The Disneyfication of Pop

Disney Plus Beatles shatters the mirror holding the Beatles' carefully crafted image and reconstructs the looking glass to reveal its reflecting echoes today. This book explains how Disney-via the Beatles-shapes the production and reception of 21st century American pop music. The title of the book acknowledges the impact of an international corporation, which began as American animation studio, on the Beatles. But it probes Disney's and the Beatles' functions as cultural institutions, an approach that considers gendered, sexual, racial, and other implications of these joined phenomena in the age of streaming platforms like Disney+.

After uncovering Disney tropes in visual aesthetics and storytelling related to the Fab Four, the book considers U.S. artists with controlling visions for their multiplatform media, specifically Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, and Lil Nas X. As "princely" auteurs, the pop musicians in this book are perceived as self-made innovators while appearing to create safe spaces for audiences. These Disney dynamics-impressive prince/adorable princess-cultivate appeal, especially among fans who feel deeply personal relationships with these musical phenomena.