Father-daughter relationships in Disney's animated films

This study assesses the extent to which portrayals of father-adolescent daughter relationships in four Disney feature films (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and Pocahontas) correspond with the qualities of successful and unsuccessful father-adolescent daughter relationships as revealed in the research literature. Findings indicated that the relationships in The Little Mermaid and Aladdin correspond to father-adolescent daughter relationships in which the father denies his daughter freedom to explore her adolescence, while the relationships in Beauty and the Beast and Pocahontas are more consistent with father-adolescent daughter relationships in which the father allows the daughter freedom to negotiate her adolescence. Implications of these findings are discussed.