The Mouse Machine: Disney and Technology

Front Cover
University of Illinois Press, 2008 M06 18 - 232 pages
Throughout Disney's phenomenally successful run in the entertainment industry, the company has negotiated the use of cutting-edge film and media technologies that, J. P. Telotte argues, have proven fundamental to the company's identity. Disney's technological developments include the use of stereophonic surround sound for Fantasia, experimentation with wide-screen technology, inaugural adoption of three-strip Technicolor film, and early efforts at fostering depth in the animated image. Telotte also chronicles Disney's partnership with television, development of the theme park, and depiction of technology in science-fiction narratives. An in-depth discussion of Disney's shift into digital filmmaking with its Pixar partnership and an emphasis on digital special effects in live-action films, such as the Pirates of the Caribbean series, also highlight the studio's historical investment in technology. By exploring the technological context for Disney creations throughout its history, The Mouse Machine illuminates Disney's extraordinary growth into one of the largest and most influential media and entertainment companies in the world.

Hardbook is unjacketed.
 

Contents

Main Street Machines and the Mouse
1
1 Sound Fantasy
23
Disney and the Color Adventure
42
3 ThreeDimensional Animation and the Illusion of Life
56
Disney Science Fiction and CinemaScope
81
5 Disney in Television Land
96
The Inhabitable Text of the Parks
117
Of Black Holes and Computer Games
141
Digital Disney Pixar and Beyond
159
Conclusions
179
Notes
191
Works Cited
203
Index
211
back cover
225
Copyright

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About the author (2008)

J. P. Telotte is a professor of film and media studies at Georgia Institute of Technology. He is coeditor of the journal Post Script and author of many books on film and media, including Disney TV, Voices in the Dark: The Narrative Patterns of Film Noir, and The Essential Science Fiction Television Reader.

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