The Mouse Machine : Disney and Technology

• Acknowledgments
• Introduction : Main Street, Machines, and the Mouse
• 1. Sound Fantasy
• 2. Minor Hazards : Disney and the Color Adventure
• 3. Three-Dimensional Animation and the Illusion of Life
• 4. A Monstrous Vision : Disney, Science Fiction, and CinemaScope
• 5. Disney in Television Land
• 6. The "Inhabitable Text" of the Parks
• 7. Course Correction : Of Black Holes and Computer Games
• 8. "Better Than Real" : Digital Disney, Pixar, and Beyond
• Conclusion
• Notes
• Works Cited
• Index

"Telotte really shines ! His passion for analyzing Disney artifacts animates each page. Descriptions are vivid and detailed ; analyses are rigorous and insightful, while his engagement with case studies is exemplary. The Mouse Machine is an engaging and intelligent book for those interested in cultural studies, popular culture, media studies, film studies, mass communication, technology and society, American studies, and related fields."
-EILEEN R. MEEHAN
author of Why TV Is Not Our Fault : Television Programming, Viewers, and Who's Really in Control

"The Mouse Machine is a copious history of Disney's innovations and preoccupations ; it makes clear just how consistently and significantly Uncle Walt used technology to gain an edge on the competition."
-JON LEWIS
editor of Cinema Journal and author of Hollywood vs. Hardcore : How the Struggle over Censorship Created the Modern Film Industry

Throughout Disney's phenomenally successful run in the entertainment industry, the company has negotiated the use of cutting-edge film and media technologies that, J. P. Telotte argues, have proven fundamental to the company's identity. Disney's technological developments include the use of stereophonic surround sound for Fantasia, experimentation with wide-screen technology, inaugural adoption of three-strip Technicolor film, and early efforts at fostering depth in the animated image. Telotte also chronicles Disney's partnership with television, development of the theme park, and depiction of technology in science fiction narratives. An in-depth discussion of Disney's shift into digital filmmaking with its Pixar partnership and an emphasis on digital special effects in live-action films, such as the Pirates of the Caribbean series, also highlight the studio's historical investment in technology. By exploring the technological context for Disney creations throughout its history, The Mouse Machine illuminates Disney's extraordinary growth into one of the largest and most influential media and entertainment companies in the world.

J. P. TELOTTE is a professor of film and media studies at Georgia Institute of Technology. He is coeditor of the journal Post Script and author of many books on film and media, including Disney TV, Voices in the Dark : The Narrative Patterns of Film Noir, and The Essential Science Fiction Television Reader.