Theory and Pedagogy: A Disney Approach

Abstract

Chapter six is a pragmatic application of the theory of binary polarization in children’s’ adapted film, offering specifics about how the theory might be useful in a classroom setting and implemented as a foundation for teaching film in introductory literary analysis, adolescent literature, and specialized children’s literature classes. This chapter uses Disney films, which have been repeatedly criticized for their ideological underpinnings, to suggest how teachers can build from this criticism, pairing it with a consideration of the trend of binary polarization in order to help students delve more deeply into children’s film studies, adaptation studies, and analytical thinking and writing. The chapter offers varying approaches to teaching Disney’s The Princess and the Frog, Maleficent, and The Jungle Book, closing the study by not only recapping key tenants of the theory, but also examining how to apply them.