From the wild frontier of Davy Crockett to the wintery fiords of Frozen: changes in media consumption, play and literacy from the 1950s to the 2010s

In this paper, a comparison is made between the media consumption, play and literacy practices of children made in response to the films Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier (Disney, 1955) and Frozen (Disney, 2013) in order to identify the continuities and discontinuities in these practices over time. The paper draws on a range of secondary sources, including the work of Iona and Peter Opie [(1959). The lore and language of schoolchildren. Oxford: Oxford University Press], to consider how media consumption, play and literacy are differently framed in the twenty-first century compared to the mid-twentieth century. It is argued that the commercial and technological contexts for these practices have changed considerably over the past 60 years, but what endures is the creativity and innovation of children, so well documented in the work of the Opies [1959; (1969). Children’s games in street and playground. Oxford: Clarendon Press].