“From Japan, With Love”: Frozen and Baymax in Cross-Cultural Perspective
“From Japan, With Love”: Frozen and Baymax in Cross-Cultural Perspective

Summary/Abstract: Based on a decade-long fieldwork in the volatile and convoluted area of mass-media in Japan, this paper draws on empirical data and ethnographic research combined in hermeneutic interpretation and contributes with fresh insights into the impact Japanese popular culture has been providing on Western products of similar caliber. In this case, the animation movies Frozen (2013) and Baymax (2014), both released by Walt Disney Productions and hugely popular in Japan, are carefully scrutinized in their cross-cultural significance, on the background of an increasing awareness on the identity crisis faced by the concepts of “femininity” and “masculinity” nowadays and inspite of repeated waves of feminism, public outrage and legislative progress. By proposing the concept of “empowered, enlightened human being”, the current paper seeks to foster a more profound alternative to the ongoing debate, while taking into account the fundamental human needs to belong and to be free – an apparent contradiction, though nevertheless, an essential precondition on the path to becoming a responsible, self-confident citizen in late modernity.

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