by Bob Welbaum

Created on: January 20, 2010   Last Updated: January 28, 2010

Disney is a bona fide cultural phenomenon, and under our free-speech system, such phenomena automatically seem to become magnets for analysis and criticism. This is true whether you are Disney, Wal-Mart, or Microsoft, or in an earlier era if you were General Motors or IBM. Thus the question of subliminal messages in Disney movies has arisen: do they exist, and if so, why?

My dictionary defines subliminal as “below the threshold of consciousness or apprehension; specifically involving or using stimuli intended to take effect subconsciously by repetition.” (Webster’s New World Collection Dictionary, Fourth Edition, 2000)

So have there been messages hidden in Disney movies? Yes, I know they do exist. Has there been a subliminal attempt to make a statement or send a message? No, I don’t believe so. Returning to the definition, some could be below the threshold of consciousness, but the phrase “intended to take effect subconsciously by repetition” implies manipulation for some self-serving purpose.

What purpose would be served by including such messages? To many, the answer would be obvious: to encourage people to see movies multiple times and buy more themed merchandise. Some might even see an attempt at social or even political manipulation.

And perhaps such a strategy might even work! I have seen some movies – both from Disney and other studios - that have been so bad that subliminal messages would seem to be the only possible explanation for their comparative levels of success. But what would be the ramifications of such an attempt?

Remember the words of Benjamin Franklin: “Three may keep a secret if two of them are dead.” News of such a ploy would surely leak, and the resulting negative publicity would no doubt be catastrophic. The American people do not like to be deceived, and certainly not by a major media corporation. Deception on such a grand scale would do far more damage in reputation than any possible monetary gains.

One more point: this all assumes that subliminal messages are effective. Are they? An (admittedly quick) Google search found no credible evidence that they even are.

Then why would a hidden message be present?

The most obvious reason is to pay tribute to someone. Hollywood’s products are replete with tributes in one form or another. The animated Mickey Mouse short “Runaway Brain” names its mad scientist “Dr. Frankenollie” as a tribute to legendary animators

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