Whoever Said Change Was Good: The Transforming Body of the Disney Villainess

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dc.contributor.advisorFisher-Stitt, Norma Sue
dc.contributor.authorJohnson, Michelle Marie
dc.date.accessioned2020-05-11T12:54:53Z
dc.date.available2020-05-11T12:54:53Z
dc.date.copyright2019-12
dc.date.issued2020-05-11
dc.date.updated2020-05-11T12:54:53Z
dc.degree.disciplineDance Studies
dc.degree.levelDoctoral
dc.degree.namePhD - Doctor of Philosophy
dc.description.abstractThis dissertation examines female figures in Disney animation through the lens of Laban Movement Analysis (LMA), a system for observing and articulating movement qualities. Drawing from six major films released between 1937 and 2010, I focus my inquiry on how the bodies and movement of Disneys villainesses reflect and/or perpetuate cultural imaginaries of women. I identify the influence of several cultural tropes of femininity, including fairy-tale archetypes, ballet conventions, and the Hollywood femme fatale, and explore how they constellate social understandings of age, beauty, and desirability. Coalescing around the theme of physical transformation, the study investigates how consistent movement patterns both support character animation and reflect gender ideologies encoded in the bodies of these wicked women. Through a methodology grounded in LMA and drawing from dance studies, feminist theory, and Disney scholarship, I interrogate popular conceptions of women and evil, articulate how movement contributes to cultural meaning, and demonstrate LMAs value to cultural analysis and animation.
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10315/37474
dc.languageen
dc.rightsAuthor owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests.
dc.subjectDance
dc.subject.keywordsLaban Movement Analysis
dc.subject.keywordsDisney
dc.subject.keywordsAnimation
dc.subject.keywordsPop culture
dc.subject.keywordsWomen's bodies
dc.subject.keywordsAge
dc.subject.keywordsFairy tales
dc.titleWhoever Said Change Was Good: The Transforming Body of the Disney Villainess
dc.typeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation

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