Mark I. Pinksky's The Gospel According to Disney works on many levels. It has a wonderful bibliography of books and articles describing Disney movies, theme parks, and merchandise; a great collection of movie reviews describing most of the major Disney movies and their religious or moral content; and it provides a historical context for the reader to evaluate the "gospel" that Disney's corporate kingdom intentionally or unintentionally has spread.According to Pinsky, who is a religion reporter for the Orlando Sentinel, and according to the materials he presents, Walt Disney tried very hard to steer a middle of the road approach in presenting moral themes without religion, an ethic that would appeal to the broad public without offending. After Disney's death, the company has continued the attempt while also moving into direct presentations of religion in the background of movies such as Catholicism in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" and new age religion in "Pocahontas". And for the most part this has worked well. American churches on the whole praise Disney for family oriented, wholesome entertainment.
The one exception has been the Southern Baptist boycott of Disney products and theme parks in 1997 and 1998. It was such an "utter flop" that the Baptists could neither proclaim victory nor call it off. No one had really paid enough attention to it to make a bit of difference to the Disney corporation. At best 30% of the church participated in any way.
Pinsky feels that many, if not all, of the Disney movies are worth watching but that parents should watch them with their children to point out areas where their values differ from the movies'. But that's probably a good idea with all movies.
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