Disney in the Classroom
Page 5 of 5
As another way to demonstrate the continued yearning
for a stable family; we will watch a clip from Lilo and Stitch. This
clip will show that even when the traditional family situation is not
available we will seek something as close to it as possible. We all need
someone to hold us accountable and to love us unconditionally.
Just like Annette?
(c) Disney
(c) Disney
I will compare Disney's newest teen star, Kim
Possible, to The Mickey Mouse Club to show that while the
surface elements of being a teenager have changed; what we want a teenager to
be has not changed. Kim certainly doesn't dress like a Mouseketeer, but she
does act like one. She is not focused on herself but on helping others, often
at risk at great risk to herself.
Different, but the same
(c) Disney
(c) Disney
Finally we will watch clips from a travel channel
program on Disneyland Paris to show there is still a yearning for a perfect
place. It is also telling that this yearning is present in other cultures.
(The Magic Kingdom Parks are by far the most popular of all the types of theme
parks.) All people want to believe the dream that life can be as it should
be.
When we have finished discussing how similar the
Disney characters and themes of today are to those of the 1950's and 1960's; I
will have students write about why they think this is so. Hopefully what they
will realize is that all the attacks and attempts to do away with an American
value system have failed. We still want to think of ourselves as heroes, we
still want to get married and to stay married, we still want to believe the
world can be a wonderful place. It may be harder now to chose to do the right
thing, but we still know that is what we really want to do and what we
should do. Hopefully knowing this will make it easier for my students to make
the right choices in their own lives.
Have A Disney Day!
Next: The Greatest Speech
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-- Lee "MouseBear" Suggs
Lee Suggs is a history teacher in Northern California.
The opinions expressed by Lee Suggs, and all of our columnists, do not necessarily represent the feelings of LaughingPlace.com or any of its employees or advertisers. All speculation and rumors about the future of Disneyland and the Walt Disney Company are just that - speculation and rumors - and should be treated as such.
-- Posted October 30, 2002