For many, the middle ages depicted in Walt Disney movies have come to figure as the middle ages, forming the earliest visions of the medieval past for much of the contemporary Western (and increasingly Eastern) imagination. The essayists of The Disney Middle Ages explore Disney's mediation and re-creation of a fairy-tale and fantasy past, not to lament its exploitation of the middle ages for corporate ends, but to examine how and why these medieval visions prove so readily adaptable to themed entertainments many centuries after their creation. What results is a scrupulous and comprehensive examination of the intersection between the products of the Disney Corporation and popular culture's fascination with the middle ages.

About the Author
Susan Aronstein, University of Wyoming, USA Martha Bayless, University of Oregon, USA Clare Bradford, Deakin University, USA Maria Sachiko Cecire, Bard College, USA Allison Craven, James Cook University of North Queensland, Australia Amy Foster, University of Central Florida, USA Robert Gossedge, Cardiff University, UK Kevin J. Harty, La Salle University, USA Kathleen Coyne Kelly, Northeastern University, USA Erin Felicia Labbie, Bowling Green State University, USA Ilan Mitchell-Smith, California State University at Long Beach, USA Tison Pugh, University of Central Florida, USA Paul Sturtevant, University of Leeds, UK Stephen Yandell, Xavier University ,UK.

Reviews

"This collection of fourteen essays provides a balanced and often quite witty assessment of Disney's films, TV shows, marketing strategies, theme parks, personal philosophies, pedagogy, social and political practices of Walt Disney and his Corporate Legacy . . . The collection speaks well to a scholarly audience, while, at the same time, addressing intelligently a broader audience that includes virtually anyone who has ever seen a Disney movie or TV program or been to a theme park - that is, about everyone who has grown up in America or elsewhere. The bibliography is excellent." - Medievally Speaking

"The book offers an extensive as well as absorbing survey of Disney's efforts to exploit and keep up with the American tendency to forget the past." - The Medieval Review

"The volume is grounded in theory and the scholarship is of a high standard while also being accessible, and individual chapters may be useful at undergraduate level. It will be of interest not only to scholars of medievalism, but to those working in gender studies and popular culture studies more broadly as well." - Parergon

Book Information
ISBN 9780230340077
Author T. Pugh
Format Hardback
Page Count 298
Imprint Palgrave Macmillan
Publisher Palgrave Macmillan
Weight(grams) 505g