I am grateful to all of my contributors who took this journey with me and who believed in the importance of the work. My colleagues at Michigan State, present and former, for their support and encouragement; in particular John Bratzel, who said, “If you can’t find the book you need, then you need to make one.” Also Cheryl Caesar and Deborah Carmichael who lent their ears without fail, along with Jeff Charnley, Kitty Geissler, Gary Hoppenstand, Douglas Noverr, Richard Manderfield and Benjamin Urish. A very special thanks to John A. Dowell, Michigan State’s Technology Literacy Specialist, for his friendship and his invaluable expertise and contributions in manuscript preparation. Christine Levecq of Kettering University gave of her time and wisdom. My thanks to Randall W. Scott, indexer extraordinaire, Michael Rodriguez, and all the librarians at Michigan State. Further thanks to Diana Shank and Marsha Edington for their administrative support. My thanks to all my students at Michigan State, particularly those who took my Disney course.
This project had its beginnings back when I was a graduate student doing work on disability and Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame. My thanks to the good people there who worked with me on my early musings: Brenda Brueggemann, Kay Halasek, Valerie Lee (for the Doll Theory articles), Linda Mizjewski, Debra Moddelmog, Jim Phelan, and Thomas Piontek.
Good friends and family gave of their time and support. The Barbosa-Topetes, and the Collins-Sullivan clan for the trip to the Disney Family Museum in San Francisco and friendship beyond measure. For their love, advice, and support: John McCombe, Edna Poore, and Carolyn Tyjewski. Thanks to my family: my parents, my sister and brother-in-law, and my nieces, May and Anne, who were so good when uncle needed to watch something by Disney yet again, but who also knew enough to distract him when he didn’t.