Call for papers for the Disney conference. Email us at popcrn@une.edu.au to receive an emailed copy
The Magical Kingdom: The Impact of Disney in Popular Culture
The Popular Culture Research Network – PopCRN – Australia’s leading popular culture research network
Call for papers The Magical Kingdom: The Impact of Disney in Popular Culture conference, hosted by the Popular Culture Research Network (PopCRN), free and online. To be held on 24-25 July 2025.
Call for Papers Special Edition Journal for The International Journal of Disney Studies, which examines the Walt Disney Company, an international media conglomerate that impacts our global culture. This international, peer-reviewed journal draws from a variety of academic and industrial lenses, perspectives, methods and fields, while providing a space for scholars to present new research, review current research and comment on wider Disney commodities. See Intellect Books | International Journal of Disney Studies.
Scholarship on Disney reveals the ways social, cultural, political, economic, gendered, and indigenous representations posit a world far removed from social realities. However, it is entertainment, so does this forgive the discursive and hegemonic representations, frames and narrative evidenced in Disney.
This conference and journal edition seeks scholars interested in examining the ways that Disney himself, the Disney corporation, and Disney content has both shaped meanings around issues of nationhood, the body, philosophy, culture, sexuality, diversity, inclusiveness, historical memory, capitalism, workplace relations, aspiration, imperialism, colonisation, identity, commodification, mental health, aspirations and notions of family and belonging as well as other critical investigations of Disney in popular contexts.
Some of the ways we can interrogate the impact of Disney on popular culture and our social lives may include, but is not limited to, the following:
Call for papers for the Disney conference. Email us at popcrn@une.edu.au to receive an emailed copy
• “So this is love. So this is what makes life divine.” Cinderella. Disney and expectations of romance
• “Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind.” Lilo & Stitch. Disney representations of family
• “I started, actually, to make my first animated cartoon in 1920. Of course, they were very crude things then and I used sort of little puppet things.” Walt Disney. The early history of Disney
• "There's nobody like him, anywhere at all." Snow White. Disney and gender norms
• “In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun.” Mary Poppins. Disney and capitalism
• “Think happy thoughts!” Peter Pan. Disney and mental health
• “I have no use for people who throw their weight around as celebrities, or for those who fawn over you just because you are famous.” Walt Disney and celebrity
• "You've got a friend in me." Toy Story. Frames of friendship in Disney
• “Laughter is timeless, imagination has no age, and dreams are forever.” Walt Disney. The Philosophy of Disney
• “The past can hurt, but the way I see it you can either run from it or learn from it.” Rafiki, The Lion King. Disney and history
• “You're dead if you aim only for kids. Adults are only kids grown up, anyway.” Walt Disney. Adult Disney fandoms
• "The very things that hold you down are going to lift you." Timothy Mouse, Dumbo. Psuedo psychology in Disney
• "Thou sword of truth fly swift and sure. That evil die and good endure!" Flora, Sleeping Beauty. Representations of good and evil in Disney
• “Laughter is America's most important export.” Walt Disney. Exporting American exceptionalism
• “I want much more than this provincial life.” Belle, Beauty and the Beast. Aspiration and class in Disney
Call for papers for the Disney conference. Email us at popcrn@une.edu.au to receive an emailed copy
• “Animation can explain whatever the mind of man can conceive. This facility makes it the most versatile and explicit means of communication yet devised for quick mass appreciation.” Walt Disney. Animation and mass consumption
• “I am not a prize to be won.” Aladdin. Commodification in Disney
• “I love Mickey Mouse more than any woman I have ever known.” Walt Disney and his relationships
• “For a true hero isn’t measured by the size of his strength, but by the strength of his heart.” Hercules. Disney’s heroes
• “Everything you see exists together in a delicate balance.” “The Lion King”. Nature and the environment in Disney
Conference: please submit abstracts (200 words) and author details by 1 April 2025. Notification of abstract acceptance is 1 May 2025.
Registration is free. The conference is welcoming of early career researchers, postgraduates.
Journal: please submit by 30th September 2025. Submissions can be original scholarly articles (6-8000 words), reviews (1000 words), or original commentaries (2-3000 words). For more information on what is required for each type of paper, please go here - https://www.intellectbooks.com/ijds
To submit or register, please use the links below
• Submit your conference papers here: https://unesurveys.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8jjzaWnS732QsFE
• Submit your conference papers here: https://unesurveys.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1FBqwXuomrgKKx0
• Register to attend here: https://unesurveys.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7TGWUYZidtlxVLU
In The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Disney and social judgement
• "The only way to get what you want in this world is through hard work." Tiana. Disney and work ethic
• “Hakuna Matata! It means no worries for the rest of your days.” The Lion King. Disney linguistics
• "You speak of justice, yet you are cruel to those most in need of your help." Esmeralda. Representations of justice and la…
🚨 Just 2 weeks left! 🚨
Disney fans & scholars: Don’t miss your chance to be part of
"The Magic Kingdom: The Impact of Disney on Popular Culture"
FREE online conference 24–25 Jul25 with International Journal of Disney Studies.
Submit abstract by 30 April - tinyurl.com/22v65p67 🏰✨
CFP attached
