Disney is one of the most beloved companies in the zeitgeist. Billions of people consume its content every year, making it one of the most influential story-telling machines in human history.
But there's more to Disney than entertainment.
The reason we rewatch its classic fairy tales is because each of them has something profound to teach us about the human condition.
In this brief guide, we'll show you how you can bring Disney's beloved stories to life and be equipped with the self-confidence, resilience, and relational skills necessary to fight supremacist tendencies.
Do not judge human beings by their outside appearances.
This is one of the most popular themes in Disney fairytales. It is often stated and restated throughout any given film by the narrator.
"DO NOT BE FOOLED BY ITS COMMONPLACE APPEARANCE. LIKE MOST THINGS IN LIFE, IT IS NOT WHAT IS ON THE OUTSIDE BUT WHAT IS ON THE INSIDE THAT COUNTS."
- The Merchant in Aladdin
"So here is a riddle, to guess if you can sing the bells of Notre Dame. What makes a monster and what makes a man?"
- Clopin, narrator
Use this lesson to think more critically about your own character.
In the Disney pantheon, heros are often revealed to be villains and vice versa. The purpose of this lesson is to comprehend that all of us have the capacity to do good and the capacity to do evil.
For example, The Hunchback of Notre Dame's central teaching is that we must judge a person according to their actions, not according to their status. Just because a man has titles, does not mean that he is honorable. Just because another man is physically deformed, does not mean that he is morally repugnant. Ultimately, it is a person's character that counts.
In this sense, all of us are equal in our potential to commit acts of evil but we are also equal in our potential to do good, to rise to our higher selves and to treat both ourselves and one another with goodness, compassion, and love.
We all have the capacity to change.
CLASSROOM EXERCISE
Discussion or Journal Activity
Ask yourself the following, using the Disney content as a prompt:
In the past two weeks, have there been people, ideas, or incidents you’ve judged by their outside appearances? Write about at least three examples.
In the past two or more weeks, have there been others who have judged you by your outside appearance? Write about at least three examples.
If you go outside your comfort zone, you will encounter a world full of uncertainty and hardship. But in order to grow and develop as a person, you have no other choice.
You want to go outside? Oh, why, Rapunzel?
Look at you, as fragile as a flower
Still a little sapling, just a sprout
You know why we stay up in this tower?
That's right, to keep you safe and sound, dear.- Mother Gothel, Tangled
In The Lion King, after Simba tries to escape all responsibility and go into exile, Nala has to go after him and remind him that the philosophy of "Hakuna Matata" or "No Worries" isn't a viable solution. One must face life head on despite its emotional toll and its challenges.
Analysis
You cannot avoid responsibility but must face life head on.
In so many Disney films, the hero must go through a liminal period of exile to realize that exile is a kind of rite of passage, not a way of life. This is true for The Lion King, Frozen, Tangled, and many more.
Often times, the villain tries to scare the hero by telling them how difficut the outside world is to handle. (This happens in Tangled.) But even though this is true -- life is difficult -- we cannot escape the hardships of life. Instead, we must grapple and wrestle with them to the best of our ability.
Having the courage to do this is part of the heroic process; it is precisely what turns ordinary people into extraordinary human beings.
CLASSROOM EXERCISE
Discussion or Journal Activity
Watch and listen to the Disney song 'Hakuna Matata' and write about why Simba's initial decision to stay with Timon and Pumba is problematic.
Write about a time when you avoided something you needed to do and why you felt like avoidance was the best path forward. Has your study of 'Hakuna Matata' changed your way of looking at things? Why or why not?
Villains in Disney Films always try to exploit the insecurities of the hero(s).
The trick to avoiding this trap is to become comfortable with your insecurities.
The villains are also themselves usually super insecure.
In Toy Story 3, Lotso Bear becomes malevolent after his owner forgets about him in a park. Lotso Bear internalizes this sense of abandonment by refusing to allow toys to ever leave Sunnyside. He repeatedly tells the others that no one cares for them because he is deeply afraid that no one cares for him.
Analysis, Toy Story 3
"Poor unfortunate souls
In pain, in need
This one longing to be thinner
That one wants to get the girl
And do I help them?
Yes, indeed."- Ursula, The Little Mermaid
Use this lesson to become comfortable with your imperfections. This way you won't try to overcompensate for them with false bravado.
Many of the heros in the Disney pantheon don't start out as heros.
They run away from their problems and try to suppress their imperfections.
Part of the hero's journey comes through learning that life is an inexhaustible process of growth and development, that we are all flawed but that we are capable of redemption.
Lots of strife and conflict come when people overcompensate for their imperfections and insecurities. In order to overcome this impulse, we must practice becoming secure even with our flaws.
CLASSROOM EXERCISE
Journal Activity
Divide a sheet of paper into two. On one side, list the positive traits you have and on another side, your shortcomings. Label the shortcomings. "opportunity for growth."
The purpose of this is to become secure even with your flaws, which every human being on earth has.
Your students should learn that being imperfect is what makes them human; it should not fill them with a sense of stigma or unworthiness.
"...The Theory of Enchantment will help people become better versions of themselves. It will help people be at peace with themselves which will help them be better in the long run. And when people are at peace with themselves, that's when they can change the world. I cannot recommend this program enough.
- Ben James, Educator