Bambi’s Mother Died: The Golden Age of Disney's Animation

Sixty years after his death, Walt Disney remains one of the most iconic figures in popular culture. Yet the facts of his life, intentions, and work have been obscured by corporate hagiography, fan-driven fetishization, and muckraking biographies that feed the public’s appetite for cultural takedowns. In this course, we set aside the folklore of his cryogenic preservation, online debates about whether Bambi’s mother was killed or just tranquilized and relocated, and the recent outrage over the non-consensual kiss that brings Snow White back to life. Instead, we focus on Disney’s innovations in synchronized sound, color, and storytelling; his division of labor into departments—story, animation, ink-and-paint, camera, sound—strategically housed in separate wings and connected by underground corridors. This blend of creative vision and corporate control enabled him to outsource most of the work to his famously overworked team while still leaving his stamp on classics like Snow White, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, and Bambi, which we’ll screen alongside selections from his lesser-known anthology films.