Disney in the Classroom
Page 1 of 3
Lee talks about how he teaches the 1930s with the help of Disney.
A student imagines a scene from Mickey's
Good Deed
Disney in the Classroom - The 1930s
In October of 1929 the Stock Market crashed.
As the effects of the Crash spread throughout the country millions of
Americans lost their jobs or had their wages dramatically reduced. Over
the next few years the economic disaster, now called the Depression,
deepened. By 1932 nine million families had lost their savings in
bank failures, the Dust Bowl had destroyed the livelihoods of thousands of
farmers, and economic disaster had spread throughout the world.
Desperate, discouraged, and afraid Americans needed one thing above all
else: hope.
"Sullivan's Travels
(1942) centered on John L.
Sullivan, a Hollywood director who determines to leave behind the silly
comedic movies on which he has based his character and make a profound
social statement by filming a searing drama about the suffering of common
people during the Depression. Sullivan disguises himself to gather
material. Unfortunately through a series of mishaps he ends up in
prison, and is put to work on a chain gang. While in prison Sullivan
learns an important lesson. After a terrible day in the sun he and the
other prisoners are herded into a black rural church for a few moments of
entertainment. As the lights go down and a movie starts Sullivan is
astonished to see an audience of beaten down people erupt in waves of
joyful, cathartic laughter at an unexpected sight--a Mickey Mouse
cartoon. After his release Sullivan returns to Hollywood, where he
abandons his plan to make an "important" drama and rededicates himself to
making comedies. Why? In his own words, 'There's a lot to be said for
making people laugh. Did you know that's all some people have?' " (a paraphrase of Watts, p. 69)
As the story above relates Disney cartoons
made people laugh during a time when life was far from happy or amusing.
The opportunity to laugh makes people feel better no matter what their
situation is. However, I think many Disney cartoons provided more
than just amusement. I think they provided hope. It is no
coincidence that the worst years of the Depression (1931-1934) were also
the time that Mickey Mouse reached the height of his popularity.
Depression Era Americans viewed Mickey as an extension of
themselves. Poor, abused, and always struggling to survive; yet joyful
despite his condition. Mickey Mouse became a powerful symbol of how
people wanted to live their lives. So that students can understand how
important hope is to give and to receive we watch three 1930's Disney
shorts. The first shows what people hoped they could do
during the worst of times, the second shows what they hoped they could do
if they were taken advantage of in the workplace, and the last shows that
when people do find hope that they will find a way to express their joy to
the world.
(Much of the inspiration, the quote above, and
pictures for this article come from The Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney
and the American Way of Life, by Steven Watts; and from "The
Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts")
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