“Scatterbrained Apes” and “Mangy Fools”: Lexicalizations of Ideology in Children's Animated Movies

Abstract

Linguistic evidence from popular children's animated movies demonstrates that there is a consistent attempt in these movies to present non-standard varieties of English as isomorphous with lower cultural and socio-economic status. Constraints on lexical choice in children's movies reflect and sustain prejudice towards various dialects of English. Data is analyzed within the socio-cognitive discourse framework proposed by