L ’influence littéraire franco-germanique et britannique dans les longs-métrages Disney

Abstract

Disney may propose animated films which seem to be typical American products. Standardization,
homogenization, mass consumption ….: these terms are not entirely appropriate to describe Disney’s films.
Actually, Walt Disney, who was fascinated by European culture, used many French, German and British stories,
fairy-tales, and novels in his long-features animated films. The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of
these different references to West-European cultures, and an analysis of the Americanization present in Disney’s
process. Although Disney appropriation of European literature can be a “naïve” and biased version of the
original writings, Walt Disney and his team proposed a new and original vision of the French and German
classic fairy-tales. Nevertheless, the British culture easily merged with the American entertainment. We will see
how the European popular literature mixed with American ideals and values, and why Disney films often became
more popular than the original works