Destination: Western States Folklore Conference

Western States Folklore Society is celebrating 75 years at their 2016 meeting! Three of the FTTV Project Participants are going to UC Berkley this April for the WSFS Conference to present the panel entitled “Fat Fairies, Mashups, and Advertisements: The Hypnotic Effect of TV Fairy Tales.” If you are in the area we would love to have you join us! Take a look at each of the abstracts below. The first paper is titled “Fat Fairies: Stereotype, Body Type, and Personality …

Our World, Sofia’s World: “Sofia the First” review Pt 2

On October 12th, Sofia the First aired “The Secret Library,” an episode featuring an obvious secret library and a not-so-obvious secret river with depicted Disney “realms.” These Disney “realms” showcase worlds inhabited by Disney Princesses—Cinderella’s fairy tale castle, Merida’s misty cliffs, and Tiana’s New Orlean bayou, among others. These Disney “realms,” whimsical though they are, illustrate a very problematic concern with cultural representation. So what do these “realms” have to do with cultural representation? Quite a bit, actually. You see, Sofia, a plucky sweet thing, becomes a …