Abstract:
Disney has a longstanding tradition of marginalizing and/or erasing biological parents in their
films. Through its Pixar Animation Studios subsidiary, Disney has released several films that
do explore the topic of parenthood. This study will focus on Pixar’s depiction of the biological
parents in Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Brave, and Incredibles 2, while also visiting other
Pixar and Disney releases to provide additional examples. By first setting out the stereotypical
way mothers and fathers are usually portrayed in animated film, this study will then explore
how Pixar portrays its biological fathers, followed up by an analysis on the portrayal of
biological mothers with the central argument being that Pixar has both traditional as well as
progressive portrayals of parenthood and gender roles within their films.
