Category: Disney

It would seem that it is not just the misrepresentation of Arabs and Muslims as a regressive group but also the lack of representing them in a balanced way. Pistritto in The Real Faces of Islam compares the representation of Muslims in “Islam vs Islamists”, a documentary that had taken the task to show Muslims battling with Islamic extremists in a struggle to represent Islam, and “The Muslim American” a documentary that explores the lives of Muslims in Europe and America after the events of 9/11 in an attempt to show their diversity and compare the lives between them. Islam vs Islamists in its attempt to display the morals held by extremists, failed to show who they were trying to represent. The characters, who were fighting for a better representation of Islam felt nothing more than an odd minority in a sea of anti-western extremists. The Muslim Americans on the other hand handled its representation of Muslims more appropriately; showing that Muslims in America are less likely to express radical views due to them being better off financially. It also brings to our attention that Muslims just like any other ethnic group, do not hold extremist views and that many of these extremist views held by the minority differ on numerous levels.

This form of stereotyping is nothing new in the modern world. This stereotype does not only focus on Muslims specifically. This stereotype is also implemented in people in a Muslim-majority country. If we consider Arab countries to be a big representation of Muslim religion in this world then many populations also face this type of stereotypical issue by being a part of the religion. A 2013 commercial by co-cola shows cowboys in Vegas girls and an Arab man with a camel. In this small commercial, the Arab man has been portrayed as backward when it comes to competing with others for a giant bottle of coke in the desert. Even in the movies or series Arabs are shown as either villains or terrorists. In the year 1994 “True Lies” where Arnold Schwarzenegger acts as a spy of a secret government agency they showed a group of terrorist groups in which the terrorist group they have represented the members of the group as Arabs. It’s not only in movies this type of stereotype happens but it is also been shown in animated movies as well. Big characters of Disney like Aladdin have also portrayed such kind of stereotypes in their theme song which was edited again when people raised their voices in the year 1992. Hollywood has failed to show the broad diversity found in Arab women, by only giving them roles such as veils, Hijabs, and most commonly belly dancers. Famous movies such as “Aladdin” (2019), “Arabian Nights” (1942), and “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves” (1944) have also portrayed Arab women as obscure dancers.

If you consider the representation of Muslim groups in the movie or TV show industry most of the time they are either considered a terrorist, half-witted foreigner, or sometimes a troubled wife. Other than that, the worst judgment is relating Arabs and Muslims together. Muslims are a wide group of people who follow Islam as their religion while on the other hand, Arabs are people from Middle Eastern nations who can choose their faith on their own. Even after so much controversy, there are still some great movies that have inspired the world with a Muslim character in the films. If we take, for example, Ali. This movie was about the boxer Muhamad Ali. This movie shows that he had difficulties trying to marry a person with a different faith and the challenges of being famous by being the legendary boxer of all time. In a recent TV film Quantico which was portrayed as two Muslim girls have been taken place and was praised by many people. This has also changed people’s point of view with the representation of how a Muslim girl can also be smart, intelligent, and competitive. Young Muslim girls like the way she carried the image and inspired people. Some of the historical movies also portrayed the Muslim character out of the common stereotypes. We see the movie Kingdom of Heaven where the Muslim leader was brave and sympathetic. On the other hand movies like The Reluctant Fundamentalist have shown us how Muslim people were treated after the 9/11 tragedy. During this situation, the character was abroad but as soon he returned to America; he did not find any whole-hearted welcome. After this he had to decide should he should change his next destination because of all the discrimination and hatred he faced. This was relatable to a lot of people during that time living in a foreign land. Taking this into account many people faced a lot more than this during that time for being a Muslim. 

This essay will deconstruct the children’s film Aladdin (1992) produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and directed by Ron Clements and John Musker and how animation and Disney films, in particular, can internalize false ideologies on children and young women. This essay will be structured about Laura Mulvey’s essay Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema and her theories on ‘The Ways of Looking,’ Mulvey’s essay concentrates on cinema as being patriarchal and phallic such that cinema “[interweaves erotic pleasure in the film], it’s meaning, and in particular the central plane of the image of woman.” Claire Johnston’s essay on Women’s Cinema as Counter-Cinema critiques stereotypes from a semiotical point of view and Anneke Meyer and Katie Milestone’s book Gender and Popular Culture analyzes the function of popular culture in the formation of gendered individualities in contemporary society. Both of these texts will be used to supplement the analysis of Aladdin and Mulvey’s theories.

Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer discuss the idea of the culture industry in their book Dialectic of Enlightenment, they conceptualize power as an absolute, all-encompassing force, as the powerhouse of capitalism. They dispute how power is demonstrated in contemporary society such that aesthetic appeal is just an acknowledgment of consumers ‘tastes’ and that the goal is not to extract truth but rather to solely ‘entertain.’ For example, through globalization, Disney has expanded as a business and has extended its narrative repertoire to incorporate (more or less) definitive cultures and non-Western characters in films ie. In Aladdin by using cultural images and products presented as images of one another; recycled customs are marketed to cultural consumers for pleasure.

Mulvey breaks down the idea of pleasure into two categories: scopophilia – the pleasure derived from looking at erotic objects and narcissistic identification – the projection of the self onto an image, in this instance it is the male spectator of a film unknowingly propelling himself onto the male lead of a film. Mulvey mentions several times how cinema unintentionally underlines patriarchal values and how women are constantly the ones receiving the scopophilic/male gaze, for example, she says “In a world ordered by sexual imbalance, pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female… In their traditional exhibitionist role, women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness.”

Mulvey splits the ways of looking into three categories, further enforcing how women are objects of desire in the film: camera recording, viewers of the film watching the film, and characters looking at one another. Firstly we can discuss the camera recording style. Aladdin is a handheld animated film, in the camera is looking at several thousand hand-drawn frames, this is important to consider because the central male protagonist is a male (Aladdin), who has a male (animal) best friend (Abu), and both try to prevent the attempts of the male villain (Jafar) who plans to marry the suffering female with a lack of control over her destiny until Aladdin steps in to ‘save’ Jasmine.

Considering the preceding information, Jasmine’s clothing perpetuates the inferiority of females to males, she is wearing a top that bears her belly. This outfit misrepresents the garments that an Arab Princess would customarily wear. Jasmine’s body fits the “beauty ideal… that girls should be small, thin, have silky hair, and be conventionally pretty” (Meyer and Milestone). Thus, the only objective of this outfit is to embody her figure and venerate her exterior image. This is exemplified when Jasmine’s hood is blown off at the market and presents her perfect appearance and that is the only reason Aladdin acknowledges her. In addition, towards the end of the film, Jafar disrespects Jasmine by calling her a ‘pussycat.’ Jasmine is wearing a red version of her blue outfit; red denoting the idea of sex and lust. The continuous sexualization of Jasmine, prompts the male characters, particularly Jafar, to treat her with less respect and thus this sexualization inhibits the other male characters from seeing women as objects and minimizing their worth.

Jasmine is the sole female character in the film and women are only showcased a few other times. In Figure 1 we see other women, which interestingly enough if you were to put Jasmine’s teal outfit on them (Figure 2), they would be indistinguishable from her. This further shows the lack of diversity and care for animated female characters and causes society to admire a distinctly influenced standard of beauty, that is impractical (for most) to achieve. In contrast, all the male characters in the film have extremely different appearances and clothing (Figure 3). Since the animators are the ones creating the characters, they are the ones drawing the female object for the camera (rather than the camera recording the female object), showing that the same female model was most probably used to create all the females in the film thus emphasizing the lack of diversity in the female cast of Aladdin. Therese O’Neill states how the inspiration behind Aladdin’s character was Tom Cruz and says how the animators found that they wanted Aladdin to be confident and emit a ‘sexy cockiness.’ This further enforces how women’s representations are not the foreground of focus in (Disney) films.

Claire Johnston’s essay discusses how feminist cinema should be a counter-cinema and can advance the current Hollywood film narrative through production means and opposition to sexist ideologies; it pleads for a cinema that objects to these cavalier conventions but which can still be entertaining. Johnston asserts that “woman functions within film as a sign within a patriarchal discourse, not as a reflection of reality.” In an article by Kat Brown, she shows images of Disney females and males from Disney’s Pixar films with their faces traced out to show the diversity in the male faces rather than the female, oppressing women’s individuality (Siede) (Figure 4). She also mentions how the head animator, Lino DiSalvo, for the 2013 animated movie Frozen stated: “Historically speaking, animating female characters are difficult because they have to go through this range of emotions, but you have to keep them pretty…” Johnston’s point is reiterated through DiSalvo’s comment that in mainstream cinema, women are seen as an extension of a male vision.

Mulvey’s second form of looking is people watching the film. In Aladdin, men project themselves onto the lead, Aladdin, who is animatedly good-looking and magnetizing. Spectators can unintentionally propel themselves onto Aladdin, and favor him to succeed once becoming subjectively devoted to his adventures because they get so invested and root for Aladdin to end up with Jasmine. Jasmine’s character is designed to make Aladdin a better person. In the film, Aladdin tries to become a prince because Jasmine is a princess and he loves her and because he is so in love with her, he saves the kingdom and rescues Jasmine from Jafar – Aladdin has no purpose in the film if it is not to rescue Jasmine. When the spectator views the male protagonist, he aims his gaze at his on-screen agent thus making the influence of the male protagonist’s issues match with the dynamic control of the erogenous look to show this male dominance.

The way characters look at one another in the film is Mulvey’s third way of looking. Aladdin looks at Jasmine with quite inquisitive looks during the film, this act of looking makes her a sexualized object (for the male’s gaze). Jasmine, therefore, fits into Mulvey’s classification manifesting how a woman “is isolated, glamorous, on display, sexualized” while on the show and through the changing narrative, the woman falls in love with the male protagonist and is reduced to his property and ultimately she loses her charm and observed sexuality. In the end, her lust is diminished solely to the male star. Jasmine’s wishes to find a husband are concentrated throughout this film. Her life revolves around finding an admirable husband thus making her feel lost. Meyer and Milestone mention how popular culture “has a history of representing women as centrally concerned with the need for love, romance, and relationship.” For example, Jasmine is trapped in the castle at the beginning of the film and is not permitted to leave, until she runs away and later meets Aladdin who falls in love with her because of her beauty (Figure 5).

What I found to be most interesting was her change in persona, originally, she is shown as a confident woman with her own opinions regarding who she wants to marry and is not afraid to confront the men in the film. She is also an adventurous character who chooses to leave home without guidance from a man. However, the way her love towards Aladdin is presented portrays her as succumbing to love and thus the significance of her relationship overpowers her self-assured qualities.

Jasmine is shown as an anemic character because she is blind to the fact that Aladdin is not a prince. She falls in love with him and even when she finds out that he is of low social status she still wants to marry and commit to him. Jasmine’s life will ultimately be controlled by the man she marries as he will eventually become the prince and because she cannot rule the kingdom on her own. This brings forth a discussion of the bond she her and father appear to have, it appears to revolve around preparing for her arranged marriage. Her father has strict rules about who she is allowed to marry but once he finds out that Jasmine is in love with Aladdin, who is not a prince, he decrees that Jasmine can marry whomever she wishes, regardless of social status, if he can change the rules that easily, why could he not just decree that she could rule the kingdom without marrying (and marry Aladdin in her own time)? It is further mentioned how Aladdin will be becoming the new ruler owing to his marriage to Jasmine. This emphasizes the “centrality of finding a man in a [woman’s life]” (Meyer and Milestone) showing how Aladdin immortalizes and strengthens the idea that a woman’s central privilege, especially in Arabic culture, is to be in a relationship and marry.

Aladdin in conjunction with many other Disney films does not abstain from inadvertent controversy. Aladdin is one of several movie representations that shows the powerful control of the Western world’s portrayal of other cultural and historical images. Aladdin is burdened with unrealistic body images, stereotypical gender roles, the sexualization of young women, and unreliable portrayals of the Middle East. While the film is engaging, there are hidden meanings that, in effect, can develop our objectivity of individual places and people, specifically when not offered a primitive explanation to form impartial opinions.

By the time average Americans reach the age of eighteen, they have spent approximately 15,000 hours in front of the television. That is around 4,000 hours more than they have spent being educated and a great deal more time than they have spent on their relationships with their families and peers (Minnow & LaMay 1995, cited in Dubow et al. 2006, p.404). As Judith Butler stipulates, “Because gender is not a fact, the various acts of gender create the idea of gender, and without those acts, there would be no gender at all” (Butler 1988, p.242). This statement infers that our idea of gender is based on the acts of gender we are exposed to. Hence, because much of our childhood is spent being bombarded by different media outlets, it is implied that children will learn a lot of their beliefs revolving around gender and gender roles from what they are exposed to in the media. This puts a great deal of importance, especially in this age where all of Western societies’ gender stereotypes are being questioned, on what kind of media we are exposing our children to. According to Mitra and Lewin-Jones (2012, p.389), an important factor for children when determining sex-appropriate behavior is the example they see, since they pay attention to the sex of active characters around them. As children tend to watch a lot of cartoons, today’s cartoons must be reflective of the gender roles we want to teach them. In this essay, I will be comparing the gender-role stereotypes that are presented in the modern-day cartoon ‘Adventure Time’ and the more traditional roles depicted in the fairy tales that have had Disney remakes. I argue that our vision of different gender stereotypes can and is evolving from the traditional ones exemplified in these fairy tales to the ones represented by characters depicted in ‘Adventure Time’.

‘Adventure Time’ is an American animated television show that first premiered in 2010 after its hit short on YouTube went viral. Due to its success, it has been broadcast by Cartoon Network worldwide and has gathered an almost cult-like following. The show is for children and adults alike, with elements of silliness and cartoony animation, showing at times a more mature side in terms of content. The show centers around Finn, a human boy, and his adoptive brother, Jake, a shape-shifting dog. Together they embark on adventures in the post-apocalyptic Land of Ooo, devoid of humans except Finn. Some other characters include Princess Bubblegum and BMO which I will be discussing in more detail later. ‘Adventure Time’ is not aimed at either boys or girls as it contains strong female and male characters, as well as some genderless/ambiguous characters. Although the show relies strongly on the traditional role of a hero helping a princess, the characters do so in ways that challenge traditional fairy tale stereotypes and provide refreshing role models for children.

The traditional role of a princess is that of a damsel in distress, one that has no other function but to be a princess who needs to be rescued in some way shape, or form. This is clearly portrayed throughout the original Disney princess cartoons such as ‘Snow White’, ‘Cinderella’, ‘Rapunzel’ and ‘Beauty and the Beast’. They represent stereotyped ideals of femininity and masculinity and enforce polarized roles between men and women. The princesses in ‘Adventure Time’ are different in that they are not waiting for a prince to come to save them, and they play an active role in their kingdom, often being its sole matriarchy. A prime example of this is Princess Bubblegum. Although her appearance is very feminine, her dress, hair, and skin tone all being different shades of pink, she is the sole ruler of her kingdom, actively ensuring the safety of her subjects. She is also a scientist, often performing various experiments in her castle while wearing more regular clothes and a lab coat. She does ask Finn for help, which could be construed as falling into the damsel in distress trope, but she doesn’t ask him to rescue her. She usually asks him to run errands for her, occasionally asking for help with some sort of monster. Her character is a better reflection of today’s women as more and more women are entering and succeeding in the male-dominant field of science, or just pursuing careers in general. She’s also shown to have had a romantic relationship with another female character on the show, introducing audiences to the idea of same-sex relationships. This is also a more modern reflection of today’s relationships, demonstrating that women don’t need to be with a man as the older fairy tales may have us believe.

Traditional male roles are also challenged in ‘Adventure Time’ as shown by the show’s protagonist Finn. Although Finn does fit into the male stereotype just by being a male lead hero, he also demonstrates versatility in his character by continuously showing his emotions and speaking up about his feelings, things typically reserved for a more feminine role. Finn is not a big strong man either as heroes usually are in fairy tales. Male heroes in Disney’s cartoons are stoic and often quiet, not contributing much in terms of dialogue. Since Finn is the main character of the show, based on Mitra and Lewin-Jones’ findings (2012, p.389), children may assume that the program is directed at boys. Finn is not, however, a stereotypical example for children. He is not traditionally masculine but more androgynous: helpful, and sensitive, but at the same time adventurous and brave. He’s also a thin teenager, a character more relatable to most of their audience. He can be seen crying in various episodes, once crying over a breakup. He also communicates his feelings and is not afraid to admit to his mistakes. His character at this time is not a reflection of how men in our society are today, however, he is what we want to be teaching our children. Butler (1988, p.528) states that “performing one’s gender wrong initiates a set of punishments both obvious and indirect, and performing it well provides the reassurance that there is an essentialism of gender identity after all”. Finn does not receive punishment for behaving in ‘un-manly’ ways, so this reinforces in children that it is acceptable behavior from a boy or man, creating a generation of men who are not afraid to show or speak of their emotions.

Due to the fact that almost all the characters in ‘Adventure Time’ are not human, they have versatile looks, and their appearance is often determined instead by their place of origin. For example, the subjects of the Candy Kingdom look like candy, as the name suggests. Hence, the gender of the characters cannot always be deduced by their appearance. It is usually their behavior that hints at their gender identity. This feature contrasts with almost all Disney princess movies, as the characters in them are clearly either male or female based solely on appearance. This presents children with preconceived notions of what males and females are supposed to look like or wear. As Butler (1988, p.526) states, “Gender is an act which has been rehearsed, much as a script survives the particular actors who make use of it, but which requires individual actors in order to be actualized and reproduced as reality once again”, meaning these acts that are presented to us through these movies only act to reinforce what is now outdated ideas of gender stereotypes. An ambiguous main character in the show is BMO, Finn and Jake’s roommate and video game console. His appearance does not offer any clues regarding his sex, and his behavior gives mixed signals about his gender identity. Different characters use different pronouns to describe BMO, however, it was mentioned numerous times that BMO was in fact genderless. Lemish (2014, p.184) states that even non-gendered characters such as animals and creatures are practically always labeled a gender, usually automatically male. BMO is constantly challenging this assumption though, participating in many activities usually reserved for female characters, such as playing house or cooking. Due to BMO being a machine, he is less relatable to children, but it is still inspiring to see a character reach beyond the gender binary.

As we can see based on the examples given, ‘Adventure Time’ challenges many gender role stereotypes that are presented in many of the older cartoons, most notably in the first-generation fairy tales that were remade by Disney. The comparison to these fairy tales truly demonstrates the contrast and evolution that modern-day cartoons have gone through to better represent today’s ideals or what they should be. ‘Adventure Time’ is not the only cartoon now to have presented radically different gender role views to audiences. Other cartoons such as ‘Steven Universe’ and ‘Hilda’ also exhibit multiple lead characters who do not fit into the gender binary, opening up young minds to the possibility of non-conforming gender ideals and gender fluidity. ‘Adventure Time’ is however the first cartoon to do so, so openly and unapologetically. They present their characters as they are, never making audiences aware that their characters’ traits may be considered deviant from their gender identity. For the purpose of this essay, only a couple of characters who worked to prove my point were chosen to be compared, however, many more characters could have been chosen for the same purpose. Gender roles and ideals in ‘Adventure Time’ are a better representation of today’s Western society as we become more open to various gender representations, some even doing away with gender identity altogether. Although we are far from the all-accepting utopia where gender is more of an arbitrary concept, cartoon shows such as ‘Adventure Time’ can be seen as a first step towards creating a generation of open minds that question and challenge some of our still dominant archaic gender stereotypes.

In this media content review, I’m going to talk about Disney princesses. My form of media I chose along with my topic is gender. The reason I chose this topic was because I love Disney and as a little girl, my favorite Disney princess was always Cinderella. This paper I chose discusses Disney’s way to feminism and how cartoons have a positive or negative impact on children as they influence a child’s perception of the world.

Cartoons can have an influence on a child development, it can have positive effects that can play a role in education for children, as an entertainment for kids but at the same time teaches children behavior, vocabulary, and discovering the world. A negative impact a child can distinguish is bad behavior and vocabulary. Some cartoons can become aggressive and gain a negative imagination in a child making them stay in a negative imaginary. Children 2-5 years old’s watch cartoons, about 30-32 hours a week. As children develop, cartoons become attractive to them which then gets them to watch TV and this is usually socialized by family or school, etc. Cartoons have influence children’s perspective as they grow, seeing the development of values or upbringing ideas, whether it being a form of gender, race, or violence. As children spend a lot of time on TV, this form of media is more effective in certain knowledge or ideas that cartoons transmit to kids.

In the 1920s and early 1930s, the fairy tale cartoons that started with Walt Disney paved an experiment that turned fairy tales on their heads and exposed their foolish aspects of “romantic love” and fixed gender roles. Disney began changing and adapting to something classical, but Disney’s experimentation led to children being socialized by gender rules, and how they should view romantic love. As Disney was developing more realistic human figures and made characters as stereotypes, giving animals cute figures and making it seem comical and live. Children develop beliefs about the world based on experiences and observations around them. The exposure of TV helps develop young boys and girls how to view their perception about gender and their behavior. In this case, princesses form the way children can be socialized. For example, boys are socialized at such a young age. Boys are taught a way to manifest a way on how to treat girls throughout their lives and follow certain values. As well with young girls, girls develop a sense of having a romantic relationship with a ‘happy ending’. Fairy-tale films tend to seek to keep our eyes open and sharpen our perspective. It challenges us to see how we consider change in the long run. It being a boy’s and girl’s gender expectations, as other children are uncomfortable about boys playing the role of girls or vice versa. Disney was accused of spreading anti-feminist ideas.

The gender behavior shaped from an early age by the ideas of the roles that women and men receive in socialization process. This paper cases which gender roles manifest in children’s early lives, making them understand the ‘acceptable’ and ‘unacceptable’ ways in which to act in society. My personal experiences back then left an emotionally mark on me, with glance of hate we receive from people or things we face and become a failure. It is a system that stays with us along the way as we grow. My experience with this form of media being gender rules and my topic on Disney princesses, as a little girl I was always told to not do this or that because that was a guy’s role to do so. Cinderella still till this day continues to affect society because it influences young girl’s self-esteems and how to act, dress, and eat a certain way. Girls are pressured to act and look like a ‘princess’ because of role model’s young girls look up to in this generation being Disney princesses. Although Disney’s version of Cinderella still has some negative characteristics of a princess, a message noticeable was: ‘Stop dreaming and make your dream into a reality’. This children’s story ‘Cinderella’ had taught me to not let your good experiences turn into bitterness but forgive and be kind no matter how the world could be.

Overall, Disney is one of the cartoon series that are demanded for a children’s desire. Cartoons are an important essential role in every childhood because it helps teach us many things and impact on a child’s development in the right away. I think to keep children from negative effects of cartoons, parents can limit the hours and keep an eye on what they are watching, as well as the age limit.

The Walt Disney Company found on October 16, 1923, in Los Angeles, California was a corporation known as one of the best providers of children and family entertainment in the 20th and 21st centuries. Disney’s first animated movie Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs was a big hit and since then Disney has had huge successes. Disney has made many popular movies like Snow White (1937), Cinderella (1950), The Little Mermaid(1989), Mulan (1998), Tangled (2010), Frozen (2012), and Moana (2016). From the 1900’s to the 2000’s we can see a vast difference in different aspects of the movies, especially in the roles of women such as dressing styles; physical features like body, face, and skin tone, and also jobs which switched from cleaning to saving the world. We can also see a difference in the main theme of the movie which before was women’s oppression presented in a better way and now is women’s empowerment and equality. From Snow White to Moana, we can see how the portrayal of women in Disney movies has slowly been changing according to the evolving society. In this research paper, I will discuss and analyze the portrayal of women in two different movies namely Snow White (1937) and Moana (2016) to show how portrayal was in the past, in the first Disney movie and how is it now in one of the most recent one.

The graph above shows how Disney’s female characters were focused on appearance and skills in the classics, renaissance, and the new age. In the classics, females were focused more on appearance than on their skills. The graph shows that about 55 percent of compliments were given to women for their beauty and only 11 percent for their skills in the classics. In the Renaissance, 38 percent of compliments were given to women for beauty and 23 percent for their skills which shows a slight improvement in women’s development. In the new age, only 22 percent of compliments are given to women for their beauty and 40 percent for their skills which shows a great improvement in women’s condition as now important things like skills are being focused on instead of beauty which matters very little compared to skills and talents. In the present time, inner beauty is focused more than outer beauty and these types of movies will definitely help children to learn the right concepts. The graph also shows a gradual improvement in women’s roles in Disney movies in terms of skills and talents.

In almost all Disney movies, we can see very beautiful protagonists with big eyes, perfect voluminous hair, fair skin, symmetrical faces, and an extremely hourglass figure, this is the stereotype Disney has about the concept of beauty. Disney makes their princesses so perfect that by just looking at them the audience can figure out that they are protagonists. It’s the same for antagonists, we can immediately figure out that they are the antagonists by their unattractive fat bodies and dark makeup which includes arched eyebrows, black lips, eyes, and dark clothing. Characters are given looks according to their roles in these princess movies. This concept of beauty may promote a thought among children that outer beauty is the only factor to decide someone’s personality, that if they don’t have outer beauty they are nothing.

Similar to the concept of beauty, gender roles are also imposed in a similar way. Most of the old Disney movies were very biased and male dominant mainly Snow White, Cinderella, and Sleeping beauty. The fairytales that Disney released as movies were written hundreds of years ago so the movies even though modified according to the changing society still hold lots of stereotypes and gender issues which were present at the time when the story was written. Present-day movies don’t hold stereotypes and it focuses mainly on promoting women and teaching young children about important issues like race, sexuality, gender, equality, and responsibility.

Snow white is a young Disney princess who is the protagonist of the first Disney animated movie. She is known as the “fairest of them all” and the most beautiful princess in Disney. Snow White’s traits include a love for animals and birds, good singing ability, and royal family background. Even though Snow White is really pretty and kind, her character lacks important features like bravery, strength, talents, and skills which makes her a typical woman

The issue and discrimination against women have been decreasing slowly. Women in the present time are far more empowered than women in the past. There are more women in formal paid work today than at any point in history. There have been huge changes for women in terms of employment in the past decade. There are (some) high-profile women chief executives. There is a small but increasing number of female presidents. Women are moving into jobs that used to be done by men. Even those women working in factories or sweatshops have more choices and independence than if they remained at home (Gagg). However, there was a time when women were not even considered humans, such discrimination existed in a great amount in the late 1700s to the early 1800s. In the earlier time, women suffered a lot and lived their whole life being dominated by men. Even their basic rights which were essential for living were taken away from them for being a woman.

Snow White’s first version was also written by the Grimm brothers around the same time in 1812, thirty-six years before the establishment of women’s rights, so it includes many stereotypes, gender roles, and violence of that time. As women were only limited to working at home and were not allowed to live a life they wanted to, the fairy tale holds similar situations where Snow White wasn’t allowed to live a life she wanted to and was limited to working at home. We can see that in the entire movie, she is only limited to the so-called “women’s work” where she is engaged in household chores. She has a great voice but doesn’t seem to be interested to build a career on it, rather she waits for a prince to make her life. This is an example of how women oppressed themselves in the past. When their rights were being developed and other women were fighting for their rights, some women still oppressed themselves and didn’t want to develop their own rights. These women claimed that the women who were fighting for their rights were growing beards instead of supporting their own rights.

When Snow White was dead and was in her coffin, a prince kissed her which woke her up from her death. Even though it makes Snow White alive again, there comes an issue about consent. Just because she is dead, doesn’t mean that the prince can kiss Snowhite because she is beautiful. Actress Kristen Bell has also recently written about this issue in a parenting magazine. Bell, who provided the voice of Princess Anna in Disney’s animated film “Frozen,” told Parents magazine that when she reads “Snow White” to her two young daughters, she poses a question: “Don’t you think that it’s weird that the prince kisses Snow White without her permission? Because you cannot kiss someone if they’re sleeping!” (Bever). Even though parents don’t want to show such movies to their children, they are unable to do so because the world can’t hide famous characters like Snow White and Cinderella from the children. In the present generation, this is how parents cope with old Disney movies, by telling their children what is or is not appropriate in a particular movie, time and again for their children to learn the right concepts.

In 1796 AD, American colonies made a new law that stated that women and men are one person after marriage and the legal existence of women is suspended after that, which made women perform everything under their husbands. Women at that time were not strong enough to protest against such discriminatory laws and remained oppressed. This concept is portrayed clearly in Snow White even after years of establishment of women’s rights. Women were basically the servants of their husbands but still had to find a man to complete their lives. Even though women’s rights were already established, it still wasn’t executed and prioritized properly which is why Snow White holds lots of gender roles and stereotypes.

Grab a mate, purchase your popcorn, and sit back and enjoy The Lion King. Watch one of the best Disney classics, well-crafted with amazing acting, intense plots, and dramatic music.

The Lion King is a clever, suspenseful movie with a gripping plot. The movie portrays the ‘circle of life’. Directors Rob Minkoff and Roger Allers present another movie, famous for holding the title of the highest-grossing cartoon animated film. This is a movie to watch, and a movie to remember.

The Lion King highlights a young cub Simba, heir to the throne of the harmonious and prosperous pride lands. However, that future was tragically banished when he witnesses the death of his father. Worse still, the innocent Simba was deceived by his malicious uncle Scar into believing that he caused the death.

Simba then escaped to a far land where he was fortunate to start a new beginning, finding adventures with new friends. After Simba grew up, he was discovered by an old friend Nala, who also encouraged him to return and take over the Pridelands, which Scar had desecrated and ruined.

Incredulous and ambivalent at first, Simba painfully overcame himself, he challenged Scar for the throne and won the battle. As a result, the circle of life was gloriously recovered.

Jeremy Irons convincingly speaks the part of the venomous lion Scar, who is the brother of the King and is jealous about it. Scar symbolizes menace, as he has a black mane, black claws, and black eyelashes, all representing death. Jeremy Irons’ voice suits Scar perfectly, the deep scary tone expertly provides suitable audio. An example of this is in the homophonic song ‘Be Prepared’, and it dramatizes the corruption of the Pridelands with not only Scar as a leader but also the invitation of the hyenas. This song also enhances the ironic nature of the plot.

A film review completed by 2018 students reflects similar opinions to mine. They agreed that the audio provided a wonderful backdrop for this animated film.

A clever use of filming techniques is to be unstintingly praised. High-canted angles and extreme close-ups were effectively used at some turning points. For example, Simba’s mental fight with the decision to return to Pride Rock was distinctly illustrated through high-angled shots. This exaggerates the indecisiveness and his struggle, rousing the audience’s sympathy. Furthermore, The Lion King’s soundtrack has even become world-famous overnight. Has anyone not heard of ‘Hakuna Matata’? or ‘Can you feel the love tonight’? Just by the soundtrack, The Lion King instantly overtakes other movies, such as Aladdin and Finding Nemo.

The main theme of The Lion King is the circle of life and this is manifestly conveyed through the death of the king, followed by the rise of a new king. We evidently get the overarching theme, however, there were a few theme let-downs. Firstly, the opening conveys a toxic idea that everyone was born to be unequal, which is far removed from the value underpinning Australian society. This was shown through the scene where all the animals bowed down to just a newborn cub. Furthermore, when Scar rules Prideland, all the animals were blindly obsequious to Scar’s inability. Nobody questions, nobody stands up, and nobody brings Scar to justice by law and order, only because Scar was heir to the throne after Simba! Even Scar says, “Life’s not fair”. Other than the theme let-down, it was well-effectively manipulated from The Lion King.

To conclude, Disney’s masterpiece, The Lion King is an uplifting and inspirational animation that I strongly suggest every student watch.

This may sound very archaic but: ‘What is the use of man winning the world, if he loses his soul?’ This phrase repeated endlessly, even on the big screen, can be applied to Disney standards and its new live-action remakes, increasingly referred to as dry remakes, as in the case of ‘The Lion King’ (The Lion King, 2019). The level of hyperrealism and visual perfection that director Jon Favreau’s film reaches is from another world but along the way, the animated classic lost its soul.

To this day, ‘The Lion King’ (The Lion King, 1994) is still the highest-grossing Disney movie in the United States, so it was only a matter of time for this remake to reach the big screens. Such a task remained in the hands of Favreau, a director with all the necessary experience after the event of ‘The Jungle Book’ (The Jungle Book, 2016). The only ‘real’ of this movie is the impressively beautiful landscapes of Africa and the voices of a star-studded cast that tries to bring these protagonists to life, created based on ones and zeros. ‘The Lion King’ may represent a first – a film a bit hard and confronting for children and full of emotions, but the live-action lacks the appeal and sensitivity that was instilled in the animated version. Favreau’s translation is much closer to a National Geographic documentary where the animals speak without too many expressions, often without correlation with the voices behind them (Snetiker, 2019).

We can argue long and hard about the technological wonder it represents, but what is the grace of a story that, besides being boring, does not arouse any emotion in the viewer? ‘The Lion King’ is a tasteless film narratively speaking, even without running from the original material. Unlike an adventure like ‘Babe, the Brave’ (Babe, 1995), the adventures of this Simba have little and nothing to offer, and even a documentary like The March of the Penguins (La Marche de l’empereur, 2005) can hit us more in emotions. The comparisons may seem somewhat random, but if Favreau wants to get attached to his hyperrealism, let the consequences be banked.

We are facing a correct, totally unnecessary, visually stunning film that speaks to a new audience at the same time as the followers of the original film. Unlike other live-action films, it lacks the “show” factor when it comes to its musical numbers, and it even costs it to recreate iconic moments like “Can You Feel Love Tonight” (Can You Feel the Love Tonight). The few comedy steps give rhythm and freshness to the plot that seems to want to constantly emphasize naturalism, although we are facing a group of talkative and singsongy animals that barely move their mouths. This particular remake once again brings out the debate about these new versions that exploit nostalgia to the fullest and rarely bring anything new to what is already known. Favreau strives to do an impeccable job, and he succeeds halfway since he is no longer able to rescue that emotional fibber that his creatures do have in ‘The Jungle Book.’

The only six films that exceeded one million viewers this year have the image of the castle at the beginning of their credits. Among them is Toy Story 4, which is the most-watched title in the history of the United States, and at the close of this note, it was about to exceed 5.5 million entries. To that (every year more) select group of millionaires will be added “The Lion King”.

The first few minutes of “The Lion King” leaves the jaw on the floor. But not for what is told. The content, as stated, transits the same posts as the 1994 version: the public presentation of Simba, heir to the throne occupied by King Mufasa; his death during a stampede of wildebeest orchestrated by his uncle Scar (perhaps the most detestable villain in all of Disney’s history); the departure of the son pierced by guilt; the encounter with the meerkat Timón and the wild boar Pumba (who here have a greater prominence and are deliberately devoted to verbal comedy); the ‘Hakuna Matata sung in an assembly sequence that illustrates Simba’s passage to adulthood; his last return to avenge his father. The astonishment comes from hyperrealism elevated to its maximum expression as if all the previous digital animation films had been a purifying practice to reach what was reached now.

What did it get? To textures defined even in their infinitesimal details, to animals that move each and every one of their hairs and muscles when they walk, to scenarios that could quietly be natural, to rivers that perfectly replicate the flow of water. It is impossible not to be ecstatic about the technical prodigy size. But when the eye gets used, the heady effect goes out. The film, then, is bound to go beyond its aesthetic exercise character. Here the problems begin: everything goes well with hyperrealism, but there are already hundreds, thousands of documentaries that portray the dynamics of the fauna of the African savanna. And The Lion King is not a National Geographic documentary. Or at least it shouldn’t be (Edwards, 2018).

Animated cinema always appealed to expressionism to rate the different stages of the story and the emotions of its characters. Here, on the other hand, everything that cannot be shown must adhere to the coordinates of the real. And nothing is further from ‘the real thing’ than a lion talking to a wild boar, or a group of hyenas tapping to co-rule the kingdom with Scar (Zacharek, 2019).

There is an insurmountable distance between content and form, between the suspension of disbelief that the first requires and the attachment to the photographic of the second, which turns the Lion King into a vivid but icy, sympathetic but heartless film, and, the worst, with very little capacity for empathy.

The first thing that comes to mind when we see the relaunching of The Lion King is full and pure Nostalgia, but why? In principle, because those of us who are already a little old in years and this is part of the good memories of our childhood with already 25 years from its first premiere, the promising version generates in many contemporaries that feeling of expectation looking for surprises and evoking all those emotions of the first film. It is in the first film that sets the example of great professionalism in the search to generate scenes and situations that really led you to feel the anguish, despair, and the search of our character to achieve his style in that immense and inhospitable wild land, For this, a great team of artists studied, researched and captured in every detail of their characters and scenarios, a series of elements between expressions, color, and meticulous narrative elements always raised to take us step by step to a whole plot line that was distilled throughout the entire movie.

We cannot ignore then that 2D to 3D is the step to a better technique, it is simply a fresh proposal and this brings a great responsibility in any adaptation because we as spectators look for surprises, something new, and the requirement to preserve that magic that remained in our minds for all these years. In my opinion, here is the faux pas of the new Lion King; We are not taking to the cinema to see the quality of the CG – the photorealism of the scenes, the perfect simulation of the lighting conditions, and the magnificent lion manes. For a viewer, this is implicated and is taken for granted. It is good to say then that a painting by Michaelangelo, for example, when “staged” in a similar manner – taking care of all the details so that it looks exactly the same or even better – more realistic. The brush strokes on the canvas are not noticeable which makes this second version more valuable and therefore better.

So, what do we expect from this type of work? We expect innovation, surprises, and new emotions. We already know in advance what happened in the original movie, we know that Simba has a conflict with his uncle, that he loses his father, etc, etc. With all of the technical resources available, all fans expect something really good, the heavy work from the script to adapt a fresh story while preserving the spirit. So the audience expects that after 25 years of making a masterpiece, the remake produces new information or different plots from the original like Scar is not the bad guy and dies instead of Mufasa, or if the hyenas help Simba, who is left is a blow and a strong change but not less interesting, evaluate that it was not possible to do in the first and with our current resources finally release those new scenes to add to the previous ones and have the two films to have an excellent audio-visual experience.

Furthermore, I can say that this ‘error’ is recurrent in many other live-action remakes, such as adaptations of Japanese animated series like “Full Metal Alchemist” or “Death Note”, and again many will come out to say they were very horrendous anyway. Here is the problem in which the 2D version overshadowed the live-action version, a clear example that shows that the technique is what is going to make something successful. In “Full Metal Alchemist”, for example, everything felt notably false in an inexplicable way and without a clear foundation. The main protagonist had a clear European appearance and connection and many of the designs of the secondary characters were evidenced during the whole multicultural series and this was not a total fake case where a Japanese actor tried to hiding or creating the illusion through make-up, trying to give it that ‘appearance’ that clashed with our perception of the ordinary world.

In Death Note, they totally destroyed the construction and representation of an excellent character with a totally marked personality such as Light Yagami and it was clear that the scriptwriters or the director did not understand how to represent this one of the strengths of the series, you must be a fan, you must understand the story and not only have it as a reference to create what allows your own perception of the echoes and is that we see a waste of resources in something that could simply be a sweeping success.

In conclusion, one of the great purposes of cinematographic pieces is to evoke emotions and make the viewer identify with them. Technology in the modern era helps facilitate, many times, animation processes also show a lot of realism within the animated universe, but you have to be very careful not to abuse these resources because many times so much realism ends that emotional component that It makes so many of the animations that we love so much since childhood. Finally evoking the nostalgia of the viewer as an advertising trick can be a very counterproductive strategy because, in the end, the viewer will lose interest in the type of productions that the producer conceives in the future.

In his article ‘How Walt Disney Ruined Our Lives’, which appeared in the Brandeis Magazine in 2013, Harvard-trained psychologist Robert Epstein talks about the impact of some of Walt Disney’s most famous films on the nature and dynamic of committed human relationships, specifically marriages. He mentions how these Disney movies, which are themselves based on ancient (and quite sinister) folktales collected by literary giants like Hans Christian Andersen and the Grimm brothers from their respective cultures, have contributed to the downfall of the idea of a committed relationship between people in the 20th century and beyond. Despite the whitewashed idea of the movies, which has wiped out their evil origin and past, these movies have proceeded to set unreasonable expectations for what a long-term, intimate relationship between two people should like. By creating such impossible standards, people-women, especially- often find themselves dissatisfied in their relationships and marriages, which has led to an overall increase in divorce and breakup percentages all over the country (in this case the USA), often over trivial or unreasonable reasons. Throughout this response, I will convey how the author managed to validate his arguments or contradict them, as well as the extent to which he targets a specific audience, namely women in troubled relationships or none at all.

One cannot deny that the impact of Disney’s movies. Children all over the world are read, or made to watch, Disney publications or movies that have penetrated every aspect of peoples’ lives. These tales, which the author refers to as ‘Disneyized’, have instilled in us a craving for things previously thought to be unreal, and thus have contributed to the formation of a ‘Mr. Right’ ideal that is impossible to locate, thus causing a lot of quite intelligent people to end their relationships, more often women than men. The author refers to a model which he first talks of in a lecture entitled ‘How to Take Control of Your Love Life’, which promotes couples to abandon idealistic fantasies and focus on building, or in most cases rebuilding, the love in their present relationship or marriage. The author highlights how such an approach, despite its outlandishness in the West, is ubiquitous in the East and has been proven. Statistically speaking, any connection in which people display vulnerability in front of each other leads to a heightened degree of bonding. The author concludes by showing the contrast between aforementioned folklore in the West and the stories in the East which etch in their listeners values of honor and love and familial bonding.

The author manages to conveniently track the influence of Disney stories and movies on the dynamics and overall minutiae of human relationships. Before such pop culture influences came into being, marriage had a relatively uniform nature, particularly of durability. Then came along the stories of Ariel, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White and etched into the subconscious of a great number of women a very fallacious idea of how their man should look like: ridiculously muscular, fair hair, colored eyes, all false promises and fleeting external attributes that don’t last a few years. He suggests how we can build love: such a methodology and mentality would definitely alleviate most relationship problems.

However, the author errs in some places too. He has massively exaggerated the impact that the Disney movies have inflicted on people’s minds, something he has no way of knowing and proving empirically. The author also mentions the dark origin of some of the tales, which is irrelevant and serves his design to further our alertness and fear at the ideas these films have etched into our minds. Additionally, he presupposes that relationships should come without expectations and demands which is counterintuitive: we do, and should, expect certain gestures from our partners. Not impossible ones, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t expect anything or not have any standards at all.

I believe that the author’s ideas make sense. In my community, most marriages are arranged, and while there have definitely been cases of divorce, they are extremely rare and when they do happen, they occur for reasons like adultery or infertility, which are reasons relevant to the innate human condition and biology and thus not related to any external influence. However, with regards to ‘building love’, previous experiences have shown that it seldom ends well, and is thus in my opinion wrong: you can’t build love out of nothing.

In the previous paragraphs, I have shown how the author builds his ideas and arguments using layperson feedback and studies of human psychology and the agents that influence our thinking. The author is specific about targeting women, or men, who have unreasonable and fairytale expectations out of their relationships and trying to show them that it is wrong and counterintuitive to have such standards for their mates. He further stresses the importance of Eastern values, which instill in us a love of family and fellow man/woman, honor, and honesty and commitment in a relationship. This is especially important nowadays: human trivialize their connections with other people, especially life partners, and they should be reminded that the love we feel should not be bounded by incomprehensible and supernatural demands from our partners as it weakens the strongest of bonds.

The Issue

Recently a 2-year old boy was grabbed, pulled into a lagoon, and killed by an alligator at Disney Resort (McLaughlin et al. 5). This was not the first attack by an alligator reported at this resort. Recent reports have indicated that security at this resort is compromised and visitors are prone to alligator attacks, especially when walking within the park. It was also reported that no proper guidance and security warnings are informing the visitors of the dangers posed by these alligators.

As such, most of the visitors fail to take precautions and therefore get easily attacks. In the past, some visitors have reported serious injuries from these alligators (Kinsey and Kafer 44). However, the recent case where a child was grabbed from its parents and subsequently killed by an alligator sent a shockwave to the entire fraternity of Disney Resort. The management, workers, visitors, and government authorities are all concerned about this issue as they try to think of the best way of addressing this security threat (Wang, Albanese, and Jajodia 71). Given that Disney resorts are very popular among children and adults, it is necessary to find a solution to this problem.

Planned Action

The primary objective of this project is to eliminate the problem of alligator attacks within Disney Resorts. At this resort, there are numerous other animals besides alligators, and they attract so many people who want to come and see them in their natural habitats. As such, the alligators will not be eliminated. The best plan would be to increase security within the park.

All the alligators will be confined within a given location and proper signage put strategically to inform the public about the presence of various animals, including the alligators, and the dangers they pose. It will also be necessary to deploy more emergence response teams and security officers, especially in areas where these alligators pose a security threat to the public. For all the visitors getting into the park, there will be a guide that will be used to guide them when they are staying at the resort.

How to Execute the Plan

To achieve the set objectives, there are a series of activities that will be conducted. As suggested above, all customers coming to the park will be informed of the presence of dangerous alligators at specific spots within the park. They will be warned accordingly so that they can avoid such areas. There will also be screens strategically located within the park reminding the visitors of the dangerous alligators and how to stay safe.

The videos will target both parents and children. Given that children like playing a lot when at this resort, the playgrounds will have improved security. The resort will ensure that the games they play do not expose them to any form of security threat. The management of the park will install CCTV cameras and hire more security and emergence response officers who will be patrolling the park regularly to ensure the safety of the visitors.

Resources Needed for the Project

To achieve the above objectives, the management of Disney Resort will need to set aside resources for implementation. As mentioned above, the security measures needed involve installing CCTV cameras within the park, especially in dangerous spots where alligator attacks are common. Purchasing and installing these Bluetooth wireless cameras will cost about $ 450,000.

The screens and signage will also be installed at strategic positions to warn and inform the visitors about the dangers posed by the alligators and other dangerous animals within the resort. The installation of these screens and signage is estimated to cost about $ 350,000. It was established that the security officers within the resort are not adequate based on what they are expected to do. The emergency response team is also insufficient and this explains why the child grabbed from its parents was never rescued despite the screams from the parents.

It will be necessary to hire more security officers. The human resource manager at Disney resort will be forced to increase the size of the current human resource (Copeland 112). Some specific people should be hired. The first group will be well-trained rangers who can deal with an animal attack within the park. These rangers will need equipment to facilitate their work. They will need specially designed vehicles that can allow them to move with speed and conduct rescues in cases of attack.

They also need weapons to counter these animals in case their own lives are threatened. They will also have communication gadgets that will allow them to monitor events in the park and coordinate rescue efforts. The second group will be a team of paramedics. These paramedics will be expected to respond to cases of emergency in case anyone is accidentally attacked. They will need fully equipped ambulances that can enable them to protect the lives of the victims and rush them to the nearest hospital for specialized care. The two teams will have communication gadgets making it possible for the security officers to reach out to the paramedics in cases of emergency.

Works Cited

Copeland, Casie. Dancing in the Dark: Divergent Approaches to Improving Security and Justice in South Sudan. Hoboken: Wiley, 2015. Print.

Kinsey, Leonard, and Jeffrey Kafer. The Dark Side of Disney. Old Saybrook: Tantor Media, 2012. Print.

McLaughlin, Eliot, Joshua Berlinger, Ashley Fantz and Steve Almasy. “Disney gator attack: 2-year-old boy found dead.” CNN News 16 June 2016.

Wang, Lingyu, Massimiliano Albanese, and Sushil Jajodia. Network Hardening: An Automated Approach to Improving Network Security. New York: Cengage, 2014. Print.

Introduction

In 1960, Boeing initiated the sale of 747s and other aircrafts, which led to the birth of cruise ship industry. Around the same time, Boeing collaborated with the United States of America and started manufacturing more sophisticated airport network that had special features such as air traffic regulators. In 1970, there was a Classic Love Boat show, which is highly linked to the growth of cruise ship industry as a luxurious means of commuting rather than a necessity (Turconi, 2011).

Many people started to take vacations using the princess cruise ships since they offered a lot of comfort and luxury. The travelers were exposed to various types of sceneries such as oceanic views and onboard entertainment and this increased the popularity of the cruise ships.

By 1974, cruise ship market had started to dwindle and in response to this, Cunard line limited decided to offer onboard entertainment in form of cabaret acts from international celebrities. This move was of great benefit to the industry in that their customer base increased and all customers received the same service regardless of the class booked (Turconi, 2011).

In 1980’s, the industry moved a step ahead with the establishment of fleet passenger liners with a capacity of 2000 people. These cruise lines were known as the carnival cruise lines that were solely meant for vacations and they had in built casinos and floating hotels among other services that the previous lines did not offer.

Over the years, more environmental friendly cruises have been established such as the eco tours cruises. The eco cruises focus on giving services that are environmental friendly such as wildlife and education as opposed to the predecessors that mainly offered entertainment (Turconi, 2011).

Cruise industry has quite a number of industry associations such as the Florida-Caribbean cruise Association (FCCA). FCCA works closely with private organizations that in one way or another are affected by the cruise industry with the primary aim of having better work relations. North West Cruise ship Association works hand in hand with Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S coast guard among other organizations.

This shows that the industry is committed to protecting the environment. From the examples above, it is clear that the cruise industry has a correlation with other organizations. The following is a case study of one of the cruise lines namely Disney cruise lines (Turconi, 2011).

Disney cruise line (DCL)

Disney cruise lines are cruises that are designed for families i.e. both parents and children who want to go on vacation. They have special features that are in-built to suit both adults and children and offer the required luxury (cruise reviews, 2012). Disney cruise line is owned and managed by Walt Disney parks and resorts although it is run by Karl Holz. The cruise line is American and its headquarters are based in Celebration, Florida.

DCL has a fleet of four ships namely Disney magic, Disney wonder, Disney dream and Disney fantasy. The ships sail various places such as Europe, Panama Canal, Caribbean, Alaska & Pacific Coast, Bahamas, Mexican Riviera, Hawaii, and Transatlantic destinations (cruise reviews, 2012). Disney magic started its operations in 1998 and has a passenger capacity of 2400; Disney Wonder followed in 1999 and has a capacity of 2400.

Disney dream is the third line that started its operations in 2011 and has a capacity of 4000 while Disney fantasy is the last one with a capacity of 4000. Port Canaveral is the homeport for all the Disney’s with an exception of Disney wonder whose homeport is in Los Angeles (cruise reviews, 2012).

Disney cruise line has a capacity of between 2700-4000 guests (Disney cruise line, N.d). Out of the total guests, about 1000-1500 are children who accompany their parents on vacation. The cruise line has a crew number that ranges between 1000 and 1500. From the statistics provided above, it is possible to conclude that the crew to passenger ratio is 1:3. This implies that for every three passengers, there is one cabin crewmember to attend to them (DCL jobs par.1).

The company owns several assets as listed below. First, the company has entertainment studios namely; Disney Interactive Media Group, The Walt Disney Studios, and ESPN Inc. secondly; it has consumer products such as Disney Store, Disney Food Health and Beauty as well as Disney Shopping.Com.

The third line of assets includes parks and resorts such as Disney land Paris, Tokyo Disney Resort and Disney Vacation Club among many others. Other assets include Marvel Entertainment, Jetix Animation Concepts and BVS Entertainment (Walt Disney’s company corporate information site, N.d).

Disney cruise line has an executive management that is headed by the president (Karl Holz). The president is assisted by the senior vice president of operations. Under him, there is a vice president who is in charge of hotel operations. The organization has another vice president who is in charge of marine and technical operations.

There are two directors in charge of marine and security operations as well as purchasing and logistics. The last member of the executive management is the manager of island recreation. The shipboard organizational structure is common to other cruises and it is divided into various department as listed below; activity and entertainment jobs, hospitality jobs, spa jobs and office jobs (Cruise ship, 2012).

The cruise industry has been recording tremendous growth of about 7% per annum and the utilization being over 100%. The Caribbean has been popular as the most preferred destination. The number of people willing to go on vacation is large and this has really boosted industry growth (Cruise industry overview, 2012).

Conclusion

Cruise lines have earned a lot of popularity and are preferred for vocational purposes. Some of the earliest cruise lines include princess, Cunard and carnival. However, advanced and upgraded cruises have been launched such as Disney cruise lines.

References

Cruise industry overview. (2012). FCCA Website.

Cruise Reviews. (2012). Disney Fantasy Expert Review. Web.

Cruise ship. (2012). Cruise ship departments. Web.

Disney Cruise Line. (N.d). The Disney Experience: Where family and Crew experiences last a lifetime. Web.

Turconi, S. (2011). The Quest for Profitable Growth in the Modern Cruise Industry. San Francisco, CA: Grin Verlag.

Walt Disney’s Company Corporate Information Site. (N.d). Walt Disney’s Company. Web.