The Gospel According to Disney

The Gospel According to Disney

In this follow-up to his bestselling The Gospel According to The Simpsons: The Spiritual Life of the World’s Most Animated Family, religion journalist Mark Pinsky explores the role that the animated features of Walt Disney played on the moral and spiritual development of generations of children. Pinsky explores thirty-one of the most popular Disney films, as well as recent developments such as the 1990s boycott of Disney by the Southern Baptist Convention and the role that Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg played in the resurgance of the company since the mid-1980s.

Published August 2004 by Westminster John Knox Press, Louisville, Kentucky.

Michael Eisner (left) and Mark Pinsky, Book Expo, New York City (June, 2005)
Photos by Sarah M. Brown

“…sparkles of marvelous, irreverent wit…readers will be struck by Pinsky’s cogent observations about Disney classics.”
— Publishers Weekly, July 12, 2004

“…Pinsky provides a thorough yet captivating read for anyone who has ever wondered about the spiritual side of the Disney phenomenon.”
— Christian Retailing, August 2004

“…a good starting point for readers needing an even-handed introduction to Disney and religion.”
— EthicsDaily.com, August 6, 2004

“Pinsky is well qualified to write about Disney, because he has been a reporter in the twin capitals of the Kingdom of the Mouse, Los Angeles and Orlando. ‘The Gospel According to Disney’ benefits from extensive research and gives the reader a valuable glimpse into the sometimes-dark backstories of the creators of these beloved films and what informed their visions.”
— Cary McMullen, The Lakeland Ledger, August 7, 2004

Articles about the Book

guardian-logo1
Disney’s Frozen might be the most Christian movie lately

by Mark Pinsky
The Guardian
 -Saturday 25 January 2014
A Southern Baptist university professor in Texas is suggesting that Disney’s animated feature Frozen, now doing well at the box office and just nominated for two Academy Awards, “might be the most Christian movie that I have seen this year”. (read more)
guardian-logo1
How Disney bypassed God to preach the gospel of dreams coming true – 
The Guardian UK
Disney may have colonised the imagination of the world’s children for the best part of 80 years, but – remarkably in one of the world’s most ostentatiously Christian countries – the entertainment company has done so without the aid of God, a new book points out. (read more)
crosswalklogo
The Cross & the Pen: “The Gospel According to Disney” – 
Crosswalk.com
I met Mark Pinsky a year or so ago when, as a journalist with The Orlando Sentinel, he called, asking about interviewing me concerning my three novels. I’d heard of him, of course. Everyone who is anyone in the writing world (and especially in this area) had heard of him. (read more)
logo_News
Book portrays Disney kingdom as godless – 
Taipei Times
Disney may have colonized the imagination of the world’s children for the best part of 80 years, but — remarkably, in one of the world’s most ostentatiously Christian countries — the entertainment company has done so without the aid of God, a new book points out. (read more)

usat_logo2
What would Walt do? – 
USA Today
Pinsky, religion writer for the Orlando Sentinel, uses “gospel” in the generic sense — a body of values and ethics — to examine the global cultural force of the Walt Disney Co. (read more)

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Revealing Religious Symbolism in Disney’s Canon – 
StatenIslander.org
The Gospel According To Disney by Mark Pinsky is an exploration of these themes. His other book, The Gospel According to The Simpsons, explores similar themes scattered throughout the long-running TV-series. In that book, the tagline is that it’s not what you think, because many people have thought of the Simpsons as not necessarily a force for good. However, the themes and symbolism explored throughout the series show that its message is quite positive.(read more)

Articles by the Author

guardian-logo1
The gospel according to Disney
by Mark Pinsky
The Guardian
 – August 2004
Many of us who have drifted from faith often return to organised religion as parents, if only in search of moral instruction for our children. But there is a more pervasive communicator of values closer to home: the animated features produced by Walt Disney. (read more)

bostonglobe-logo-bg
The gospel according to Disney
 –
 by Mark Pinsky
Boston.com
 – November 2004
LATER THIS month, America’s Muslims will take their plea for tolerance and understanding to some unusual venues: movie theaters in nearly 40 US and Canadian cities, including Revere. Their vehicle is a full-length, animated film called “Muhammad: The Last Prophet,” and the limited run will mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Islamic leaders hope that children, both Muslims and non-Muslims alike, will watch this film, which recounts the birth of their religion. (read more)

usat_logo2
Cartoons (seriously) can teach us about faith
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 by Mark Pinsky
USA Today
– November 2006
Do television’s Homer and Bart Simpson have anything to teach us about eternal questions such as how God wants us to worship him, or whether there is one true faith? What does the controversial cable cartoon show South Park have to say about the nature of the soul, or how the founders of the world’s great religions might get along with each other in the hereafter? Nowhere on the small screen are these weighty issues dealt with on a more regular basis than in edgy, animated comedies. (read more)
the-wall-street-journal-logo
What Walt Wrought
 
 by Mark Pinsky
Wall Street Journal
– January 2010
Walt Disney Co. no doubt expected kudos for breaking racial barriers in its holiday hit, “The Princess and the Frog,” and that praise has come from some quarters. But the entertainment giant also finds itself receiving stinging criticism from conservative evangelical Christians on a Web warpath.  (read more)