Graduation Year
2013
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
M.A.
Degree Granting Department
Womens Studies
Major Professor
Elizabeth Bell
Keywords
animation, children, militarism, nationalism, violence
Abstract
With background information on militarism, nationalism, and torture, this study analyzes Monsters, Inc., Toy Story 3, and The Incredibles, three Pixar films released from 2001 through 2010, for the ways in which the torture scenes are framed. These frames, state control, prisons, and 60s spy thrillers, invite laughter through intertextuality, while deflecting attention from torture of central characters in the films. The implications of this analysis are: these films present torture as deserved and normative; the tortured characters stand outside the frames of recognition for humanness; and they redefine children as threats and dangers. This study concludes that these ideologies are just as potent as the themes of nationalism, militarism, and a violated sacrosanct homeland.
Scholar Commons Citation
Kramer, Heidi Tilney, "Monsters Under the Bed: An Analysis of Torture Scenes in Three Pixar Films" (2013). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/4525
