Writing Style 1: Draft 1

WITH COMPETITORS SUCH AS DREAMWORKS AND PIXAR, DOES THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY USE SUBLIMINAL MESSAGES AND SEXUAL STRATEGIES TO INCREASE RATINGS AND CONFORM WITH THE IDEA THAT SEX SELLS IN MOVIES?

The Walt Disney Company, founded in 1923 by brothers, Walt and Roy Disney, began as an animation studio and has since become one of the largest media conglomerates in the world. Due to the animated, fairytale nature of Disney films, the largest and most significant audience comprises of young children and families. There has been a lot of controversy about sexual innuendos and "hidden messages" in many of the movies and it is arguable that a lot of Disney's success comes with the company conforming to the idea that sex sells in the movie industry. Others may say however, that these "hidden messages" are purely products of the power of suggestion or people reading too deeply in to them.

An example of a suggested sexual reference is in, "The Lion King", just over half way into the film, when Pumba, Simba and Timone are lying on their backs looking up at the stars. Dust rolls and forms in a cloud which appears to spell out the letters "S-E-X" (see image below, left). According to: http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/lionking.asp it was infact a 4 year old boy who made the discovery and whose parents then reported this to the American Life League. Having researched the American Life League, it became apparant that this was not the only encounter they had had with Disney movies and had infact had many of their groups boycott Disney for various reasons, mainly in regards to religion. Although some may say that the appearance of the word "sex" in "The Lion King" may not have been intentional, it is both arguable and concerning for parents that if one 4 year old child can pick it out, any other young child could just as easily do so.

Another example is found in Aladdin. When Aladdin visits Jasmine at her castle, he is met by herguard tiger, Rajah and they 'wrestle' on the balcony. In a lightly sounded audio, you can clearly hear the words 'Come on, take off all your clothes'. The original audio was supposed to be 'Come on, good kitty', but the other version made it into the film. It has since been removed and replaced with, "Come on, down kitty'. Disney has stated that it is something that might have accidentally been grafted onto the soundtrack.

Having read various articles and forums on the topic of subliminal messages in Disney movies, I began to think that people were just reading far too deeply into things, however, having then completed a search on http://www.youtube.com/. I came to the conclusion that there were far to many appearances of sexual references for it to be conincidence. So we are left with the underlying questions, many of which may never be answered, but rely on personal judgement: If Disney have conciously included these subliminal messages in their children's and family movies, risking the scrutiny and consequent controversy, why have they? Or, are bored animators trying to see how much they can get away with? If indeed it is the case that Disney are purposefully including these innuendos perhaps it is for the benefit of the adult viewer so that they can enjoy the viewing from a different persepective, without their children and juveniles recognising the subliminal messages and images. It could be that Disney has indeed conformed to the idea that sex in movies sells and that they believe that by including sexual references, the apparant children's films appeal to a wider audience.

In my opinion, these are films aimed at a young audience and such sexual references as the ones I have mentioned and the others which have been pointed out in various youtube videos and internet articles, such not be mixed in to a childrens film, regardless of how subtle they may be. The instance of the 4 year old child pointing out the word "sex" in "The Lion King" highlights that no matter what the age of the viewer, the subliminal messages are there for all to see, whether looking purposefully for them or not.

Below is a video which highlights a number of subliminal messages found in Disney's, "The Lion King":

Bibliography:

Associated Press (January 1999). "Disney Recalls 'The Rescuers' Video."

http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/tcom/faculty/ha/tcom103fall2003/gp13/gp13.pdf (accessed 27th Dec 2009)

Barbara and David P. Mikkelson; Urban Ledgends Refernce Pages 1995-2009: http://www.snopes.com/disney/films/lionking.asp

(accessed 27th Dec 2009)

Copeland, Donny. (March 31, 2003). Discovering the Dirt behind Disney Movies. Available online: www.westhillweb.com/thewestword/documentsmarch03/discovering%20the%20dirt.limelight.html

(accessed 28th Dec 2009)

Various Authors; Student Room Forum, various dates: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=837123

(accessed 27th Dec 2009)