Dorfman, A & Mattelart, A 1975, How to read Donald Duck: imperialist ideology in the Disney comic, International General, New York.
Children who grew up in the Disney World will certainly find this book scandalous, as it paints a rather gruesome picture of the most loved Disney characters. This book deconstructs Donald Duck in the context of US imperialism. It starts off with its critique on how children, especially savaged children, were used to refer to people from underdeveloped countries regarded as uneducated, uncivilised, and therefore, must be colonised. All throughout this 98-page book are critical takes on the Donald Duck comic series such as the deliberate removal of the working class in the picture and the parentless existence of characters. It also touches on the culture of the incessant search for money, fame and fortune—the only things that matter in the worldly existence of people. This book was published and banned in the 1970s during the hype of the revolution in Chile. The authors were among those persecuted during the said political turmoil. Some reviewers call it “a handbook of decolonisation”. Dorfman is a Chilean playwright, essayist, academic and human rights activist. Mattelart is a Belgian sociologist. He was also appointed as an expert on the politics of population by the Vatican, and was connected with the Catholic University of Chile.
