Disney's representations of gender and family in three animated films: The construction of myth in popular culture

The tremendous changes in the lives of American women and the dynamics of the American family have gone unnoticed by Disney in some of its animated films. Aside from a few superficial changes, representations of Disney's heroines consistently depict them within the limiting boundaries of stereotypically traditional women. Disney's families also remain firmly within the traditional patriarchal mold. This thesis applies ideological film criticism to Disney's films The Little Mermaid (1989), Beauty and the Beast (1991), and The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), in the contention that these films function to refine and promote a static, sexist, and decidedly patriarchal myth.