Disney is known for its unrealistic expectations. Point them out in specific movies like Snow White, Frozen, and perhaps The Little Mermaid to name a few. Also point out the ways in which these expectations impact children and other audiences.
Unrealistic Expectations: 1) Finding love in a short period of time. 2) Female in need of a savior 3) The female who is submissive/desperate to find love.
The "Unrealistic Expectations" that you list are up for debate. Firstly, Disney films, just like other films are products of their time and movies of the old guard like Snow White fit a more gendernormative paradigm while movies like Beauty and the Beast and Pocahontas involve a woman saving a man. More recent films involve more active women (thank you third wave feminism) and movies like Frozen mock the pace at which other Disney love stories unfold. Still an interesting topic; perhaps a study in "the ways in which these expectations impact children" would be the most telling if one can find solid evidence of this and not speculation on how people "might" react to this based on the author's analysis. – Cmandra9 years ago
Perhaps it would be interesting to also look at why we have these seemingly unrealistic expectations in so many stories across all cultures -- why did these recurring themes you listed become so universally recurring? Since 99% of all Disney stories are based on far older stories/fairytales. – rp929 years ago
Disney leaves children with the unrealistic expectation of the real world, because most of their movies are based around fairytales. There is no such thing as a bad ending in a Disney movie, they sugar coat the true story for most of their films. An example of this expectation is the Chinese princess Mulan. In the Chinese poem, she saves China in replacing her father and going to war. This poem teaches children the importance of family values. She does not fall in love like the movie portrays. This is how Disney twists stories and gives them an unrealistic expectation of finding love. – dennykim9 years ago
Disney also used to be a vehicle for exploring the theme of parent child separation anxiety. In many Disney movies children are somehow separated from their parents and thrust into harsh reality. The child then overcomes these trials and becomes a stronger person. Maybe the person writing this article could look at how struggles are overcome in an unrealistic way with female characters. Munjeera – Munjeera9 years ago