Disney and the Dialectic of Desire : Fantasy As Social Practice

This book analyzes Walt Disney’s impact on entertainment, new media, and consumer culture in terms of a materialist, psychoanalytic approach to fantasy. The study opens with a taxonomy of narrative fantasy along with a discussion of fantasy as a key concept within psychoanalytic discourse. Zornado reads Disney’s full-length animated features of the “golden era” as symbolic responses to cultural and personal catastrophe, and presents Disneyland as a monument to __Disney fantasy__ and one man’s singular, perverse desire. What follows after is a discussion of the “second golden age” of Disney and the rise of Pixar Animation as neoliberalnostalgia in crisis. The study ends with a reading of George Lucas as latter-day Disney and __Star Wars__ as __Disney fantasy__. This study should appeal to film and media studies college undergraduates, graduates students and scholars interested in Disney. Preface 6 Contents 8 Chapter 1 Introduction: What Is Fantasy? 9 Understanding Fantasy 9 Notes Towards the Orders of Fantasy 17 First-Order Fantasy 17 Second-Order Fantasy 21 Third-Order Fantasy 22 Fourth-Order Fantasy 24 Nostalgia and Fantasy 26 Nostalgia as Desire 32 Defining Disney Fantasy 35 Notes Towards a Dialectic of Desire 40 Bibliography 47 Chapter 2 Capital, Crisis, and the Rise of Disney Fantasy 50 Disney Fantasy as the Discourse of the Other 50 “The Dirty Thirties” 53 “The Three Little Pigs” 55 Bibliography 71 Chapter 3 Walt Disney, Snow White, and the Trauma of the Real 74 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 74 The Problem of Fantasy 81 Disney Fantasy 87 Walt Disney 88 Snow White and the Death of the Mother 92 The Death of the Mother 99 Bibliography 109 Chapter 4 Disney Fantasy as the Discourse of the Other 112 The “Golden Era” as Point de Capiton 112 Pinocchio 114 Fantasia 121 Animators’ Strike 126 Dumbo 130 Bambi 136 Bibliography 147 Chapter 5 Disneyland and the Perversity of Disney Fantasy 150 Disney Fantasy and the Perverse Psychic Structure 156 The Roots of Disneyland 162 The E-Ticket 167 Bibliography 180 Chapter 6 Disney, Pixar, and Neoliberal Nostalgia 182 A Whole New World Order 182 More Golden Eras 186 Case Study: Disney, Pixar and Monsters, Inc 192 Frozen Gender 195 Elsa and Hysteria as Agency 206 Zootopia and the Normalization of the Surveillance State 210 Bibliography 217 Chapter 7 Conclusion: The Empire Expands—Star Wars as Disney Fantasy 219 Robert Iger, George Lucas and Disney as “White Slavers” 219 THX-1138 as Reflective Nostalgia 226 American Graffiti 231 Star Wars as Disney Fantasy 236 Star Wars and the Force 242 Disney and the Dialectic of Desire 254 Bibliography 259 Index 261 This book analyzes Walt Disney's impact on entertainment, new media, and consumer culture in terms of a materialist, psychoanalytic approach to fantasy. The study opens with a taxonomy of narrative fantasy along with a discussion of fantasy as a key concept within psychoanalytic discourse. Zornado reads Disney's full-length animated features of the "golden era" as symbolic responses to cultural and personal catastrophe, and presents Disneyland as a monument to Disney fantasy and one man's singular, perverse desire. What follows after is a discussion of the "second golden age" of Disney and the rise of Pixar Animation as neoliberal nostalgia in crisis. The study ends with a reading of George Lucas as latter-day Disney and Star Wars as Disney fantasy . This study should appeal to film and media studies college undergraduates, graduates students and scholars interested in Disney. This book analyzes Walt Disney's impact on entertainment, new media, and consumer culture in terms of a materialist, psychoanalytic approach to fantasy. The study opens with a taxonomy of narrative fantasy along with a discussion of fantasy as a key concept within psychoanalytic discourse. Zornado reads Disney's full-length animated features of the zgolden eray as symbolic responses to cultural and personal catastrophe, and presents Disneyland as a monument to Disney fantasy and one man's singular, perverse desire. What follows after is a discussion of the zsecond golden agey of Disney and the rise of Pixar Animation as neoliberal nostalgia in crisis. The study ends with a reading of George Lucas as latter-day Disney and Star Wars as Disney fantasy. This study should appeal to film and media studies college undergraduates, graduates students and scholars interested in Disney Front Matter ....Pages i-ix Introduction: What Is Fantasy? (Joseph Zornado)....Pages 1-41 Capital, Crisis, and the Rise of Disney Fantasy (Joseph Zornado)....Pages 43-66 Walt Disney, Snow White, and the Trauma of the Real (Joseph Zornado)....Pages 67-104 Disney Fantasy as the Discourse of the Other (Joseph Zornado)....Pages 105-142 Disneyland and the Perversity of Disney Fantasy (Joseph Zornado)....Pages 143-174 Disney, Pixar, and Neoliberal Nostalgia (Joseph Zornado)....Pages 175-211 Conclusion: The Empire Expands—Star Wars as Disney Fantasy (Joseph Zornado)....Pages 213-254 Back Matter ....Pages 255-260