Regardless of age, one’s Disney-infused upbringing proves inescapable. Whether accidentally or intentionally, in the church of American pop culture, you will be forced, again and again, to revisit the studio’s biblically self-iconizing tales. Perhaps you want to get a better grip on a narrative that, as a kid, seemed wholly innocent, but that an inflamed blog now wants you to reexamine for its subtle championing of female circumcision; perhaps a listicle directed you to clandestine boners, or perhaps the wickedly talented, one and only Adele Dazeem led you down Disney-soundtrack memory lane.
For better or for worse, as kids, these films informed us about the adult world — introducing us to hyperbolic and fantastical forms of love, death, and (whoops) gender and race inequality. As adults, revisiting them reveals where certain unrealistic ideals — about good and evil, courtship, wish-fulfillment, and the singing abilities of mollusks — left over from childhood originated. First Showing reports that the Disney show at the Mondo Gallery in Austin, Texas will open March 7th, featuring fan-posters from over 20 artists, paying homage to these characters and images that have been irrevocably emblazoned on our perceptions of the adult world. These posters underscore the kitsch-beauty and cozy nostalgia of these images, factors that allow them to be endeared, continuously, infinitely, despite their more sinister implications.
