Disney Movies Encanto and Frozen. An REBT and Cinematherapy Perspective

Abstract

If you are a parent, then you must have seen those two cartoons (Encanto and Frozen) a dozen times. And if you are not a parent, then you certainly heard of them, because they are some of Disney’s best and largest projects, and not just in terms of box office income, which was huge (close to 3 billion dollars, combined). Financial aspects aside, the two productions are amazing because of their powerful educational messages. In this article, we analyse the educational messages and behaviours anchored in the Rational Emotive Behaviour Theory, a form of psychotherapy that focuses on helping individuals identify and change irrational beliefs that lead to negative emotions and self-defeating behaviours. We also analyse the two movies from a cinematherapy perspective. We conclude and recommend that the two movies can and should be used by parents, educators, and counsellors all over the world to educate their children about some rational attitudes (unconditional self-acceptance, unconditional other-acceptance and life acceptance, self-awareness), as well as important values (family, friendship, honesty, courage) and also as therapeutic instruments from a cinematherapy perspective.

Keywords

• Encanto, Frozen, Disney, cartoons, educational messages, rational emotive, cinematherapy.