Disney culture

In this paper the Disney animation films and the Disney parks are examined as examples of rational recreation. The themes featured and marginalized in the Disney films are examined as well as the lay-out of the Disney leisure parks. It is argued that the films and parks support a specific moral order which is heavily moralistic and which presents ‘The American Way' in idealized terms. The rational recreation of the Disney culture is compared with the rational recreation programmes of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and the main points of contrast are discussed. The paper closes with an assessment of de-differentiation in contemporary culture and what effects this is having, and might have, on the Disney culture.