Disney Gothic
If there is an opposite to the Gothic, it may seem to be the carefully crafted “family friendly” image of Disney. However, through careful attention to the pervasiveness of Gothic elements in all of Disney’s productions, ranging from its theme parks to its films and television programs, the contributors to Disney Gothic reveal that the Gothic, in fact, serves as the unacknowledged motor of the Disney machine. Exploring representations of villains, ghosts, and monsters, this book sheds important new light on the role these Gothic elements play throughout the Disney universe in constructing and reinforcing conceptions of normalcy and deviance in relation to shifting understandings of morality, social roles, and identity categories. In doing so, this book raises fascinating questions about the appeal, marketing, and consumption of Gothic horror by adults and particularly by children, who historically have been Disney’s primary audience.
In this edited collection exploring Disney’s dark side, attention to Disney’s Gothic clarifies the ways through which Disney media properties construct and reinforce conceptions of normalcy and deviance in relation to shifting understandings of morality, social roles, and identity categories.
Lorna Piatti-Farnell is professor of media and cultural studies at Auckland University of Technology.
Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock is professor of English at Central Michigan University and associate editor in charge of horror for the Los Angeles Review of Books.