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Schedule of Meetings, Readings, & Screenings

  

All screening times given below are approximate.

Key to abbreviations for assignments listed on this page:

FMTM From Mouse to Mermaid: The Politics of Film, Gender, and Culture. Elizabeth Bell, Lynda Haas, and Laura Sells, editors. 1995. ISBN: 978-0253209788
DD Deconstructing Disney. Eleanor Byrne and Martin McQuillan, editors, 1999. ISBN 0745314511
View View the assigned film via free streaming hyperlinks on D2L before class
D2L PDF files posted online via D2L.

Please note: this syllabus is subject to change (with notice).

Week 1         Introduction to The Mouse

Monday, January 8

  Introduction to the course
View in class: Mickey Mouse Monopoly (Media Education Foundation 2002, 52 min.)
Quiz 0 due before 11:59pm

Wednesday, January 10

Reading & Quiz: 1. Henry Giroux, "Memory and Pedagogy in the 'Wonderful World of Disney'" (FMTM Ch.2 read pages 43-48 only)
  2. Lee Artz, “Monarchs, Monsters and Multiculturalism” from Rethinking Disney (D2L read pages 75-83 only)

 

Section 1: Animated Nature

Week 2      Honesty and Morality

Monday, January 15

NO CLASS MEETING IN HONOR OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. HOLIDAY

Wednesday, January 17

Reading & Quiz: 1. Jack Zipes, “Breaking the Disney Spell” (FMTM Ch.1 read pages 21-33 only)

 

Week 3      "Masterpiece" Marketing

Monday, January 22

View: Pinocchio (Hamilton Luske and Ben Sharpsteen, 1940, 88 min.) (Study Guide)
Reading & Quiz: 1. Claudia Card, "Pinocchio" (FMTM Ch.3 pages 62-71)

Wednesday, January 24

View: Fantasia (James Algar and Samuel Armstrong, 1940, 120 min.) (Study Guide)
Reading & Quiz: 1. Moya Luckett, "Fantasia: Cultural Constructions of Disney's 'Masterpiece'" from Smoodin, Disney Discourse (D2L pages 214-236)

 

Week 4      I Wanna Be Like You

Monday, January 29

View: Bambi (David Hand, 1942, 67 min.) (Study Guide)
Reading & Quiz: 1. David Payne, "Bambi" (FMTM Ch.8 137-147)
  2. Susan Miller and Greg Rode "The Movie You See, The Movie You Don't" (FMTM Ch.5 pages 86-91)

Wednesday, January 31

View: The Jungle Book (Wolfgang Reiterman, 1967, 78 min.) (Study Guide)
Reading & Quiz: 1. Susan Miller and Greg Rode "The Movie You See, The Movie You Don't" (FMTM Ch.5 pages 92-102)

 

Week 5       Life on a Leash 

Monday, February 5

View: 101 Dalmatians (Clyde Geronimi and Hamilton Luske, 1961, 79 min.) (Study Guide)
Reading & Quiz: 1. Patrick M. Murphy, "The Whole Wide World Was Scrubbed Clean" (FMTM Ch.7 pages 125-136 okay to skim--not skip--pages 131-134)

Wednesday, February 7

View: The Lady and the Tramp (Clyde Geronimi and Wilfred Jackson, 1955, 76 min.) (Study Guide)
Reading & Quiz: 1. Eleanor Byrne and Martin McQuillan, “’You Can’t Lionise the Lion': Racing Disney" (DD Ch.5 read pages 94-99 only)

 

Week 6        The Circle of Life / Review

Monday, February 12

View: The Lion King (Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, 1994; 90 min.) (Study Guide)
Reading & Quiz: 1. Lee Artz, “Monarchs, Monsters and Multiculturalism” from Rethinking Disney (D2L read pages 83-98 only)
  2. Eleanor Byrne and Martin McQuillan, “’You Can’t Lionise the Lion': Racing Disney" (DD Ch.5 pages 100-105 only)

Wednesday, February 14

  Wrap up for Section 1 including The Lion King discussion and review for Test 1. Bring your questions!

 

Section 2: The Disney Princesses

Week 7        Whistle While You Work / Test 1

Monday, February 19

TEST 1: On campus in person in U272. Bring a scantron, 2 pencils, and 2 pens.
* Test 1 covers all films, readings, and lectures from Section 1.
* Test format includes Multiple Choice/T-F questions.

* Bring a scantron, 2 pencils, and 2 pens.

Wednesday, February 21

View: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (David Hand, 1937; 84 min.) (Study Guide)
Reading & Quiz: Jack Zipes, “Breaking the Disney Spell” (FMTM Ch.1 pages 33-42)

 

Week 8        So This Is Love

Monday, February 26

View: Cinderella (Clyde Geronimi and Wilfred Jackson, 1950, 76 min.) (Study Guide)
Reading & Quiz: Elizabeth Bell, “Somatexts at the Disney Shop: Constructing the Pentimentos of Women’s Animated Bodies” (FMTM Ch.6pages 107-124)

Wednesday, February 28

View: Sleeping Beauty (Clyde Geronimi, 1959, 75 min.) (Study Guide)
Reading & Quiz: Amanda Putnam, "Mean Ladies: Transgendered Villains in Disney Films" from Cheu, Diversity in Disney Films (2013) (D2L read only pages 152-157)

 

Week 9       Spring Break

Monday, March 4 - Wednesday, March 6

 

Week 10       Part of Your World

Monday, March 11

View: The Little Mermaid (Ron Clements and John Musker, 1989, 83 min.) (Study Guide)
Reading & Quiz: Jill Birnie Henke, et. al., “Constructions of the Female Self: Feminist Readings of the Disney Heroine” (D2L read only pages 231, 234-241, 244-245)

 Wednesday, March 13

Reading & Quiz: Laura Sells, “’Where do the Mermaids Stand?’ Voice and Body in The Little Mermaid” (FMTM Ch.11 pages 175-192--okay to skim the conclusion)

 

Week 11       Taming the Beast / Almost Human    

Monday, March 18  

View: Beauty and the Beast (Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, 1991, 90 min.) (Study Guide)
Reading & Quiz: Susan Jeffords, “The Curse of Masculinity: Disney’s Beauty and the Beast” (FMTM Ch.10 pages 161-172)

Wednesday, March 20

View: The Princess and the Frog (Ron Clements and John Musker, 2009, 97 min.) (Study Guide)
Reading & Quiz: 1. Dorothy Hurley, “Seeing White: Children of Color and the Disney Fairy Tale Princesses” (D2L pages 221-226 and 230--okay to skim 227-229 for solutions to the problem--HINT!)
  2. Virginia Bonner, "'Gonna Take You There': Cultural Appropriation in Disney's The Princess and the Frog" (D2L read page 1-middle of page 2 and the bottom of page 8-15)

 

Week 12       Almost Human ... Almost There / Test 2  

Monday, March 25

Reading & Quiz: 1. Virginia Bonner, "'Gonna Take You There': Cultural Appropriation in Disney's The Princess and the Frog" (D2L read from the middle of page 2-8)
  Wrap up for Section 2 including The Princess and the Frog discussion and review for Test 2. Bring your questions!

Wednesday, March 27

TEST 2: On campus in person in U272.
* Test 2 covers all films, readings, and lectures from Section 2.
* Test format includes Short Answer (Part 1) and Multiple Choice/T-F (Part 2) questions.

* Bring a scantron, 2 pencils, and 2 pens.

 

Section 3: Multicultural Appropriation

Week 13        Queering Disney: Out There / China's Fa Mu Lan

Monday, April 1

View: The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise, 1996, 91 min.) (Study Guide)
Reading & Quiz: Eleanor Byrne and Martin McQuillan, 2 excerpts from from Deconstructing Disney: "Introduction" and “King of the Swingers: Queering Disney” (DD Intro pages 7-14 & Ch.7 pages 133-143 only)

Wednesday, April 3

View: Mulan (Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook, 1998, 88 min.) (Study Guide)
Reading & Quiz: 1. Limbach first?
Sheng-Mei Ma, “Mulan Disney, It’s Like, Re-Orients: Consuming China and Animating Teen Dreams” in The Emperor's Old Groove (D2L read pages 149-157 only)

 

Week 14      Orientalist Disney: It's barbaric, but hey, it's home

Monday, April 8

Reading & Quiz: 1. Gwendolyn Limbach, "You the Man, Well, Sort Of" in Diversity in Disney Films 2013 (D2L read pages 121-126 only)
Optional: 2. Maxine Hong Kingston, “White Tigers” chapter from The Woman Warrior (D2L)

Wednesday, April 10

View: Aladdin (Ron Clements and John Musker, 1992, 90 min.) (Study Guide)
Reading & Quiz: 1. Jack Shaheen, “Aladdin: Animated Racism” (from Cineaste) (D2L)
  2.Eleanor Byrne and Martin McQuillan, excerpt from from Deconstructing Disney: "Spectographies: Conjuring Disney" (DD Ch.4 read the paragraph from bottom of page 73-mid 74 and pages 78-82 only)

 

Week 15       Neocolonial Disney: I'm So Grateful To You

Monday, April 15 

Finish Discussion: Aladdin (Ron Clements and John Musker, 1992, 90 min.) (Study Guide)
View: Pocahontas (Mike Gabriel and Eric Goldberg, 1995, 84 min.) (Study Guide)
Reading & Quiz: 1. Derek Buescher & Kent Ono, “Civilized Colonialism: Pocahontas as Neocolonial Rhetoric” (D2L read pages 127-147 and 151; okay to skim Conclusion pages 147-150)
  2. Gail Tremblay, “Reflecting on Pocahontas” (D2L)
  3. Eleanor Byrne and Martin McQuillan, excerpt from from Deconstructing Disney: “’You Can’t Lionise the Lion': Racing Disney" (DD Ch.5 read pages 105-110 only)

Wednesday, April 17

Finish Discussion: Pocahontas (Mike Gabriel and Eric Goldberg, 1995, 84 min.) (Study Guide)

 

Week 16       What Can I Say Except, You're Welcome

Monday, April 22   

View: Moana (Ron Clements and John Musker 2016, 107 min.) (Study Guide)
Reading & Quiz: 1. Joanna Robinson, "Earning Trust: How Pacific Islanders helped Moana Find Its Way" from Vanity Fair 2016 (D2L)
  2. Britany Popovich, "Disney's Cultural Appropriation in Moana" from F Newsmagazine 2016
  3. Smithsonian.org, "How the Story of Moana and Maui Holds Up Against Cultural Truths" 2016
Online Course Evaluations this week

Wednesday, April 24

View: Encanto (Jared Bush and Byron Howard 2021, 102 min.) (Study Guide)
Reading & Quiz: 1. TBA
* Bring your laptop or smartphone to class.
* Online Course Evaluations end this week.
* Class party potluck: Bring food to share with the class!
Assignment: Closing Feedback Survey assigned and due before Monday's Test 3

 

Week 17       Test 3

Monday, April 29

Test 3: On campus in person in U272. Bring a scantron, 2 pencils, and 2 pens.

* Test 3 covers all films, readings, and video lectures from Section 3 and major themes from Sections 1 and 2.
* Test format includes Short Answer (Part 1) and Multiple Choice/T-F (Part 2) questions.

* Bring a scantron, 2 pencils, and 2 pens.