Disneyjevi animirani antropomorfi [Disneyʼs animated anthropomorphs]

Abstract

<p>Playful anthropomorphic animals are probably one of the most recognizable traits of the animated features produced by the Walt Disney Animation Studio. In addition to its eponymous heroes and heroine, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Disney’s first full-length animated feature, included a group of benevolent forest animals which helped the heroine by protecting her and doing household chores. Given the immense success of Snow White, the motif of animal helpers/companions was used in the films that followed, eventually becoming a permanent feature of Disney’s repertoire. This paper focuses on animal (i.e. non-human animal) characters in Disney’s full-length animated feature films. The research corpus encompasses 48 films released between 1937 and 2019. Situated within the frameworks of Disney studies and cultural animal studies, the paper analyses the representation of animal characters, especially their anthropomorphisation and the way their protagonist/antagonist status is visually coded, as well as the relationship between human and animal characters. The research results point to a predominantly anthropocentric perspective of the analysed films.</p>