Footnote #43 - Disney Princesses (with Robyn Muir)

The Fantasy/Animation podcast takes listeners on a journey through the intersection between fantasy cinema and the medium of animation. Available via Apple Podcasts, Spotify and many of your favourite podcast hosting platforms!

Fresh from their discussion of Wish (Chris Buck & Fawn Veerasunthorn, 2023), Chris and Alex are once again joined by Dr Robyn Muir, Lecturer in Media and Communication (University of Surrey), author of The Disney Princess Phenomenon: A Feminist Analysis (2023), and founder and director of the Disney, Culture and Society Research Network to discuss the historical and cultural power of Disney princesses, a phenomenon that traverses films, merchandise, and several ancillary media. Topics for Footnote #43 include the industrial framing of Disney femininity and its politics of inclusion and exclusion; the stakes of merchandising certain female bodies; and how this top-down and highly lucrative phenomenon moves through multiple cultural spaces to fully support its enduring audience and economic appeal.

**Fantasy/Animation theme tune composed by Francisca Araujo**

**As featured on Feedspot’s 25 Best London Education Podcasts**

Suggested Readings

  • Davis, Amy M. 2006. Good Girls & Wicked Witches: Women in Disney’s Feature Animation. Hertfordshire: John Libbey Publishing.

  • Elizabeth England, Dawn, Lara Descartes, and Melissa A. Collier-Meek. 2011. “Gender Role Portrayal and Disney Princesses.” Sex Roles no. 64 (2011): 555–567.

  • Mollet, Tracey. 2020. A Cultural History of the Fairy Tale. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

FOOTNOTE PODCASTChristopher Holliday and Alexander SergeantWALT DISNEY, GENDER, FRANCHISES, FEMININITY, MERCHANDISEComment