Distributed for Intellect Ltd
Fan Phenomena: Disney
An exploration of the relationship between the world of Disney and its fandom.
This collection of essays analyzes the fandom of Disney brands across a variety of media including film, television, novels, stage productions, and theme parks. It showcases fan engagement such as cosplay, fan art, and on social media, as well as the company’s reaction to it. Further, the volume deals with crucial issues—race and racism, the role of queerness, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the advent of the streaming service Disney+—within the Disney fandom and in Disney texts.
The authors come from a variety of disciplines including cultural and media studies, marketing and communications, cultural history, theater and performance studies, and more. In addition to interviews with fan practitioners, the essays feature both leading experts in fan and Disney studies alongside emerging voices in these fields. A vital new addition to the growing subdiscipline of fan studies, it will be popular with scholars of cultural studies, cultural history, and media studies.
This collection of essays analyzes the fandom of Disney brands across a variety of media including film, television, novels, stage productions, and theme parks. It showcases fan engagement such as cosplay, fan art, and on social media, as well as the company’s reaction to it. Further, the volume deals with crucial issues—race and racism, the role of queerness, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the advent of the streaming service Disney+—within the Disney fandom and in Disney texts.
The authors come from a variety of disciplines including cultural and media studies, marketing and communications, cultural history, theater and performance studies, and more. In addition to interviews with fan practitioners, the essays feature both leading experts in fan and Disney studies alongside emerging voices in these fields. A vital new addition to the growing subdiscipline of fan studies, it will be popular with scholars of cultural studies, cultural history, and media studies.
Table of Contents
Introduction – Sabrina Mittermeier
Part 1: Diversity and the Disney Princess
1. Frozen Fever: Fan Fashion, Costumes, and Revisions of Elsa and Anna Designs – Nicole Lamerichs
2. ‘Let It Go!’: Child Fans, Song, and the Frozen Franchise – Ryan Bunch
3. “Dream Big, Princess”: Disney’s Princess Fandom as a Trans-generational, Feminist Fan Space – Tracey Mollet
4. That’s (Not) My Princess: Representation, Race, and (Anti-)Fan Activism – Christina Wurst
5. Panel Discussion: The Live Action Mulan (2020) and Disney’s Approach to Racial Diversity – Michelle Anya Anjirbag, Bertha Chin & Jingan Young
Interlude: Representation, Censorship and Disney+
6. “Please don’t censor Hamilton!”: Disney+, Social Media Fandom, and Censorship – Olympia Kiriakou
7. Musings of a Queer Disney Fan – Sabrina Mittermeier
Part 2: The Disney Theme Parks and Their Fans
8. Creativity and Connection: How Disney Parks’ Fans Responded During the Coronavirus Closures – Rebecca Williams
9. To Act Like a Kid or Not to Act Like a Kid: Disneybounding in the Parks – Rebecca Rowe
Fan Appreciation: Victoria Wade
10. Friends Just Around the Riverbend: Performing Intimacy and Authenticity in Disney Park Character Meets – Victoria Pettersen Lantz
Fan Appreciation: Shawn Rosell
11. Haunted Waters: The Elimination of Liveness in Disney’s Rivers of Light – Tom Robson
12. From Mickey Waffles to Vegan Samosas: Evolving Disney Food Fandoms – Jennifer A. Kokai
13. The Traveling Disney Bear ‘Duffy’ and His Surprising Popularity in Japan – Katharina Hülsmann & Timo Thelen
Fan Appreciaton: Chris Nilghe
Part 3: The Brand and its Fans – How Disney Responds to Fandom and Monetizes Fan Labor
14. Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust: Disney’s Participatory Publics – Amber L. Hutchins
15. Disney’s Social Media Moms – Kylie Torres
16. Fitting Inside the Mouse House – Disney’s Experiential Media Aesthetics – Chris Comerford
17. Disney Publishing and the Saturation of the Imaginative Market – Michelle Anya Anjirbag
Part 1: Diversity and the Disney Princess
1. Frozen Fever: Fan Fashion, Costumes, and Revisions of Elsa and Anna Designs – Nicole Lamerichs
2. ‘Let It Go!’: Child Fans, Song, and the Frozen Franchise – Ryan Bunch
3. “Dream Big, Princess”: Disney’s Princess Fandom as a Trans-generational, Feminist Fan Space – Tracey Mollet
4. That’s (Not) My Princess: Representation, Race, and (Anti-)Fan Activism – Christina Wurst
5. Panel Discussion: The Live Action Mulan (2020) and Disney’s Approach to Racial Diversity – Michelle Anya Anjirbag, Bertha Chin & Jingan Young
Interlude: Representation, Censorship and Disney+
6. “Please don’t censor Hamilton!”: Disney+, Social Media Fandom, and Censorship – Olympia Kiriakou
7. Musings of a Queer Disney Fan – Sabrina Mittermeier
Part 2: The Disney Theme Parks and Their Fans
8. Creativity and Connection: How Disney Parks’ Fans Responded During the Coronavirus Closures – Rebecca Williams
9. To Act Like a Kid or Not to Act Like a Kid: Disneybounding in the Parks – Rebecca Rowe
Fan Appreciation: Victoria Wade
10. Friends Just Around the Riverbend: Performing Intimacy and Authenticity in Disney Park Character Meets – Victoria Pettersen Lantz
Fan Appreciation: Shawn Rosell
11. Haunted Waters: The Elimination of Liveness in Disney’s Rivers of Light – Tom Robson
12. From Mickey Waffles to Vegan Samosas: Evolving Disney Food Fandoms – Jennifer A. Kokai
13. The Traveling Disney Bear ‘Duffy’ and His Surprising Popularity in Japan – Katharina Hülsmann & Timo Thelen
Fan Appreciaton: Chris Nilghe
Part 3: The Brand and its Fans – How Disney Responds to Fandom and Monetizes Fan Labor
14. Faith, Trust and Pixie Dust: Disney’s Participatory Publics – Amber L. Hutchins
15. Disney’s Social Media Moms – Kylie Torres
16. Fitting Inside the Mouse House – Disney’s Experiential Media Aesthetics – Chris Comerford
17. Disney Publishing and the Saturation of the Imaginative Market – Michelle Anya Anjirbag