Whistle While You Work: A Critical Analysis of Messages Surrounding Work and Labor in Children’s Films Compared to the U.S. Labor Market PDF Free Download
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Whistle While You Work: A Critical Analysis of Messages Surrounding Work and
Labor in Children’s Films Compared to the U.S. Labor Market
by
Stephanie Allen, B.S.
A Thesis
In
Sociology
Submitted to the Graduate Faculty
of Texas Tech University in
Partial Fulfillment of
the Requirements for
the Degree of
MASTER OF ARTS
Approved
Patricia Maloney Ph.D.
Chair of the Committee
Lauren Griffith Ph.D.
Andrea Button-Schnick Ph.D.
Mark Sheridan, Ph.D.
Dean of the Graduate School
May 2023
Copyright 2023, Stephanie Allen
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I’d like to thank my chair, Patricia Maloney Ph.D., for her honest, necessary
feedback and for supporting my ideas. Thank you to my committee, Lauren Griffith
Ph.D. for her positivity and unwavering support throughout this project and Andrea
Button-Schnick Ph.D. for her unique viewpoints, popular culture knowledge, and
critical perspective. I’d also like to thank my partner, Joshua Cruz Ph.D., for his
unending support, abstract ideas, clerical help, and patience. I could not have
completed this project without him. Finally, I would like to thank the friends who
supported me on this journey and who helped me learn to see the gray and question
everything; their contributions were invaluable.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................... v
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................... vi
LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................ vii
I. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1
1.1 Adults and Disney ................................................................................. 4
1.2 Films as Means of Social Control ......................................................... 7
II. LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................. 10
2.1 The History of Family and Children’s Films ...................................... 10
2.1.1 The Difference Between Family and Children’s Films ............... 10
2.1.2 How Children’s and Family Films Came to Be .......................... 11
2.2 How Media Affects Children .............................................................. 12
2.2.1 Social Cognitive Theory .............................................................. 12
2.2.2 Children and Family Media Use ................................................. 14
2.2.3 Potential Positive Effects of Media Use ...................................... 14
2.2.4 Potentially Harmful Effect of Media Use .................................... 15
2.3 Existing Film Research ....................................................................... 16
2.3.1 Gender ......................................................................................... 16
2.3.2 Westernization and Lack of Representation ................................ 18
2.3.3 Aggression ................................................................................... 21
2.3.4 Prosocial Behavior and Praise ..................................................... 22
2.3.5 Work and Labor ........................................................................... 23
2.4 Critical Theory .................................................................................... 24
2.4.1 Critical Theory Defined ............................................................... 24
2.4.2 The Culture Industry ................................................................... 24
2.4.3 Gramsci and Hegemony .............................................................. 26
III. METHODS .................................................................................................... 27
3.1 Sample Selection................................................................................. 27
3.2 Data Collection Methods .................................................................... 32
3.3 Data Analysis ...................................................................................... 34
3.4 Limitations and Biases ........................................................................ 35
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IV. RESULTS ...................................................................................................... 37
4.1 Research Question 1 ........................................................................... 37
4.1.1 Usefulness ................................................................................... 37
4.1.2 Serving Entity .............................................................................. 39
4.1.3 “Low-Skilled” and “Unskilled” Workers .................................... 46
4.1.4 Joblessness, Homelessness, and Criminality ............................... 50
4.1.5 Behavior Regulation .................................................................... 55
4.1.6 Parenting and Household Labor .................................................. 59
4.1.7 Quitting and Self-Care ................................................................. 65
4.1.8 Social Systems and Structures ..................................................... 68
4.1.9 Results 1 Conclusion ................................................................... 71
4.2 Research Question 2 ........................................................................... 72
4.2.1 Labor Market Background .......................................................... 72
4.2.2 Making a Feature-Length Animated Film ................................... 78
4.2.3 Produced Before the Great Recession ......................................... 80
4.2.4 Produced During and After The Great Recession ....................... 83
4.2.5 Hustle Culture and the Gig Economy .......................................... 84
4.2.6 The Great Resignation Lead Up .................................................. 87
4.2.7 Results 2 Conclusion ................................................................... 91
V. CONCLUSION ............................................................................................... 93
5.1 Research Question 1 ........................................................................... 93
5.2 Research Question 2 ........................................................................... 94
5.3 Policy Implications ............................................................................. 95
5.4 Future Research and the Future of Children’s Films .......................... 96
BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................... 98
APPENDIX A .................................................................................................... 114
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ABSTRACT
Children often learn through observing others and film has been shown to be
an excellent device for this. While children’s films have been studied at length for
messages involving gender, representation, and pro- and anti-social activity, little
research has examined the portrayal of work and labor in these films.
Using data collected from the 20 most popular animated children’s films of the
last 15 years, this study collected and critically analyzed themes of work and labor
present in the selected films. Common and differing themes in these films were found
and compared to recent trends, such as those in unemployment and resignations, in the
U.S. Labor Market. Findings suggest that themes in these films are likely influenced
by the labor market as opposed to influencing it and that despite changes in the labor
market, themes within these films are largely supportive of maintaining a capitalist
structure and of values often associated with the United States and the “American
Dream.”
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LIST OF TABLES
3.1 - Sample Selection........................................................................................... 30
4.1 - Films with messaging about Serving Entity ................................................. 40
4.2 - Films with messaging about Skill Level ....................................................... 47
4.3 - Films with messaging about Homelessness .................................................. 50
4.4 - Films with messaging about Behavior Regulation ....................................... 56
4.5 - Films with messaging about Parenting and Household Labor ..................... 60
4.6 - Films with messaging about Quitting and Self-Care .................................... 66
4.7 - Films with messaging about Social Systems and Structures ........................ 69
A.1 - Example of Data Collection from Inside Out (2015) ................................ 114
A.2 - Example of Data Collection from Monsters University (2013) ................. 114
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LIST OF FIGURES
1.1 - A minion meme ............................................................................................ 6
3.1 - Labor Market Trends from 2007-2021 ....................................................... 31
4.1 - Image of Tattoo the pig from The Secret Life of Pets (2016) ..................... 38
4.2 - Image of minions arriving to America in Minions (2015) .......................... 44
4.3 - Image of the Incredibles’ new home form Incredibles 2 (2018) ................ 52
4.4 - Image of Bing Bong, a character from Inside Out (2015) .......................... 53
4.5 - Image of Shrek and Fiona in Shrek Forever After (2010) .......................... 61
4.6 - Median Household Income and Adjusted Median Household
Income from 2007-2021 ............................................................................. 73
4.7 - Unemployment Rate from 2007-2021 ........................................................ 74
4.8 - Resignations Rate from 2007-2021 ............................................................ 75
4.9 - Timeline of the release dates of the 20 films used in this study. ................ 80
4.10 - The U.S. birthrate from 1960 to 2019 ......................................................... 82
4.11 - Image from Luca (2021) ............................................................................ 89
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1 I. INTRODUCTION
Most American children spend up to five to seven hours a day in front of a
screen (Medline Plus, 2021). This can include engaging in social media, watching TV
and films, playing games, or doing homework. Since the 1970s, family films have
been the most popular form of screen time (Brown, 2010) and the number of animated
family films continues to increase (Cheung et al., 2021). Because many children are
spending hours each day engaged with a screen, it is important to know what messages
these media are sending to children. Children’s and family films seem as though they
should be an innocuous pastime, something just to keep the kids entertained for a
while or to enjoy together as a family. Films, however, have long been used as a
pedagogical tool (Bandura et al., 1963; Champoux, 1999, 2001; Giroux, 2001;
Swimelar, 2013), possibly allowing for multiple learning styles and active learning by
viewing films (Gregg et al., 1995). Due to messages in films, both those that are
seemingly intentional and unintentional, children’s films should not be dismissed as
mere entertainment (Booker, 2010; Giroux, 2001; Lugo-Lugo & Bloodsworth-Lugo,
2009; Miles, 1996) as Bandura’s Social Learning Theory shows.
Social Learning Theory has revealed that children often model behavior that
they have seen demonstrated by adults (Bandura, 1980) and media is no exception to
this type of modeling as Social Cognitive Theory has shown (Bandura, 2001). Social
Learning Theory, Bandura’s early theory on observational learning showed that
children have the potential to mimic behavior performed by adults when in similar
situations (Nabavi, 2012). Social Cognitive Theory, however, expands on this theory
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positing that both children and adults learn through direct and indirect observation,
consequences of others’ actions, and that this learning can occur without imitation
(Nabavi, 2012).
Social Cognitive Theory argues that humans learn through four mechanisms.
The first, symbolization, is how individuals are affected by direct and indirect
observation. The second mechanism, self-regulation, shows that individuals learn
through observing positive and negative consequences of others’ actions. The third
mechanism is self-reflection, the ability to reflect on actions and make value
adjustments, and, finally, vicarious capability (Krcmar, 2020). Vicarious capability
allows for learning and reinforcement of the previous three mechanisms through
observation and applies to both real-world and media observation (Krcmar, 2020).
These four mechanisms can be applied to viewership of a film. For instance, in
the film Onward (2020), the mother of the main characters is working out to an
exercise video. She is clearly not finished, but when her son comes down the stairs in
the morning, she shuts the film off and rushes to greet him. One message this could be
sending out is that mothers should put their kids before themselves. Symbolization is
how direct and indirect observation affects an individual and how, through
observation, an individual can prepare for a similar scenario (Krcmar 2020). An
internalized message could be, “when I’m a mother, my kids will come first.”
Applying this same scene to self-regulation, a mother might watch the scene
and see that the teenage son in the films seems happy to be greeted by his mother first
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thing in the morning. The consequences of the actions of the on-screen mother are
positive, so a mother observing this scene might wish to try this approach as well.
Again, using this same scene, a viewer might see this scene and take time for
self-reflection. A teenager watching the film might think to themself, “does my mother
do that for me?” If this is a desired behavior from the mother, they might choose to
match the reaction to that of the son on screen. If it is not, they may take opposite
actions in hopes of avoiding this interaction. Finally, through vicarious capability, all
three mechanisms may take place in one individual simply through the observation of
a brief scene. Children (and adults) are capable of learning behavior and possibly ideas
from film (Bandura, 2001; Krcmar, 2020). With these mechanisms in mind, the
important question becomes: what are the messages being portrayed in these films?
The potential messages that children receive from such films has been widely
studied (Cheung et al., 2021; Coyne et al., 2014; Coyne & Whitehead, 2008; D. E.
England et al., 2011; Padilla-Walker et al., 2013a, 2019; Towbin et al., 2004), though
the portrayal of work and labor, and the messaging behind it, in animated children’s
films is understudied. Some developmental theorists assert that one of the goals of
childhood and adolescence is to prepare children for the workforce and their roles
within it (Levine & Hoffner, 2006; Wiesner et al., 2003). In fact, Erikson (1968), a
German-American developmental psychologist, in his stages of psychosocial
development asserts that occupational identity is an important component of late
childhood and adolescence and develops long before these individuals enter the
workforce. Thus, I argue that it is not surprising that frequent themes of work and
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labor can be found throughout many children’s films. While it is already clear that
these messages exist in some children’s films (Griffin et al., 2017; McDonald, 2009),
what is currently unclear, is how these messages of work and labor are evolving with
the U.S. economic climate and labor market, if at all and how these corporations that
are creating content for children are portraying these changes.
1.1 Adults and Disney
While animated films are typically directed towards children, it is a fair
assumption that some adults are viewing these films as well (Dickson, 2022; Wasko,
2001). Beyond the fact that adults take children to the films and/or sometimes watch
with them, many of these films are seen or advertised as family films and are viewed
by all ages. Family films, which originated in the 1930s, were a “mixture of
propaganda” for Hollywood “and commercial idealism” (Brown, 2010, p. 2) to draw
in a middle class audience. These films are designed to be for the entire family without
ostracizing or offending any group. While children seem to be the target audience of
these films and resulting merchandise, that is actually not entirely the case (Wasko,
2001). The Walt Disney Company, for instance, has several lines of marketing for
different age groups and through analysis, it is clear that while Disney products are
more popular among children, they are enjoyed by adults as well (Wasko, 2001).
Disney is easily the most iconic family media; Americans have a soft spot for
Walt Disney, viewing the man and the company as “almost sacred” (Wasko, 2001, p.
239). Both children and adults have expressed admiration for this company. In fact,
Walt Disney himself stated that his films are not just for kids, yet the brand is
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synonymous with children (Mason, 2017) “Disney adults,” as they are sometimes
referred to as, are adults who greatly enjoy Disney films, parks, and merchandise
(Dickson, 2022). These adults will spend thousands of dollars on experiences provided
by the Disney parks and universe to create an experience, which, according to some is,
by definition, inauthentic, in a sort of break from reality. This experience has been
painstakingly engineered in what has been described as a “sickly capitalistic cycle”
(Dickson, 2022). Still, many find the parks and products to be almost a religious
experience; Dr. Eichler-Levine who studies where Disney and religiosity intersect
described a feeling of collective effervescence when arriving to a Disney park, similar
to that found in religious ceremonies (Dickson, 2022). Ultimately, being a Disney
adult is described as fantastical, magical, and a place to “let yourself go” (D.
Schwartz, 2022, para. 3).
Considering the clear interest that so many share for Disney, it is perhaps
surprising that Disney films and the corporation itself has faced considerable academic
scrutiny. Unlike most family or children’s production companies, The Walt Disney
Company has faced heavy criticism. From messages surrounding gender roles to
Westernization and aggression, Disney has faced more scrutiny than any other
producers of children’s films. No other producers of children’s films have achieved
this level of cult following nor seem to have earned such disdain as The Walt Disney
Company. The production studios owned by Amblin Partners (Dreamworks LLC and
Universal Pictures) and Universal Studios, however, certainly create competition for
the media giant.
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The Despicable Me franchise, produced by Universal Pictures (Amblin
Partners), is the most profitable non-Disney children’s series to date and minions
became one of the most popular internet memes of the mid-2010s (Applegate &
Cohen, 2017); any internet search for “minions memes” shows thousands of images
such as Figure 1.1 retrieved from https://www.digitalmomblog.com/minion-memes/.
These memes are often, but not exclusively, work-related and imply relatability to the
minions. As Applegate & Cohen (2017) point out, minions’ universality can represent
almost any character or mascot hence their popularity. This following begins to rival
that of the Walt Disney Company, though Universal Pictures has yet to face the
scrutiny associated with Disney.
Figure 1.1 – A minion meme
This study incorporates films from the current three major family film
production companies: The Walt Disney Company, Comcast (Dreamworks LLC and
Universal Pictures), and Warner Bros. Discovery. At the time of writing, The Walt
Disney Company currently owns or is a majority shareholder of 21st Century Fox (M.
S. Schwartz, 2019), Hulu (Rizzo & Sherman, 2022), multiple channels and franchises
like ABC and A&E and Lucasfilm and Marvel and other businesses like Hollywood
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Records and GoPro (Lakritz, 2020). Comcast owns Dreamworks LLC, Universal
Pictures, and Universal Studios, as well as Xfinity, an internet provider
(NBCUniversal Media, n.d.). Comcast also owns channels and streaming services like
NBC, USA, and Fandango (NBCUniversal Media, n.d.). Warner Bros Discovery is a
media conglomerate which owns channels, news networks, franchises, and streaming
services like HBO, Food Network, CNN, DC Studios, New Line Cinemas, and
HBOMax (Warner Bros. Discovery, 2023). Shareholders in many of these
corporations have other interests such as the Vanguard Group which is the majority
shareholder of Fox Corp (CNN Business, n.d.), railroad company Norfolk Southern
(Norfolk Southern, n.d.), and invests in 438 other major corporations including
billions of dollars in companies like Exxon Mobile, Bank of America, Pfizer, and
Phillip Morris International (Vanguard, n.d.). Media is an oligopoly, served by a
handful of corporations who are interwoven with other major industries and
corporations. Many of these companies would benefit greatly from obedient workers
and citizens who support a capitalist system. The current study found that the
messages surrounding work and labor in most children’s films are not only similar
among all three of these giant corporations but do benefit a capitalist society and those
in power.
1.2 Films as Means of Social Control
As mentioned above, family entertainment may seem innocuous, while in
reality, it is anything but.
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“[W]e live in a National Entertainment State, whereby entertainment, including
children’s entertainment, is not freely given to consumers, but is in fact closely
controlled, monitored, and sold to young consumers according to the demands
of the corporate world. The entertainment kids see is that which the
corporations deem profitable” (Wojik-Andrews, 2000).
Media are heavily controlled, and it may be a fair assumption that the messages within
these films have the potential to benefit the companies relaying them. Few
entertainment companies focus solely on one form of entertainment or solely on
entertainment itself (Wojik-Andrews, 2000). The possible messages being relayed in
children’s films may be for both adults and children and have the potential to represent
values of the ruling class through hegemony, the process of how those in power stay in
power over the working class (Gramsci, 2012). Using a critical lens through that of
Gramsci as well as Horkheimer and Adorno’s The Culture Industry, this study
examines these messages and attempts to interpret their meaning within the context of
the U.S. Labor Market.
While other studies have critically examined the messages surrounding gender,
Westernization and Americanization, aggression, and prosocial behavior, none have
critically examined messages surrounding work and labor. Using content and thematic
analysis, this study compares the frequency and portrayal of the concept of work and
labor in the highest grossing animated children’s films of the last 15 years. Using
Hannah Arendt’s concepts of labor and work, labor is defined as activity that is
directed at meeting biological need or human or self-preservation (Arendt, 1958). The
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term refers to the action, but never the finished product and so it is a never ceasing
activity for humans in the pursuit of survival. While work, in contrast to labor, has a
beginning and end. Creation of an object for whatever purpose would be considered
work as there is an end goal, however, it could be argued that the daily and unceasing
labor of creating an object is in fact labor. The laborer needs the pay from the
continued creation of the object in order to survive. These definitions include
traditional jobs and occupations such as child-rearing and domestic or forced labor.
While not all the portrayed work and labor in these films are paid positions, this
necessary activity, especially labor, has the potential to affect the labor market as well
as potentially influence viewers of these messages in all work and labor roles.
This study attempts to fill this gap in research by finding the messages
surrounding work and labor in the most popular films of the last 15 years and
comparing them to trends in the U.S. Labor Market to answer the following questions:
RQ1: How are work and labor being portrayed in the selected animated children’s
films?
RQ2: How, if it all, does the messaging in these films compare to recent trends in the
U.S. Labor Market?
With the potential influence that major corporations have over the ideals of the
working class, it is important to view not only how these films may be attempting to
influence the labor market, but also their reaction to it. Through this analysis, we have
the potential to combat messages that are potentially harmful to ourselves and peers
and that go against our best interests.
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2 II. LITERATURE REVIEW
While little research has been done involving work and labor in animated
children’s films, these types of films have been studied at length and analyzed using
other metrics. Of the twenty films analyzed in the present study, thirteen are produced
by Walt Disney Studios, six by Amblin Group which owns DreamWorks and
Universal Pictures, and one by Warner Bros. Discovery. Many of these films,
especially those produced by Walt Disney Studios, have been heavily scrutinized with
topics including gender, Westernization, aggression, and anti-social behavior (Cheung
et al., 2021; Coyne & Whitehead, 2008; D. E. England et al., 2011; Padilla-Walker et
al., 2013a; Towbin et al., 2004). Few studies find praise for these films, however some
have highlighted prosocial messages found in animated children’s films. Outlined first
is the history of children’s and family films as well as Bandura’s Social Cognitive
Theory which explains how children, and adults, learn from film and the positive and
negative effects of media on children.
2.1 The History of Family and Children’s Films
2.1.1 The Difference Between Family and Children’s Films
While seemingly interchangeable, children’s and family films are not always
the same thing. Children’s films can be their own type of media or a subset of family
films (Brown, 2017). The definition of family films has not been fully fleshed out;
some scholars assert that family films are films that seek to please and appeal to as
many demographics as possible, while offending and ostracizing as few as possible
(Brown, 2010). These films attempt to appeal to the majority: both children and adults
(Brown, 2010, 2013). Other scholars interpret family films as films containing or
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centering around family life (Peixoto, 2008). Children’s films may focus on the
dedicated production of media for children (Hermansson & Zepernick, 2019; Wojik-
Andrews, 2000), or are adapted from classic children’s literature (Wojik-Andrews,
2000). Still, children’s films do not need to be made solely for children, nor contain
children as characters to be considered as such (Wojik-Andrews, 2000).
2.1.2 How Children’s and Family Films Came to Be
The term “family film” first dates back to 1906 when Hollywood wished to
promote films as an activity for the whole family (Brown, 2013), but arguably the first
commercial children’s film was shown in 1895 which portrayed a young boy turning a
garden hose on a gardener and being quickly punished (Brown, 2017). Still, even the
children’s films of the silent era were designed for a mixed audience (Brown, 2017).
In the 1920s and 30s as film switched from silent to talking, family films were not
necessarily designed to appeal to families, but to appeal to a wide audience (Brown,
2010; Levy, 1991), though the need for separate children’s media and censorship
became apparent as more adult themes in cinema arose (Brown, 2017). During this
time, in both Europe and North America, children visited theaters frequently with
about 90% of them attending showings regularly making children a target audience for
film producers (Brown, 2017).
With the transition of film from silent to sound, there was a push in American
cinema to censor film and create cleaner content (Brown, 2017) thus the introduction
of the Hays Code (Lewis, 2021). Following the roaring 20s which the Australian
Centre for the Moving Image describes as particularly racy, The Great Depression lead
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to a push for more conservative media (Lewis, 2021). The Hays Code, which began as
a self-censoring code for media producers, over time solidified, pushing more
controversial filmmakers from the industry (Lewis, 2021). This code was eventually
codified into the ratings seen today (G, PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17) from the Motion
Picture Association (Film Ratings, n.d.).
This earlier censorship opened the door for a plethora of children’s content in
the 1940s and 50s as it fit well into the conservative demands at the time (Brown,
2017). But, as Wojcik-Anderson and Hubler (2014) point out, plenty of more recent
films, for example The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008) feature children, but are not
necessarily for children. And so, family and children’s films have become increasingly
censored (Hermansson & Zepernick, 2019), but continue to struggle in definition.
While the success of family films has grown over the decades, the commodification of
family in North America has heavily increased in recent years (Brown, 2010). This
urgency to push out films intended for children and families that bring in big box
office numbers may create negligible or potentially harmful messages for children.
2.2 How Media Affects Children
2.2.1 Social Cognitive Theory
Social Cognitive Theory, as previously mentioned, argues that humans learn
through four mechanisms: symbolization, self-regulation, self-reflection, and vicarious
capability (Krcmar, 2020). Symbolization is how individuals are affected by direct and
indirect observations. In the case of film, indirect observations, this may relate to how
closely the viewer relates to the character performing the task, how relatable the
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viewer may find the situation itself, how the viewer anticipates the scenario affecting
their future and more. Self-regulation activities are frequently shown in children’s
films. This is the ability of the viewer to see the consequences of characters’ actions,
whether positive, negative, or neutral, and, according to Bandura’s theory, help to
create a self-regulation mechanism in the viewer (Krcmar, 2020). For instance, if a
character performs an action and is then punished, the viewer may learn that this
particular action should not be performed. Self-reflection, along with self-regulation,
allows the viewer to determine what a viewed scenario means for them. If a scene
elicited a positive response from the characters on screen, but the viewer does not
desire that response, they may take a starkly different approach to the same scenario.
Finally, through vicarious capability, all three mechanisms may take place in one
individual simply through the observation of a short scene.
Using Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory, it is easy to see the importance of a
film, who views it, and what the messaging is within it. As evidenced in Bandura’s
Bobo Doll Experiment where children viewed a video of an adult hitting a doll and
yelling at it and, when faced with a similar doll, repeated the actions they saw in the
film (Krcmar, 2020), children may be especially susceptible to these messages and
adjust their behaviors accordingly, argues Social Learning Theory. Social Cognitive
Theory, however, expands this theory to include the previously mentioned
mechanisms where individuals have the ability to absorb messaging from observation
without mimicry, but with the potential to do so. For this reason, it is important to
monitor the messages being delivered to children (and adults) in popular media.
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2.2.2 Children and Family Media Use
In 2013, the average child ages 0 to 8 spent two hours in front of a screen each
day (Padilla-Walker et al., 2019), but as of 2021, self-reported survey data shows that
most American children spend up to five to seven hours a day in front of a screen
(Medline Plus, 2021) with the consumption of media increasing with age (Padilla-
Walker et al., 2019). The consequences of this media use may have an effect on not
just the individual child, but the family as well. Family Systems Theory suggests that
media use may affect multiple systems within the family (Padilla-Walker et al., 2019).
An example from Padilla-Walker et al. (2019) demonstrates a child’s pathological
video game use and its potential effect on the parent-child system, the spousal system,
and the sibling system. As shown both above and below, media has become a central
influence on family life that may lead to both positive and negative effects (Padilla-
Walker et al., 2019).
2.2.3 Potential Positive Effects of Media Use
The Council on Communications and Media (2016) suggests that the benefits
of media for children 5-18 years of age may include introduction of new ideas as well
as the acquisition of knowledge and media may also promote community participation
and networking for children. Media may also benefit the family through daily
interactions (like families who share photos on social media sites), by bridging
generational gaps (for instance, children and their grandparents playing a video game
together), and through rituals (such as watching the same film together each year on a
specific holiday) thus creating a shared reality for the family (Coyne et al., 2014;
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Padilla-Walker et al., 2019). Towbin et al. (2004) suggest that the use of film in
therapy or at home to discuss tough issues. In fact, 90% of adolescents and their
parents report that, at least occasionally, media was used as a part of family traditions
and 82% reported using media as a mechanism to discuss serious issues with their
adolescent children (Coyne et al., 2014).
Media may be considered a crucial socializing mechanism for children
particularly in gender role development (Coyne et al., 2016). Coyne et al. (2016)
found that Disney princess films promote prosocial behaviors in boys (with an average
age of five years) actively engaged with the media, however they did not find these
behaviors in girls of the same age. While there are certainly positive effects of media,
there are also negative effects as well.
2.2.4 Potentially Harmful Effect of Media Use
Evidence of positive correlations between media use and behavior and
academic performance have been found. Some studies have shown that violent media
is associated with impulsivity (Anderson et al., 2010; Ferguson & Kilburn, 2010) and
through meta-analysis, Nikkelen et al. (2014) through their meta-analysis found that
there is a small, positive association between media use and ADHD related behaviors
though whether this is simply correlated or causal is unclear. Adelantado-Renau
(2019) found that media use, especially TV viewing and video game playing, is
correlated with poor academic performance, though this was more prominent in
adolescents than in children. Inadequate quantity of sleep as well as poor quality and
daytime fatigue have been associated with bedtime media use (Carter et al., 2016).
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The Council of Communications and Media (2016) suggests that, though
challenging, it is important that parents monitor their children’s media usage as media
can negatively affect health, such as sleep and weight gain, may them expose to unsafe
content and inaccurate information, and has the potential to compromise privacy and
confidentiality. These factors alone are reason enough to monitor children’s (and
adults’) media use but, perhaps equally concerning, is the messaging available in
media.
2.3 Existing Film Research
2.3.1 Gender
There has been a plethora of research regarding animated children’s films
relating to gender inequality, gender depiction, and the potentially harmful stereotypes
present for both male and female characters. In many of these animated films, women
are depicted as demure, helpless, poised to marry, and are valued for their appearance
above other traits (D. E. England et al., 2011; Griffin et al., 2017; Towbin et al., 2004)
which is reinforced through merchandising and costuming (Coyne et al., 2016; Pollen,
2011).
Female characters, particularly Disney princesses, are often portrayed as
altruistic and are seen putting the needs of others ahead of themselves (Dundes, 2001;
Golden & Jacoby, 2017). Disney princesses primarily focus on relationships. Their
lives often revolve around men and are even frequently depicted as the proverbial
“damsel in distress” in need of rescue by male characters (Coyne et al., 2016; Dundes,
2001; Golden & Jacoby, 2017). A 2009 Disney Princess film The Princess and the
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Frog depicted a career-orientated female lead who did not focus on romance, which
was considered to be worrisome by other characters throughout the film as career may
have been detrimental to family life (D. E. England et al., 2011). In a longitudinal
study of 198 children, the researchers found that, for both boys and girls, engagement
with Disney Princess media was associated with higher levels of female gender-
stereotypical behavior including playing with dolls, playing dress up or house
(cleaning and cooking), playing quietly, and liking pretty things (Coyne et al., 2016).
While men, in contrast, were considered strong (D. E. England et al., 2011;
Towbin et al., 2004) and heroic rescuers, typically rescuing women (Towbin et al.,
2004). These male characters rarely expressed shame or loss of control which were
both expressed by female characters (D. E. England et al., 2011). The men in these
films frequently expressed emotion physically instead of verbally, did not participate
in domestic labor, and were depicted as not in control of their sexuality (Towbin et al.,
2004). Women were sometimes even depicted as responsible for controlling men’s
anger and violence (Hynes, 2010; Maio, 1998). When overweight women were
present, they were portrayed as mean or scary, largely unpleasant, and unmarried;
when overweight men were present, they were portrayed as sloppy, unintelligent, and
fixated on food (Towbin et al., 2004), though tall, extremely muscular men were often
depicted as being unintelligent as well (León González et al., 2020). Villainesses in
many of these films have characteristics inconsistent with traits of princesses,
heroines, or other female characters; they can be depicted as crass, hypersexualized
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and/or overweight/generally unattractive (Hynes, 2010). Other concerns surrounding
Disney films involve cultural appropriation, lack of representation, and aggression.
2.3.2 Westernization and Lack of Representation
From Native American to Chinese and Polynesian culture, Disney films have
been accused of appropriating other cultures (R. Armstrong, 2018; Yin, 2011) by
“plundering tales from… exotic locations” (R. Armstrong, 2018, p. 1) and
misrepresenting them by Westernizing them to create relatable, Americanized, and
digestible content (R. Armstrong, 2018; Towbin et al., 2004; Yin, 2011). The films are
often perceived as being an accurate representation of the given culture, when often
that is not the case (Yin, 2011). As Yin (2011) points out, when effort is put into
making an ethnic story, such as that of Mulan, universal, it reinforces the idea that the
dominant culture is universal and that others are lacking and projects the values of the
dominant culture.
Older films have often poor and negative representations of other cultures,
such as Dumbo (1941) in which the crows, portrayed as African Americans, are
depicted as poor and unintelligent (Towbin et al., 2004). In Mulan, the main
character’s father becomes irrational, a common feature of the “Oriental Other,” (Yin,
2011, p. 62) which is a portrayal often used of Asian characters, when he insists that
he will die for honor. Others lack representation at all such as Snow White and the
Seven Dwarfs (1937), The Little Mermaid (1989) and many others, which show
predominantly white, often Christian, characters and values (Towbin et al., 2004) and
Tarzan (1999) which, despite taking place in Africa, features only white characters.
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Even in more recent films such as Moana (2016), nuances like the music,
while still featuring Polynesian voices and composition, contains “familiar” sounds to
limit the unfamiliar and control the exposure to true Polynesian music and culture and
through this control, appropriates Polynesian music (R. Armstrong, 2018, p. 2).
While some cultures may be represented in select Disney films, non-
white/Westernized characters, and depiction of religious beliefs besides Christianity
are rare, while members of the LGBT+ community were not only absent from the
selected films, in some of the films, though not all, same-sex affection was negatively
portrayed (Dennis, 2009; Towbin et al., 2004). For example, in Beauty and the Beast
(1991), a male character kisses another male character on the each cheek from
excitement. The recipient of the kisses shows disgust (Towbin et al., 2004). While
children’s films, especially by the Disney Corporation, seem mostly set in portraying
cisgender, heterosexual characters, children’s TV shows appear to allow for more
reference to nonheteronormative activities or values, such as shows like Steven
Universe, a show featuring non heterosexual characters (Rude, 2018). Another show
invites characters to not hide who they are in a closet or by naming a character after a
known LGBT+ neighborhood (Dennis, 2009). The ability to showcase more of these
characters in TV but not film could stem from parental involvement, but also the shear
popularity of children’s films over TV. The overall top four most streamed shows of
2022 were Stranger Things, Ozark, Wednesday, and Cobra Kai, respectively
(Mitovich, 2023) which all come with a rating of TV-14 or higher meaning that these
shows are not suitable for children under the age of 14. The overall top four most
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streamed films of 2022, however, were Encanto, Turning Red, Sing 2, and Moana,
respectively (Mitovich, 2023) which are all family or children’s films and are rated
PG, meaning that they are suitable for children with parental guidance.
Even though these themes were more likely to be present in TV shows than
films, in these shows, central characters predominantly expressed heterosexual desire,
if not obsessed with it, and when met with characters cross-dressing, the main
characters expressed disgust (such as when seeing a hairy man in a bikini), and/or this
was a punishment for the character (for instance, when a male character was
transformed into a female and made to do housework as a punishment) (Dennis,
2009).
Despite the obvious disgust for anything but heterosexual behavior or the
absence of anything but heterosexual behavior present in many children’s films, there
are hints of non-heterosexual behavior in some children’s TV (Dennis, 2009), and
children’s characters can certainly still be queered (Fan, 2019). Fan (2019) found
through thematic analysis and queer interpretation of the films The Lion King (1994)
and Frozen (2013) that the characters Timon and Pumba from The Lion King (1994)
could be queered as a gay couple as they live together away from society and raise
Simba together and Elsa from Frozen (2013) as LGBT+ as she keeps herself on the
fringe of society and hides who she is. Overall, however, heterosexual activity or
appearance appears to be the doxic messaging for most children’s media.
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2.3.3 Aggression
The amount of aggression portrayed in many of these films is also alarming.
Wilson et al. (2002) found that children’s programming is on average three times more
violent than other programming, and animated films are no exception. While the
effects of violent media exposure on children is still the subject of much debate in both
the public and academic sectors, many studies have found that exposure to violent or
aggressive media is linked to violent and aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors
(Wiedeman et al., 2015). In a 2017 study of 104 children published in JAMA
Pediatrics, half were assigned to watch a portion of a film containing guns and half
saw a portion of the same film with guns edited out (Dillon & Bushman, 2017). The
children were then led to a room filled with toys and a real 9mm gun. Of the children
who played with the gun, the children who had watched the film containing guns held
the real gun while at play on average four times longer than children who had not seen
a film containing guns. These children also pulled the trigger of the gun on average 2.8
times, compared to 0.01 times by children who had not seen a film with guns. Other
studies have also found that exposure to violent media can cause increased defiance,
desensitization to violence, and problematic relationships (Bushman & Anderson,
2009; Krahé, 2012; Ostrov et al., 2006; Wiedeman et al., 2015).
Aside from weaponized violence in children’s films, there have been concerns
of symbolic violence (Olson, 2013), intimate partner violence (Hynes, 2010; Olson,
2013), and abuse (Griffin et al., 2017; Hubka et al., 2009), all three of which can be
easily seen in films like Beauty and the Beast (1991) where the male love interest, the
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beast, kidnaps the female love interest, Belle, and keeps her as his prisoner. The beast
is rude and insulting to Belle and there is a continued threat of his temper and his
violence throughout the film. Over time, Belle sees the beast’s sensitive side and falls
in love with him despite the abuse she has suffered from him.
While aggression and violence may be present in many children’s films
throughout the history of film, Coyne and Whitehead (2008), however, did find that
events of indirect aggression, such as gossiping, manipulating, or excluding others,
were low and unlikely to be replicated.
2.3.4 Prosocial Behavior and Praise
While the majority of scholarly work is critical of children’s films, especially
Disney, some point out potential benefits for children viewing these animated films.
Using content analysis, Padilla-Walker et al. found that when defining prosocial
behavior as “any voluntary act meant to benefit another, beyond mere sociability or
cooperation” (2013b), 61 animated children’s films contained, on average, one
prosocial event per minute. The authors conclude that compared to other children’s
programming, this study suggests that animated Disney films may present as strong, or
stronger, of an example of prosocial behavior, and that the examples of prosocial
behavior related well to real-life experiences and thus have higher potential to be
replicated by those consuming the content (Padilla-Walker et al., 2013b).
Coyne et al. (2016) found that Disney princess films promote prosocial
behaviors in boys aged an average of 58 months who actively engaged with the media,
however they did not find these behaviors in girls of the same age. More recent
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research shows that there may be changes in the messaging of gender in more recent
animated children’s films where female characters display more masculine than
feminine traits (Ramadhan, 2019).
2.3.5 Work and Labor
The phrase from the popular film Beauty and the Beast (1991), “life is
unnerving for a servant that’s not serving” pointed out by Towbin et al. (2004)
epitomizes the attitude toward work and labor, at least for the working class, portrayed
in these films. Little research has been performed involving animated children’s
feature-length films and the themes of work and labor within them. The research that
does exist examines messaging involving gender differences in work and labor for
Disney films spanning from 1937 to 2014 and the evolution of these messages (Griffin
et al., 2017). Griffin et al. found that messages involving work and labor are present in
all 54 films they analyzed and that overtime, the presence of female characters in
working roles increased over time (2017). Female characters are largely
underrepresented in children’s media (Aladé et al., 2021; León González et al., 2020;
Towbin et al., 2004) including children’s STEM programming where females and
minorities are underrepresented (Aladé et al., 2021).
Live-action, non-animated children’s films from 1990 to 2005 have also been
analyzed for themes of paid work (McDonald, 2009). These films were found to have
discrepancies in paid work and labor for male and female characters as well as
screentime of that work, that work is punitive and good qualifications did not exempt
characters from punishment nor dismissal (McDonald, 2009). While these studies
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show that there are themes of work and labor in children’s films, they do not analyze
these films in the context of the evolving job market nor through a critical theory lens.
2.4 Critical Theory
2.4.1 Critical Theory Defined
Critical theory, coined by the Frankfurt School; a group of theorists, among
them Horkheimer and Adorno, and founded in Marxism, in short can be defined as
“social inquiry aimed at decreasing domination and increasing freedom in all their
forms” (Bohman et al., 2021). Karl Marx is often referred to as the first critical
theorist where his work focused on the oppression of the working class by a capitalist
economy and the ruling class who benefitted from it (Calhoun et al., 2012). The works
of Horkheimer and Adorno expanded on this critical thinking with their work with the
Frankfurt School, including criticism of the industry producing “culture.” Gramsci,
arguably an early critical theorist, was particularly critical of those in power and the
processes they use to maintain power. Theories by Horkheimer and Adorno as well as
Gramsci are particularly applicable when viewing the messages collected in the
present study of work and labor as expanded upon below.
2.4.2 The Culture Industry
Horkheimer and Adorno, critical theorists and two of the founders of the
Frankfurt School, wrote extensively about “the culture industry.” Horkheimer and
Adorno theorized that media is not art, but is rather mass produced and alienates us
from ourselves (Horkheimer & Adorno, 2012). They assert that art in all forms should
not be part of an industry the way objects such as vehicles are produced. Passive by
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nature, media forces listeners and viewers to engage in an “authoritative fashion”
(Horkheimer & Adorno, 2012, p. 466) where viewers and listeners are not active
participants and any spontaneity or deviance is carefully crafted by the creators.
By creating content that is designed to seamlessly transition from screen to
everyday life, filmmakers are training viewers to “identify film directly with reality”
(Horkheimer & Adorno, 2012, p. 467). The result of the culture industry
(entertainment business) is sameness and the assurance that “the simple reproduction
of mind does not lead to the expansion of mind” (Horkheimer & Adorno, 2012, p.
468). The industry holds its power through “fabricated need” (Horkheimer & Adorno,
2012, p. 468) brought on by late capitalism; viewers feel the need to consume these
forms of entertainment in order to deal with the hardship of labor. This entertainment
allows workers to escape from work and the ability to face it again, however, the
complacency that this industry teaches it’s consumers to become accustomed to their
“beatings” (Horkheimer & Adorno, 2012, p. 469) in real life.
Since 1944 when The Culture Industry was written, it has become more
relevant than ever. Children’s films help shape children’s (and adult’s) perceptions of
the world and teach them not to question the fabricated yet relatable reality they
present. Through these films, creators, and the enormous production companies who
fund them, can convey messages of obedience, conformity, and acceptance of current,
former, or desired real-world circumstances. This, I believe, is a potential outcome of
the commodification of culture that Horkheimer and Adorno suggest in The Culture
Industry. Horkheimer and Adorno assert that this commodification of culture and mass
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media inhibits consumers’ autonomous thought, promotes capitalism, creates
sameness, and placates and pacifies the population (Horkheimer & Adorno, 1972). In
this study, the data is interpreted through this critical lens as well as that of Gramsci’s
hegemony.
2.4.3 Gramsci and Hegemony
Gramsci, through his Prison Notebooks, refined the term hegemony, which is
the process of how those in power, the bourgeoisie, assert and stay in power over the
working class (Gramsci, 2012). Gramsci asserted that the ruling class asserts their
values and norms onto the working class to prevent revolution and disruption. This is
glaringly apparent in film, even, and maybe especially, through children’s films.
Seemingly offhanded comments such as in the film Despicable Me (2010), where a
character mentions that she’s new at her job so she must perform an unsavory act and
that this makes her a “team player” is just one small example of how these values are
portrayed to the working class through these films. Every film in the study, perhaps
with the exception of Finding Dory, is arguably a hegemonic device to control the
working class, both the present and future one.
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3 III. METHODS
3.1 Sample Selection
Once a film is owned, it is difficult to know how many times it has been
viewed. Since this study involves messaging presented to viewers and it’s relation to
the current and/or future labor market, only the most popular films were used as the
likelihood of viewing such films is higher for the general public. Box office figures,
up until recently, seem to be the least subjective way of determining the popularity of
a film. However, since the COVID-19 pandemic, some streaming services are
skipping the theaters, releasing films straight to their service, and are able to track
viewership. This will likely change how we determine what content is popular as more
and more streaming services are created and used, abandoning the theater model all
together. For the purposes of this study, which spans from 2007 through the COVID-
19 pandemic, I used the combination of gross domestic box office revenue and
reported viewership by the Nielsen Corporation to determine film selection which is
the most important criteria for any content analysis (Mayring, 2014).
Because sample selection is so important, careful consideration went into the
selection of each evaluated film. As part of the goal of this project was to determine
the messaging behind films, only animated films* were chosen. Because every aspect
of feature-length animated films has been carefully constructed by experts in their
respective fields (Roy, 2014), it is safe to assume that every component has been
purposefully put into each scene by the animators. Every facial expression is
intentionally crafted, and there should be nothing accidentally left in the scene as there
may be with live-action films (Navone, n.d.). This helps to eliminate mistakes in props
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and wardrobe, as well as to eliminate unclear emotions from poor acting in order to
determine the intended, or possibly unintended, message of each scene. These films
are also more likely than live-action films produced by the same company to be geared
toward children (Padilla-Walker et al., 2013b). Children’s animated films also
typically are more popular; they have higher rankings, gross revenue, and higher
viewership than films solely for adults (Box Office Mojo, n.d.; Streaming Grew Its
Audience in 2021; Drama, Reality and Kids’ Programming Led the Content Wars,
2022; Tops of 2020, 2021; Porter, 2021).
Using IMDb’s Box Office Mojo, the animated children’s films with the highest
gross domestic box office revenue for each year from 2007 to 2019 within the top ten
highest grossing films of their year were selected. Typically, this sample selection
process involves determining all films that fall within a specific criteria (Coyne &
Whitehead, 2008; D. E. England et al., 2011; Everhart & Aust, 2006; Padilla-Walker
et al., 2013b; Towbin et al., 2004), however the present study sought to limit this
criteria in favor of sole film popularity to determine which work and labor-related
themes emerged. 30 films were selected using this method. The revenue of these films
was then adjusted for inflation to 2022. From there, the sample was narrowed down to
17 films which, combined with the three selected films from 2020 and 2021, totaled
20 films for this study. In 2020 and 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic heavily influenced
movie theater traffic and many studios ceased film production altogether (Helman,
2022). Therefore, gross domestic box office revenue was not a reliable source for
heavily viewed films in these years.
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Walt Disney Studios released their March animated film, Onward, on March 6,
2020, which produced a small fraction of the profit of most animated films of any year
and did not have any theatrical releases for the rest of 2020 nor did many other studios
(IMDb, n.d.). According to Nielsen rankings, however, Onward was the fourth most
viewed film of the year across any streaming platform with approximately 8.4 million
streaming minutes and was the only film on the list that was released in 2020 (Tops of
2020, 2021). In December of 2020, Walt Disney Studios skipped the theatrical release,
and released Soul straight to their streaming service, Disney+. According to Nielson’s
weekly streaming rankings, Soul was the number one most viewed film across any
streaming service the week it was released (Porter, 2021); however, it did not rank
highly on Nielson ratings for 2020 or 2021. For these reasons, Onward was chosen as
the only selected film from the year 2020.
Encanto, which was released to theaters in November of 2021, also did not fare
as well at the box office as most other animated films but was still one of the highest
grossing animated films of 2021, and, since its release, the average Disney+ viewer
has viewed the film five times, a total of 180 million views globally since it launched
on Disney+ (Romanchick, 2022). Luca, another Disney animated film that skipped the
theatrical release in 2021, was the number one streamed film of the year 2021 with
approximately 10.6 million minutes of streaming according to Nielsen rankings
(2022). For these reasons, Encanto and Luca were chosen as the selected films from
the year 2021 for a total of 20 animated children’s films from 2007-2021.
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Table 3.1 shows the 20 films used in this project, their release dates, their
ranking based on gross domestic box office revenue compared to other films of that
year (with the exception of Luca), their total gross domestic revenue and that revenue
adjusted for inflation (with the exception of Luca), and the production companies that
distributed them. The total gross revenue of each film was adjusted for inflation to
February 2022 using the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ CPI Inflation Calculator
Tool (CPI Inflation Calculator, n.d.) to better compare the gross revenue from each
film.
Table 3.1 - Sample Selection
In order to compare the messaging of these films with the current attitude
towards labor, work, and working that the U.S. is experiencing now, a timeline that
begins before a ramp up to the Great Resignation was chosen as this was the trend that
originally inspired this study. Figure 3.1, created using data from the U.S. Bureau of
Year Film Date Released Rank (gross)
Total Gross
Domestic Revenue
CPI Adjust Distributed by
2007 Shrek the Third 5/18/2007 2 322,719,944$ 440,304,169$ Dreamworks LLC
2009 Up 5/29/2009 5 293,004,164$ 388,719,369$ Walt Disney Company
2010 Shrek Forever After 5/21/2010 8 238,736,787$ 310,450,395$ Dreamworks LLC
2010 Toy Story 3 6/18/2010 1 415,004,880$ 540,194,639$ Walt Disney Company
2010 Despicable Me 7/9/2010 7 251,513,985$ 327,316,244$ Universal Pictures
2013 Monsters University 6/21/2013 7 268,492,764$ 326,228,643$ Walt Disney Company
2013 Despicable Me 2 7/3/2013 4 368,065,385$ 447,036,930$ Universal Pictures
2013 Frozen 11/22/2013 3 400,738,009$ 487,820,281$ Walt Disney Company
2014 The Lego Movie 2/7/2014 5 257,760,692$ 311,485,310$ Warner Bros.
2015 Inside Out 6/19/2015 4 356,461,711$ 423,796,255$ Walt Disney Company
2015 Minions 7/10/2015 6 336,045,770$ 399,497,019$ Universal Pictures
2016 Zootopia 3/4/2016 7 341,268,248$ 406,594,923$ Walt Disney Company
2016 Finding Dory 6/17/2016 2 486,295,561$ 572,446,172$ Walt Disney Company
2016 The Secret Life of Pets 7/8/2016 4 368,384,330$ 434,348,989$ Universal Pictures
2018 Incredibles 2 6/15/2018 3 608,581,744$ 685,206,013$ Walt Disney Company
2019 Toy Story 4 6/21/2019 5 434,038,008$ 480,760,854$ Walt Disney Company
2019 Frozen II 11/22/2019 4 477,373,578$ 526,571,965$ Walt Disney Company
2020 Onward 3/6/2020 11 61,555,145$ 67,660,460$ Walt Disney Company
2021 Luca 6/18/2021 - - - Walt Disney Company
2021 Encanto 11/24/2021 15 96,081,330$ 98,075,218$ Walt Disney Company
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Labor Statistics, shows the trends in number of resignations, unemployment rates,
median household income, and inflation from January 2007 to December 2022. In
2008, the U.S. saw a recession, which caused a dramatic decrease in “quits,” (U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, n.d.) or employee resignations, but since the end of 2009,
this trend has been steadily rising (with the exception of the recession at the beginning
of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020) reaching an all-time high in November of
2021 at the time of writing. Based on the trends exhibited in Figure 3.1, the films used
for data collection began with the highest grossing animated children’s film of 2007 to
capture what messages the films portray before the recession and continue through to
the most contemporary film possible in 2021.
Figure 3.1 - Labor Market Trends from 2007-2021 created using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
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3.2 Data Collection Methods
When analyzing content, it is important that the researcher transcribe and/or
collect the data personally (Castleberry & Nolen, 2018; Sutton & Austin, 2015). For
this reason, and to account for important nonverbal cues in films such as clothing,
gestures, and touch (Knapp et al., 2013), data was evaluated personally as opposed to
using computer software or solely relying on film scripts. As Castleberry & Nolen
(2018) suggest, this closeness to the data can help jumpstart the analysis process.
Data collection originally began as qualitative content analysis (D. E. England
et al., 2011), searching solely for manifest, or intended, content and themes
(Vaismoradi et al., 2016). This analysis was performed by viewing each film at least
once without any sort of data collection to understand the story and search for themes.
The second or more viewing of the films included tracking each time work or labor
was performed or mentioned (Hefner et al., 2017), and by referencing the script of
each film while viewing them for any missed information. Arendt’s concepts of labor
and work were used to create coding criteria. “Labor,” according to Arendt, a
necessary activity to sustain life (Arendt, 1958) could include things like household
labor, which, like factory labor includes production, exchange, and sometimes
differentials of power, among other things (P. England & Farkas, 2017). The physical
and emotional labor of child-rearing was also included in this criterion. “Work,”
according to Arendt, has a beginning and end and is often the creation of an object
(Arendt, 1958). All instances of typically paid jobs (such as police officer or teacher),
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depiction of the workplace, reference to income, and managerial or leadership roles
were coded accordingly. At each data point, the following information was gathered:
1. Time stamp
2. Character/s involved
3. The character’s role in the film (e.g., main character, tertiary character)
4. What the character is doing (working, not working, talking about work, etc.)
5. How the viewer knows that what they are doing is their job/work
6. How the character seems to feel about their job/work (based on verbal and
body language/facial expressions).
7. How other characters seem to feel in relation to the principle character’s
job/work and/or what they are doing (based on verbal and body language/facial
expressions).
8. Quotation(s) at the data point (if applicable)
Table A.1 shows an example of this data collection.
While this process was somewhat effective, after data collection for the first
six films (four from this study and two from a previous study) was completed, it
became clear that this process was overly time consuming seemingly without more
benefit than a thematic analysis. Hefner et al. (2017) found that using thematic
analysis, coders were able to fully code each film within four to five hours. Once I
switched to thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2022), I altered the way I collected
data in order to look for over-arching themes, both manifest and latent (Vaismoradi et
al., 2016), as opposed to each incident as an isolated occurrence. This thematic
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analysis (Tanner et al., 2003; Towbin et al., 2004) included interactions in group
dynamics as well as preliminary analysis that was later developed further or dismissed.
This new method included:
1. Time stamp
2. Character/s involved
3. What the character is doing (working, not working, talking about work, etc.)
4. How the character seems to feel about their job/work (based on verbal and
body language/facial expressions).
5. How other characters seem to feel in relation to the principle character’s
job/work and/or what they are doing (based on verbal and body language/facial
expressions).
6. Quotation(s) at the data point (if applicable)
7. Possible interpretations and notes
Table A.2 shows an example of the new method of data collection.
Both methods of data collection helped to develop themes within these films,
but thematic analysis in the latter films helped to understand larger themes involving
work and labor as opposed to the micro-interactions of the first four films and so
thematic analysis was ideal for the remainder of the study.
3.3 Data Analysis
Glaser and Strauss (2017) as well as Becker (1998) suggest that in qualitative
research, analysis should be performed throughout the data collection process. This
was achieved through memos written after the data collection of each film. These
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memos reduced the films to core concepts (Mayring, 2014), and included recurring
themes throughout the film, overlap in themes from previous films, and light
comparison to the labor market during which the film was released. Once data
collection for all films was complete, I first started by revisiting my memos and
looking for recurring themes in each film (Gallicano, 2013). Once I had common
themes, it was easier to see the differences among the films and use these differences
to compare the data to the U.S. Labor Market.
Recurring themes are noted in the first chapter of the results section. Once data
collection was completed, I used axial and selective coding to narrow down broad
themes throughout all the films into ten main similarities (Gallicano, 2013). Section
two of the results chapter compares these and other themes to trends in the U.S. labor
market.
3.4 Limitations and Biases
As a graduate student, there are a few limitations that may be a factor in the
execution and analysis of this study. The main limitation in this study is that it was
only performed by one researcher (with, of course, the help of my committee), and as
much as I have tried to be objective, true objectivity is impossible. As the only
researcher choosing the films, coding, and analyzing the data for important instances,
emotions, and meaning, there are interpretations of this messaging that I could have
easily missed. Ideally, the data collection would involve several coders coding
independently and comparing their results (Hefner et al., 2017; Tanner et al., 2003;
Towbin et al., 2004). As mentioned above, like all graduate students, the time
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available to complete this project was also limited. With more time, a larger sample of
films could have been used to analyze messaging and trends.
A possible bias throughout this project is that I, the researcher, as well as my
committee identify as women. Because of this, and the vast data found regarding
men’s and women’s roles and leadership in these films, little analysis based on gender
was performed, though is still present. Finally, because I am a returning student for
both my bachelor’s and master’s degrees, I spent the previous 18 years working,
sometimes multiple jobs simultaneously to make ends meet. I am aware that this
experience has led me to possible biases related to the concepts of work and labor.
*The exception to this is The Lego Movie which, while primarily animated, features
approximately 9 minutes of live-action screen time, comprising ~9% of the film. This
film was included in the sample selection due to the popularity of the film and the fact
that a small portion of the film is live action.
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4 IV. RESULTS
4.1 Research Question 1
Throughout data collection and analysis, it became clear that, despite the wide
range of release years these films had, there were recurring trends in the messages
surrounding work and labor throughout every film in the study. Though not every film
featured the same themes, each film in the study portrayed at least one theme outlined
in the following sections. Most of these themes evolved over time, like the attitude
around self-care and the way the characters serve the entity in charge, but some, like a
character’s usefulness, messages seemingly designed to regulate one’s behavior, and
themes around homelessness did not vary significantly over the fifteen-year period of
this study.
The following section outlines the most frequent messages (utility, service,
skill level, homelessness and criminality, behavior regulation, parenting and
household labor, quitting and self-care, and social systems and structures) found
throughout the selected films and offers an interpretation of the ideas through a critical
theory lens and thus answers the first research question of this study: How are work,
the terminable process of object creation usually accompanied by pay, and labor, the
necessary actions to sustain life, being portrayed in the selected animated children’s
films?
4.1.1 Usefulness
There were a plethora of work-related themes in the selected children’s films.
One particular theme that was centrally present in almost every film (19 out of 20,
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with the notable exception of Finding Dory) revolves around one’s usefulness to an
entity or society. This message was sent through several mechanisms, for instance in
the film, The Secret Life of Pets (2016), the animal characters who are forced to live
on (under) the street due to their usefulness running out explain how they came to be
street animals. One such animal is a heavily tattooed and pierced pig (see Figure 4.1)
who describes how he became no longer useful and thus homeless, "I lived in a tattoo
parlor! The trainees used to practice on me! Until they ran out of space!" he shouts,
explaining how he was ejected from his home.
Figure 4.1 - Image of Tattoo the pig from the film, The Secret Life of Pets (2016)
The character’s job was only as important as its outcome in affecting others
positively and/or providing financial security for the character and character’s
family. Thus, this usefulness became necessary for a prosocial existence. Another
example of this required usefulness is in the film Toy Story 3 (2010), when the toys’
original owner, Andy, outgrows the toys. The film opens with the main characters,
Andy’s toys, scrambling to be valuable to a now college-aged Andy. Andy intends to
pack the toys away to the attic, but much to their dismay, the toys end up on the curb
on trash day. While the toys were not necessarily intended to be trash after they’d
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outlived their purpose, the message, to them at least, was clear: be useful or trash. The
toys are saved from the dump but are quickly brought to a daycare center where they
are ecstatic by the idea of being useful again. This concept of one’s work being
important not only for oneself but also because it provides a socially useful role was
present throughout the majority of the films.
The concept of work and labor as a service necessary to function in society,
designed to serve those in power and, in the U.S., a capitalistic system, was not the
only work-related theme in these films, however there is plenty of overlap in the
themes of usefulness and other themes found within these films such as service to the
entity in charge.
4.1.2 Serving Entity
Throughout most films in this study (13 of 20 films), the characters display
traits and signs that involve serving, and sometimes sacrificing for, the entity in
charge. Table 4.1 shows the occurrences of this theme in each film.
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Table 4.1 – Films with messaging about Serving Entity
Sacrifice for/Serve Entity in Charge
Shrek the Third
X
Up
Shrek Forever After
Toy Story 3
X
Despicable Me
X
Monsters University
Despicable Me 2
X
Frozen
The Lego Movie
Inside Out
X
Minions
X
Zootopia
X
Finding Dory
The Secret Life of Pets
X
Incredibles 2
X
Toy Story 4
X
Frozen II
X
Onward
Luca
X
Encanto
X
A strong example of this theme is in the Toy Story series where the child seems
to be an almost unseen, but nonetheless served, entity. The focus is less related to the
traits that the child possesses or what the child can provide for the toys, but more so on
serving whichever child the toys happen to belong to. Some of the toys, like Andy’s
(the child to whom the toys belong) favorite toy, Woody, behave exactly as humans
do. Woody is the clear leader of the other toys. If Andy’s room were likened to a
business, Andy would represent the company owner, while Woody, who refers to the
toys’ service to Andy as their undeniable jobs, is his manager, supervising the day-to-
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day activities and keeping the other employees (toys) focused on the goal: providing
for Andy, their boss.
Woody’s main concern, of course, is Andy, or as is the case in the later films,
whichever child he belongs to. In the film Toy Story 3 (2010), Andy has grown up and
is no longer in need of his toys. The toys begin to panic and prepare for the next phase
of life. Woody calls a “staff meeting” (Unkrich, 2010) where he reminds the other toys
that “…we’ve always said this job isn’t about getting played with. It’s about…" here,
another toy chimes in: "…being there for Andy. We know" (Unkrich, 2010). Later,
when the toys want to leave Andy’s and find other jobs, Woody reiterates: “I have a
kid. You have a kid -- Andy! And if he wants us at college, or in the attic, well, then
our job is to be there for him!” (Unkrich, 2010). Woody is determined to serve his
boss even at great personal expense and encourages others to do so as well.
Woody insists that despite it being against their own best interests, the toys
must do what is right for Andy. The toys want to be played with and seem to have a
need to be useful, as previously mentioned, but Woody tells them that service to their
boss is the ultimate goal. This theme is repeated again in the film Toy Story 4 (2019)
when the toys are serving their new child, Bonnie, and in other films, such as Inside
Out (2015) where the main characters’ entire existences revolve around their child,
Riley. Films like Zootopia (2016) and Incredibles 2 (2018) also display this theme,
though the entity the characters serve is the general public as opposed to a boss or
manager. Still, these characters are expected to sacrifice their interests and sometimes
lives in the pursuit of service as is glaringly the case in Frozen II (2019).
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In Frozen II (2019), the main characters, Caucasian, aristocrat sisters Anna and
Elsa, discover a forest where members of the kingdom’s army have been lost for
decades. The army is led by a black man, Mattias, who, in the introduction of his
character, shows that it is his job to put his life in danger to protect the royal family.
After serving the royal family his entire life and wasting decades of his life trapped in
a forest in this pursuit, Mattias, who admits he has missed out on a life partner and
family, holds no bitterness and stays dedicated to the kingdom. When finally presented
with his freedom, Mattias chooses to stay loyal to his job. "Soldiers!” he shouts to his
unit, “we may be getting old in years, but we're still strong. Proud to serve Arendelle
[the kingdom]." The clear messaging here is that it is not just honorable, but that one
should be proud to sacrifice one’s entire life to the workplace and those in power. The
sisters, those in power, also show a strong theme of service to the citizens of their
kingdom, but, as royalty, appear not to have to sacrifice at the level that the working
class does. This theme of service, while perhaps not as honorable and prideful as
Mattias is easily most prominent in the film franchise, Despicable Me (Coffin &
Balda, 2015; Coffin & Renaud, 2010, 2013).
This franchise features Gru and his employees whom he literally refers to as
“minions.” Unsurprisingly, these bald, little yellow creatures in denim overalls are
quite literally his minions. They do his bidding, clean his home, care for his children,
run his factory, serve as test subjects, and are his number one fans. While the minions
may seem to be exaggerated parodies of workers used only for comic relief, the
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popularity and relatability of these little creatures cannot be overstated as previously
mentioned with the popularity of minions as a cultural icon (see Figure 1.1).
These minions speak a foreign language called “Minionese,” and in the 2015
film, Minions, the third film in the Despicable Me franchise, the audience learns where
minions come from and how they came to serve their leader, Gru. The minions, the
narrator tells the audience, began as a tribe who sought to serve the evilest villains.
"Making their master happy was the tribe’s very reason for existence," the audience is
told (Coffin & Balda, 2015). The minions are shown in prehistoric times having
served dinosaurs, Napoleon Bonaparte, and a yeti. The tribe is even shown building
pyramids in ancient Egypt which the audience is told “held great promise” of a
suitable place to serve (Coffin & Balda, 2015). According to the narrator, the minions
enjoyed slavery the most.
When the minions run out of evil masters to serve, they retreat to a cave where
they realize that they can pursue hobbies, have leisure, and enjoy some downtime. The
minions are shown enjoying their time as they partake in tribal communism and relish
leisure, but soon, the minions begin to look sad and sluggish. "They felt empty inside,”
the narrator tells the audience of the minions, “Without a master, they had no purpose.
They became aimless, and depressed" (Coffin & Balda, 2015). When only serving
themselves, the minions experienced low quality of life; they had to serve another,
someone more important than them, in order to experience happiness. While too much
leisure and lack of purpose can be disheartening, the implication here is not just that
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the minions need a purpose but that they must serve a higher power in order to be
happy; a strong message to the working class about the values they should hold.
Three of the minions set out to find a new master. They leave the cave and
travel to America – on a small, makeshift wooden boat – through Ellis Island shown in
Figure 4.2. The minions, who again speak only Minionese, clearly represent
immigrants in search of work. These two-dimensional creatures who seek only to
work and be subservient are a terrifying portrayal of what Americans may want or
expect of immigrants.
Figure 4.2 - Image of minions arriving to America as immigrants in Minions (2015)
Despite clearly being immigrants (though this is not revealed until the third
film of the franchise), the minions understand American work culture and are highly
representative of the expectations of “low” or “unskilled” workers and the working
class at large. Minions serve their masters and are happy to do so. While the minions
are working, they are seen occasionally goofing around, however when one does, he is
immediately (and comedically) disciplined whether by falling, getting hurt, or, most
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commonly, via another minion’s physical assault. This example of behavior
regulation, discussed later in this chapter, demonstrates the values of an ideal worker;
one that keeps not only themselves, but others, consistently on task. The values of a
capitalistic society and of those in power are clearly presented through the minions’
work ethic.
In the first film, Despicable Me (2010), when their leader, Gru, is brought out
on stage – yes, stage – in his factory to relay business information to the minions and
celebrate company profits, the minions scream and cheer for Gru’s presence; the script
describes this reaction as being akin to “Beatlemania” (Coffin & Renaud, 2010). Gru
begins to recount company statistics, "we have had a pretty good year ourselves. And
you guys are alright in my book!” (Coffin & Renaud, 2010). The minions cheer at this.
A sole minion raises his hand. Gru looks at him and chuckles, “no, no raises! You’re
not going to get any raises." (Coffin & Renaud, 2010) The minion looks a little sad,
but quickly joins the others in celebration of Gru’s success; the minion cannot change
this and easily accepts this. As the meeting continues, Gru recounts his achievements,
then announces his intent to steal the moon. The minions are losing their minds, they
are so excited. One minion even faints from excitement. Gru continues to list the
benefits he will receive from stealing the moon. “And once the moon is mine, the
world will give me whatever I want to get it back! And I will be the greatest villain of
all time,” (Coffin & Renaud, 2010) he tells them. The minions continue to cheer his
success. Later in the film, when it looks like Gru will not be able to achieve his goal of
stealing the moon, Gru informs the minions that he has not secured the loan and that
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the company is broke. The minions are distraught and inconsolable. In an ideal
maneuver which would only benefit those in power, the minions reach into their
pockets and donate their own money to Gru to help him keep his business afloat.
While it may seem that minions are a parody of the everyday workers and are
more creature-like and disposable than real workers, the situations they face are
incredibly realistic, and their behavior is often relatable and absolutely representative
of an ideal worker (Birt, 2023; Sundheim, 2013). Arguably, the messaging throughout
many of these films seems to be for the working class to serve those in power,
sometimes blindly and with great enthusiasm, and often at their own expense, making
them ideal hegemonic devices. Few films do not display this ideal at all, while many,
as mentioned above, are centrally focused on it. Though many of the minions actions
are undoubtably meant to get a laugh, these displays of proper workplace behavior,
attitude, and work ethic easily represent the values of those in power and could send a
lasting message to viewers.
4.1.3 “Low-Skilled” and “Unskilled” Workers
Themes related to skill level can be observed throughout the selected films.
Eleven of the selected 20 films portrayed or referenced jobs that are commonly
classified and referred to as “unskilled” and “low-skilled” labor in a negative light.
These films are shown in the Table 4.2.
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Table 4.2 - Films with messaging about Skill Level
Skill Level
Shrek the Third
Up
X
Shrek Forever After
X
Toy Story 3
X
Despicable Me
X
Monsters University
X
Despicable Me 2
X
Frozen
The Lego Movie
Inside Out
X
Minions
X
Zootopia
Finding Dory
The Secret Life of Pets
X
Incredibles 2
Toy Story 4
Frozen II
Onward
X
Luca
X
Encanto
In 1917, the U.S. Census Bureau began to categorize labor based on skill level
(Silver et al., 2021). At that time, jobs deemed “unskilled” were the largest group of
workers in the country and continue to make up the largest portion of the U.S.
workforce. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics classifies jobs by level of skill. Level 1
work is referred to as “unskilled” labor which requires no previous experience and
little training (Dangermond et al., 2019). Levels 2 and 3 require some training and
knowledge, but often do not require a college degree and so these positions are
referred to as “low-skilled” jobs.
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While these positions do not require as much training as other high-stress (and
low-stress) positions, great skill is still required to perform this work. The National
Fund for Workforce Solutions (2022), an organization that works with communities to
create an equitable workforce, asserts that there is no “unskilled” labor. “Calling jobs
‘low-skill’ obscures the particular set of skills required to succeed in them and tacitly
justifies the low wages earned by workers in these positions,” they say of the harm of
underestimating the level of skill required for these positions. The recent COVID-19
pandemic highlighted the value of “unskilled” and “low-skilled” workers, renaming
over half of these low-wage employees “essential” workers at that time as these
employees kept (and always have kept) society functioning (Kinder & Stateler, 2021).
Half of the U.S. population falls into this category, yet the federal minimum wage
continues to rest at $7.25/hour, an annual salary of $15,080 (U.S. Department of
Labor, n.d.). This wage has not been raised since 2009, the longest raise gap since the
initiation of the federal minimum wage in 1938.
Despite the obvious value of this labor, its reputation still suffers. Among these
films were subtle messages about these positions, like in Inside Out (2015) which
portrayed police as incompetent, railroad workers as lazy, movie set workers as bored,
and janitorial staff as rude. Themes of boredom, rudeness, and/or incompetence were
present in all 11 of the selected films.
The most overtly negative portrayals of these workers were, once again, the
minions in the Despicable Me (2010, 2013, and 2015) series. These foreign-born,
“low” skilled workers who perform basic and menial tasks which keep both their
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boss’s household and company functioning epitomize essential workers as their boss,
however they are not respected or even seen as individuals. A startling scene from
Despicable Me (2010) shows Gru’s manager testing a serum on the minions. “We’ve
been working on this for a while,” the manager tells Gru, “it’s an anti-gravity serum”
(Coffin & Renaud, 2010). Both men look up to see several minions who have risen
like balloons against the ceiling. As they continue to watch the minions, one floats out
of the window and into the sky, “I meant to close that,” says the manager, “he’ll be
alright, I’m sure” (Coffin & Renaud, 2010). Gru asks if the effects wear off to which
the manager replies that they do not. Gru is a literal villain. Despite this, he is the
protagonist of the story and ultimately a hero, showing that the ruling class, even when
they seem evil, are the “good guys” who do the right thing. During this testing, some
of the floating minions are even giggling; they enjoy the abuse. The disposability of
the minions is meant to be amusing, but when coupled with the relatability of these
little workers, this becomes a horrifying scene of exploitative measures where minions
are expected to sacrifice every part of themselves for the good of the business and
serve no greater value than that of lab rats.
This picture of the disposable, unintelligent, or bored low-level worker who
must sacrifice everything is present throughout many of these films and is potentially
harmful to those who must work these low paid, yet essential jobs as these examples
help to justify their low pay and the way that they are viewed by society, despite the
fact that these workers represent approximately half of the U.S. workforce (Kinder &
Stateler, 2021).
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4.1.4 Joblessness, Homelessness, and Criminality
The most blatant recurring theme among the selected films was that
joblessness is both synonymous with homelessness and causal thereof. I use the term
“joblessness” here because it isn’t just a loss of job (and presumably income) that
means a loss of home, but often the lack of job itself. Homelessness is also used here
because the phrase “homeless” is often explicitly stated and the implication is not just
a loss of shelter, but almost of a loved individual, a home. This theme appeared clearly
in 12 of the 20 films analyzed as Table 4.3 shows.
Table 4.3- Films with messaging about Homelessness
Homelessness
Shrek the Third
Up
Shrek Forever After
X
Toy Story 3
X
Despicable Me
X
Monsters University
Despicable Me 2
Frozen
The Lego Movie
Inside Out
X
Minions
X
Zootopia
X
Finding Dory
The Secret Life of Pets
X
Incredibles 2
X
Toy Story 4
X
Frozen II
X
Onward
Luca
X
Encanto
X
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While the actual act of throwing someone out of a home is not a usual
occurrence (with the exception of films like Zootopia (2016) and Encanto (2021), in
which home is due to a job), the threat of homelessness is often highly effective in
causing characters to act the way the villain or power structure desires. Rarely is a
central character actually portrayed as homeless, but rather there seems to be a
frequent threat of this happening. Conversely, gaining employment is often
immediately associated with gaining housing, usually some sort of luxury or idealized
home.
This connection was often explicitly stated, such as in Incredibles 2 (2018),
when the parents have lost their jobs as superheroes. The characters are fired and in
the next scene are dropped off at a hotel where they’ve been told they can live for free
for two weeks. The hotel is dismal; it’s dark, cramped, lacks privacy, and everyone
seems miserable. The parents express concern that they “can’t count on anyone else
now” (Bird, 2018) and that one of them must get a job. When the mother, Helen, does
get a job, the scene instantly flips to the family arriving at a state-of-the-art fully
furnished mansion which has been provided as a perk of the job (see Figure 4.3). The
connection between employment and having a home (not just shelter) is very clear.
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Figure 4.3 Image of the Incredibles’ new home form Incredibles 2 (2018)
In other films, this theme is less obvious, but present. In the film, Inside Out
(2015), which takes place inside the head of 11-year-old Riley, the main characters
meet Bing Bong, the young girl’s former imaginary friend. Bing Bong wears a brown
hat and a different shade of brown jacket. The jacket has multiple patches of different
fabrics and patterns sewn onto it and has a multi-colored flower on the lapel. He also
wears fingerless brown gloves shown in Figure 4.4. Bing Bong, having been outgrown
by the young girl, is jobless, and his outfit gives him a gruff, formally in his prime
look. When the characters ask him what he is doing in a non-residential area, he
responds, “Well, there’s not much call for imaginary friends lately, so, you know…"
(Docter, 2015) before bursting into tears. Bing Bong does not appear to have a home
but wanders Riley’s mind scavenging. The characters find the wagon that Bing-Bong
used to play with Riley in as it is being thrown away. Again, Bing Bong cries, he is
officially jobless, and likely, as many clues have suggested, homeless. When two of
the main characters, Riley’s Joy and Sadness, risk being stuck outside of emotions
headquarters, Bing Bong sacrifices his own life to save theirs. Not only does Bing
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Bong appear to represent an out-of-work, homeless person, he is clearly dispensable;
his use has been expended and therefore it is acceptable, maybe even expected, that he
dies in an ultimate service to the entity in charge and to help others who still have use.
This scene helps to accentuate a critical plot point of the film: that Riley is growing
up, but nevertheless sends a message about what expending one’s usefulness looks
like.
Figure 4.4 - Image of Bing Bong, a character from Inside Out (2015)
While less direct than joblessness equating to homelessness, there was a
frequent theme throughout these films of job and home being a package deal, such as
in Zootopia (2016). Early in the film, the main character, Judy, moves to the big city,
Zootopia. She is seen renting a dark, dirty apartment complete with a crass landlord
and screaming neighbors. Despite this, Judy is clearly thrilled to be in the city and in
her own place after leaving her parents’ home in her tiny town far away. Later, when
Judy quits her job in the city, she must return to her parents’ home in her hometown; a
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likely reflection of the move that many young adults in recent years have had to make
due to housing shortages, high rent prices, unsteady job market and stagnant wages
(Kephart, 2022). In fact, surveys have shown that as many as 25% of adults ages 26-
41 currently live with their parents (Kephart, 2022). While Judy is not shown losing
her apartment, her parents live far, and she is shown as settled into a life back home.
While Judy does not appear to homeless, she has, by losing her employment, lost her
life in the city. This is clearly a negative experience for Judy despite finding new
employment and being housed.
The Secret Life of Pets (2016) centered around the main characters becoming
temporarily homeless and having to fall in with a street gang of other animals. These
animals, like Tattoo mentioned above in the section, Usefulness, no longer have jobs
or use and therefore no longer have homes. In this film, the job and homeless animals
are criminals; stealing and hurting others to survive. These animals are relatively
unpleasant with the leader portrayed as verbally abusive and violent. In this film,
much like in the film, Zootopia (2016), joblessness is synonymous with criminality
and homelessness. This is easily mirrors the way that many U.S. cities treat their
houseless populations, making a lack of shelter almost a crime by criminalizing public
camping, loitering, or sleeping in vehicles (Dholakia, 2022).
One film, Onward (2020), however portrayed the opposite situation and may
be evidence of a shift in attitude surrounding joblessness and/or homelessness. The
older brother in this film has graduated high school and has decided to take a gap year.
He does not work or go to school; in fact, he plays games most of his day. While the
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family and sometimes townspeople criticism him for this, his gaming and history
knowledge is what saves the day, showing value in non-working activities and
knowledge. Still, the character receives grief throughout the film and in the selected
films, employment and homes appear to frequently be a packaged deal.
Children’s films are often set outside of our present world whether they’re set
in the past, the future, or take place in a different universe entirely such as where toys
can talk, or magic is real. Because of this, it is sometimes necessary and easy to
combine the characters’ home and work lives. Still, the frequency of homelessness or
houselessness in children’s films is alarmingly high and is easily a regulation tool to
attempt to create generations that consider and fear unemployment early and often; a
hegemonic device intended to support capitalism. This behavior regulation also
extends to other activities the characters perform.
4.1.5 Behavior Regulation
Bandura’s Social Control Theory theorizes that one way that children learn by
indirect observation is through self-regulation, that is, by observing the consequences
of others’ actions (Bandura, 2001). This type of behavior regulation surrounding self-
supervision and how to behave as a worker in the workplace is easily present
throughout 19 of 20 films, again with exception of the film Finding Dory (2016) as
shown in Table 4.4.
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Table 4.4 - Films with messaging about Behavior Regulation
Good Worker/Laborer
Self-Supervision
Shrek the Third
X
Up
X
Shrek Forever After
X
X
Toy Story 3
X
Despicable Me
X
X
Monsters University
X
Despicable Me 2
X
X
Frozen
X
X
The Lego Movie
X
X
Inside Out
X
X
Minions
X
X
Zootopia
X
X
Finding Dory
The Secret Life of Pets
X
Incredibles 2
X
Toy Story 4
X
Frozen II
X
Onward
X
X
Luca
X
X
Encanto
X
In the workplace, the ideal employee would need little supervision and be
eager to help (Birt, 2023; Sundheim, 2013), but, as previously mentioned, much of the
work in the U.S. is low paid and “low” skilled; something the worker may struggle to
be passionate about. It might be difficult to find committed, autonomous workers, but
through early examples of behavior ideal for those in power, future (and current)
workers’ behavior may be able to be easily regulated. Film is a powerful teaching tool
(Champoux, 1999) and may be a useful way to achieve this level of control.
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A prime example of this self-supervising behavior is “the minions.” The
minions provide much of the comic relief of three of the selected films, Despicable Me
(2010), Despicable Me 2 (2013), and Minions (2015). Minions, as mentioned
previously, are little yellow creatures who work for the main character, their boss,
Gru. Minions are difficult to tell apart and appear to be both interchangeable and
dispensable. These characters, while providing typically slapstick comic relief for the
film, clearly represent the working class. The literal minions do their boss’ bidding
including, but not limited to, factory work, household labor, childcare, and errands.
These creatures treat their boss, Gru, like a celebrity, they are obsessed with him.
When the boss announces the company has had great success and increased profits,
but will not see raises, the minions scream excitedly and cheer, they appear to be
ecstatic for their boss regardless of personal gain. When Gru and his factory manager
have a possibly harmful substance to test, the manager rounds up several minions.
After receiving a dose, some have turned purple, some have swelled like a balloon,
and one even floats out of a window toward the sky, presumably gone forever. Gru
instructs the manager to continue testing; the needs of the business outweigh the health
and safety of the workers.
By being plentiful, interchangeable, dispensable, and highly supportive of the
business without personal gain, during one scene even to the point of donating their
own money to keep the business (and boss’s dream) alive, the minions already
represent the ideal working class or “low” skilled workers (Silver et al., 2021). Still
yet, these minions provide regulation for both themselves and each other. Dozens of
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scenes show one minion pausing his work duties to goof around, only to immediately
have something, often another minion, cause him pain. The messaging here seems
clear: you must stay on task or something bad will happen. While these workers may
not be as educated as “skilled” workers, they are no less human and deserve to be
treated with dignity.
Other films with this form of regulation surrounding work and labor include
Shrek Forever After (2010), where when the main character briefly abandons his
family life, everyone in his life suffers, Luca from the film Luca (2021) who panics at
the idea of his mother finding out he was slacking on the job, or in Inside Out (2015)
when characters are unable to do their jobs and everyone suffers when two of the
characters stop working, and several more.
The sole film where work-related behavior regulation was not central or
immediately obvious was Finding Dory (2016). Few themes of work and labor
appeared in this film about a forgetful fish trying to remember and find her family.
While there is certainly leadership in this film, there appears to be little obligation to
the main character/mission and little consequence to not assisting. Dory, the forgetful
fish, was not bossy and never forced anyone to do anything for her. While Dory did
ask for help, some characters helped her, but others did not; these characters seemed to
suffer no consequences for their lack of service. The primary drive to assist Dory
appeared to be friendship and liking the character as opposed to following and
assisting out of fear or obligation. Messages like these seem to be almost in opposition
to other frequent messages about service; these messages, which were not exclusive to
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Finding Dory (2016), but most prevalent wherein, appear to be more about
compassion and friendship than workplace behavior. At the end of the film, the
students’ teacher has gone on vacation and three other animals fill his position for him
while he is gone; counter to the “ideal” hard-working employee (Birt, 2023;
Sundheim, 2013). While Finding Dory (2016) was the exception, the messages
surrounding work-related behavior regulation present in the majority of the selected
films were more demanding and frequent and could be considered hegemonic devices
used to help control workers and enforce social norms surrounding work ethic.
4.1.6 Parenting and Household Labor
A 2019 Gallup poll of heterosexual married couples found that women perform
a larger share of household labor and responsibilities than men despite making up
nearly half of the workforce (Brenan, 2020). And while fathers have significantly
increased their amount of time spent parenting, mothers still, on average, spend double
the time fathers do parenting (Schoppe-Sullivan, 2017). While 14 of 20 films (shown
in Table 4.5) featured family or parenting to some extent, only seven of the 20 films
portrayed significant instances of household labor, however both categories were
overwhelmingly performed by women and female characters.
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Table 4.5 - Films with messaging about Parenting and Household Labor
Parenthood/Family
Household Labor
Shrek the Third
X
Up
X
Shrek Forever After
X
X
Toy Story 3
X
Despicable Me
X
X
Monsters University
Despicable Me 2
X
X
Frozen
The Lego Movie
Inside Out
X
Minions
X
Zootopia
Finding Dory
X
X
The Secret Life of Pets
Incredibles 2
X
X
Toy Story 4
Frozen II
X
Onward
X
Luca
X
X
Encanto
X
X
As previously outlined, gender issues in children’s films, especially those from
The Walt Disney Company are heavily explored, however, gender issues and
differences surrounding work and labor have not. While data collection in the present
study yielded a plethora of data surrounding gendered workplace behavior, this data
would be better served as the sole topic of future research and is thus beyond the scope
of the current study. Gendered roles in the home and involving domestic labor were
less frequent and are therefore discussed here.
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Films that easily reflect this division of labor, the necessary actions to sustain
life, and attitudes surrounding it include Shrek Forever After (2010), Inside Out
(2015), and Incredibles 2 (2018), while some clearly step away from these gender
norms like in Finding Dory (2016) and Encanto (2021).
In Shrek Forever After (2010), the main character, an ogre named Shrek, is
now a father to three young babies. The film shows Shrek and his wife, Fiona, during
their day-to-day life which seems to become simultaneously overwhelming and
monotonous to Shrek now that the couple has children. The audience sees Shrek
becoming gradually disillusioned with the constant parenting and household labor he
performs. While Shrek becomes increasingly agitated, Fiona, who seems to perform
far more of these tasks and oversees household management, does so with a smile on
her face; she is clearly content being a parent and household laborer (see Figure 4.5).
Only when Shrek is shown what life would be like without his family does he become
content with his household and parental duties, possibly indicating that the woman’s
place is in the home and she is happy with the endless labor that accompanies it.
Figure 4.5 - Image of Shrek and Fiona while parenting in Shrek Forever After (2010)
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No film in this study, however, tackles gender roles at higher level than
Incredibles 2 (2018). Like Shrek Forever After (2010), both parents are shown
parenting, but the mother, Helen, runs the household and oversees the kids. This
becomes glaringly obvious when Helen becomes the primary earner and the father,
Bob, must stay home with the kids. Perhaps because the film is set in the 1960s
(Acuna, 2019) despite the advanced technology and modern dialogue showcased in
the film, the couple struggles with traditional gender roles. When Helen leaves for
work, she struggles not to focus on her children and backseat parent when speaking to
Bob, while Bob struggles to help the kids with their homework, say the right things,
and keep the household running. When Bob mentions their youngest child to his wife,
Helen immediately blames herself for leaving, “he had an injury! I knew it! I'm
coming home right now! I never should hav-” (Bird, 2018) she says as Bob cuts her
off to let her know the baby is fine.
The family’s teenage daughter, Violet, seems to be equally responsible for her
siblings. In the opening scene of the film, Helen asks her two older children to baby-sit
the youngest while she and her husband, who are superheroes, perform work. "One of
you patrol the perimeter, keep the crowds back and safe. The other, watch after Jack-
Jack [the baby],” (Bird, 2018) Helen tells the children. The daughter, Violet, is
immediately tasked with watching her youngest brother while her other brother
participates in superhero activity. Later, when Violet is able to pass off baby-sitting to
her brother, Helen sees that Violet is childless and screams, "VIOLET! Who's
watching Jack-Jack [the baby]?!" (Bird, 2018). While Helen previously implied that
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either child was capable of baby-sitting, she clearly expected the daughter to take on
this role.
Throughout the film, Violet attempts to shirk the responsibility of baby-sitting,
hoping to participate in a career she is passionate about as a superhero, but she is
repeatedly tasked with baby-sitting, often while her brother participates as a superhero
or does leisurely activities. At the end of the film, Violet, in a display of increased
maturity, offers to baby-sit, “Dad! I know this is going to work. But, if it doesn't, and
we crash, my shields are probably better protection than the ship. I should stay here.
With Jack-Jack,” (Bird, 2018) she volunteers. “That's my girl,” (Bird, 2018) her father
says smiling. It is clear that the females in this family are responsible for childrearing,
even if they are children themselves. This level of responsibility is not expected nor
fully achieved by the male members of the family, again showing that household and
parental labor is women’s responsibility.
While Violet is the oldest sibling, she spends an unprecedented amount of time
worrying about and parenting her younger siblings, a trend also present in the films
Despicable Me (2010) and Despicable Me 2 (2013) when Margot must care for her
younger siblings as well. In both of these franchises, even when a father is in charge of
parenting, he needs help; specifically, that of a female. Young women and girls should
share in the duties of parenting and household labor long before they have their own
homes and families while young men and boys are not held to this standard.
Over time, in the 2018 film, Bob is able to improve his parenting skills (with
the help of his teenage daughter, Violet, and another woman), however this
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arrangement is plainly meant to be temporary and clearly, once Bob gains
employment, this division of labor will not continue. Since the Great Recession which
began in 2007, the percentage of women in the workforce has steadily decreased
(FRED Economic Data, n.d.). Perhaps the messaging in this film is a response to this
trend, however the vast majority of women of working age participate in the labor
market (FRED Economic Data, n.d.) and this trend has been present in animated
children’s films since 1937 (Booker, 2010). The blatant onus of parental responsibility
falling on mothers (and girls) portrayed in some of these films, while representative of
the current division of labor, reinforces the idea of over-working women and mothers.
In contrast to films like Disney’s Incredibles 2 (2018), films like Disney’s
Finding Dory (2016), while not as central to the plot, show parents sharing parental
responsibilities. Dory, a forgetful fish trying to find her family, has memories of her
parents. During these flashbacks, the audience sees Dory's parents working together to
parent her. They both spend time with her together, take turns teaching her new things,
and clearly share the emotional labor involved in caring for young child, especially
one with special needs. Later, when Dory is reunited with her parents, they are found
working together to find Dory and create an opportunity for her to come home. This
portrayal of family, while perhaps not the current norm, has the potential to influence
parents and future parents to share the duties of parenting.
Household labor was almost never a central theme in these films, but in the
film Encanto (2021), it is a large part of the family’s life. While early scenes portray
the main character, Mirabel, who is powerless, and thus jobless, struggling to prove
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herself with manual labor for the family, later scenes show all members of the family,
male and female, working together to accomplish tasks. Like many households in
these films, the leader of the household, Abuela, is a woman, but she also seems to be
the leader of the family’s workplace and the entire village. The climax of the film
shows the house collapsing around the family as Abuela struggles to maintain control
over the family members, but the home is rebuilt with the help of all family members.
This portrayal of division of household labor seems to be a more equal distribution
and perhaps is indicative, in the year 2021, of acceptance of female leadership (when
executed properly) and a closing gap in responsibilities between genders.
4.1.7 Quitting and Self-Care
Themes of quitting and/or self-care were present in 14 of 20 films as shown in
Table 4.6.
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Table 4.6 - Films with messaging about Quitting and Self-Care
Self-care/mental health
Quitting
Shrek the Third
X
X
Up
Shrek Forever After
Toy Story 3
X
X
Despicable Me
X
Monsters University
X
Despicable Me 2
X
Frozen
X
The Lego Movie
Inside Out
X
Minions
X
Zootopia
X
X
Finding Dory
X
The Secret Life of Pets
Incredibles 2
X
Toy Story 4
X
X
Frozen II
Onward
X
X
Luca
Encanto
X
X
These themes were often present, though the themes of self-care were
sometimes in opposition to it. For instance, in Shrek the Third (2007), a secondary, but
important character suffered from mental health issues. The character, a former
teacher of one of the main characters, Artie, had left his position. Artie explains that
this man was his magic teacher “until he had his nervous breakdown" (Miller, 2007).
The former teacher replies, “technically I was merely a victim of a level three fatigue
and at the request of my therapist and the school authorities, I have retired to the
tranquility of nature to discover my divine purpose” (Miller, 2007). Artie and Shrek
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look at each other and roll their eyes at this comment, clearly dismissive of the former
teacher’s mental state and choice to pursue self-care. The teacher is later able to help
Artie and Shrek teleport and, in response, they express little gratitude and are
dismissive overall of the man. This view of self-care where mental health does not
deserve rest is perhaps an ideal message for workers by those in power, that mental
health is not a real reason to leave the workplace but can be detrimental to the worker.
Less time in the workplace has been implemented by several European countries for
better work-life balance and preservation of mental and physical health for workers
(Laker & Roulet, 2019).
The now seemingly antiquated view about mental health is a stark contrast to
later films like Onward (2020) and Encanto (2021) where mental health and lack of
productivity, while perhaps still not mainstream, are far more acceptable. In Onward
(2020), one of the (young) main characters is taking a year off from both work and
school and while it is clear that others do not approve of this, his knowledge and skill
set becomes invaluable, despite his perceived lack of contribution to society. In
Encanto (2021), the high expectations at work and poor work-life balance are
detrimental to the entire cast. This becomes glaringly obvious in Luisa’s song, Surface
Pressure, where she tells the audience things like “under the surface
I'm pretty sure I'm worthless if I can't be of service” and talks about a relentless
pressure surrounding her work and work ethic. If she could just get out from under the
pressure, Luisa tells us, it might “free some room up for joy
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or relaxation, or simple pleasure.” If she is constantly working, laboring, hustling, she
says plainly, she cannot be happy. This is a sharp contrast the messages seen
throughout most of the studied period, especially in the earlier years. This may be
reflective of a shift in attitude surrounding self-care and attitudes about work and
workplace values in the U.S.
Even in Toy Story 4 (2019), the fourth installment of a franchise where Woody,
the main character and a toy, sacrifices everything for the kid he serves, portrays this
evolution in self-care and quitting a job when necessary. In this fourth film, Woody
finds he is not valued in his current position, and so quits his job. While this is out of
character for Woody based on previous films, it does show that the producers may
have taken the current economic climate into consideration when evolving their
storyline.
Overall, the U.S. is seeing a trend in workers who are dissatisfied with their
jobs leaving to receive better benefits and better treatment (Parker & Horowitz, 2022;
Sull et al., 2022) which is discussed further in Results 2. It is possible that content
producers respond to these trends either by embracing these changes (Toy Story 4
(2019), Onward (2020), Encanto (2021)) or by resisting with counter messaging
(Minions (2015), Luca (2021)).
4.1.8 Social Systems and Structures
While few films in this study, perhaps with the exception of Zootopia (2016)
and Incredibles 2 (2018) focused on real life societal systems and government, many
touched on at least one aspect of societal components and aspects of a capitalistic
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structure. Additionally, 13 of the selected 20 films were not set in the year in which
they released and/or referenced a simpler time or a time of supposedly better values in
society. These themes are outlined in the Table 4.7.
Table 4.7 - Films with messaging about Social Systems and Structures
Business &
corporations
Set
in/referencing
the past
Education
Anti-
government/politician/
authoritarianism
Shrek the Third
X
Up
X
Shrek Forever
After
X
X
Toy Story 3
X
X
X
Despicable Me
X
Monsters
University
X
X
Despicable Me 2
X
Frozen
X
X
The Lego Movie
X
X
X
Inside Out
Minions
X
X
Zootopia
X
X
Finding Dory
The Secret Life of
Pets
Incredibles 2
X
X
Toy Story 4
X
Frozen II
X
Onward
X
X
Luca
X
X
Encanto
X
X
While certain themes in films may be relatable to some individuals, social
context may more deeply enhance this relatability. Even films set in different realms
and time periods often reference trends that are happening when in production as
shown in the second results section below. It is unsurprising to see so many clear
references to societal systems and structures, politics, and business.
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The Lego Movie (2014) appears at first glance to be both anti-government and
anti-big business/corporations. While this could be a relatable plot point for many
viewers, the fact that this is produced by an extremely large corporation, Warner Bros.
Discovery which is a media conglomerate owned by The Vanguard Group (Warner
Bros. Discovery, 2023) who, at the time of writing, are planning a merger with the
streaming service HBO Max (Hayes, 2023). The alleged messaging in this film that
big business is evil and that everyone should think for themselves seems likely to go
against the interests of such a large corporation. The film tells the story of Emmet, an
ordinary Lego man who is mistaken as someone with great building skills who fulfills
a prophecy to revert the world back to the way it was before a corporate overlord
controlled everything. The film features a song, “Everything is Awesome” performed
by Tegan and Sara featuring The Lonely Island (Lipshutz, 2015) which while
extremely catchy, represents the supposed antithesis of film.
With lyrics like “Everything is awesome when you’re part of a team” and
"We're the same, I'm like you, you're like me” (Genius Lyrics, n.d.), the characters
who seek freedom from the oppressive oligarch roll their eyes at the song and avoid
listening or singing it the way those who are content with the level of corporate control
do. This appears to be commentary on consumerism and sameness brought on by mass
marketing and corporations. However, this song, has been heavily promoted by the
makers of the film. The original song received a 2015 Academy Award nomination
where it was performed live in a theatrical performance featuring the artists, writers,
and Lego merchandise and reached 57 on the U.S. Billboard’s top 100 songs
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(Lipshutz, 2015). I believe that Horkheimer and Adorno would argue that this song
and advertising effort by Warner Bros. Discovery is the epitome of harmful media
propaganda that attempts to placate consumers (Horkheimer & Adorno, 2012). By
embracing both the film and the song, consumers may feel vindicated by the alleged
messages about corporations controlling their lives in the film, while being placated by
a pop song with little depth in meaning and possibly simultaneously purchasing
associated merchandise.
Other social commentary in these films pushed values, like those of “the past”
whether taking place in current society or fictional ones and anti-government,
politician and authoritative regimes which were represented in films like Shrek
Forever After (2010), Toy Story 3 (2010), and Encanto (2021). These themes, while
varying in the messaging they provided called for change, but many, like Toy Story 3
(2010), while portraying maintenance of the status quo. Overall, many of these films
seemed to portray arching themes of resistance while a plethora of smaller themes
frequently called for compliance and self-regulating behavior.
4.1.9 Results 1 Conclusion
The themes of work and labor portrayed in the selected children’s films, while
seemingly diverse, often have similar themes. Many of these themes center around
social control, self-regulatory behavior, and behavior that benefits those in power.
These themes can be both progressive and regressive, potentially harmful or
potentially helpful, and strive to communicate certain workforce mentalities. While
many of these themes are similar and overlap, it is important to look at these themes
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within the socio-economic context in which they were produced and released, which
the following section outlines.
4.2 Research Question 2
4.2.1 Labor Market Background
In 1999, the U.S. economy was flourishing. The “dot-com bubble” created a
prosperous life for many Americans (Kraay & Ventura, 2007); unemployment was
low, the stock market was high and most Americans reported satisfaction with the
direction of the country (Konicki, 2020). Median household income was at an all-time
high of $66,385 which in 2021, when adjusted for inflation is the equivalent of
$112,649 (CPI Inflation Calculator, n.d.). This is reflected in Figure 4.6 where the
blue line represents actual median income and the yellow line represents income
adjusted for inflation to 2021. Despite this all-time high median income, the median
household income in the 1980s, when adjusted for inflation, was even higher.
Unfortunately, the country soon faced the dot-com burst of 2001. The unemployment
rate peaked at 6.3% and median income fell in the following years (FRED Economic
Data, n.d.), but eventually household income began to rise, unemployment fell, and
while Americans have not since seen the prosperity of the late 1990s, the economy
began to recover.
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Figure 4.6 - Median Household Income (blue) and Adjusted Median Household Income (yellow) from 2007-2021 using data from
the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and CPI Inflation Calculator
In 2007, the nation was experiencing a housing bubble which peaked in 2006.
Unfortunately, much like the dot-com bubble, this bubble soon burst as well (Boykin,
2022). Real estate prices had hit unsustainable levels caused by loose lending practices
and rising housing prices. In December of 2007, the housing bubble burst and the U.S.
faced the worst and longest economic downturn since World War II (Bennett &
Kochhar, 2019; Federal Reserve History, n.d.). This downturn, later coined The Great
Recession, lasted from December 2007 to June 2009. Banks were failing and relying
on government bailouts (Boykin, 2022); many citizens faced home foreclosures and
unemployment skyrocketed (Bennett & Kochhar, 2019). The median household
income had risen to $65,801, the equivalent of $90,632 in 2021 (FRED Economic
Data, n.d.), but by the end of 2007, the average American was beginning to struggle.
Coincidentally, Congress had passed The Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 in July
2007 as part of the U.S. Troop Readiness, Veterans' Care, Katrina Recovery, and Iraq
Accountability Appropriations Act, which provided funding for the ongoing Iraq War
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(Angle, 2007). This act raised the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 by 2009 in a
three-step process. Despite the 29% increase in minimum wage in 2009, this minimum
was still 17% below the minimum wage in 1968 when adjusted for inflation, but did
raise the wages of approximately 4.5 million workers at that time (Fillion, 2009).
Following The Great Recession, the unemployment rate peaked at 10% in
October of 2009, which, unsurprisingly, was also a record low for workplace
resignations in the U.S. The unemployment rate (shown in Figure 4.7) stayed at
historically high levels, especially long-term unemployment, for four years following
the recession (Federal Reserve History, n.d.).
Figure 4.7 - Unemployment Rate from 2007-2021 using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
From 2010 to 2014, over 15% of Americans lived below the poverty line
which by today’s standards, much like the current poverty line, is the equivalent of a
single person living on an annual salary of less than $14,000 (ASPE, n.d.). Despite
this painfully slow-moving economic recovery, the labor market started to see a trend
that began following the record unemployment level in October 2009: workers began
to quit their jobs (FRED Economic Data, n.d.). This process happened slowly at first
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(see Figure 4.8), but by 2019, had easily surpassed the rates seen in 2007 and was
comparable to the rates seen during the prosperous years of the dot-com bubble. At the
same time, the labor force participation was also decreasing, though this is in part due
to an aging population at the time, and of course, the unemployment rate and possibly
other factors (Stock et al., 2014).
Figure 4.8 - Resignations Rate from 2007-2021 using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
With the slow economic recovery following The Great Recession, it is
unsurprising that in the early and mid-2010s, the gig economy was born. This time
period saw the advent of companies like Uber and Airbnb (Vallas & Schor, 2020)
which allowed workers to work on their own schedule and, in some cases, receive
passive income. Recent graduates, eager to work during one of the worst economic
recoveries in U.S. history and workers who needed supplemental income due to
previous unemployment and high inflation, found contract work with many of these
companies (Vallas & Schor, 2020). These platform-based companies experienced
rapid growth and this trend quickly expanded to digital forms such as website-building
and freelance writing.
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A survey of 8,000 workers in six different countries found that between 20-
30% of workers had participated in some type of independent work and that 70% of
these independent workers in the mid-2010s used this work as supplemental income.
This need for supplemental income and desire to be self-employed led to the birth of
the side hustle. Meanwhile, in the workplace, there was the idea of “hustle culture”
which can be defined as an unspoken agreement between where an employee’s work
ethic represents their productivity (Balkeran, 2020). “Hustle culture puts work at the
center of life. Long working hours are praised and glorified. Time off is seen as
laziness. If you are not hustling, you are failing,” (Rozentals, 2022) a Forbes article
author says of the mentality of this culture. The level of dedication from employees
and the need on top of this by many for supplemental income helped to make work a
centric part of American life, but this influential and arguably toxic promotion of
lifestyle came to a halt in 2020.
By 2019, the country was still recovering from The Great Recession, the
longest economic recovery since the mid-19th century. The unemployment rate was the
lowest since the 1960s and the resignation rate was the highest recorded in history by
The Federal Reserve. But on December 12, 2019, the first cases of a SARS-CoV-2
outbreak, more commonly known as COVID-19, were discovered in Wuhan, China
(CDC, 2022). On January 20, 2020, the CDC confirmed the first lab-tested case of
COVID-19 in the U.S. The virus spread quickly from there. On March 11, 2020, the
World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic and
on March 15, 2020, the U.S. began nationwide shutdowns including public schools,
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universities, bars and restaurants, and many businesses deemed “non-essential.” As
unemployment skyrocketed, hitting its highest peak ever of 14.7% in April 2020, the
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was enacted to help
expand unemployment and other benefits, provide loans to businesses, and provide a
stipend to adults and families in the U.S.
The economic recovery from The Great Recession peaked in February of 2020,
despite median income only rising to $71,186 ($76,394 adjusted for inflation), only
84.9% of the value it had been prior to The Great Recession in 2007. This peak was
caused by the economic downturn of the COVID-19 pandemic which was the shortest
recession in history, lasting only two months and beginning to rebound in May 2020
(Schneider, 2021). Despite the rise from the most recent recession, median household
income fell in 2021 to $70,784, 83.2% of the median household income in 2007. This
missing 16.8% equates to $15,189 when adjusted for inflation.
The resignations rate had been steadily on the rise prior to the pandemic and
dropped dramatically from February to April of 2020 (see Figure 4.8) as the world
faced so much uncertainty. These rates quickly rose again and then surpassed all rates
of recorded Federal Reserve history of 21 years (FRED Economic Data, n.d.). This
trend, which peaked in November of 2021, was later termed The Great Resignation.
The Great Resignation, sometimes referred to as the “Big Quit” (Curtis, 2021)
or the “Great Reshuffle,” (Grattan, 2022) is a phenomena that has affected not just the
United States, but other developed nations like Australia and China (Grattan, 2022;
Kaplan, 2021). This trend affected nearly every industry as a Pew Research (Parker &
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Horowitz, 2022) survey found low pay, lack of advancement opportunity, and feeling
disrespected in the workplace were the main drivers for leaving their positions. During
this time, there was not a significant dip in the U.S. Labor Force Participation rate
(FRED Economic Data, n.d.) meaning that many of those who quit during this time
found new positions, and of those, many have experienced improvements, though
college graduates were more likely to experience these improvements (Parker &
Horowitz, 2022). Despite this positive shift for some, at the time of writing, federal
minimum wage and minimum state wage in twenty U.S. states has remained at $7.25
since 2009. When adjusted for inflation, this is well below any previous federal
minimum wage in U.S. history. The rate has remained stagnant longer than at any
other time in U.S. history (U.S. Department of Labor, n.d.). The inflation rate reached
an average of 8% in 2022, the highest rate since 1980 (Iacurci, 2023; US Inflation
Calculator, n.d.) and economists believe that the U.S. is currently on the verge of
another recession (Nam & Rosalsky, 2023). Still, it is possible that the Great
Resignation signals the beginning of a new era in the workplace and in the U.S. labor
market, which might be reflected in and possibly affected by popular media.
4.2.2 Making a Feature-Length Animated Film
The time it takes to make a film can vary wildly, from mere months, up to a
decade (Lee, 2019). Animated films, however, frequently take a significant amount of
time to create. Due to the labor intensive process of animation, animated films can
sometimes take up to three or four years to complete (Viswanathan, 2013), though
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four years is considered an exceptional amount of time (Lee, 2019). Both Frozen and
Despicable Me took about two years to complete (Fleming, 2008; Greco, 2014).
While the amount of time to produce animated films is only a couple of years,
the ideas behind the films are often presented far earlier. For instance, the Disney film
Wreck-It Ralph (not included in this study) was pitched to the Walt Disney Company
in the 1980s but was not actually released until 2012 (McKeon, 2019). The Disney
film, Frozen was released the following year, 2013, and, as previously mentioned,
took two years to create, but had actually been an idea for The Walt Disney Company
back in 1937 and finally came to fruition 70 years later (Greco, 2014).
Because these production companies, or at least, The Walt Disney Company,
holds on to these story ideas for sometimes decades at a time, it is safe to assume that
they plan and time the release of their films. One factor of this timing could be current
events. For example, The Last of Us II, a popular post-apocalyptic video game was set
to release in the year 2020, but the creators announced that this launch would be
delayed during the COVID-19 pandemic despite the game being ready to release
(Peters, 2020). Other articles cited the first part of this game as inadvisable to play
during the pandemic as the game hit a little close to home in the wake of massive
lockdowns, millions of deaths, and uncertainty (Cooper, 2020). Instances like these
show that companies must consider many real-world events before releasing media.
This idea of mimetic creation shows that it is possible that these films, while
providing messages for young generations, are also imitating current events which
may speak to their adult audiences. If this is true and it takes around two to four years
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to produce a feature-length animated film, trends in the current economy and U.S.
labor market should be reflected in these films. Prominent ideas, culture, and events
that take place in the U.S. should be visible in these films within two to four years of
their release date. It is also possible that in addition to reflecting events and the
economy, that production companies, their subsidiaries, or their investors who have an
interest in controlling the working class may provide messages to counter trends in the
marketplace that do not benefit them and their interests.
The following sections attempt to interpret the changes in messaging overtime
in the selected films using a critical lens. These sections are chronological and
separated by major economic and cultural events that the U.S. has faced from the
years 2007 to 2021. Figure 4.9 shows a timeline of the films used in this study and the
dates of their release for reference.
Figure 4.9 - Timeline of the release dates of the 20 films used in this study.
4.2.3 Produced Before the Great Recession – 2007
Shrek the Third was likely the only film in this study to have been made before
The Great Recession as it was released in May of 2007. Because of this, it is difficult
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to draw conclusions about films produced during this time, however there were clear
themes in this film that were not seen in the films immediately following the economic
downturn. The main storyline of this third installment of the Shrek series is that Shrek,
who is next in line to be king due to his marriage to a Princess, must find a
replacement king as he is unwilling to take the job on. By not taking this position,
Shrek is passing up responsibility, but also wealth. Prior to a recession, this might be a
believable storyline for the character, but following the recession, many Americans
struggled financially. It seems less likely that production companies would promote
this theme following the economic downturn as it would have become unrealistic to
many Americans.
An important side story in the film as it sets the stage for the fourth Shrek film
is that Shrek will soon be a father. Shrek finds this extremely nerve-wracking, but by
the end of the film, he is excited and embraces fatherhood. It is no surprise that The
Great Recession saw a decline in birth rates (Chapman, 2022) in the U.S. as the
market was unstable. Prior to 2008 however, U.S. fertility was on the rise after falling
dramatically in the 1970s. This more prosperous time was much more ideal for having
children than after the Great Recession. Despite the small rise in fertility at that time,
the birth rate has been steadily declining since the 1960s (see Figure 4.10).
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Figure 4.10 - The U.S. birthrate from 1960 to 2019
A declining birth rate is not ideal for most countries who need to support the
large ageing populations (Chapman, 2022), but arguably, this decline is even worse for
capitalism. Wealthy countries frequently see a decline in birth rate as citizens put
career first and consider family to be a luxury, but this decline in fertility can cause an
economic collapse (Pilkington, 2022). Countries, and I argue large corporations, have
a vested interest in increasing fertility which can be achieved through laws promoting
births, such as financial incentives like paid parental leave or restricting access to birth
prevention. Because so many large corporations need replacement workers to continue
and expand their businesses as well as consumers to consume their products, I believe
that Gramsci would assert that there is a strong possibility themes like the joys of
parenthood are promoted in media to help support those in power (Gramsci, 2012).
This theme is also seen in later films like the Despicable Me (2010), Despicable Me 2
(2013), and The Incredibles 2 (2018).
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4.2.4 Produced During and After The Great Recession - years 2009-2013
The Great Recession was a significant economic event that affected many
Americans. With unemployment so high, resignations low, and median income
dropping, it could easily be argued that this was a time when Americans needed an
escape. However, themes surrounding these difficult times, especially storylines with a
happy ending, could be especially popular and thus profitable as the high viewership
of many children’s films show (Box Office Mojo, n.d.; Streaming Grew Its Audience in
2021; Drama, Reality and Kids’ Programming Led the Content Wars, 2022). Using a
timeline of roughly two years to produce a film, Up, which was released in 2009,
followed a widowered retiree, Carl, who is asked to sell the home he shared with his
now deceased wife for decades A nearly faceless entity pressures Carl to sell his home
which is extremely distressing for Carl. Carl fights against the “man” by launching his
two-story home into the air with hundreds of colorful latex balloons. He uses this
opportunity to visit a destination he had always dreamed of visiting with his late wife.
Up was the highest grossing animated children’s film in 2009. While the film
did feature a child, this film was primarily about an elderly man fighting to save his
home. After the 2007 housing crisis, six million American households foreclosed on
their homes in 2008 (Ohlrogge, 2021). This film likely resonated with audiences who
may have had to foreclose on their homes, downsize, or had friends and family who
did in the wake of the housing collapse.
The popular films of 2010 had less somber storylines than Up, but still featured
topics pertinent to the recession. These films featured themes like job loss due to
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eliminated positions (Toy Story 3), companies profiting while workers’ wages stagnate
as well as companies struggling due to lack of funding (Despicable Me), and a
kingdom-wide economic downturn with some forced to work during difficult times
(Shrek Forever After).
Following the Great Recession, as is frequently the case when unemployment
is high, a greater number of people began higher education (Barshay, 2020), a theme
that is clearly reflected in Monsters University (2013), a film about two characters
attending university. As the market slowly began to recover, themes like a mother
quitting her job to be a wife and parent (Despicable Me 2) were more prevalent than
were seen immediately following the economic collapse.
4.2.5 Hustle Culture and the Gig Economy – years 2014-2019
In the mid-2010s, “hustle culture” was in full swing. Workers were encouraged
to make their job their lives and on top of that, have a “side hustle” of active or passive
income (Balkeran, 2020; Griffith, 2019; Rozentals, 2022). This gig economy meant
freelance contract work for many people who took on large projects. Resignations at
this time were also ramping up and job hopping was becoming increasingly prevalent.
Films like Inside Out (2015), Zootopia (2016), and Frozen II (2019) showed
characters dedicating their entire lives and personalities to their jobs, while films like
Minions (2015), Incredibles 2 (2018), and Toy Story 4 (2019) still showcased a
dedication to the characters’ craft but featured far more job changes and side jobs.
This wide range in job market portrayal could be an effort to both keep workers
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dedicated to their jobs as seen with the former three films, while still catering to the
changing market and producing relatable content, as seen in the three latter films.
Inside Out (2015) is the story of12-year-old Riley and her emotions. These
emotions live in a whole world inside Riley’s head and live to serve Riley at all costs.
Each emotion, Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger, and Disgust has its own value and agenda
related to their work as Riley’s emotions. Joy, the main character, is the leader of the
emotions and struggles to let others be in charge. The entire film centers around Joy
and Sadness attempting to find their way back to Riley’s mind to assist her at any cost.
This dedication to the entity in charge is echoed in the entire Toy Story franchise, but
in Toy Story 4 (2019), this seems to only be true only for some characters. Woody, the
main toy of the group, in the three previous films had a fierce dedication to the child
he served. In this fourth installation, however, Woody decides that this is no longer the
position for him. It is clear throughout the film that Woody’s attitude and values are
dated and that he is no longer a favorite toy, so he trains his replacement and retires
from his position to be with a love interest whom he, decades prior, chose work and
his boss, Andy over.
This retirement, while wildly out of character for Woody compared to the
previous films in the series outlines how one is allowed to leave the work force.
Woody has put in decades of work and must train his replacement before leaving. He
cannot, it seems, leave until he knows that the company is taken care of and only after
his boss is satisfied may he be with his love and truly enjoy life; a reminder that rest
and enjoyment must be earned through years of quality work and labor.
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Like Inside Out (2015), Zootopia (2016) features a strong female lead who is
fiercely dedicated to her job. The entire film is about Judy, a young bunny, dreaming
about, training for, and joining the police force of a large city. The film is decidedly
prosocial, so much so, that it promotes the criminalization of side hustle culture. Judy
is so opposed to the other lead, Nick’s, street life where his only crime to the
audience’s knowledge is tax evasion due to his uncustomary means of earning a
salary, that she abuses her power as an officer in an attempt to blackmail him into
helping her. The film promotes a toxic work environment with a boys’ club mentality
where the female and minority leads must adapt to the environment and prove their
worth in order to be valued in the workplace. Zootopia could be considered a prime
example of a hegemonic device to promote government and the status quo, but,
perhaps unsurprisingly, only five years later, Disney released the film (Encanto) about
dismantling toxic work environments and promoting self-care as toxic workplace
environment is a major reason that some workers leave their positions (Sull et al.,
2022).
Incredibles 2 (2018) is the second film in the Incredibles series and also
portrays themes of job hopping by the main characters, though this is unintentional
due to job loss. Perhaps this was a safe theme to portray in 2018 as unemployment had
fallen and the economy was recovering from the Great Recession, but it may have also
been a reminder. This theme of job loss and fear of homelessness while always present
for some, was a fear for many ten years prior. While relatable, it could also serve as a
reminder of what the economy was not long ago and of how quickly and drastically it
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can change. Employee turnover is one of the most costly issues for any business; it is
estimated that an employee quitting costs a company approximately 33% of the
employee’s salary (Hall, 2019; Rozentals, 2022). While frequent resignations can be
detrimental to a company, it is likely to be more beneficial for the employee. A Pew
Research Center survey (Parker & Horowitz, 2022) found that of workers who
switched jobs during 2021, 56% found a position with higher compensation, 53% now
have more opportunities for advancement and have greater work-life balance, and
50% reported greater flexibility in hours and working location. A job market where
employees can change jobs greatly benefits the workers and allows them greater
control over and say in the market. Reminding workers during a time when they have
greater control that they could be easily jobless and homeless could be seen as an
attempt to quell some of these labor market trends.
4.2.6 The Great Resignation Lead Up – years 2020-2021
Starting around 2017, Generation Z began entering the labor market and
brought new values with them such as good benefits (e.g. family leave, health
insurance), good work-life balance, and potential for career advancement (Barhate &
Dirani, 2021). In the lead up to the Great Resignation, the U.S. labor market saw a
shift in attitude. Workers became more interested in flexibility in the workplace,
opportunities to learn and grow, and opportunities for advancement (Staglin, 2022)
and members of Generation Z tend to value meaningful and interesting work and will
change positions to find it (Schroth, 2019). The film Onward (2020) was released
during the COVID-19 pandemic just before lockdowns and movie theater closures.
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The film featured two teenage brothers, one of whom had recently graduated from
high school and is taking a gap year. The brothers must work together to find magical
items to bring back their deceased father for a day. The older of the two brothers isn’t
working or in school and spends a good portion of his time playing and talking about a
magical game similar to Dungeons and Dragons (DnD) which he claims is historical
rather than fiction. While their mother and the community seem exasperated with the
older brothers’ lack of productivity, it is his knowledge of the community’s magical
past that allows the brothers to see their father and restores magic to the community.
The changing values seen in this film regarding productivity and labor, seem to
be reflective of the values of the youngest adult generation and what they bring to the
future of the workplace and beyond.
According to Nielsen (2022) Luca, which was released in mid-2021 straight to
streaming due to the COVID-19 pandemic, was the most viewed film of 2021 across
all streaming services. The messages within this film, produced by Walt Disney
Studios, contrast greatly with the films produced by the Walt Disney Company
immediately before (Onward) and after (Encanto) Luca. Luca is a story about a young
sea creature, Luca, who works for his overbearing mother shepherding fish, but
dreams of life above the surface of the ocean. When Luca finally adventures out of the
sea accompanied by his new friend Alberto, he finds that he is transformed into a
human when he is dry. Alberto and Luca discover land together and play and build
things. When Luca’s parents discover that Luca has been visiting the surface they are
angry and threaten to send him away, so Luca runs away with Alberto to the surface.
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Here they meet Giulia, a young girl who works for her father selling fish in the
summer and attends school the rest of the year. Luca becomes interested in Giulia’s
studies and eventually, with the support of his mother, father, and grandmother leaves
the town with Giulia to study abroad. Alberto, who has no family, seems not to
understand cultural norms as easily as Luca, and whose wardrobe implies a lack of
income and resources (e.g., Alberto uses a piece of rope as a belt as seen in Figure
4.11), decides to stay behind to perform manual labor for Giulia’s dad.
Figure 4.11 - Image from the film Luca (2021), Luca is shown on the left, Alberto on the right.
Once again, this film was likely produced during a time of economic downturn
and uncertainty (the COVID-19 pandemic), so it is unsurprising to see themes of
education arise throughout the film as a high unemployment rate is directly related to
higher education attendance (Barshay, 2020). What is interesting in this film is who
gets to attend schooling. Unlike Monsters University (2013), where every character
was in school in the film which followed the Great Recession, only Giulia and Luca,
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who both have loving families and greater resources, attend school. Alberto, who
doesn’t seem to “get” school stays behind. Perhaps, as the U.S. sees an ever falling
birth rate (Chapman, 2022), an increasingly educated population (Schmidt, 2018;
Statista, n.d.) the messaging here is that education is for the privileged. As the U.S.
scrambled to keep “essential” (low paid and “low” skilled) workers like factory,
service, and retail workers working during the pandemic (Kinder & Stateler, 2021), it
was easy to see that these workers were indeed essential to the health of the U.S.
economy. These messages about who can learn and who must work are possibly
reflective of the values held by those who employ said workers. These essential
workers are heavily relied upon by the U.S. economy and ruling class and represent
half of the U.S. workforce (Kinder & Stateler, 2021), it is possible that this messaging
is an attempt to retain low-level workers in their positions and discourage the influx of
higher skilled workers unwilling to perform “low” skilled labor.
Onward (2020) was released in a time of greater prosperity than the nation had
seen in years. It seems that the production company could afford to portray characters
who were of working age, but did not participate in the labor market, but Luca was
released during such economic uncertainty that it was all about work, education, and
productivity. Not only were work and labor frequently present in this film, it was
mostly performed by children at a time when many states were, and at the time of
writing still are, attempting to renegotiate longer hours and hazardous work for young
teenagers in the midst of a labor shortage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic (Barnes,
2021; Trau, 2023; Wilkins, 2023). It is possible that this is a hegemonic device: that
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the Walt Disney Company and its subsidiaries would benefit from the labor of these
low paid positions.
As the trend of job-hopping and an uncertain labor force continued, the Great
Resignation peaked with the most resignations in recorded history in November of
2021: the same month that Encanto (2021) was released. Encanto was the first film
Disney released in theaters following the COVID-19 pandemic. The film featured a
family of characters with magical powers (which they use to work and labor for the
community) who are overworked and struggling with the expectations put on them by
their leader (Abuela). Eventually, the stress and fighting within the family cause the
family’s powers to implode and disappear, leaving them to sort out their issues and
figure out how to have a better work-life balance. In the end, the family’s powers are
restored, and they are seen using their powers, but also relaxing and having fun with
Abuela’s new, more realistic expectations.
The messaging in this film epitomizes the trend towards health, happiness,
fulfillment, and work-life balance that younger generations are attempting to insert
into the workforce (Barhate & Dirani, 2021; Schroth, 2019). Compared to the previous
film, Luca (2021), it seems as though the Walt Disney Company has chosen to lean
into (and profit from) this current trend.
4.2.7 Results 2 Conclusion
Children’s films may be considered escapism for many, but in order to create
this fantasy, filmmakers and production companies must be aware of current economic
trends and shifts in attitude and tailor release dates accordingly (Greco, 2014;
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McKeon, 2019). Armed with this ability and knowledge, it is possible that major
corporations, like those who produced the selected films, not only reflect current
culture, but could attempt to influence it as well. The evolution of children’s films
following the pandemic and the Great Resignation will be a rich area for future study.
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5 V. CONCLUSION
5.1 Research Question 1
This study took a critical look at children’s films assuming the possibility that
they could be used as hegemonic devices by those in power to influence and
perpetuate work, labor, and workplace ideals and ethics. Findings suggest that not only
are themes of work and labor present in many children’s films, but that these messages
are a reflection of the values of the dominant society and, thus, those in power.
Therefore, some of these messages are functionally a means of control over the
population. For example, one of the main themes found in this analysis was the
message that one must be constantly useful and productive or risk abuse, ostracization,
or homelessness. Messages such as these could have a lasting effect on viewers, which
include both children and adults.
Not only do these messages reinforce ideas that benefit those in power at the
expense of the worker for those who have or currently participate in the labor market,
but they introduce these ideas to children, normalizing the behavior early and often in
attempt to create ideal workers. Film, like all media, Horkheimer and Adorno assert,
placates and pacifies us. When we are exposed to a scene like one in Frozen (2013)
where a character, Kristoff, reacts negatively to inflated pricing, but ultimately does
nothing about it, we may learn that price gauging is unavoidable and, when faced with
a similar situation, we react the same way as Kristof or not at all; we’ve seen this
before and it cannot be avoided. This complacency is instilled in us through this
medium. Without a critical view of the films we watch, games we play, and social
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media we consume, we are set ourselves up to be manipulated and coerced into
serving those in power.
While everyone is vulnerable to this level of social control, according to social
control theory (Bandura 2001), children may be even more influenced by these
messages and it is imperative that we question all messages provided in media
designed for younger age groups. What children see and digest today could have
massive implications for their future values and the societies that will be comprised of
them.
5.2 Research Question 2
By comparing these themes and messages to trends in the U.S. labor market,
it became clear that the producers of these films likely took these trends into
consideration when creating these films. The trends in the labor market were typically
reflected in these films within two years after the economic event. The idea that these
massive media conglomerates likely considered or are reflective of major economic
events when producing these heavily viewed films indicates that films are mimetic of
current society and that producers may attempt to react to and possibly control
viewers’ actions thus potentially influencing the labor market.
It may seem far-fetched that these corporations are putting messages in films to
influence and control workers and, thus, the labor market, but it is not outside the
realm of possibility. These huge conglomerates who own news stations, streaming
networks and invest sometimes billions of dollars in other industries have the means to
control the narrative in several media and may do so to benefit their own interests.
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According to a 2020 CNBC article (Whitten, 2020), the Apple company allows and
even encourages iPhones to be used in films and on television under one condition: the
villain cannot have an iPhone. By controlling who uses their products on screen, not
only is Apple participating in product placement, but are using emotion and influence
to teach viewers that they are associated with good guys – or, at least, not bad ones.
This is only a small example of the consideration taken by film producers, but shows
intentionality on the part of a major corporation in an effort to influence viewers. The
subtlety behind this maneuver shows that even the smallest efforts in films could be an
attempt to influence and control.
5.3 Policy Implications
While this study is not designed to guide policy, it should serve as a cautionary
tale to parents. Films designed for children may seem innocuous, but the deeper
messaging, especially if a child engages in multiple viewings, could be significant. It
is important to remember who is producing these films and the potential benefits that
these conglomerates, or others with whom they associate, could receive by providing
certain messaging to children.
Experts recommend that parents monitor their children’s media use, especially
for age-inappropriate material like violence or sexual situations (Ben-Joseph, 2022).
The findings of this study and many others that find messages in children’s films show
that parents might want to be equally critical of the messaging found in these films and
the values that they might promote.
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5.4 Future Research and the Future of Children’s Films
This study covered themes of work and labor in 15 years’ worth of children’s
films. While coding, strong themes around gendered work and labor emerged, so
much so that it became impossible to include within the limits of this study and is an
area for future research. While gendered themes of work have been examined (Griffin
et al., 2017) and gender in animated Disney films has been heavily examined (Coyne
et al., 2016; D. E. England et al., 2011; Padilla-Walker et al., 2013a; Towbin et al.,
2004), there still exists a gap in critical assessment of gender in non-Disney animated
films and of gendered work and labor in both Disney and non-Disney animated films.
Household labor and workplace dynamics were found to be especially
gendered, though it was difficult to decipher at times whether the roles were gender
related or driven by other factors (class, status, race, etc.). A limitation of this study
was that a sole researcher both collected and analyzed data; I could only interpret the
data through my personal lens. More researchers, and possibly those representing
more than one gender, collecting, and analyzing the same data might be a more ideal
and less biased way to interpret gendered work and labor in these films.
Other themes that emerged in the data but were almost impossible to interpret
with the sample size were that of race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation related to work
and labor. Many of these films offer few minority characters and/or are
anthropomorphic making it difficult to tell if they are intended to represent specific
groups. Often, a character might perform an action that another wouldn’t, but was he
doing it because he was black or a man? The overall lack of diversity in these films is
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disheartening. The lack of diversity makes it difficult to study the diversity present at
all, but, with a larger sample size, more of these themes and patterns could more easily
emerge.
This study was inherently critical of the messages surrounding work and labor
in children’s films, but the evolution of these messages could indicate a shift in
societal values that benefit workers. Recent films like Onward (2020) and Encanto
(2021) portray messages and themes more closely associated with leisure, the
necessity of rest and self-care, and greater work-life balance. These media
conglomerates have the potential to influence viewers, but this more worker-focused
messaging could indicate change on the horizon for animated children’s films, the
messages of which will be fascinating to study.
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7 APPENDIX A
A.1 – Example of Data Collection from the film Inside Out (2015)
A.2 - Example of Data Collection from the film Monsters University (2013)
Time
Stamp
Character
Character's
Role
What they're doing
(working/not working)
How we know it's
their "job"
How they seem to feel
about the "job"
How others seem to feel about the character in
relation to their job
Quotation
16;12 Fear S At the control panel Joy has told us Jumpy, stressed D rolls her eyes at him. A seems calm, but irritated.
"Did you hear Dad? He sounded really upset. What was that? Was it a bear?
16;52 Joy M
Attempting to be at the control
panel and calm other emotions
down
Joy has told us Frustrated
A, D, F, and S are insistant that things are bad.
Confident, irritated.
"Okay, I admit it, we had a rough start. But think of all the good things that--
Let us handle this." - A
17;22 Joy M
As mom is explaining that dad
is on a work call, J gives up
control of panel
Joy has told us
Sad, upset, disappointed,
defeated
A, D, F, and S are ready to take over, seem
confident.
17;47 Joy M
As mom is praising R for staying
positive, J turns around to
come back to control panel
Joy has told us
Happily takes over control
panel
A, D, F, and S back off, in awe, let J through
"I guess all I really want to say is: thank you. You know, through all this
under a lot of pressure. But if you and I can keep smiling, it would be a big
help. We can do that for him, right?" - Mom
18;22 Joy M
EOD - pushes a button and
memories disappear
Joy has told us J ends the day happy Other emotions seem satisfied and leave
sending these to Long Term. Great day today, guys! Sleep well TEAM
HAPPY!" - J
Inside Out
Time
Stamp
Character
What they're doing
(working/not working)
How they seem to feel
about the "job"
How others seem to
feel about the
character in relation to
their job
Quotation Notes/Working Theory
2;42
Monster
Kids
Kids taken to scare
factory to see what
scarers do
Pride when showing
the kids about scarers
Kids are impressed,
excited
"This is where we collect the scream energy to power
our whole world. And can anyone tell me whose job it is
to go get that scream?" - Tour guide
Viewer is exposed to kids being exposed to themes of work.
Normalizes kids caring about/being excited about work
6;10 Scarer
Went into door to scare
child, M snuck in without
scarer noticing
Confident about his
own job, impressed M
was in the room
without scarer
knowing
M is in awe of scarer
and scaring process
kid." - Scarer
M snuck in where he didn't belong. Teacher and workers scold
him/are glad he's ok. Scarer is impressed by his ability to be
quiet/unseen. The scarer gives M his hat and winks at him, giving his
approval. Potential message: It's ok to break the rules in the
workplace if you're good at what you do?
16;40 M
Randall tries to get M to
go to a party after the
first day of classes. M
stays home to study
instead
Confident, vigilant
R thinks M is silly to
stay in and study when
he has all semester to
do so
Stay vigilant? Never relax? Do the things you have to do before the
things you want to do. When M was a kid, all he wanted was to be a
scarer and go to MU. Now that he's at MU, he can't relax until he's a
scarer.
18;00 M
M is studying when S
bursts into his room
Upset at the chaotic
interruption
S laughs it off, thinks M
studying at all is silly -
no need
S doesn't seem to think he needs to work hard because he has
natural ability and is descended from great scarers.
Monsters University
