The Disney Musical: Critical Approaches on Stage and Screen is the first critical treatment of the corporation's hugely successful musicals both on screen and on the stage. Its 13 articles open up a new territory in the critical discussion of the Disney mega-musical, its gender, sexual and racial politics, outreach work and impact of stage, film and television adaptations. Covering early 20th century works such as the first full-length feature film
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), to
The Lion King - Broadway's highest grossing production in history, and
Frozen (2013), this edited collection offers a diverse range of theoretical engagements that will appeal to readers of film and media studies, musical theatre, cultural studies, and theatre and performance. The volume is divided into three sections to provide a contextual analysis of Disney's most famous musicals: *
DISNEY MUSICALS: ON FILM *
DISNEY ADAPTATIONS: ON STAGE AND BEYOND *
DISNEY MUSICALS: GENDER AND RACE The first section employs film theory, semiotics and film music analysis to explore the animated works and their links to the musical theatre genre. The second section addresses various stage versions and considers Disney's outreach activities, cultural value and productions outside the Broadway theatrical arena. The final section focuses on issues of gender and race portraying representations of race, hetero-normativity, masculinity and femininity in
Newsies,
Frozen,
High School Musical,
Aladdin and
The Jungle Book. The various chapters address these three aspects of the Disney Musical and offer new critical readings of a vast range of important works from the Disney musical cannon including
Enchanted, Mary Poppins, Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Lion King and versions of musicals for television in the early 1990s and 2000s. The critical readings are detailed, open-minded and come to surprising conclusions about the nature of the Disney Musical and its impact.
This is the first scholarly book to analyse the Disney musical genre in depth: the essays featured offer a wide-ranging critical consideration of Disney musicals on stage, television and film.About the AuthorGeorge Rodosthenous is Associate Professor in Theatre Directing at the School of Performance and Cultural Industries of the University of Leeds, UK. He is the Artistic Director of the theatre company 'Altitude North' and also works as a freelance director/composer for the theatre.
ReviewsAs a contribution to the field, the book provides many interesting insights and departure points for further discussion ... it is gratifying to see Disney musicals attract such scholarly attention. * Studies in Musical Theatre *
Book InformationISBN 9781474234160
Author George RodosthenousFormat Paperback
Page Count 272
Imprint Methuen DramaPublisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Weight(grams) 318g