Institute of Advanced Studies

Disney, deer, porpoises, penguins, and bears:  How nature films shape environmentalism and society

by Professor Richard White, Stanford University

Nature films and animated features – largely but not entirely American – have made popular culture a critical element in shaping national and international views of the natural world.

Beginning with the UR nature film, Bambi, these films have rarely only been about “Nature.” They are also about society –families, gender roles, and how human beings are supposed to live. They have advanced environmentalism, but they have done so in ways that ensure that popular discussion of nature are also discussions of society. They have been instrumental in linking conservative social views and progressive environmental views in an amalgam that has often been typical of larger American environmental movements.