<div>From dwarves to princes, heroes to heartbreakers, the Disney treatment of male characters in the studio&rsquo;s animated features. One of PopSugar&rsquo;s Best Books for Women (2013) From the iconic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) to Tangled, the 2010 retelling of Rapunzel, Handsome Heroes and Vile Villains looks at the portrayal of male characters in Disney films from the perspective of masculinity studies and feminist film theory. This companion volume to Good Girls and Wicked Witches places these depictions within the context of Hollywood and American popular culture at the time of each film&rsquo;s release. &ldquo;Within her idealism and love for the House of the Mouse, it seems Davis is on to something. Whether idealistic or delusional, the Disney she talks about seems to be a thing that&rsquo;s waiting just around the corner.&rdquo; &mdash;PopMatters</div>

Handsome Heroes & Vile Villains

<div>An in-depth view of the way popular female stereotypes were reflected in&mdash;and were shaped by&mdash;the portrayal of women in Disney&rsquo;s animated features. In Good Girls and Wicked Witches, Amy M. Davis re-examines the notion that Disney heroines are rewarded for passivity. Davis proceeds from the assumption that, in their representations of femininity, Disney films both reflected and helped shape the attitudes of the wider society, both at the time of their first release and subsequently. Analyzing the construction of (mainly human) female characters in the animated films of the Walt Disney Studio between 1937 and 2001, she attempts to establish the extent to which these characterizations were shaped by wider popular stereotypes. Davis argues that it is within the most constructed of all moving images of the female form&mdash;the heroine of the animated film&mdash;that the most telling aspects of Woman as the subject of Hollywood iconography and cultural ideas of American womanhood are to be found. &ldquo;A fascinating compilation of essays in which [Davis] examined the way Disney has treated female characters throughout its history.&rdquo; &mdash;PopMatters</div>

Good Girls & Wicked Witches

<div>These scholarly essays examine Disney’s cultural impact from various perspectives—including film studies, history, musicology, gender and more. The academic field of Disney Studies has evolved greatly over the years, as the twelve essays collected in this volume demonstrate. With a diversity of perspectives and concerns, the contributors examine the cultural significance and impact of the Disney Company’s various outputs, such as animated shorts and films, theme park attractions, television shows, books, music, and merchandising. By looking at Disney from some of its many angles—including the history and the persona of its founder, a selection of its successful and not-so-successful films, its approaches to animation, its branding and fandom, and its reception and reinterpreted within popular culture—Discussing Disney offers a more holistic understanding of a company that has been, and continues to be, one of the most important forces in contemporary culture.</div>

Amy M. Davis
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Books By Amy M. Davis (3 Books)

Handsome Heroes & Vile Villains

Good Girls & Wicked Witches

Discussing Disney

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