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Genre in Contemporary Disney Animated Features (2008-2016) Eve Benhamou A dissertation submitted to the University of Bristol in accordance with the requirements for award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts Department of Film and Television 15 February 2019 79,352 words 1 ABSTRACT This thesis explores how Disney has re-appropriated and re-envisioned a wide range of Hollywood genres in order to revise and renew the studio’s feature-length animated output. Focusing on films released between 2008 and 2016, this study analyses their distinctive generic approach, building on the specific aesthetic of animation, and the intertext and paratext surrounding Disney. This study elaborates on two main trends characterising Disney’s contemporary output. Section 1 focuses on borrowings from and convergences with genres of romance, including romantic and screwball comedies, looking closely at how Disney self-reflexively revises one of the studio’s most iconic genre: the fairy tale. Section 2 explores the studio’s more expansive generic impulses, considering re-appropriations of action-adventure genres such as the superhero film and the cop buddy film. These two sections demonstrate the multiple ways in which Disney’s output engages with contemporary Hollywood genres, both as animated films and Disney features. Examining these films from the perspective of genre studies challenges well-established understandings of Disney, mainstream animation, and film genres. The analysis of non- canonical films such as Disney animated features, often excluded from live-action dominated genre studies, opens new ways to approach major Hollywood genres, foregrounding the porousness of generic borders and the key role of paratexts in generic construction. Such a generic perspective also reassesses recurring associations between mainstream animated films and a very narrow set of genres, linked to their perceived limited audience and lightweight content. Through the particular form and styles of animation, these films re-imagine a multiplicity of genres in playfully challenging and often subversive ways. Combining a focus on genre and on the specificities of the animation medium, this thesis illuminates how Disney distinctively reworks contemporary generic tropes, engaging with the studio’s own familiar narratives, aesthetic style, and gender portrayals in the process. 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my supervisor, Kristian Moen, for his dedicated guidance, patience, and enthusiasm for my project. His illuminating advice and constant encouragement have been invaluable. My co-supervisor, Sarah Street, has always provided insightful feedback and assistance. My sincere appreciation goes to the University of Bristol for its financial support. Lucy Langley-Palmer and Shelley Marsden significantly helped navigate the practicalities of postgraduate research studies. I am particularly grateful to the Film & Television postgraduate community for their thought- provoking suggestions and infectious passion for cinema. The long film discussions over cake/ice cream were particularly appreciated. Special thanks to Miguel Gaggiotti, Dominic Lash, Hoi Lun Law, Steven Roberts, and Polly Rose for their comments on this work. The denizens of the Arts & Humanities graduate school also made this PhD journey a more joyful one. Special praise goes to Jawaher Alghamdi and Dana Ramona. I am forever indebted to my parents for their unwavering confidence in me and in my work, and for fostering my love of film through an extensive home video library and weekly trips to the cinema. Huge thanks to my boyfriend, Ricardo, who introduced me to many of the (action-adventure) films discussed in this thesis, and selflessly accompanied me to watch Frozen and almost everything released by Disney in the past five years. His support and silly jokes helped me go through the ups and downs of postgraduate life. Finally, I dedicate this thesis to my father. Eve Benhamou 15 February 2019 3 I declare that the work in this dissertation was carried out in accordance with the requirements of the University’s Regulations and Code of Practice for Research Degree Programmes and that it has not been submitted for any other academic award. Except where indicated by specific reference in the text, the work is the candidate’s own work. Work done in collaboration with, or with the assistance of, others, is indicated as such. Any views expressed in the dissertation are those of the author. Some of the arguments in chapters 4 and 5 appear in the following publication: Benhamou, Eve. “Freezing Versus Wrecking: Reworking the Superhero Genre in Disney’s Frozen (2013) and Wreck-It Ralph (2012).” Animation Practice, Process & Production 4 (2014): 13-27. doi: 10.1386/ap3.4.1.27_1. SIGNED: ............................................................. DATE: .........15 February 2019................. 4 CONTENTS Abstract 2 Acknowledgements 3 List of Illustrations 6 Introduction 9 Literature Review: Disney 34 Section 1: Animating Romance 55 Chapter 1 Reworking the Disney Formula: 55 The Post-Shrek Animated Fairy Tale and Its Ambivalent Paratexts Chapter 2 Old-fashioned Fantasies? 77 Reviving Fairy-Tale Romance Through Multi-layered Disney Nostalgia Chapter 3 Performing the Disney Couple: 121 Romantic Parodies and Playful Mise En Scènes Section 2: Animating Action Adventure 164 Chapter 4 Animating the Digital Action-Adventure Spectacle 164 Chapter 5 Overflowing Powers: 202 Disruption and Containment in the Gendering of Disney’s Superheroes Chapter 6 Animal Action Buddies: 246 Disney’s Anthropomorphic Re-Imaginings Conclusion 283 Works Cited 298 Audiovisual Works 318 5 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1. The Princess and the Frog [movie poster]. http://www.impawards.com/2009/princess_and_the_frog_ver3_xlg.html (accessed 22 August 2018). Figure 2: Tangled [feature film trailer 1, online]. Dir. Nathan Greno and Byron Howard. Walt Disney Animation Studios, US, 2010. 2 min. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f516ZLyC6U (accessed 22 August 2018). Figure 3: Tangled [feature film trailer 1, online]. Dir. Nathan Greno and Byron Howard. Walt Disney Animation Studios, US, 2010. 2 min. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f516ZLyC6U (accessed 22 August 2018). Figure 4: Tangled [movie poster]. http://www.impawards.com/2010/tangled_ver3.html (accessed 22 August 2018). Figure 5: Frozen [movie poster]. http://www.impawards.com/2013/frozen_ver8.html (accessed 22 August 2018). Figure 6: “Disney” opening to The Princess and the Frog [feature film]. Dir. Ron Clements and John Musker. Walt Disney Animation Studios, US, 2009. 97 min. Figure 7: “Walt Disney Animation Studios” opening to The Princess and the Frog [feature film]. Dir. Ron Clements and John Musker. Walt Disney Animation Studios, US, 2009. 97 min. Figure 8: Tangled [feature film]. Dir. Nathan Greno and Byron Howard. Walt Disney Animation Studios, US, 2010. 100 min. Figure 9: Tangled [feature film]. Dir. Nathan Greno and Byron Howard. Walt Disney Animation Studios, US, 2010. 100 min. Figure 10: The Princess and the Frog [feature film]. Dir. Ron Clements and John Musker. Walt Disney Animation Studios, US, 2009. 97 min. Figure 11: The Princess and the Frog [feature film]. Dir. Ron Clements and John Musker. Walt Disney Animation Studios, US, 2009. 97 min. Figure 12: Frozen [feature film]. Dir. Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee. Walt Disney Animation Studios, US, 2013. 102 min. Figure 13: Frozen [feature film]. Dir. Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee. Walt Disney Animation Studios, US, 2013. 102 min. Figure 14: Tangled [feature film]. Dir. Nathan Greno and Byron Howard. Walt Disney Animation Studios, US, 2010. 100 min. 6 Figure 15: Frozen [feature film]. Dir. Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee. Walt Disney Animation Studios, US, 2013. 102 min. Figure 16: The Princess and the Frog [feature film]. Dir. Ron Clements and John Musker. Walt Disney Animation Studios, US, 2009. 97 min. Figure 17: The Princess and the Frog [feature film]. Dir. Ron Clements and John Musker. Walt Disney Animation Studios, US, 2009. 97 min. Figure 18: Bolt [feature film]. Dir. Byron Howard and Chris Williams. Walt Disney Animation Studios, US, 2008. 96 min. Figure 19: Bolt [feature film]. Dir. Byron Howard and Chris Williams. Walt Disney Animation Studios, US, 2008. 96 min. Figure 20: Big Hero 6 [feature film]. Dir. Don Hall and Chris Williams. Walt Disney Animation Studios, US, 2014. 102 min. Figure 21: Wreck-It Ralph [feature film]. Dir. Rich Moore. Walt Disney Animation Studios, US, 2012. 101 min. Figure 22: Moana [feature film]. Dir. Ron Clements and John Musker. Walt Disney Animation Studios, US, 2016. 107 min. Figure 23: Moana [feature film]. Dir. Ron Clements and John Musker. Walt Disney Animation Studios, US, 2016. 107 min. Figure 24: Big Hero 6 [feature film]. Dir. Don Hall and Chris Williams.