| The medium of film is one of the most pervasive speakers of cultural language. Rhetorical examination of film is important to understanding culture in philosophical terms. As Walter Fisher, credited with introducing the narrative paradigm to communication theory, notes, narratives have significant power to define a cultural paradigm and this dissertation explores the rhetorical power of animated filmic narrative to restore values challenged by a contemporary ascendant culture. This dissertation examines one of the most successful studios in film history---Pixar. "Story is King" is the overly repeated mantra in the halls of the Pixar Animation Studio (Catmull 66). The studio consistently makes films that demonstrate presuppositional values inherent in the filmmakers' desire to "push towards excellence and to root our mediocrity" (Catmull 86). The filmmakers and films have been lauded with awards, critical praise, attention from scholars, and huge financial successes. This study introduces and utilizes the Value Restoration Model as a tool of the rhetorician. The model aids in the identification and explanation of a particular worldview for auteurs or studios. This dissertation reveals, through the Value Restoration Model, that Pixar has deep-rooted philosophic and cultural values that rhetorically argue retention of the traditional conservative values of the American Dream. |
