Document Type : Scientific-Research Article

Authors

• Saleh Abdollahi Nasab ¹
• Mohammad Hadi Homayoun ²
• Abdolkarim Khayami ³

¹ PhD Candidate in Communication Sciences, Department of Communication Sciences and Knowledge Studies, SR.C., Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

² Professor, Faculty of Islamic Studies, Culture, and Communication, Imam Sadiq University, Tehran, Iran.

³ Assistant Professor, Faculty of Islamic Sciences, Culture, and Communication, Imam Sadiq University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Entertainment and information dissemination are two primary functions of the media, and today’s generations are increasingly engaged with modern platforms such as films and animations. In this context, raising parents’ and educators’ awareness of visual media, which significantly shapes the values, attitudes, and worldviews of children and adolescents, becomes an undeniable necessity.

The animation medium, empowered by digital technologies, is capable of creating a network of multilayered and complex meanings through encoded messages. With a century-long legacy led by the Walt Disney Company (1923–2024), this medium has successfully conveyed diverse and often subtle messages to its primary audience—children and adolescents.

This study, focusing on structuralist semiotic theories, especially Roland Barthes, analyzes the hidden meanings in Disney productions at different semiotic levels and then compares the extracted concepts with Islamic educational principles. The research population covers all Disney animations produced between 2013 and 2023, thus including the latest works culminating in the company’s centennial milestone. Through purposeful sampling, sequences containing implicit and mythological signifiers were selected for analysis.

Findings indicate that, beyond entertainment, Disney animations convey themes such as self-awareness, personal effort, social relations, and environmental care, which align with Islamic teachings. In contrast, concepts including non-normative relationships, undermining parental authority, promotion of homosexuality, consumerism, neglect of historical identity, and disregard for divine teachings contradict Islamic educational principles.

Keywords

• Animation
• Walt Disney
• Semiotics
• Structuralism
• Children and Adolescents
• Values and Attitudes
• Education

Main Subjects

• animation