Although arguably one of the twentieth century's most influential figures, Walt Disney has yet to be fully embraced by art historians as the subject of serious investigation. This lack of interest is curious, given the steady appearance of Disney art in American museums during the last six decades, from New York's Museum of Modern Art to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Nonetheless, an upsurge in Disney-related scholarship in a variety of other academic areas during the last decade has resulted from an increasing alliance among disciplines studying art, film, television, urban planning, politics, popular culture, global economics, and the new technology. In the realm of art history, Disney has only lately become acceptable due to the renewed attention given the high-art/low-art dichotomy and the advent of studies in visual culture. In the essay that follows I wish to outline four principal areas that invite art-historical analysis and criticism: animated films, theme parks, highstyle architecture, and urban planning.
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