2. Disney movies provide
For lots of kids
children with stories of
cartoons and
how to behave in
television shows are
society and what
the only place they
qualities are valuable.
see other religions.
What children see in
The accuracy of
Disney movies stays
children’s movies on
with them through
other cultures and
adulthood.
religions is extremely
important to the
views they will have
of others in their
future.
3. There is Animism in Pocahontas, Shamanism in Brother Bear, and Roman Catholicism in The Hunchback of
Notre Dame.
4. Confucianism is
clearly present in this
movie with prayers to
ancestors and
displays of filial piety
throughout the movie.
5. Lyrics
This is what you give me to work When we're through, you can't fail
with? Like a lotus blossom soft and pale
Well, honey, I've seen worse. How could any fellow say no
We're gonna turn this sow's ear sale?
Into a silk purse. You'll bring honor to us all.
We'll have you washed and dried [grandma]
Primped and polished till you An apple for serenity, a pendant
glow with pride for balance.
Trust my recipe for instant bride Beads of jade for beauty,
You'll bring honor to us all. You must proudly show it.
Now, add a cricket just for luck
Wait and see, when we're And even you can't blow it!
through
Boys will gladly go to war for [mulan]
you. Ancestors, hear my plea
With good fortune (and a great Help me not to make a fool of me
hair-do) And to not uproot my family tree
You'll bring honor to us all. Keep my father standing tall.
Scarier than the undertaker
A girl can bring her family We are meeting our matchmaker!
Great honor in one way.
By striking a good match [townspeople]
And this could be the day. Destiny, guard our girls
And our future as it fast unfurls
Men want girls with good Please look kindly on these
taste, calm, obedient. cultured pearls
Who work fast-paced. Each a perfect porcelian doll.
With good breeding and a tiny
waste, [girls]
You'll bring honor to us all. Please bring honor to us,
Please bring honor to us,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkmsyhSEaWc We all must serve our emperor Please bring honor to us,
Who gaurds us from the huns. Please bring honor to us,
The men by bearing arms, Please bring honor to us all!
A girl by bearing sons.
6. • Family honor is a main theme throughout this movie. The
song honor to us all shows that to make her family proud,
Mulan must become the perfect bride to show that her
family raised her well. Showing respect to your family, or
filial piety, is one of the core teachings of Confucius.
However, in this song it gives the impression that honor
can only be achieved by becoming the perfect bride and
finding a good husband. It shows disrespect towards
these young women that their only worth is through how
they find a husband. The song itself is a mockery of
honor, saying having a great hairdo will provide your
family with honor. True honor according to the Confucian
religion comes from respect and obedience to your
mother and father.
7. • In the beginning scene where
the father is praying to the
ancestors, it showed respect
towards them. When the
ancestors “come alive” they
each want to do their best to
help Mulan. This teaches that if
you show respect towards
ancestors they are willing to
help you. Respect is an
important part of the Confucian
religion. Also paying tribute to
ancestors by giving them
offerings shows that you still
care about them and respect
them even in the afterlife. Many
Chinese people believe giving
offerings to ancestors will help
them succeed in the afterlife
where possessions are still
needed.
8. • Respect and allegiance
to the Emperor is shown
throughout this movie.
Confucianism stresses
the importance of
following government
leaders and those in
charge. A constant
theme is “to know your
place”. From the very
beginning Mulan’s
journey is to find where
she belongs.
9. Though Islam is not a
central part of the movie
Allah’s name is
mentioned several times
and examples of the
pillars can be seen by
some of the characters.
11. • In Aladdin, the “good guys”, or Aladdin and Jasmine, are
portrayed with lighter skin and less of an accent.
However the “bad guys”, or the police, have heavy Arab
accents and are characterized with darker skin tones.
This leads to a message that lighter skin is good and
darker skin is bad. To any normal adult we could
obviously see that there is no truth in that, but for a child
watching these movies it’s easy to believe that all Arabs
are bad guys.
12. • In the scene right after the song
“One Jump Ahead”, after Aladdin
and Abu have evaded the police
after stealing a loaf of bread, they
sit down to enjoy it only to see 2
hungry street children looking for
food. Aladdin and a grudgingly Abu
give up their bread that they’d
gone through so much to get to the
children. This clip showed a very
positive portrayal of one of the
pillars of Islam. Giving alms, or
charity, is an important part of the
Muslim faith. When Aladdin and a
reluctant Abu give up their food to
the hungry children they show a
positive image for the Muslim faith
and paint a positive picture of
Islam.
13.
14. Burkas and Hijabs have always been a controversial part of
the Muslim faith. Throughout this movie there are many
different portrayals of how women dress from Jasmine’s
belly showing outfit to the women in the streets that are
almost fully covered. Even Jasmine puts on a scarf when
she leaves the castle so that she will fit in with everyone
else. Though wearing the hijab is not a requirement for
Muslim women being modest is. Like the accents and skin
coloring it seems that Jasmine has become slightly
“westernized” by her clothing, not necessarily fitting in with
the rest of Arabian culture. Though her clothing is also
offset by the fact that she is in fact a princess. This again
shows a difference between Jasmine’s Americanized image
and the Arab Muslim image of the women in the streets.
15. References to Samsara
in the Circle of Life and
the idea of Brahmin living
within each of us can be
seen in many of the
songs in The Lion King as
well as The Lion King 2.
16. Lyrics
Nants ingonyama bagithi It's the Circle of
Baba [Here comes a lion,
Father] Sithi uhm Life And it moves
ingonyama [Oh yes, it's a us all Through
lion] Nants ingonyama despair and hope
bagithi baba Sithi
uhhmm ingonyama Through faith and
Ingonyama Siyo Nqoba love Till we find
[We're going to conquer] our place On the
Ingonyama Ingonyama
nengw' enamabala [A path unwinding In
lion and a leopard come the Circle The
to this open place] Circle of Life It's
[Chant repeats] From the
day we arrive on the the Circle of Life
planet And blinking, step And it moves us
into the sun There's all Through
more to see than can
ever be seen More to do despair and hope
than can ever be done Through faith and
There's far too much to love Till we find
take in here More to find
than can ever be found our place On the
But the sun rolling high path unwinding In
Through the sapphire the Circle The
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwSKkKrUzUk
sky Keeps great and
small on the endless Circle of Life
17. • The idea that there is no beginning or end is central to
Hinduism. Reincarnation ideas can be seen even in the
title of the song, “The Circle of Life”. Hindu’s believe that
every being has a soul and that soul goes through the
cycle of samsara over and over again travelling from one
body to another. This song makes this cycle easier to
understand for children. In reference to despair and hope
it could be referring to the cycle between the hell beings
and the gods. One day you may be a god living the high
life, but your next life you could wind up as a hell being.
No matter what the circle goes on, the circle of life. By
using this song and the images that go with it, it is easier
to explain to a child the complexity of reincarnation.
18. Lyrics
Ingonyama nengw' Wait
enamabala [Here is a lion There's no mountain too
and a tiger] great
Oh, oh, iyo
Hear the words and have
Night
faith
And the spirit of life
Oh, oh, iyo
Calling Have faith
Oh, oh, iyo Hela hey mamela [Hey,
Mamela [Listen] listen]
Oh, oh, iyo
(Chorus)
And a voice He lives in you
With the fear of a child He lives in me
Answers He watches over
Everything we see
Into the water
Oh, oh, iyo
Into the truth
Oh, mamela [Listen] In your reflection
Oh, oh, iyo He lives in you
Ubukhosi bo khokho Ingonyama nengw'
[Throne of the enamabala [Here is a lion
ancestors] and a tiger]
We ndodana ye sizwe (repeat)
sonke [Oh, son of the
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBX-nTBoV78 (repeat third verse)
nation)]
(repeat chorus)
19. • By saying the words “he lives in you” refers to the Hindu
idea of non-dualism. The idea that Brahmin and the self
are not separate entities, but one. However, Brahmin
doesn’t just live in one person, he is a part of everything,
residing in every soul, watching over everything. Brahmin
however is not a god. Neither is Brahmin a he. The
western ideal of a monotheistic male god shows through
in this movie even by saying “he”. It makes it difficult for
children to understand that for some people the idea of
God isn’t always some big guy up in the sky (the image
of Mufasa in the sun) but can be viewed in many different
ways. Though I believe that this song does a good job of
incorporating the idea of Brahmin within each of us I think
it provides a stereotypic view of the western perception of
God.
20. In these three movies I have found that though many of the teachings of these three world
religions are in fact present, a powerful western influence is also there. Because of this
western influence aspects of these three religions are not always portrayed correctly.
Though I think Disney movies should concentrate more on getting their facts straight I still
believe they are a good learning tool for children to understand different world religions.
21. Pictures Video Clips
• http://mimg.ugo.com/201103/0/0/6/177600/cuts/aladdin_480_poster.jp
g • Rikufanboy, “Mulan-Honor to
•
•
http://www.jlbworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/walt-disney-
pictures-logo.gif
http://i43.tower.com/images/mm110818469/pocahontas-irene-bedard-
Us All,” Youtube, 12/15/08
•
vhs-cover-art.jpg
http://ecx.images-
(http://www.youtube.com/watc
•
amazon.com/images/I/61LoOHu0mzL._SL500_AA300_.jpg
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/253/hunchdn5.jpg/sr=1
h?v=TkmsyhSEaWc)
• http://ecx.images-
amazon.com/images/I/513PCT8QM5L._SL500_AA300_.jpg • Essexboi1993, “The Lion King
• http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-
dXlyOhlzheA/TtovLT5Ak9I/AAAAAAAAAhM/1Ih- – Circle of Life,” YouTube,
59vLgNw/s400/mulan+ancestors.jpg
• http://images.wikia.com/disney/images/0/01/Mulan_027.jpg 06/22/07
•
•
http://sc46.tripod.com/mulan/mushu.jpg
http://www.cartoondollemporium.com/disney/mulan7.jpg (http://www.youtube.com/watc
• http://www.animationsource.org/sites_content/mulan/upload/fanchars/
pic_detail4cb88d8e8f46b.png h?v=HwSKkKrUzUk)
•
• Iamatissue, “Lion King – He
http://www.freewebs.com/jinnjinneegenie/aladdin-cover.jpg
• http://canamgirl.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/aladdin2.gif
•
Lives In You (English),”
http://www.puffpieces.com.au/wp-
content/uploads/2011/11/Abu_the_monkey_by_Blue_J23.jpg
• http://media.photobucket.com/image/Women%20in%20aladdin/kazano
•
ff/aladdinwoman3.png
http://revoltoftheplebs.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/alladin10.jpg
YouTube, 08/02/08
•
•
http://images.wikia.com/aladdin/images/b/ba/Jasmine.jpg
http://humarashid.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/go-aladdin-
(http://www.youtube.com/watc
•
aladdin-2462319-400-490.jpg
http://images.pictureshunt.com/pics/s/simba_the_lion_king-5069.jpg
h?v=sBX-nTBoV78)
• http://www.shockya.com/news/wp-content/uploads/the-lion-king-tops-
charts.jpg
• http://www.movieposterdb.com/posters/05_06/1994/0110357/l_20044_
0110357_a53ef500.jpg
