Researchers at Brigham Young University have found evidence of ageism in Disney’s animated movies, as a “significant minority” of older characters are depicted as ill-tempered, senile or evil.
The London Telegraph reports that the academics looked at 93 characters who appeared age 55 or older. A majority were depicted as wise or kind, but a quarter were shown as grumpy, and 12 percent as evil or sinister. Another 8 percent were helpless, 3 percent senile, and 2 percent the object of ridicule.
These characters — they include Grumpy and the Wicked Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Smee from Peter Pan and Cruella De Vil from 101 Dalmatians – could lead children to believe the elderly are that way in real life, the researchers say.
The study, published in the Journal of Aging Studies, also found that two-thirds of older characters were male, and 83 percent were white.
Of course, researchers acknowledge that many of the characters are not original Disney creations, but based on the tales collected by the Brothers Grimm.
June 1st, 2007 at 10:59 am
The Wicked Queen in Snow White “transforms herself” into an elderly woman to give Snow the poisoned apple. The clear implication is that she is not an elderly woman before the transformation.
One could reasonably assume that the younger, second wife of a man with a teenaged daughter would be in her mid- to late-thirties. And the wicked queen was the “fairest of them all” right up until the time that Snow White surpassed her. That should put her well before 55.
June 1st, 2007 at 11:56 am
And the wicked queen was the “fairest of them all” right up until the time that Snow White surpassed her. That should put her well before 55.
Not necessarily. She could be MILF.
Or a GILF.
I’m going to hell.
June 1st, 2007 at 1:40 pm
Indeed you are!
Gimme a break though, this is rediculous.
June 1st, 2007 at 2:05 pm
Bah…been done. Scooby-doo study did the same thing and showed most characters who were criminals on the show were late middle age and up. Reflecting the “kids and stupid dog” defeating the old.
Need new ideas here
June 1st, 2007 at 2:45 pm
Heck, people. Newsarama’s got The Grumpy Old Fan, and he’s a mean old grinch.
And grumpy to boot!
June 1st, 2007 at 3:41 pm
Bah. Do some research on how Disney portrays women. Or is online fandom burned out on feminist issues as of late?
June 2nd, 2007 at 4:00 am
As mentioned above in the article–most of the stories were written by authors many years ago before Disney was making films. So maybe the researchers should be studying the format of old Fairy tales!!
June 2nd, 2007 at 9:07 pm
Mormons are funny.