2001 52 min 1-893521-54-0 This film has subtitles English

Mickey Mouse Monopoly

Disney, Childhood & Corporate Power

or

Synopsis

The Disney Company's massive success in the 20th century is based on creating an image of innocence, magic and fun. Its animated films in particular are almost universally lauded as wholesome family entertainment, enjoying massive popularity among children and endorsement from parents and teachers.

Mickey Mouse Monopoly takes a close and critical look at the world these films create and the stories they tell about race, gender and class and reaches disturbing conclusions about the values propagated under the guise of innocence and fun. This daring video insightfully analyzes Disney's cultural pedagogy, examines its corporate power, and explores its vast influence on our global culture. Including interviews with cultural critics, media scholars, child psychologists, kindergarten teachers, multicultural educators, college students and children, Mickey Mouse Monopoly will provoke audiences to confront comfortable assumptions about an American institution that is virtually synonymous with childhood pleasure.

Disney's Media Dominance | Disney's Gender Representations | Disney's Race Representations | Disney's Commercialization of Children's Culture

Release Date:2001
Duration:52 min
ISBN:1-893521-54-0
Subtitles:English

Trailers

Watch the trailer

Filmmaker Credits

Producer, Writer
Chyng Feng Sun
Director, Co-Producer
Miguel Picker
Editor, Camera, Graphics, Music, Audio
Miguel Picker
An ArtMedia Production
Educational Distribution by the Media Education Foundation

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Praise

"A daring and disturbing look at Disney's power to shape mass culture. Anyone who cares about children and commercial culture should see it, but get ready for the urge to cover your eyes as Mickey Mouse Monopoly chips away at one of America's favorite icons and leaves you with nothing but the ugly truth."
— Nancy Carlsson-Paige
Lesley University
"Viewing Disney without rose-colored glasses... Mickey Mouse Monopolyexplores representations of race, gender, and class in Disney movies, drawing on interviews with media experts, teachers, parents and children."
— Boston Globe
"Mickey Mouse Monopoly is an insightful, stimulating look at the world of Disney. A terrific teaching tool for a wide range of classes; highly recommended for generating critical discussion of The Mouse House."
— Janet Wasko
University of Oregon
"When I was teaching a Mass Communications course at McDaniel [College], I covered many topics that should have been incendiary — Internet privacy, violent video games, media bias, censorship — but was barely able to get a rise out of the students. No incensed comments. No outrage. It wasn't until I showed a video from the Media Education Foundation that things got tense. Titled Mickey Mouse Monopoly, the documentary tackled sexual and racial stereotyping in Disney's animated features. Though the film had some heavy-hitter psychologists and media scholars and under-girded its arguments with supportive clips, the students weren't buying any of it. My lecture was toward the end of the semester, and this was the angriest I'd seen them. They had grown up with these films, and the characters and plots had become part of their cherished childhood memories. How dare I, or this documentary, attack the Disney legacy embedded in their psyches! Interestingly, when I shared this classroom episode with some of the other faculty, they said, "Oh yeah, we should have warned you about that video. It really drives the kids nuts.""
— Frank Batavick
Visiting Professor of Communication at McDaniel College
"The documentary Mickey Mouse Monopoly helps to reveal embedded tropes of violence, abuse, and racist and sexist stereotypes in everyday children's movies. This enables consumers to become active in our choices without demanding that we "Stop Disney Culture" or eradicate Disneyland."
— Shira Tarrant
Pornography and Pedagogy: Teaching Media Literacy in New Views on Pornography: Sexuality, Politics, and the Law

Press Reviews

VIEWING DISNEY VIDEOS WITHOUT ROSE-COLORED GLASSES
The Boston Globe | Barbara Meltz | April 5, 2001