Disney is one of the largest media companies in the world. They have been critizied for portrayting men, women and love relationships with stereotypical behaviours and attributes. This may lead to negative effects on childrens and adolescents perception of reality. The purpose of this study was to investigate how Disney portrays the dynamic between the characters within the love relationship in their movies launched in the 21st century. This study has examined four movies released in the 21st century containing a love relationship between a man and a woman. Movies examined were; Atlantis - The Lost Empire, The Princess and the Frog, Tangled and Frozen. For this study, a quantitative content analysis with qualitative elements was applied to answer the purpose and issue of the study. The study measured the frequency of the characters activities and actions when they are with and without each other, what they are doing together and who is the initiator of classical love actions. The results for this study presented interesting patterns. Both female and male characters were often portrayed with stereotypical behaviuors in Disneys animated movies. However, these patterns differed when the characters were with and without each other. When the characters were together, the female characters tended to be portrayed with more male attributes, whilst the male characterstended to be portrayed with more female attributes. Additionally, Disney tend to portray love relationships in a stereotypical and unrealistic way.

Animated movies have had a big impact in the film business all over the world. A lot of these films are mainly produced for a younger audience, which leads to a greater responsibility to show a legitimate worldview. Children do not have the same ability of critical thinking as an adult, and that is why it is vital in such movies. In this study, we have examined the movies Kung Fu Panda and Mulan to see how the Chinese culture is represented, having in mind that the relation between East and West have been, and in some ways still are strained. We have examined whether there have been any postcolonial elements such as cultural myths, orientalism, ethnocentrism and stereotypes, originated from the field of cultural studies. Based on a three dimensional analysis, we have looked at the films’ structure, the context and the socio-historical context. The study concluded that the Chinese culture is often represented in a somewhat stereotypical way and with symbols associated with Asia and its culture but the movies also includes certain Western elements.

Atualmente as animações, antes destinadas somente ao público infantil, são sucesso de público inclusive entre adultos. Esses desenhos modernos têm atraído pela tecnologia, pela criatividade e pela mensagem que desejam passar. Crianças e até mesmo adultos são influenciados no imaginário por essas tramas. Raras são as animações que não utilizam animais como personagens principais que interagem com humanos ou que substituem completamente os próprios humanos. Nelas os animais são aproximados dos humanos tanto que até ganham voz e podem ser compreendidos por todos quanto aos seus interesses que, em algumas vezes, são mostrados de forma semelhante ao dos humanos. Adultos costumam compreender essas representações de animais como metáforas de nossas sociedades humanas. Então, nós podemos nos perguntar: antropomorfizar é eticamente correto? O que isso diz sobre nossa cultura? E sobre nossa relação com os animais? Tal dissertação objetiva investigar o que a representação desses animais antropomorfizados diz a respeito de nossa cultura, especialmente sobre o modo como vemos e lidamos com os animais. / Nowadays both, children and adults appreciate animated movies. Families do not need to have children to go to the movies to watch cartoons. These cartoons keep a high appeal due to their technology, creativity and their moral message. People are influenced by these movies in their imagination. It is interesting to note that the main characters of these movies are, usually, anthropomorphized animals. In these animations, the animals are approximated to humans and the animals can be understood by everyone according to their interests. These interests are showed very similar to the humans interests. Adults usually understand these animal representations as metaphors of our society or humanity. So, we can question ourselves: Is anthropomorphizing ethically correct? What does it show about our culture? What about our relationship with other animals? This dissertation aim is to investigate what the animal animated representation tells us about our culture, mainly, about the way that we see and deal with animals.

Disney’s princesses and heroines have long captured the minds and hearts of young girls with their magical dress. This thesis researches the fashion symbols in a chosen set of animated movies and relate this to children’s reception, sexuality and gender issues and narrative identities. A semiotic analysis of the movies and relating them to read literature will shine a new light on this subject.

Atualmente as animações, antes destinadas somente ao público infantil, são sucesso de público inclusive entre adultos. Esses desenhos modernos têm atraído pela tecnologia, pela criatividade e pela mensagem que desejam passar. Crianças e até mesmo adultos são influenciados no imaginário por essas tramas. Raras são as animações que não utilizam animais como personagens principais que interagem com humanos ou que substituem completamente os próprios humanos. Nelas os animais são aproximados dos humanos tanto que até ganham voz e podem ser compreendidos por todos quanto aos seus interesses que, em algumas vezes, são mostrados de forma semelhante ao dos humanos. Adultos costumam compreender essas representações de animais como metáforas de nossas sociedades humanas. Então, nós podemos nos perguntar: antropomorfizar é eticamente correto? O que isso diz sobre nossa cultura? E sobre nossa relação com os animais? Tal dissertação objetiva investigar o que a representação desses animais antropomorfizados diz a respeito de nossa cultura, especialmente sobre o modo como vemos e lidamos com os animais. / Nowadays both, children and adults appreciate animated movies. Families do not need to have children to go to the movies to watch cartoons. These cartoons keep a high appeal due to their technology, creativity and their moral message. People are influenced by these movies in their imagination. It is interesting to note that the main characters of these movies are, usually, anthropomorphized animals. In these animations, the animals are approximated to humans and the animals can be understood by everyone according to their interests. These interests are showed very similar to the humans interests. Adults usually understand these animal representations as metaphors of our society or humanity. So, we can question ourselves: Is anthropomorphizing ethically correct? What does it show about our culture? What about our relationship with other animals? This dissertation aim is to investigate what the animal animated representation tells us about our culture, mainly, about the way that we see and deal with animals.