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Disney, Pixar, and the Hidden Messages of Children's Films. By M. Keith Booker. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2010.
In Disney, Pixar, and the Hidden Messages of Children's Films, University of Arkansas English professor M. Keith Booker revisits familiar material. The author of Drawn to Television: Prime Time Animation from The Flintstones to Family Guy and May Contain Graphic Material: Comic Books, Graphic Novels, and Film, Booker understands animation and the child audience and lends his expertise to uncovering the subtext of the Disney oeuvre. In his "Personal Prologue," Booker writes, "I am, among other things, a professional academic film scholar and, yes, I should admit up front that I am an unrepentant leftist egghead intellectual. But I'm also a dad, and I've come to understand that the complexities and responsibilities associated with being a parent to kids who watch movies need to be dealt with by all parents, eggheads or not, and of whatever political persuasion" (xiii). The persona of Booker as intellectual-father permeates his analysis. Often written in first person, the book provides a highly personal reading...