The Mouse that Roared: Disney and the End of Innocence (Culture & Education) (Culture & Education Series) - Softcover

Giroux, Henry A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0847691101 ISBN 13: 9780847691104

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2001

Synopsis

Henry Giroux shows how Disney atempts to hide befind a cloak of innocence and entertainment, while simultaneously exercising its influence as a major force on both global economics and cultural learning.

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Review

Henry Giroux 's pioneering spirit of inquiry never ceases to impress. Here he opens our eyes to the messages that consumer mass culture sends to our children, our schools, our homes. What you see is not what you get read this book and learn what that is.--Homi Bhabha The Mouse that Roared . . . by the eminent cultural critic Henry Giroux . . . is unusually balanced, conceding that Disney's products can be viewed different ways and recognizing the company's occasional good deeds before lowering the boom with an extremely disturbing array of facts gathered from widely disparate sources. . . . Giroux provides invaluable documentation of the company's exploitative labor practices abroad, its censorship of specific authors, its killing of particular ABC news stories and, most troubling of all, its recent efforts to exert influence over public education both within its planned community (Celebration, FL) and beyond.--Jonathan Kalb "New York Press " Disney is masterly at rewriting history to convey self-serving messages. . . . [Giroux] makes the link between the corporation s use of 'imagineering' and the broad way in which many big companies (through advertising and other promotional material) do all they can to distort either the past or the present in order to make it more likely that people will buy their goods or services.--Peter Marsh "Financial Times " "The Mouse that Roared" . . . by the eminent cultural critic Henry Giroux . . . is unusually balanced, conceding that Disney's products can be viewed different ways and recognizing the company's occasional good deeds before lowering the boom with an extremely disturbing array of facts gathered from widely disparate sources. . . . Giroux provides invaluable documentation of the company's exploitative labor practices abroad, its censorship of specific authors, its killing of particular ABC news stories and, most troubling of all, its recent efforts to exert influence over public education both within its planned community (Celebration, FL) and beyond.--Jonathan Kalb "New York Press " [Giroux shows] the danger of the Disney perspective, the vitiating of the impulse to participate in and to question the fundaments of human society and aspirations, suggesting as it does that American civilization has so arrived that its de-individualized participants need only to kick back and enjoy the fantasy of the moment. Lost in the vast wilderness of 'Disney studies?' Henry Giroux s stunning meditation on what the Disney empire teaches children is like having a compass in the enchanted forest. Like all of his work, he never wanders from his ultimate course: a radical democratic vision. Anyone who hopes to challenge the Imagineering of America and the world and promote an educational culture free of corporate domination must read this book.--Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Yo Mama s Disfunktional!: Fighting the Culture Wars in Urban America Henry Giroux s pioneering spirit of inquiry never ceases to impress. Here he opens our eyes to the messages that consumer mass culture sends to our children, our schools, our homes. What you see is not what you get read this book and learn what that is.--Homi Bhabha, Tripp Professor in the Humanities, University of Chicago An absolutely fascinating book about our children and commercial culture! A brilliant, lively, and complex analysis by one of the most interesting public intellectuals in the United States and one that is remarkably fair-minded. Giroux does not deny the real delight that Disney brings our children. What he questions, really, are the uses of delight and, at a deeper level, the misuse of innocence. All in all, a freshly written, unusually invigorating book that even fans of Mickey Mouse will find compelling.--Jonathan Kozol, Acclaimed American Author Of Death At An Early Age Henry Giroux's provocative study interrogates the pedagogy of the Disney empire, dissecting the many ways that Disney films, advertising, theme parks, and products transmit a view of the world, teach us values, and are thus an important vehicle of socialization and education. This excellent study shows us how cultural studies can address key issues of the contemporary world and provide tools of analysis, critique, and contextualization that enable us to gain critical insight into the cultural forces that shape us and to resist their seductive power.--Douglas Kellner, George F. Kneller Chair in the Philosophy of Education, UCLA Graduate School of Education Henry Giroux has led the way in contemporary cultural studies in insisting on the need to address the critical question of the effects on children of cultural production and representation. Giroux links the cultural messages promoted by Disney Inc. to the corporate economy, exploitative, and exclusionary practices it at once represents and pushes. In doing so, he faces squarely and analyzes uncompromisingly the implication for democratic politics of culture and desire, education and entertainment, representation and responsibility that most critics fail to register, let alone face.--David Theo Goldberg, Director, Humanities Research Institute, University of California, Irvine

From the Publisher

Endorsements
"An absolutely fascinating book about our children and commercial culture! A brilliant, lively, and complex analysis by one of the most interesting public intellectuals in the Unites States—and one that is remarkably fair-minded. Giroux does not deny the real delight that Disney brings our children. What he questions, really, are the ‘uses’ of delight—and, at a deeper level, the misuse of innocence. All in all, a freshly written, unusually invigorating book that even fans of Mickey Mouse will find compelling." —Jonathan Kozol

"Henry Giroux’s critique of Disney, unlike those of many other recent writers, shows both the manipulative side of Disney just as it understands why Disney attracts us so much. Almost alone among Disney critics, Giroux understands that Disney has tapped into our desire, especially for warm and cooperative human relations, and that’s the reason for his popularity." —Stanley Aronowitz, author of The Jobless Future

"Lost in the vast wilderness of ‘Disney studies?’ Henry Giroux’s stunning meditation on what the Disney empire teaches children is like having a compass in the enchanted forest. Like all of his work, he never wanders from his ultimate course: a radical democratic vision. Anyone who hopes to challenge the Imagineering of America and the world and promote an educational culture free of corporate domination, must read this book." —Robin D. G. Kelley, author of Yo Mama’s DisFunktional!: Fighting the Culture Wars in Urban America (1997).

"Henry Giroux has led the way in contemporary cultural studies in insisting on the need to address the critical question of the effects on children of cultural production and representation. Giroux links the cultural messages promoted by Disney Inc. to the corporate economy, exploitative and exclusionary practices it at once represents and pushes. In doing so, he faces squarely and analyses uncompromisingly the implication for democratic politics of culture and desire, education and entertainment, representation and responsibility that most critics fail to register, let alone face." —David Theo Goldberg, Arizona State University

Edition details

• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0847691101
• ISBN 13: 9780847691104
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 202