Demystifying Disney - by Chris Pallant (Paperback)

About the Book

An innovative critical history of Disney feature animation that uproots common misconceptions and brings fresh scholarly definition to a busy field.

Book Synopsis

Demystifying Disney: A History of Disney Feature Animation provides a comprehensive and thoroughly up-to-date examination of the Disney studio's evolution through its animated films. In addition to challenging certain misconceptions concerning the studio's development, the study also brings scholarly definition to hitherto neglected aspects of contemporary Disney.

Through a combination of economic, cultural, historical, textual, and technological approaches, this book provides a discriminating analysis of Disney authorship, and the authorial claims of others working within the studio; conceptual and theoretical engagement with the constructions of 'Classic' Disney, the Disney Renaissance, and Neo-Disney; Disney's relationship with other studios; how certain Disney animations problematise a homogeneous reading of the studio's output; and how the studio's animation has changed as a consequence of new digital technologies. For all those interested in gaining a better understanding of one of cinema's most popular and innovative studios, this will be an invaluable addition to the existing literature.

Review Quotes

"More than simply an authoritative history, though it succeeds in this regard as well, Pallant's book provides an insight to the community and industry behind the foremost animated feature film studio, and offers the critical overview and detailed technological and aesthetic appreciation which Disney's films both require and reward." --Dr. Jonathan Rayner, Reader in Film Studies, University of Sheffield, UK

"Chris Pallant's book is extremely well-researched. It is easy to be entertained by Disney, but it is not so easy to clearly analyze the works, and the phenomenon, that is the Disney animated feature film. Pallant does the job with considerable panache, and he's not afraid to dig deep. His final, comparative, look at the Disney-Pixar relationship finishes off what is a truly fascinating book." --Professor Graeme Harper, Director, Creative Lab

"From Oswald the Lucky Rabbit to Winnie the Pooh, Demystifying Disney is possibly the most comprehensive overview of the Disney oeuvre yet published. Chris Pallant blends industrial, economic, aesthetic and filmic analysis to bring Disney to life, in so doing revealing Disney's own 'metamorphic condition'. Future Disney scholars will not be able to ignore this book." --Dr. Nathan Abrams, Senior Lecturer in Film Studies, School of Creative Studies and Media, Bangor University

"Digging beneath the Uncle Walt mythology, Pallant eschews sentiment to offer a clear appraisal of the Mouse House's feature output, challenging the idea that Disney was the overlord of this fantasy fiefdom." --Total Film

About the Author

Chris Pallant is Senior Lecturer in Film and Digital Media at Canterbury Christ Church University, UK, where he teaches courses on animation, film studies and popular culture.