Many people think that the Walt Disney team creates the movies only for children’s entertainment while choosing the kids from all around the world as their target group. However, this is not the case if the movies are examined from a better and greater perspective. Lately, kids around nine and ten-year-old watch short videos or trailers of the Walt Disney movies from the smartphones of their parents. The number of kids who are watching the Walt Disney movie trailers on the smartphone for the first time increases dramatically. You don’t need to shop at stutterheim for outerwear because there is no longer a need to travel to the cinema. Online video uploading sites or social media platforms increase the volume and the variety of available Walt Disney movies in their archives since kids from all around the world pay great attention to these movies. Then the question is, ”what is it that really makes the kids being indulged with Walt Disney movies?”. Answer of this question requires some analysis on kids’ psychology.
Disney Movies and Childhood Psychology: How are they related?
Starting from 1937 with the special screening of ”Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”, Walt Disney movies had a special impact on children’s psychology. The kids from all around the world became addicted to the storytelling methods that are used in Disney movies. With the integration of most developed animation technologies into Disney movies, kids became even more interested in these productions. Here is a quick list of reasons why Disney movies play an important role in children’s psychological development, supported with the relevant Disney movies:
- Disney movies create a world which confirms the kids’ imagination: At earlier ages, all kids imagine that their toys are their friends and perfect companies during the day. However, the adults’ world falsifies this idea while describing the toys as external entities in the kids’ world. In Toy Story 1, 2 and 3, Disney team supports kids’ world rather than confirming adults’ world.
- Disney movies encourage kids to follow what they dream on: In most of the times, kids are quite discouraged with their plans and projects by the adults, simply because what they dream of do not sound realistic to their parents or to the adults around them. In Disney movies Brave, Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan, kids are invited to a world which confirms all their odd thoughts and ideas. These movies help them gain self-esteem.
- Disney movies show that everything is in harmony in nature: The Disney movies such as Jungle Book, Lilo and Stitch and the Lion King, present the kids a world that everything is in harmony with nature. These movies help the kids to be convinced that nature is valuable and should be protected.
- Disney movies open the door for the undiscovered underwater world: The Pixar movies (now owned by Disney) Finding Nemo and original Disney movies such as Little Mermaid help the kids learn more about the underwater world and the marine species. This way kids are encouraged to think on alternative worlds.