[Commlist] Call for Papers: 'Mothers of the Magical Kingdom: Disney and Maternal Figures'

Call for Papers: International Journal of Disney Studies

Special Issue: 'Mothers of the Magical Kingdom: Disney and Maternal Figures'

View the full call here>>

https://www.intellectbooks.com/ijds#call-for-papers 
<https://www.intellectbooks.com/ijds#call-for-papers>

Special Issue CFP for The International Journal of Disney Studies, which 
examines the Walt Disney Company, an international media conglomerate 
that impacts our global culture. This international, peer-reviewed 
journal draws from a variety of academic and industrial lenses, 
perspectives, methods and fields, while providing a space for scholars 
to present new research, review current research and comment on wider 
Disney commodities.

Disney, as a cultural juggernaut, has long played a role in shaping 
societal understandings of family, gender roles, and the maternal. From 
absent mothers to evil stepmothers to magical godmothers, Disney’s 
portrayals of motherhood are both enduring and evolving. This special 
issue seeks to explore how Disney constructs, complicates, and 
circulates ideas of motherhood across its vast narrative universe. While 
motherhood in Disney media has often been sidelined or stereotyped, 
recent texts such as Encanto, Turning Red, and Bravereflect a growing 
attention to the complexities of maternal identity. As contemporary 
conversations around gender, reproductive rights, and caregiving become 
more urgent, it is essential to examine how a global media empire like 
Disney frames and reimagines motherhood, and what these representations 
reveal about cultural anxieties and aspirations.

This special issue invites scholarly work that examines motherhood in 
Disney texts, animated or live-action, canonical or lesser-known, made 
by the Disney studios or any of their various acquisitions (e.g., 
Marvel, Lucasfilm, etc.). We encourage contributors to critically engage 
with how Disney mediates maternal power, agency, vulnerability, and 
identity. Contributions may examine biological mothers, pregnant women, 
adoptive or surrogate (appointed/substitute) mothers, stepmothers, 
mother-like figures, and older maternal characters, as well as any other 
aspect that defines motherhood under this broad conceptualization. This 
inclusive approach allows for explorations of diverse experiences, 
roles, and representations that reflect the multiple ways in which 
motherhood can be understood and enacted. We are especially interested 
in intersectional analyses that consider how race, class, queerness, 
age, or ability informs Disney’s portrayals of maternal experience.

Topics that explore Disney’s construction of motherhood may include, but 
are not limited to:

  *

    Redemption arcs; flawed but redeemable mothers

  *

    Maternal figures within fantasy logic vs. maternal norms

  *

    Juxtaposition between evil/bad mothers and good mothers

  *

    Queering motherhood – non-biological or chosen maternal figures

  *

    Maternal labor and sacrifice (emotional, physical, symbolic)

  *

    The presence or absence of mothers as narrative catalysts in Disney
    stories

  *

    Parasocial grief and maternal anxieties in audience reception

  *

    Mothers in transmedia storytelling

  *

    The relationship between fantasy as a genre and motherhood

  *

    Serialized storytelling and evolving representations of motherhood

  *

    Disney vs. Pixar vs. Disney-Pixar – comparative representations of
    maternal figures

  *

    Changing tropes and roles of mothers in contemporary Disney texts

  *

    Intersectional and sociocultural factors in the construction of
    maternal imagery

  *

    Stereotypes – evil stepmothers, submissive or weak mothers,
    idealized nurturers

  *

    Industry shifts and the impact of feminist and social movements on
    Disney’s maternal narratives

  *

    Frames of motherhood

  *

    Disney fandom pages and negotiation of mothering

  *

    Audience perceptions of mothering

Submission Guidelines:

Full paper submissions will be expected by 1 May 2026 and should be 
submitted to theIJDS’ website’s Pubkit system 
(https://www.intellectbooks.com/ijds 
<https://www.intellectbooks.com/ijds>). When you submit, you will have 
the opportunity to specify that your piece is for the special issue 
(though you do not have to).

Please note we are open to accepting articles, commentaries and reviews.

Articles should be 6,000-8,000 words, Fresh Perspectives 1,000-3,000 
words, and Reviews 1,000 words. The journal uses Harvard referencing, 
and other submission information can be found on the journal’s website.

For queries or to discuss potential topics, please contact:

  *

    Marissa Lammon – (marissa.lammon /at/ colorado.edu)
    <mailto:(marissa.lammon /at/ colorado.edu)>

  *

    Ali Saha – (ali.saha /at/ unimelb.edu.au) <mailto:(ali.saha /at/ unimelb.edu.au)>

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