Journal of Communication ISSN 0021-9916 ORIGINAL ARTICLE Is Disney the Nicest Place on Earth? A Content Analysis of Prosocial Behavior in Animated Disney Films Laura M. Padilla-Walker, Sarah M. Coyne, Ashley M. Fraser, & Laura A. Stockdale School of Family Life, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA The purpose of this study was to examine the multidimensionality of prosocial behavior in Disney animated films. Characteristics of the target and initiator and context of each prosocial act were also examined. Prosocial behavior was portrayed at a rate of approximately 1 act per minute, rarely occurred in combination with aggression, targets were most prosocial toward friends, and tended to help those similar to themselves. This study views Disney in a more positive light than past studies by highlighting high levels of prosocial behavior, as well as portrayal that may facilitate imitation. This study also used a broad definition of prosocial behavior that provides a more nuanced picture of the nature of prosocial behavior in children’s programming. doi:10.1111/jcom.12022 Despite evidence that prosocial media can have a powerful positive impact on the behavior of children, the portrayal of violence in the media (National Television Violence Study, 1996, 1997, 1998; Paik & Comstock, 1994) has dominated content analyses. In addition, the majority of content analyses that do examine prosocial behavior were conducted decades ago, did not focus on children’s television, and embraced a limited definition of prosocial behavior. When researchers have inves- tigated prosocial content in the media, they have primarily looked for depictions that emphasize positive interaction with others, altruism, and stereotype reduction (Mares & Woodard, 2005; Smith et al., 2006; Woodard, 1999). However, no content analyses have examined the multidimensionality of prosocial behavior as studied by developmental scholars (e.g., Carlo & Randall, 2002; Padilla-Walker & Christensen, 2011), and this limited definition may lead to an underestimation of prosocial behavior in children’s media. Furthermore, recent prosocial content analyses have examined children’s prime time television (Smith et al., 2006), but have not examined children’s movies, which constitute a substantial portion of young children’s media Corresponding author: Laura Padilla-Walker; e-mail: laura_walker@byu.edu Journal of Communication 63 (2013) 393–412  2013 International Communication Association 393