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That s The Gospel Truth: Exploring Underlying Western Religious Themes in Disney Movies

Julia Reinstein 3213988 Religious Heritage of the West Prof . Schaefer May 3 rd , 2013

2 The Western world was raised on Disney . So many people grow up watching the

movies that they have become an integral , classic element of our culture . Many Disney movies , when closely examined , have religiously themed undertones . While the Western world has grown more secular over the past century , Disney movies have perpetuated religious values and stories to a young audience . Though Disney movies are rarely if ever explicit about their religious origins , many Bible stories and Judeo-Christian values are featured very prominently in the films . This is not uncommon for children s movies , for quite often their mission is to educate children on moral lessons , many of which often tend to be founded in religion . 1 Pinocchio was the second animated Disney film created , released in 1940 right after Snow White . Pinocchio contains some of the most explicit religious themes out of all Disney movies . Most obviously is the main theme of the movie , which is honesty . Pinocchio has a bad habit of lying , and in order to achieve his goal of becoming a real boy , he must be truthful . He must also avoid sin at all costs , though he is tempted many times by foxes who convince him to play hooky , sinful young boys who like to drink and smoke on Pleasure Island , and so on . The Bible strictly forbids its followers from

1 (Flesher, 2004.)

 telling lies . Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord , 2 as the old proverb goes . In spite of this , honesty is also a secular moral value , so it is important to note that the major religious themes in Pinocchio are more based on values than actual religious elements . Still , Pinocchio has some less obvious elements that are very clearly influenced

by religion . The Blue Fairy is portrayed very similarly to the Virgin Mary , especially in the sense that blue and white are Mary s symbolic colors . Much like Mary gives birth to Jesus , the Blue Fairy rebirths Pinocchio by giving him a purposeending his sin in order to become human . 3 There is also the star pictured in the song When You Wish Upon a Star . The depiction of this star is particularly evocative of the star the three wise men followed to greet the newborn baby Jesus in the manger . Most evidently of all are the parallels between Pinocchio and Jonah and the Whale . In the rising action of the Disney movie , Pinocchio becomes ensnared in immoral behaviors , such as smoking and drinking , on Pleasure Island . Gepetto sails to sea to save him , and on the way is swallowed by a whale . Pinocchio escapes Pleasure Island and puts himself in great danger to save Gepetto , allowing himself to be swallowed by the same whale as well . His selfless act is his salvation , and he is granted 2 (Proverbs 12:22)
3 (Rotenn

et al. July 12, 2009)

 his one true wish to become a real human boy . Similarly , Jonah finds salvation in the whale when he prays to God to give him a second chance at life , and he survives . Both Pinocchio and Jonah found redemption in the belly of a whale , and came out of it rebirthed as moral people . 4 Jonah and the Whale is not the only Biblical story to make an appearance in a

Disney movie . In Snow White and the Seven Dwarves , a very certain allusion is made to the story of Adam and Eve . Snow White symbolizes Eve , nave and perhaps just a little too curious about the world around her for her own well being . The Evil Queen represents the malicious , underhanded snake that convinces Eve to taste the Forbidden Fruit . Jealous of Snow White s youth and beauty , the Evil Queen deceives her into eating a poisonous apple , claiming it will lead to magical happiness and all her dreams coming true . And since you ve been so good to poor old Granny , I ll share a secret with you . This is no ordinary apple . It s a magic wishing appleone bite and all your dreams will come true , the Evil Queen sneakily claimed while under the misleading disguise as an old woman . 5 Snow White , persuaded and unquestioning , takes just a single bite out of the apple and falls into a bottomless , coma-like slumber . Similarly , even though Eve knew 4 (The Esoteric Interpretation of Pinocchio, 2009)
5 (Girardot

1977)

 she was forbidden from eating the Forbidden Fruit (hence , forbidden) , she still fell victim to temptation for something better than she had beforein her case , knowledge in place of ignorance , and in Snow White s case , a life of fulfilled dreams . According to Genesis , as a result of Eve s disobedience to God , the entire human race was thus punished for this sin for the remainder of eternity .
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The archetypical Eve character is also found in Ariel in The Little Mermaid . Ariel desires something she was forbidden from having , Prince Eric . As a mermaid princess , dating a leg-walker was unacceptable . Similarly , Eve yearned to eat from the Tree of Knowledge and was strictly forbidden from doing so . In the end , both chose to leave their Gardens of Edenin Ariel s case , her beautiful ocean kingdomin favor of the things they truly desire (Prince Eric and knowledge , respectively) . Looking at King Triton , in all his might and harshness , is also interesting to examine . His character is very much like God in the Garden of Eden storyor perhaps , rather , God in the Garden of Eden story is like the father of a rebellious teenage mermaid . 7 The Lion King is the Disney movie with perhaps the greatest amount of religious influences . It is very strongly influenced by the Bible story of Joseph . Mufasa can be 6 (Girardot 1977)
7 (Loy

2010)

 compared to Joseph , while Scar can be compared to all of Joseph s brothers . Joseph s brothers envied Joseph because their father favored him , while Scar was jealous of

Mufasa because he was chosen to be king . Both Mufasa s and Joseph s brothers hatch a plan to rid their lives of their brotherScar by murdering Mufasa by creating a stampede , Joseph s brothers by selling him into slavery . Joseph s story is not the only instance of fratricide in the Bible either; it can very well be argued that Scar and Mufasa are meant to symbolize the Bible figures Cain and Abel as well . While actually more spiritual than religious , The Lion King also has a major theme of the allegorical continuation of life after death . Following Mufasa s death , Simba feels a great deal of guilt and responsibility , for he has been incorrectly led to believe he caused the tragedy . When he decides he is ready to give up on his future as king and his life in Pride Rock in general , Rafiki gives him spiritual motivation by teaching him that those we have loved who have died never truly leave us . If we love their memories and learn from their stories , they will forever live in us . While this idea is not intended to be taken as addressing literal immortality , there are many symbols of it throughout the movie . "Look at the stars , Mufasa tells a young Simba in the beginning of the movie , The great kings of the past look down on us from those stars . They will always be there to guide you , and so will I." Mufasa s promise to watch over Simba through the stars is a recurring theme throughout the movie . After Mufasa is

dead and Simba feels spiritually lost , Mufasa s ghost appears to Simba to command him he must take his place in the Circle of Life and return to Pride Rock as the fated king . These representations of Mufasa in the afterlife are at their roots religiously inspired , but in modern times the idea of ghosts and the afterlife are somewhat secularized as well . 8 Judeo-Christian practices are so ingrained in Western culture that they are often inserted into our books and movies for normative reasons , rather than to make a statement or express and underlying religious meaning . In the opening scene of The Lion King , Rafiki conducts a ceremony upon the newborn baby Simba . It involves the smearing of a substance from a gourd over the cub s forehead , sprinkling it with powder , and raising the cub over Pride Rock to a kneeling crowd of animals . This scene closely resembles a baptism ceremony , and it serves to anthropomorphize the animals and make them relatable to an audience raised on religious practice . 9 Disney has a tendency to Judeo-Christianize movies that have no logical basis in Western religion . Even Hercules , a movie that is supposed to be based solely on ancient Greek mythology , has Christian undertones . The movie starts off with the Muses , the Greek goddesses of the arts , singing a gospel song . Gospel music is a Western religious invention that would not have existed at that time in Ancient Greece; after all , 8 (Kjos, 2012) 9 (Mercer, 2007)

Christianity did not exist yet . Furthermore , rather than looking Greek , the Muses appear to be black . African-Americans were the originators of gospel music , so it is very curious how Americanized and Christianized the movie becomes knowing this . 10 By viewing another religious culture through a Christian lens , the concepts and themes of the movie become easier for the targeted audience to grasp and relate to , even if they are not very accurate . For example , in classic mythology , Zeus was not to God as Hades was to Satan . Hades was not evil; he simply got the short end of the stick when his brothers Zeus and Poseidon got rule over the earth and the sky . Zeus was not unwaveringly great either; like a human , he too made mistakes and sometimes acted wrongly . However , in order to simplify the story to Judeo-Christian terms , Hades was painted as the Greek equivalent to Satan . On the other side , the image of the benevolent and powerful Zeus is portrayed in Hercules as quite similar to the Western concept of God . He lives on Mount Olympus , which is depicted quite a bit like the pearly gates of heaven . 11 It can even be argued that Hercules stands as a symbol for Jesus . He was born as the son of the most powerful god in the world . However , he was sent down to Earth to live life like an average human being . Eventually , he met his intended destiny in which 10 (Religion in Disneys Hercules) 11 (Religion in Disneys Hercules)

 he had to become the savior of the world by defeating the Titans , and he acted courageously and altruistically . As a reward , he becomes a god , and is brought back to

live on Mount Olympus . Comparably , Jesus becomes a martyr when he is crucified , and then ascends to heavena very similar imagery to Hercules s rise to Olympus . Even though the Greek culture the movie surrounded had nothing to do with Western culture , the Christian lens led America to find more enjoyable and relatable meaning within it . 12 There is a peculiar phenomenon within Disney movies where the Christianity of most characters is automatically assumed , as the movies are targeted to a majority audience of white Christian children . One of the only Disney movies that introduce a religion that is not Christianity is Aladdin . Though overtly racist and Islamophobic with lyrics like Where they cut off your ear/if they don t like your face/it s barbaric , but hey , it s home , the movie mainly perpetuates cruel stereotypes of Middle Eastern people . However , they do very briefly mention the Muslim faith of the characters , as Allah is mentioned in passing a few times throughout the movie . 13 However , there are some serious underlying issues with race and religion in Aladdin . There is a remarkable physical contrast between the protagonists Aladdin and Jasminewho appear almost completely Anglicizedand the bad guys , who tend to 12 Ibid. 13 (Tadmor 2009)

 appear like caricatures of Arab people . This is most obvious in the musical number One Jump Ahead , when Aladdin races through the market to escape the guards who

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have caught him stealing food . The guards are drawn with very stereotypical features , such as big noses , thick facial hair , and dark skin . They also have heavy accents , whereas , interestingly enough , Aladdin and Jasmine do not . Moreover , Aladdin and Jasmine , in distinction to the guards , have lighter skin and Western-looking features . 14 Jasmine is also a very inaccurate representation for how an Arab woman would likely act and dress at the time . In the movie , she dresses in very revealing clothing , which would never be acceptable for a Muslim womanespecially a princessof this culture , country , and era . In fact , her harem pants and bra-top outfit would have actually been customary for a member of the king s harem at the timehence , harem pants . 15 As far as her tenacious personality goes , it would not have been taken quite so well then . Her defiance in not marrying Jafar and instead sneaking out to fly on carpets with strange boys would have probably landed her in some hot water . Traditional Islamic values include respect , modesty , and obedience , a few things Jasmine was not the best with . I would argue that her revealing wardrobe and plucky personality are another subtle example of Disney Judeo-Christianizing the story to make it more 14 Ibid. 15 Ibid.

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appealing to a heavily Christian-American audience . While few people would purposely like Aladdin more because the main characters seem less Arab , the unfortunate truth is most people would , in fact , subconsciously find it more relatable and thus more enjoyable . 16 Given the sheer number of examples of religious elements I observed , I must conclude that Western religions have had a very significant impact on themes in Disney movies . This does not go to say Disney movies preach religionDisney movies are no Veggie Tales for sure . Rather , it is important to note that you can find elements of religious influence in almost any classic movie . More often than not , movies borrow stories from classic literature , mythology , and , naturally , the Bible . This is because they are some of the oldest stories in history and they have become deep-rooted in human culture . We constantly tweak and rework them into new plotlines for books , movies , and TV shows . Disney movies are so widely popular because they are so widely relatable and accessible . The classic tales feel safe and familiarpartially because the Western world has grown up on these movies , but also because we know the stories already . We grew up with them in this highly Judeo-Christianized society . Disney movies are a hallmark

16 (Khan 2011)

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element of Western culture , and their religious undertones serve to make them timeless and applicable for many years to come . Works Cited:

The Esoteric Interpretation of Pinocchio , vigilantcitizen . com . Last modified 28 December 2009 . http://vigilantcitizen . com/moviesandtv/the-esoteric-intepretation-ofpinocchio Flesher , Paul V . M . "Disney s Depiction of Religions . " 2004 . Religion Today . Girardot , N . J . "Initiation and Meaning in the Tale of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs . " The Journal of American Folklore . no . 357 (1977) . Khan , Arsalan . "Princess Jasmine s Appearance . " Fanpop (blog) , http://www . fanpop . com/clubs/disney-princess/articles/140815/title/option-aboutprincess-jasmines-appearance (accessed ) . Kjos , Berit . Kjos Ministries (blog) . Entry posted 2012 . Loy , Caroline . "Part of Your World: The Little Mermaid and Secular Humanism . " Overthinking It , November 30 , 2010 . http://www . overthinkingit . com/2010/11/30/little-mermaid-humanism/ . Mercer , Kayla . Religion in Disney s The Lion King . 2007 . http://kmercerthelionking . webs . com/ .

 Rambo , Nat . "Did the Stories of Joseph and Moses Influence the Lion King? . " Christian or Not: The Truth about Disney (blog) , September 11, 2010 . Religion in Disney s Hercules . Last modified 2010 . http://religion-inhercules . webs . com/ . Rotenn , Johan G ., and Michael P . Duricy . The Marian Library/International Marian Research Institute , "University of Dayton . " Last modified July 12 , 2009 . http://campus . udayton . edu/mary/questions/yq2/yq333 . html . Tadmor , Ada . "Disney and Religion: how Mulan and Aladdin differ in the

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portrayals of non-Western religions . " Media , Film , Music , Religion (blog) , August 24 , 2009 . http://religionandmediacourse . blogspot . com/2009/08/disney-and-religion-howmulan-and . html (accessed ) .