Blog 5 and 6: Data Analysis II: Implications and Updates
March 15, 2025
Methodology Update
I have decided that, in order to track change over time most effectively, I will be analyzing all eight of the primary accepted Disney eras. Below, I have listed some of the most impactful and influential films from each era that I am considering. I will update very soon with the final movie list.
1. The Golden Age (1937–1942)
The beginning of Disney’s feature animation, characterized by hand-drawn animation and fairy-tale adaptations never seen before in the industry. The original films → the basis of Disney’s fairy tale industrial complex
Notable Films:
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
Pinocchio (1940)
Fantasia (1940)
Dumbo (1941)
Bambi (1942)
2. The Wartime Era (1943–1949)
During World War II, Disney focused on producing propaganda films and package films → had fewer full-length narrative features. This era is rather unusual and deviates from the Disney mold and the overt fairytale structure, but I think can provide an interesting perspective on wartime narratives and analyzes the side of Disney many don’t discuss.
Notable Films:
Saludos Amigos (1943)
The Three Caballeros (1945)
Make Mine Music (1946)
Fun and Fancy Free (1947)
Melody Time (1948)
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949)
3. The Silver Age (1950–1967)
Disney’s “Restoration Era,” this period saw Disney return to more high-quality animated storytelling and technological innovations. Again, a crucial period in fairy tale adaptations.
Notable Films:
Cinderella (1950)
Alice in Wonderland (1951)
Peter Pan (1953)
Lady and the Tramp (1955)
Sleeping Beauty (1959)
One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)
The Sword in the Stone (1963)
The Jungle Book (1967) → this is Walt Disney’s last film
4. The Bronze Age (1968–1988) (sometimes called the Dark Age)
Post Walt Disney’s death(1966), the studio would focus less on animation and their content turned a lot darker, more dismal narratives.
Notable Films:
The Aristocats (1970)
Robin Hood (1973)
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)
The Rescuers (1977)
The Fox and the Hound (1981)
The Black Cauldron (1985) (Disney’s first PG-rated animated film)
The Great Mouse Detective (1986)
Oliver & Company (1988)
5. The Disney Renaissance (1989–1999)
Disney commercially and critically skyrocketed in this era, with diverse, interesting, and widespread stories + Broadway-esque, hugely successful songs. This would actually hugely evolve and shape our perception of classic Disney.
Notable Films:
The Little Mermaid (1989)
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Aladdin (1992)
The Lion King (1994)
Pocahontas (1995)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996)
Hercules (1997)
Mulan (1998)
Tarzan (1999)
6. The Post-Renaissance Era (2000–2009)
Disney’s extremely experimental era → new ways of storytelling, CGI integration, non-musical films(speaks hugely to the success of the Renaissance era that this is considered odd). This era received mixed results, critically and commercially.
Notable Films:
Fantasia 2000 (2000)
Dinosaur (2000)
The Emperor’s New Groove (2000)
Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
Lilo & Stitch (2002)
Treasure Planet (2002)
Brother Bear (2003)
Home on the Range (2004)
Chicken Little (2005) ( fully CGI Disney animated film)
Meet the Robinsons (2007)
Bolt (2008)
7. The Disney Revival (2010–Present)
This period is again, expansive like that of the Renaissance. More CGI, more diverse storytelling, and huge amounts of critical success
Notable Films:
The Princess and the Frog (2009) (return to hand-drawn animation)
Tangled (2010)
Wreck-It Ralph (2012)
Frozen (2013) (biggest animated film at the time)
Big Hero 6 (2014)
Zootopia (2016)
Moana (2016)
Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)
Frozen II (2019) (another box office record)
Encanto (2021)
8. The Streaming/Modern Era (2024–Present) (speculative)
This era is all about new approaches to storytelling, but I’m going to replace with with talking about Disney’s increased fascination with live action movies and how they try to “rewrite” history and fix the problems of the original films, to mixed results.
Maleficent (2014)
Cinderella (2015)
The Jungle Book (2016)
Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Aladdin (2019)
The Lion King (2019)
Mulan (2020)
Cruella (2021)
The Little Mermaid (2023)
I’ve explained in my previous post a lot of what my data is telling us, so I’m going to explore more of the implications and how it fills the gap here.
Gap and Implications of Study/Data
While many studies analyze gender ideals and portrayals in Disney villains, my research focuses on one particular archetype: the shadow archetype and its relation to female villains in Disney films.
My research contributes to discussions about gender and perceptions of evil, particularly the shadow archetype, which reflects the protagonist’s characteristics and fears. According to Carl Jung, the shadow archetype represents the unconscious mind’s repressed fears, weaknesses, and desires—“the darker side of the psyche.” In literature, it manifests as a villain or an internal struggle, often acting as a foil to the protagonist and a physical manifestation of their doubts. Studying this archetype in Disney films allows us to examine not just different villains but also the social anxieties they represent.
This study builds on the work of Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar in The Madwoman in the Attic, which explores the female archetypes of “angel” and “monster.” Like a fairy tale version of the Madonna-whore complex, they argue that women in literature are often portrayed in extremes: pure and angelic or dangerous and unstable. This dichotomy aligns with the persona and shadow archetypes. Disney villains, created in sharp contrast to princesses, reinforce this “monster-angel” complex. Gilbert and Gubar argue that both archetypes must be deconstructed, as neither accurately represents female agency.
By analyzing Disney films, we gain insight into female relationships, gender dynamics, and morality in storytelling. My data suggests that Disney’s shadow archetypes reflect societal anxieties about femininity, toxic female dynamics, and gender roles, aligning with Gilbert and Gubar’s work.
Oral Defense Question: How do your findings relate to current work in the field?
As discussed above, my research reveals that Disney’s female villains often serve as reflections of their protagonists, reinforcing cultural narratives about femininity’s darker side. These portrayals contribute to broader discussions about gender representation and power dynamics in storytelling.
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Now that you’ve added three more eras (or 2), do you plan on watching every single movie that you mentioned in the eras or do you plan on just picking one? If so, how do you plan on picking one?
On that topic, how does one decide what the most influential films of each disney era are?
Oral Defense Question #2: Think about the initial curiosity that lead to your inquiry. What other areas of inquiry might that same curiosity lead to?
I started my project thinking about the idiosyncrasies and ownership of stories: how stories from vastly disparate cultures have similar themes and ideas. Creatures like mermaids/sirens, phoenixes, dragons existed in places all over the world that never came in contact with each other. This fascination led to me exploring the dark sides of human consciousness, and how fundamental shared fears and weaknesses led to the rise of monsters and villains in our stories, which led to my niche of a research question, the shadow archetype in Disney films. However, that interest in shared aspects of stories could have led to different ideas, like analyzing fantastical creatures or folklore elements in culture, etc.