye as she hits the window.
Drugs: There is a scene in Toy Story (47:32) when one of the man characters, a
space ranger toy named Buzz, is upset that he has just found out that he is a toy. Sid's
sister sees him laying on the ground. She picks him up and takes him to her room for a
tea party. Woody enters the room and see's Buzz dressed like a woman and sitting at the
table drinking tea. Buzz's words are slurred and he is a wreck. Woody tells him he has
had too much to drink.
Fire Safety: In the movie Toy Story (104:44) Sid is in his backyard playing with
the toy Buzz Lightyear. Sid taped an explosive rocket onto Buzz Lightyear's back. He
has a box of matches in his hand and he strikes a match on the box, igniting the flame.
Sid begins a rocket launch countdown starting from 10. Right as he gets ready to light the
fuse of the rocket, Woody comes to life and scares Sid. The match flame then goes out.
Strangers: In the movie Toy Story 2 (15:29) there is a scene when Andy's mother
is having a garage sale. At the garage sale a man sees Woody and gets very excited. He
picks up Woody and Woody's hat, along with a couple pieces of "junk" and puts them in
his arms. He then tells Andy's mom he'll give her 50 cents for all of it. Andy's mother
30
says no, Woody is not for sale. She takes Woody from the man. The man then offers her
$50.00. Again, Andy's mother refuses, but this time she puts Woody into a locked cash
box. The man, noticing where she put Woody, creates a diversion with a skateboard.
While Andy's mother is seeing what happened the man picks the cash box's lock, takes
Woody, and then leaves.
Verbal abuse: In the beginning of Monsters, INC. (9:36), there is a scene where
the two main characters, Mike and Sully, have just entered the scare factory where they
work. Two teenage monsters idolize Sully because he is about to break the scare record.
They say hello to him, calling him Mr. Sullivan. Mike quickly and rudely tells them that
they are making Sully lose his focus. As Mike and Sully turn to walk away one of them
says, "Go get 'em, Mr. Sullivan." The other teenage monster hits him and tells him to be
quiet because he is making Sully loose focus. So then the teenage monster feels bad and
yells, "Oh no! Sorry." The other teenage monster puts his hand over the mouth of the
other and yells, "Shut-up!"
Violence: In the movie Tarzan (31:40) Tarzan is grown up now; he is in the
jungle behind some trees when he finds an empty bullet shell. He then hears people
talking so he stays hidden behind some trees. A man with a double barrel shotgun and a
machete is seen cutting down branches and walking through the jungle. The man makes a
clearing, stops, and then abruptly points his shotgun.
Research Question 2
Research question 2 asks, "How common are these various teachable moments
across the ten movies to be analyzed?" As stated earlier the common teachable moments
31
were categorized in three ways, by movie, commonalities across all ten movies, and
within the 5 broad categories.
As you can see from the totals in Table 1, Ratatouille had the most teachable
moments (n= 33), followed by Tarzan, Aladdin, and Toy Story 2 (n= 32), Beauty and the
Beast (n=30), Cars (n=29), The Lion King (n=28), Toy Story (n=25), Monsters, INC.
(n=23) and lastly Finding Nemo (n=24).
There were 10 common teachable moments that span across all 10 of the movies.
They include attitude, behavior, feelings, language, self-esteem, music/singing, families,
friendship, relationships, and verbal abuse. The least common teachable moments are
economic and culinary; however these moments still prove useful to parents.
The 5 broad categories that contained all 42 moments were not evenly distributed.
Self-development contained the most with 15 teachable moment categories; including
affection, attitude, behavior, communication, death, feelings, hygiene, language, love,
lying, manners, morals/ethics, play, self-esteem, and sexuality. The second highest
category was Social development that contained 9 teachable moment categories;
including celebrations, culture, families, friendship, material objects, relationships,
sexism, stealing, and stereotypes. Education came in third with 8 teachable moment
categories; which were animals, culinary, disabilities, geography, history, music/singing,
reading, and science/ecology. The fourth category, Harm reduction contained 6
teachable moment categories, cartoon violence, drugs, safety, strangers, verbal abuse, and
violence. Lastly, Political/World/Religion contained 4 teachable moment categories
including, economic, going green, government, and religion.
32
Chapter 5: DISCUSSION
Movie viewing by children has been the topic of much research. Many animated
children's movies have come under the microscope for fear that violent messages and
images that children are exposed to will hurt them in the long run (Abel, 1995). The
Disney Corporation has also had its share of critiques on its powerful influence (Artz,
2000). This study combined the issues of child movie viewing with Disney, by analyzing
ten top grossing Disney animated films, looking for teachable moments that parents can
utilize.
The teachable moments were developed by watching each film individually,
looking for moments, writing them down and then coding them into five broad
categories. The five categories were developed by grouping the coded subcategories into
similar developments. In analyzing the ten Disney feature length animated films 42
teachable moments were identified. This result was not shocking as each movie had a
running time of at least 80 minutes. The teachable moments per film varied from 23-33.
The research findings are consistent with other types of animated film research
such as Thompson & Yokota (2001), which focused on alcohol, tobacco, and other
substances; Kortman & Eckstein (2004) with the primary focus on personality styles;
Tanner, Haddock, Zimmerman & Lund (2003); focused on couples and families; and
Towbin et al., (2003) focused on gender, race, age, and sexual orientation. This study
pulls teachable moments from all across the board, discussing them individually within
each movie, across the movies, and also forging them into a broader spectrum of
categories.
33
All 42 teachable moments did not occur in a single film. However each film had
many teachable moments for parent to utilize. In the movie Ratatouille there were 33
(76%) teachable moments identified and they span across 4 of the 5 broad categories, not
including the category Political/World/Religion. The teachable moments presented in
Ratatouille include attitude, animals, culture, and safety to name a few. These moments
provide a parent with all the opportunities to talk to their child about having a
positive/negative attitude. Many characters throughout the movie provide visual
examples of both positive and negative attitude. For example, the main character is a Rat
named Remy who keeps a positive attitude about cooking even though he is a rat.
This movie is also the perfect opportunity for parents to talk to their children
about animals. Parents could express their views about animals to their children; they
could ask their children about how they feel about animals; it could be a way for a parent
to introduce a pet rat or hamster into the family; a parent may have a story that they could
share with their child about an encounter with a rat, providing a bonding opportunity.
Culture is another teachable moment within this film. The film is set in Paris,
France, known for its culinary background and the Eifel tower. This alone could provide
the parent with a teachable moment to discuss the culture of France or Paris. Discuss the
similarities and difference of the culture that the child currently lives in; an opportunity to
discuss the types of foods that Paris and France are known for; maybe the parent could
discuss a trip that they have taken to France or they could show the child a map of the
world, pointing out where they are and where France is on the map. Since this movie is
focused around a restaurant it would be optimal for a parent to incorporate cooking
34
within the teachable moment. Possible discussions focused around this teachable
moments include hand washing and hygiene for cooking; safety in the kitchen, such as
using knives, electronic devices, and hot surfaces; even cooking a pot of ratatouille
together wouldn't be off limits. Again, the teachable moments provide countless ways for
parents to express ideas, foundations, and bonding moments with their children.
Aladdin is the second movie to be discussed. It had 32 (74%) teachable moments
spanning all five of the broad categories. The teachable moments that were presented in
Aladdin include sexuality, sexism, love, and stereotypes. Towbin et al, (2003) found that
stereotypes and gender roles within Disney films portray traditional roles such as strong,
aggressive males, scantily dressed, and dependant females. Towbin et al, (2003) studied
26 full length Disney animated films and found that these cultural, gender, and racial
stereotypes appeared throughout time. In relation to gender stereotypes, this was such the
case with the film Aladdin.
However this portrayal provides the perfect teachable moment for parents to
utilize the film(s) and discuss stereotypes, sexuality, and sexism with their children. For
example, in Aladdin, Jasmine is always wearing a very provocative outfit with her midriff
showing. This could be a teachable moment that parents can use to discuss stereotypes of
women. A parent could approach the moment by watching Aladdin and then discussing
the way that Jasmine dresses with their child. The parent could discuss how they would
like their child to dress; the way you dress has an effect on how people look at you; the
various stereotypes that are associated with the way a woman dresses; and they could ask
their child what they think of the way Jasmine dresses. There are many possibilities that
35
parents could utilize for this moment. Of course how a parent will utilize the moment is
greatly up to them and it will depend on how they feel about the situation and how old the
child is.
The third movie that also had 32 (74%) teachable moments that span across all
five broad categories was Tarzan. Some of the teachable moments in Tarzan include
communication, going green, science/ecology, sexuality, and cartoon violence. Teachable
moments are abundant in the Disney film Tarzan. For instance, a parent could cowatch
this movie with their child and then discuss the environment from a science/ecology
perspective and from a going green perspective. Watching this film would allow children
to see the jungle and it would allow parents to discuss what type of ecosystem the jungle
is; types of animals, plants and microorganisms; the geographical locations on a map;
ways to preserve the jungle; reasons for preservation, etc. Because the film allows the
child to see an entire story the child has something to relate to what the parent is talking
about. They can picture the jungle scenes while discussing the animals or trees of the
jungle.
Another avenue for teachable moments that parents can utilize from the film
Tarzan is the difference between cartoon violence and real violence. A great example of
this is when Tarzan's friends, one of them an elephant, trample onto a ship that Tarzan,
Jane, and the Professor are being held captive on. The elephant breaks the ship as he
attacks it and a struggle happens between the two parties. This teachable moment could
provide the opportunity for a parent to show an actual clip of this and then talk to their
child about it. The parent could begin by asking how the child feels about the situation;
36
ask if they think it could really happen; discuss the differences between cartoon fantasy
and real life.
Communication is a great segment for a teachable moment; everyone and
everything communications. Tarzan provides the perfect teachable moment to show how
animals communicate. Specific instances throughout the film show how the gorilla
families communicate with one another through their actions. (In the film, the gorillas
actually talk too, but their actions also replicate that of a real gorilla). Kortman &
Eckstein (2004) state that, "animal typologies are one practical metaphoric way of
identifying different ways of behaving." Another example of this is when Tarzan first
meets Jane, he does not speak her language and she teaches him how to communicate
with her through simple words and pointing. This would be a great way for parents to
utilize this teachable moment and talk to their child about the various ways that people
and animals communicate. The parent could discuss various languages throughout the
world, including sign language; thus, opening the communication window between
parent and child along the way.
Toy Story 2 had a total of 32 teachable moments spanning all five of the broad
categories. Some of the teachable moments include play, music/singing, families, and
strangers. This film provides a great teachable moment for parents to utilize about the
dangers of strangers; it allows parents a non-scary outlet for talking to their child about
strangers and what to do if they are taken. The parent could show the scene where
Woody, a cowboy toy, is stolen from a garage sale, and then talk to their child about
strangers. The parent could ask and discuss many issues pertaining to strangers, the
importance of not talking to them; the buddy system; screaming when approached; how
to call 911; knowing their phone number and address; not helping a stranger; not taking
money or candy from strangers, the list could go on and on. Ultimately it is up to the
parent to discuss the appropriate issues that they feel are important with their child.
Another scene that provides a great teachable moment for parents is families.
Tanner, Haddock, Zimmerman & Lund (2003) state that, "first and foremost, they
[children] learn by observing and participating in their own families." They go on to state
that, "media are other sources from which children gain information about their world
including couples and families." By utilizing a movie that the child may already be
watching is a way for a parent to interject their values on families. The parent could
discuss the type of family in the movie. In Toy Story 2 there is no mention of a father
figure for the little boy Andy. All that is shown are his mother and sister. After the movie
is finished the parent could talk about the type of family they have and compare and
contrast it to the family in the movie; using this as an opportunity to also discuss various
families such as grandparents and child, father and child, mother and child, siblings and
grandmother, etc. The parent could incorporate families that they know or other films
providing the child with examples.
Beauty and the Beast provides 30 teachable moments, in four of the five broad
categories, PoliticalAVorld/Religion is not a focus of this film. Parents can take advantage
of teachable moments such as feelings, affection, reading, music/singing, material
objects, and verbal abuse. Music/singing is abundant in Disney movies and Beauty and
the Beast was certainly not excluded from this list. Belle, the main female character,
38
sings in the movie, and well as Ms. Potts, and a few other characters. Teachable moments
are abundant in reference to music. The parent could utilize the moment to encourage
their child to sing and participate in the movie; talk to their child about music and various
styles; even promote development of various instruments. Another way to incorporate
music/singing is to also incorporate the teachable moment of feelings. There are many
feelings throughout this movie, from happy to sad, to angry, to excited, the music/singing
follow along with the feelings. Parents can utilize the moment by talking to their child
about feelings; explaining that everyone has them; ways to vent and express; and other
important aspects that the parent may deem important.
Along this line of thought there are many instances of verbal abuse throughout
this movie. A parent could utilize the discussion of feelings and incorporate the teachable
moments of verbal abuse. Discussing the feelings behind the abuse; the feelings of both
the abuser and victim; discuss how a person could handle themselves or how to stop it;
other ways for a person to vent their frustration; or allow the child to discuss how
watching it made them feel (once again using the teachable moment of feelings).
Cars was the next movie that was analyzed for teachable moments. This study
found 29 teachable moments in all five broad categories. Some of the teachable moments
include play, economic, geography, history, and culture. Cars provides many teachable
moments for parents to talk to their children about the nostalgic past of the United States.
Route 66 is represented in this movie; it also provides a great teachable moment for
parents to discuss its rich history, geography, economic issues, and the culture. Parents
could cowatch this film and discuss these issues. Providing a map to look at the historical
39
route geographically; discussing how the interstate system bypasses small town; what
traveling was like in the past; or even how travel has changed.
Using teachable moments can incorporate play too. Parents don't just have to
discuss these issues with their child, they could act them out. They could use parts of the
movie to act out scenes or situations, encouraging creativity and development. Cars
provides just this moment. Many children have cars that they play with, parents could
encourage children to pretend with their cars, using voices and movements to help
develop hand-eye-coordination and fine motor skills; utilizing this play time as a bonding
experience as well.
The Lion King had 28 teachable moments, across all five broad categories. The
teachable moments include death, animals, celebrations, friendship, and religion. The
Lion King provides an outlet for parents to discuss various celebrations such as the birth
of a child. In the movie, a young cub names Simba is born and presented to the entire
kingdom. A parent could utilize this moment to discuss an upcoming birth of a sibling,
family member or friend. They could discuss the importance of the new arrival; use the
moment to discuss the child's own arrival; how babies are made/born; how animals are
made/birthed. This subject can be particularly hard for parents to bring up, this movie
provides an outlet.
Death is an experience that parents may not know how to discuss with their child.
The Lion King provides this teachable moment when Mufasa, Simba's father and King,
dies. This opportunity could provide a parent with the option to ask their child how they
felt when watching the scene of Mufasa's death; if they had any questions. This topic can
40
be hard to discuss with a child, just providing the opportunity for parent and child to
cowatch may allow the parent to see how the child responds and then go from there.
Along the lines of death is the topic of afterlife and religion. The Lion King also provides
the opportunity for parents to discuss religion and afterlife with their child. This movie
focuses on "the circle of life' and Mufasa returns in an image in the water to talk to his
son Simba. This moment provides the parent an opportunity to discuss their views on
religion (or lack of) and also their view on afterlife.
The Lion King is also a great movie for teachable moments for parents to discuss
various animals with their children. There are various animals that are represented
throughout this entire movie. Parents could use the opportunity to discuss various
animals, they habitats, diets, and interesting facts about them. Parents could use the
moment during the film to ask them what sound the animals make, how they walk, etc.
Participating or even acting as various animals from the movie could provide
development, creativity, and bonding.
Toy Story provides 25 opportunities for parents to utilize teachable moments,
these 25 moments span four of the five broad categories. Political/World/Religion is not
discussed in this film. A few of the teachable moments in Toy Story include lying,
science/ecology, fire safety, and self esteem.
One teachable moment is the learning of astronomy. In the film, a toy space
ranger named Buzz Lightyear comes from space. This is a teachable moment for a parent
to discuss constellations, planets, the sun, and even earth. Parents can utilize the movie to
41
open the discussion of various space topics. Taking the child outside at night to see stars
or to sky gaze or provide an opportunity for the child to ask questions about outer space.
Another teachable moment within this movie is fire safety. In this movie a young
boy plays with fireworks and matches. This provides the moment for parents to discuss
with the children the importance of fire safety, fireworks, candles, matches, even what to
do in case of a fire, how to call 911, an escape plan, etc.
Discussing lying is another teachable moment that this movie provides. Lying is
sometimes a dicey subject when children first begin to lie. In the movie, one of the
character toys lie about another toy and it causes a toy to fall out of a window. Parents
can utilize this scene to discuss lying and how they feel about it. They could ask their
child how they think each toy felt, or use this to show that lying can hurt others. Again,
this moment can be used in any way that a parent chooses to utilize it.
Monsters, INC. had 23 teachable moments in all five of the broad categories.
Some of them include going green, hygiene, attitude, affection, and self esteem. In the
beginning of the movie there are a few teachable moments that parents can utilize right
off. The first is the issue of hygiene. One of the Monsters is shown brushing and
exercising prior to going to work. This opportunity is great for parents to utilize to show
the importance of good hygiene, how to do it effectively, how often and when to do it.
The parent may want to include prior discussions or personal examples in the moment.
The other moment that is at the beginning of the film is going green. In the scene
one Monster wants to take the car to work, the other Monster would rather walk to
conserve energy. This provides a great opportunity for a parent to discuss what going
42
green means and how they feel about it. The parent could ask the child how they could
conserve energy or what they could do to protect the environment. This would also allow
the child a chance to discuss or ask questions about the environment.
The last film that was analyzed in this study was Finding Nemo. It had 24
teachable moments spanning four of the five broad categories, not including
Political/World/Religion. A few of the teachable moments within this film include
affection, love, disabilities, and safety. This movie provides a great opportunity for
parents to discuss the complicated issues of disabilities. Nemo is a little clown fish who
has one fin that is very small. This disability is discussed in the scenes of the movie and it
allows parents the perfect opportunity to discuss issues of physical disabilities. It
provides the opportunity for the child to ask questions about physical differences in a
setting where no feelings would get hurt. The parent could discuss their views on
physical disabilities and the various reasons of how they occur.
Disabilities are not just physical in Finding Nemo, a fish named Dori has a mental
disability as she has short term memory loss. There are many scenes throughout the
movie that Dori experiences difficulty due to her disability. This teachable moment
provides many opportunities for parents to discuss mental disabilities with their child.
This teachable moment may be especially beneficial to a parent and child who is dealing
with someone who has a mental disability, such as a grandparent who is suffering from
short term memory loss or dementia. This would allow the parent to discuss the issue
with the child in a visible way so the child can physically see/experience it first hand and
43
relate it to a story; providing opportunities for the child to ask questions or for the parent
to relate the scene to a family member or friend.
Safety is another teachable moment throughout this movie. If Nemo had listened
to his father and not gone out of his safety zone then he probably would not have gotten
taken from the ocean. Parents can utilize this entire movie to discuss the issue of safety
with their child. They could provide reasoning behind certain limitations that their child
may have. For example, why they can't cross the street alone, or why they can't go
beyond a parents sight, etc. This teachable moment also allows the parent to prepare their
child for "what i f situations of safety. For instance, they could have the child know their
phone number, how to call 911, what to do if they get lost, a safe haven to go to, a
meeting place, etc.
All of these movies provided abundant wealth of teachable moments for parents
to utilize with their children. The study did reveal ten common teachable moments that
span across all ten of the analyzed films.
The current study revealed ten teachable moments that are commonalities
throughout all ten of the analyzed films; these ten teachable moments spanned across four
of the five broad categories, excluding the category of Political/World/Religion. Some
common teachable moments include attitude, behavior, feelings, language, self esteem,
music/singing, families, friendship, relationships, and verbal abuse. It is interesting to
note that these ten teachable moments are also common to our everyday lives. Humans
experience or come into contact with these ten teachable moments every day. Therefore a
44
suggested conclusion that could be drawn is that these are core faculties that make up
Disney animated movies.
With the exceptions of verbal abuse and music/singing most all human experience
attitude, behavior, feelings, language, self esteem, families, friendship, and relationships
throughout their normal everyday lives. Is it possible that these are the core things that
allow children to relate to movies so well? Tanner, Haddock, Zimmerman & Lund
(2003), offer that children often make sense of their own surroundings by using stories,
fairy tales, and myths. If such is the case, then we must not rule out the correlation
between these ten teachable commonalties with our everyday lives.
The broad categories that these ten common themes include self development,
education, social development and harm reduction. These broad categories are of great
importance in a child's life. Self development, education and social development span
the entire life from infancy to geriatric. The human species is constantly evolving. The
great thing about these movies is that they can grow with the child and parent. The
teachable moments framework will always remain the same, the categories won't change
but the context within the teachable moment can change and vary depending on the
current needs of the child and of the parent. The complexity can grow and expand even
though the scene never changes.
The present study demonstrates that there are many teachable moments that
parents can utilize with their children. These moments are for parents to utilize at their
own discretion and depth of involvement, with freedom to revisit them as frequently or
infrequently as they would like.
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Limitations and Further Research
There are some limitations that should be mentioned. The first being I am a
Disney fan and I am partial to Disney movies and characters. The second is that as a
twenty seven year old, I have grown up in a world that was tailored to movies and
television since I was born. This probably has a dramatic impact on the way that I view
media influences compared to previous generations. Thirdly, the sample size that was
used was relatively small compared to that of similar research. Only ten films were
reviewed for their content due to time restrictions and the ability to analyze each of them
properly.
I would suggest that further analysis be done in the area of cowatching animated
feature films with children to continue analyzing what benefits there are to viewing these
films together. Opening the research to suggested questions, thoughts, checklists, and or
games that parents could use to incorporate their values and beliefs into their children
while cowatching the films. Other avenues of future research could focus on the specific
ten teachable moments common to the ten Disney films that were analyzed in this study
and broaden the scope to more Disney movies to see if the common theme continues; or
doing a quantitative analysis of a pre and post survey for parents who have utilized
Disney film and its teachable moments. The last suggestion for future research would be
to compare all spectrums of G rated, animated, feature length films to see if they provide
the ten common teachable moments.
Implications
The results from the current study seemed to be in a league of their own. While a
few of the teachable moments and movies did relate to previous research, this study was
set up dramatically different. However, the movies themselves remain the same; still
providing many children with countless hours of entertainment that includes many of the
teachable moments discovered in this analysis.
Many people have stated that they are anti-Disney or that they do not let their
children watch Disney movies because they feel that they have very negative attributes.
These 42 teachable moments of this study did show negative scenes as well as positive. It
is my hope that this study gives parents another way to view Disney films. These films
provide the perfect opportunity for parents to teach their beliefs and values to their child.
These teachable moments allow parents to talk to their children during specific
scenes, stopping the movie and discussing what they have just seen. Or, the parents could
let the film run in its entirety and then discuss various situations or the entire movie with
their child. It is also my hope that researchers and educators begin to look at film from
"teachable" standpoint; analyzing the various positive opportunities and themes of film,
not just the negative.
With some of Disney's newly released movies to stores available for parents to
purchase, and upcoming releases to the theaters, it will be interesting to pay attention to
the content and focus of each of those movie.
47
REFERENCES
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Artz, L. (2004). The righteousness of self-centered royals: The world according to Disney
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Bell, E., Haas, L., & Sells, L. (1995). From mouse to mermaid. Bloomington and
Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
Burton, C.E. (1988). Sociology and the feature film. Teaching Sociology, 16(3), 263-271.
Champoux, J. (2001). Animated films as a teaching resource. Journal of Management
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Dundes, L. (2001). Disney's modern heroine Pocahontas: Revealing age-old gender
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you. The Family Journal, 12(1), 61-11.
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Tanner, L., Haddock, S., Zimmerman, S., & Lund, L. (2003). Images of couples and
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237-257.
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APPENDICES
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APPENDIX A: TOP TEN DISNEY MOVIES
Aladdin (1992). Rated G. Running time of 90 min. Synopsis: A young commoner named
Aladdin gets his life transformed when he and his monkey Abu begin a battle to
save Princess Jasmine from the likes of an evil sorcerer names Jafar. Aladdin's
whole life is turned upside down when he rubes a secret lamp that reveals a genie
who grants him three wishes.
Beauty and the Beast (1991). Rated G. Running time of 90 min. Synopsis: A beast, who
is a remarkable Prince on the inside, must find the ability to earn the love of a
village girl names Bell in order to uncast the spell that has been put upon him and
his servants. If he does not find this love than he must remain a beast forever.
Cars (2006). Rated G. Running time of 116 min. Synopsis: A top race car gets wound up
in Radiator Springs. He manages to ruin the road and the judge orders him to stay
until it is fixed. Throughout his time he befriends a rusty tow truck and a hot shot
Porsche. During his time in Radiator Springs he learns the value of family and
friendship.
Finding Nemo (2003). Rated G. Running time of 100 min. Synopsis: A clown fish named
Marlon and his son Nemo become separated when his son is stolen from the coral
reef. Marlon must journey to find his lost son. Along the way he befriends a fish
named Dorey who has short-term memory loss. Together they encounter
dangerous situations before they are reunited with Nemo.
The Lion King (1994). Rated PG. Running time of 89 min. Synopsis: A young Lion cub
named Simba is tricked by his Uncle into thinking that he killed his father. He
abandons his kingdom and his Uncle becomes King. He later learns that he did
not kill his father and he returns to his kingdom.
Monsters Inc. (2001). Rated G. Running time of 92 min. Synopsis: In Monstropolis
everything is run from the scream of humans, it is their electricity. However the
citizens (Monsters) of Monstropolis are scared of children. Their world is turned
upside down when a child is let in. Two friends Mike and Sully race to get the
child back to the human world. Their life becomes disrupted as they try to get the
child back to the human world.
Ratatouille (2007). Rated G. Running time of 111 min. Synopsis: Remy is a rat whose
family hates the human world. Remy travels to Paris only to find out that his
cooking idol is dead. Remy then befriends a garbage boy at a restaurant. Together
the unlikely pair begin to create some of the best culinary dishes for miles around.
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Tarzan (1999). Rated G. Running time of 88 min. Synopsis: Tarzan is a man who was
raised from infancy with gorillas. He learns how to fend and defend himself in
the wild. His world is changed when he encounters humans and including a
woman who is from a totally different world. Their two worlds will change into
one.
Toy Story (1995). Rated G. Running time of 81 min. The unknown secret life of toys is
shown through the eyes of a little boy named Andy's toy's. The main character is
a toy cowboy who becomes threatened when a toy spaceman named Buzz moves
into Andy's room. Woody becomes consumed with jealousy and wants Buzz
gone. They both get lost in the "real world" and have to find their way to Andy's
house.
Toy Story 2 (1999). Rated G. Running time of 92 min. Synopsis: Woody is stolen at a
garage sale by a money hungry toy collector who intends to sell Woody to a toy
museum in Japan. Buzz and the gang must rescue him before it's too late. But the
immortality of living life forever in a museum makes Woody wonder if he would
rather live that life than one with his owner Andy.
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APPENDIX B: Definition List of Teachable Moments
Affection: the physical act of kissing or hugging someone; saying "I love you."
Animals: the physical or characteristic features of a nonhuman character.
Attitude: the positive or negative manner in which a character was betrayed in a situation.
Behavior: observing a character for the activity/action that they were doing within a
scene.
Cartoon Violence: observable violence that could not happen in the real world.
Celebrations: social events or festivities.
Communication: the way that a human or animal character's thoughts, feelings, plans, or
opinions were portrayed.
Culinary: the use of kitchen tools or scenes pertaining to food and cooking.
Culture: the portrayal of a different historical moment; a city and country and famous
landmarks.
Death: the act or cause of being dead.
Disabilities: physical or mental impairments.
Drugs: any substance that implies having chemicals or poisons.
Economic: the lack of funding and resources.
Families: a close group of characters that are either related or not.
Feelings: the emotions that a person may feel: happy, sad, lonely, scared, blame,
disappointment, jealousy, guilt, determination, frustration, pride, shy, caring, hopeless,
betrayed, greed, ashamed, crying, and saying good bye.
Fire Safety: the act of using any type of fire or flame.
Friendship: the connection between two or more characters.
Geography: the location setting of the film.
Going Green: pertaining to the preservation of the environment.
Government: referring to any city, state, or political officials.
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History: reference to Route 66 and extinct animals such as dinosaurs.
Hygiene: any act of personal health and cleanliness.
Language: the act of speaking.
Love: the act of caring for someone.
Lying: the act of being dishonest or untruthful.
Manners: the way a character portrayed themselves; having to do with politeness and
respect for themselves and others.
Material Objects: common everyday items that are easily replaceable.
Morals/Ethics: principles, rights and beliefs of a character.
Music/Singing: tones, sounds, and songs.
Reading: the act of a character reading a book.
Relationships: a connection between two or more characters.
Religion: the belief/practice or reference to a certain higher power such as Allah or God.
Play: the act of playing with toys or make believe.
Safety: an action the shows awareness or protection from harm.
Science/Ecology: interactions between the characters and their environment.
Self Esteem: a characters inward feelings of him/herself.
Sexism: the portrayal or lack of, equality between males and females.
Sexuality: the awakening of sexual feelings in a character.
Stealing: the act of committing an illegal taking of goods.
Stereotypes: the portrayal of sexual traits and expressions.
Strangers: a person who is not known to a character.
Verbal Abuse: the act of verbal aggression, yelling and screaming.
Violence: the act of wanting to hurt a character; the use of weapons; reference to violent
acts.
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APPENDIX C: BROAD CATEGORIES AND SUB CATEGORIES
Self
Development
Political/World
/Religion
Education
Social Development
Harm
Reduction
Affection
Economic
Animals
Celebrations
Cartoon
Violence
Attitude
Going Green
Culinary
Culture
Drugs
Behavior
Government
Disabilities
Families
Fire Safety
Communication
Religion
Geography
Friendship
Safety
Death
History
Material Objects
Strangers
Feelings
Music/Singing
Relationships
Verbal Abuse
Hygiene
Reading
Sexism
Violence
Language
Science/Ecology
Stealing
Love
Lying
Manners
Morals/Ethics
Play
Self-Esteem
Sexuality
Stereotypes
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BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Elizabeth Marie Williams Lavoie was born in Peoria, Illinois on March 26, 1981.
She moved to Bangor, Maine in 1999 where she currently resides with her husband of
nine years. She and her husband have an eight-year-old son. She received her GED from
the Bangor Adult Education Program in 1999. She attended the University of Maine and
graduated in 2004 with a Bachelor's degree in Child Development and Family Relations.
She returned to the University of Maine in the Fall of 2005 and entered the Human
Development graduate program. She is a candidate for the Master of Science degree in
Human Development from The University of Maine in May, 2008.