ABSTRACT
This chapter explains that ways children are systematically exposed to a standard language ideology by means of linguistic stereotypes in film or television entertainment. To maintain and increase its customer base, Disney constantly reintroduces children to their world view. Giroux suggests reasoning for pursuing the questions raised here: Questioning what Disney teaches is part of a much broader inquiry regarding what it is parents, children, educators and others need to know in order to critique and challenge, when necessary, those institutional and cultural forces that have a direct impact on public life. In a 2009 report, the Nielson Company calculated that children aged 2–5 watch more than 32 hours of television each week, while the 6–11-year-olds watch slightly less. The similarities between the Disney version of Big Bad Wolf as Jewish peddler and the Nazi propaganda are more than simply striking. Grant and Kaufman both claim that original image of Wolf-as-Jewish-Peddler had been edited out upon urging of Hays Office.
