Disney has always had some sort of agenda in political game, reinforcing Latin American stereotypes like in the 3 Caballeros and Saludo Amigos that goes hand in hand with the Good Neighbor Policy that was proposed by FDR. But with in the lines of Christianity according to Mark Pinksy Disney always plays a role in the moral and spiritual development of Children. In his book The Gospel According to Disney: Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust, he explores 31 of the Disney most popular films and the roles that Michael Eisner and Jeffery Katzenberg played in Disney resurgence in the mid 1980s. The cultural impact of Disney, is huge, I grew up on Disney films, always wanting to be one of the princesses and always wanted to Disney Land but alas never went. Beauty and the Beast is still one of my favorite Disney films of all time. The common factor with in Disney film is the same moral of believing in yourself, never giving up and that good will always triumph, that love is more powerful than evil.
Within in the Disney, there is always some sort of intervention, and not to call it God, but some magical powers that come and aid the protagonist. I have never read Pinksy book, but I had heard of it, as well as his other book The Gospel According to The Simpsons: The Spiritual Life of the World's Most Animated Family.
But there are central themes that are always present in Disney Films, that can be seen as religious and can be argued that these magical interventions can be seen as the hand of God, that gives the characters aid and courage to move forward and come to their own conclusion about themselves. In the case of Pinocchio , he wishes upon a star to become a real boy, the fairy only gives him life but he is still not real, and says that in order to make Geppetto’s wish come true will be entirely up to you. Prove yourself brave, truthful and unselfish and someday you will be a real boy.
There is a central theme of self-reliance and self-improvement. Along his journey, he is constantly tempted to the easy rode to success, and saved again through divine intervention. He is stopped again on the way back home and goes to “Pleasure Land” which is characterized by instant gratification and other temptation and drinking a substance that turns him in to a donkey an ass. Later he finds word that his father is stuck in a whale and goes after him, only for him to trapped, which is similar to the story of Jonah. Pinocchio had to go through much darkness and self-realization and learn not to lie and the significance of the hardships and the joys of boyhood in order become human.
