ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the Pixar short film Purl in the context of its role in launching Disney+ and in its role in addressing a sexual misconduct scandal at Pixar involving Pixar and Disney executive John Lasseter. This chapter provides a brief history of the relationship between Pixar and Disney to show how deeply Lasseter figures into that history. We then demonstrate how Purl conveys a narrative about women’s difficulties in the male-dominated work environment. While this can be seen as a progressive move on Disney and Pixar’s part, we also argue that the film’s adherence to the Classic Disney style, along with its truncated narrative, limits the film’s efforts to convey the problems of toxic masculinity in organizational culture. Further, the film ultimately glosses over the problem further with the simplistic solutions implied in the story’s resolution. The chapter also places Lasseter’s actions within the historical context of longstanding organizational cultures at Disney and Pixar, thus demonstrating how Disney has fostered some potentially problematic workplace elements for several decades.
