Disney

Through film, toys, books, and theme parks, Disney has created a world of fantasy. A world created using shared American beliefs and values. Mickey Mouse and his animated friends express more about moral values then most programming made specifically for children. For many, Disney's entertaining morality has offered some of the few safe havens for children's entertainment to exist in. Disney took life lessons and showed them in his feature films.



Peter Pan showed us how faith, trust and pixie dust will help to leave our cares behind. Bambi stimulated baby boomers to support gun control and environmentalism. Cinderella became a syndrome. The little mermaid showed the difficulties of intermarriage. The Lion King and the “circle of life: touched on Hindu tradition while the mastermind him self created theme parks that spread “a sense of joy and inspiration to the world”. Many Americans have become so taken with the unique messages sent through Disney film it is very common for families to take what seems like an obligatory pilgrimage to this fantasy Mecca we know as Disney World.



In more than thirty-five animated features hardly any mention of God is visible in a relative sense to Christian and Jewish faiths. Walt Disney, who as an adult avoided church services, did not want religion in his movies. According to Bob Thomas, in Walt Disney: An American Original, authorized biographer of the company's founding brothers "He never made a religious film, and churchmen were rarely portrayed in Disney movies," Thomas wrote that, throughout his career, Walt "had eschewed any film material dealing with religion, reasoning that portions of the audience would be displeased by the depiction of a particular sect." Thus, there is relatively little Judeo-Christian symbolism in 70 years of Disney's animated features, despite the frequent, almost pervasive use of a theological vocabulary: words such as "faith," "believe," "miracle," "blessing," "sacrifice," and "divine." Disney must like to portray consistent Judeo-Christian values without even a godly context. It’s like religion's fruits without its roots. So, good is always rewarded; evil is always punished. Faith is an essential element, faith in you and, even more, faith in something greater than you, even if it is some vague, nonsectarian higher power.



Brother Bear, released November 1, 2003. Similar to previous films like The Lion King and Pocahontas Brother Bear has the same “one with nature” attitude and a very obvious religious affiliation with Buddhism, and Native American values. This counter-cultural animated film is set in the Pacific Northwest 10,000 years ago. Here the word of the spirits intermingles with the everyday lives of a Native American tribe in a tale about totems, bears, and brotherhood. The brothers are presented with a totem from Tanana, the tribal shaman of their village. The Totem represents each of them as Animals. Kenai was the Bear of Love. After a tragedy in the wilderness, Kenai tracks down the grizzly responsible for the death of his brother and kills it. He is then transformed into the animal by the Great Spirits who want to teach him about empathy. The shaman appears to him and tells him that everything will become clear when he reaches "the mountain where the light touches the earth."



America’s reaction to the film created a drastic difference in opinions. Christian Fundamentalists felt the film was immoral for presenting a story world with divine spirits promoting ideas of equality of humans and animals, which contradicts the Bible. The US Conference of Catholic Bishops applauded the film expressing thanks for showing a philosophy similar to St. Francis of Assisi.



Pinocchio has very strong Christian affiliations and represents stories from the Bible. It may have been acceptable in this movie because World War II was turning the world into a different place, much darker and full of fear as terror gripped Europe and the Western world. The story begins with Geppetto the kindly woodcarver wishing on a star asking that Pinocchio may become a real boy His wish is granted as the Blue Fairy brings the puppet to life.


“Little puppet made of pine, awake! The gift of life is thine.”
- Blue Fairy

The job of an animator or puppeteer is to “breathe life into” something inanimate. The materials used to create puppetry and animation all comes from the Earth our human bodies are created out of the same raw materials and chemicals of the Earth…ashes to ashes, dust to dust, as they say.

"And the LORD God formed a man's body from the dust of the ground…and breathed into it the breath of life. And the man became a living person."
- Genesis 2:7



Most of the film is shown through the eyes of Jiminy Cricket making him sort of an overseer. Shooting from a lower angle helps give a more “child like” perspective of the world. The drama and humor in his character is how his human (or cricket) flaws complicate his attempts to keep Pinocchio on the narrow path. He wakes up “late on his first day” as Pinocchio’s conscience, gives up on him when he becomes an actor, and totally abandons him on Pleasure Island where Pinocchio is perpetually being tempted, but Jiminy always returns to his duty. Pinocchio and Jiminy escape the hell of Pleasure Island to discover that Geppetto has been swallowed by Monstro the whale. Pinocchio, during the scenes in the whale’s belly show similarities to the story of Jonah, its distant ancestor, Pinocchio graphically portrays both the consequences of sin and the grace of redemption.



It’s easy to see the Religious affiliations in Pinocchio, but were they intentional? Disney called a halt to the making of this film. Originally there was no Jiminy Cricket. Metaphorically speaking, one could say that we are all like wooden puppets in this life, and afterwards we either become ‘real boys’ or turn into donkeys! Walt Disney made a conscious decision to add such a powerful character. Whatever Disney’s personal religious affiliations were, they were consciously kept away from his films. Disney freely shows religion if it’s considered to be “dead” or “primitive” because of fantasy qualities that easily play into story lines in films. Contemporary religions are not represented for fear of offending a public and that simply does not fit in with Disney’s Message.

Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon is known for being very family oriented and “parent pleasing”. In the book Kids Rule, Sarah Banet-Weise shows how Nick as grown from an upstart cable network to an international conglomeration. She explains how Nickelodeon tries to have its cake and eat it too where they are a network where kids rule but yet it is very pleasing to parents. Nickelodeon over the years has tried to touch on all kinds of family issues and diversities in a very subtle and discrete way. Many shows such as Rugrats, celebrate religious holidays and tell the stories and traditions behind them. The shows always try to teach kids rather than convert them or bash the religion. Nick is known for approaching issues and dealing with them in a few subtle and rational ways. In a particular Rugrats episode based around the Chanukah holiday, the children did not understand the traditions behind it and Tommy Pickles’ grandfather sat them all down and read them a story all about the story of Chanukah and its traditions.



Since Nickelodeon is a very family-oriented company they can’t come out with shows that would create controversy or raise serious questions. Instead of coming out with religious jokes and comments that could seriously cause issues with the network it is argued that Nick has shown controversy in a very subtle way. The character of Spongebob is questioned to have homosexual tendencies. Dr. James Dobson, a conservative Christian leader and gay marriage opponent has said that, "We see the video as an insidious means by which the organization is manipulating and potentially brainwashing kids.”



Shows on other networks are much more out spoken about homosexual characters, such as South Park and Family Guy, but Nickelodeon being the family orientated network that it is cannot boldly come out with such characters. The question really is whether Nickelodeon means to make Spongebob to portray a homosexual but due to censorship cannot comment on the issue, or are people creating these issues since they are so accustom to shows on other networks not being so subtle with their homosexual characters?

Family Guy

Fox's "resurrected" animated show Family Guy has certainly been both wildly popular and highly controversial throughout its years of syndication on television. While many teenager and adult targeted shows have been controversial in the past, it can certainly be said that Family Guy takes it to a new level in terms of questionable display of morals and ethics. Like other disputable shows, the most controversial issue almost always arises from issues of religious parody.



Perhaps the most infamous issue comes from episode 50, entitled "When You Wish Upon a Weinstein." In this particular episode, one of the main characters is in need for a new pair of glasses. Compounding issues, their family had been recently scammed out of a fairly significant amount of cash by a volcano insurance salesman. Desperately in need of help to resolve his family's fianancial crisis, Peter wishes upon a star like Pinocchio (but in Peter's case it's for a Jewish accountant).



Needless to say, this is an offensive example of the age-old stereotype that Jews are all wealthy, conservative, and especially concerned with their money. The proverbial icing on the cake comes when Peter sings the line “Even though they killed my Lord, I need a Jew.” This line, along with many other things in the episode, makes fun of what are very sensitive issues for Jewish and Catholic people alike. Family Guy pulls no punches, especially when it comes to religion.



Regardless, Peter's prejudicial wish is granted, and a Jewish man knocks on his door the next morning. When the man, with the last name of "Weinstein" (a wildly stereotypical Jewish last name), is hired he goes on an extensive search in order to recover the stolen cash. Weinstein eventually finds the cash and returns it to the family.



The mere fact that a Jewish person is hired to take care of this issue instead of anyone else could be offensive to the Jewish population. It continues to get more potentially offesnive when Peter accompanies Weinstien to a synagogue and decides that it would be best if his son, Chris, was converted to Judiasm. To go about doing this, he takes his son to a Bar Mitzvah. Lois, Peter's wife, does not approve and as she goes to stop her son from converting, the Jewish folks at the Bar Mitzvah chase the whole family away because they feel offended at her disdain for their religion. On the bus ride home, nuns hit the family with rulers because they tried to convert someone away from Catholicism.



It could certainly be considered offensive that the Jews at the Bar Mitzvah were so aggressive in their anger towards the family not converting to Judaism. It creates the picture that Jewish people are completely closed-minded when it comes to people not being receptive to their religion. Other offensive issues include the actions of the nuns on the bus ride home. The fact that they have rulers (not to mention projectile rulers with hidden razorblades) with them on a bus ride plays on the equally controversial stereotype that nuns who teach in schools use corporal punishment to discipline problem students.



The aftermath of this episode was quite dramatic in that it was not even initially aired until it was edited. Nevertheless, it shows that the writers of Family Guy do not shy away from controversial religious topics. In this day in age, television shows are getting more and more controversial and risque. This particular television show is in no way an exception. As a matter of fact, this show is one of the poster children for what controversial television is.

south park and world religion

Ever since the show's creation in 1996, Comedy Central's South Park has always pushed the boundaries of decency with its graphic language and violence, its fearlessness in engaging social controversy, and its unique brand of scornful animated satire. Episodes often take on current political issues and has become quite infamous over the years for its ruthlessly parodic portrayal of world religion.



Although the episodes are usually wrapped up with a moral, show creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are self-dubbed "equal-opportunity offenders," often ridiculing all sides of a particular issue rather than taking a definitive side. These new masters of satire expose the folly within all religious institutions, and by poking fun at everyone's individual weaknesses, show us that no one is perfect, regardless what any person or group of people believe.



South Park is set in a small mountain town near Denver, and most episodes focus on the lives of four nine-year-old boys. One (Stan) is a Christian, one (Kyle) a Jew, one a gluttonous and sadistic anti-semite (Cartman), and one (Kenny) wears a hood and is regularly resurrected from the dead.



Religious figures appear regularly in South Park. Jesus lives in the town and hosts a public access show, and other religious beings like Moses, Joseph Smith, and Moses have appeared in more than one show. Occasionally an entire episode is dedicated to the exploitation of a specific religious group. One in particular, titled "Trapped in the Closet," which attacked the Church of Scientology and celebrity members Tom Cruise and John Travolta, sparked significant controversy, and even caused Scientologist musician/voice actor Isaac Hayes to leave the show after 9 seasons as the character, "Chef."



Like most forms of controversial art and media, material from South Park is often taken out of context and used against its creators. Like notorious comedians Dave Chappelle and his successor to the Comedy Central sketch comedy throne Carlos Mencia, Parker and Stone use absurd exaggerations and stereotypes to get a rise out of people, effectively exploiting negative, potentialy disbanding issues to produce positive, unifying results. A pertinent example of South Park's satire of cults and religious fanatics can be seen in the episode entitled "Super Best Friends."



This installment featured a group of united religious deities parodic of the Super Friends, an animated TV show which featured a league of popular superheroes. In the episode, magician David Blaine forms a rapidly growing cult based around his "miracles," and wishing to learn magic tricks, the boys are tricked into joining. Soon after, Stan realizes what's happening and escapes, seeking the help of Jesus to stop Blaine from gaining too much of a following. When Jesus' miracles prove to be ineffective against David Blaine, he and Stan seek the aid of the Super Best Friends!



Although South Park approaches religion with a satirical tone, the creators are clearly not against any particular faith (apart from Scientology, and maybe Mormanism), but are against the mindless intolerance of others. For centuries, religion has caused people to divide and clash in the name of metaphysical beings. In the Super Best Friends episode, the creators portray the subjects of the most widespread world religions as close friends, clearly stating an optimistic message of world unity, regardless of religious belief.