Traditional western art elements in disney animations, elite influence in mass culture through the prism of the frankfurt school

Abstract

Thanks to the development of the media and internet, American mass culture has been spread worldwide. Above all, Disney animation is one of the most successful in its industry. However, the success of the Disney Corporation appears not only due to the prosperity of the company but also the wide dissemination of American mass culture. While our children are watching their films they are learning the American culture and values at the same time, which will shape their ways of thinking and habits of consumption in future. This is the most important criticism of the “culture industry” from the Frankfort School. Even though Disney animations were classified as mass culture, the themes which have been used in Disney animations often contain numerous elements of western traditional culture and arts: when audiences watch these cartoons, those elements are also beginning to be implanted in their mind. In this study I intend to analyze how Disney animation uses elite culture to enhance the quality of their films, and how elite culture can be introduced to the world through an approach free of ambiguity. Most importantly, I attempt to explore how the successful experience of Disney could transfer to Taiwanese animation industry. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015.