Yanshu Zhang

Susana Ruiz
Film80S, Fall Quater
November 2, 15
Mid-term Research Paper
How is American feminism shown in the animation industry during
the Cold War Period (1950s)?
Whether its through the development or degeneration of the
animation industry, it had always been under the influence of the
America history. Propaganda intention or not, traces of evidence can
be found in different companys production works. The image of
female characters in any art form in a given period of time is, by
default, a reflection of how women were seen during the social and
geo-political period in which the work was produced.
History
1950s is in an awkward period right before the Second wave of
Feminism happened and the First Wave of Feminism during the
earlier half of the twentieth century was focused more on legal
rights, such as suffrage, property rights, etc. (Amanda Smith)
Womens position rights in society and marriage werent elevated
and so we call it the pre-feminism period. After the WW2, Capitalism
and socialism fell into cold war and both sides are afraid of the
restart of a nuclear war. There was a push for women to leave the
jobs they had started while their husbands were fighting the war
because it was thought that women were taking away men's
jobs. And unlike most socialism countries that encourage women to
drive trains and drones like men, America tried to keep women

prisoner in their houses.

Disney Princesses
By so far, Disney had introduced 13 princess animations in all and
following their path we can clearly detect the development and
witness the raise of the importance of feminine power. From solerace to multi-race diversity, waiting for a prince to demanding selffreedom and power, Disney studios concept and acceptance on
women evolves as the world does. However, regarding the theme of
this essay, Cinderella (1950) and Sleeping Beauty (1959) will be
mainly analyzed. In 1950, when WW2 just ended and Americans are
still shaken up from the aftermath of the war, Disney caught the
perfect timing and debuted Snow White No.2-Cinderella. It followed
the same story pattern of Snow white, describing a warm curing
story of a girls fantasy coming true and needless to say the cartoon
spread like a virus around the world again. The success of Cinderella
(1950) demonstrated this shift in mainstream cultural thinking after
World War II, towards the desire for women to return to family
matters and allow men to embody the ideals of hard work and
ambition. (Cassandra Stover 2013, P3) However, the films critical
and popular failure suggests that these new filmgoers found the
rigidly defined gender roles of Disney princesses less desirable and
irrelevant to their experiences. (Gabler 2006)
Accept from their drop-dead gorgeous superb pedigree and
magic skills at controlling animals.

There is still one common

characteristic among the three-pre feminism princesses: That they

all know how to do chores and cook. This phenomenon is especially

obvious to spot on Cinderella, which was created in the Cold War
period. I cant agree that these princess were created for political
propaganda use but they werent surely sculptured under the
influence of society (men)s need. They are all shaped exactly as
how patriarchal society defined perfect
women: Beauty, dumb and does chores.
Cinderella stays aimlessly in the house
and awaits his prince to find her by shoe
size while Sleeping Beauty lies helplessly
asleep waiting for the kiss that will wake
her as the prince saves the day and
battles the dragon. These princesses are
passive
Cinderella

human
nor

beings--

Sleeping

neither

Beauty

are

extraordinary or ambitious women (like those in later Disney films).

They are girls who are transformed into princesses by fate rather
than by merit. Young girls of the 50s had fantasies of living a
Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, waiting for true loves first kiss.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Pt1_VvVZVY)
Other
Not only the princess, other published animation works from
different studios had also shown evidence of female sexism in the
1950s. Peter Pan for example, published in 1953; included
aggressive lines like Girls are so easy to trick sometime, Girls can

be so loud and the female characters in the film are designed to

actually

agree

to

these

assumptions.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi-cMWcXtBI (2:08-2:21)). 1001

Arabian Nights, debuted by UPA in 1959 is also another example of
voiceless heroines who performed conventional gender behaviors
like housekeeping and nurturing. Princess Yasminda again waits
while

Aladdin

saved

her

from

villain

The

Wicked

Wazir.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxX6c7qZUzo) .

Other than feminism we can also see the Cold War

representation of masculinity in Pinocchio, Bambi,
and Dumbo, gender binaries and liminality in
Muan, and alternative lifestyles in The Lion King.
Animation produced after WW2 before the Cold
War

showed

the

influence

of

the

Women's

Movement and change in the American psyche: Women are usually

passive and voiceless, this ideology was shown not only in they
portray of female characters but also in dialogues and story plots.
While women today still face discrimination on account of gender,
the animation industry has realized the need for strong, female
protagonists who are more than just housewives or objects in a
patriarchal society.

Works Cites:
Mire Koikari, Feminism and the Cold War in the U.S. Occupation of Japan, 1945 1952,
http://japanfocus.org/mirekoikari/3487/article.html
AmandaSmith,HowDidTheWomen'sMovementofthe60sand70sAffectTheWoman'sRoleIn
Film Compared To Earlier Stereotypes of the 1950s, '08'09, https://apushwikimarlborough
school.wikispaces.com/Women%27s+Movement+and+Film+after+the+60s+and+70s
CassandraStover,DamselsandHeroines:TheConundrumofthePostFeministDisneyPrincess,
2013,UniversityofSouthernCalifornia
DavidPerlmutter,AmericaToonsIn:AHistoryofTelevisionAnimation,McFarland&Company,
Inc.,Publishers,2014

1001 Arabian Nights, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052527/

HowardThompson,TheScreen:MagooonMagicCarpet;'1001ArabianNights'OpensonTwinBill
Cartoon U.P.A.'s First in Feature Length, New York Times, Published: December 24, 1959,
http://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9403efd7103ce63bbc4c51dfb4678382649ede
HonestTrailer,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxX6c7qZUzo