All: Call for contributors below:

Call for Contributors: Film, Disney, Diversity (collection)

Articles are sought for an edited collection of film criticism on  
representations of gender, ethnicity, sexuality, disability and other  
forms of difference in Disney features to be published by McFarland.  
While there has been much scholarship on the globalization and  
economics of empire of Disney, there has been comparatively less work  
has been done on film analysis. The last decade or so has seen Disney  
take on more “ethnic” fare with Mulan, Aladdin, etc., unsettle  
conventional gender notions and romance with fairy-tale fractures,  
produce a wealth of more diverse fare with its Disney/Pixar franchise,  
as well as venture into direct-to-DVD films, some of which are  
revisionist visions of older films, (i.e. Cinderella III and Return to  
Neverland). There have also been more secondary characters embodying  
various kinds of difference, i.e. Ursula in The Little Mermaid, Scar  
in The Lion King. With continued interest in  
race/gender/class/sexuality as well as the emergence of Disability  
Studies and Masculinity Studies in particular, this collection aims to  
re-examine or examine anew representations of various forms of  
diversity in Disney feature films.

Possible topics include: (sample films provided as food for thought,  
not exhaustive by any means)
•	Gender: femininity, masculinity, gender roles, asexuality of the  
fairies and other characters.
•	Race/Ethnicity: Various ethnic characters or groups, including older  
films such as Native Americans in Peter Pan, Latino/a-Americans in The  
Three Caballeros, Disney’s WWII shorts, The Jungle Book, as well as  
non-human representations ? the “Black Crows” of Dumbo, Siamese cats  
as “inscrutable” Asians in Lady and the Tramp.
•	Sexuality/Queer Sexuality: “the seven dwarves,” Robin Hood’s “merry  
men,” etc.
•	Disability: Freaks/Freak Shows (Dumbo) and monstrosity (Cruella,  
Monsters, Inc.), Beasts/Hunchbacks/Dwarves, ADHD (Dorry in Nemo),  
other disabled/non-ordinary bodies (Pinocchio) , and as metaphor,  
(Scar in The Lion King)
•	Class: 101 Dalmatians, The Aristocats, Bedknobs and Broomsticks
•	Re-imaginings and “Fractures”: Peter Pan v. Return to Neverland,  
Cinderella v. Cinderella III: A Twist in Time, Happily Nev’r After.  
Mixed-genre features: Enchanted, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and sexuality  
or gender, for instance.

Papers: 3,500-6,000 words.

Abstracts and 1 page CV: May 15, 2009

Completed papers: October 10, 2009

Abstracts, CVs, and questions to:

Dr. Johnson Cheu
[log in to unmask]

Michigan State University
Dept. of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures
235 Bessey Hall
East Lansing, MI 48824



Dr. Johnson Cheu
Fixed-Term Assistant Professor
Dept. of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures
247 Bessey Hall
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
517/432-2553 (O) 517/355-2400 (D) 517/353-5250

Editorial Board
Journal of Literary and Cultural Disability Studies

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